Chapter 27:
Thirty Years
Surreantasm
"Somewhere in the Stratum, an iron engine churneth black gall, and childhood sketches awake as ravenous fiends. In that shuttered atelier where the false and real dissolve, an innocent dream curdles into a maze of bone and despair."
- Commentary, Tales of the Transmitted Strange
...
Today was the day we finished paying off the debt of thirty years.
Time on this farm did not pass as it did in the mortal world. No one here grew old with the passing of years; time merely condensed into tightening rings of wood grain inside my chest, and a layer of lush green moss slowly creeping from my knees up to my biceps.
Roughly three years after the day old beetle Qei scavenged my corpse and gave me this wooden body, my memories had awakened completely.
I remembered everything. I remembered that summer afternoon back on Earth, the kitchen with the faint scent of my father's tobacco ash, passing the university entrance exams only to feel completely empty inside, and that ice-cold stroke of a blade severing my throat on the stone floor.
Memories returned in full, yet emotion was nowhere to be found.
Inside this hollow chest wrapped in bark, I possessed no heart of flesh and bone to thud with resentment, nor tear ducts to shed a single drop of sorrow.
Master Oculus said the human soul, along with all joy, grief, and fury, likely remained behind in the severed head. Without it, I was merely a walking log. I worked and studied magic aimlessly, without a goal. I felt no gratitude toward old Qei, harbored no hatred for Soren, and knew neither how to weep nor laugh.
Yet even as an unfeeling piece of wood, I found a purpose of my own: I wanted to reclaim my human emotions... and I had to protect that blonde girl, along with the black cat who often slept on my shoulder.
Just seeing Gli smile and hearing Skugga purr beside my ear brought a strange peace to the wood grain within my chest.
...
Out in the yard, sniffling cries had echoed since the crack of dawn.
The green beetle lad Vell'Kor was clinging tightly to Gli's leg, his spring-hinged iron arms flailing as tears and snot streamed down, threatening to rust his screw joints:
"Wah wah wah! Do not go! Soft biped, once you leave, who will help me pull thornweeds? Who will scratch the belly of that black fur-beast?! I do not want to stay here alone with that stingy old man!"
The cat Skugga, pinned tight between the lad's metal legs, unhappily bared its claws to scrape across his sleeve, letting out meows like a stern reprimand.
High in the rafters, Master Oculus slowly drifted downward. For the first time in thirty years, I saw a clear droplet leak from the corner of his singular colossal eye, dripping onto the tabletop with a soft plop:
"Old man Qei is truly a skinflint! You mastered basic magical theory ten years ago and completed the advanced arts twenty years ago, yet he begrudged a few drops of fuel and refused to fly you to the branch academy for your advancement exam!"
Oculus drew a heavy sigh, all seven tentacles drooping listlessly:
"Regardless, you are the finest student I have ever taught. Even though... the early days were an absolute catastrophe."
I slightly tilted my smooth neck stump. A gentle hum resonated from within my chest. I remembered those days as well.
Those were the afternoons when I used magic to shape floating water spheres for Skugga to play with; the times I mispronounced an incantation's suffix and caused my own chest to detonate, showering sawdust across the ceiling; and the time I gathered too much force, nearly pulling a meteorite from the sky straight into the plowed furrows, sending old Qei chasing after me with a shovel as I fled for dear life.
Yet the most profound lesson Oculus taught me, comically enough, was the art of shouting fake spell names. I vividly recalled the time he bellowed: "Lunar Eclipse!", only for me to raise both arms skyward in defense, while he suddenly shot a tentacle up from the ground, driving a thunderous punch straight into my wooden ribs.
"Survival rule number one," he had choked with laughter at the time, "never trust what spills from your enemy's mouth!"
...
Drifting through memories, Oculus's voice snapped me back to reality:
"Regardless, good pupil. Today I will hold a provisional graduation ceremony for you. I cannot follow you to the lower stratum; my presence carries too much weight, and that realm would collapse under the strain. Remember this: once down there, find a way to sit for the advancement exam, then return to Stratum II to continue your studies. Now, I have a gift for you."
With that, one of his tentacles flicked, tearing open a seam of light in midair. From within tumbled an assortment of colorful garments: pointed wizard hats, a garish jester suit hung with bells, leather knight armor, and even a fringed cowboy coat...
