Chapter 2

Water flows from hills, then to a river. It tries to bring the wasteland of the other side to life but fails every time. Zane examines his surroundings for the third time in a week. His screams yearn for understanding, pleading internally to map out his thoughts. The ground shakes in response to his crisis, enhancing the wasteland. He sits down, unable to process the crossroad presented before him. 

Whispers reach out to him from both sides of the fork in the path. A stinging pain enters his body and becomes more intense. It begins to develop into a part of his body. As a familiar face appears repeatedly, laughing obscures his thoughts. The same smiling woman, the same scenario, the same grief and anguish he has forgotten.

"How many times must I remind you, Zane? You can't escape me!" 

Just then, he sees himself in chains, staring back helplessly as his consciousness mirrors the deformation his body is going through.

"Survive, you'll be stronger than I'll ever be, tru-" A huge arrow impales his consciousness in his chest. 

Zane, grasping his chest, feels the same misery that his consciousness experienced as he gasps for fresh oxygen as more of his body deforms. The vast expanse drowned his cries for rescue and hope. All to empty ears, he is once again alone.

He stands up, struggles to keep proper posture, and continues walking forward. The fork in the road merges to make a single road, as if to tease him. The longer he walks, the more his body begs him to stop. He walks ahead, resolute and desperate. Weapons aim directly at Zane. Regardless of how many weapons are fired at him, he continues to walk forward.

"The shackles have finally come," he says grimly.

He takes a deep breath, aware that the end may be near. 

"Survive Zane, just as that old man has said to you long ago..."

In a pool of his blood, Zane awakens in a cold sweat. Lumina, staring in horror, curses herself for not being able to stop the woman of darkness from invading his body. She stops Zane from getting up, as his blood continues to flee from his body at a rapid pace.

He gets up, drowned with a singular thought; 'Move forward.'

A sudden force of gravity pushes Zane down, making him recover first before doing anything else. 

"Heal right now," Lumina commands.

His body unconsciously follows, fearing her wrath. Tears flow down Zane's shell-shocked face, making Lumina puke. A dark purple horn stabs the left part of his forehead. Blood marks their territory all over Zane's head. A wing forces itself into existence, coated in dark purple energy. Desperation and sorrow write on his face, pleading with Lumina to end his misery.

"Do I… look okay?" he asks, silently wishing for someone to help or save him.

Lumina, shivering at his state consoles him by telling him the cold hard truth. 

"You're far from okay, Zane," she remarked, concern etched in her eyes.

"In a state like this, how could anyone expect you to be?"

Zane's gaze fell to the river below, and he couldn't hold back the wave of nausea that overcame him. Astelia regarded them both with a mixture of disdain and incredulity. How could Zane remain oblivious to the storm of emotions within him?

As Zane continued to unravel, Astelia couldn't suppress a complex blend of pity and disgust.

"So," she sighed, her voice a mix of resignation and curiosity, "what's your plan to deal with it?"

Zane chuckled, a bitter sound of disbelief.

"What do you mean, what's my plan? I didn't choose this. Someone invaded my body and thrust me into this mess. What am I supposed to do...?"

Astelia sighed, her frustration evident as she flicked his forehead.

"You make the best of what you've got," she declared, stretching casually before swiftly shooting an arrow at a crow.

With a burst of energy, the crow launched into Zane's face.

"Life handed you a load of crap, so what's left? Build the best damn castle of crap you can."

He laughed in disbelief, utterly flabbergasted by the absurd attempt at advice she had just thrown at him.

"Ever tried building a castle out of crap?" he scoffed.

Astelia turned back, a look of confusion on her face as if he had uttered something only a seasoned addict could comprehend.

"Exactly. Doesn't sound so brilliant now, does it?"

With a scoff, she retreated to the training grounds, channeling her frustration into her swordsmanship. Meanwhile, Zane, on a quest for food, spotted Lumina sitting among wolves. Her welcoming smile signaled him to join her, and the wolves, surprisingly calm, licked Zane in approval.

"Feeling better?" she asked with genuine concern.

Zane gazed at the sky and sighed, "I still don't understand what's happening with my body."

Together, they absorbed the soothing breeze, attempting to calm their troubled spirits.

As they gathered fish and meat, the trio set up a campfire for dinner. Dark energy threatened to emerge from Zane, but he fought back with immense effort, creating a tense standoff. Laughter echoed in his mind, tempting him to surrender to the encroaching darkness. Lumina, observing Zane's convulsing state, soothed his body from her seated position, analyzing the energy flowing out of him.

In Zane's consciousness, The Goddess of Darkness took notice of Lumina's actions.

"Seems like that rat is onto me already," she scoffed, turning her annoyance into wicked amazement.

"Woman, you have no understanding of his body, and I will never let you try to do so," she declared before returning to her throne.

Her gaze shifted to a human, eerily similar to Zane, in chains. "You will be mine soon, Mr. Seisance," she murmured, whipping the squirming captive.

"And when you are mine, you will know true strength."

As Zane struggled to sleep, a gentle but sharp stab jolted him awake. Nature lay peacefully asleep as he rose. Seeking solace, Zane walked toward a hill, only to find a luminous figure standing there. The figure vanished but reappeared next to him, placing a hand on his cheek and nodding.

"You must be trying to fight off Darkness, aren't you?"