....
Lately, I've been thinking about the meaning of absurdity.
Usually, it's a word used to describe something utterly ridiculous.
...Or a state of being we find wildly unreasonable.
It's curious, isn't it? Humans acknowledge that concepts that are completely incomprehensible, in fact, do exist, yet—there is still a definition, for absurdity. A word that was created to recognize that some things simply, don't have a meaning.
But still, they have given absurdity a meaning, regardless.
Because, that's just what humans do.
At times, I wonder if that 'human' in me, is the reason I attempt to give purpose to my condition.
...Why am I like this? What made me this way? If I were to become a concept, would I be known as absurd? Or would I to, be given meaning?
Though, maybe I'd need to be 'human' first. Have the desire, or a will, to change. They always have seemed to encourage single-mindedness.
Unfortunately, I own none of those qualities.
That 'urge' owns my life, the pleasure dictates my every action.
...And maybe, I want it to.
For that, is the only time absurdity, becomes my antonym.
*BANG! BANG!*
"Chow time, inmate!" A disgruntled warden pounded on the metal cell door in front of him,
A second guard, fitted in an all-blue warden attire, sleazily approached his colleague, and leaned on the cell door. "Ooo. We're letting out the Desdemona girl?" He snidely grinned.
"I'd like to give her a little 'chow time'. Haha!" He inappropriately gestured with his hips, his peer just gave him a look of reproach.
The first warden groaned. "Pandora! I know you can hear me, dammit! I'm letting you out, stand back!"
He pulled a single lever on the right side of the cell door, and suddenly, the locks on the chamber hissed, the door automatically protruding forward, releasing an excessive amount of fog, originating seemingly from inside the cell.
Both guards coughed, trying to swipe away the fog. They began to slowly open their eyes, hesitant because of the sheer volume of the smoke.
And as the thick mist cleared, the disgruntled warden could feel a piercing chill rush down his spines, his breathing slowed, and his face lost color.
Even after 10 long years, he could never quite get used to that... THING'S presence.
To her.
Pandora Desdemona.
She took slow, methodical steps towards the exit of her cell, and when she emerged, even that, felt painstakingly meticulous, her every move was.
She wore a blue, inmate's jumpsuit. It was a one piece, with short sleeves and a front zipper that ran down her chest. There were numbers in bold white lettering on the back of the polyester, it read 'C63528'.
Her gorgeous, clear, smooth porcelain skin glistened like the ocean, in the prison's fluorescent lamp fixtures that hung from the ceiling. Though, her eyes were the exact opposite. As empty, as they were threatening, her pupils were blood-red, crimson.
Two just as scarlet-colored space buns, sat on each corner of her head, despite her cutesy choice of hairstyle,
This woman was anything but, there was something in her gaze that was just... wrong.
The immature warden cocked his eyebrow, chuckling as he leaned in, studying Pandora. "...This is The Luni Killer? I've only seen her in the lux photos. She doesn't look all that tough." He scoffed.
He put his hand on Pandora's shoulder, and his gaze shifted towards her chest. "But I'm sure you're real soft on the inside." He whispered, running his fingers down her spine, until he reached her lower back, and grabbed her rear, giving it an unsavory squeeze.
The disgruntled warden's heart dropped, he shouted at his lower-ranking officer in panic. "Cain! T-The hell is wrong with you!? Let go before she!-"
*SQUELCH!*
No one had any time to react, even if they did, they wouldn't be fast enough.
Pandora shot her outstretched hand forward like a spear, and drove straight into the offending warden's face. His bones immediately shattered under the force, his nose and cheek collapsing inward with a sickening crunch. Her hand punched right through his eye socket.
His screams were muffled by the gurgling of blood pouring down his chin, his teeth snapping loose and clattering against the floor.
She pushed until her wrist disappeared inside his skull, Pandora tilted her head, seeming to derive some kind of amusement from feeling the brittle scrape of bone fragments grinding against her skin.
Finally, she yanked her arm free, dragging remnants of flesh and brain matter along with her.
The guard's body crumpled to the floor, his face now nothing more than a cavernous hole leaking blood across the concrete.
