A Wonder Far Beyond Human Reach
I now realized that the blinding welcome had finally subsided. However, I still refused to open my eyes, for I wish not to see yet another one of those flashes of auburn rays of light that would cause my eyes to explode into a million different dust particles made out of human flesh. Only when I heard the sound of prison cells opening had I finally opened my eyes ever so slowly not to force my eyes any further than it would take. Still, as soon as I saw the tiniest glimpse of my surroundings, I instantly closed my eyes once again. After hearing the noise of chains clanking and feeling a searing wave of heat piercing my body, I finally opened my eyes without the need for haste.
Finally, the fantastic world within the grasp of my human comprehension greeted me at long last after a year of an endless wait!
The first thing that came into my eyes is the sight of the rising sun upon the distant horizon and the enlarged moon directly above me, towering over my puny little mortal shell of a human fleshly body. I noticed right away the striking rusted chains wrapped around the enlarged lunar monstrosity on the sky. I realized that as the sun slowly rises from the distant skyline, those huge metallic chains enslaving the moon dissipates while some get wholly shattered, turning into a dusty particle polluting the distant galaxies.
I slowly walked the road and realized that I am walking in a rather dilapidated and melancholic-looking forest, although I only see withered trunks of leafless spruce trees till the very end of what my eyes could see. It's a scenery that I seldom see since I live in a somewhat urban city, devoid of the stillness of nature. Still, even I could feel the seeping evil lurking within these trees that scream of a forgotten time in ancient yore; one could only describe it as the feeling of seeing an ancient evil. I could feel nothing but a darkness that should drop me down to my knees, but I could feel nothing but calmness instead. I feel like a child being straddled to sleep by a monstrous entity within the grasp of his demoniac claws and rough hands.
Slowly, as I stride through the dry dirt road, the sceneries of my surroundings change; not because I was walking in a different area entirely, everything just changes color, texture, shape, size, and dimension in an otherwise out-of-this-world CGI effect. The only difference is that it's happening right in front of me in real life. I cannot explain it adequately; I cannot even comprehend to myself if what I'm seeing is real. All I know is that everything I know about the three-dimensional world is slowly changing as I stride through this narrow path. The trees turn into a comical doodle; the skies become a mushy clay; the ground shakes, but it's not moving; the world turns into nothing like I have ever seen before or will again.
However, amidst all these destructions of human comprehension happening all over me, I still walked ever so calmly like the ground was undisturbed, and the air was not putrid and foul.
"This place is just as calming as I last saw it," I mumbled to myself as I saw the image of a tortured face appearing ever so slightly in the trunk of one tree on the horizon. "How beautiful; how divine! Everything... Everything is so beautiful!" I said to myself, almost yelling, while I raised both my arms and my head to reach out to the distant moon engraved with the face of a man puking the bodies of hundred people straight down to the ground, making them a part of the marshmallow-like soil.
As I continued to walk through this unknown hellish landscape, I saw a man wearing a purple suit, a purple hat, a purple pair of jeans, and a purple mask while playing a purple pipe with an alien-like sound that I cannot describe other than sounding both ancient and futuristic at the same time.
"Ahhh... The purple piper, always the most artistic musician! I wish I could record his songs!"
I realized that the world continuously changes until I finally arrived at my destination. Oddly enough, although the purple piper was playing in the distance, I could hear what he's playing as if he's standing right beside me. I stood in front of the mushy-looking hall in the middle of the forest while looking at the sky. It finally turned into what it really is. I see a man crying, a woman screaming, a child laughing, an older woman biting her own foot; the sky turned into a view of thousands of people mashed together to form an endless sky of distant vengeful spirits.
I hear the distant noise of people laughing and chatting among one another, along with the sound of swords clashing upon another. It seems that the tournament before the arrival of the man of the hour had finally commenced and now I don't have the time to enjoy their friendly joust. I walked through the hall until I saw the end in sight, I could still hear the piper playing clearly in my head, although I cannot see the purple man anywhere anymore. I simply ignored it as nothing but a part of his odd artistic choices.
