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“...Last gathering of the Tarot Club, huh ?”
Leonard couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness as he thought about this.
After 6 years of slumber, Mr. Fool woke up and prevented the apocalypse successfully. Throughout this, the Church of the Fool was recognised by the other churches and was able to establish itself as a new orthodox religion.
While Leonard was one of the most active Beyonders of the Tarot Club, and was relieved to see that he could finally relax a bit, since he had already bade his farewells to Pallez Zoroast, who was previously parasiting him —as the old man didn’t feel the need to continue anymore— this whole "last gathering ever" put the poet in a really bad mood.
The Nighthawk glanced at the invitation in his hands.
Last gathering of the Tarot Club.
Monday, 7 PM
88 Mashled Street, Western Borough, Backlund
A sigh left him as he muttered “So it’s in real life this time…”
Audrey sat in a trackless carriage, obviously nervous. While she did put a lot of thought in her clothing, as this was going to be the very last gathering of the Tarot Club, everything was veiled by a long dark cloak that hid her identity. Susie, who was invited too, had a cute bow on her neck.
“I’ll stop here, thank you.”
She gave a whole gold pound to her driver and left without getting her change back.
After navigating through the city for a few minutes, she finally arrived before a simple, yet grand cathedral.
“The official cathedral of the Church of the Fool…”
The Little Sun had temporarily left the New City of Silver to become an archbishop for Mr. Fool, and alongside Mr. Hanged Man, they were put in charge of everything that concerned this new religion.
While the two of them should’ve been waiting inside like usual, it seemed like both decided to wait for the other members outside of the church.
“Ah, Ms. Justice ! You’re finally here, we were waiting for you !”
As soon as Derrick spotted the noble lady, he brightened up and went up to her.
“I cleared the street in case something would happen, with the excuse of the street having to undergo some repairs, but do you know why Mr. World and Mr. Fool called for this last gathering ?”
“No… to be honest, I don’t even understand why this has to be our last gathering… Even if the world is at peace now, wouldn’t it be good to continue these small gatherings too ?”
Audrey shook her head, a tinge of sorrow in her eyes.
As the noble lady and her dog chatted with the tall blond man, they slowly came to the front of the cathedral, where the other members were already waiting.
“Miss Au- no, Ms. Justice, long time no see!”
The short woman named Xio was delighted to see her friend coming.
One by one, all of the other members greeted her, except for the World, who seemed to have yet to arrive.
“Do you know why we were all called here, in real life ?”
“No… But why isn’t anywone entering the church yet ? It’s going to be 7PM soon.”
The Hermit Cattleya shook her head.
“No, it’s not that we don’t want to, but we can’t. The doors are locked for some reason…”
“Oh…”
As she pondered over the reason, Audrey decided to ask another one instead.
“Miss Hermit, why did you bring this lady here ? And who are these people there too ?”
As she asked, the Justice looked at the lady behind her, she had chestnut hair that fell to her waist, and she had a perfectly proportioned figure. She was neither fat nor thin.
The Beyonder from the spectator pathway then turned her attention to the people in the corner of the street.
There was a man with bronze skin, average height and build, black hair, brown eyes, and gentle facial features. He seemed to be chatting with a… not even ten years old boy ?
What was peculiar about the child was that he didn’t seem to care about the lady behind him, who wore a complex, gorgeous, dark, and gloomy black dress. She didn't have a head, but her drooping hands held four identical blonde heads with red eyes.
Lastly, an old man was sitting on the stairs to the church, seemingly in a pointless argument with an attractive man with brown hair and green eyes who wore red gloves, Mr. Star.
“I’m not sure about all of them, but the lady with four heads is Gehrman Sparrow, Mr. World’s messenger. The person behind me is, as you’ve probably already guessed, Queen Mystic.”
“...Nice to meet you.”
Bernadette answered quietly, her mind seemingly elsewhere.
“We did ask them why they were here too, but none was able to give an answer and only showed us an invitation, one similar to the ones we’ve got.”
“Is that so… It’s similar to Susie then.”
“...Miss Justice, is that your dog’s name ?”
“Yes Miss Hermit. I had an additional invitation for her, weirdly enough.”
Their conversation was cut as the bells of the cathedral suddenly chimed. It was now 7PM in the evening.
Before anyone could say anything, the doors suddenly opened and a bunch of doves flew out.
One by one, all of the invited guests entered the holy place curiously and looked around, but they couldn’t see much except for utter darkness.
As Leonard had night vision, he noticed a long haired man and a veiled woman sitting on one of the benches at the very end of the cathedral.
Except him, no one seemed to have noticed them.
“Let’s take our seats.”
