When you live forever…

Fear is a different type of horror

"Fear cuts deeper than swords."

– George R.R. Martin

--

Adrian

It was way too dark, something that instantly told me this was the brooch. I woke up back first on the ground, chains attached to nothing around my wrists and ankles. My breathing caught, my mind suddenly pushed back to the last time I was here.

By the time I had slowed my running mind, I had curled up into a ball. Unraveling from it, I stood up slowly, whispering into the darkness warily. "Hello?"

Horror cliche, I know.

Something mewled right next to me, and I stopped, looking at the black floor. If Plagg hadn't opened his eyes, I wouldn't of seen him.

Scooping the little cat up, I looked him over. His fur was dull, as were his eyes, and he looked sick. He looked like Rabi had when George-

"Am I dead?" I asked him suddenly, surprised but pleased to hear him chuckle.

"No… I wouldn't be here if you were." He sounded lost and resigned. "But I shouldn't be here if this was one of your dreams either. What do you remember?"

I scratched behind his ears with my finger in a soothing gesture, thinking back. "Gabe's kid. I was helping him… then it went black. If this is the brooch, where are the others?"

"You sure you want to meet the others here?" Plagg asked with a shiver as cold wind blew from nowhere. "I might not be there, but I see what happens whenever you come here. But it won't just be phantom pain anymore, it'll be real. You saw them…"

Plagg trailed off, lowering his head. Even though he was a part of me, he didn't personally know many of the other immortals, besides their kwami. He could tell I wanted to see them, though, even if it was a stupid idea.

I stood up, moving Plagg to my shoulder as I looked around. Even though it was pitch black, I could see easily. Or maybe I couldn't, it was hard to tell, since nothing else was around. It was just black, black for miles.

"Adrian, your ring is missing." Plagg said, a lot more calmly then I would expect. I raised my hand, and sure enough, it was gone. No transforming, then. "Welp, we're screwed."

"Happy thoughts, Plagg." I chided. "Think of cheese. Besides, I don't need the suit to fight."

"That's not why we're screwed, kit." He said as if he was the older one. "People up ahead. Immortals, by the aura. And besides, how are you going to fight in heavy metal chains?"

I looked down again, really taking the chains in. If this was a continuation from what happened last time I was here (which would be weird) than they make sense, but it's still strange. They're not even connected to anything. "You think they'll do the same thing again?" I said, keeping my voice steady, like that would work when who im talking to is part of my soul.

"I say lets get these things off you and not find out." Plagg said, floating slightly before stopping. "Dang, my energy is really low. Hopefully-"

He jumped off my shoulder. "Plagg-"

I went to catch him, but he moved towards one of the ankle chains, phasing through it and hitting the ground with a squish. The chain clicked and fell off. He groaned, pulling his head off the ground. "I know, im smart. Praise me."

I went to answer when I heard shuffling up ahead. Quickly, I picked Plagg up again, placing him in my pocket this time as I bent down to the other ankle chain. The chains around my wrist crinkled, and the shuffling grew louder and faster. As fast as I could, I wrapped the chain completely around my ankle so it wouldn't drag, tucking it in, before getting up and running in the opposite direction.

I got a few feet before Plagg poked his head out of my pocket. "Try going around them. See where they came from."

I nodded, grabbing my wrist chains so they wouldn't clang before turning, more sneaking then running as I tried to blindly skirt around the other immortals. Ten minutes later and I could no longer here them. Releasing a breath, I kept walking forward… hopefully, it was hard to tell.

A minute later I ran into an invisible door.

Wait, it wasn't invisible, it was just the same black color that everything else was in this place! I groaned, rubbing my forehead. "Of course, just my luck."

Plagg cackled, stopping suddenly. "They're coming this way again. They turned around."

"Door, or crazy immortals who might wish me harm?" I murmured aloud. "Door with probably something horrible in it." I corrected myself. "Or harmful immortals?"

"Door that might have cheese behind it." Plagg corrected me. "Or harmful immortals. Door that might be the way out, or harmful immortals."

"Positivity!" I tried for a smile, opening the door and going through, closing it behind me. It was surprisingly bright through the door, the walls yellow and the lights gold. It was set up like a medieval castle, wooden posts with golden flames lit on top lined the halls, a red carpet on the floor. I blinked, rubbing my eyes to get rid of the sunspots appearing. Even with the light, I still shivered. Something felt off.

"We shouldn't be here." Plagg said suddenly. "Let's go back outside-" He turned around, looking for a door that had disappeared. "We need to find a way out."

"What's wrong?" I asked, before answering my own question. "The thing i'm sensing? I'm guessing it's something bad."

Plagg was basically the magical part of my soul, without him, I only have my immortality and slightly heightened senses. If I could pick something up, something I could tell was an aura, then it has to be pretty strong.

"This is not where someplace we want to be." He said. "I don't know exactly what this is, but if you can sense it too, then we're in trouble. There is something very, very dark in here, locked up somewhere. I think this light is blocking it."

