Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Dying ❯ Chapter 2

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I gasped loudly, my lungs, legs and arms burning with fatigue. But still, I kept moving, pushing my tired and weakened body up the hill. It was difficult and painfully tiring, but I wouldn’t give up. After all, my reason for my perseverance was easily keeping pace right next to me.
“Only a small amount more to go sir,” murmured Desdemona into my ear.
I still remembered my vow to throw myself into this training and although I had gotten much more fit and capable of defending myself over the past few weeks, I was still unable to lay even a finger on the girl on those few times we sparred. Still, she didn’t beat me down as easily as my first time sparring with her, but I was fairly certain she was going easy on me.
Over the time I had been here, my body had started to lean up and the excess fat was falling away as the soft muscle began to tone up. That was only the daily exercises in the morning.
In the evenings I devoted myself to study, devouring books and guzzling the information within. I now had at least a basic knowledge of the city and its inhabitants as well as the ways of life here.
Occasionally, Julia would quiz me on what I had learned, and would also have little debates with me, almost a mental version of the sparring matches I had with Desdemona.
I never did learn what happened that night I was woken up, as the next morning Julia appeared completely fine and made no mention of the business she had been on for the past day or so.
“That’s good enough for today sir,” said Desdemona, as I stumbled across a rough line drawn in the dirt made by her a few hours ago.
“You can remove the weights to now if you wish sir,” she mentioned.
With a relieved sigh that sounded more like a gasp, I undid the clasps of the thick metal shackles clamped around my wrists, ankles and midsection. They hit the dirt with a dull clang.
Desdemona had insisted I wear these things after the first few days I had trained with her. True, the objects did help build muscle tone, but that didn’t mean that they were fun to lug around.
As I bent over, trying to reclaim my breath as sweat trickled down my brow, I looked out over the vast training field that I now worked on almost daily.
It was a large hilly dust bowl, with a searing sun over head and dry rasping winds that flowed through it. A wide, stone lined pit rested in the centre of this place. A door located on one of the inner sides of this pit opened up directly to corridor on which my room was located.
Although I had grown used to such commonplace warping of space and time within Julia’s immense complex, I couldn’t deny the fact that it was incredibly useful.
Apparently Desdemona had set this up after a suggestion from Julia. She said it would be easier for me if all my major facilities were located close to me. I felt the real reason was that she didn’t want me wandering around, a point she made clear on the first day I arrived.
After I had washed up from the grime I had accumulated from training I returned to my rooms, only to find Julia waiting there for me.
At first I simply thought it was one of our mental sparring rounds.
“Your progress over the past few weeks has been excellent. I believe you’re now capable of some “hands-on” experience. Would you agree?” asked Julia, getting straight to the point.
I nodded mutely in agreement.
“That’s good. I will be departing for the Pit the day after tomorrow, as first I will need to obtain some passes for us for departure. You should read up on the Pit if you haven’t already, as well as The Maggot Prince, and The Administrator,” she announced, adding, “You should be able to find out about the former on your readings on the Pit, and the latter in the annals about the Port. Any questions?”
Again, I shook my head, this time in the negative.
“Good. I shall see you again tomorrow after your morning workout. Goodbye until then,” she finished, before leaving both suddenly and briskly.
I was left slightly confused by her departure, until what she said had time to sink in.
I was actually going to get to travel out with her on one of her business trips! My heart trilled at the prospect of going out. Granted, I enjoyed my daily routine, but I had grown to realize about myself that I thrived on change. It led me to suspect that in my previous life I had been a wanderer.
Although the initial pain and depression that had plagued me about my previous life had almost fully vanished within first week, I still wondered about who I was constantly. Was I a warrior? A doctor? A librarian? Or something else entirely? As a result, I still had not taken a name.
Nothing seemed to fit right. I pored through dictionaries and history annals, searching for a name that would speak to me, be mine and only mine. But I didn’t find anything. It didn’t seem to bother Julia or Desdemona in the slightest. Desdemona referred to me as the young master or sir, and Julia had taken to calling me “Nameless”. It seemed to amuse her, and with no alternative, I grudgingly accepted the name as a substitute for the moment, until I had found a real one.
Catching myself getting lost in thought once more, I quickly shook out of the mind fog and rooted through the growing pile of books on my table until I had found the tome on the Pit, that I had been meaning to read for some time. Opening it up, I began to scan through the text.
