Ascension Of The Villain

Vyan stumbled backward, the rush of headlights painting his wide eyes gold for a split second. He hit the pavement hard, landing on his butt with a grunt as the car screeched to a halt inches from his legs.

He thought he was a goner for sure at that exact moment, that he was going to reach the afterlife soon.

"Holy—" he gasped, breath catching in his throat. "Oh, my goddess. I got saved. That... that could've been the end."

Chest heaving, heart punching against his ribs, he blinked up at the city sky, still not fully processing how he'd not become roadkill. His palms scraped the concrete, trembling slightly.

He sat there for a moment, stunned in disbelief, whispering a shaky thanks to his goddess and whoever the gods were in this world.

His instincts had kicked in just in time. If he has been an inch slower, he'd be smeared across the road like splattered curry. And that would've been a terribly undignified way to die.

The car door slammed shut.

"Hey, you!" the driver yelled. "Be more careful, will you? Who the hell runs into the traffic like that? Are you a child or are you just insane?"

Vyan jolted upright as indignation flared, the sting in his palms ignored. Excuse me? He wasn't about to take that tone from a man who nearly flattened him like bread dough.

He scrambled to his feet, storming forward with the righteous fury of a man who had no concept of traffic laws. "I am insane? That's you! You must be the one who has gone senile. You almost ran me over! Do you not have eyes?! Or do you not know how to drive—"

But then he froze.

Because the man standing in front of him… was him.

Which was not possible. So it meant, it was—

Adrian.

Adrian seemed to have recognized Vyan the same moment as Vyan did.

He stepped forward, brows drawn in concern. "Vyan, right?"

Vyan gave a curt nod.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt, right?"

Vyan didn't answer right away. He just stood there, stunned and mildly offended by the universe. Of all people to nearly kill him, it had to be the modern version of himself.

"Yeah…" he finally muttered, dusting off his coat with slightly trembling fingers. "I'm okay. Somehow." He stepped back, gaze dropping. "Just… drive more carefully next time, please."

And he turned on his heel, not looking back.

He didn't want to deal with Adrian again. Not tonight.

Vyan didn't know what he was feeling. Whatever it was, it made his skin crawl. He didn't like being in Adrian's presence.

I'll figure this out on my own, he told himself. I don't need help, that's what I told them, so that's what I'm going to pretend—

He had managed to take five steps before Adrian called out.

"Hey, stop."

Vyan halted.

"I was actually looking for you," Adrian said.

Vyan paused mid-step, glancing over his shoulder as the cool night breeze tugged at his coat. His expression flickered between suspicion and disbelief.

"Me?" he asked, one brow lifting. "You were looking for me? Why?"

He looked a little hesitant but he gathered his thoughts and said, "There's something I thought you should know. So… let's talk."

There was a stretch of silence.

Vyan's mind raced through possibilities. None of these possibilities were comforting, but something in Adrian's tone made it hard to just walk away.

Eventually, with a sigh, Vyan trudged over to the car. It took him three awkward seconds to figure out how to even open the door. But he soon noticed a handle and pulled it on, and surprisingly, the door flung open, perhaps with a little too much force.

Getting inside, it wasn't that hard to close the door though, which he was grateful for. It remotely didn't mean he closed the door correctly.

So, with a flat face, Adrian got on Vyan's side, opened the door, and slammed it shut properly. Vyan was confused as to why Adrian did that and just grumbled something about modern people and their weird fetishes.

Adrian got in soon after, settling into the driver's seat with an ease that Vyan found vaguely infuriating. Everything about this man screamed settled. Like he knew exactly how to exist in this world.

Vyan, on the other hand, was still trying to decode how to use automatic faucets. Because he had been to the washroom once during his time at the club. And it was embarrassingly hard to figure out everything by himself.

Adrian reached for the ignition but paused, glancing sideways. "Put on the seatbelt."

Instead of dumbly replying with "the what now?" he stared at Adrian with a poker face.

Rolling his eyes, Adrian pointed to the strap beside him.

Vyan followed his gesture, pulled the belt across his body, and clicked it in.

As he analyzed its function, he hummed to himself in satisfaction. Because this actually made sense. Carriages could use something like this. It would solve the whole tumbling out of your seat issue during a bumpy road.

Adrian smiled, shaking his head. "You're quick to adapt."

Vyan shot him a sideways glance. "You talk like I'm new to all this. As if I don't belong here." His voice turned sharp, almost accusingly. "What? Do you finally believe me?"

Adrian didn't answer immediately. The car rumbled to life beneath them.

His hands gripped the wheel as he finally said, "Well… maybe."

"What do you mean by maybe?"

Adrian sighed, turning down a quieter street. "Look, after you left, Emma got a little concerned. She wondered if you'd get home alright. So, she wanted to find your house address or at least an emergency contact. While she did doubt initially you might be an undocumented immigrant, but the way you look, your skin tone, and your accent confirmed for her that it wasn't the case. So she had your name run through the FBI database. It turns out you don't exist in it."

"Sounds about right."

"But then she searched you on Google."

Vyan gave a slow nod, lips pressed together thoughtfully. I have no idea what a 'Google' is, but it sounds like another magical archive or something. "I'm… not sure I'd be on Google."

"Well, you were," Adrian said, voice growing slightly more serious. "Your name came up on it. Vyan Blake Ashstone, right?"

Vyan laughed at that. Loud and incredulous. "That's impossible."

"It's not," Adrian replied, eyes still on the road. "Because either you're faking your name from a novel, or…"

He hesitated.

"Or what?" Vyan asked, suddenly a little less amused.

Adrian's voice dropped, nearly a whisper. "Or you are a fictional character. From a novel."

The words hung heavy in the air between them. The car's hum felt oddly louder now.

Vyan turned slowly toward him. "You mean… my name showed up in this 'Google' because I was mentioned in a book?"

Adrian let out a dark chuckle, almost like he didn't believe it himself. "Not just mentioned. You're the main antagonist in one of the most popular fantasy web novels. Vyan Blake Ashstone, the Grand Duke, is the vengeful, evil mastermind with a tragic backstory who wants the downfall of both the male and female protagonists. Your character is very popular with the morally grey fans, apparently."

Vyan took a few moments to absorb that information. It matched with the short summary of the novel that Leila had told them about. Vyan had been the villain in that… and he was going to again become a villain… if Leila's appearance hadn't worked as a domino and shifted everything into whatever that was going on now in their world.

So… that meant… it was not that Vyan didn't exist in this world.

He did exist.

But only on the pages of a novel. As a fictional character.