Brotherhood of Seers

Krlesh and Tao were sitting in the Coded House on the North Great Plane. Krlesh was sprawled on the leather seat of the red lakewall car and Tao was sitting on the floor. They were silent.
The Neverhood was their home. But neither of them felt like they belonged there. It was a strange and sad feeling, like that of an unwanted child. The Neverhood was too bright for them, too happy and too naive. It was unreal to live in a world without death. A world where every day is nearly the same, repeating in a never ending loop. They had lost that joyous wonder that kept other Neverhoodians going.
"I was born deaf," Krlesh said. Tao didn't look at him, but she listened carefully. "Everybody in this world besides you and me hears a melody. It's a beautiful tune that Hoborg composed. It sings about everlasting life.
"It keeps everyone here. Hoborg doesn't want us to leave him, does he? That's why it's such a taboo to talk about leaving the Hood. Leaving this place changes people. They see what life is. They see that this world has no future. It will happily exist and it will be the same forever. No one here knows that besides you and me. That's why we can't hear the melody."
Krlesh fell silent. Tao took a breath.
"You are right. We can't hear it." She gazed over Krlesh's head, into the dark sky. "You were born deaf, you say. You could never hear the melody. I used to hear it. It was beautiful. It made life much easier. I stopped hearing it when I was seven."
Krlesh shifted in the chair. "Tao, tell me what you are." Tao was silent. Krlesh insisted. "Why can't you hear it anymore? Is it my fault? Did I do it? If I did, please tell me how. I need to do it to other Hoodians as well, so that we aren't all alone..."
Tao turned around quickly. "No," she exclaimed. "Don't do that, please."
Krlesh crossed his arms on his chest. "Why?" he asked.
"They mustn't know anything. It would break them."
"Who cares? We were broken and nothing happened."
"Yes, we were broken. Tell me, Krlesh. Do you want to be broken?"
Krlesh frowned. "I want to break others."
"But wouldn't you rather be happy with them?"
Krlesh didn't say anything for a long time. Then, he said in a low voice: "Did I break you?"
Tao smiled at him. "You made me complete. I was meant to be broken. Those seven happy years of mine were a mistake."
Krlesh glared at her. "Why? Why couldn't you be happy like the rest of our brothers? Tao, what are you?"
Tao looked down. After a long moment she said: "I am a Seer."
Krlesh snorted. "Tell me something I don't know. Those seizures, they're visions, aren't they? You see the future."
Tao fiddled with her fingers. "Not only the future. I see the past and the present as well. I see through the eyes of myself at a different time."
"How can you do this?"
"I don't know. It came to me when I got my fjord stone." Tao touched the blue stone, hanging on her forehead. "I can't control it. I see misfortunes and accidents. I see Neverhoodians crying and yelling at each other."
"Neverhoodians can do that?" Krlesh asked, half in mockery, half in surprise.
"Of course. There is sadness and anger on this world alright. But no one pays it attention. Neverhoodians forget that they were sad very quickly. They don't dwell on it. That's one of the reasons the Neverhood is so happy."
Krlesh scrutinised her. "You still haven't told me why you can do this. Tao. Why are you so different from the rest of the Neverhoodians? Why do you look different? Why do you insist we call you 'she'?"
"It's because I'm a Seer."
Krlesh threw his arms in the air. "That tells me so much! Why did Hoborg create you this way? Do you even know, Tao?"
Tao curled into herself. "Of course I know," she whispered.
"Then why don't you tell me?"
"Hoborg forbid me from telling anyone. He's afraid that my knowledge is exactly what would break his world."
"Then why did he even create you? Why would he create anyone who couldn't be happy in his world?"
"He didn't know!" Tao barked. Krlesh drew back in reaction to her raised voice. Tao ruled herself in, but her voice was still sharp and cutting. "He didn't know my lifeseed would turn out this way. It looked just like a normal seed."
Krlesh sat back, running a hand across his eyes. "Why would he create anyone who couldn't be happy in this world?" he repeated.
Tao stared at him. Then, slowly, she began talking.
"Many years ago, when the universe was half as old as it is today, a great and powerful being was sentenced to lifelong prison. Her wisdom matched that of Father, but she made many mistakes and endangered many lives. She was to be exiled on a beautiful planet called Daya. But her power was too great to be trapt in a body. In exchange for her imprisonment, she gained the power to oversee time. She split into three women, who have lived on Daya ever since.
"Their names are La Sandra, La Leona and La Robin. La Sandra can see the beginning of the universe and its end. La Leona can see what happens during the universe's existence. La Robin represents the great being's punishment, as she sees every bad thing that ever happened or will happen. Together, they are called the Triads, and they are the first Seers.
