Chapter 79: My Manifestation
Blessings and Curses, an ocean of them rushed down from the missing heavens. They ploughed down and gushed towards Esme with no concern for her well-being.
Staring at Esme through the veil, I caught her confusion; her shocked face.
She was seeing the Curses.
But it wasn't meant to be possible; she was the Curseless One, the Pure One.
Don't worry, my dear sister.
I will carry that weight on your behalf.
Smiling through the blossom of Cursed petals sprouting like mushrooms from my body, I stared at the descending Curses...
Come.
...and drew them in.
Esme's face twitched with confusion as she gazed at the abruptly shifting Curses. She watched on with shock lining her pretty face as the Curses vanished through the solid wall and entered the space behind her;
Entered the space where I, her Perfect Cursed Doll, resided.
New Curses, more Curses;
Upon this Descent, I will receive a further 4 Curses. And from Esme, another 4 Curses.
That will be 8 new Curses added on top of my initial 10.
18 Curses.
Hehe.
I'm dying~
The Curses arrived through the veil, they shot into me-
And-
And-!
And...!
...And?
Huh...
My breaths remained steady even as the maelstrom of Curses crashed into my body. It was surprisingly easy to handle, and the pain was far less than when I took my First Step.
Or is it that the pain is no longer enough?
Is my day-to-day pain worse than the combined efforts of 8 new Curses on top of the amplified 10 Curses?
Is it really this easy?
I smiled as I observed my skin, flesh, muscles, tendons and bones-
SNAP! CRACK! SQUELCH!
Skins burst and flayed; flesh bubbled and pooled like molten lava, muscles snapped and tendons tore. While my bones poked their heads adorably through my torn flesh.
My body turned into a pretty little rose.
Cursed blood flooded from every pore, drenching the Altar beneath me and surging outward like wraiths.
Yet.
Huh, this isn't that bad.
It was easy.
Painful, yes, but easy.
The pulse of gushing Curses was rebuilding my body, empowering, yet ironically, destroying it at the same time. Yet, this was merely the side-effect of this Descent into a titled Fallen of the Second Step.
It's true purpose;
The true outcome of this Descent-
Manifestation.
No one told me how this process works, nor could they. There is something that prevented Hilda's father from talking. The only thing I know is that once the process begins, it will come naturally to me.
So.
I waited.
While this faulty body of mine tore apart and rebuilt itself from the filth of venemous Curses, I paid close attention to the influx and changes occurring within me.
How do I Manifest my Armament or Arcana?
And, can I even Manifest one?
These are questions I didn't know the answer to, but I was hopeful.
I had to be hopeful.
Else...
143,651,977Mymindmaynotbeabletohandletheinsanity143,713,372
Thus.
I sat there.
Boiling.
Freezing.
Bubbling, melting...
Every amalgamation of horrors that you could imagine the human body experiencing, I experienced. Yet, to this broken little creature, even death was no longer painful enough. Perhaps if the day comes when this creature's soul must experience torture, then, that day, it will finally suffer once more.
My fingernails popped like popcorn, exposing the veins beneath. My ankles swelled, blew up, and rapidly reorganised.
My elbows jutted out, snapped in two, then reconstructed.
My kneecaps shot out like a blown manhole cover, then, miraculously, a strand of Curses burst out of the empty, bloodied hole and dragged the tossed kneecap back in place. The Curses secured it once more.
Feet, legs, abdomen, torso, arms, hands, neck-
Even my face.
Even my eyeballs squirted out, dangling from their sockets and allowing me a new and fresh view of this shattered creature's body.
I was a sight to see, I'd even consider myself a modern art piece. Where else could you find such a broken little thing, after all?
Chuckling with a toothless, then toothed, then toothless again, mouth, I spat out heaps of Cursed blood.
Yet, even still, the process was amplifying, speeding up;
Repeating;
Breaking;
Repairing;
Over;
And;
Over!
...Oh...?
Somewhere amid my dazed, tired brain, I sensed a jolt.
An awakening?
A euphoric, enlightening feeling popped into my messy brain.
And, thus, I understood.
I understood why none could speak the truth to me.
The reason why it had been kept secret from me, even by Hilda.
The Hierarchy.
I'm Asce-
No, I'm technically Descending to a Step beyond the mortal shell. It's a form of Authority, a form of permission granted to those who have escaped the shells of mortality.