“…diseased and rotting. The Pit is used as a dumping ground for debris and waste that is generated by the other areas, as well as the numerous hazardous objects that fall from reality. As a result of this wanton dumping there are ancient, and powerful artifacts that have been discarded to the Pit, making it a favored ground for treasure hunters, despite the danger of the surroundings. Many hunters….”
I flicked through the pages, looking for the person Julia had referenced. There! The Maggot Prince. I began to read slowly, apprehensive about learning about someone known as by such a name.
“…of Rot, the Carrion Lord, King of Decay, the Maggot Prince has many aliases, but none know his true name, or even if he has one. He resides in the Pit, within his massive fortress, the Castle of Bone, surrounded on all sides by his name sakes. He rules the Pit in everything but name, refusing to take an official title of rulership, much to the chagrin of the more orderly minded of Those Who Are. Many say that…”
I read on a little further, but after that passage, it simply turned into idle speculation. I turned back and began to read through the book from the beginning, but the general idea of the area was pretty much identical to the short summary I had read, with little or no solid information about the Maggot Prince.
Apparently he was something of a recluse, and it seemed he didn’t like any knowing about him either, as any books which had extensive information on him had been bought out and destroyed by his
estate.
The book had also no descriptions, no pictures, nothing, not even a vague idea of what he looked like.
I quickly scanned through my library and tried to see if I could find any real information on the character.
After four hours spent, a pile of books a foot high and around thousand pages sped read though, I still had no concrete information on the Maggot Prince. Some of the books said he was fat, jovial character, some an emaciated miser. Others said he was a giant maggot, and yet others on top of that said he was rotting corpse. Some even disputed that it was even a he.
I slumped over, idly tossing the last book into the pile, annoyed that I had spent so much time and energy on a wild goose chase. I chuckled sardonically as I realized I had learned something. I learned that whoever the Maggot Prince was, he really valued his privacy.
I stood up, stretching, ready to get started on the next part of my “homework” research on a character known as the “Administrator”. This information was much easier to find. It was in the one of the original books I had read on the Port, the third book I had read since coming here.
I opened the pages on the chapter on the Administrator from instinct alone. As I read, I remembered almost all the information on this particular character within the first few sentences. Just to be safe though, I read through the entire chapter before I was satisfied.
The Administrator was One Who Was, one of them that was particularly obsessed about order, and the “Administrator” of the Port, hence his title. This place had warped to his idea of order, which would explain all the clocks and gears. However, the strangeness of the place also explained the fact that his mind was on a completely different level than a normal persons, and that he thought in a way that I couldn’t even comprehend.
As the administrator, he would regulate all traffic going in and out of the Port, as well as keeping all the bureaucracy of the Port in order, even though he was also the one that created most of the bureaucracy in the first place, and then worked on it by himself. He demanded reports and logs and be taken of every legalized action and every legalized action to be sanctioned, and the every sanction to be personally signed by him. So in effect, he was a one man paperwork machine, creating work mainly for himself and then dealing with it. He sounded kinda crazy, but he was also one of the more sane of Those Who Are that I had read about.
The rest of the day passed without incident. I was excited about the coming trip, and time seemed to move slower as I ate dinner, as I walked through the complex, as I read some more notes and annals before I finally went to bed. But in my excited state, I could barely close my eyes, let alone get to sleep. I eventually drifted off after an eternity of waiting patiently, despite the excited anticipation threatening to burst out at a moments notice.
I awoke before Desdemona even called me, jumping out of the bed as soon as she opened the door, and hastily putting on my clothes.
At the breakfast table, I could barely contain myself, wolfing down the food with glee.
Finally, after putting down her fork and wiping her mouth lightly with her napkin, Julia spoke up.
“I trust that you have done the necessary research that I set for you,” she said expectantly.
“I have, but unfortunately I couldn’t find anything of note on the Maggot Prince besides the fact
that he greatly appreciates his privacy,” I said humbly.
There was a snigger.
“Uh… Julia?”
I looked up to Julia, seated at the head of the table as usual, holding her hand to her mouth and
trying to contain her laughter.
“I’m sorry, but I must admit, I truly didn’t think you’d find anything at all on the Maggot Prince. I gave that assignment to you as a sort of test, seeing what you’d be able to find out from what you have, or rather in this case, what you don’t. You’re truly showing some excellent progress,” she said proudly, her characteristic grin near splitting her face.
