Chương 36: Chapter 33: Serpentine Misinformation

Whilst the name didn't carry any meaning to Nolotl, the diviner couldn't deny that the name of Yaldabaoth carried some strength, even if he personally couldn't recognize it. Just like the verbal components of a spell were called xenoglossia—usually meaning words of power but their literal meaning language of the stranger—, Nolotl could understand the strength behind the name of the entity.

But most importantly, the fact that it had a name meant that it wasn't some sort of cognitive apparition that just had happened to be birthed due to the botched ritual. Yaldabaoth was an already existing entity of foul origins. Yet something felt wrong with that name, something that the High Priest of Nochochenca couldn't put the name on it, only that…

"You aren't called that," Nolotl denied the entity's existence. Instead of fighting him, the outsider being just snickered at his words in an amusement so supreme that it escaped the diviner's understanding. What was so amusing about having one's existence denied?

"You've called me Quetzalcoatl, have you not?" The priest inquired as the mind hijacker refused to interact with him. That I have, atrophied serpent. Nolotl wasn't sure if the being's words—that which called itself Yaldabaoth—were some sort of taunt, but he was sure they weren't a statement. As much as everyone would have preferred that he had been born half-serpent and taken the path of either astromancy or biomancy, Nolotl was completely sure that those wishes hadn't materialized in any shape of form.

For better or worse, he was two-thirds avian and none serpentine.

"That is the name of the Empyrean of Information, Light, and Life, the highest of claims," the Tezlan mostly recited the early secular teaching of his life.

"What has made you call me in such a way?" Due to the Mount and its eponymous academy, the term Empyrean had been diluted as of late, but one upon a time it used to mean something far more important. The Celestials were a near-divine race that had lived a long time ago in Lon, coming far from the stars, only with the current celestials taking the mantle of the name if the divine blood had long been diluted. But Empyreans were what the Celestials are for the people of today.

The true Empyreans of yore were veritable divinities that had several Alignments in their bodies. The Quetzalcoatl—pronounced ket-sal-ko-at unlike the common mispronunciations of Originals—was one of the mightiest of Empyreans, brandishing the mantles of the Alignments of Information, Light, and Life when most True Empyreans only had two Alignments under their belt.

Whilst Nochochenca was a polytheistic religion, several of the more common branches did venerate the Quetzalcoatl in their exception or with a select handful of Empyreans. But such cults were uncommon or long gone. Such was the absurdity of this Yaldabaoth's claim. If Nolotl truly acted according to his priestly duties, he would have had a severe meltdown from the sheer sacrilege of the entity's words.

The winged serpent was one of the highest of Empyreans—the one who boasted the title of god of knowledge—whilst Nolotl was a failure twice-bird that boasted the position of the weakest of the Empyreans in the academy. There were absolutely no correlation between the two barring the only presence of the quetzal in his blood. Ah, someone is feeling the most delicious of remorses. A powerful sorrow with a tinge of dysphoria. Would it even be called dysmorphia if it was another race altogether?

The Yaldabaoth taunted him. Nolotl scowled at the entity's words.

"This confirms it. You're Tezcatlipoca, the conflict-bringer, the one that managed to trick the Quetzalcoatl. That's why you've called me that. You're the night wind that spreads lies!" The odious entity laughed at him, its voice echoing in Nolotl's mind in a grim manner even though it was completely bound to the virtual mind. You can call me however you like, though I guess there isn't much difference between the Tezcatlipoca and Yaldabaoth, only the direct antagonism that you seek, winged serpent.

The entity of the orange eyes looked at him in amusement, its voice oozing with knowledge that was beyond the diviner. But the name is not to my liking. How about Yoalli Ehecatl? The amorphous parasite's words made him nauseous and grit his teeth. The familiarity with which it addressed him was utterly repugnant. A creature from the beyond that had usurped his new mind and tried to act as if nothing had happened. You have resisted Revulsion.

So much for that Blessing granting resistance to status effects, Nolotl pondered in the sanctity of his old mind, though he had to say it was difficult to differentiate his own internal mind from that of the entity. Something I should address in the future lest the creature overtakes my ego with its insidiousness. It certainly didn't help that the parasite talked with his own voice.

