Chapter 50: World of Illusions
As Gray returned to class and sat on his chair, he stretched his body lightly.
Rowan looked him up and down and asked,
"Did you follow my advice and start to look after yourself?"
"Pretty much." Gray replied absentmindedly.
Training one's body could be considered as a form of self-improvement and a way to improve one's looks, after all.
"Better late than never." Rowan nodded. "Especially now that you're trying to get with Nekare."
Gray's lips twitched.
'He's still completely clueless…'
'Yet since my True-World Revelations depict the future as it is, the events I'd seen might really happen…'
'At least I have the confirmation that she won't be someone I should be careful about, not even in the future.'
Gray wondered how many Nephilim were close to him.
Will he come to find out about every single one of their identities?
Most of the ones he knew were harmless.
But unlike them, will these hidden ones be the same?
Casanova always told him to pay attention to the dangers inside the Nephilim world. Given the great deal of warnings, all should be prepared to kill.
Many others might be completely warped, sinister beings who torture the others, desecrating the ones near them.
'If Corveno's murderer is a Nephilim, they should belong to the latter.'
That was unless they simply were just a madman…
Gray began to think.
What did the Nephilim gain from doing these heinous acts?
He could understand if someone killed the other for their survival, he knew he would do the same, but why go through such lengths to mutilate those girls?
Since the Nephilim are egotistical, could this mean that the act of mutilating them would help them gain 'something?'
Gray then started to recall the words of his classmate, her descriptions coming from the deepest depths of his mind.
"They say that one had their uterus eaten off, one had their vocal cords removed, while the other had many parts of her brain missing…! Every single one of them had no blood, their bodies were completely drained of it…!"
Despite thinking about the reasons why those specific body parts had been removed or gnawed at, Gray still couldn't grasp the mysteries hiding beneath them.
Being a newly turned Nephilim, it was natural for him not to understand the mystical nature of her actions.
Regardless, Mnemosyne's Antiques would come into play soon.
All civilizations have had their ties with the occult. Some had been intertwined and established with it since their beginnings, while others would come to understand the seeds of the truth millennia after.
It was natural for those civilizations to leave behind written manuscripts about their findings.
From their ancient messages sent to the beyond, Gray would come to learn about the mystical and secret arts inside the store.
Gray sighed.
He now truly understood just how important Mnemosyne's Antiques would be for him and his goals.
Even if Selene could still roam and try to pull something harmful behind his back, there just wasn't any other option.
And while he subconsciously felt that He, the Moon God Sin, wouldn't bother him anymore, it just wasn't the same for her.
Gray now had the newly upgraded knowledge about her abilities, however. He could surely utilize it to defend himself.
Yet since Selene couldn't return to Mnemosyne's Antiques, as she had to refill her energies, Gray could visit it without any trouble for the time being.
Verily, it was the perfect outcome.
If she hadn't extinguished her energies before coming to Franz's store, he wouldn't have had a chance against her.
His Mercurial Fragments were completely worn out. He could not squeeze out any more revelations or other powers at the moment.
As he silently pondered about the future, he remembered that he had forgotten to ask Rowan about the title of the movie they had watched together weeks earlier.
Gray glanced at his friend and asked,
"Do you remember the movie we watched weeks ago?"
Rowan tilted his head.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Think about it. There's always a title sequence at the ending or the beginning of movies—yet in ours there wasn't any. I figured it was a movie meant to pose as a realistic documentary—like for Blair Witch for example—but you never told me about the real title."
"Oh, and also, do you know the name of the people who wrote and directed it? I really like their style, I'm curious to see their other works."
Rowan gulped.
"About that…"
Gray was confused.
"About what?"
"There wasn't a title." Rowan abruptly said.
"…You acquired it from that guy we had in middle school, right? Can you ask him?"
Rowan started to apologize for his actions,
"Sorry, even he doesn't know—I've asked him. I knew you wouldn't watch a movie that lacked any kind of title or written plot, so I thought it would be best to hide it momentarily and hope you wouldn't press on it."
"I can show you the file name if you want. It has some weird, senseless numbers and characters there, yet it's still better than nothing."
Gray felt a slight tinge of annoyance.
'To think that my best friend would do this…'
'Yet I can't help but think he's right—I really wouldn't have wanted to see a movie I had no clue about.'
He frowned lightly.
'Yet with his constant pressing, he was able to irk my interest, making me watch the movie without any qualms—and most importantly, questions.'
"Alright, let me see."
Rowan took out his phone and inched closer to Gray.
The file name was:
37[59]77[25]11[49]q`2DF?@?.avi
The philosophy teacher then entered their classroom, causing Rowan to go back to his proper seat.
The professor then spoke.
"The date for when you'll have to present your work is nearing. If you've been consistent in your studies, you shouldn't feel any pressure."
"But if you haven't, don't worry—there's still time. Since you have to present your chosen philosopher on Thursday, you should use this evening and the next to discuss with your partners about the things you need to improve."
"If you don't feel confident in your work, polish the parts that you feel are wrong or inaccurate. Remember, if you feel that way, then there's probably a reason why."
"I originally wanted to let you guys study here in class. Yet helping you so many times won't help you in the long run. Life doesn't always comply with plans and expectations. You must learn to adapt and take things in your hands."
"We'll go through our usual study of the many philosophies and philosophers because of this. And since nobody had it as their assigned philosopher, we'll study Plato, otherwise known as one of the greatest philosophers."
