Interlude 1: An old "man" named Gil

London 14th November

The year 2115

Gil sat down in his cushioned couch, frowning like usual. In front of him stood Melissa, his apprentice, with her hands folding in irritation. Melissa was a young woman of 21, with dark ebony skin and long raven black hair let loose on her shoulders. She was dressed in a blood-red sleeveless shirt, and inconspicuous sky-blue jeans of cheap, organic material. In short, nothing that really made her stand out from a woman of her age.

If she looked like the average girl of the modern age, then Gil was like the residue of an old century that refused to die, which would describe him nicely to anyone who knew him properly. It was hard to believe that these two people were even from the same time period, much less being in the same room.

Gil had the look of a decrepit old man in his 80s. His long, dirty hair was like white seaweed, his sickly skin was elderly and bony with a soft green hue on its pale complexion, and his fishy sea coloured eyes looked wide and squinty. His attire was on a much fancier side, however, consisting of a complex looking nightrobe of smooth silk fitting an old king coloured violet with yellow patterns and markings on it, while on his foot wore simple, yellow sandals. He leaned a bit forward, holding himself still with a cane of dark brown wood, which seemed to show no signs of splinters or any imperfections.

Gil looked at the young woman in front of him, noting the way she seemed upset not at what she had done, but at the fact that she knew he didn't approve it, and he gave out a deep sigh.

This is why I never had any children, he thought.

The heavy November snow splattered against the windows like rubber bullets and melted into wet patters that overlayed on top of each other over and over again. The neon lights of the city shone in the night in all the rainbow colours, and in the distance could be heard the sounds of cars and other vehicles breaking through the snow. Not many cars came through this neighbourhood since it was old and in ruins, with most of the buildings being abandoned, filled with squatters or used as gang hangouts. This building, in particular, looked from the outside as broken down the rest of the ones in the street. On the inside though, it looked as fancy and clean as a rich man's manor, although much smaller and with only one floor.

In the living room of this house stood the current duo, staring at each other in silence. Both knew what was going to come next, and neither of them looked forward to it.

"So," began Gil. "I guess I don't have to remind you why we are here, having this conversation do I?"

Melissa didn't answer. Just stood in silence, her arms still folded. Gil shook his head in shame.

"How many times did we go over this thing in this very room?" he continued. "How many times did I have to remind you of the consequences the reckless use of your gifts could entail? Never, though, has this discussion mattered as much as it did now. Frankly, I had suspected you would do something like this sooner or later, yet still, I am deeply disappointed in you either way."

Melissa scoffed as if to say that she expected him to make those exact words.

"It's not like anybody saw," she said.

"Of course no one saw," replied Gil. "Except for the 10 or so bystanders. And the boy you rescued of course."

"You know I erased his and all their memories the first thing afterwards," Melissa said.

"And that was good," Gil replied. "Very smart and quick thinking of you in fact. But do you know what can't be erased so easily? Do you know the type of memories that in this day and age can't be removed as simple as flicking a wrist, no matter how powerful a mage you are and even after the person making them has long since died?"

He leaned a bit forward as he wanted her to especially hear this next part.

"Photographs," he said simply. "Photographs and videos."

"Look, even if some guy manages to record this thing and upload it online, no one is going to think it's real," began Melissa.

"I am not talking about some random sod with a cheap phone recorder!" Gil said strongly. "And you know that of course. There are live cameras everywhere in this city. In this country even. You can't go piss in an alleyway in this day and age without risking your entire ordeal being uploaded live to the government's database."

"I've told you already, there were no live cameras pointing in his direction, I checked. " Melissa said, sounding frustrated. "How many times do I have to tell you this?"

"So if there was a camera pointing in his direction, you definitely wouldn't have saved him either way eh?" Gil asked sarcastically.

Melissa went quiet and looked away.

"Don't lie to me," began Gil. "I know you would have."

"So even if I saved him in front of a camera, so what?" Melissa asked.

Gil looked incredibly insulted by what she just said.

"So what?!" he asked. "Have you learned nothing these past few months?! Have you learned nothing your entire life?!"

