Chereads / The Heart of Entropy / Chapter 3 - Lilium City

Chapter 3 - Lilium City

On a blue, oceanic, terrestrial planet, the fabric of spacetime split open in one of its three continents. The spatial tear revealed noiseless, freezing darkness. At the spatial tear very center, a boiling blood droplet rotated at speeds that would put celestial pulsars to shame.

The blood droplet impossibly compressed itself infinitely until it became one with the quantum realm. Then, in a brief, inconsequential moment, it inflated violently at the speed of light, becoming a full humanoid, black-haired youth covered in Runic and Array tattoos all over his body.

The youth that used to be nothing but a blood droplet was thrown harshly out of the spatial tear. The fabric of spacetime corrected itself and closed itself. The youth landed on his back and was entirely still, no different than a corpse until his heart started pulsing, and pushing blood throughout his body.

Inhaling his first breath, Amon awakened dazed, his eyes unfocused. Stretching and yawning tiredly, his ears heard the muffled cries of a little girl. Like he has done many times, he stood up and intuitively walked towards the crying little girl.

"Zexian dear, master is here." Said Amon, still half asleep and entirely out of focus. The crying little girl stiffened at the sound of Amon's voice. She looked up to see a naked handsome youth with long black hair covered in tattoos, stretching his hands towards her. Frightened, the little girl completely froze and did not make a sound as Amon picked her up in a hug, placing her head on his broad shoulder.

"There there sweetie, it's alright. Master will chase away the bad dreams." Said Amon while caressing the little girl's back fatherly.

Amon frowned. "Hmm? Did you gain some weight?" Amon looked at the little girl in his arms, perplexed. "Eh? Who are you, little one? Where is Zexian?" The little girl finally lost it and screamed from the top of her lungs.

The little girl shrieks fully awakened Amon out of his drowsiness, throwing him into complete confusion as he recalled what happened at the bottom of the Black Abyss Cliff.

Unable to think from the loud shrieks, Amon hugged the little girl gently to calm her down. "Little princess, calm down, I'm not a bad person, I won't hurt you, I promise, please stop screaming, nothing bad will happen to you."

The little girl was unconvinced, and she continued to scream out loud while trying to get out of his clutch. Sighing, Amon tenderly placed the little girl down who immediately ran away and hid behind a nearby tree.

"See? It is alright. I never had any bad intentions," said Amon with his hands raised in surrender.

The little girl peeked out from behind the tree, pointed her index finger at Amon, and spoke, "Pervert!"

Amon frowned, then he looked down at himself, finally noticing he was completely naked, covered in arrays and runic tattoos. "What!? But..." Instinctively Amon swiped his right hand over his left hand where his spatial storage ring used to be.

Out of nowhere, in one smooth motion, Amon was dressed entirely in elegant white robes that had a black sun drawing on its back. The little girl was amazed and surprised by Amon's unusual way of dressing himself. To her, it appeared as if the robes came out of nowhere and entirely dressed Amon on their own.

Amon opened his mouth to speak to the little girl, but his brain was faster than his tongue. Bewildered, he looked at his hands that had no storage rings on them. "What? Then how did I..." Feeling light-headed, he sat down and closed his eyes.

'Alright Amon Enigma Black-Sun, one problem at a time. The first problem, why am I still alive? My last memory was when that loathsome heart...'

Stiffly he reached towards his heart over his robes and felt its steady, lively pulses. 'It is my heart now? My organ? A Prime Ethereal Treasure willingly became someone else's property? Their pulsing beating heart no less? Why...?'

Amon ran a hand through his long black hair, deep in thought. Speaking to himself, he concluded. "Like everything in existence, the Heart of Entropy desired life, even as an inert muscle, it wanted it but could never have it due to Entropy's core notion. Why me, though? Numerous prestigious Primordials had encountered the heart before me, evident by the excessive amount of soul energy it had collected and purified over the eons."

Squinting his eyes in focus, Amon recalled what he was taught when he was a little chick. "Ancestral mother has once said that we don't name anything. Instead, we are inspired to call everything by their correct names when we fully understand their true nature. It has to be this, I called it by its true name when I understood it, and it became my heart."

Amon could not believe the thought that ran across his mind. "I...I'm Entropy?" Such an idea felt incredibly and unbelievably arrogant to Amon, how could a living being suddenly become the physical living expression of the sole known Omni concept of reality.

Shaking his head, Amon crushed his previous thoughts. "No. Becoming the physical expression of a law is a privilege reserved only for monarchs and Prime Ethereal Treasures. However, if I become a monarch myself...then...No! Stop! Narcissism is a heart disease. I can't allow arrogance to invade my soul.

It will get me killed, or worse, get me pushed down face first towards a different fucking Black Abyss. I'm the direct descendant of her imperial majesty. The one she publicly claimed as her son, and she became my second mother. Yet it did not stop that old fucking lizard from trying to kill me. The very idea did not even cross my mind, and ultimately, I'm not even the biggest victim in all of this. Zexian, I swear if they left you there to rot or harmed you in any form. I will make it my life mission to deliver their entire clan to extinction. Be safe...please."