"I refuse to give you any significance." Once more, the priest denied the interloper's existence. He feared what would happen if he truly acknowledged the entity's presence as it had managed to worm inside his empty Second Mind with such trivial ease. Opening any door to his true mind was something he couldn't afford to do, not the slightest chance could it grant him.

"If you have to wear any name, it will be the one of Ehecatl. The simple wind. For your words are only whispers of serpentine misinformation." The word 'ehecatl'—pronounced eh-heh-kat —simply meant wind. With the moniker of Yoalli Ehecatl that it had suggested meaning the nocturnal wind, the one that spread lies. You're right in one thing, Quetzalcoatl. I am misinformation, the Ehecatl let out a cruel giggle before worming its way inside its new cradle, ignoring the twiceborn diviner once again. What have I done?

Nolotl pondered on the sanctity of his mind, worry of speaking aloud lest he feed the entity's Cognition. This… this wasn't supposed to happen. How can the ritual have gone this badly? I… I don't think this is an Empyrean, a real one, but perhaps and just perhaps… maybe I'm dealing with the corrupted corpse of one. This… being is not natural in any way I know. The sheer thought of his claims made him even more nauseous, but it was something he couldn't ignore.

The Ehecatl had knowledge beyond his own, meaning it was an existing entity of untold age, not just the figment of some old mage's mind. What had possessed his new mind wasn't some old evil wizard like would appear in a story trying to fight the destined hero, but something far more insidious. And the worst part… It was waiting patiently. The fact that twice already had decided to go to sleep in the span of a handful of minutes only made it worse.

Any type of sapient mental infiltration was always panicking to take control of the host, but this one was far more intelligent and cunning than that, instead deciding to take deeper roots into the mind that was its soil. With bated breath and bleeding arms, Nolotl rushed to the Life Tower. This wasn't something that could wait.

The Central Tower was basically a metropolis that never slept, so Nolotl got a weird look or two as he strolled toward the lower levels of the tower with both of his arms bleeding and making a bit of a mess. There was a healing ward at the Central Tower—all towers had them—but he needed a healer that he knew. Even if the one he had in mind didn't know him.

For a moment, the terian thought of using the Slow Fall spell to precipitate down as the healing installation he was aiming for was basically at the bottom of the Life Tower, but he didn't trust himself with casting anything as both his mind and body were made a mess. The latter truly showed its exhaustion when he fell down the stairs, rolling down several flights and leaving a handful of bloody imprints.

"Ugh…" Nolotl almost puked as he stood up. Never before his skin had looked that pale.

"I… I think it's time to use the elevators." Part of his chained Animal Spirits protested as they had developed a considerable vertigo from being restricted that long, and it certainly made him nauseous, but if he continued descending stairs in his anemic state, he was bound to die from exhaustion or blood loss. Whichever came first.

Death didn't scare him much after having experienced it thrice already, but something told him that if he didn't see Enantyum this coil of the loop, the man would almost certainly expel him from the loop. That wouldn't be death. It would be oblivion. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. With a heavy heart and a limping body, Nolotl called for an elevator. The wait for the floating wooden platform was an exasperating one.

Not only because he was dying, but because he felt he would be walking to his death. He felt the Ehecatl coil inside his mind, laughing at him, even if the creature remained silent for the time being, just satisfied to take joy in his misery. When the elevator arrived, it took the bound terian almost a minute to take a step forward, no matter if he was bleeding to death in the meanwhile.

"Next assimilation needs to be Time or Life so I can heal myself…" He muttered as he stepped onto the enneagonal elevator and commanded it to move downwards. Even though he was now moving at high speeds, these lower floors were far more populated and the glances he received were becoming more plentiful.

Nolotl ignored them and thanks Dijkstra's Routing, the divination having found a nearby sky-bridge to the Life Tower that would leave him just one flight of stairs away from his destination without needing to go to the bottom floor of the Central Tower. Nolotl didn't have much strength remaining, but the moment the elevator stopped, he sprinted for his life, more than happy to be away from that death contraption.

