Daevas -I- ✔️

Chapter 14.4: Remembrance

Ari walked the through the endless hall of emptiness. The paintings, the murals, everything was the same no matter how long he walked or which way he turned. It was as if he was walking around in a loop, not really going anywhere. Ari stopped and gazed at the mural again before furrowing his brows. He sensed its presence clearly then.

"Meris, where am I?"

"The beginning," the beast said. Its voice echoed through the empty halls.

"Of what?"

"Of what you can remember. Perhaps, all you would like to remember."

Ari turned his head when its voice grew closer. However, there was no one there.

"There is nothing here," Ari murmured.

"Look closer."

Its breath blew in his ear, causing him to jolt away. Meris appeared before him in human form and pointed down the same path Ari had taken time and time again.

"There."

"There is no--"

"Look."

"I am looking," Ari said, growing frustrated.

"Not with this." Meris nudged Ari's face. "Or this." She poked his forehead. "But with this." Her finger slid down his neck to his chest where his heart was. "Through all the lifetimes you have lived, you may leave with you your memories, but the heart never forgets. Never."

Ari stared at the white floor below him. His hands shook. The beating of his heart ran rampant in his chest. Ari knew without even having to think much on why. Some part of him did not want him to remember. It was Harun. All of the awful parts of him seemed to be. Ari laughed bitterly.

He was made a fool by everyone aside from Cyrus who was merely trying to show him the truth. But everyone disguised it so well --and that talk he had with Auovin. Just the thought of it made Ari squeeze his eyes shut. When he said to Auovin that he was not him when he had that gaze in his eyes. He very well was that person who had hurt him and Ari told him, in that same moment, that he would not do a thing to hurt him. Ari bit down on his lip, wishing he could take it all back. He should have listened to Sai and not have been so curious. If he had listened, he would not have such a heavy heart and guilt to carry.

"Ari, do not change your mind now. It is far too late. You are here now and there is no going back. There is only forward."

Ari looked at Meris with distrust.

"I know you are afraid, but there is no reason for it. None at all."

"I am not afraid. What is there to be afraid of? It is a past that has nothing to do with me, but I will learn of it if I must."

Meris smirked and said no more. She motioned for him to come along, but Ari stayed where he was at.

"The rune here. Cut your hand and trace around it like so... and then a door will open. Do you not remember even this?" She laughed and vanished once again. It caused Ari nothing but unrest. What game was she playing at exactly? If it was his temple why was it that she remembered things that only he should know?

Ari bit his finger and trace across the rune marking as instructed. The stone rumbled. It made a cracking sound until something unlatched from within. Dust speckled with sharp ice filled the air, causing Ari to cover his eyes and look down. When he looked up again there was door partially open. Meris had been right in her words, but it made him more uneasy than before. Just what is she trying to achieve by giving him all of the knowledge he wanted to know? He was so used to people not giving him it and when someone finally did it unnerved him. Nothing came without a price.