The world of Terros existed and the hero was real!
"YES THAT WORLD EXISTS!"
Ra' voice boomed against Arthur. In his excitement, he had failed to maintain the sheild around his thoughts.
Then the battle with the demon king happened! Arthur realized as trepidation gripped him at the outcome of of the battle. Did the hero prevail and save his world? His thoughts unshielded projected to Ra who gave him an answer.
"THE HERO LOSES!"
And with those words. Arthur's world came crushing down. He looked at the titan before him, processing what he had just said. Suddenly death wasn't the most painful thing Arthur had experienced. If the hero lost, then that means he was no more. He had died slain by the demon king he fought.
"YES," Ra affirmed it. "HE FIGHTS TO THE VERY END, HIS BODY BROKEN, HIS COMRADES SLAIN,YET HE FIGHTS ON. BUT IN THE END THE DEMON KING PREVAILS. AND ALL OF TERROS IS DEVOURED BY THE VOID GOD!"
Ra's words painted a vivid picture in Arthur's mind.
Finding out the hero was real felt like new life had been breathed into his dead body, only to learn of his tragic end.
This must be his personal hell!
"BUT HE WAS SO STRONG!" Arthur's thoughts raged against the Titan. refusing to believe what he had learnt. There was just no way.
"BUT THE DEMON KING IS STRONGER!" Ra said.
"JUST AS YOU WERE ABLE TO SEE IT, SO IS HE. WHEN THAT BATTLE COMES TO PASS, THE HERO'S FATE IS TO DIE AND HIS WORLD DEVOURED!"
The hero's fate is to Die! Arthur's mind latched on to those words like a drowning man looking for air.
"You said "The hero's fate is to die!" Hasn't it already happened?" He asked?
"AH!" Ra exclaimed, realizing his omission. "EVERYTHING YOU HAVE WITNESSED IS YET TO COME TO PASS. WHILE YOUR SOUL HAS A UNIQUE ABILITY, YOU DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT POWER TO CROSS INTO THE WORLD OF TERROS."
"INSTEAD YOUR SPIRIT SKIMMED AT THE EDGES OF THE WORLD AND YOU SWAM IN THE CURRENTS OF FATE AROUND TERROS. YOU SIMPLY WITNESSED THE MOST LIKELY FUTURE THAT THE WORLD IS FLOWING TO."
Arthur felt like his lifeline was being restored as he listened to Ra's words. Then The hero had not yet faced the demon king! He was still alive. a sense of excitement and righteous calm enveloped Arthur. If everything was simply a glimpse of the future, then the future can be changed.
A possibility took root in Arthur's mind and he watered it right away. Just as his world was real, so was Terros and other worlds. Ra had said his soul could step beyond the bounds of his world into the void between worlds.
Arthur was no longer bound to his world as he was dead. perhaps there could be a way for his soul to cross into Terros and warn the hero about the future. If the hero knew just how powerful the final boss is, then he could achieve greater heights of power and be better prepared!
"How do i cross into the world of Terros?" He asked Ra. The Titan after all had introduced himself as a Remnant of a God. whatever that meant, he should have a way of helping Arthur with this one thing.
"Why do you wish to cross into this world?"
"To warn the hero! If he knows that the enemy he faces is that much stronger, he will work harder! If he knows the obstacles he faces in the future, he will work that much harder to save more lives!"
Ofcourse with the bubble shielding his thoughts, Arthur was able to keep it from Ra that he wished to cross into Terros to meet the hero.
"If you warn the hero, and he attempts to change the future, he might very very still lose." Ra said. " Just as you were able to witness the fate of this world, So was i by peering at the edges of that world and so is The Demon king!"
Arthur's excitement waned as the implications of Ra's words hit home.
"The Demon King is a very powerful being. He reads the Fate of his target world and reacts accordingly to bring about a future where his victory is assured. The hero is at the center of the Fate of Terros. Every choice of his will send ripples throughout Fate and The Demon king will see that future and plan his victory! "
"Tell me Arthur? What will your Hero do against a foe who sees his every move, his every choice like a ghost standing in his shadow?"
Arthur had no answer. In the silence that engulfed them, Ra spoke.
"I should know how hopeless it is to face the Demon king. After all I was the chosen hero of my world! And now it's no more!"
Ra's last words sounded like a whisper even beyond Arthur's bubble. And they contained a sadness etched upon the soul. a sadness and shame.