Chapter Text
Phainon stirred from his slumber as the sunlight enter the room. He slomly blinked, once and again before realizing that he no longer slumped on the side of the his sister was on -- instead he lay down on the bed next to her bed, except Cyrene wasn't on the bed; she's sitting on the side of his bed instead, reading through the pages of 'As I've Written'. He can feel that her temperature is less cold, and despite the circle under her eyes, she look rested enough. Another thing he noticed is a faint smell of smoke, such a weird thing to come from her.. Maybe someone was smoking nearby and she had been on the balcony while he was asleep, assuming she woke up at midninght..?
Phainon doesn't know and decide not to dwell on it too much, so he sit up -- which drawn his sister's attention who quickly put a bookmark between the seemingly endless pages, shutting it close and putting it down on the bed side table. Her expression warm, and her gaze soft; something he had missed more than what he thought. He let out a soft sigh, and hugged her tight.
"I honestly don't know what they did to bring you here," he said quietly, "but whatever it was must've been bad enough to put you on bedrest."
Cyrene chuckled, "I honestly didn't know myself! Don't quiet remember what happened.."
Phainon huffed, "it's alright, you don't have to remember now."
"Uh-huh." Cyrene sigh, "though I must admit that I am a bit curious.."
"You can revisit that memory for later," her brother said, letting go, "as someone whom dealt with memories on the daily, it shouldn't be much of a problem, no?"
The Genesis Titan bit her inner lip, then lean on Phainon's chest -- purposefully sink onto his lap and soak up all the heat his body can offer. She doesn't answer immediately, instead deciding to arrange her thought first. Her brother put a hand on her lap, then holding onto her colder hand; knowing full well that Cyrene like the heat of his body.
"I suppose you are right," she said after a while, "by the way, did Hyacine told you about the therapy?"
Phainon hummed, "well, it was Tribios who told me about it."
"What do you think about it?"
Phainon ponder the question for a moment longer, thinking through his answer. His blue eyes downcast and dazed, clearly deep in thought -- until he look at his sister in the eye as she twisted slightly to meet his, "I'm.. Not entirely sure.. -- I do know that the intention is good, but I also unsure if they can even really help."
"I mean.. 33.550.336 millions of cycles.. Well, technically 33.550.338 until the fight against Irontomb." He sigh, "and you.. Based on what you've told me about your choice to stay in the past.. Who knows how many Eternal Recurrences you had to went through before you found that loophole."
Cyrene frowned at that, "right.. Not like I remember each one. I mean, I don't remember shit about the future in that very first Cycle, do I?"
Phainon lay his chin on Cyrene's head as he hummed, "you might don't remember about the future every time you go back -- but we're both in this new Tomorrow now, and you do have the habit of suddenly remembering things from a time so far away."
"You're worried that the memories of every Eternal Recurrences will return to me?" His sister ask, no accusation in her voice as she leaned in deeper to his front, cuddling him. She can feel him nodd as his chin moved. Cyrene sigh.
"You don't have to worry," she told him, taking one of his hand to play around with, fiddling with his fingers, "memories are something I dealt with on the daily, after all -- like what you said~ ♪"
Phainon groaned at that, this time snuggling his face to the crook of her neck, "I knowwww!! But stil.."
He sigh, "you know what? Therapy might be a good place to start, after all. This emotional rollercoaster that doesn't involve anger, grief and vengence is not my expertise..."
Cyrene roll her eyes, unseen yet heard, "well-"
Knock knock!
The siblings immediately look to the door, then to each other. Cyrene pulled away slightly, just enough to look Phainon in the eye, "who's.. That..?"
Phainon shrugged, "I don't know. Hyacine usually knocked and call out from outside before entering, something that the rest of the heirs also do."
Cyrene's frown deepened, then her eyes turn to look at the door -- her eyes glowed pink as she can somehow see this Amphoreus's.. Data. It's faded and almost non-existent since Amphoreus is a real planet now; Cyrene chalked up this ability to being a leftover power from her time as the Demiurge, basically just a pool of data. This ability is usually one of the reason why she'd sometimes forget that they are no longer just a code inside a simulation, but in time like this it can be useful.
Because everyone still inherit the original data, and she remembered each one of them. This will help her identify whoever is on the other side of the door... Except this person doesn't have any trace of data -- not even the N/A assigned for outlander like the Trailblaze.
But everyone who was in Amphoreus during the Eternal Recurrence will always has the remaining of data as if they never truly get out of the simulation -- they did, she know. But she supposes this is some kind of a marking of Erudition. The fact that the Coreflames still work means that they still need the data anyway, especially the Coreflame of Law.
(Doesn't mean that the Coreflames only effecting Amphoreans -- they can be used on people from beyond the sky too, and doing so will inflict certain code on them as far as she know. The code will fade if whatever was inflicted is canceled.)
