Chereads / Nihilist Anthology (Preview) / Chapter 4 - Book of Chimera, Chapter One

Chapter 4 - Book of Chimera, Chapter One

A lone sphere in the sky orbits the very purpose of existence through the thick of a barren sea. In waves of black, it holds the burgeoning weight of the universe in its radiance. To the observers of the earth, it used to be known as a star. It was a common occurrence to see such light scattering across the skies back then. People all over the planet looked out to the light of the universe with requests, and the stars would always twinkle back an answer. This new star, however, was different from those other blots in the inked sea. It was the only star to exist among the infinite wastelands of the cosmos. It spiraled with the light of its siblings that had died in the face of time. It swirled the heat of all that remained in a vast wall of frost. It was the brightest star to ever watch over the earth, but it would not be long before the waves came to bury the last of the light.

Staring out to the star with a fixed, steady gaze, Keir studies its frozen stance in the heart of a bleak sky. Even with the black strands of hair covering her view from the weight of the wind, she wonders how long the star will be able to hold up its own. Keir faces the direction of the wind as it brushes ash onto her sable trenchcoat and climbs into the cracks of her tattered shirt. As if she never took her eyes off the sky, the kingdom ahead was no more than flickers of black and white. A dozen merchants beckon her as she starts her walk down the center of a dusted street. Dozens more roam around her with whispers that talk of her presence. She catches frequent glances of awe and admiration across the sea of people, and she smiles with pride with a gentle wave to the bypassers. Passing another shop with little interest in its products, Keir listens to the heavy crackling of the wind as it blows ash furiously into the atmosphere.

She covers her eyes with her forearm as the breeze whirls the flakes of a gray winter into her hair. Her footsteps slow against the might of the gust, but she remains steady against the hollow soil of the earth. She awaits the wind to dissipate to rest her arm by her side again. As she looks out to the bustling street another time, she is met with the impact of a body as it tumbles its weight into her chest. Keir releases a sudden cry of surprise and causes the world to shift its gaze to her attention. The people of the streets pause their gatherings and witness the princess of a nation as she meets the ash face to face. Keir grips the shoulders of the person that weighs her down and glances at them with a grimace. She meets the brown eyes of another woman and pushes her weight aside. The woman falls to her knees and rises shakily. She brushes off the gray from her navy garments and reaches out to Keir with a worried voice constricted with fear.

"I'm so sorry, Your Highness," the woman cries out. The people of the streets watch the woman in dismay. "I hadn't meant to hurt you!"

Keir shakes the flakes of a lost civilization out of her hair with little regard. Rising to her feet and ignoring the outward hand for help, she inspects the woman with a disappointed expression. "Do be careful of where you walk. You never know when this earth is going to crack beneath your weight."

Keir twists her cold glance into a warm smile and continues her pace along the street, leaving the woman with an apology disguised as a threat. In this kingdom, however, anything that was once threatening to humanity has become puppetry to the new world. The flakes roaming the air had once been monuments of history. The ashen structures that climb to empty skies were once citadels of glory. The people now walk through clouds of dissolving memories without any care to admire what they once were. Humanity was known to be the reigning species of the world and wanted to triumph above the stars. That dream has lost its value in the same way the world has lost its color.

Of all the divides humans had introduced to establish their identity, only one society remains among the debris of a war that brought the species to the edge of extinction. With so little life left on a forsaken planet, there is only so much conflict to face before divides burn into isolating tombs. No bridge is ever left unbroken. The only light left to endure over this grim, violent world remains in the star. For the kingdom, that light rests in the hands of the one who will be crowned sovereignty. Keir is one side of a double-edged sword that aims to the contested throne. The people watch her every move in inspiration as humanity once did to the skies. Somewhere deep down, however, she grasps the true fate of this world. She dreads the moment when her people find their own dreams brushing as ashen grains against the face of the end.

***

After a tranquil hike through the city, Keir meets her destination in minutes. She presses her boots on the rubble of another building that couldn't keep its weight above the beaten earth. She kicks a small pebble with the side of her boot and sends it flying to the base of a marble pillar. Several ticks emit from the rock as it bounces off the column and falls back into insignificance as it rests with a pool of others. Keir steps over the debris without a single misstep to her stride. The structures of the kingdom have remained as fortresses of war for years now, and the harsh cries of the dead roaming in the winds drag them down. Most people look to the monarch for hope against this decay, but this kingdom is still as fresh as the cinder beneath it. A heavy burden of failure has brought this kingdom to crumble, and the noise happens so often that the people have only grown accustomed to it. As a princess to the nation, it's not uncommon to hear the rumbling of destruction lurking over the horizon. She'll only be unfortunate enough to carry the weight of that burden on her head in a crown of gemstones and steel.

