Lud wakes up being tied to a chair. He asks "What is this? Where am I?" With no one responding.
Lud asks in desperation "Is anyone there? Hello? Can anybody hear me?"
Then a sudden pain starts to surge in Lud's head. A pain that makes him want to hold his head together with his hand so that it doesn't burst open. The pain is unbearable and Lud screams because of it.
Lud doesn't understand. Just a moment ago he was talking with Li about the situation of Elysium as per usual. Things have been smooth for quite a while since the battle with Nemesis. Even the excruciating loneliness he felt during the second trial was starting to fade away. But now, he was stuck in god knows where with a miserable headache.
Then after a while, the pain subsides and Lud has a moment to breathe. Soon later, he hears a light turn on and next thing he sees is that the light is pointing at a woman on the stage who is making a pose. The woman has long black hair and has a mechanical left arm.
Lud asks "Excuse me? Where are we?" But the woman doesn't respond.
Lud asks again "Hello? Can you hear me? If you can then please…" But as he was finishing his sentence, he found himself unable to speak anymore.
Then the woman began speaking as she made gestures as if she was doing a play. She said:
What is a story?
A simple question with who knows how many answers.
For some, the story is about the journey.
For some, the story is about the destination.
And even for some, the story is about telling a message to others. A cautionary tale.
But as a fool once said, "Story can be just a story. No message. No purpose. Just a fool that tells something he once did. A simple thing really."
Is it simple?
Is it not?
Are we in a story?
Are we not?
Who is the main character?
Who is the one who we follow?
Nay, it can also be a multitude of people, but that is besides the point.
A story can be a novel. A great piece of art that inspires another story.
But the more structure something has, the more magic shall be lost.
The simplest story that can arguably be told is "I walked".
The story told that someone did something. In this case, a person that once walked.
But who is this person? Are they a man or a woman? Adult or child.
Nay, are they even human?
Is it their first time walking,have they walked more than that, or is it their last steps?
And where to did they walk?
Did the "I" in the story have a destination, or did they just simply commit the act of walking?
We can add to this simple story by saying "I walked to a store".
Now it is clear that it had a destination. It now has a little more form. More structure.
But what is the "store" in the story?
Is it a convenience store?
Is it a bookstore?
Is it a magic store?
Is it a mechanic store?
Is it a cosmetic store?
Is it a plane store?
Is it a salon or is it a bar?
The magic in a simple story is that when it doesn't have context, the listener can make up the details themselves.
"But Eris…" I hear you asking, "What if I just want a solid story that doesn't need me to imagine everything up?"
That is a good question, Lud boy. Thank you for your silly question.
The answer is simple really? Just look for it.
If it doesn't exist, create it.
Hence, you may inspire people to create a story that you like.
"But Eris…" I hear you interrupting again, "What about those corporations that don't let me use their ideas in the first place and claim I'm a copycat?"
That is a complicated issue that plagues some artists, but fear not, cause there be answers to that problem.
First is not to care and if it ends up being a crime and taken down, then you already accomplished your mission of sharing your art to somebody. Although you might take a monetary hit or two, the art has been shared.
Second is to ask permission from the corporation and make some sort of deal. But if that doesn't work, try the first option if you like.
The problem with the second is that you won't have the artistic freedom you would have had otherwise, but that is the prize you pay for choosing the second option.
Third is… what was it again? Was there one? Maybe there was a third one and maybe even fourth, but it slipped my mind. If I remember, then I'll tell you, but that was that part done for now.
As I was saying, stories can be complicated thing to make sense of, as there are more stories to tell than there are people in the world.
That is the end of this play, and I bid you, adieu.
The light goes out and it is dark again. There is a brief moment of silence, until the woman from the stage appears on the next seat and asks Lud "So, how did you like it, Lud boy? Did you get interested?"
Lud tries to say something, but he can't speak for some reason.
Eris says "So you are so impressed that you are speechless. My my, some group in your homeworld would be proud of your response. Or so I hear, I've never been there. Earth, I mean."
Lud tries to speak, but no voice comes out.
Eris says "Now, I know what you are thinking. 'Where are we Ms. Eris? What is the deal with all this and why are you so darn beautiful?' To which I tell you that we are in the abyss and you are going to have an objectively great time."
Lud tries to speak again with no luck.
Eris interprets this as "'You didn't respond to the way I complimented your look, Ms. Eris.' You say? My, I know how I look so don't patronise me with your flattery. There is a lot more to a person than their looks. Although, there are a lot of things you can assume by the looks, but as per the play's message, stories be plenty in many shapes."
By this point Lud had given up trying to speak, but the look he gave Eris seemed to offend her and she grabbed Lud's hair and said "What you giving that look for me for, huh? You think I'm crazy? You think I be wasting your time here?"
Lud started to worry for his life a bit at that moment and tried to struggle, but nothing seemed to work and Eris made sure that Lud only saw her eyes and said "Look at me. Look at the master that is going to design you. Look at me remake you like a remix. Then I'll raise you like a phoenix. But you think you can defy me? No no no. You are my bitch boy now. I'll let you go every now and then, but you'll always be within my grasp. Not even your dear Tiff can save you from me."
