Chapter 15: Telltale

★[Huh?]

☼[I mean...] The creature continued to talk, bewildering him further. ☼[You’re strangely hostile to me and there must be a reason, right?]

Was it empathy or benevolence, though both words held virtually the same meaning. It was with genuine intent that Nonary felt confused at why the creature acted like so.

This... living thing, one that bore the same presence as his celestial enemy, was enacting kindness towards him. It was against his beliefs to act in such a way.

Unfeasibility as an action.

★[W-what... are you?] He asked, seeking an answer for whatever this situation was. One he couldn’t make sense of.

☼[Before that, can you at least put your knife down?] The living thing, satisfied that the boy responded, arranged common grounds with him. ☼[I do not mean you any harm, I promise!]

‘Why do I feel calm?’ Every time the creature spoke, a wave of calmness rolled through him, erasing whatever thoughts he may have regarding violence.

Unlike his inhibitor, which was abrupt in shifting his emotions, the creature’s voice did not do so with force. As if it was a natural response from his conscience.

★[Ah...] Nonary lowered his dimmed blade, pointing it to the ground. He acted at the creature’s request, without putting much thought to it. ★[Sorry about that.]

It wasn’t an order; it was a request. He could have rejected doing what the creature asked of him.

Yet he followed it through.

Why was he heeding its requests? Why was he listening to it in the first place? It was an inexplicable reaction coming from him.

☼[Um... For your first question, let me introduce myself.]

The spear that floated by the blaze’s side dissipated into dwindling lights, and then the creature spoke to him.

☼[The 10th Replicator of the Imaginary Numbers, representing Time. I am Willow the Wisp, bearing the role of an Undertaker, designation Denary.]

Replicator? Imaginary Numbers? These were various concepts he’d yet to comprehend, rendering him incapable of reacting to what the blue flame said.

Not remembering anything was already enough of a pain, but trying to learn new things without a reference only increased the difficulty.

Another familiar word appeared in its speech, Denary.

|||

Denary [Concept]:

A numerical connotation denoting the 10th rank or order. In Arity, designation ‘Denary’ represents it, with ‘Decenary’ being an alternative to its namesake. It is most commonly referred to as decimal.

___

Excerpt from: [Library of Ruin - Archived]

[Modifiers]

+ It is ruined knowledge.

|||

‘How strange.’ The boy pondered over the creature's words.

It had only been a few minutes since he learned of his ‘temporary name’, Nonary, and now he faced another individual whose title was in the same vein as his.

It wasn’t due to sheer luck that such a litany of events went in the same way as this. A coincidence such as that rarely happened.

Though he may have been awake for only a few days, which would be nine by now, he still possessed enough reason to understand that oddities never relied on chance.

That instead, someone was influencing the events beyond his comprehension.

There was only one suspect. It was the strange, flickering flame that continued to stare at him with worry, giving him a sense of guilt for thinking like that.

☼[And I can tell...]

It continued, derailing his thoughts. Before he could even respond, a sentence that further thwarted whatever reason he had followed its words.

☼[That you’re a Replicator too, just like me.]

A Replicator? Him?

Questions kept piling up, none of which he had answers for. What was he even supposed to do with this newly learned knowledge?

It didn’t help him in his current predicament, with the predicament being a creature that faced him with cordial relations.

Testing the waters, he embroiled his words in a rather confusing manner.

★[First, under what circumstances have you found yourself in to head into such a dangerous place?Here in this strange, crumbling fortress of horrors with peculiar articles scattered between its depths; objects that have caused me countless moments of despair?]

The boy tried to gauge the creature’s response. His interlocutor, as an immaculate automation whose capabilities extended to conversations, remained a possibility he needed to be wary of.

Basic responses were likely by incorporating preset reactions, allowing any automated machine to react with pre-built sentences.

Complicating the basic grammatical structure might help him prove whether the creature was sapient, or if it was only a machine.

☼[I do not know of your suffering, nor am I aware of what you have gone through...]

It comprehended his inelaborate ruse, which proved him wrong. Though it did the job well as a benchmark for its intelligence. He was speaking with a sapient creature, that much he was sure of.

☼[However, I will be extremely blunt in explaining my situation, to answer your rather convoluted question.]

The azure flame grasped the meaning of his words, a confirmation that his conversational partner was indeed a living being. Or, if not alive in the same sense that most organic beings were, it was another person he could finally have a proper conversation with.

But the wariness remained as he felt naked in front of the creature who knew more than him. His incapability to be in control of the situation exposed him. A feeling that he couldn’t deny.

☼[Ahem...] It faked out a cough, seeing his lethargic state.

