Beta -2- The Man Draped in Shadows

When Julius finally opened his eyes, he was surrounded by some odd infestation of impalpable darkness.

His entire body felt like it was being swallowed up.

He felt different too.

To his surprise, he was dry and warm although there was an odd sticky feeling in his throat.

Julius looked around and felt confused and uncertain.

He found himself in an entirely silent domain of black.

There was no end or beginning, no limits or boundaries. Just black.

Such was the norm before a few deafening footsteps rang out from Julius' left.

Julius followed his instincts and swerved his head left, there a man draped in the darkness of the domain was steadily and slowly making his way over to Julius.

He was twice as tall as Julius himself with fingers as thin as matchsticks.

Some strange silken black material had sheathed itself all over him and his eyes were just empty burrowed-out holes.

A few sparks of purple occasionally shot out of them, bouncing upon the dark haven below for a few moments before burning away entirely.

Julius tried to call out to him, to figure out if he was friend or foe but found that he couldn't even find the force within himself to send out his voice.

'What the-.'

Julius squinted his eyes.

Feeling a natural sense of danger in this situation Julius immediately attempted to run.

Julius' eyes shook as he looked down.

Roots of twisting shadows had squirmed around his feet locking them in place like thick intolerable black rubber.

Julius breathed out heavily.

' It's fine this is probably just one of those lucid dreams. '

Julius kept on repeating that phrase. As the man draped in shadows got larger and more ominous Julius just used that phrase as the catalyst for his fears.

Soon, the man draped in shadows stood right before Julius.

Julius felt the gravitational pressure of a small train unload on him. Each of his bones rattled producing an unwhimsical melody.

And then 10 matchstick fingers that looked like they had been scorched by the sun placed themselves on Julius' head, forming a crown.

Dong.

Pictures of a body arising to the surface of a water body surrounded by Dolphin's revealed themselves like things that had been camouflaged in his mind until this spiritual awakening.

Like a man restored from death, Julius began muttering inaudibly, there was no force used. It was like he was speaking from the darkest part of his soul.

"No."

"No."

"No."

"No."

Denial.

"I died?"

Julius' mouth quivered.

"To those dolphins?"

His face had gone a sour red.

Anger.

He looked up at his last hope.

"Hey, you- could-could you perhaps do something? Anything?"

Bargaining.

The man draped in shadows stood in solemnity and silence.

Such continued for hours.

It was a whole new world of torture for Julius.

For a few moments, he grudgingly assumed that this was his punishment, for giving up on life even when it seemed hollow and meek.

And soon Julius lost all hope. His body felt like hell from standing for so long. The pressure from the man draped in shadows was weakened but still present.

'Well. I guess this is my life now.'

Julius sighed.

Acceptance.

A clock tower called. All the shadows began shifting wildly, the domain became a sight of wonder akin to a sea of writhing black.

Julius looked around in wonder.

The man draped in shadows slowly and silently placed a hand around the top of Julius' head. Detrimental power pumped itself secretively within it's left arm that held the same texture as the roots of a tree trunk, dyed in ethereal darkness.

Boom.

Julius felt like his neck had just been broken poorly. His sense of direction went amiss as his head was shoved down violently by the man draped in shadows.

His head had been forced down, just above the ground of shadows, some part of Julius was still fighting for survival, refusing death till the last moment.

A small part of Julius wondered where this part of himself was when Julius killed himself.

Julius used all the strength in his neck to repel the hand above him that belonged to the man draped in shadows, trying to stop himself from getting his head smashed into the floor below.

But alas, Julius was a man. A weak man. In fact, he was a teenager by the structure of Earth as he was not even 17 yet.

And the man draped in shadows was short on time.

The man's right arm moved like a blur in the shadows.

Bang.

Julius' head smashed into the floor before squashing up flatly. His face was soon swallowed and consumed by the shadows that made up the floor along with the rest of his body.

"Urgh."

A low grumble was all that emerged from the man draped in shadows.

He then began walking, slowly. To his next target that he would curse.

Julius felt like he was submerged in water.

{Trial Has Begun}

"Julius get out of the water bath, we don't have time for your jokes."

A muffled voice came into Julius' mind.

'Odd. All I remember is being stuffed into the floor like a sapling.'

Julius was in too much of a sorry state to even sense that he was drowning.

"JULIUS."

Anger resonated in the water.

Before Julius could react, he was pulled out of the water-both by force.

Julius didn't even care for the boy behind him, rather he felt strange and unfamiliar with the face in the reflection of the water.

Julius pointed at his reflection in the water with a shaky hand. There stood a boy no older than 6 or 8 with a healthy complexion and blonde hair so light that it almost looked white. He had two matching golden eyes and his body looked frail.

"Who.-"

His voice turned to whining puzzlement.

"Who the hell is that?"

The boy behind Julius turned his head with two tanned hands.

"Language."

Bang.

Julius was slapped. It was quite weak and light so Julius disregarded it, trying to solve his current dilemma.