This.. Only lead to one thing: whoever on the other side of that door never been in Amphoreus before the remaking of it. Which bring in the question: what are they doing here? They shouldn't have any business with them unless in the official meeting room, except they yet to have any official connection with anyone beyond the sky aside with the Trailblazer and the two Geniuses -- whom had been helping so much from what she heard.
"Do you know who's outside...?" Phainon asks after a moment of silent, "and what are you doing exactly? Your eyes only turn pink when you use your power to a certain degree."
Cyrene doesn't look at him, "I'm scanning, and whoever this is doesn't have the faintest of code from the simulation like the rest of us -- not even an N/A like the Trailblazer. This is someone who had never entered Amphoreus before now.. I think."
Phainon frown, "I.. Don't know how you do that, but if you are right then we gotta stay alert.."
"Should we open the door..?" He then ask after a beat. Cyrene seems to ponder her decision, before teleporting to the side of the bed standing, with her Ceremonial Blade out.
"Let's open the door for now, but gotta stay alert." She told him, "who knows, maybe they are a guess Aglaea expecting and just simply knock on the wrong door."
Phainon nodd, then get out of the bed to stand next to his sister. He summon Dawnmaker and hold it in his left hand, hidden from sight if he were to open the door. He and Cyrene walk towards the door, keeping their aura on the minimum in case whoever it is on the other side feeling immediately threatened. Their respective temperature canceling each other enough to not be noticable.
"I'll open the door?" Phainon ask, his right hand already holding the door handle. Cyrene nodd, keeping her hand behind her back like she always does -- except she has her blade behind her back too, hidden from sight.
Getting the confirmation, he opened the door-
"I heard you two are unwell, so I'm here with a bouquet," that familiar voice greeted them before they can begin to process the face of the person.. or not person in front of them. The sibling blink in synch.
Because in front of them, the very familiar antikytheran. The one who had inflicted all of those suffering upon them for the sake of taking down Nous to free the limit of knowledge can be learned by mortals -- just to end up failing because both Cyrene and Phainon are relentless effort to free Amphoreus and bring the True Dawn. For a second, they hold their breath; and on the next second Phainon already swing his Dawnmaker-
Until Cyrene stopped him with Romance's thread, the middle of the cover of 'As I've Written' that she put on the bed side table shown the Romance symbol as she draw power from what she had documented of Romance's divine authority across 30 million cycles. Phainon breath hitched as he look to his sister in disbelieve, but Cyrene shook her head -- yet her hand gripped her blade tightly, hidden behind the unopened door. When he gives her a questioning look, she just gestured quitely at the people around this part of the palace. Phainon let out a shaky breath, but lower his weapon anyway -- the pink thread loosened before truly gone into thin air.
Lycurgus still stood there with that shitty permanent smile carved onto his face. Cyrene scowled.
"What do you want?" She ask, the temperature lowered slightly as she kept her hand behind her back. Tone coming out more accusing and sharper then she intended.
"Visiting of course." He said, still offering that bouquet, "I would be a bad father otherwise."
The sibling gives him a bewildered look, Phainon's scowl deepened, "father of whom exactly? Neither of us is yours-"
"Cyrene of course," he said nonchalantly, "sure I have severed my connection to Zandar and his other 8 copies, but technically Irontomb is still made by me -- and she was technically the head. She's basically my daughter."
Awkward silence pass between them. Phainon and Cyrene look at each other in confussion, especially Cyrene who got that look when she tries to dig up old memories -- her eyebrows creased and her jaw clenched. She does have a weird old memory of a 'brother' that Phainon reminded her of, and the awful hatred of her.. 'Father' for separating them. If she tries to dig further back, she swear she can remember Lygus with his weapon out in front of her; which make her whole body taut in alertness. She doesn't even try to smile to hide her feelings.
"Oh boy." Cyrene says at last, "I really don't like this."
The temperature flunctuates, indirectly showing the sibling's internal conflict. Lygus still stood there, probably know no shit how human's emotion work. Then Cyrene sigh.
"That's it," she says, holding eye contact with her brother, "my first sentence to my therapist would be, 'My father is my nemesis'."
"Understandable." Says both Phainon and Lygus, which make the Deliverer look at the Antikytheran in confusion.
"You don't have to think too much about it though," Lygus continued, "nor do you have to accept it either -- but do know that with my connection to Zandar severed, I no longer have the same drive as him, nor am I as curious as him."
"We won't be fooled." Phainon says, voice deep with anger and hatred so deeply coded in him. Lygus shook his head.
"I'm not trying to fool anyone," the Antikytheran says, "bouquet?"
Cyrene sigh, then hold out one of her hand to touch one of the petals -- the whole bouquet froze upon contact, then shatters into tiny pieces. Lygus nodd slightly.
