Many Eyes Watching

"That is how it all started off? Seems so...." The voice trails off, stuck in thought. "Seems so fast paced."

I nod in agreement. "It was. You see, the real world isn't as slow and dramatic as many people imagine it to be. Reality doesn't wait for a person to process everything happening. Doesn't give them time to even blink. Reality just happens. You understand?"

"Yeah, I get you." He chuckles. "Just realized, you won't be able to write a good book out of it. You're kind of a bad storyteller."

"Oh? Me not sugarcoating or organizing my story at all is bad for a book? Didn't realize you wanted a novel and not storytelling."

"Apologies, man. I'm still stuck in my critic years."

I stop to wonder how I barely knew this stranger hiding in the shadows of his dimly lit cell. He doesn't seem to be bound by magic. So he couldn't be dangerous enough to bypass these magic bars. Either way, I ignore it.

"Continuing my tale..."

This is where things got confusing.

A sudden hand popped into my view. As if reaching to claw me. There I thought I would face my pending death if I looked. But then something happened the same way as it did in one of my many dreams.

The same static changed the reality. I was never on my knees looking up at my potential death surrounded by familiar, yet indistinct faces decorated in fantasy-like clothing and accessories, with eyes that burn like flames in search of wood.

Yet, I could feel this freezing, yet hot sensation trickling throughout my body. Like fireworks being ignited from within.

I thought I was dying from even shock. Like a heart attack. Soon to invite an eternal slumber.

But as I clenched my fists, and "felt" this instinct push my entire body.

And bright light shot out from what I thought were my eyes and mouth, burning them with this unimaginable sensation. Like if you were to vomit out of your nose and throat the best tacos you have ever eaten in your life. Leaving behind this foulness I could not handle.

Then my mind ran blank. I could think of nothing else but anger, pain and a deep sadness dipped in this dark red hue until they disappeared along with the burning light.

Without sense of control, I fell to my knees and invited, without consent, these visions of what I thought were dreams I've had before that led up to this precise moment.

The last scene of the dream being me stuck in what appeared to be a desert surrounded by nothing but black sand underneath my feet and above me is nothing but a night sky with two moons which I found familiar. And a sense of warmth enveloped my mind until a voice grumbled,

"You won't remember this when you arrive to the new world, but just know you're going to become the most powerful and the most wanted villain. Everyone will see you as the enemy and the friends you make must be cherished. I wish you luck on your path and hope you obtain the answers you seek. Now, I bid you farewell, Arsin."

As my sight came back, I noticed myself surrounded by blades of ankle-high grass, a cool breeze, and a clear blue sky with two suns hanging above.

Two...suns?

Somehow, the thought doesn't seem as absurd anymore as soon as I touched my chest.

No scars, no wound, not even the sight of blood. No death equals no friends... I did not question the logic anymore. Instead, I continued to repeat the word 'odd' as I picked myself up.

"I'm not home anymore." I sighed as I turned my attention to a sign covered in these thick, green vines. It was a conjoined sign with arrows and names pointed to the death sentence to my left, and the spooky glowing forest to my right.

"Welcome to the Harvay Line" the top sign read, with the word "Rot" for the left and "Elefu" to the other. Names I've heard of from my dream where there was a line that separated the Rot Desert from the Elefu Forest. Two of the most secret shortcuts used by merchants, royalty, and even famous warriors or mages. To be here, what did it mean?

The words on the sign reads English but the writing itself felt like another language, one I had become fluent in for about a year in my dream. I turned to the sky with a frown. It's mapped exactly like the world in my dream. "If I'm in another world, then why wasn't my entrance into this alternate reality much more dramatic?"

A dark blue circle with many symbols and unknown letters suddenly appears beneath my feet, slowly becoming larger and traveling upwards through my entire body. I stumbled backwards with feet kicking in hopes that it can be shaken off-- no, that doesn't happen. It's emitting an electrical tingle that bounces throughout my body. For some reason I felt I had to let it happen. Let this magic circle kidnap me to who knows where.

So I quietly said with arms spread out, "There's my dramatic entrance."

