Mors

Standing hopelessly wasn’t going to do much, Eugo had to go in and do something… although first he would need a weapon. Running home to find a shovel would take too long, so instead he began asking around.

Unfortunately, all that stared back at him were the glossy eyes of people who clearly were not paying attention to the boy who needed a shovel. Eugo quickly changed his plan to search for one instead.

From afar you’d almost think he was imitating Fiz, a frantic Eugo scrambled his way around the castle in search of a single shovel. He formulated the idea that there may be a shovel in one of the side caves… although it may take too long to find one.

Eugo’s mind burned with various ideas and possibilities so much that his skin seemed to contract over itself. Just as his brain seemed ready to burst, a rattle on his shoulder rescued him.

Turning around, he saw George. The boy silently gave him a shovel, as though he knew everything that had been bouncing around in Eugo’s head. Exchanging a nod with his friend Eugo ran back towards the entrance.

§

By now it was barren, all who wanted to enter had already done so. All that was left was a thin boy wielding a bent shovel… Speaking of which, Eugo noticed the shovel George had given him was recessive.

The head was nicely shaped but seemed double the thickness and weight of almost every shovel he had every carried. Not to mention the long cylindrical metal shaft finished in what Eugo could only describe as a blade. Where George got this shovel… Eugo was unable to fathom.

Now all Eugo had to do was walk inside the castle… He sprinted towards it. Although which each step that slowed into a jog… and then a walk. By the time Eugo was inside he had stopped entirely. Unable to comprehend the magnificence of everything around him.

Walls carried higher than he had ever seen, in a true untainted white. It was not the light grey Eugo was accustomed to, that the castle had slowly developed outside. No, it was truly pure.

Yet moving his head down to the ground this wasn’t the case, as a new colour had been added to the castle’s palette. Rivers of ruby shined their way around, giving the floor a fresh paint. 

Mutilated bodies hung their way around the room, most had been beaten to death. There were no weapons strewn about, those who were dead had most certainly died in fear.

Not one Scorcher body was in sight, and yet Eugo felt remorse. His mind questioned the actions of Ilken, of everyone. Though he had to push forwards, now was not the time to think.

Following the trail of blood led him upstairs, somehow to a room that seemed… clean. Yes, Eugo knew the castle was only white, but there was not a body, nor drop of blood in sight. Instead… an object. 

It stood slightly raised in the centre, of a dark abyssal black.

Eugo felt the urge, to touch it. Walking over his hand stroked the unnaturally smooth surface. He couldn’t help but feel that his course hands were unworthy of such a creation. 

No, it was so magnificent no human hand could make this. Though looking at the castle walls around him, maybe they could.

He noticed a crack in the side, unsure if it was intentional, he gently lifted it. Beneath were line of unsoiled rectangular pieces. They interwove between black and white, seamlessly binding the two together.

Eugo touched it, and heard… sound? Such unnaturally clear sound. It was not harsh, nor coarse, unkept or unclean. He pressed another, and it was deeper a lower sound. A few more and he could hear everything from the highest to the lowest of sounds.

The boy lacked such a word for the beauty, he could not even comprehend the purpose of such a creation. Perhaps the sounds could destroy rock, or maybe help light fire. Eugo pressed some more of the peculiar indents. Together he could make several sounds, linked in… harmony.

His mind then thought of another possibility, the wonderous creation in front of him, was perhaps a weapon. One used to allure or trap the mind of those curious enough to touch it. 

Wrenching himself free Eugo walked back to the stairs leading upwards, where the blood continued.

§

Walking up the stairs, Eugo heard nothing. It was a suffocating silence that travelled its way downwards, though every now and then his own breath could comfort him. Perhaps when seeing a corpse splayed across the stairs, a barrier for Eugo to cross.

He reached the next floor higher than him and heard a voice. The raspy sound called out to him from the next floor and walking through he saw its origin.

“He…lp…” It was a Spotless man, laying up against a wall he seemed unable to stand. Eugo saw the man’s eyes, they had been gouged out only left with two empty sockets. Tears of crimson rolled down his face, curling their way down into his mouth.

Eugo vomited.

Looking back at the man both of his legs had been broken and he was unable to move. Eugo realised he must’ve heard him walking up the stairs.

“Pl…ease.” The man continued… Eugo’s eyed filled with tears at his futile actions. It seemed as though death was creeping through his body, and all that was left was his heart.

“End… it.”

It took Eugo a second to process what the man had said, but once he had; his mind screamed in agony. Eugo couldn’t comprehend death, let alone giving it to someone else. Why should this man die, surely, he could be saved.

He saw the man’s face tighten as pain crawled back into his limbs. Writhing the man’s hand lurched forward, a clamped around Eugo’s shovel. In a brief instant his face curled into joy as he shoved the metal instrument into his neck.

Still holding onto the shovel, Eugo felt it slightly scrape the man’s neck. He didn’t die. Saliva dripped through his teeth as the man futilely tried to stab the shovel through the neck. Eugo’s loose grip was all it took to prevent it.

Realising the issue, the man brought his own neck into the shovel, piecing himself. With a sudden jolt, the shovel tip pointed its way out from the man’s neck.

Eugo fell back, his hands and clothes and everything else drenched in blood. Air screeched from his lungs in the form of bloodcurdling cries. Shaking his head, he tried to turn away, but the image refused to fade from his mind.

Eugo tore at his face, skin peeling off into small curls that fell from his face. Convulsing into a heap he gagged, muffling his tortured cries.

Eventually the panic died off, his eyes, now bloodshot, squinted throughout the floor. He followed the trail of blood. In his head, cries of help of salvation, they pieced his brain. His hand slammed with rage, crying with agony and shaking with fear.

By the next floor, the sight of a single body caused him claw at the walls either side, nails broke off onto the floor. Although some part of Eugo cried at him from within. Trying to stich his ruptured mind, or at least calm it to sleep.

Eugo separated in two, a half of fear and rage, and one of peace. Both evoked an image within him, ones of horror and loss and ones of love and comfort. 

Eventually in his mind, Eugo remembered his purpose. Separating himself from reality he neglected both halves of his mind. He travelled to the past.

§

Days of coal smelting and peace awaited him, nothing mattered, and he worked happily in peace.

What had changed this… one day where he woke up without a lick of coal by his door. He met someone, and after that grew stronger friendship than he had in a while. Though it came with a cost.

Maybe it was worth it he thought, to experience such pleasure for it to balance out with pain. Or he could reject it all, living a life of true neutrality. Eugo realised it didn’t matter either way. Those around him would break past the wall he would build up, in fact they already had to begin with. Instead, he bore the terrors of society in his heart.

§

Kneeling down the boy prayed, it was a simple prayer, dedicated to a single person. The man who had died in such an excruciating pain. Eugo knew not if the prayer would console him, or help in any way, but it was enough to bring him peace.

With it came the acceptance that not all in the world could be saved. Looking around he saw the bodies of now… both Scorchers and Spotless. They danced together in an unwilling waltz, towards the same place. 

It didn’t matter who they were, but the inevitability was there. Eugo finally understood this, so he followed the trail of blood; and with this newfound gift. He ascended.