The Blue Deck Podcast: Into the Attic of the World

When the kids arrive at the palace, they are confronted by the Cyclops, a huge monster—one-eyed, of course. He has a horn on his forehead, sharp pointed teeth, and he carries a war hammer. Strangely, he claims to have seen them coming all the way back in Doloptree.

When Ozzie asked how, the cyclops points to his eye as if that’s an explanation. Speaking of his eye. It’s red. Like, the ball of the eye is red, and it’s white in the center. Also, the white part of his eye splits apart and moves around. It’s pretty weird.

Anyway, they all go into the palace, and Charles sees a bunch of paintings on the wall. The portraits are all old kings and queens, and in every one of them is the same sword, a curved katana in a turquoise scabbard. A placard below one of the paintings reads, “King An-dob-o the Destroyer who reigned from 1646 to 1670.”

The Destroyer…just like King Katsuro. So, why are both the kings called that?

Charles asks, but his question is met with impatience.

When he presses the point, William has a look at the paintings. All the royalty of Atsuma are tagged with the title “the Destroyer.”

Then the cyclops says in his rumbling voice, “They are all Destroyers, kings or queens, but the sword itself is the ruler of Atsuma.”

When Captain Kid sees his knights are unwilling to proceed without answers, he explains that the sword in the paintings is called the Destroyer Blade. It was made by a dark wizard who killed himself with it. Now, whomever the sword cuts is sliced from the very fabric of reality—their whole life gone in an instant—even their past. It’s like they were never even born.

William suggests there’s something wrong with that story because if it were true, how would anyone know if someone was cut? The person the blade sliced would be forgotten by history and memory alike…so, who would know they were gone? Who would know if the magic in the sword really worked because no one would remember it being used?

“Maybe it’s just a story,” Dawn declares.

But it’s not just a story because of two things. Not everyone forgets the lost. Not Captain Kid, not the black unicorn in the Red Realm, and not the cyclops. Also, the blade itself remembers them, and as a warning, whenever it’s used, the blood of its victim appears on the gleaming blade.

There’s one exception, however. If a person is cut with the blade and lives, they become the new ruler of Atsuma in the Attic of the World.

One more thing. In the brief time Charles has been around the cyclops, he’s gotten the feeling the monster can see through walls, look at things too far away over great distances, and even peer into other people’s thoughts.

 

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