Ball of Nothing

"Pinch his nose. I think it will wake him up."

There was a smacking sound in the background. "You idiot! What if he dies?"

The first voice huffed. Zero knew that there would be a lot of eye-rolling. "He can't die. He's our almighty master."

The strawcherry fairy made a strange noise and Zero heard Bob yelping in pain.

"Why you puny thing- That hurt!"

Mii snorted. "For a dragon, you're quite weak. How does the dropkick from a puny fairy feel like?"

Bob growled and Zero decided that it was about time he stopped pretending to be asleep.

"What are you guys fighting about again?" he moaned as the light stabbed his eyes. He wasn't unfamiliar with the place. In fact, he visited it very often. What Zero didn't understand was why he wasn't waking up physically.

Mii and Bob stopped their squabbling immediately.

"Zero! You're alive!"

"Master! You're finally awake... we were worried when you didn't respond to us..."

Zero stared at them dazedly and Mii decided to give the brunet more time to recollect his memories. With so many changes going on in Zero's inner world and outer world, it wasn't surprising that Zero would be so confused.

Zero took a little while to reorganise his memories and when he finished processing everything, he turned to Mii with shock reflected in his eyes.

"Solo..."

The strawcherry fairy sighed. Bob only looked between his master and comrade with a curious expression.

"That's not a dream. I don't know what he decided to show you but it was real. However, you should remember that whatever he showed you wouldn't be your reality. The Great One left it to you to finish the story he started. On the other hand, the mana discrepancy is something very real that you need to worry about. Buddha is working his butt off trying to stabilise your condition. Bob and I are doing our best to keep the different energies as far as possible from each other but you need to be the one to sort them out."

Zero blinked and took a look at the newest addition to their mental space. Usually, it resembled the lamp that Zeus had given him. Both Mii and Bob usually spent their time here when Zero was asleep or meditating. Today, Zero noticed that there were four different coloured mist clouds. Each mist cloud was sealed in a container and placed at the furthest corner of the room. Zero looked at the mist clouds and raised a brow. They looked familiar.

"The blue one feels like Bell," he mused and got closer to it. This mist cloud wasn't very active and appeared to be moving slowly inside. Zero had a strong feeling that it was sleeping.

"What do I have to do?"

Mii shrugged. "Bob and I only sealed them away. If you let them go, they will start fighting in this room again. It was difficult to contain the damage and I would prefer if you didn't free them after all the trouble we've been through."

Zero squatted in front of the blue one and frowned in concentration. Why would the four mist clouds fight each other? Zero didn't understand what made them unhappy. It was even harder to wrap his head around the idea of two green mist clouds fighting each other. Jevy and Gugu were born from the same light in Solo's memory. Why would they not get along well?

"Mii, can I have both you and Bob to leave for a bit? I'm going to let them out one by one."

The strawcherry fairy looked scandalised at the idea. "You're crazy! I'm not going to save you even if you called for help!"

Zero grinned and gave her a thumbs-up while Bob gave him one worried last glance before leaving with Mii. Zero knew that Mii was only worried when she said that. He found it incredibly adorable that Mii would never admit how much she worried for him sometimes. Nevertheless, Zero stared at the two green mist clouds.

"I guess I'll start with the simpler ones," he shrugged. What could go wrong?

***

Zero took it all back. It was a disaster. No, disaster didn't even cut it. He should have dealt with the blue mist cloud first!

"It's all because of you! If you didn't steal that diamond to activate the trap, I would've gotten that preserved body!"

"My fault?! Who was attracting all the unwanted attention? If it weren't for your stupid need to flaunt your beauty, I didn't have to dash for the diamond and trigger all the traps. You can only blame your scatterbrain for your loss."

Jevy's fragment shrieked and zipped past Zero, striking into Gugu's fragment cloud. Sparks flew and something in the room exploded. Zero groaned. He had to fix the mirror again. It wasn't difficult to fix it in his mental space seeing how it was merely a representation of his imagination. However, it was becoming tedious with the violent argument hovering above him.

Zero had to admit. He was intimidated by his divine entity fragments. The poor brunet had cowered beneath the bed the instant they got free. Jevy attacked Gugu viciously and Zero couldn't even speak a peep before they hurled words and magic at each other. He didn't even know why both of them were so mad when neither of them was doing the right thing in the first place.

To make matters worse, their fights rattled the red mist cloud's container. Zero could only watch as the disaster unfolded before his very eyes, powerless to stop the inevitable.

