Chapter 34: Cognizance

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Once Jack sleeps and Luke snores, I rise from my bed. My control enhanced by enormous magnitudes since yesterday, so I sneak outside of the room opening the door without producing the thoom of yesterday.

Slinking through the hallways, I reach the roof where a set of two guards monitor the dorms. They walk in slow circles leaving gaps that I may exploit, but their armor glows in the night signifying their gemchaining abilities. The university enhanced their security since yesterday. Interesting.

As I walk over to the railed edge of the building, I swell pods from my back that burst revealing a set of wings several times wider than I am tall. I use a bat's wings as a reference for my creation allowing for reasonable proportions. They also gain a distribution in their weight that allows me to balance if I control them well.

They need some engine of power for movement however, so I form enormous muscles on my back in order to influence the limbs. The wings contain an extra set of arms with elongated fingers and joints allowing for more precise control.

Before I leap, I practice waving my wings and moving them in order to gain a feel for their use. They prove grueling for any pragmatic purpose. Instead of being simple and elegant, the damn limbs require gargantuan effort to control.

The wind destroys their angling folding the wings back and forth. When I try flapping, I fill with apprehension as even enduring a simple gust of wind would be impossible. As I stand paralyzed by uncertainty, the words of an idiot free me from my petrification.

“Nothing ventured. Nothing gained.”

I run before I leap from the ledge attempting a gentle glide from my starting position. The spot I leap from ensures the largest gap in security since the two guards walk beside each other on the opposite side of the building.

Unfortunately, gravity proves a worthy foe. The increased weight I’ve procured over the last week drags me down faster than I envisioned, so I glide a meager three hundred feet before I close my wings curling into a ball as I land.

The bones of my wings snap shearing me with agony as I roll across the ground, but my silent landing fulfills my initial purpose. I run behind a tree unbeknownst to the guards as I absorb my wings vowing to never use the extremities again. They break far too easily for my tastes.

I glance around noticing light patrols across the campus, but I cultivate an extra set of arms while elongating all four of them allowing me to crawl with six limbs. I grow claws before I crawl close to the ground avoiding the glow of the phosphorescent fauna as I hide in darkness.

In order to learn of the purpose of gemchaining, I will need knowledge, and the least guarded center of the resource remains the library. I reach the building slithering through a vent much like the other buildings. Their desire for fresh air provides me many opportunities.

As I reach inside, I notice a single guard sleeping at the receptionist’s desk, so I crawl up to it with measured steps using elongated fingers for further silencing my steps. As I reach the desk, I take the catalogue that explains how the librarians coordinate their book placements.

They split them into different genres then further divide them using an alphabetical alignment. Understanding it proves simple, so I reach the section for religion where I search for fifteen minutes before I find a book titled, Gaia, Both a Creator and a Destroyer.

The index of the book mentions a chapter called Gemchaining, so I flip to it and read its contents.

I learn the Remnants of Gaia formed as a result of an asteroid striking the earth. Gaia halted the the moon sized rock with a blinding light that veered the obstacle of course from our earth, but the light the deity used shattered into what is now known as The Remnants of Gaia.

Various kingdoms collected these fragments as they contained enormous power, and they use them as signals of their devotion. Leaders of Gaism must touch the fragments and survive the mental onslaught in order to prove their worth, and they symbolize the authority of the nation as a whole.

Bichen is the only kingdom that retains three fragments while the other nine fragments dispersed across the world. Gaia’s presence grew since then proliferating the magical beasts that ravage the humans of this world. Gemchaining’s practical purposes expanded many times over since then as humans must fight these abominations of Gaia’s influence just to survive.

I must research this further if I am going to gain some semblance of an organized and methodical approach to this problem. Jack was correct; humans have a rather compelling reason for their gemchaining.

I read for several hours before I harvest more resources for my enhancements from the forest and campus. The mental and physical exercise invigorates my spirit as the insight and strength eases my apprehension, and in order to locate the other fragments, I will need to scope the library’s contents.

This may take time, but I would rather spend one year searching for the knowledge here rather than ten outside of Mareovosa.

As I lay back in my bed, I tremble at my new found purpose. We may have to fight the worshipped entity Gaia. A mere fragment almost crushed Jack and I, so the concept compels little hope for success. I will need to proceed with my alterations if we are to stop the malevolent force.

Jack’s conscious surfaces once more, so I say, “We have much to speak of.”

He grumbles, “What do you wish to discuss?”

I say, “We will need to harvest the Remnants of Gaia. They create hordes of mutant creatures that assault the humans spurring the use of gemchaining.”

He mumbles, “What?”

