Brando felt as though he had experienced a long dream. It was made up of countless fragmented scenes, each image glimmering with the luster of ages past as it drifted before his eyes, like a silent river flowing onward through time. In a daze, he seemed to pass through one world after another. In the first world, half awake and half asleep, he felt himself in a cramped room. Many tall and handsome humans stood inside it. They had black hair and golden eyes, and wore robes that were red on the left and black on the right, with dark-gold upright collars. A serpent eating its own tail, named Ouroboros, coiled around the robes. There were eleven of them in all. One stepped forward and reached out to pull at his eyelid, a Ring of the Serpent shining silver on his index finger.
All he could see were black walls and flooring covered in crystal lattice networks used to transmit magical power. It was like the upper level of a tower. Beyond the circular hall stood twelve black stone pillars. Outside them, a golden sea of clouds rose and fell, with towering buildings piercing the clouds. In the distance, Perkin's Day cast an eternal afterglow along the horizon.
The handsome humans conversed with one another, but not a sound escaped their lips. It was like a silent movie. From time to time, one of them drew a bright symbol in the air, and the others nodded as though in agreement. From the shapes of their mouths, Brando finally managed to make out a word in modern Cruzian that he could understand:
Truth Society
The scene quickly fell apart and dimmed. In the second world, Brando felt that he had become an exiled refugee. The magnificent buildings around him were gone.