The Corrupt One (2)

On "NΛVΣПDΣЯ" Street in the City of Dreams, a door came into being and opened. From the other side, a group of people were thrown out as if they were being removed from a bar.

The expelled slowly got up, they groaned and moped. Their bodies strangely ached.

"What? Why are we in the city? We should have only been transported to one of the higher levels of the abyss...."

The mysterious man covered in tattoos scratched his head, stood up, and wobbled around like a drunkard. Behind him, Cain got up to do the same.

'Strange.' Looking over a nearby railing made of candy canes, rebar, and other materials, Cain looked down below, 'We're near the bottom of the city....this should be where many Dreamers live since it's so close to the Abyss.'

"Bastard, why did you lie?! You're with the Nightmares, aren't you!"

For being over 300 years old, Cessair was far more hotheaded than one would imagine. He was already lifting the Shade by his neck, feet dangling, trying to reach the ground.

Shade didn't need air, but since the Mysterious man was in the form of a human, he did need to abide by the laws of a human body somewhat; humans were born and rooted in reality.

Just then, a snap echoed, and no one paid attention until Cessair was screaming bloody murder. Looking over, Cain saw a Shade with wide eyes, his feet safely on the floor. Cessair, however, appeared to misplace his hands, swapping them out for silver cutlery.

"W-What happened to my hands! What the hell is going on!"

"Apologies, I just needed you all to be civil so you could give me time to explain."

Peering behind Cessair and seeing the man, Cain could only internally curse profanities.

Before them, a man in a yellow polka-dot suit stood. He tightened a literal banana acting as a tie around his neck while preparing for a speech, taking out placards and the like.

The most bizarre thing about him was the fact half his head was a fishbowl, a fishbowl!

The other side of the man's face was also strange, he had on a droopy clown mask. It was almost as if he took a baggy layer of flesh and put it on his head. Yet his other side smoothly transformed into an actual fishbowl!

Inside the bowl, contained what Cain could only identify as the man's nerves, connected to a singular eyeball and the other side of the man's brain, all floating inside the glass chamber!

No one could keep their eyes off the bowl, as the man started his speech, they simply stared.

The scene was similar to a comic on stage but no one laughed, only brazenly gazing. 

At the bottom of the bowl, a small cave situated itself on a small hill of pebbles. Suddenly, the pebbles shifted! Out came a goldfish, it swam up and...and...it started biting at the man's eye, or at least it was trying to.

"Uh? Can you all please stop watching Gilbert like that, he's shy."

Only when the bizarre man said that did Cain remember what was going on and once again look back at the questioning man before them.

'Who is he, what is wrong with him? He's as insane as my.....well.'

"Ahem. Now that I have your attention, maybe I should speak to the audience before you all decide to lose interest. I am Zeki, a Dream Master under the Dream Lord."

Zeki's eyes darted around before deciding on the only Nightmare present, "My, I must say I haven't seen an intelligent Shade in quite a while. May I know your name, good sir?"

"Uh...I'm Marko, I am Marko of Varn."

'Ha, so he does have a name!'

Just as Cain willed the thoughts, Dalax, Cessair, and Evette did as well, only they all said it out loud.

"So Shades can have names?"

"So you do have a name!"

"You do have a name, how wonderful!"

'Wait, Varn....I've heard of that place before.'

Stopping Zeki mid-conversation, Cain walked in front of Marko, "Marko, you said you were from Varn? What is that place?"

"Hey, I was talking...should I see myself out?" Following the script, Zeki didn't seem mad and instead imagined a giant red boot that sent him flying to a wall.

If only his appearance wasn't so bizarre, Cain would have gotten distracted once again.

The wall crumbled under Zeki's weight and he was entombed under flickering pebbles and living smoke.

Everyone ignored the gag.

Cain looked back at Marko. "So...Varn? Can you tell me about it?"

"Oh...okay"

Marko shifted back to Cain, leaving the clown's act to lose one of its onlookers. 

"I was born in a small outlying village in Varn. It was closer to the Territory beside it, but officially, we were of Varn.

"Varn itself is a land bordering the Middle Zone and is quite advanced. If it wasn't ruled by religion, we might already have had a ruler to guide us, but alas, my homeland was broken up by many institutes and schools of thought."

Under the word religion, Cain had an epidemy, "I remember now, I remember the term Copper Monks being spoken about before."

Marko's eyes brightened, "Yes, those oldies are quite well-known. They are the only Faction that's Neutral. They have strong-tempered bodies that make their skin akin to bronze or copper. There's a rumor if you left one out to dry too long, their skin would turn green or blue!"

Escaping out from the rubble of his own attack, Zeki got up, "You done now? I have a job to do."

"Sure, Mr. Clown."

Cain's statement seemed to annoy the Clown a bit, a dark ever-changing scribbled cloud appeared above Zeki's head, "I am not a Clown! I am an entertainer, thank you very much!"

Straightening his suit, and the banana, he stepped up on thin air before he stood before the group. From atop the invisible podium, he began his speech.

"You must be wondering, how did you get here? Well, fear not, it was me! Um...well actually it was me with the help of my Lord, ahem. He sensed what happened below and sent me, Master Zeki, to the rescue! So...I need details, because.....I was told none."

Zeki finished off his speech with a sad tone, as he did, a deflating sound erupted, and he slowly descended back to the ground.

Stepping forward, Rex finally took the lead, "Master Zeki, I can give you the details, but can you stop that creature?"

"Sure, sure, if not the Lord wouldn't have sent me! I'm a jack of all trades!"

"Jack of all trades? Are you skilled in healing?" Dalax stepped out of Rex's shadow, in his arms, a rusting and weak Arlen was coddled between his arms, "Can you help him?"

Looking at the Disk, Zeki frowned, the Clown had turned quiet.

"I can try."

The Clown's attitude took a 180, Zeki took Arlen from Dalax's arms and snapped his fingers. From the sound, a baby bottle appeared, and he settled it on the disk. In response, a small mouth was created out of nothing for the disk to drink.

It was weird, but no one spoke, holding their breath.

After a few minutes, Arlen stopped drinking, and Zeki gave him to an attendant who appeared from the ground.

"He will recover, but it will take a long time. The corruption seeped deep into his being, but it didn't reach his soul somehow. His luck is incredible"

'That's good at least.'

Clapping his hands, Zeki once again changed his demeanor back to the happy clown, "Now! Could you answer my questions, Mr. Warden!" 

Rex glanced around, noticing how exhausted everyone still was, "Sure, let's go somewhere where we can recover though."

"Of course! I'll lead the way!"

...

Following behind the group, Cain and Leon were in the back; they could hear Zeki's giddy and excited questions and Rex's dry and monotone responses. It was like a child listening to a bedtime story.

Unfortunately, both Cain and Leon were now outcasts. No one wished to talk to them after that exhausting and scary fiasco.

Of course, it wasn't deliberate, but everyone just needed time.

Cain looked exactly like the monster who hurt their precious teammate, and Leon was that very same monster's servant. Only Marko was neutral, but he had to be close to Zeki so the Master could keep an eye on the unknown Nightmare.

Cain took a deep breath, "I guess now's a good time to ask."

Leon's gaze turned to Cain; his illusionary eyes trembled at seeing the identical face.

"What do you wish to ask?"

"Why are you so happy to serve him?"