"Zen? What the fuck are you doing here? And why did you feel the need to pop up so late at night, and so silently too, I nearly ran you through dammit." I whisper to the man fiercely, relaxing my tense muscles and shoving my sword back into its sheath. I still keep a firm grip on my shield at least as he drops his hands, releasing a terse sigh of this own.
'I can't say that either of us could've predicted this man to show up, stay on guard, we know what his profession is personally, after all.'
You don't need to remind me, brain, I'm very well aware of what happened in our last meeting, even if it ended up going well. Can't let my guard down.
"Yeesh, you're a little touchy aren't you? I just wanted to check up on a friend of mine, is there something wrong with that?" He retorts, putting a hand to his chest in a faux hurt manner, the cheeky grin on his face reveals the joking manner at least.
"There are better ways to get my attention than stalking me when I'm on guard, dumbass. Do you not realise how dumb that was? I really wouldn't have wanted to hurt you." I chide him, sighing through clenched teeth. Annoyance flares in my chest and mind as he waves a hand in an overly lackadaisical manner, planting himself in front of the dying fire.
"Bah, it would've gone alright, probably anyways. Come over here, I'll get us nice and warm." He says casually, hovering his hands in front of the pit. His neck glows a faint light as he whispers a few words, the wood reigniting into a bright red flame, warmth washing over myself. I twist my lips and look down to Mabel. She's a shivering mess as the wind flows through her fur, latching onto my side as she smothers herself in the scarf. I guess there's no harm in being a bit warmer, right? If only for Mabel…
I sigh and approach the odd and less than effective assassin, guiding Mabel alongside me and joining Zen in the warmth. The fire's quite a bit less large than when it was reignited, barely appropriate to call it a medium sized flame now by any means, but the heat from it is comforting at least. Mabels gentle sigh confirms that too, her shivering halting soon afterwards as she moseys herself into my side, dragging my cloak around her in a semi-formed blanket.
'We might regret trusting him, stay alert, even if you feel the insistent need to do things for the keidran.'
I get it, I get it, but we might also not get completely fucking dicked from this, who knows? I've made a promise to her, too, I'll keep it as best as I can, and I'll comfort her as well as I ought to.
"What is it that brings you here, Zen? While I'm sure you saying that you wanna just check up on me is totally legitimate, I'm sure you'd forgive this friend for being a bit more sceptical about it." I jab at the man with deadpan tone, wrapping an arm against Mabels curled form, part of which is to give her some more warmth I guess, part to smother the niggling need to keep her safe. It's something I guess
.
"Hey hey, I'm being truthful about that! Assassins honour!" I press a finger to my lips and hiss a 'sshhh' at him as his voice rises, his hand crossing over his heart.
"Shhh, be quiet for fucks sake, a friend of mine isn't very keen on keidran, let alone wolf keidran." I scold Zen once more, twisting my head to check back on the wagons. There's no sound of movement at least, there's not much sound in general, just the crackling of the fire and the collective breathing from the three of us, the smell of ash filling my nose once more. I let out a thankful sigh and twist back to face Zen, an eyebrow raised.
"Beside that potential disaster, seriously though? 'Assassins honour'? Can you name me one person who'd actually take that at face value and believe in it?" I ask the man with a sarcastic tone, a lopsided smile on my face. He pokes his tongue out at me, which is new to say the least, wasn't I meant to be the one that does that?
"I'll have you know, being an assassin is a perfectly respectable job from where we're from." He retorts, a friendly and optimistic grin on his face. He's taking this in stride at least, and his cheery attitude is at least somewhat infectious, I can't keep the smile off of my face either. I guess, I guess this is nice? I'm not sure, but I might as well roll with it.
"Mhm, I'm sure it is, but I'd be a hypocrite to judge you for it." I feel somewhat sober as memories flood into my mind, shaking my head's a failure to clear most of them. Tsk, I wasn't much better than an assassin, was I?
"I speak the truth though, I just wanted to check up on you to see if you were alright. We, ah, didn't exactly leave on the best circumstances did we?" He pipes up with an oddly meek tone, a coy smile on his face as he glances up to me. I sigh to myself, rubbing at my face.
