Did Not See That Coming

Atlas had to blink a few times to confirm the sight in front of him. Had the skill put that much of a toll on him? Certainly not– right?

He knew he was out of shape but not crazy!

There was a comment in the back of his mind that pointed out that normal and 'non-crazy' people wouldn't be back in time with knowledge of the future, but he chose to ignore that for now.

He was a…different kind of crazy, yes that's right.

The- not yet seeing hallucinations crazy.

Though he felt that from how many times the word has gone over his head he might as well have gone mental.

Before speaking up, he drifted his sight to Davian's body– what should have been and most definitely was his body.

Did he dislike that guy that much to be seeing him again?

Sure– he's disliked plenty of people throughout his life, but that was normal, right? Everyone at some point in time has severely hated someone. Though as far as Atlas is aware, they don't come back to life right after you kill them.

Atlas widen his eyes, catching a faint glow coming from the body.

It was at that moment, that the figure of Davian who had been lying on the ground started to break away into little balls of light which eventually formed and turned into a card.

An ability card.

Atlas could capture an image embedded in it of what seemed to be twins before it flickered and disappeared entirely.

He was well versed in the abilities of certain cards, having mostly been at the receiving end himself, and so Atlas had a nagging feeling that he knew exactly what that one was.

Cloning.

That was…a clone-related card, one that seem to clone the user into a perfect copy.

Atlas shifted his gaze towards the Davian that was in front of him, standing upright, his head still present, one hand held the dagger with the familiar patterns and the other- the black card.

'What a rat!' was Atlas's immediate thought. While everyone had been fighting for their lives he had gone and hidden while retrieving the damaged card.

He was just about to open his mouth and openly curse, but all that came out was more blood.

– Cough!

His head felt light as he wiped the blood onto his sleeve. He was seriously going to die by coughing up too much blood! For god sake everything smelled and tasted like iron.

He hated the smell of iron.

Davian crouched down the same way when Atlas had first awakened here. He looked at him with a sort of mocking expression. Something that Atlas guessed was trying to resemble concern.

Deranged people don't feel concerned.

"Ah- ah ah! I wouldn't try anything else if I were you in this condition. Trust me, your already eyes tell me a lot! Surprise!"

– Cough.

"Oh. Was that a bit late?... Tsk, I should have done it when I revealed myself…Ah, ~ too late I suppose," he sighed as he put his hand to his cheek, "Your struggling was fun to watch, no doubt. Very entertaining…five stars! Though– I'm afraid it'll have to end."

He looked away, fidgeting with the corners of his mouth, "Eve won't like it if I draw this out."

Turning back to face Atlas, the concerned look was then nowhere to be found.

He held up the black chained card in between two of his figures, raising it toward Atlas' face.

"Don't worry, your death won't be painful nor meaningless. Let's see…how do I explain it? Ah-! I know!" He pushed the card closer, "It would be like you are dreaming! A nice and serene dream, how about it? Your reward for putting on such a show."

'Dreaming? Is that what the card does? It's ability. Does it put the target to sleep? No- it couldn't be only that.'

Atlas tried to lean away from the card, the ominous energy felt as if it was pricking into his mind, making him more unstable.

Davian was lying..or- not being entirely truthful.

Or was he lying…? He didn't have much of a reason to in this situation, did he? He was about to die, there was no point. He shouldn't care whether he was lying or being truthful, right?

He raised his hand, it shook unsteadily as he brought it up, frustrated that such a motion was already taking a lot of effort for him to do.

Bringing it to eye level, he then proceeded to slap himself on the cheek– hard.

Eventually, a red hue started blossoming on his face.

'That card-' he struggled to rearrange his thoughts. It was already affecting him by him just being near it.

He can't die here, he still had his peaceful life to live! A life where all he can do is laze around, no work, no war, no fighting, only time for reading, sleeping, eating, and…maybe opening an ice cream store?

Well…he'll get the specifics down at a later time.

To have that he needed to first- get as far away as possible.

He couldn't move far however and eventually, due to his useless body. Eventually, the card was near enough for him to make out the scriptures that were embedded in it.

It was written rather oddly– as if someone had drunkenly written them while being super wasted. He's seen plenty of that from his past superiors.

It was to his surprise that he could decipher a few bits. Perhaps those late nights trying to decipher his boss' handwriting had been for his exact moment!

He squinted up, trying to read the writing. Any extra information could be useful at this very moment—!

It was to his disappointment that the information was practically useless.

'Everything…must follow…follow what?'

At the end of the sentence, there was a word that resembled 'price'.

He couldn't read anything else as Davian's fingers were blocking them, his mind felt more drowsy.

'How poetic.'

Whoever wrote that must have thought to themselves they were so witty…so witty in fact it's going to be the cause of his death!

