Chapter 2: A memory, a sin and a witch Part 2
Part 2
—Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh —A heartbreaking cry full of pain and regret combined with incessant tears, came from a great demon, crying in his melancholy in the middle of a dark room that seemed to have no end in its extension to the surroundings.
Gin's last two memories contained his memories of the days when he kept studying day and night various books, to continue writing his chronicles through his research, but that made him separate himself for a while from his friends, acquaintances and family. And the last one was the moment in which he stopped his work indefinitely due to the fruitless efforts he had to search for the information he longed for, it was then that he decided to work in the agricultural area of the town, to clear his mind.
However, as soon as he finished that memory and it seemed that he was going to start the next one, a strong pressure took him straight to the ground where he was now, when he hit the hard ground he did not feel pain, but he realized that he had regained control of his body.
He did not know where he was, he seemed to be alone, but since it was too dark, it was impossible for him to be completely sure, and when he decided to go through that place in search of answers... all his memories came back all at once.
The shock of having recovered all his memories, and remembering the probable reason for being in this place, made him suffer greatly and sob as he tore at his throat trying to suffocate his memories, banging his head against the ground or rubbing it on the floor from time to time.
«Protect them, take care of them?, I must be kidding, why am I so useless?, why am I so weak?, what did we do to deserve this?, are we really welcome in the world we were born in?, why is this world so unfair to demons?»
—Ghaaaaaaa haaaaaaa haaaaa haaaaa haaaaaaa. —Gin's sobs were becoming more and more painful to listen to, as if she was in a state of complete agony, and maybe that indeed was what she felt, after all, a person's emotional pain cannot be calculated with statistics.
—I wonder how long you will be able to stay here lamenting. —A systematic but slightly concerned voice, coming from a man who suddenly appeared, echoed in Gin's eardrums.
He didn't even know at what moment that person had appeared in front of him, it only came to his mind, the feeling that a few moments ago some shadows gathered in one place, but he thought he had only imagined it.
Still, Gin was not in the mood to listen to the words of a stranger, so he continued to sob silently.
—Actually, I wouldn't mind waiting here, a decade or two, but I think that for you living beings, since time is limited, it is something very valuable from your point of view, or am I wrong? —The man again tried to engage Gin in conversation, but his efforts were rebuffed by the demon's self-flagellation and pity.
—Leave me alone. —Even so, since he could not avoid listening to the stranger at all, Gin asked him almost begging him to leave his side.
Gin felt that he did not deserve to live, nor to be pitied, he was weak and immature, which caused him to lose everything he loved.
—You know their deaths were not your fault, don't you? —But as if the stranger was trying to take away the responsibility and the weight he carried on his back, he said those words with a tone of doubt.
—It was my decision not to have trained my body, it was my decision to follow a pacifist path, it was my decision not to have opposed the humans, and because of them, I couldn't protect anyone, it's my fault. —The stranger seemed to know what had happened to him in the village, and probably he was the one who had sent him to this place, but now he didn't care about any of that, so he dedicated himself to venting while blaming himself for everything again.
—But it's your life, your time is too limited to think about others, and besides if you continue to follow that line of thinking, it would also be your fault what happens to the other demons and if you go further, it would be your fault that the war is not over. —The man kept talking about how limited time was, as if it were an obsession, but Gin was not in the mood to point it out.
Still, Gin could not refute the stranger's words, he indeed blamed and regretted those things and many others.
Maybe if he had trained as the soldiers of the demon army said, he would have become one of the most powerful warriors, even so, that was uncertain, but the possibility was present, maybe it was really all his fault.
—If he had done this or that, maybe nothing would have happened, that is your way of thinking, but you are not reasoning it, when this war started you did not even exist, you are just a civilian who tried to live his life as he thought it was right, and ended up in the crossfire of it, from my point of view you are a hypocrite to think that way. —Without holding back at all, the stranger said what he thought about Gin's childish behavior.
And it was true, although his words were not intended to be hurtful, they caused him a strong pain in his heart, Gin did everything for his beloved, his mother and his dream, there was nothing wrong with that, but still it was hard not to feel bad for not having been able to protect his family.