And the magic became more clustered as this wave of white flames suddenly appeared to swallow my legs. It didn't burn me. It held a cold and electrical feeling that binded my body down like ropes. And with just a blink of an eye, I was not at Harvay Line anymore. I was not even sure where I was. Only that I couldn't move or talk. My eyes restrained to a view unbelievable to my mind.

"Welcome, child." A demonic shape seated on a gothic-esque throne beckoned, their dark aura blanketing the entirety of the castle.

The strong feeling of power overwhelmed my sense of self. My sense to flee or to fight. I was then left to ask, "How did I get here?" But my voice came out as mere grunts struggling against an invisible power forcing me to stay silent. Perhaps it was due to the rope all around my body? Then I unknowingly pulled out all the knowledge I've retained from my dreams to come to the conclusion that this is a summoning spell meant to be used on creatures or super strong beings to be interviewed or constrained with. Only the one who casted this summoning circle could allow the captive to speak and move. But there was a catch: the summoner had to know something about their target in order to summon them in the first place...

The large shape on the throne tilted its head at me in an amused manner. A head with something large on top. It's hard to identify this frightening being with so little light illuminating the spacious, gothic room.

"Identify yourself."

'Odd', I repeated in my head again as I felt the magic release my mouth. "My name is Sin."

The owner of the voice fell into silence as do I. Leaving the creepy ambiance of the castle to flood my troubled mind. I said my name was Sin, but my true name is Art. Why did I give a false name?

'Unless...'

"Sin, demon prince of the fallen Mad Star,"

I furrowed my brows deeply at the troubling words coming out of the shadow's mouth. "

"You have been summoned as the main suspect of killing Baal, tampering with the fabric of reality, and potentially bringing the prophecy to life."

This news rung in my head like church bells in the middle of 3am. I had to stop it from becoming any louder before I go crazy. "WHAT? I had nothing to do with anything you're accusing me of!" I shouted immediately. "I'm not even Sin! My real name is ■■■!"

I stopped immediately to find that my real name has been censored. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't even say the word. "I make art" "I am an artist" were the only things I could whisper under my worried breath. No matter, it's not like anyone cares since I'm being accused of something I have never done and I needed a lawyer.

The shadow then stomped, summoning a purple flame with the snap of his fingers and the commanded, "Grant me fire." When the hand sized fire ball hovered over its palm, the being's form becomes revealed.

A large, strangely thick, being with black fur, a large black royal overcoat hanging over his silver and black royal suit and purple cravat tucked under a smokey gray vest with a peculiar silver pocket watch resting in the breast pocket.

As he crossed his legs, he observed me with his purple goat eyes mounted on his half-skull half furry goat head with these large black horns that curl behind his head with the tips pointed upwards like a sort of thorny crown. He didn't just look intimidating and fancy, he emitted intimidation. His power, this aura hovering around his body like a force field, showed me how much of a power house he is. A way of showing all who was boss.

"Tell these people that. Convince them that you did not slaughter Baal and a city of light elves for a ritual that summoned a portal that changed our world forever. Tell me that I, the Demon King, Azalkar's summoning ritual was faulty." He then tutted in a cocky manner. "Go on. Prove not to this court of rulers, but to the citizens here."

When he spread his arms towards his left and right side, tossing his flame onto these fancy torch poles, I was greeted by familiar faces but I chose not to observe closely. I felt that doing so would have made me more angry.

So I dropped my gaze. "I...I can't." I muttered as a pool of memories and fears flooded my mind.

"A great deal of potential in such pain. What a waste." A female voice boldly stated. Her senses seemed keen, given she had more sense in terms of observation than the rest. "I'll see to it that the space between life and death opens no doors for him."

Despite me not looking, I knew Yuki had to be in this room just like Attor was. Judging me in silence without lifting a finger to help me.

So I turned to what mattered most. My accused crimes. They sounded familiar. Major crimes that shook the people before me. Oddly familiar the many times I ran them through my mind as everyone spoke amongst themselves.

'Right!  Demon Prince Sin of the Mirrikh Kingdom. He was once respected but reportedly went mad and lusted for death after destroying his own Kingdom for no reason.

