Vol.1.C4 - Perpetual Darkness

V1c4. Perpetual Darkness 

☆The Test of Time☆

There was no light coming from it, no crying sound, nothing.It was deafeningly silent.Ryker watched it, as some unknown tears trickled down his cheek, to his lips, they tasted salty.He couldn’t explain these strange emotions he experienced as the orb was slowly at its last breath.

Suddenly, Aunt Sienna's spectral form flickered:‘Ryker….lost… time… devoured me…’She was wailing, it was a haunting sight that lurked In his mind for a pretty While.Ryker’s body shook violently, and he blinked twice; he didn't expect to see his aunt here, even like this. After all, she was trapped. He halted, and stepped closer to the goddess.His mind was whirling with questions.What is going on here? Why is his aunt here? She shouldn't be here. Not yet.

It took him a good few minutes to realize that the message of the goddess from before was tied to the fate of his aunt - they were spells binding his aunt to Dēvi Samāya's Prison of Time.The voice of the goddess deepens, the voice so cold that it could freeze lava, and the earthy chamber shaking with each word:“आलोकस्य माया, जीवनस्य कारा। ज्योति दाहकं अस्ति।”("The illusion of light, the cage of life. Light is consuming.")

Aunt Sienna's spectral form flickers again, this time hovering above the crown of the goddess.Her voice was faint:“Ryker… the light…. extinguish It… Or it will take everything…”The hands of the goddess once again began to move in a mystic dance, each hand shaping into a different kind of mudra.The inscriptions on The pedestal shift to a glowing riddle In Ancient Sanskrit:“सत्यं प्रकाशे वा, कालस्य छायायाम्। तव आत्मं त्यजेत् किं?”("In light or in the shadow of time, what will you sacrifice?")Her hand halted into a final mudra. The hand radiated divine light.He had to decode what the riddle meant, before acting.

Ryker scratched His head, and pondered on the riddle for a few minutes.‘सत्यं प्रकाशे वा…’What would that mean?‘सत्यं..’He caught that word, as he put his finger on chin, thinking of possible meanings of this word from whatever knowledge he has learnt all this time.‘This ‘सत्यं’ could mean truth..?’He said aloud, his nerves cracking.The glow from the goddess glowed brighter. This could mean he is close. Or even right.

He now focused on the second part of the phrase.‘प्रकाशे’...Now, what could this be close to?After a few minutes of racking his brain, he managed to crack the code.“‘प्रकाशे’ could mean light! Then.. the rest of the riddle -!”He broke out in excitement, happy to figure out even half of the riddle on his own just yet.But then he halted, the rest of the phrase sinking in his mind.No matter how hard he tried, they were just too tough for him.

Right then, as if a miracle occured, his aunt Sienna in spectral form reappeared.‘Ryker… the riddle… it is asking you to either dim the light and free my soul fragment, or Embrace the light, leaving the light untouched, saving yourself but making sure that I remain entrapped In this divinity…’She finished, her ghostly wail echoing through the vast Chambers.‘The choice is yours…. my Ryker. I hope you will make the right choice.’At that, she slowly faded away and vanished, only her remnants of vision left in his wake.

Ryker jolted awake from his immersed state, standing straight, and ruffling His own hair. Now he had a clear idea of what to do.What if he made the wrong choice?That thought lingered somewhere in a lonely part of his mind.He paused, took a deep breath.The pedestal bearing the statue began to crack, as he stepped closer.The cosmic energy intensified, pulling at him as if resisting his presence. Dēvi Samāya's voice echoes with cold indifference:“प्रकाशं नष्टं, समयं नष्टं। तव अस्तित्वं च।”("Destroy the light, destroy time. And yourself.”)

The inscriptions glowed fiercely, and they created barriers of light around the statue.To dim the light, Ryker realized that he must shatter these barriers that were in front of him, blocking his way.Each one has been tied to an aspect of time - past, present, and the future.The statue's lights had solidified into three Spectral guardians - they were shimmering light, crystalline warriors clad in golden kavach, and wielded glowing weapons.The lights they emitted were warped and broken, just like in the entire massive chamber.

