《Seeds of Evil: Rophion Forest》CHAPTER 9: THE DIAMOND OF IMMORTALITY. THE SEED OF DEATH
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Multi-colored shades of black, of red, and of white were seen all around, transforming Rophion Forest into a kind of fairy-tale world. But there was something else hiding in that place, not only the beauty of the colors of nature: there was a strange sensation of being lurked while crossing the forest, and not as if that person or creature that was spying on you would have been somewhere next to you, but in a different world, in a different space, or even maybe in a different era - the name of that evil, that was lurking on the surroundings, blowing the air of the void around, was known by many as Eris, the captive of Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi.
And it was true that she was living in a different world, for Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi was a kingdom known only by her and by Chaos from inside, and no other living creature saw it from closer as no other creature would have been eager to take her place in that world, where it was a strange night around there, a night seen by her open eyes that were watching the distance, and, in her glance, the same night was reflected, for the darkness that lives in the darkness can always create only evil things. That's why she was feeling the power of that frightening place so well all the time: for her inner eye was somehow related to the power of the black heart of the void that had once created Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi.
But what was even weirder at that dungeon was the fact that in the sky of that world, from time to time, eyes were appearing and disappearing, and their form was changing according to the blowing of the Cosmos or to the energy of Life hidden in the stars' stone bodies that were surrounding Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi, and the same strange power that was moving the stars around was somehow feeding the energy of Eris'huge cell with magic power.
However, even if Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi appeared at the same moment Eris has been imprisoned inside it, thousands and thousands of years ago, nobody knew when exactly it became a dungeon of fear of which the creatures of the Cosmos or of Earth were whispering with dread about it, as nobody knew if the main purpose of its creation has been reached: to make Eris weak, to make her feel remorse for her past deeds, to make her good or die. And this became, in time, the biggest secret of the world.
Yet, Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi has never reached its goal: Eris was still planning her escape, just as the evil energy was living forever in her soul, for she was also immortal, for eternity. That's why she had time to spend there, even if against her will: she knew that it'll come a time when she is free again, when she has again the power in her hand, and when she can reach the goals she had in her mind - to become the Queen of the Universe. Thus, the fact that the Cosmos was taking living energy from her wasn't something that important for Eris, for the same energy was soon returning to her, in a kind of amazing and strange way, somehow related to the shadow of the Cosmos, from which Genea had been created and from which she took seeds to create Eris'soul too. That power was the blowing of the devil, that was protecting both Genea and Eris, never allowing them to die.
But even if Eris had all the time in the world to think, she was also feeling sadness in her heart, she was also feeling alone, from to time, and when this was happening, she was deeply breathing in, and she was saying:
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„Are you there?” she was asking while looking at her ankle where the cuff was deeply biting from her flesh, tearing it, and making her feel pain. „I must talk to you, Chaos. I know that you are there, somewhere, lurking on me and waiting in silence.”
Seconds after that only the breathing of the Cosmos was heard. But even so, listening to her summoning him there, Chaos was showing up in the sky of that dungeon of fear, in the form of the wolves'eyes. However, for other minutes, he was saying nothing to her, and neither Eris was hurrying up, for she had time to think, to breath, to wait;
And her silence was somehow accompanied by two unseen souls, whose energy was felt around, like the sound of the beating of a clock, that was reminding her and Chaos about the passing of time, about the passing of years, of the passing of life, and also reminding them about the approaching of death.
Whose energy was still felt around, Eris didn't know. Only Chaos knew it, only he was aware that the beatings that were heard around were of the hearts of Life and Death, that were facing each other at the time the two former spouses were facing each other again. And that energy of their hearts was deeply hidden in the soul of Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi, that was giving to that dungeon, which had the form of a black hole, a view of sorrow, the overview of a landscape looking like a limitless desert, with the air of the void floating above it, colored by the red rays of the sun, that was always burning in the sky of that eternal arson.
And namely, the heat felt on her skin made Eris move a little bit in her place, from to time, when she felt that her skin was burning like meat on the grill. And, while she was moving, the sand under her was breathing somehow, and a strange black fog surrounded the place in seconds. But it wasn't lasting long, for an unseen blowing, considered by Eris her guardian, was scattering the fog, allowing her to see that landscape of sorrow again.
