Chapter 3: Cog

Regaining my consciousness, I shifted my body around and could feel I was on a soft bed, my head on a pillow filled with feathers.

‘Wow, this bed is ten times better than my own! Wait, was I dreaming? More like a nightmare, sheesh!’

Eyes still closed, I stretched the full length of my body and rolled around on the bed.

‘Man, this is real, right? I think I saw an angel when I was sleeping. Yeah, that was just a dream.’

My fatigue had left my body, but I wanted to continue to lie down. The fluffiness of the bed tempted me to sleep longer.

‘Hm… I don’t remember my bed being this big. Where am I? I wasn’t taken advantage of, was I?’

Before I could open my eyes to check my surroundings, I heard someone turn the handle of the doorknob outside and come into the room.

‘Awww, come on! Okay… Let’s just pretend that I’m still sleeping…’

…

*Cough*

“Hey, it looks like you’re finally awake.”

‘I’m not awake.’

…

“I know you’re awake.”

‘Serious? Just let me sleep!’

I could only hear his voice, but his voice carried a hint of amusement. After a few more seconds of silence, I heard his footsteps draw closer to the bed.

“Gratus…”

‘All right, geez…’

I got up and opened my eyes to look at the man who was approaching me. My vision had not adjusted to the bright light, but I could discern where the man was.

“Where am I?”

The man was now standing beside the bed. I could make out his outer appearance as I sat upright. Somehow, he looked familiar. He wore a set of leather clothes: a plaid blue and forest green cowl that went down to his thighs, black leather pants that continued from under, and a red leather belt that tied his cowl around his waist. On the belt was a small sheath that held a silver dagger. When I tried to get a better look at his face, he spoke.

“You’ve been out for quite a while. It’s been about three days since I found you in Attero. If I never saw you floating in that swamp, you would have drowned to death! What in the world happened to you?”

As he spoke, my vision became clearer, and I recognized who he was.

“Cog?!”

He frowned a little, but then shrugged it off with a smirk, “Why does it always have to be Cog? It’s Co-gi-to! The last time I met you, you made the same expression!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t sweat the small details. Cog is easier to remember. What kind of name is Co-gi-to, anyway?”

Letting his mouth gape open, he pretended to be shocked, “How can you be so carefree? Is it a familial thing?”

I shrugged, and we both laughed.

After a moment of silence, he grew serious, “I was afraid that you had amnesia like before. How are you feeling? Are you all right?”

“Of course, I feel as jolly as ever.”

Looking at me with his eyebrows knitted, he continued, “But I did find you half dead in a swamp, and on top of that, you were in a swamp in Attero.”

“Swamp? The one from my dreams?”

Narrowing his eyes, Cog gazed at me with concern, “Are you serious?”

I didn’t know how to respond.

‘Wait, so that means I wasn’t dreaming? Are you serious? That’s what I want to say!’

I could see a hint of bitterness in his eyes.

*Sigh*

“Attero is the land of despair. Nothing living or in the right mind would ever venture into Attero. It is a complete wasteland of death! Some say that the land is alive, and if you ever go inside, you’ll never come back to tell about it.”

‘Hm? But isn’t something strange?’

“If Attero is such a bad place, why were you there?”

…

Cog’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Gratus… Ever since you left, the world has become a corrupt place.”

He paused to think, and then paced back and forth, not sure where to begin.

After gathering his thoughts, he turned to me and asked, “When you hear the word Dominia, what is the first thing that comes to mind?”

‘Dominia? Another familiar term. If I had to say the first word that comes to mind, it would be…’

“Stable.”

“That’s right. Dominia was stable. I wouldn’t call it the best land, but there were no rifts.”

‘Land?’

“So are we in Dominia, right now?”

“Yes.”

I looked at Cog, trying to understand the intention of his question. Cog stared back at me and nodded his head before pulling out a chair to sit.

“It all started with Anna.”

My heart pounded.

‘Anna?’

“At first, Dominia was as you described, stable. Clautz was a reasonable king that brought order to the world. Whenever conflicts arose, he would make sure that rifts never formed. People were happy to have him as a ruler, regardless of how bland he could be.

When he met Anna, he gained an aura of liveliness and developed Dominia in a new direction. He put more effort into developing people’s daily lives and even introduced art. People exuded a sense of pride and excitement.

It was all because of Anna. She proved to be Clautz’s ideal partner. She was beautiful, outgoing, and innovative.

In return, Clautz welcomed her to Dominia and offered his hand to her. One could say it was a natural course of events, but that’s when it happened…”

…

‘It?’