The disgruntled warden fell to the ground in horror, watching as the sterile prison lights reflected the slick gore dripping from her fingers. "Y-You... Pandora... Dammit! H-He was a rookie! T-They'll throw you in solitary for this!"
Pandora didn't even look in his direction, she just bent over, and wiped the leftover viscera on her hand, onto the uniform of the now lifeless rook.
"...Then, I guess you'll just do what you already have been for a decade." Pandora replied callously.
The warden's mouth hung open, watching her every move like a cowering prey. "W-What are you talking about?-"
"Cleaning my mess." She cut him off.
"...And shutting the fuck up."
She turned around spitefully, massaging her wrist, and without another word, walking off, and making her way into the cafeteria, leaving the warden paralyzed with dread.
...It stunk. That was the first thing she always noticed. Like sulfur mixed with cow shit.
The walls stretched wide, rows of bolted-down metal tables and benches filled the center of the room.
Dozens of uninviting convicts filled those seats, accompanied by the sounds of clattering trays, and tactless, ignorant shouting amidst conversations.
A total of ten guards were lined up against the cafeteria's walls. Each officer's hand was resting upon a sheathed sword on their hip, Pandora could see a faint outline of the distinct Light, each of the guards were radiating. It was obvious they were on edge about something, but who could blame them, really?
These were the worst criminals in Lychinus, and most of them are able to wield a Light. That's not just something you could take away from someone, even if they are incarcerated.
When Pandora walked in to the open mess hall, the entire room fell silent. Each inmate immediately stopped what they were doing, turning to stare at the expressionless Pandora, even the wardens, exchanged cautious glances, whispering to each other indiscreetly.
Suddenly, a vivacious, purple-haired, starry-eyed woman practically flew out of her seat.
She gasped. "Pandy!? They finally let you outta your hole!?"
The woman ran to Pandora, and practically threw herself into her arms, though, that's more a figure of speech.
Pandora did not move her arms at all.
The purple-haired woman, planted a few kisses on Pandora's left cheek, smiling cheekily. "Pandy! Come, come, sit! You missed SO much!"
She dragged the non-resistant Pandora all the way to the metal cafeteria benches, and sat her down, taking the seat right next to her, practically vibrating. She swayed from side-to-side on the bench like an eccentric child.
An onlooking inmate raised their eyebrow, she was sitting just on the other side of the table. "Damn, Nova. Why you always gotta jump on Pandora like that?-"
"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, BITCH!!" Nova replied swiftly, instantly becoming livid, like the flip of a switch. Her outburst catching the attention of everyone in the room.
The other prisoner's neutral expression vanished, and now was glaring daggers into Nova, but still, she grabbed her tray and got up from her seat, walking off silently.
The removed expression on Pandora's face didn't change much, but she did turn to Nova, who was huffing with rage.
"Nova. Do you really believe it's wise to make enemies in this place? Someone could kill me, you know. Then what would you do?" Pandora asked curiously, still no hint of a recognizable emotion in her voice.
Nova just looked at her incredulously, and once again, flipped a switch, giggling cheerfully. "Kill? You!? Pfft, haha! Just how many Luni have you brought to their end? I bet they looked so stupid when they died! No idea why you kept the eyeballs, though."
Nova continued to ramble on, but Pandora just blocked her out. She never understood why Nova gravitated towards her so much, the whole damn cell block is terrified of her...
And It'd be so much easier if she was.
Connections are worth almost nothing. You cannot hold a connection in your hand, you can't use it as a weapon, even if you could, why would you?
A knife will always pierce deeper.
Although, she doesn't hate Nova's company...
Her child-like, youthful demeanor tends to bring her back, to when she was younger, when she was... with her family.
...It almost reminds her of-
*BOOM!*
An explosion, way out into the distance, rocks the entire penitentiary building. Inmates fall to their knees in the cafeteria from the aftershock, and the wardens rush to the windows, shouting orders at each other, while trying to scope out the area.
But, most of all, everyone was confused.
"W-What the...!" The warden who peeked out the window stammered, he watched in shock as he saw the dust cloud from the explosion loomed over the kingdom. "S-Something just blew a hole into the side of the castle!"
