When he stepped through the door, Arthur thought there would be another corridor or a hall. Yet, he stepped into empty space. The starry night surrounded him as he floated in the darkness, only illuminated by countless spheres of light.
"Welcome to my world, Arthur."
"Your world?" Arthur looked around at the infinite lights surrounding him. Inside of each sphere of light, different scenes were playing.
"Yes, the world of memories." The voice answered. "This is no ordinary prison. It's a place where those with forbidden knowledge are kept."
"What does that have to do with the test?"
"Impatient." The voice admonished. "I can't allow you to see the forbidden knowledge. However, if you see the inconsistencies in a memory I choose, then I'll allow you to ask a few questions in return for a few."
"That doesn't sound fair."
"My knowledge exceeds yours, child."
"What if you don't know anything that I need?" Arthur frowned. A hunch was still a hunch.
"I'm not the one who asked for a chance."
This made Arthur close his mouth instead of complaining further. This was true and Arthur was the one who followed his gut feeling into here. Furthermore, seeing that this person was the warden of forbidden memories, his feeling was right.
He had known Arthur's name even though he didn't reveal it. Arthur didn't know how this person was able to, so he can only make a few guesses at most.
'Well, I won't be losing anything.'
"Have you decided?" The voice asked again and Arthur nodded. As soon as he did, a bright star descended from a distance as the voice talked to Arthur again.
"This memory has been constructed by the clues found in the owner's memory. It's not a telling of real events, but only a simulation of what might have happened. Find a way out of this memory by killing the owner. They will try to hide themselves and their evil deeds, and you need to find them."
The bright light collided with Arthur's body as the scenery changed in front of him. The next moment, Arthur found himself sitting in a room in front of a desk.
'This is a memory?' Arthur marveled. He looked at his hand and clenched his fist. He felt his fingertips dig through the flesh of his palm.
His fingers, however, weren't his. They were tinted by a purplish color and extremely long.
'This is the body of a person in the memory. Use it to find the owner of the memory.' The voice spoke his head and Arthur nodded.
He stood up and opened the door. He was met with a plaza with a single fountain. The walls were old and vegetation and mold have covered most of them. There was the scent of incense and autumn.
Arthur's body slightly shivered at the cold breeze and he wrapped himself in his robe. As he looked around, there was no soul in sight.
The day has just started and Arthur could see that by the dark blue light of the sky. However, he had no idea where to go from here.
'You're an orphan who hasn't found a family. Your job is to assist this orphanage in taking care of the children. The first thing to do is to prepare their breakfast.'
So, breakfast he started to make. Arthur found the kitchen after a while and made some hot peas gravy served with bread. When he finished, a bell rang throughout the orphanage.
Soon, kids of all sizes started to pour in. They grabbed their plates as they chatted happily and waited for Arthur to serve them. As he did, Arthur kept an eye out for any suspicious people.
'All of them are kids, I doubt they are the owner of this memory.' Arthur was serving the food to the kids when someone tapped on his shoulder.
He turned around and found an older woman. She smiled sweetly at him and took over to serve the kids.
"Thank you for making this every day, ----."
Arthur couldn't hear the last words as it sounded like someone has muted the woman at that moment. His confusion was answered by the voice.
'No knowledge shall be divulged other than what you already know.'
It seems he couldn't know the names of the people in this place. He nodded at the woman and thanked her before grabbing a plate and eating on his own.
The woman finished serving and came by to sit beside him. Arthur thought for a second before trying to ask her somethings.
"Are there any troubles lately?"
The woman had a look of surprise at his question. She nodded with confusion as if Arthur asked something obvious.
"Haven't you heard that the count is visiting today? He's cutting funds again, it seems."
"Why would he?" Arthur asked. He pondered if this person was the owner of the memory. The woman shrugged.
"Probably to host one of his parties."
Arthur was about to ask more when a child ran into the woman's embrace. The woman's face broke into a smile as she hugged him tightly.
"Mommy!" The child was about seven years old and had one of his teeth missing. He had brown hair that resembled the woman, proving they were relatives.
Arthur stared at the child in silence. He didn't look anything peculiar, but two things bothered Arthur about his existence.
The first one was that if he was this woman's child, why were they in an orphanage? The second was the fact that this child looked somewhat familiar. As he was pondering these two options, Arthur's nose pricked with the foul sense.
'The Enders.'
Arthur stood up from his seat and left the hall in a hurry. He couldn't mistake their stench even if he wanted to. His soul hated their very existence, making him unable to not feel them.
Before he realized it, he found himself in front of the orphanage where a carriage has been parked. A group of people surrounded the carriage as their voices rose loud enough for Arthur to hear them from a distance.
"Show mercy, my lord!" The voice of an old man rang loudly, despite how hoarse it was. By the time Arthur reached them, the Ender's stench was no longer there as it hid quite well.
'Why is it gone?' Arthur questioned. 'Do they have a way to hide from me?'
For a moment, he forgot that he was merely in a memory. Even with a simulated world, there was no mistaking the foul mark they left on the world.
The world rejected them. As Arthur was someone connected to the world, he rejected them just like the way oil didn't mix with water. They were two different things.
"A mercy for you means feeding a hundred mouths a day. Send those leeches to the mines so they can earn their food. It's better than keeping the search for them going." A haughty voice answered by the time Arthur was able to see the people around.
Several guards were surrounding a fat man wearing extravagant clothes. As he said the previous phrase, he kicked the old man who was clinging at the edge of his sleeve.
"Disgusting." The nobleman, who Arthur assumed to be the count, spat on the old man before leaving with his group.
Arthur walked toward the old man, whose frail hands were shaking, and helped him stand. His eyes were murky and his beard was fully white.
"Thank you, ----." The old man said weakly as Arthur handed him his cane.
"Is everything okay, sir?"
"Yes, but I fear not for long." The old man sighed weakly. "The count has decided to cut a large portion of our funding."
"Why is that?"
"It's because of our incompetence at keeping the children safe, he says." The old man said with regret. "With how many have gone missing, he says it's better to send them to the mines to work."
"Sir, you still haven't found why they're going missing?" Arthur frowned and asked as if he already that there was such an issue.
"No," The old man shook his head. "It's still a mystery. I lock the orphanage's gates and doors every night before I sleep. However, some of them would still be missing by early morning. Rumors have it that there's an evil mage in the forest. I fear that…"
The old man trembled and didn't continue talking. He grabbed his cane and went back into the orphanage with slow steps. Arthur stood there, brooding, as he tried to think of a possible owner for the memories.
"Is it the count? The rumored mage? Or someone else I haven't met yet?" Arthur pondered.
Whoever it was, this was related to the orphanage in some way. There was an issue with the funds and an issue with the missing children. The owner had to be involved in one of those issues.
Either way, this will take him quite a while to figure out. Arthur thought he can handle the situation quite fast since this was a simple test, but it seemed to be more difficult than he thought.
'Is this a simple test?' Arthur questioned as he gazed at the departing carriage.