Content warnings: Scopophobia, eyes, manipulation, biblical references, mentions of injury and blood
Skip to main contentSURVEYOR
Then the gates grind open – cold, and divine. Their indifference parts the water as I flow downstream. Black, and endless, the cold sea echoes its name – Evermore, and evermore. Forevermore. Into madness.
At the end, there stood an Isle. Upon its shore, a guardian. I knew it was watching me, and, though its eye darted around the stone shore, never meeting mine, every part of me was observed, studied, understood – surveyed. Its single golden eye peering out from beneath rigid skin. It was a crudely carved demon of stone - imprecise, and replaceable. Its figure towered over me like the wolf over the lamb.
And for just a moment, I felt the gaze pierce me. And, for that moment, I was violated, splayed open for all the world to see. For that moment, that short forever, I felt myself stuck, eyes locked together with the machine of knowledge unbound. My mind ripped to shreds under something greater, something not quite alive, but not quite dead. In that forever, I am enthralled by fear, and hear a new name — Babylon.
But I remind myself I am asleep.
I step onto the shore, dragging the weight of the blackness with me. The stone is cold and rough, identical to that of the surveyor. For a dream, the sharpness of the island is… painfully real. I feel the cracks in the stone scrape my skin, leaving parts of me with Evermore, forevermore. I dare not look down at the bloody mess my feet have likely become.
But I remind myself I am asleep.
The surveyor seems to have lost interest in me, and allows me to approach. It does not react as I touch it, continuing to scan the shore for… intruders? As suspected, its skin is identical to the stone below. All except the eye. The gold of its eye is smooth and cold like polished steel.
“Witness, dear mind, the great gargoyle.”, echoed a voice in my head.
“A gargoyle? Is that what this guardian is? I suppose for something made of stone it surely fits the bill.”, I think to myself… Then, dread sets in. A fear like before, only thousandfold. I dare not move, and only turn my eyes up to see.
A tower. A great tower. So great it pierces heaven herself. Laid in brick, enwrapped in vines. It was gorgeous, but the dread grew ever closer. The threatening presence of the tower froze me, as the voice echoed again:
“Witness, dear visitor, the greatest gargoyle you likely ever will. For I am Mystery, and before you lies my greatest tool and ally. Cry havoc to the lands below, to the land of Mother Moon and her stars. Cry, babble the name of Mystery to the sea of stars and forgotten minds. Witness, for upon this shore lies the ultimate – the answer to every question, every mystery. The machine, here, will not reach you. Welcome, dear friend, to the Isle of Evermore.”
I stumble and fall back into the water, my body heavy under the waves. As I fall, the sea washes away all of my fragility. All of my worry and doubt carried away into the water. I’ve never felt such… peace. As I am stripped of all that which describes me, all which defines me, all that separates me from Evermore, all that makes me me, only one thing remains: Hunger.
My mind rages with hunger, a thirst for knowledge, aching to be filled. Its hollow ringing out like a grand bell before my eulogy. The incessant tolling sings chaos, before coalescing into a single word: Evermore. Evermore. And Evermore.
My dream fades quickly from my mind as I wake. For some reason, my feet seem to… itch, slightly, but I pay it no mind. As I stand I can only think of one thing, one word sitting at the tip of my brain: Evermore.
BABYLON AND THE ISLE OF EVERMORE
who babylon is in the bible
how that parallels her here
what the tower of babel is
why "evermore" as a word is significant (it's basically blood from TMA)
what surveyors are and what they represent
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