"Were you the one who took Mr. Door's Uniqueness?"
The True Creator fell silent for a moment. "Yes, and no."
For fuck's sake, another one of these ambiguous answers.
"Then why did it end up with me?"
The pitch-black slit pupil behind the curtain suddenly contracted, fixing him with an unrelenting stare. More than ten seconds later, the True Creator said, "That was... an accident."
"An accident?"
The answer first surprised Edward, then eased his tension-an accident was good. If even the True Creator called it an accident, it probably really was one. That meant everything he had experienced probably had not been arranged by someone else.
But that raised a new question: what kind of accident could possibly have landed something like a Uniqueness with someone from outside the world of Lord of the Mysteries?
"You... know where I come from, don't you?"
This time, his answer surprised Edward:
"I... don't."
"Then why did you... toward me back then..."
At this point, Edward suddenly did not know how to phrase it. Had it been goodwill? Or something else?
"Because... you held... Door."
So I benefited from the Door Pathway's Uniqueness?
After a pause, he added, "But... he shouldn't... have ended up... in your hands, so... the other me... wanted to... kill you."
Holy shit.
"Then what exactly did you want to do when you traded with Mr. Door for the Door Pathway's Uniqueness?"
The slit pupil behind the curtain blinked, and a buzzing voice said, "Fight the coming Apocalypse."
What connection was there between those two things?
"You mean the Outer Deities?"
"Perhaps..."
"But why could the Uniqueness help you fight the Outer Deities... or the Apocalypse?"
The True Creator said, "That involves... the other me's... plans. I'm... not entirely... sure either."
"But... aren't you both you?"
"No, that