rogue_4

The interior of the bell tower appears exactly the same as the Soul Furnace in Nymph's memories.

Mottled metal walls, exposed energy pipes, damaged exhausts in disrepair. Every path and every corner shares the same look. Nymph even feels as if she can faintly hear the revenants' chatter.

The enlightened asks:

'Djall Nymph, tell me. What do you picture from the hall and corridors of this bell tower?'

'It still looks like Kazdel's Soul Furnace. We're in the maintenance passage leading to its core, the walls look like they've been patched up with scraps of Oriron over the last two centuries, there are dimly glowing Originium lamps, and the place even smells familiar... I can hardly believe it.'

'We have undoubtedly been walking alongside each other, but all I see are the bright white walls and reliefs sculpted by the Anasa.'

'But...'

'Is that such a problem? We have been traveling together, so surely we can reach our destination together as well.'

The enlightened leads Nymph as they navigate the passages she is most familiar with. They pass through the final door, entering the ritual site from her memories. The same place where she, her companions, and their ancestors crafted these illusions with their stories.

There is no one else around, but something is burning quietly inside the furnace.

They soon sit on the ground, the furnace flames warming her up.

'Djall Nymph, tell me. Why have you followed me here?' The enlightened asks again.

'Because you said you had stories to tell me? Um, also, I think you might know how to send me back to my original Kazdel?'

'You have such a concrete goal, and my words have become your motivation. If you were a layperson wishing to become a true Anasa, I might have deemed you unsuitable and said 'Only by letting go of what you see can you escape the myriad souls' cycle.' However, that is not the case here. So I will say, you are correct. I have a story for you, and afterward, I shall send you back.'

Nymph nods. She has long since prepared for this.

'Let us begin from the story, an extremely short tale.'

After Qui'lon awakened, he made a friend.

The friend was a great Pandita, an erudite sage and scientist. The Pandita cast the very first bell, and spread the method throughout Lokadhatu. With the sound of the bells, both people and nature were able to promise each other not to do the other harm.

But even such a great Pandita had no choice but to say this to Qui'lon:

'In Trisahasra Mahasahasra Loka, the living must die, and the cycle of reincarnation must end. The same goes for calamity, but I am unable and unwilling to eliminate it.'

Qui'lon had closed his eyes, and answered with a single word.

On hearing it, the great Pandita had a sudden realization, and walked the same path as Qui'lon, spreading the ways of enlightenment, guiding souls out of the myriad souls' cycle of reincarnation, thus the enlightened continue to emerge.

The great Pandita then told Qui'lon: 'I have done all that I can, and now I shall take my leave.'

'What a wonder to peacefully exist outside the laws of dharma, to perhaps not lose yourself within fleeting illusions. Wonderful.' Those were the last words of the great Pandita. After that the Pandita left, to whereabouts unknown. This happened a century, or perhaps a millennium ago.

'—The end.'

The enlightened finishes his story in just a moment.

'Um.... may I ask, what was I supposed to learn from that story?'

To be honest, Nymph didn't get it at all.

'Djall Nymph, you firmly believe that, by weaving your words, you have come to or even created this realm.'

'I do not doubt this at all. Your words linger here, and I can not only hear, but also feel the waves they make as they construct everything in this realm. All life and death are inseparably close with each other.

'You were also confused when I described how the 'Four Kings' came to be. Perhaps you know of more than four who have donned a crown of black. This implies the Qui'lon from your land—the 'true' Qui'lon—is someone dead to you.

'But that does not matter. The Anasa do not cling to the existence or annihilation of any form, nor to where they come from or where they go.

'That is precisely why the 'Citymaker' did not ask how your Kazdel is faring, nor did the 'Farchaser' ask if his guards were safe and sound.'

Nymph feels the scene before her waver for just a moment.

'Mm, the waves are rising once more.' The enlightened smiles slightly.

'So, worry not about how Katsidiya appears. You are already in your furnace, while I remain in my bell tower. We hold no karmic ties, and wheresoever Katsidiya goes will not be affected by your actions.'

'Um, so you mean, even if the illusion turns to reality again, I don't have to regard it as something I actually created, and I don't need to let it burden me mentally?'

'You, or all of you, it is the same—this is the first to learn herefrom.'

'And the second?'

'Do you still remember the final words of the great Pandita?'

'You mean, 'What a wonder to peacefully exist outside the laws of dharma, to perhaps not lose yourself within fleeting illusions'?'

'Good. I hope you take those words back with you as-is. This is the second.'

'But... Sorry, I don't understand what it means, and you haven't explained anything either...'

'Enlightenment need not occur on a fixed date. Just remembering it will suffice.'

The enlightened finishes and stands. Nymph understands the time has come.

'Then please, could you at least tell me what you said to enlighten the great Pandita?'

'I already told you. Just recall it.'

The enlightened reaches out to pull Nymph up, and a bell seems to ring, resounding from everywhere around them at the exact same time.

'When you have your answer, tell it to your companions. How we converse is Katsidiya's solution to 'survival'!'

The enlightened shouts out these words, and that is the very last sentence Nymph hears in Katsidiya.