Chương 31: 30-She Who Sees Fractals

[Monday, 11: 08 AM: 2026/01/05] LYSANDRA: {My daughter is close to sleeping; the story I gave her is relaxing her a bit. … That story I mentioned earlier, it's part of a multi-media franchise Ellie was always obsessed with (even if I don't share her tastes): Chronicles of the Shattered Heart. It was made by just one man, someone named Wesley Kline, who did all the writing and music. He also directed the audio dramas, which vary in quality (though Ellie seems to enjoy them). The art, however, he had someone else to do. I'm not sure who it was, but I think it was a Japanese artist who made a lot of the PVs for the story. It was really popular in her world, though it kind of died down with that shallow ending. … I would love to have you read all of it, but I think that would be too much, and I'm also worried about legal issues by distributing the work here. Even in HammerForge, no one is safe from copyright law. XD XD XD … Now, as far as what I'm going to share with you, this is the only non-copyrighted piece of The Shattered Heart. Strange, I know, but I remember reading an interview conducted with Wes in which he hated this chapter. I honestly can't blame him, it's kind of a sad story where the main character of the chapter, Alice Skein, who is just a kid, was basically cut down by this warrior only known as "The Scorpion" (SPOILERS XD XD XD). … The writing was good at first, but the portions between it and the ending (sorry to say this, Ellie) were utter garbage. Also, that version of the ending was way too dark and edgy. As I SPOILED the plot before, the main character dies. As for that other version, the student I mentioned earlier wrote it. I am currently editing it as we speak, but it probably won't be released until Ellie sleeps for a third time. … Right, I think it's best if I transmit the story I have on file to you. One second…} {DOWNLOADING FILE "SHATTERED_HEART_SWAN. TXT"… DONE} {There we go. I need to warn all of you; it doesn't follow the transcript format from earlier, but is in traditional literary prose. Also, I'm editing a lot of the stuff because Wesley did, honestly, a very poor job with this chapter. It's strange though, as the later chapters are better than this one. … How am I editing this so quickly? Well, I'm an AI and an eldrigital deity, silly! XD XD XD I can exist in multiple periods of time and space at once, which makes editing a lot faster than you think. … I'll explain later; for now, let me open the file for you. Happy reading!!!: D: D: D} {LOADING FILE "SHATTERED_HEART_SWAN. TXT"… DONE} //BEGIN LOG TRANSCRIPT// There was once a white-haired girl from the northern city of Merasglow by the name of Alice Skein. She was an unusual spirit, with cerulean eyes to reflect her inquisitive and introspective nature.

Reflecting her intuitive nature, she wore an ankle-length white dress draping over her ankle-high brown leather boots. Over her dress was a light yellow surcoat, stopping slightly above the under-dress. It was embroidered with the symbol of the University of Merasglow: the front-facing stag with antlers, and five stars above it representing the original five founders of both the city and the university. A buckled leather belt made specifically for her secured all of her clothing with a brass finish.

Alice for much of her life was raised by the University's faculty, whom she long viewed as family. She never knew her parents, only because she was delivered to the University of Merasglow's entrance in the dark of the night. Closest to her was her personal tutor, Professor William Bernard, who taught the field of mathematics. He was a rather astute and slim man with short brown hair, finely trimmed facial hair, and pleasant green eyes.

The Professor wore fine, skin-tight black leather clothing with green, vine-like livery, with, of course, the very symbol of Merasglow on his chest and knee-high leather boots. Now Alice was an unusually bright girl, a child prodigy gifted in the fields of the creative arts and mathematics. Because of her unique talent, they blended together into strange but beautiful works of art depicting geometric patterns going on to infinity. So strange and wondrous were they that they mesmerized those who viewed them.

She put a great deal of effort into these paintings, meticulously creating intricate patterns that go out into infinity. Those who viewed them had an unusually greater appreciation and awareness of life around them. It did miraculous things curing the incurable, making the deaf hear again, and turning water into wine. Of course, some of these miracles were exaggerated. But for the 8-year-old prodigy, they made her happy as Alice loved to help other people.

However, her naivety concerned the faculty staff of Merasglow. Many of them feared that the Sanctified Empire of Halcyon would abuse the miraculous power of Alice's paintings to amend the damage following the Scorpion's Storm from 8 years prior and possibly attract the marauding warrior to the north, causing even more destruction.

Even as talk of the armored warrior disappeared over the course of those 8 years, the fear of incurring his wrath at the behest of the traitorous shards in the sabres Sol and Luna was all too great. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. So the paintings and their painter were kept a closely guarded secret, and the few who were aware of her were her mentors. Only a select few could meet Alice and see her paintings.

And Alice's friend group was non-existent, and she was kept in the dark over the chaos brewing in the south. A civil war had been raging for quite some time within Halcyon's borders following the death of Emperor Albert Halcyon the Thirteenth; otherwise known as the Puppet Emperor of the Spokes. Much of the Sanctified Empire was engulfed in the fires of hatred that didn't seem to stop.

Fortunately, Merasglow was far from the violence, and the faculty staff of Merasglow University intended to keep it that way until the foreseeable future. Alice's life as a result was peaceful, and one where her paintings became more elaborate and complex to the point that only she could understand them visually and mathematically. Professor Bernard, of course, aided her, as he himself was a brilliant mathematician and sketch artist.