"I really doubt that within the countless minutes of footage that's uploaded every day," Melissa began and looked back at him. "They would have even noticed anything wrong in the few seconds of a guy laying down then standing up when some random woman touched him a bit."

"Even if it was just an inkling of footage," the old wizard emphasized. "Even if only a single person saw, we can't risk anything we do getting out. Not after all this effort to conceal it."

"So you are saying I should have just let him die?" Melissa asked.

Gil became silent.

"Should I have?" Melissa pressed him.

"Yes," Gil said simply. "Yes, you should have. He wouldn't have benefited us in the least, and so you were in no position to help him. You didn't even cause his state, not even indirectly. He would have died, and neither he nor anyone around would have had any knowledge of the existence either of us. This thing we share here is more valuable than the life of a single boy."

Melissa scoffed and rolled her eyes. She had suspected him to say something like that, yet she hated hearing it nonetheless.

"When I came all the way here to be your student, all those months ago" she began. "I expected you to be better than this. My father-"

"Amal may have been a great man," interrupted Gil and stood up from his couch. "But he was also stubborn, dimwitted and incredibly short-sighted for a man of his age. His kindness and sense of justice can be an admirable trait at times sure, but due to it he also constantly risked everything I, his mother, and all the other had built this past millennium. Yet every time we tried to warn him about it, about the dangers the reckless use of his powers could bring to the order of the world, he just smirked looked the other way. And now, many years later, tell me. Where is he now?"

Melissa looked at him, mouth agape in shock. Off all the insults and complaints Gil had ever given her these past few months, this was without a doubt the worst thing he had ever uttered to her so far.

"How dare you?!" she asked him. "He was my father!"

"So?" Gil said simply. "Just because he was your father doesn't mean he's above criticism, alive or dead. To his credit though, he taught you well in terms of the arcane, but his way of life, the way he has drilled into your brain, is outdated. Hell, it was outdated long before you were even born. The world changes, and thus the rules have to change as well. If you don't approve my methods, then you can go. Go. I'm not stopping you."

He leaned uncomfortably close to her, so close that you could barely squeeze a palm between them.

"And if you do," Gil continued with much more emphasis on his words. "Then good luck finding yourself another magician."

He walked past her and headed for the living room door. Melissa unfolded her arms and turned her hands into fists by her side. She wanted to shout at him, insult him with the vilest insults her deep heart could manage, but Melissa knew that there would be no good from it. She was taught that a long time ago.

Gil opened the fancy door to his room and then stopped in his tracks. He turned his head slightly around and said:

"If you want to stay as my pupil, then we'll continue your training at 12 o'clock in the morning. You know where to find me. Let me know when you come to a decision until then. You are dismissed. Good night."

With that said, he went through the door and closed it behind him.

About an hour had passed since that moment, and Gil was now sitting by his lonesome in the living room chair. The snowing had gotten calmer and was now just a light drip on the windows. Gil had also turned off the holographic fireplace, and the ticking antique style digital clocks. Gil always liked the silence. It reminded him of when he was young, a long long time ago, before the era of bustling cities and worldwide connection. Partly why he picked such a desolate place to be his home. He considered picking an abandoned farmstead as his place at first, but this house had a deep personal meaning to him.

Gil tried not to think about what had occurred in this very room not so long ago. Gil was a very patient man and could handle more than a single outburst. He believed that this patience is what had kept him alive for so long, that it's what kept him determined.

He looked outside the windows at the buildings covered in multicoloured lights. He found it hard to believe that this was the same world he was born in. He reflected on how much it changed in just a few centuries, and now he wished he could live to see it would change in the next few. Unfortunately, his magic seemed to be reaching its limits, and his age was now finally starting to catch up with him after all this time. Gil began to realize that fully once his eyesight became worse and worse in the past decades. He calculated that he had only about a century to live, two if he was lucky. But Gil had accepted that fact. He had accepted it a long time ago, that he was one of the last fading sparks of a long forgotten era.