Julius rubbed his cheek whilst examining the boy before him.

With a tanned body, he looked like he had lived under the sun his whole life. No older than 9, a boy with black eagle eyes, curly brown hair, and a pair of brown dirty clothes.

Julius squinted his eyes.

"Who are you? Where are we? I need answers."

The boy looked at Julius in frustration.

"We don't have time for jokes Julius, the debt men will be here soon."

Julius sighed.

"I'm being serious. I don't know a thing about what's going on. Who knows maybe I've..."

Julius thought hard on an excuse.

"Accidently drunken some forgetful water or something."

'That should do the trick.'

The boy before Julius looked at him strangely

"You're Julius Threefork and if you don't stop playing around I'm leaving you behind."

Julius sensed an edge of seriousness in the boy's voice.

"Whatever."

Julius' mind whirred at an incredible pace.

'That tall monstrous guy just shoved me into the ground and now I'm here. I'm guessing this is some new life. This Julius kid who shares my name...'

Julius scoffed.

'He drowned in the bathtub. What a lame death.'

Images of his own death-filled Julius' mind.

Julius felt depressed.

'Maybe that's what linked us...'

As Julius and the boy who Julius still had no idea about left the bathroom, Julius found himself in a world of rocky mountains.

There was no wind, just lots of dark-grey gravel and glints of shining iron scraps.

Julius could see high mountains around him for miles.

"Where am-."

Julius had never seen a place like this on Earth, luckily a hanging wooden sign above him had some symbols.

' It's in English at least.'

{Land of Iron and Steel.}

{Banquet Mountains.}

Julius cursed.

"What the-. Did I travel to the past?"

There was no traces of the modern era in the current location that Julius found himself standing in.

"JULIUS."

An angered voice emerged.

"Get over here, we're leaving soon."

The tanned boy appeared, he walked over before he began dragging Julius away tediously.

As Julius looked back, the only visible structure in his view was a large wooden shelter. The rest was just mounds of powdery rock dust that had been scraped along the mountain's sides.

Julius then found a carriage with a carriage master. He heard playful noises from the back of the carriage. Like that of children indulging in play.

The tanned boy tousled his curly brown hair before calling out to the children. He seemed to be the leader.

"You lot."

The children behind the carriage all scuttled into a group before the boy.

"We need to return the favors granted to us, so as one last movement I want you to all go over there and pick up as much mess as you can."

The tanned boy pointed to the littered grounds just in front of the large wooden shelter.

The children ran off in eagerness.

The boy then looked down at Julius.

"That includes you too, Julius."

Julius chuckled.

"I think that there's something in my eye, I'll help as fast as I can."

The tanned boy sighed and got onto the back of the carriage in acceptance.

"Fine. Sure. Whatever."

Julius made some sly eye contact with the carriage master, he was an elderly man with no hair. Instead, he had a stylish top hat, a monocle, and fancy tailored clothes far better than anything that the children possessed.

Julius himself was also in rags.

They felt like snake skin as he moved around in them.

Some children came up to the tanned boy.

"Lucas? When can we finish?"

Lucas, the tanned boy, laughed heartily.

"When you hear the horn, then come to the carriage."

After a few lively minutes, a horn sounded.

Julius smirked.

"Well, I guess it's time to-."

Lucas' figure gained an ungainly reverberating fowl. He looked like he had fallen to insanity.

"No."

Lucas looked like he was in denial. His dirty hands gnawed at his eyes.

"No."

"No."

"No."

He just kept on repeating no.

Julius looked at Lucas in uncertainty.

"Uhm...Lucas isn't that the horn."

Lucas began hyperventilating. He looked up at Julius in desperation.

"That's..."

"The wrong horn. It's far too deep. That kind of horn... That's the kind the Kingdom of White's extermination squadron uses."

Julius shrugged.

"So?"

Lucas looked at Julius like he was insane.

Swiftly, Lucas ran to the front of the carriage. Without warning, he shouted so loudly that it almost resounded through the entire mountain range.

"GUYS RUN TO THE CARRIAGE AS FAST AS YOU CAN. DON'T WAIT ANOTHER SECOND."

Julius looked around in confusion.

"What are you on-."

A booming shout erupted from nearby, it was a man's voice and it definitely did not emerge from any of the whimpering children.

"CONSUME THE WEAK."

"SWAMP OF GLORY."

Magic slithered through the Earth swiftly.

The entire ground turned to sticky mud.

Not just mud. But some sickly-grey variation. Julius found his legs stuck.

All the children were in a similar situation. They couldn't move no matter how hard they tried, rather they sunk like the ground had become quick-sand if they tried to free themselves from their muddy constraints.

Lucas looked forward hopelessly.

"Not... again... There's no way we were late."

And then a legion of cavalry came into view, charging straight for the children with bayonets in arms.

"Not..."

"Again."

Lucas hadn't expected the Extermination unit of the Kingdom of White to arrive so soon.

And now he would live to regret it for eternity and beyond.