The professor explained how Plato was born in Athens or Aegina in the years between 428 and 423 BC, and of how he, like many of his philosopher peers, hailed from an aristocratic family.
The farmers and the poorest didn't have time to do anything that wasn't work, thus, they could not possibly afford to stay in the agoras, the central space where people would gather, and express their way of thinking.
The same could also be said for those who worked in politics before the changes brought by Pericles—the changes that brought a salary for politicians.
Those who normally couldn't afford to skip their work could now engage in politics—this was just one of the many reasons why Pericles became so loved and successful.
Plato was one of Socrates' students, and ironically, despite his master's profound dislike for writing, Plato did end up documenting both his teachings and the teachings of his master Socrates.
His works are known as 'Socratic Dialogues.'
Socrates is the main character in these dialogues. And while he presents himself as a man without much knowledge, he amazes the audience and overwhelms the ones he discusses against with questions and phrases that'll expose the inconsistencies within their arguments.
These dialogues touch many different abstract, metaphysical subjects—religion, sex, love, human nature, and science.
According to Plato's theory of Forms, the world itself is just a mere copy of a transcendental world that is filled with the true aspect of all Forms, otherwise known as Ideas.
While these Forms are non-physical, and the eternal essence of all things, all the objects in our world are just a poor imitation, a poor reminder of what they truly are.
Forms are that without which a thing would not be what it is.
To put it in perspective, our world is filled with an uncountable amount of cats. Many are striped, many are patterned, while countless other are dark, ginger, white, and so on.
Yet, the Form, the Idea of a 'cat,' is in all them, becoming its essence.
If the animals were removed of the idea of 'cat,' what would they become?
While the word for 'cat' may change—be it of how in italian it's said, 'gatto,' in french, 'chat,' and in greek, 'γάτα,' the idea of the animal is immutable.
Even if the animal dies, its Idea will always stand!
Plato's Socrates spoke that the world of Forms was both transcendent to our world, yet overlapping with ours, becoming an essential component of reality.
The Forms themselves are perfect.
Circles, for example, even if they have never been observed in nature, inside a world that did not belong to humans, they cannot be drawn perfectly on paper.
Yet even if someone saw a crooked circle, in their head, the Idea of a perfect circle will always stand!
"Imagine," the professor said, quoting Plato's words,
"Imagine a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all their lives, with their legs and necks held together. They cannot move. They can only see ahead of them and are completely unable to turn their heads in any way whatsoever."
"While above and behind them there is burning fire, between the prisoners and the fiery flame there is a parapet along which puppeteers can walk, holding up various objects."
"The prisoners see only the shadows of these objects, cast by the fire onto the wall in front of them."
"The shadows are the only reality they are aware of."
"If one of them were freed and made to stand up, to turn his neck and walk toward the light, they would be in extreme pain. It would be hard for them to gaze upon the object whose shadows they had always seen before."
"If they were dragged towards the sunlight and forced to look at it, the immense light would hurt their eyes, and they would be unable to comprehend the reality of the world hiding outside of the cave."
'So the cave I've been thinking about all along, the cave that keeps all humanity inside it, shielding them from the inconceivable truths, had been from Plato's writings all along!' Gray exclaimed in his heart.
"Eventually, however, they would be able to look at the things in the world around them, seeing the world of real objects for the first time."
"After some time, they would be able to see the sun itself, and they would realize that the sun is the source of everything they now see, not the shadows they lived with all along."
"Consequently, they would understand that the shadows were only illusions, masquerades of the truth beyond the cave."
"Suppose that this man, freed from his previous state of ignorance, went back into the cave, eager to share the truth he'd come to learn with the others. Verily, they would not believe him. Instead, they would mock him, regarding him as a madman.
"Naturally, they too, would resist the idea of leaving the cave. How could they ever understand that a world beyond the shadows they had always known existed? They have always known them, what kind of reference would they pair the man's knowledge with?"
"How can bacteria know how the internet works? How can an ant understand a black-hole?"
These understandings were simply ineffable for them, they who only knew survival and reproduction.
This all was an allegory of the world of Ideas and the material world.
The shadows were but the mere masquerades of the Ideas, the imperfect ones, the things submitted by time, wear, and the world near them.
This was all humanity knew and could perceive with their senses, mistaking it with the true reality.
Yet, the sun, the true essence, was hiding 'beyond' what they only knew.
And as the man who was freed from the cave and gradually became able to withstand its light; like a Nephilim who after seeing the otherworldly, like quintessence itself, gets transmuted by it—thanks to the sun, he can breach inside a world beyond understanding.
As humans only worried about mere things, mere thoughts that would die in less than a century, only the Nephilim could transcend, reaching higher planes, higher levels of existence, reaching true, unbounded 'Divinity.'
But if this man who reached Apotheosis returned to the physical plane, speaking about His endeavors, speaking about the things He had seen, what He would hear from the chained humans wouldn't be mockery or laughter…
It would just be the gurgling of blood, the gnashing of teeth, the sound of nails breaking against stone.
As Plato said thousands of years ago…
As the Angel that met Manoah spoke…
Some things are beyond understanding, beyond the reach a human's brain and imagination could possess.
Some happenings—antediluvian tales, utterances of Mad Gods, calls from an unspecified point in space—are not meant to be heard, not meant to be talked about, and not meant to be perceived.
For when you gaze upon the abyss, the truth lying inside the 'beyond' will stare back at you.
And when you try to return to the world you know, its presence will linger behind you.