The floor felt cold. It seemed I was regaining my consciousness.
It was quiet. It seemed I had accomplished part of my goal.
It was too quiet. It seemed I may have thrown myself into another problem.
I opened my eyes, blinking to readjust my blurred vision as I looked beyond the tight metal bars before me. The stone floor scratched my face as I got up with my legs, pushing myself back to the wall when I realised my hands were still in hand cuffs. This was problematic.
This was in fact, a primitive jail cell with no cameras, advanced identification methods or anything ridiculous of the sort to prevent me from escaping but having my hands taken away was a problem. And moreover, standing in the middle of the path before me, stood a regular footman.
I had studied the level of strength each uniform presented so far in this city, mainly because many of them had come over to me and Jay to question about the loud sounds. Guards dressed like the one before me; metal casing surrounding them, padded on their shins and shoulders with a huge crest imprinted on their chest. They made up the regular police force around the city, with some wearing masks or helmets and from what I saw, they had the strength of a Marine back on earth. Which also went to show that in this world, regular human strength did exist. It wasn’t like every single person walking was a monster beyond understanding, it was just that the graph of growth seemed to be exponential.
You then had the Royal Knights, they were the personal force of the royal family… I think.
Well from what I had seen, they were significantly stronger than the others.
And then you had people like him. Angel.
I’m sure there was much more to the system but that was all I gathered on what I’d seen so far.
Looking beyond my cage and past the guard, I looked to the cell parallel to mine.
“Eeugh,” I let out, almost feeling the bitter look on my face, “what the fuck even are you?”
Quite literally I saw a battered, bruised and scarred lizard head, with one blinded eye and a human body, staring me down from his end. Saliva drooling down his mouth as it… yes it, crawled around its cell.
I tensed my body for a second when I felt the shiver pulsate around my body.
Eeyuck. Disgusting. Disgusting. Fucking rank.
“Don’t even bother trying to use any form of Mylan Arts,” a booming voice came from the guard as he looked down at me from the corner of his eye, “The metal in those handcuffs absorb the Mylan in your body. It won’t work that well on the powerful, but you are no big criminal. Yet.”
I didn’t like that last word. It presented me with two options.
The way he phrased it showed me that there was a timeframe in which I could maybe prove my innocence since he said I wasn’t a criminal yet. But at the same time, he made it sound as if I was going to be deemed one regardless. If so, and my plan came crumbling down, I surely had to figure out a way to escape this place and retreat to the slums, giving up on the royal family as a whole. Then look to pursue the secrets of the world another way.
How fucking hard is it to just get home?
I looked at my belt.
Fuck.
It wasn’t there. My gun. They took it. Probably not because they realised it was a weapon of some sort, but more because they stripped me of my belongings just in case. But that wasn’t too much of a problem, escaping from the actual prison cell would be easy work. I always carried little tools from Jay’s in my overcoat inside pockets and with one of them, I could smoothly pick the lock for this cell. That wasn’t a problem though because it was what came after that. However long I stayed here, I would have to figure out the rotation of the guards, the rules, my location, how long I had and-
The guard walked over to my door as I looked up, puzzled. The metal hinges screeched and clanked as it opened and the man looked down at me, holding the hilt of his sword. “You are being requested.”
Nora? Hopefully.
I sprung up in elation knowing this may have been worth it. Finally, in this world, something was going right. “By whom?” I asked.
“Prime Minister Vincent Albert.”
What?
I was dragged along, still with the chains shackling my hands while I looked nervously to either side. Dozens of different creatures, half humans and humans all perfectly matching what a criminal should look like in this world, fixated their eyes on me. Following my every movement.
I was escorted by two men, one behind and one in front, occasionally pulling on my chained hands or pushing me from behind. After a few minutes of walking, I had learnt that I was in the Dungeon of the royal palace, sitting beneath one of the four towers and many heinous criminals were kept here, waiting for their public execution. I felt an extra loud heartbeat when that was said. If all went wrong, I was going to escape this place even if it meant tearing the whole palace down.
