The young man clenched his fists so tightly that it looked like he might explode in his rage. After a few tense seconds, though, he let out a resigned breath, rubbed the blood off his face, and ran a hand through his hair before slowly walking to his seat.
When the gangster saw him yield, he grinned slyly, then sat back down as if he wasn't really bothered by what had just happened.
In front of the hall, the woman's card dissipated into a crimson mist that flowed into her chest. When she saw that the hall had finally fallen silent, she turned around and gracefully walked up to the dais.
After taking her place behind the lectern and looking over the gathered crowd, she spoke with a voice that carried to every corner of the room.
"My name is Naomi. I'd like to formally welcome you all to the Pantheon."
Everyone, including Alex, listened quietly with their curious and questioning gazes all fixed on Naomi.
"I know you all are confused, and have a lot of questions that you need answers to. Well, I'm here to answer those questions and help you understand exactly what has happened to your lives."
She paused, letting her words sink in as she looked at the rows of stunned faces. Then she raised a finger and continued.
"Let me begin by saying that you are not the first to partake in the Trial of Ascension, and neither will you be the last. You see, every year, the Fates send out invitations to the mortal realm, otherwise known as Earth, in the form of playing cards."
She gestured with an open palm to the side.
"Now, you may be wondering: if the cards appear in the mortal realm every year, how come you only saw them for the first time this year?
Well, the answer is simple. Everyone who does not accept an invitation forgets about seeing it. Which means you all have actually seen the cards every year. You just forgot. Just like how all those who saw them this year, but did not come, will soon forget they ever existed."
'What?' Alex reeled back in shock, but he wasn't the only one. Low murmurs and gasps broke out across the hall because that was quite the revelation.
Alex tried to see if he could force himself to remember seeing such a phenomenon before the current one that brought him here. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. Nothing came to mind at all.
'So that memory just disappears? Then… how come no one ever questioned the missing people, considering a lot of people just suddenly vanish every year?'
As if hearing his thoughts, the woman raised a hand to silence the hall, then she added.
"You may also be wondering: what happens to your loved ones and the ones you left behind?"
She gestured, raising a finger, before continuing.
"When a person accepts a card and leaves the mortal realm behind, the world fills the hole they left behind with a mundane explanation. For instance, their parents might believe their child ran away years ago and they haven't heard from them since. A spouse might 'remember' a bitter divorce that never actually happened. Or a son might remember their father's death many years ago.
What I'm trying to say is: the person is still remembered, but the reason for their absence is rewritten so no one goes looking for them."
The hall erupted into murmurs again.
To some like Alex, their question regarding why no one ever looked for missing people had been answered. No one looked for missing persons because they simply didn't know people were missing. This meant that no one would be looking for him either.
Well, this didn't really bother him. After all, he didn't have a proper family back on Earth that would miss him much anyway. However, among the initiates here present, there were some who had a life and family back on Earth, and the news that their absence would be rewritten was almost too much to bear. To them, it felt as though they were being erased from existence while they were still alive.
After a few seconds, one of them raised a hand and asked with a trembling voice, "Can we ever go back to Earth?"
Naomi stared at him for a moment, then exhaled and replied, "Of course. You can visit the mortal realm. Many ascendants travel between realms all the time."
When the initiates heard that, some brightened up.
But Naomi continued, "However, to do so, you must first ascend the stages of power until you become an Exalted. An ascendant can only travel to the mortal realm after becoming an Exalted, because only then do you gain your wings, which let you travel between realms with your physical body."
This sparked a desperate light in the eyes of many initiates, a small hope they could cling to, but then, Naomi's next words quickly dampened that flame.
"Although I must say that ascending the ranks is a very difficult ordeal. Not only is the path itself littered with lethal trials that claim the lives of the majority who attempt them, but it also takes time. And even if you do succeed in becoming an Exalted before your loved ones die of old age, it is advised that you abstain from doing stupid shit like interfering too deeply in the lives of whatever families you had back there. If your families remember you to be dead, then… just let it be."
The initiates broke into louder frustrated murmurs, but Naomi added regardless, "It's best you just forget about them."
Alex could hear some of the initiates mutter things along the lines of:
"Forget about them? How can I forget about my wife? Just like that?"
"This is insane. They can't just 'decide' to make my parents think I'm dead. That's not their choice to make."
"So what, we're just ghosts now?"
"But I never chose this. If the card had said this would happen to me, I never would have held on to it."
The uproar went on for a minute or so, until Naomi clapped her hands together to bring everyone back to order.
"Now," she continued in a serious tone. "Enough about things you cannot change. While the loss of your previous lives is certainly regrettable, you have all been chosen by the Fates. There's no fighting it. So in the meantime, I'd advise that you all focus on your new life here, your survival, your obligations, and your path to apotheosis."