'Was it all my subconscious reaction to all the shock and trauma that got triggered due to the teleportation? Or is it another sick joke? Most probably it is'
A mocking smile appeared on his face as he realized that many people around him would never wake up from their nightmares again. They are forever gone with their happiest and worst memories drowning their consciousness. The reasoning for this is simple. He was very close to losing himself too and unlike him who unfortunately or fortunately in this case, had been a loser and winner all his life, and in slang language was like a sponge who couldn't give up on his life.
So, unlike him, a 'leech', most people will lose themselves to their strongest feelings. It was just natural for it to happen. Most people aren't even aware of their deepest selves for their entire lives. Expecting them to live through it was bizarre and smart. Smart, for these people, can become useful in so many ways, weak-minded people can't be. What remained to be seen was what would happen then.
Very like himself, Sorken soon lost himself in his thoughts about his dream and its consequences. Completely unaware of what was happening around him at all.
At the front of the Arc, Horu looked at the 9 people in front of him lost in their worlds, they were neither conscious nor sitting, not in any understandable posture. They were all hanging half in the air with their bodies limp, but not their mind, not now at least. Unlike their previous clothes, they were now in white robes with golden threads, similar to Horu and the being they first witnessed when bought in this world. But, it was far less lavish and didn't exude that majestic aura.
A flutter of consciousness appeared in one of the figures but it soon subsided. Horu, who was going to act himself, was rather confused about why this would happen. He surely saw his eyes flutter open but in a few moments, it was the same as before. Horu closed his eyes as to find out what happened, but found nothing estrange.
"Maybe he tried to escape but lost to his inner self and thus the unnatural reaction" he mumbled slowly as he again assumed a stern posture.
The figure of the priest was now almost invisible and couldn't be seen by naked eyes until looked for him specifically. But in a spur of moments, his figure would glow and become perceivable again, before going back to its unnatural state.
As this process was happening, a serene atmosphere spread all over the hall, completely unlike the eery atmosphere of death and destruction that had followed before.
But, unlike the serenity in the arch, the complete upheaval was going around the obelisks. The bodies of dead people slowly churned into themselves as they twisted themselves around the tip of obelisks. Hands twisted into each other and enclosed the head. The head once expressing reactions of shock or calm suddenly started to twist as the eyeballs came out before slowly getting sucked into the flesh. The blood seeped out of the churning bodies falling into the ground.
Grotesque and ugly sight of bodies twisting to the extreme until each drop of blood was across all the obelisks. After the bodies were nothing but a mass of flesh and powder of bones, the obelisks expanded and slowly started to spread across the lump. After some time the previously majestic shape of obelisks was an unnatural black blob imitating the lump of bodies. But soon, it was back to its majestic state. There was no sound made during this entire process. It was calm and serene.
Sorken was lost in his world, the spell or methods that forced them into the nightmare somehow synched well with his habit of losing himself in his world. Whenever he thought about a topic, he would forcefully enter his subconscious space.
This was his reaction to the constant mumbling that muddled his thoughts, processes, and general life in his childhood. These mumblings were neither supernatural nor weird, it was just a manifestation of his incomplete mind that was so hyperactive all the time that after a few years, he started to notice it. He no longer understood the voices as he did at the start. It was maybe thought he had randomly or something he read about, but in his mind, it all turned into mumblings after years of precipitation. He attributed his intelligence and unique thought process to this situation he would later learn was a medical situation that can be controlled to an extent but never treated completely. His brain was truly incomplete.
To bypass this situation without medication and use it to his advantage. He soon learned to focus on a thought he wanted to think about until he could enter a space where he could think about it without anything disturbing him. With his knowledge never lost in the form of mumblings, he was able to draw many interferences he wanted in this state systematically. A lot of his childhood was spent this way as he started to become a habitual 'lost in his world weirdo'
He couldn't pinpoint how, but the method used to push them into that nightmare also helped him to access this state in a much more efficient manner. His thoughts were clearer and more streamlined than ever. He wanted to take advantage of this situation to at least make inferences that can help him make better of his situation.
