The Ciphrus Compendium by darknano | World Anvil Manuscripts | World Anvil

Act II, Part 2

3012 0 0

The next morning was unusually serene for Blink. The world in her eyes was distinct in its objective, and the Terrasque, as well as its counterpart, the Haze, were both in sync in her eyes. This perceived unity is what led her meditations for the morning.

    With the sun rising slowly over the horizon, and the night finally receding into its usual hiding spot, Blink decided to move further north before striking a small radio station situated somewhere on the border of Tornun, for there was a particular individual she had arranged to meet weeks before her departure from Tamper City from the far west of Selahktia.

    It had taken her most of the day to reach the point, with very minimal complications on the way. Blink had found the order of the travel as uncanny, as the central region of Selahktia was more or less a main contention point. Nevertheless, when the radio station finally came into view, so did the colossal wall between Tornun and Selahktia. This border was solidified by a concrete wall that extended in either direction, constructed over the course of ten years and an impressive architectural basis. Even grand designs such as this succumb to time, however, and its stretch was infested with many vines and cracks.

    Blink had made it to an abandoned radio tower on the opposite end of the wall, which was where the destined meet would take place. Though, as she approached the desolate building, instead there stood an individual with a clean black suit and paper white skin stood at the center. His hands were nonchalantly in his pockets, and seemed like he had been standing there for some time.
    Blink took note of his unusual complexion, but moreover that this was not who she was supposed to meet. This was random, and so accordingly, Blink immediately hid behind a nearby wrecked vehicle, which had gathered a decade of decay. Blink made no sound nor expression of presence in doing so, yet the man turned towards the direction of Blink. His scarlet eyes shone greatly despite the midday sun, and he simply stared in her direction without further confrontation.

    Blink thought in this moment of delay to instead leave. It was clear, in her mind, that this was some sort of set up -- the only people still in suits in this world were those of the I.H.M.D., but as she attempted her getaway, the man uttered a name that strangely flowed with the wind, as though his voice were the sweet smell of a pie on an open window.
    “Yra?” he called, and her entire being froze. That name was long since gone, buried with the Old World under the guise of Blink’s new moniker. This was Blink’s birth name, one which she hadn’t heard in over ten years; all who knew it were already dead.

    Blink didn’t immediately approach the stranger, despite his information. Instead, she stayed and listened to his words, which continued to spread among the flurried air.

    “You’re looking for something, Yra. You just don’t know it, yet,” the man said. Blink furrowed her brow and looked off to the side in her confusion. When she turned her head back towards the man -- he was gone. Instead, he stood over her atop the wreckage in an impressive balancing act. His hands were still cupped neatly in his pockets, and he leaned all the way forward to meet her eye-to-eye from above, a crazed look in his eyes as his spiky teeth ruined his smile.

    Blink had fallen back in utter surprise, something which didn’t come to her often. The man kept his look, and he spoke loudly and clearly with an iridescent tone of morbid joy.

    “Are you having a hard time understanding me? Am I an anomaly to you? Do you believe your world view to be complete?” he giggled, which then turned into an all out howl wherein he craned his back to raise his laughing head to the sky.

    Suddenly, he froze in place and all sound was void from his body. Blink watched in horror from what seemed to be some kind of disturbed man with incredible (possibly Tagonic) abilities, but as her thoughts started coming together the man had recomposed himself. He stood up straight, cradling his hands back into his pockets and looking down at Blink with boredom. 

    “How fragile. How frail is our understanding of the universe,” he pitied, but it seemed to have a share of his own self pity. “But, you are strong in this world. You are knowledgeable. You know things no one should ever know, and you’ve seen them all the same -- with your own eyes.”

    Blink’s mouth opened, but her premeditated question was answered uncannily thereafter.

    “That comes later. What’s important for you is a very lost individual. Indeed, you have already met once.”

    “Who are you to make demands of me?” Blink retorted, “What incentive is there for me to listen to what you have to say?”

    The man’s unamused face intensified with a shallow frown. “What do you Humans like to use for incentives again? Rewards? Threats? Punishment? Greed, Brutality, and Law, because those have worked so well for you in the past. Which one shall I choose? Do you desire wealth or fear? I can easily grant both.”

    Blink’s wealth was within the passion for her ideas, and she did not particularly fear this man so much as simply lament him. Nevertheless, she quickly snapped back at him.

    “I’m not Human. You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. What’s your in, weird man?”

    His chuckle restarted once more, and he inhaled deeply before shouting back to her in identical joy to the last outburst.

    “No? Do I not? Oh, how entertaining! This play just keeps getting better and better! Please, do tell me more. What do you think you are then? You think you just appeared here fourteen thousand years ago, out of thin air? No… No nevermind that. That’s digression! It’s not a part of the script!”

    Before Blink knew it, she was pinned to the ground with this man’s hand grasped firmly around her neck. His movements were far too fast even for her, yet the impact was unusually gentle -- as though she had simply fallen back. 

Blink’s respirator had fallen off in the chaos, and her hood fell back revealing a set of crimson eyes to meet him, and long black flowing hair which spread out lightly among the grass. The man’s deranged gaze stared her in the eyes, accompanied by a deep frown. He did not appear to enjoy doing this.

    “This is Threat,” he informed her. Blink, in an attempt to escape, initiated a spear made purely from Termoyl, which had lanced straight through the man’s head without delay. It pierced straight through his temple, from which his head recoiled to his right, before he slowly recollected himself without having much of an impact on his grip -- or life. 

    Blink shook in dismay, confusion, and ultimately fear. She had watched this man die, but not at all. Instead, he quickly extracted the spear before it dissipated before their very eyes into neutral Termoyl cells. 

    He tapped the side of his temple, and a few extra dumps of blood spewed from his temple before it merely closed back up. His frown was even larger now, which instilled egregious anxiety within Blink.

    “The three sins of Humanity: Threat, Brutality, and Law. Now you have learned it as I have. You feel the fear we felt. You are knowledgeable.”

    Blink at this point could not speak. Even though her airways weren’t restricted, the pure chaos of the situation relinquished her ability. Instead, she simply watched and listened to the man.

    “You cannot kill all problems, and I am included. I am Floretaxen, the guardian of this domain -- an Archaeic. If it does not make sense to you now, it will in due time.”

    The man leaned in closer, and spoke softly into Blink’s face. “Find Iunnet Loegaire. The Yetinaph you should have killed, remember?”

    Blink blinked, and she was left laying in a field just outside of an old radio tower -- the sounds of jets passing in the far north.

Please Login in order to comment!