Ruuuumble!
The skeletons around them started to crumble to dust and it surrounded them. The finely dense powder glowed and moved as if slowly showing them an illusion.
Luther and Liseis gasped in unison.
"My goodness..."
"T-This is..."
The whole place was bright. There was no trace of the dark, skeleton-filled room they were standing in just a few moments ago.
Shhhhhhhh!
They heard the sound of leaves rustling together. They saw a forest with lush, green leaves, unlike the dried ones they've been accustomed to.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Liseis could feel her excited heart beating wildly inside her body.
This was a sight she only saw in books. Trees. Forest. There was even a house not made of cement or metal but entirely of woods and vines.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Luther felt the same wild beating of his heart.
La-di-da-di-da!
He was looking at a distance where silhouettes moved as if they were dancing around a fire. He could hear them singing together. Humans and...
"Gods."
They said at the same time.
They had not seen one before however, they instantly knew that those beings that looked like humans but at the same time, felt like they weren't, were the 'Gods' they had read so much about.
Their foreheads started creasing.
'But I thought Gods hated humans?'
'Then why is it that true history showed a good relationship between them?'
Suddenly, their surrounding changed.
Fwoooooooosh!
The dust started flickering and turned to red. It blazed like fire and released hotness that was akin to standing next to the sun.
Sizzzleee!
Their flesh started to melt but Liseis and Luther's eyes were too focused on the sight inside the fire to notice.
Gods and humans were killing each other.
"Uwaaaaa!"
"Gaaaaaah!"
People kept on screaming one after another. Desperation. Fear. Anger. Such emotions filled them as if it was trying to choke the life out of them.
"Ugh!"
"Ack!"
Liseis and Luther started groaning in pain.
The screaming voices only got louder and louder. They wanted to see more of it but the smoke got thicker until they couldn't see anymore.
'...Huh? What the hell was that? Didn't they get along?'
'Why were they fighting? Weren't they were happy?'
When they could finally breathe, the scene had already changed for the third time.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
This time, they were standing in a field of snow as little fragments of snow fell from the sky along with the ashes. They could no longer hear the noise of people screaming. But what they saw were people and Gods silently crying out of pain and sorrow of the dead. It looked like the sky was crying with them.
Their bones trembled and cold sweat dripped down their spine.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Their hearts were still beating wildly.
Liseis wanted to cover her ears. Luther wanted to look away. But none of them dared to make a move.
Wasn't this the true history they've been looking for? What right did they have to deny this? They can only look, no, looking was the only choice they could make.
Then the whole scene flashed white again.
Fwooooooosh!
The dust particles gathered into one place and formed a book. The words 'True History' was written on the cover. They could also read the name below where the author should be written.
[ Kalzic Flamestone and Emilia Storm ]
BLAG!
Then the book fell on the floor.
"Pwaa!"
"Mgghh!"
As if a magic spell that bound their bodies to be steady had been removed, Liseis and Luther fell to the knees while panting.
Fuuuuuuuuu.
Fuuuuuuuu.
Their heavy breaths made it seem as if they were underwater for more than they had intended. But their eyes were focused on a thick book that lay unopened on the floor.
They wanted to read it immediately but their bodies slumped on the ground. They couldn't even crawl even if they wanted to.
"L-Later..."
"Mm. T-The truth can wait..."
Then darkness ate them whole.
Creaaaaak!
It was only after the two had lost their consciousness that the door opened again. Lorenzo Storm, Liseis' father, entered the room.
He had been watching the whole thing since earlier through the seams of the door. He watched them being surrounded by white dust until the book formed.
This man, Lorenzo, saw how his child did what he couldn't. He knew how hard she worked for the truth. He, once upon a time, also wanted the same thing but never placed his life on the line.
'I feel bad for doing this after you worked hard for it but...'
He recalled the past seven years.
'The only reason why you were able to run free even though people kept pestering you to stop is because of me.'
Lorenzo wasn't wrong. He protected his child from the dangers brought by people who didn't want the world to know about the true history of Gods and Humans. They didn't know why but people like them existed. Many people existed without knowing why. Lorenzo had protected Liseis from these people. Even now, he emptied the whole house because he knew she would go inside the door.
The basement was a restricted zone, even for Liseis that was part of the Storm bloodline's main family.
'Had I not ordered them to go out, you would've been arrested and imprisoned. Forget imprisoned, you would've been killed on the spot.'
But the thing here was that Lorenzo protected Liseis as a historian, not a father.
'Time to pay up everything I did for you!'
Lorenzo smirked at his unconscious daughter and the man beside her. Flamestone. The 'true history' was this person's past life.
He wanted to kill this man but his thirst for 'true history' overwhelmed his instinct.
"It's all in this book!"
He remembered the words passed through their family.
[ Every person who learned about the truth willingly killed themselves afterward. ]
This wasn't Lorenzo's 'true history' but his daughter and the Flamestone. This meant that he would not be bound to the idea of killing himself afterward.
He didn't care if his daughter died for this.
"Wha..."
Lorenzo started reading the book.
Flip. Flip. Flip.
The more he read, the more his face paled.
Blam!
The book fell from his arms. He grabbed a knife he saw on the ground and cut his palm with shaking hands.
Fwisssh!
He started writing on the walls.
[ It was a mistake. ]
[ I'm sorry. ]
[ Forgive me. Please, forgive me. ]
Tears flowed from his eyes and landed on the cold, hard ground. He, who learned the truth, finally learned what the nature of the room truly was.
Then he raised the knife and placed it over his neck.
Swish-!