I couldn’t help but feel a little proud from what she said, despite the anger I felt from her
originally tricking me.
Julia started speaking again, and her manner became brusque and businesslike once more.
“Today we will be obtaining passports and papers from the Administrator in preparation for our trip to the Pit. I’m taking you along in order to give you some experience in dealing with one of Those Who Are. During this time, you are not to speak unless spoken to, and you are to call me master. Reputation is everything in this line of work and if you embarrass me, the consequences will be severe,” she growled, clenching her fists unconsciously.
“Understood, master,” I said, standing to attention to illustrate my dedication.
Julia relaxed and smiled.
“That’s good, but you don’t have to do it here. You can wait until we’re outside to “put on the
mask” so to speak,” she said.
“Are you ready to depart now?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I’m good,”
“Good. Desdemona, my things please,” she said with a slight gesture.
Desdemona bowed slightly and vanished, before almost instantly returning with Julia’s coat and
hat. Julia’s walking stick was, as ever, at her side, and after she put on her coat and hat, she picked it up with a twirl and a flourish, before setting off.
When we got to the lower entrance hall, as Julia called it, she went to a different door than the one I had originally entered in.
When I asked her why she simply said “This one’s closer to where we’re going,”.
Another warped door way I assumed.
When she opened the door, my suspicions were confirmed, as this door led out onto a walkway, high up within the city. The wind buffeted us wildly as we stepped out onto it, blowing all our clothes askew and making Julia’s long hair billow out like a flag.
I chanced a look over one of the railings and was rewarded with my legs stiffening at the sight of the immense drop below us. I tried to shuffle after Julia as quickly as possible, partly because she was
setting a crippling pace, partly because I didn’t like the way my head spun when I looked down.
The walkway led to whole network of walkways, all intertwined around a pillar like building that extended as far as I could see both down and up, disappearing in the maze of ever present buildings. The closer we got to the tower, the more cables and express tubing seemed to accumulate on the bridges, wrapped around the railings and trailing across the path limply. It soon got to the point where the walkway was the tubes and cabling, replacing the bridge entirely.
The pillar itself was a creamy white, scarred by the walkway entries puncturing its broad frame, with the accompanying cables and tubes dissipating into the flesh of the building like a swarm of black parasites.
It was unusually dark when we got inside, the darkness enveloping us like a shroud. I fumbled around in the black for a few moment before I heard a click from somewhere on my left a and line of bright white lights hanging from the river of cables that served as the ceiling. began to illuminate the way.
I looked at Julia who was standing at the switch that had obviously just activated all the lights.
“It’s a little difficult to find unless you’ve been here already, and they’re rarely turned on because there’s rarely anyone to use them,” said Julia coolly at my quizzical expression.
As I watched her pass by to lead the way, I noticed that the switch she had been standing at was on the only part of the wall that was an actual wall. The rest of hallways walls, were in fact filing cabinet drawers.
Rows and rows of cold, grey, metal drawers, miles of cables and such lining the floors and ceilings, and a chilling cold, which became more and more apparent were the only scenery as we delved deeper into the behemoth that was the home of the Administrator, .
“This place is less like someone’s home and more like a storage facility,” I commented aloud, my breath misting up in the air as I folded my arms and rubbed my shoulders for warmth.
“That’s because it is,” responded Julia, standing tall and unflinching at the drop in temperature. She didn’t even look cold, just a half lidded look on her face of utter seriousness that she always wore at any mention of business.
“The Administrator has one hobby and only one hobby. He’s trying to archive all of existence. Of course, reality, time and space being what they are, he’s only managed to archive the activities of the Port and keep up with the current events here. This building contains all the information he’s managed to gather since existence began here. I’ve always wondered what he’d do if he ever ran out of room…” she continued, a tone of curiosity creeping into her voice as she held her chin pensively.
We continued on in silence, slowly working our way inside deeper inside the building until at last we finally reached what looked like the entrance of the administrators inner sanctum.
It was a large mahogany or oak double door, elegant in it’s simplicity, the brass handle worn with use. It was surprisingly homely, and definitely out of place amidst the cold metal and black rubber.
Julia adjusted her suit slightly , checking that everything was in place, and after taking a quick glance in my direction, gave me a cold look that was obvious in it’s meaning.