But for now, I was granted an audience with the Prime Minister which meant they had taken my words into consideration before I was kicked down, and also found some plausible evidence for my statement.
I was taken up an uncountable number of stairs and while my physical body was kept to a high, healthy standard, this really fatigued me. We were probably still in the tower and I was suddenly pushed on my back into a dark room with one lamp hanging low from the ceiling.
This was ridiculous, this world genuinely seemed to have medieval practices with a hint of modernity to it. This felt like an interrogation room you would be in with a regular police officer in America.
But still… It did have this eerie vibe to it. One table sat in between two wooden chairs as I felt a pair of eyes following me through the beams. I felt a gaze burn my back when I swung my head over my shoulder to see a woman sitting in the corner, blending in with the shadows with a piece of paper before her.
On the table in front of me, a relatively old man sat with his hands interlocked with each other, resting his face on top of it. His build was slender, his face was drooping down with loose skin as if he had lost all the meat on his face and his short, uneven grey hair was slicked back, trying to cover the baldness eating away from the middle. He wore tiny, round glasses that rested on his big nose and a complementary green suit.
I slowly took a seat and matched the man's nerve racking gaze.
“Your name?” The man said in a sharp voice, unbefitting of a malnourished old man. It felt deep, commanding and odd.
“Axure Saint Avante.”
“Where are you from?” The questions were rapid and I responded in the same manner.
“District 14.”
“You were found in the abode of Lord Jackell Smith, with a woman who seemed to be his maid, and the aftermath of an explosion where a dead body was found. Is that right?” He raised a brow and looked above the golden frames, while in the background, I heard the constant aggressive scribbling trying to match the pace of the conversation.
“Yes.”
“Now, normally I do not intervene with these civil matters or police cases. But this one not only involved aristocrats, but supposedly involved the royal family… As you claimed.”
“Yes.”
“Now,” he leaned in closer to the middle of the table and looked menacingly into my eyes, “Can you explain to me how you knew this was going to happen?”
I didn’t let the silence grow my suspicion and responded quickly, “You see, my eyes have the ability to look closely on a certain subject of focus. That day, I had gone to actually see the arrival of the royals, but while I was admiring the view, I couldn’t help but notice a window facing us with a man inside. So I focused in on him and saw he had a bow and arrow pulled and ready and I just had to go to the scene. Just in case.”
“Why did you not go to the guards?” The man didn’t give me an inch to breathe. The question nearly caught me off guard but I instantly continued with another fabricated story.
“Because if I’m being honest, I didn’t want to cause commotion for a misunderstanding. I felt a bit scared that maybe if I accused an aristocrat for such a grave act, I could get in trouble, so I went to investigate myself.”
“You’re saying that an aristocrat was behind this? In fact, are you saying it was Lord Jackell Smith?”
I had to be careful here, if I said it was him, it looked like I knew too much. And also, if I did end up saying something against a Lord of this country, who knows what trouble I could befall myself in? The man could have power and influence I couldn’t even imagine, so it was best for me to achieve my goal and forget anything else. Whatever grudge Jackell had against the royal family was his problem. I couldn’t care less.
“I don’t believe so. When I rushed in, I lied to the Maid saying I was a friend of Jackalls and she let me in. It seemed that she didn’t know what was unfolding either. I believe the assassin had just snuck into a room of Lord Smith to gain a good vantage point to kill.”
“I see.”
One thing I knew about this interrogation was that these people had probably already conducted an investigation and came to a conclusion. They either wanted to see if I would slip up, or if I could reinforce their understanding of the case.
“So, Axure Saint Avante, please describe to me the events in as much detail as you can,” he continued.
“When I saw the man in the window, I immediately ran toward the house and burst through the door. I told the maid I was a friend of Lord Jackell Smith, and ran upstairs to confirm if the man was attempting to assassinate the royal family. And that was when I confirmed it, he was a commoner dressed as a noble. I mean that much was obvious and he literally had a bow and arrow made from Blood Arts, aiming at the palace. I tried stopping him and managed to fight him down, stabbing him in the process. Right in his shoulder but he chased after me using the blood to his advantage. When I got to the kitchen, we had another fight and all the flour, pots or whatever else, tipped over, smashed and broke. It got dark so the man used a fire to light up the room but luckily, I had escaped and unfortunately for him, the room just exploded. I don’t know how, but I luckily got away with my life. And that was when the guards found me.”
