Following Dormin from behind, the archway closed off behind them, causing darkness to envelop the corridor in front of them. It felt like walking down a long, dark tunnel. Eerily quiet, the only sound being the steady drip of water coming from somewhere unseen. The stone walls seemed to close in around them, and as they continued ahead, three of them became increasingly aware of the fact that if they were attacked in some way, there would be nowhere to run.
None of them dared to speak; neither Saomi nor Janus, not even Schrodinger, knew why. Probably due to the unnerving silence or the fear of what lay beyond the walls that surrounded them. Or simply because of the tense atmosphere manifesting itself.
But none of them showed any fear or hesitancy, despite the apprehension that threatened to bubble up within them. With every step, they grew closer to their destination. In the distance, there appeared to be a faint light in the shape of a rectangular frame. The closer they got, the clearer it became.
Before long, they were brought into an enormous library filled with people of different species not of their own; some wore clothes made out of iron, metal plates, bronze, fur, or hides. Other things were far beyond comprehension in nature. All of them wore various kinds of clothes that fit in the surreal realm of the Dreamlands.
"What is this place?"
Janus said it in awe, looking around. His eyes were wide open as he scanned his surroundings. The library was not an ordinary library. It was a labyrinth of endless knowledge, a realm of pure and utter bliss. Books lined every wall, floor, and ceiling. There was hardly a surface that wasn't covered in books. The air was thick with the smell of leather and paper, and the floors echoed with the footsteps of the library's patrons. It was like being in a giant museum, except instead of artwork or sculptures, it was all books.
Books of every shape and size, and in every language imaginable. Janus had never seen anything like it in all his lifetimes. It was breathtaking, and it made him feel small and insignificant in a vast, limitless cosmos. He knew that he could spend years and years reading, studying, and exploring this place for all his insight; nothing beats learning something firsthand and expanding upon it with his own observations alone.
Schrodinger stared in bewilderment at the sight before him. His eyes darted around, absorbing every detail and committing each image to memory. He'd seen a lot of weird and wonderful things in his life, but this was by far the most wondrous sight he had seen for a long time, as it had been a while since he last heard of this place.
Pages suddenly flew past, fluttering softly like butterflies as they danced through the air. Several books opened and I began flipping through their pages, stopping occasionally to allow some words to be highlighted in gold ink. A large map was also seen unfurled on the wall, pointing out the many civilizations across the realm itself.
She became slightly impressed by the sight in front of her. Despite her main focus of avenging her entire home, Saomi couldn't help but admire the vast collection of knowledge. Seeing so much different information represented here made her feel insignificant yet humbled by the sheer magnitude of it all. It also reminded her of just how big the universe is when compared to the tiny little corner of space that she called home.
At the center in front of them were wooden tables and chairs occupied by the other librarians, where several of them were writing down notes or researching whatever subject they were working on. A few even seemed to be chatting amongst themselves, while others simply read in silence. The room was filled with a buzz of activity.
"Welcome to The Tower of Time," Dormin bowed once more at the guests, "take a seat; we have much to discuss," gesturing the trio to follow him toward the nearby table, where four surrounded empty chairs are available for the group to be seated.
Complying with this request, they agreed and reached their destination, calmly sitting in their chosen chairs. As Janus, Schrodinger, and Saomi settled themselves comfortably in their seats, Dormin leaned forward, folding his hands together and resting his own chin on top of them.
He stared intently at the trio behind his mask, eyeing them all with keen interest and curiosity. "Any questions before we start?" An innocent enough question comes from a fellow being who presided over the realm of the Dreamland as a knowledgeable scholar.
Saomi was the first one to speak up, urgently asking, in a rather rude and blunt manner of speaking, "Tell us about this place." Her tone demanded an answer, and she wanted nothing more than a straight-forward response. Janus and Schrodinger glanced at her with surprised expressions on their faces.
However, Dormin didn't seem to mind Saomi's bluntness or her manners; he simply laughed softly at her question. "Very well," he said, nodding his head, amused by the way she presents herself after the death of her home. "The Tower of Time is an independent clock tower residing in an excluded location. They were composed of an organized group of librarians from different species, some not even humans."
"Our role is to consume and study the flow of events, producing every logical prediction and action of every god, man, and beast. Everything was predicted by the formula within this tower. On the other hand, the scholars also view The Tower of Time as a Doomsday Clock."
"Doomsday Clock?" Janus repeated slowly, "I heard it before, but...I can't put a finger on why it sounds so familiar." His eyebrows furrowed in thought as he tried desperately to recall. He snapped his fingers as realization dawned upon him: "Ah! That's the thing that measures the likelihood of a human-made global catastrophe," an answer that greatly pleased the mysterious man.
"Correct," Dormin said chirpily. "Currently, it' still stuck in the same spot, but many of us can feel the next Kalpa coming. The question is, how soon will it happen? Is it a week? Months or years in passing time? We know not when, as this information is the only thing we can't predict," he exclaimed with deep sadness about this unknown.
Janus sat silently in his seat, absorbing this information with his head down, until he got the courage again to ask, "What else does it do?" He asked curiously, wanting to know more about how the Doomsday Clock works in this surreal world of fantasy.
"Glad you asked! Well, you see, for every moment, it ticks in the Doomsday Clock. Another place, reality, time, and event were caused by a global catastrophe that destroyed whatever civilization it had while also signaling the closeness of our own world being destroyed by some unknown impending catastrophe event that will soon arrive. All of us here know who."
