The Holder of the Ninth

In any forgettable building, in any city, you will find that which can only protect us. This will be the most trying of journeys, for your building of choice must be truly forgotten. Abandoned will not suffice for this Object, you must find a building which seemed to only exist once you laid eyes upon it. A building not only forgotten by man, but by time and space.

Once you find that which has been forgotten, you must enter and proclaim loudly, "I am the first and the last, I demand to speak to the Holder of the Ninth." If you have found that which time has forgotten, the building will groan as if to collapse. If you wish to turn back, and return to the ignorance of the common man, now is the time. If you wish to proceed, you must now speak blasphemy. "I am the Alpha and Omega. the beginning and the end. I wish to speak to the Holder of the Ninth." If you have spoken with true conviction, the building will shudder, and you will be sure of its collapse. Do not flinch, for if you do, the building will truly collapse. You will be crushed and forgotten as an unfortunate casualty in the minds of men. In the minds greater and infinitely more devious than men though, you will be remembered as you are tortured and tormented until the Objects have been reunited, only to be abandoned to the fate that They bring.

If you have not faltered, you must begin your search. You will discover that the building holds innumerable doors, regardless of its size, with hallways stretching beyond comprehension. Your journey will only complicate from here on. The Others have locked this Holder away for a reason. She holds that which can keep Them apart, and They wish to be united. You must wander aimlessly, if you by chance begin to fathom a destination, you will find that your next door is the exit. You may breathe a sigh of relief, believing that you have been spared any one of the vicious fates that have befallen failed Seekers. Then you will begin to wonder why you entered the building to begin with. You will wander the earth, barely remembering where you have come from and barely comprehending where you are going. Grasping at the knowledge of your destination as a drowning man grasps for air. You will come upon yourself one day, having forgotten that which you are, and you will tear at yourself for freedom from your decaying shell. You will be damned to claw at your own flesh for eternity, all the while grasping for the reason behind your self-mutilation, and never feeling the liberating relief of memory.

If you have wandered until you have forgotten what you seek, you will come upon a door. A door exactly as the rest, only differing in the weight that its presence carries. You will know you have found your destination, but you must not fathom what lies next, or it will cease to be the one which you came to find. You will drown in the empty sea of amnesia, all the while wandering these dead halls, as if you never came across this dead door. Celebrate not though, for your journey is far from over.

As you enter this door, you will be confronted with the sins of the Seekers. From the beginning to the end. You must walk amongst them, feeling their atrocities, as much as you hear and see them. Feel no ounce of sympathy for any one of these Seekers nor for their victims. If you do, you will be damned to the fate of each and every. You will feel every injury, every emotion, and every fear as they do, not knowing why you must endure this fate. If you can endure these blasphemous scenes and acts, you will find that which you see changing slowly. You have almost entered the dwelling of your coveted Holder, and for that, dear Seeker, the universe sympathizes for you in the same way you are not allowed to.

As the scene begins to change, you find yourself looking upon the atrocities of the Objects. You feel Their corruption, you can taste the blood spilled by Their ancient horrors. You will see that which They have been, that which They are, and that which They will become. You will spin Their tales of blasphemy, as much as you watch them spun, becoming entwined with Them as They with you. You will beg for reprieve, you will do all in your power to divert from your course, you will search for the fruits of failure, all the while finding none. You will not even be driven to madness, for you are not allowed. Your sanity will remain, forcing you to contend with these inhumane horrors with only your humane understanding of the universe. As you begin to beg any and all who may be kind enough to deliver death to you, for any price they ask, you will find that silence has taken the place of the cries of those that all things good and merciful have shunned. You are in the presence of the Holder of the Ninth.

Legends have it that It appears as a blindfolded little girl. Its innocence only matched by Its corruption. You must form no question in your mind, for if you do, she will fill your mind with endless, unanswerable questions, and giggle as you writhe in the agony of unquenchable ignorance. This is her entertainment, until the next fool who dares cross her path. She enjoys being entertained, for not many have the clarity of mind to make it this far. You must only think of her as she appears, or on that which you have just witnessed. She will then ask you a question. "Why do you exist?"

You must answer with the tales of the Seekers and the Objects. She has heard this story many times, but you must tell it as if you are the first. Go into detail until the child begins to weep. She will weep blood, and her cries will pierce your soul. Do not comfort her, or she will lash out at you for bringing this sadness upon her. If she begins to speak, you must run. Do not think of why you must run, or the corruption that you have to brave to regain entrance to the world of man. Run without thought for she will latch onto your mind and drag you back, to be devoured over and over again by her tiny teeth and ripped apart continuously by tiny hands. You are only safe when you have forgotten that which you feared. The lucky have moved on, while the unlucky have returned to the same buildings to repeat this accursed cycle.

If she rises without a word, and unties her blindfold, then you have succeeded. As you stare upon her vacant eyes, you will realize why contemplation has been forbidden in this undying temple. You have been betrayed. You came here to stop their horrific plans, only to be forced to be a part of them. As the blindfold descends, you will find yourself looking into the abyss, but as you turn to look upon your surroundings, you will see countless men and women marching past. You will reach out to them, begging them to stop, but your words will not match your thoughts. Sometimes you may utter questions, utter cries of all sorts, or simply cause the Seeker to be illuminated by light or be bathed in darkness. In some cases, the Seeker's actions will banish them from your sights, leaving you to beg the darkness for them to turn back from their journey. In most cases though, many Seekers will respond incorrectly, leaving them vulnerable to you. You may only drag them off to a terrifying fate, you have no other way of stopping their dead quest. You have now become the Holder of the Ninth. You may now also understand your title, for you call out to them under the guise of what they seek, in hopes of saving them from the fate they will most assuredly encounter by bringing together the Objects. They may answer you in trust too, believing they have found the thing for which they have gone searching, only to be drawn off to a fate that even their worst nightmare could not conjure. You understand you are the Holder of the Ninth, for that is the ring in which you will reside when eternity comes to pass.

The blindfold is Object lost. It has been hidden by the Others to limit its power. It has been forgotten for its purpose, and its purpose is to be forgotten. Only that which forged the Objects may reunite it with the Others.