BOOM!

Half the room exploded with red mist and the two green mist clouds fell silent at once. It wasn't as if Jevy and Gugu suddenly learnt what manners were. Zero highly doubt that. In fact, he believed it was the overpowering battle aura was what kept the two rowdy mist clouds under control. As for Zero, he held his breath, not knowing if the red mist cloud was going to be more destructive and twice as obstinate.

"When will the both of you stop acting like children? Have you forgotten our duty?"

Annoyed at Venn's attitude, Jevy was the first to snap. "Stop talking as if you're better than us! You may be older but that's only by a split second! You're not any better... going around destroying planets just because you couldn't kill your enemy."

The red mist cloud thickened around the green mist cloud whom Zero had now dubbed as Jevy 2.0. Gugu remained wisely quiet and watched as his divine entity twin gets overpowered by Venn 2.0.

Jevy 2.0's light became dimmer and Zero hesitated. Should he act out? Then again, what if Venn 2.0 decides to strike at him? Zero wasn't confident that he could protect himself against a divine entity. The blessings the Great Gods gave him were powerful against normal beings. However, against some divine fragments? Zero didn't want to test the theory out. He knew how easily they could subdue Sedna and that spoke volumes.

"Don't you know that silence is golden? Someone is trying to sleep here..."

Zero blinked. He'd almost forgotten about the blue mist cloud who resembled Baal a lot. Thank Solo that Duu 2.0 has spoken!

"All of you are being very rude to our host and creator here," Duu 2.0 said and Zero swallowed thickly at the redirected attention.

Venn 2.0 let go of Jevy 2.0 and the energy in the room became less intense. Zero finally allowed himself to breathe again, not that he had to. It just made him feel more relaxed when he did.

"My apologies, So- no... Zero. I'm a part of Venn, the Divine Entity of Anger as you might have known already from the snippets of memories."

Zero crawled out from beneath the bed and nodded in acknowledgement. Jevy 2.0 and Gugu 2.0 were silent, a stark contrast from the noises they were making previously. Duu 2.0 didn't stir in his container. Zero bet that he could've broken out anytime if he really wanted to. It looked cosy in there so Zero didn't exactly blame the blue mist cloud.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Zero bowed. "However, I have some questions. Would you be able to help me?"

"Of course! We know everything there is to know about the world," Jevy 2.0 sounded smug and Zero didn't doubt it. However, before he could get his hopes up, Venn 2.0 stepped in.

"There are some things that Solo has forbidden us to talk about until you have acquired a certain power. You'll have to forgive us if your questions fall under that category."

Duu 2.0 didn't say anything but Zero knew the blue mist cloud was silently observing everything and analysing.

"Can I ask if my meeting with Solo was something triggered by inheriting four sets of memories from the divine entities?"

"In a way, it was." Gugu 2.0 answered. "However, it wasn't something planned for. Solo must have felt that you required something to help you along your way so he pulled you over once you have enough energy to support the time paradox."

Zero nodded. He didn't know what a time paradox was but it certainly was something that required a lot of magic or power to overcome.

"Will I be able to see Solo again?"

At that, nobody answered him immediately. Zero became slightly depressed. Duu 2.0 who was watching from the background decided to speak when nobody else did.

"We do not have the answer to that. There is a huge possibility that you will but we don't know when or how it will happen."

Zero smiled. Leave it to Baal to comfort him when he felt down in a practical way. Of the four divine fragments in the room, he felt most comforted by Duu 2.0.

"What's happening right now? According to Mii, a magic discrepancy happened after I inherited the four sets of memories. I also got a new title and some quests to meet the divine entities in person. Will you be guiding me to them?"

Venn 2.0 swirled around Zero and the brunet eased into the warmth.

"In a way, we are compasses to help you find where our original bodies are. However, once the message is passed, we will become one with you, unlike Mii. We will lose whatever consciousness we possess and become a part of your power."

"However, before that happens," Gugu 2.0 interrupted. "You have to find a way to sync and accept us. Unlike the Divine Entities of Trust, Kindness and Acceptance whom you have natural qualities to sync with, you need to develop a bond with the human emotions associated with Anger, Greed, Jealousy and Laziness."

Zero frowned. "I think I'm plenty of Lazy. I've been doing nothing but sleeping these days..."

Duu 2.0 chuckled. "That's not how it works. Ever since getting your body, you've been running around exploring everything and sticking your nose into everybody's business. The only reason why you're sleeping so much is because of how you've been neglecting your body."

