Death, Devotion, Dissonance

*****

Expectant, Endra allowed the Soul Tree to prepare his mind for the vision. The one this time seemed much more alien, considering how long it was taking to start. When Kena brought him into his own memories, the time spent between the jump of his consciousness was almost zero.

'Perhaps the time needed changes depending on how familiar with the memories I am,' he mused, feeling the slight tingling on his soul, as if something was working on his core being. 

But Endra was used to the feeling. After all, he had to struggle through it when Kena was going through his memories before.

And after so many hours of working with it, he understood that it was best to do and try nothing during this moment of acclimatization. The Soul Tree was like a program designed to help someone see the visions inside it without problems. Endra trying to mess with it only made things harder. 

But that didn't mean Endra was idle during this moment. He tried his best to feel whatever was happening to his soul so he could hopefully replicate it himself someday. Even if it was something of a long-shot, it wasn't a bad thing.

'It's not like it's an exclusive ability that only Twelve, or should I say Four, possesses.'

Four herself used it, Twelve used it, and even Kena used it, despite not being a member of the Twelve Jokes. Endra learned many things during his short stay inside the World of Souls. 

When Evin's body went into the box that Twelve created, the two souls inside it split and became independent, making it possible for Endra to move around by himself. 

At that moment, he also noticed how 12 souls emerged from Twelve's body. None of them looked the same as Twelve herself though. There were men and women of varying ages and looks. The only thing that was same was their race. But oddly, they all looked familiar. 

Endra never saw them, no, but he heard descriptions of each and every one of them for a long time. When he thought about it, he came to a shocking conclusion. Evin made a bold guess that they were perhaps the Twelve Calamities.

It kind of became obvious when he saw the tall, mesmerizing blonde creating the two Soul Trees inside the house. That was most definitely the Sin-mother, Lauwich… though Twelve called her Four.

He also saw the Father of Beasts – a large, hulking albino with a metal jaw, just as the books described. He didn't have his iconic Godlings with him this time, but Endra was sure they were kept alive somewhere. 

There was also the Keeper of Secrets – a crooked old man, whose spellcasting talents were so out of this world it was said that he only casted Absolutes. 

Of course, the others all had their stories, but if Endra had to rank them, these four were the most famous among the Calamities. The Sinmother famous for her sadism, the Father of Beasts famous for the destruction he wrought, and the Keeper of Secrets famous for the countless lives that died by his experiments. 

Endra felt giddy, thinking he met all these legendary figures without anyone else knowing. Everyone heard of the Twelve Calamities, but not many knew where exactly they disappeared off to. There were, of course, speculations, but none of them had any evidence to back them up.

'Of course, they'd end up working for the Empress…' Endra thought. 'By that logic, Twelve must be the Daughter of Time…' 

It made sense. The description matched and her ability too, added up. With a bit of thinking, Endra could also guess at why the other eleven Calamities ended up inside her body, instead of their own. 

The Daughter of Time was regarded as the most peaceful of the Twelve Calamities. She kept herself far away from trouble and was usually a helpful personality among the Twelve. She sometimes helped bestow divinations to the people, warning them of disasters, sometimes helping random strangers who would later turn out to be important figures. 

Though, she was still considered a Calamity, because everything around her aged rapidly whenever she saw the future. After a vision, a town or village she was staying in would be found in a distinctly worn state. Rusted metal, rotten wood, destroyed buildings, wilted plants, and of course, carcasses and corpses.

But the Daughter of Time still tried her best to keep herself distant from society, lest her visions come springing on her when she's surrounded by people.

A saint compared to the other Calamities, who were either uncaring of what damage they did, or outright sadistic, like the Sin-mother.

If Endra had to choose who he was going to put all their souls in, he was also going to choose Twelve. 

'But how did something like that even happen?' he wondered, thinking about the Twelve Jokes.

From the name, he had to guess that whatever happened was against their will. If he had to guess, the Empress must've gathered them, put them inside one body, and called them Twelve Jokes. 

'Now I'm curious on how Two Tales got his name…'

As he was speculating, the scenery around him changed. The vision was finally starting.

A long table materialized in front of him, six pairs of seats on each side, the head and the end of the table empty. It was high-quality stuff, made of sturdy, lacquered wood, its legs and aprons decorated liberally with carvings. The main motif seemed to be pointed arches so it reminded Endra of gothic architecture. 

The resemblance became stronger when the room housing the table became apparent. The large stained glasses on his side, the ribbed vaults in the ceilings above which took the shape of a pointed arch, and of course, the massive size of the place. 

Endra suddenly felt it was disrespectful to call the space a 'room', as it was more akin to the nave of a church, expect it wasn't just any old church, its size was larger than the fucking Notre-Dame.

'But which country has this style of architecture?' Endra wondered. 

The closest place would be the Western kingdom, but from what Endra could see, most of the buildings in his country resembled the baroque style more than anything. In fact, he could confidently say he saw nothing that reminded him of gothic buildings in the kingdom. 

But he could say the same for the other countries as well. The East's architecture was more Islamic from what he could gather, the North's was traditionally Nomadic. The South's architecture was a mess that Endra didn't want to think about, but it definitely wasn't gothic. 

When the scene was finally finished, though, the actors emerged one by one. On the twelve seats, twelve figures appeared. They were of course, the Twelve Calamities.

They were not wearing the same casual attire that Endra saw earlier, but a much more formal one. They also looked slightly younger. Perhaps because of it, they looked much more serious. The only one that looked exactly the same was the Keeper of Secrets, with his long black robes and sickly disposition. 

He was also the only one who looked to be good spirits. As for the rest, a heavy atmosphere surrounded them. 

"Well," the Daughter of Time was speaking. "It is depressing… sitting here, waiting for our death."