8th of January, 1:00 pm, Unnamed place
"WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS? AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE FOR HER, SHE DECIDES TO CHEAT ON ME?"
The room is dimly lit and dirty. Crumpled tissues are scattered on the floor around the overflowing trash can. The room smells musty, like fresh air would be illegal.
"I EVEN SPENT MY OWN MONEY TO BUY HER A GIFT AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN THANK ME"
The screams echo through the room — probably hearable in the entire house.
"Could you please quiet down, honey?"
A gentle knock on the door, followed by a tired-sounding female voice.
"I SCREAM WHENEVER I WANT TO, MOM! IF YOU'D BE IN MY POSITION YOU'D SCREAM TOO!"
The man's voice is screeching. Then silence, followed by the quiet sound of the steps distancing themself again.
"Why are all of them like that? I am nothing except good towards them, and that's my reward?"
The man sits down at his PC and boots it up, the fans start to rotate, and the RGB lighting turns on as his rambling continues.
"You know what? I will forgive you for not listening to me, darling."
His eyes gaze at the wall, presumably a poster hanging right where he looks. But right now there's only darkness.
"You will just have to promise me that you'll be a good girl from now on and don't betray me any more than you already did."
His PC is finally booted up, a few precise clicks, and he has Instagram open, looking into his DMs.
"Why isn't she replying to my DMs? I bet she got a secret boyfriend, just like her slut of a mother."
The guy starts shaking his head like wild.
"No, soon she'll accept that we are destined to be together, and once that happens, I can finally teach her some manners, show her what happens when she betrays me."
A truly disgusting sound echoes through his room as he clears his nose.
"I want to see her again. Just one little look, one day we can look back at all of this and laugh. Together with our children, I wonder if she has also thought about names for our little ones."
"Hm, I need to see her again. I want to feel her again."
An ecstatic shiver of pleasure runs through his body, his eyes shut close, and his hands form fists.
"Hmmm, ever since that day when you replied to my message, I just knew you wanted this too. Why else would you say something like 'Thanks for the kind words'? Oh, Ruby, soon I'll come and free you from whatever it is that's holding us apart."
The man jumps up from his chair before grabbing a box of tissues from the cupboard, lying down on his bed right after.
The man gets up from his greasy gaming chair and walks over to his bed. You could think another earthquake hits Tokyo, the way he walks. On his way, he grabs a box of tissues off his desk. Then he lies down on top of his bed, the frame and screws screaming as he does.
8th of January, 11:00 pm, Aqua's room
Aqua hasn't slept in the last 48 hours; instead, he's been reading the ancient book without breaks. After stocking up on his knowledge, he is now able to mostly comprehend the things written down in it.
He is almost at the halfway point, having just finished page 718, which was about ancient uses of herbs Aqua has never heard of, and how they were supposedly able to heal any illness related to the kidneys.
He still hasn't found what he was looking for, so he turns the page to page 719. His eyes are bloodshot by now, more than they should be. The page is some sort of short story titled 'Twins', Aqua begins to read.
This tale is about a set of twins.
Twins who could not be more unlike one another.
They were born nameless children.
The son was meant to bring truth, and with it, freedom.
The daughter was meant to bring Illusion, and with it, deception.
Yet nothing ever unfolds like it is foretold.
Their mother was not able to carry the weight of such a prophecy.
Taking her life the same night theirs was created.
Their father is unknown to this day-
Some whispers claim he never existed at all.
These circumstances, unbeknownst to the villagers, altered their fate,
and even the fate of future generations yet to come.
They were born in the blood.
Destined to live by the blood.
Just to eventually return to the blood.
Soon, the villagers began to hail the son.
Praying to him for a better harvest.
Praying to him for more health.
Praying to him for safety and peace.
All while the daughter was scorned.
None, not even her own brother, showed her kindness.
The most merciful were the ones who merely ignored her.
Most punished her simply for existing.
Meanwhile, her brother lived lavishly in the palace, surrounded by luxury.
As the years came and went, the kingdom waned.
Their harvest was devoured by vermin.
Their people fell to plague.
Their men perished in wars with neighbouring realms.
So they planned to execute the daughter, who had grown into a woman.
They were hoping it would break her evil curse.
On the day of the execution, an old man came to the castle grounds.
The roaring crowd fell silent as he approached the pillory.
He laid his frail hand upon the daughter's head and spoke.