Keir ascends the glossed steps of a monument that maintains its strength despite its chipped pillars and thick holes in its walls. Hints of gold string over the walls as decoration. Pieces of the ceiling rest on the broken ground. Glass scatters among the rubble of the entrance and crunches beneath Keir's boots. The large doors of the structure, however, are untouched and perfect. The wooden gloss of the entrance opening mocks the stone in its untainted appearance. Keir wraps her fingers around the gold bars to pull herself from the door to swing it free. To her dismay, the door doesn't budge. She hauls once more with greater force but finds the same result. Ashamed to see such a beautiful piece of history lack its true purpose, Keir steps back from the door and leans her chest forward. She presses her foot against the marble ground, drags it further from the entrance, and dashes to the center of the two doors.

Keir lets out a heavy grunt and sends her foot to break the unbroken. The doors split open with a heavy crunch but remain frozen in their place, with a crack two inches wide for Keir to slip through. She wraps her fingers around the edge of the door, dragging its limp wooden face aside. Her grasp slipping from the door, Keir steps through a larger crack as it swings itself further from her. A bright chandelier stuns her as she enters the building. Keir covers her eyes from the ceiling with a grunt and walks through the foyer of the building. Taking the view in after adjusting her eyes to the glare of perfection, she looks to her feet to find scattered papers ripped from their leather homes. The walls ornamented with paintings of an old society tower over Keir without a single blemish to their display. The warm light of a dozen candles soaks into the gloss of a long wooden desk and dozens of empty bookshelves. Approaching the desk from a dim hallway that leads to the center of the structure, an ample woman glares at Keir and rests her hands on the desk. Keir smiles cheerfully, standing with an intent to hide the woman's view of the front door.

"It's a little dusty up here at the front," Keir calls out to the woman.

The woman averts her diamond blue eyes away from the door and brushes her fingers through her short, silver hair.

"I'd blame you if you weren't challenging the throne," the woman responds. Her voice is smooth and gentle.

"C'mon, Sonata, you know it won't be much of a challenge," Keir leans against the desk. Sonata stares down at the princess.

"It's your sister that you're against," she states softly. Keir rolls her eyes and grips the edge of the desk, throwing her legs over to the other side. Sonata steps back uncomfortably and watches as Keir passes through the hallway and into a room full of knowledge and secrets. She takes in the glistened surroundings, and the bookshelves of a distant past stand with pride to hold what remains of history. The collection of thin papers and worn leathers is the only thing left of humanity that hasn't yet buried itself under rubble and time. There is little light left in the kingdom where Keir resides, but the chandeliers merely get brighter as they sit above the tomes of the past. Every book is in its place. No craters fill the shelves, no stone divided by shaken lines, and no papers litter the floor as they do in the foyer.

"This place is gorgeous," Keir calls, stepping slowly to the center of the library to take in the foreign sight of perfection.

"That's just because you haven't stumbled around in it yet," Sonata jokes. The librarian follows Keir and takes pride in the princess's admiration. Although destructive and reckless, Keir has been a loyal friend to Sonata. They had been friends ever since they were children after meeting in a kingdom much brighter than this one. They were raised with confidence and held each other when the earth around them began to shake. Their memories together could fill these shelves all the same.

"My sister won't be crowned. She's far too arrogant," Keir shakes her head in denial. Sonata watches the wind creep through broken windows to sway the chandelier above. She holds her hands in front of her and moves up to Keir's side.

"Though she may be, you underestimate her persistence, Keir. Like your father, she hunts for new ways to improve herself, especially in battle," Sonata mentions. Keir gazes out to the beauty ahead and responds.

"She seems so sure that humans had left behind nothing more than their skin for us to use as clothing, yet so much of our kingdom remains constructed by their nature," Keir says. Sonata nods in affirmation.

"She may be right, I fear. The only relation we have left to those who came before us, unfortunately, is our physical appearances. Their intelligence has been buried with their souls," Sonata mentions. Keir tilts her head up to watch the waving light.

"Some of us must've gotten lucky then, huh?"

