Capítulo 8: Discoveries
THIS IS WHERE SPIRITUALITY MEETS SCIENCE, the headline wrote. Song squinted his eyes, not for lack of sight, but it seems the proper way to read that caption was to squint his eyes and look away from the caption to try and understand what it means. Because what the f**k does spirituality means? At least, he knows science.
They have always been taught a few sciences at the City academy located in the heart of the City, where every child must attend for at least three years before they come of age and are ready to work. They have been taught that the world which they live in currently is only made possible because of science. If nothing, scientists practically rules the world. They designed the vehicles, and all other machines in use in various companies today. They made the receiver. The guns, automated doors, the long tarred roads, and bridges, and even the solid stone building of the Towering Tower, the storeys high residence, and so much more. The scientists are the one who work day after day in order to make the world a better place, advanced, modern, civilized. It was taught in the academy that the City was once like the world behind the fence. Scientists started these advancement, slow at first until the world saw reason with them.
All these, Song understands, but now he's about to lose his mind over a word as simple as spirituality. Nothing in the City ever explains something close to spirituality. There is nothing like a supreme being, afterlife, a soul, ritual rites and the many awkward things that Song was seeing in this book. He is growing uncomfortable with the number of really strange things he's discovering lately... One of them is the cold air blowing harshly in his directions, making his face stiff and many degrees cold.
"Jimmy, put that nasty refrigerator off. Damn!" he commanded the boy angrily.
At once, there was a few shuffling of feet in protest but the cold air device was turned on by Jimmy, and the room became more silent, giving Song the chance to focus on the book he's reading.
"It's not a refrigerator. It's an air conditioner," Jimmy taunted.
Song pretended he didn't hear what the boy said. The boy may like the cold, but he hates it. And fair enough, he hates many things.
This apartment, House 20, Room 17B at Filibuster estate is what anybody like Song will term nothing other than kingly. The building is so different from the stuffed ones the common people lived in the heart of the City. The Highborns sure live a comfortable life.
The former occupant of this apartment was Victor Blacktooth, the man who was killed by Foeblaster in the empty first floor of the Rocky Monster.. He has been involved in some revolutionary research with Foeblaster which had, in one way or the other, gotten him killed. So, Song needed to find a lot out.
Song is a poor reader, but since little Jimmy has challenged him after decoding the meaning of some words in a particular book, he felt he has no right to shame himself. He looked away from the weird title and the weird pages, to the jumbles of paper and pen round the study. He saw a large sheet of paper pasted on the wall with some little awkward drawings on it, and it was titled "Hieroglyphs". This was stranger still. There are a lot the Cityzens doesn't know about. The Highborns are sure hoarding a large bit of information from the common people.
Song saw that these little strange drawings was some means of communication and if read thoroughly, it passes a message. But he wasn't going through all that stress, never. He looked at the bottom right of the parch of paper and on it was Victor Blacktooth's slant handwriting. For sure, this is the closest interpretation of the hieroglyphs. It read:
"In the days of Albrom Armstrong the godslayer, about 5,000 years ago, the Great Empire flourished under his iron fist reign. Albrom made sure the long term war that had lasted for about 5 decades, against the savages of the Badlands come to an end during his reign. The final battle was at the Bridge of Sorrows, where Albrom with his three sons faced the fierce savages in a brutal, bloody clash. The battle lasted eight days and seven nights, until Albrom's eldest son lopped the savage leader's head off his neck. Albrom was victorious...
The soldiers marched back to the Empire with the savage leader's head on a long spear. Albrom Armstrong took the spoils of the war for himself alone, and his influence grew. The people worshipped him like a god.."
Song paused reading. "C'mon. Just change that name to Foeblaster. They're the same. Oh, I feel like choking his fat neck till it breaks," Song raged. He continued reading.
"... Then the white woman, the high priestess of the great temple of Krafthos (the god of war) visited the Emperor. She laid a curse on Albrom for taking the spoils of war only for himself and not appearing before Krafthos to worship him and give him that which he demands. Because without the god-of-war's backing, he couldn't have won the war. And the curse goes thus— 'because you have not honoured Krafthos, your reign shall come to an end. Your three sons shall die and you will be reduced to the lowest scum of the realm. You shall live a painful life and you will beg for death, yet you shall not die. You shall grow old in your anguish. Seven times shall you die, and seven lives shall you live, till your last death comes on the eighth time. And the circumstances of your deaths shall not be in your hands. The gods will take your life when they wish, Albrom. Said, I, the mouthpiece of Krafthos the great god war.'
Albrom Armstrong laughed and called Krafthos the dead god. Where was Krafthos for the past 5 decades when the savages raided the land? Where was he when innocent lives were taken for 50 years, Albrom asked in derision. He waved the curses away with a flick of his hand, and commanded that the high priestess be beheaded for cursing the ruler of the realm."