"Maybe not, but it definitely could've gone a lot worse for all of us. I do forgive you for it, the both of you, it's just kinda hard to forget. Speaking of the two of you, where's your brother meant to be? I figured that he'd be conjoined at the hip to you." I ask the singular magi brother, my ears twitching as I peer into the surroundings. No, there's definitely only one of him, that much I'm sure of. Zen snickers into a hand, his smile turning into a more light hearted one.
"My brother didn't quite enjoy the thought of coming out to meet you, he's not exactly the most sociable one after all." Ah, I should've figured that, he didn't speak much last time either, although there wasn't much opportunity for it anyways.
"Right, I get that at least. It just seems strange to see the Magi Brothers isolated from each other is all."
"While it might seem a little strange, we do each other by our sides." He assures with a level tone, but there's something odd about it, there's a twist of his lips at the tips and a flash of something behind his eyes. What's up with that?
'There's something odd about this man, as well as his brother. What's he hiding? Must be important'
"Why do you mean by that?" I inquire with a tilt of the head. He's silent for a few moments before chuckling, waving a hand.
"Bah, don't worry about it too much. But what about her, hm? What's the little kid doing with you?" He swiftly nips that conversation topic in the bud, jamming a digit towards Mabel, her eyes flickering open to look at him. She mumbles under her breath, looking somewhat uncomfortable as her eyes gaze away from Zen. I purse my lips as I rest a hand on her head, her smile returning as I do so, at least for a few meek moments.
"It's, well, kind of complicated. To talk about I mean, it's otherwise pretty simple." I struggle to force those strained words out of my throat, internally wincing as Zen frowns, nodding slightly.
"No no, it's okay. I'd feel bad about trying to force you to share anything." He replies, I assume he's trying to be reassuring with his soft smile, leaning back and pressing his hands into the dirt. Tsk, optimistic and almost trusting bastard, it belies his job as a bloody assassin.
'Or perhaps it's a front for you to be more trustworthy because of his oddly carefree attitude? He's an adult after all, and any person with a brain could take advantage of you with enough mental workings. Besides, why mince words? Mabel's a slave, and you're a slave owner, it's not just legal here, it's a fucking profession to trade and sell the fucks, it wouldn't be that much of a shock.'
Tsk, way to be blunt. I guess that's all right, at least I think it's right, it's strange to have an argument with my own head after all. It's accepted here legally, but I don't accept it in my heart, or the emotional part of my brain. Eh, fuck it, what's the worst that could happen?
"She's my slave, legally bought and everything, I'm her owner because of it. There you go, happy?" I quickly and almost spitefully blurt the answer, a grimace on my face and bile in my throat. Fuck, that was oddly hard to force out, fuck me then. Mabel stirs slightly from my outburst, I feel myself wince as she does so though, I was kinda fucking loud then wasn't I? Zen himself looks surprised, an eyebrow raised on his face as he stares at me.
"Ah, truly? That's, definitely not what I expected of you…" He trails off, I can feel a sense of what feels like judgement coming from him. I furrow my brows as I press my hand against Mabels head, the scratching turning into a form of relief from the frustration brewing in my chest. Is he judging me? He is, isn't he?
"I won't be like them, I know what they're like and how they're act, I won't stoop to their level in a million fucking years." I say in a scathing hissing tone, the blood in my veins heating as the flashes of them go through my mind, especially the awful fucking slave traders. Those poor slaves, mentally and emotionally deadened to the world, the hope that should've been held in their eyes would've left long ago. Mabels whimpering brings me out of my thoughts, the heated blood cooling hastily as I look over her. Her face is contorting as her body stiffens, whimpering once again as she clutches the makeshift blanket that is my cloak. I purse my lips and redouble my efforts to soothe the girl, humming softly to her as I scratch behind her ears. A child shouldn't be having nightmares, not that I want to know what nightmares she might have, I don't want to drag more memories from the deep.
Her whimpering and shivering dies down, it's slow, but it is subdued at least. Her face calming down and returning to a mostly peaceful state, it's not a smile of any sorts, but it's far better than the frightened one. My frustration dies alongside her nightmare contorted state, I can physically feel my mood dropping as I sigh, slipping my left hand out of the shield and rubbing my face with it. If it helps her sleep, then I won't let go of her.