There were no active cameras outside pointing in the direction of the house, Gil noticed. Still, just to be sure, Gil walked up to the red velvet curtains and closed them. Then he walked back to his cushion chair and gave out a short sigh. It was finally a good time for him to shed this disguise.

He removed his shoes with his feet and loosed up his gown. His grey hair turned greener and oily, and his skin became and paler. The gills on his stomach were the first to appear. He felt them open up to his lungs, and breath out some loose air. Next, his feet began to lengthen and the toes fuse with one another, forming what looked two like flesh coloured fins. His hands then followed suit and became webbed. His ears became fin-like, and his mouth began to elongate like a fish head. Then his teeth became sharp as a piranha, and at last, his transformation was complete as his skin took on a scaly texture. Gil gave out a nice relaxing sigh as his veil had been taken off finally like socks he had to wear all day. He leaned his head on the top of the cushioned chair and dozed into a short sleep.

There came a sudden knock on the living room door, and a well built looking man wearing a suit with clay looking white skin came through.

"Apologies," the man said immediately with a stoic tone. "I didn't know you were shedding tonight master."

"Wallace," replied Gil, awake now. "It's ok, you may come in. What is the matter?"

"Not much really," Wallace replied, still showing no emotions. "Just came to let you know that Melissa has informed me through the phone that she is going to stay here as your apprentice."

"Hmm, that's great," Gil said. "Is there anything else?"

Wallace became unusually quiet for a moment.

"Yes," he said after a while. "In fact, there is on more thing."

Oh boy, Gil thought.

"Alright, out with it," he said.

Wallace walked into the room proper and stood besides Gil in his chair. There he turned his entire body around and leaned down a bit to his master.

"I couldn't help but overhear the… the dialogue you had with miss Melissa last hour," Wallace admitted.

"Are you eavesdropping again?" Gil asked.

"Apologies," said Wallace. "It was not my intention to. My hearing is unfortunately too good, so I could hear everything that occurred between you two even behind two walls."

"Nah it's ok," said Gil. "So was that all you're gonna say or is there more?"

"There is more," began Wallace.

Gil sighed, sensing what was coming.

"I passed by Melissa as she came from the living room and headed outside," continued Wallace. "She seemed to be in a hurry as she didn't seem to notice even bumping into me. Either that or she was in much emotional distress, which I am more inclined to believe as I had managed to glimpse her face before she left. It looked like she was a bit angry and sad, most likely related to some of the things you said about her late sir Amal, her father, just a few minutes before. So I know I wasn't made to give such advises, but if I may dare suggest, for the sake of not just her wellbeing but yours as well, that the next time you meet her, which may be tomorrow if the next hours will be without any issues, that you should perhaps find it in you to apologize to her and-"

"That'll be all Wallace, good night," interrupted Gil.

Wallace adjusted himself back without hesitation and gave out a small bow.

"I'll be in my quarters if you need me," he said. "Of course, you can always just call me from your room if it's an emergency. Or if you just won't bother standing up like usual."

"That'll be duly noted, thank you very much," Gil said and chuckled.

The clay skinned butler bowed again and left the room, leaving Gil alone once again.

Gil gave out another sigh, this one more exasperated than the last.

What would I do without you Wallace? he thought. A lot of things maybe. But you keep me sane at least. That's all that matters about you in my eyes.

Gil lay his head back on his chair and closed his eyes. He didn't dream much, not anymore that is, but he at least knew the value of sleep. This was a long day for him, and he hoped that the next day was at least a lot less tiring.

Barely ten minutes had passed until there was a knock on the front door. Gil opened his large eyes immediately and sighed in frustration.

"Wallace!" he yelled. "The door!"

"On it!" the butler yelled back.

"If it's yet another of those preacher drones!" Gil yelled. "Then tell it to shove off! I've got enough problems as is!"

Gil lay his head back to try another attempt at sleeping. After about a minute, there came a knock on the living room door and Wallace peaked through.

"There is a young man out here," he said. "Irish judging by his accent. He says he wants to speak to you personally."

Who the hell could that be? Gil thought.

"Tell him he's picked the wrong house," he told his butler. "I've got no meeting planned with anyone."

