Lowly Ascent

Cain whimsically walked through the streets of the ruined city, spending his time tossing the black box in the air or trying to open it.

No matter what he did, the box didn't open, and he couldn't see what was inside. The box was made of black crystalline rock with a golden line in the middle, horizontally encircling the entire thing.

Cain was confounded by how to open the box, but this confusion only made him want what was inside even more. His red eyes glowed as he studied it, quickly becoming obsessed.

He took his eyes off the box when he stopped to look at a massive building in front of him. It seemed tens of stories high, with a roof that almost resembled a church. Debris was scattered everywhere, but the core of this massive building remained.

Casually, he entered and looked around. The place seemed to have been searched long ago, with only some rotten corpses remaining, the rest had already turned into skeletons.

Cain made his way out of the common area and found a wall with a hole in it, leading to a hallway littered with wires and broken panels.

There was no light, and the wires no longer flickered with electricity. He had an easier time making his way through as he brushed past the wires and stepped over the broken panels and skeletons.

Following the path in his memory, he found his way to a room with runes on the walls. He saw a table with monitors on it and a broken jar on the floor next to a dried-out substance. He ignored it, kept walking, and headed down the stairs to the abyss.

Cain descended for an unknown amount of time until he saw a cavern filled with illuminated flowers.

They radiated a light blue glow, casting their light upon a tree far larger than the building above them.

The tree looked similar to the willow trees littering the forests, but this one had a green hue in its crevices, and its branches formed eerie shapes, unlike the drooping branches of the trees above, on the surface.

Cain walked on the skull-ridden ground that served as the floor of the cavern and approached the tree. Its hue began to strengthen before Cain heard a whisper in his ear that filled him with fervent zeal, but he quickly dismissed that feeling.

"Why have you come back, little one?" The tree's voice sounded tired, like that of an old man.

"For answers, Numineer. I wish to know if everything was manipulated from the beginning, I want to know the degree of how much you twisted the minds of those close to me."

It seemed Cain still cared. Why wouldn't he? He was human, even if he repressed his emotions, they existed.

Numineer's voice became more lively and energetic.

"Ha! Did you find out? If you want, you can ask about specific people, and I will tell you but don't say their names. Just their titles in relation to you, I don't know their names."

"My parent and lover." Cain clenched his fists.

"...Well, for the parent, that fanatic didn't need much in the beginning as he was obsessed with you. But as his research slowed, he began to irrationally grow angry and even had thoughts of killing you, so I did intervene. After that, he slowly began to think of you as a human and even a son, but I ensured those emotions didn't go too far. He was the easier one to control."

John, a crazy alchemist who learned to love Cain as a son. But those emotions never fully sprouted, because of Numineer. But they also got to sprout because of his influence as well.

Cain kept a straight face and stood there, listening. However, his face started to grow anxious as Numineer began to talk about Luna.

"That girl was far more interesting. Her mental state was bad, and her emotions of self-hate and inferiority were so intense that it took a lot of energy to manipulate. But since she was the best tool to capture your heart, I put up with it."

Cain's face scrunched up, but he didn't know how to feel.

"I can be sure to say what she felt for you wasn't love; it was a dangerous obsession she buried deep within her heart. Even I could feel her emotions deep within the city when she thought you had died during the siege. It was surprising, to say the least."

Cain's inner thoughts grew erratic. He had never had any idea that Luna was like that, but Numineer had no reason to lie.

"But...I will say again, that it wasn't love but an attachment. She manipulated herself into thinking she loved you and never showed her true self, always acting like a puppet for you. She suppressed her real thoughts. Her real personality was hateful, selfish, and egotistical.

"To put it into perspective, when she was young, she killed another child for a piece of candy and had her father cover it up with money. She used her talent to manipulate her family into doing what she wanted, and she did it quite well... which is why I used her. I used her emotions and brought her up to be the perfect little attachment for you!"

Numineer then abruptly stopped before his voice changed to that of a scholarly man and continued.

"When she joined that school of yours, no one cared about her talent or wealth. Her world shattered and her inferiority complex was born. She then met you, she planned to use you to climb the social ladder or something like that. However, her emotions grew harder to control due to her nearing a crazed obsessive state so I had her killed due to her uselessness at that point."

Cain's image of Luna began to shatter in his mind, and behind the broken pieces, he saw a sinister version of her. Her eyes had dark circles, her skin was unhealthy, and her eyes were filled with darkness and obsession.

"How does it feel to know the truth? That your memories are a façade and reality was far from what you imagined. Even if you see now, your past was all but a stage I created!"

Cain quickly dismissed his disorganized and erratic emotions and regained his composure, looking up at Numineer with annoyance.

This prompted Numineer to chuckle.

"Hmm... It seems you are more resistant now. Well, what I said contained no lies, and it doesn't change the fact that your fate is mine to control...just like the rest in this forsaken land!"

Cain's face grew darker, deep down he knew this was the reality of the world. Everyone hid behind something they didn't want others to know, it's just natural.

He now knew that his emotional vulnerability had caused him to believe that his fond memories were all genuine.

But the truth is often hidden from reality, and he now understood this fact.

He had come to Numineer because he had noticed discrepancies in his memories when he was examining them thoroughly.

Cain thought Numineer was the one behind it, but from the beginning, Numineer was simply relying on the human mind for Cain to fall to this point.

He realized these self-altered memories were like a fog blinding his eyes and that it was he who wanted to believe them deep down, he wanted to ignore the truth subconsciously and remain in an ignorant but pleasant world.

However, that ignorance had ultimately led him to his current state—a man broken down into dust who had somehow rebuilt himself. A man driven by hate for everything around him and a thirst for true power. No, True Freedom.

Cain felt relieved now that he cleared up everything. He now understood that he was always going to be manipulated in one way or another, but through it, he could gain genuine strength—strength that would enable him to rise above the sinking pit beneath his feet.'

Numineer suddenly spoke. 

"Oh, did you bring a friend? There is a lifeform behind that rock formation... I wouldn't have realized it if I hadn't fully awakened."