Asya
I find myself in a vast cave with flat walls. There's no ceiling, no entrance, no exit... It's as if this cursed place is an eternity-trapped purgatory that has swallowed me whole...
High above, near the unseen ceiling, flames cast reflections on the rugged cave walls, emitting an irregular glow from giant bowls neatly positioned near the top. These fluid lights, as they illuminate the surroundings, seem to reinforce the insignificance of my existence...
Despite my attempts to mask the tension I feel amidst this natural marvel, which I am convinced was crafted by angels under God's command, the answer eludes me for a while.
In response to my unease, an apocalyptic crowd congregates wherever my gaze falls. Restless and condemning whispers and murmurs emanate from the throng, leaving only a small quadrant of space in one corner of the vast cave... The cave trembles as though a beehive had been disturbed. I position myself in that quadrant, back against the wall, attempting to make sense of the situation. I surmise that this assembly of people, straight out of ancient Greece, comprises commoners, bourgeoisie, and aristocrats, and an involuntary smile creeps onto my face.
"Who are these people?
I strain to comprehend the murmurs and stares directed at me by the crowd. The phonetics of their speech resemble Greek, perhaps Latin, but I cannot be certain. The only certainty is my inability to grasp a single word...
Amidst the surreal events unfolding, what strikes me as most absurd is a relatively well-dressed woman, whom I presume to be the queen of the Ancient Greek people, accompanied by a massive man standing rigidly beside her, resembling a giant knight whose attire seems out of place amidst his surroundings.
"Who is this man, and what is he doing here?" I wonder.
The woman dons an ivory chiffon dress that exposes her back. I catch glimpses of sparkles reflecting off a thin strip of gold glaze, braided and encircling her under-bust down to her armpits. A fluttering skirt, wrapped around her slender arm, elegantly positioned under her chest. Above her elbows, she wears gold brassards adorned with serpentine embroidery, complementing the gilded tiara pinned atop her waist-length, blood-red, bouffant hair. The demonic glint in her dark green eyes overshadows her angelic appearance. Like a black hole, she seems intent on draining my will to live with her energy-sapping gaze...
I want to ask the queen what she desires from me... But even I cannot define the words that will escape my mouth... Why?
With hope, I shift my gaze towards the peculiar knight-like figure. His face remains obscured by the samurai helmet adorned with massive horns atop his head. It's a mystery why he opted for this helmet, which bears no relation to the black knightly armor he wears. Standing beside his queen, the imposing giant awaits any orders or commands. He stands so still that were it not for his raven eyes peering through the gaps in his helmet, where the flames from the bowls dance, I might mistake him for a statue. There's pity in those eyes, unlike the throng of humanity gathered before me. In fact, he seems to pity me.
The crimson queen, with a cunning look, extends her arms wide, palms facing towards me. This gesture causes the buzzing that fills the cave to gradually diminish until it stops completely. After ensuring that silence reigns, the woman suddenly thrusts her left arm forward, index finger pointing at me, and exclaims:
"
Immediately after the single-word command, which I presumed to be an order, escaped the woman's lips, the would-be knight, as if reluctantly, began to approach me with heavy, involuntary steps.
Oh dear Lord! Was he... Was he going to kill me?
I'm utterly perplexed by what's happening and at a loss for what to do. It's as if the knight has just transferred to me the badge of constancy he had just possessed. He halted two steps away from where I stood, dumbfounded and unable to speak. When he advanced toward me, I had lifted my head high to maintain eye contact, or rather, contact with his eyes, hidden behind his helmet resembling a fearsome human visage. Despite his menacing appearance, the pity and hint of compassion reflected in his eyes also left me baffled. He remained motionless after completing his steps. It seemed as though he was hesitating, attempting to prolong his next move by delaying it as long as possible.
I knew it!
The man struggled against an unseen force, his trembling hands moving from behind his shoulder to his back. Unfortunately, he succumbed to the power that had overtaken him. Drawing the large sword strapped to his back with a heavy metallic sound, he placed his other hand on the hilt and raised it straight into the air. Suddenly, a similar invisible force to the one the man had resisted seized me by the hair and yanked me back, exposing my throat. In mere seconds, perhaps split seconds, the man plunged his sword, held high above his head, vertically through my throat until it reached the furthest point in my torso...
Oh God, I can't die! It hurts... It hurts so much...
The sword remained lodged in my throat. Attempting to speak, strange wheezing and gurgling sounds emerged from my mouth, mingling with the foaming blood. But inside my head, I was screaming hysterically, "No, no, no, no! I can't die yet, not now! What the hell did I do?"
Clutching desperately to the knight's arms that held the sword, I gazed into his tear-filled eyes one final time, filled with terror. The atmosphere grew increasingly somber, and as my blood flowed profusely, my soul faded away. Eventually, darkness enveloped everything, and a sense of emptiness and nothingness washed over me, consuming my entire being. With the numbness that accompanied the end, I came to the realization that I had surrendered to death's embrace.