'We did it…
'We actually did it…
'The plan was a success…'
Idel's heart pumped faster than usual as he looked at the collapsed beast nightmare. His body was heating up. Whether this was due to elation or the previous state of petrification, he could not tell.
He closed his eyes to calm himself and at the same time opened his mouth to take a breather.
As he did so, he sensed energies coming from a distance. Without any urgency, he slowly turned to the source and opened his eyes.
Due to the distance from the source and the smoke that still slightly clung to the air, he could only make out two glowing green stones.
One was floating on the bridge, and the other was moving away from the bridge and towards him.
He blinked.
'Why is Tintless running in such a manner?' His thoughts were incredibly slow.
He squinted his eyes and saw Shifty nervously shouting on the bridge.
'What's with the behavior?'
On a hunch, he turned and found the nightmare still lying on the ground.
It had yet to disintegrate. Why?
He was sure the core was destroyed. However, as he soon came to realize, this was not the reason why the duo were acting weird.
In front of him, the mine plains were exploding upon contact with the red drifting specks.
But he could not hear anything. His eardrums must have been shattered by the debris.
In a fraction of a second, he witnessed the entire mines get destroyed—once land and medieval equipment, now replaced by raging flames and flying stones.
He turned and tried to run, but could only walk limply. He also had to avoid coming into contact with the floating specks.
On more than one occasion, he fell over and clumsily picked himself up.
Luckily for him, the mine plains were at a considerable distance from him. plus, the movement of the floating bombs was such that they were slowly falling from one endpoint—the mine plains—and moving towards where he was. As such, he was at least given a chance before they caught and sent him to his death.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
With each step, his body was slowly beginning to accept its fate. Some seconds later, he fell, and this time could not get up.
His soul did not give up though.
He slowly began to claw forward on his stomach, his already torn cloak suffering even more in the process.
Though he tried his best, at some point he could no longer find any ridge to hold onto and support his movements.
A breath of desperation left his chapped lips as he saw two specks about to hit the ground beside him.
But before that could happen, something wrapped around his abdomen and pulled him.
Boom! Boom!
The specks missed him. He was yanked forward and soon found himself on Tintless's back.
The boy did not say anything. He extended four more arms that wrapped around Idel; then he unleashed another that moved, evading the specks and grabbing onto the pole of the bridge.
The distance was pretty substantial, and even more unlucky for the duo, the specks increased their rate of fall.
Boom!
To the left of them, an explosion that caused the ground to crack occurred.
A speck was about to hit them when the extended arm pulled them away.
The boy was clinical in evading the specks as he moved through the air at high speeds.
He dodged two more…
Three…
One…
And another.
As they were about 70 meters away from the bridge, devastation occurred: one rather stubborn speck fell on the extended arm.
It was so close that Tintless had to cut off the arm and move back, falling to the ground with Idel.
The duo were amid explosions; the ground beneath them was cracking too. The chances of them evading death became excruciatingly low, and this was something Idel had come to realize.
Because he was in a chaotic state, he whispered to the boy, "Leave me be. Save yourself. You and Shifty can still make it."
The boy got to his feet. Despite the chaos around him, he slightly turned to Idel, who was still on his back, and smiled.
No words needed to be spoken. Idel could tell what the boy meant: Trust me, Mr. Freak.
Idel lowered his head and wrapped his hands tightly around the boy.
Tintless, as his being turned white, lowered his frame and took the posture of a splinter.
He slightly raised his head and looked at the two poles holding the bridge, imagining them to be the poles holding the finish line of a race.
The explosion sounds turned into crescendo cheers from a frenzied crowd.
The track was set, and in the next second, as it began collapsing from behind, he ran.
His speed was unlike anything Idel had ever seen or experienced.
The track in front also started collapsing, and the boy had to jump from debris to debris while evading some to continue running. Finally, after a while, he passed the finish line and fell over.
Back to reality, the duo had reached the mid-part of the swaying bridge, and the boy's leg was stuck in a hole left by a plank. He was slowly falling into the valley filled with poisonous spikes.
Idel, using the last bits of strength, moved from the boy's back to lessen the weight. However, the boy did not move from the perilous position. In fact, his Tintless body appeared not to be moving in resistance; he was slowly slipping through the hole.
Idel desperately extended his right hand and caught Tintless's right arm.
He held on too.
The boy's body had now slipped through. The only thing preventing him from falling into inevitable death was Idel's hand. And how unlucky he was, for his last hope had little to no strength left.
With each second, both moved closer to death.
Idel gritted his teeth and looked at the grey boy.
He was just blinking.
"Hold on."
Just as he said that, as though fate were his enemy, the sound of the pole buckling reached his ears.
He turned and saw Shifty trying to walk over to them.
"Stay... back." His voice released as much volume as it could manage.
He turned to the boy once more, his already foggy mind trying to come up with a solution.
Creak! Creak!
His bloody arm began shaking involuntarily as breaths of fear and desperation ensued.
And then, from the corner of his eyes, he saw it.
Staggering amid the explosions.
The beast nightmare.
It had its eyes fixed on him.
He turned to the boy, the pain on his face taking form.
As if the moment were not torturous enough, suddenly, a cacophony of shattering glass erupted in his ears. It soon turned into insidious voices before merging into one slow voice:
his voice.
The world in an instant became still and murky.
"They are just apparitions…
They are not real…
The humans, all of them. Do not get attached. It's nothing more than a long—"
At that moment, flashes of imagery surfaced in his head. They took the form of a cinematic slideshow, one that moved at terrifying speeds.
His eyes, at the end of it, dilated before constricting, their desperation extinguished in seconds. They became apathetic. And so did his face, for he had remembered: he was Idel, wielder of the sin affinity of sloth, fifth prince of the demon realm, and all this was nothing more than a mere...
