Solomon heads to the library, her thoughts about the whole situation, especially Luxor and the bats, being momentarily overshadowed by Genesis. He may have haunted her nightmares and used her hands to destroy part of that warehouse, but she may just get answers as to why. She feels like he can’t truly just be about destruction.
On her way, she encounters more people cleaning, although less than in that one hall. The castle being clean is the last thing she minds about being in the cult.
She enters the library, the sheer size of the room and number of people in there surprises her. Most desks and chairs have a person or two sitting there, reading. “I guess there isn’t much to do in a castle other than this.”
She tries to keep quiet as she looks around. The rows upon rows of books are sorted by categories such as romance and fiction. “Reality sure is stranger than fiction at times…” There is one category labelled as “Truth”. It piques her curiosity, but not enough to look into it. Like every other room or hallway in the castle, the library is spotless. She walks over to the person who looks the least disagreeable, in this case, another cat reading a thick book.
“Hey.” She says, getting his attention immediately. “Where can I find a pen and paper?”
“In the back.” Is all he says as he briefly looks up from the book, pointing to the other side of the library with his thumb. Solomon nods and thanks the cat.
She walks past the rows upon rows of books all the way to the other end. She needs to search a little bit, but eventually, she finds a pen in one of the desks. In another, she finds a small, empty notebook. She can feel a great sense of anticipation from Genesis.
“Soon, very soon…” She says softly.
She goes to the least populated part of the library, where there are bean bags rather than chairs, which she finds odd. She quickly understands why no one else is there; upon sitting down on a bean bag, she sinks into it so much, she ends up lying on her back rather than sitting. Genesis finds that funny, apparently.
She gets up and stacks one on top of another by the wall. Having another bag at her back next to the wall certainly makes things more comfortable.
“Here we go…” She whispers, taking the pen in her right hand and notebook in her left. Her right hand tingles, she lets Genesis take over.
The first thing he does is immediately drop the pen on accident, which makes him feel rather awkward. He reaches down for it and nearly pulls Solomon off of the ramshackle arrangement of bean bags she made.
He picks it up and tries to get a feel for holding it. It feels all too surreal to have someone else control her hand like that.
Genesis makes a couple incomprehensible scribbles on the paper before he draws familiar symbols, the same ones that were on the Ledger. She is out of sight enough to comfortably power up her magic to read his writings. “Tell me what you have to say.”
“AT LAST.” The writing reads. Solomon feels a great sense of elation from him. “It has been so, so long.” She herself feels indescribably excited along with him. She’s talking to an ancient Mystic One!
“You have my eternal gratitude, fellow feline.” He writes.
“I want to know everything!” Solomon exclaims, although softly to not draw suspicion. “Please, tell me all you know!” She feels a sense of annoyance mixed with confusion from Genesis.
“Slow down. ‘Everything’ is too broad. You do not have enough parchment for that.”
Solomon inspects the symbols he writes before they are translated. She may speak two languages, but she sees no rhyme or reason behind this one.
“Okay…” She calms herself, taking a second to think about what she should ask. “What is this language you’re using?”
Genesis feels rather pleased about her question.
“It is a code language with no logic behind it. It is made to be entirely indecipherable to those with no magic.” Solomon already feels fascinated. “It can be used exclusively by Mystic Ones. In the presence of magic, the symbols are translated to the user.” Solomon takes a second to look at the symbols without her magic again. How it’s possible to write with no logic, yet still have it make sense is beyond her.
“Smart.” She states, which results in a sense of pride from him. “So… Who are you, really?” She asks. He turns sad and sombre from the question, not writing for about a minute. “Did I say something wrong?” Just as that thought pops into her head, her hand goes to write again.
“It has been such a long time that I have forgotten my name.” He states, followed by a more hopeful sensation from him. “It was meaningless compared to what I needed to remember. But you have given me a name! And for that, I thank you.”
Solomon feels… Pity? Towards Genesis.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know…” Solomon now wants to know just about everything about the former feline’s life. “I tend to be a little curious, shall we say.” She shrugs, then realises that he most likely can’t see that she just did that. The first page of the notebook is already full.
“You created a new type of magic? How is that even possible?” She inquires and looks around, no one has even come close to her during her conversation.
“You care to listen to my story?” He writes, feeling quite touched by her interest.
“Of course!” Solomon says with a smile, which he also can’t see. “Legends be damned, I want to hear your side.”
“Very well.” He begins to write. After a good few minutes of straight writing and Genesis going through many emotions, Solomon’s hand feels tired and sore. Before she says anything, he stops and puts down the pen. Solomon takes back control to shake her hand and rub her wrist.