Sonata tilts her head down in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Though most of our kingdom has an understanding of human traditions and routines, we are the only ones who can read and write. We view this library as a sight of beauty, yet the people glance away. Why?" Keir asks. Sonata ponders on her question. Although they bring new weight to the bodies of a species no longer alive, the people of this kingdom are much different under the skin. Deep within the body, a sentient disease has taken control of its organs. These creatures are ghosts born from a tyrant of recent history. These phantoms, known as inners, were carriers of wretched emotions used as a weapon to haunt the leaders who ruled over the world. Following the tyrant in their mission, these creatures guided the winds of the earth and planted seeds of corruption deep within.

"Perhaps we learned it at a young age," Sonata says, "Some of us have been around since humans had still been fighting for their lives."

"I don't remember much of that time," Keir says. She runs her fingers over the face of a book lying on a center roundtable.

"Many who remember that time want to forget," Sonata suggests gently. She briefly remembers the dreadful events that formed this kingdom. After the tyrant had succeeded in her domination, the phantoms had decided to abandon her and pursue their own. As they continued to study humanity in silence and watch without a single witness to their activities, the inners had become the very blight that buried the species they valued. Long after these events, the knowledge of the old world has since become a lost memory.

"Regardless, your father had taught me how to read when he asked me to keep up with this library. In time, I got to share that knowledge with you."

"That's where I have the advantage over my sister, though," Keir lifts a finger as she speaks and begins to pace, "I seek that knowledge you speak of. I want to learn how humans fought. I want to know their strategies and their motives. That's what I'll take to the battle for the throne."

"Your sister has just as much strength as you, and the battle is in three days. The fight will be equal regardless of what you learn in such a short time," Sonata warns, pity bearing her words. Afraid to follow in humanity's fading footsteps, inners now roam the earth with a steady, undying love for desolation. To the people of the new world, books are just another item to torch and bury. Sonata is aware of this, but pays no attention to those beyond the walls of her sanctuary. Though content that the kingdom refuses to acknowledge the history of its ancestors, Sonata speaks with a veiled excitement as she learns of Keir's interest in the secrets she's studied.

"She doesn't have you," Keir stops herself and faces Sonata, "I know she doesn't visit you."

Sonata scoffs. "You both are very busy people with important decisions to make."

Keir crosses her arms. "Her decisions don't align with the people. She doesn't have our citizens in focus when she chases the throne. She wants gold and glory, no matter what happens to the kingdom beneath her. I need your help to keep that from happening."

Sonata looks down at Keir's boots for a moment, considering the truth that the princess spoke about her sister. She bobs her head gently and glances her eyes up again.

"Very well. I think it's time you've learned what humanity was all about," the librarian says with a widening smile, stepping aside from Keir and walking to the back of the library. Keir strides through the dust in the air and follows Sonata closely. She stares into the floor as the gloss of the stone reflects the light of the chandelier above her. Thin strands of gold run through the marble floor intricately and swirl symmetrically to the center of the room. Books layer over one another without an order to their placement, yet they all display so perfectly together. As Sonata opens a door hidden behind another shelf at the back of the room, Keir doesn't take her eyes off the foreign beauty until she steps through.

When she turns to observe the room for the first time, it seems the beauty was left behind. Cobwebs string across dark, crumbling planks of wood. A dozen candles flicker around the smaller room on empty shelves and worn crates. As Sonata steps forward, the floor below her lets out a gentle whine. Keir avoids following in her place and steps to the side before making her first step. Studying the odd change of scenery, Keir runs her fingers along the edge of a crate and finds dust floating from her palm. Sonata drags out a chest hiding discreetly behind a wall of boxes. She kneels to unlock the two drawbolts on either side of its face, hoping not to get the bottom of her white dress dirty as her knees near the floor. Keir steps close behind and watches Sonata lift its lid free. Peering down into the darkness of the chest's interior, Keir squints her eyes to find three books within. All of them have exteriors different from the other books in the library - their spines are polished in metal and leather, their fronts designed with intricate, symmetrical decorations that catch the light of the candles. Several inches above their centers, each book bears an emblem within the lines of their detailed covers. Both sides of a crescent rest on two books, with one waxing and one waning. On the last, a crystal star sits over the fabric.

"After the war, your father left these tomes behind before he left the kingdom," Sonata says, "He made me promise to hold onto them and give them to the daughter that would inherit his throne. I trust he'll forgive me for wishing to give them to you sooner."