After I had quickly fixed my appearance, she opened the door, into a bright, well lit room. It was strange after all of the previous interior. A row of windows lined the back wall, looking out into only a bright whiteness, similar to blank paper. A wall to wall bookshelf covered both of the adjacent walls, both filled with files and folders, and extending off into a vastness so high above, I couldn’t even see the
ceiling. The room seemed to twist the higher it went up, and the odd platform could be seen, a desk sitting on each one.
There were three desks in the room on the ground, all the exact same as the other desks, with the only exception being the placement of the numerous papers on it’s surface. All had a thick entanglement of cables erupting from the centre of the side that was closest to us, a large terminal sprouting out of the mess. The floor, although it had a delicately patterned carpet, was criss-crossed with ever more cables, but not enough to entirely obscure the carpet from view. Everything in the room was either made of some dark lacquered wood, black rubber or paper.
But even stranger than the sudden change in scenery was the rooms occupant. He was a stout, portly little man, his head bald and sporting an extravagant mustache. He was so short and fat he was almost circular in shape, and he was clad in a suit and waistcoat, a large bulky pocket watch chain extending from one waistcoat pocket to the other. Sweat glistened on his head, with very red cheeks, flushed as if physically exerting himself. But it was his movements that were the most odd.
He’d be sitting at one of the desks, working at one of the terminals or writing, then he’d flicker and blur and he’d be at one of the other desks, or up on one of the book ladders at the shelves, picking out a file, then he’d flicker and blur again. If I squinted my eyes and watched very carefully, I was able to barely, just barely see an after image of him moving from one spot to another extremely fast.
“Ah Julia!” he exclaimed, flickering towards us briefly to shake our hands vigorously, before flickering back to his work, still keeping the conversation going though.
“It’s been a while you know-” he moved from the desk to the ladder.
“-I was beginning to think you’d retired after that nasty business in-” now back to one of the desks.
“-the Dream Moors. Nasty business that. Wouldn’t have gotten mixed up in it myself-” to another desk, this time shaking his head slightly from side to side.
“-as I always have so much filing to do. You know-” again, another flicker and blur.
“-I could still use an assistant…” he finished, stopping completely, his eyebrows raised in hopeful anticipation.
“Now we both know you’ve fired every assistant you’ve ever had in fifteen minutes at the most. I still don’t understand why you’re still trying to recruit me,” said Julia good naturedly, shaking her head askance.
“Please, we both know you’re not in the least modest. You’re the best, plain and simple. Why, with you at my side, I could probably take that nice little century holiday I’ve been planning in my free time…” he said sweetly, almost batting his eyes as he leaned over to her.
Julia chuckled loudly.
“I’m sorry Ordo, but the answer is what it always is. I’m overworked enough as it is, I don’t need to put even more onto my plate,” she said with a smile that showed a little bit too much teeth.
“Blast-” said the Administrator, frowning as he flickered around the office, his fat face crinkling almost beyond recognition.
“-I had really hoped you would have changed your mind by now-”
“-I suppose it can’t be helped. But if you ever do-” “-you know where to find me. Now-” he flickered next to me. “-who is this fresh face?” he asked, looking at me up and down. “This is Nameless, my new assistant,” answered Julia. The Administrator looked at her sideways. “I’m not trying to rub it in your face Ordo,” said Julia hastily, raising her hands. “It’s simply that my workload has increased immensely recently, what with the current events
being what they are. You know of what I speak. Even you must be feeling the effects. The widespread tension and unrest has near tripled my workload, even despite most people’s inherent… distrust of me,” she admitted.
The Administrator simply shrugged, flickering around the room and beginning his work anew.
“I guess it’s-”
“-not my-”
“-place to comment. So Julia,-”
“-why the visit?-”
“-I trust it’s-”
“-work related. You were-”
“-never one to drop-”
“-in for friendly visits.” he said bluntly.
“Direct and to the point, as always,” mused Julia, smiling.
“We came for passports and the necessary papers to allow personal travel to the Pit, as well as a
current, up to date flow chart, if you wouldn’t mind,”
The Administrator flickered around the room several times in quick succession, before popping up in front of Julia with a large bundle of papers in his hand.
“Here you go. Although I must say, that’s odd of you Julia, not to have an up to date flow chart,” handing her the papers, before moving back to one of the desks again.
“I’ve been taking my chances recently,” she said somewhat guiltily, avoiding the look the
Administrator shot at her.
He tutted loudly.
