Chapter 90
Echoes of the Nameless
Mei found herself frozen and drifting--she barely caught sight of others from the corner of her eyes and saw that they were the same. Against their wills, their feet lifted off the grounded earth, and they drifted over toward the strangely-dressed figure by the shore. Her heart was beating like a war drum, fear digging deep into her bones; the figure wasn't a Demonic Beast, that was for certain. Or, if it was, it meant that it had reached at the very least Soul Ascendance Realm.
However, even as they drifted over and were plucked down like pieces of furniture, the figure didn't speak. A pair of ruby-like red eyes peered past the shadowed face, staring at them, while a faintly mischievous smile hung on the thin and chapped lips.
Silence hung for a long, long while it felt. At some point, Mei realized she was able to move, though she dared not to; whatever or whoever sat in front of them, looming over, wasn't the sort they could contend against. Even Shen Tao was unusually quiet and quaint, supporting further her fears that they were in an unenviable position.
"What to do, what to do?" the voice mumbled as the red eyes shifted. "Ah, but to tell a story, a story of many twists and turns; perchance, shall one of you understand a middling portion of it, a tiny mote of the whole, I shall liberate you. Shall you not, however~ah, perhaps children shall be punished thusly?"
"..." none of the four dared utter a sound as the red eyes scoured them each, as though they were reading the letters upon their souls.
"Once upon a whisper," the figure spoke, its voice mixture of playful and eerily foreboding. "Beneath a moon that blinked thrice, a shadow wove words into the air. Ah, but who listens to the shadows? Perhaps only children, for children see. Now, what tale shall be told to such young ears? A tale of ends and beginnings, of teeth and tides, Listen close, for the answer flits like moths to a flame." the man, Mei assumed at least, looked up to the staggeringly clear sky, smiling ever so faintly.
"There was a figure, nameless as the wind's whimper, standing at the cusp of forever. A thousand hands reached out to devour his world, clawing with hunger of a forsaken beast. Yet he, shorn of shadows and dark, turned the tide. How? Ah, how indeed. The river knows not why it flows, yet it shapes the land all the same. Does the river fear the sea? Perhaps... ah, perhaps it should.
"In a garden of swords, beneath the waning voices of the sweetly singing birds, one blossom fell before its time. The roots wept. The gardener did not. For the blossom's fall gave life to the soil. And what of the bird? Oh, such lovely feathers... and oh so fragile. Shall the sky mourn the bird when the song comes?
"A storm... ah, yes, a storm brews on the horizon, wild and furious. Not of rain, no--this storm carries the breath of beginnings. Primordial and raw, it shall sweep the lands clean, wiping away the ashes of the forgotten. But... the storms are fickle, are they not? They bring new growth, but also tear the roots asunder. And from this tempest, they shall rise--ancient ones, untouched by the time's tender touch. Fixers, breakers, builders. Which shall they be? Perhaps even they do not know.
"And what of the wolf with no pack, whose gray fur turns to dust beneath the sun's gaze? Ah, yes, the wolf. A loyal beast, yet loyalty does not shield one from the cruel moors of time. The wind shall call its name thrice, and on the third, it shall not answer. A pity, truly. Or, perhaps not? The skies weep not for the wolves.
"Oh, children, do you hear not the echo of a dragon's roar? Not from the skies, but from the earth. There lies a forest, nameless yet known. And within its green embrace lies one who burned himself to cinders, only to rise anew. But who remembers embers and ash? Who cares thus? The Holy One, they whisper. Holy. Ah, such a fragile word, like a butterfly's wing in a tempest.
"Now, let me ask you this: a forest grows within a forest. Which came first? The child or the parent? The echo or the cry? A riddle, for clever ears. Ah, but beware: answers are tricksters, and truths are far crueler than lies. Come, tell me what you think. And if you are wrong? Well... children must learn, must they not?"
The voice lingered for a long while after like the fading echoes of a thunder, playful yet dark, the red eyes gleaming still like embers in the night. "So, my dear children, what shall you see?"
None understood--not past the shallow surface of things. Mei, especially, felt lost within the words. They meant nothing. There was no promised story, no hidden meanings--just mutterings and words woven together into sentences. What would they mean? Nothing. They were being tricked and fooled by a mischievous spirit who had no intention of letting them be. Just as he was about to decry with bitterness, another voice broke the silence--Shen Tao.
"You said we only needed to understand the portion, right?"
"Quite, yes. Is it so, child? Do you understand?"
"... what will happen if I'm wrong? To them, I mean."