“Give me a little time.” She says, caring much more about him than a cult all of a sudden. Her situation is number two on her list of priorities, number one being getting to know about the being that has haunted her for years. “I’ll have to ask about that one later.”
“I was a genius. Truly, one of a kind.” Solomon doesn’t quite like the way he starts his story. “I myself was not a Mystic One, but I was the most educated person about it in the area. I understood its intricacies and connections to nature. I was respected, looked up to by my peers and elders alike.” She remembers him feeling proud at the start. “I knew everything about every single magic type, including the possible techniques people would use. I decided to gather all of that wisdom in a book. That book is the Ledger.”
Solomon’s eyes widen as she reads.
“You wrote that?” She turns to a blank page and lets him write “Yes.” onto it. She continues reading, eager to know even more about him now.
“It took years, but it was done. I was no older than you when the Ledger was finished. One could say that I had an affinity and talent for magic. Of course, my knowledge is not what it once was.” Solomon briefly thinks about the things she’s done in her life up to this point and finds that it doesn’t even begin to compare. She’s only 27, if what he’s saying is true, then he was an overall extremely intelligent person.
“A few years later, I decided that I should put my knowledge to good use by taking up a magic type. But there was a problem, I had to choose. Every magic type has such vastly different uses, I could not choose one or two. I decided to do the unthinkable, to make my own, new magic type.”
Solomon remembers him feeling a sense of regret around this part when he was writing.
“That was my biggest mistake. The world, the society of magic, neither were ready for that, in hindsight. But I did it. Using parts of other types of magic, and a little bit of myself, I made the new type: acid!”
She wonders why he might have made that in specific.
“I wanted to impress the ruler at the time, but he was too fearful about my masterpiece.” Solomon feels worried about where his story is going.
“He told me that it was for nothing but senseless destruction! Can you believe it? Acid is needed for many chemical reactions that the ignorant ruler knew nothing about! It would have made so many endeavours easier after a little more refinement so that the potency could be controlled. Of course, we did not call it “acid” like you do now. He named it “liquid death”. OF COURSE people will be afraid of it if you give it a name like that!”
Solomon distinctly remembers an intense anger from him as he wrote this part. She herself understands his notion, but refinement, this magic would need in her opinion.
“But that was not all. I would not have destruction without creation. Its blessing, I wanted to incorporate a protection from all magic in whatever is blessed by my creation. I could only get to my own and fire before I was apprehended on the king’s orders.”
Solomon takes a glance at the marking. “So it protects from fire as well? That’s good to know.”
“And then came the irony in my choice of protection. They burned me, Solomon! They burned me on the pyre!” Solomon shudders as she reads. That is a fate she wouldn’t wish on anyone. Neither is death by acid, but she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter so far.
“They tried to rid the world of me and my beautiful creation! However, they did not account for my brilliance. I bound my soul to my magic so that when it returned to the Eternal Swirl, the source of all magic, until it chose someone else to bear it, I would go with it. Nothing but bones remained of me in the end.”
Solomon closes the notebook and takes a second to think, all of this certainly feels like a lot to take in, but she still can’t hide her excitement.
“This… This is horrible.” She says under her breath, feeling dejected. She isn’t sure if she should even believe him in the first place… But she wants to. She wants to believe that the person possessing her doesn’t just want senseless destruction, that there’s more to him than that.
She opens the notebook and re-reads parts of what he wrote. She already has so many more questions that she isn’t even sure where to begin. After taking a moment to properly ponder, she decides to ask about what concerns her most.
“Did you choose vile, evil people to acquire the magic you made?” She asks in a whisper. Just the idea makes him feel intense rage, her hand practically aching from the tingling. He desperately wants to write to her, to explain.
“Lies! LIES!” He writes. “My luck ran out when the first person that was chosen, not by me, mind you, to bear the marking turned out to be as the Ledger described. A person most violent and hateful was chosen at random, like with all magic. To my surprise, he quickly became proficient with my creation, destroying two cities before finally being taken down. And them…” Genesis’ rage only grows as he writes, which makes Solomon feel concerned. “They knew I would find my book again. They knew I would look into how they changed the section on acid. You read it as acid, I read it as liquid death, as I only learned how it is called nowadays recently. Not only did they write down all those lies, but they wrote it on a special page that only I and my host could see AND removed my name from it?! That did it.”
Solomon’s questions are only growing in size as she reads, her hand aching from having Genesis write with it, but she’s too invested to tell him to stop.
“For millennia, I possessed people, trying to find the book, to find my name once more, to prove myself to the new world of magic. I would normally merge with the possessed person when the magic fully awakened, but since it happened so suddenly for you, I had to resort to something different. And then to read the things we both read... I have to apologise, Solomon. What I unleashed there was the rage of a millenia old betrayal. I had to let my rage out, and that got us here.”
