Chapter 94 Eyes Wide Shut (4) Dispersing his question, he let himself fade into her memory, where she stood inside a field he had never seen before. She wore a red flowing robe and her eyes were closed. At once, Rowan sensed that he was in a different time, somewhere far back in the past, the air felt different, it was almost alive. His attention went back to the woman, Rowan observed her features, which could not be necessarily called beautiful in the conventional sense, if he were to describe it, he would call it heroic. She possessed a valiant aura that resembled a warrior. Her body structure reminded him of Maeve, even under the flowing robe, it was not hard to catch a glimpse of the lithe figure she had. It was a physique that hid shocking power. Far down the field was a village that seemed eerily similar to Calcutta. The farmers held their hoes and Sickles as they discussed merrily among themselves, for the harvest was bountiful. He could distantly hear the glorious laughter of children and the upbeat sounds of a village as they began a new day, the sun had begun rising over the horizon and the twittering of birds flying across the skies was like music to the ears. Opening her eyes, her pupils were blood-red, but they glowed like gemstones. She was in a field of barley, and she slowly walked through the field, letting her fingers run through the grains. The wind blew against his waist length hair and the corner of her mouth turned as she gave a crooked grin. He shared this moment with her, it was of peace and tranquility. It was a unique part of her that he got to understand, after all, his ability to absorb and understand the souls of others was related to his bloodline, a power that was not supposed to be seen in the material universe. A hand came to rest on her shoulders and a cheerful voice entered her ears, "My Grand Knight. Such a great view. " "I know." She answered, the hands on her shoulders seemed familiar to her, and she did not shy away from the touch. "Now." The voice seemed to take great pleasure in its next words, "Burn it all" "What?" But he saw her hands rising, sparks blossomed between her fingers, and her unwilling scream heralded the flames that exploded from her body like an erupting volcano, the field turned to a Purgatory as a flaming vortex appeared on her chest, it opened up and let out thick gout of Magma. She cried in shock because the flames coming from her body refused her commands, and they spread to the village below. The magma spread down to the village like a flood. Ashes fell like rain, and the sky darkened as the smoke that rose painted the skies black, the flames painted the cloud red. The world became a nightmare. Rowan cried out in shock and anger, willing everything inside of him to hold the flames back, he strived to help her bar the floodgates to hell that had opened within her body. That hand had never left her shoulders even through all the eruptions of flames, squeezed her shoulders in a painfully familiar manner 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺 "My loyal knight. Now crush them!" What replied was a quake. Her body began to suck in an incredible amount of Aether, it was so much Aether that space began to crack open, and the red flames pouring out from her turned blue, but she kept taking more Aether, and something worse emerged. The earth beginning from her feet began to split apart, and from the sundered ground, Magma golems in their hundreds emerged, and they poured on the remnants of the people that still lived. The cries from her were not only for the people she just killed, but also for the trust that was lost, when that hand used her devotion against her. She hardly reacted when two blade points emerged from her chest. And as her mind dimmed, it was replaced by fury. This was the moment Rowan took control of the memory. He froze the scene and tried to pull as many details as he could. This should be a Dominator who had walked on the Path of The Adept, and wielded the power of flame, this woman should be a member of the Kuranes family, was that the source of the familiarity he felt as her soul merged with his? The power she commanded was remarkable, if he did not have the Omnipotent Records, no doubt he would have walked this path. He frowned, he recalled the moment when that voice commanded her to kill, her body was unwilling, but the power inside her obeyed that command. It seemed to bypass his authority and seized control over his Path. Was it possible for Dominators higher up in a Pathway to seize control of those below them. He did not think it was possible or if it was, it would be very uncommon. Then he remembered the Sigils that were branded into his body that binds the Primordial Record, and he felt he knew the reason as to how she was controlled and the source of the familiarity that evaded his senses. It was the Primordial Record! He had felt its presence inside the woman's body, and It was an easy thing to miss because it had always been inside his soul, and he had recognised that familiarity when he inhabited the memory of the woman's soul, it took some time for him to realize that the Primordial Record he was feeling was the same, but it was not his own. This was not particularly shocking to him, as the Primordial Record did not originally belong to him, and its presence was known by his father and others, and if they knew he could merge with the Primordial Record, then it stands to reason that there must have been similar occurrences in the past, and it was most likely that he was the first host of this Record. One particular detail also stood out to him. The pair of blades that stabbed through his chest was a shear. He could see the blood pooling in the etching of the blade in the shape of a corkscrew, the symbol read: Five. The Shears he lost in the battle previously had a similar symbol, but it was Six that was on the blades. He had once wondered what the symbol meant, and now he had more questions than answers. But he did not feel despair because the answers felt so close to him, if he were to ever know the semblance of the truth, it would be here. Inside this facility, he would get the answers he craved, and if he could not, at least he would fight for his freedom and slowly search for his truths. The final piece in this vision was before him, it was the voice that commanded this previous holder to destroy what she loved before she was killed. His perception slowly traced the arm on her shoulder, before he noticed something strange, the arm was constantly changing its shape. It was a thick hand of a man, then it was the dainty arm of a woman, then a child's, then it was covered in scales, before changing to fur, It was constantly in flux. The rest of its appearance was the same, but its face was always turned away from him, but there was a constant feature about this face, and that was its smile. It was a wide and demented grin that stretched its mouth until it nearly reached the ears, whether it was a child or woman or man, that grin never left their faces. Rowan suddenly felt an itch inside his spirit and the face that was turned away from him, slowly began to turn towards him. The vision suddenly ended, and he returned to himself before suddenly all the illumination coming from the walls went off, and he was plunged into deep darkness.