Thinking.
Step, step…
Two choices, a conundrum.
Step, step…
Perhaps there was a third choice, but Reginn was unable to tell.
Step, step…
The Goddess, or Sivrit?
…
Frustrated by such a situation for the first time in his life, the hero chose to wait until he met the real deal — Kyriekaos herself.
----------------------------------------
A lone girl walked through the void, its surface solid and featureless. However, Attila soon learned that the realm of shadows was not an infinite space, but a curious reflection of Kyriekaos’s mind. It seemed that while the hero possessed her body, she could explore its mind.
After hours of searching, she came across three important objects:
First, a piece of parchment with the following.
1 2 3 4
A ✓ ✓
B ✓ ✓ ✓
C ✓
D ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
The page was printed, though rather crudely. The checkmarks themselves are dribbled with ink, and they seem to never dry under the neverending night.
Second, a flowerpot. It was not empty but filled with a bit of soil.
Finally, a small piece of clay, shaped like a person. It seemed to be formed by a child, perhaps a toy in the olden days.
From the first piece of evidence, she linked the page to the prisoners. It must’ve been something important enough to be remembered even after memory erasure, but it seemed that some aspects were replaced and mended by the mind. For example, instead of prisoner IDs or names, it listed A to D, and the questions or criteria were also unknown. From what’s known, four prisoners took this test, A receiving 2/4, B 3/4, C 1/4, D 4/4. Perhaps one of these was the flower, but Attila still did not know how many minds inhibited Kyriekaos.
The second piece of evidence was a flower pot. It was obviously symbolic of the flower beast within Kyriekaos — which she never saw again for some reason. It must’ve been busy doing… something out in the real world. Just the thought of the beast doing something while wearing her skin terrified her, but that was only more reason to continue digging.
However, it was impossible that the flower literally grew from the pot. Since the rest of the objects seemed to be items from the memories of the prisoners — or perhaps someone else — the flower pot must’ve been something important enough to keep lit within the chasm.
Finally, a small piece of clay monochrome. It was malleable, and as Attila held it in her hand, feeling its sticky texture, she was careful to keep its original form intact. The clay doll itself was featureless, only forming the head and limbs. It was more of an ancient statue — something you’d find in a museum. What was it doing here?
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Questions, and more questions.
Perhaps the nature of the questions — the ones on the paper — were important. Strangely, prisoner C seemed to be a visual outlier, as their answer differed while the others conformed to a pattern. Kyriekaos’s era was presumably a darker era of Avangarden, and it would not be surprising to find that some of the prisoners were just common men, protestors, demons or political dissidents.
Perhaps the flowerpot was not used to grow the flower beast, but rather just a normal flower. Perhaps the prisoners’ memory of this real flower shaped the image of the beast, rather than the other way around. Perhaps they now forgot about what the flower looked like, explaining why it was empty.
Perhaps the clay was more symbolic — symbolic of the Goddess’s creation of humans, or of the childish nature of Kyriekaos, or of the childhood one of the prisoners experienced, a memento from the past.
Attila chose to keep these artifacts in hand, to show them to Kyriekaos and question them later. Hopefully, she would still be alive by that time. So far, she had never felt tiredness or hunger, indicating that Kyriekaos was indeed taking care of her body. However, it was still yet unclear whether she would spare her — or if she even could. From the fact that the hero murdered her mother, it seemed that at least one of the personalities was malicious — or perhaps all of them are, and she had been tricked all along. However, from all this evidence, she had a reason to prove that it was not true.
And so, she tallied the list of evidence she found in her mind:
1. The realm of the shadow is a reflection of Kyriekaos’s mind
1. It is mostly void due to the brainwashing, but some objects remain.
2. Kyriekaos is made up of multiple beings:
1. The four prisoners (or perhaps more) whose memories were presumably erased, but their personalities somehow remain (how?)
2. The flower beast (perhaps one of the prisoners)
3. Out of the four prisoners, I met:
1. Childish Kyriekaos (Lily)
2. Serious Kyriekaos (Mary)
3. Beauty-Obsessed Kyriekaos (Betty)
1. She’s special because she seems to be able to control the beast somewhat.
4. ???
4. None of them seem especially maliceful, except perhaps “Betty”.
5. The flower beast seems to be the one in control of the physical body and perceptions, the prisoners gaining a glimpse of the outside world.
6. There is someone who they call “our father”
1. The one who brainwashed them?
2. The leader of the Atma-Kaizer?
7. Three pieces of evidence were found.
1. A page with checkmarks, letters and numbers
2. A flowerpot (half empty)
3. A clay doll
8. The shreds of evidence seem to have survived the brainwashing somehow, meaning that they must’ve been crucial to the identities of the prisoners (and maybe the flower?)
1. This may explain why they still have their personalities, as the brainwashing wasn’t perfect.
After organizing her thoughts, Attila began to walk in a single direction again. She had a feeling that she was slowly piecing the events together in her mind regarding the creation of Kyriekaos, and that must’ve been the key to escaping this purgatory.
And so, she trod on. A lost hero in hell.
----------------------------------------
“Fall.”
Kyriekaos possessing Attila’s body fell heavily onto the ground, along with the cross, travelling from the height of a fifth-story building to the rough stone road. However, her body instantly healed from all damage, a healing capability expected of a hero. It was dusk with all returning to their home. The area was especially vacant, near the industrial areas of the town.
Reginn was serious this time and had no time for theatrics. He entered a dark warehouse, unwary of the digital eyes that followed him, dragging the hero with him.
However, he made sure to write a letter, and with its magical mechanical wings, it flew away and away.
He would finally receive his answers.