Novels2Search
Sempiternal Darkness Advent
Chapter 2 — Power; Knowledge

Chapter 2 — Power; Knowledge

Power; Knowledge

After 3 months, in a wooden hut where the roof seemed to be about to fall at any moment, flooded with water from the heavy rains that had been going on and on lately, a young girl about 12 years old was sneaking into the unreliable-to-live-in wooden hut.

Step, step. Step. Step. Step step- step…step step.

“Aah,” the young girl was holding her right shoulder with her left hand, but it seemed instead as if it was her left shoulder in pain, as it was clearly dislocated… However, on her right shoulder and arm, a large gash was visible, which went from the upper arm all the way down until just right above her elbow.

Feeling pain around her arms and pain of a solid nature whenever she stepped on the slightly wet, humid rotten wooden floor with the soles of her naked and injured; feet. Extending her neck upwards after every step, the young girl came to see how a plate on a small table was desolate. But a lingering odor seemed to emanate from it while the stove was all melted down, and the wood structure around it seemed to even have burnt a little.

“Yiyaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

“I told you to not pick it up!! All of you are deaf! Deaf! You never get it, don’t understand, and then get killed. IDIOTS!!” A baby’s cry rang out, at first, immediately after followed by the even more shrill scream of an old hag. Oh, and the young girl knew it. Those screams could only come from an old hag, indeed.

Step, step step step. Step, step step.

Moving over to a nearby window which she discovered after only wanting to press her ear against a wall facing the direction from where the screams came, the young girl then saw, amidst the heavy rain never ceasing, slowing down, or even getting heavier - a few adults, some old and some not so old; and a baby.

A stout man with dark bruises over his face and hands were carrying a little baby, surely newborn or not so far from it, while the old hag with weird, extremely large hair tubes on top of her head and wielding a kneader made of rough wood, swinging it around as if to hit the ‘sick’ man but never doing so.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…there, I let it go…ah!” The stout man apologized to the old hag, knowing his mistakes on also taking the baby in, as did a couple of other families who got basically cursed to death ‘by him’.

“Hurry up! Get in your house lest you motherfucking kill us all, you snail!” The stout man said no more to the old hag’s words and ugly, even uglier face by being scrunched up; turned around after giving the little baby another look, one of uncaring pity, before rushing back into his home…

“...Agh, you’re a demon! DEEMOOON!” The shrill from the old hag resounded through the tiny village despite the intense heavy rain. Her right arm was raised with the rough, wooden kneader. She was about to send it down and make a paste of something when she seemed to notice something. Looking to her left, through the heavy droplets of the rain, a young girl was watching with soulless eyes at her, or more accurately speaking, at the baby.

“...Urrrrgh! Argh, agghaah, aggh!” After a few seconds of staring ‘back’ at the young girl, the old hag turned around without lowering her arm, only doing so after almost reaching what seemed to be her own house which was of 2 floors, 1 more than that of the wooden hut that the young girl was in.

“...” On the other hand, while the old hag moved back into her house, the young girl stared with emptied-out eyes, that grew as large as saucers towards the baby. She wasn’t surprised, however, and was even serenely calm, but it was as if she was seeing nothing…

“Yiyi…ya.” Suddenly, the baby no longer cried and stared at the rain, his tiny mouth opening up and closing from time to time, though…it looked as if he was trying to suckle in the air itself.

Though abandoned, he at least seemed to be covered by a thick layer of fur, one specially made for keeping one’s body or a part of such - warm; but that for the baby, and in this situation, was but a slow death sentence.

“!”

Tre-stomp! Whiish, takk! Splash, splash, splash…!!

Abruptly, the young girl grabbed hard at the side of the window, lifted her already frail body up, and with her right foot on the stool, she pushed her body upwards. Instead of making a rough fall, she landed almost neatly on the ground, which was obviously wet and slippery. Yet, she continued immediately with more and more hurried, large strides that couldn’t be any more stable.