“Now Julia, you-”
“-know I taught you-”
“-better than that,” he scolded.
Julia just rolled her eyes.
“Is that everything?” he said.
“Yes,” said Julia. “Thank you for your time Ordo. Until the next time we meet,” she said, giving him a slight wave with one white gloved hand.
“And to you Julia. May your future ventures prove fruitful for you and your assistant,” he responded, not even looking up as we left, so engrossed was he in his work.
As we walked away back down the storage corridor we came in, I could see Julia smiling to herself, staring off into space, probably memories of long ago.
“It’s been a long time since anyone’s ever talked to me like that…” she mused, more to herself than to me.
It was obvious that she had history with the Administrator, but I didn’t want to pry into her personal history. In the time that I had gotten to know her, Julia definitely didn’t seem like the type to freely divulge things about her personal life or history, so I opted to the smart thing in my opinion, and let sleeping dogs lie. But still, it was odd to see her act like that. Most of the time, she was highly ordered and driven, alternating between sardonic grins and humour, and a cold, almost cruel business like demeanour. This was a whole new side to her, one that I didn’t really think she had.
We traversed the rest of the way out of the corridor in silence, Julia lost in reminiscences the whole way. As we came out into the light, I saw something large and feathery take off from one of the railings, disappearing beneath the bridge before I could get a better look. I tentatively peeked over the side, clutching at the railings for fear of getting startled and falling off.
“It’s not going to harm you. In fact, it will practically ignore your existence unless you try to harm it or the building,” intoned Julia.
“What?” I asked rather stupidly.
“Didn’t you think it was rather odd that we just walked into the home of the ruler of the Port? Didn’t you wonder about the complete lack of security?” she quizzed, her tone serious.
“Well… uh…” I stammered haltingly. In truth, I hadn’t even given it a second thought.
Julia sighed, frowning, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Warden, show yourself,” she called out.
There was a loud flapping sound, and a massive bird-like creature flopped over the side onto the walkway.
It was funny looking beast, standing about four foot tall, and covered in splintery black feathers. Its head was a large monitor, the screen blank at the moment. The occasional cable ran out from the bottom of its head and trailed across the side of its body. It was ungainly, clumsy looking and would have come across quite goofy if it hadn’t been for the legs. It had four, and they were thin and angular, ending in serrated claws that looked as if they could quite easily rip someone in half.
“This is a warden, one of many. They are the Administrator’s home security system. Despite their size, they’re quite adapt at concealing themselves, and fight with mechanical speed and precision. They’re
very deadly, and had you come here without me, they would have most likely torn you to shreds. They also let the Administrator know of everyone coming in at any entrance,” Julia explained, scratching the beast underneath the monitor, where I would presume it’s chin was. The monitor’s screen glowed a dim pink, and it tilted its head slightly to side as if it were enjoying the attention.
I looked around, trying to see if I could find any others. Sure enough, now that I knew what I was looking for, their presence became more apparent. They were everywhere, hunched and hanging onto the wild entanglements of black cables, blending in easily amongst them. Their heads moved subtly in sync with my movements, and despite the fact that they had no eyes, I could feel their heavy, collective gaze upon me.
The one beside Julia flung itself off the walkway and disappeared over the side with a strange distorted screech, a sound more electronic than anything else. I started visibly at the sudden sound, grabbing the railing in surprise. Julia simply rolled her eyes and started off, beckoning for me to follow.
We re-entered Julia’s citadel, as I had come to call it, in short time and were soon standing amidst the great entrance hall.
“Now I’d like for you to begin packing for our trip. It may take several days and we will most likely be travelling through somewhat hostile territory, so please, pack light, and only the essentials. If you have need of anything, remember that Desdemona will not hesitate to get you anything. Understand?” explained Julia.
I nodded in agreement.
“Good. We’ll be departing early tomorrow, so please, be ready and fully packed tonight,” she finished, heading up the stairs, most likely to prepare for tomorrow.
I decided to follow suite and departed for my own room.
There were several new additions when I got in, the most prominent being a medium sized, dark red leather suitcase with an ornate ebony handle and clasps. The other things, which had no doubt been provided by Desdemona, were various items one would expect to take on a long journey, such as a water canteen, some rope, small rations and an eight inch long knife and sheath, among other things.