Confused, I wanted more information, but Cog had stopped speaking. He was tense, clenching his hands and pursing his lips.

…

Wanting to break the heavy silence, I asked, “Did a rift form between Clautz and Anna?”

At my question, Cog let out a long breath… It seemed to help him gather his bearings. He was no longer clenching his hands, but I could still see his hands shaking.

“Not quite. Rifts are not what you think them to be. Although you are right in the sense that people can be divided by rifts, a rift in Dominia suggests something much worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“Instability.”

…

‘Instability? What have I gotten myself into? Wait, what does this have to do with me?’

Cog paused and looked at me with concern. He seemed to have caught onto my confusion and waited for me to speak.

“Okay, I have a general idea of who Clautz is, but what does his relationship with Anna have to do with me?”

Bewildered, Cog stared at me trying to understand my words, “Uh, what? Aren’t you- Wait, okay… Hold on. What do you know about Anna?”

My heart pounded once again.

“I don’t know. Only what you told me I gu—”

“Who are you?!” Cog rose from his chair, pulling out his dagger while cringing his face, “There’s no way that Gratus could have forgotten!”

“W-wait! Cog!”

I wanted to calm him down, but he didn’t give me any time to speak anymore and rushed at me. He was too close. I was going to be stabbed and killed.

“Salvus!”

*Clang!*

Cog had risen his dagger above his head to stab down on me, but the moment his dagger was about to stab into my head, it hit an invisible barrier and a loud clanging noise resounded. He stumbled backwards from the counterforce and almost dropped his dagger because of the vibrations that traveled up his dagger and into his hand.

“W-What?!” Startled at my sudden barrier, Cog glanced at me jittering, “N-no way…”

Perplexed, I thought, ‘What just happened?’

Feeling energy collecting in my chest, I looked down to see what was happening and saw a ball of light, the size of my fist, come out from my body. It was hard to see what was inside the light, but it was… familiar.

Cog narrowed his eyes and stared at the light.

“Cogito, why did you attack my master?”

*Sigh*

Cog glanced at me and then plopped back onto his chair before letting a mutter of disbelief escape his lips, “Cura Rexi…” Bowing his head, he apologized, “So you are Gratus. I am sorry. I apologize for my sudden attack. There have been many spies, and since you didn’t know about Anna, my suspicions were aroused.”

“It’s not my master’s fault. Kyrie destroyed a sizable chunk of his memories.”

“Kyrie? Wait, what do you mean by his memories were destroyed?”

Cog looked at me, but I shrugged.

‘I want to know, too. Things are getting out of hand. I’m at a severe disadvantage without my memories… It looks like Cog didn’t attack me without reason, but still, I can’t think he’s the same person I once knew.’

Cura continued, “At the moment, I cannot explain anymore. My memories were damaged as well. If you meet Clautz, then he will be able to explain more.”

“Cura, you told me before that I should meet him, but how do I meet him? Is he in Dominia somewhere?”

“Huh? Shouldn’t you know, Gratus? You used to sneak out to meet him from time to time.”

I tried to remember, but nothing came to me.

After an awkward silence, Cog sighed, “You have forgotten too much…”

“Wait! Cura told me I can get my memories back if I go to the Recorodor. Do you know where it is?”

For a moment, I could see some hesitation in his face, but he replied, “The Recorodor… Well, that’s going to be a problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s…” This time, I saw his hesitation as broad as daylight, but he shook it off and continued, “In Procella.”

“Procella?”

“Do you remember a forest near Attero?”

I recalled the forest and shuddered as I remembered those demonic eyes.

“Yes… I remember.”

“Somewhere inside Procella lies the Recorodor, but there aren’t many people left who know the whereabouts of the Recorodor. Even if they did know, I don’t know if they would want to leave a place such as this.”

“Now that you mention it, where exactly are we?”

Laughing, he replied, “We are in your brother’s utopia, Otium.”

“My brother? No way! What has he been doing all this time?”

“After you left, your brother wandered the land in search for the perfect place to build his utopia. Although he wasn’t determined to build it, he still searched for a suitable place to build his utopia every once in a while, but that changed when chaos rained down after the Clautz and Anna incident. Your brother realized that he needed to create his utopia as soon as possible if he wanted to preserve the peace and beauty of the old world.”

“Wow, a utopia, but what is my brother up to nowadays?”

Laughing again, he replied, “Well, I’m tired from explaining all of this. Shall I let your brother replace me?”

Bewildered, I tried to understand what he meant, but soon, I realized when I saw a familiar shadow enter the room.