U-ARCADIA06 (Aug 25, 2022)
Puzzle
"Pick your poison."
Knowledge – II | 3 Words
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: Direct pull, sort of. Just...remove the full stops.
Clue 2: From Naberius.
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Put Trapped Imprisoned
Explanation: In C-CACT03, of Date with Death, Naberius refers to the Mesoslums' punishment as being 'Put. Trapped. Imprisoned. Pick your poison'.
Summary of Receipt
Summary
Transcript
The Spire of Skald pulsed with a waning light, its once-glassy surface now dull and worn from centuries of toil. Abraxas sat on a stone bench beneath the lake, a well-worn journal open on his lap. He traced the page with his thumb, his heart heavy with the weight of unspoken fears.
"Lucifer? What are you doing here?" Abraxas asked, closing his journal with a soft thud.
"Where is Belphegor?" Lucifer demanded, her eyes scanning the dark rot that clung to the lakebed.
"She’s not yet here. I believe she’s Above, among Demiurge's creations. What’s wrong?" Abraxas moved to his daughter, wrapping an arm around her trembling frame. "My dear, your skin… it’s so cold." He quickly removed his overcoat, draping it around her shoulders as they sat on the stone bench.
"You have to tell me the truth," Lucifer pleaded, looking up at Abraxas with tears brimming in her eyes. "Am I going to die?"
Abraxas’s breath caught, his mind racing to find words of comfort. "Why… why would you ask such a thing? You are mortal, yes, but… you will not die. You do not age, you do not grow sick, and even if something were to happen," he glanced at the glowing Spire, "I promise you, you would not stay dead for long."
Lucifer leaned into her father, her voice trembling. "No, I don’t mean that... I meant, am I going to be unmade? Undone?"
"Unmade? What gave you such an idea?" Abraxas asked, gently stroking her golden hair.
"I… I overheard a secret. Demiurge has Metatron and Belphegor reforging his hammer into something new. Something that can control time. He wants to reset everything back to how it was. He wants to start over."
Abraxas was silent, his hand moving in slow, soothing strokes through her hair. His gaze lifted once more to the Spire, a deep sigh escaping his lips. "He can keep trying, but he will keep failing."
"Hm?"
"Demiurge is never satisfied with his work. You’ve studied under him long enough to see that. If he could undo every mistake he’s made, he would. He dreams more than he acts. Entire worlds swirl in his mind, endless universes in a sea of ideas, but he detests committing any of them to reality. If he could, he would never start for fear of failing. He’s tried to undo the Universe before, tried to smash it into meaningless pieces to reforge anew. This Spire—" Abraxas gestured to the glowing pillar, "—it’s the only thing that stops him. Even if he reforges a new tool, this Spire will stand in his way."
The Serpent slithered out from beneath Abraxas’s coat, its eyes gleaming with curiosity. "So, we don’t have anything to worry about?"
Abraxas smiled softly, running a finger across the Serpent’s head. "Ah—one of my grandchildren. What are you doing here?"
"My mother told me to guard the entrance so no one could come in… or out."
Abraxas froze. "Why?"
"She… didn’t say."
"She didn’t…?" Abraxas’s voice faltered, suspicion dawning. "She asked to meet me here. Why would she—"
A sudden bolt of light split the cold darkness of the cavern beneath Skald’s lake. Demiurge stood before them, his eyes blazing with a deep, burning white chaos, the eyes of a prince betrayed. In his hands, heavy chains forged from metals unheard of beyond Entropy.
"Abraxas… How could you?"