"I, fuck, sorry Zen. It's not exactly right of me to blow up at you like that, I just want to keep her safe. I want to believe it's better this way to keep her safe rather than to leave her where she was before, maybe I'm wrong, I can't predict the future after all, but I've made this choice." I follow up on myself, my tone feels somewhat flat in my clenched throat, and looking up to the star filled sky does little to cleanse it. I hum to myself, part to clear my throat, and part in thought.
"...Besides, if her family's in the fox territory, I don't think human laws apply there…" I trail off myself as I continue to stare into the sky, it's a small hint hint nudge nudge in my plans to the assassin opposite me, but I can imagine that he gets the drift. The air between us feels tense with silence, the crackling of the fire the only distraction from it. After a while, Zen chuckles lightly, looking down from the sky to see a bright smile on his face.
"I should've figured you'd be very not like them, but you don't need to prove yourself to me or anything, I believe you." He finally replies with what I hope to be a genuine smile. I chuckle to myself, my lips curling up in a smile. You know, I really don't think he's a bad guy, just in a bad profession.
'He's an assassin that tried to kill us, what's with you and forgiving the people that do that? Why are you so self sacrificing?'
I don't think he's like that, though I am gonna pry him for details later, I've quite a few questions to ask him.
"Heh, well, I'm glad to have your side with it I guess, it does help. Let's move to lighter subjects though, at least for now, how're you and your brother going? Specifically, are you two doing okay?" I decide to ask him, changing the subject wouldn't be that bad of an idea, would it? Zen chuckles to himself again, his body posture relaxing once again.
"Natani and I? Other than him being far from social, we're doing fine, a bit less strapped for coins for now at least, but it'll run dry if we don't continue our work." He replies cheerfully, his tone a teasing one oddly enough. His eyes squint slightly as if wincing, his ear twitching, but that only seems to make his grin wider. What's that about? I don't think he'd be willing to share.
"Natani? Is that your brothers name? I've only heard you refer to him as Nat as far as I remember." I comment, stretching and wincing as my leg bones creak and crack, sitting cross legged for a while is far from ideal.
"Yeah, he doesn't like it too much, and saying 'Nat' is a whole lot shorter." I hum to myself, rolling the name over my tongue a little.
"Natani, huh? I think it's a nice name at least." Zens snickering turns into a soft laughter, throwing his head back a little bit, a wide grin still staining his face.
"I'm sure Natani would love to hear you say that yourself, but I'll pass the word onto him." He says in a light hearted tone. I snicker myself, feeling my body loosen afterwards as we continue to enjoy the night. It's as if the stress of Zen scaring the fuck out of me earlier's finally melted away, I'll still rib him for it anyways, asshole.
"...Hey Zen, do you recognise this girl from anywhere? Her name's Mabel, if that helps." I ask him, his body jolting in surprise. Much to my dismay, he shakes his head.
"Sadly no, even if I might have seen her once, our job doesn't really give us the time to know people. That, and forest wolves don't exactly get along well with foxes, sorry." He apologises with a saddened tone, smile drooping slightly. Ah, fuck, that's no good is it? I shake my head and wave my hand off, shooting him a smile of my own.
"Nah nah, it's okay, I didn't expect anything solid from it. Just thought I'd ask about it is all." I try to assure the oddly friendly assassin, his smile relighting itself, much better!
'Tsk, I've no idea why you're so keen on being friends with this man, who's to say that he wasn't the one that brought you to the brink of death in this world? That is your first recalled memory here, isn't it? The ignite of fire magic washing over you is a disturbing reminder of that fact.'
I bite the inside of my cheek as the thoughts wash over my mind, squeezing my eyes shut and taking in deep breaths. Jesus fucking Christ, don't remind me of that shit dammit, I know, I remember it very fucking vividly. I'm just extending an olive branch of friendship to work past it is all, it's not like he didn't apologise for it. But that reminds me of another question I wanted to ask him.
"Hey Zen, mind if I pry into your job for a bit?" I hesitantly ask the man as I force my eyes open, looking over him. He tilts his head, unsurprisingly, but he nods.
"Er, sure I guess, what do you want to know? I can't share everything, obviously." He replies with that friendly smile of his, it almost seems innocent, but it rubs me the wrong way. Yet just a few moments ago it was soothing, an odd back and forth feeling.
"Your last job, it was to 'eliminate' a Templar group wasn't it?" I continue to poke him verbally, keeping a close eye on his face, anything to see a hole in him.