Old Qei, carrying a fuel drum past, saw the clutter and slammed his bronze pincer against the floor, snarling:
"Throw that pile of rubbish away right now! The house is turning into a rat's nest!"
Oculus ignored him, turning excitedly to me:
"I will enchant these with reinforcement. When wearing it, you can cast select higher-tier spells without formal clearance. Well, which set do you like?"
Gli stood beside us, her blue eyes lighting up. She excitedly picked up each hat to test on my neck stump. Peculiarly, since I lacked a head, every hat slipped straight down onto my shoulders, looking both hilarious and endearing. Yet Gli clapped her hands in delight every time:
"Choose the knight set, brother Ljus! In the fairy tales my mother used to read, knights in armor were always very cool, roaming far and wide to uphold justice!"
Oculus waved several tentacles in disagreement:
"You must pick the wizard cloak! It looks wise, mysterious, and truly scholarly!"
Skugga, for his part, was busy playing chase with young Vell'Kor beneath the table, not paying the slightest attention to us.
In the end, an odd combination was chosen: I wore a steel-rimmed knight helm adorned with a scarlet plume, and draped myself in an ankle-length ash-gray wizard cloak. It was a patchwork look unlike anything else, yet Gli looked at me with eyes sparkling with pride. They said that right now, I looked like a human.
After imparting a few more instructions on finding my emotions, Oculus tapped a tentacle against my shoulder. Right then, old Qei stepped out onto the porch, his voice dry:
"Time to go, you two, and the cat as well, hurry up!"
We said our reluctant farewells to Vell'Kor and Master Oculus. The green beetle lad flailed his two iron arms in a frantic wave, shouting that once grown, he would surely build a ship to cross the strata and find us.
Gli carried Skugga onto the vessel. I walked quietly behind, the wizard cloak fluttering in the draft, just like a true knight watching over his little princess.
...
The iron ship shuddered and rocketed into the void.
Once more, it crossed thousands of radiant ribbons of light and distant drifting celestial bodies. The magnificent panorama beyond the viewport left Gli spellbound; she pressed her face against the glass, innocent and eager like a child brought into a fairy garden for the very first time.
She turned to me, asking in a soft whisper:
"So... are we almost back, brother Ljus?"
I did not know how to smile; I merely gave a slight nod of my neck joint. I lifted my coarse wooden hand to stroke her hair, then moved to pet Skugga. But the black cat immediately showed his haughty pride, he hopped onto my shoulder, extending his claws to scratch lightly against the bark of my neck, a habit he refused to break.
...
A few hours slipped by in silence before old Qei used a glowing stone to open the spatial gate.
Wind gusted into the cockpit. The cathedral ruins of years past emerged before our eyes once more.
Thirty years had passed; the fractured gray flagstones and shattered arches still drifted quietly in the void. Yet strangely, the air was no longer as bitter as that first day. The terror and loneliness that had once suffocated our chests seemed to have dissolved into nothingness long ago.
At Master Oculus's earnest request prior to departure, old Qei began scouring every corner of the ruins to search for my severed head.
After tracing ancient footprints across the stones, we stopped by the ledge where he stood. The beetle turned his head, his voice dropping low:
"Your head... was taken away by a demon long ago. The residual traces show it was brought down to Lower First."
Both Gli and I froze. Though I had no heart to feel the shock, my mind told me this was an immense and dangerous revelation.
Old Qei folded his pincers over his thorax, continuing:
"And what is worse, the gate leading back to your Stratum 0 is exceptionally strict. Lacking your original head, the gate will never grant you passage. Only the girl and the cat qualify as original living beings from that place. The only other way for you to cross that threshold without your head... is to die entirely once more."
Silence fell over the space, thick and suffocating.
Was the only way forward to seek that head in the very lair of demons... or die a second death?
"..."
"Brother Ljus..." Gli's voice trembled, her small hand clutching the fabric of my cloak tight.
I looked down, a deep, raspy voice echoing from my hollow chest:
"Gli, take Skugga and return first. I... will follow later."
Gli stared at me in disbelief. She had lived with me for over thirty years. To her, I was not an unfeeling wooden statue, but kin, the only family she possessed in this existence. How could she leave me behind?
The cat Skugga leaped down from my shoulder, padded forward, and used a soft paw to tap gently against the back of my wooden hand, like an understanding handshake.
Gli shook her head vehemently, tears welling in her eyes, yet her gaze burned with fierce resolve:
"No! I will go with you. We... must return together!"
