"Have you finished playing with your toys, Æ A-12?"

His voice echoed in the dark, vast emptiness around me. In front of me stood my 2 toys: An Elf figure, and a Pythas™ action figure. Behind me, lay a wet, dirty mattress. A single window, barred up so that only small rays of sunshine could seep through.



"Yes, Bishop."

This, was my room.

This, was me.

"Good. Come, your training awaits."

I followed the Bishop through the dark and gloomy castle walls, our path lit with only torches.



This castle was the only place that I had gotten to know. From the moment I opened my eyes, I was within these walls, and in this castle.



Perhaps there was a time before this castle, before these walls, but I can't seem to remember.

I was awoken from my thoughts by the voice of the Bishop.

"I heard from the Priests that your performance was below average yesterday." said the Bishop. "I, and most importantly, He, expects better from you."

"Yes, Bishop." I said quietly.

The Bishop led me through a series of dark and decrepit hallways to my Training Room, a giant, empty room with a new challenge for me to overcome every passing day.



Today, there were dozens of crossbows mounted on all 4 walls, all pointing to a giant X in the middle of the room.

A Priest was setting up the last crossbow.

"I've brought the boy." said the Bishop. "Is the room ready?"

"Yes, Bishop." said the Priest.

"Good." said the Bishop. "May He guide us."

"May He guide us." said the Priest in response.

After the Bishop left, the Priest walked up to me.

"Your training today is dodging incoming arrows." The priest pointed at a seemingly bottomless hole next to the X. "You will have to summon water from the bottom of that hole, and use it to deflect the arrows."

He gave me a stern stare. "Succeed, and we won't have to go through the same incident 2 days ago."

I winced at the thought. The harpoon holes had mostly healed, but I still had a few scars.

"Yes, Priest." I said reluctantly.

"Good." said the Priest. "Let us begin then."

The Priest left the room, muttering a few words as he left. The door was then surrounded by purple chains. Dark magic.

I stood in the middle of the room, on the X, and channeled my focus at the depth of the dark hole next to me. The hole was 100, 150, no... 200 meters deep.

I panicked, but I quickly shrugged off the thought.

I didn't have the time to panic.

I started summoning the water at the bottom of the tunnel. As the water was making its way from the deep depths, one of the crossbows shot and pierced my shoulder.

"Keep yourself together." I muttered under my breath. Another crossbow shot, impaling my left leg.

"Focus." I kept thinking to myself. That's when I heard multiple crossbows shoot out.

But I had done it.

I summoned the water out of the hole and, as if it were a blade, used it to slice through the crossbows. It was as if I were in a ballet show, elegantly dodging and weaving through the rain of arrows headed my way, and destroying the crossbows with swift strikes.

But then, I felt a pain sharp in my stomach, and then my chest. A few had gotten through.

I stumbled, but I persevered. I dodged and swiped, destroying a majority of the crossbows on the walls, but there were too many.

Soon, I was impaled with multiple arrows, and I fell to my knees.

In a fit of anger, I boiled the water around me, and sprayed it onto the remaining crossbows, which caused them to start melting.

I had done it.

The purple chains around the door disappeared, and the Priest walked in.

"Well done, Æ A-12!" he gave out an ominous laugh. "Your power is growing."

I, on my knees, looked up at the Priest.

"He is eager to see your progress." continued the Priest. "Now, get up."

As I stumbled up, an explosion threw me back onto the ground.

"What-!?" exclaimed the Priest.

The wall behind me had been completely destroyed, with the rising sun now beaming into the room. In the middle of the scenery stood a figure wearing a horned skull mask.

The Priest started muttering a chant under his breath, but was soon blown back to a wall by a powerful force.

I stumbled back up. The figure was now facing me. It took off its mask, and it was...

An Elf girl?



"We don't have much time." said the Elf, before chanting a few words.

The arrows piercing me started glowing yellow, and erupted into clouds of butterflies. Her voice was calming, and... oddly familiar.

"We must go."

She grabbed my arm, but I pulled back.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What have you done to the Priest!?"

She was taken aback. "Do you not remember-" she stopped. "What is your name?"

"Æ A-12."

"I see." said the Elf. She pulled out a pouch from her pocket of what looked to be pixie dust, dipped her index and middle finger in, and chanted some words.

The pinkish color of the dust transformed into a golden hue.

"I'll help you remember." she said, and touched my forehead.

The words echoed in my head:

"??????? ?????? ??????? ??? ????, ? ????????? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ????...
? ????? ?? ???????, ????? ?? ??? ??????. ??? ???? ?? ???, ??????? ????????...
???? ??? ????? ??????, ?? ????? ?? ??? ????. ? ?????? ?? ???????, ?????? ??? ??? ?? ? ?????..."

And then I remembered.

"My name..." I said.

The Elf covered her ears.

"...is Cthulhu."

The castle shook violently, followed by the painful and anguish-filled screams of the Priests in the castle.

It then all stopped.

The Elf girl took her hands off her ears.

"What was that?" I asked.

"That, is your power." the Elf girl said. "Those who hear your true name go insane, and die in a gruesome way."

As I was trying to process what had just happened, the Elf girl reached out her hand.

"Come." she said. "Let's go home."

I nodded, and took her hand.