“Do something, Delirias,” whispered Gwyn, since none of them knew how to react.
“As you wish, Commodore,” he replied back unimpressed. In the blink of an eye, his aspect lifted up the fallen Velare and transformed it into a slingshot with his scourge, firing it at the figure in the dark.
“WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!” Gwyn screeched before pressing his hands on his mouth
“Huh? You said I should do something. You didn't say anything about it being productive or helpful, fufufu.”
“Enough,” a voice shouted from the front.
Abruptly, like a spotlight, many Velares ripped open their eyes and shone light upon the figure that was towering in front of their eyes. It was almost too bright, as both of them shielded their eyes from the light. Delirias looked upwards and saw the uncountable numbers of Velares hanging from the ceiling, focusing their light onto them.
“That's not the kind of show I imagined,” Delirias snarkily remarked.
“What do you people want? I don't have much time on my hands,” resounded from the towering figure, and they could hear the wooden staff from before as its shaft hit the ground.
“What the?” Gwyn and even his aspect were left speechless. Instead of what they had expected, only one person stood before them.
He was a little bit taller than Delirias, and even his coat seemed to some inches longer. The incredible thing about him was that he had a big, white ruffle, akin to the design of a jabot around his neck where not only one head poked out off, but seven. All of them were tightly squished together with crooked faces, noses, and eyes. In their hand was a wooden staff that was split into many branches at the top. The most disturbing thing about it was that it held living eyeballs in every one of its branches that were looking around in excitement. More and more the eyes started to focus on Gwyn before all of them were staring him down.
“Are you always this easily impressed?!” the character spoke to Gwyn and immediately tried to turn themselves around, even though they couldn't, almost as if they feared their wielder.
“W-who are you?”
“I'm Obsidare, the Grand Librarian. Have you not heard of me? I'm truly shocked at your lack of knowledge, human. All the knowledge of this world has been gathered here, and now look at them outside these holy walls. All of them have forgotten.”
He imposingly put up his hand and pointed towards the massive shelves around them, as the Velares tried to follow his movements. In his astonishment, Gwyn hadn't noticed that Delirias left his side to have a closer look at the shelves. Thanks to the light of the Velares he could finally read the titles of the books.
“‘His one nightmare – the tragic downfall of a once great Man’; ‘Between Law & Chaos’ by Saint Marcus Teresas,” he quoted piece by piece, as he threw every book out of the shelf after he read the title.
“HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? WHERE IS YOUR RESPECT?” the head in the middle screamed, while the rest of them turned around and whispered in secret with each other. Hastily the Velares rushed towards the scattered books and started to pick them, placing them back where they once stood.
“Stop it, Delirias! Please excuse his childish behavior,” Gwyn apologized out of shame. “Since you were asking, we are actually here in search of some of that knowledge. About this world, to be a bit more precise. I'd be great if you could help us out.” He bowed his head, and Delirias paused for a moment, deeming Gwyn’s next words more important than his current task.
“Hmpf,” the heads were mustering him as he bowed. “We are just too kind-hearted. We cannot let another seeker of the truth deny our help, though I cannot promise you anything. Maybe you can help me as well. As we've said, human visitors have become quite the rarity. Follow me.”
Miraculously the young man had managed to de-escalate the situation, and with a crooked wave, the two of them were following Obsidare. He led them through quite a few corridors before they reached a small, brown table with some stools next to a lit candle that was almost burned out. Around the table stood five lanterns that were slowly opened by Obsidare one after another. As he opened the lamps, one of the birdlike creatures flew into them, raised his neck and illuminating the glass of the lantern.
“Excuse the chaos, one of my most cherished guests just left. He may be a regular, but I cannot say that he has a sense for order. The ironic wip of life lashes out once more.”
“It's alright, we will manage. We won't be staying that long I think. The questions I have are burning to get out ever since I got here.”
“So, little human,” Obsidare seated himself in a thoughtful manner. “What's burning you up inside? I'll gladly share my knowledge, if you share yours.”
Delirias rolled with his eyes as he continued to flip through the different books.
“Ehm, alright then,” Gwyn faltered before he overcame the restriction he tried to put on his curiosity. “Since you said humans have become rare, does that mean there was a time where many humans came to this place?”
“No, not really,” he answered coldly and promptly. Gwyn seemed to be overwhelmingly disappointed with that answer.
“They just never believed that this was the accumulated knowledge of this world, so they didn't bother. But I'm sure many that tried also died on their travels,” Obsidare remembered. “Though, the last one that did come here was quite the interesting one. It was some time ago, but I still recall his presence. He was one of the most influential humans to have come here in a while.”
“Really? That's incredible! What was his name?” Gwyn asked full of enthusiasm, almost jumping over the table.
“His name was Lohka. Unfortunately, the name of his aspect was never revealed to me. Stories have been written about his deeds, some of which can only be found here,” he lauded himself with a swelled chest, whereas the other heads kept silent while he spoke.
“That might be helpful I guess. Where can I read up on him?”, were the words Gwyn said aloud, yet in his eyes doubt remained as he thought about it.