I stood motionless for a long moment, looking upon the determination on the young girl's face:
"Are you certain?"
"I am certain!" Gli choked out, unwavering.
"Meow." Skugga chimed in as well, his black tail flicking in firm agreement.
Old Qei watched the three of us for a brief second, let out a low hiss through his breathing vents, and turned his back:
"If that is your decision, take care. Over there lies an open gate; go through that way."
Gli bowed her head low:
"Thank you so much for everything... old Qei."
The beetle did not look back; he simply stepped through his own spatial threshold and snapped it shut, his massive silhouette dissolving into nothingness.
...
Gli and I looked at one another, then walked toward the gate radiating brilliant light at the chasm's edge.
I recalled thirty years ago, when that best friend of old had also stepped through this very gate and shut it behind him. I did not know how he fared now, whether he lived or lay dead. I harbored no grudge, nor any regret for that blade thirty years prior. I merely wished to see him one more time.
As both of us set foot across the threshold, a familiar streak of light flashed before my mind, accompanied by lines of text flickering like a dream freshly broken:
Transfer successful... K--- [Data corrupted]... Deceased, welcome back.
The gray gloom of the ruins burst like a soap bubble and dissolved away.
And before our eyes, a world overflowing with vibrant colors burst open...
...
Wind gusted into the cockpit. The cathedral ruins of years past emerged before our eyes once more.
Thirty years had passed; the fractured gray flagstones and shattered arches still drifted quietly in the void. Yet strangely, the air was no longer as bitter as that first day. The terror and loneliness that had once suffocated our chests seemed to have dissolved into nothingness long ago.
At Master Oculus's earnest request prior to departure, old Qei began scouring every corner of the ruins to search for my severed head.
After tracing ancient footprints across the stones, we stopped by the ledge where he stood. The beetle turned his head, his voice dropping low:
"Your head... was taken away by a demon long ago. The residual traces show it was brought down to Lower First."
Both Gli and I froze. Though I had no heart to feel the shock, my mind told me this was an immense and dangerous revelation.
Old Qei folded his pincers over his thorax, continuing:
"And what is worse, the gate leading back to your Stratum 0 is exceptionally strict. Lacking your original head, the gate will never grant you passage. Only the girl and the cat qualify as original living beings from that place. The only other way for you to cross that threshold without your head... is to die entirely once more."
Silence fell over the space, thick and suffocating.
Was the only way forward to seek that head in the very lair of demons... or die a second death?
"..."
"Brother Ljus..." Gli's voice trembled, her small hand clutching the fabric of my cloak tight.
I looked down, a deep, raspy voice echoing from my hollow chest:
"Gli, take Skugga and return first. I... will follow later."
Gli stared at me in disbelief. She had lived with me for over thirty years. To her, I was not an unfeeling wooden statue, but kin, the only family she possessed in this existence. How could she leave me behind?
The cat Skugga leaped down from my shoulder, padded forward, and used a soft paw to tap gently against the back of my wooden hand, like an understanding handshake.
Gli shook her head vehemently, tears welling in her eyes, yet her gaze burned with fierce resolve:
"No! I will go with you. We... must return together!"
I stood motionless for a long moment, looking upon the determination on the young girl's face:
"Are you certain?"
"I am certain!" Gli choked out, unwavering.
"Meow." Skugga chimed in as well, his black tail flicking in firm agreement.
Old Qei watched the three of us for a brief second, let out a low hiss through his breathing vents, and turned his back:
"If that is your decision, take care. Over there lies an open gate; go through that way."
Gli bowed her head low:
"Thank you so much for everything... old Qei."
The beetle did not look back; he simply stepped through his own spatial threshold and snapped it shut, his massive silhouette dissolving into nothingness.
...
Gli and I looked at one another, then walked toward the gate radiating brilliant light at the chasm's edge.
I recalled thirty years ago, when that best friend of old had also stepped through this very gate and shut it behind him. I did not know how he fared now, whether he lived or lay dead. I harbored no grudge, nor any regret for that blade thirty years prior. I merely wished to see him one more time.
As both of us set foot across the threshold, a familiar streak of light flashed before my mind, accompanied by lines of text flickering like a dream freshly broken:
Transfer successful... K--- [Data corrupted]... Deceased, welcome back.
The gray gloom of the ruins burst like a soap bubble and dissolved away.
And before our eyes, a world overflowing with vibrant colors burst open...
...
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