The Gambit of the Faceless God — Epic Fantasy

[One day later]

The group, Declan, Geneve, Lunar, and Vaelen, all surrounded Caelum’s bed for as long as they could. Each of their postures was unique to their visible fret for their childhood friend and younger brother. Declan stood against the wall with crossed arms, aimlessly staring into the distance, while Geneve, in front of Declan, stood next to Caelum’s bed with her arms, too, crossed.

Lunar held his hands folded over each other behind his back as he contemplatively stared out the window that oversaw the long bridge leading towards their dorm. Vaelen sat on the edge of his brother’s bed, his eyes slowly widening as soon as Caelum’s face made a slight twitch.

“…Caelum?”

His eyes gradually opened, jolting everyone around him awake as they all turned towards him.

“Va…elen…”

Whilst Declan, Geneve, and Vaelen exhibited a loud relief, throwing words of thankfulness towards the barely conscious young fellow, Lunar only looked at their embrace over his head with a closed, serene smile.

Caelum took a proper seat, realizing the shirt he wore felt a lot “looser” than usual. He remained silent for several seconds, fluttering his eyes before asking with a gentle, confused tone,

“What… happened?”

Vaelen looked at him as if he were on the verge of breaking down in tears. For Caelum, seeing his older brother in such a caring, emotional state, confounded him slightly. He obviously forgot that he collapsed during the Initiation Ritual, yet, for some reason, the bittersweet looks on each of their faces seemed to hint towards another layer of concern.

And sadly, it was Declan who eventually decided to address the elephant in the room.

“Do we have a mirror?” he asked, looking around. In response, Geneve held him on, exiting the room to grab a mirror. Caelum frowned slightly, understandably confused, asking his brother what was going on. Despite his awakening, Lunar held his gaze forwards, outside the window, as if alleviated that Caelum could finally learn about his circumstance.

“Caelum, look at your hand.”

He slowly lowered his head and stretched his fingers. Contrary to expectation, his reaction was a lot more tranquil than Vaelen expected.

His hand turned pale, a clear difference from his complexion just a day ago.

Yet, that was not all. His entire body turned as pale as a vampire, or some supernatural being. As Geneve returned, he handed him the small mirror, with Vaelen repeatedly asking him not to panic. Sadly, seeing his own face seemed to have broken the barrier for him—

—His eyes widened as he gasped, prompting his brother to sit closer to him just in case he would start to freak out.

“Your skin has been entirely bleached, it’s as if you suddenly lost all your melanin…”

“…What happened?”

“That’s what we’re trying to understand, too,” Geneve sighed. “We were told you suddenly collapsed during the ritual. The RM who took care of you also detailed the Grimoires that were realized.”

Her words seemed to have confounded him even more.

“Grimoires?”

“Yes, multiple, which is normally unheard of,” Lunar finally spoke, turning towards him with a serious expression. “The Grimoires you summoned were allegedly a silver bow, engraved with delicate carvings, as well as an ancient, silver polished book, with an upside down iron cross on its front facade.”

Caelum hung his head. He still couldn’t understand what was going on. Lunar was correct; anyone who would be engaged in an Initiation Ritual would be able to summon their very own Grimoire. Just one, the reason being that one’s Grimoire is meant to be intricately linked to that person’s soul. It is essentially someone’s very own “soul manifestation”. Therefore, for someone to summon two separate Grimoires could only mean one thing…

Vaelen was the most silent in the room as he knew the truth had to be told. Sensing his inner turmoil, Lunar stepped towards Vaelen and gently tapped on his shoulder as he spoke,

“We will have to tell him, Vaelen.”

“Tell me…what?” Caelum murmured, as Geneve from his left responded,

“Are you familiar with the Golden Book, Caelum?”

“He isn’t,” Vaelen said, his head lowered. “But, he knows about the prophecy.”

Caelum’s mouth was slightly left open, muttering Vaelen’s name in disbelief, as Lunar closed his eyes, and began reciting a passage from the Golden Book.

