Chapter 28 – Deciphering the Patterns and the Haliminyo

We decided to decipher the patterns from the first five floors, hoping the pen, our newly discovered artifact, would unlock the secrets they held, reveal the messages the Abyss was trying to convey.

If this object can truly interpret the patterns… we might finally understand what the Abyss wants from us.

We started with the first floor.

1st Floor – Pattern of Beginnings

Location: 50m Underground

Form: A simple circle.

Deciphered Text:

As I touched the pen to the pattern, the spiral at its center glowed faintly, and a soft voice echoed from the pen.

“…grains of sand…”

“…Grains of sand?” Yuri mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “What does that mean? It’s the Pattern of Beginnings… why sand?”

“Maybe…” Luna said, her golden eyes wide with thought, her small hands clasped together, “…maybe Abyss… starting… with little things…?” She pointed to the pattern. “Like sand… small… but many… make big… like ocean…”

Her words, though simple, held a certain logic. I nodded slowly.

“Small beginnings,” I murmured. “Like grains of sand… building up… to something… bigger.” It fit. The pattern, a simple circle, representing the beginning, the genesis of the Abyss. And sand… a building block, a foundation.

2nd Floor – Pattern of Surveillance

Location: 150m Underground

Form: A clear eye shape.

Deciphered Text:

The pen touched the pattern, the eye-shape flickering, and the voice spoke again.

“…stole the light of wings…”

We exchanged puzzled glances.

“Stole… light?” Luna whispered, her brow furrowed. “Who… steal…?”

I stared at the pattern, the eye staring back at me, its gaze… accusatory?

“Light of wings…” I murmured. “What does that mean? Literal light? Or something… more?”

“Maybe…” Luna said, her eyes widening, “…maybe eye… watching… someone… steal… light…?”

Yuri tilted her head. “A watchman, then? But watching… what? Protecting… what?”

…the crystal… The thought flashed through my mind, unbidden, a painful reminder of Elise, of the price we’d paid.

3rd Floor – Pattern of Depths

Location: 200m Underground

Form: Long, vertical lines, overlapping, intersecting.

Deciphered Text:

The pen traced the lines, their glow intensifying, the voice emanating from the pattern.

“…above a sea without sky…”

“A sea… without sky?” Luna whispered, looking at me. “Abyss…?”

“I think so,” I said, nodding slowly. “This pattern… it represents the depths… the layers… of the Abyss.”

“A sea without a sky…” Yuri murmured, her gaze distant. “…are we… floating on it… or drowning in it…?”

Her words hung in the air, a chilling reminder of our precarious existence in this strange, hostile world. The intersecting lines of the pattern seemed to represent the layers of the Abyss, its endless depths, the unknown horrors that lurked below.

“Maybe this pattern represents the endless depths,” I said, my voice low. “The path we have to follow… to the very bottom.”

“But… where does it end?” Yuri whispered, her voice filled with a mixture of fear and… something else. Determination?

4th Floor – Pattern of Opposition

Location: 250m Underground

Form: An incomplete square.

Deciphered Text:

As the pen traced the lines of the incomplete square, each side glowing with a different light – fire, ice, earth, water – the voice echoed from the center.

“…is floating…”

“Four opposing forces…” Yuri said, tracing the lines of the pattern with her finger. “Negating each other, yet… coexisting.”

“Fire and ice, earth and water,” I said, nodding. “Opposites. Yet… balanced. Within the square.”

“But why… opposites?” Luna asked, tilting her head. “Why not… all… together?”

“Opposites create balance, Luna,” Yuri explained gently. “It’s like… a seesaw. You need both sides… to stay… balanced.”

“The Abyss, too,” I said, “it’s a place of… opposites. Different rules. Different laws. But… even in opposition… there’s a balance. A way to… survive.”

Luna’s eyes widened. “So… this pattern… it means… balance in the Abyss…?”

“I think so,” I said. “The Abyss… it’s not just chaos. There’s an… order. A balance. We just have to… find it.”

5th Floor – Pattern of Gravity

Location: 300m Underground

Form: An inverted hexagon.

Deciphered Text:

As the pen touched the inverted hexagon, its surface shimmered, reflecting a kaleidoscope of images, each face showing a different world, a different reality, the images swirling and merging, disorienting, mesmerizing.

“Are those… different worlds?” Yuri whispered, her eyes wide.