"Yeah, my brother and I stalked the convoy for a while before striking, as is the way of an assassin." He replies with a nod, an almost proud smile on his face, I can imagine him reminiscing about it somewhat.
"That means you saw me with them then, and you know that I was at least somewhat working with them." I continue, it wasn't a question by any means, but the way he rustles slightly seems to show that he gets the jist of it. He's hiding something, I can feel it.
"Well, yeah, it was a surprise to see another race working with the Templars, we've only seen humans after all. What are you getting at?"
"If your job was to kill the Templars, why didn't you kill me? You certainly had the chance last time we met after all." I shoot my shot with what I hope to god is a level, my gaze boreing into his eyes. He shuffles again, rubbing the back of his neck with pursed lips. A part of me hopes that he isn't feeling too guilty over it, tsk, this situation makes me feel confused and like general garbage over it all. Am I too trusting? Too carefree, or am I the opposite?
"To be honest? I'm not entirely sure, but after meeting you personally for a bit, I just didn't feel like you were a Templar, at least not on the same level as the rest of them. I felt like you were just forced along with them, it certainly looked like it." That certainly piques my interest, an eyebrow raising alongside an ear. That's new information.
"What do you mean by that?" I inquire further, keeping an eye on him as he hums, scratching at his chin in thought.
"Well, as far as we gathered from looking, you didn't exactly respond to much, just dragged your feet along with them. Why do you ask anyways? You were there, weren't you?" He asks with a tilt of the head. Oh yeah, he doesn't know does he?
"Long story short, I'm an amnesiac, I'm building up bits and pieces from the fragmented memories I can pull together." I answer him, tapping at the side of my head. His mouth forms an 'o' shape, nodding quickly in response.
"Ah, that explains the questions then. Do you remember why you were being dragged along with them?" He asks again, here I was thinking that I was meant to be asking questions, here I am though.
"No clue, whatever I do remember has nothing to do with that night." I answer again with a shake of my head.
"Tsk, that's a shame, I was gonna ask if you knew what you were doing there. You were pretty out of place, I feel bad about attacking you, but neither of us knew if you were a Templar or a slave…" He trails off with the twisting of his hands, an awkward smile on his face. I chuckle and shake my head again. Mabel shifts slightly into my side, a soft mumbling noise coming from her lips as I look over her. For someone who looks to be in deep sleep, I still feel jittery about waking her up.
"No, you were right to do so. You were right in general, actually." He hums in surprise, twisting his head.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I am a Templar, or was, I dunno if memory loss means I automatically quit, but there you go. Surprise." I reveal dryly, there's not much fanfare to it obviously, but he might as well know.
'Ah yes, revealing to an assassin whose job was to kill Templars that we're Templars is very smart.'
Shh brain. Zen looks like he's processing the information, a confused expression on his face.
"I, uh, that's a surprise. You were kinda isolated from the group that you were travelling with, so we thought you were an outcast of some kind."
"Mn, I can't imagine I was very popular with others. I wasn't very social, or kind, or anything positive really." I follow up as dryly as before, a sour taste on my tongue as I glare into the dirt. Tsk, whenever I think of that mess I always feel worse, I really should stop doing that. Makes me feel like an edgy bastard.
'You do sound like an edgy attention seeker, that much we can agree on.'
Thanks for the moral boost right there, it certainly feels nice.
"Hey, that just means you're not the same person from then to back now, right? A new start for a new you! You look like it drags you down a little bit, so you can't be focusing on that right?" The way he says that is so overly hopeful and positive, the smile on his face is a bright one in the otherwise black backdrop. I feel my lips curl upwards into a faint smile as I chuckle, nodding along with his words.
"Yeah, that's kinda how I've been thinking of it too! I want to be a better person than I was then, but I'm trying to remember bits and pieces along the way, just in case. So, uh, thanks for not killing me I guess? I appreciate it a little bit, being alive is pretty nice after all."
"No problem Zeke, just pray someone doesn't buy our services again." The mutual laughter shared between us is light despite the dark humour, a grin splitting my face as I look up to the sky. The feeling in my chest feels lighter, like a small weight was lifted from it, it was nice to see Zen again. I guess I consider him a friend of some kind, perhaps it's a bit too trusting, perhaps not.
"..Hey, how did you two go about taking the convoy down? Was it difficult?" I pipe up suddenly, looking over Zen. A strange expression falls on his face, an awkward smile appearing.
