Ancient Existence

Lawrence tried to drift off to sleep but found himself unable to. Although he doubted anyone could rest peacefully after waking up in the body of someone who died in an unfamiliar world.

He briefly stared out at the window once more as the faint moonlight began to pour in before attempting to sit upright, wincing in pain.

The fatigue still made its presence known as he floundered off the bed and landed on the ground with a heavy thud. The impact woke him up enough to revitalize himself with enough energy to stand. His legs felt like spaghetti, but he pressed on to examine the other things he had missed in the room.

On the nightstand, there was a lamp with a switch. Activating it revealed a warm, orange light that enveloped the room, leaving dark shadows in the corners. It exuded a faint, slightly mesmerizing aura, emanating from the small blue stone at its center.

I’m surprised Jacob, or my now father, managed to turn magic stones into alternative power sources for everyday appliances, rather than coal or steam.

With his newfound energy, Lawrence stood up and approached the bookshelf against the wall, taking a random book and flipping it to the cover.

The Darkness That Awaits Within…Robert Downing. He flipped to the first page, where it detailed a summary of the current era of the world and its background. “Six hundred and forty years ago, the Age of Darkness came to an end, and the pinnacle of our species emerged: the Age of Humanity, a golden age of prosperity. But as any arrival of zenith, also comes evil.”

Lawrence turned to the next page, which listed various occult groups and secret orders.

“The Chaos Sect, the oldest of them all, is said to have persisted very shortly into the next era from the Age of Darkness. Much information about them has disappeared, but they have since perished. However, there are still very few who worship the evil known as Chaos and its Madness.”

There were many runes and various symbols beneath the paragraph, none of which were familiar to Lawrence. He glossed over them as he continued to read.

“The Undead, the mere existence being a putrid blasphemy against Assiah, the Sol Renaissance. Necromancy is no less heretical than communing with the spawn of Gevurah.”

Lawrence could tell the author of the book was clearly a devout worshipper of the Church from his tone, and he chuckled softly to himself. “It doesn’t take a genius to see how biased this writing is.”

“Followers of The Dark Moon, anarchists who razed the previous Jaktan Royal Household to the ground before another noble family took their place. Many went into hiding shortly after, and many still believe they exist, although that Night of Embers took place nearly two hundred years ago.”

He quickly flipped through the pages, unable to find anymore relevant information. With a light sigh, he returned the book and grabbed another one. It had a slightly teal cover with brass-colored text on the front.

“Ages Defined. By Stephen Infirnan.”

Lawrence skipped to the first page and began reading silently.

“What we call the Age of Nothing, Tellus formed into a molten rock of magma and violent storms. It wouldn’t be for about four billion or so years that this existence would shift. Then came the Age of Genesis, an era of evolutionary chaos. Arckerion, microscopic single-celled organisms imbued with mana from the Leylines, began to appear and oxygenate Tellus, forming the atmosphere.”

Lawrence silently shook his head in approval.

“For five hundred million years, life slowly evolved, and pre-human civilizations established themselves all around the world. The Principles blessed these civilizations with intelligence and sentience, which soon ushered in the revered Golden Age.”

The amber-eyed man sat back down at the edge of his bed, immersed in the history told between his fingers.

“What we call our progenitors, the Praestrurics, were grand architects capable of building the Inverted Spires. Their structures are scattered across the lands, and many are still being discovered today. The Praestrurics were capable of creating artificial life, such as the Arbcus, Tegire, and Luvus, that roam the halls of the now abandoned labyrinths. Sadly, many records of the Praestrurics are lost to time, so little is known about how they achieved this.”

“At the same time, the Elves, under Yesod, who possessed intelligence that rivaled or even surpassed the Praestrurics, but the Elves remained passive, not interacting with the other civilizations. Then, the Angels, blessed with near immortality, observed Tellus from the Heavens, only interfering with world affairs if it faced destruction. Enkiddu blessed the beasts with similar gifts, namely the Dragons, which evolved into the most supreme form of life. And lastly, the Giants, master builders of the Northern Continent, who often worked with the Praestrurics.”

Lawrence flipped to the next page.

“The descendents of the Praestrurics, us, humans, soon revolted against them due to our indentured servitude to the Praestruric Empire. It is said that we conquered the lands for these architects, who knew nothing of the reality of war and violence. Even with their artificial life to defend them, the Praestrurics fell, and soon their empire.”

