Trilby's Notes: The (Un)Official Novelization (Chzo Mythos #3)

Epilogue

       And now it sits across from me. The reality shift had cleared up and we were free to leave. An STP cleanup crew arrived with the ambulance. No trace of Abed or the hotel staff was found. Officially, they've been classified as unexplained disappearances. Lenkmann and the Tall Man seem to have also vanished, which does not surprise me in the least. Siobhan signed the Official Secrets Act, and last I heard is staying with her parents to recuperate. Which just leaves me to write up my notes, with the idol that haunts my dreams gazing at me from across my desk. Every instinct in my being wants to burn it to ashes and grind them into the dirt, but I do not. Lenkmann spoke of a prophecy. That the destruction of John DeFoe's soul would somehow help him and his Order summon their dark god. So if I destroy the idol, they win. But what else can I do? I certainly can't keep it. I know from experience that it leaks malevolent influence like a broken pipe leaks water. The only other option is to hide it. But where can I hide such a thing and ensure that it is never found again by human hands?

       I shall have to think about this.

       - Trilby, July 29th, 1997

       "The fulfillment of the prophecy continues. The ritual for the summoning of Chzo will go ahead. Events have been set in motion that cannot be stopped. We have the blood of the guide. Now we must wait. Wait, and prepare."

"1. At this time there came a man from the land of Technology, and though his wisdom was great and his power advanced, he had the wilfulness of his fellows, and so he was the arrogant man.

2. And on the eighth-and-twentieth day of the seventh month of the year of the Arrogant Man, the King gazed upon the land of Technology and saw the Arrogant Man, who spake thus:

3. 'O King, I beseech you, for this land has become corrupt without your benevolent hand, and darkness seeks to envelop us all. I demand of you to cross the border between our lands and make things right, for my power is great, and I have it in my power to control one even as great as you.'

4. And the King was rightly amused, for while the Arrogant Man's power was indeed great, the King's power was greater still, and the King said:

5. 'I will not submit myself, for firstly my power is greater than yours, and not yours to command. Secondly, while my capabilities are many, it is impossible for me to enter the land of Technology, for the border is a dark and treacherous ocean I cannot will away.

6. But I will do this for you, O Arrogant Man. For all the bigness of your head, you are still small enough to be spared the rigours of the dark ocean. I shall rescue you from the darkness in the land of Technology, and you shall live in my household, and here you will learn humanity.'

7. And as the King said it, so was it so, and the Arrogant Man crossed the ocean to the house of the King, where he was brought before his majesty, who said:

8. 'Now you must repay me for the slight your arrogance has caused me, for despite your insult I love you as I love every Man and beast, and you must learn to take this love into your heart.'

9. And the King took the Body and Mind of the Arrogant Man and separated them from his Soul, and this he placed in a great Tree in the land of Technology, and with this action he announced:

10. 'Now you are the Tree, and the Tree is you, and the wood is your Soul. With this gift of separation your body shall not wither or die throughout your lessons. But should any Man interfere with the Tree that is your Soul on the day that is mine, I shall lend you the power to confront them, and strike them down with fitting vengeance.'

11. And then he touched the Arrogant Man and filled his heart with his warming love, and the Arrogant Man became the Prince, and he knew the name of the King.

12. And the Prince and the court of the King bowed down and wept and sang with great praise the name of the King, for great and generous was his wisdom."

- The Books of Chzo, Book of the Prince, chapter 2