The Book of Shadows: End of Times

Part I: Chapter 2

   When my eyes opened up, I realized without any trouble that we weren’t in the world I had learned to call my own any longer. The Boat was traveling at a slow speed, floating in an endless ocean of stars where one wasn’t able to tell apart the clear waters from the sky. I, myself, could only distinguish them by observing the Ferryman’s puddle, dipped still in the reflective sea. «Careful. Staring at the stars like this could make someone feel smaller than he actually is». Priscilla talked to me with a gentle voice that wasn’t matching her previous behavior. Still, despite her advice, I couldn’t avert my eyes from the multicolored patterns and those never-seen-before constellations, filling every spot of this alienated heaven!

   «How can someone stop looking at a sighting like this?» I wondered out loud. Those stars looked brighter than the Sun, clear and radiant, with yellow and orange light and green and cyan too. Some of them, just a few, were emitting light-brown rays! With my eyes partly closed, the colorful dots were forming images of birds wrapped in flames, women with dark blue hair and see-through clothes, the smiling face of a young man and a demoness with horns and wings on her back, holding a white crescent moon on one hand and a black one on the other.

   «Do you have the chance to behold places so beautiful and unimaginable often enough to ignore such a divine portrait?» I asked her poetically, in an attempt to be romantic, drugged by those holy mosaics that one could almost feel the need to worship. 

   «I am unable to see of a landscape’s beauty as of lately» she claimed hesitantly, keeping her eyes pinned to our destination.

   At the end of this endless sea, just upfront an empty horizon, there be a huge building, an observatory, that looked like it was emerging from the water. It was painted with dark shades of blue color in a way that made it seem like it was sunk into an enchanted lake- yet, it couldn’t be compared with the starry sky above us. Its front steps to the entrance were dyed with a navy blue shade whilst, to the begirding columns were applied lighter shades, making them look like the oceanic currents that travel nonstop beneath the rising waves.

   On its retractable roof, there was the most complicated telescope ever to be designed! Three different scopes were able to rotate on the central piece that was coming out of the building. Different colored lenses were installed on each scope, with mechanisms that allowed their removal. Gears made it possible for the system to turn towards every cardinal point and any height the user would like to espy. There was no way for us to know but, this artifact had the power to focus on planets and stars and zoom in on the tiniest detail! If he wanted, daddy Time could take a glimpse of the grass, growing out of Earth’s soil- well, while there was still grass to see!

   With some relief in heart, we left Charon’s boat behind us as we climbed the gigantic stairs towards the massive marble door. 

   «Do you think Father Time will stop the catastrophes if we talk to him?» I asked her, still new and naïve about how things worked in this mystical society. 

   «If he wanted to help, he would have done so already. You suggested that coming here was the way for me to fix things, right?» she replied with her own question, looking anxious about that obligation. Her eyes were all over the place, searching for traps or sigils that could potentially put us in danger as off later. 

   «Yes, I’m sure of it» I answered honestly, believing wholeheartedly in the lyrics of that song. Looking back, I could still see our driver, waiting patiently for our return, sure that, one way or another, we would need him to transport as to our next destination.

   «We have arrived! Please, let us in!» Priscilla shouted, knocking the solid gate with her wooden staff. «It’s better for you not to address him directly. If you notice something, let me know. You understand?» she whispered, not waiting for a real response. The door opened slowly, letting us pick inside the great mansion.

   Many questions have formed in my mind through the years about this place that have yet to be answered: Was this place built on the edge of the world purposely? How many years was Father Time gazing upon the universe? What wonders could one see through the Grand Telescope, besides Earth, that could catch his eye? Could one find the realm of Dreams with its help, too? Some of those questions had filled my mind right then and there while others popped up in my head when, a lifelong later, I was busy showering or brewing tea for a demanding queen.

   Priscilla seemed to me like she could handle anything that waited inside those walls but, I figured she must’ve been scared out of her mind- or ready to die, anyway! Nevertheless, she wasted no time and proceeded to the hall without letting any of her insecurity show.

   Crystal walls and a ceiling that was broadcasting the live image of a galaxy, the observatory’s reception seemed more like a home theater to me than a palace! Images appeared for a few moments or remained stuck in the high-definition screens, which were transmitting them from every corner of the cosmos!

   «Quite a place for a man to live, huh?» I commended, as Alexander growled at me to hurry along near them, just before they entered the throne room. This place had so many things to see, it made my head spinning on my shoulders! Father Time was sitting on a floating throne, tight in the middle of the room, spinning around himself and yelling “Wheee!”. Ok, all jokes aside, he was really spinning around himself, watching through five of the different eyepieces the Grand Telescope had installed on it. When his eyes were not looking through the artifact, they were fixated on those crystal screens in that room of his with all his attention! 

