Falling into the Abyss

As the aircraft passed through the prosperous city, the number of buildings surrounding them gradually decreased. The tall trees grew denser and denser, forming a long vault on both sides of the road, like a corridor that stretched forward endlessly. The light golden sunlight traveled through the crevices in the leaves like a curtain of light, splashing onto the vehicles that were rapidly traversing.

As time went on, there were fewer and fewer aircraft or dual-use vehicles around them. After descending from the main track, they were the only vehicle left flying between the fortresses made up of giant trees. The terrain began to rise, and the spiraling tracks and roads were like a pearl ribbon. On one side was a cliff, while on the other side was a peacock green lake extending endlessly at the foot of the mountain.

On the top of the tall mountain, a towering castle full of sharp edges and arched roofs faced a nearly vertical cliff. From a distance, it looked like a king with a solemn face was overlooking the mountains and lakes at his feet.

Tanisiel pointed to the building on the top of the mountain and said, “That’s my home.”

Ethan sighed, “Beautiful……”

“Where is the beauty? It’s more appropriate to say it’s gloomy,” Samuel added from the side.

The car stopped in front of a tall iron door that was shut. Soon after, a communication request flashed in the vehicle. After Tanisiel answered, an elderly male, Beta Eve popped out. His cheeks were unnecessarily thin, his hair was silver and neat, and he was wearing a long dark blue coat. His blue eyes, which were somewhat turbid, looked startled when they saw Tanisiel. “Young Master!”

Tanisiel responded with a smile, “Terry Dawes, I’m back.”

Ten minutes later, Ethan and Samuel were standing in front of the double mahogany doors in the main building of the castle. The classical carvings and brass handles on the doors stunned Ethan.

It was the third time he had seen these doors.

The first time he saw them was on the Red Earth. When his soul was infected by Shub-Niggurath, when he hallucinated, and when he entered the room containing the God of Order’s egg and Shub-Niggurath’s bodily fluids on Mars, he saw these two doors, giving him an indescribable sense of familiarity. Every time he saw them, he would always have a nightmare-like experience.

But now, he actually saw them in front of Tanisiel’s house.

He waited for a while, but the “illusion” did not dissipate. On the contrary, they opened slowly, and several Eves who were probably servants emerged, led by the butler known as “Terry Dawes”  they had seen on the communicator’s screen. Tanisiel said that the housekeeper had served his family all his life, and he had been taking care of Tanisiel since he was born. After the death of the Duke of the Western River, Tanisiel became a priest and left the castle. He dismissed most of his servants to cut down expenses, but the butler was still willing to stay and take care of the magnificent building without its owner.

The servants and the housekeeper were so happy to see Tanisiel that they had tears in their eyes. Ethan, however, just kept staring at the two doors. He began to suspect that they might not be an illusion.

Tanisiel introduced Ethan to the housekeeper. “This is Erdrin, and next to him is Asanil. The two of them are my apprentices. I want to arrange for them to live here temporarily.”

Seeing that Ethan didn’t react at all, Samuel secretly kicked him in the calf. Ethan suddenly returned to his senses and saluted the housekeeper as though he were an Eve priest. The housekeeper bowed slightly to him and Samuel in a cold and polite manner and turned to Tanisiel. He said, “It will take some time to clean the guest rooms since I didn’t know you would be back in advance or that there would be guests.”

“Ah, it doesn’t matter. I can take them to get familiar with the environment. Mrs. Zelda, please prepare some dinner for us.”

Another gentle-looking female Beta gave both Ethan and Samuel a smile with a very loving and maternal expression. After all, in their eyes, he and Samuel didn’t appear to be adults.

The castle had a history spanning many centuries, and the princes who were most trusted by the Eve King often lived here. Therefore, the entire building gave off an air of arrogance, dignity, and contempt. The castle was magnificent, with relief murals everywhere, and was filled with a historic atmosphere. Once upon a time, similar buildings had been built on Earth, but now they could only be seen in ancient books.

“There are two main buildings and three towers, all connected by aerial corridors. The dining room is on the first floor, and the study is on the second floor. You can walk around wherever you like, but don’t go down to the cellar. It’s dark and humid, and it often leaks water,” Tanisiel introduced as he walked. His eyes were always on Ethan, like a small child showing off his treasure. “Do you like this place?“

Ethan threw the scene of the castle’s main entrance to the back of his mind and nodded at the priest with a smile. “Did you grow up here?”

“Yes.”

Ethan imagined the little priest running through the long corridor in front of him like a snow rabbit, the sunlight filtering through the stained glass and shining on his angelic hair. When he thought about it, he couldn’t help but feel his heart soften, and a smile spread on his face.

Samuel asked, “How long are we going to stay here?”