Eris let go of Lud's hair and started walking somewhere. Lud looked where she went, but saw that she had disappeared.
Then suddenly, a light appeared on the stage again with Eris in a weird posture.
Then Eris began to move weirdly again as she spoke:
What is love?
Baby don't hurt me.
Don't hurt me.
No more.
*clap**clap*
Shining like a shooting star.
Shine no matter where you are.
*clap**clap*
There be words sung on earth once upon a time.
Not necessarily related, but what can you do?
Song is art.
Song is life.
As is dance.
Dance is art.
Dance is life.
But art begets art.
That be the truth.
Because art born from nothing doesn't easily connect.
People be saying that things be original, but nay, things always have a root.
We spoke of art in act one, but we aren't done yet.
Or are we?
That be the question.
For what is this all for that I do this to you, my dear little Lud boy.
Be it sorrow?
Be it love?
Be it hate born from sorrow or love, or be it simply hate born from madness?
Not everything needs an answer.
Sometimes the act of being is in itself an answer.
But for this instance, love be the answer.
Love for the world.
Love for me.
Love for you.
Love for everything here, everywhere and nowhere.
Nay, it be simply for the love of you, Lud boy.
For I… love thee.
This selfish Eris loves the way you struggle.
Loves the way you fail.
Loves the way you get up and try again irregardless of the point in which you do things.
"But dear Eris… "I hear thy saying, "What on earth are you, a madhead, talking about?"
That be a fair question.
A fair, yet sombering, sobering nature.
For you always have struggled.
Struggled on earth.
Struggled on Lutah.
Struggled, struggled and struggled.
But the beauty be in the thing that you have garnered support for your lone self.
Lone self that can't function without another person.
Fair fair, humans be social creatures after all.
You will struggle.
In here, everywhere and nowhere.
In the past, present and the future.
But at what pace?
At what place?
At what time?
Be it right after this?
Be it long in the future?
Tune to find out in this jamboree of mine.
What will the Threatwatchers see?
What will you see?
What will I see?
Will see.
Will see.
.
.
.
I walked.
And the lights turn off and all is silent for a moment.
Then suddenly Lud finds himself in a middle of a sandy desert. Something feels off as he walks alongside a dark elf with some camel-like creatures.
Lud doesn't know what is going on, so he asks the dark elf, but the dark elf doesn't pay any attention to it.
Lud tries to communicate over and over again, until the dark elf says to him "Gods, will you be quite Sashana!"
The dark elf yanks the harness that Lud didn't notice he had on him. He wondered out loud "Why do I have a harness?"
With that being said, he noticed that his field of vision was a bit odd. A vision that doesn't belong to a hunter species like humans, but that of a herbivore of some sort.
It was then that Lud realized that he was turned into the camel-like creature that he saw walking in front of him.
Lud began to panic and the dark elf shouted "What has gotten into you Sashana?! We have been walking hours just fine and now you start to protest?! If the other could carry your burden, I would kill you right now if I could!"
Lud had no idea what was going on, but all the sounds he could make turned to animal noises outside his head.
Lud was looking for a way out, but nothing came to him. It was when the dark elf punched him on the neck that he calmed down.
"Is this my new reality now?" Lud wondered as he started to walk like before.
Lud walked alongside the caravan, as he did not know what else he could do. Days went by and eventually they entered a big city.
Lud slept with the other camel-like creatures, until at some moment during the night, he was dragged out of the stables and before he knew it, some dark elf cut Lud's head off with a machete type blade.
As his head was falling to the ground in slow motion, he heard a familiar sound saying the words "I flew".
Then Lud's perspective turned into that of some bird flying near the coastline. At first he panicked as he didn't expect to be suddenly in the sky, but as he was falling towards the hard land, his instincts as a bird kicked in and he resumed flight like it was all too natural for him.
Lud figured that Eris is making him go through different perspectives for some reason. Lud wondered why she was doing it and if there was a way to stop this all from happening.
As he was wondering all that, Lud was suddenly grabbed by a big bird's claws. He struggled, but he didn't have the power to break free of this big bird.
When the big bird landed, it pecked Lud to death.
As Lud was dying from the pecking, he heard Eris say "I begged"
With that, Lud found himself tied to a tree. He asked "Where am I?" and an elf answered "Look. The human still has the gall to talk."
Lud noticed that he was in some sort of elven garden. If he wasn't tied to a tree, he would have enjoyed the pretty faces more, but as he remembered how elves treat humans in Lutah, he hurriedly tried to break free of the ropes.
Elf noble said "Look. Now he is trying to struggle in vain."
The other elf noble said "As expected of humans. They have no clue when to just give up and be our play things."
As the other elf noble said that, she casted fiery explosion at Lud. Lud was blown to bits and when he regained some semblance of consciousness, he saw that his guts were all over the place.
All the elves in the garden laughed and one of them said "Now heal them now would you slave?" And with those words, an elf who had significantly shorter ears came to heal Lud with miraculous effects.