☼[We’ve detected energy fluctuations exceeding every other record we’ve seen before. One that originated from this structure. It possessed a threshold belonging to individuals such as us Replicators. I can only imagine that the readings came from you, as you were the only person I’ve ever encountered during my entire time here.]

★[And how long have you made your stay?] Nonary asked the creature, trying to gain as much knowledge as possible to make a proper timeline of events. One that could assist him in understanding the world more.

☼[I’ve been here for quite a few days, arriving during the onset of a sandstorm. I remained trapped in here because of that. It was quite unfortunate as I had to extend my stay, remaining in this tower.]

The creature explained its reasons for staying inside the citadel. It made sense in the narrative, as the sandstorm only stopped recently, perhaps due to him.

☼[Speaking of which, do you know why it suddenly disappeared?]

★[Before that... let me ask another question.]

Though it may have sounded rude, he wanted to finish gathering information as quickly as possible. Leaving this place took precedence over everything else.

★[How do you know that I’m the one to blame for the fluctuation? For all I know, there might be another person here, hiding from y-]

‘Crap’ Nonary slipped up, as he felt too complacent with the peace. He shouldn’t be badmouthing the strange flame in front of him, as it was his only way of furthering his knowledge outside of other sources. ‘That was a close one’

☼[Err...] The wisp stared at him, noticing the hesitation in his words. ☼[You’re thinking of something rude, aren’t you?]

☼[Oh um, I’m not reading your mind or anything like that, heavens no!]

As if reading his mind, though it claimed not to, the flame answered his question. A question that he only voiced in his thoughts.

☼[Us will o’ wisps are deeply sensitive to emotions, which allow us to understand people better. We can do so by sensing the brainwaves of people we are talking with via contact.]

As it said those words, a blue strand appeared from the creature, only to see it attached to the arm that held his blade. This sentient blaze possessed the capability of hiding its abilities from him. It could subdue him, and it could have done so, had it wished.

★[You used an electroencephalogram... on me... without my permission...]

After realizing that, he felt angry. The creature acted upon him, without taking his approval into account. It differed from the so-called kindness that it once showed.

★[I thought you didn’t plan on HARMING ME!]

|||

Electroencephalogram [Concept]

An electroencephalogram is a test capable of capturing electrical activity that the brain exhibits.

An apparatus conforming to the test itself used in diagnosis of various sensitive factors related to the encephalon, including brainwaves in its vast repertoire of applications. Predicting simple emotions with such a tool became an easy endeavor, achievable with the correct calibration.

___

Excerpt from: [Library of Ruin - Archived]

[Modifiers]

+ It is a black box constituent.

+ It is ruined knowledge.

|||

It was another backlog of information, one that befit the situation. Though its origins remained unknown, his knowledge accumulated because of these abrupt epiphanies.

☼[I really don’t plan on harming you, not at all!] The creature tried to explain itself, hoping to ease the boy’s anger.

☼[It’s just that... you seemed broken. You were clutching onto a knife, and I could sense the madness that you felt. I didn’t know whether you were going to turn that blade on yourself. So... I hope you can forgive me.]

At the creature’s words, he calmed down.

Indeed, from an outsider’s perspective, he may have been nothing more than a bloodthirsty hound baring its fangs at an innocent person.

The wisp had every right to exercise its authority, to subdue him.

It didn’t do so out of fear or antipathy. It only wished him well, seeking to suppress his wanton emotions that kept tormenting him.

★[I, Nonary, am the one at fault...]

Nonary felt compunctious, guilt-ridden by the outcome of his actions. He could only apologize to the wisp, acquiescing with a bow. After doing so, he straightened himself, voicing out a single request.

★[However, please don’t do such a thing again. I severely loathe abstruse actions. If you wish to continue interacting with me, please don’t be vague in your actions, as I hate such ambiguities]

While his assessment of the wisp became positive, the boy still felt the need to appraise it once more, if only to confirm whether he was doing the right thing.

His mind still lay bare to the azure flame, but he could take advantage of its ability by feigning reluctance.

Exposing a few of his insecurities for acknowledgement was a fair trade, especially from the wisp, who knew more than him.

If the wisp were to agree to his rather unfair request, however, then it may as well be trying to control him. Earning his trust by assenting may be a means to an end, and its compliance, a manifestation of it.

Gaining full control of an individual via emotional means was hardly a challenge, with force rarely applicable when loyalty became desirable.

So, if possible, rejecting his offer was a much better eventuality.

☼[Then you may hate me as well.]

The will o’ wisp responded in a manner that he preferred. The boy’s judgement came to pass, as agreeing would have been a skeptical choice. Since it refused, he could feel relieved.