“The Book of Darkness, Book two, chapter six, verse twelve: ‘And His soul shall not be solitaire. The Perished One’s body will be shared between Him and the source of all sins. Her immortality will be manifested through His body.”

“…This is a joke, isn’t it?” Caelum chuckled in incredulity. As Vaelen reached out his hand, muttering his name in the hopes of soothing him, he jumped out of his bed, prompting everyone else present to turn their heads towards him. Lunar seemed the only one unfazed, his dark brown eyes staring at Caelum’s commotion over his shoulder.

“This is a joke! It must be! Why would I be the Perished One? What kind of nonsense is that?!”

With a sigh, Lunar closed his eyes and facaded a smile, approaching him with a gentle demeanour.

“We know you aren’t the Perished One. But, just to be sure, try to meditate and summon your Grimoire. If you summon two separate Grimoires, it means that the Ritual Master was right. Though, you can’t trust most people these days, can you?”

Even Lunar himself knew what he just said virtually and did not bear any weight. It would not make sense for the Gaian Administrative Office to simply lie about him housing two different souls within his body. It wouldn’t make sense. Whilst the others were seemingly in a state of denial, agreeing with his words, Lunar already knew the truth.

“Do you remember how it goes?” Declan chimed in. “Simply close your eyes, and focus on your own soul. Then, try and channel your soul pressure outside your body. Much like imagining letting a wind current flow out of your body. Only then will they appear.”

“Try it, Caelum,” Vaelen pleaded, pushing Caelum back on his bed as he silently nodded. He took a deep breath, sitting on his bed with folded legs. Despite having just woken up from collapsing the night before, it seemed like the reassurance of his brother, as well as the acting of Lunar made him feel comforted—

—He took deep breaths until he grasped control over his breathing. His surroundings fell silent, as if the concept of sound instantly dissipated into thin air. He could feel his soul pressure within his abdomen area, and commanded it to erupt from his body…

…Yet, right at that moment, right when the slightest bit of his aura barely grazed against the threshold of his fingertips,

He collapsed, once more.

This time, he did not find himself standing before an iron gate with that mysterious, eerie lady etched within it.

He was laying on a cold, marble-like surface.

That gate he saw last night, depicting the young woman holding a child, that image, seemed to have been reacted, in a way.

The young woman was now in physical form, seated on her knees. She was dressed in an all-black, layered robe, which contrasted sharply with Her weathered, curly gray hair. Her complexion was grey-ish, as if She was the humanized version of Caelum’s second Grimoire. Her dark green eyes were sharp, but understanding, Her face as slim and well-carved as a princess from a taradiddle tale.

She was indeed holding a child. And Caelum, as soon as he opened his eyes, found himself in Her embrace.

With a gentle tone, She spoke in her deep and alluring voice, delicately brushing her fingers over Caelum’s scalp. The sound of Her voice echoing throughout the entire space.

“…He has finally awoken.”

As soon as consciousness seeped into his mind, he immediately freed himself from Her grasp, struggling his way to distance himself from Her, constantly falling onto the surface whilst crawling away.

“Who… who are you?! Where am I?!” he said with a broken tone as he looked around, only to be met with an overarching darkness. The place seemed different than anything he had ever seen before. Judging by what he could see, he thought he found himself in a grand, Gothic castle.

It seemed that realization, or, better said ‘fear’ was yet to wash over him. She remained silent as a response, prompting him to question Her further.

“Are you not…”

…

Wait…

She…

…No, that can’t be…

That can’t be!

“…Going to… answer me?!”

She remained silent once more, a closed smile tugging at the corners of Her lips whilst standing back up.

“Talk to me, now!”

It felt as if he was talking to a wall. And it was only after staring at the woman’s face for a few moments that fear finally struck him. He turned around and ran as fast as he could until he bumped against a large, iron gate…

…He slowly raised his head and beheld a completely different engraving.

The iron gate now depicted a slender, emaciated man. It looked as if he was hanging on an invisible cross… both his arms stretched wide, his legs pressed against each other, his head hanging over, causing his long tresses to fall over his face.

