The Lord of Rot

Although the boy was no mountaineer, it seemed the mountains would call to him nonetheless. A simple hymn that would echo around him. The mountains were tall, harrowing and tremendously difficult to see. Whenever Konrad would look upwards he would be hit with intense vertigo. These mountainous terrains singing, preaching of an unheard goodness. 

Halted by a voice in his head. It could have been from around him, the voice so pleasantly loud that it could either be a screech from a mile away or right next to him. He was unaware of anything about it. 

For long now the mountains had been seen as a distance, something far away. When he arrived there, then he must know the answers! But he was afraid he wouldn't. Thanks to the numbness he displayed no fear, but now that he was there...? 

'A contract...?', Konrad was baffled. He heard a voice echoing, telling of a contract. He had heard the voice before, though it seemed less kept than before. It was really like another person was speaking to him. 'I must have gone mad... I don't even know what a contract is!' 

Whether or not the voice was a result of his madness was out of the question. In the present it did not matter. The goal he made for himself was all but imaginary. Likewise the hope he had lived for. From this point onwards, only a certain amount of madness would be tolerated. And so it was... 

The voice heard in his head would not only echo, trying to pierce into his cerebrum, forcing acknowledgment. A terrible ringing noise would resonate within his ears. It felt as though he was about to bleed. Eagerly, a voice awaited a reply. A reply which Konrad was not eager to give. 

"Come on! Shut it! Shut it!" 

"Who am I to make contracts with any voices in my head! What if it's a devil! Like those from the Doctrines...!" 

Konrad would laugh, mimicking his own insanity. 

[ Correct! To you we are known as devils ] 

'What? Was I really right... Come on, really? What luck am I having?!' 

[ But we are better known as the Old Deities ]

'The gods of the bygone age...' 

That phrase came up when he thought of the Old Deities. Not something commonly taught in the Doctrines, but whenever he thought of the old world, the phrase would come up.

The ages before the deity, where the Old Deities would exist. Konrad had been told of these times, told that they had been terrible times. Riddled with wars upon the earth, mass starvation and lack of central control. Where war was upon the earth, there too was a reason for killing another person, not solely warfare. 

After the facilities erected everywhere upon the earth, death by other's choice no longer existed in the traditional fashion. People would still die, but it would be indiscriminately. This is what the Doctrine taught the world. A world of equality, and it rang pleasant in everyone's ears. 

Even if they were known as Old Deities. Making a deal with these kinds of beings were tantamount to making a deal with a devil. And this he could not do. But did he have a choice? If it was not The Deity, it would be a devil. And so in difficult blasphemy, the boy would suffer tremendously. The ringing in his ears wouldn't stop, no matter how much he begged of the voice. 

Konrad attempted to crawl on the mountain, the ringing noice growing louder by the moment. He kept insisting, his voice becoming duller. "I can't!", he was recklessly insistent on keeping to the Doctrine. This choice was made in good faith. "I won't!", he crawled, a pain echoing through him. 

*** 

[ Forgotten long ago, not wishing to be forgotten, they created Remembrances of them.] 

In a haze Konrad opened his eyes slowly. He found himself back in the void, with a voice speaking to him in a voice alike a humans. That cosmic terror that he felt before was gone. Instead a pleasant emotion humans of this age were untold of overcame him. 

[ That's all that's left of the Old Deities. Instead the world is now ruled by many more of them. You call it The Deity, but it is more than that... ]

He could not see what was speaking to him. As though he was once again in a womb, he felt himself surrounded by warmth and comfort. A motherly spirit guiding him, a world without aching. 

[ You've entered a state outside of their will. You have begun to rot, like the rest of the world. ]

Without much thinking, Konrad would try to speak, as if to converse with the Old Deity that spoke to him. But nothing came out of his mouth. He wondered if the voice was speaking like a human, or merely imitating one... 

[ Gods of Light. Gods of Darkness. Gods of Earth. Gods of Fire. All of them pale in comparison to it. Who else but the God of Rot. ] 

All of it sounded like lunacy, all except the last one. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he recognised it. Like it was his own name being called. Like the voice of your mother you haven't heard in a long time. It wasn't comfort, it wasn't eeriness. It was an emotion wholly unbeknownst to him. He shuddered, a fear he could not understand. 

[ Do not think of it. Do not question what you will hear. Do not let the Doctrines control your actions. You will not understand now, but everything is relative. I am an Elder Deity, one who is known as Aphaim. One who is long forgotten, thus my name has no importance. But to the right mouth it may mean many a thing. The other self will speak as though it is me, a mere Remembrance of a Deity. But you will see it as though it has become a part of you. A mere insight into the workings of a God. ] 

Far too many things were being spoken. Far too many things lacking any significant meaning. But as though they were the most important thing, they entered his mind as though they had always been there. The words spoken were of utmost profanity, and therefore he felt he must listen... 

[ Now, your will be in your own hands. If you succeed, then you will find much more than simple strength. Shall you fail, then the Deity you call upon as God will not be kind. ] 

[ Will you accept the Remembrance, and will you embrace what follows? ]

[ Yes / No ]