Solomon looks up from the notebook and glances at her markings. She is left speechless for a few long moments, not minding the slight pain in her wrist.
“I do not blame you if you do not believe me. But know that I am truly sorry for what you had to go through. My form in people’s dreams is rather hideous, I can only thank you for trusting me to merge with you in this way, even if you did not know what it would result in.” He writes, a sense of calm coming from him.
Solomon rubs her wrist, utterly bewildered, feeling that she really, really needs some time to think. By herself.
“Why aren’t you just taking over me against my will anymore?” She asks in an indignant tone. Genesis’ feeling of calm does not change as he writes.
“I cannot. It takes a hundred years to regain my power after the host dies. You were the first in a long while who I could cooperate with, so when you fell into that hole and almost died, I kept you alive. But it resulted in my power becoming much weaker. That is why.”
A tear rolls down Solomon’s cheek.
“So if it wasn’t for you… I’d be dead?” She asks, more than a little shook.
“Yes.” Genesis states in written form. Pages upon pages of the notebook are already filled with his writing. Solomon closes it, puts it and the pen in her pocket and leans back, looking ahead at nothing as she merely thinks. Genesis feels indifferent, understanding.
Solomon got so many of her questions answered, and as a result, she learned things she won’t ever forget. She thinks, thinks for a few long minutes about everything Genesis has told her. That last part especially, she cannot come to accept.
She eventually takes the notebook and pen out again with a deep breath, prepared to read whatever else he wants to tell.
“That is why I have such an aversion to Blazing Ones.” She lets him write. “It was so beautiful, I miss the food, the wine, the wisdom…” Solomon can’t help but feel a little sympathy. “It must be terrible to have everything taken away just like that…”
“I want to believe that what you did wasn’t done out of malice.” She states after a couple minutes of silence, looking at her markings. Her right hand tingles in response.
“You are not the first I could control, but the first who would listen.” He writes. “And that, I would like to thank by being honest. You deserve to know.”
Solomon puts her hands together and lets her mind wander for a few seconds, from one thing that she was just told to another, unable to make up her mind about Genesis. On one hand, she wants to trust him, which would put her mind at ease. On the other hand, he could have just lied about everything.
“Very well.” She manages to say, her mind already on another thing she wants to ask. She then pulls out her uncharged phone and allows Genesis to take a good look at it.
“How did you know I was looking for this?” She asks, putting it back into her pocket.
“I saw others use these little devices. I could do nothing but look, so I looked. I happened to spot it.”
Solomon isn’t sure if she should believe that.
“On that note…” She says, feeling slightly awkward. “For how long could you see through my eyes?”
“I could hear before we merged. I could see after we merged.” Solomon shudders as she reads, even though that was mere days ago.
“Now, I saw that you didn’t have eyes, at least not in the typical sense…” She begins. “But can you close them?”
“Ever since I had your eyes, I could.” He responds, feeling indifferent.
“That does make me feel better… But I need some time.” She puts the notebook in her pocket and crosses her arms. “This is so much for one day…”
So much information all at once, Solomon never would have thought that she would learn so much about her power from what effectively is her power. Despite everything, she’s still torn on believing him, to believe that he told her the truth, that he isn’t lying like the legends say he would. If Genesis will be by her side for the rest of her life, she would prefer him to be unlike what the legends and the book say.
She looks down at her hands, her markings, him.
“I want to trust you so much.” She says in a low voice. “I will put my trust in you for the time being. Please don’t make me regret that decision.” She says, Genesis responds with but a warm feeling.
As she’s sitting on the bean bags, zoning out inside her mind, she sees Grayson enter the library. She waves at him, which he notices and goes over to a quite timid-looking Solomon.
“You don’t look like you’ve been reading too much here.” He remarks, sitting down on another bean bag, only to sink into it like she did the first time.
“Oh, trust me, I did.” She scoffs. “How do you even tell the…” She pauses, glancing at her wrist, on which she still has her watch. “I need to get more used to having it.”
“You look through the window.” The goat jokes, looking at the small windows Solomon hasn’t even noticed before. The sky is tinted orange, a sunset. That is confirmed by her looking at the time: 18:59
“Ah. Great.” She thinks about jumping through one and just running off, but she feels like that would be quite a bad idea. If that fox would notice someone missing, it would surely be the new feline of a dubious background. She ran into one of his bats twice now, and that was without him looking for her. With her luck, she’d rather not try anything for the time being.
Then, the lanterns grow bright for a couple seconds before returning to how they were. Solomon looks at the scene in confusion as the other people go to leave the library.
