Cycle 107: Yulli

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ INCLUDES TOPICS OF MENTAL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL ABUSE THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR SOME READERS

There she is. That little human we've been watching, waiting for the perfect moment to let her in. We made sure no one was looking, and etched in the words: Admittance Granted—Ancestor Yulli. In she comes—oh how wonderful. Her little path of memory jogging has just begun.

"Quite confused, aren't we, little ancestor?"

"What!?" she stammered, "Who are you? WHAT are you? And why are you calling me an ancestor?"

"Calm down there, Yulli, your questions will be answered in due time. You asked who am I, correct? Well I, am the Great Gatekeeper, an ancient crow who's been around for centuries, haunting this old school. I keep all info here in secret, waiting for the right person to come along. And that just happened to be YOU."

"I-I don't understa—"

"Now now dear," I exclaimed with a smirk, "before you go off blabbering again with questions, how about you look around?"

She stared at me in silence, brows tilted forward slightly, eyes squinted, and mouth in a slight frown.

"And no need to be so cold," I whispered.

She sighed, and went back to exploring. Oh how fun it is to watch the mortals realize their futures are unraveling. And the fact that they might not actually be mortals—hah—but she'll figure that out in due time. Ah, she noticed the paintings, quite peculiar things actually.

The main one looks just like her, except in one of those classic 1889 uniforms. Oh what a glamorous school year that was, business was certainly speeding up. Now that I noticed it, ALL of the portraits look like her.

She was muttering, but I could faintly make out, "Why do all the dates fall before my eighteenth birthday?"

"Yulli," my face falling ashen slightly, "You may ask any questions you want—except for that one. We are not allowed to speak about the rituals that concern the divine."

"What do you mean rituals?"

Before the gods could get more angry, I zipped up her mouth with a magical spell. Why, my feathers were falling out from all this adrenaline.

"Once you've accepted that this question will not be answered by ME, you may have your mouth unzipped," I spoke frantically, "But for now, let's keep your mouth shut and just explore, yes?"

Part 2: The Mirror's Destiny

She has seen all versions of herself, again and again. It never fails to amuse me. Why, she's seen the portraits hundreds of times! She just doesn't quite remember. That's alright though beca—oh—OH—wait.

The mirror. She's seen it. Why didn't I cover that up!? I gotta drag her attention away from it, NOW.

"Dear Yulli!" I stammered, "Why look at this old thing? It holds no clues whatsoever to whatever you're trying to figure out. Just a dusty... very old... and highly valua—VALUELESS. That's a word, right? Anyways, just ignore the creepy old object and we'll still be on friendly terms, clear?"

She looked at me, head tilted, unsure of whether to speak or not. But I know she saw the message. I've seen that look on her past versions. Great, now she won't even GET to the ritual. The gods must be infuriated, and I can feel their sheer gaze and want to smite me. And honestly? I wanna smite myself too, not have to do this again. ANYTHING. BUT. THIS. Alas, it must be done to keep the cycle going.

I sighed, heavy.

"Maybe in another life," I whispered, "You'll finally complete the ritual."

With a snap of my feathers, her face started warping. She looked like she wanted to scream, but she couldn't. The transformation was already in effect, and there was no stopping it. As the next few seconds passed, the rest of her body was warping, swirling, and melting. After a minute her entire body was a pile of melted flesh, with only her soul hovering above it.

I removed the remaining flesh with a strike of lightning, recaged her soul, and sent her—or at least what was left of her—back up to the gods.

The clock will keep ticking, but all memory of her will be erased.

We'll find some new, unsuspecting mortals to take care of her reincarnated self, and hope the cycle can be completed this time. I just have to draw another portrait before then.

Part 3: A Past Unspoken

Portrait? Done and hung. Gods? Angry but still peaceful. Myself? Broken but still in one piece. And Yulli? She's... there, reincarnated as always, back down to Earth.

Now I just have to wait another... what? Sixteen years, until she comes back? GOD, I hate my curse. SORRY. SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO USE YOUR NAMES IN VULGAR! PLEASE DON'T SMITE ME. I WON'T DO IT AGAIN I—I PROMISE.

OW! GO—gosh dangit... great, now my feathers are burnt to a crisp. These things take forever to regrow. Not to mention I'm tethered to this dusty old wing. Why don't we ever renovate here? I mean, they have the power to use one snap of their fingers, and the room would be completely remodeled. But now is certainly not a good time to ask.

You see, I used to be a servant for all of the gods, and lived up in the clouds. Even if my job wasn't the greatest, it was better than any opportunity I had down at Earth, and I never had to worry about providing for myself or my family. They took care of it all.

But they started giving me harder tasks, and I became more reluctant. The more unwilling I was, the bigger the punishment. Sometimes they would starve me, other times lock me in a cage for days, and even give me impossible tasks until I came up to their thrones and begged them like a stray dog. But they went too far.

After one treacherous mission, to climb the highest mountain to deliver Zephro her staff, I fell down halfway, breaking the staff and injuring myself badly. But that infuriated her, and she came down, and stole my wife. I cried out to her, that I would do anything—after all, my wife was the only one able to protect our children. But she was taken away, and the gods stole my children since they claimed I was "too unstable to take care of them". But I was fed up, and was not letting them get away with this.

That night, I snuck into the royal palace. I knew the code to the Energy Room—where they stored their magic packs in secret. I took one good look, and destroyed everything in that room. They found out it was me the next morning, and cursed me. So now, I'm stuck as a pawn—or crow more like—and forced to follow this exquisite ritual with a test subject (but they prefer to call them ancestors) named Yulli. I cannot leave until this ritual is completed, and it's highly dangerous. The closest I've gotten is a 1946 version of herself, which managed to begin the ritual, but never ended it.

Part 4: Timeless Rituals

So I sit in here alone, waiting for her fresh updated version to appear, and try not to have a mental breakdown before then.

While I'm stuck in this unbreakable cage, I might as well recite the ritual, as I mustn't forget it.

The first step is preparation, letting her new self grow up and have whatever normal life she can live. That's the current step, and the one that takes the longest.

Secondly, she must find this wing on the exact day of October 13th, two years before her eighteenth birthday. It is by instinct that some event will drag her here on this day, so as long as I provide the clue that will drag her in, I don't have to worry about anything else.

Next, she must be allowed into the wing and granted access to look around, but I must be utterly careful to not share too much information. This is where I just messed up, and quite frankly, where I usually mess up. The gods have made an extensive list of exactly what she can and can't see on this day, and it is very hard to hide certain objects from versions of herself that have always been so naturally curious.

After, she cannot be allowed into the wing again until two years later, but her visit must stay in her memory. This is where I am allowed more free range, but cannot leave the school or come out during the day. I leave subtle hints that only she will understand and it will keep her memory fresh. This must happen about once or twice a week to guarantee success.

Next comes the part preparing her for the finale. I must get her back inside the wing on her eighteenth birthday, and lock her inside. I instruct her to make a star, each point containing a red eternally glowing candle, all of which are scattered throughout the wing. She must sit in the middle, and not make a sound.

Once I do a precise bird call, the ritual can begin. The gods take care of it after that. From my knowledge, her body will start floating and flipping. Her body will be stretched and shrunk in every which way, as if they are examining her to make sure this version is ready. They will attach her to the ceiling, and set fire to the wing. If she can escape the wing before she dies, she passes stage one. But she has never beat this stage, and thus even I don't know the rest of the ritual.