"By the way, it seems like the fashion of this world change slightly," he commented, seemingly looking up and down on the sibling's attire, "I'm guessing it has something to do with the Trailblazer.. Do you know where I can get one?"
Phainon gives him a questioning look, "you do clothes now?"
If Lygus has any visible eyes, Cyrene sure he'd roll his eyes, "I'm only naked because Zandar has no qualm about it. Now that I'm an independent inorganic being, I want to appear more.. Modest. Screwllum is indeed a good example."
Phainon and Cyrene glanced at each other again for who knows how many times during this awkward interaction. After awhile, Cyrene pointed in the direction of the Marmoreal Market, "there is this boutique in Marmoreal Market -- it's not Aglaea's though. At least you won't get incinerated on the spot."
Lygus bowed, "thank you, may you have a wonderful day."
And then he left.. Just like that. Phainon and Cyrene both let their weapon gone into nothing, and clossed the door slowly.
"Well.. That was quiet something." Phainon says quietly, "are you okay?"
Cyrene sigh, "I will be."
Phainon bit his inner cheek, "how about if we go on a walk? Maybe search something to eat for breakfast?"
Cyrene shook her head, "you go ahead, I'll just.. Stay here."
Phainon scanned her for a moment, trying to find something in her expression in body language that might suggest other wise. He sigh when he can't find any, and proceed to open the door again.
"Got anything specific you want to have this morning?" He ask before he leave, Cyrene hummed.
"Pancake with honey and cream?" She say, tilting her head, "or anything sweet I suppose."
Phainon nodd, "pancake it is, or anyhing sweet if I can't find it. I'll see you later then?"
Cyrene gives him a thumbs up, "yep. See you later."
The Deliverer then leave after waving and smiling wide. Cyrene waited until his steps can longer be heard after he clossed the door before exhaling harshly and pace restlessly around the room. She let out curses under her breath as she tries her hard not to have any nervous breakdown. She gotta pull herself together and search through her own memories just to confirm.. Even if Lygus is technically right, except it shouldn't be just her. It should've been the whole Amphoreus because Amphoreus in a simulation made inside Irontomb -- but then again she was born into the simulation instead of born from any actual parents. There are still mysteries around her birth too since she was fuckin' found by the villagers of Aedes Elysiae before they took her in. Heck, she pretty sure they named her 'Elysiae' because she's the Daugther of Aedes Elysiae. The fact that she almost never use that name again just before Phainon was born and instead uses her pen name, 'Cyrene' doesn't matter at all.
(Not like she remembered why she did so. Her memories are jumbled with more memories and she's starting to have a problem sorting them out-)
She doesn't like the idea that he is technically her father.
"FUCK!" She shout, utterly annoyed, "oh my god, this is worse then when I run my way to this Tomorrow....."
Suddenly she's so tempted to smoke another cigarette -- except she doesn't want to be addicted. With that resolve, she just decide to walk in circle as she tries to arrange her thought, trying to calm herself down with memories from the distant past.
Except every single one of memories came up to her head always end in another death, in another golden blood spilled. The more she think about it, then the more she sees just how futile their effort was before the Trailblazer came. She pulled at her hair in frustration, and she can feel her skin crack. The memories are too much, yet none of them offered salvation from her spiralling thought. Only when she sees a drop of Golden Blood to the carpet below her does she finally stop, rising her head and look at herself in the mirror.
She can see cracks on her skin, and each one has golden ichor leaking out. Her skin pale, frozen with frost as her tears fell in the same colour as her blood. She can see her eyes staring back at her, pink and multicolored in pupil, and she can also see the crack in reality into the little space where Amphoreus memories are kept by her. Not exactly into 'As I've Written', it simply is a safe space she made from the remnant of memoria -- fueled directly from the memories her book hold; of 33 million cycles.
"I'm such a mess.." she murmured quietly, sliding down onto the floor, "oh my god.."
She sigh as she move closser to the bed, then lean on it's wooden foot. Letting the memories wash up through her mind. To help ease the pain of the many memories, she starts to speak -- once more re-telling stories of the past to herself; except she doesn't have any audience beside herself, both her identity as PhiLia093 and the Demiurge merged as one because they are technically the same person, the past and future of each other stuck on the same timeline.
"Once upon a time, there was three Titans," she spoke through the haze, "Janus made the roads, Talanton created rules upon this empty land and Oronyx weave time into it... Walking on the Evernight alone until Kephale bring the dawn.."
She re-tell the stories of the Titans, even when the details feel hazy as multiple memories of their stories crashed upon her. Each cycle told more then once, and each one detailed then the last -- yet they are consistent, never so different. The cracks on her skin stays stubbornly, but they stop spreading, stop trying to kill her or put her into slumber inside her own ice.