“Oh, that means it’s time for dinner.” Says Grayson, standing up from the bean bag, which takes just a couple seconds longer than he’d presumably like. Solomon does feel pretty hungry after everything that happened. She’d rather not stay at another opposing faction’s base of operations, but she doesn’t have much of a choice.
She follows the goat all the way past the main hall and hears… Music?
As they enter the dining hall, many if not all people are there, and not just eating. Some have instruments such as violins and whistles, playing an admittedly delightful tune. Others dance in a corner, away from the tables. She spots the table at which Luxor is sitting, the people around him seem positively elated to be sitting at the same table he is. “Do Gods need to eat?” The food isn’t exactly plentiful, but enough to feed everyone from what she can tell. “These people… Don’t they see anything wrong with this?”
“We mostly have fish and whatever we can find in the woods.” Says Grayson. “But it’s enough. The fishermen and chefs work tirelessly each day to provide for us.”
Solomon can’t help but wonder about the shipments they receive. She figures this isn’t one of the days when they got one. She doesn’t mind the fish, in fact, she prefers it over other types of meat, she’s always loved the taste of certain kinds when made properly.
Soon enough, she is sitting at a table with Grayson, eating. She isn’t sure about the type of fish they have, but she sure didn’t expect it to be this delicious.
“The shipments also include spices. Some get bored of fish, however and go out to hunt and gather.” The goat explains as Solomon is looking at the people playing instruments and dancing. “Our Lord loves music. And as long as we stay faithful, he loves us.”
The cat feels increasingly troubled at how comfortable these people seem to be under such a monstrous person.
She looks around and eventually spots a small table where the three bats are sitting. One of them is very clearly looking at her, the female with the silver and grey markings. She’s far away, but Solomon can tell that it is not a pleasant look that she’s giving her. The electric bat on the other hand, he glances over to her for just a moment and smiles. She wants to believe that he wasn’t looking at her when he did, however.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
She briefly glances at the white fox, who is being admired by all the people around him. A nearby canine accidentally cuts himself with a knife, which the fox heals with his light. She can’t help but wonder how this all started, cults don’t normally get this big… Or so she figures, anyway.
When she looks back to the table where the bats are, the person with welding goggles is standing alongside them, probably engaged in a conversation with them.
Minutes later, the people finish eating and just dance as two bison bring out two crates from what Solomon assumes is the kitchen. They open the crates and take out bottles, one is brought to Luxor’s table. The liquid in the bottles turns out to be wine, white, of course. A deer pours a glass for him as he stands up.
“My most faithful believers!” He says after picking up the glass. “Let us celebrate a victory over the GODLESS individuals who dared to trespass!”
Wine glasses are brought to each person at each table. Wine is then poured for them as the fox speaks.
“Not only that, but the flock grows yet again! One of them has already been converted, with one more waiting! Here’s to us, here’s to me!”
The people all raise their glasses, Solomon does as they do. This is when she notices something that, in a way, makes her feel just that much better. There are no children to be seen in the entire hall. “At least he can’t get them while they’re young. Too bad he can still do it when they’re not.”
Everyone around her drinks up after the fox takes the first sip. She’d much rather be fully sober in her situation, she never was big on alcohol.
“A word of advice…” Grayson whispers while the rest of the people are distracted. “He considers not celebrating with at least a drink a great disrespect. Trust me, it’s safe to drink it.”
Solomon would rather refrain from that, but once again, she doesn’t feel like there’s much of a choice in the matter. She takes a sip. Its taste is exceptional, better than she expected, which makes her wonder how much he really cares about his worshippers.
She doesn’t feel like joining the people dancing and overall having fun. In fact, many leave right after having the one glass. She turns to look at the exit and spots the thickly-clothed person walking by. She’s certain she sees the wraps of fabric around where their mouth should be a little wet. “What is up with you?”
“We can leave now if you want.” Grayson whispers.
Solomon takes him up on that offer immediately. She stands up and glances at Luxor one more time before they leave. He looks over at her and winks with a warm smile. She’s not sure how to feel about it. Genesis does, however: very, very awkward.
They leave the dining hall and she notices that the person in thick clothes is nowhere to be seen. She’s already named one mysterious person once, so she decides to call them “Wraps” until she learns their actual name.
In the “Hall of Light”, the people all around are sitting at tables, playing with cards, dice, and even board games.
“Before you go to sleep…” Says Grayson. “I’ll show you the beds that are not yet claimed.” Solomon nods in response, looking around at the people. Some look rather serious, but she figures it to be the result of the cards.
“And before you go to bed, at least take a shower.” He remarks, which Solomon finds insulting.
“I mean…” The goat adds quickly, having realised how bad what he just said sounded. “It’s mandatory to stay clean every day. Either go to a lower part of the nearby river or take a shower.”
