“Elysia must’ve regretted it when she ate the apple. Like what mother did. But I think… It’s the opposite as well. What other choice did they have? Aside from mother. That was my fault.” The girl uttered as they reached the gates of the Garden. “Say, did she turn into a monster too?”
Frost paused. The sea of blood had drained enough where it only reached up to their ankles.
The answer was obvious, but she could not come forward to call Elysia a monster.
“I haven’t met her yet. I’ve met people close to her who used to be her friends that want her dead now, for the same reasons as we wanted to get rid of that giant bird.”
“She can transform people into those swords?”
“You have the first part right. Put it this way; she can draw out the worst of someone and parade it like it’s their perfect self, when in reality they’re closer to monsters.”
“Like drawing out a potential? Or a small part of their whole?”
Frost smiled, scrubbing the girl’s head playfully.
“How’d you figure that out?”
“The apple slices I saw. Aren’t they all just a small piece of the whole thing?”
“… Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right. Just a small piece is being drawn out. The rest is left to rot.”
“Mm. What did we learn?” The girl held onto Frost’s hand tightly as they stepped forth into the crimson Garden. “That apples are versatile!”
“A bit too versatile if they can turn people into monsters. By the way… what’s your relationship with… Your mother?”
“Close. No one else sets foot into the palace, so we used to get to see each other all the time.”
This statement took Frost aback. Her steps froze abruptly as she gazed up at the fountain of blood where the Icon of Judgement remained impaled by the castle’s piercing spires, like a beast skewered lengthwise on a pike.
An awful premonition washed over her like the waves that swallowed the ripples coming off their ankles.
“Why is that? You didn’t have servants?”
“All the Nobles and important people live outside of the palace. That place is for my mother only. I used to live there.”
“… was it because she’s a monster?”
“No. Even before I gave her the apple. Afterwards, most of my time was spent in the Garden and away from the castle. It’s far too large for only two people. Even brother Iscario wasn’t allowed inside, let alone downstairs. Because that’s where mother used to sleep.”
She was uncomfortable speaking about her mother. But she spoke regardless.
“What… am I saying. Sleep was all she wanted. But all she could do was cry. The only times I remember her happy was when I was allowed to visit.”
Her expression darkened, lighting up slightly at Frost’s touch. The two steadily approached the mouth of the crimson-stained castle. There was no entrance to be found. Frost only knew it was the mouth because that was where the Princess pointed.
“The King imprisoned her, right? She must’ve been a Healer judging by your hair. Healers were persecuted around this period. Not many know about what happened in the north too with Midas Company.”
“’This period’… you sound so old. I feel like if I had an older sister, then it’d be you. Ahaha…
… You have it wrong, miss Frost.
The Princess turned to Frost apologetically.
The reveal caused Frost’s entire world to distort. The whole reason for Puritas’ ideals and purge was all because of the King. Invisible tendrils from her mind wrapped at all answers she could find, but none of them could reasonably explain how Puritas operated in the absence of its King.
It could not have been Iscario either, as he was a Star and its Prince.
There had to be someone else that was at the helm of Puritas.
“I said there is no such thing as the King of Puritas. That person never existed. People believed him to be true. I did for a long time as well.”
The waterfall of blood parted way, revealing a hidden entrance far too large for humans or Corrupted alike. The pair of doors were marked in a language Frost recognized as the 56-letter alphabet of the old world and the Eternal Library.
What more, the markings on it also resembled those found on the Unlying Tablet. Frost placed her hand on it, and the tablet glowed with a vibrant red before the doors parted open. The girl immediately shot a look up at Frost, shocked for an unknown reason before she continued.
“That was until I saw them. The day I dreamt of an Angel, with white hair holding a sword of fire. On her shoulders were pale rods that were too broad to be called wings. Behind her were three tails.”
Within the palace was one long hallway.
The tall walls and empty, pale interior were all too familiar.
It was like peering into the halls of the Nexus.
“She called herself the Red Wing; the bearer of truth. Her teachings came from tablets like the door.”
Tablet of Bleeding Truth
“They bled the message of the constructed King. I then realized why people were made to suffer in our Kingdom.”
Blood flooded into the pale halls like a red carpet was rolled out exclusively for them.
“Everything – all that is white and touched by the tears of my mother – was fueled by blood and sin. Paradise needed a Hell to exist. I think that’s why miss Colorless… betrayed us in the end.”
Entities arose from the blood within the pale halls. They took the appearance of human women with wings and garbs nearly identical to the Blood Angels. Their hands were cusped as if begging a higher power to quench their thirst.
“GET BACK!” Frost roared, pulling the Princess behind her defensively.
“I-I’ve never seen this before… How come…!?”
Blood wept from crimson eyes and trickled down pale cheeks. Letters formed as the blood dripped into the pool of blood beneath, creating bleeding, pale rods that hummed with a mysterious frequency.
< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET INSPIRES >
Rod of Agonizing Legibility
“… Reverence. And now Sin? This is… related to an Angel. Aren’t they supposed to be… no. They’re no longer direct virtues to sin. Elysia’s indulged in Gluttony. So this one has to be Wrath. But isn’t this crazy? There are dozens of them, and they’re all Monsoon levelled.”
//////// < ALERT > ////////
< Despite their Monsoon Classification, they are not Corrupted >
< They are closer to what the Impuritas are >