He felt too much helplessness because of his weakness and indecision, despite having so much strength, he was not able to use it, despite knowing a lot about magic theory, he was very bad at applying it, from the beginning it was impossible to beat the soldiers with this undisciplined strength, and thinking about this he could do nothing but bite his lip and clench his fists so hard that he made his hand bleed with his fingernails.
—Will you give up on your dream? —The man asked that question, not to try to change the topic of conversation, but rather to redirect her to a key point, which would help him with his mental indecision.
That question was unexpected, though the importance of it was not to be underestimated, could he really take up his dream and try to fulfill it once again? Did he have the right to do so after knowing that his wife was no longer even capable of dreaming? Was it right to do so?
—I don't think your family would want to see you stuck here and doing nothing. —The man added those words as if reading Gin's thoughts and insecurities.
His family was dead and he could never know what they wanted, was what he wanted to say, but the words would not leave his lips, because they were a complete lie.
Gin knew them better than anyone, her mother would most likely give her a hug and tell her it was okay to move on.
And Aki, would probably give her a flying kick and then with a loving smile tell her something similar, Gin couldn't help but smile at the thought of this, as the tears finally stopped coming.
—Then I'll ask you just to be sure, can you keep wasting your time in this place? Will you find your target in this place? —The man who suddenly appeared in front of him and who for no reason had helped him to clear his mind and calm his heart, again asked him the right questions at the right time, the questions that could make him move on with his life, and marry a change in it.
Gin wiped away what was left of her tears and then stood up with difficulty, so that she could observe for the first time the person she had been talking to all this time.
He was a man with short black hair, combed up in spikes, had a lock beard, black eyes, a slightly elongated nose, and looked youthful, though he didn't feel at all like someone young.
He wore an outfit similar to a black overalls and over it he had a dark brown coat, honestly to Gin, he looked like any other scruffy human being or at least he would think so if it wasn't for his pointed ears and slightly larger than normal fangs.
He looked like a vampire or one of the ancient demons, but it would be disrespectful to try to guess his race, so he didn't.
—No, I will not give up on my dream, I will try much harder from now on, about my goal, I am still not clear, I feel a lot of anger towards humans, but for now I feel it would be best to meditate for a while on what I should do from now on, and I can't do that in this place. —Gin inhaled deeply, exhaled and answered that question calmly and seriously, with a smile.
Hearing Gin's honest answer, the man returned a kind smile, and with his right hand outstretched touched Gin's chest.
The man's hand had long, sharp claws, but Gin didn't mind at all, after all, if he had wanted to kill him, he had more than one chance some time ago, however despite not feeling danger in the slightest, the man's action couldn't help but surprise him momentarily.
—I understand, then you must hurry and wake up, a friend of mine could help you on the other side. —The man's words confused Gin a little, he wanted to ask him what he meant, but the moment he was about to say a word, his body became light and he was pushed with just a finger, moving away at a progressive speed.
—Wait, could you at least tell me your name? —As Gin had assumed, those words were words of farewell, so in a desperate attempt, she shouted that question at him before moving completely away from him.
—Belphegor... from this day forward, I will be your friend, ally and companion, I know that very soon we will meet again. —Although they were already more than 100 meters away, the man with a smile, answered with a loud and clear voice, so that Gin could hear without any problem, which was still surprising due to the distance, maybe he used some kind of magic, was what he thought, but instead of filling his head with questions, he simply nodded in sign of understanding and gratitude.
«We will definitely meet again and I will thank you accordingly, wait, did he really say Belphegor, I just had a conversation with an ancestral demon, representative of the deadly sins, I hope it was just a coincidence or a strange dream.»
Again Gin entered the area where his memories were, if he had had more time to talk to Belphegor, he would have definitely asked him, but due to the hurry that powerful demon had to return him to his world, it was inevitable to leave it for another time.
He was getting closer and closer to his first memory and later awakening or at least that's what should happen according to his theory, and while he was observing his memories an image of Aki and his mother, appeared in his line of vision.
Maybe it was a moment when they were seeing him off on one of their trips to other towns, or maybe they were simply together celebrating his birthday, another matter of no major relevance, but....
That scene was such a fitting farewell for this moment, it caused Gin's heart to flutter, even if they weren't really present and were just another memory in Gin's memories, this would be his last chance to say goodbye to them.
