Pareidolia

The sky appeared full of haze, a pale magenta floating high above the grounds below, dancing across the air and taunting the red sun. Swirls decorated the sky, boundless clouds in a constant state of eruption that shadowed the land in a dreary flare. Metallic gray shades painted the foreign landscape, ensuring that Lucius was made aware that an unfamiliar and unrecognizable world lied ahead.

Through the cracked opening with its golden entrance, through the looking glass with its satin gloss, a petulant city awaited. What appeared to be half torn down and decrepit buildings lined the unpaved and ravaged streets, an accumulation of grime covering every surface. The makeshift doorway led to the open hallway of the city, a long wide path like a direct entrance into the belly of the beast. The derelict buildings offered a cold welcoming, seeming not the slightest bit impressed by Lucius’s arrival.

Without any direction or idea of his next steps, Lucius continued down the catered path and made his way deeper into the heart of the city. As he walked, the views of his surroundings became more apparent, the oddities that occupied the space standing out more and more. The more he looked, the more he saw. Chrome spirals shaped like spinal bones protruded from the ground at random, their paths completely unmapped, reaching towards the sky as if they wanted a taste of the cherry heavens. As of yet, no forms of life were visible anywhere, as if the city itself had swallowed everything whole and spit back out the remains. Lucius continued to follow his yellow brick road, although he had to settle for dirt instead of gold.

At the end of the street, Lucius could just make out the silhouette of a cathedral, the rays of the sun bounced off the stained-glass windows and guided him closer. The shadows of people lay strewn in front the entrance, their figures offering a hopeful possibility for some answers.

Lucius picked up his pace and ran towards the cathedral, each step giving him a better look at what he was running towards, an increment of data granted with every meter closer. The shadowy silhouettes became unclouded, their full beings downloading into crisper quality. As the shadows that draped them were washed away, the bandages that wrapped every layer of their bodies became increasingly visible.

Lucius arrived at the steps of the sanctuary and dropped to one knee to catch his breath, before raising his head to fully take in the structure in front of him. The cathedral rose above the city like a stone sentinel, its towering spires piercing the sky and casting long shadows across the square below. The walls appeared carved from bone, as though armies of men were sacrificed to create the massive monument. Centering front wall was a large rose window gleaming and glowing like fragmented jewels, like a bloodshot eye keeping watch over the city. Where there once would have been heavy twin doors was now a completely open doorway, its pale archway beckoning forth like a gaping jaw, a threshold between worlds. A line of bandaged figures lined up from inside the structure and continued out the door, wrapping around the front plaza like a coiled serpent. Lucius darted towards the arranged individuals and grabbed the closest one to him by their swathed shoulders, as his repressed fears slowly crept up like spine.

“I need answers what is this where am I how did I get here who are you people”, Lucius rambled on, the tremble on his tongue making it difficult for him to sound articulate. “Say something, please say something.”

The bandaged figure’s eyes were just barely visible through the wrapped cloth, the emerald green of their irises radiating with an apathetic glow. They offered back no converse, remaining as silent as the rolling dust clouds scattering across the barren earth. Instead, the figure raised their right appendage, the bandages hanging down fluttering in its motion, and indifferently pointed towards the entrance of the cathedral. Lucius’s gaze followed the given direction, and passing the line, he climbed up the glossy stone steps towards the doorway, briefly hesitating before wandering inside.

The cathedral interior swallowed sound and light alike, wrapping everything in a hushed, reverent stillness. Columns like stone trees stretched upward into vaulted ceilings lost in shadow, their ribs fanning out like the bones of some ancient, sacred creature, with the carved pews abandoned like the remains of the creatures feast. Candles flickered along the nave casting golden halos and illuminating the dust that danced in the high shafts of the stained-glass windows, and the air was cool, faintly scented with incense and burning wax. The line of bandaged figures continued up the centre aisle, as the blood red carpet below their feet parted the path between the dark pews.

At the top of the aisle seated in the chancel were two figures draped in monochrome robes. The figure on the left wore a spotless white cassock, completely obscuring any details about the silhouette underneath, the folds flourishing elegantly down to rest on the tiled floor. His head was covered by a veil black as night, limiting any visibility into the figure’s face, and he sat upon a throne chiseled from obsidian ore. The figure on the right appeared to be a complete opposite, his cassock coloured a deep black, while his veil was snow white and his throne chiseled from quartz. Their reverent aura was only increased by the line of people waiting to see them.