"I forbid you from harming this child any longer. Instead, you shall cast her into exile. That will be your punishment."
With that, the old man turned, his long coat trailing in the dust.
He vanished into the crowd as though he had never been.
The mob and the executioner erupted in laughter,
while the son looked on from his high chamber.
"Who dares command us?"
"What kind of punishment should that be for us?"
Yet their deeds betrayed their words.
They untied the daughter and let her go.
None could ever explain why — Only that they found themselves unable to resist it.
The daughter disappeared into the surrounding forest,
never to be seen by the townsfolk again.
What they were unable to know is.
They made the gravest mistake of their lives.
For the daughter was not the curse.
She was the one holding it at bay.
It was the son who bore destruction.
The prophecy itself was no lie when first spoken.
But her death-birth in her mother's blood had reversed their roles.
Now with the daughter gone, nothing restrained the son.
The kingdom fell within weeks, the presence of the son too strong in the absence of his counterpart.
The book seems not to want Aqua to continue reading. Whispering, telling him that he won't find what he is looking for on this page. But Aqua continues reading, his bloodshot eyes are too fixated on it to stop now.
The years went by, and the influence of the son grew.
He was leaving a trail of havoc none dared to name.
The daughter, meanwhile, was living alone in a cave, shut away from the world.
One day, the same old man from all those years ago came to the cave.
He came with an offer. More like a demand.
"Your brother has been growing in power; you will need to put an end to this."
"I would do it myself, but my time is almost here. I have lived for centuries, but no man is made for eternity. I will hand you my power of the moon, then you are the only being that can put an end to his plan."
Then the cave was filled with a sudden glow. When the daughter was finally able to reopen her eyes, she saw that the old man had turned into a puddle of blood, nothing but his coat remaining.
After the initial moments of silence, a scream filled the cave.
The daughter has just obtained centuries' worth of lost memories, feelings, and emotions.
With this knowledge, she now knew the true stakes.
So she made herself on her way, leaving her cave behind.
Walking on her path to put an end to this once and for all.
Aqua turns the page. By now, he is invested in the tale; everything up until this point just consisted mostly of recipes, rituals, or shorter stories. To his shock the page 720 was missing, forcefully ripped out of the book. He has no other option than to skip it and read what comes after.
An unknown amount of time has passed.
The daughter has turned into an old woman by now.
She lies on her deathbed, surrounded by her loved ones as she speaks one last time.
"My time is near, but there is one thing you need to do for me."
Her words are directed at her youngest child.
It's a beautiful young child with light hair and dark eyes.
"You will be the heir of the moon."
"He is bound to return eventually; thus, you shall take the moon and the book of knowledge and find them."
"Go find the one person who is intelligent enough to look through the web of illusions covering this world and give it to them. They will know how to stop them."
These were her dying words; after this, her body turned into a puddle of blood, staining the hospital bed crimson red and continuing the cycle.
To be continued…
…
Interesting…
Aqua finishes the story, his thoughts jumping from one possibility to another.
A beautiful child with bright hair, could this story be talking about Tera? That would mean that this book here is the book of knowledge…
He closes the book and uses his right hand to glide over the mysterious Kanji symbols.
Intelligent enough to look through the web of illusions…
"Tera… You said you are always with me… Was this meant literally?"
Aqua asks into the empty room, his voice hoarse from not speaking for such a long time.
"Indeed, it was."
A sudden formless voice, seemingly coming from the back of his mind, replies. The Aqua from just a few weeks ago would've jumped at this. But due to his mind already being conditioned to this type of thing, it doesn't even strike him as weird.
"Can you explain this story to me?"
The voice inside his mind doesn't reply for a moment, then he speaks.
"I honestly don't fully know. I know I refer to myself as wise, so this might come as a surprise, but this story took place long before my time. But I assume that the kid from the tale is Tsukuyomi with the power of the moon…"
"But Tsukuyomi, or to be more specific, the power of the moon, is the good one in this story."
Aqua responds, his voice filled with a hint of doubt.
"Correct… but I also stole this book from her after all. There is no way I can confirm if the events cited in it actually happened like that or are just meant to deceive the mind. I can only speak on my own experience with her."
"Thanks, Tera."
Aqua's voice is normal again as he speaks. Then he feels like a pressure, which was pressing down on his amygdala, just disappeared, notifying him that Tera is gone once again.