"Now tie him back up, will you slave?" Said one of the elven nobles and the slave did just that with her magic.
Lud was back to square one where he was awaiting a new destructive spell to be cast upon him.
In his desperation, Lud begged "Please stop. I beg of you."
This caused all the elves to stop what they were doing before suddenly bursting into a huge laughter.
One of the elves commented "He… he had the audacity to… to beg?... Haha… I haven't seen that in decades!"
Another elf said "Yeah. Those that do often are the opportunist humans who come from the lower realm."
The elves laughed at Lud, until eventually one of them casted a electrocuting spell on him, making him fry.
Lud screamed in agony as he was tormented and then healed again. He begged and begged as the elves nearly killed him over and over again.
Eventually Lud started to feel numb and his reactions weren't as interesting to the elves as they were before. One of the elves said "Gah. He is broken already? I had high hopes for him."
Another elf said "Shows what you expect from humans, I suppose."
Another elf responded "Let's find another one. Guards, throw that one to the dumpster."
Lud's numb body was grabbed by one of the guards and even made a snide remark "Why do I get these kinds of jobs? Feels disgusting."
The other guard said "Don't complain. Some of us need to tidy up the place so that this place won't reek of their disgusting stench."
Lud was carried to a place and eventually thrown to what is best described as a pile of rotting corpses that were who knows how old.
Lud didn't have any strength left to try and escape, so he spent who knows how long in that pile of rotting corpses before he died.
Lud barely heard a voice in his head say "I learned."
Then Lud was tied to a chair with some draconian scientist writing on the chalkboard. The draconian was twitching as if he was having withdrawal symptoms of some kind.
The draconian scientist shouted "SO! By this logic we can deduce that while mathematically 1 plus 1 is always 2 and materialistically 1 of some thing plus 1 of the same thing roughly equates to little below 2, philosophically, if given enough time, 1 plus 1 can equate to any number!"
Lud was confused and said "What?" Without thinking.
The scientist got mad and started pulling his own hair in frustration. He shouted "Why are you so dumb my apprentice?! Don't you see the brilliance of my work?! You even tried to flee earlier because you thought I was crazy. But I am not! I'm completely, completely sane. If only… If only I had another bottle of stuzib, I would be able to tell you all of this more calmly. But that does not mean I'm addicted to the stuff! I am not! Hear me?! NOT!"
There was an odd silence for a moment until the draconian scientist started to explain "For you see, if two people of the same species can reproduce and create a baby, 1 plus one can equate to even 3 when the child is born. In philosophical math, we don't need to take into consideration time or any external sources, only the two people meeting and creating offspring. Do you get it now, my apprentice?"
Lud thinks carefully and decides to nod his head to get out of this situation. This also seemed to make the draconian scientist mad as he kept pulling his own hair out.
The draconian scientist shouted "You don't! You don't get it because you are so stupid! Are you related to humans or something, because only a human can be this dumb of a person to not figure out my brilliance!"
The draconian scientist goes somewhere for a second and returns with a vial of some liquid. He says "I tried, my dear apprentice, I really, really tried. But you are just too dumb to realize all of what I'm saying as the truth. So here. Drink this."
The draconian scientist forces Lud to drink the vial of liquid that tastes disgusting.
The draconian scientist says "This… This should make you able to understand. This is what is needed to awaken your true self, my dear apprentice. You see… we are descendants of dragons! We will one day have the power that was taken from us because of our kindness to those damned disgusting humans once upon a time! We will awaken! We will find the secret formula of that damn crab…! Why do I think of sponges now? Anyways… Awaken your true self, my apprentice! Awaken. Awaken!"
Lud starts to twist uncontrollably as the draconian scientist speaks and Lud begins to foam from his mouth. His mind is going to all kinds of places. Like dreaming thousand dreams and seeing what gods see.
Eventually though, behind the draconian scientist's manic rambling, Lud passes out and his final thoughts are "It does have a kind of raspberry aftertaste."
Eris dances on the stage as Lud keeps being transported from place to place. To one species to another.
Eris sang:
Nothing matters.
There is no point.
That be so?
That is just to the world.
Be it for you.
Be it for them.
You can choose to be any of them.
This or that.
Them or you.
Find your own meaning, be it supporting character or no.
Artists are more powerful than you can imagine.
There is no way of stopping them.
Be it lawful or taboo.
As long as someone sees it once, it can influence them.
Paint a drawing of family.
Write a story of pedophilia.
As long as someone sees it.
The meaning of art, nay, meaning of life be already filled ya.
.
.
.
Taboo?
Why so?
Truth?
Maybe.
Nothing in life matters.
For the world at least.
For the meaning of life is what we make it out to be.
Column A or column B, aren't the answers.
Or maybe they be, it is up to thee.
Story can be as simple as "I walked".
That much is true.
But for me and you… well, look closer, will you?
And so the play ends and Lud finds himself with his papers again.
In his office as always, like nothing ever happened.
Did it, or did it not. What is a story and what is it not.
Now volume 3 has begun.