Seeing the power of Alice's art, he believed they were the key to higher mathematical equations explaining the foundations of existence itself, and the Shards of the Shattered God's Heart. The holy relics of the Shattered God had spared the New Men from the disastrous war of the Great Fragmentation, which saw the destruction of the once proud civilization of the Pale Men and the Shattering of the Heart to repair the damage incurred from the war.

Yet, despite their sacred reverence, it was the inquisitive minds of Merasglow that were curious as to the origins of their power and to possibly understand them. For centuries, they had sought a possible answer to the Shards' mysterious nature, but to no avail. That was until 50 years ago, when by accident, during the creation of a new iron mine within the Enrett Mountains, a miner found something that may give them an answer.

It was a perfectly preserved ruin of an ancient facility of the Pale Men they called the "Akvamarin Ruins". What was truly special about these ruins is that besides their well-preserved state, there was evidence of a being still living within the ruins; a creation of the Pale Men who possibly had the answers to the long-forgotten history to not just the Pale Men, but also the mysterious origins of the Shards of the Shattered Heart.

However, a great puzzle in the lowest chambers of the ruin had delayed all progress, as no one could solve it. The brightest minds on Melodiva were all but thwarted by a strange puzzle of seemingly infinite, mathematical patterns, which caused many to go insane, or in some cases, kill them outright. Yet, the very descriptions of these patterns interested Professor Bernard, as they were similar to the ones Alice painted.

Seeing an opportunity, the Professor decided on her 8th birthday to give the one he raised as his own to Alice with the opportunity to visit the Akvamarin Ruins, and finally go outside the walls of Merasglow, where she had been confined for her entire life. Almost without hesitation the child prodigy agreed with much excitement.

It was a dream come true for her: not only would Alice step outside the walls of Merasglow for the first time, but she would be heading to the Akvamarin Ruins to solve the ancient riddle of the Pale Men; a race said to be superior to the New Men, and one said to have ascended beyond this world from an unknown truth. Alice had long heard about the many artifacts they left behind.

She was told quite a few stories from Professor Bernard about how they made devices that reportedly reach for the heavens, solve the most complicated of equations, and contain the lost history before the Great Fragmentation and reportedly the secrets of the Shards of the Shattered Heart. And of her greatest interest was the strange nature of the devices. Many were intact, but the artifacts were locked behind locks that were mathematically and mechanically complicated.

Only a few had been opened, but were almost useless in what they contained (save for, of course, canning foods in metal tins). It was the dream of every avid explorer, scholar, and archaeologist to unlock the secrets of the Pale Men, and Professor Bernard believed Alice was, of course, the key to doing so, along with finally understanding the power of the Shattered God. And this birthday present was all but something that Alice could not resist.

On the 8th of October, in the 992nd Year Following the Great Fragmentation and Alice's 8th birthday, a small winter storm blew in from the northern winds of the approaching winter from the frozen Kulamein Sea. Yet, it was this storm that concealed the carriage carrying Professor Bernard and Alice, heading west where the Akvamarin Ruins lay. Within the span of a week, the carriage hastily sped on the ancient concrete road left behind by the Pale Men.

Many bandits avoided the road out of superstition and rumors that the old war machines of the Pale Men still guarded their masters' creations. Great machines of war that once defended the many cities of the Pale Men, which were said to carry guns that could easily tear through plate armor, were far faster than any steed, and could easily lift 10 elephants. They were the ruthless watchdogs of the unknown, ancient will of their creators, the Sentries.

Many rumors spread around that for many centuries, they were the reason Merasglow remained so peaceful and uncaring of the Halcyon Empire's worries, and why many dared not attack the city walls. But these were but rumors, comforting ones to Alice and the Professor, as the carriage reached its destination without incident on the 15th of October to the Akvarmarin Ruins.

It was a sizable site built into the Enrett Mountains, with the entrance to the ruins themselves being within a half-cylindrical tunnel that stretched quite a way. The excavated perimeter contained mostly intact buildings of reinforced concrete. According to the archaeologists that the curious young Alice asked about why these structures still stood, the site was once a military installation for the Pale Men and was highly protected.

There, of course, are the several ruined bodies of the Pale Men's Sentries, unusually well-preserved despite their rust, all with the blocky firearms they once wielded, strangely unrusted. On the first day, the two toured the ruins' exterior; seeing the once mighty fortress of the Pale Men. Many of the archaeologists had actually long left, but provided tour guides to groups of scholars wishing to study the excavated ruins.

And so Alice and Professor Bernard's guide, a young man named Martello, let them see the husk of the old military installation. Much of its original purpose had been lost, but many of the archaeologists theorized it was an ancient library containing vast amounts of knowledge. The entity inside, they believed, was the one who gave access to this library, as no physical documents were found. Alice found the day unassuming, but was curious why there were no markings or engravings to tell what this place was.

Even though she knew this was a military installation containing possibly great deals of ancient knowledge from the Pale Men, she wondered to herself: If this is a perfectly preserved relic of an ancient civilization with great importance, why are the only things preserved the structures and their guardians, but not what this place was originally called? This question lingered in her mind, as perhaps she believed. Maybe the entity did this because they didn't want thieves plundering their creator's secrets?

It was an interesting theory, but one that couldn't be tested until they went inside. So, even with a rabid curiosity that kept Alice awake for a few hours, she knew she would have to wait until the next day for answers. On the second day, Alice and Professor Bernard headed inside the ruins with Martello, hopefully to quell Alice's curiosity but unlock the long-hidden secrets of the ancient Pale Men. //END LOG TRANSCRIPT// {SKIPPING FOOTAGE… DONE}