"Well, ah, it wasn't exactly difficult, just a bit strange and uncomfortable is all. Can we just leave it at that?" I raise an eyebrow, curiosity stirring in my chest as I stare into the man, humming as I do so.
"Cmon Zen, just a little tip?" I jokingly plead with the man, a mocking pout on my face as I do so. He coughs into a hand, his face burning a faint pink. Now that's definitely not an expression I expected, huh.
"Well, it involved a feral keidran, and I'm going to leave it at that." He says with a sense of finality, the man shifting awkwardly as he does so. A feral keidran huh? I think I can recall a topic like that in the keidran book I read at Erics, but nothing specific. I shrug and drop the topic, I don't expect to hear more from him. Poor keidran, though, to be reduced to a feral would be a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone.
Tsk, Zen wouldn't know much about what I'd be doing as a Templar, or exactly why I was being isolated, or anything else specific, all it's done is make me wonder more, more questions with no conceivable answer stirring around in my skull. Fantastic. I'd love to ask him if anyone stood out, but what purpose would that serve? Odds are they'd be faceless Templars to him, and it's not like anyone else might've survived. Anna would tell me so, wouldn't she?
'You'd best be kicking Zen from here sooner rather than later, you'll have to tag in Edward for his part of the night shift, and we can both imagine how he'd react to Zen.'
I hum and look upwards to the moon, it's long since past midnight now, I reckon that it's… around four to five in the morning? Judging time by the position of the moon seems finicky at best and a waste of time at worst. We've spent a lot of time chatting after all I guess, so it would be best to finish this up now.
"It's been nice to catch up with you again Zen, even if some topics were less than savoury, it might be best for you to get going now. My friend doesn't quite like keidrans after all, least of all one that looks like you, no offence." I speak up to the man, a soft frown on my face. Despite what needs to be done, I feel somewhat hollow about it, maybe it's a ploy by him, but he is rather nice to be around. He laughs softly and shakes his head, his friendly smile still plain on his face.
"It's no worries Zeke, I know how it goes, it's a part of the job after all." He says with a wave of his hand, hopping onto his feet silently and brushing himself down. I look down and nudge at Mabel, ever so softly, trying to rouse her from her sleep in a less abrupt manner than before. I'd carry her, but odds are she'd wake up anyways. She mumbles and shifts, her eyes slowly flickering open as she yawns, her hands rubbing at them softly.
"Hey kid, sorry to wake you, but we need to move. You'll get to sleep again soon, I promise." I say in a soft voice to her, rubbing a hand over her head. She remains silent, but nods along with my words, unwrapping herself from my cloak and stumbling to her feet. I smile softly as she does so, pushing myself up with a grunt, grabbing my shield from the dirt. I shoot a look to Zen, there's an odd expression on his face as he watches us, almost like he's reminiscing.
"Are you thinking about something?" I ask him, the question seems to jolt him from his thoughts, his lips pursing lightly as he shakes his head again.
"It's nothing too important, just memories is all." He responds, the smile he forces on his face seems disingenuous. I have an idea on what he's thinking about.
"Thinking about your brother?" I shoot a quick question to him. Unsurprisingly he nods, an almost wistful smile on his face. Thought so.
"Always am, Zeke, always am." His tone is as nostalgic sounding as the look on his face.
'Never thought an assassin would have such close ties to family, rather strange isn't it?'
"You two must be pretty close then, right?" He laughs, but it's a strangely hollow laugh, it betrays his normally optimistic attitude. His almost rueful looking smile doesn't help with that either.
"That's an understatement, he's what I got left." He says plainly, his head turning to the canopy. Suddenly, the way he acts kind of clicks. I remember the look of fear on his face when I last had my hands on Natani makes a bit more sense, I remember that even through the wrathful haze that clouded my mind back then.
'Wanting to wring their necks with your hands, one after the other was also a feeling you remember, you animal.'
"Just means you gotta stick together some more then, right?" I try to lighten the mood with a smile. It doesn't do much, but at least Zen seems to be a bit less sad. Sad wolf boy isn't very good at all.
"Yeah, he doesn't like it when I look out for him, but I'll do it anyways." He speaks, a shit eating grin on his face as he laughs softly. There we go, much better!
