Diary (10)
Posted by admin on December 12th, 2011 filed in LabyrinthsComment now »
The Tagus glistens and I wonder if Overbeck has slipped under the sheets with Madeleine after her visit to me earlier this morning. The house was almost irrepressibly silent, which tends to be quite unbearable for me in foreign cities, for one does not know what spectres may lurk about. Perhaps I’m being slightly , what is the word?…I cannot place it at this moment. One expects the master of the house to return today sometime in the early evening. I have no intention of returning until then. I brought a book to read, but my mind is not in the proper frame for contemplation.
My only thoughts drift toward Madeleine. She is a very liberated woman. A little too liberated.Still, she has a gracious charm that is strangely infectious. How her attitude will change once the master returns remains to be seen.
City (10)
Posted by admin on October 13th, 2011 filed in LabyrinthsComment now »
The Corridor is where we end. As the final important landmark on the Midtown grid, we come also to arguably the most significant site in the city’s development. The intent behind the Corridor on a basic level was to allow for only one way in and one way out. To gain access to Midtown became literally and figuratively, a rite of passage.
With regards to the age and process of design—not to mention the amount of marble used in its construction—no exact date has ever been recorded. Even sources in the Old Library give rough estimates and are somewhat unreliable, leaving even the most skilled scholar with wild theories. One such theory proposed by this author, though I’m not an expert, is that the Corridor seems to have been completed in four stages, as each section that comprises the area on which it sits possess unique traits not found in the others.
The passage for example that leads the train in from the Outskirts is brightly lit, almost to the point where the observer cannot see at times, suffused with a series of eternal flames and lamps, not to mention imagery dedicated to various deities, making the approach memorable, if not a blinding experience. This section is often attributed to Junichiro, as he was believed to be a devout worshipper of Kagu-tsuchi the Japanese fire god whose name is inscribed in spots along the passage.
As the Corridor narrows and the light becomes more bearable, the ambiance changes as well. The tones become earthier and the obvious symbols of gods disappears . Perhaps any deeper meaning lies in the walls, which boasts engravings of various rare plants—some of the hallucinogenic variety—that weave into patterns resembling arabesques. Madelaine de Garza, Perrot’s wife, an avid gardener and supposed master herbalist is often named as the central influence in the design after Perrot himself.
If we allow logic to play into the mystery would it seem too unlikely to think that these people, who history finds so enigmatic, were dabbling in consciousness expansion through chemical means? And if so, how does all this mysticism play into not only the development of the Corridor, but the rest of Midtown as well.
Part of the answer may exist in the third section of the Corridor which boasts the imprint of Hans Overbeck. A page in his published diaries says the following: 25 July 1830…Have been feeling rather ill as of late due to the wild deliriums of a tea I drank with the others the past evening. I felt as though I were being carried on the wind itself! Though as the night went on, the harshness of the substance…belladonna I believe…produced within my mind many dark images that I had not felt in years. Due to this, I have not been able to focus my energies as earnestly on the task of the Passage, which Bastion has been fretting about. He too has felt ill…I’m certain the work will continue as planned, and that my recent visions shall play a part in what it is to come on the small and grander scale…
If the previous words are any indication, Bastion Perrot was also privy to the grand effects of drugs, though one does not see it come through in the final stage of the Corridor. Overbeck’s contributions which ultimately led to the Section of Wind, as it has come to be called, due to the erection of a dozen flute-like bronze statues along the tracks, leads into a serene gentle ending at the platforms. Bastion, for all his legend, simply put in a final marble slab across the north wall that produced a barely noticeable flow of water, which seems fitting for a man who was barely noticeable to those who have tried to study him.
The story, one could say, is unfinished.
Future (12)
Posted by admin on October 4th, 2011 filed in LabyrinthsComment now »
Night sky. Lost in the stars. Warm, despite the wind that whirls around me. The icy stillness of winter can already be felt, even though it’s early September. Yellow moon…
My mind swimming with daring thoughts, or at the very least thoughts once considered daring. I realize that the world around me seems so small since they all disappeared. Reflections in the mirror seem like the only bit of truth left. Katsumi told me on that night so long ago in the Dragon’s Court that trying to articulate anything about what was, or to be, yields more in the End. So now seems to be the appropriate time. All signs point to yes, but where does ‘yes’ lead?
…………………………………………….
Slowly have begun translation process of diary in Ri’s Shadow Gallery. Daunting work, since I’m really no expert. Push through, or at least attempt to get somewhere.
……………………………………………
A kind of heavy pall hangs over Midtown. The fog is rolling in again, just as I’ve always remembered it. The house is too silent as has the rest of the city lately. Rumours circulate of a mass migration out of here. At least that is what the papers say…reasons are vague…some say some sort of Bastion prophecy, which I’ve never heard of in all the literature I’ve read…perhaps this diary holds a piece of the puzzle. I’m sure Ri had quite the story as to how this came into her possession.
……………………………………………
Going to walk tonight. Not coming back until something is revealed to me one way or the other. Never thought it would turn out this way.
Shadow (3)
Posted by admin on September 30th, 2011 filed in LabyrinthsComment now »
One has to be a dog with a keen sense of smell in order to pick up the trails of the evasive; one has to pay attention to the minute in order to keep to the trail of other dogs and where they have marked their territory. They are all dogs…
This city on the plain is full of canines and rodents of all kinds. In other words, my kind of people. I don’t have to look very far in front of me to see why what goes on behind these walls has become the stuff of legend. The Old Library as they call it has piqued my interest even more. In an insular world such as this, where everyone seems so distracted and within themselves, looking out for their own best interest, it is easy to see how so much bad intent could grow from such rich soil.