For the first time, the man went silent and all that could be heard was the aggressive writing going on behind me.
“It checks out…” the man finally muttered, “We saw blood stains in the room you mentioned so it was clear he was there and we saw trails and evidence proving his intent after looking through his body. Currently, we concluded the investigation with the Lord too, and nothing linked back to him. After speaking to the maid, it seemed like she didn’t have a clue of anything either. So, in place of the royal family, we thank you.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Bowing his head slightly as he closed his eyes, the writings finally stopped.
Fuck yes! YES! YES! YESYES!
I felt like screaming in contentment, but I bottled it up and kept my composure. I had to be a good actor in this world after all. Showing off a small smile, I replied, “I’m honoured to be thanked by the royal family. Thank you.”
Suddenly, the door flung open, nearly cracking on impact as it hit the door when I watched her enter in all her grace.
“Princess!” The man exclaimed in a now dying voice. It was like all that coldness had been sucked out of his persona and he was reduced to a mere old, dying man. “Why did you bring yourself here-?”
“It’s my choice what I do,” she said with her commanding voice, “I want to have time alone with this man.”
“As you wish your Highness.”
And with those words, the Prime Minister, Vincent Albert, packed his things along with the scribe and left the room but just as the door shut behind him, I heard another impact with the clanking of metals before me. Stretching out under her slender fingers, rested my gun in all its glory.
I looked up, confused while I locked onto her glowing purple eyes as her face lit up in the ambient light. The gold necklace of hers blinded me with its glare but she grabbed my attention when she spoke.
“Axure… May I call you that?” She asked, softening her tone.
“Yes… yes you may,” I replied, not knowing what to expect next. It had all gone too smoothly for the first time in this world. Sure, it took a few deaths to get here which was no laughing matter. But it actually worked.
I wanted to jump up and down in excitement knowing everything had played into my hands but her ethereal face just drew me in and hindered my thinking.
I had gotten an audience with her, but I couldn’t help but think, what next?
“Did you engineer this mechanical weapon?” She asked, sliding it over.
“Yes, I made this with the man you saw dead in that street yesterday.”
“I realised. I recognised your face,” her gaze suddenly sharpened, “But why?”
“Why?...” I responded.
“Why did you go out of your way to stop the assassination? Why? A man from the slums, risking his life for royalty. No, for me?”
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I try to stop you from being killed it-” She cut me off
“I am the illegitimate princess. Hated by many, so why does a powerless man like you risk his life to save mine?”
“Illegitimate?” I said slightly, pulling my head back.
“You, I sensed it in you on that day. You possess no Mylan flowing through your body, none at all. Unthinkable for a human, I had never once considered that someone without Mylan could even exist but here you are.”
“That’s why I made this. To fight back,” I muttered, shifting my focus down to the gun.
“I don’t understand why you defended me unless…” her face went into deep thought for a moment and for the first time, she shifted her cutting glare away from me and then continued, “Do you believe in God?”
“Yes,” I replied to which she tilted her head subtly but then I reiterated my answer, “But I don’t think I believe in the God of this world.”
“Let me start over, do you believe in Angelism?”
It seemed religion had its clutches over this world.
There are too many things I have to learn. I wonder if Jay was a man of religion.
“No, I am not a believer of Angelism,” and as soon as I fed her that answer, her face finally made an expression when I saw a glitter of white flutter around her pearl-like eyes. She pulled her body back slowly and sat upright instead of glaring over the table, frozen in what seemed to be shock. Was religion that big of a thing in this world?
“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe it,” she said in a softer voice, “Axure Saint Avante…”
I kept my focus on her. And she left me with words that imprinted itself onto my memory.
“Join me. Join the side of the truth.”
Part Two
There she was, in all her grace wearing her graceful black and gold dress and somehow, all these strings of misunderstandings led me into the walls of the palace. In a sense, this was ridiculous to me and not just because of where I ended up, but because I was walking with a dead person. I saw this woman get killed and unlike Jay, she was alive once again.
This all had been for my personal goals,yes, but I still did stop the first domino from falling. We stood near the top of the tower, on an open balcony which slightly shook my bones when I took in the view. We were high but the princess didn’t seem to care much. Finally, from here, I could see the orbiting rooms closer, but what surprised me was when Nora raised her hand, and as if telling someone to come closer, she made a hand gesture toward them.
Every. Single. Day. Every single day, I saw something more ridiculous than the last, and now as if strings were attached to her palm, she pulled in a floating library. Like a helicopter, it came to the open platform and Nora stepped onto it expecting me to follow. And so I did with my first step slightly pushing the floor down.
The room had no ceiling and was like an unfinished cube since it was just a floor and two walls. The design was ornate with two bookshelves and a red carpet laced with golden embroidery. My eyes followed the woman slowly.
She picked out a random book and held it in her hand then directed her attention at me. I still slightly felt fear knowing my back was completely open and a massive drop was waiting for my misstep. But seemingly, she noticed my concerns and spoke, “When you step in, there is a barrier preventing you from falling out and I have activated it the moment you entered.”
It seemed that her pulling out that book must have been the key… maybe…I think. Unless this world had some sort of telekinesis and how surprising would that be? Not very. Not anymore.
“Axure… you’re a good person, " she said with her back faced to me, looking out to the Kingdom, “And once I tell you all of this, there’s no going back.”
I gulped.
“You said you were going to tell me the truth. I seek the truth as well, that is all,” I replied.
She looked upwards and held out a book, “This. This. Is the root of all evil.”
I looked closely at what it read. The Holy Grail. I quickly remembered when Old Man Jay had given it to me. Was this their religious book?
“This world is shaped by historical events, in the constant clutches of the past. We’re all puppets to something and for many, that something is this book.”
I kept silent.
“In this world, the high and mighty start wars, kill one another, begin genocides all in the name of God. All for what? A false prophecy that is said to come one day,” she balled her fist, “It infuriates me. Men, women, children, entire races, butchered because of differing faiths or merely because a text said so.”
She looked toward me and continued, “So when I found out you weren’t a believer of this disgusting belief, I realised you were a good person. You saved my life from potential harm, all with no Mylan. And do you know why?”
She tapped my chest.
“It’s all because you aren’t a believer of the religion. That’s why you didn’t let the chains of history hold you down.”
Well her monologue is great and all, but I need to find out the secrets of the world, not what religion is about. Wait no, maybe religion has some sort of historical secrets, and she’s against it because she knows something. She is monarchy after all. I should ask.
“Nora, may I call you Nora?” I questioned.
“I do not let many address me so, but as a fellow disbeliever of the religion, you can,” she replied.
“I am not very well educated in Angelism, nor do I care much about it. But, it seems knowledge of such is essential in this world.”
She once again shot me a shocked look.
“You haven’t been taught the religion?” She said, breaking out of her usual sharp tone, “You mean, you haven’t learnt anything about it?”
“In a sense, yes. I didn’t really care too much about it, I cared more about making things just like this thing here,” I smiled as I flung the gun around my finger.
“I can’t believe it. You become more interesting by the second.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, your Highness,” I said in a sarcastic tone, cracking away at the serious tone we had for a while.
“I order you to not call me that. In fact, when you say it, it is as if you are mocking me,” she said, showing me the back of her hand, “But really, you do not know about the Angelism religion?”
“Well, I’m not that oblivious to it. Like I know it exists, and I know the Holy Grail is your religious book-”
“Not mine,” she shot back with an expressionless look.
“Well, yes. I know of those things at least,” I finished.
“So you know about the Shadow Queen, the three angels and…?”
Fuck no.
She saw my blank face, staring at her with not a thought in my head when her eyebrows raised. “You don’t?” She questioned to which I nodded in denial.
“But that’s history…” she said with a fading voice.
“I thought you don’t like history.”
“I’m not ignorant enough to deny true events. I just believe everything that happened after it was false.”
“Shadow Queen huh?” I squeezed my cheeks as I thought waiting for her to continue.
“The year is now 452AE-”
“AE stands for?” I quickly enquired to which she responded, “After End. The event that marked a new era for humanity in religion, and in general history too to be fair, was named The Beginning Of The End. Anything before that was marked as BE.”
I stayed silent to let her go on, I needed to hear all of it before I made my judgement. We slowly cascaded in the air, inside this little box and as I looked at her, I hadn’t even realised how far we had floated away from the tower.
“Five Hundred and fifty two years ago, was a day marked in all records, history books and religious texts. Not a single one had missed this event, which is why even I cannot deny it. It was the day the world was nearly brought to the brink of extinction, by one sole woman. Her name was Aylana, otherwise referred to as the Shadow Queen.”
For some reason the story gave me shivers. Humanity, at the brink of extinction. Because of one woman. There were people like Angel roaming the earth, and one woman brought millions to their knees. No, to their death.
“She became known as the literal devil. And she became the embodiment of evil. It was said that the world before her, was a utopia-” Nora had suddenly seemed to feel a jolt of pain attack her head as she fell back onto the bookshelf while scraping her teeth. I rushed over to her but she held her hand out to stop me and relaxed her body. Standing straight again, she rubbed her eyes and regained her strong gaze, turning it back to me.
“It is fine. I shall continue.”
What the fuck was that?
“It was said that before she had come about, the world was a Utopia. And to defeat her, God sent down three angels; The First Angel, God’s Sword and the Great Sage. And the three of them defeated and killed her.”
“Okay, I understand the significance of the story, but so what?”
She let out the faintest of chuckles and replied, “You really are interesting. You see, while historically, that happened, I believe everything after that was just an accumulation of lies.”
“What do you mean everything after that?”
“Prophets, messengers. The whole lot, it was all just false. An accumulation of humanities lies and delusions put into one book.”
Where is she going with this? I didn’t come here to listen to you talk about religion.
“Now you’ve stepped foot into my plan, I shan’t let you go,” she said with a smile and a daunting gaze, holding me where I was.
“You will join me. I will rid the world of religion, I will rid the world’s history,” she declared in a grand manner, “I will abolish the systems of old, rid of the old men that control society and become Queen. I will start a new era.”
I couldn’t help but watch her in awe. The way she declared it, felt like me many years ago. Here was a woman, who wanted to stand atop of humanity in this world, declaring it to me just as I had once dreamed.
No, hold on. Wait. What do you mean you shan’t let me go?
“I have not yet brought this plan into fruition, with you being one of the first persons to know about it. You said you would join me on the side of the truth, well now you have.”
No, no, no, no, nononononono. What the fuck? What the fuck do you mean? I thought you were going to tell me some fucking secrets? I thought you were going to bring me into something completely different? Not your fucking conquest to destroy religion! I don’t give a fuck about that! You didn’t even tell me what’s so wrong about the religion anyway! You just told me half of it was fucking true. No, no. Don’t piss me off.
“Wait, Nora. Was that what you meant by the side of the truth?” I asked.
“Yes, of course. You agreed to join me in the tower so here you are. No running away now.”
No, fuck fuck fuck. Nora, don’t piss me off.
I need to escape this woman.
No, fuck this. I can’t stay here- no wait. Let me ask one question.
“By the way, have you ever heard of people being summoned from other worlds?”
“Hm? No, never. I don’t think that’s even possible.”
As composed as I looked on the outside, my insides were churning in rage and I wanted to smash everything before me. To turn this room upside down and destroy it in a fit of rage. But I couldn’t.
I need to fucking escape. This woman knows nothing. The royal family knows nothing. This woman is fucking useless. Fucking useless. They just care about politics and power. Agh. Fuck. How do I get away?
I glanced over the edge, and looked for a way to escape but just doing that, made my stomach drop.
How high were we?
That was a long, long, long fall.
Fuck.