PREMONITION.

"Can you feel it?"

The melodic voice echoed through the room.

"Concentrate!" It was already an order.

The guard shook his head.

"That's useless! Are you sure you don't feel it?"

Falling to his knees, the guard begged, "Your servant is uneducated and of low rank. Your strength is incomparable; I will never achieve such perfection."

"Get out and tell the King to come see me. It's urgent," the was undeniable. "Say the Abyss trembles; He will understand. While He's walking, fetch me my favourite musician."

"Of course, My Lady. I'm already running," the guard instantly disappeared. In his place stood a tall young man in white robes, his almost transparent skin tinged with gold—a celestial.

"Have you been waiting outside the door all this time?"

The young man bowed, though the gesture seemed careless, forced.

"Don't bother with unnecessary things. It's better to play 'Bird of Paradise' or 'Parting at Dawn'…" And a light purr instantly echoed the melody "mmm... mm... mmm... mm... mmm... mmm... mmm... mmmm..." The young man immediately put fingers dance across the zither strings to match the melody.

Before the song could reach its middle, the doors burst open with a roar—the King himself, appearing for the first time in ages.

"Go away!" He kicked the musician, who fell along with the zither.

"Come on, move!" The King's eyes blazed as he stared at the celestial. But the musician, picking up his zither, bowed casually and left. The doors, now unhinged, revealed the musician lingering behind them, awaiting another summons.

"Are you still keeping that boy around?" The King's anger flared.

"Are you still married to your demoness?"

The response silenced Him. Sighing, he sat down next to her. "Let's leave it. What about the Abyss?"

"Tea?"

"I didn't come here for tea!"

But as soon as He caught a plea gaze on Himself, His restraint wavered. "Just stop it already! I'll do it!" He took the pot Himself and filled the cup. "Happy? Now… Tell me, why did you call me?"

"Didn't you feel it?"

"If you're deceiving me," the King jumped up, "you'll be in trouble!"

"You're still just as hot-tempered as before... you've been stuck here for so long that you don't even know what other Realms feel like, and of course you won't be able to feel any changes..."

The King signed, the anger waved and He returned to his seat. That was true, He hadn't left his Kingdom even one since His marriage.

"Before I came to you, after crossing the River of Oblivion, I remained in the Darkness." The King thought that the voice sounded puzzled but He could not get whether it held a fear or sadness, but definitely a twisting rhythm.

"There, I first felt the stirring of the Abyss. Frightened, I left the Darkness, but what I felt there, I'll never forget."

The King leaned in. "So what now?"

"I've felt it again, more than once. At first, I thought it was my imagination or my shattered perception of reality after too much wine. But now… now I am absolutely sure that it's more than real. And if you prove me not to be delusional, it may only mean just the beginning of something beyond our comprehension…"

*Thx for reading.