Chapter 111: Intruding Madness
The little dummy was still unconscious, and she was stuck in the back garden. In all honesty, Hilda felt like she could have a fit at any moment.
'I understand that this little dummy says it's fine, and that I can use her name. But. It doesn't feel right.'
Hilda had to force the unconscious feelings at bay. Whatever it was that was restricting her, even after she knew that the little dummy would cover for her, she couldn't let it keep a tight noose over her neck.
Placing the little dummy's head onto her lap, Hilda sighed.
Caressing her sleepy little head, she stared into the distance until she inevitably zoned out.
And.
At that instant.
Observing.
Watching.
From the shadows.
From the sky.
From the earth.
From the light.
From the waters.
From the plants.
From the trees.
Thud.
Utter.
Thud.
Crushing.
Thud.
Madness.
"Oh? What do we have here?"
Hilda's spine crackled with chills. That voice didn't just tickle her eardrums; it invaded them. It crept into the depths of their canals, whispering directly into the cochlea.
"A thieving red bird?"
The voice was playful.
Teasing.
Yet.
'W, w, what?'
To Hilda; to the girl seated far below it in Authority, it did not sound teasing.
It wasn't playful.
It was the truth.
It was the primordial essence of the world.
It was both light and darkness; the start and end point of time and space itself.
This was true, abhorrent Authority.
Her vision spun upside down. A kaleidoscope of colours thrashed her sight; it merged, it split, it spun, and it crashed her visual cortex. Losing complete control over her limbs, Hilda collapsed over Alora, smothering her with sweat and a quivering torso.
Attempting her best to realign her eyes and take back control, she pushed with all her strength. And, in the end, perhaps due to luck, or perhaps because it had allowed her-
She saw it.
Its boots.
Standing a mere metre away, shrouding her in itsmadness.
'H, His, M, Majesty...?'
The little dummy's and Esme's Father.
The Ruler of Light.
The Owner of the Domain of Light; the Crucible of Light.
His Majesty.
And also, the one who turned her little dummy into the despairing mess she is today. Hilda knew that; she knew that this person was the one.
But.
So what?
Just its voice.
Just the sight of its boots.
That alone, alongside the faintest application of its Authority, had crushed her.
'Why?'
Hilda quaked; from the depths of her cells to the tips of fallen strands that seemingly no longer had connection with her.
Everything shook.
An intrinsic part of her that connected her to everything that had an innate connection to her was shaking everything.
It was forcing her to shake.
'N, no.'
She knew it.
Instinctively.
It wasn't forcing her to shake.
It wasn't even attempting to scare her, to shake her, to turn her into this mess.
This was merely...
'A whiff of his breath.'
...an aftermath of its breath.
A passing breath was enough to shake her to her roots; a passing breath was enough to turn her into null upon a mere act of its will.
Yet, funnily enough-
"Haha! I'm merely jesting. You are no thieving bird, Lamperard... Should be your surname, correct?" Kneeling before her, its knees appeared.
It then waited for a response.
And it waited.
Then, it belatedly sighed with a resigned chuckle, "Oh, right. The Maiden's breath had clung to me minutes ago; it must have shaken you up, little bird."
...It dropped a terrifying truth.
That had never been its breath.
The intrinsic connection that had been rattled to its core, the Authority to turn Hilda, a Third Step, into null-
That was merely the Maiden's lingering breath.
Not the madness.
Had it been the madness?
Had it been its lingering breath?
Then-
"Wake up, birdie."
The madness tapped Hilda's head. It soothed her brain awake and returned full clarity to the red bird.
Dazedly waking up, Hilda sluggishly turned her head upwards...
"Shall we have a chat?"
...and received, for the first time, a glimmer of the truth.
Not of 'His Majesty'.
But of the madness.
-----
"Jill is a dumbass!!!"
"Jill is a dum..."
"Jill is..."
Elden's voice echoed wildly throughout the cavern, his mocking tone reaching every corner till it inevitably arrived at Jill's ears. Gritting his teeth, Jill hacked at the ashen grey stone beneath him till it was sawed in half via Hildekar's specialised tools.
Taking a deep breath, Jill amplified his voice-
"Fuck you!"
"Fuck..."
"Fu..."
-and returned the mockery in spades.
