As Otto sat down with the little vampire, the person soon asked one question while drawing on her grounded canvas.
"So where have you been? They said you were dealing with a bunch of gas leaks but that sounds a lot of horse crap."
He chuckled lightly and replied, "Not a surprise you learned about profanity at your age...With your upbringing and your being one of the Church of Monster's experiments, Do you know about the Honkai? The calamity that ravages the world, the one disaster that keeps this planet in an eternal eon of war."
Her grip on the paintbrush tightened upon hearing the topic, but seeing his face brought a sense of comfort to her soul. She soon answered, "Yeah...That Church kept on sporting such nonsense. If that God of Monsters was real, I would rip out his heart and #^# % %!%!%!"
The streaks of color on her canvas became a chaotic mess and after moments of rage, a soft warm hand started to pat her head.
"There, there, my child. The Church will no longer hurt you...You're safe here. No need to worry about being drained." She let out a surprised shriek at the warmth nevertheless Luna stayed still in its comfort. It reminded her of that kind girl who showed the same coziness and the same one who died because of her existence.
"Can I confess something, Father?" She meekly said.
He solemnly nodded. "Speak, my child. I may not look like a priest, but I have some experience as one. I won't judge or tell."
It was a half lie, as Otto founded the San Michele monastery that took in orphans after the guilt of Kallen's death...He played as a sort of Father figure. So it was reasonable?
She hesitated for a moment but looking at his calm smile, Luna went through it with an aching voice.
"When Kallen died...I wanted to curse this world, I wanted to devour everything, I wanted to hate this world, I wanted to plunge this wretched world into damnation, I wanted to make everyone suffer just like I had but every time I had those thoughts. Kallen's words would echo in my head,
'Luna don't hate this world because of how distorted it is, love it because of how beautiful and ugly it is.'
When I first met you I thought you were just a pompous rich bastard I wanted to hate you but I couldn't! Why can't I despise you? Why can't I bring myself to abhor you for not saving me sooner? Why can't I loathe you for not meeting you sooner? Why does my cold dead heart keep on breathing when you're around."
A dampness started to appear as Luna smothered his clothed chest with a trail of tears.
Otto didn't know what to say at this moment, but the comforting words that he wanted to say came out of his mouth and stuttered onto his tongue. He stayed in this comfortable silence, gently patting her on the back as he let her mellow out her angst and rage into his chest.
"Thank you." She silently whispered. "It feels good to talk with you...I feel like I am talking to a warm brick wall that's willing to accompany me to hell itself."
"Only if you get there but that's highly impossible...You but a sweet innocent child who is fond of the arts and only has a small appetite for human blood."
After his words, she soon let herself off of his chest and showed her fully revealed fangs. Otto let out a soft sigh and wiped the marks of tears covering her face with his shelves.
"How much blood do you need to consume on a daily basis or is there any specific measurement." He asked.
She placed a finger on her bottom lip and thought about it intently, "Well I don't really know when you fed me your finger, I was pretty full for a while but since you've been gone for so long I am getting real cranky now...Shouldn't you reward me for diligently waiting in my room? I can't savor normal blood anymore because of how delicious you taste."
"Noted...I'll be pretty busy for the following weeks and don't have much time to be with you so I'll have to feed you more."
He shifted his collar to the side allowing his soft clear neck to be revealed to her.
The vampire's mouth started to drool, and saliva started to drip from the corners of it. Noticing the pulsing veins full of vitality coming from it, her crimson eyes started to grow red. Her grip on her dress tightened, and within a moment, all of her restraint collapsed.
She soon descended onto his neck, her fangs piercing through his skin and the familiar warm addicting sweet bloody liquid soon descended into her mouth. Her breathing started to grow heavier and heavier as she drank more and more.
After having eaten, she collapsed onto the soft carpet floor, her head drunk on the flavor of the Fool's blood. A smile full of pure satisfaction itched her face.
Fixing his collar, Otto looked down at the young girl with a worried expression and asked, " Are you okay?"
"...Yeah. I am surprised you didn't faint when I took much from you. Say how long can you live for?"
"I can live as long as the planet doesn't suddenly explode into a million pieces."