☼[Because, as much as I’d like to assume you to be harmless... there are many things that cannot leave my thoughts. I hereby deem you a dangerous individual, Nonary.]

The creature’s verdict on him was reasonable.

Finding a strange individual in the middle of an anomalous event was enough to be assigned as a threat. It did not act with too much kindness, as he would suspect its demeanor, nor did it react with violence, instead choosing to talk with words.

Over all, it was a satisfactory response from the will o’ wisp, who claimed to read emotions.

★[Well, it was worth a shot. And I agree with you on that matter, for I can be a bit of a threat.] He worded the last sentence with a bit of sarcasm, finally free from probing the wisp.

★[I’ll be holding you in the same light. After all, my sanity remains questionable. My actions, unjustifiable. And my words, utterly deplorable. Isn’t that right, my dear ravens?]

Nonary turned to the tower’s entrance, glancing at the feathered beings that stood there. They did not flee from the will o’ wisp, instead gazing upon it with apprehension, as if the wisp were some shiny object to solicit.

The accompanying flames that glazed its form were enough to label the wisp as such, but it was painfully ignorant of why the birds eyed him so.

☼[You know ravens can’t talk, right? Wait, do you?] The wisp asked him skeptically, not knowing whether the boy was playing with him.

This was just Nonary’s way of getting back at the wisp, as it unknowingly made him spend strenuous effort on judging if it was an enemy.

☼[Are you alright?]

Talking with animals was one thing to be worried about, unless they were pets. But the wisp couldn’t imagine him acting favorably to the birds, unless he was in favor of them.

Though it made sense, if the birds came from outside and they stood by the door all this time, then the boy would have passed through them, and they would know his presence.

Perhaps the person in front of him wasn’t as dangerous as he claimed to be, since the ravens responded to him with a single crow, one that seemed to answer the boy’s question.

But, ravens couldn't talk.

★[Yes. Well, no.] He played with his words again, a charlatan in the flesh.

At least, that was how he felt. Though it was working on the wisp, as it became the azure flame’s turn to be confused. ★[You should take my threat level seriously, for I am unhinged.]

☼[But you didn’t harm the crows, so you have control over yourself.]

The will o’ wisp hoped that by providing positive feedback, the boy would eventually cease his depressive state. Perhaps by being cheerful would he finally feel joy.

Happiness was contagious, a fact that it continued to believe .

☼[Have a bit more faith, alright!]

★[Suit yourself.] Since convincing the wisp wouldn’t really work, he played along with its words, bringing up his pending inquiry. ★[Though you haven’t answered my question yet.]

☼[About how I know you’re a Replicator?]

★[That’s the one]

☼[If that’s all you need to know, I should explain first what we are.] As the wisp spoke, Nonary listened attentively towards it, seating himself on the ground.

This was information he needed to learn if he were to survive in the outside world, one he did not know of. He would ask about the foreign land after finishing the current discussion.

☼[Replicators are possessors of what we call a Catalyst, specialized objects that permit us to manipulate concepts related to our position. I am the Replicator of Time, so I can control chronological matters up to a certain extent. I can neither stop, nor rewind time, as the amount of energy required would be tremendous, and I have no means to gain such a large amount.]

☼[And if you’re wondering about what my Catalyst is, I can’t show you. Not because I don’t want to, but... I would need to be incapacitated or dead, as my core became my Catalyst. Yours is that strange blade you’re holding. As one last fact, they are bound to their owners, which prevents us from taking them.]

With the creature finished in its lecture, Nonary ruminated on what he learned.

First, his blade was a Catalyst, which allowed him to perform all those potent attacks of his. Second, that he was a Replicator who possessed sovereignty over a certain concept, though it remained a mystery to what it was. And third, there were others like him.

Others that seemed to possess strange abilities, like the wisp he recently met.

★[Hey blaze, I got a question] He raised his hand, not waiting for the creature to reply. While calling the will o’ wisp a blaze seemed derogatory, he didn’t bother with correcting himself.

★[What happens when a Replicator dies?]

This was something that interested him. As the wisp said, Replicators possessed limited control over a single concept.

If they died, would someone fill in their position? Will their catalyst remain locked behind their owners? And better yet, was it possible for a Replicator to possess multiple positions?

He continued to delve into these possibilities when the wisp answered back.

☼[We... don’t know. None of us has died nor do we want to know] Its tone became somber, the silvery voice took a dreary tone. This time it sounded... sad?

☼[If you plan on killing us, then... Let me be your executioner. You’re not the first, and you definitely won’t be the last.]