As for the window that supported her ‘jump’. There wasn’t even a crack on the already damp, and rotten wood, made out of a more so flawless, yet ordinary and simple material.

Step- trsshhhhh~~! Rustle- splash!

As soon as the young girl slid before even arriving at the little baby and then picked him up right away, getting his small body rid of the thick fur almost making a deathly pool coffin out of his dear little life, she began running back into ‘her’ new wooden ‘house’. Her steps were as stable as before, she quickly went back in and began looking for a room in specific.

After making sure that no one was in the house for sure, she climbed up in the bed after taking the mattress filled with insects out of the house and using her own clothes to place the baby on it comfortably, as much as she could. While she remained fully naked and hugged the baby in a fetal position as the thick fur hung over the edge of the mattress base.

In this way, as she seemed to be in shock and lacked all reaction, she slept out of exhaustion after hugging the dear baby like this, who in return and unbeknownst to only her, didn’t notice his dark pool-like eyes looking at her face covered by some dirty strands of her wet, short blackened hair.

…Early in the morning of the next day, with some sunlight getting into her and her tummy feeling a slightly warm tiny body against her bare skin, the young girl opened her eyes to see a most vulnerable pair of closed eyes of a baby; the baby she just saved a few hours ago, and that was now…under her care.

“Gasp!” Suddenly, the young girl reacted, and with her body separating from him so abruptly, the little boy woke up more confused and taken aback than ever. Baby fat formed at his fatty under chin. While the young girl looked back down at him with big eyes, now actually surprised and filled with some disgusted terror.

Right away, the young girl, bare and silly naked, ran around the house to look for something. When she found a well-kept mantle that which was mostly used for kitchen-ish jobs, she then came back into the large bedroom and began using the mantle to cover both her hands with it before starting to clean the baby boy’s whole body.

…She wasn’t afraid of ‘getting sick’ like the old hag and the stout man were seemingly abhorred of, nor was she disgusted at being in touch by such a baby whose previous locations were unknown and, seeing how he was treated just last night, it was bound to be of the worse situations.

Instead, fearful of herself touching him, she cleaned him up fully and even made sure his ears, weenie, important natural doors to nature, below his armpits, and within his eyelids were fully cleaned up and devoid of filth.

Having done all that. She wanted to pick the small baby up, but she realized that even if she did, there was nothing in this house that wasn’t rotten, filled with insects and foul odors. At least there wasn’t a body, or a dangerous animal, beast, or monster around though.

“Wait here, I’ll go…pick us some things up, I will get you nice food and see if I can get someone to help me fix things up, alright?” The young girl softly called to the baby, her face up close to his and slowly becoming surprised as she saw the baby boy ‘nod’ with his bottomless dark pupils.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“Eh? Can yo-...ahh, doesn’t matter.” The young girl felt incredulous, too much perhaps, as she then shook her head and dismissed such a thought. She then turned around and took a few rags here and there to cover her body, not noticing an actual frown on the boy’s hairless forehead that only eased up when he noticed that she did not touch any clothes.

In the end, the young girl had her whole body covered neatly with a bit of ‘natural glue’ from some insects squashed to death, leaving uncovered only from her armpits to her waist, her arms, from her knees to below, and her neck completely covered.

“Mmm…” Noticing a mirror in the bathroom, the young girl looked at herself, strictly scrutinizing her image before beginning to make some changes to her attire.

Creed, ruuuff! Rrrrrrrr-ip!

“Ah- tada- ha! There you go~.” The young girl exclaimed softly. Her final image that of a ‘poor’ and ‘vulnerable’ young girl, with her collarbone covered but her neck exposed. Her armpits were overly shown with no cleavage, but with her left nipple half-exposed, her front crotch was covered. But her tush was slightly visible from its lower sections, and she wore no shoewear on her feet that were yet extremely clean and even dainty.