☆Breaking these barriers☆

As the first barrier, that is, the barrier of the past, manifests, it lunges towards Ryker, with its shining sword.The spear was flung at him, but before he could escape the attack, his skin was slightly bruised with a cut.

He had no weapon to defend with, he was on his own. At least for now.Ryker made his attack with fast paced rapid punches on its stomach, but it all went in vain. They weren't human enemies after all.He skidded back, taking another defensive stance as The soldier attacked him.‘Think Ryker, think! You can't lose. You CANNOT lose! For the sake of your aunt!’He tsked, blocking the attack with his mere arms. He had no external defense.All his defense was his body and mind, only they could help him now.

‘There must be a way, without fighting it!’He thought, as he made a quick glance and examined his surroundings once more.His vision started to blur as he started getting flashbacks Of his past, the time he enjoyed with his beloved mother and Aunt.In the vision, his mother had Said, ‘My dear son, your reflection Is what will come and help you.’His eyes widened, a stray drop of tear trickled down his face.‘Thank you, mom..’ He wiped his tears, and he knew that this was something too good to be real.

He whispered, and wiped away that tear.This was something he had not expected at all.That had awakened something hidden inside him.There was a strange fire burning in his eyes, and he was ready to take this one down.He found a hint, and started looking for a mirror or a shard near him.

Ryker frantically glanced around for the said items as he kept his hands in a defense form to his chest.He ducked and dodged the light warrior's charge as it was going to strike at him with its spear.He launched a flying kick at it, only for it to dissolve in the light of the barrier.‘Damn it!’ He muttered, as he fell on the ground for a few minutes.“Do you give up, son?” The chivalrous voice of the warrior boomed in the chamber, echoing in his ears.

The air was thick with tension.‘I DO NOT! I WILL NEVER!!’Ryker screamed, got up and slided back with elegance.The atmosphere was tense, as the floor rumbled with the electric energies that sparkled from him and the warrior.The light warrior smirked.“We will see about that, son. How chivalrous you are.”

He gracefully slid down, as the light warrior struck Another chord with its Spear at him.Ryker managed to dodge it right on time before it hit him.He flew across the floor, his body hitting hard on a glass like material that reflected the light above.

As He was about to take it, he was stopped by the spear of the light warrior yet again.‘Fight me first, and then get it… or not.’It snarled, pointing its spear at his head, missing his eye for a second.“I WILL, YOU JUST WAIT AND WATCH!”Ryker yelled, grabbing the mirror before the light warrior could even Do anything.The warrior got annoyed, and lunged at Ryker.

But Ryker caught the spear in his hand, and glaring icily at the light warrior.“Let me go, or I'll make you regret your decision.”He intimidated the warrior, standing tall.The light warrior was unfazed.“Do you think that will make me stand back? Think again.” The warrior said, as Ryker got to his feat and safely tucked the mirror shard in his pocket.“It might not, but I'll defeat you. Just wait and see.”Ryker said and charged at the warrior.

The warrior quickly dodged his strike.He swung his spear and counterattacked with it.“Give up already, son. You might not reach your goal.”It said, as it kept attacking him with his spear.Ryker effortlessly ducked everytime the warrior would swing his spear to his face.“Nope. Never. Not until I'm done with this shit.”He growled, and spat blood from his mouth, and wiped it with his hands.

“You're a quite brave soul, I'll give you that.”The warrior spoke, as he stood still.Ryker smirked.“I won't let you win at any cost.”He said, pointing the mirror shard at its face.‘Auntie Sienna, I'll save you, it's a promise!’He thought as his grip on the shard tightened.It was so tight that the sharp edges of the glass cut through his hands and blood dripped on the ground, drip drip, drip, they fell, those merciless drops.

But the warrior stood back, and something strange happened. The crystalline warrior began shifting its nature and twisting into a maze that was both cold and condescending.

There were images of him crying alone in his room as he felt lonely.And there were those when he met his aunt for the first time.That image, somehow, got him to tears.His vision was blurry, and he couldn’t see any more.The Tears dripped down his face, from his eyes, to his lips, to his tongue.They tasted bittersweet.It was like they were calling out to him like a siren's song luring people to its deadly face.He had to hold back. He can't lose.Not this time. He can never.