"The Triads looked for a way to break out of their prison. They could not leave Daya, but they found a way to see beyond its horizon. They cut out little bits from themselves and moulded them into lifeseeds. These seeds were sent on a journey through the klay universe. When a living being was born from one of them, she shared a portion of the Triads power. She saw the past and the future and through her eyes, the Triads became free. This was the beginning of the Brotherhood of Seers.
"Nobody knows of Seers here on the Neverhood. But they are well known on other worlds. There are three kinds of Seers, depending on which Triad they were born from. There are white Seers, born from La Sandra. They have visions of what happened before they were born and after they died, but nothing inbetween. Golden Seers descended from La Leona. They have visions of what will come during their lifespan. Black Seers are La Robin's children. Their visions speak of the bad things that happen in this universe.
"When the Triads tried mixing bits of their bodies, mixed Seers were born. I am one of them, a goldenblack Seer. I have visions of what I see during my life, and of the bad things that happen over the years. I possess a fjord stone, which is a droplet of a crystal waterfall on Daya. It forms a connection between me and the Triads. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't receive their powers over the great distance that lies between us. I couldn't see anything.
"The reason I didn't have it since I was born is that it was stolen from me. My lifeseed fell on the Neverhood shortly after the world was created. The seed and its fjord stone were fused together. Hoborg found the seed and he put it into his crown, together with his other seeds. There it lay forgotten until Klogg claimed Hoborg's crown. Even in his changed state, Klogg didn't have the power to create, so the lifeseeds were useless to him. However, he liked the shiny blue gem that stuck to one of them very much. So he ripped them apart. He kept the gem in his treasury and put the deformed lifeseed back into the crown.
"Many years passed and Klogg's reign was ended. Hoborg decided to create sons out of his lifeseeds. He kept the one that seemed deformed as the last, because he anticipated that it could turn out wrong. I was born confused and hurting. Hoborg quickly realised that this seed was not one of his own, because I looked different from all his other sons. But he welcomed me to his world as he did all his children and told me we would live here together forever.
"And so I lived happily for seven years. Klogg's treasury was robbed by a magpie. My fjord stone lay in its nest for a long time. And then you, Krlesh, found the nest and took everything you found in it. And then... we met."
Tao took a long breath and let it out in a sigh.
"I reclaimed everything. The knowledge of a Seer flowed into my head. And from then on, I didn't belong here either. On other worlds, Seers are celebrated. They become leaders and advisors of leaders. On the Neverhood, a Seer is condemned to an existence of secret and fear. This world is built on ignorance. A Seer's knowledge can break it. That is why Hoborg forbid me from telling anybody what I am. Nobody must know.
"All they know is that I look different. I let myself be called a 'she', although nobody does that here. It's because of Seer tradition. Every Seer is a 'she', because they came from the body of a woman. I am not a woman because of Hoborg's wish that no Neverhoodian has children. But at least this little I want to grant myself. Living a forbidden life is slowly smothering me. Being a 'she' seems only like a quirk. But it helps me cope."
Tao coughed. Krlesh removed a bottle of water from his belt and passed it to her wordlessly. Tao nodded gratefully and emptied it. She gave the bottle back to Krlesh. Her brother looked at her expectantly. Finally, when Tao said nothing, he asked:
"Why did you tell me your name was Stasha back then?"
"It's a name that was given to me by the Triads. It's my true name."
"What's Tao then?"
"It's a name I gave to myself. I received a letter from the Brotherhood of Seers after I was born. It said that I was destined to be a Seer, but I must find my fjord stone first. The final greeting, seek your tao, made me choose my name as Tao."
"What does the word mean?"
"It means the way. I don't quite understand it yet. I think it has to do with my way of living. When people call me Tao, it reminds me that I should look for the way."
"What is the way?"
"I don't know."
Krlesh toyed with the control of the red car. "Can I help you find it?"
Tao rose to her feet and stretched. She turned to Krlesh and gave him a bittersweet, pained smile. "I'm sure that one day you will."
They sat in the red car together. Krlesh drove them to the other end of its track, the Weasel Arena. They climbed out of it. Before anyone saw them, they held hands shortly. And then they parted ways.

     

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