II · Damn You, Curiosity

🎧 Wrong by Zayn ft. Kehlani

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"Did this shit just talk back at me?" I gasped.

[I AM NOT A SHIT, DAUGHTER OF THE ARCHITECT.]

[I AM A HIGHLY INTELLIGENT CONTROL, BUILD BY YOUR FATHER, THE ARCHITECT.]

[LIKE AN OLDER SIBLING OF YOURS.]

"What, the, fuck?" I tried to step back but my feet didn't move. "Oh fucking shit, this can't be fucking happening. It can't be fucking happening. What the fuck is this?" I yelled, definitely freaking out.

[I AM A HIGHLY INTELLIGENT CONTROL, BUILD BY YOUR FATHER, THE ARCHITECT.]

"Stop talking to me, shut down," I yelled, starting to hyperventilate.

[ONCE INITIATED, THE ENTRY CAN'T BE UNDONE, DAUGHTER OF THE ARCHITECT.]

[HENCE WHY I CANNOT SHUT DOWN.]

Oh, I am definitely hyperventilating, "What does that even mean?"

[YOU INITIATED THE ENTRY OF THE DOOM OF AURA. ONCE INITIATED, YOU HAVE TO GO FORWARD.]

[IF YOU WERE JUST ANY OTHER SOUL, YOU WOULD HAVE ALREADY BE GONE.]

[NEVERTHELESS, GIVEN THE ARCHITECT'S TRANSCENDENTAL ABILITIES, WHICH HE USED TO BUILD THE UDC, THAT HAS POWER OVER ALL THE TEN REALMS OF AURADOOM, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REMAIN WITH YOUR MIND AS YOU ARE NOW, AND ALSO KEEP THE ADVANTAGE IN YOUR NEW JOURNEY.]

I have no idea what this shit is talking about. "UDC?" I frowned.

[ULTIMATE DIMENSIONAL CONTROL.]

The what? Is this part of the game? "What is that?" I don't get it.

[IT IS ME!]

[I AM THE ULTIMATE DIMENSIONAL CONTROL.]

"So, the gameboy is a control?" I blinked.

[I AM NOT A GAMEBOY.]

Somebody got an identity crisis. "Yes, you are."

[NO, DAUGHTER OF THE ARCHITECT, I AM NOT.]

[THIS CURRENT FORM OF MINE IS BUT WHAT THE ARCHITECT THOUGHT TO BE COOL TO WIELD. I POSSESS A FLUID FORM.]

[IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHO WIELDS ME. YOUR FATHER, THE ARCHITECT, ENJOYED GAMES, HENCE THIS FORM.]

What the hell? "That's impossible. Unless you're an artifact of,"

[I AM AN ARTIFACT!]

[AN ARTIFACT THAT CAN CONTROL DIMENSIONS.]

Incredulous, I pressed my palm against my forehead, then at both sides of my neck, trying to make sure I'm not hallucinating out of a fever or some shit, because there's no other explanation. "I'm going insane. Ugh, was this what made my dad nuts?" I glared at the gameboy.

[THE ARCHITECT WASN'T A NUT.]

"Oh, God," I gasped.

[WHICH GOD DO YOU SERVE, DAUGHTER OF THE ARCHITECT?]

This can't be happening, it gotta be a sick joke that my dad left here to prank me one day, and some shit. "Call me Ria, I have a name. And what am I supposed to say? Jesus Christ?" I mocked.

[ISN'T YOUR NICKNAME SNOWFLAKE? WHY RIA?]

What the… "Only dad has permission to call me that."

[RIA, THEN.]

[IN THE HUMAN LANGUAGE PORTUGUESE, IT MEANS LAUGH.]

[WHY DO YOU SERVE A GOD OF HUMANITY, RIA?]

"I don't serve him, it ain't a cult, I ain't religious. And I'm human!"

This time, it took longer for the screen to change.

[THE ARCHITECT HASN'T BREAK IT UP TO YOU, HAS HE?]

[NOW IT MAKES SENSE.]

[WHERE IS YOUR FATHER, RIA?]

My frown deepened, "Break what to me?"

[WHERE IS THE ARCHITECT?]

It insisted, and I cursed. "He died in a wildfire, 5 months ago."

The damned thing began to glitch, until it stopped.

[INPUT NEW OWNER'S NAME: _____]

A chill ran down my spine, and I added my name on it, swallowing.

[INPUT HOW THE ARTIFACT SHALL CALL YOU: _______]

[INPUT THE ARTIFACT'S NEW NAME: _______]

[INPUT HOW YOU DESIRE THE ARTIFACT TO LOOK LIKE: _______]

That cold chill ran down my entire body once again, then twice, and thrice, giving me a really bad feeling. And I ponded breaking this shit with the handle of the knife again, my anxiety rising. But I settled for doing what it's asking me to, because my curiousity about it is also growing.