“Okay, I’ll be back. Take no more than 2 hours, I promise…Why am I…oh well, whatever. See you soon, buddy.” The young girl turned around yet again, and looked at the baby looking back at her, his naked body and fatty tummy appearing cute as she covered him with her previous ‘clothes’ — rags —, and spoke to him with a bit of a shaky breath.

“Today, you’re going to be fed to the brim!”

. . .

After hearing those last words from her, from the young girl, the baby boy couldn’t imagine that for the rest of the few dozen minutes, he would hear some slapping sounds wherever the young girl went, with even a couple of them involving screaming from another 'female lifeform' worse than his Mommy…but from which the slapping didn’t stop until a few minutes ranging from half a dozen of such to even half an hour.

In the end, the baby boy even heard those bare feet moving towards where his Mother would go to get some little pieces of food, where the slapping continued for almost an entire hour then. Only after 2 hours and 11 minutes did the young girl come back, smelling clean but looking a bit tired as she began preparing stuff with a small electric stove in her hands with tons of bread, a few bottles of water, and quite some eggs among other such ingredients like sausages, a couple onions, chocolate bits and ice along a smallish box.

“Phew, who would’ve thought, there are many ways to eat and get clothed around here.” The young girl, who was eating with her legs crossed on the floor a quarter of a slice of bread, and half an egg said, watching the baby who drank ¾’s the milk bottle that was already medium size with relish but that was then accompanied by fatigue of tomorrow’s events.

On the other hand, the baby was content and even burping, but his eyes were reminiscing…all while showing a dissatisfied and upset emotion; it wasn’t good enough nor warm enough, it was especially not from his Mother, tsk tsk.

“...Yiyiya…” The baby then looked at the new little young woman in his life, his eyes unspeakably thinking of something and, with the young girl noticing them, she thought for a little bit of something before probing with a low tone. “You know, I saw a few clothes, very well kept in a very nice box. Would you like me to use th-”

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” The sudden, enraged, and shrill but terrifying scream froze the young girl, who then instinctively gulped the last bit of the half an egg into her tummy via her throat. After looking at the furious eyes for a while, the young girl smiled so brilliantly it showed a new world to the enraged tiny baby, still of slightly pale skin. Which only warmed up in his…first few days of living before returning to becoming sliiightly pale.

“Hehe, I knew it, you smart little cute baby can understand me, am I rite?!” With newfound joy, the young girl ignored all of her past life and…freely smiled. But only being mindful of not touching this pure being at all.

“Yiyiya…” Begrudging, the baby boy ‘said’ as he actually, and shockingly, crossed his arms. Then, the young girl smiled once more, softly and largely, before sitting close to him and telling him with a serene tone in her fragile voice. “My name is Aixi. I’m- I can’t touch you, I’m too filthy, so remember that well, alright?”

Her face was so vivid, her eyebrows jumping smoothly around, and her dimples forming beautiful landmarks on her already cute face. Her eyes were like water filled with intelligence as they made an unbelievable portrait.

“Now, now…let’s play a game! First, let me see, do you recognize this letter? Gaasp…YES! It’s that, that one? Yep, that one! Okay, let me check out. What is…your…name?!”

“Yiyiyaiyiayaya~ yiyiya~!!” With giggles, which weren’t heard from this wooden hut since long ago, Aixi and the baby began playing with each other without making any physical contact. Aixi made comments and moved her body so curiously, which made the baby boy become so entertained and attracted to coexisting with this new lifeform…In a way, Aixi couldn’t understand that the family who ‘woke up’ dead this morning.

“Oh… Ciemnosc? Darkness, huh? Quite nice… Your Mommy, hmmm? You had a…oh my…I’m so sorry, Ciemnosc… Xi Jidong? Oooh, so beautiful~~!... Mmn, let’s go to sleep, look what I brought, hehe, this one for you but don’t worry, we’ll sleep on the same…’bed’. Ahem. From now on, from today and onwards…you are my precious little brother, understood?!”

