Craig's body convulsed in the silent chiaroscuro of the surrounding. When awareness returned, it did not rise gently; it struck — and he found himself neither standing nor lying, neither free nor bound.
Iron cords — thin, trembling, unyielding — held his wrists high above, tied to a fixed golden pulley.
His feet barely touched the air, and his sandals were gone — no, not gone, but claimed by the golden sea beneath which stretched into an endless ocean of shimmering waves which boiled like lava. And above him were countless stars which dotted the vast dark sky. And from beyond them, something was watching him.
'Is this the aftermath of the storm? Or the beginning of a new one?' He thought, 'What happened to that faceless, cloaked man… and Meno, his lover?'
Out of the horizon's infinity, a colossal figure emerged and swept the ocean with it's mighty treads. It was made of blinding white light that exitinguished all forms of darkness around itself. Its legs were lost in the ocean and its head brushed the firmament. It was a being and yet more than a being. A vast circular hole peeped from its chest.
Craig's heart became an altar of terror and awe. He felt, had the giant willed, it could've crushed his infinitesimal existence beneath a single finger. Instead, it slowly sat on the ocean floor, stirring massive golden tsunamis.
A stentorian voice left the giant's image : "Why did you go there?"
Craig's breath faltered, his words falling from his mouth like brittle glass, "Go… where?"
The glowing giant leaned forward, its faceless visage tilting toward him, "To The Revolutionary World, where you recieved the Baptism."
The image of Aerian and that other mysterious world flashed across his mind. He tried to ignore it for a long time but somehow he was dragged into adressing it again.
The giant said powerfully, "There is a rumour in Jarvis that you are the one who walked the bridge between two worlds? Is that true?"
Craig was stuck in an awful position
'If I say yes, heaven knows what he will do to me. But if I say no, will I be spared? This giant surely has powers related to mind reading, he will probably subject me to a worse fate.'
Craig made up his mind, "Yes."
The giant didn't crush him nor did it put him under a magical curse as Craig expected, it changed its mannerisms entirely – it now sat with its chin resting on its on the floor. It was as if he was speaking to a friend.
"Oh, I'm glad I met you." The giant's tone lightened down.
Craig asked in a fearful tone, "What place is this?"
The giant paused for a moment and replied, "You hang between the infinite above and the infernal below – in my sanctum sanctorum! The ocean you see is my divinity – there is not one soul that touched it and survived."
A huge bowl materialized in front of him. It floated above the ocean and in it were charred ashes, "This was the fate of all those mortals Saana and Nyx sent to vanquish me."
The giant picked up a pile of ashes from the bowl, "Guess who is this?" It showed the ashes to Craig.
Craig looked at the ashes deeply and saw a thin piece of fabric which stayed untouched by the flame and alongside it was a sharp, long-sword. Craig recognized instantly,
'Is it that cloaked man?'
Craig's heart quivered in sorrow and fear, but he maintained his calm and replied, "Meno's lover?"
The giant applauded, "Correct! Correct! Meno's fate too was same as his lover's." The giant said with euphoria, colliding his colossal hands
Craig steadied his breath — though his chest trembled, his voice tried to imitate bravery.
"And who are you?" he asked.
The giant tilted its head with light cascading from the edges of its form, "That is a very interesting question. Would you prefer finding it out with a game of questions?"
The tone was jolly, condescending, almost too kind.
Craig blinked, uncertain whether to tremble or grin back. The heart within his ribs like a prisoner at its bars. He raised his chin, summoning all the false courage he could muster, "Are you… Hermes?"
A brief silence stretched — vast, divine, unbearable. Then the giant let out a low, amused hum that scattered the golden ocean into ripples.
"Ah, that's a good guess," it said."But sadly, no. I'm not that great."
It sighed, "I'm good friends with him, though."
