807 Chapter 807: The Council
Minutes before the end of the Tournament, Bernard, Hannah, and Chihiro went along with Nannah so they could present themselves in front of the Council of Ross. They initially thought that the council would be exclusive to the variants of Bernard, but it would seem they were not really strict in who they allowed to enter as variants of Hannah were also present.
"I suppose it is called the Council Of Ross, not Bernard."
Bernard, Chihiro, and Hannah weren't in front of the council yet, and were instead told to wait on top of the council building; if they were in a building, that is. They could be underground for all they know.
The top of the building had a clear view of the council room, overlooking through a glass where they could see a circular auditorium with more than a hundred Bernards. With the way they were seated and set up, they really did look like a normal parliament — a colorful one, that is. The majority was still filled with variants wearing white suits, but more than 30% of them were sporting different colors.
"...What are you doing, dad?"
"Trying to find a way for us to hear what's going on down there."
And as they had already been waiting for an entire 5 minutes, Bernard could no longer patiently wait for the council to call for them as he started tapping on the security system near the door. And after a couple of seconds of tinkering, he was able to replace the image being shown on the security system — a feed of what was happening inside the council room.
[...bring another variant without consulting us? This will not stand, even if it is you, Bard.]
And soon, they also started hearing what was being discussed through Bernard's armor.
[Although it was not my idea to bring another variant here,] Bard, who was in the very center of the auditorium, started looking around his variants as he spoke, [I believe it is also not necessary to consult any of you — I vouch for this Bernard.]
[Your recommendation means nothing, Bard.]
And as the images were slightly far away, it was hard to tell who was speaking from the hundreds of other Bernards present.
[You may think yourself to be the best of us since you are the first to discover the existence of the multiverse, but you definitely do not speak for us.]
[Well, if not him, then who? You?]
[Your opinions are biased since he also vouched for you, 212.]
"Jesus…" Hannah could not help but take a peek down below as she heard the council talking, "...And I thought you were already insufferable, Dad."
"Actually," a small smile crawled on Chihiro's face as she listened on, "You will find that there are a lot of… unique Bernards."
"What about the one they call King?" Bernard asked, "Is he here?"
"No," Chihiro almost burst out in laughter, "If he was, there wouldn't be a council — King would kill each and every last one of these doozies. And I am telling you, he is more than capable of that. Which reminds me, King should know the existence of the multiverse right now… he is probably already out there somewhere, wreaking havoc in another universe outside his own."
"Then—"
[The rodents that are listening in on us, you may come down now.]
And before the three could finish their conversation, the door suddenly slid open.
"..." Bernard, Hannah, and Chihiro looked at each other for a few seconds, before stepping out of the waiting room.
"What the fuck? Wasn't this a hallway?" Hannah blinked a couple of times as they found themselves in front of a dead end. And before they could even turn back and return to the waiting room, the door suddenly closed on them, trapping them inside.
"T—"
Well, perhaps they weren't trapped; as before they could even start breaking their way out, they started to descend.
"Oh, it was a fucking elevator…" And as the so-called elevator also had a glass window, the view of the circular auditorium grew closer and closer. And as they got nearer to the ground, Hannah and Bernard finally realized just how… weird and mystical it was to see more than a hundred variants altogether at the same time and place.
And with all of the variants looking at them as they stepped out of the elevator, Hannah almost felt herself suffocate from all the familiar eyes staring at her; almost as if judging her entire life with just a single glance.
"This is the variant? He is vanilla, Bard."
And even with them now walking to the center of the council, the three still found it difficult to determine who was actually speaking amongst the lot.
"Just another Whiteking, wow. We could use another one of those—not. Get this guy out of here."
"Why don't we listen to the man first?"
"Why should we listen to a Bernard that discovered the multiverse this late?"
And with almost all of the variants talking over each other, the three felt themselves drowning from all the sarcastic, and arrogant noises that violently lingered in the air like a plague. Bernard did not really mind, however, as he was using this time to observe the other variants. Chihiro was slightly used to it already since she had lived the lives of different variants countless times.
"Oh, would all of you fucking cucks just stop whining already? Hannah, on the other hand, could no longer help herself; the temperature in the council room, instantly rising by several degrees as she stepped forward and started spinning around in place to look at all the Bernards,
"Just so we're clear here—we did not request to be here, we were brought here by her."
Hannah then pointed at Nannah, who was standing on the side and quietly observing the situation.
"Of course, she brought you here." One of the Hannah variants stood up and pointed at Nannah, "She thinks she's a fucking princess that could do anything she wants because her dad is oh so powerful."
"That's right! I wanna request we vote for our leader!" Another Hannah stood up, "I don't think it's right not to have someone on top, it's fucking chaotic in here."
"Shut the fuck up! And who is going to be the leader, your dad!? Go lick your own pussy, fucking bitch!"
"What did you say to me!?"
"Fuck…" Hannah could not help but take a step back as her variants started arguing, "...Am I this annoying?"
"Yes," Chihiro answered without any hesitation, "Very much."
"At least I'm not a murdering fuck who killed more than a thousand of her own variants," Hannah rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I won't be so sure about that," Chihiro giggled.
"Enough!"
And before the orchestra of sassiness could turn into a full-on ensemble, Bard stomped his foot on the floor, causing a literal ripple to flow across the entire circular council room that made all the people there almost bounce right where they sat and stood.
"They are here now, and we will hear what they have to say!" Bard's voice reverberated through everyone's ears, "And I will state this now as fact—any word that comes out of their mouths is more important than anything any of you will say or have ever said! And the only reason this Bernard has not discovered multiversal travel faster than me is because he is dealing with something that no one of us ever had to deal with, and I mean no one! Not even the variants outside this council!"
"Oh, please…" One of the Bernards rolled his eyes, "...Everyone here has experienced tragedy."
"Not like his," Bard stayed quiet.
"What could be so—"
"I killed my best friend, Steve."
And as Bernard finally spoke up, the other Bernards all shut their mouths and looked at him—no, glared at him. Looking at him as if he was some sort of wild dirty, disgusting, plague-infested animal that they had to put down.
As for Bernard, he already expected and anticipated their reaction; that was the very reason he opened his introduction with that in the first place.
"I killed Steve because of my son, my adoptive son," Bernard looked at each of his variants in the eyes, "His name is Riley Ross…
…and he might be the harbinger of the end of all life as we know it."
And with those words, most of the Bernards started sitting back one by one as they silently gestured to Bernard to continue telling his story, and he did. He told them a shortened version of how Riley came to be, and how he might be related to the primordials. And as an avatar of a Primordial, Chihiro also shared what she knew of the situation.
"Preposterous."
But alas, most of the Bernards still shook their heads, unable to believe that such a thing was actually happening.
"If that is true, then the council would have already known it."
"Proof, we need proof of this!"
"Don't worry," Bernard raised his hand before looking at Bard, "We've already decided beforehand to bring the proof here. I discussed it with your leader."
"Bard is not our leader!"
"He sure looks like it," Bernard smirked. And before another argument could arise, Nannah ran toward her father and whispered something into his ears. And with a nod of his head, Bard tapped his arm, and a portal appeared beside him.
"We welcome you to the Council of Ross…
…Riley Ross."
"..." And as Riley Ross slowly emerged from the portal, all the Bernards observed him from head to toe. As for all the Hannahs, well, they all stood up from their seats and did the same…
…except with a different glow in their eyes.
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