Wardens and convicts alike, began murmuring to each other, no one believed that for a second. But... why would he lie about something like that?
Panic slowly began to rise in the prison, some prisoners shouting at the guards, trying to figure out what's going on, others stood there stunned, unsure of their next move.
Suddenly, one of the wardens stepped up. "Alright! Calm down, everybody back to their cells right now!-"
*BOOM!*
Another explosion! This time, it felt closer. But, little to no one had any time to react, before they were blasted with rubble, the entire ceiling began collapsing,
Amidst the screams, and anguished cries of pains in every direction. Pandora picked herself up off the floor, and quickly realized why it felt so close.
Because, something had blasted a hole into the prison wall, and she was staring right at it.
"Urgk... P-Pandy?" A weak voice shrilled from behind the rubble.
Pandora rushed to the voice, moving rubble and debris out of the way, tossing it to the side, and when she reached the end, to her surprise—Nora lied there on her stomach, crushed by the falling ceiling, and...
There was a sharp-pointed piece of debris that pinned her to the concrete, it impaled her stomach, blood welled thick around the wound, seeping across her clothes and spreading in a dark pool beneath her.
"I... I.." Nova reached for Pandora, extending her weakly hand, tears swelled in her eyes.
Pandora watched her at first, she didn't move, her eyebrow slowly twitched, and her body... quivered?
Why..?
For some strange reason, Pandora reached out her hand, and placed it in Nova's. She felt compelled to, and she didn't know why.
Nora's eyes lit up, she smiled. As best she could. "Ha... Ha... Thank..." She stopped herself, beginning to convulse violently. "Grk! P-Pandy...!? I'm scared..."
"Pandy...? I'm...."
Pandora felt Nora's grip weaken, and soon enough, Nora's hand slipped from hers, and she watched the light in her eyes... vanish.
...
"Hohohoho!" A deep, guttural voice bellowed across the hollow cafeteria.
Pandora slowly turned around, and witnessed a sight she never thought she'd see in her lifetime.
It was... an orc.
He hovered above Pandora, looming just beyond the jagged break in the wall, the sun highlighting the sheen of his green skin, and the daunting power of his muscular frame, and most notably, his sharp tusks protruding from his mouth.
The orc seemed to be riding on a hoverboard of some kind, it seemed crafted by hand, with materials and parts she didn't recognize. It wasn't made from Light.
She stood up, meeting the orc's combative gaze.
That just made him smile wider, placing his hands on his hips strikingly. "Heh. You Pandora Desdemona?"
Pandora's gaze hardened, she furrowed her eyebrows. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm just a bit amazed that a creature would travel all the way from Tenebris, just to hold a conversation with me. How did you even manage get up here?"
"Oh, I'm not the only one." He digressed, tossing a bag onto the metal table In front of Pandora. "And for some reason, the boss thinks you're the key to finally ending that blonde-haired tyrant." He growled.
Pandora hesitated, but then, approached the plastic bag, she rummaged inside of it, she nearly gasped, her eyes went wide.
These were... all of her belongings. Down to her crimson bodysuit. Did he grab this from inventory? When?
Suddenly, she stopped, something he said finally processed in her brain. "You... You want to kill the king?" She looked up at him once more, curiously.
"You should want to, as well. That bastard Aetheron has lied to you all for centuries, but honestly, mankind is still no better than him. He fed you his bullshit for years, and you happily ate it all like you were his toilet. I get it though, you're living in paradise, why even care what happens to a bunch of mud people?" He snarled, face contorting into anger.
"Don't lump me into your fantasy. I'm already well aware the kind of man Aetheron Lychinus is." Pandora said coldly, taking the bag from off the metal table.
"...So who are you?" She asked bluntly.
The orc closed his eyes with a grin, and crossed his muscular arms. "I, am only a piece of the larger puzzle. A cog in the machine that will happily throw itself in the burning furnace. All for the cause. For the fall of Lychinus."
"I, am nobody. But, 'we' are one."
"We are the rebellion."
"We are... Bellator Luminus."