"Great...That means you can forever be my muse." She quietly whispered to herself and started to close her eyes in bliss.
Otto pretended not to hear her words but inwardly he thought, 'What a sassy peculiar child.'
"Before you die of happiness...Why don't we spend some time together? I mentioned before that I was going to be busy so let me see what you cooked up while isolating yourself in your room." He suggested
Luna sat herself up immediately and started to defend herself, "I am not that type of vampire to haul up in my spooky evil lair...I was just doing some thinking, you know? About how I felt about all of this."
"It's okay to do such things...Just put a sign on your door. You can also tell a honey-blonde maid or a white-haired lady wearing a revealing crossed outfit if you wanted to."
Otto designed her outfit out of an aesthetic for Kallen and he too would be affected by it after all...White-haired ladies were the bane of Otto's existence and possible Nuns too. Along with pink-haired shrine maidens with fox ears.
"I'll be sure to do it...The Maid is Rina-I mean Rita right and that white lady is Amber? She looks like an older version of my elder sister."
"Maybe kind-hearted people akin to saints are those who are very similar in nature and appearance..."
After a moment Otto suddenly called out, "Are you trying to draw the conversation out so that you wouldn't have to reveal your drawing skills?"
"Of course not! I am a Grade A Drawing Fiend." She soon presented the canvas she drew on previously.
A tear dripped from his eye as he let his finger stroke onto the soft canvas. Each line was crafted perfectly, he could feel the love coming from each stroke, and the color-matched tea to his own.
The Otto and Lin within him had one single reaction to it... absolutele cinema pur.
A stick man built with black lines as its body, white to symbolize its clothing, and a touch of sun kiss yellow for its hair.
"Ah, Luna it's perfect...I am about to cry." He lifted a finger to his eye to wipe the single tear.
"I can't tell if you're joking or making fun of me...I made that while pouring my heart out to you." She bit back.
"No, it's just so memorable...Can I keep it?"
Luna tilted her head in undescribable bafflement, "Is this a bit? But sure you can keep it I guess. You gonna hang it?"
With her little hands, Luna gave him the drawing of the stick figure representing the Schicksal of Overseer and he took it within his arms in a gentle manner akin to holding a baby.
"Stop treating it like your child...I am starting to get jealous of how you're pampering it. Aren't you supposed to spend time with me?" She let out a toothy grinning smile.
He responded with his smile and pocketed the canvas into his inner vest. "Yeah...Why don't I tell you about a Saintess from the old ages named Kallen Kaslana and an Inventor named Otto Apocalypse?"
Luna's ears tingled at the name of Kallen and the one who was taking care of but instead of focusing on that she asked, "Are you a Magician? How did you fit that comically large painting in your shirt?"
He let out a clownish smile and said, "Guess."
...
As Luna finished her last stroke of her work she started to ask several questions about the tale she was told.
"So you have been living for 500 years to revive your childhood friend who fell in love with a shrine maiden within a month who left you after figuring out you decided to do human experiments to cure the Black Plague that your family released from that evil cube.
Then after she gets sent to be executed for betraying the corrupted Church by stealing the box they decide to execute her and you make a deal with your evil sister to free some Honkai Beasts to free her and it backfires, killing her.
So driven by guilt you decided to make an orphanage then after some convincing you decided to take over the Church from your evil sister and cousin in a Civil War. Making you the leader of the organization for a very long time. Ha...Ha...Ha. Sorry, that took the breath out of me."
Otto nodded blankly, "Yeah that's the gist of it... I am but a husk filled with sins driving to revive his unrequited love even if she doesn't love me it wouldn't matter."
"You call yourself a husk but you're showing a pretty smile? I don't know if it's okay to take this advice as someone like me but...If you've done some bad things maybe you can do some good to redeem yourself. Like how you took me with you and those kids you took in back then."
She stepped from her canvas and pulled out her pinkie. "Let's make a promise then...You won't do any more bad things and no more human experiments...If its on the horrible people then it's a grayish okay."
He accepted the pinkie with his own and smiled brightly, "I swear on the Apocalypse name I won't do any bad things and will strive to fight for all that is beautiful and ugly in this world."