Even with a handful of less liters of blood in his body—this might or might be not an exaggeration—the terian managed to traverse the whole enclosed bridge in record time and he almost threw himself down the stairs once he reached the Life Tower. Unlike the Central Tower, the Life one was dimly lit as the fake crystal sun on top imitated the real day-night cycle, making it easy to go unnoticed. If it wasn't because he wasn't dashing like a mad man, his regal cape lagging behind him.

The moment he reached his destination, Nolotl shoved the door open and screamed, "Healer!" The room was empty except for one bald dryad with ebony skin. Literal ebony skin. The turquoise-eyed plant-woman's head snapped at him with annoyance, only for that feeling to instantly vanish as she saw all the blood pouring out of his arms.

"Go to the bed. Fast!" She commanded him and Nolotl obeyed, throwing himself to the nearest of the clinic beds, not caring that his blood was dirtying the white blankets. The biomancer rushed at him with a glorified feeding bottle containing some thick yellow liquid and unceremoniously shoved it inside his mouth.

"Drink." Knowing better than going against a healer's suggestions, Nolotl drank from the feeding bottle. The liquid was incredibly thick and sweet, similar to syrup. No, it is syrup, he realized. And a very concentrated one at that. It was hard to swallow with all of its thickness and ridiculous sugar levels, but he managed to drank all of the contents as the dryad fed him with one hand and parse his arms with healing light with the other.

The light was obviously a byproduct as this wasn't a Light healing spell, but a Life one. He especially could tell that was the case as his arms and wings were assaulted by an unbearable itch, the side effects of having his body regenerate in real-time. Even after the wounds closed, the itch still lingered. Unconsciously, he moved his wings to scratch them.

"Don't," Quetiapine slapped his hand.

"The flesh is still new and exposed, give it some time before it settles. Yes, the healer he had sought was the neuromancer dryad that he had met a hundred days ago. Of course, there wasn't any recognition in her turquoise eyes. She had met her and only met her two loops ago, during the enhanced ambush loop. This time around she had no knowledge of him. Which, if anything, was a good thing. After all, she had garnered her contempt after restraining Enala in the way he did.

I guess I can save her this time around, but I do need to find a way that doesn't require watching over her for a month straight.

"So," the neuromancer said after he regained a bit of his coloration and didn't make any gestures to scratch himself.

"How did you get into this state?"

"Botched ritual." An answer that was technically true. If he hadn't botched the Second Mind enchantment ritual, he wouldn't have needed to force his Animal Spirits out. Quetiapine sighed at the answer.

"Are those tattoos part of the ritual?"

"No," Nolotl weakly swayed his head.

"They are more like a… failsafe. I redirected most of the damage to them." This was an outright lie.

"Most of the damage?" The hairless dryad frowned.

"I've inspected your whole body and seen not a trace of harm beyond your arms."

"The damage was of… mental nature," the Empyrean of Information sheepishly admitted.

"Ah," she mouthed a groan of both understanding and frustration.

"That's why you sought me out?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"A… biomancer recommended your services, and I needed a neuromancer." This time it was a half-truth. In a way, Azithromycin did recommend Quetiapine's services once upon a time by bringing him to her clinic.

"I see…" The ebony dryad pondered for a minute, her gaze lost, before she looked at him again.

"Though I'm not able to detect any damage to your mind. At least not with a cursory glance."

"You don't see anything?" Nolotl raised his brows, bewildered by the statement.

"I came here because neuromancers are even more specialized with minds than the average gnosiamancer." Whilst he wasn't sure how the process worked, Nolotl knew than when having two starter Boons in different Alignments and putting a bit of work onto developing both, the person would lose their usual Titles related to their Alignment and instead get a specialized one that would grant bonuses related to their path. In Quetiapine's case, she wouldn't have Biomancer and Gnosiamancer but instead Neuromancer.

This interaction was one of the reasons why people usually didn't double dip unless they had their path very clear.

"And you made the right choice if you are afflicted with a cognitive malady, but…" the dryad's voice deflated by the end.

"But what?" The terian pressed for answers.

"I won't say that your mind is a black box to me, but it's certainly more obscured than I expected, even with your consent I cannot travel that deep inside it."