“I wonder if Obsidare is really telling the truth? Are there really so few humans in this world?” he thought before he was taken out of it by a book being dropped in front of him by one of the Velares.
“Did you say Lohka? What a hilariously stupid name,” Delirias shouted as he jumped next to Gwyn’s side to have a look at the newly brought in book. Like an arrow that pierced his heart, freezing Gwyn’s whole body, he remembered why he halted when he heard that unique sounding name.
“Could it be? The last human that accomplished meaningful deeds? How common could such a name be?” Gwyn wondered in his mind as he ripped the book out of Delirias’ long fingers.
The cover read “The Pitiful Story of Lohka the Human – A Book by Siegward Fontswell.” Feverishly he skimmed through the pages as he could not contain his temper. Just as he was about to reach the end, he stopped.
“This can't be everything, right?” he eventually asked with a wary undertone.
“What do you mean?” Obsidare asked innocently.
“This is almost nothing but useless information. How he looked like, how his aspect is only described with purple eyes. There is nothing about his deeds, except that he visited this library – praising it to an utmost unusual amount.”
“It's a bit more complex than you think. I can assure you he was a great man, for a human at least. He told me, personally, that he would lay down everything his body and soul had to offer in order to face this world and change it for the better for all of humanity.”
Delirias’ eyes were focusing on Gwyn, as he was closely watching his movements.
“That's fishy, to say the least,” it burst out of the young man after he realized how much it didn't make sense to him, or how much he seemingly didn't like Lohka.
“I might've heard of someone like him,“ Gwyn said as he tried to carefully pick out his words.
“ … is it really all connected? Don't tell me its that same Lohka that died ten years ago. Even the description of his appearan
ce fits the pictures I had seen on TV … “ Gwyn started to think, as he became even more cautious of the Grand Librarian.
Right then Delirias pointed at a section of a page that looked like some alterations had been made to it.
Immediately Gwyn started to flip through more and more pages, only finding nothing but some interesting tidbits. “It states that he left a group somewhere? What group? How many? Why is this even mentioned, if it's not properly explained?” He seemed to become louder and louder as he went on. He had expected so much, and yet the Grand Librarian was seemingly mocking him, trying to hide something important.
“Don't speak to me like that,” Obsidare answered calmly and knocked onto the ground with his staff.
“Alright, alright,” Gwyn had put up his hands trying to calm himself. “Let's leave Lohka out of this. He seems like a fool anyway, but what about the rest of the world? Is there a world map or a globe, or something? Something that I absolutely have to know?!”
“Hmpf, not really,” the weird gestalt turned his back to Gwyn, trying to think with the Velares illuminating the different shelves and corridors.
“Well, you should know that this world is always growing.”
“Growing?!” Gwyn’s interest was piqued.
“That’s correct. The more time passes in the human world, the more this world grows. Whenever another human finds its way here, the landmasses grow as well. I guess you already suspect that not every human that arrives here has the same impact upon this world. It differs from individual to individual, and their eventual actions may accelerate this process.”
“Finally! Some progress, hallelujah,” Gwyn smiled as he took a deep breath and sunk down on his stool, while Obsidare continued to narrate.
“The first thing I can remember seems to be quite close to the birth of this world. It was a time where the sins where closely living together, building a shared community. Though today they couldn't be more separated from each other, maybe you know what I'm talking about.”
“Not as much as you make it out to be, but I can imagine that,” Gwyn agreed.
“However, I was never able to actually craft a map that encompasses the whole world. My tasks as the Grand Librarian doesn't allow for such adventures. I probably would've died a long time ago.”
“So, I guess there are people out there risking their lives to bring you any new information? Relying on Personas like the author of this one?” the young man asked expectantly.
“Indeed,” Obsidare nodded. “They are my most precious source of information. I love all of their stories equally.”
Without notice, Gwyn stood up and let his stool fall to the ground.
“Delirias! We are going!” he yelled with such volume that even the eyeballs on Obsidare’s staff stopped paying attention to their wielder. The Velares themselves stopped to shine light on the corridors and focused solely on Gwyn. Delirias, who up until now was bullying some of the Velares by pulling them upwards from their feet as they tried to fly away, giggled and followed Gwyn shortly.
“W-what is the meaning of this?!” Obsidare seemed shocked, as the young man and his aspect were marching towards the exit.
“I'm at fault for my own expectations. Your guest was right about that. Though I won't waste another moment talking to you,” he answered angrily. It was the first time that even his aspect got a glimpse of Gwyn’s bottled up anger and frustration.
With these last words, he left the Grand Librarian, and all of the Velares closed their eyes in unison, bringing back the darkness. Only Delirias was the one who turned his head around one last time to flash his gleeful smile before he disappeared with the echo of his giggle. Outside of the library he was so heavily agitated that he jumped next to Gwyn’s side.
“Very dramatic. Mister Viridas. I guess you finally realized that he was full of shit.”
“Why didn't you tell me sooner? I felt like an idiot after reading through these pages,” a fierce gaze was directed at the aspect.
