43 A Silent Roar In Winter
It was cold. Far colder than he had expected; he felt his strength waning as the minutes passed by. The frigid chill differed from anything he'd ever felt before, to the point that he found it increasingly hard to move, almost as if he'd been frozen solid.
He wasn't a stranger to the cold — winter nights at the orphanage sometimes culled the weakest of his siblings — but this was something new. It felt hostile, as if it were alive, trying its best to snuff out his life's flame once and for all.
Even the moonlight above seemed hostile as it furiously formed chains that coiled around him and firmly held him in place. Beautiful chains of light dug into his skin and dragged him down to hell as he furiously struggled in protest. Anima would not heed his summons in this godforsaken place. It was unbearable; scorching waves of pain assailed him wherever the chains had clung onto him.
Nothing in the seventeen years of life he'd survived could compare to what he currently felt at the moment. Of this, he was sure of, that he'd been thrown into the deepest pit of hell — a crucible designed for the greatest fiends of the netherworld.
Reed's vision went white as he sunk deeper into his watery prison. He couldn't tell whether it was out of the maddening pain or because of the infernal moonlight that continued to assault him.
Eventually, he could no longer hold it in and let out a wretched scream in pain. As if in response to his cry of anguish, the tranquil sea churned in fury and the waves above roiled and crashed on another in wrath. In an instant, the deep azure of the sea turned into a dark, muddy maroon. The sky trembled and a frightening storm formed, raining blows of lightning as it hovered maliciously over the sea...
As if in response to the raging storm and sea, the three moons in the sky shone even brighter and the chains that restrained Reed coiled around him even more. The blinding, oppressive moonlight pierced through the storm with immense difficulty and burrowed its way through to the boy, hellbent on restraining him no matter the consequence.
He couldn't move, couldn't resist the pain, couldn't even think properly any longer. Amidst the mind-numbing pain, all semblance of reality seemed to fade into the deep black. It was a sinister thing, feeling the fetters of reality being stripped from his being as he fought for the last scrap of his life.
....pect that you will experience significant side effec....
It was getting colder by the second. He was heading somewhere deeper than before; down into a forbidden place where his fears lived. The mark on his chest — burning like the devil's brand — let him know that as he descended further into the black.
...lease don't do this....here has to be another way to de...
Her pleading cries did not reach his ears from the sound of her wavering voice. Her indistinct figure passed by Reed like a specter in the dark as she chased after someone else. A man draped in a long robe climbed the lonesome steps up a distant pyramid. The girl's screams echoed afar, but he did not turn around no matter how loud she screamed.
Nothing could deter the phantom who climbed a set of golden steps towards an enormous obelisk made of sapphire and gold. In the end, he reached the pyramid's summit and...
He could no longer tell how long he'd been sinking now. It was impossible to see anymore — only the accursed light of the moons above shone in the abyss. The pain melted into his bones until he could no longer feel anymore. Perhaps his nerves had been fried or his mind had given up on him; it made little difference to him.
Freedom. Sweet, sweet freedom. None can compare to your kiss; this I can attest.
From his body, from his mind, from his soul, from his...
....ou be leaving? Tomorrow? ...Must you walk down this pat.....think of.....
They softly argued as the man gazed at the setting sun, to no avail. The man had resolved himself; nothing the woman said would ever reach his heart, despite her efforts. His eyes looked distant as if he were someplace far, far away from her. She noticed this and muttered something indiscernible, and that was that. It was done.
Suddenly, they turned around and gazed at someone close by. The woman put on her brightest smile as she walked over to...
Inevitably, he finally reached the bottom of the abyss and softly touched the ground. His descent took him down to the deepest part of the sea where silence reigned supreme. A place devoid of light and life.
The chains that held him gave way and dimmed as they disintegrated into specks of brilliance that melted into the black. The rays from above receded — he'd been left alone in the dark.
Reed grasped his mark on his chest, the only source of light he now possessed in the deep. It blinked slowly as it let out pulses of radiance into the void. Weak and tired, he fell on his knees and fought his urge to lie down. Something deep inside told him that he would never wake up again if he slept here.
Something took his attention away from the terror of the end. Although distant, he could still see them gleaming weakly. Lights. Tiny dots of light speckled across the way. That was good enough for him — it gave him a purpose to keep going.
He lifted himself and hobbled towards the lights, step by step across the desolate seafloor. It was an ordeal and sometimes he felt the gentle embrace of eternity touch him.
Sometimes he could not hold himself up anymore and fell. Willpower alone had carried him this far, but his body was at the brink of collapse. His eyelids grew heavier by the minute as he gazed at the lights from afar.
.....mmy has to go, my treasure.....randpa will be there to...
The child tearfully chased after the woman but he would never reach her in time. She was there and then wasn't anymore. Gone in an instant. He was alone. The sun had set over the horizon once and for all.
Reed was about to reach out to sobbing boy but some had beat him to the chase. A young girl roughly the boy's age approached him and held out a flower as she huffed laboriously, covered in sweat. The beautiful dress she wore was ruined, completely covered in dirt and grass stains.
It was a glittering daffodil. She put it in his hands and said, ".....won't ever...promise."
The boy clumsily wiped the tears off his face and said...
Ah, this... this is something that I...
Reed couldn't even muster the strength to think about it anymore. He rubbed his weary eyes and continued his march towards the lights silently as he tried his best to push back the bottled feelings in his chest.
And so, he walked and walked. For miles and miles, he trekked the abyss in silence. But his efforts were futile, no matter how much he walked. The lights would never grow closer; they remained ever distant.
His eyes beckoned him to close them and his legs pleaded to him that they could no longer carry him any further.
All the effort in the world was gone to waste. What a gaffe this is...
