To what end do you wish to learn about such useless things?
The tentacled Guardian asked, his voice reverberating through the entirety of Ulysses’ body, causing untold damage in the process.
Of course, Ulysses immortality allowed him to regenerate damaged organs but it didn’t change the fact that it was any less painful.
Taking a moment to organize his thoughts, Ulysses replied. "I’m curious."
Basic knowledge about other Wheels were known, like the name of the Guardian of the Wheel, the name of the dimension they inhabited and the means by which one could go about entering the Wheel.
Perhaps the last point did not apply to the Human Wheel, but the first two did.
In any case, the Abyss Wheel was a complete blank.
Very little was known about this.
Even those that were on the Wheel were incapable of providing information about the Wheel and based on what he’d experienced thus far, Ulysses could understand why now.
He would be perhaps the first person in the Abyss Wheel to still be sane and have a sense of self after completing the Third Lock, Visitor.
In any case, this was an opportunity to better understand this Wheel.
Even if he ended up losing it... which he did not plan on doing, Ulysses felt that this would be a way to help the world understand more about this twisted Wheel.
With that in mind, he waited for a response and soon enough, what he craved for arrived.
You may call me Dagon and this land... you may refer to it as Babel.
Almost immediately it felt like something snapped within Ulysses as he grabbed his head and screamed out in pain.
The mere fact that he had heard these names caused him untold agony, only beaten by the thousand deaths he suffered at the hands of the Lord of Flesh and Blood.
Touching upon mysteries of the world usually had such outcomes and though Ulysses was prepared, he still ended up falling to his knees as copious amounts of blood leaked out of his seven orifices.
All his organs liquefied and his bones cracked at so many angles, it seemed impossible that it would be able to come back together.
Yet with such terrifying damage, Ulysses did not die, with his immortality helping him to regenerate everything that was damaged.
For a brief moment, the Everlasting sought to emerge but with Ana’s temporal seal, Ulysses managed to escape such a fate, once again regaining control of his body, his gaze falling upon the majesty of the tentacled Guardian of the Abyss Wheel, otherwise known as Dagon.
Dagon’s question made it seem that if Ulysses wanted more, he’d be willing to share but considering he’d have to die for it, Ulysses replied.
Ah, rather unfortunate. Well then, when next you have a question, endeavor to ask.
Though it sounded friendly, Ulysses knew that it was only setting him up for more pain and suffering.
"Perhaps some other time." He humbly replied before deciding to take his leave, a request that Dagon was more than happy to accept.
A moment later, Dagon was alone only for his one singular eye to look in a certain direction.
Ah, what a shame. It seems He has gotten desperate.
"Are you alright?" Nadia asked as she came to sit beside Alex on the wall.
Unlike him, she couldn’t see the entrance to Twilight and instead was blessed with the sight of a white fog that stretched on as far as the eyes could see.
"I think so." Alex replied before glancing at her only to discover that she was wearing a white saree with no makeup or jewelry on.
"And you?... I thought you were done mourning."
"I was." Nadia replied. "And now I’m not."
Silence followed for a bit before Nadia spoke up again. "He visits me, you know. In my dreams."
"What does he say?... Hopefully not something about marriage." Alex joked eliciting a chuckle from Nadia.
"He was always scared that I would be alone, too scared to commit to a relationship because I might end up becoming like my mother." Nadia said, a sad smile playing at the corners of her lips as she added softly. "Just like my dad."
"She can’t be that bad, right?" Alex asked. "Your mother, I mean."
Nadia glanced at him, her eyes scrutinizing him momentarily before she inquired. "Do you know what my mother would do if she saw us seated ?"
"What?" Alex asked, mostly out of curiosity and a bid to move away from the previous subject.
"She would send me into confinement after which I’d undergo cleansing. As for you, you would be lashed one hundred times with a thorned whip after which your tongue as well as your arms would be cut off. Then you would be paraded around all the cities of Judah Dynasty after which you would then be hung from the gates of our family house to be eaten by the creatures of the sky."
A profound silence followed as Alex took a moment to grasp everything that Nadia had just uttered, his straight face shifting from one emotion to the next until it finally settled on one, notably disbelief.
"That’s a bit exaggerated, no?"
Nadia scoffed. "In Judah, that is the least punishment a man would suffer for daring to speak on the same level as a woman."
"... It would seem there’s a lot I have to learn about Eventide’s cultures." Alex admitted with an awkward laugh.
Taking a deep breath, he glanced at Nadia, whose gaze was focused on the fog covered area ahead.
He reached out and placed his hand over her own, causing her gaze to once again focus on him.
"He will be proud of you." Alex said in a reassuring tone. "You have done well for yourself so far and I believe that won’t change, ever. Take it from me."
Nadia’s breathing slowed as her eyes turned wet and her shoulders trembled.
Alex pulled her in and for a moment, the two shared a hug under the subtle glow of the Nighteye, ignoring the biting winter winds and the deathly sounds accompanying it.