Keir raises her brows and turns her head to Sonata, kneeling down with the librarian. She hasn't seen her father since the birth of this kingdom. He told her many years ago that he had unfinished business outside his nation, but he never came back to her. It has been years since he left - so long, in fact, that the people have decided to replace him with one of his daughters. The crown can only remain untouched for so long.

"You were there when he left? Where did he go?" Keir asks curiously. Sonata smiles softly and reaches for the books in the chest. She lifts them one by one, stacking them on the crate next to the chest.

"He hadn't told me or anyone else, but these books may hold that secret and more," Sonata mentions. "I haven't read them out of respect, but you should know how much I crave to find what hides within those pages."

Keir stands with Sonata and stares into the gorgeous, unscathed secrets in front of her.

"Will these tell me what I need to know about how humans fought?" Keir asks, reaching out to grab them.

"These books will tell you what you need to know about humankind in its entirety, Keir," Sonata says with a gentle sigh, hoping that the books will rest in the right arms. Watching them hide in the princess's arms below her chest, Sonata knows she handed the weight of the world to her. Keir lets out an eager smile and passes by Sonata as the door opens again. They pass by the walls of shelves again and make their way back to the foyer. Their footsteps echo across the vast library as they approach the center of the room again.

Keir glances proudly at the gifts in her arms and takes another gaze to the collection of tomes resting upon towering shelves. The library has a distinct, obscure beauty that many overlook as bleak, barren, and repetitive. While the authors hold sand and dirt in their palms, the words they planted into the pages of perseverance remain. Keir saw the lessons of humanity as hope for the future of her kingdom.

Her people were quick to bury the species after their downfall, but her father saw humanity as an admirable triumph to the universe. He taught her the meaning of passion and purpose. He guided her fingers as she wrote and learned to read. He told her stories of what humanity had done to survive against all odds and succeed. He showed her a different perspective on the history of a determined species - one that gave her hope for the future of his kingdom. As one of the few who grew up vaguely learning human emotions beyond that of despair, she knows her sister will only drive that hatred further. The feeling of happiness is such an unfamiliar feeling when it isn't woven with malice.

Under the gleaming chandelier of this library, the souls of the defeated float as dust. The papers scattered around the floors are ragged and crumbled, but within them lies a purpose that this kingdom lacks. Her people want to burn the library and complete their reign over humanity, but Keir grows aware that her species will fall all the same if they don't learn from the mistakes of those who last stepped over the ash. Looking out to a hidden beauty mistaken for a wasteland of wood and paper, Keir feels a wave of purpose flood through her veins. Within her fogged heart, she has a quiet plea to the single star in the sky that her people may feel the same.

"Thank you, Sonata," Keir says, nearing the desk of the foyer as she prepares to leave. Sonata nods, lifting the sides of her dress gently as she bows to the princess.

"Be careful, Keir. Knowledge can be a destructive weapon," the librarian warns. Keir scoffs, turning to the front doors and tightening her grip around the books her father left behind.

"That sounds like something you'd say," Keir says, another smile growing on her face.

***

The dark of the outside world crawls through the shaded, tall window of Keir's vessel. She opens her bedroom door with the same care as the library door that faced her wrath, letting it slam shut behind her as she cradles the new tomes in her arms. She sits them down at the edge of her bed. Locking the door behind her, she shakes the ash out of her hair and watches them flutter to the gray carpet below her.

She places two of the books over a long desk at the side of the room and drags a candle to the moonbeam watching over it. Standing at the edge of the desk, she reaches for a rusty lighter on the desk and brings light to the candle. She moves the flame to the other ends of the desk where more are clustered and lit into view.

She reaches for the first book over the stack and crawls into her bed, dragging her knees to her chest, and blows off the dust still holding on to the tome's cover. Running her fingers over the fabric, she can almost feel the touch of her lost father as he had once brushed the cover. As she reaches for the edge of the book and begins to open it, a rush of warmth floods through her body as she nears new insight. The feeling of opening a new book has never felt so precious, especially when the last of her father rests within the pages.

Every word has a meaning. As gorgeous as the outside world may seem, the grim reality stays all the same: some words within this story may have more importance than the future nearing this desolate kingdom. Keir holds her fingers over the dried ink of the pages and pleads to the stars that what she reads may save her people. She begins to read, her eyes scanning the pages and her mind deciphering the words of an ancient knowledge.

She wonders if these stories will truly be worth her time. She could be training to fight against her sister as the battle for the throne nears, yet she rests her hands over tattered pages rather than gleaming steel. She continues to read, despite her greater doubts, and flips the page to discover a new story.