—MOTHER, I AM TRULY SORRY FOR HAVING BEEN SUCH A COWARD, I AM SORRY FOR HAVING BEEN SO INDECISIVE AND ABOVE ALL I AM SORRY FOR NOT HAVING PROTECTED YOU, BUT I PROMISE YOU WITH ALL MY BEING THAT I WILL FULFILL MY DREAM, FOR ALL THREE OF US, I WILL NEVER GIVE UP, IT IS A PROMISE!!!! —Gin, shouted with all her strength, as if the goal of her words was beyond death.
Her screams were not desperate, but they did contain an enormous amount of feelings accumulated probably since long before their deaths, so she tried to let it all out at once, without any tears, as she felt she had cried enough, but....
The moment his eyes shifted their focus to his wife, the words he wanted to say just wouldn't come out.
Should he apologize, thank her, say goodbye, he didn't know where to start, but as if gentle arms appeared around his neck to embrace him lovingly, Gin put his hand on his chest, and as he felt his heart beating, he took a breath to calm himself, and looked with a smile at the memory of his beloved.
—AND, AKI, I'VE NEVER BEEN GOOD WITH WORDS, EVEN AFTER SO LONG, BUT AT LEAST LET ME TELL YOU ONE MORE TIME WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS KNOWN...!!!!! I LOVE YOU, I HAVEN'T STOPPED LOVING YOU SINCE THE MOMENT WE MET, AND NOT EVEN IN THE YEARS TO COME, I WILL REMEMBER YOU AND KEEP YOU IN MY HEART FOREVER, I SWEAR, SO I DON'T WANT YOU TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS FROM NOW ON, WE WILL ALWAYS BE TOGETHER TO TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER, SO PLEASE REST IN PEACE, MY BELOVED!!!!! —The voice was loud and firm, without any hesitation Gin said goodbye to Aki, although she couldn't help but let out a tear at the end of her sentimental speech.
And as if the corridor of memories was waiting for her farewell to end, Gin began to disappear in a trail of bright white lights.
—Goodbye to both of you and thank you... for everything you've done for me so far. —Gin whispered those words as she watched them, before disappearing completely from that dark place.
It was then, that the ancestral demon, Belphegor, was completely alone in the absolute emptiness, and after Gin's disappearance, he could only sigh with relief.
Belphegor was not used to talking to many people, so trying to cheer Gin up was a total ordeal for him, in fact before Gin arrived in front of him, he had to rehearse over and over again the appropriate questions and words to say to her and it was a complete fortuitous coincidence, that he didn't have to go off the script he had thought of, according to the information he had obtained from Gin's memories.
«I guess that's what I earn, for not talking to anyone in hundreds of years.»
As he thought about how lucky he was that his first conversation with a living being, didn't end in a fight, Belphegor took a couple of steps and placed his outstretched hand in front of him.
Subsequent to that action, a kerosene lamp on a very fine wooden piece of furniture was created out of thin air, then he did exactly the same to one side of the furniture, and created an elegant fabric sofa.
«Seriously I was so nervous that again I could only use a monotone voice instead of a friendly one, although I think that worked out in my favor, apparently the goddess of luck is on my side.»
He carelessly thought of a Goddess that a demon like him shouldn't believe in, though even he didn't know if she existed or was just something humans popularly said.
However if that Goddess did indeed exist, she would definitely be on Belphegor's side.
After all, his current position as a representative of the deadly sins was not only because of his superior strength and knowledge, but it was also thanks to a series of misunderstandings on the part of the other sins.
Belphegor was not a very sociable demon, although from time to time he would talk to other sins, he was so nervous, that people thought he was an arrogant or overbearing demon because of his monotonous and emotionless voice, he also did not like to work or do anything that required the slightest effort on his part, since his creation he was that kind of entity, letting himself be completely carried away by his idleness and laziness.
However, by having that kind of attitude contrary to what was expected, he was accumulating a lot of power due to the abilities of the sin he represented.
He went so long without doing anything, that the energy within him became so great that it put him at the top of power among the sins.
The other sins believed that this was a strategy on Belphegor's part to stay as close as possible to the absolute power of the great creator, but on the contrary he only wanted a quiet life without obligations, but instead he got the title of the second most powerful sin, the respect and caution of the other sins, and finally a nervous breakdown, because of the constant possibility that the sins would oppose him.