“Right.” She responds. “Every day?” She crosses her arms.
“The society preaches purity. Hence why Our Lord wants us and the castle to be clean.” He explains as they walk up a set of stairs, with just a little more enthusiasm than Solomon would like.
“Purity?” She says incredulously. “We just had a feast complete with wine! They murder people, and I don’t even want to know what exactly goes on in that “Hall of Pleasure”. How is any of that considered pure?” She asks, making sure to keep as quiet as she can.
“Well there are… Loopholes.” He says with a shrug.
Solomon gives him an unamused look.
“Bold of you to assume I could go to bed in a place like this to begin with.” She adds.
“The beds are fine, actually.” He retorts as he opens a door. The rooms are quite small, and all too familiar from earlier, housing two bunk beds and a lantern. “If it’s not up to your standards, you can sleep outside with some others. In a tent.” He leans close to Solomon and whispers. “I’d have Luxor laser my head off before I sleep in a tent.”
“Great. Just wonderful.” She remarks, annoyed. “Who else sleeps here?”
“A sheep. He insists on sleeping on the-” He is cut off by Solomon.
“I’m taking one of the top ones, if I have to sleep here, I’ll have it my way.” She demands, which Genesis finds odd, apparently. “Has he even seen bunk beds before?” A hundred years is a long time. Only getting information about the world for a lifetime every century sounds horrible to her, no matter how it’s put.
“Have it your way.” The goat says with a shrug. “He sleeps on the bottom bunk in the other bed anyway.”
“Anything else I should know that is required by “Our Lord”?” She asks, climbing onto the top bed and lying down. The bed really can only be described as fine. It isn’t the best thing she’s ever laid on, but it beats sleeping on stone.
“Only thing that comes to mind is to wash your clothes every other day.” He explains. “There used to be someone to dry them quickly, but ever since he went missing, either Luxor does it or you take care of it yourself.”
Solomon has to admit, she would much rather this cult be about staying clean than whatever alternative may be.
“By the way, there should be a towel under the pillow.” The goat adds before turning to leave.
Solomon lifts the pillow and sure enough, under the white comforter and pillow, there is a white towel. Feeling like she’ll go insane from seeing so much white, she figures that something is due for the goat.
“Hey.” She says to Grayson, who stops to look back at her. “Thanks. For everything.”
The goat nods with a smile.
“Any time.” He then leaves the room.
There is nothing in the room other than the beds and the lantern. Not even a window. “It’s somehow not the worst room I’ve been in.”
She’s tired. So very tired. But she needs to hold up the ruse, she needs the fox to believe that she’s a part of this cult. Not to mention, she really could use a shower, more for comfort than anything.
With a sigh, she gets up and follows the map to the bathroom, running into but two people along the way. They both have their hood on, Solomon isn’t sure what species they are.
At the bathroom, the white tiles contrast the otherwise stone building greatly. There are hangers for clothes in the middle, there is no one else there. “They must be too busy right now. Good for me.”
Solomon looks down at her hands.
“Genesis, I would much prefer you to close your eyes until I tell you otherwise now, alright?” She allows him to take over her hand, he gives her a thumbs up, feeling indifferent. “At least that was simple enough.”
She wonders how a shower could even be put in there, it is much too modern to have been installed when it was built. “Is that even allowed in such a building?” She thinks about it as she turns the water on, only to discover that it’s ice cold. She shivers and steps out from the shower, Genesis feels bad for her, apparently.
“Genesis…” She says covering herself with the towel she brought, trying to dry and warm herself. “Can this acid be used for cleaning?” He once again gives her a thumbs up with her own hand with a curious feeling.
She exhales deeply.
“It sure is better than this… Would the tiles survive it?”
He gives her a thumbs down as a response.
After properly drying herself, she gets an idea. She infuses the clothes she got, as well as the map, notebook, and pen. She then goes to head outside from the main hall. On her way there, she sees a bird making a scrubbing motion in the air at the side of a hallway, which she finds disturbing.
Luxor is now sitting on his marble throne, the bats nowhere to be seen. She takes a tentative step towards him as he looks down at the people going about and playing, looking quite bored. He holds out his hand and points at her, which startles Solomon. He then gestures for her to come over, turning his head to face her. She really doesn’t like that she can’t see his pupils.
“Radiant One?” She says as she walks over to him, slowly.
“Yes, new follower?” He says with a bright smile.
“The showers are too cold.” She states, a little embarrassed. “I’d like to go outside to the river.” She feels like she appears way too picky, but since there’s an alternative she’d prefer…
The fox raises an eyebrow. He isn’t the first one to question her decisions, but this certainly is the first time a self-proclaimed God raised an eyebrow at her. “I don’t believe he is one, but better safe than sorry.”