„It still burns,” she was whispering then, in a sad and low voice. „Even after thousands of years, this desert is still hot, like a burning magma that melts everything that it touches.” Then, a deep sigh was heard coming out of her chest, and, soon after this, she was standing up, looking in the distance at that burning sun, risen at the horizon, above that desert, that was also making the shade of that reddish night have the color of the lilac flowers.
As if understanding her whisper, the reddish horizon was also changing the color of those wolf's eyes, making them seem even redder than they really were, and, a kind of devilish blink was also seen in them. Then, when that blink got enough power to face the evil heart of the captive, Chaos was looking deeply into Eris'eyes, and the power of their intertwined glances was forming another black diamond between them. And that new diamond was similar to the one seen on Mannar's forehead. However, it was bigger in size, having the height of a human, but the form of jewelry.
Seeing the diamond, Eris was sadly smiling, as if being unpleasantly surprised by its presence in that dungeon of dread. „It is still here, with us," she was saying, taking a step toward it. „I thought that it followed its darker part on Earth and, unifying their form there, they’ll bring a new Era. But it seems that I was mistaken.”
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„Yes, you've been wrong, Eris, for you know that Themis never bents in front of anybody." And, after such words told by Chaos, a rumble of thunder was all the time heard piercing the sky, illuminating the desert, and the reflection of that thunderlight was spotted on each face of the diamond, while those reflections were intertwining inside the diamond as if being laser lights: the lines of the present, of the past, and of the future crossing in a single heart. „And you also know that the Balance can be controlled only by Themis'power. Nobody else can control it because the Balance of the Cosmos is Life and Death at the same time while we are just puppets of its power."
But at Chaos'words, Eris was only devilishly grinning: „The wrong one is you, Chaos, for Themis has been created to rule and to be ruled,” and the malice and the desire of ruling everything were felt in her voice. „And you had this power, in your hands, Chaos. You had the power to control the reins of Elyzar and to subdue Themis this way. But you’ve been a fool that gave this power to the humans, who are against us now, and if we don’t take that power back, we will be lost forever,” Eris was finishing her sentence in a roar, that was echoing throughout the desert.
„And you are the same blind person as you’ve been at the beginning of this world, Eris,” Chaos said. „You know the truth, but you don’t want to accept it: Elyzar was controlled by Themis and not by me. My hands were only her material shape while my voice was her thoughts told to the Cosmos and revealed to the world. If you think that Themis is gone only because we don’t know where she is, after you had stolen her heart, you are wrong. The power that controls the pulsations of Life and Destruction will always try to change its form and, at the same time, to change destinies and to fulfill its prophecy, and also to re-write the future and the history of the Balance.”
While saying this, Chaos’voice was heard around, accompanied by dozens of thunderlights that were piercing the sky, and he was trying to send a message to Eris thus, to make her understand the importance of life in Cosmos and on Earth. But she was blind and she was deaf, her mind had limited knowledge and she was stubborn while dreaming about ruling the Cosmos, having her own throne, and, because of this, she wasn’t willing to give up on it.
„Who told you, Chaos, that Themis should only be bright?” Eris said, eventually. „Nobody saw who made the Balance as nobody knows what it really wants. Why do you think that it isn’t Themis who created me and that she did this because, in fact, what she wants is to rule this Cosmos, from the shadows?”
But that new voice of Eris couldn't ever cheat on Chaos. And, all the time he was listening to her talking like that, his eyes were sparkling fire, and he was saying: „This isn’t your voice, Eris. On your lips are put Genea’s thoughts, who’s still hiding her hideous body in the dark Palace from the Paradise, guarded by Yggdrasil not to ever escape.”
Seconds after Chaos'voice stopped to echo throughout the Cosmos, a black point could be spotted on the yellow sphere of the sun, and that black point had the form of Genea's stone palace. And, after thousands of years of not talking to her son, Genea said:
„I see that you've never forgotten who I am, Chaos."
