Chapter VI : SLOTH

Athan had no sense of being. Space and time seemed an unreasonable concept. The darkness that crawled around, grew thicker and more asphyxiating by the second. Weirdly, he felt held in place, despite his initial fall down the endless pit. As if he was tethered to an invisible string. His senses, just as lost as his whereabouts.

And then…

In an instant, an explosion of pure white light, swallowed him whole. A violent current, threw him far inside the land of luster, traversing at immense speeds he couldn't even think were achievable. Gradually, he began making sense of structures and shapes, until he came to see everything clearly. A realm devoid of surface or ceiling, accommodated by gigantic ivory poles that stretched on forever. As the force that dragged him away slowed down, he was suddenly let go, falling in uncoordinated manner. Coming harshly in contact with the top of a pillar, he rolled on its smooth floor, disoriented. Unable to control the flow of movement, his presence grew ever closer to the edge, but just as descend seemed eminent, the same force that brought his arrival came to halt the drop.

Eyes wide open, breath rough and anxious, Athan gazed down below, trying to figure out what on earth was happening. Smoothly, the current carried him back to stable ground, leaving him softly upon the pillar’s head. With tremble taking over him, Athan fell to his knees, clutching his chest as he shook with fear. This place looked… familiar.

Like something he had seen in his dreams…

“Greetings, child.”

Vibrant and sharp, a loud echoing voice resouned from above. Athan tilted his vision upwards, trying to find the voice’s origin. A single bright light was floating in the air, slowly approaching his position, methodically taking on a rather… humane form. As it touched ground, its exterior was fully built: half dressed in illumination, half drowned in black, with golden details and scars crawling on its body. 

Athan: “(in utter confusion) Who… are you..?”

The bizarre creature treaded to close the gap between the two of them, accompanied by countless grey threads that followed it like a moth to a flame. Athan stepped backwards, a dreadful expression conjured upon his eyes.

Athan: “(in distress) Stay away! Don’t come any closer!”

Noticing his reaction, the figure ceased its course, staring with what appeared as… concern.

“I hope you forgive my actions…”  

Instantaneously, the figure moved in a flash, appearing right before the worried man’s face, grabbing both sides of his head, and unleashing a devastatingly bright gleam from within its supposed eye sockets. The pale threads threw themselves upon Athan, clutching tightly every last part of his body. Both him and the figure ascended slowly, as terrified screams escaped the young man’s mouth, before getting covered by even more strings. The creature spoke, not in a normal manner. It said something that seemed… archaic.

“FERE STO FOS, TIN ALITHIA! (BRING THE TRUTH, INTO LIGHT!)”

Upon uttering these cryptic words, a row of peculiarly incomprehensible images appeared. However, one of them was more than just a weird amalgamation: a caring hand dropping a red petal into what seemed as a pond. This absurdity lasted for mere seconds, when a sole bright strand hit Athan straight in the chest. Suddenly, the cross etched onto Athan’s chest flickered with intensity, before delivering a shockwave that shook this entire plane of existence.

All threads flew away, and the figure was pushed backwards with such strong energy that it collided into a pylon, cracking it down the middle in the place it was struck. Athan fell right back at the leveled surface, watching as the torn piece crumbled and disappeared into the bottomless void that resided beneath. As he turned to look for the figure’s whereabouts, unbeknownst to him, a vile enemy was targeting him from behind…