Finally, I heard the sound of a man screaming in pain, possibly because of a fatal hit somewhere in his body. That was when I finally rushed towards the end of the hall.
"Ah, shit!" I exclaimed. "The tournament is already done?" Damn it! I wanted to bet! Fuck, I wonder who they invited to fight in the ring this time. This is so frustrating, I just... Fuck! Last year, they placed two enemies in the ring, and they really went for it, brutal style, and it's the best form of entertainment I have seen for the remainder of that year! I will not forgive myself if I miss this one!
When I finally threaded through the darkened alley at the end of the hall wherein, a gigantic court made of bluish violet ivory stones stood with countless people donning the most extravagant fashion I have ever seen for this year. It seemed that they all went all out for this masquerade, for they are all wearing clothes much more gracious and refined than those they wore last year, or for the last decade, for that matter.
The first thing I did was to lean on the balcony. I wanted to see for myself as to what is happening. I didn't know the details, but what I saw was a woman shaking and trembling in the corner of the ring. Meanwhile, a man was crouching in the middle with a sword piercing his abdomen. Looking at how the people looked at them with sneers on their faces, I bet the tournament didn't have a satisfying end. However, it was not boorish enough for them to boo at the performers. Perhaps because the expression on the woman's face compensated for the rather dull spectacle they showed today.
I heaved a sigh. "Well..." I mumbled to myself as I fixed my tie. "At least, I was late in a boring fight."
Then a siren rang throughout the court, and as the screeching noise resounded throughout the hall, the number of people leaning on the circular balcony disappeared. They don't care about whatever happens to the participants in the friendly joust below on the ring. It all ends the same; it's all too boring. I feel the same.
The ring slowly opens like a shutter of a camera ever so slowly like an ancient stone passageway. As the siren grew louder, the scream of the woman below grew just as loud. The surrounding people started to discuss their day and what the man of the hour will do for this year's gathering. They are all blind to the fact that a man just fell a few hundred feet below the widening opening of the ring. No, they are not blind to it per se; they just don't care.
The woman desperately clings on the wall, but she doesn't know that the wall is coated with a thick layer of oil, so no matter how much he smashed through it, it will not help him escape or climb up towards the balcony which was 20 feet away from the ring.
As soon as the opening shutter reached her, she finally realized that she would fall with a desperate look of despair written all over her face. I couldn't see her properly. However, even when she's far from me, I could still see the disgusting way her sweat covers her face, the intolerable way her face reddens with fear, or the absolute barf-worthy sight of seeing her face distort like a painting of a monster. It seems like she was begging us to spare her life with her mouth agape. Her screams were loud enough to go against the almost ear-piercing noise of the siren. It almost sounded like an out of tune duet singing the chorus of Islands in the Stream. It's horrible! And I'm not the only one feeling this way!
"Is it finally done?" I hear a woman whispering behind me.
"Ugh, just please get rid of her! She's ruining my cheesecake!" Another woman mumbled loud enough for me to hear.
"Honestly, we need to get rid of the sirens." A man spoke amidst the countless complaints I hear all around.
"No! What we need is a way to silence the participants after the fight! It's not that hard!" Another man with a slightly feminine inflection retorted.
Then, she finally fell. It was about damn time for her to go. Her voice is so god damn annoying. She screamed about eleven seconds before we heard a thudding noise, which ended her loud screech. It also ended the ear rapping siren that almost made everyone's ears bleed.
Now that that was out of the way, everybody finally heaved a sigh of relief. We could all finally enjoy our meals and our drinks.
Now, we can finally go to the real reason why we're here.
While the shutter-like ring slowly closes, the gigantic double door at the other end of the court swung open, releasing a strong cold breeze that almost blew all of our masks away. Then the choir at the ceiling of the court, somewhere a few hundred feet away from us, sang their melancholic lullaby in a language I have not heard before, but somehow it was familiar to my ears.
"You're late." The woman in black beside me said, "We're all waiting for you."