Zero looked horrified. "But how will I ever be lazy? There are so many things to do and see... people to meet and talk to..."

"That," Gugu 2.0 pointed out. "Is the purpose of this trial."

"Why is there such a trial? I don't want to be lazy or angry or greedy or jealous... those are feelings that will end up hurting others and inconveniencing them."

Jevy 2.0 laughed. She swooshed in the air and brushed past Zero's cheek. "My dear, do you not think that humans possess feelings like this? Besides, what you want isn't very important in this situation. If you don't accept us and forge a bond with us through these emotions, you'll forever be stuck here. I wonder how long Buddha can hold up to suppress this chaotic energy?"

Zero whipped his head around to stare at Jevy 2.0 in horror.

"Buddha? What's going on outside?"

Venn 2.0 didn't bother sugarcoating anything. "Buddha is risking his immortality and life to preserve your physical body. Hades won't let him rest until he has it stabilised. However, from the looks of it... Buddha wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer. I'll give him two more days in heaven's time before his domain starts to fall apart."

Zero paled. He thought about using the communicator to tell Buddha to stop whatever he was doing but remembered that this is his mental dimension. Communicators didn't work. Mii and Bob wouldn't be able to pass the message either without being able to contact his physical body. The brunet knew that there were no other options. He had to do this by himself. If this was what Solo wanted... Zero didn't have a choice. No wonder Solo had been so generous by granting him an ability to inherit sins. Truen was right, there was no such thing as a free meal in the world.

"What do I have to do to form a bond? I don't know anything about the emotions you represent."

Jevy 2.0 circled the bed and hovered near a mirror. "That's simple. All you have to do is allow us to take temporary control of your mindscape. We'll show you our memory and you will have to live as us throughout the memory. If you can harmonise with our strongest emotions and not lose yourself in it, we can form the bond immediately."

Zero blinked. Was it really so simple? In the past, he would have readily agreed. However, after being friends with Baal for a while, the brunet started thinking twice. Whatever sounded too good to be true was usually too good to be true. There was always a catch.

Gugu 2.0 noticed Zero's silence and decided to try first. After all, the first to form a bond with Zero has a greater advantage. They could choose the space that they wanted to reside in and as the embodiment of Greed, Gugu 2.0 just had to have the best spot.

"How about trying to form a bond with Greed? It's something that you're fairly familiar with, unlike Anger and Laziness. Surely you've seen this from time to time... For example, how about that time when Count Carrabas attacked the village? He wanted power and fame from defeating the village, didn't he?"

Zero felt a different emotion bubble from within him when Gugu 2.0 said that and Venn 2.0 made his move.

"That's right. He wanted to kill everyone in the village, all the people whom you love. Amaraline was going to die, Clowis actually died. Douglas was used by him to betray his own kind in the village."

Thinking back about what happened not too long ago, Zero clenched his teeth hard. Venn 2.0 came closer and whispered harshly.

"Think about what would have happened if you've not been there on time. Think about what would have happened if you and Hua Tuo were still back at Endow Hill... he would have succeeded. Will Half Moon village still exist?"

At the peak of Zero's emotions, Venn 2.0 took that opening and plunged into the depths of Zero's mind. He painted a glorious picture of the villager's death. Everything was dripping in red and Zero could only watch on as Count Carrabas and his army burned the beautiful tree houses. The forest screamed in agony. Grandma Moppo stood on her bad knees with a determined look in her eyes even as the knights raised their swords against her. Zenobia had three arrows sticking out of her body. They were all piercing vital organs but the Chieftess continued to fight, yelling orders as she choked on her own blood.

Venn 2.0 felt the anger brew into something darker. Hatred. That was it. Striking while the iron was hot, the divine fragment allowed Zero's emotions to consume him completely.

Zero didn't stop burning in rage until Venn 2.0 was completely absorbed. The chaos energy and magic fighting against him were consumed and refined into something that pulsed similar to the void. Yet, there was a tinge of something darker within it.

Duu 2.0 watched in silent concern from his prison as Zero returned to normal. The magic spiked were definitely milder now that there were only three other foreign magic signatures fighting within Zero. However, the purity of Zero's mana had been destroyed with Venn's interference. It was a good thing that Zero grew in strength and was now stabilised. However, it was a shame that the brunet couldn't retain the quality of his light. The divine fragment fretted silently as Jevy 2.0 and Gugu 2.0 made their move.

What if Solo had made the wrong choice?