Chapter Five
The weeks slithered by, turning into a month, two months, three, four even. The trio continued to visit, watch and wait, with nothing happening save the odd twitch, while Roy lived out everything he had ever wanted with some bonus thrown in. It was his own little Paradise, and for once he didn't mind if this earned him the title of insane, because if he was insane, than insanity was brilliant.
But then, after six months, just after his promotion to Fuhrer, things started to change. It was nothing drastic at first - the voices from the Outside would grow louder, and he wouldn't be able to block them out for short periods of time, or something would be miscoloured or deformed, like an orange tree or a dog with three heads. He learned to ignore these things, since Maes never seemed to take any notice, so why should he?
It was when he thought he saw Maes dripping that he knew something was going wrong. Maes had been sat there, reading a book and talking to him at the same time - Roy always marvelled at his multitasking skills -, and then the colours that made him up had started to run and dribble, blending together like paint that was too watery on a canvas. And yet, Maes still didn't seem to notice anything. Was it only Roy that could see these things, as it was all inside of his own head?
All of these things instantly inspired a horrible fear inside of him, as he instinctively knew what was happening: his body was preparing to wake up. But he refused to believe or accept it, and would remained buried inside of his dreams. He wouldn't let it happen. He was happy here, locked inside where no one else could reach him.
"Maes ..." Roy reached out, kneeling besides the man who was asleep on the couch, arms wrapped around a red pillow. Maes grunted something at him, half opening one eye to peer at Roy. "I think ... we need to talk." Why did he feel so nervous about talking to something that wasn't real? Couldn't his mind just make everything better? Maes sat up, frowning in concern and now perfectly awake and serious, waiting for Roy to continue.
"You ..." He paused, watching all the emotions flicker across Maes' face and in his eyes. Why did he have to be so real? It wasn't fair. "You aren't real." Some unseen force slammed into him suddenly, stealing all air from his chest and making him gag. Like a mirror on impact, cracks were running down and across Maes, spreading across him like spider webs. Oh God, no, I'm going to lose him!
It was instinctive, like a human breathes - Roy snatched out, grabbing a hold of Maes and tugging him away. The Maes he now grasped was perfectly normal, but his outline still sat on the couch, crack-lines criss-crossing over the empty space, as if Maes' image had been dragged out of it. "Run! Just - run!" Roy yelled at him, shoving the other forcefully through the wall, which rippled like water and allowed them to pass straight through.
He didn't know what to do. He was in a state of sheer confusion. Where could he run to inside his own mind? But Maes had grabbed his hand, tugging him desperately in a random direction. They had to hide somewhere.