The air suddenly changed as Suri uttered her threat. It was suddenly so heavy that neither Suri nor Othello could breathe. The pressure crushed their lungs completely, leaving them to retch out blood and collapse.
**Oh? You want to kill me?**
Lioraen gasped.
*There it is.*
**You who isn't even a spark of me?**
"Urgh! Aaarrrggghhh!"
Othello clawed at Lioraen's leg.
"Make it stop... please! Make it stop!"
*I'm not affected.*
Lioraen glanced up.
"Wanderer!"
**Quiet, brat!**
He flinched, staggering.
*This entity is a walking time bomb.*
"Wanderer, wait! Please."
The pressure didn't ease; in fact, it got heavier, that Lioraen felt his bones screaming.
"You wanted to see the end, right?!"
No reply came, only the overwhelming, otherworldly pressure.
*It's not listening!*
"I need them to create the end I want! The end you want to see!"
Suri clenched her head as blood ran down every hole in her mortal form.
"Please stop! I'm sorry!" she cried.
Lioraen glanced up.
*I'll be back to the beginning. What should I do? What should I...*
He gasped.
*That's it! The recite.*
He shut his eyes.
"Let the silent place within me speak, and let all noise bow at its gates,"
The air shifted, and it all went silent. It went dark.
"I am the echo of worlds forgotten, and the memory of things yet to be.
Where my fear ends, my vision begins.
Unveil me…
Layer by layer, thought by thought, until only truth remains.
What seeks me has already found me.
What I run from walks behind my eyes.
I rise where my shadows kneel.
I walk into myself, and I do not close the door.
Break the shell.
Spill the false.
Hold the real.
Everything I fear is a doorway.
Everything I seek is a mirror."
**Aah...**
Lioraen opened his eyes.
He was standing on vast water, yet did not sink. The air was cool; strange creatures with wings that he had never seen in his life flew around the vast skies.
"W...hat?"
**They are called birds.**
The entity's voice sounded.
**Your realm doesn't have any.**
Lioraen glanced around. The entity was everywhere, but nowhere. He could feel it.
"Birds..." he mumbled, reaching for the sky.
**If you show me the ending I want, I will take you to a realm that has birds in it.**
Lioraen's eye lit up.
"Like?"
**Noctyrrh. Umbravine. Earth...**
The entity paused.
**I could take you to Zephyros. They ride on theirs. Aurenia won't mind you.**
*Aurenia must be the ruler of Zephyros then.*
He glanced around.
"Can I see you?"
**You want to die early?** The voice laughed.
He pouted.
**Don't worry, kid. You'll see me if you die, in a soul form.**
Lioraen glanced again at the chirping birds and vast skies.
"You promise?"
A moment of silence reigned.
**Yeah, kid. I promise.**
He was back at the shrine. The pressure that had disheveled the shrine had vanished the same way it came, but the aftermath was still as brutal.
Othello and Suri lay shivering on the ground, dangling between life and the beyond. All the bones, muscles, or organs in their bodies had been crushed into tiny bits, leaving them like a sandbag.
Lioraen sighed, running his hand through his long hair.
"Wanderer!"
**Fine!**
A pouting, lazy voice replied.
The two domain beings were lifted up into the air as their bodies began to reset themselves. All joints that were pulled apart came back into place. They were back to their perfect shape in no time.
The wanderer let them drop and then sighed loudly before going mute.
"Thank you!" Lioraen yelled. No reply came.
He stared at the two domain beings, unconscious and still trembling.
"Aah..."
He sat down on a broken stone.
*It worked out in the end. I doubt Suri will raise her hand at me after this.*
A loud screech suddenly blasted through the air, startling him. He sprang up, gazing down the stairs.
"How could I forget that these bastards still exist!"
Monsters of different species roamed the streets like they were recently deployed from a place.
He grinned, grabbing his sword.
"I was already bored to begin with!"
He ran down the stairs, dashing after them.
"Come play with me!"
His voice attracted them. They all turned and went after him, screeching and attacking.
His sword came down in a merciless sweep as he charged into their centre, slashing and cutting. He targeted their necks, using his small body to his advantage. He slashed; blood spilled. He didn't know when an hour went by.
Finally, he pulled his sword out of the last one and then turned around to gaze at the mess he had made.
Torn limbs scattered around, black fluid sprayed across the street. He nodded in satisfaction.
Then, he felt a presence he hadn't felt in a while. He spun around.
"Come out."
Behind the ruined pillars emerged a lady, stepping cautiously.
He narrowed his eyes.
*It really is a female. How was I able to sense her?*
She had black, shiny short hair and a round face. She wasn't dressed for the chaos, instead dressed like a rich heir dropped off at some point.
She cleared her throat, tightening her hand on a purse that must have been worth a fortune.
"Hi."
He sighed and sheathed his sword.
*Can I sense humans now?*
He turned away and began strolling towards the mountain.
She gasped, her eye following his movement.
"Hey!"
*I guess the wanderer didn't just regenerate my hand, but also heightened my sens...*
**I didn't do it,** the entity's voice cut through his mind. **You have to stop thinking that I made what you can do possible. There's only a little difference between me and you. I only repaired your mortal body.**
*The Wanderer didn't do it? Then I...*
"Hey!"
He halted, blinking at the lady who had come to block his way.
"I'm talking to you!" she scoffed. "How dare you ignore me!"
"Aah..."
He went around her.
*Such a brat.*
She watched him walk away, with little to no care of glancing back at her. Her earlier fears of being made beast meal came back, crawling at her skin.
"Hold... hold on!"
She ran after him, picking up her skirt.
"What is your name?"
He didn't reply. He just climbed the stairs that led back to Suri's shrine, his mind lost in thought.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!"
She huffed.
"Fine! I'll introduce myself first, and then you next. Talk about being honoured, you should..."
"Don't bother," he cut her off. "Go the other way."
She was taken aback by the strange man's cold remark. She stopped, watching him ascend the stairs.
"Go the other way?! I'll die if I..."
"Why should I care?"
Her heart dropped. She had always lived a life where everything and everyone had been brought to her feet. She didn't have to worry, and now someone didn't care?
Her eye watered.
"How..."
He glanced at her.
"How can you say that to a lady?" her eye watered. "You're so cruel!"
He casually stared.
*Why is she even crying?*
He turned away and continued his journey.
She wiped her tears.
"Hey! Hey! Come back here, you cruel bastard! You're worse than those weird-looking creatures!"
*I need to hurry up and return to reading that book. It stated that the wanderer entered realms at some point.*
He continued to climb the stairs.
*But to do that, it had to split its soul into the feminine and masculine form. Two beings. I wonder how that felt. I should ask sometime...*
He was pulled out of thought at the top of the stairs. Othello was up but had shrunk even smaller, to fit under a bench. As soon as he saw Lioraen, he burst out, rushing into his arms.
"Lio! I never thought I could miss you this much."
Lioraen kicked him off, glancing around for the female being.
Suri was glancing around like she had seen a ghost. She had composed herself, but was still in a disheveled state.
*This is perfect.*
He walked to a bench and casually took a seat. Othello shrank closer, curling around his leg.
He stretched out his hand to Suri.
"Come here."
TBC...