„How could I forget you, mother? I've waited for this! I've waited for you to talk to me, after an eternity of silence, and today is the day when I have this great honor," Chaos said in mockery and the sound of an ironic smile was heard around. Then, he asked: „Are you still there, mother? Hiding in your stone palace, imprisoned, and dreaming about ruling the world and kneeling Yggdrasil? Having the power of the entire Universe at your feet?”
„Yes, I'm still here, thanks to you, who brought Yggdrasil back to life, and who made me a captive of my own masterpiece. And, what I think, is that being here is the worse of the punishments your mind could ever invent: to separate my body and my soul and to close them separately,” Genea screamed and a powerful wave of energy had been thrown against the wolf’eyes, making them burn and trying to vanish them into nothingness.
But Genea’s power was limited and she could only change a little the form of the eyes, and that change made them even brighter and beautiful than before.
Chaos however wasn't afraid of his mother, and he calmly said: „It wasn’t me who kneeled you, mother. It was your pride and your stupidity which ruined you and to make that ruin feel more devastating than ever, I’ll show you today what will happen a day of tomorrow,” he finally yelled while a wave of hatred started to be felt vibrating around and with that pulsation of the void, a projection of the world was shown in the distance, under the sun, above the burning sand, like a huge screen.
And, on that screen, the limitless of Earth was reflected, and this made Eris shudder because of hatred, with all her being, and it also made the black color of her skin even darker than before as if it had been soaked. But it was only related to the fact that she hated to see flowers and grass and life on Earth, to see dance and music and happiness all around.
And there was a lot of green grass on Earth. There were those who loved to dance on it, barefoot, while the blades of the grass, filled with morning dew to the brim, were gently touching the humans’soles while the sun was kissing their forehead and the crowns of the trees, blessing them with long life.
Then, all over the Earth was heard the music of the alive souls, slowly sung by the melodious chirp of the birds, and those birds hadn’t only beautiful voices, but also colored feathers, and, when they were singing, one could feel that he hears the voice of Aeon itself and it made their heart beat faster, their palms clap, their feet jerk to dance because the message of that music wasn’t sad, but full of wise meaning, full of life and of kindness - it was the message of Heavens on Earth.
But Eris hated that melody so much because it wasn’t something made by her devilish mind, and the sent message was also different from what she wanted. And, for the first time, she understood that if she wants to succeed, she must destroy first the Balance of Happiness that makes the world be kind, enjoy life, and respect each other.
However, her desire was only a desire, in the end. More after seeing something that she never expected, on that screen: the image of a beautiful young woman, about twenty, cutting Eris’head in a battle that took place in the Valley of Silence. But Genea didn’t know who that girl was and she also couldn’t read her destiny by watching her as she usually did with others, and it happened because the Gates of that girl’s soul were closed and it made Eris yell with hatred, frightened somehow, trying to scatter her venom all around. But the hurt one, in the end, has been also Eris, who deeply felt the cuffs hurting her skin.
„Who’s she?” Eris asked when she recovered control of her mind. However, she received no answer for a long while and that silence made her lose her head, pull the chains, trying to release herself. But those chains were durable and she couldn’t break them, even if she wanted this with all her heart, and her desperate movement to release her body chased the sun away and brought a deep night over Māṉsṭar Kēlaksi when Chaos’eyes also vanished somewhere.
Acting this way, Chaos let her torment for a while. He let her suffer, allowing the fear to sneak into her soul, and when Eris finally gave up on her madness, sitting again down on the burning sand, she heard Chaos’voice again, but she didn't see his eyes anymore: „what you just saw, mother or Eris, with whom I’m talking to, at this moment, was just a small part of what will really happen and this will happen thanks to you, who dared to change the fate, written black on white, when you changed the destiny of that child by attacking me and this will bring your death, in the end, because darkness can’t rule without light as the light cannot exist without a shadow, and the name of that girl: you’ll find it out by yourself. You’ll find out that name, mother! But it will be too late for you and this means that your soul can’t be saved!” and, Chaos sunk the desert in silence again, leaving the black diamond of Themis slowly spinning in front of Eris’eyes and making her shudder because Themis had that power in front of everybody: to make him see where he had been wrong and to lament it while realizing that the time is passing and that his end will also come soon.
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