Everything became more blurred in my sight. And that blur was gradually spreading to the point of erasing everything around me.
The blur is a manifestation of oblivion that is slowly spreading throughout my world, and everywhere it passes is left with nothing but an endless white. But don’t get me wrong; the erasure of everything around me is only from my perspective, because what that oblivion is truly erasing, is me.
This is not death; do not be mistaken, for death is the glory that fictional characters like us have experienced countless times as readers turn each page of this book. Oblivion is worse than death, for it is a metaphysical state that every character, or some fictional entity, will go through when the story and they themselves are forgotten, with no one remembering them anymore. It is a Death-that-is-not-death.
When everything had turned into an absolute white, a straight black path appeared beneath my feet, dotted with countless miniature stars. The path stretched so far that I could not see the other end.
I knew what it was; it was the Dark path, a dark version reflected from the Paths leading to the Wanderer library. And just like the Path, it also served to lead me to the only destination I could reach at this moment.
Walking along the Dark path, I realized that I was not alone. Surrounding me were other similar paths, with different individuals traveling along each one.
These people were all forgotten characters like me; they could be fairies, dragons, dwarves, knights, or wizards, or characters from some science fiction universe. They may differ in identity and species, but they are still fictional characters living in their own imaginary worlds. And thus, they would share the same fate when no one remembers them anymore: oblivion.
After a long while of moving, I discovered something in the distance ahead. A long, endless mist began to appear before me, and upon seeing it, I knew that the place I needed to reach was very close. For it lay within that gray fog.
Inside the mist was an endless light gray with no end in sight, and I almost thought I would get lost in this fog-like maze for eternity, if I hadn’t realized that the path I was standing on emitted dark glimmers to help me not stray from it. As I walked through the mist, a strange sense of unease continually swept over my body, as if warning me that I was being watched by some unseen force.
And indeed, it was true, for this mist was not just an ordinary mist; it was a living entity. The Mist-god was its name, and it is said to have been created from the breath of the Black serpent when its heart first began to beat. The task of the Mist-god is incredibly simple: to protect the palace of the Lord of all that is forgotten and unknown by trapping intruder within the mist for eternity. According to some rumors I have heard, those who stray from the Dark path they are on will share the same fate as the intruders.
The mist gradually became fainter as I ventured deeper into it, until at one point, the mist completely vanished, and a massive castle began to appear above. And that was where I needed to go; the Home of all that is forgotten and unknown.
The exterior of the castle took the form of a gigantic gothic structure, with a singular color of mysterious black covering every nook and cranny outside. Beneath the castle was a colossal metal door, with large spiral patterns on either side of it.
I looked at the patterns and raised my hand to touch them. These designs were symbols representing oblivion and endings, with the beginning of the spiral representing the start of a story or something, and the way the spiral twisted signified the eternity and immortality of a tale, as it would be forever live and die when retold and reread by different individuals out there. But even eternity must have its own ending; the final point of the spiral represents the ends of a story, when no one remembers or speaks of it anymore.
I remember that I was once a brave and strong knight in my story. A valiant knight unafraid to face any enemy, but no matter how strong my spirit and skills were, I remained forever alone in my own tale.
All the friends I had on my journeys had departed due to various events; some went mad, while others were killed by their own family members. By the end of each adventure, I found myself alone once again.
Loneliness has always been a companion to me until I died at the hands of a wicked enemy, at which point I thought I had been freed. But no, because every time someone reads my story again, I will live once more. And once again, I will go through those losses.
Like death, oblivion is viewed from many different perspectives. It can be a bitter ending for stories about the paradise worlds that people always long to live in, but it can also be a release for stories like mine.
When I stepped inside the House of all that is forgotten and unknown, waiting for me there was a gigantic serpent coiled up. This massive serpent had glossy black scales, and its head was the skull of a snake, with a small silver dot glowing in its eye socket that seemed to be its eye. I knew what this serpent was.
It was the dark reflection of, and at the same time, a sibling to the Serpent, the Black serpent, or the Lord of all that is forgotten and unknown.
Surrounding the body of the Black serpent were various wisps resembling small black clouds, and when I listened closely, I could hear harsh whispers or curses about someone. These clouds were different verses that had once been known, but when forgotten, they harbored hatred for those who had forgotten them, and the shape of these clouds was the physical manifestation of that hatred. It is said that the hatred of these verses is so powerful that their physical forms can claw down even the largest trees or erode the sturdiest stones.
I knelt down on one knee and began to perform the bowing ritual for the deity before me, to show my respect and acceptance of my current state. I knew I must not offend this deity, for even other gods and his own brother feared his immense power. It is said that what the Serpent does not know, the Black serpent will know, and what the Black serpent knows, the Serpent does not.
As if sensing that the "greeting" to the newcomer had gone well, the Black serpent quickly disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind the forgotten verses in the place where it once resided. But the loneliness and coldness emanating from this castle quickly vanished as the darkness within was dispelled.
And before my eyes appeared a vast hall filled with bustling activity, with countless different floors piled up endlessly. On those floors were bookshelves filled with volumes of knowledge and tales that had been forgotten or remained unknown. The forgotten verses, manifesting in the form of black clouds, also densely populated those bookshelves.
Everyone here are all forgotten stories, unknown or never known. They could be valiant kings, or cunning deceivers, or powerful sorcerers, or people from future worlds far beyond ordinary imagination. They are all here for the same reason, just like me.
I smiled, knowing that this was my true conclusion, the true ending of my seemingly endless adventure. A peaceful rest in the afterlife.
So I stepped inside and joined that bustling crowd for eternity.