"The same as shall happen to you," the man chuckled. "As for what... oh, but surprises are far more beautiful, no? Would you venture a guess, child?"
"... a forest within a forest," Shen Tao said while Mei listened. She was never the cleverest, she knew that much. Even if she hid it well thus far, it would be revealed--she stayed silent, a seasoned Disciple, while someone who joined the Sect just before they departed saved them. Or doomed them. "You're asking which one came first--the Nameless Forest outside the realm, or this." Mei's eyes lit up like stars--Right! That one's easy! This is clearly a copy, and the Nameless Forest has been around for as long as records of the place-- "This one's the original, and the Nameless Forest is a copy."
"--what?!!" it wasn't just Mei--Song and Lya exclaimed as well, shocked. For a moment, she was certain he was dooming them on purpose as part of some wicked game he was playing.
"Hoh? Are you certain?" the figure asked.
"Yes." Mei wanted to curse him, but the conviction with which the ordinary-looking boy said the words... tore her. He was honest--he truly believed. This wasn't a game, a ploy, some wicked design of his; it was a desperate struggle, one voiced from courage of someone far braver than her.
"Clever child," the figure chortled strangely for a moment, its head bending over unnaturally--almost like those statues--until the shadowed face was inches away from Shen Tao's. "Clever so. Indeed, this is the cry, and other the echo. Perhaps, in due time, when days outpace the nights, you shall learn of the truths behind the curtain. Until such an hour, however, ponder--aloud and within. Ah, perhaps a reward? Yes, reward for clever children. Here," a snap of the fingers and a flicker of a shadow later, a hovering dagger appeared--lithe, simple, and seemingly worn-out. However, even through its weathered surface it was evident that it was not an ordinary blade--regal carvings round its bejeweled handle, guard jutting outward in the shape of a dragon's maw, as though hurtling flames. "In your darkest hour, draw it. Let it shine in its final luster, and then let it rest. It is time to go, now, children," the lake, the sky, the forest... it all disappeared within the blink of an eye, and the four found themselves standing in front of the arched entrance to the inner portions of the hidden realm. "It would be wise that thy lips stay clasped about me. Unwise to share me with others."
Mei let loose a rancid breath, finally feeling like she could breathe normally again. She was gasping, but she wasn't alone--rather, Song and Lya were lying flat on the ground, passed out, while even Shen Tao was pale. First to stand, he dusted himself off, looking down and offering her a hand. She took it, feeling the pull.
"... thank you," she said. "For saving us, I mean. How... how did you know the correct answer?"
"I gambled." he replied simply.
"You... you gambled?"
"Hm. I quickly realized he was asking which forest was real," he said. "Which was strange. You yourself said that this was an exact replica, just without anything which made the Nameless Forest unique. Why would he ask that, then?"
"... to trick us?"
"Or to give us an easy way out," Shen Tao chuckled suddenly, surprising her. "I have a feeling that even if I said the Nameless Forest was older... he would have let us go."
"Why?"
"He probably knew you three had been there. And whatever connection this place has to the forest, he's at the center of it."
"Wait--I'm confused. Is this forest older than the Nameless one?"
"Eh," Shen Tao shrugged his shoulders, smirking. "We'll probably never know. Here," he picked up something off the ground and handed it over to her--the dagger.
"H-huh? Why are you giving it to me? You answered the riddle."
"I was also the one who insisted we go in there," he said. "Truthfully, I had planned on staying there for a little while to make the Pavilion's Disciples believe we'd run in and died, and then left once their thoughts were elsewhere. But when we got inside... I don't know. There was a magical pull, it felt, and I kept just going deeper and deeper with you three."
"..." Mei stared at the dagger for a moment before taking it; though she didn't know what it did, she knew it only had one use, and that it would save them from death in some way. Tucking it into her spatial ring, she looked around, growing worried. "We're out, now. Do you think they've given up?"
"I don't know how much time has passed," Shen Tao said. "I wouldn't count on it, however. My Father always warned me to never tangle myself with Pavilion's Disciple unless I can kill them and all witnesses and then erase all traces of it. They are like parasites, he used to say, latching onto you until they've sucked every last bit that you own."
"Charming," Mei sighed. Song and Lya began to grunt suddenly, waking up. "We should keep moving, then. Are you two alright?"
"Y-yes, Senior Sister! What... happened?"
"Let's go."
"It's too late," Shen Tao said, his words strumming like a sword in her heart. "They're already here."
"Hoh? You can sense us?" a familiar voice spoke from the distant fog, figures emerging. "Interesting. Interesting indeed. It seems I will have to leave you for last."