~Chapter nine ~
~And on this day, He said, "You are loved."~
After the battle, we walked for days toward the mountain Lilith had told us about. The sense of adventure was gone, replaced by an eerie feeling as if we were constantly being watched. The possibility of the enemy lurking in the forest, waiting to strike, haunted our minds. Or at least, that's what I thought.
We continued walking until we stumbled upon an old, abandoned house. Next to it stood a golden tablet, remarkably well-preserved despite the elements. Its surface was covered with strange symbols, I'd never seen before.
"Why are we wasting time staring at a tablet we can't even read? And in the middle of the night, no less," Melody said dryly.
"I... I can read it," I said.
Melody turned to me, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. "You can read that?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah," I replied, Just as confused as she was"I've never seen this kind of writing before, but... I can read it."
"Alright, then. What does it say?" she asked, not believing a word i was saying.
I leaned closer to the tablet and read aloud: "The statue reads..."
The first sin
And on this day, God breathed life into her.
And on this day, she woke.
And on this day, she reached into the void.
And on this day, a tree grew.
Yet God still watched.
She created, her hands unbound.
She wondered, her thoughts unchained.
And God whispered, "You are my daughter."
And on this day, God saw the seed of sin.
And on this day, He knew her heart.
And on this day, He did not turn away.
And on this day, He said, "You are loved."
And on this day, the Codex was born.
And on this day, she spoke her stories to it.
And on this day, God smiled, for she created as He had.
Yet God still knew.
Her hands would build, her heart would burn.
The tree she grew would touch the heavens,
And from its ashes, the world would change.
And on this day, a door was closed.
And on this day, the heavens turned.
And on this day, a secret was buried.
And on this day, the earth closed above her.
And on this day, the stars waited in silence.
And on this day, the prison held.
But one day, the stars will fall.
And one day, the earth will break.
And one day, the Codex will sing again.
And on that day the end will begin.
And on that day the skies are bound to fall.
And an that day ritetious evil will be born once more.
And on that say the last will be chosen .
And on that day God will come down for the last time.
And on that day he will say.
"What does that even mean?" Melody asked, frowning.
"How should I know?" I said confused.
"You read it, didn't you? So tell me what it means, Mr. Chosen One," she teased, a smirk forming on her lips.
"I didn't even understand half of it! What do you want me to explain?" I shouted, defensive.
"Yeah, whatever," she said, rolling her eyes. "You probably made up that whole stupid poem just to sound cool, didn't you?" She said mockingly
"I didn't make it up!" I shouted back, but she was already sticking her tongue out at me.
"I bet you can't even repeat it because you forgot half of what you made up," she added, clearly enjoying herself.
"I'm going to keep walking now," I said dryly, turning away.
"Uh-huh, because you know I'm right," she called out, laughing.
A wolf howled from the dark woods. Melody froze, her confidence evaporating in an instant. She quickly chased after me, her fear obvious.
I couldn't help but giggle at her reaction.
"Don't laugh at me, Madoxx!" she shouted, stomping to catch up.
"It could be the Shadow Man here to finally take your soul." I said laughing out loud now.
She tried hiding it but lasting only a second before breaking out laughing as well.
We walked on in silence for a while longer.
"Hey, Madox, are you ready to talk about Stone?" Melody asked with a bit too much excitement.
She didn't even wait for a response before diving in.
"It was so cool—the way the mist shot out like boom! Then Stone was all, 'no, no, no,' and you were like, 'yeah, yeah, yeah!' And then boom—the sand disappeared, and you were like, 'Ha, it's over, I have the high ground!' Then you grabbed him with your freaky shadow hands and ripped his soul out! Madox," she said, pausing for breath, "you ripped his soul out like some kind of freaky reaper!" She stared at me, eyes wide with excitement and amazement.
It was nice to see that she wasn't bothered by the battle and was still the same old Melody.
"You're adding things that definitely didn't happen!" I shouted at her.
She smiled and let out a chuckle.
As hard as I tried not to laugh, I couldn't hold it in, bursting into laughter along with her. If anything, Melody could always brighten up a gloomy mood.
After a few moments, I remembered something. "Do you remember what he said?"
"Yeah, he said 'Father is watching.' What do you think he meant by that? Some kind of crazy religious cult?" she asked, half-joking.
"No, I think someone was actually watching us. And that's what bugs me. If they were watching then, how can we be sure they still aren't?"