“Is that not colder?” He questions.
“Not in this weather.” She says, not having any intention of going into the river itself.
“Fine.” The fox shrugs. “But since you are new here… Do not try to leave.” His expression turns dreadfully serious. “We will find you.”
Solomon gulps and nods.
“Thank you, Radiant One…” She says, causing the fox to smile once more before she goes to leave through the front door, which is surprisingly light despite its size. She only struggles with opening it a little bit.
Outside, the sun has set. She follows the sound of the river and soon sees a group of four white robed people still outside, fishing by the river, having a conversation. Whatever bait they are using, it’s definitely working, judging by the amount of fish they caught.
The river’s water is crystal clear, she follows its flow and goes far enough to feel comfortable, considering just running away for a moment. On the way, her hands tingle, she takes out her notebook and pen.
“This serves as a great reminder to one of the more minor uses of my power.” Genesis writes.
“You did not come up with that back then.” Solomon finally felt like she discovered something new, but his response states the opposite.
“We felines love to stay clean. An unusual use of my power, but a valid one.”
Solomon remembers hearing about how certain acids can be used for cleaning, but those always had a terrible chemical smell, which this one doesn’t have.
“That, I can agree with. Now keep your eyes closed.” She says, taking off her robe. Genesis gives her a thumbs up.
She stands far enough away from the river so that the acid or the black muck it becomes doesn’t end up in it. Her markings glow a little brighter than she’d like, but she dismisses it.
It feels nice and warm on her fur, which she finds quite pleasant. Then again, she is using magical acid to clean herself. To her, it feels like warm water, to others, an agonising death. Although, instead of sticking to her like water would, it flows off of her to the ground. She hears the sound of quiet sizzling as she scrubs herself and her clothes clean, the sound growing louder as the acid hits the ground. She then gets a thought about something she could ask Genesis.
“Can people be infused?” She asks, then goes to put on her robe. Her hands tingle intensely, a warm, overjoyed feeling coming from Genesis. She lets him take over.
To her surprise, her right hand moves to her left side along with her left hand to her right side. She feels terribly confused at that.
Her right hand then moves to the top of her head and rubs it. She takes back control and just stands there dumbfounded for a couple moments.
“What… Was that?” She asks as she’s putting on her robe, this time with no interruption. She then takes out the pen and notebook and lets Genesis write as she feels a sense of great happiness from him.
“That was supposed to be a hug.” Solomon looks at the text for a few seconds without saying anything, then laughs.
“As long as you don’t do whatever came after that, I’ll allow it.” She certainly finds it quite bizarre that this millenia old feline hugged her with her own arms. The more she thinks about that, the worse it feels, so she discards these thoughts.
“But… Why did you do that?” She questions, with an awkward smile, which he still can’t see. “I really should get a little mirror for this.”
“I now remember. The little detail I put into my magic, to protect people from magic.” Solomon already feels interested. She can certainly think of a few people she would want to protect.
“I took the unique characteristic of only affecting living beings from darkness and combined it with blessing! My power can bless living beings!”
Solomon finds it a little suspicious that he failed to mention such an important detail, but then again, it has been a long time since he made it. There is a good chance that he truly just forgot about it.
Solomon now feels a similarly warm, joyous feeling.
“Tell me how to do it!” She demands, excited. She then feels him get worried.
“The process is similar to its defence mechanism. I’m sure you remember…” He writes.
“Of course, how could I ever forget?” Her mood instantly becomes worse with that thought. “It turns the blood of the would-be recipient into acid…”
“I can do it safely, but I would not trust you to do it.”
Solomon nods in agreement. She wouldn’t trust her to do such a thing either.
“Why does it have that mechanism anyway?” She questions. Genesis turns indifferent, then a little angry as he writes.
“Many battles were fought over magic in the past. Rulers wanted their people to have it all, which other rulers did not want. Many people died as a result. I wanted to fix that by creating magic that cannot be taken.”
Solomon understands his point, and goes as far as to agree with that. Maybe not with the method he made for it, though. “I see things haven’t changed much, other than secrecy…”
“I would like you to bless my friends if we ever make it out of here.” She says softly. “One of them especially.”
Her right hand moves to write.
“Is it the one with the raspy voice?” Genesis writes. “What was her name?”
Solomon feels more than a little taken aback, remembering that he could hear the things around her for so long, but tries to keep calm.
“Lisa.” She whispers, feeling slightly flustered. “Listen, I…”
She hears a screech coming from the direction of the castle. She can feel her heart beat faster, images of her, Durazo, and Grayson hiding in the field rushing to her mind. “They must be looking for me…”
“We better head back now.” She says after taking a moment to calm down, pocketing the pen and notebook. She then starts walking towards the castle, hoping that the cult doesn’t think that she tried to leave.
