A platoon of veiled, accompanied by a few Fractals, tried to execute the commands of their high priests.
When they reached the rubble, they only found one woman. She wore a veil, but it was different.
As they came closer, the woman herself was covered in the architecture of the veiled. But somehow, it seemed different. Instead of red mist, it was a blue hue of fog that surrounded her. Her armor was white, like an ethereal being that came from a time before time itself. She wore a Jingasa made from this material, and a small charm dangled from it, in the shape of a worm.
The veiled approached the woman carefully.
The woman raised her hand, and they froze completely. She shooed them away, and their bodies were banished through the endless void of time.
Two weeks earlier:
Ira dashed through the ruins of her home, before the Kloseg.
She remembered her Monk-Mothers, who trained her to be fearless yet kind to all life, regardless of its nature.
Her boundless wonder consumed her, and wanted to become like her teachers. They were her only family after her parents were executed. When it came for her to be a monk mother herself, that's when it happened. When the veils and the Kloseg not far behind.
Ira snapped out of her daydream. She looked at her environment, and she was standing right where she was veiled. She sat down, and meditated for a long time. She prayed for those she had lost during the veiled invasion. She prayed out to whatever was out there, either The Blue Light, or something darker.
"You have not changed a day, Monk-Daughter."
Ira shot up from her meditation. Nothing.
She prepared herself for whoever it was.
"Lay down your arms, Ira, Do not be afraid. I am only a messenger," A dim blue light appeared in front of Ira. Ira kneeled before The Blue Light, bowing her head in respect.
"Stand up, Bane of Lucifer. I come with a task,"
Ira did not speak, but stood up and nodded. She could not speak even if she tried.
"The powers of this universe are now in the hands of mortals. I must restore balance, if I cannot reverse Kalor's fate. I give you the path to a temple, one not far from here. It's knowledge will help you against your war. But you must accept a terrible truth, and wear it not with pride or humility, but with purpose."
She accepted, and went on her way to the temple.
Somewhere on Earth :
Solomon gazed on the veiled man in the giant glass tube. It couldn't break out, despite its efforts of breaking the glass. A orange hue encompassed it, seemingly giving it more strength.
"What do we know of this berzerker?" Solomon asked his assistant.
"Not too sure. It's giving off readings like Fractal energy, but if a different frequency. Like two colors that are similar wavelengths, but they are indeed different colors."
"I see. What have they been doing since its capture?"
"It has only been trying to break containment. We'd thought it would stop by now, but it insists to keep at it. When sedation failed, we tried to terminate it. Which concerningly also failed."
"Whatever this thing is using, it defies destruction to all known ways of destruction," Solomon said, "But then becomes an opportunity to discover new ways of destruction,"
As he said this, the veiled man contorted and twisted his body in ways impossible. Its skin peeled pack, his mouth stretched back, like hooks to a fish. A darker version came out of the wall, and whispered knowledge unknown and unheard as it was heard. Reality distorts.
Reality bends.
Breaks.
Reforms.
It is reborn.
Not as man.
But as Kloseg.
Solomon watched in horror as the Kloseg took the place of the man in reality.
The veiled man slumped over, and the orange hue switched to the newly born Kloseg.
The Kloseg dissipated, and all was left was a strange dark sludge on the wall it came out of. Its ripples were souls of Atherium.
Somewhere else on Earth:
Ira arrived to the temple. It was similar to that tower, as its peak pierced the midday sun. As the sun would pass, it would become a snake eye, looking down on her as if it was judgement.
She entered the temple.
There were writings on the walls, as well as bookshelves and great paintings and statues of men and women whom have long passed.
As she explored the temple's skeleton, she found a great mural depicting the Tower, the veiled, and of Fractal energy.
It depicted The Entity as a blurred man, whose eyes were scratched out.
She saw veiled men entering a black hole in a wall, and being traded with none other than Kloseg.
As she explored more, she found that there was more to Fractal.
Four elements that made up a conciseness: Fractal, Aether, Symphony, and Thread. Each was a piece of the puzzle, a layer of what reality is.
The veiled were depicted in another mural, seen as welled these power for good rather than evil, against The Kloseg, The Seven Sins and The Entity itself.
There was one more, but was carved out by someone, or something.
She searched for hours in the books and other statues, trying to find what was on that last mural; the last piece to find the secret knowledge.
She tore the temple apart, searching and searching. But nothing.
No map.
No book.
No artifact.
Not even the dust of bones were enough.
Her search ended with anger and frustration, and she found a place to sleep outside of the temple.
As she searched, she found a tree branch that was big enough to hold her, and tried to sleep.
She tossed and turned, trying to rest, but could not.
It was as if something was watching her.
S. M. I. L. I. N. G.