She gritted her teeth angrily, silently frustrated by how much she was getting from this. While Saomi is somewhat satisfied to be learning about this place, her main focus is finding that bastard, stopping his plans, and killing it so the deaths in her home can be finally avenged.
"But despite every moment the clock moves in the Doomsday Clock, Another place, reality, time, and event were caused by a global catastrophe that destroyed whatever civilization it had. It also means the next Kalpa of a newly recreated era and generation that was previously destroyed by catastrophe, which resets time to the beginning of a new age."
Schrodinger became severely annoyed by this whole ordeal. However, he nonetheless enjoyed learning something new that interests him: "That's good and all, but we didn't come here to chitchat about this tower and its history." His tone was impatient and clear for the man to hear: "We are here for something else that is far more important. Tell us, Dormin, how did you know us and our purpose? Answer that, and we will leave in peace. It is all that you need to tell us of your knowledge," he stated bluntly, looking at the man with a firm expression.
Dormin then sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a second before he looked directly at him. "For your first question, I have already answered that earlier ago about how we contain formulas of logical prediction and action known to us," he paused at the sight of a stupefied cat, expressing how stupid he was trying to ask this question. "Aside from that, The Great Darkness, or The Great Dreamer, as some call it, has little information about it, nor do we have concrete evidence that supports this idea. The only thing we can do is theorize its next actions."
This didn't set well with Saomi, as she stood up before loudly placing her fists onto the table, producing a loud thud and surprising everyone in the room. "Do you people not understand that he is a threat to this world?! You've all been doing nothing while my home was suffering due to that bastard's actions!" She roared angrily at him, feeling the rage begin to boil inside of her as she clenched her hands into tight fists.
The man understood the pain in her heart, as many of the librarians do, as they had the information of every being within this place and also the pain they had gone through. "I know," his voice was much softer now; an attempt to calm down the furious girl, "that is why we are going to help you stop him."
Her eyes widen in surprise, not expecting the answer she received: "You do?" She said with a hint of happiness in her tone, sitting back down in an inquisitive manner, "Where is he? How do we stop him? Can we kill it?" So many ideas flood her mind as she begins to think about what she needs to do.
Janus and Schrodinger were a little taken back by how she was ready to go charging head-on without a plan of action and how cruelly sadistic she sounded from the tone of her voice. It almost made them believe the Saomi they know and love have completely become different questions.
The God of Time has seen many tragedies before. Despite losing his omniscience, he still contains some memories across space-time, but not all. But this one felt familiar; as he tried remembering, he felt his very body shudder and shake from what he remembered.
Desire for vengeance. A strong and negative desire. It had a unique flavor to it. It was an alluring, but dangerous, flavor. One that could easily cause irreparable harm to themselves and others even if the end goal is achieved.
It is the nature of a man to wish to see their enemies destroyed after what he or she has done to them. Karma is a concept, but what makes it interesting is that sometimes it comes back with a greater effect on the individual who deserved it. There is a balance to it all. But there is a line between seeking it and becoming obsessed with it, to the point that the victim who wished to destroy the monster slowly became one themselves over time.
Interesting force that drives humans and other animals alike to do something to repay the one who wronged them. Vengeance is the act of seeking retribution for a grievance; however, it is a question of how far an individual would go in order to obtain their goals. Some are willing to destroy themselves and others or are still retaining a sense of right and wrong.
But how long until an individual becomes corrupted by their own hatred and misery? Days? Months? Even years at this point? He doesn't know how far a person can go until they become satisfied or have the humanity and will to forgive just so they can move on with their life while focusing on a better future.
Humans are fascinating creatures, and because of this, Janus is curious to see how Saomi will change after meeting the abomination who killed her entire home. "Cthulhu is a dangerous being; we shouldn't underestimate him," he said, suddenly warning everyone else about this issue. "The most important thing is that an otherworldly entity can be killed aside from preceding destiny." His eyebrows raise in genuine confusion.
Schrodinger and Saomi turned to look at him with eyes focused intently on his every action as if analyzing him closely; on the other hand, Dormin was silent like a statue while giving off an unreadable expression, as ever. For all the knowledge they have, Cthulhu is something entirely different.
Then their attention switched to the man. "Do you know?" Schrodinger questioned, appearing to be more interested in the conversation at hand, "Can it die?" That alone is a difficult question for it to be asked, as the mere mention of death is close to impossible in killing creature who defies logic in itself.
For a brief moment, silence returned to them while each thought on their own what would happen if they succeeded in finding Cthulhu and killing him without ending the world in progress. Would it mean their success? Or the end of all things? It is truly something to consider, for every action made in this world has a consequence for the future that they will either regret or welcome into their lives.
None of them got the answer when the entire tower itself suddenly shook in an earthquake. Shaking all around, many things had fallen out of their place as books, pens, and other objects dropped all around them, while glass and mirrors had cracked under the intense quake.
Everyone present started to go crazy, trying their best not to fall over or get themselves hurt by the sudden chaos presenting itself. Some were so terrified that they hurriedly searched for a place to hide from the incoming apocalypse that was about to come.
"What's going on?" She said, standing up from her seat with further confusion about the earthquake, "Dormin?!" Saomi turned to him, and her anticipated eyes remained as firm as stones, filled with great concern and anxiety about what was happening to the entire world outside.
"His here."