Nonetheless, Caelum attempted to push and pull the gate open with all his might, yet to no avail. Tears began to slide down his face, thinking he may be killed, or be a witness to some unspeakable horror.

“Let me out of here, now!”

“…So, you would like to leave this place?”

After several moments of panting, Caelum finally calmed down, and turned towards Her, mumbling “Yes…” before he took a sudden stop, and confusingly stared at the woman standing before him.

“…Who… are you?”

“Take a good look at me, Caelum,” She smiled. “Who do you think I am?”

“…You…” he began, shaking his head. “Am I… dreaming?”

“No, you’re not. This is reality, my dear son.”

“What…” he frowned, averting his head with his eyes shut. “No, no! This can’t be! I never met my mother, nor do I even know what she looks like!”

The woman chuckled, closing Her eyes. “Perhaps it is safe to assume that this is a Devil’s Proof; Proving to you that I am, indeed, your mother seems impossible at this moment, yet, the lack of evidence fails to disprove that. Am I right?”

“What… are you saying…” he muttered, stumbling backwards. The woman lifted Her right sleeve, revealing Her slender arms with an unnaturally pale complexion.

“Look at yourself, Caelum. Your skin has gotten as pale as mine. If this isn’t enough, then what would you want me to do to prove that I am, indeed, your mother?”

This was undoubtedly something unnatural and illogical to tell in the hopes of convincing someone. She knew this, and still decided to shamelessly ‘taunt’ the young gentleman who was clearly in a perplexed state of mind. It was as if She deliberately said something as idiotic as this just to further provoke Caelum, so that he, himself, could find out the answer on his own.

Regardless, Her words seemed to have gone over his head. The moment their eyes met, he was already in a state of pure denial. A state where it appeared as if the both of them had already engaged in an hour-long debate whether or not he truly was Her child. Caelum unwaveringly continued his disbelief, muttering to himself,

“But, you can’t be my mother… She… died giving birth to me…”

“I did, yes. However…

…we are not of this world, Caelum. You are different. Your aspirations are unique. Your ambitions are what will make a change to this world, and I know that…”

Her words now seemed to have suddenly soothed Caelum’s mind as She slowly stepped towards him.

“How… are you here…?” he mumbled once more.

“As I said before… We are no mortals, Caelum. Your friend told you the truth; My immortality will be manifested through His body—that being you—the prophesied Perished One.”

“N- nonsense!” he grimaced, prompting Her to ask him,

“How would you like me to prove it, then?”

“You can’t!” he shouted. “How could you possibly pro-”

…The concept of realisation seemed to have dissipated for a second.

It happened so fast, that Caelum spoke out his second phrase while his now decapitated head floated in the air.

And only after stopping his sentence midway, was when he felt the actual impact of the sudden slash that dispersed his head from his body.

As both his head and body collapsed, the woman smilingly stepped in front of his blood-soaked body, speaking in a malicious tone.

“You shall creep out of your former body like a snake…”

As She began, She knelt down before his body and placed Her right palm on his chest.

“…cursed to traverse the earth with an immortal body.”

It seemed as if She was channelling some kind of aura, or energy from within her palm onto his body, as Caelum’s body began to quiver as if he were possessed by a legion of demons.

“You will return back to life each time you are slain…”

From Caelum’s perspective, all he could see was a faint illuminating threshold surrounded by utter darkness. He was forced to crawl towards that glowing threshold, his five senses slowly fading back into being the closer he got to that opening.

“…for your soul’s perishing is reserved for the Sword of Yius.”

Right as he made his way out of the aperture, he slowly opened his eyes and found himself being carried by the same woman, who was making Her way through the nocturnal Gothic hall. His body was completely intact, as if nothing ever happened before.

“I understand how you must be feeling, I truly do,” She began. “But, the time of truth is now.”

Caused by the recent occurrence, Caelum only silently listened to Her as She brought him to a large, stained glass window that depicted a black goat with red eyes being ridden by an unidentifiable pale child. The portrait was shrouded in a diabolical, ominous atmosphere, like a well-known bad omen, told by millions of people to never be touched by a pure soul.