"I Luna on my fiendishness of blood swear that I will be your witness on your journey to fight for all that is beautiful and ugly in this world."
A sweet moment engulfed the entire room for a moment until the two unlatched their pinkies from each other.
"So what did you paint this time?" Otto asked and changed the direction of their talk.
With a grin that screamed praised me, she turned the canvas around roughly and it showed a palish tall flushed woman wearing an elegant dress matching her crimson eyes with scarlet and black.
'Is she a Seer or something?... That's just Lunar Vow Crimson Love.'
"So...You gonna praise me? I imagined myself aged up as a powerful Vampire who roams the night and defeats all wickedness and evil!"
Otto put a hand on his chin to admire it, "It's delightful but still not better than that portrait of me as a stick."
Her face shifted to that of a displeasure gremlin, "Stop bringing that up!"
"Alright, Alright...Do you have any more stuff we can do?"
She brought up a single paintbrush toward his face, "Yeah wanna be my subject for face painting?"
...
8 hours was the amount of time he spent in Luna's room. Drawing, painting, stories, tales, browsing the internet...Jumping people in Kallen Fantasy. Ah, it brought him back to the old days of taking care of Theresa and playing with her.
'I wonder how she's doing. My bitter melon juice gremlin...I wonder what would happen if Luna and Theresa met. Would they immediately start to duel each other for who's the best white-haired gremlin? Luna might play in it but Theresa...She's 40 years old, a little small 40-year-old lady.'
His thoughts started to wander as he made his way back to his office.
On the surface of Schicksal HQ, work was constantly in a flow of work and so the entire structure was built to have a circular shape to it, with each road and path connected to each, to make all movement easier.
The sun was already setting as Otto passed through numerous Valkyries and workers to get to his destination. Many glanced at the many artistic designs on his face as a talented child made them. He waved to them and they nervously waved back at his friendly gesture.
"Good day to have your face painted ain't it, Overseer?" One of the workers from afar said to him. He was a gruff man with a stub of brown hair on his chin and slight wrinkles covering his face, which gave him a rough look. He was a veteran of the HQ and knew his way around, especially the right way to speak to his boss. Be competent and in the middle of joking.
"Afternoon, Greg." Otto greeted him.
"Children...Huh? My kids and wife..." The man was about to say but stopped when the Overseer put up his palm.
"Mr. Greg, I have to stop you there, I know you're trying to make small talk with me but...Do not pull the cliche of bringing up your loving wife, Liva, and your two kids, Hale, and Jorge.
I am sure you have a lovely and wonderful family but for your safety do not bring any mention of how you went to go back to them. Everyone has a family to go back to...Mostly."
Greg sweated a bit before going back to usual chatter, "Thank you for the advice, Bossman but I am quite shaken by how you suddenly brought that up."
"Well, this is a dangerous job...You could never know what would happen but great news Schciksal would try whatever it can to protect you from a sudden Honkai attack. This might sound dark but just in case you do die...Your free Life Insurance from us can provide your family for a while."
"Yeah...Life kinda sucks with those alien-like things but how we gotta live through it. That's that and this is this." He softly muttered.
"Exactly, with that mindset, you'll go far. Farewell, Mr. Greg." Otto said his farewells and departed.
While looking at Otto's fading figure, Greg tried to keep his composure from laughing at the cute cat emote on his neck.
...
Having made it back to his office, Otto immediately made his way to the bathroom to wash his face.
A simple bathroom but decked out with the highest tech, he cracked a grin noticing a showerhead with RGB LD Lights but he moved onto the nearby sliver sink with a single facet and two knobs for cold and hot water.
His emerald eyes gazed at the mirror and he spotted numerous colorful marks on his face. He couldn't help but smile as he truly looked like one of those circus clowns. A towel dipped with cold water wiped away the color onto his normalcy and he made sure to erase the cutie of a cute on his neck.
Finished with the cleansing, he exited the bathroom and noticed the various ingredients on his desk which was delivered by his dear assistant. He started to grin as he was about to make a dish that would even rival a Fool!
First, he made sure to lock the door and cover his windows with their intended binds. He soon approached his filled desk and made the first move on the incense.