“The Age of Darkness came not long after the fall of the Praestrurics. During the humans’ conquest for expansion against the other, less capable races and smaller kingdoms, a vicious cycle of bloodshed ensued. That violence manifested into evil spirits and eventually evolved into demons. Around this time, is when the Principle Gevurah had gained a sense of individuality and waged war against Tellus.”

“A dark sheet of darkness, which was the manifestation of humanity’s collective unconsciousness, blanketed the sky in night, blocking out most of the sun’s rays. There are differing theories about how long the Age of Darkness lasted, but most guess around a few hundred years. Towards the end, two Emissaries chosen by Assiah, Cain and Abel, formed the Agarian Church to unite humanity, and eventually pushed back the forces of darkness. Assiah and the remaining Principles sealed Gevurah away within the Abyssal Inferno and ended the Age of Darkness.”

“The world rejoiced, and the Principles allegedly quietly withdrew themselves from the world, only acting through their Emissaries, or answering through prayer. The world began to recover, and humanity strived and ushered in the current era, the Age of Humanity.”

Lawrence blinked a few times after finishing the summary. He skimmed through the hundreds of pages that explained the events of each age in much greater detail.

“Yikes…”

He returned the book and fell onto his bed face up.

This world seriously has some amazing history. I would love to read more about it, but that’s not my priority right now. There’s just one thing bugging me about that summary…A piece is missing that explains why these alleged Principles withdrew. Is it just a convenient explanation for the Church to explain certain events, or is there really something missing…?

~

“Kaede.”

“Hm…?” The quiet boy who had his nose buried in a history book perked his head up briefly.

He and Kana sat together outside during their lunch period at a wooden table. The sun floated high above alone without a cloud in sight, encapsulating the two high schoolers in its warm rays.

“Do you believe gods exist?”

Kaede snorted softly and returned his gaze to his book. “I think you know the answer to that.”

His friend didn’t speak for a long time. Finding her silence abnormal, he responded with, “Do you?”

“Mmm…I think I’d like to believe. In Christianity, no matter how grave a sin you commit, as long as you accept Jesus and repent, then you’ll enter Heaven when you die.”

Kaede furrowed his brow slightly but didn’t speak.

“Even if they aren’t real, it’s comforting to believe in a principle like that. But for us, it’s not that much different. We go to the temples and cleanse ourselves and apologize to the kami.”

“...What are you getting at?” Kaede asked.

Ignoring his question, she got closer to him and asked, “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

“If I don’t believe in gods, what makes you think I believe in reincarnation?” He responded irately.

Kana let out a soft chuckle and waved her hand. “Sorry, sorry.”

“I mean to say, if you were granted a second chance in life after death, would you take it?”

This time, Kaede did not respond immediately.

After some time, he let out an exasperated sigh. “Anything is better than this life. What about you?”

“I don’t think I would.”

Kaede stopped reading and lifted one eyebrow. “Why not?”

“I’m still young, yet I feel like I’ve accomplished so much. I know there’s more out for me to reach out and grab. I know I can do anything when I put my mind to it.”

Kaede rested the side of his face on one hand as she spoke optimistically.

“I wish I shared your confidence.”

She giggled in response and then plucked the history book right out of his hands.

“If you weren’t reading all of the time and saw the world in front of you, you would.”

“If I don’t know everything, then I can’t be confident looking out at a world I know little about.”

Kana frowned a bit and lifted the book slightly above her shoulder.

“Kaede, you need to learn to take risks. Step outside of your ‘three-foot world,’ or whatever it was you told me about before. Trust me when I say this stoic attitude of yours isn’t doing you any favors.”

“It’s for that reason that I’ve been able to protect myself emotionally and mentally. My mind has grown calluses harder than metal. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the reason.”

She sighed heavily and reluctantly handed back his book.

“You know, one day, if you don’t change, your past is going to come back to haunt you.”

Kaede reopened his book and flipped through the pages until he found where he had previously.

“Somehow, I’m doubtful. Even if you’re right, it’s going to be nothing I can’t handle. My past has ruined my aspirations and any will for independence.”

His childhood friend rose slowly and stretched a little.

“What are you going to do once you graduate, then?” She stretched her arm tightly and groaned.

“Go to a public university, graduate with a decent degree, find a decent-paying office job that doesn’t require extraordinary qualifications, retire when I get old, then die.”

Kana grimaced slightly in response. “I knew you just said you had no aspirations, but lighten up a little, go for something higher to make your time worth it.”

“I think that’s a sufficient enough life goal, you have to agree that much at least.”

She sighed heavily and shook her head disapprovingly. “I swear, there’s no changing you, Kaede.”