Life Of A Nobody - as a Villain

"Did you see the future Rio?"

Rio's mind raced as Artemis's unexpected question threw him off guard. How could she have known? Did she suspect something? He had to think quickly and come up with a plausible answer that wouldn't arouse suspicion.

[Host, you're fucked.]

[If she finds out about you not being her son, SHE WILL kill you.] System said in its voice trying hard to control its laughter, watching his brain working hard. 

'Fuck you system, stop laughing and be helpful God dammit.' Rio thought in his head, muting the system, as he tried to think of something. 

"Can you see the future, Rio?"

"Tell me the truth."

Artemis's voice baffled Rio, as he had no idea how she even came up with that, yes he does have knowledge about the future, but he can't just say that shit. The excuse of being a seer would also be wrong as even seers can only see future after awakening, when their body's have mana and they get blessing of some God, in Rio's case he couldn't lie, since Artemis was right there, there was no sign of another God giving him any blessing, he was always okay, his powers never went haywire and he didn't get blind or bloodied eyes. 

He can't say it happened while he was unconscious after awakening, cause if she came to this conclusion then she must have checked everything and thought of all his past actions which didn't make sense, so it has to be before his awakening, but Rio didn't know from exactly when or how. If he said something, and Artemis's doubts weren't cleared, he would be fucked. As system said, if ever she learned that he wasn't Rio but someone else occupying his body, he would be killed. So he needed to know how much she knew or guessed, to come up with that question. 

Gathering his thoughts, Rio replied with a calm yet slightly surprised tone, "The future, Mother? I'm not sure I understand what you mean?"

He hoped his response would buy him some time to craft a convincing explanation. Rio knew he had to act carefully, as any hint of hesitation or inconsistency in his words could raise doubts in Artemis's mind. 

Artemis looked at Rio intently, her gaze searching his eyes for any signs of deception. Rio maintained eye contact, trying to exude confidence while internally frantically constructing his response.

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"Did you know I had someone follow Esme, just after leaving Damascus, she started following a Baron of Harendale city, she even attacked him, but failed and had to run away. Were you the one who ordered her?"

"Mother, I told you I had a deal with someone…"

"I also heard you crying and speaking to someone last night, saying you won't repeat your past mistakes and whatnot. Tell me the truth, Rio. What happened to you? "

Hearing her back to back say stuff he thought were secrets, really threw him quite off balance, but her words also gave him some hints - One, Artemis doubted that Esme went there to kill the Baron, and Noah was probably just a bait she used to lure him out. This also made sense from her point, as she couldn't guess why he would order Esme to kill an 8 year old kid.

Second, even though she did hear him last night, but nothing much. She didn't hear anything about Ria's reincarnation nor his talk with system. It calmed him down as it meant that even chosen Gods wouldn't be able to hear what he said to his system. 

Now there was time for his lies to come in, his brain had thought of something, something very risky, something he only wanted to do after the plot started, and something which would put him in the crosshairs of Goddess Kali if it failed. But he had no other option, but to pull that shit

'Nyx, if you're watching, save me when she comes' Rio prayed in his heart, hoping Nyx would come to his rescue, if his actions backfired and some Gods intervened. 

[Goddess of Darkness nods to your prayers, saying her followers aren't something that anybody could touch.]

 Rio watched the notification. Not entirely sure she understood who he was talking about, but he had no time to explain. 

He braced his heart and said, "I can't see the future Mother."

"Then how do you…"

 Hearing Rio's voice confused Artemis as she was sure that it was the truth but before she could ask, he continued "But I've seen my fate."

"Fate, what does that…wait, you saw your own future." The answer Rio gave further confused her, but soon she understood his meaning. 

—-----

***Seers are people who have the ability to see the future, they can see events that haven't happened yet, but they cannot see their own future. Fate on the other hand works the opposite of that, the people who can see their fate are someone who can see their own future, but not others.

---Seers can also share their knowledge with everyone else, while people who saw their own fate cannot. This is because seers see the future of the world around them, so even if they share it - it doesn't change anything in that knowledge. While fate is a fickle thing, once you share something you saw, you not only change your fate but also theirs too, which is against the laws of blessing they receive. If they were allowed to share what they saw, then there'd be no difference between the two.

–The Gods who can see the fate of everyone were also killed in the war of Gods, so not many could have that ability. 

–Both blessings of fate and future go against the laws of time, they aren't something mortal's could control or manage, but in between them seers are more valuable and respected, as they can use their powers whenever they wish, however many times they want. But people who can see their fate, can only do that once in their life, as after changing something in their life - they've changed their fate and the threads of it would be broken. 

[Seers tap into the river of time and see the scenes surrounding where they end up, so even if they change something in the present, the time's flow in present wouldn't be altered and it would freely adjust itself. While fate works on the principle of threads, once you change something, that predetermined route that you watched will be forever replaced, that thread would be broken, so you cannot see your fate again. Unless you receive another blessing from some other God with fate seeing ability. 

 In simple terms as the novel's author explained in his story - you cannot make a different branch of one thread without breaking it completely, while the river can flow whichever direction you choose.]

—----

"I have." Rio replied, his voice calm and clear. 

"How? When? Why didn't you say anything?" Artemis was confused, though it wasn't much different from what she thought of, but hearing him confirm it was still another thing. 

"When I was cursed, when I thought I'd die and was going to give up, someone contacted me. Someone who saw everything, they offered me help, and I took it." 

"So it wasn't his purifying magic that healed you." Artemis asked as clearing the cursed mana can only be done by either some God or by purifying magic. Since Rio said he was helped by some Gods then that meant that the priest only took the false credit and did nothing. 

"I don't know." Rio replied. 

"Who was the God, what did they want in return?" 

"Skuld, one of the norn sisters from Norse mythology. The one who could see the future of anyone's fate. And she asked for a favor."

Rio had only finished saying this, that notifications from different Gods started flooding his system, he expected it, afterall Skuld wasn't someone who ever chose to interfere. Any God who was still alive with those powers, was always watched by everyone and needed to be careful of their every action. After all they had the highest chance of getting followers and faith energy easily, so other Gods always keep an eye on them. 

"What is the favor?" Artemis asked as she sat down on the chair, her strength was leaving her body, she was so confused with everything that happened. She expected it but having it come true wasn't something she wished for. She didn't doubt his words this time, as her chosen God Phonoi confirmed the presence of many outside Gods watching him as he spoke. 

Rio also expected it so ignoring all system notifications, he focused on settling the matter with Artemis first -"I don't know. It's not the right time yet, she said."

"Hmm, so can you tell me what you saw, which made you act on your own?" 

"I can't."

"Why?" Artemis asked another question, if Rio knew what was going to happen to him, then instead of lying to us and going around circles, if he just told anyone they would've helped him with everything. She could guess from his actions that whatever he saw must've been bad for him to take action himself days after he saw it, but she still thought that even in the future his family must've been there for him, she would always be there for him, then why didn't he say anything to her , unless… 

A very bad premonition rose in her heart which she couldn't believe, there was no way that would ever happen, there was no way she would ever do anything bad to her son, she refused to believe that… 

But sadly whatever she thought, was proven true when she heard his next words -

"It's not something you would like to hear, mother. Let it go."

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A/N - If you find any inconsistency or mistakes, please notify me - in comments. The theory about fate & future is something that I came up with, if you have any doubts/questions - you can ask, I will do my best to clear them. 

—----- now today's question from chapter, what do you think Skuld's reaction would be to his lies? Why would Rio worry about Goddess Kali? What would he tell his mother about the future? What would Artemis do now that she knows about this?