Ethereal Paradigm: Arcadia of Darkness 30 Welcome to the 3rd Realm!

"Whoever fights monsters, should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

-F. Nietzsche

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That night. The very threshold of my unusual fate, the direction of my life took a 180-degree turn.

My family was killed lying cold in a pool of blood. The killer? Was the next family heir...my brother. Death then approached me, step by step, making that man whom I aspired to be in the same tier, his main paragon for wanton chaos. On those moments, of which I thought was the finale, I felt nothing but the coalescence of despair, darkness and putrid emotions in which one reigned undoubtedly supreme, sadness. And it was then that I thought, this melancholy will eventually kill me before the approaching Death will.

Yet, time ceased, as if the supernatural intervention was present. Turns out I was correct. A lady then appeared out of nowhere with majesty, surreal beauty and prowess, proclaiming to be the "Goddess of Disambiguation", who draws on the world's sadness for power. She then offered me a contract that will rid me of my sorrows in exchange for a price that seemed rational- my freedom.

At that time, I never really knew what that meant. All I knew was that the offer was just too sweet to be declined and I could not care more for my freedom if it would spell the nullification of my emotions. I was more than willing to accept the contract. I thought it was better this way. If otherwise, I did not accept the offer, I could have become a slave to my emotions for eternity, still depriving me of my freedom anyway. It was better...no... it is best this way.

Without falters, I then signed the contract, but with lenience on reading the long lines of terms and conditions which could have explained everything to me. Unfortunate to say, it was my folly to choose this path paved with questions that could have already been unraveled. And there's nothing I could do, except attaining this little contrite.

Right after I wrote my signature on the paper, a clock-like insignia then appeared in my right hand with the hour hand facing 3, which implied that I already nullified three of the twelve major emotions. Sadness. Anger. Fear. Now lies powerless against me. And as for the remaining 9, I'll have to experience them myself for the very last time before deeming them quirk-less before me.

After the contract made its potency visible beyond any reasonable doubt, I mercilessly killed my brother with the same weapon he could have used to kill me... That, is the very perfect retribution for his madness, for his boundless and decadent hunger for materialistic power. It was then that I felt so alone if it were not of the goddess' presence that comforted me from this feeling of emptiness.

As dead bodies surrounded me, cold and in state of rigor, I then asked the Goddess to purify the place, to give it no plausible place on my memory. I wished to obliterate the scenery along with the remembrance of my forgotten emotions. She took heed of my request and summoned the flame spirit "Igniteress" who holds authority over fire. The family mansion was burned down. Without a trace of the decadence that occurred there that night. Not a trail. Not ash. Not even a taint of blood from my brother's berserk. But the memory still stands too corrected to be moved.

I was hospitalized as I fell unto a deep trance after that quick showcasing of events. I was then taken by my grandmother while my family was deemed "Missing" in the background. The moment I woke up, there I was in a hospital's room, still accompanied by the Goddess who concealed her presence from everyone but me.

I was then asked several questions by a medical doctor and several others that I don't know. I answered them with all honesty, not withholding the truth, yet all they did was diagnose me with "Dementia" and "Antisocial Personality Disorder" and the likes, which they hypothesize was from a blatant trauma as I saw my family being taken far away from me. Little did they know, that I never did have the chance to experience such trauma. I never did even get the chance to say farewell or at least say words of love for the last time.

I was then under different psychological appraisals and therapies from fortunate individuals on the field. Costing my grandma a fortune, all of them were unable to do anything. Well, I never did need them in the first place. They were useful on one part though, on identifying that I was naturally gifted, having an IQ beyond the ubiquitous.

I continued to live, striving for each day to end with a supernatural element always beside me, and that element, being the Goddess herself. I lived the rest of my childhood in isolation. extending from primary school to my middle school years. I was unable to make friends with anyone. Well, not that I lived "literally" friendless. Some of my classmates back then probably considered me one, but I still can't find myself valuing them more. My intelligence? Oh, I tried my hardest to not stand out in class. It could be a major pain if they were to know my origin or of my personal information. If I were to academically stand out, teachers will then make me study more, or even send me out to school competitions all for the school name's fame. Preparing for trivial things like that would be a major waste of time.

It was a life of an endless loop of boredom and insignificance. A life tainted not with the color of roses but of monochromatic shades of gray. I expected that my life was to be this way until my last dying moments. Yet, the moment I received admission papers to a new university, it was then that my life began to take its turn towards an even more supernatural domain.

Autonomous University (AU). Is what the university was emblazoned. It is situated on an artificial island on the vast pacific made by the Japanese government with the help of other developed and still developing countries hereby calling it " International Clark City". The island's main university "AU" boasted a new curriculum, unlike K-12. They called it MES or the Merit Educational System. It was to be the world's first revolutionary educational system that aimed to spell the obliteration of the current system's excessive flaws. My grandma, without my knowledge, enrolled me there. I am to live independently standing tall in my own feet and effort. Yet, I never could have expected that it was mere fate that bought me there. The reason? It extended to me signing a contract with that goddess.

On the first day, I departed early with my school bag and a little head start cash from my grandma while the goddess went on with me, still hiding her presence from everyone. We took the train and arrived at a very early hour.

I handed my admission papers and several requirements to the office to make my enrollment official, received little words for inspiration from the lady-in-charge and as well as my classroom assignment. I decided to look for that classroom in advance to reserve a seat that I would feel comfortable with. Room 12-A8 was to be the classroom where a year of high school was to be normally spent. Or so I thought...

I opened the room and someone was already there. It was a girl of majestic stature almost in par with the goddess. It was this year's representative. Celes Stella Reignsworth. A girl of straight academic excellence and is from a family of renown. Unprecedentedly, she also lived her life in isolation, although she did not want it. Unlike me, who took the idea of isolation a privilege. For her, it was unfortunate all because someone named her "Prima Donna", the emblazonment that spelled her being apart from the crowd.

Chapter end