Looking at the boy indifferently, he muttered, "Continuous dream."
Then he let go.
Tintless's eyes bulged as he watched his reflection in the cold crescent pupils of Mr. Freak.
He saw his grey body fall and slowly get devoured by the darkness of the valley.
As the nightmare reached the bridge and ran on it, causing it to fall, Idel, with all his remaining demonic energy, summoned the Labyrinth…
Everything went black, and this time only one hill came to be, and the moonlight was very dim. No fog gyrated. The only thing resounding in the Labyrinth was Idel's moans and the voice that reminded him of his position in this reality.
He rolled on the hill as the voice, plus the overwhelming pain, made him very uncomfortable.
Amid his agony, the glowing stone on his neck broke free from its thread.
It gracefully rolled on the uneven side of the hill before it fell into the darkness.
Mid-travel, it began to unravel into tiny specks.
The specks played in the darkness for a while before they eventually fell onto the thick reddish clouds.
The clouds pulsed and seemingly allowed the specks to pass through.
They, upon entry into the new environment, sparkled, for they were illuminated by a radiant sun hanging in a clear blue sky.
The new environment bore countless white towers, and with the help of the breeze, the specks maneuvered through the empty area, evading the marble-white towers with a certain skill.
When the specks twirled up the tallest tower and reached the very top, they all at once became static—courtesy of a thin hand unfurled toward them.
The hand belonged to a being robed in white. They sat on top of the tower, and their full face could not be seen.
They, shrouded in a layer of mysteries, dropped their hand and watched the specks turn to black ash.
Letting it fall, a smile adorned their features.
Then, they lowered their head slightly before raising their hands above the head.
"As the game begins in earnest.
All proceeds according to His will
Every piece bends at His mercy
All hail, The Pawn."
Shortly after the prayer, parts of their black skin on the right arm started to fall off, revealing white skin beneath.
It was as if they had received the mark of a white hand, one that held their arm.
Turning their head to the blue sky and seeing it slowly turn black, they said in a low tone;
"Dawn is upon us, Dreamer."
...
"…!" With a gasp, Idel awoke from his sleep. His vision, murky, displayed two colours that were trying to fuse with one another.
Orange, the dominant one and having a greater area, tried to hold the thin brown in place, but the little dim colour was ever stubborn, constantly circulating counterclockwise, evading bright orange.
The pursuit continued until the dim brown was finally overwhelmed by bright orange. It was held in place. Surprisingly, its capture led to its growth.
It stretched, branching outward in delicate limbs, its frailty giving way to form. What was once a tiny colour hardened into structure, arms unfurling symmetrically, suspending themselves from an unseen center. Brown was no longer fleeing; it was hanging, composed, becoming.
It was a chandelier!
Then orange bloomed. It poured itself into the newborn frame, flooding every branch, glistening at each point of contact. Light burst forth, causing the shadows to retreat into the corners of the room.
Knock! Knock!
His senses caught up. Every fibre of his being screamed in pain, supressed moans accompanying them.
Knock! Knock!
The delicate rhythm reached his ears once more. Due to its softness, he could tell it was Sagi. Whilst gritting his teeth, he, with great difficulty, sat up.
His body felt heavy. He took a deep breath in preparation to conceal his pain, after which he answered, "Come in."
The door slowly opened and closed as he turned his head to the transparent green curtains.
With her delicate, soft, echoing footsteps, a sweet fragrance suffused the room, causing his nostrils to open up.
He blinked as he looked out the window through the curtains.
The orange sun had already risen from the horizon, its rays illuminating the vistas below.
Demons of all forms were going about their businesses: guards clad in red armor patrolled the palace grounds and the market area, and some, as early as it was, were in a tussle with either themselves or the civilians.
Some children watched in awe, others in fear, and some did not, running through the kingdom but daring not to bump into aristocrats or even infringe upon the movements of their fancy carriages.
"It was all a dream." The familiar view of the real world had eased him a little, making him voice out his thoughts.
"A dream, you say?"
"Yes."
She paused before saying, "Care to tell me what it was about?"
"No, it's too long." As he spoke, he turned.
The delicate girl, with her tender pink skin, met his gaze.
She was draped in a blue dress, and her curly reddish-brown hair cascaded over her shoulders. On her face was a blue cloth that covered her eyes.
Having experienced a night full of dread, pain and horror, Sagi appeared to look more beautiful than ever; A stark contrast to what the night had been.
Her pink lips curled up slightly as she said, "I understand. Oh, I almost forgot: good morning, Prince Idel."
A pause, then he spoke in a low voice, "Morning to you too."
Her expression lit up as her smile became more evident.
20 minutes after that, idel found himself sitting cross-legged in the bathroom as he took a shower.
staring at the marble wall, his right arm suddenly throbbed, bringing about a sharp, fleeting pain.
He raised it.
With each drop on the arm, a black mark started to appear. It moved delicately, as though he were getting a tattoo from an invisible artist.
Then, at the end, his eyes dilated.
The mark was familiar.
It was of a detailed hand, drawn to seem as though it were holding onto his arm, desperately pleading for help.
"Tintless…" A shallow breath left his lips.
Replaying the bridge scene in his head, uncontrolled tears formed in his eyes as he looked even paler.
He curled his frail body and wept silently, his mind slowly coming to realize just how torturous the dream realm was—dragging him in, gradually taking away his memories, forcing him to form bonds with apparitions, and almost killing him at any chance it got.
And to think all this happened in one night, without the knowledge of anyone, and will continue to do so.
He truly was a loner, one who was guaranteed to endure this nightmare for an eternity.