'I came into this world and since then there have been a few major things that can help me understand the situation and make some conclusions on what is going on'
'Firstly, these 'beings' are humans but unlike normal humans, they have broken the shackles of normality and reached somewhere near the stage of what we can consider godly but they are neither omnipotent nor have omniscience, but they do worship someone. The entire place seems like a temple with its structure, people, actions, and way of speaking. This means, there is a god too but he is either inaccessible or is similar to our world here a god is real, but there is no way to determine its situation. Either way, he doesn't seem to have interfered as of now.'
Sorken felt he now had a deeper understanding of his situation. Something that can be of great help.later if enough information can be gathered. He didn't want to speculate on why was he here anymore, there was not enough information to make a judgment. Neither did he have any inkling of this world or people. So, the motive for them to be bought here is almost impossible to determine. What he can do is understand the motive of events that followed.
'Now, for the motive of events that happened. I don't have enough information on that too. But I can make at least a few assumptions from the collective experience. The most striking result of everything we went through was the fact that from God knows how many people we have been reduced to less than ten now.'
'Now, first they killed everyone that was not young or fit in the age group of twenties to forties, I cannot tell exactly but it is the age group that can work in some form.'
'They didn't kill anyone based on sex or anything else. It was purely based on age. Once it was done, they started to filter us based on different tests, I have no idea of their objectives other than the fact that the last test was aimed at judging our will and mental fortitude.'
'Now, the most important event that happened was definitely when we were forced on those obelisks. It was trying to suck our blood, but I don't feel anything that has changed…. Maybe it was supposed to or maybe not
Sorken thought of something he witnessed on earth when there was an ongoing debate on how trying to change blood could be the first step before a major genetic mutation could take place. While this world was not that developed, this idea weirdly was the only thing that seemed appropriate to him.
'If it was that then they will now choose us based on the process that took place then and there is a high chance….. I have failed'
A slight shiver went down his spine as he realized that maybe things were going to be extremely dangerous for some reason.
Unlike his composed self, he no longer wanted to remain in this space, it was suffocating as his brain kept churning out how he would die. Would he disappear in a goo? Would he be dropped on an obelisk or something even worse?
He in an attempt to calm his mind just stayed there trying to control his breath until he was forced out of this state, which he was sure of happening.
Still caught up in his conundrum and the weird state amplifying it, he was unable to sense the changes happening outside as it was no longer calm like before.
The priest who was phasing between his strange state raised his head as he glanced at the floating figures in front of him, raising his staff high into the air. The nails were still stuck in his visible hands as a spirit-like substance raised the ethereal staff that was like other ornaments hidden in a state unperceivable to the naked eye. His voice boomed, cutting through the silence like thunder.
"Some have been blessed with the Spirit of the Gods," the priest declared, his gaze sweeping over those who remained but finally rested on the story who slightly trembled after hearing those words. "His Excellency has allowed them to wield the power of his blood. Though thin, it may be, they shall serve him until their deaths. They will train as apprentices under the Diviners."
The floating figures, who just had their destinies changed were still in their subconscious fighting their way out of their nightmare. They were unaware of how their lives would be changed when they opened their eyes, for better or for worse.
The priest, still in the raging passion, spoke as blood started to tickle out of his face. The blood was black and slimy, it slowly seeped out of the pores of his skin and lunged forward to some of the floating figures and started to cover their body.
He again spoke, but this time his gaze not focusing on anyone or anything, as if staring into the void.
"As for the dull ones... those with strong physiques but no light in their souls," he sneered, "they will soon learn their purpose."
As he finished speaking, he waved his bloody hands, and again his figure started to phase, no longer the ethereal and horrible entity that had decided the fate of the people in the room.
Horu bowed down to the priest in reverence but soon looked at the floating figures as if not expecting any response from the priest.
I
Slowly the floating figures opened their eyes at the same time. The ones covered in the strange blood had a strange light in their eyes.