Lucius pushed past the line and hustled up the aisle, eager to receive any response from the two figures. As he reached the steps of the chancel, two guards blocked the way, preventing him from proceeding. The two sentries wore dark crimson hoods with flowing capes that draped down their backs, meeting at sharp points like talons. In the place of their face was a pearl coloured clock dial surrounded with roman numerals, the hour and minute hands positioned the same on both figures. Decorating their throats was a necklace of vermillion stones, giving an esteemed elegance to their intimidating appearances, and the candlelight from the nave glistened off their claw like hands with sharpened tips down to their silver greaves. Their entire body was covered with interlocked ashen armour, configured with grooves allowing for complete movement and protection. The crimson fabric covering their heads met at the base of their necks and coursed down their chest in two strands of decorated material, connecting at their waist line to a similarly coloured rope, fastened as a belt. Affixed to both sides of the belt positioned on their thighs were engraved red leather sheaths, the blades held steadily in their taloned gauntlets as their arms were crossed in an ‘X’ across their chests. Both sentries were equipped with two blades resembling medieval crusader daggers, with a red and gold wrapped grip and a pommel shaped like the clocks they wore on their face. The cross guard was decorated with the same golden designs, and the onyx blade swallowed up all the light reflected off their armour.

One of the guards, in a swiftly executed motion, extended his right arm and held the point of his Divinera Blade against Lucius’s throat. Afraid to even breath, Lucius closed his eyes frozen with fear, and prepared for the possibility of this being his final moments.

“Give the kid a break, he’s with me”, a voice from the back row called out. “Send him over.”

As quickly as the guard had extended his arm, in a precisely executed movement he bent it right back and resumed his position. Lucius, having heard the interruption, opened his eyes and looked back to the pews to see where the voice had come from. Under the light of the stained-glass windows sat a figure comfortably in the back left row, calmly reading a newspaper held in his bandaged hands, as if what had just transpired was a common occurrence.

Lucius quickly ducked back behind the crowded single file line, as the bandaged figures resumed their turns at approaching the chancel one by one, waiting to pass by the guards and interact with the two papal characters. Walking down the side aisle along the western wall, he meekly approached the man who called out for him, unsure if this would be any less trouble.

“Thanks for your help. I’m… just trying to figure out what’s happening here”, Lucius said to the man, caressing the back of his neck.

The bandaged man folded over his newspaper and patted it down on the spot next to him. “Have a seat, I can tell you’re not from around here. If it wasn’t for me, those guys would’ve skewed you without a second thought. Crazy Hourmen are always so trigger happy. What’s your name?”

Lucius hesitated before telling the man his name, but realized at this point it couldn’t do him any worse, and took a seat in the pew next to him. “I’m Lucius. Those two robed guys are the Hourmen?”

“Lucius huh, you can call me Grimebank. But no, those two sitting down are the Vatics, Lucidum and Obscura. The two with the fancy looking knives are the Hourmen. You really don’t know how any of this works, do you?”

Grimebank sat with his legs propped up on the pew in front of him, covered from head to toe in bandages like the rest of the figures in line. He wore a red fleece bathrobe with white trim, tied loosely around his waist, and black wool slippers. His eyes were covered by mirrored shades, projecting Lucius’s reflection back at him and concealing any visibility about his facial features. In his right hand he held two lit cigarettes, the ashy smoke slowly climbing up to the convex roof, although the tightly wrapped bandages covering his mouth left a question as to how he could possible inhale.

“The Vatics? And all these people are lining up to see them?”

“The Vatics are all knowing, all powerful seers. You can ask them any question that your heart desires, any answers that you seek they can provide to you. With a catch of course. Lucidum always tells the truth, while Obscura always tells a lie. Nobody knows which one is which, their physical appearances can’t even give you a clue to their current identity because they can switch bodies whenever they please. It’s a risky business, but then again life’s all about risks.” Grimebank ashed both cigarettes simultaneously onto the tiled floor, even though Lucius hadn’t witnessed him take a puff yet.

“Then what about the bandages, why is everyone covered in them?”

“What did you think those two wizards were giving answers out of the kindness of their hearts? They want something in return for their wisdom, they want a piece of the asker’s soul. Each question requires a sacrifice, an offering of one’s own flesh, blood, and spirit. The bandaged ones are those who have asked far more than they should have, and they will continue to offer up what little they have left until all that remains is their hollow husk.”

“But you’re all bandaged too, you musk have also asked them for something?”

Even though Grimebank’s face was completely covered, Lucius could sense a smirk across his face. “I’ve long paid my dues, there is nothing more I require from them. I just come here to sit back and watch.”

He stood up, holding the rolled up newspaper against his waist and gestured towards the Vatics. “If you wanna ask them a question, you better get in line. Come see me out back when you’re all finished up here, I now feel it’s my duty to properly prepare you for this crazy place.”

Grimebank, now in the centre aisle, tucked his newspaper into his inner robe pocket and turned his neck towards Lucius, the luster from the stained-glass windows sparkling whimsically in his mirrored lenses.

“Oh and Lucius”, he calmly remarked, “Welcome to Pareidolia.”