At the front door, she sees Haemon and the electric bat watch her as she approaches.
“Told you she just needed a signal.” The electric bat says with a smirk.
Haemon rolls his eyes before scowling at Solomon.
“You should know better than to keep Our Lord waiting.” He says once Solomon gets close enough. She lifts up her hands, her markings glowing, a tired look on her face.
Haemon recoils and heads back inside the castle, causing the other bat to laugh.
“You have a sense of humour. I like that.” He says, reaching out for a handshake. “At least he’s not afraid.”
Her markings stop glowing as she shakes hands with the bat.
“Solomon, was it?” He asks with a grin. “You can call me Fulmine.”
Solomon looks him up and down with one thought on her mind in specific. “I’ll have to ask Genesis if Electric Ones could charge my phone. If I can get him to understand what that means, that is…”
“Alright then, Fulmine.” She says with a little more sass than she intended. “What brought you here?”
“The Radiant One’s order. He wanted to make sure you didn’t try to leave.” He leans on the wall as he explains. “Would be a shame if you did.” He adds. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No, I mean… What made you join the cult?” She asks, immediately realising what she said. The bat laughs and steps over to her.
“Just some friendly advice, kitty.” He says with a smile. “Our Lord prefers that you call it a society.”
Solomon feels thoroughly patronised.
“Unless of course…” he powers up his magic, arcs of electricity jumping across his arms. “You want to deal with this.” He holds up a hand, electricity rapidly jumping between his fingers. He smirks as if to say “Are you impressed yet?”
Solomon feels her hands tingle, annoyance coming from Genesis. She’s curious to see what he has in mind and lets him handle the situation.
Her markings light up, acid collects in her hands. He puts her hands together, and when he pulls them apart, acid floats in the shape of a bat’s skull between them, tethered to her hands with small tendrils. “Not bad.” She senses pride and mischief from him.
She smirks as if to say “Not impressed.”
The bat’s smile fades as he powers down his magic.
“Show-off.” He remarks, and waves for her to go inside the castle. Genesis disposes of the acid, Solomon takes back control and heads inside.
She goes through the main hall when she hears her name being uttered by Luxor. She looks over, feeling slightly uneasy. He gestures to her to come over once again, which she does.
“I have to commend you for not trying to leave the first chance you are given.” He remarks with a warm smile. “But I can tell that you are scared.” He then stands up. Solomon looks up at the towering fox, feeling more than just scared. “Why did he say that?”
“I am aware that I can be intimidating.” He crouches down, his head now in level with hers. Staring into those glowing white eyes feels even creepier up close. “But you need not be afraid. As long as you worship me, I will love and care for you.”
Solomon isn’t sure how to feel about his statement, as it’s her first day here, which she would prefer to be her last.
“Thank you, Radiant One.” She says, trying not to show that she’s, in fact, afraid. The fox then spreads his arms and smiles.
“Come. Embrace your God.”
Solomon and Genesis both feel apprehensive about it. “If it keeps me from dying…” She reluctantly takes a step forward and wraps her arms around the fox. His embrace is quite gentle, she could easily break away if she really wanted. It even feels oddly comforting, but she’s certain it’s only because of the light inside him. “And somehow this isn’t the weirdest hug I’ve been a part of today.”
She sees the unmistakable silhouette of Wraps walk through a doorway in her peripheral. She turns her head to look, only to discover that there is no doorway there. To her shock, the thick-clothed person also isn’t there. “Ah, I’m already seeing things. That’s great.”
The fox lets go after a few seconds and smiles at her brightly.
“From this day onward, you are a friend of God.” He says to her, standing back up. “This is your new home, that of purity and light.” He puts his hands together and closes his eyes, the light in his eyes still slightly visible at the slits. “Maybe one day, you can go out and retrieve more light for me, along with the others.”
“Thank you, Radiant One.” She says, bows, and turns to leave. She cannot wait to be in bed already, ironically enough.
She notices along the way that people generally seem to avoid walking close to the walls. Not wanting to look like the outsider she is, she does the same. She gets to the room Grayson showed without incident. No one else is inside. She climbs onto the bed and takes out the pen and notebook.
“Nice one there at the entrance, Genesis.” She says with a smile.
“A simple trick is all it was.”
Solomon gets as comfortable as she can get in that bed and thinks about all that has happened. Her mind wanders and eventually stops at the things she saw Genesis do.
“These techniques…” She says, her tail swaying from side to side. “Do you think I could learn them?”
Genesis doesn’t respond for a short while, likely to collect his thoughts.