“You can stay as long as you like. Unless you really want to be priests in the temple.”

“Then……” Ethan hesitantly looked at the priest as though he didn’t know whether he should ask something. However, Tanisiel knew what he was trying to ask. He leaned down slightly and said in his ear, “Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to bring a God of Order’s egg out of the temple. I’ll cure you.” Then, like he was patting a child, he touched Ethan’s head.

Ethan slapped his hand away as if he was angry, but the gentleness in his expression could not be concealed. After he had obtained the priest’s promise, his heart had finally settled down.

Now, as he looked up, he saw a portrait hanging at the end of the corridor. It was a very handsome and tall Beta, with straight blond hair. His eyes were very similar to Tanisiel’s, and he was wearing a gorgeous robe with many rings adorning his fingers. He was elegant but had an aloof temperament, which was especially prominent in his silver eyes. Even if it was just a portrait, it emitted a cold light. He pointed to the portrait and asked, “That……is that your father?”

Samuel also noticed, whistling, “You really look similar!”

Ethan turned to look at Tanisiel, only to see that the priest’s expression had changed. At this time, he looked a little different from his usual appearance. His delicate face lost its usual perfect and charming smile, and he didn’t have his usual compassionate and strictly professional expression. It was like he was peeling off all his disguises, revealing faint sadness and loneliness.

“Yes, he is my father,” the priest said, before suddenly changing the topic, “I’ll show you to your rooms.”

Ethan intuitively felt that he was about to prod some memory the priest wanted to bury, so he closed his mouth and nodded obediently. He remembered that the priest had told him that the reason why he gave up his right to inherit and become a priest was because he could get in touch with the God of Order’s egg and use it to save his father. However, even though he passed many examinations, and he truly became a priest and came into contact with the God of Order’s eggs, he still failed to save the Duke of the Western River.

Perhaps at that moment, his reason for becoming a priest had vanished. What was the reason behind Tanisiel continuing to play such a role until now?

The dinner was very sumptuous, and Ethan and Samuel, who had to eat the compressed bread of the Forbidden City for such a long time, ate until their stomachs were bulging. Ethan went back to the room he had been arranged for, with a window facing the garden, and lay on his back in the large, gorgeous canopy bed. There was a fire in the fireplace, and everything was beautiful and peaceful.

However, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Were those walls? It seemed as though they were not perpendicular but were tilting downwards at a subtle angle. If you didn’t look carefully, you wouldn’t be able to notice it at all. Moreover, it seemed that there were many unnecessary corners in this room. Those corners were also tilted at strange angles, and looking at them for a long time would make someone dizzy.

Was the design of this room the Eves’ architectural style?

It was dark outside the window, and Ethan had to turn off all the lights in the room before he could see the outline of the mountains in the distance. A corner of the sky was illuminated by the planetary rings in the sky. Under the bright moonlight, Ethan got into bed and tried to fall asleep.

But when everything fell silent, he finally found something wrong.

It was not the angle of the wall, but……he heard the sound of breathing in this room.

It was not the sound of his breathing.

He bounced out of bed, sat up, and asked aloud, “Who’s here!”

The only answer he got was silence.

Ethan got up and turned on all the lights before searching all the corners of the room, including under the bed, the wardrobe, and the bathroom. He didn’t see anything suspicious.

Was it an illusion? Ethan was not sure. He turned off the light and climbed back to bed.

However, the sound of breathing rang out again. It sounded so clear, as though a dying man was panting with all his strength. The breaths were very rhythmic. They weren’t urgent or rushed and were even somewhat too slow, as though something was scheming or planning for something.

Ethan couldn’t find the source of the sound. He wanted to ignore it and force himself to sleep, but sometimes he felt that the sound of breathing was far away, and sometimes he could almost feel someone blowing air into his ears. He shivered and opened his eyes to take a look, but he saw nothing. Finally, he could not stand it, so he opened the door of the room and walked along the dim corridor to where he remembered Tanisiel’s door was. He was hesitant to knock. After all, it was quite late now.

Who knew that the door would open before he knocked.

Ethan was startled. “You……how did you know I was outside!”

The priest looked at him with his eyes curved. “Do you forget that our souls are still bound together? Just now, I sensed that you were upset and seemed to be a little confused and afraid, so I guessed you might come to me. What’s up? Are you scared of sleeping alone?” The priest gave him a meaningful, evil smile.

Ethan habitually wanted to push up his glasses to hide his embarrassment and awkwardness, but his hands did not manage to find his glasses. Instead, he scratched his head awkwardly, hesitating for a moment before he decided to ask, “In my room……why does it seem like there is another person?”

T/N: The Horned People by 8oni (Note: this is not a CG10K contest entry.)