A male figure suddenly materialized with a huge outburst of light – it was dressed in a feet-reaching, silver tunic which had long red sleeves with golden designs. It's face was covered, from forehead to chin by an opaque, shimmering, silver veil which extended from a bracelet like gold crown.
"O my dear dear Adorath. I didn't hear from you since the last month... or from a thousand years. You know, I mentioned the time in both metrics since a mortal is among us." The giant said turning to Craig.
"So nowadays you're clashing with mortals, is this how you preserve your "The Untrickable" side name?"
Adorath replied in a squeaky, playful voice, "Well all beings are bound by curiosity, and when it comes to mortals... especially alien mortals, I can't help but get excited."
Adorath then caressed his veil, "Well well.. mortal, I have five very easy questions for you, use them to guess who this being is. Are you ready?"
'This being seems less destructive but still more sinister and sneaky than the giant, I have to watch my very word and every move.'
"Will there be any consequence if I guess it incorrectly?"
The giant folded both its arms and looked at Adorath, "That's another interesting question! Ado, should we tell him?"
Adorath caressed his veil again and said in a calm voice, "If you guess incorrectly, you'll be stuck here forever."
Craig's aching appendages wanted to let go. For several days, he had not eaten, showered or comfortably slept. Added to that was the double blood vomit. But even all that were not able to break him. However, this was the final blow – he became utterly hopeless.
However, Craig maintained his external boldness despite the emotional devastation, "What's the first question."
Adorath led out a hand and sang, "This entity gives sermons to disciples, its tongue is the bridge of Holy cycles. Tell me mortal, what form might it take – whose words make mortal spirits wake?"
Craig looked down, 'gives sermons to disciples? Aren't those terms linked to the Temples? So is the answer anywhere close to that?'
"Is the entity a priest?" Craig said.
"Incorrect!" Adorath and the giant said in all accord.
Adorath crossed his arms and sang again, "This entity paints visions in a saint's sleep. It whispers secrets none may keep. Saints call it with fear and hymn. Tell me mortal, who speaks through them?"
Craig heard the question carefully and probed, "A being who gives visions to saints... like the saintess Joan of Arc recieving visions from Archangel Michael?"
Craig said in a hushed voice, "The entity is an angel."
"Incorrect!" Adorath and the giant proclaimed together.
Adorath sang his next question, "It brews the ichor, elixir, and balm, its touch can turn a curse to calm. From lakes of baptism to nectar's kiss,
what craftsman deals in works like this?"
Craig thought for a few moments, "An alchemist?"
The giant laughed making a stentorian noise, "Not even close!"
Craig clenched his teeth, 'Who is this damn giant?'
"You wasted three questions," said Adorath, "Now you're left with two."
Adorath sang in the same manner, ""This being wears three names, not one, each rising when the old is done. It can incarnate if the myths still burn. Tell me, mortal, what have you learned?"
Craig was dumbfounded, what kind of a question is that? The answer could be a lot of things. He arched his brows and stared at Adorath
"What I learned is that I'm in a pathetic situation."
Adorath laughed, "Indeed!" He then sang the final question – "No priest, no saint can match its quorum, he who rules this timeless forum. Beyond the reach of mortal decorum, who dwells alone in this sanctum sanctorum?"
The last phrase clicked in his mind, 'Sanctum sanctorum.. as Brianna said earlier, it refers to the holy residence of a deity. So is it..."
"The entity is a deity."
What followed the response was an endless period of silence. The starry ceiling shuddered and almost fell. The ocean beneath, started to rise
The surrounding vibrated vehemently, throwing everything in disarray.
Amidst this chaos, the giant murmured a few lines,
"When life dissolves, it begins again. Between the now and the never-when. Awake, O wanderer among many men and never seek these halls again...
For you were always, in Akhmis' den."
The ceiling broke away, the ocean touched his feet and his mind travelled back to the human-beast world.
As he opened his eyes, he found himself in a small bedroom, lying like a child in St. Brianna's arms.