A little blue flame emitted from his index finger by the use of his Spirituality and was moved along the extracts, essential oils, and herbal powder which were lit one by one within their respective containers, creating the scent of fresh soothing calmness in the room.
A golden cube with distorted lines was imaged into his sight and he entered Cogitation with darkened emerald eyes.
He picked up a silver dagger with a fancy handle from his desk and poured his Spirituality into it. The blade gained a light luster in the darkness and he soon started to gently drag it through the corners of the room, creating a shapeless wall of Spirituality around the room.
The purpose was to create a clean environment for this corresponding ritual.
Three candles were lined side by side and with his ungloved hand, Otto started to rub each wick with his Spirituality, lighting them from left to right.
A paper with a symbol of an ancient castle above a gray fog was pulled out of his pockets and laid down on the desk.
With a heavy voice, he started to shout in an unknown language that stirred up nature...Ancient Hermes!
"Sefirah Castle!"
"You are the aspect of History that doesn't belong to this Universe!"
"You are the one Sefirot above the Gray Fog."
"You are the one who made the King of Yellow and Black!"
"I implore your Foolishness."
"I beseech your Errors.
"I plead with you, grant me the power of Apprentice!"
It was something that Otto wanted to try with a clear and relaxed mind...He was going to pray to the Sefirah Castle for Boons for his other Adjucant Pathways for Lord of Mysteries.
Sefirots are the most key ingredient in becoming a being beyond a True God (Sequence 0) of a Pathway and are even more valuable than a Uniqueness.
If you potentially own one you can gain access to other Pathways that are adjacent to your own and borrow their powers at a Higher Sequence.
Along with that, Sefirots can give out Boons as well. It wasn't stated in the book if a Low-Level Beyonder with a Sefirot could ask it to grant them a Boon. Even if it failed, Otto at least had to try.
So the Pathway way he chose to gain a Boon from was the Door Pathway. They gain the ability to move anywhere, cast tricky spells, phase through anything, use Divination from Astrology, and Record power from other Beyonders with their Spirit Body.
At Higher Sequences, they gain access to the Authority to manipulate space in all sorts of manners, Teleportation, Sealing, Secret Concealment and Exileing. Their Record would allow them to Replicate any Beyonder powers without any need to replicate.
Otto hypothesized with this Pathway he could Record or Replicate Herrscher Authorities with it and with the Authority of Space from Door, he could be a counter to anything dealing with the concept of "Space."
As he waited for an outcome his vision started to dilate and glitch. The colors that were once flooding his eyes were now monochrome, and everything felt as if it was frozen.
"Agh!"
A sudden pain wretched into his pupils, and drips of crimson started to spill from within his eyelids as various scenes flashed before his eyes.
In the far distance of the Universe, several masks filled with Elation began to laugh and weep at the misery and joy of life but all of a sudden they were frozen in track unable to notice anything. Aha the Elation could no longer laugh anymore.
A giant humanoid figure carved out of a reflective crystal material wearing a mianguan recorded everything in its Remembrance and the Universe itself but it could remember no more as its crystal froze in time. Fuli the Remembrance could no longer remember anymore
Yin and Yang, the ultimate balance, the total Equilibrium of everything, their followers influence the universe surreptitiously, trying to achieve an ideal balance but alas it froze. HooH the Equilibrium could no longer bring balance anymore.
Darkness and nihilism were what IX represented. THEY stood in the darkness unable to do anything as the All Consuming Black Hole could no longer feel anything itself and was stripped of its time. IX could no longer disappear anymore.
A moving arrow that flew across the countless galaxies to wipe out those wicked abominations could no longer Hunt anymore as the Reinbow Arbiter could no longer move with its stillness and thus its Hunt was ended. Lan the Hunt could no longer Hunt anymore
A broken and torn jellyfish, akin to a deliberately destroyed version of the cognitive center of the human brain. THEY believe that things in themselves are beyond perception and that finite entities are incapable of envisioning true infinity, and therefore everything is an Enigmata. THEY'RE body filled with uncertainty could no longer find certainty in ever moving again as grayness took over. Mythus the Enigmata could no longer distort History anymore.