Melody looked at me, trying to hide her embarrassment that she hadn't thought of that, but also the fear that we might still be watched. She crept closer to me slowly, hoping I wouldn't notice.
"Look who's scared," I teased.
"I'm not scared!" she said, blushing. "It's smarter to stay close together to avoid an ambush, you know. I watch your back, you watch mine," she added defensively.
"Sure," I said dryly.
"I'm being serious!" she shouted.
"Hey, look!" I interrupted her tantrum.
The mountain was now fully visible, emerging from the forest. It was huge—so tall I couldn't see the top.
"So, this is it," I said, mesmerized by the sheer size of it.
"This'll take days to climb," Melody complained.
Honestly, she was right. I wish Lilith had at least told us how large the mountain was.
"They say at the very top lies a kingdom," Melody said. "Mother told me about it."
"I thought we were going to the top to get a flower?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah, well, sort of. Near the ridge grows a rare herb. But further up, in the mountain, is the kingdom. I've seen it in books. Hopefully, we'll get a good view of it," she said, smiling excitedly.
"Is there some kind of magic lift that can take us to the top?" I asked, half-joking and half-praying there was.
"Yeah, there is, but we'd need authority and a signed invitation from the king to use it," she said.
"So, we're basically breaking in and stealing their stuff?" I asked.
"Yep," she replied dryly.
"How are we going to climb this?" I asked.
She just smiled.
As we climbed, I felt annoyed.
"What do you mean you can't climb it?" I shouted as Melody clung to my back.
I had two solid ice picks in my hands, shoving them into the mountain as I climbed.
"I can't use magic like you do, remember?" she said, smiling.
"I'm gonna drop you," I said dryly.
"Sorry! Sorry!" she panicked.
We continued climbing, and the higher we got, the colder the weather became.
"This reminds me," I suddenly said. "Remember when we fought Stone?"
"Mmm, fought Stone... Stone fought Stone?" she said sarcastically. "Nope, no clue," she added after a moment of fake thinking.
Ignoring her, I continued, "I remember him launching me into the sky, and I hit a barrier."
"What? How is that possible?" she asked, confused.
"I'm not sure, but it felt like I was flung so high, then suddenly bang—I slammed into some kind of barrier," I explained.
"Mmm," she muttered, clearly not believing a word I was saying. "Maybe it was some sort of head trauma. You did get hit pretty hard."
"The reason I'm bringing it up is because we're getting pretty high now. It'd really suck if we ran into some weird barrier up here," I said, concerned.
"We should be fine. Mother never had any issues when she came here," Melody reassured me.
"Hey, hi," a voice said.
"What brings you to these parts?" added another.
I looked over and saw two people. One was a short, skinny man with short blond hair and glasses, looking a bit nervous. Standing beside him was a woman, no taller than the man, with green hair and freckles. She stood proudly in front of the shaky, nervous man and repeated herself:
"What brings you to these parts?"
"We're here for a plant that grows on this mountain," I answered quickly.
"Well," she replied, sounding a bit disappointed, "you're too late. The king ordered that the plants be dug up and sent to the castle," she said, pointing further up the mountain.
"They've learned to grow them in the bountyreach," the skinny man added. "So, the king decided to control who gets access to them."
The two seemed strange at first glance—dirty and malnourished. Through the man's torn shirt, I noticed a bruise on his back.
"My name is Maddox," I said, hoping to be friendly.
"I'm Kimora," said the green-haired woman.
"I'm Neptune," the man added from behind her.
"We must go with them," a voice said in my head—it was Levana.
"I'm sorry to tell you," Kimora said, "but it's nearly impossible to get any of those plants."
"But my friends need them," I replied, a hint of anger in my voice.
" The king rules these lands and holds most, if not all, of the power," Neptune said, his eyes revealing a touch of fear. "He only answers to the church."
"Listen, Maddox," Kimora said, "I'm sorry, but the king has the final say, and we need to be heading back now." She turned to leave.
"Take me to the king," I said, more forcefully than I intended.
"The king will not see you," Neptune replied.
"He will," Melody finally said, speaking up for the first time.
"If you wish, we can guide you there, but it may not go as you hope," Neptune added.
We walked toward a stone wall, and to my surprise, Neptune struck it with his fists. In a panic, I tried to stop him, but it was too late.
"Hey, man, why would you—" was all I managed to say before the sound of a bell rang out, vibrating through the wall as it split open like a door.