“We just have to collect the Remnants of Gaia and absorb them allowing us to halt the primary purpose of Gemchaining.”

Jack snaps, “Do you realize how close we were to being dominated by the mere fragment we have now? Are you insane?”

A voice pierces our conversation like a swordfish ramming its nose through my chest, “Hah. You believe yourself that able mortals?”

I say, “You can’t even quantify what is immortal or not. This body is ageless, imbecile.”

Jack braces for impact, but the fragments only says, “You’ve much to learn little one.”

I say, “So says the disembodied fragment that was overwhelmed by two mortals.”

Quiet returns my reply, so I smirk saying, “Alright Jack. The last fragment was powerful, yet we were both caught unaware, and we still overcame it. With preparation, our ability to fight back will expand allowing for greater safety.”

Jack says, “What if they meld with each other? We would be completely overwhelmed then.”

I say, “I can quarantine them. They will be isolated from one another.”

After a moment, he replies, “I know this is important to you, but I have a life here. I don’t want to throw that away.”

I roll my eyes as I say, “Just convince your comrades to journey with us. I will give you until I determine the locations of all the fragments from the library to do so.”

He shouts, “Can we not discuss this further?”

I roar, “You wish to sit here living your petty life while such oppression exists?”

Jack says, “What makes my life so trivial and your goals so grand?”

I bellow, “Your life concerns only yourself and those close to you. You wish for nothing more while I am freeing thousands of tortured souls with my ambitions.”

He thunders back, “Why must I liberate them? I never wanted such vast burdens. I yearn for a simple life with those I love, not one bathed in the blood of battle.”

I seethe, “Your parents cringe in their graves at your inaction. This world faces grand injustice because of your negligence. Allowing others to wallow in eternal suffering shames their memory. Your lethargy dishonors their legacy!”

He murmurs, “I just desire a blessed life.”

I say, “A blessed life lived on a pile of corpses is a ripe fruit with a rotten core. You shall gain no satisfaction from such a hollow existence.”

After a moment he whispers with a delicate voice that grates my conscious, “Alright...How long will it take for you to discover the locations of the remnants?”

I say in an attempt to ease his discomfort, “Their whereabouts are largely unknown. I will have to pilfer through the library until I gain an understanding of where they might be, so my projections are around a year or even longer.”

He says with a renowned vigor, “Then I shall gain allies during that time...You’re right Deluge. My dereliction decides the fate of many, and without your help, I would never have made it here to Mareovosa. Just as you have helped me, I shall help you.”

I nod my head as I say, “Of course. I will inform you as I gain an understanding of where each fragment is. You may focus on combat, school, and gaining companions.”

He says, “Then our strategy’s set. I was worried we would leave immediately.”

I say, “One of the lessons I learned from this world is that patience is often superior to action.” I rasp out towards the remnant, “Prepare yourself for obliteration you weak willed plague.”

Jack braces once more for a war of wills, yet silence greets my instigation once more before Jack takes over the primary conscious. Hah. This Gaia’s weakness is laughable. What a pathetic idol of devotion.

I shall illustrate our potency. I shall show our caliber. We shall rip this world from this abomination, and the first step is already taken. Hah, hah, hah.

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As I raise myself from my broken bed, the enormity of Deluge’s request falls on my shoulders. Nations collide for possession of a single remnant let alone all twelve, but Deluge’s logic inundates my own concerns.

The hordes of souls within consolidation rasp in torment. This haunts me every moment, yet their suffering spawns from necessary evils. I cannot condemn the society driven to such desperation, but hatred wells in my gut as I remember Gaia.

Why such a being would inflict such suffering without a reasonable cause razes my patience. Its evil contaminates this world like an infestation of cancer, and I shall smash it to oblivion.

I grip my fist as I scowl at my hand, but the sound I produce blares out with unexpected ferocity, so Luke jumps from his bed shouting,

“FUCK YOU. DIE. SHIT.”

I burst into laughter as he looks around in confusion. He says with a messy head of hair, “What's going on?”

I frown as I say, “I remembered Helfeston.”

He looks forward in his bed nodding his head as he says, “Yeah...He was an asshole.”

I lift myself from the floored mattress before I prepare myself for today. My clothes tug on me with greater tightness than before, and the gradual progression forebodes my deformation. I receive the fact with a soothed calmness however.

I’ve accepted a purpose, and with that goal comes sacrifice. If I must embrace my own monsters to rid this world of its plight, then I do so with a bloody smile across my face.

Luke says in his morning stupor, “So what do you have planned for today? I gotta go visit my parents in the city. Oh, I mean-Uhhh.”