“YIIIIIII!! YAA~~H!!” A young girl and baby discussed. One was wordless but tried hard; and could at least put emotion in his cries, sounding heroic and a person of their word. Ciemnosc didn’t get his Mother back, nor another new one, but…he got a new sister.

. . .

In the same tiny village where a son and mother met. Where a brother and sister met already 3 years ago. Within a building that was recently built, but that was smaller than even Ciemnosc’s wooden hut.

“And that’s it! Light and Darkness! They are all the first and foremost of it all! The legends, the stories, the stories? Mm mmn, they are all true!!” An old man with a long, white, and slightly wrinkled face was teaching the children in the classroom about his ‘gained enlightenment’, his neck extending by the last few words he spoke out.

“Everyone knows it,” the old man continued, his hands behind his back and walking from the northeast of the classroom to the northwest. His voice was not that loud as there were only 16 children around in a very small classroom without any other adjacent building and of semi-fine and semi-rough light brown wood.

“The Light is the sanest, healing, beautiful, curing, mind-cleansing, and heart-calming of all the other Elements! Only the Darkness can make it wary, aware of; threatened!” The old man went left and right constantly, his demeanor serious and…alright, somewhat crazy. “Darkness is the ugliest of the world! It only consumes. It may not be all destruction, but it does create terror! It is the embodiment of fear and sorrow. Only the Darkness, the filthiest of ‘Elements’ can be cleansed through special fire Elements and…Light!”

“When someone is at their highest, they must never forget about guarding against the darkness, but if one is in the lowest, they are prone to face darkness at every corner of their world!!” Once again, the old man made great emphasis on his last couple of words, dragging them on a bit more extra as well. “One needs a pure heart to resist darkness, be it in your best or worst, children.”

“When one thinks they are ‘too good’ for the darkness to cloud their mind and make them fall in perverseness…they fall.” Such a simple set of words ended up making the most impact on children, age ranging from 2 to 14 whose eyes began shining more and more. Meanwhile, one sole kid was indifferently looking at the old man giving his speech in contrast to the rest of them all…

“Darkness is not given birth when one is given life too! Only when one is weak and thinks that doing all they can to achieve their purpose is when the Darkness takes a meal of its favorite victims, feats on their weakness and stupid minds to get stronger and control them!!”

The old man faced the children, standing right in the middle of the classroom, and with his hands behind his back; his chin up. “But Light itself is already hard to find, much more than Darkness. As such, we can only depend on our own hearts and souls to defy it, to defy such tyranny, evildoers, malice, and wrongs.”

“No matter how dark it is within you, remember that there is always some of it deep inside that can take you to freedom from the darkness once again, always!!” The old man became so excited, and the children in the classroom…seemed to have found a ‘way’. “It corrodes. It corrupts, it poisons, breaks, and destroys all that everyone!!.... Everyone holds dear!”

“To everything that you love, know, and want to explore, it will ruin it all - everything! That is why! You must persevere. Destroy the darkness back, and gain your own fate. Your own future will reach beyond the skies!!”

“Yeaah! Teacher!” - “Wooaaah! Let’s fight the darkness together! Together!!” - “We must trust in the other Elements, the teacher has spoken. Let’s gooo! I heard there is a cultivation organization recruiting soon in the city! I’m gonna become a cultivator!” - “I’m gonna kill evil, darkness will disappear where I go, yeah, yeah uhuaaah yeaaah!!”

“...” Ciemnosc remained silent. The old teacher had closed his eyes and couldn’t notice such apparent irregularity. He was too busy nodding with the back of his head inclined backwards though.

“Now, silence…silence…” The old teacher softly commanded, the children swiftly became obedient. That was when the teacher saw Ciemnosc, and seeing this child already behaving without needing to be reminded twice made him feel glad and proud of himself. “Err, let me see, ah yes, there are still 13 minutes before school ends, let me see…”

“Now, let’s talk about…the words of power!”

----------------------------------------

Let It Rain's Note: Aixi, Xi = Cherish as in treasure, value.