I regarded the knife dubiously, pulling it out of it’s sheath and examining its cold, hard, smoothness. The edge was honed to razor sharpness with a small gap between the blade and hilt at the bottom, and there was a serrated section on the top of the knife. The handle was made of solid metal encased in a thick covering of rubber, moulded to accommodate the shape of a human hand.
As I held the blade in front of me, feeling it’s surprising weight, examining the light glint off it’s dull grey surface, I felt something stir deep inside of me, a strange feeling that I could not quite comprehend.
I flipped the weapon around in my hand several times, and eventually threw it up in the air, watching it’s spinning arc until I easily caught it by the handle with the other hand. It seemed almost like second nature to me, like something I had done my entire life. I gently placed the knife back into it’s sheath and laid it back onto the table, perplexed by this weird familiarity.
Unsure of how to deal with this new feeling, I pushed the thought from my mind and tried to concentrate on the matter at hand.
Since I didn’t really have any personal items, I just packed the things that had been given to me, finishing up in less than an hour. Except the knife.
That I strapped to my belt, on my left side. I don’t know why I did that, I just did.
After that boredom began to set in rather heavily. I was too excited about the next day to do anything properly and I simply ended up pacing the room incessantly, thinking about the trip I would be taking tomorrow. Thinking about that led me to think about Julia. About the way she acted. About the way she treated others. About the way she treated me. How she treated me with casual disdain, how I was often ignored until I was needed, how she had confined me to this room.
It was then that the embers of rebellion, previously smothered by the sheer amount of work and learning I had done for the past few weeks, began to burn inside of me. The other side of me started to argue the points in Julia’s favour.
She did, after all, rescue me from that horrible darkness.
Yeah, so I could work for her.
She’s treated me pretty well so far.
When I’m not in company. When someone else is around she treats me like I don’t exist, and when I am referenced, she acts as if I’m an embarrassment .
She’s given me a purpose, and a place to live. Which she won’t even let me leave to explore the house I’m staying in. She keeps me in the dark all the time. I may know a good deal about the outside world, but I don’t know jack about here or her.
With that final thought to the argument it was decided. I would leave the room and explore the fortress. If I leave now, I can wander around for some time before Desdemona finishes off the dinner, and by that time I can easily retrace my steps and be back in my room before she discovers I’m gone, no-one being the wiser. Besides, its not like anyone explicitly told me not to leave the room. They just implied it vaguely.
I cracked open my door, peeking out into the corridor for anyone. Confident the coast was clear, I walked out and began my expedition.
Delving deep into the immense maze of passages I watched for anything interesting, or to catch my eye, occasionally opening the odd door to see what lay inside. Much to my dismay most of the rooms I saw only held books, or some musty old trinkets. The smell of age and disuse was thick in these places, an amalgamation of miscellaneous scents such as dust, parchment, preserving fluids and other odd smells.
I had attempted to at least glance through some of these books, but they were all either in some strange language or in an ancient archaic dialect that was near indecipherable in its wording.
So far I highly disillusioned. I didn’t really know what I had expected to find in those rooms but it certainly wasn’t what I had found.
I scowled in disappointment and looked at my watch. My disappointment slightly lessened to find that I still had a large amount of time left before Desdemona would arrive at my door to escort me to dinner. I resolved to look around a little more, holding out in the hope that I would find at least one item or place of interest.
I entered just another random room, and I found that my patience had been rewarded as I found myself in a strange cluttered room. But this one was unlike the others. Instead of all the odd dusty trinkets that had been in all the other rooms, these seemed to be quite well maintained. Running my hand off of the nearest metal shelf, my fingertips came back with nary a speck of dust. The room near shone.
The items on the shelf were incredibly varied, ranging from small statues and masks, to clear canisters filled with some strange kind of luminous matter.
I came upon a whole row of bottles and paused to look at them, admiring the swirling patterns and colours contained within. I reached over to touch one unconsciously, but stopped myself just in time. Who knew what contact with one of these things could do? Better to be safe rather than sorry, and not touch them at all.
Still, I contrived that these things were interesting enough to warrant my full attention, and started to examine the interesting ones much more intently.
An odd metal orb, almost egg shaped, sat on a small plinth. Looking closely it, there was a thick coating of condensation on the thing, but, enough for the occasional glassy bead to slowly glide down it’s side and hang precariously off the fat flat bottom of the item, before dropping silently into the small collecting dish beneath it.
