Anomaly

(POV – Protagonist)

In a way, it felt as if everything I had experienced was just a long, hazy dream — the emotions, the sensations, the encounters marked by the impossible. Everything seemed wrapped in a fog of unreality. Yet, deep down, I knew with absolute certainty: none of it had been a dream.

Everything I saw, everything I witnessed, truly happened. To begin with, anomalies — and even more so, the so-called [Conceptual Virtues] — are incapable of dreaming. And that, inevitably, includes me.

Well, honestly, I have a lot to think about. That... “dream” brought me numerous clues about issues that have always tormented me since I became an anomaly. At the same time, it also answered some of them. To start, I now know for sure: I am, indeed, a [Conceptual Virtue], operating under the name of Zentharys.

However, Arthur had mentioned before that all Virtues represent an essential concept. They are the literal personification of fundamental ideas — primordial forces that shape the world. Among these Virtues are Life, Death, Time, Chaos, Order, Hope... and Fear.

These are all the Virtues Arthur mentioned — and also the only ones I can remember. However, I am none of them. In fact, everything points to the fact that my situation is far more complex than it appears. Unfortunately, my memory stops there.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t remember anything beyond that. The only thing I know — or rather, the only thing I was able to recall — is that I am a [Conceptual Virtue], just like Nekra and Althea. But, unlike them, I have no idea what my role was.

A soft sigh escaped my lips as that thought took over. My gaze quickly shifted forward, where a giant flower slowly bloomed. Its petals opened with graceful movements, revealing details in a vivid golden hue that shimmered in the light.

Above it, something floated — a luminous shape, as if bathed in liquid gold, levitating gently with an ethereal glow. I just watched that scene, with a strange expression on my face. The reason? Well... what came to mind was so confusing that I honestly didn’t know whether I liked the memory or if it bothered me.

I want to, of course — and, obviously, I do like it. The thing is, when this kind of information just drops into your lap, you don’t really know how to react. It’s like you spend a little bit of change playing the lottery and, suddenly, without warning, you hit the jackpot.

Just like that. Of course, even that comparison seems exaggerated... but what can I say? That’s exactly how I feel right now: surprised, a little lost, and with that strange mix of euphoria and disbelief that you only feel when the improbable really happens.

Anyway, Althea — who had been gently hovering above the flower — rose a little higher and began to float slowly toward me. At the same calm pace, I stretched my arms out and received her in a kind of princess carry. It may not seem like it, but this is much more awkward for me than it is for her. Althea probably sees it as a reward. Believe me.

While all these thoughts swirled in my mind, a soft murmur escaped from Althea, who rested in my arms, being carried like a princess: “Hmmm...”

I blinked slowly and lowered my gaze to Althea, who lay in my arms. Gradually, her eyes began to open, revealing a hypnotizing golden color that shone softly as her eyelids lifted.

Still a little groggy, she lifted her gaze to me and, for a brief moment, seemed to realize the intimate way we were positioned. Her eyes widened slightly, an involuntary reaction to the strange closeness between us.

By the way, this might not be exactly important right now, but it's worth mentioning: Althea, being the personification of life itself, cannot exist normally in this reality. In other words, think of the giant flower where Nekra emerged as a symbolic womb — a portal of birth.

And those fallen people around, unconscious, with gaping wounds in their bodies... they are, in a way, the "parents" of Nekra. It’s as if the entire city collectively gave birth to her. That was the only way to allow her existence here — like a sort of entry pass to the physical world.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that, even after her “birth” Nekra continues to drain the sentient life energy from everyone around her. A parasitic, beautiful, and tragic presence, feeding on the very source that brought her to life.

Originally, Althea’s birth wouldn’t have taken so long. However, she seems to have voluntarily limited her absorption area to this city, which significantly delayed her manifestation process.

Althea, after all, is the personification of life itself — and she would never take life lightly. No one understands and values life as much as she does; Althea and life are, in essence, one entity.

Ironically, although she was formed from all the inhabitants of the city, the truth is that Althea was, from the very beginning, the source of all known forms of life.

She is, so to speak, the primordial mother of all beings, sentient or not. Her existence pulses with the essence of creation, and every living being carries, even if unconsciously, a spark of her.

Of course, this doesn’t mean she literally gave birth to them. Her very existence is the force that makes lives be born. As long as Althea, life itself, exists, new lives will continue to arise one after another, like an inevitable cycle.

This is how nature works: Althea is the mother of all births, and, in the same way, Nekra, the mother of all, watches as her children leave the arms of their mother, life, to fall into the arms of their other mother, death. It’s an eternal dance between creation and end, where the existence of one inevitably follows the path of the other.

“Hmmm... Zentharys?” murmured Althea in my arms, her voice weak and trembling, as her small body shivered slightly, as if the night’s cold had seeped into her bones.