And although he only speculated, the reality was not far from his beliefs, as in the shadows, some sins joined together to try to dethrone him.
But while all this was happening, the war between humans and earthly demons began, so several of the sins either out of curiosity or for their task of keeping the world in balance, began to make contracts with demons, and since even the most powerful sin, Lucifer, ascended to earth, he finally achieved his dream of peace and quiet in hell.
For many centuries and one could even say millennia, the sins chose an earthly demon to be their host, and together maintain a certain balance of power with the humans, yet for all the sins to ascend at almost the same time was something that had never been seen before.
But Belphegor was not interested and neither before, nor then did he make a pact with a demon, as he thought it would be stressful and laborious.
However, something unexpected happened...
The sins one by one, began to die in the earthly world, which consequently brought them back to hell, and in turn brought back Belphegor's uneasiness.
Belphegor felt that this time, he would definitely be attacked by the other sins, so he made the decision he never thought he should make.
Escape, into the body of a demon.
There was a rule in hell, which said that the sins in hell could not directly interfere with another one that was in the earthly world, so as soon as a demon child, who had a certain affinity to him was born, Belphegor moved towards him immediately.
For the time being he did not make a pact with the boy and lived comfortably inside, reading some books, sleeping on a couch, talking to himself to prepare himself in case he ever talked to anyone, occasionally doing push-ups just to pass the time, seeing the outside world through the eyes of the demon he was in, though the vast majority of the time he just slept.
However because his host was having trouble in the outside world, he was forced to form a pact with him, after all, if the demon died, he would return to the hell of endless insecurity that was in fact hell.
And thus, he found himself in the situation he was in now.
Although if he was honest, he wasn't entirely unhappy that he had made the pact, for although he would have to work a lot harder for his new friend from now on, his host, Gin, was not a bad person and although his fate was uncertain, he wanted them both to embark on this journey into the unknown as the best of allies.
As was customary he leaned back comfortably and inelegantly on the couch with his head towards the lamp, then stretched his arm to magically turn it on and finally made a novel Gin had once read appear, but just before he started reading, he stared down memory lane, with a smile full of longing.
—«Happy memories, sad memories, sweet and bitter memories, each of them led you to make an important decision during your life, they are all part of your existence....
Now I wonder... What kind of decision will make you make this last event?» —With that abnormally philosophical thought on his part, he began to read, looking forward to his reunion with Gin.
Part 3
The first thing he saw when he woke up was a scene he had never seen before, and in fact it was so unexpectedly fantastic that it seemed to be taken out of the fairy tales told to children before going to sleep.
Hundreds of luminous spirits were surrounding the gigantic room, filled with all kinds of flowers of different colors and species, which were very well cared for, apparently by the spirits themselves.
It was extremely rare to see this kind of spirits, in fact it was impossible for any living being to see them, without having had a special ability to do so or having had an innate talent to perceive them, so the only reasons that he could think of for this inexplicable event, were....
That the spirits wanted to show themselves of their own free will to him, or that spiritual and magical energy was very abundant in this place.
«I guess the second option is the most logical, huh?»
In the center of the place was a gigantic fountain of completely clean water, which was the place where most of the spirits gathered as if they were dancing around it.
From the center, four straight paths of the same clear stone that the fountain was made of, stretched across the room, leading to four different doorways.
The room although it was fully lit seemed to have an artificial sky, as if you looked up you could perceive that it had an end, also you could not perceive anything similar to a breeze, cloud, or heat from the sun, so it was evident that it was not outdoors, it felt more like it was inside a dome or a dome.
In any case, Gin could not stand alone and wait for something to happen, like a few moments ago in the corridor of his memories, so he moved forward.
He felt a slight sensation that there was a presence beyond one of the doors, so he walked quietly and without any haste, towards the east door of the garden.
The corridor that followed the door was a bit long and quite wide, but in just a couple of minutes he reached the end, where a huge, no, that word was a bit too short, a colossal room appeared before his eyes, it looked a bit dark, but thanks to the spirits, not as abundant as in the previous room, he had a clear visibility of what was in it.
Thousands of shelves of books stretched across the room, each one as tall as a two-story house, which seemed to be arranged by date and each book by name.
In the center, there was a huge hole that seemed to have no end, but if you looked closely, you could see a spiral staircase on one side of the endless abyss, which by logic meant that the library had much more than just this one floor.
It would take him a week or two to go through the entire second floor alone, without reading anything but the titles of the books, so he didn't even want to think about how long it would take him to go through all the floors, and if all the doors led to similar places, maybe not even a decade would be enough time to go through it all.
Trying to put that thought aside, Gin went down the stairs to the second subway floor, which was where the presence was felt the strongest.
Gin although not a great fighter, was able to slightly sense people's presences, however, they had to have a minimum of magical power to be able to sense them.
But this presence was literally guiding him in his direction, as he had never felt such overwhelming power, although being a friend of Belphegor, if he was who he claimed to be, it wouldn't be very surprising if he was a high level wizard or sorcerer.
The place was identical to the second floor, except for one difference.
A desk and chair directly in front of the chasm, and in it was a young yet mature woman, sitting elegantly as she read a stack of books that were piled next to her.
The scene was too fantastic to even believe, even by the standards of this world.
She was using magic to lift the book to her eye level, then probably with wind magic she was turning all the pages at great speed, while drinking a cup of tea from a fine china cup that was in front of her, and when the book was finished, she quickly but delicately set it down on a corner of the table, so that later, a spirit would put it away on its corresponding shelf.
Although he was surprised by this unreal scene, and also by her extreme reading speed, Gin approached without making much noise so as not to interrupt his reading, and although she seemed to have noticed his approach, she did not stop reading for a moment.
They were both only a few feet away, but they didn't say a word, and although Gin as a reader knew it was impolite to interrupt someone who was reading, he felt a little impatient to talk to her, plus he had already read two books since he approached, so he felt uncomfortably ignored.
—S... Sorry to interrupt your reading, but I need to know where I am and who you are, would you be so kind to tell me your name, ah, sorry, first I should introduce myself, I am a demon without a name, so you can call me Gin, if you like... —Gin was unusually nervous, he felt he was talking to someone important but at the same time the youth of the woman in front of him, made him confused on how to refer to her.
The young woman slowly brought down the current book she was reading, entitled, "Advanced Theory on the Combination of Opposing Magics", and dropped it into her outstretched hand, and then placed a bookmark in it.
Since the research Gin was conducting was based on the history between humans and demons, the book she was reading didn't hold her attention much, although she couldn't deny that the title was interesting.
—Although I'm glad you woke up safely, you should know that this is a library, so you should have kept quiet at least until I finished my reading cycle, but I guess there's not much to do about it now. —After a sigh, the young woman said those words in a disappointed and stern tone, so Gin could not refute, as she was right.
Still Gin looked at the huge pile of books to one side of her and thought that if that's what she meant by cycle, even with her reading speed, she would be waiting at least a couple of hours.
«I guess it was a good idea to interrupt her, I just hope I didn't piss her off.»
And as if reading her thoughts, the young woman stood up with a quiet smile and looked up, to meet Gin's gaze.
—My name is Karen Alexandra Winter Immidous Navano Drako, although where you come from, I am known by the name Kimino, it is a pleasure to meet you. —Unlike her previous tone, her voice was now a bit gentler, though it still denoted a certain amount of maturity in her.
It was not uncommon for magic practitioners to inherit the surname of their masters, usually they had one or two surnames at most, and the surnames of the parents were rarely kept, except for nobles, but the woman in front of him introduced herself with four, two of which sounded familiar to him, as he had read them at some point, but he did not believe it was possible as one of them passed away over 100 years ago at a very old age.
And that disbelief only became stronger when he heard the name of the most powerful witch in the world, who in turn was the most important entity in the world, and who also mysteriously disappeared 40 years ago.
But if what she said was true, everything began to fit, especially why he had that strange feeling that he was talking to someone very important, and what confirmed his theories and surprised him to a point where he was almost breathless, were her next words.
—Welcome to the chrono-dimensional library. —With a singular and enigmatic smile, Kimino extended her arms and named, as if it were nothing, the place that was known only in legends.
The place that could fulfill Gin's dream and help him decide his new goal, had opened its doors and welcomed him with the most powerful and intelligent witch he had ever hoped to meet.