But it wasn't true. I took his perspective in nightmares sometimes. Got to see how his kingdom was infiltrated at the command of corrupt kings. His people and his home were engulfed by wild magic flames. All because of fear and the lust for the richness in his land. After he was left with just with nothing but a desert of his home, he caught sight of a tear in space. Upon taking a look into it, he saw everything forbidden.

Perhaps that tear had something to do with me.

"Death!" Someone within the crowd shouted and soon many more join in with the restless chanting. Despite their anger, I still did not look at them. Call it cowardness or fear of confrontation. I merely wished to focus on what was important. A plan of escape.

The Demon King held up a finger. "After speaking with the council-"

Get on with it.

"-we find the suspect guilty of all charges according to evidence provided by me, and the generals of A2 and B7, Yuki and Attor. So then, does the accused wish to speak his final words?"

In between the lowering silence of the chaotic shouting, my chest tightened. To feel what Sin has felt so vividly--from the day he was faced with the fall of his kingdom--in my two hearts thumping and my sharp nails digging into my palm, every memory of both Art and Sin united for justice--

"All of you!" I shouted, pointing my finger at the crowd as the tension in my chest exploded. "You all are quick to accuse me-- a prince-- of doing something I have no power of doing!! Provided me with little to no opportunity to accumulate all evidence of my innocence!!" I took a sharp breath. "Looking at me as if I were a monster that came out from the most vile and darkest pit on Earth! I DIDN'T BECOME PRINCE JUST TO BURN DOWN MY KINGDOM!" My sense of logic, cool, and need for answers were then tossed aside by Sin's overwhelming hunger for revenge.

I then turned sharply to Azalkar with this new alter ego that began to crack a displeased frown in the face of this powerful demon king. And the alert in the council's eyes made everything feel like a memory playing in reverse.

The quick regain of composure and to me seeing an inhuman creature.

"I don't think so." The demon king uttered. "From now on, you shall become a mere dream. Kill him, Desiric."

I then felt an arm slung over my neck, tightly keeping me in place with the flat side of a white claymore. Every attempt I made to try and escape only made the grip tighter and the owner of the arm, angrier.

"I swear my soul, I will return..." I muttered with a harsh breath. "Not as a legend, a myth, nor a faint dream..." I felt Desiric's arm under the burning sword become tighter, as if with either caution, or provocation.

I had to admit, again, how much more stronger he was than me. Stronger than I could have imagined. After all, he was the famous hero in my dreams. The one that once brought peace between both humankind and demon-kind during a certain age. But he wasn't the protagonist.

"I will make you all wish, even as a mere dream, that I- your Nightmare- will burn deep into your ashy hearts until the day I return to make you wish that dreams, stay as dreams."

Of course that came as a surprise to everyone in the room who stood witness to this moment. I wanted to make it look like these words were my reality, a sort of oath--but it was not my true desire.

As Sin's hate wanted a way to end the pain, Art's pain wanted answers more than anything. The answer to why my nightmares and dreams have become a reality. Why the tear Sin saw, brought me here.

Was I being punished, or was I being rewarded?

The knight of the moons pushed the burning blade deeper onto my chest, making sure I could feel a world of immeasurable pain. And the pure blood lust in those golden eyes made me feel utter hate. Given this was my second encounter with a sword.

"You talk big for a dead guy." He growled softly into my ear. Besides his tone being rather seductively sadistic, I found the idea that this hero was nothing more to be funny. Think about it--the strongest being, a human hero, in the entire world is an accurate representation of this world's true nature. If everything in this world remained accurate to my dreams, perhaps I had a hidden ace up my sleeve.

This chucklesome revelation made me fear death no more. "As long as I remain and this pain is etched into your soul, I will make sure you are remembered as nothing but a bad dream."

And without hesitation, the sharp side of the blade was turned towards my chest, where it then sliced through me like a finger disrupting a small water stream.

And I watched as my blood spewed out of my body in slow motion, wondering, 'If this were a comic book, an animated show, or even a book, there's no way I'm the main character.'

Or so clueless Sin and Art would have believed.