I just observed Althea, her large, round eyes shining as brightly as the stars on a cloudless night. The intensity of her gaze seemed to pierce through to my soul, reflecting every thought of mine as she watched me intently, almost as if she knew what I was thinking.

In the end, only one simple thought crossed my mind: (Althea)

It was a simple word, but with it, Althea slightly widened her golden eyes. She stared at me in silence for a few seconds, her gaze locked onto mine in a way that felt almost hypnotic. Meanwhile, I wondered what was going through her mind, but deep down, I already knew the answer.

“Zentharys?” Althea whispered again, her eyes narrowing slightly as if trying to confirm a suspicion, the air around her thick with tension. She stared into the void ahead, her mind clearly trying to process the emerging possibility, as if each word carried an unknown weight.

My eyes remained fixed on Althea, feeling a mix of apprehension and curiosity. In the end, without saying a word, I simply nodded in confirmation to her question. When she realized my answer, her eyes widened even more, as if trying to process the news.

In the next moment, her face lit up with a radiant smile, and without hesitation, she wrapped me in a tight hug. Her face touched mine with an unexpected softness, as though the gesture was the only way to express all the joy overflowing from within her.

“Sister! I missed you so much...” Althea said, her voice trembling with emotion: “You took so long to return that I started to think you’d forgotten about me...” She continued, still gently stroking my face with her hands, as if afraid that, by letting go, I might disappear again.

Well, as you might have noticed by the way Althea called me, we’re sisters... Yes, sisters. And please, don’t ask me how that’s possible. Honestly, all I know is that I know Althea and Nekra, as well as all the other Virtues.

I also remember that we are, in some way, all sisters, but how that happens? I have no idea. Technically, I was human before I became an anomaly. Now, I’ve been transformed into something... different, and suddenly, I gain a whole family? Is that how things should work? I have no idea, really.

Besides, as Arthur mentioned before, about a virtue that gave rise to all the others, he wasn’t wrong. The [Conceptual Virtue of Existence], as he called it, really exists. I don’t know much more than that.

However, no matter how hard I try, it’s as if my attempts to remember hit an impenetrable wall, something impossible to break through. It’s frustrating, as if a part of me is blocked, even though an inner voice insists that, over time, my memories will return.

Even so, I can’t deny the frustration of not knowing something so fundamental, something that, in normal circumstances, anyone would know about themselves. The feeling is unsettling, as if an essential part of who I am is lost in an abyss that I can’t escape from.

In the end, all I could do was let out a deep sigh of resignation. Thinking about all of that wouldn’t bring any results, and, in the end, it’s not like I had completely healed from my “amnesia” At most, I had managed to recover a few small missing pieces from my memory. Anyway, as I resigned myself to the situation, a voice caught my attention.

It sounded urgent, almost desperate, making it impossible not to notice: “I’m really moved by the reunion, but could you give us a hand?”

In the next moment, I shifted my gaze down, focusing precisely on Arthur and Victor, who were just below us. Around us, everything seemed to be in an eerie quiet.

I raised my eyes to the horizon and quickly understood why they both seemed so desperate: hundreds of monstrous anomalies were approaching them, their distorted, threatening shapes filling the line of sight.

Well, to be honest, now that I can remember some details, taking care of them won’t be as hard as it seemed. With that thought, I directed my gaze to Althea, who was also observing the scene with impressive calm.

When she noticed my gaze, her golden eyes softly shimmered, reflecting a hint of confusion, as if she were trying to decipher my reaction.

(Could you help them?)

In the end, Althea gave me a quick look, almost involuntary, before turning her attention back to the anomalies approaching Arthur and Victor. The next moment, her eyes, now golden, began to glow softly.

The glow was subtle but impossible to ignore, as if it weren’t something natural. It was a light that seemed to emanate directly from her, something that clearly didn’t fit with the environment around us.

As the monsters approached Victor and Arthur, they abruptly stopped. Their bodies began to transform in an alarming way. In a matter of seconds, what happened was so impressive that even I was surprised. If I had to sum it up, I’d say it was as if billions of years of evolution were condensed into the blink of an eye.

It was impressive, yes, but at the same time, something I already knew was one of Althea’s most basic abilities: the power to force evolution in any being, organism, or even inanimate things like stones. Nothing escaped her authority. Just to highlight, this was one of Nekra’s simplest powers.

Arthur and Victor, below us, just watched the scene with wide eyes and mouths agape. Their faces clearly expressed disbelief, as if they still couldn’t process what they had just witnessed, even though they were right there, witnessing the events.

For some reason, the idea that more entities, besides Nekra, Althea, Time, Chaos, Order, Hope, and Fear, could emerge, and the fact that I didn’t understand why, gave me an annoying headache—though, technically, I wasn’t capable of feeling something as human as pain anymore. But this strange sensation, which I couldn’t even label anymore, still lingered, like an unshakable shadow in my mind.