The tales Lucahn told her were closely related to the Three Aspects that influenced Nekrom's designs. Whether through thaumaturgy —the ability to apply magic in a practical way— or supernatural abilities granted to certain individuals called Divinities, the gods were always there, moving their chess pieces behind the scenes.
For Tristessa, given the very limited experiences she remembered from her life on Earth and the common sense that prevailed there, everything the boy was reading to her should have been pure fiction; tales drawn from the imaginations of people who never expected their words to endure for centuries.
However, in Nekrom, reality surpassed fiction. Tristessa already knew the influence of the divided Aspects of Nekronomika. She knew it, she felt it in her recomposed soul, manipulated by beings from the immaterial world.
She was a believer from the first moment she set foot in that world, and even more so when she died and came back to life.
"…and that was how the Dark Tower collapsed, leaving the alchemist Sarjoule with the lesson that there are forces in the world that men and women are not ready to control, and never will be." Lucahn finished reading the story, more than happy for the attention Tristessa was giving him but equally tired of talking so much. He took a sip of water, removing the dryness from his lips that had not been so busy for a long while. "Do you want me to continue, miss?"
"If you want. I'm not going to force you, Luc… Wait, wait!" the girl exclaimed, forcing the startled boy to turn two pages back. "What is this...?"
"Oh, it's the story of Endrel and Margules. It's a boring love story..." Lucahn complained, puffing out his cheeks and frowning at Tristessa's astonished look. "Do you know it? "
The black-haired girl was in shock: the illustration that accompanied the text in glyphs was of two women, one wearing a revealing robe and snuggling passionately against the chest of the other, who was naked and had two black, angelic wings on her back.
But the most curious —and dreadful— thing was that both women were holding on to a single golden chain, connected to a portal whose access was completely blocked by it.
"No... I don't know the story," she whispered, as the tickling in her shoulders intensified and the anxiety became unbearable. "Can you read it to me? Please!"
"Uh, daddy taught me that I can't refuse the request of a lady I like! Okay..." said the boy, sighing. "But then let's go play with Gaal, okay? He's my dog!"
Lucahn took a breath and began.
"A beautiful woman named Margules lost almost everything in one night. The Red Knives gang invaded her home, burned it down and killed her husband. She managed to escape and took refuge in the local lord's abbey, keeping in her possession only the baby growing in her womb.
Unfortunately, the baby was stillborn. And Margules despaired. She prayed with all her might to the three gods and all their angels to bring her son back to life, but no one answered to her pain.
She prayed day and night, never letting go of her baby's cold body. Until from the heavens descended the most beautiful woman ever seen, with wings as black as night and surrounded by chains of gold, and said to Margules:
"I am Endrel, Angel of Rebirth. Your grief has moved me to pity, and I have begged my master, He who rules over Death and Doom, to have mercy on you and your unborn child."
And Margules asked her: "And what has been your judgment, oh divine heavenly messenger?"
And Endrel answered: "The will of my lord and master is absolute. As Angel of Rebirth, I can bring your son back to life, but there is a very high price for you to pay."
And Margules said to her: "Anything, oh holy lady! I will give you anything for a miracle that will give life back to my son, so cruelly taken from him! I will give you my soul, my heart and my eternal love!"
And Endrel said to her: "Then hear my demands. You shall make me known. Let the people of your village revere me. Make them pray with every birth and every death, in my name and the name of my master. Let my name bring comfort in death and hope in new life. And you, Margules, when you have no more strength to utter words of love to me, when your body collapses and your soul trembles at the inevitable end, like everything that sails the turbulent waters called time and Chaos, I will come for you and you will be my consort, until the end of time."
Endrel breathed life into the face of the unborn child and returned to the heavens. The child opened its eyes and its cries filled the abbey. Margules cried, gave her child all the love a mother can give, and kept her word.
With every denying priest, Margules convinced them of Endrel's love.
With every skeptical lord, Margules convinced them of Endrel's hope.
With every son and daughter mourning the death of their parents, Margules convinced them of Endrel's comfort.
And on the last day of her life, surrounded by the family of her beloved son, the priestess of the angel Endrel, Margules, died happy for the life she led.
And the Angel of Rebirth came to her side, captured her fluttering soul and blew divine air into its essence.
And Margules ascended among the souls of mortals.
Endrel said to her: "You fulfilled all my demands. And for that you were rewarded with a long life, to see your son grow, and have a peaceful death. Now you will stay by my side forever, for that is the last price for you to pay."
But Margules told her: "Immaculate lady, loving you is not a punishment if it is a blessing. Loving you is priceless if it is a gift. Loving you is not deference if it comes from the very core of my soul."
Margules took Endrel's Golden Chains and wrapped herself with them, joining with the angel, embracing the angel and fixing her loving gaze on the angel's divine face.
And Endrel loved Margules, her most faithful servant.
And Endrel loves Margules today, and Margules loves her today.
And Endrel will love Margules until the end of time, and Margules will love her until the end of time.
Lucahn finished reading the tale and let out a deep yawn, totally ignoring the look of concern that dominated Tristessa's face.
The tale was meant to be a sort of religious romance, but for the girl, it had been chillingly revealing information. Along with everything she learned about the Gods, about what she experienced with Darkness, the concept of Discord that seemed so natural to her despite never even having heard the word out loud.
The In-Between and its inhabitants, their identities now revealed. Endrel and Margules, the guardians of the Infinite Corridor. The Angel of Rebirth and her consort, pulling on the chains to perpetuate the corridor's eternal loop, moaning in pleasure as their hybrid bodies of rotting flesh, gears, and miasma of Discord rubbed against each other… Tristessa saw the tale's representation, them immortalized as two beautiful lovers in transcendence, when reality showed two monstrous creatures, worthy of nightmares.
"They are to blame for… this," the girl thought, bringing a hand to her chest. Behind her white shirt, her heart beat against her Baptism in Ruins, the unholy mark that evidenced broken laws that were not to be violated. "Them…and Vel'Moran…"
The name of the God of Chaos echoed in her head, his titanic shadow growing ever more present.