The Black Sun, the Avatar of Entropy, THEY'RE flames and Destruction shall embrace the world. Nanook tried to look into a distant planet to where his Legion was ravaging it but THEIR figure turned monochrome and frozen in time. Nanook the Destruction could no longer bring Calamity anymore.
A mechanical life form in the shape of a colossal mechanical humanoid head. A multitude of lengthy ripped cables extend above below THEIR form. THEY could no longer search for the Eruidtion they seek as the crimson light coming from THEIR eye dulled in color and thus the Omniscient froze. Nous the Erudition could no longer think anymore.
The Amber Lord, the one who built the barriers to Preserve this Universe, and as THEY were to swing THEIR hammer. Movement ceased from THEIR existence and the Universe's Preservation could no longer fulfill their Path as the once shining Amber became pale and stuck in time. Qilipoth the Preservation could no longer swing anymore.
The Shapeless Prince, the Finality that would End All Things, could not change its Fate as its revelation failed to intervene with the stopping of time and THEY soon reached THEIR Finality, frozen in place and unable to do anything. Terminus the Finality could no longer bring its end.
The Mother of All Stars, the one who strings along THEIR Harmony to play a choir that beats upon billions upon billions of people's embrace for the joy of human harmony and unity but THEIR voice was silenced in a fractured moment. Xipe the Harmony could sing no more.
The nurturer of all beings and the Aeon of paradise, Yaoshi wanted to spread THEIR blessings onto the sick and diseased until the continual proliferation of life, creating abominations beyond the norm but grayness struck, and soon Yaoshi the Abundance could heal no more.
Within a moment, the Honkai Universe, every single Aeon, the known and unknown, alive and dead, beings who could destroy timelines, create new realities, and destroy a Universe with a single thought were all frozen in their tracks within 0.1 of a second and were none the wiser. Every concept, symbol, world, time, space, history, realm, dimension, and life froze. THEY could no longer move or think within this moment anymore.
Otto looked on in horror as he realized what just happened, and the culprit was right in front of him-mocking the Fool with its light.
[Dear, Otto Apocalypse, "WE" think it wouldn't be so fun if you got another Pathway so easy. So "WE" took the chance to freeze your current Universe where we reside to conceal your adorable Castle granting you a Boon don't worry even the Aeons and Cocoon of Finality won't know what happened here!]
[Though this could be seen as a punishment for no longer being able to grant Boons on yourself (You can grant people Boons if you want with certain loopholes) that would leave a foul taste on "OUR" mouths. So "WE" wanted to compensate you.]
A colorful wheel with a tentacle as its marker appeared in front of him. It was divided into three sections.
One was colored snow-white platinum and adorned with a symbol of a worm housing multiple segments crawling through Time and Fate. It had the title on it in bold letters, 'Error.'
The second was colored jet black with the symbol of a broken crown with numerous distortions on it. The title 'Black Emperor' was present.
Lastly, the third was colored predominantly white with a faint blue glow around it, and the symbol that appeared was a circular mist-shaped mandela that was filled with uncertainty. The words, 'Chaos Mist' appeared on it.
[Now then! My precious and darling of a Fool! Would you like to spin the wheel? As the saying goes will you be a slave to Fate or your own Fate?]
With the use of his sleeve, he covered his bleeding eyes and slowly made his way to the wheel. A sense of trepidation was engraved into his heart as he didn't think this would happen and his "sponsor" blatantly showed off this kind of power.
"You could have least warned about my eyes." He jested trying to find some relief in this situation. He at least knew "THEY" wouldn't kill him for now and the only reason he could think of why they put him here was one simple reason.
Entertainment.
At least it seems no matter what Fate, Otto Apocalypse was always destined to become a clumsy actor on the stage but he couldn't help but remember a quote that best represented him.
'Although being capable of knowing a little about fate, one remains helpless towards fate; therefore, one might as well use a smiling face to hide all the pain, sorrow, confusion, and depression.'
Otto put on a miserable and clownish smile, his hand crimson stained hand gripped the wheel and spun it with all of his might.
Light laughter filled the room as he said one last sentence.
"The show must go on!"