"Sir," Wallace continued. "He says he knows you're a magician."

Gil turned his head around in shock.

What? he thought. Did someone see Melissa dumb hero act? Of course, someone did. That someone must've tracked her down and followed her to me.

Gil sighed.

"I warned that lady," he said. "I told her something like this could happen. Fine, I'll say hi to him for a moment. Shut him up if I can."

He stood up from his chair and went out of the living room, but not before putting back on his human form.

"I should warn you though," Wallace said after him. "This young man had some strange, unfamiliar aura to him. Might be magical in nature-"

"Yeah, yeah," Gil said as he headed to the front door.

This man is gonna be a perfect example to use tomorrow, Gil thought. She might think twice now before using her powers in public again.

He opened it up and a breeze of cold air followed by some snow came blasting through the door, and Gil saw a strange figure on the other side. Gil poor eyesights could only make out was a strange black silhouette with blinding lights in the background at first. Then he blinked a bit, and the silhouette turned into a clearer figure. The figure was tall and dressed top to bottom in a thin, dark green winter jacket, and his face was hidden from a large hood he sported. Both his hands were inside the jacket pocket.

"Who are you?" Gil asked grumpily. "What do you want."

"I'd like to come inside, first of all," the mysterious man spoke.

The man spoke with a deep voice that had a tinge of an Irish accent in it, just like Wallace suspected.

"Look, if it's something you can tell me right now then out with it," Gil replied.

"Well aren't you impatient," the man said. "Funny. I had heard that patience was your strongest trait. Or did I confuse you with some other wizard?"

Wait, he can't be talking about soul traits, is he? Gil thought. And what does he mean by heard of me? Haven't I've been perfect in erasing any traces of my life?

"Did you just call me a wizard eh?" Gil asked back, trying to sound befuddled "Aren't you a bit too old to believe in fairy tales?"

The strange man chuckled in response.

Is he amusing himself? Gil thought.

"You don't have to pretend Gil," the younger one said. "I already know who you are."

Gil felt a fear growing within him.

How does he know my name? Gil thought. How does he know any of this?

"Look boy," he said with a tone of confidence. "You are not the first crazy or junkie to come barging on this door, asking about some… voodoo magic or shit, and you definitely won't be the last. Whatever you heard of me, it's bullshit. Plain and simple. Now shove off, and have a good night."

But just as Gil began to close the door, the wind increased in power and the door blew wide open, nearly off its hinges. Next, the mysterious man pulled up a strange stick from his pocket and aimed it besides Gil. Before Gil could react, the stick suddenly turned into a spear which extended to unnatural length and impaled the wall on the other side of the front door. Gil watched all this unfold in confusion and shock.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

The man's spear pulled backwards and shrunk back to the size of a stick.

"You tell me," he replied. "I thought you were an expert in these sort of things."

Gil was suddenly reminded of what Wallace had just told him which he dismissed.

This young man had some strange, unfamiliar aura to him.

He looked at the mysterious stranger and raised his hand to sense his soul. At first, there was nothing unusual about it, despite the incredibly high determination in it which was possible in normal humans. Then he felt something else. Something that he had almost forgotten the sensation of. It entwined the stranger's soul and seemed bound to it like a conjoined twin. Yet, Gil found it hard to place what it was. Then he looked into his past to try and find something he could remember resembling it. Then after a few moments, he found it and was hit by an immense shock. This sensation was that of a monster's soul.

No, Gil thought. It can't be.

"You are… a halfbreed," he said in disbelief.

The stranger chuckled.

"Hope so," he said. "Never knew my father. It would make my life a lot more interesting."

"I thought we wiped out the last of your filth ages ago," Gil said.

The man chuckled again.

"Looks like you missed a few," he said. "Funny you should refer to them like that. Filth. Especially since that if the stories are true, you are only half human yourself eh? It doesn't look like they called you The Merman because you had a tail for legs. Doubt they were referring to the one between your legs either."

How the hell does he know about my silly title? Gil thought.

"Well, what makes you think I won't simply kill you right here and there?" the old man asked.

"Fine then," the man said nonchalantly. "Do it. Of course, the cars passing by here in a while might wonder why there is suddenly a dead man covered in blood laying on your doorstep."

"You'll just turn to dust," lied Gil. "And then the fools will think you're snow."

The young man became quiet for a moment and then chuckled once more.

"We both know that's not how it works," he said. "That is, of course, assuming you're right and I am in fact a "halfbreed" as you say. But even if halfbreed corpses really do turn to dust, I have a feeling you wouldn't kill me either way."

"Why not?" asked Gil.

The man became silent once again. This time, it seemed like the silence was due to the fact that he was looking for the right words to say.

"If you really wanted to kill me," the man began after a short while. "You would have invited me in the second you suspected I was a half breed and then done it in quiet. I am no match for you, and you know that. In fact, you could burn me to ash right here and then let the wind take the remains. And yet… you haven't. Why?"

Gil didn't speak. He sensed that it was true of the stranger in that he was much more powerful than him, yet it was true he did nothing. He tried to think of a justification why but realised he was stumped. He wasn't sure he even the answer himself.

"You feel lonely aren't you?" the man suddenly asked.

Gil felt those words suddenly hit him in a place he didn't know he had. It was like the stranger managed to grasp the reason for his actions before Gil even knew of it himself.

"What makes you say that?" Gil asked.

The stranger shrugged.

"Why wouldn't you be?" he asked. "Stories say that ever since the great purge, you decided to keep your life so you could use your powers for the good of the world, even though you were one of the so-called "filth" yourself. For a long time after that, you have believed that you were the last of your kind. The last halfbreed. It truly must be lonely to wander the earth for dozens of lifetimes with no-one that can share your experience."

"But now," the stranger continued. "Suddenly after a long time, comes a mysterious person, a possible halfbreed not to mention, into your life. I have come for your help, and your help in particular even while knowing of your infamous reputation with your own kind, and yet I have shown you no ill will. Not only that, as I said earlier I know I am no match for your powers. And yet…"

The strangers spread his arms wide in the air.

"Here I am," he said. "So, what will it be, old man? Will you help me?"

Gil became silent again. He felt a bit angry at this stranger, mostly due to his cocky nature and the way he seemed to know so much about him somehow, but not just when it came to his history. The stranger was right, as much as Gil didn't want to admit it. He really did feel lonely, and the way the stranger spoke about it sent a strange sadness into him. Gil gave out a short sigh, and for the first time in a while, he decided against his usual best interests.

"You talk much don't you?" he began. "Fine. You win."

The stranger chuckled.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Gil replied. "So what do you want?"

The stranger became quiet like he felt uncomfortable answering that question. He put his hand on his hood and pulled it off finally revealing his face. From what Gil could discern with his weakening eyesight, he looked for the most part like he was a normal looking man in his thirties with a trimmed beard and clear blue eyes, but there seemed to also be something strange coming out of his head, which the growing fog and Gil's weakening eyesight made it hard to discern what it was. What it seemed to resemble though, was that it looked like the man a pair of hairy tentacles coming out his head. Then, the stranger said:

"I want to become your apprentice."

Author's note:

Well, this is perhaps the fastest update I have ever made.

Anyways, here is the first interlude of the Shattering. I have been looking forward to writing this part for a long time. Now how it actually relates to the main story, I ain't telling. It will become clear later, but in the meantime, you may theorize what the deal is with this weird old man and his companions. And what is up with that stranger in the end (assuming the implication I made wasn't obvious enough).

As for the main story, the next chapter will obviously be the Snowdin forest, no major spoilers there I hope. We'll also meet a bunch of popular characters, and there are one or two surprises I have planned there. But unfortunately, yet again, you'll have to wait a while. Many of you that follow me may have noticed that I am "rebooting" the politics bear story, which will be the main reason for the delay. The first chapter won't be that different however, it's just that it's been so long since I've made updates to it that I thought I might as well just call it a reboot at this point. So that's another story you can look forward to, and I will work on that as soon as I can.
I am also still working on my original short story, which I'll try to finish before the spring break is over.

So until then, I'll see you next time.