I say, “You don’t have to avoid speaking of parents around me. I learned from a wise woman that you can’t expect this world to mold to you. You must mold to it.”

The inkling of a grin forms on his lips as he says, “Alright, cool. So what’s your plan?”

I pop the collar of my fox cloak as I say, “I’ve got a date.”

After we chat for a moment, I wipe my teeth with a rough linen covered in a paste of powdered charcoal, mint and sage. As I rinse my mouth within a bucket of water in the corner of the room, Luke says, “Can I really keep this cloak?”

I turn around with a mischievous grin saying, “If you ask again, then perhaps not.”

As I leave by closing the door, Luke jumps out of his bed holding his fassar cloak with an ecstatic grin across his face. His mood inspires my own as I pace through the campus reaching the library while birds sing on ledges of both iron and stone.

As I enter the building, I locate Joan and I’s previous encampment. Here I entrench myself with several of the books I checked out yesterday.

Once I start, I drill through the material with an ignited fury. If I am to stay here, I will need exemplary grades while Joan’s own requirements reaffirm my initiative, so I charge through Bichen’s history with a newly formed memorization technique.

By using a series of songs for representing my memory, I assimilate the knowledge like sand soaking water. The melodies I make howl the horrors of war and the progress of peace. They evoke both my ire and my awe, so I enchant myself in these harmonies rather than the dull droning of history.

Once I absorb the songs of the aquarell and geshians, I proceed towards the Terile. Before I begin, a charming voice says, “I see you took my claim seriously.”

I raise my head as I say, “Of course. Since I found my own method of memorization, my intellect will now shine.”

Joan says, “Does it involve battle?”

I shrug as I say, “If notes clashing in the air implies battle.”

She sits down saying, “Music aye? Well would you rather play some music then read? I need to stretch my own musical talents before they rust.”

I shut my book as I say beaming joy, “Sounds enthralling.”

We pace towards the musical building chatting about different musical styles until we reach the auditorium. Before we walk in, Joan stops me saying, “Alright Jack. Since we’re a couple now, I want you to meet my friends.”

I nod my head saying, “Why not? Sounds fun.”

She lifts her outstretched hands with her palms facing the ground as she says, “Just remember you said that alright?”

“Uh. Sure. Is there something wrong here?”

She grabs my hand saying, “You're worrying too much. Come on.”

I let her drag me through the still broken doors revealing three girls. Two of the girls giggle at my entering while the other one looks at me with a pale and freckled face. She glares with an intense, confused stare while the other girls laugh since they saw me naked. What an enjoyable meeting.

I roll my eyes as I walk up to them. Joan bounces in front of them gesturing with her hands as she says, “This is Ashley, Amber, and Sophia.”

I stomach my discomfort as I say, “Glad to meet you. I’m Jack Donovan.”

The girls look at me gazing up at my face before the duo of density mumbles, “You’ve gotten way bigger since that time.”

“Yeah, way bigger.”

Joan pinches the bridge of her nose as my amiable smile cracks. I snap, “Do either of your minds ever wander from my naked frame, or are you both stuck in a state of perpetual perversion?”

Their giggling dampens before Sophia says to Joan with an unsteady trembling in her voice, “So how did you two meet?”

Joan scratches the side of her head as she says, “Well. Uh. We well. We...uhm.”

I chime in, “We fought each other. I had asked Petra for her training since Helfeston was an idiot.”

Ashley says, “Wow. Looks like love forged on a battlefield.”

I shrug as I say, “We didn’t really like each other. We may have boasted a begrudging respect for one another, but that was all at the time.”

Amber says, “So how far have you guys gone since then?”

My eyes deaden as I say, “So I was correct in assuming you're both perverted deviants?”

Ashley says, “I mean Joan talked about you the other day. She seemed so lovey dovey, so we-”

Joan snaps, “We don’t have to talk about that. I just wanted you guys to see him play. We don’t have to-”

I interrupt grinning at her with squinted eyes, “Now now Joan. You’re the one who wanted me to meet your friends. We should have a conversation with one another. What's the problem?”

Joan’s eyes squint as she says, “You wanna play that game?”

I shrug my shoulders as I say grinning, “I’ve no idea what you're talking about.”

She turns towards Ashley and Amber saying, “So, how about we talk about Jack’s size down there-”

I shout, “ALRIGHT. You win. Let's just play some music instead.”

She smirks while walking up stage swinging her hips. I say towards her friends as I walk up, “She's fire incarnate, but at least she's never boring.”

Amber says, “Tell us about it.”

I place a hand on my chin as I say, “Maybe later. I can’t leave her waiting, else her flames will burn this building to the ground.”

