I quickly sit at my chair as I reveal the pages of the dusty grimoire...The Greatness of Hades.
"I never heard of this one before"
I say with a curious look as I flip to the dirty pages of the grimoire. I read for what felt like hours but I was too determined to quit. After 3 more hours I start getting irritated and mad.
I was already on chapter 78 and still nothing . As I continue reading I finished all of it but still nothing. I realized that I needed more...more knowledge about Hades.
I look under my bed to find all of the books my mom stole. Even though she was caught she never gave the books back. I grab these books hastefully throwing the books on my bed that I need. As I went through the last book I realized that I could only find fifteen of them.
"Damn it"
I say with a worried look. While I was glad that had some books I wanted more.
"Guess this would do"
I say as I pick up the books and throw them down on the wooden desk. I sit down as I start reading another book.
I read and read for hours on end. The only thing that was making a noise was the clicking of the clock.
The clock's steady ticking filled the dimly lit dorm, each second passing like a taunt as I pored over every page. My fingers ached from flipping through the brittle parchment, my eyes burned from exhaustion, but I refused to stop.
This was my only chance.
Minutes turned to hours, but still, nothing happened. No spark of power, no hidden revelation, no sudden surge of energy coursing through my veins. The grimoire had promised greatness, yet it remained as lifeless as the dusty air around me.
Frustration boiled in my chest.
"What the hell am I missing?" I muttered, slamming the book shut with a resounding thud. My hands trembled with frustration as I stared at the pile of books on my desk.
The ones my mother had stolen. The knowledge she had risked her life for. Was it all useless?
I shook my head. No. There had to be something I was overlooking.
I grabbed the grimoire again, flipping back through the pages with renewed urgency, scanning for any hidden messages, any encrypted text. I traced my fingers over the ancient symbols, willing them to reveal their secrets.
Nothing.
I cursed under my breath. This wasn't fair. After everything I had been through, after all the humiliation and suffering, was I really just destined to be weak? To be nothing?
I slammed my fist onto the desk. The impact rattled the books, knocking one of them to the floor. The candlelight flickered as I bent down to pick it up, my eyes catching sight of something odd. A page had come loose, fluttering slightly as if it was calling to me.
I hesitated, then slowly picked it up. It wasn't from the book it had fallen out of. The parchment was much older, worn and fragile. Strange symbols lined the page, ones I didn't recognize. My heart pounded in my chest. Was this a part of the grimoire? Had I missed it?
I placed the page atop the open grimoire and stared at it. The moment the two touched, a deep, unnatural chill swept through the room. The candle flame dimmed, its glow barely flickering in the darkness. My breath hitched as the symbols on the loose page started shifting, twisting into words I could finally understand.
"Beyond knowledge lies the abyss. Beyond the abyss lies true power."
The words burned into my mind, echoing like a whisper in the back of my skull. My fingers twitched as I traced the sentence, my body tensing as an unnatural force began pulling at me. The room around me started to distort, the air itself warping like ripples in water.
My heart pounded as the floor beneath me turned to liquid shadow. Panic surged through my veins as I tried to move, to run, but it was too late. The darkness swallowed me whole, pulling me into a void colder than anything I had ever known.
Silence. Absolute, suffocating silence.
I floated in nothingness, my body weightless, my mind spinning. There was no light, no sound, nothing but an overwhelming presence pressing down on me, suffocating yet endless.
"Where… am I?" I whispered, my voice barely a breath in the vast emptiness. My own words felt foreign, as if they didn't belong here.
A deep, resonating voice answered, one that sent a shiver down my spine.
"You have stepped beyond knowledge. You seek what is forbidden."
I swallowed, my body frozen as I tried to process what was happening. This was impossible. Was I dead? Was this the afterlife? No… no, this was something else. Something far worse.
The darkness shifted, coiling around me like living tendrils. A faint light flickered in the distance, revealing glimpses of an endless abyss, stars scattered like forgotten souls, stretching infinitely in every direction.
The voice spoke again, closer this time, vibrating through my very bones.
"You are not of noble blood, yet you reach for power beyond your station."
I clenched my fists, my fear momentarily overshadowed by anger.
"I don't care about bloodlines. I will become stronger. Stronger than any of them."
The void seemed to pulse, as if amused by my words. Then, for the first time, something took shape before me. A pair of massive, glowing eyes, ancient and unreadable, peered through the darkness. They watched me, studied me, as if determining my worth.
A slow, almost mocking chuckle rumbled through the void.
"Then prove it."
Before I could react, the abyss surged forward, swallowing me whole once again. A crushing force wrapped around me, my body screaming in pain as something unseen burned into my very soul. My mind shattered under the weight of it, my consciousness fading into the endless dark.
Then, silence
Until I heard a deep dark voice
Welcome to my domain.....Spartan