He swore that the next time Elden hauled a boulder from the impromptu quarry, he'd slam the bastard into the ground and teach him what the term 'manners' meant.
'Bastard.'
'I'll drill it into you, just you fucking wait.'
...Anyways, with that aside, he finished slicing the ashen grey stone into a clean, sleek grey stone.
Then, planting the grey cube of stone on the table, he completed the easiest part of the process; cutting it into thinner plating fit for lining a ship.
Within a few minutes, he had prepared 12 plates.
Securing them with a tough rope, he threw the bundle onto his back and quickly trekked up the scaffolding surrounding The Canary that towered above his workspace. Arriving at the quarterdeck, the much wider and slightly more complete ship revealed itself.
It was a mess, though.
Almost every inch of space was filled with building materials, debris to be disposed of, or parts that had yet to find their proper location for fitting. Hildekar was still in the midst of figuring it out, after all.
Carefully placing the tiles by the rest of the pile, "12 more!" Jill shouted out to Hildekar, who was somewhere within the walls of the cavern. The silver-haired man was hollowing out the remainder of the ship while simultaneously repairing and building it.
It was a monumentous effort, but one he was more than willing to throw himself into.
This is what Hildekar lived for.
Bang!
Wiping his forehead, Jill listened to the clanging blasting outwards from the depths of The Canary.
Bang!
"Don't mess it up." Commenting under his breath-
Bang!
-Jill hopped off the ship and landed once more at his workspace. He still had a lot to get through for the day before he could go give that bastard a beating.
'Just you wait.'
At the same time, out in the distance, at a desolate corner that had been turned into an impromptu miniature quarry, a dark-haired, handsome man chuckled with a chittery laugh.
"Get pissed even more, you taciturn dumbass, how about you try-"
Crack!
Slamming the pickaxe onto the tough stone, "-phew! How about you try doing this job in my place instead! Why is it just me!"
Staring around at his empty surroundings, where it was just him, his pickaxe, and another year's worth of mining to do...
"Someone! Join! Me!"
Screaming into the air-
"Help!"
-Elden begged for this shitty job to get better.
Alas, it was but a sweet dream.
-----
Black and white...
I'm swimming...
Bubbling in the liquid, I hazily drifted up and down, occasionally twisting with the waves; at times, the world fizzled into darkness, and, at other times, the world broke into pure white.
Is this...?
I vaguely remembered the sight. It had been so overwhelming back then, especially from the amalgamation of imprints that eventually imbued me with the word 'Crucible'. If not for that, I would have remembered the scene clearly, but also...
If not for the hint, I may have failed...
We may have all died...
A miasma clouded my brain, slowing each thought process. Not that there were many to begin with; I merely floated.
Bobbing with the waves, drifting with the currents...
Wading through the inverted ocean of black and white, of what I believe to be Curses and Blessings, I allowed myself to mix with the fog; with the haze of miasma flooding me.
I didn't fight back.
I didn't swim.
I merely accepted my situation.
...As for why...
Sluggishly blinking, I gazed upon the three upside-down crosses adorning the skies of the pale white world.
Agonisingly blinking, I gazed upon the primordial terror filling the skies of the pitch-black world.
What do I do?
What are you?
Both were valid questions, but I knew.
...You won't be telling me, will you?
This world of black and white was rejecting me; this time around, I'm an unwelcome visitor.
.....
...
I blinked, and, before my eyes was Hilda's stiffly smiling face.
"...Good morning, big dummy." Speaking with a subtle delay to my words due to my slowed thought processes, I jolted the dumb girl awake.
Turning her head down, "M, morning! Did you have a nice nap, little dummy?"
"It would have been better if your thighs weren't so fat."
"H, hey! Rude!"
Playfully patting my face, the stiffness on her face melted away with a chuckle in her voice. We both knew that I was messing with her; her thighs are heavenly, after all.
Thick, soft, springy...
Hehe~
No, seriously, look at them!
It's sexy as hell!
...Anyways, I digress.
Focusing on Hilda's beauty is a rabbit hole; I can go on and on for hours, but it's not good to continue with my intense interest in her...
"Why the stiff face?"
Clearing her throat, "No reason." Hilda blatantly avoided my question.
I honed my eyes; I stared up at her.
"You..."
Gulp.
Her throat visibly bobbed.
"...were you touching me inappropriately in my sleep?"