“I cannot help you with everything, little one. That Fontswell guy is quite the clever guy, if he anticipated how Obsidare might alter his work. Still, I bet that Grand Librarian never even bothered to carefully read through that book. 'Loving all stories equally' – what a load of crap.”
“Another one who's hiding secrets,” Gwyn frowned as he realized that another chance was up and gone.
“Though we can't just threaten everyone for information, it wasn't all for nothing. I will speak with Leandro, and we will step in front of someone who has more authority on the matter.”
“Fufufuf, another high-stakes gamble? Do you really think you will get lucky twice?” Delirias’ usual grin had formed, and his eyes were pulsating with vigor.
“Honestly, Delirias, I think I won't,” Gwyn bit his lip as he tried to force a smile in front of his aspect. “But as long as I don't force Leandro into it, I think my conscience can live with that. I also think that I have a slight idea about what is going on, even after reading those horrible memoirs. This is the first time in my life that I ever felt truly alive, and I want to go all out in it.”
“Usually when people say that, they have a bit more of a cautious and planned approach to the situation,” Delirias was taunting him. “You really think manipulating me to fight for you will work forever? Kikikik, I hope you don't believe that you're the clever one. Nobody steals my show.”
Delirias began to playfully take measurements of Gwyn’s head with his fingertips as if he wanted to decapitate him.
“Though I never intended to leave your side. It would be way too boring to not see your story through to the end, and maybe there will even be a wonderful, grandiose firework at the end.”
“I want to see it for myself. Let's meet with Pride!” Gwyn declared forcefully as the duo marched back to the unconventional inn in this pompous city where faceless figures awaited them at every corner.
Upon their return, Gwyn saw that Leandro was already awaiting him in their room. Both explained to each other what happened while the other was gone. Gwyn confessed how utterly betrayed he felt after realizing that the whole library was more like a scam than anything useful. The only things that were indeed revealed to him, he shared with Leandro, who was quite fascinated by it as well. On his side, the young man with the black locks had met the perfect tailor for them. In order to move around unannounced, he declared that both of them would have a meeting with the tailor to get their appropriate suits done, even including jabots, new shoes and, of course, a mask.
“Wow, you really went all out on this, Leandro,” Gwyn said with more enthusiasms than his new found friend had anticipated.
“Yeah, well, I know about this stuff, so it was the right decision to leave that to me.”
“Hoho, take a compliment when you can get one,” Destare laughed in his plate armor wholeheartedly.
“So his armor is not a problem?” Gwyn followed up.
“I asked about that since I brought the big guy with me. He assured me that would be the easiest task to accomplish. He seemed quite confident in his abilities.”
“Then there is no way I'm not meeting him,” Gwyn promptly declared upon hearing Leandro's words.
“Hey, Gwyn,” he took him aside. “I know we agreed to gather as much intel as we can, but I hope you're not planning something dangerous again.”
“I most likely will,” Without hesitation, Gwyn spoke up to let everyone in on the conversation.
“I want to see Pride with my own eyes. If he confirms that all of our efforts so far have been useless and will be, then I'm quite sure that I could give up. Yet, until that moment arrives, until my heart is shattered by despair and I simply have no way of going forward, only then will I back down and let it consume me.”
“Gwyn!” Leandro shook him by his shoulders. “Please get a hold of yourself. I know we've just met, but I don't want this to be our last encounter. Why are you so damn motivated to get yourself killed? Is there something you're still hiding?!”
/> Both their aspects stayed out of it, which was for the better because it already seemed like Leandro was about to escalate the situation in spite of them.
“Why can't we just travel around and carefully approach this world while getting to know each other?! Don't you think having valuable allies or even friends by your side could improve our chance of survival?” he continued, his eyes on the brink of tears.
Leandro began to snivel as he expected Gwyn’s answer, yet his companion remained quiet and pressed his fist unto Leandro’s chest, right where his heart was.
“You're right. I'm despicable. I'm a fool. I'm a good-for-nothing. I've been that all my life to be honest. I don't want to force my stupid life choices on you, but I have to do this for myself. I want to prove that I'm more than all the things my mind makes me think I could be,” even Gwyn started to get sentimental as he laid bare what he was holding up inside.
“I want to confront Pride. I want to see what lies beyond. I want to see how far I can go in my endless selfishness. These are my deepest regrets, and I will force them upon this world until I can't breathe anymore.”
A long pause followed as both of them continued to stare into each other's eyes. Moreover, Delirias was the one eagerly awaiting Gwyn’s next words. This moment would reveal whether their alliance would end prematurely, or if they would walk right into the den of the prideful eagle.
Leandro took a few more moments to catch his breath, as he saw that Gwyn wasn't holding anything back, and likewise not stepping down.
“So this is what you want? To shine as bright as the stars until you burn out?! I hate that about you. You really are a good-for-nothing.” Gwyn knew these words were coming, yet it still hurt to hear them.
“I want you to prove it to me,” unexpectedly Leandro spoke up again. “Prove to me that you can survive this hellhole and I will follow you to make sure you don't die before I do.” He forced a smile. “No longer will I walk this wretched world while being alone.”
Death's Gambling Page 29