   The man was huge, looking more like a giant than a god, and old as- well, as time itself! His clothing was simple` the old geezer was half-naked, wearing only a pair of pants. His long, thick white hair and beard were covering his hairy chest and his neck but I took a good look at his divine six-pack, incomparable with my good-for-nothing body of course! Looking at those abs is what made me feel smaller, not stargazing the addicting sky!

    «We are here to see you, Chronos, Great god of time, Collector of all sand, Ruler of the fourth dimension, Father of Hours!» Priscilla said, calling out for him, addressing him with respect. Chronos lowered his throne to our level and faced us. Seeing his face almost made me crap my own pants! The god’s eyes were composed of two enormous stars, a green and a white one, shining brightly like two lighthouses, shedding light in this half-dark room. 

   «Neraya. You are only allowed in here out of respect to the Divine law. Speak of your intentions.» he ordered her, greeting her with the title she hated most. His eyes had no eyelids, his face was almost falling apart. He even had wrinkles on his ears. An infinity shaped halo, made out of black sand, was placed above his head.

   «Forgive my visit but I received word that only you could provide me with information. I am here to ask you of the calamities that have befallen our world» she explained calmly, without lowering her head or showing any form of submission. I was standing quietly behind the witch, petrified. 

   Chronos’ arms, I noticed, were extremely long and skinny and his fingers, six on both his hands, were eight inches long each! «It’s the natural order for all things to find an end. The time of humans has passed» he claimed, without giving really any reason. 

   «Why now of all times? What’s causing it to end?» she asked, leaving no room for any short replies.

   Chronos lifted his eyes on the crystal walls of his mansion. Every image of them depicted the tragedies that were occurring on Earth as we were speaking. «You are the one doing this, aren’t you?» Priscilla guessed, with her feelings finally appearing in her eyes. Anger, fear, failure. «How are you able of this?» she roared at him, demanding to know the god’s powers over her world. 

   «I have stopped your planet’s rotation» he enlightened her, speaking with no trace of emotion in his voice. «You, witches, think time has no material meaning, no energy. Time is what gives movement to the stars, to the planets. All living creatures know in their bones and souls how to measure it by looking upon the sky, for time was there before the existence of life!».

   Volcanoes were erupting in the Caribbean and Japanese seas, tsunamis were drowning islands like Great Britain, Iceland, and Australia, earthquakes were dividing the continent of Africa and Russia as well, wildfires were spreading in both America and Europe. Animals were turning feral, technology wasn’t responding to any man and, even magical arts proved to be useless against the end of times! It struck me then that, no matter how much humankind would advance, we would always be powerless against beings like him` stupendously overpowered and flawless!

   «Tell me, who is responsible for it? Who brought forth this outcome?» she demanded a serious answer to him. Chronos remained silent, showing perhaps some form of mercy to the witch, but deep down she knew the truth already. «It’s my fault again, isn’t it? Something a previous holder did? I am a prodigy at fixing their mistakes by now» she acknowledged it to herself. 

   «You have mingled with fate a lot more than you should already. It is time for the world to end». Priscilla looked right into the god’s eyes, not responding to his comments. She was trying to maintain her posture under all this pressure and convince this devil to play along, without invoking his wrath. 

   «Yet, fate led me here, didn’t it? Please, help me! I’ll fix whatever happened, I'll put the future of humanity right on truck!» she promised confidently.

   «Careful, woman. Arrogance can twist a mortal’s soul» he countered with a sharp tongue. 

   «Do you fear my success? Send me back and I’ll show you just how much a witch can do!» she said, seemingly full of herself, as she tried to outsmart him. Even so, her effort went in vain, for he didn’t bother looking at her anymore.  «No, please! Please, send us back!» she begged him, forgetting now her dignity. All the same, Chronos wouldn’t change his mind. 

   «You may rest in my house until Night turns to Day before you take a leave. Safe travels» he wished us, from the bottom of his pitched black heart, and then, he elevated his throne higher again, completely ignoring our presence. With him, I thought, went our hopes too.  

   «We are most thankful to you, great Chronos! We’ll accept this gracious offer» the witch thanked him before making her exit. Her steps echoed through the room but she paid them no mind for her thoughts were focused, trying to conceive the best way to use what little the god had gifted to her` a fighting chance to redeem another one of her sins with her own strength. Up until then, that was all she ever needed.