Chapter 15: The Recorodor “Gratus! Sophie!” ‘Cog?’ I turned around to see Cog running towards us. “I’m glad you guys are alive! And it looks like you were able to defeat Turbavi?” I got up to greet him but stopped halfway and looked around in confusion. “Where Cedric?” I asked. A little out of breath, Cog took a deep breath before replying, “After the lost souls were freed, he told me to tell you not to wait for him and that he was going on ahead to guide the lost souls to Otium.” “I see,” I said while nodding and then noticing the new piece of silver around Cog’s neck, “Oh, is that…?” Cog lifted the necklace from under his shirt so I could see it clearer, “Recognize it?” His eyes seemed to shine with a glimmer of hope, but I shook my head. “No… But it does seem familiar somehow.” Cog frowned a bit at my response before returning the necklace back under his shirt, “Well… It’ll come in handy later.” He probably saw the confusion on my face because he added, “I’ll explain after you get your memories back.” I nodded. ‘If he explained now, I probably would be more confused anyway. Seems like Cog was able to resolve whatever he needed to while I was gone…’ I moved to exit the forest, but Sophie stopped us both. “Mythos,” she said. Cog looked a bit surprise, though I had no idea why. “What’s that?” I asked. Sophie looked at me and crossed her arms before sighing. … “It’s said that long ago, a meteorite of unknown substance fell from the heavens when the skies of Dominia ripped apart during its first rift. Dominia was devastated. Countless died, and some bloodlines were lost forever. The people who lived to tell about the rift mourned for their losses and rebuilt Dominia once again. In remembrance of the first rift and to commemorate the dead, the people harvested the meteorite that fell from the heavens and made family heirlooms to pass down each generation. Those family heirlooms were called—” “Mythos,” Cog said, finishing Sophie’s sentence. There was a heavy silence in the air as Cog and Sophie waited for me to digest what had just been said. I could tell they were waiting for me because they were both looking at me. I nodded slowly to gesture that I had understood (though I hadn’t), and Cog continued, “Yes, the thing I have here around my neck is one of those family heirlooms, a Mythos. It was my sister’s…” Cog had muttered the last sentence, but I had clearly heard it. ‘If I remember correctly, didn’t Cog say he was the sole survivor of his family?’ I wanted to ask him, but he turned to Sophie and said, “But there’s something that’s bothering me, Sophie. How is it that you know of the Mythos?” It was hard to see her face “This story is something I was told when I inherited my family’s legacy.” “And what’s your family’s legacy?” asked Cog. Sophie shrugged Cog’s question off and walked away, “Maybe another time.” I noticed that she was walking towards a trail that had appeared among the trees. Even though we were in the middle of a forest, the surrounding trees seemed to have parted and made a path for us. ‘I guess this is our exit?’ Cog didn’t seem to notice the trail since he asked impatiently, “Hey, wait! Where are you going?” Sophie didn’t stop and continued to walk away from us. I went to catch up with her while beckoning Cog to follow, “Come on! I think we’re near the exit!” I wanted to get out of the forest soon. My time in Dominia until now had only been one of confusion and chaos. I had more questions than answers, and even though I was learning bits and pieces here and there, they were just that—bits and pieces. I felt like I was given half of the pieces to a puzzle, probably even less, and nothing was coming together… ‘I just want to get my memories back…’ --- I don’t know how long we walked for, but since we walked in silence, I had time to reflect on my time in Dominia. I wasn’t able to come to a clear conclusion as to who Anna was, but it seemed like I had a fallout with her. Was I one of Clautz’s royal guards as well? ‘The details are fuzzy, but they’re definitely there.’ The problem with fuzzy memories is that they’re like memories from a dream. They don’t feel real at all. Even when Des Peravi and Turbavi had attacked me, I didn’t feel like they were my enemies. I attacked because they attacked me. The only exception was Terra because I was able to remember the worst of what that sadist did to me. ‘Good thing I’m no masochist. He deserved to die, though I feel like I should have been more thorough with killing him,’ but at that thought, I sighed, ‘What am I thinking? I think everything that has happened until now has slowly driven me crazy.’ I wanted to double check my sanity, but I was awaken from my thoughts when Cog shouted, “Look! It’s clearing!” He looked excited, even more excited than me to leave the forest. I wanted to be the first to run out of the forest and into the clearing to see what was beyond the forest, but Cog beat me to the chase. Sophie was left behind. It’s like she didn’t want to leave the forest. “Whoa!” Cog exclaimed, “Hurry up, Gratus! This is my first time seeing it, but is that the Recorodor?” Cog turned to me to see my reaction. When I had finally reached his side and looked ahead, I spotted a huge tower looming out of the ground at the center of the clearing. “I’m not sure, but that’s probably the Recorodor.” “I hope so,” said Cog, looking a little worried. “I’d be funny if it wasn’t,” cut in Sophie with a laugh. She had caught up with us but stayed near the exit of the forest, where the shadows of the trees continued to hide her face. I reached out my arms to her and asked, “You coming?” I had expected her to accept my gesture but she shook her head and said, “This is as far as I go.” Cog seemed surprise, “What? Why?” ‘Well, I didn’t expect that either.’ Still within the shadows of the trees, Sophie responded, “I’ve done my job…” and turned away from us. The shadows gathered around her, and darkness expanded from her armor. A pitch-black realm formed around her. She waved at us with a flick of her hands before adding, “The times are still bleak. When you need me, seek me even in darkness… Till next time,” and with that she vanished into twilight. Mumbling to myself, I said, “Well, that was sudden…” Cog was speechless, and his mouth was left ajar while he looked between me and where Sophie had just been. It was kind of awkward. I wasn’t sure what to say so that we could continue heading towards the Recorodor, but Cog relieved the situation by laughing and cursing at Sophie, “Damn, she ran away from me. She knew I was going to question her later.” I laughed in response, “Come on. Let’s go.” “Yeah, let’s forget about her,” Cog jested. --- When we had finally reached the Recorodor, I was surprised to see how wide it actually was. The sight that beheld us was a massive stone-like tower surrounded by four gigantic stone pillars placed at an equal distance from each other. The four pillars created some sort of barrier. I could tell because the terrain within the square the four pillars formed was different. There was no grass or trees inside the boxed off region. It was all dirt and rocks, similar to how Attero was when we first entered into that desert wasteland. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t even any water either. ‘I could go for a drink. That reminds me, I haven’t eaten in a while either. How long has it last been since I arrived in Dominia?’ If there were animals, I could have killed them and cooked something, but there weren’t any animals either. ‘That’s really strange. I haven’t seen any animals since coming her.’ Taking my first step into the terrain, I could feel a certain holiness flow around my legs and up into my body. ‘This feeling… It’s so familiar. It feels like the same energy I use when I use magic.’ I turned around to gesture Cog to come, but when he tried to follow me, he smashed into an invisible wall. “Ouch! What the!” Cog fell from the impact and started rubbing his forehead, “Serious?” I laughed and asked, “Are you okay?” I went to go help him up, but just as I was about to step out of the desert terrain surrounding the tower, he shouted while raising his hands. “Wait! Don’t get out.” “What?” I asked in confusion. He explained, “You are probably standing on holy ground. You can feel the difference, right? You and Cedric must have created it in order to ward away any non-holy entity, including humans.” Shocked, I did a double-take at the ground I was standing on and asked, “But why can’t I step out of this holy ground?” “Didn’t Cedric say that it would explode after you finish using it? I’m not sure what that entails, but I’m not one to take chances. I was wondering what I could do to protect myself when it exploded, but it seems like I don’t need to do that anymore. You can continue without me while I… wait here for you. Wait, damn, is that why Sophie left first?” I laughed and put my hands on my hips, “Is that what you were worried about? Your own safety?” Cog raised his hands in defense, “N-no way!” I continued laughing and walked away, “All right, whatever, see you soon.” Cog laughed as well. “I’ll be waiting!” he called out to me. Continuing on, I picked up my pace and jogged to the side of the towering block of stone in front of me. When I reached the base of the tower, my excitement was met with confusion. The path that I had been following ran straight into a dead-end. ‘There has to be a door here somewhere. Maybe on the other side?’ I walked around, but nothing came up. I didn’t notice anything suspicious that could act as a trap door either. Bewildered, I continued to search around for an entrance, not along the walls but somewhere on the ground. That was when I noticed something strange imprinted on the dirt not too far from the base of the tower. When I approached that spot on the ground, I felt the terrain change from hard-solid dirt to a softer sort of ground. My steps even made a little squishing sound as well. I knelt down to examine the peculiar dirt and then moved to look at the strange imprint etched into the ground. The imprint was in the shape of a hand. ‘What does this mean? Should I see if my hand fits?’ Seeing as there was no better options and this was the obvious thing to do, I decided to try it, but nothing happened. ‘Okay…’ After I had lifted my hand from the imprint, I noticed that there was a dark substance now goosing out from it. The soft ground was like a sponge that had absorbed some sort of liquid. ‘Is this dark matter? If so, what is it doing here?’ I pondered for a while. ‘Ah! If Cedric and I were the only ones meant to enter this place, then this imprint would need to have the ability to identify us just in case someone was able to sneak by or break the barrier!’ Placing my hand once again over the imprint and putting my weight into my hand, more dark matter started to ooze out of the ground. When the dark liquid covered my hands, I called forth the energy within me and guided it towards my hand. When enough energy collected into my hand, I converted it into light. The dark matter dissolved and the ground emitted a bright radiance of light that slowly enveloped me in a weird sort of whiteness. I was blinded. Then it suddenly reversed. When the white light faded, my vision returned to me. I looked around and saw that I was no longer staring into the ground and surrounded by any type of dirt or rock. I was standing inside a vast library that spiraled up into the heavens. The tower seemed much taller than what I had seen from the outside. Following the walls, I glossed over the countless stacks of books that were sorted on endless wooden shelves. At the center of it all was a huge pile of books that were being sorted by an invisible hand, flying into this shelf or that shelf. Some books were swapped, and other books removed. Above the huge pile of books, I spotted a small fairy the size of palm. It seems like the fairy noticed me because it fluttered behind a group of books in a fit of terror before peeking out in awe. I put on the friendliest smile I could and greeted the fairy, “Hello.” The fairy did not reveal herself and continued to hide behind the cover of books. “Who are you?” she demanded. I bowed and said, “My name is Gratus.” “Gratus?” she asked in disbelief, “You can’t be the same child called Gratus, could you?” “Well, on the count that I don’t remember, I can’t say for sure, but my brother did say that I created this place with him.” “And who is that brother of yours called?” the fairy interrogated. “Cedric,” I replied without hesitation. “Ah! Then it is without a doubt that you are the same Gratus from before,” she said while coming out from behind the books. “But wait! You could have gotten that information anywhere,” she continued before hiding back behind the tower of books. ‘I thought this was going to be easy. Come in, get my memories, and leave.’ I was surprised at the fairy’s persistency and sighed. “What can I do to make you trust me?” I asked in defeat. The fairy smiled, “A test. Before I can trust you, I want to test you one last time.” I nodded, and she disappeared. ‘Where’d she go?’ My confusion was answered a split second later when she reappeared from the corner of my eyes. The fairy was teleporting from one place to another. ‘Is she looking for something?’ At last, the fairy stopped teleporting and glided towards me in a downward spiral. ‘Showoff.’ I noticed that she was carrying a book now. When she arrived in front of me, she handed me the book. Compared to the other books in the library, the one she just gave me didn’t seem all that different. There wasn’t even a title on the book. I looked at the fairy, and she nodded and me. ‘What’s she expecting me to do?’ I looked down at the book and opened it. ‘Huh? There’s no words.’ “What this?” I asked. She smiled and explained, “This is a book called Questio. It can find and bring up any type of information you seek that is in this library. If you are truly Gratus, then it will accept your desires.” “How does it work?” I inquired. “Just say what you want to know, and it will give it to you.” Looking at the book, I wondered at all of the things I wanted to know. ‘It’s about damn time for some answers.’ “Well, to make things simple, I just need to know one thing,” I said. Smiling at me, the fairy laughed and said, “Simple is always better, eh? Well, don’t let me stop you. Ask the book!” Laughing, I shouted out, “I want to remember my past.” Suddenly, the book burst into light in my hands, and the whole library trembled. The light intensified as words started to appear throughout the book. “Oh no, you’ve asked for too much! Stop it!” But it was too late. The library shook and crumbled. Books flung in all directions. As for the book in my hands, it kept intensifying until the light burned my hands. I wanted to let go, but I couldn’t. The book burned deeper into my hands like I was being branded by hot iron. The pages of the books flipped here and there, and words appeared from the emptiness of the pages. I didn’t know what was happening, but I could feel the words flowing into my hands and up into my mind. Glimpses of my past memories flashed before me until the pieces of memories I had lost came together. Everything made sense, but it was too much. My mind was overloading from all the information that it was taking in. I wanted it to stop, but it didn’t. Information kept gushing into my mind. I screamed aloud as the pain became unbearable. The fairy cried in panic, “Shit, this isn’t going to work the conventional way!” Fright in her eyes, the fairy apologized to me and proceeded to cast a spell. “Vehementer!” ‘What the heck!’ I cried in my mind and body. Tears flowed down my face. The endless burst of information continued to pierce my brain. It wasn’t stopping. After the fairy had cast her spell, not only was the information biting into my mind, but the book was also clawing its way into my body. I fell to the floor. The pain that I had thought was unbearable became miniscule as the pain increased beyond what I had ever felt before. My mind and body were ripping apart. “Bear with me a little longer, Gratus! Don’t die!” When the last bit of the book entered into my body, the pain dwindled. Even though I felt like I was no longer being ripped apart from the inside out, what I had felt still remained. My body ached and twitched. “I’m sorry, Gratus. The only way to save you was to force the book into you. If I let the information slowly flow into your mind, you would go insane!” But I couldn’t respond. I was already falling into a deep pit of darkness.