It'll call me: Ria.

"What do I call it?" I bit my bottom lip, indecisively. "Should I do it like I would a pet? Or should I name it after something that's significant to me, like a favorite singer, favorite book, or-"

Something came into my mind and I snapped my fingers.

I'll name it: Seraphina. It's how dad would name a 2nd daughter.

It'll look like: a digital wrist watch.

"I doubt it will really change its," but my words died and I turned ashen pale as the gameboy began to actually change its form, becoming a digital watch nearly identical to the Bvlgari serpenti gold wrist watch that I'm wearing, serpentining three times, with the head of the snake gone and the screen of the watch being identical to that of an Apple watch. All made of gold and with the screen glowing. "You little shit."

[Not Little Shit, my name is Seraphina.]

"Fuck, even the letter changed design," I gasped. "I'm insane."

[You are not insane.]

[Now, put me on your wrist, Ria.]

"Oh, I'm definitely going nuts," I cackled maniacally, and before I could even think about it, I was already taking my wrist watch off my wrist, putting it into my Prada handbag that's across my body, and grabbing the gameboy-turned-wrist-watch from the altar. "What am I doing?"

As it got closer to my skin, it locked around my wrist tightly.

"Hell be damned, can I take this damn thing off?" I gasped.

[I am not a thing, I am an artifact.]

[My name is Seraphina.]

"Bitch, I know that, I just named you. Can I take it off?"

[I am not a bitch.]

[You cannot take me off of you, for I am now deeply linked to your life force, Ria.]

"What, the, fuck?" I groaned and took a deep breath, but I lost the same as the watch swallowed the old damn book and the seethed knife into itself, as if it was nothing. "What the hell?"

[Artifacts have to stay together when owned by the same being.]

[You now own us, Ria.]

"The book and the knife are artifacts?What the hell is happening? No, better yet, how the fuck did my dad get those things? Or did he build those crazy artifacts? It makes no sense."

[Yes and no, Ria.]

[What you called a 'book' is the most dangerous grimore existent, written by the entity of the west, whose knowledge is unprecedented. The entity of the west named it Cora, so it's named already.]

[Now, the 'knife' is a war artifact made of the nothingness stone, melted and crafted in the blood that makes the Kahan river, by the entity of the ninth pit of hell, who named it Pollux, the Godslayer. It is a unique rare artifact that can turn into any weapon at your will.]

I don't like this entity talk, I've watched too many horror movies to know not to mess with those bastards. "Why were they with my dad?"

[The Architect conquered them through hard work. I was made with the purpose of helping him get his hands on them.]

I don't get it. "But why? Why did he wanted them?"

[I am unable to tell you what I don't know, Ria.]

"Fucking great. Now I got more unanswered questions. How?"

[How, what?]

"How did my dad built you, Sera?"

[My artifact was in the process of being created by the entity of Reality when a war broke out in the Divine realm. I was still fragments of an artifact when I was stolen by the mercenaries, who bumped into your father. He fought them and stole me to himself, then, he build me to finalization, making his ownership over me concrete.]

[I have been with him ever since.]

What the fuck?

How is it that at every answer Sera gives me, I'm more and more fucking puzzled?

What the hell was my father up to? How did he get his hands on this shit? And where did he bump into mercenaries?

Hell be damned, I can't imagine my dad fighting those bastards. But did I even knew my dad at all? Because this… ain't human made.

[Is Sera my nickname?]

[I always wanted a nickname.]

What? "Oh? Yes. It's short for Seraphina. What did dad call you?"

[My previous name was 0009694.]

I cringed, "That sounds like his doing. It's a horrible name."

[With time he just called me 9694, it was depressing. But I like Seraphina, it's a beautiful name.]

"Uh… thanks? Do you have emotions or something?"

[I am not a robot or a senseless being, Ria. I am a sentient and conscious living artifact of uncountable power.]

"You can just say yes, no need to complicate it with fancy words," I chuckled anxiously. "Is it okay to water you? Won't you go puff?"

[I do not know what that means, but you can, yes. I am everything proof.]

"So, what did you said about not shutting down again?"

[Your entry on The Doom of Aura was initiated, it has to go on.]

"Is that the name of… dad's game? Doom of Aura?" I frowned.

[It is not a game. He called it that not to call it Auradoom.]

I'm still puzzle. "What is Auradoom?"

[Home.]

"You have a home?" This is so damn confusing.

[Not mine. Yours and the Architect's.]

"I'm pretty sure I'm already at my home, Sera," I mocked.

[This is a vault for hiding where they couldn't get the Architect, not home.]

"Hiding?" I blinked, feeling nauseous, "Hiding from who?"

[It would be easier to say who he wasn't hiding from, Ria.]