Though the sadness continued to radiate from its words, the creature’s intentions became apparent. That it didn’t permit the bloodshed of the Replicators.

★[I see...] As the tension rose, Nonary abandoned such thoughts. It wouldn’t do him good to anger the creature further. ★[Well, nevermind then.]

☼[I’m sorry...] The wisp sounded apologetic, realizing the outburst it showed earlier. ☼[It’s just, people covet our abilities, thinking us to be gods... When we’re not even close to one...]

★[It’s fine, I don’t plan on killing the others anyway.]

Hoping to move on with the conversation, he shifted the topic. Perhaps it would help in forgetting the recent events.

★[And besides, that sounds like a pain to begin with. Especially when I don’t know a thing about the outside world.]

☼[Ah, yes...]

As if sensing the boy’s intentions, the wisp followed suit. It broached on a topic that interested it since the boy’s peculiar behavior seemed to be genuine.

It was asking about questions that anyone else would have known the answer to. Which meant that...

☼[You remember nothing, do you?]

★[Yep]

☼[Do you know why?]

★[Nope]

☼[Uh... I won’t be able to help if you keep answering like that.]

The wisp, sensing the boy’s attempts at subverting the topic, asked that he cooperate with it. Its ability allowed the wisp to read emotions, nothing more, nothing less. So even though it knew that the boy was hesitant, it continued asking.

★[I digress,] He ignored the creature’s plea, instead following up with a new question. ★[Do you know the way out of this place?]

Since the wisp couldn’t convince him to speak about his problems, it dropped the subject.

Curious as it was, aggravating someone who’s fickle by nature would only cause trouble. It focused on answering the current question instead, however disappointed it was.

☼[If you want to leave this place, then...]

A momentary pause followed its words, reluctant to continue. The pause had been brief enough, until it resumed from where it stopped its speech.

☼[... you need to form a contract with me, one that will last for a lifetime. Or, well, at least until either of us has chosen to breach it.]

★[Oh lord, is it one of those magical pledges?]

The idea of taking part in forced event made him cringe. He shunned such binding oaths, preventing him from acting freely.

★[Or is it even more stereotypical?]

☼[I don’t know why you have such a low opinion of them but yes, it’s quite similar]

Sensing the boy’s disgust, it became confused at his behavior, only to remember how exuberant he was. Such a high-spirited fellow would refuse to be bogged down by responsibilities.

☼[And if you’re curious, you continue to possess your freedom. It won’t be taken from you, unlike what you’re thinking of.]

★[Thinking of what?] Nonary replied back.

☼[You have a negative view of contracts, don’t you?] Since the wisp could sense the boy’s disgust, it called him out.

★[A negative what now?] He acted surprised at the wisp’s words, knowing fully well what he heard.

☼[Err... do you want to hear the details?]

The wisp, knowing what the boy was trying to do, clarified the details. Hopefully, by explaining it to him, the boy would finally stop derailing the conversation, as he seemed to enjoy the act.

★[Oh, sure. Yeah.]

As the wisp had predicted, he was just playing around. Nonary kept glancing at his blade, making it obvious that he was uninterested in the topic.

★[You can go ahead.]

☼[Alright...]

It felt crestfallen, seeing his behavior. While it knew that the boy would still listen, it expected a bit more decorum from him. The wisp was answering his questions to the best of its ability, and yet it was being treated like this.

☼[Here I go...]

☼[Us will o’ wisp’s cannot touch individuals of other races, unless we undergo a contract with them. We can only do so by binding ourselves to a willing contractor, so long as they do not belong to our kind. So long as the contract remains intact, we can touch the person who bonded with us.]

As the wisp continued to explain, the boy bluffed apathy, though he steadily listened to its explanation.

☼[The reason I need your consent is to help you leave this place since, if you’re not aware, we are in a floating castle. Suspended a few hundred meters above ground. And I won’t be able to keep you afloat with my strings if I can’t actually touch you. If you try to leave without my help, you’ll have to survive a drop from that height, which I’m quite certain you won’t be able to pull through.]

The insight it provided him came in as a surprise. The creature claimed to be incapable of touching him with its strings, when he clearly remembered a blue string tied to his arm. It contradicted what Nonary knew.

But the way it spoke seemed to imply that there might be more limitations than what he’d assumed. Perhaps asking the wisp would be best, as speculations could only go so far.

★[Didn’t you tie your string to me earlier?] He asked about what seemed in opposition to his meager knowledge. If there was a drawback to its abilities, then it would explain the constraint.

★[What’s about that?]

☼[If you’d noticed, the string I have strung you to didn’t register as something material. It did not have mass, nor was it tangible. It was just there, something that you couldn’t feel, correct?]