“Maybe.” Is all he writes at first. “You can normally only have one technique for every mark of magic you have, but it isn’t uncommon to see more than that at all. And then there is me, of course. I created it, therefore I can do many things with it.”
Solomon reads the part regarding “marks” of magic over and over again.
“Why does having magic spliced into you affect the mind so badly?” She asks, remembering what she was told at The System HQ.
“Magic comes from the Eternal Swirl.” He scribbles, feeling indifferent. “Having more than one mark of magic inside a person is not natural. A ritual was created, now known as splicing. But as it turns out, nature, and the Swirl, do not like it when people do that. Two different types of magic is all a body can take, a third one overloads the body, causing death. With the same types of magic, the Swirl does not notice. However, it is still unnatural. Magic occupies space in your mind, and when there is too much of it… Bad things can happen.”
Solomon reads in fascination. She is learning so much about magic! And that “Eternal Swirl”... She remembers him mentioning it before and blames herself for not asking about it earlier. Although, she definitely had a lot on her mind.
“And what is this Eternal Swirl, exactly?” She asks, eager for an answer.
“It is beyond our comprehension. I was there numerous times, yet I still know very little about it. All we do know is that it is the origin of magic.”
Just then, Grayson comes through the door, Solomon hides the notebook. Even though he can’t possibly read it, she’d rather not have him question her about the many, many strange symbols in it. Not to mention, if he was a System member, he just might recognise them.
“Hey Solomon.” He says, falling in bed below her, looking tired. “How was your first day?” He asks, but doesn’t sound too energetic.
“As good as any first day in a cult can be.” She responds, turning in bed to lie on her stomach. “Do we know how much light Luxor took from Bright Ones?” She asks, unable to rid her mind of this one thought.
“Not how most people start a conversation.” The goat remarks and yawns. “When he took mine, he yelled out “seven”, so depending on whether or not he was one to begin with… Either seven or eight.”
Solomon and Genesis both feel extremely concerned upon hearing that.
“How damaged must his mind be from that? Then again, he does think that he’s a God…”
“That explains the healing and the lasers.” She guesses. “Does anything else come close to it from what you heard at The System?”
Grayson sighs as she asks.
“I was a low-ranking Bright One stationed at an abandoned amusement park.” He says, exasperated. “I don’t know as much as you may think I do. I had a phone, a radio, a partner and not much else.”
“Fair, fair.” Says Solomon, then her eyes open wide, remembering her phone. Genesis may not know what a phone is, but the goat certainty does.
“Do you think an Electric One could charge a phone?” She asks, looking over the edge of the bed to face him.
“Now where’d you get that idea? We don’t have a phone.” He states with another yawn.
Solomon takes out her phone and holds it over him.
“No way…” The goat jumps out of bed and looks at her, thrilled. “Solomon, that’s amazing!” He exclaims, although softly.
“Too bad it’s dead. I also haven’t seen any electrical outlets anywhere.” She puts it back in her pocket. “Or chargers.”
“Okay, keep it in a safe place, I need to think, hold on!” He sits down on the bed, rubbing his temples. “How was it in the training…” He spends a good few moments, desperately trying to recall what he was told.
“Yes!” He exclaims eventually, Solomon’s eyes light up.
“It should be possible. Although it’s a very precise procedure.” He stands up and starts pacing anxiously. “But how would you get that bat to do that for you? And even if you do, there’s no guarantee that there’s even reception here!”
“Oh, trust me.” Says Solomon, sitting up on the bed. “I can be very persuasive.” Genesis feels a sense of familiarity regarding that sentence. As she says that, the lantern in the room goes out, or at least becomes so dim that it no longer emits much light.
“What does that mean then?” She asks, glancing curiously at the lantern.
“That you shouldn’t cause too much noise. On the list of things Luxor hates, getting woken up at night is a close second to non-believers.” Says the goat, lying back down on the bed.
“What is with these lanterns anyway?” Solomon can’t help but ask.
“Luxor made them.” Grayson explains. “He made them using his light. He uses them to, well, light the castle. Also provides a little warmth. He can use them to signal to us too.”
Solomon nods as he tells her what they are for. “The power of seven or eight Bright Ones… I don't like the sound of that.”
The door then opens again. It’s their roommate, the sheep. The cat glances at him, she can tell that he’s even shorter than she is, not a threat in the slightest.
“Evening.” He says before going to bed. He glances at Solomon, but doesn’t seem to think much of her.
“How could I get him to charge it…” Solomon has a couple ideas, but doesn’t like any of them enough to actually try them. “I’ll try asking Genesis tomorrow. If he really is as powerful as he says… I’m sure he can figure something out if I can’t.”