Rouge-Light

Council has begun, figures drenched in vibrant colors gathered around a table of rotten wood, decadently some sat with the finest of cloths and silks while some brazenly stood with crossed arms as they were drenched in viscera and broken metal plates.

" He has been selected. "

One being clothed in red spoke

" Not of choice, but of need and desperation. Cleaning of the labyrinth needs to be done, and only humans can enter."

A similarly dressed one in blue continued on...

" In our world, humans have been gone for a time longer than most remember, their only remains are what bits of ancestry fall down the line of Elves and Daemons or their undead remains, this is why we have become desperate... "

Angrily, a man cloaked in grey and gold roared at the gathering with a ferocious question-

" So, that is why you decided to break the rules once more?! Haven't you beings of light learned your lesson?! That Earth has plentiful humans, sure, but with each action we take there, millions of insufferable actions are committed from the perception of your actions alone, do you even remember when you told one Human to build a tower to heaven?! "

The one dressed in blue replied calmly and simply, her rage suppressed by the pressure emitted on by her pairs.

" There is no other choice. We have to intervene, it will be different this time, we will only be targeting one Human, and we will prepare a mimic stand-in for him. The Labyrinth needs to be cleaned. "

The man in grey and gold exploded in anger, the ferocity behind his words backed up his power. " THERE SHOULD BE NO REASON TO PLUCK A BEING FROM ANOTHER EAR- "

The man in grey was interrupted by the man in red with a threat, from his waist a large sword hung, and within a second it burst into flames.

" There is no need to yell, we must act in calm and rational way. Understand? "

The man in grey and gold had a reputation for his temper, but even more-so was his strictness with rules, kept within the council were only 5 rules.

- Needless killing is prohibited.

- Physical manifestations are prohibited.

- Do not interfere with other realities.

- No falling in love.

- Do not interfer with Space, Time, or any other fundamentals of existence.

The beings of light were now, for the 17th time, breaking the rules. Worshipped as they were, they felt a protective desire to their world... unlike those beings of dark, since their dubious origin, worship of them wasn't popular... but, even so, most didn't hold hostility towards their world... in the end though, the only thing that mattered to them were the rules and their luxuries.

Breaking the rules meant the loss of their luxurious, their superiors wouldn't be pleased. Not. At. All.

And, who would be to blame for it? The beings of dark, who were blamed for many wrongdoings of the council.

In the end, they could help but be nervous, the procedure was already done, if this one Human didn't succeed, they would need to risk themselves again, moreover, if that Human died, they would be guaranteed to lose their council status.

It was a hard choice, but it had to be done.

. . .

...

.

Nick was a Human, obviously, after all he was born into this world by a Human, raised by humans, ate like a Human, talked like a Human, and many other examples.

He had tanned skin, with his buttoned up grey shirt, black jeans, and long black hair he was a relatively handsome guy. Only one thing though, as he was 17 his face was brittle with acne and the starting patches of a beard, he wore aviator sunglasses to hide a horrible burn scare across his eyes, his eyes were barely functioning but he didn't care.

His steel tipped boots crushed the small pebbles beneath him as he hiked his way along a shore line, his home wasn't too far, only about 7 miles, and he had another few hours to kill before he had to make it home. He wanted to fins some wreckage or artifact of the many naval wars fought near this shore, he had a habit of collecting brooches, chunks of metal, sometimes he even found old weaponry and explosives.

Today though, has been a little empty.

It started off rough, he just got news that his best friend was dumped, consoling a man for a few hours wasn't the best alternative to coffee, but it was what it was. To cheer his friend up, they went and got ice cream at the boardwalk, though halfway through his friend got a call from the giro again asking to get back together.

It was... akward, but hey.... Nick still got some ice cream and time to hang out with his friend, so he wasn't mad. Moreover, he had an excuse to explore under the board walk, normally it was blocked off with concrete but a recent small earthquake made a small hole inside... Nick hoped and prayed he would find something cool inside.

As he entered through the dark concrete hole, light illuminating from a small flash light, he looked upon a horde of amazing items, in-tact weaponry and cargo was left under here for whatever reason, and even cooler, most of it was nearly untouched... albeit a little soggy or covered in sand.

He was filled with ecstasy, his heart leapt and bounded with all of this amazing treasure, he couldn't carry it all, but even small items were priceless to him... wedged in a crate was an axe nearly as large as his torso, with a mighty pull it was released into the hands of Nick who decided this would be the perfect thing to take back on this first trip... though, he did desire to spend just a little more time to find something even greater...

Deep through the varying towers of war relics, he squeezed and crawled his way through to the very end... only encouraged by his desire to find a perfect item to take back home, he eventually came upon a large platform.

It was... strange, the platform seemed newer than even the concrete boardwalk that held it for many years, he stood upon it, where within eyesight was a rotten wood desk, upon it sat what seemed to be a white light switch.

Every mussel and call within Nick's body understood what he had just got himself into, it wasn't uncommon, this situation, he read about it in many horror novels or even some sci-fi ones... Deep within a place a person isn't supposed to be, they see or interact with something they shouldn't, and they pay the price.

But, if you had the chance to change your fate. . . even if it meant death or worse, if you could become more than a normal person at a mere push of a button. . . would you?

It was clear to Nick, this was a bad decision, but, his curiosity lead him to an insatiable desire to click the switch... and so, with cautious hand, he flicked the switch.

Off his light went, his vision went black, he stood and scrambled to try and force his light back on, it flickered and chocked with limited energy against the hungering darkness... the table was now gone, the artifacts, the concrete... all gone, he stood alone in the dark with nothing.

Flame burst around him, four pillars of bright fire illuminated the new room Nick stood within, a large stone door decorated with skeletal remains seemed to be the only exit, but... Nick stood there, clutching his chest with a feared reaction as his heart pumped at maximum capacity... he stood between two of the bronze pots that sent up a cascade of inferno, two near the door and two at the opposite end.

He muttered a single word.

" Fuck. "