The strange flowers stretched around me. Their roots deep, vanishing into the silvery soil, and each one carrying a faint ethereal glow.
I, Alex, stood rooted at the center, staring into space or rather at the system panel before me.
[Welcome to the Garden of the Forgotten.]
Garden of the Forgotten...?
I blinked, bewildered.
My gaze swerved around, taking in the lightless yet lit expanse of flowers.
"This place...is called... the Garden of the Forgotten?"
I mumbled under my breath.
Strangely, it seemed fitting.
I took a step forward, the sound of my boot muffled against the ground.
The garden stretched further than my eyes could see, a web of breathing flowers and ash-like soil. The flowers glowed faintly and the soil twinkled in kind. The air hung thick with an odd cold, one that made my breaths sharp and painful.
TSS...
I let out a low hiss, as I lowered my body, my left quadricep blooming with a silent pain.
SHIFF.
Stretching out my hand, I ran a hand along the nearest flower's stem. It twitched beneath my fingers, shuddering like flesh.
My lips twitched.
"How sickeningly beautiful..."
I spoke, before ruthlessly uprooting it from the soil.
The flower's glow flickered for a moment before dying out, for a moment, I felt a slight...flux run through me before it disappeared.
Hmmm....
My eyes were half-lidded as I stared at it, my gaze like it were trying to remember something.
AHA!
"A lotus...that's what you remind me of..."
I smiled and looked down, slowly I raised an eyebrow.
Don't lotuses grow in wet regions?
I thought, slightly inquisitive before dismissing it.
Oh well...this is the Abyss...after all.
"Store."
The instant I spoke, the plant in my hands shattered into several shards and the system spoke.
[You have gained an Uncommon Item: Nucifera of Oblivion.]
"Nucifera of Oblivion...what a beautiful name..."
I lingered for a moment, before saying, "Describe."
[Inventory:] Nucifera of Oblivion: A single forlorn memory. This Uncommon Item has no Effect.
Hmmm...a single forlorn memory...who's though?
Rising back to my feet, I turned forward.
My gaze wandered over the scenery — flowers like glass lotuses, petals fractured with invisible veins and a silvery-black soil that resembled ash flakes.
HA...
With a sigh, I lowered my body, plopping to the ground, before summoning an item from my inventory.
"Op-wait."
I stopped myself midsentence.
Shit...I nearly summoned the Empty Goblet on instinct...
"Uhh...", I scratched my head before opening my inventory.
[Inventory:] Salvaged School Uniform, Acolyte Leaves, Box of Seasoning, Hunting Knife, Quill-Book, Leather Map, Silver Lining, Veil of the Moon, Inept Lantern, Worthless Bowl, Maladroit Ax, Arch of Error, Featureless Quiver, Empty Goblet, Stone Gallon (4), Thorn of the Profane Cockatrix (57), Midnight Pleasure, Meat Stick (2), Overcooked Meat Stick (7), Waste Chest, Crude Axe, Sin of Wrath, Crown of Thorns, Nucifera of Oblivion
"Whoa...this is quite a lot of things..."
Am I going to have to declutter or...is this space infinite?
I knew the answer to that question of course.
My early trial of storing the Waste Chest proved that my inventory space wasn't infinite. I had also tried this out much earlier when we first stepped into this game.
As for the need to declutter...
It was unnecessary.
For now, at least...
I skimmed through the items before uttering.
Open.
[Equipped Item:] Stone Gallon
From a flash of sparks, the stone keg came into existence. Picking it up, I raised it above my head and positioned it downwards. Water trickled down the 'improvised' hole in it, before falling into my mouth.
HA...
Strangely, I felt the insipid taste on my tongue before even a droplet of water touched it, but I didn't dwell on the thought long though.
AH...
I let out a low moan.
There was no other beverage better than water when you're thirsty.
HA...
I let out a breathy exhale, before dousing my hair with the liquid.
The water soaked my hair, washing off the streaks of blood, and then cooled my face.
Store.
[Unequipped Item:] Stone Gallon
Dismissing the item, I used a hand to slick back my black hair, the dark strands clinging to my face.
"Wow...my hair has really grown long..."
Truly.
My hair strands were now a whooping 14 inches long, nearly reaching my mid-back.
"Ha! My hair must look rather feminine, huh?"
Actually, it didn't.
It resembled the shrubs of homeless men who don't shower for weeks.
The fact that am actually homeless now...doesn't even help my situation...
HA...
I shook my head before, getting pack to my feet.
"Nucifera of Oblivion...a forlorn memory, huh? Actually, it makes sense...this is the Garden of the Forgotten after all. It'll only be logical that such a garden will contain forgotten memories."
I spoke in a tone of finality, affirming my conclusion when suddenly...
A voice spoke, shattering any notion of finality,
"Logic...?"
In that moment, my blood ran cold and my stomach churned. The same existential dread I had felt when I met Methuselah had surmounted again, causing my knees to buckle.
My breath hitched, but I managed to croak, "W-what are you...?"
The voice did not respond to my question, instead it continued,
"You exist in the Abyss and speak of Logic?"
I shivered, feeling a threat in its words.
I wanted to turn my head, and peer at it but the voice halted me, "If you wish to keep your memories then I advise you not to look my way. I am not as humane as Methuselah...Alex."
Instantly, my heart was gripped by immense terror.
H-how does it know my name?!
The flowers around me shivered in tandem, their faint glow dimming and pulsing as though they, too, recognized the presence.
The presence, in question, was immense. It was dreadful, deep, ancient and overwhelmingly alien.
So, alien...it made every cell in my body crawl and forced the system to speak,
[Anomaly detected.]
I swallowed hard; my throat dry despite the water I had just drank. My mind raced, yet my body refused to obey me. Every instinct screamed run, but I stood frozen — pinned by the weight of an unseen gaze.
Yet despite, my fear...I forced myself to smile.
A shaky smile.
"W-who are you? H-how do you know my name?", I asked, my voice quieter than I intended.
The voice laughed.
A low, resonant chuckle answering me. It echoed through the air, not from a direction but from the garden itself, seeping up from the roots and drifting from the petals like mist.
"Questions. Questions. You are so full of questions."
I was silent for a moment, slightly stunned before forcing out a low, almost non-existent, chuckle.
But I didn't respond.
The voice was still for a moment before saying,
"You asked who I was...Alex...?"
I shifted uncomfortably the moment it said my name.
FWISH...
Suddenly, I heard a low trickle of what seemed to be liquid, like the stream from a watering can.
The flowers seemed to lean in, bending towards the source, as if, awaiting the voice...
Then it spoke,
"I am the Keeper of Times, the Beast of Memories and the Elder of Oblivion, Wyrtweard."