“Or different aspects of the Abyss,” I suggested.

I moved the pen closer to the center of the hexagon, and the images intensified, the air around us shimmering, distorting. And then, the voice spoke again.

“…become a little bird…”

“A little bird?” I murmured, gripping the pen tightly. “What does that mean? Something we can do? Or just a… metaphor?”

I wrote down the deciphered phrases, one after the other, and as I did, I realized… they formed a… a poem. A rhyme.

“Somehow the fine grains of sand,

Become a little bird who stole the light of wings,

Floating above a sea without sky…”

I read the words aloud, the rhythm of the poem echoing in the silence, the meaning… elusive.

“It’s more than just a poem,” I said, my brow furrowing. “There’s a hidden meaning here.”

“Is it a folk song, Noah?” Yuri asked, tilting her head. “Or a children’s rhyme? Or just… a poem? Do you understand it?”

I looked at the pattern, the words echoing in my mind, but the meaning… it remained just out of reach.

“Honestly?” I admitted. “I have no idea. It’s too… abstract.”

“Luna knows!” Luna cried, her eyes shining with excitement. “Story! From seventh floor!”

“The seventh floor?” Yuri asked, surprised. “Luna, what story? Is it… like this?”

“Yes! Explorer… tell Luna… story! Like this!”

I stared at her, my heart pounding. “A story? About this? About the pattern?”

“Yes! Story… called… Haliminyo!”

“Haliminyo?” Yuri echoed, her brow furrowing. “I’ve never heard of that. What’s it about?”

Luna tilted her head, thinking. “Luna… not remember… all… but… small bird… and… sea… Explorer say… story… about… secrets… of the Abyss…”

The pieces clicked into place. “A small bird… a sea without sky…” I murmured. “That explorer… he knew something… about this poem.”

I wonder if he’s still alive. If he made it past the seventh floor…

“So these patterns…” Yuri said, her voice still tinged with skepticism, “…they’re connected to… a children’s story?”

“Maybe,” I said, my gaze fixed on the pen, its warmth a comforting presence in my hand. “These patterns… they’re not just random markings. They’re messages. Clues. And the story of the Haliminyo… it’s part of it.”

“So we have to decipher the rest!” Luna exclaimed, clapping her hands. “More patterns! More stories! Then… Luna know… secrets of the Abyss!”

“What about the other floors, Noah?” Yuri asked, her eyes shining with excitement. “Shouldn’t we decipher the patterns from six, seven, and eight, too? While we’re at it?”

“Now?”

“Yes!” she insisted, nodding eagerly. “We’re on a roll! We have to keep going! There’s a story here, Noah! We have to see how it ends!”

“Luna agrees!” Luna chimed in. “More patterns! Luna wants to know… what happens next!”

I understood their eagerness, but…

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We need to… stop. Think. Process what we’ve learned.”

“Why?” Yuri asked, her brow furrowing. “We have momentum! We should keep going! It’ll all connect, Noah! I know it!”

“It’s not just about… connecting the dots, Yuri,” I explained, gesturing with the pen. “This poem… it’s a complete thought. A single message, from the first five floors. If we try to decipher the rest now… we might miss something important.”

“What do you mean, Noah?” Luna asked, tilting her head. “Too many words. Just… decipher all?”

“We have to take it… one step at a time,” I said. “These first five floors… they’re telling us one part of the story. The next five… they’ll tell us something… different.”

“But Noah…” Yuri protested, her voice filled with disappointment, “…it feels like… we’re so close…”

I smiled at her. “I know, Yuri. I want to keep going, too. But sometimes… we need to stop. To think. To understand. Before we move on.”

“So… we decipher in chunks, then?” Luna asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“Exactly. Five floors at a time. We decipher the patterns, we understand the message, then we move on.”

“Okay, Noah,” Yuri said, sighing. “You’re the boss.”

“Good. Slow and steady wins the race.”

I gripped the pen tighter, a sense of satisfaction settling over me. We’d deciphered the first five floors. We had a complete message. A single, unified story. The next chapter… would have to wait until we reached the tenth floor.

Assuming we even make it that far.

“No negative thoughts, Noah,” Yuri said, her voice firm, her usual optimism returning. “We’ll reach the bottom. We’ll see the end of the Abyss.”

“Yes!” Luna cheered. “We promised Arka!”