Chapter 29: "Sons of Silence"

I closed my eyes, letting my consciousness drift freely into the vastness of my thoughts.

I feel light, free of guilt.

Yet an unsettling sound would not let me rest: it was an uneasy vibration that, with a sublime force, shattered my calm.

I can’t stand it anymore.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing on a dark ocean. The pressure my feet exerted on it created fractures on its surface. And yet, I did not sink.

What is this place? Being here is uncomfortable and at the same time… comforting. It looks empty, desolate.

“It is not empty, it is filled with Silence.” A familiar voice answered from the distance.

The place stretched into infinity. Everything was both near and far at once: the landscape was fused with the veil of that reality, creating the illusion of an impossible immediacy.

“Silence?” I asked, puzzled.

Is the water trembling… to the rhythm of my heart?

“It is the Silence within you, the one that shapes you as its Son.” Replied another voice, barely perceptible.

“And if you are its Son, then you are our brother.” said the last one, wavering on the edge of the horizon.

The only object in that liminal space was a split moon illuminating the sky. Its edges stretched out chaotically, and its jagged blades gave it an intimidating appearance.

“Who are you? Why am I here?”

I began to despair: panic set in.

I have to return to the battle, otherwise my master will finish Zera… And besides her, what happened to my real body? Why do I feel like I’ve been transported to another dimension? Did I die? Is this purgatory and I’m waiting to reincarnate?

“We are the souls you freed in the mausoleum.” One replied, seeping into my calf.

“Now our prison is your body until you accept Silence as the only truth.” Added another.

“And the only truth right now is the emotions that control you, brother.” Lhe last one pronounced.

They were formless masses fluctuating in the vastness of that world: my spirit.

“What do you mean? Don’t make me wait, give me answers! Out there a massacre might be happening. Zera and Jix are my comrades and they need me.” I replied in anger, exasperated by their slowness.

“It seems your suffering has not been enough to teach you how to act in this world.”

“Now your emotions control your body, rage has blinded your future, your ambition.”

“That is our work: we manifest the will of Silence in pursuit of our revenge.”

At their words, my heartbeat quickened, and with it the vibrations of the ocean intensified, rising into a wild swell.

“Didn’t you go through the same as I did? Don’t you know the horror of being abandoned? That is why I must return. Right now, I order you.”

Do I have the power to take it back by my own means? How, if I don’t even understand where I am? Then, can I convince them to listen to me? Negotiate?

“How did you do it? Why did this happen?” I asked, hoping to escape through their answers.

“With our presence, the more damage you receive, the stronger you will become.” Explained the youngest.

“However, everything has a price. If your soul does not withstand that power, it will be the honesty within you that seizes control of your actions.”

“You carry a beast within you that you ignore, one that cannot be suppressed,” exclaimed the oldest soul.

A beast? A creature? An entity? Or worse still, the will of a profane God…

“Silence took advantage of your weakness to impose its will. When you fell unconscious, we handed control to the shapeless tangle of feelings that dominate you, that have yet to be calmed.” It explained, grotesque expressions flickering across its abstract face.

“Vengeance, a tide that gnaws at your intestines and rots your soul, though it will reward it with something no God could grant you.”

“Darek, we share the same purpose: we long to see Zenith on its knees. Silence desires the same: that is why we became its retinue.”

Shards of the moon began to fall in a rain of meteors, tearing at the essence of the place. At the same time, I felt an incomparable pain in my chest, as if my muscles were being torn apart.

It’s destroying me. Are they my madness? My insanity? My delirium? Each cut is an echo that splinters my sanity…

“The Silence believes you’ve lost your guide, your purpose, that’s why you’re falling under the sway of such trivial things as companionship or loyalty.” It said, twisting in jubilation.

“We too long for revenge, but your methods are not the right ones. You lack hatred, bloodthirstiness.”

“In this way, we shall fulfill our destiny.” They roared in unison, in an unbearable chant.

They’ve been locked inside the bell for so long they’ve warped the very concept of vengeance. They no longer simply want revenge, rather, they seek to inflict harm for their own satisfaction. Or was it the Silence that twisted their spirits?

The moon began to sink. Along with it, an unbearable atmosphere hammered at the remnants of my reason: its pressure bent me down.

Time keeps running outside the prison my mind has become. I must hurry—if something were to happen to Zera, I could never forgive myself.

“You’ve changed, Darek. You’ve let the Radiance fade from your being. You will complete the design I entrusted to you, and that is why my purpose in your life has not yet ended.” Said Lumen, driving the spirits away.

With her presence, the moon ceased its hostility, adopting a pure glow. The ocean repressed its sinister hue.

“Yet you will not manifest your true potential if you keep believing that redeeming your sins will lighten your burden.” Her warm voice calmed the veil within me which, thanks to her benevolence, began slowly to mend.

She wrapped me in her arms, giving me a gentle, delicate embrace. I savored how her tender affection healed my wounds.

Is this the true warmth of the Goddesses? Did I feel the same under Zenith’s claws?

“You asked Ruin to tell you how to erase the memories of your past life. However, that is not the way.”

“Then what should I do? I don’t understand. The doubts, the remorse, the guilt—why did they suddenly appear in this world? Since my arrival, Milo’s ghost has never ceased tormenting me.” As I spoke, I felt how I relieved a suffocating pressure.

“The peace your soul longs for lies hidden behind forgiveness. You learned from Zera’s kindness and from my servant’s loyalty. Keep the principles you’ve inherited ever present in your actions: act with my goodness—the goodness of the Radiance.”

After that, the moon vanished, the ocean dried up, and reality disintegrated. A light as bright as the oldest sun in the universe blinded me.

Once more I crossed the threshold and was reborn in this world.