While most of them were confused, the Sanguine Emlyn didn’t really seem to care as he entered the cathedral and sat on the third bench of the left row, at the very front.
Slowly, but surely, all of them took seats at the front, the Tarot Club on the left row, except for Cattleya who sat with Bernadette and Leonard who sat with Pallez Zoroast in the left row, alongside all of the other non-Tarot Club members.
As the noise died down and everyone settled down, the doors closed by themselves and a light shone bright at the very front of the cathedral. A man underneath it took off his hat and bowed down.
‘A magician ?’
Fors looked at the long haired man who wore a black robe curiously.
“With your help, the Fool was able to reach higher than simple divinity, as a Great Old One, and will continue to look over us, but to do so, he will need to enter a state of eternal slumber. As such, this last gathering is hosted by me, a member of the Tarot Club also known as The World, the card meaning achievement, fulfilment, and completion, but also meaning ‘the end’.”
'It can't be... Is this Gehrman Sparrow ?'
Disbelief could be seen on numerous people's faces, and many gasps could be heard resonating in the cathedral.
“I am known by many names: the wandering magician Merlin Hermès.”
The man once again bowed down to the audience.
“The tycoon Dwayne Dantès.”
A middle-aged gentleman with a mature appearance, deep-blue eyes, black hair with few silver strands, and profound gaze came up from the darkness and bowed down with a mature smile on his face. At the sight of two different people, many were suddenly confused as to who was The World.
“The cold-blooded bounty hunter Gehrman Sparrow.”
A young gentleman with gold-rimmed glasses, neat black hair and dark brown eyes came upfront in between the other two puppets, and bowed down with a smile too.
A few gasps and squeals could then be heard from the spectators, seemingly in shock in front of this scene. Seeing that crazy adventurer made a few people shiver in fear.
“The private detective Sherlock Moriarty.”
A man with brown eyes, slightly long black hair, average-featured face with some stubs of facial hair, thin yet with a moderately muscular build bowed down between the adventurer and the tycoon.
Emlyn, who was calming watching this until now, let out an undignified gasp as he recognised the man before him.
“And finally… Klein Moretti, the history college graduate, the official Nighthawk of the Church of Evernight, and the blessed of Mr. Fool.”
Before everyone, at the center of the five ‘The World’ stood a man with black hair, brown eyes and a distinct scholarly air to him. With a smile tinged with sadness and bitterness, he took off his hat and bowed down alongside the other four personas he had during his travels.
Leonard stared dazedly at his former colleague, a nostalgic look on his face.
The scholarly man waved his hand and the other four people suddenly became one with him.
“As you may already have known, I am also the representative of The Fool here. As such, on the behalf of this slumbering god, I am thanking you for all of these years of hard work. Be it Mr. Hanged Man and Miss Justice, the first members of the Tarot club, or the Little Sun, who helped most of the members elevate their sequences thanks to the Beyonder ingredients from the City of Silver. Miss Magician and her rented artefact, or Mr. Moon who produced many medicines for us. Miss Hermit, who was able to share numerous pages of Roselle’s Diary thanks to the help of Miss Bernadette Gustav, and Miss Judgement and Mr. Star, the official Beyonders who were able to provide many important information and help at the right time.”
Klein took a deep breath before continuing.
“I am also thanking the Evernight Goddess for her blessing our travels, and Roselle Gustav for paving the start of this long journey. Mr. Azik for all that he’s done for me and I apologize to Will Auceptin for asking for your help even while you were in the womb…”
Klein chuckled slightly as he tiredly continued his thanks, while the spectators slowly realised that the speech was about each and every of them.
“Miss Messenger Reinette Tinekerr, I thank you for all of the letters and the help you have given me, even if it cost me quite a few gold coins… And Pallez Zoroast, while I didn’t appreciate the fact that you were parasiting someone close to me, I… do owe you quite a lot.”
Klein breathed in as he reached the end of his speech. It was only now that he realised that it wasn't The Fool talking right now, but Klein Moretti who was indeed saying his own farewells. He couldn't help but lampoon internally.
“While I am indeed thanking you on the behalf of the Fool, as you have all been part of my own journey, these thanks are also genuinely mine too. As a way of thanking you, and to bid my farewells, for I, too, am going to start slumbering soon… Here is a farewell banquet for us all to enjoy !”
The scholarly man clapped in his hands and the cathedral suddenly brightened. The benches suddenly flew to the sides and a long table, the one usually used for the gatherings, appeared in front of everyone, covered in delicacies, drinks, and of course, ice cream.