However, not even this hauntingly beautiful art piece fazed Caelum, for his eyes already widened in shock as soon as he noticed something else.

It was… himself. Levitating right in front of the stained glass, in the same position as the man depicted in the iron gate, as if he was bound to an invisible cross.

He released himself from the woman’s grasp and could only stare in disbelief.

Was that truly him?

Why was there a second “Caelum”, floating in the air, in a place like this?

Was the “Caelum” standing on the ground, not the real “Caelum”? If so, then… who is he? How can he see him?

What is going on?!

These words that seemed like thoughts swirling throughout his mind were only questions he could have asked himself, yet, his mind went blank. Everything was beyond him. Him suddenly dying and resurrecting, the woman’s nature and odd resemblance to a Mother he never met or saw before, seeing his very own body, floating in the air as if he was in some sort of satanic ritual.

It was too much for him.

And yet, the woman’s words were just enough to bring him back to his senses.

“This is the body visible to your loved ones in the physical world…”

Caelum’s second body then slowly descended, and floated towards him, like a marionette attached to strings being moved by a puppeteer.

“See it for yourself. Touch it.”

Without questioning anything further, Caelum slowly raised his hand…

…And as soon as his fingers reached contact with his second face,

He felt as if he was touching himself.

“What…”

“Have you heard of the prophecy?” the woman, standing behind him, asked.

“I… have, yes…” he said, turning towards Her. “…Is this real?”

She remained silent in response, prompting Caelum to continue with a frightened tone.

“What will you do to me?”

She chuckled, responding, “I told you earlier, Caelum… Your aspirations are unique. Even though you have now realised your role in this world, your first truthful question is a selfish one.”

“I can not possibly hurt my Lord, dear,” She continued. “If I were to do so, I would be a false vessel of the one who will change this world.”

A dark shadow fell over Caelum’s eyes as if the woman’s words flicked a switch within him. He took everything that happened so far into his hands and threw them away. Anger washed over him, as well as desperation for simply leaving this place, or, better said, ‘wake up’ from this nightmare.

“…I don’t give a damn about this religious nonsense. I don’t know you, nor does this ‘prophecy’ apply to me.”

She remained silent, her eyes turning emotionless, as Caelum continued.

“Who do you think you are? Accusing me of being the so-called ‘Perished One’? Are you stupid? Is the Perished One not supposed to be marked with misfortune as soon as he is born?”

He then turned towards his unconscious physical body, lowering his head.

“I am not him. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a goal I must reach.”

“That being?”

“…”

Without responding, he forcibly grasped the chest of his physical body, prevalently feeling the sensation, too. Nonetheless, this did not faze him, either, as all he could think was to be freed from this nightmare.

With a strong yank, his physical body collapsed on the ground, as if the invisible strings broke due the force of his pull. Afterwards, he began dragging it across the marble floor towards the iron gate.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me, but I will need you to let me leave this place. Right now.”

“…As you wish, my Lord…”

With a respectful, and understanding sigh, She closed her eyes, and telepathically caused the iron gate to open, revealing the dark, indistinguishable surrounding world. Despite knowing he was walking into a pit of pure oblivion, he kept on going, the sensation of his physical body crawling throughout his lower body.

Right before he was lost in the darkness, the woman spoke gently, barely above a whisper.

“However, do not forget…” she began, as Caelum was now lost from her sight, causing the iron gate to close, its sound reverberating throughout the entire area.

It was right then when the appearances of three other individuals came to be.

They were not mere ‘entrances’, no, they were individuals who were not yet discovered by Caelum, but by the woman clad in Her black robe.

They, too, were in similar positions as the man etched in the iron gate, being unconsciously hung on an invisible cross. Each of them situated on three different sides of the grand hall.

In the Western part, in front of the dark walls, was Geneve.

In the Eastern part, in front of the large, arched pillars, was Declan.

In the Northern part, right above the stained glass window, was Lunar.

“...You will not be alone.”