"Are you ok, Mr. pervert?" A timid voice stopped Amon's angry outburst. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and walked towards the little girl who immediately returned to her hiding spot.

"My name is Amon, what's your name, little princess?" The little girl ignored Amon and stayed behind her tree. Amon took a chance to examine his whereabout. Lush grasslands with sparse trees surrounded him. It was peaceful and beautiful, a little further, he noticed a paved road leading towards a nearby city.

Amon quickly maneuvered around the tree and caught the little girl. He picked her up and started walking towards the city.

"Help! Let me go!" Struggled the little girl.

"No. You are too young for me to leave you alone in the middle of nowhere, I'm taking you home, which I presume is somewhere within the nearby city." Amon did not have the heart or the will to leave a small child of any race to their fate like this.

"I don't want to go back home! Let me go."

Amon stopped and examined the little girl in his arms. She was an adorable blonde, blue-eyed little human, no older than nine years, well dressed and well-nourished. The signs of wealth were evident in her dress, hair, and healthy complexions.

"Why?" Said Amon.

The little girl turned her head away, not willing to answer Amon.

"Fine, your parents can deal with you once I safely return you to them."

"Wait...I ran away from home. I don't want to return there."

Amon put the little girl down, and with little restraint, he inspected her body for any sign of physical abuse. Her entire skin was as pure as a newborn baby. Satisfied, Amon picked the startled little girl back and continued his march forward towards the city.

Puffing her cheeks, and with teary eyes, the little girl tried to slap Amon. "Oi! Behave." Said the former Phoenix while avoiding the sad girl's attempts.

Wailing, the little girl cried hard, claiming she was a damaged good now, and no one will marry her. Amon tuned her out and sang a song his birth mother used to sing for him when he was little. After a while, the little girl calmed down and tiredly placed her head on Amon's shoulder.

"Lilium City." Said Amon softly, reading the signboard next to the paved road that led to the nearby city. Amon continued, and soon the reason behind the city name became apparent. Fields of lilies surrounded the whole city, giving it a pleasant scent and colorful scenery.

Standing in front of the city's gate, he noticed the city is in panic mode. Men and women are running around, shouting a girl's name. Amon felt the little girl tighten her hold on his neck. "Last chance, is there a reason why I should not return you to your family? Is there someone hurting you there?"

The little girl shook her head. "I hate my sister. She is a meanie who is going to leave Ling'er behind forever."

"You have a beautiful name, little Ling. Let us make haste and not have your parents and sister wait any longer. The entire city appears to be distraught for you." Amon stepped forward and entered the city. He now knew the little girl sought her sister's attention by running away. Soon, the city inhabitants noticed Amon and who he was carrying with him.

"Look! It is the young miss!"

"Hey! Who are you?"

"Hand over the young miss!"

"Call..."

"Enough!" Shouted Amon. "Ling is safe, I won't hand her over to anyone but her family, now you can either lead me to her parents or get out of my way."

"Who do you think you are shouting in my Yao clan city! You will hand over the young miss to me immediately, and I will deliver her safely." A seventeen-year-old human youth stepped up, puffing his chest and looking threateningly at Amon.

Amon's right eyebrow twitched; he was starting to get annoyed.

"Young master Bai is here. The little miss will be saved now." Said one of the city's bootlicking idiots.

The boy approached Amon, fully intending on yanking Ling from his arms and maybe break a limb or two, it was a rare chance for him to score points with Ling's sister and gain her attention.

"Ling'er! My Ling'er" Shouted a middle-age man, forcing his way through the gathered crowd.

"Daddy!" Yelled Ling back.

Ling's father rushed over, pushing Bai away and picked Ling from Amon's arm.

"Oh, thank the heavens, my baby." The man was quivering from relief, thoroughly overwhelmed by many emotions.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, daddy. I'm sorry." Said Ling shamefully while crying, finally realizing the trouble she has caused.

Amon faintly smiled and turned around to leave. He had no interest in the city and needed a peaceful place to think of his current situation and what he should do next.

"Wait! Are you the one who found and brought back my baby girl to me?" Said Ling's father.

"Think nothing of it. Be good little Ling, don't frighten your poor father like this again." Amon waved his hand in goodbye while heading towards the city's gate.

Ling's father stood up with Ling in his arms and stopped Amon. "Young hero, please wait. I can't let a debt like this go unpaid. You must allow me to reward you, come with me to my house, you shall be welcomed there as my esteemed guest."

Amon shook his head. "The name is Amon. I did nothing worthy of repayment. Please rest assured that you owe me nothing. All I did is guide a little one back to her flock. Any decent person would have done the same. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a lot on my mind."

"My name is Yao Gui. I absolutely can't let you leave like this. The nearest city to ours is two weeks away by a horse carriage. If you would join my family for a few days, I will have a carriage take you anywhere you want in our country."