The wisp constructed another string of light, moving it towards the boy’s arm. He didn’t avoid the entwined glow, as he wanted to test what the creature said.

Nonary moved his arm around, the blue string entwined with it.

He couldn’t feel the string’s concreteness, yet it moved with the limb, swaying as it did. The boy was extremely sensitive to external stimuli, but his body didn’t react to the string’s presence, proving the wisp’s words.

★[What about the clock-hand then?]

He was referring to the previous events where he tried to strike the will o’ wisp, failing because of the spear’s timely intervention.

★[You attached your string to it, and made it block my attack. It seemed tangible enough to me as it moved the spear around.]

☼[It’s a part of me?] It replied, confused at why the boy asked such a question.

☼[The catalyst became my core, and the clock-hand is a part of it. Despite my unassuming form, I am quite capable of many things, spears included.]

★[No, I’m sure you’re not unassuming at all. You’re a floating blue ball of fire.]

☼[You do not know what the outside world is then. To me, you’re quite the weird one, not knowing us. We’re supposed to be quite famous, being will o’ wisps.]

A few awkward moments of silence ensued between the two. Partially because of the boy’s interactions, and, well, the wisp’s curiosity over why he kept acting like that.

Was the boy truly toying with him, or had it well forgotten who it was? Though prying would only irritate him further, so it asked one last question.

☼[Uhm...] Breaking the silence, it spoke first. ☼[Do you want to leave now?]

★[Oh, sure] Nonchalant, Nonary answered back with a reposed look. ★[I need to check if what you’re saying is true]

☼[What are you going to check?] It asked, curious about what seemed to bother him.

★[Everything, since the faintest possibility of you lying to me, still exists. You’re right to call me dangerous, but the same applies to you, no?]

Nonary disclosed his intentions. Setting up a conversational barrier between the two of them would ensure that neither will overstep their boundaries.

★[You pop up while I’m exploring the castle grounds, then call me a Replicator. It’s pretty suspicious to me.]

☼[Then I won’t hold it against you.]

The wisp understood why boy acted in such a manner. It couldn’t trust him, as doing so would be equal to impairing his strengths, which lay in what he hid.

There was little it knew of him, and it seems that he wanted his capabilities to remain undisclosed.

☼[However, please cooperate with what I have in mind. That is all I ask of you, please.]

★[As long as you understand, I’m more than willing.]

With their lengthy discussion coming to a close, he moved onto his next task. To escape.

★[Let’s go.]

‘I think the wisp knows what an electroencephalogram is. Such a word is too specific to disregard during the time he spoke of it, and the creature would have questioned what it meant if it lacked understanding over it. Context clues aren’t enough to surmise the word’s intent, let alone its true meaning. And the word’s phonetically contrived construction differs from every word that crossed our conversations.’

The word ‘electroencephalogram’ is constructed out of three key concepts.

Electro refers to electric or electricity. Encephalon, a rather convoluted way of denoting the brain. And gram, a suffix added to identify a recording, generally by an instrument.

While Nonary couldn’t claim to be an expert in linguistics, the word could stump the most mundane of individuals, or at least that was how he rated people.

He planned to develop a rating system regarding how he saw sapient entities, as telegraphing their behavior would become easier once he had achieved a proper reference of them.

‘This can mean one of three things. That A; the word already exists within its vocabulary, and that it was familiar with the word’s meaning. Or B; it ignored said word, choosing to carry on with the conversation. It’s one or the other, but I’m certain that it’s the first. The wisp is too cautious of me to let an unknown word pass. This implies that such sophisticated words exist in this medieval-like place where certain races, as the wisp mentioned, became an existence he couldn’t ignore’

As they headed outside the tower keep, Nonary became absorbed in his thoughts, studying the wisp’s behavior. They left the birds to their own devices, as they flew towards the statues.

☼[Hey Nonary...] The wisp suddenly spoke, whilst leading the boy in his march. Its tone was quite glum.

★[Yes?] Though he noticed the change in the creature’s tone, he pretended not to notice. Instead replying in a lively manner.

☼[Are you really alright?]

★[Ah, I am.]

The boy stopped in his tracks, turning around to face the will o’ wisp.

★[There's nothing wrong with me.]

The wisp saw a wide grin form on the boy’s visor. It didn’t know how to react, as he seemingly froze in his tracks, only to resume walking again.

The boy strolled past the creature, walking in the direction that the flame headed for.

☼[You don't seem okay...]

Ravens, perched atop the weeping angels, crowed at the two, only to be ignored by them. The wisp accompanied the boy as they headed for the castle’s end.