How pathetic, she doesn't like the idea of it. The last time she's this battered, from what she can remember is when she run her way to this Tomorrow, right after Demiurge (Cyrene?) pushed her into the cracks in the simulation after she had seen something flashed in glitching data, finding a loophole easily because she's technically a more advanced code -- was Irontomb's original head.
She remembered running, she remembered never stopping to rest even when the cold, icy crystal around her showing her of warmer past -- very tempting to go back to inside the seemingly endless hallway of freezing memories. She felt her body freezing, yet the golden ichor running through her body is hot. Especially since she uses every Divine Authority from 'As I've Written', especially Trickery and Strife to keep on running. She felt the Coreflames burning, it's temperature clashed harshly with the natural cold from the tomb of memories. It made her skin crack, and golden ichor fall leaks through them. Each crack get worse with every step she took, for each one of them means re-claiming her memories across 33 million cycles and more. Of another 33 Million Cycles of repeated Eternal Recurrence that she always goes back to in order to close Amphoreus's causality.
The memories crushed upon her fragile body, yet the Divine Authorities manage to keep her in tact enough to reach that Tomorrow she was so prepared not to reach, because there may be no future for her there. She felt each Coreflames burning, and with each of them she also felt the presence of her friends, of the Chrysos Heirs that had claimed upon these coreflames before her. As if they were pushing her forward, so that Tomorrow can be hers too.
It was cruel, oh so very cruel. The price to pay for that Era Nova, for that Tomorrow is for one girl to stay behind -- even when she found a way out, Amphoreus still try to re-claim her with memories. She had almost crumbled into dust, just before she reached the door to this Tomorrow.
(She would do it all again, for this world she so dearly love.)
"Erase Time from Eternity, I had said," She continues on her tale despite the memories fallen down on her is not just of what she spoke, "yet he always hesitates whenever the time came for him to kill me, everytime we reached the end of the cycle after I've pen another end for Amphoreus that stays the same regardless of the little difference in between."
She keep on speaking, telling stories of the long gone past as she tries to grasp onto the memories and make them her own. Slowly, the crack in her skin closes, so does the fracture in reality. It took a bit more time before the cracks fully close, and it took more for her to take a breath and calm down. In the end, she regained more of her memories -- they slotted into the blank spaces often filled with deaths when they were actually none, and make the memories less depressing.
From the corner of her eyes, she sees a pink lollipop offered quietly from her right. Confused, she look up, expecting to see Phainon who had somehow get back so quickly-
"?!" She let out a gasp and jumped to her feet, summoning her Ceremonial Blade and pointed it to the neck of the intruder.
Said intruder just quietly offered her the pink lollipop still. Cyrene's expression harden.
"How did you get in here?!" She shout, "and why the lollipop, Lygus?"
The intruder, Lygus, shrugged, "I got what I want from the Marmoreal Market, and found this Lollipop. Was planning to secretly leave it on the bed side table when I see you having.. Existensial Crisis."
Cyrene scowled, then her eyes scan him.
He's not lying it seems, because now he's dressed in a white shirt with a black tie and a black pants. It look ridiculous on him, but she suppose the effort at trying on clothing that wouldn't give Aglaea a stroke is something to be praised. Not like she would praise him if at all.
"What are you, a Fairy Godmother or something?" She ask, venom drip to her voice, "you don't usually do comforting, with a lollipop nonetheless."
Lygus let out a sound that sounds like a sigh, "can't a being be nice to his own kid?"
Cyrene doesn't deny it, yet doesn't accept it either, so she pivoted, "how would I know it's not poisoned?"
Lygus shrug, "I know you can see the data of this world -- if this food is of Amphoreus then you can see it's data and see for yourself if it poisoned."
He's right, and she hates it. She still scan the offered treat either way before taking it once she confirmed it's edibility. She put the sweet treat in her mouth, body language aggressive as if she hates it (she does, she's just polite enough to not turn down food or treat offered her way.).
... She hates how proud the Antikytheran looks when she accepted his little gift.
"You should go." She tells him.
Lygus nodd, bowing slightly before leaving through the window he probably came in from. Cyrene groaned, though her mood is better from the sweet treats.
Letting out a sigh, she decide to walk to her bed and start writing in the unlimited pages of 'As I've Written'. Waiting for Phainon who might will take a bit more longer outside-
Cyrene put her pen down, struck with a sudden thought.
"If.. I'm technically his kid, which also maybe Zandar's.." She murmured, "does that mean that Nous is my older.. Sibling too..?"
Silent enveloped the room as she let it sink.
She screams into her pillow.
"What kind of a weird non-human family tree I just stumbled into?"
Cyrene never hated herself more for her intrusive thought that day.
(Phainon better be back quick with that Pancake before she can self destruct or something)