6. I Should Die, Then
"Why aren't you answering? I asked what dying means."
He pressed the question again, irritation sharpening every word.
But right now, the three sisters were on the verge of death, suffocating in the black mist he had exuded without even realizing it.
There was, of course, not the slightest chance of them answering—
"Hkk... ugh..."
Only wordless, agonized moans scraped across his nerves.
"Are you ignoring me? Or do you simply refuse to answer at all?"
'F-Father, you need to undo this first before we can say anything...!!'
His third daughter, Shub-Niggurath, was being driven to the edge of madness.
You sealed our mouths shut yourself, and now you demand to know why we aren't answering?!
'I-I can't get any words ooout...! So I'll just have to use my bodyyy...!!!'
With all her strength, she contorted herself this way and that, desperately trying to convey her meaning.
We. Can't. Speak. Mist. Blocking.
"...You can't speak because of the mist?"
''''...!! ...!!!!''''
They nodded their heads off, frantically.
'That's it! Yes! Now all Father has to do is pull the mist back in...!!'
Somehow, by hook and by crook, they succeeded in making him understand the situation—
"But I don't know how to erase this."
''''...''''
They had badly underestimated just how dim their father could be.
Change. Then. It works. Like us.
"...How?"
'Simply. It works. For you. If you wish it.'
"You mean I just have to think of what I want to be?"
'Yes, thaat's it!! So pleeeease...!!!!'
Having barely deciphered Shub-Niggurath's frantic body language, he closed his countless eyes.
'Hmm... but would that actually work? Just something like that?'
He was a little doubtful of her words. And yet...
This was, in fact, an extremely reasonable and effective method.
The three sisters, for all that they paled beside their father, still carried his bloodline all the same. And changing one's form did more than simply transform the body into something beautiful to look at—
It also had the effect of calming the divine radiance that constantly spilled and overflowed from them.
And so.
'Hmm... I want to change... I want to change...'
He was the great being who had birthed the universe from mere unconscious thought.
"I want to change... I want to change..."
To one who held the right to claim everything he ever desired—
"...Oh. It changed."
Changing his appearance was a trivially easy thing to do.
"...PUHAH!!! Haah... haah...."
'F-Father, as expected of him... so that's the power that leaks out of him unconsciously...'
Nyarlathotep, second of the three sisters, had only just escaped the mist—and already she felt fear and awe washing over her at the overwhelming force of her father's being.
That mist was merely a reflection of his emotions.
What would happen, then, if he ever truly learned to wield that power in earnest...?
"Now then... answer me."
While she was still reeling from the shock, a small figure stepped over her fallen body and blocked out the light.
"...!!!!"
She raised her bowed head, and what was reflected in her blue eyes was—
"What is dying, exactly?"
A white-haired, white-eyed boy so beautiful it bordered on the absurd, wearing an utterly blank smile.
"..."
"...Excuse me?"
"Ah—ah!! Yes!!!!"
'Is that really Father...? Wow... I know it's rude, but he's honestly adorable...?'
Her reaction was hardly strange.
Long white hair, uncombed to the point of looking almost like a little girl's at a glance. A small, slight frame that stirred every protective instinct at once. Soft, pale cheeks aching to be given a single playful poke. And topping it all off, a face as expressionless as if it held the very void of the universe itself.
Objectively speaking, his appearance was cute enough to leave anyone dumbstruck.
Having briefly lost her grip on herself, she hurriedly knelt on the ground, her red hair swaying as she opened her mouth.
'Th-this is my chance. I have to make up for my rudeness just now...!!'
"Ahem. To die means that a living being's sense of self and its life processes—in our case, though that doesn't strictly apply—the heartbeat cease..."
"...I don't understand a word of that."
The light that had briefly returned to her face dimmed all over again.
Her technical explanation was far too difficult for him, with his meager knowledge.
It was then that—
"Ah... m-may I try explaining, instead?"
Yog-Sothoth, who had quietly watched the whole exchange, raised her hand carefully and requested permission to speak.
"Go ahead. Just keep it simple."
"Er, um, well, you see..."
Unable to meet his eyes, Yog-Sothoth began her explanation.
"To die means... to fall into an eternal sleep."
Wisely, she chose as her example 'sleep'—something her father had already experienced—so that he might understand more easily.
"And what is this 'sleep'?"
Even that proved too difficult for him, and he demanded further explanation.
"Um... you've done it yourself, Father, haven't you?"
"...Don't tell me."
As if finally catching on, his tentacles bristled.
"Yes—you close your eyes, and... when you open them again, you feel wonderfully refreshed. That thing."
"...You mean to do that. Over and over. Forever?"
"That's right. Although, we would likely never have the chance to experience..."
"Then—"
He cut her off, his voice trembling.
To him, 'sleep' had been the most entertaining 'game' he'd discovered since opening his eyes.
What he wanted most, of course, was to make friends—but hadn't these women before him just looked at him with sheer disgust?
Which meant these people, in all likelihood, could never become his friends.
And that meant he needed a game to play until he found a true friend.
As if arriving at a decision, his white eyes sparkled, and he declared:
"I guess I'll die, then."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
He announced his own suicide.
"Y-you can't just declare you're going to die!! Besides, that should be impossible for Father in the first—"
Startled out of her wits, she moved instinctively to correct her father's decision—but her sharp rebuke was—
"You'll help me, won't you? Hmm?"
"...Ugh♥"
—never finished, undone by the smile of a father who seemed to anticipate it all far, far too much.