The Library almost seems to stand outside of time itself, at least in comparison to the world it sits within now, that has little or nothing to do with such a rich history.The very spirit of those founders, so much like myself in some ways, hovers over these streets like spectres. Within a matter of hours I was able to absorb a lot of key texts…That is one of my parlour tricks, and always has been…trying to stay one step ahead of the competition. As for the other dogs, they are close. Like the pieces of a large thousand piece puzzle we will all meet and have a grand time together.
Perhaps we can all come to some sort of peaceful resolution where everyone wins out in the end. Ha. Nothing would make me happier.
Diary 9
Posted by admin on September 23rd, 2011 filed in LabyrinthsComment now »
1 March 1810-Early morning
Standing before the mirror, Madelaine showed me the handprint Overbeck had left on her neck, deeply imprinted in her milk white flesh. She told me she ran her own fingers over the mark, feeling the residual warmth left by his palm. The words tumbled off her tongue as she removed the leather gloves she had been wearing, throwing a blanket around her body.
I saw the opium still clinging to her movements, and her eyes held a glossy sheen in the lamplight. Oddly, I was not that surprised to see her standing there before me, and even less surprised to know that Overbeck had already seduced her so quickly. What surprised me was her casual way of describing such intimate details to me. Of course I’m no stranger to such lewd behaviour, however unlike my friend I’ve always taken a more cautious approach to the female gender, for no other reason than my experiences with them tend to become entangling.
Somehow she knew this. Deep within those glistening, opium tinged eyes she knew me more about me than I thought. I suspected the loose tongue of Overbeck had something to do with it, yet at the same time her womanly intuition told her just as much without words. We talked for a few minutes about the arrival of the chemist and nothing more, before she apologized for disturbing me. I assured her she was not disturbing me and told her I looked forward to our next meeting, hopefully overlooking the Tagus.
She smiled wryly, then crept out as silently as she crept in.
Arrival (4)
Posted by admin on September 18th, 2011 filed in LabyrinthsComment now »
We walk into the hazy Midtown dawn, the sounds of birds float across the Plaza as Joseph, donning a pair of sunglasses and newly lit cigarette, asks me how far it is to the river.
“About 2 and half K.”
“Let’s go, he won’t be thinking that far ahead.”
“The Catalan?”
“That’s what he calls himself these days. I’ve known him by a thousand others by this point, but that doesn’t really matter. Only you matter.”
“I don’t know if I should be grateful for your concern or a little wary.”
“How could you be wary of me? After all, I’m a little part of you.”
“Maybe that’s what is making me wary in the first place.”
As we take to the streets of the Western Quarter, I bathe in the warm silence that envelops us, even though the day ahead is uncertain. I keep asking myself how I got to this point in time, since by my own definitions nothing like what has transpired could really happen, though it has without me even blinking. All that I left behind here in Midtown has become fragments of another time and I didn’t even have a chance to bid it all farewell. Joseph casually looks over his shoulder from time to time, bringing me back to the fact our situation has quickly become dicier, even though I have yet to see why.
“What is the quickest way to the river without taking the subway.”
“Probably through the Dragon Court, which eventually flows into the Market. We can take a path I used to walk a lot, very quiet on days like these.”
Joseph nods in agreement and tosses the butt of his cigarette into the street, immediately stuffing his hands into his pockets and straightening his gaze, assuming his usual stoic shape once more. As we approach the Court, my mind flicks through half dissolved memories of time spent roaming the streets…I also think of Katsumi that night she broke down and where she went along with all the other familiar pieces.
“You know this area well then? I can sense that there is much emotional attachment to these particular streets…hmmm.”
“Yes you could say that. Some of the most significant events in my recent life and in the past occurred around here…There is a door…”
“A Door you say?”
“It’s nothing…”
‘Where did you see it?”
“Not far from here, why?”
“…a kind of shift is happening. Probably brought on by the convergence of the three of us, meaning myself, Mitsuko, and the Catalan.”
“What do you mean “shift”? This started happening long before I left Midtown.”
He looks at me suspiciously but decides not to push the issue. Would he know about the door we approached that night? I’m not even certain it’s there anymore, let alone anything else. Does it even matter? I shouldn’t have left that bottle at the hotel…The more we become absorbed into the void of the Dragon Court, the denser the atmosphere becomes with merchants, crazies, and the like making deals, smoking, drinking, and shuffling about. The building tension is not lost on Joseph who seems tense despite his usual coolness. The sun feels warm on my face, which I take to be a good omen for no good reason at all…
City (9)
Posted by admin on September 3rd, 2011 filed in LabyrinthsComment now »
Through the aftermath of the dead, and into the darker more obscure places of the past, the one visitor known to be combing the grounds of the Botanical Gardens was none other than Ri Hollis, who quickly became the subject of the investigation regarding the two high profile deaths. At that point they were just grasping at straws since their previous efforts only yielded more riddles. The question remains however as to what inspired her in the midst of all that death to continue forward with a project that had already consumed her for so long. Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that at the unveiling she did not make an appearance, but instead was found later to be at the Midtown Observatory gazing at the stars.
She went on to explain in typical fashion that she was already working toward her next project, foregoing the unveiling for as far as she was concerned the final work was nowhere near completion, and the unveiling was merely a spectacle for the art world who waited so long to see it after so much secrecy.
After the interview she went back to her stargazing without a word.
Ri secluded herself for some time after The Blackening, making only a handful of public appearances over the next two years. Most people, including this author, believed that she was very deep into the next stage of her project, as she even gave up on the Peacock where it had all began in the first place, leaving the social part of her life behind for a hermetic existence in her house in the Western Quarter.
The curtains remained heavily drawn over her windows, though some critics who were brave enough to become voyeurs claimed to see her sitting at her window her face obscured and a single palm clutching at the glass…
Eventually, she withdrew completely.