226. A Window Into Ber’s Present

226. A Window Into Ber’s Present

“There was a point in my life where things felt like they were at their highest. We became Moons of the Nexus. Survivors of Serum S.”

Ber internally narrated these passages of her memories, flickering through them like a children’s book. Page by page, Ber read out the lines that were etched into these core memories.

“I remember D-13. The Wandering Healer who found us on that moonless night as everything burnt down. And there, like an Angel sent by Deities we never believed in, arrived a woman in black who offered me the hand I so desperately wished to clasp.

But Galia was no Angel. She was a Demon incarnate. A serpent in the body of human. A temptress of the forbidden who dabbled in taboo, whispering like a seductress who incited the fall of our human captors. They took their own lives in the meaning of justice.”

Standing before her was a faceless Galia, her head smeared by a black fog. The only detail Frost could decipher from Ber’s memory was her skin color, which was a shade similar to that of Jury’s. But she could tell that Galia was nothing remotely close to her beloved. The voice which then spoke aloud with an accent and certain inflection that did not originate from this world as far as Frost was concerned.

Rather, it sounded like something from Earth.

Galia had nurtured them since the disaster. The memory was hazy as it was not the primary focus of Ber’s trauma. Rather, it seemed to have something to do with the newly appointed Ber 30 years ago.

“Ateliers will attempt to lure you under their wings with sweet temptations. Scarlet Logic has already initiated a deal with you, as have ImpulseWorks and CogitO. You three would make for a fine addition whenever you so find yourself.”

Galia spoke with a motherly tone.

“But you are like an apple, separated from the other sweetest two. Unripe by a faulted umbilical stem. Neglected by the nurturing tree of knowledge, knowing only so much. A temptation for many. But you are an apple capable of choice. Though where you roll has not been one of your own, has it?”

“Galia had a way with words. They slithered ‘round your throat like a serpent. It had a binding power... Galia promised us our ‘salvation’ in the form of becoming Moons. She saw untapped potential within us and nurtured us until we rose to Moons. But the moment we reached that pinnacle, she left us on our own, favoring Raoul.”

“Welcome to the Nexus. I’ve arranged all I can for your arrival. A suit is fine?” She asked.

“It’s fine.” Ber lied, but had lost the motive to complain or shout, or cry.

“Atelier Items will follow shortly. Please, make yourself comfortable here. No one will dare to touch a Moon, but they will be tempted to reach.” Galia formally warned as the world flipped to a new page.

“It was like she said. Ateliers of all kinds approached us.

Scarlet Logic wanted us to become their Blood Moons. Our hatred made us perfect candidates.

ImpulseWorks offered us the chance to become Eclipses with our combat prowess despite our lackluster experience compared to other Moons.Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

CogitO offered us to become a Retainer for an unspecified goal.

Caldera Industries.

Chained Theocracy.

Act X... It didn’t matter what Atelier it was. They all approached with an offer.”

Frost’s body returned to her. At 50 meters away, she watched as the Corrupted Ber’s body took on the form of the original Ber, save she adorned a Jester’s hat with exactly nine bells, each in the same color of the Ateliers that had rejected her. Her apparel was a suit mimicking a jester’s outfit, decorated with symbols of question marks that dripped like the words from Jury’s Mantle of Sin and the body of the Listening Bird.

< “I poisoned the well. I poisoned us to hold onto this small fragment of happiness.” >

< “I believed that so long as things didn’t change then everything was fine.” >

< “But what I came to realize was that I was more than just an ugly duckling...” >

< “I was the ugliest of them all!” >

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< MONSOON >

< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET INSPIRES >

Jester of Speech

Ber

< Accepting this complacent life only entrenched this despair. Could you hear the despair gagged underneath the makeup of my so-called happiness? >

AFFINITY : Despair

LEVEL : 120 ORIGIN : Trauma

HP : 100,000

ATT : 2,500MAG ATT : 2,500ATT DEF : 250 MAG DEF : 250

MP : 2,000

RESIST : NilAGI : 30

< “Serum G removed the need to cut my hair... It was perfect wasn’t it? (I always despised it!)” >

Frost prepared herself. The Jester of Speech was entirely capable of eliminating her if she was not careful. With her fists drawn, and nothing but conviction arising from the depths of her flaming heart, Frost locked eyes with the forcefully-smiling Ber.

Then, like a roulette, the lights of the Ateliers began to illuminate as someone had spun a wheel of fortune. The light froze onto Caldera Industries, and a laugh track could be heard arriving from within its archways, causing Ber to assume a look of anger all the while retaining her forced smile.