The Innkeeper

"Before I begin, don\'t you think you should share a little something as well. If you have no secret to hide, how about a little about your life."

Rafael was looking towards the nonchalant Anakin and, after his words registered, the rest looked towards him as well. It did seem a little unfair if he was the only one who shared nothing.

Anakin only chuckled in response, but did not delay.

"My life is pretty straight forward. I grew up in a town called Springfield. My dad was a plumber and my mom worked at the local post office. We had a pretty good house my dad bought with some of his savings and money he inherited from my grandpa, so we had no debt to speak of - the American dream. I did pretty well on my SATs and even got a scholarship for college. Life was swell… and boring.

"That\'s when things got messed up. The Council of New Order appeared, the world became strange, cultivators appeared, and I found a golden key to the Inn. Well, since then, I\'ve never looked back. It\'s an interesting life for me, or nothing at all. Oh and uhh, one day randomly in my dream, some random old dude appeared and claimed I have a great affinity for the dark side- no eh, I mean, I have great affinity for darkness and gave me a cultivation technique which I\'m currently cultivating."

"He\'s telling the truth," Noman murmured absentmindedly.

Anakin\'s history was both surprising and unimpressive. Rafael had not heard of him in his previous life, so it was likely he never made any great achievements back then. But things were too different this time around, so it was hard to tell if it would be the same.

Not bothering to comment on his story, Rafael cleared his throat and began.

"My name is Rafael Carter Bravi and many years ago, I was struck by an accident. It destroyed my entire body. But that is only what happened on the surface, the truth of the matter is entirely different."

He paused for a moment, as he thought back on the memories of his previous life. He remembered everything so vividly; every emotion, every ache, every hope, every moment of despair, all of it. It was that level of clarity that brought some doubt, for none of his other memories were so clear. The truth… was something he would most likely never know, nor that it mattered, but for the first time, he could voice his suspicions.

"The truth is, I\'ve actually traveled back in time from the future. My original life… my original timeline was vastly different from this one, yet at the same time, it was so similar. Everyone who existed in my original life exists now, and I was able to live and witness the history of Earth for a total of 134 years.

"The Earth in my original life was very different, and the war between the Council of New Order and the five Nascent heads was also very different. When all was said and done, Earth was almost destroyed, and humans were brought to a fraction of their current population."

He paused again, this time paying attention to Larry\'s disbelieving reaction. He waited for the subtle \'he\'s telling the truth\' murmur before he continued.

"So far, many of the things that were supposed to happen in my original timeline have already changed. Although I don\'t know why they changed, I strongly suspect it has something to do with the appearance of the golden keys for the Midnight Inn on Earth. But, while immediate disasters have been averted, there are more dangers ahead. I\'ve already checked by various means that this timeline is mostly identical to my original one, and so I strongly believe that the troubles that lay ahead will still come, especially since they don\'t originate from Earth itself.

"So, to fight against these dangers and prepare for the worst, it has been my goal to find the strongest people in the future, and band them together so that we can work together to solve the situation. That is why I approached Larry, because he is supposed to become one of the strongest people on Earth in the future."

He finally stopped, for the amount he had shared was enough to cover the contract they had signed. But, he knew, or rather, anticipated something, and it happened immediately in the next moment.

"He\'s telling the truth, but he\'s also hiding something. The truth is incomplete," said Noman, his voice filled with genuine wonder. Even with his vast experience, this was beyond anything he had ever encountered.

Rafael sighed and said, "Well, actually, the thing is, I\'ve been having some doubts lately - though whether they are true or not changes nothing, for now. I am not so sure if I actually traveled back in time, or just had a vision of the future. At first, I thought I had traveled back, but there are certain things that make me think that instead of me traveling back in time, I just had visions of the future. As for what those things are, and why I think that, I believe I don\'t need to share them as our contract doesn\'t cover it. I\'ve already revealed the matters that pertained to Larry and why I was searching for him."

Everyone looked towards Noman, who simply nodded to confirm he was telling the truth. They were all reeling from what they heard, but neither of them was more devastated than Anakin. Because of how apocalyptic the future Rafael witnessed was, he had no opportunity to learn any lottery numbers or know the leading stocks! Valuable investment opportunities were lost! The shame! Oh, the shame!

What he did not know was that he should have been rejoicing that the future was different from what Rafael knew, for Anakin had been one of the many casualties in the war that had covered the globe. That was why he never had a chance to reveal his stunning skills and capabilities in that future.

"There\'s no need to share more…" Larry said slowly. "At least according to the old contract. But we can make a new deal. If you can answer some of my questions about the future, I\'d be willing to help you out in whatever you need."

Rafael took a moment to think, but then shook his head.

"There\'s no need for another contract. I\'ll tell you what you want to know, since you\'ll already remove the important bits of my secret from your memory."

Actually, Rafael was taking a risk. He was betting that while Larry would forget other things, he would not forget his sense of goodwill developed by him answering honestly, because there was no reason to deposit that.

"In the future you saw… did I have a family?" he asked, barely keeping his voice from wavering.

Rafael shook his head.

"I didn\'t know you personally, so I don\'t know the details of your life. I did, however, know that you didn\'t seem to have any family or friends."

He paused, to let him absorb that information, and then continued.

"Since three of us are all from Earth, I\'ll share a bit more with all of you. After all, it has to do with our futures, and I\'m hoping we can work together on this. After all, even if you remove your memories, the sense of belief or trust should still stay, so I\'m hoping you\'ll help me."

Anakin and Larry both nodded, though Larry was visibly upset right now. Anakin, though not taking things too seriously, did, after all, live on Earth, so he wanted to know what was going to happen.

"Earth has a huge secret that no one knows, though many suspect. If you\'ve heard of the original 5 Nascent cultivators who used to rule Earth, you might be familiar with the fact that one of them went from being a mortal to a Nascent cultivator overnight. Larry himself found an incredible treasure, and I encountered something that allowed me to view the future. Anakin had dreams telling him about cultivation techniques. There are many, many more examples of people becoming way too lucky on Earth. You may think that it\'s all just coincidence, but if a coincidence repeats too often, it starts to seem suspicious.

"And the truth is, it really isn\'t a coincidence. Earth… Earth is not as it seems. The planet is actually a prison for an evil goddess named Bastet, and many others. This is because Earth, and its surrounding region in space, are in what is known as a deadzone in the universe. I don\'t know much about these, just that they are severely suffocated of spiritual energy. But I do know that in the year 2025 something happens, and the deadzone changes, and Earth, along with the solar system, becomes flooded with spiritual energy much more concentrated than the normal universe.

"The flood of spiritual energy causes the goddess to break free of her restraints, and that\'s when…"

There was pin drop silence as everyone listened to Rafael very seriously, even Noman. This was because… he had heard of Bastet before.

*****

Origin realm, Planet Hozath

The entire world was filled with a deathly silence as every living being, from single-celled organisms to sentient lifeforms, were under the coercion of a black furred cat.

"I have returned, you wretched traitors," her voice echoed over the planet. "Know this, and live in fear. The moment I break through my shackles, your end shall be nigh."

There was nothing more that Bastet wanted than to decimate this entire planet, but as someone who had touched upon the Dao, she was under heavy restrictions. Even she did not dare flaunt Henali\'s rules, but hopefully soon, that would no longer be a concern.