Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 178: The Golden Circle

Uriel didn’t know why, but every time Mariah revealed another truth to him, he found himself nearly fainting, his body pushed to its absolute limits.

But he hung on.

He was finally getting answers.

"The birth of the Spirals shook the universe, and these tremors summoned quite a few hungry gazes."

"So, to fight against those that had laid eyes on them, to hide from the Gods, the Spirals banded together and formed one singular faction."

"The Golden Circle."

"And their motto was a simple one—"

The words shook Uriel to his core.

"—Time is a flat circle. The Spin and Tide of Gold rules over all Heavens and Hells alike."

Uriel felt his heart, nay, his hearts, violently thump and thunder in his chest to keep him from dying. The backlash he faced was so deep that it awoke the additional hearts he’d gained from his path, which had remained dormant since.

But he didn’t complain once, nor did he stop walking.

His rose pupils burned like dying stars, and his runic scar shone with such light that his entire frame was consumed by its golden radiance.

Uriel didn’t know it, but Mariah could very clearly sense the burning fabric of his will and the roaring might of his heart, an ability born from her deep spirituality.

And it shook her to her core, though she didn’t show it.

"The Spirals were born as a miracle that only the Timeless could cause, and in doing so—in being miracles—they had to face all the calamities of the skies to prove their worth."

"To gain the right to live. The Golden Circle fought with no end across countless loops, facing untold danger and complications."

"But they persevered. Ithuril preserved."

They reached the gate.

Standing before it only seemed to remind Uriel of just how gigantic the entire hall was. He felt like an ant facing an entire mountain.

Mariah finally turned to him, facing away from the gate.

"The Spiral House is a construct forged by the oldest of Spirals and Timeless; it is a tool meant to accompany them across time and space, to help them rise after every fall."

"The Spiral House is... the only way for you, a Timeless Spiral, to one day contend against the High Races and thrive in the universe."

"T-timeless Spiral? Who—..." Uriel was tired; even uttering those words nearly took everything he had.

But Mariah understood his meaning. And she shook her head.

"Do you want to die?"

If merely mentioning the Spirals and Timeless summoned Fate Echoes powerful enough to whittle him down even after he gained his Shells and Iron body, then what would this new truth do?

Mariah shook her head and directly ignored his question.

"The Spiral House is the only way to contend with the races trying to take what’s ours. It is our path to salvation, do you understand?"

Uriel looked at her deeply.

Then he snapped his fingers and summoned a chair from his abode mark. He collapsed onto it, utterly spent.

"To think mere words would one day bring me down."

He looked at her again. "I understand. And if I don’t, I’m sure time will be kind enough to tell me."

There were a thousand questions Uriel wanted to ask, but Enoch had already told him: some things simply were not allowed to be uttered by the laws of the world.

Seeing this, Mariah nodded.

"The Spiral Tower, on the other hand, reflects the Spiral House. While the latter seeks to create, the former seeks to reclaim."

"The Spiral Tower is the only way for those of your kind to regain what they’ve lost to the ebbs of time, to the cruelty of the loops."

"Interpret my words as you wish."

She exhaled a deep breath, as if she had finally gotten a heavy weight off her chest.

"Listen, there is not much else I can say without killing you, and I myself do not know that much more, but—"

She turned to the gate of gold.

"—what lies behind this is a path. It is a path that will answer all your questions, and it is a path that will bring you back to your friends."

"But..." she struggled to utter the words on her mind. "...I think sometimes the truth is more of a tool of falsehood than otherwise."

"I think oftentimes the truth breaks more than it mends, and perhaps you think yourself to be mighty, to be valiant and fearless, but even Achilles fell."

"And you, Uriel, are a walking Achilles’ heel. You’ll fall at the slightest touch. You are fragile beyond words."

She got closer to him, her gaze full of something Uriel could only call pity. Pity and sorrow.

A gaze he was quite familiar with.

"The truth is ruthless, Ciel."

She looked deep into his eyes, and seeing his soft smile, she nearly felt her heart collapse.

Uriel didn’t know why she suddenly cared so much for him, but she did.

"You can go back to the desert, travel its paths, reach the end of the event, gain rewards, then return to the tutorial."

"You could do that." She swallowed hard, then repeated her words. "You can do that."

"You are allowed to run from what hurts."

Uriel’s expression didn’t change much, remaining soft and impossibly calm. With his face paler than usual and his exhausted body collapsed on the chair, he looked quite angelic.

"I really do not like not knowing," he suddenly said.

His hand reached out, and he gently booped her nose.

"You look at me like a lost lover, a worried mother, and a concerned sibling. I’m sure every time I speak, flashes of the past haunt you."

"And yet, I don’t remember a thing."

Mariah’s heart shook.

Uriel chuckled. "Did you think that because I didn’t have my spark, I wouldn’t know?"

Uriel’s sin, at its root, wasn’t to be mad.

It was to forget in ’mind’, but remember in ’heart’.

"It’s fine, though. I’ll go."

Mariah staggered backward, still shaken, unsure what to do or say.

"I—...no... n-no..."

She stuttered and suddenly couldn’t seem to bear his gaze, and so she vanished.

Uriel was left alone with the confused fox. He sighed.

"Ah, things always get complicated."