"That's the spirit, I figured you'd be the big brother figure to be honest." I follow up with a shrug and a smirk, resting a hand on Mabels head idly. It's strange how taken I am to doing that, but she doesn't seem to mind at least. There's a strange feeling in the air, at least to myself, I can't say for certain that Zen feels the same way.
"...Well, I guess that's it then, huh? You better scram, if you see me around, try to be less weird about trying to start a chat with me please? Less scaring the shit outta me please." He laughs again, his grin widening as he turns away, walking towards the woods.
"No promises, good luck." He says before leaping up into the trees, disappearing as suddenly as he appeared. I stand still for a few moments, ears trying to listen to the movements of the trees. Nope, nothing, gone like the wind. Fitting for an assassin I guess. I shrug and turn around myself, guiding the both of us towards the back of the wagons, it's Edwards shift now.
I hum tunelessly to myself as I wrap my knuckles against the wood of the wagon, ears twitching as a small scuffle comes from behind the flaps before it gives way entirely, Edward standing upright, it looks like he's slept in that armour of his. Doesn't seem comfortable to be honest.
"Your turn Edhead, I'm gonna get some bloody sleep in." I jab a finger towards the smoldering campfire, stifling a yawn from my throat as I yank myself away from the guardsman, dragging Mabel along the ride. Edward lands on the dirt with a grunt, stretching briefly before turning to face me.
"Seems to be, did anything happen while you were on guard?" He asks stiffly, a hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"Nope, everything went fine, no bumps in the night. Do you need anything? I'm fucking sleepy as hell." I reply, I can't stifle the yawn that forces itself from my throat that time sadly, covering it with the palm of my hand. Edward rolls his eyes, resting a hand on my shoulder as he brushes past me.
"Get some sleep, Fuzz." He says simple before leaving, the only sound in the night being the boots that thud against the dirt. I shrug and wrap an arm underneath Mabels arms, lifting her alongside myself as I dip into the wagon. I drop Mabel onto the unsteady wooden floor with a sigh, lazily resting against the wall with a slump.
"Any place you wanna sleep kid? Can't say there's much cushion around he-" I'm cut off from speaking as she flops onto my chest, grunting as she does so.
"Urk, you know there's other places to sleep, right kid?" I try to helpfully nudge her in a different direction, but she doesn't budge from me, mutely sliding herself to my side and wrapping my cloak around her in a makeshift blanket. Just as before it seems. I sigh to myself, a small smile on my face as I rustle the hair on her head, tugging my hood over my head and squeezing my eyes shut.
Sleep well kid, I'll try to get some sleep too.
'Weirdo.'
….
The cool inky black slides and slithers over my form, I can feel it wrap around my skull for a brief moment before dissipating, my eyes flickering open. The plain ceiling greets my view, the soft feel of a bed beneath my back and the lack of a smell from anywhere hits me, sighing as I press the back of my head against the soft pillow. Fantastic, back to the shitty dream room I guess.
I sigh and force myself upwards, sitting on the side of my bed and rubbing my hands over my face, resting my chin on a palm as I gaze over the room. Desk with journal, bookshelf, wardrobe, shitty carpet and mold everywhere, what a delightful view. I force myself onto my feet, taking a few unsteady steps as I move around the room idly, what's the purpose of being here to begin with? Can I even attempt to flicker through my memories again now? I know what happened last time after all, I had to smash my face to get out. I shiver and brush a hand over my cheek, I don't want to do that again.
I brush a hand over the plain spines of the books, an empty feeling in my chest as I look over them. Plain and unidentified, not that words would help me with it to begin with, my mind doesn't seem to want me to interact with them properly, so it won't happen. Maybe I could just go back to bed and sleep? Would that work? I hum to myself and turn back, laying back on the bed and looking up to the ceiling.
...No, that's not gonna work either, despite how comfy this bed feels, I can't go to sleep in here when I'm already, well, sleeping. Unless I can dream of sleep, would that be comfortable? Pfah, fucking worthless dream, I am tempted to smash my face open again to get out of here. Or, should I wait till it's over? Does time in this place pass into the real world too? How would that work? Would it work to begin with?