"Well, lets just hope we don't find this thing and-" a gurgling growl from behind me made me jump, expecting an attack. A greyish green hand phased through the wall, swiping at air as the body followed, other bodies joining.

The first one that came through completely was Jani, her skin zombielike, her hair a dull grey as well as her clothes, her eyes hollow black masses. Hissing at something but not really seeing, she shuffled closer.

I turned and ran as fast as a chained leg could run.

The halls were vast but limited in ways to go. Whenever I came to a fork or split, an immortal was limping up from all but one of them, and I was forced to run through the open one.

"They're herding us!" Plagg said. "You need to run past one of them. They're slow enough."

A cold flash ran through my body at the thought of getting to close, but I shook my head and continued running, my breath getting high and my lungs going from ache to pain.

At the next split, I almost tripped into a stop. The hallway with an immortal in it was the same as the rest, but the one without was pitch black, with purple carpets and fire. The black tar-like stuff was stretching out into the red carpet and yellow walls, turning the gold fire purple.

Not going that way.

I twisted my heel, turning and running almost head first into the immortal waiting, Cheche. My plan was to just slide under him at the last second, but as my foot reached the break in the hallway, the black seemed to rush forward, enveloping the hallway like it was never there and closing off the way back.

I ran into the wall, bouncing off of it before pushing at it, like it would break. "Shit!" I murmured, banging on the wall before pushing away from it. "Damnit! What is this?"

Plagg took a moment before answering slowly. "A part of the cage, whatever the cage actually is. Whatever it is, the darkness is really energizing. I feel like I just ate a cheese wheel." He demonstrated by floating up, flying around.

"That's good, right?" I asked. "The thing might be like us. It might be on our side."

Plagg blinked blankly. "Take a good second to feel the energy in the room and then say that again."

I frowned, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. Pressure built in my head, rage and malice and unhidden glee. I opened them again, blinking. "Nevermind." I said. "If we could transform… damnit. This isn't going to end well."

Plagg flew into my pocket silently, settling right over my soul and nestling in as close to me as possible before stilling completely. I smiled slightly, contentment washing through me for a moment. In a spiritual sense, he was as close to my soul as he could be, even closer then when in the miraculous. With my large coat on, you couldn't even see him.

I took a deep breath, stealing my face and moving forward. It was eerily quiet as I moved through the dark hall. After a few minutes, I reached a doorway, tall dark oak doors with the earth upside down carved into them.

Pushing out the doors, I forced my face to stay passive. It was a basic throne room, with only one throne in the center. A grey man with piercing green eyes in obsidian looking armour sat relaxed in the chair, legs crossed, with an elbow on the arm rest and fist propping up his head as he looked boredly at the door. "Finally! I've been waiting for millennia and that's not an exaggeration."

His voice was deep and smooth, with a strong tone of crazy in it. My lips twitched into a frown for a second. "You were expecting me?"

"Of course I have!" He raised his arms in a 'you're-kidding-me' gesture. "I need my- wait." He leaned in slightly. "He killed you? I gave him specific orders not to!"

I blinked, confused, before I understood. This man was powerful, almost god powerful, it felt like it. Could he see auras like the kwami can? Can he see souls?

It dawned on me. When an immortal dies they join with their kwami and become one again. Plagg made it look like that, by being so close that it looked like our souls were one. I silently thanked him, and I felt him wiggle slightly.

"This isn't going to work." He tutted. "The whole reason I gave him that potion was to keep you two seperate! I'll need to punish that boy. How am I supposed to take my powers back now?"

I coughed slightly, less scared now that I realized he could be duped. "I could help you, if I knew what was going on…"

The man groaned. "And she didn't even explain! Curse that wonderful creation of the world." He grumbled, as if mad, but the twinkle in his eyes didn't hold the same malice. "See, i've been locked up in this amulet for as long as you've been alive, to the point. Locked up by my own wife!"

I huffed. "Wow, that's rough."

"I know, right!" He threw his hands up again, as if I was his best friend that he was complaining to. "That gorgeous devil- anyway, on the day you were born, my hunny pumpkin stabbed me in the back -I love her im so proud- and took some of my power and then some of her own, putting them into you and your female friend. Then, she locked me up in here! Still upset that I got rid of the dinosaurs a century to early, I tell you! I can barely cause trouble in here, can barely make an earthquake!"

My eyes widened, and I stared at him, speaking slowly. "And your wife is..?"

He clapped his hands together and sighed, eyes sparkling. I would say he's insane, but something was off about it. "Oh, my dubious beautiful smoochy poo? My lovely snookums? I took her beautiful name backwards! They named the city of love after her, Paris was made in eternal beauty and grace!"


Hey guys, long time no see. I will finish this story, I promise, I'm just debating right now if I want to move my stories into AO3. If I do that I'll probably stop writing here completely. Don't worry, if I do change you guys will know. Thanks for reading!