He closed his eyes and curled himself into a comfortable position. The soft sand felt pleasant to the touch, like a warm blanket he'd forgotten about in his childhood. Part of him had already come to terms with the end a long time ago.
Reed had been prepared for the end ever since that fateful night. As he lay on the dirty street, bleeding out from his wounds, he'd made his peace with his miserable life. Ever since that night, he'd always wondered if he had truly made the right choice that night.
He clung onto life because something inside of him told to not give up — a voice deep within himself stirred his will to live that night — but now; he had an opportunity to correct that mistake. All he had to do was close his eyes and...
R-Really? Pinky promise? You can't go back on your promise, okay?
He had never thought that the day would come that he'd be forced to remain among the living for such an immature reason, of all things. Maybe some hopeless sap with a bleeding heart, but not he. Reed tossed and turned like an idiot as he clutched his hair in irritation.
Suddenly, something grazed him and Reed immediately rolled away out of reflex and wildly looked around in a panic, but stopped when he caught sight of his surroundings.
Lanterns floated in neat rows, faintly illuminating their surroundings. An eerie path made of chiseled gemstones and black glass. Soft light from the lanterns reflected off the polished gems embedded on the path and they twinkled like tiny stars. It looked like someone had torn a long strip of the night sky and put it down on the earth.
Out of energy and will, Reed forced himself up once again and hobbled his way down the path. He banished the siren call of the end and focused on the act of walking itself. One foot forward and then the other. Nothing more.
The path seemed to stretch on forever for Reed, but he knew that he could no longer trust himself in this place. A minute might have passed by, or it could have been a day, perhaps even a month. The steps seemed daunting and yet he continued his misguided journey down the bejeweled path.
.......ave me here, alone! Plea.....on't do this,....!!.....
A pained, mournful cry resounded from the abyss and Reed turned around in response. He looked behind and glimpsed someone far away, chasing after him. Reed tiredly blinked his eyes and when he opened them again, she had disappeared. She was gone.
When he turned back towards the road, he felt his heart jump out of his chest. It was only natural. He stood at the base of the majestic pyramid — its alabaster steps beckoned him to climb.
Reed looked down and noticed something that happened to his uniform; it disappeared. His standard uniform had transformed into a splendid robe that appeared to be of pristine quality. The mark on his chest thrummed with vitality as if it were delighted.
How much longer must I walk? How much longer must I endure? What have I done to deserve this? I am not even allowed the peace of eternal slumber...
Every step up the pyramid felt laborious and several times, Reed contemplated giving up, but he knew deep down that he couldn't. Sometimes he heard the girl's cries from afar. Other times, he only heard the deafening silence. He suffered so much this — giving up now would be the height of shame. His immature ideals of pride would not allow him to fall.
And so, he climbed up the pyramid, one miserable step at a time until he reached the summit. He didn't dare look back and kept his eyes planted on the steps like a defective doll. If he looked back, something told him that he'd never reach the summit. It was better this way. He told himself that, but the truth was completely different.
The sapphire obelisk waited for him as it had always done. Covered in chains, it sat inert like a dead thing. When Reed approached it, his mark lit up like a flame and the obelisk responded to it in return. Brilliant flames shot out of it and the chains that held it down melted like ice on a summer's day. The sublime pillar of azure floated up in the air as it shone like the sun.
.....give me, ...return to.....and then.....
His mark shone like a beacon and Reed felt it possessed him without his consent. He no longer had control over his own body and had become a passenger in his mind. Reed raged wildly like a cornered beast but it had no effect; it had shut him out. His body walked towards the floating pillar and touched it tenderly. Tears fell out of eyes and then, it happened.
Mercilessly, the obelisk covered him in a shroud of flames and Reed screamed in pure torment. He fell onto the floor and tossed and turned in agony as he hoarsely howled in unimaginable anguish.
Shadowy figures appeared out of the darkness and surrounded him as they emotionlessly watched him burn alive. Reed recognized them and called out to him in desperation.
The man gazed at him and said, "For my sins, you must endure this..."
The woman gazed at him and said, "For my sins, you must endure this..."
The crying boy gazed at him and said, "For my sins, you must endure this..."
The girl with the ruined dress gazed at him said, "For my sins, you must endure this..."
Finally, the youth from before appeared and said, "For your sins, you must endure this..." He kneeled in front of Reed and put one of his hands on Reed's face.
A surge of scorching heat flowed into Reed's veins and a surge of foreign, intrusive thoughts bombarded his mind. Memories, dreams, words stabbed into his fleeting consciousness. Foreign echoes of another place and time flooded him until he could no longer handle it.
He blacked out. When he fainted, the young man flicked his wrist and the flames that covered Reed vanished. The people disappeared. The pyramid crumbled into dust and the obelisk melted into the darkness until it was out of sight.
The young man gazed at Reed for a moment, but then looked up at the void with a furious expression. His eyes flickered dangerously and he said, "You dare have the gall to appear before us, scum?! Don't think for a second that everything will play out as you wish!"
His roar shook the void and he melted into the dark in an instant. He was gone.
Reed, unconscious, laid alone until a giant starry hand tore through the black dome of the sky. An enormous eagle screeched and shot down into the abyss, its wings lit with golden flames. It swooped down, deftly snatched Reed with its talons and quickly flew up to the starry hand in a hurry.
The eagle nervously chirped as it flew onto the giant's hand and pleaded for the giant to hurry — for it had seen something in the dark.
Alerted, the giant grasped the eagle in its palm and pulled his hand out of the abyss none too soon...
A pair of gleaming eyes calmly watched on within the void — unmoving and relaxed — almost as if it were disinterested. It did not care for the lot and shut his eyes again after a moment of reflection.