I walk over towards her with the creaking of wood as I step, so I preemptively brace the bench using a smaller stool from a set backstage. As I sit down on the piano, Joan snuggles up to me wrapping her hand around my lower back.

I say, “What do you wish to sing this time my enchantress?”

She leans her face on a loosened fist as she thinks for a moment. She lifts her head as she says, “What do you want to play?”

I gaze at the piano for a moment before I say, “How about a duet on Trust. Veidgarer’s 8th symphony shall do nicely I believe.”

She nods her head waiting for my play, so I test a few notes before I begin. I build a harmony of gentle repose, but as I pacify my play, the bold voice of Joan swoops in driving my melody from its peace. Each of our notes creates a cadence through their own dissonance. The chords concatenate off each of our mellow moods creating seizing schisms of sound.

Our compositions flow past one another braiding with a gentle complexity like a mother’s cooking. The melodies remain cool and composed until we careen into a shallow silence, but with a sudden, sharp note from Joan, I flurry a fierce fire of keys pulsing the air with the soft sharpness of a piano’s sound.

As we reach the very pinnacle of our turbulence, Joan blares out a boisterous and brassy series of shifting sounds ripping the air to tatters. I guide her voice’s tempo with protracted tones that calm the edges of her voice creating a sound both piercing and powerful.

Whenever the chorus dies down, our notes slide into stillness. The perfect performance rings through the air invigorating me, so I grasp Joan by her waist lifting her from the chair as I spin her around laughing.

She screams as I lift her, but she laughs and cheers with me as she spins until I set her down. She bounces off her toes as she lands into my embrace, and for a moment, all is perfect.

Sophia says, “Any other talents your hiding?”

I eye her as I say, “I can play music and fight. That is all I know of.”

Her face wrinkles for a moment before she says, “Hmmmm. Forget it. That was a beautiful performance either way.”

Ashley squeals, “That was amazing!”

Amber shrieks as well, “Yeah, we didn’t know you could sing Joan.”

Joan reddens as she responds, “I just never felt like showing it till now.”

I say weaving my heavy fingers through hers, “Would you like to express yourself more? The day’s still young, and there is much to sing of still.”

She gazes at me saying, “I would love nothing more.”

We play for several hours as other students gather around for our eventual concert. Joan and I play song after song without noticing the ensuing crowd, but once we finish a passionate portrayal of war, the roar of applause breaks our trance.

As I peer around seeing the group of twenty students applauding, Joan hides her face in her hands. I clutch her wrist tugging her with a delicate firmness that ushers her from her petrification. I shout as we run out of the auditorium,

“Till our next ovation!”

As we pace outside, Joan and I slow near a tree. We catch our breaths before she says,

“Holy shit. How did that many people get there?”

I scratch the back of my head as I say, “Rumors spread that we perform well. That and the fact that I broke the doors the first time we performed together, so they can hear us from outside the auditorium.”

She shivers as she says, “I hate talking in front of people. It makes my skin crawl and my hands get all jittery.”

I place my left hand on my chin as I lean closer examining saying, “Yeah. You look pretty shaky.”

She giggles tapping my face away with a single finger saying, “And you cracked the seat.”

My grin transforms into a frown as she cackles at my expression. As I readjust my cloak, I say, “While this was an exhilarating morning, I have an appointment I must attend to. Goodbye Joan.”

Before I turn around, she gestures with her hand for me to lean closer, so I tilt my head until she grabs my collar pressing her lips against mine. The sweet and succulent sensation dazzles me before we separate. The scent of lavender and rosemary drifts from her skin as I lean away, so I say,

“That was a pleasant surprise, though I wonder how you always smell so enticing.”

She grins with now glossy lips saying, “So you noticed? I use Rosemary oil and-”

“Lavender. It's a smell I could get used to.”

She places a hand on my chest as she says, “I could say the same for you.”

I place my hand on my chin saying, “What do I smell like?”

“Hmmmm. Like a forest and earth I suppose. That and some beast I can’t remember.”

I grab her arm pulling her into my grasp as I say, “Then until the next time we meet.”

I squeeze her before letting her go. As I walk away she says, “Watch who you hold! It’s like being hugged by a bear!”

I wave my hand behind me grinning before I pace towards the soul forge. As I trot through the entrance, the low sounds of large bovine creatures within the cages disturb the otherwise silent hall. With large bony crests supporting their skulls, they daunt as large horns leave their heads shaped like the letter Y.

As I walk up to a certain tinkerer who ignores the beast’s mooing, he chisels with sweat pouring from his forehead once more, so I say,

“Seems like some strenuous drudgery. Would you like some help?”