Just thinking about it made his already light head even lighter! As if that was possible! This pain made it hard to think!

In fact, he couldn't think at all as at that moment the evil energy seemed to amplify, flooding his mind.

He could feel his eyes go out of focus, and his mind turn foggy. It was that same feeling from when he first awoke in this room.

He tried to move- do anything, but found himself unable.

The walls around him started to shake, he could've sworn another pillar of bones, flesh, and skulls fell. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if the wall had fallen on top of everyone.

His eyelids dropped, but he desperately tried to keep them wide and open. He would normally love to take this chance to sleep– but perhaps here wasn't the best of times.

It was because of this that he managed to glimpse Kane who had sneaked up on Davian with an axe in his hands.

Davian, who was too busy mouthing something indecipherable had been too busy to notice.

Kane brought the weapon down, swinging it at Davian's skull.

Before it could make contact, Davian had suddenly turned around, his dagger blocking the attack just in time.

"What the-"

Clang!

Kane's remark was cut off by the loud clang on impact, pushing him back several feet.

"Tricks like this won't work twice…It was rather rude, don't you think? Attacking someone while they were having a conversation?" He sighed as he got up, the card still in his hands, "Huuu…kids these days only getting more undisciplined."

Atlas would have given him a look if not for the fact he couldn't even move the muscles on his face.

'Aren't we in the same generation?'

Davian indeed looked the part, he seemed to probably be only two to three years apart.

Shaking away the unnecessary thoughts, Atlas could feel that his mind was suddenly now clearer.

This made at least one thing clear.

Those previous incidents were definitely from that strange card.

"Atlas- try to move away! I'll hold him off." Kane shouted, moving into a battle stance with the axe gripped in his hand.

– Cough!

Instead of answering, the only thing he could do was continue coughing out blood. At this point, there was so much that his whole front was dyed red.

Davian lifted the card again, this time aiming at Kane.

"Since you insist, I'll take care of you first, alright?"

Atlas wanted to warn Kane to flee, knowing that contact with such an object could damage his and potentially everyone else's mind irreparably. Don't give him a reason to activate the cursed thing!

Fighting back was foolish! They were the ones at a disadvantage.

Yet he couldn't- nothing came out as his voice died in his throat a violent aura spiked throughout the surrounding area.

It felt as if pins stabbed into his whole body as he collapsed to the ground, gripping his pounding head. The surrounding structure trembled and cracked; the building seemed unstable as walls split and bone pillars shattered, scattering debris.

Everyone—guards and students alike—paused mid-battle or flight, clutching their heads in sheer agony.

The chains restraining a guard rattled violently as if on the verge of breaking.

Amid the chaos, Kane stood unaffected—serene even—as others suffered.

'Immunity?' Atlas wondered but quickly dismissed it when he noticed something wrong with Kane.

As Davian slowly approached Kane's figure and twirled daggers in his hand, Atlas thought, 'What is he doing? Run!'

But Kane remained still as Davian got closer until he faced him directly.

A step.

Another.

Davian raised his weapon and plunged the dagger into Kane's chest without resistance.

Atlas had to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Kane could fight-! It shouldn't have been this easy…right? He was someone Kai picked! Surely–

"…ah?" Kane murmured dazedly before slumping backward.

He layed there, unmoving.

His foggy eyes went blank as life slowly ebbed away.

Davian pulled the dagger from Kane's chest, blood spraying onto his clothes, and turned to Atlas's struggling form.

"Don't worry, he died peacefully. Didn't you see?" Davian said, flicking the blood off his blade. "Relax, alright?"

Peacefully was an overstatement. Kane didn't even react- couldn't even seem to process the fact he was about to die. His mind had been trapped.

Atlas tried to push himself up but couldn't accept this fate. He hadn't processed Rune nor Kane's death, let alone what was soon going to be his. He had fought too hard, he can't-

His arms collapsed, unwilling to move.

'Stupid body! Stupid skill!'

Why couldn't he have been born talented? Gifted? Why couldn't he have been born with a skill that he could actually control and use?!

Annoying. It was so annoying!

As his mind was in turmoil, whether from the influence of the card or from his own self-loathing he hadn't noticed Davian slowly walking closer.

It was then that Atlas finally looked up, and right when he locked eyes with Davian's oddly blank eyes he felt something tugging at his mind.

'Annoying! So annoy-..."

It was as if his mind was slowly drifting away from him. There seemed to be a voice- a new one that whispered in his ear, "You're right, it is annoying. Isn't it?"

Who-?

His limbs numbed and felt the pain attacking his mind disappear. There was a thick fog blocking his vision.

Blinking twice, he gazed upward.

In his disorientated vision, he saw a clear blue sky.