The slant writing of Victor Blacktooth came to an end. "Woah, that was a brutal curse," Song commented.
He then sighed in confusion, wondering how this ancient and unbelievable story has got anything to do with anything. He looks at the hieroglyphs on the wall again and tried to traced where Victor's interpretation ended on the drawings.
"There," Jimmy pointed behind him at a middle section of the drawings. Song looked behind him surprised, wondering when the boy for here. He faced the wall again and checked the area where Jimmy pointed. It was a little more than half the drawings. It seems the interpretation was so hard even for the genius scientist, Victor Blacktooth that he couldn't complete it at once. Song wondered how long this little interpretation has taken him.
"There is more to the story," Jimmy opined.
"Of course, kid. I'm not that dumb"
Jimmy moved closer to the paper and peered into it as if he understood it all along.
"Write this down, Officer Song," he said.
"Just Song, kid. My name's not Officer Song. And are you trying to interpret that? Genius. Let's have it. Let's see what you got." He picked up the the black pen nearby and found an empty sheet of paper. Jimmy read:
"Before the white priestess was beheaded, she told Albrom her sins will be forgiven if he journeyed to the great temple of Krafthos to pay homage to the. Then will the faithful worshippers of Krafthos give to him the Sands of Time to revoke the curse and regain peace.
Jimmy paused, "who is a god?"
Song simply replied, "in the City, Foeblaster. Ugh."
"I don't think so," Jimmy countered.
"I know. I'm just joking. Now continue with your lame interpretations."
Song was actually amazed at Jimmy's intelligence. He sure was making a believable story out of this. "Where was the Sands of Time mentioned?"
"Here," Jimmy pointed at a mark where tiny dots were in a gourd of some sort and beside the gourd was a shape that looked like two cones opened at their pointy ends and joined together so that one rested while the other was turned upside down to rest on the open end below. "This symbol represents time. See."
Jimmy pointed again to the two cones illustration and traced his other finger down to the bottom left corner where Victor Blacktooth left some jottings that interpretes some major part of the hieroglyphs. The two cone shape was labeled time.
"I see," Song conceded.
Jimmy's interpretation continued:
"The white woman was beheaded but Albrom travelled to the temple. He didn't travel to pay homage to Krafthos, but to burn the temple down, obviously because of the 'false Information and prophecies' that the loyal worshippers are spreading in the empire... So, he marched his men to the temple to raid and raze it to the ground. They killed the sacred guards of the temple, carted away the gold and any treasure they could find. And... Officer Song, here's the real gist..."
"Song," Song corrected.
"...wait, Officer Song, the Sands of Time was actually in two gourds. Look!" Jimmy gestured enthusiastically at the former readings. The gourd behind was partially covered by the one in front so it was hard to readily consider them as two. But Jimmy has figured it out. Song nodded in fake understanding and urged Jimmy to continue his story.
"This will so much pass for a bedtime story. Go on, in no time I might fall asleep. Tuck me in when I do," Song joked with a serious face.
Jimmy continued:
"During the fight against Albrom's army, the two gourds were separated between two experienced fighters of the Sacred Guards. One of the guards managed to escape into the temple's underground tunnel to hide. The other guard was subdued by the invaders and the Sand was taken from him before he was killed.
Albrom did not lose his reign, his sons did not die, and he did not die seven times like the white priestess prophesied. He died naturally, and passed the throne to his son... And I think that was the last time the Sands of Time was heard."
"Yes, that was the last time it was heard, until Foeblaster digged it up from somewhere and the robbers stole it from him, and you stole it from them. Can you now see, boy, that the tube you stole is the Sands of Time? You stole the ancient Sands of Time from two groups of notorious intent. Nice and beautiful end to a beautiful story if you ask me... Only thing is that, this does not have an end. Not any time soon. So, it's not a bedtime story after all. It is a top, top notch horror story. Hooo, I suddenly feel the chills... I'm having gooseprickles..
And who the fuck wrote or drew this hieroglyphs? How does the bastardized bastard know so much? Where did Foeblaster dig all these from? From the Backfencer ghettos? Is there another world elsewhere apart from the City and the Backfence? Or is that Empire the City in ancient times? Why is there a fence around us? What are these people keeping from us? Now, I'm here discovering weird stuffs like religions, and gods, and priestesses, and a damn sand that revokes curses... Where are the men of the City? What is Foeblaster using them for?!! Raaarrrrhhh!!!"
Without even knowing, Song fell into a fit of rage that has been concealed in his belly all this while. He was angry at everyone and no one in particular. Jimmy stood rooted, shocked beyond measure. He didn't know what to do to calm Song down. He only said, "Officer Song, will you please stop yelling so that we won't attract attention. We are hiding, remember?"
"Song, I said. It is Song!"
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder