Chapter 27: A Shivering Isle

Waking up from what I thought would be a permanent sleep, found the first thing I saw was the blinding light of the sky, which was green along with still visible clusters of stars packed closely together. 

"Now I have gone insane, but why am I still alive? I felt myself turning to nothing, and my memories..."

Holding my neck from hearing my enhanced voice in surprise, I felt highly durable skin, rough like stone, and soft but durable feathers on the back of my neck. Rubbing more of my neck, I couldn't stop myself from forgetting what I had done, but while I did this, I felt a swooshing noise in the air from behind; I saw I grew a long reptilian tail swinging back and forth.

"Guess whatever I was thinking about wasn't that important."

However, I soon found those words to fall apart as I gazed at the blinding light again. Dazing me unlocked a memory I had pushed to the deepest parts of my mind—a memory of myself, strapped to an operating table, as a helpless human, which connected to other locked-away memories.

"This voice... are people calling out for help...?"

I heard an overwhelming number of Japanese people crying out to be saved, which caused me to start trekking towards a nearby massive "tree." My face was a mask of anguish. Holding my chest as I walked underneath a giant tree stump with an even bigger mushroom at the top, I fell to my knees onto the cobblestone beneath the tree. Staring at the small, dirty water puddle in the center.

"That's right... I did something to these people... many horrible things."

Looking down, I had a muddy perception of my new form, similar to Aria's current appearance. But that didn't really matter now. I had almost forgotten what I had done, and everything I've done since I've become a gear has been for nothing. In a moment of desperation, I slammed my fist into the ground, causing a massive earthquake that uprooted the tree above me to the left side.

"But there's still a chance to save Aria, even if it is so small I might not achieve it, I have to try for her sake!" 

As I rested my hand by my side to consider what to do next, a short, ugly frog-like beast walking on two legs, with white beady eyes and digesting teeth, rushed at me with a rusty cleaver. Catching it with two fingers, I studied the weapon and the creature, with its futile attempts at stepping back.

"Hmm, you have clothes on and a weapon, so you aren't entirely dumb, and you aren't a gear? Are you a cousin to a bunch of mutant ninja turtles?"

Having had enough of pondering, I released my hold on the weapon and wanted to test my newfound strength. I rolled back my right arm and hit it with everything I had. As my fist made contact with its leathery skin, it was launched somewhere. It moved so fast that I could only see darkness as it flew away. 

Walking alone along the cobblestone path, I took a deep breath and continued. While fighting off more of these ninja turtles and seeing more mushroom trees, I spotted a medieval town not too far ahead. In the distance, I could see two figures conversing: a young man in a wealthy, polished purple suit with dark skin and another man with ashen skin, pointy ears, and well-maintained greyish leather armor.

"Nah, doubt they would react well to a seven-foot monster."

But, I could, with my hearing, listen to their conversation. 

The wealthy-dressed man shook his head while looking at where the path continued. "I tried to warn them."

Not moving a muscle in any part of his body and staring blankly, the pointy-eared man replied, "Maybe they're just confused." 

"They should have listened to me."

Then, an awkward silence—at least for me—lasted thirty seconds, hands by their sides, staring intently at one another, before the ashen-skinned man spoke up again as if talking about the weather.

"We'll be swimming in blood soon, ugh."

Without saying a word, the dark-skinned man raised his hands above his head, clapped, and both men sprinted off up the hill at unbelievable speeds. Curious, I quietly followed them along the hillside, staying out of sight. After ten seconds of following, I perched myself on a nearby cliff. I observed them watching a group of five men and women. 

The group was dressed in shiny metal armor. The leader fought with a two-handed sword, while the others fought with a sword and shield.

In contrast, the others fought with a sword and shield in hand against a thirteen-foot giant with runes carved into rotten skin, barely any clothing except for a black waist cloth hiding its private, disfigured face, and a long, dark curved blade replacing its left fists. Two staircases behind it lead to massive doors.

A metal knight attempted to strike the creature from its blind spot but was struck by the creature's glowing red right fist. The force sent the knight flying towards a nearby wall, and I heard the knight's neck snap upon impact.

Before I could do anything, the monster managed to kill all of the armored knights. With bludgeoning, slashing, and magic, they all died one by one. The two men I listened to earlier were cheering, and after the last knight fell, they began returning to their town. 

"A part of me found enjoyment watching that as well, but I know I shouldn't."

Deciding to fly five meters away from the monster, I readied myself to fight it. However, it only absentmindedly looked at me. And it unexpectedly dug its remaining hand into its right shoulder with a glowing red fist, taking out a pair of two keys with three small bones attached to them. Stomping towards me and shoving them into my chest, not thinking about it, I began walking up the steps but was confronted with a middle-aged man's voice that was quite calm.

"So, you've made your way here quickly and without killing the Gatekeeper."

The voice I turned to face was utterly bald for his front hair, except his sides that had signs of greying, and wearing a black suit with puffy circular shoulders with red in the center popping off towards his neck, and wearing an iron chain holding a circle having a circle holding a circle. 

I froze in place as I finally reached the top of the stairs. I slowly sank onto the steps, my eyes locked on him, my mind reeling in disbelief that he wasn't running in terror, looking at me with an unsettling calmness.

"You know and have been expecting me?"

"Oh, yes, your arrival here was due to my lord, and now you are here. Amazing. Truly." The man spoke dryly.

Holding my hand to stop him, I examined the doors and the keys before throwing my hands up. "Before anything else, who are you?"

"I am Haskill, Chamberlain to the Lord Sheogorath."

Hearing Haskill speak that name made the blood in my head boil. It was like the sound of heavy war drums pounding in my head. Struggling to form clear words and compose myself, I rasped out, "Where are we?"

"We are in the Shivering Isles. The realm of Sheogorath, Prince of madness, Lord of the Never-There." 

With each mention of that name, my vision was becoming more unclear, but I had to know. If the lord was the reason I was here...

"Why did Sheogor---... why did he save me, and can you send me back to where I came from?" I desperately asked, with the chamberlain scrunching up his face as if hearing that question asked for the millionth time.

"I do not know. My lord seeks a champion. As for his intent... to attempt to fathom it is a foolish endeavor." Sighing, he continued, "His will is his own: His reality follows suit. You are here because you were summoned. No one leaves the Shivering Isles without his permission."

Having difficulty comprehending all the information I was digesting, I looked at the spot where the two men from earlier had watched the blood spectacle.

"What's wrong with me then? Can your lord fix my head?"

He gave me a piercing gaze as if I were some kind of bizarre spectacle and then directed a withering expression at me.

"Fix? You speak as if you are diseased. My lord spoke of you and mentioned how you lived in another state of being. Perhaps you do not require fixing."

I was left speechless by his response, and just as I was about to collect my thoughts and respond, Haskill continued speaking, leaving me no room to ask another question.

"Now, you must continue onwards, through the gates of madness, and reach the Lord Sheogorath, as he will find a use for you." Stepping away from me, he reached the center between the two doors and continued.

"One leads to the lands of Mania. The other to Demntia. Enter through either one. The lands are quite distinct, but both are Sheogorath's domain."

After contemplating for a moment, I decided to ask about the door that sounds more menacing: "What is Dementia like?"

"The lands of Dementia reflect the darker side of its residents. One in which-."

Throwing away the Dementia key behind me and on the floor by the Gatekeeper, I stood up and unlocked the door to Mania.

"I've had enough of my darker side to make me puke, so I'll pass on Dementia."

I entered through this crazy door, leading to a pitch dark passageway which I began walking though not looking to see Haskill's slowly fading into nothing with his expression unchanged.

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Daubeny's True Form