Then there was a plate, one edge thick as my finger, the rest bladelike in their slenderness. It was covered in a slight pattern, and there was a small word inscribed in the corner. Squinting my eyes, I could just about make it out. Riza.
Not knowing what the word meant, I shrugged and continued with my investigating.
Another item in particular caught my eye. A box.
It was a cube, roughly a foot wide, high and long. Sharp, angular, geometrical patterns were skewed across it’s surface, so thin as to be almost hairline cracks. The surface of the thing was a dull matte black, absorbing any light that touched it, seeming to draw it out of the air until it was shroud in it’s own little personal pool of darkness.
Moving on, I found a small circular bowl filled with thick glossy liquid, colourless, yet not transparent. I tried to discern how exactly this was possible, and looked closer. The reflection of my face appeared to greet me in the fluid.
“Help me,” the bowl said.
I jumped back in shock, falling over onto my lower back, a loud yell bursting from my lungs, and reverberating surprisingly well throughout the citadel. I took no notice, so alarmed was I at this sudden discovery.
“Please… Help me,” the bowl replied plaintively, sounding like the lost and frightened mewling of an abandoned kitten.
I moved closer, daring to look into it’s depths once more.
That’s when I noticed that it wasn’t my reflection. It was a face already present within the bowl, a face that looked at me with sad, lonely eyes and said once more.
“Help me,”
“How?” I asked, my voice husky from shock.
The face was silent for a moment, pain and confusion passing across it’s features as it closed it’s eyes in a thoughtful grimace.
“I don’t know,” it answered quietly.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to do,” I answered helplessly, unsure of how to aid this… bowl. “That’s okay,” it replied in defeat, it’s pain clear in it’s voice. I stood still there for a few moments, statuesque, completely blank on my next course of action. “Could…” I perked my ears up. “Could you stay here… please?” it requested. “Please? Just for a few moments. It gets so very
lonely here,”
The voice was so sad, and so reminiscent of my own loneliness that I felt a pain build up in my throat.
“Uh-,” I responded before coughing quickly, my voice much higher than normal, a waver tinting
it due to my sudden distress.
“Sure,” I whispered, trying my hardest to keep my voice clear.
I stood in silence for a moment, trying to regain my composure, forcing the sharp lump in my
throat to go away.
“Who are you?” it asked suddenly.
“I… I don’t really know,” I answered truthfully.
The voice sighed sorrowfully.
“Just like me then,”
“You can call me Nameless though,” I offered, desperate to get the feeling of depression and
hopelessness out of the air.
“That would be… nice,” a sliver of gladness unmistakeable in it’s response.
“So uh… What should I call you?”
Silence.
“Silver… like the bowl,” drawing attention to it’s containers appearance.
“Silver,” I repeated. “That’s nice… A good name,”
“Thank you,” it said softly, the pain in it’s voice draining away and being replaced by a much
more content tone.
“So… How did you wind up the way you are?” I asked as delicately as possible, unable to find a way around the elephant in the room.
“I don’t know. As far as I remember, I’ve always been in here. Alone. You’re the first thing that’s ever happened to me,” it explained.
“So nothing ever happens here?” I asked. If the bowl had shoulders, I’m sure it would have shrugged. “Not really. Things just appear on the shelves and disappear from them from time to time. Other
than that, it’s just been me here, with my thoughts and nothing but time,” it answered.
There was a bitter silence for a few moments before I spoke up.
“I… I died before I came here. I died and fell into this dark place for a very long time. I was there
for so long that I almost felt like that I had always been there, that any semblance of a life I had had before that time had been nothing but a dream. I was almost crazy when she came,”
From that point onwards, I told Silver my story. Silver took it quite well, happy just to have some one to talk to, to listen to. I could agree.
Time ran on, and when I looked at my watch, I realised that the point of no return was arriving soon. I had to cut short the conversation, but assured Silver that I would be back in time, when circumstances allowed.
“I guess so..” it replied to my leaving. “At least I’ll have the memory of you coming here. I can always look back on that,”
“Is there anything I can do for you, anything that will make you more comfortable?” I asked, hoping to help this new kindred spirit in any way I could.
“No… That’s okay. Like I said, it was just nice to have you here,” it answered, genuine happiness in its voice. Not a loud, piercing happiness, like that of a child, but the general, contented happiness of someone who knows that all things must end.
As I exited the room, I could hear almost whispered behind me very quietly.
“Thank you…”