Without this Authority, you'd explode; you'd die.
One may not hear of what lies beyond their Authority.
...The Mistress.
...The personification of madness, His Majesty.
I've never thought about it, no, it's not that I've never thought about it, it's never even entered my brain-
A chilling sensation blocked the maddening explosions occurring all over my body.
What are their names?
...It's then that I understood the gap between us.
It's then that I understood the length of the journey that lay before me in this accursed Dark World.
Taking a deep breath through my tattered mouth, I pulled myself deep into the Curses within my body.
There was no point in thinking too much about that mess.
I had something to do.
I can feel it.
The pathway to my Manifestation is right there.
Lingering in the depths of my brain, cemented in the core of my shrivelling neurons, the answers to my questions lay bare.
Pull on it.
The Thread.
It's there, vaguely, connecting my soul to what it resonates with; an intrinsic, orgasmic sensation that soothed my disintegrating body.
Thus.
I pulled.
I formed.
The Curses within me pulsated simultaneously, resonating with this Thread as my Manifestation descended upon me.
And I watched it descend, I controlled its descent, I poured my life; my blood, my sweat, and I'd love to say tears, but there are none.
Instead, I poured my grievances, my endless, piercing pain.
Everything; the Manifestation of everything that built up this broken little creature coalesced in the air.
I didn't resonate with the Close-Quarters Armament.
I didn't resonate with the Pillar Armament.
Nor did I resonate with the Arcana.
...Instead, this creature gazed with bewilderment at the thing that formed before me.
It was...
A book?
The symbol of a book.
A book etched with countless Cursed engravings; shrieking souls, weeping children, bleeding women, and shredded men.
It formed before me.
My Manifestation.
The Book of Heresy.
Snap!
The Book of Heresy snapped open, its pages fluttered with petals of shrieking Curses; these very same Curses descended to me.
They formed me.
They forged me.
They completed me.
The splatters of Cursed blood rushed back into my body;
The splintered bones reassembled themselves;
The snapped muscles and tendons stitched into coherence;
My dangling eyeballs plopped back into their sockets;
Bit by bit, this creature regained Human form.
...Till, only stained clothing and an exhausted creature remained.
Exhaling a taut breath, Cursed flames gushed out of my mouth and burnt the stains off my clothes. It was too sticky and heavy, quite uncomfortable.
Glancing upwards at the floating Book of Heresy, I beckoned it down. Its pages fluttered as it released heaps of Curses; it floated down to me, leaving behind a trail of vile Curses.
Resting mid-air, I stared at the Quill of Heresy trapped in the book's binder.
...I see.
Taking a deep breath, I silently ordered-
Flutter! Scribble!
And the Quill of Heresy obeyed as the Book's pages turned to the first page. Then, the Quill began to write:
[Head - Turn - Capability]
Basic orders, the most I could do in this state.
Then, quite simply, the Curses within me flew into the Book of Heresy, coalesced within the words-
Crack.
And my neck and head gushed with strength; pulsating with seemingly endless strength.
Using this brief reprieve, I forced my head backwards;
I forced it towards Esme;
Towards the one I love;
And, the moment I turned;
Golden eyes stared into my soul.
Sizzling flames crackled from her corneas as she clung to the gel-like wall, her face sticking eerily close to mine.
Her right hand pressed on the wall; her fingers attempted to break through, to get to my side-
How?
-yet I could only ask such foolish questions to myself.
I couldn't comprehend why she was staring straight at me.
I couldn't comprehend why she was trying to break through.
What happened?
Ba-dump.
My heart, however, seemed to jolt with joy at the sight of my sister's beautiful face. A straining, tearing sensation tore at me from the inside out, but it was a normal volume of pain for my torn heart.
Why are you staring at me, sister?
Can you see me?
Biting my lips; Please don't look at me, not this vile creature. I don't want you to see it.
Esme's fingers tightened over the wall, her mouth peeled open whilst an oceanic volume of Blessings fell upon her.
I missed her Manifestation, but her transformation wasn't over yet.
Unlike me, her body was prepared to evolve further than possibly everyone else in the history of mankind.
"...Sister. Alora-" Her voice came through gratingly, it was stuffed with countless emotions; messy emotions, loving emotions; anger, love, helplessness...
And determination.
"-are you there?"
Esme's voice cracked as she pushed her head deeper into the wall.
Her eyes stared into my soul.