Alistair peers up with a grin on his face as he says, “I suppose I can accept some if you wouldn’t mind.”

He stands from his workbench, and for the first time, I notice the broadness of his shoulders and the muscles that bulge underneath his baggy robe. His amiable attitude disguises his brawny build, so I say,

“Did you ever consider being a warrior?”

He shakes his head and hand in front of him as he says, “No no no. Absolutely not. While I do have some measure of strength, I am better suited for cerebral pursuits.”

I nod saying, “I agree, though strength helps in certain scenarios. I came to ask a question. When am I supposed to meet up for the project with Sophia?”

Alastair’s head rises as he says, “Ahhhhhh. You may work whenever you're free. Sophia is rather dedicated to her craft, so at any moment that you step in, she will likely be working already.”

I raise an eyebrow as I say, “Where?”

He opens his hands as he says, “Ah, I forget you're a first year. She’s in the hearth. It’s the building to the right of us. Advanced students experiment in several bunkers allowing them some freedom with their experiments. I wanted you to help out Sophia.”

He shrugs jostling both of his hands like he’s juggling two balls as he says, “She’s very capable, but she has this way of creating...incidents that are dangerous. I feel like your skillset will compliment her needs rather well.”

I throw the hammer on the ground so that I can use both my arms on the plate and chisel. I peel pieces of iron from the plate with just the chisel albeit with a great struggle as I grunt,

“I suppose I am an excellent source of protection then.”

Alastair says with a measure of unease, “How are you doing that?”

I flay long segments of iron saying, “I just rend the metal with the chisel. Simple really.”

He shakes his head before he says, “Uh, Well you also offer up a stability she lacks. She’s very creative, but she loses track of herself sometimes.”

He bunches up as he continues, “The last time she made a mistake with a golem, she had to sprint outside. A student found her covered in blood thinking she had been hurt. She often works with the animal’s bodies directly, and since she had no injuries, I told the medics she was fine. But-”

He leans on the workbench as he says, “I’ve been worried since then. If you could get her to reorganize herself, I would be grateful.”

I sweat as I finish the plate saying, “Sounds like a worthy cause.”

I toss the metal sheet at him saying, “I should speak with her, and the sooner the better. She needs to alter her priorities, lest she harm herself or others.”

Alastair catches the plate before saying, “Precisely. I’ve tried my own methods, but my words fall on deaf ears. Maybe she will listen to a fellow student. You’ll find her at the very bottom of the hearth. She should be the only student working in the basement during the weekend.”

I nod my head as I reply, “I shall see what I can do. Till we meet tomorrow Alastair.”

He continues gazing at the plate as he says, “I must warn you. She deals with the more organic aspects of soul forging. You may find her acts...repulsive.”

I raise my arms as I say, “Thank you for the omen. I shall heed its message.”

He chuckles saying, “You're rather fond of dramatic flair I see.”

I raise my hands as I say, “My father always told me, ‘It’s better to be heard and hated then silent and ignored.’ I agree with his sentiment.”

“Wise words. I’ll let you go then Jack. See you tomorrow.”

“Likewise.”

As I turn around, I hear him saying, “Damn. This is rough, but with a few adjustments...Yes. This will do nicely.”

A smile builds on me as I think of Alastair. His distracted focus reminds me of my father. Alistair always seems to find himself absorbed in his duties while ignoring everything else. The trait’s endearing rather than irritating since his friendly disposition welcomes any interruption of his work.

I pace outside towards The Hearth reaching the adjacent building in seconds. The Hearth’s entrance shows a rustic border of large white bricks on top of a dark gray floor of polished concrete. Once I enter through a reinforced set of hickory doors, I walk past an open entry room to a series of hallways each leading towards a different compartment.

The sounds of tinkering and the hammering of heated steel bombards my ears, but as I reach further down the building, I find a hallway leading to a staircase. As i walk down several flights of stairs, the smell of rotting flesh pricks my nostrils until I reach the bottom of the steps where dark stains line the floor.

I walk with slow strides pacing past doors with fissures and claw marks lacing their design. The sound of heavy panting and the wet, squelching sound of a knife cutting flesh fills my ears. My breathing hastens as I reach the door that muffles the sounds. Inside lies yet another horror of this world.

So I calcify my will. I harden my heart. I strengthen my spirit. Only evil awaits me, and I alone judge as an arbiter of ego. I say to Deluge, “Try to contain yourself.”

He replies, “Says the shatterer of beds and desks.”

I grin as I open the door. I have surely seen worse, yet as I peer inside a single thought reverberates through my mind in response.

“Maybe not...”