Before this sight, the Tarot Club members were so flabbergasted they couldn’t close their mouths. They were at the same time impressed once again by the incredible level of the powers that the World was able to wield, and flabbergasted by all of the sudden revelations they had just heard. At the back of the church, you could hear a man cackling loudly.
Klein made his way to Roselle Gustav and Amanises to chat for a bit between fellow transmigrators, but everyone just stared at the two of them silently.
‘I-I-Is that Roselle Gustav, like THE Roselle Gustav ??? And the woman next to him… IS THAT THE GODDESS OF EVERNIGHT??????’
Fors just stared at the (not) deceased emperor and the not-so-crazy-and-cold-adventurer-who-took-another-appearance with eyes so wide that they could pop out right then and there.
It was only after Audrey made her way to Fors and placated her (and everyone else, really) that all of the Tarot Club members were able to understand what this speech and banquet really meant. A pang of sorrow hit each of the members as if they had been stabbed by a fork right in their hearts, but they forced themselves to enjoy their last moments together, for each other's sake, and for the sake of their comrade who would sleep for a very long time.
After a few hours, it seemed like everyone started enjoying their time here, as such, the tired Klein made his way toward one of the benches he had flown to the side walls of the cathedral. As he had successfully prevented the apocalypse, he had learnt that to be able to protect this very earth, Klein would need to enter an eternal slumber, only to be awoken in case of another crisis. As such, he wanted to say goodbyes, but also his thanks to all of his helpers, but didn’t have the time to do it in private for everyone, nor did he have enough energy to keep it in the Sefirah Castle, as most of his Worms of Spirit had already entered a state of hibernation. He had only kept a few awake to see his friends one last time.
He had played a few rounds of cards with Roselle and Amanises, been presented to Bernadette as Uncle Zhou, made fun of the kid that Will Auceptin Ceres is, made the conversation with his teacher Mr. Azik and Miss Messenger… Talked about Mobet with Leonard’s grandpa… Talked with every Tarot Club member… even Susie the dog…
As he felt his eyelids becoming heavier by the minute, a very bad poet sat down next to him.
“So, you’re entering another deep slumber again, huh Klein ?”
“I guess you can say that, heh…”
“Well, I’ve been curious about what you have done these past few years, after leaving the company. Mind if you tell me about your time out there before getting your beauty sleep ? Seems like you’ve met quite a few people…”
“Hehe... Well you see, when I woke up in my coffin…”
Klein started telling the beginning of a very long and lonely tale to his dear poet, with a melancholic grin plastered on his face.
“So that’s how it was… I’m very curious, Mr. Roselle, how did you manage to come back after all of these hurdles ? Wouldn’t that be impossible usually ?”
Audrey asked the supposed genius emperor of Intis. She had spent quite some time chatting with him and realised pretty quickly that he was very different from how he was depicted in history books. She was almost a bit worried that this liberal emperor would have a negative impact on the Little Sun.
“Well that’s where Xiao Zhou comes in the story !”
‘Xiao Zhou ?’
She saw Roselle walk towards one of the benches on the side before stopping in his track.
‘Mr. Leonard and Mr. Klein ?’
She followed the emperor as he simply stared towards them, a bitter look on his face.
‘What is happening ?’
She quickly analysed the situation before understanding what had happened. A veil of sadness quickly passed through her face.
“Aunt Melissa !”
“Yes Alice ?”
The young girl waved at her aunt with a letter in her hand.
“The mister tentacle gave me this ! I think it’s for you since I can’t read…”
The Beyonder from the Savant Pathway looked at the content of the letters before suddenly bolting out of the house.
“Thank you sweetie ! I have somewhere I need to go !”
"Huh ? Okay..."
Melissa Moretti ran the fastest she could towards the newly built cathedral of the Church of the Fool. She looked at her watch, it showed 10:47.
‘Maybe the gathering hasn’t ended… please…’
As the conversations slowly died down, Azik Eggers realised that more and more people were standing around a certain bench on the side of the cathedral. As he slowly made his way there, he thought.
‘Oh… so that time has arrived.’
He smiled in sorrow as he looked at his student and eternal friend.
Suddenly the doors were banged open and a woman with black hair and brown eyes, delicate features, and wearing dark pants and a skirt. She was red, covered in sweat and gasping for air but still managed to talk.
“K-Klein ! Where is he ?”
“Ah… It seems like he has already departed for a long, long journey ahead of us…”
People slowly parted ways to let Melissa witness that sight.
The two Nighthawks were currently leaning against each other. Klein’s hat was laying in his lap as his head rested against Leonard’s shoulder, while Leonard’s head rested against his dear friend’s head.
The two of them had fallen in a deep slumber, while one had a peaceful face, the other had a slight frown and a tear running down his face.