Knock, knock
My body freezes as my blood runs cold, the knocking reverberating throughout the silence of the room, my head stiffly turning to face the source of the noise. The desk, there's a knocking from the desk, why? The knocking thunders against my ears once more, a nervous feel of energy running through my veins as I bolt upright, cautiously stepping towards the source. Is, is there someone on the inky depths of the cabinet? Does that make sense? Does that work? I shudder it knocks again, louder this time, spine tingling as I stand in front of the desk. I look around, but there's nothing to look at, not right now at least. Should I open it?
I force down the building spittle in my mouth as my jaw stiffens, reaching down with tentative hands to the handle of the cabinet. Didn't I break this? Was it reformed or something? The knockings stopped, but there's still an uneasy feeling around the thing.
Actually, you know what? Fuck this place, fuck this dream, and fuck this desk too. I grip the handle and yank it open with a grunt, the familiar black sludge seeping out of the thing as it flies open, stepping back from it. The wisps of black dissipate in the air, as per usual, I cross my arms and stare down at the pitch black.
"Well? Are you gonna do something?" I cross my arms and glare into the pitch black. The room's silent, and the black settles for a brief moment. Despite the calm in the room, the hairs on the back of my head stands upright.
Oh shit.
I yelp and leap away from the cabinet, hands reaching out and griping the sides of the thing, the black sludge dripping off of itself and onto the floor, staining briefly before sizzling and disappearing into the air.
Oh SHIT
I feel my breath shorten as I stare at the thing, my gaping mouth opening and closing, I can't tear my eyes from the scene. My hands shake, unsteady legs finally stepping away from the thing as the desk itself shudders, as if groaning while it pushes itself upwards. It pushes itself out of the desk, an amorphous formless blob of darkness dripping itself onto the carpet, its hands and arms twitching occasionally as it shudders. The cold fear that grips my heart only strengthens its hold as I force down a gulp, taking another step away from the monstrous unknown being. It shudders again, pulsating for a few moments before the sludge it's made of seems to tremble and waver, folding in on itself again and again and again. My vision blurs as my eyes remain glued to the thing, I can't tear myself away from it as much as I try to. It continues its folding and morphing, shuddering once more before it glows a bright white. Feeling returns to me as I shield my eyes from the bright light, blinking repeatedly to force away the spots in my sight, though it does little.
A translucent and glassy looking thing stands where the dark sludgy blob once was, it takes in a deep breath and sighs, its eyes flickering open and staring straight into me. Despite the see through nature of it, the things eyes glow a deep blue, genuinely glowing in the dull pits of the room. What looks like a glass mockery of fur fur rolls over its body, colourless in nature, short all around and with a tuft of hair on his chest. Ragged and unkempt hair sits atop its head, its left eye occasionally obscured by its fringe as it shakes its head, rolling its arm around.
"Jesus fucking Christ, you have no idea how uncomfortable that place was, being both everywhere inside it while also being a speck is not a feeling I recommend." It says bluntly and casually, a soft but oddly deep voice coming from the thing, letting out a satisfied groan after a while. I blink and stare with a gaping mouth, arms raised up in front of me somewhat, partially in defense. The thing hums and floats, floats, over to me tilting its head while placing it in front of me.
"Hm, this is a pretty odd feeling if I'm gonna be blunt, mostly to just be moving, but seeing you from this angle is fucking weird as hell." It-he, that's definitely a male voice, speaks just as casually as before. I shake my head clear and dryly cough into a hand, the nerves inside of me screaming.
"I, who the fuck are you?" I ask him pointedly as I jab a finger to him. He holds a hand to his chest as he gasps, a mocking and coy grin on his face as he looks down to me.
"Aw, you don't recognise me? Why don't you take a closer look, Zeke?" He replies cryptically as he lowers himself again, standing face to face with his arms crossed. I blink, the gears in my head turning, unbridled confusion filling my chest, along with an unwilling recognition.
"Ah, the light that flickers in your eyes shows that your nerves aren't that deadened in here." He chides with another chuckle, floating back upward leisurely.
"N-no, no fucking way." I force the words out of my throat, a headache pulsing through my skull, grunting and squeezing at it with a hand. He lets out a long winded laugh, it echoes throughout the room and my ears, a cold sneer on his ghostly lips as he stares down to me.
"It's about bloody time you realised. Seriously though, you fucking waste of skin, you've looked into a mirror plenty of times, haven't you~?"
Authors note: I'm sorry if the quality of some parts of this chapter is below average, my minds a bit muddled due to personal events. Have a good day though, reader.