"That makes no…" His voice died as he realized something. Or maybe it does. All gnosiamancers and related paths were permanently connected and open to the Cognition, that was literally what the Information starter Boon did and there was no countering that. That was the reason why it was infinitely easier to mentally attack other gnosiamancers even if they all possessed Resistance to Cognitive Harm. There was no changing that.

But it was true that Nolotl had suffered several changes in both his Cognition and status these lasts months since the Quetiapine from another timeline or loop—Nolotl wasn't sure if there was difference as he wasn't versed in the workings of Time—had been able to inspect his mind to some extent. So he pulled up again the description of his new Blessing. _False Serpent's Touch: Across the Cognition and the cosmos, the False Creator's touch is known and now it's been bequeathed.

Gnosia is your prefix, but the meaning is different. Any status conditions targeting your mind will find any purchase somewhat difficult. Insight: Inishgt has flaied. _ Once again, his Insight proficiency on the Blessing had failed and in a strepitous manner with the misspellings. But as he reread the description, it started to make sense. Any status conditions! The Empyrean of Information realized. Not status effects, but conditions!

I don't know what the limitations nor the extent of that wording is, but for the time being, it appears that anything that targets my mind will find success difficult to achieve, seemingly divinations included… He didn't know what to do with that information. Whilst that meant that the Ehecatl's Blessing might prove to be an actual blessing, he really didn't want to have that revolting squatter in his mind.

"Uhm… perhaps the ritual wasn't as botched as I thought," Nolotl made a quick answer woven with half-truths.

"This obscuring of my mind is the result of an enchantment, but it has caused some mental harm."

"Can I ask what type of mental harm?" Quetiapine asked patiently.

"Er… does patient confidentiality exist in this clinic?" He really didn't want to reveal anything, even if he was aware that this issue couldn't be resolved if he remained silent.

"I swore both an oath and a geas to that, so you can rest assured." It was weird seeing the ebony dryad so calm.

"Okay so I performed the Second Mind ritual and my new mind kinda got possessed by a cognitive entity of indeterminate origins." The vegetal woman looked at her, blinking several times as her turquoise eyes attentively examined his cyan ones.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Ah, that's the Quetiapine I originally met, alright. Perhaps it wasn't the best of ideas to enrage one's physician, but he was surprised it had taken him this long to see the dryad's true self.

"It sounds bad, and it is," Nolotl admitted, "but I've managed to contain the entity and it's unable to get out of my new mind without dying. So, is there a way to extirpate it?" Quetiapine scowled at him and pushed him against the bed.

"Let me examine you with more detail. Do I have your consent?"

"Of course," he said as he was pinned on the mattress. The dryad then started casting several divinations targeting both the Physicality and the Cognition. She went on for several minutes, and he occasionally saw her floating around the cyan Cognition more than once as an apparition. Nolotl's cognitive self was similar to his corporeal ones minus the cape and the wings, but Quetiapine's was vastly different. In the Cognition, she was closer to the ebony tree that her bark and darken skin represented.

Even with a broad canopy that acted like hair even if she had none in her real self.

"There's no extirpating that parasite," the neuromancer clicked her tongue after having finalized her long inspection.

"None at all?" The gnosiamancer raised his torso from the bed and sat on its edge.

"I have absolutely no idea what in the nine hells is that, but I can tell you with absolute confidence that's been too long for anyone to remove it. It's entrenched too much on that virtual mind."

"Fuck," he cursed harshly.

"Indeed, fuck." Quetiapine sighed, already done with the terian's bullshit even if she had only known him for half an hour.

"But what do you mean with too long?" The ludicrous statement echoed in his mind.

"It can't have been more than an hour since it appeared."

"An hour? More like forever," the dryad scoffed.

"If I didn't know better I would say that you were born with two minds and that dark passenger was always there."

"But that's…" Nolotl's word died with the grim realization that struck him. I felt more of the pain from my mind splitting at the start of the loop, but the process had already started during the end of the previous loop. Not only did I get Second Mind as an enchantment there, but Ehecatl had also whispered back then, which means… It was something that he would have realized before, and he had, but only know the gravitas of the situation had been truly assimilated by his tired mind.

The creature didn't just hijacked a travel back in time. It wasn't affected by it.