May Soul Dissonance Bow Before Me

Chapter 3

A few seconds later, the curtain parted, and a tall, handsome, well-built male with black hair and many scars emerged from beyond the crimson curtain. He turned back and offered his hand toward the young woman who followed behind him.

While everyone else was surprised by the sight of the black haired stranger, three individuals recognized him immediately, while a few others flinched at the sight of his familiar face. However, everyone was rendered speechless at the sight of the ethereal woman who had her hand resting in his.

She had long hair that was just as red as Cale’s and her eyes were a stunningly mysterious shade, that resembled both the mysterious male as well as Cale’s own reddish-grey-brown coloured eyes. She was petite and exuded an air of feminine vulnerability that made everyone feel an intense desire to protect her. She also looked quite young, and standing beside the towering form of the Korean man who was escorting her over toward them - she looked even smaller.

Cale sprang upright the moment they were near enough and stepped forward. His lips parted to speak, but the young lady looked up at that moment and smiled softly. The demure and ethereal smile made her look even more angelic, and he lost his train of thought. A quiet snicker of amusement came from the male beside her. She glanced at him, still holding her smile now with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes, and then she took her hand from his and turned fully to face everyone.

Standing with her back straight, she opened her mouth to address them.
“Greetings Children of Earth 0. I am the Goddess Grigori. I am sure you have many questions you would like to ask me and many things you want to say, so I will first start by explaining why you needed to come here and what exactly is happening to you.” 
The tall Korean who’d been standing at her side, left her and went over to join Cale who had returned to his seat. Cale inclined his head to him in mute greeting before turning his gaze back to the young goddess.

“I am sure many of you have heard of the term dissonance. For those who haven’t, allow me to explain. Dissonance is defined as a lack of harmony among or between people or things. It can be reduced by changing existing beliefs, adding new beliefs, or simply reducing the importance of the beliefs. However, despite how effective these solutions claim to be against cognitive dissonance, they have little effect against soul dissonance. What you have been feeling over the course of the last two months is soul dissonance.”

Goddess Grigori gave everyone a moment to process her words before she continued speaking to them.
“Soul dissonance is extremely rare, and in your case, it is most likely due to what you all experienced during the first timeline when you fought against the God of Despair.” She stopped briefly when she noticed the looks of confusion she was receiving from several people, adorably she titled her head sideways and then blinked in surprise as the answer dawned on her.

“Ahhh, I see. As many of you know, the current Cale Henituse is a Transmigrator. However, he only exists in this your second timeline. Rok Soo-Hyung, would you please introduce yourself?” 
At her request, the Korean seated beside Cale stood up, came over to stand beside her, and then turned to face everyone.
“Hello everyone, I am Kim Rok Soo, formerly known as Cale Henituse of Earth 0. I am the one who made a deal with the God of Death to reverse the timeline and then transmigrated into Earth 1, which caused Cale Henituse,” he gestured toward Cale seated among them.
“The one formerly known as Kim Rok Soo to transmigrate into Earth 0 in my place.” 

Several people to whom this is new information flinch and turned pale. Standing beside the goddess, Kim Rok Soo smirks deviously and then looks down at the goddess when he hears her soft sigh.
“Thank you, the time reversal ordinarily would not have affected anything other than Cale-hyung and Rok Soo-hyung, however it’s likely because of how devastating the impact of dealing with the God of Despair was for everyone during the first timeline and the fact that none of you had actually faced him in the same way in this, your current timeline. The discrepancy created trauma which has caused dissonance within your souls.”

Grigori smiled gently, soothing them with her tender and apologetic expression for a while longer before continuing.
“My goal for bringing you here is to heal you. In other words, I intend to bring out the parts of your soul that have been traumatized by the events of the First Timeline, appease those parts by showing them the Akashic Records of your timeline and then returning them to you thus repairing the dissonance in your souls.”
“So in other words the you from my timeline will be reacting to the events that occurred in Cale’s timeline.” Rok Soo calmly informed them. Goddess Grigori nodded and then blinked when she noticed Cale tilt his head with a curious expression upon his face.

“What exactly are the Akashic Records of my timeline?” Cale asked when the Goddess gestured toward him patiently.
“Ahhh… well… it is best to say that another Divinity compiled all the Akashic Records of your world and created a novel-styled version of it, which I will be revealing through the Palantír.”
“A novel?” Toonka asks, looking a little anxious.
“It’s alright, the records are narrated and will be shown like a video through the Palantír so that everyone can view it all comfortably.” She gently reassures the Whipper Kingdom’s Commander. Harol reciprocates Toonka’s relieved smile when Toonka directs it at him. The goddess then returns her gaze to Cale.

“There is one detail, however, that I feel the need to mention and warn you about. Cale-Hyung…”
Cale twitched in surprise once again at being called ‘hyung’ by a literal goddess. He nodded to her wordlessly motioning for her to elaborate.
“These records are narrated mainly from your perspective, so often times your personal thoughts and private musings are also revealed.”
“That’s—” Several voices announce that this is a gross invasion of his privacy. However, Goddess Grigori keeps her gaze fixed upon Cale and awaits his response.
“I see…” Cale says blankly and then motions for everyone to calm down. They immediately all settle down at his gesture.

“Is there a reason why the records were compiled from my perspective like this?”
“It is because you are the variable that changed the second timeline as well as the fate of everyone around you. In other words, you are the center. If you were to consider the events of the novel 'The Birth of a Hero' as the first timeline, the center there is Choi Han, so the Akashic Record was written in his perspective.”
“But 'The Birth of a Hero' was written by Choi Jun Gun!” Choi Han protests abruptly.
“Hmm… the version you read and the version found in the human world was written by him, yes. But the Akashic Record of that timeline has the same name and is a lot more accurately detailed than that version.”
“I understand… Well, then it’s fine. Since everyone knows the truth and it will help, I don’t mind.”

Some of his family members continue to voice objections, but Cale turns to look at his loved ones gently smiling at them.
“It’s alright. You all know the most important things about me, and I want to do this. Let me help you with this.” He uses that soft and gentle voice to coax them into compliance – it’s the same method they’d used to teach him about how precious and valuable he is to them. Watching this, the Goddess Grigori then turns to look at Kim Rok Soo and smiles gently at him.

“Then this will also be the best opportunity for you to stay and watch the records with everyone.”
“It would be nice to see what actually changed and how it did because of my deal.” He muses. In truth he had always been curious about how much everything had changed and except for the brief interaction he’d had with Cale during that one-time meeting, he now was being granted this golden opportunity thanks to this goddess. She smiled sweetly up at him.

“So, Rok Soo-hyung… will you stay and watch the records?”
“Yes.” He consents, and then she motions for him to take his seat.
“Alright then, are there any questions? Or concerns you would like to air out before I begin with extracting the parts of your souls that were traumatized in the first timeline which we will call ‘The Birth Of A Hero’ or the ‘TBOAH!World’."

The Goddess Grigori took some time to answer their concerns and questions, soothingly putting their worries to rest. She treats them so patiently and calmly that it really seems like she has all the time in the world. She also remains incredibly relaxed even when some members of the group grow distressed or panicked by the responses she gives them to their concerning questions. However, in the end, everyone is satisfied, and they consent for her to use her magic on them.