Chapter 382 - Prologue (Part 5)

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"That's not what I…" Wilhelm's voice trailed off, and he went quiet. He knew exactly what he had wanted to ask of the Mumbling Prophet, and he knew full well that it wasn't about a vaguely familiar name.

As he stared into the star-scape, where two blue flames burned brightly, he felt as though a pair of ancient eyes stared at him.

"No one believes you have visions, not even your masters," the Mumbling Prophet continued to scour through Wilhelm's past. "No one believes how irregular you are because you are supposed to be the noble hero of legend. It haunts you and gives joy to you and eats you and toys with you."

"Ask him about the new prophecy," Citrus's voice rang out.

Wilhelm ignored him. He leaned closer to the portal, nearly touching it with his nose. The closer he leaned, however, the higher the hairs on the back of his neck rose. "What do the visions mean? What are they?"

The portal's flames blew out, and their smoke danced before Wilhelm's eyes. "They are remnants."

"Remnants of what?" Wilhelm asked.

"Be warned, o mighty hero of legend," the Mumbling Prophet spoke with renewed vigor. "The prophecy is broken. Shattered! Obliterated. Ruins. The balance lies buried next to it. A new god will arise above the old! A calamity is coming. None shall be spared. You have failed before you have begun. Open your eyes. You have been fed lies." The star-scape shook and the portal began to collapse.

Wilhelm kept himself within the coral even as it began to close around him. He had nearly realized an answer. If only he could see into the star-scape for a few more moments. "Wait! What were you saying about remnants? What did I just see? Why am I the hero anyway? I need more answers."

"Wilhelm!" a booming voice called out. "Let go!"

A burning pain in Wilhelm's hands, pulling him out of his trance. Citrus and Ignus were to his left and right. They condensed golden life essence around their hands as they tried to wrestle the coral away from Wilhelm's mangled wrists.

Wilhelm let out a mournful cry, wondering how he hadn't noticed being sucked into the maze of sharp coral. It was as if his mind had been separated from his body.

"Lean back!" Ignus yelled.

Wilhelm leaned back, and the coral clamped down with a bone-chilling crunch where he had been a moment earlier. The three fell to the ground, gasping for air.

Wilhelm glanced down at his mangled hands, gritting his teeth but refusing to cry out any more than he already had.

Ignus patted Wilhelm on the back. "You take that better than most Orcs I knew."

"It still hurts though," Wilhelm groaned. He winced as the pain increased twofold. He didn't use his life essence since it was sealed with the necklace's enchantment, yet the bone and muscle crawled back into place. He looked on in awe as his hands put themselves back together. He stood up, then fell right back down as a bout of vertigo swept the world to the side. 

He caught himself on one of his knees, then clutched his throbbing head. The physical body had repaired itself. The mind, however, had been pulled taut by the inexplicable gravity surrounding the Mumbling Prophet.

While the group recovered, the Mumbling Prophet meandered to the other side of the garden, and entered a dormant state.

Funny little whispers chuckled, so he chuckled with them. Hands pulled him up. He watched the grass pass by. Such little wonders of life within the ocean. He was slumped down onto something. Pale faces waved hands in front of his face. Mouths moved without sound. Such funny little whispers.

A sharp pain across his face brought him back to his senses. "What was that for?" Wilhelm asked, rubbing his cheek.

Citrus and Ignus exchanged looks, and color returned to their faces. Wilhelm sat on an empty paint bucket with a canvas obstructing his view of the Mumbling Prophet. He reached out to move the canvas to the side, but Citrus slapped his hand down. "You were mumbling nonsense to yourself. We feared that you would turn out like the others. Here, drink." He offered a waterskin, which he pushed to the side before reaching out for the canvas again.

Ignus slapped his hand away. "Stop. Drink."

Wilhelm frowned, took a swig out of the waterskin, then spat the red liquid back out. "What was that, piss?" he sneered.

Citrus snatched the waterskin away, took a swig, then tossed it to Ignus. "Fine wine. Since you're not trying to look at the Mumbling Prophet anymore, I assume it worked. Do you remember what happened?"

Wilhelm rubbed the sides of his head: "I don't know. Why would I reach for the canvas? What…what just happened to me? I don't know. Everything is jumbled together. I need to ask him again." He tried to get up and was pushed back down.

"He is called the Mumbling Prophet," Ignus explained. "Because talking to him for too long will reduce you to a mumbling fool."

Wilhelm nodded. "I had heard things…inside."

"Give it time," Citrus comforted him. "The Mumbling Prophet rarely goes that far with visitors. You are lucky. To be recovering this fast, there must be something loose in that head of yours."

Wilhelm took some deep breaths. "He said that I had failed before I had begun. A new god will rise over the corpses of the old. Isaac did his best to train me but we must have failed in some way, because the prophecy is broken."

"Did he tell you anything else?" Ignus asked.

Wilhelm nodded. "The gods are playing a game of some sort. I don't...I need to lay down for a moment."

Citrus shook his head. "We'll discuss it on the surface. Let's get you back to the monastery. We need to warn people."

"Did I mess up?" Wilhelm asked. "I thought I was going as fast as I could. How do I help people now?"

"Relax," Citrus urged him. "You're still recovering. You haven't failed yet. Nothing the Mumbling Prophet says is set in stone. Today, however horrible it may be, is proof of that. Let's hope you can still fix whatever was broken."

Wilhelm frowned. "There was one last thing, but it was not from the meeting. The Goddess passed down a message that kick started this trip. Does the name Doevm mean anything to you two?"

Citrus and Ignus stiffened, but said nothing more. Wilhelm had his answer.

'I knew it,' Wilhelm thought, instinctively glancing at the Mumbling Prophet. 'There's something else going on with this Doevm person, and they're not letting me in on it.. The Goddess rarely says people's names…I need to find him.'

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