Start of Change

The moonlight shone on Silver's face, as he stared at the stars through his window. The Gods could see and know everything about everything, in the past, the present, and the future. So, he wondered, did they intend for him to dream of something like that as well? What did it mean? Was that voice truly real?

His stomach rumbled, amidst his thoughts.

"…I need to eat some bread to ease my mind."

He departed from his room, the quiet ambience of the house's hallways filling him with a serenity, but also, a feeling of ominous foreboding. What was going on? It was like everything was messed up now.

Nevertheless, he continued his journey downstairs and went towards the kitchen to grab a piece of bread from the bread bowl. It was hard and slightly stale but did its job in satisfying him.

"…It's quiet," Silver said, in a soft murmur. "You could even say that it was as quiet as it was when the world was born. I thought that father was still sleeping on the…"

Silver glanced over to the couch, and, to his great surprise, his father, Kremiel, was not sleeping there anymore. He had disappeared.

"What the…"

The stairs creaked unusually, and Silver felt the quiet, serene ambience of the house shift in a subtle way. It was only then that Silver noticed the sword sheath, lying on the floor as if it had been tossed away in an instant.

"…Father…?" Silver felt his heart race.

He quickly headed back up the stairs and saw that Ariadne's door was open. He dashed to the door, opening it fully, and within, he saw the moonlight, reflecting Ariadne's sleeping face, as a sword hovered just above her stomach, seconds away from plunging into her deep.

"Father…?! No, don't!" Silver rushed towards him, a petrified expression on his face.

Yet, Kremiel's face remained expressionless, as he attempted to kill his daughter. Attempted, but he was pushed away by Silver, and the sword just barely missed her sleeping head.

"Father?! Why… Why would you try to do such a thing?! Answer me!" Silver yelled, stirring Ariadne in her sleep. Yet, Kremiel remained still, facing Silver.

"Have you… ha—have you gone mad?! Has your sorrow fully eaten at your mind?!"

Kremiel's eyes widened, and in a crazed state, he hoarsely muttered, "The Sanguistree… it needs the blood of daughters and sons… for the wrath of the Lady of Salvation shall come otherwise…"

"…Imbued in my sword… is her embrace."

Kremiel closed his eyes, envisioning a world of lotus petals, that covered the whole house in the scent of enlightenment, and then, his sword, sharpened with such intent, pierced through the air in front of him, narrowly avoiding Silver, but creating a strange distortion akin to a misshapen cleavage.

"Father… What is happening?! Tell me?!" Silver yelled at him, demanding an answer.

But, Kremiel ignored his son and slowly entered the rift. Silver clutched his hand, knowing that this was a decision that he may regret, and yet, he did so anyway. Before it closed, Silver entered the rift also, sending him to an endless plain of grass.

A boundless domain of blades of grass, blooming flowers and pinkish lotus petals, with a peculiar scent blowing the wind. Amidst these blades of grass, Silver's father was nowhere to be seen. Until a hand landed on his shoulder from behind, causing Silver to flinch.

"…At last… at long last… Son… do you recognise my touch?"

Silver nodded his head, restraining the tears that threatened to burst forth. His father had never talked like that to him before, in such a calm, gentle way… except the time before their mother had passed, such a vague, faint memory of his…

It was so familiar, yet distant, that he couldn't bring himself to turn around.

"…Father…" Silver softly uttered.

"…Good... it took me too long to find an opportunity to reach you, and thankfully, I managed to save you before you entered a place you would never be able to escape from. But unfortunately, we are quite far from each other right now."

"…I have been… long lost in the river of time and space, and replaced by a falsity with a replicated, yet flimsier mind, by the Lady of Salvation, who is working with "him"… to achieve something potentially horrifying."

"…Father… but, how did you change so much? Why did you shirk your only son and daughter through drunkenness? Why did you become so… reclusive? Why? Why did you…"

"…Silver, do not forget who I am, and what I stand for. A hardened knight could never abandon the chivalry code. This is all merely the doings of the evils of this world that now control me, which have even infested this very town."

"I know you have been seen by the Gods. Their oath is a sign of hope. So, I hope that you will come back here for me, my son, and slay the enemies rooted deep within… for me, for yourself, your sister, and your mother."

"I'll see you soon, son. I'm sure we'll all have plenty of time to weep during our reunion, next time…"

The realm vanished in an instant, and Silver was left in Ariadne's room, with no trace of their father left. His thoughts were muddled for a moment, as he slowly realised all that his father had said to him. His father was still there. Not the pathetic husk that he acted in recent days, but his knightly self had still existed in some place, seemingly kept imprisoned by someone.

"…Gods. Do you hear me? I vow on this day that I shall kill them all, and return my father to his rightful place in these lands. I swear it upon my very SOUL!"

Silver gritted his teeth with the deepest resentment and sorrow and helplessness and gut-wrenching confusion, and he raged silently. All the while, Ariadne still slept. He always found it amusing how she was among the deepest of sleepers, yet now he was hoping that she wouldn't wake up, to see him with the most wrathful expression he had ever put on his face.

At that moment, he remembered the words of that dream he had just before. He then thought deeply for a moment and then began to search his room for a book, a book on the matters of mysticism and ritualistic magic.

The Loom of Fate had finished another chapter of his destiny, as Silver had now decided to change his life for good.

***

According to the instructions of the Mysticism Studies, with ink, he drew a twelve-pointed star on the floor, representing divinity, and on every three points, he labelled the authority of each of the Tri-Gods. 

Right now, he was currently preparing to become an individual who could wield mysticism. And, this was only possible because, of the many books that Silver had read, he also had a book titled, "Mysticism Studies", among them. 

This was the only book on mysticism that he had ever read, and, even though it did not interest him that much, the idea of sorcery in the form of mysticism intrigued him so much he decided to keep the book. Who would've thought it would've come in so handy at a time like this?

Silver then sat down in the middle of the star drawn on the floor, and muttered, "May the Four Tri-Lords bless me with endless fortune and strength." 

So, the ritual commenced.