We left our home, sedated in an endless dream.
With the steps of thieves over hell, beneath the threshold of death.
Two silhouettes cutting through the shadow of the moon,
Leaving behind the high towers standing
As tombstones over graves already abandoned,
Reaching for the black thorn that pierces the belly of the sky.
We have left behind the golden gates, locked by resignation,
Walls built from heartbreak, packed into rough stone.
Every step outward is a betrayal of peaceful slumber.
ELYSION GATE — 11:00 PM
Ken stopped in the middle of his stride.
"Why must we leave in the dead of night?"
Gaius did not turn. Instead, he casually swayed his palm.
"To kill the night itself."
The sentence hung in the air, loud and arrogant, like a stone deliberately dropped into a still pond.
AND THE UNIVERSE ANSWERED WHAT HE DESIRED.
A darkness so thick came without courtesy—uninvited,
Seeping from the crevices of fear,
Boiling from beneath mortality.
The magical light of Elysion, which had always radiated softly from the tower's peak, was now completely drained, crushed by the pressing blackness.
In an instant, they were trapped in a vacuum that imprisoned the soul,
Where even the shadow of one's own hand could no longer be seen.
"WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS?!"
"...Shouting will only reveal your presence... Now shut your foul mouth..."
It seemed that what Ken said was true...
Every sound they made went nowhere, and only returned to them...
_ _ _
The thick darkness came groping,
Binding the mortal who dared too boldly challenge its existence.
In his torment, the pillar of a king—always steadfast, never once bending before anyone—now trembled. His eyes reddened, his jaw locked, grinding his own molars, struggling against an invisible pressure that sought to break his majesty.
In the blackness that misled the soul,
Only the sound of his ragged breath could be heard,
fighting against the choking siege.
From his side, Ken's voice chuckled,
nearly lost, swallowed by the crushing density.
"AGAain... you ruin our plans..
.....for the umpteenth time..."
Slowly... the voice began to vanish, replaced by whispers that pierced to the deepest recesses of the soul.
Before a louder voice emerged once more.
"Man! This is all just a misunderstanding! He didn't mean that toward you!"
Slowly, Ken's slender arm lifted—though the darkness kept forcing it down.
He pointed toward the violet light, whose glow not even the night's wrath could hinder.
"You see that bastard up there? Now, I hope you understand..."
"TCH! JUST BECAUSE HE'S YOUR FRIEND... YOU THINK I'LL LET HIM GO THAT EASILY—"
But... an innocent tenderness came too boldly.
"NO! DO....N'T..... TOU...CHH..
.....HIM...... HIM....."
"YOU THINK....IT'S YOUR RIGHT.....TO JUDGE HIM
... YOU.....JUDGING....."
"YOUUU.....DON'T....UNDERSTANND.....THAT...THERE ARE.....BOUN...DARIES...
..... BOUNDARIES.....THAT...EXIST...."
"TCH!...WH....AT...DID.....YOU...FOR...GET.....BE....CAUSE...OF...YOUR.....WEAKNESSSSSSSSSSS....YOUUUU... ARE TRAPPED HERE.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ....YOU...ARE...MORE...STUPID...THAN...I...THOUGHT....!!!"
"WE....WILL NOT...BEGGG!.....FOR.....A WEAK...SPIRIT.....LIKE....YOURS!!!.....HA.....HAA.HHAAA....ALONG....WITH....US.....
HA..HA..HA.HA..HAAAAAAA.......WEAK....SPIRIT!!!!!!!!....."
"Damn.... I already explained our purpose was not to
"Disturb.....you allllll..."
What the hell is this???
Why...
Why does my voice come back to meee
No no.....
I must fight...
"EVERYTHING....HAPPENED....
BECAUSE...THERE IS....AAAAAAA....CAUSE."
"AND....HE...WILL....RECEIVE....THE...CONSEQUENCE..."
"BALANCE....DEMANDS.... PRICE....."
"PR... ICE?"
"HAAA.....HAAA.... HAA....HAAA....."
"PRICE????
KI...INGGGG...."
"THE... MOST....
.EXPENSIVEEEEE.....O,..FF
.....ALL....SOULS...THA...T...EXIST..."
"KING??? I....HATE....KINGG...SO...COLD....RIPPPPPP,.....HIS....BODYYYYMAAKES....
.....HATE,......MAA...
ME....FEEL.....
MY...SOUL......RE...
.........TURNNN"
Gaius....
Do somethinggg.....
Akhhhh.....
You tell me to do something....
We can't moveeee....
Ken....
Helppp me....
"RELEASEE...HIM...
...HIM.....HIMM....."
"IN....YOUR...HA...HA
...DREAMSSS.....HA"
"KI....LLLLL.....THE...KINGG...
.....MEAT..... KI.....LLLLL....
"EVERY...CONSEQUENCE...HAS...ITS.....OWN...PRICE..."
"GAIUSSS...A...KINGG....WITH.....
...LOW....
HEART.....NOT.....WORTHY.....TO.....RECEIVE....THIS...."
Gaius swallowed his own spit, the taste of iron filling his tongue..
"WHO...ARE WEE...TO....JUDG....EE....."
"WHO...IS...CRUSHING...US...."
---
Oil and water, never to be united.
Like pebbles grinding against each other...
Ken stepped half a stride ahead of Gaius, his posture low and alert, a dagger dangling from his hand—parting the darkness that mocked him...
"You are too young to utter such a thing..."
A calm voice flowed from all directions, calling to him—softer, more dangerous. Gaius felt something small yet sharp creeping beneath his skin.
Something deadly stared directly before him.
"Release... my friend!"
The voice turned and choked him.
In another corner of misery, sinful spirits began coiling around Gaius's ankles—cold threads of souls...
No matter how hard his soul tried to flee...
It would be meaningless—and utterly useless.
Chains emerged chaotically from the depths of the void—binding him tightly. Restraining his soul that whimpered, seeking freedom.
Laughter... So much laughter... Mockery... Voices that once clashed now merged... crushing every corner of his mind.
"YOUR FOOLISHNESS... IS KILLING YOU—"
"YOU... THINK... YOUR DEEDS... ARE RIGHT!"
"THAT... IS WHY... YOU... ARE HERE..."
Gaius closed his eyes, gathering the remnants of his courage. He was a king... But this time... He was fragile, helpless... and humiliated.
Just as he opened his light... the shadow before him had already stirred—a tall, gaunt silhouette, present without presence, with two points of violet light as its observer.
"You are too weak to even save yourself from this place!"
A sneer echoed from that silhouette.
From within the crowd of other shadows, a shrill scream burst forth, filled with thirst.
"I... want to kill you!"
Ken drew hope which he called a weapon—that ordinary metal felt utterly useless... Yet, at least it gave him something to grip if those vile, repulsive chains began to approach him.
Ken simply stayed silent and waited. Allowing the voices to overlap, cut in, curse, and revile him...
"You... only... add—"
A strange shadow landed on Gaius's shoulder, freezing his muscles.
"Spirit... of sin..."
A foul stench filled his breath—
"Sin upon our curse!"
He choked—the stinging pain in his eyes killing him further.
"Your place is in hell!"
The pressure intensified. The water of the void filled his eyes as he watched the lowly coils binding his friend... This would be the end... Here... At the very gates of his own kingdom.
But then...
A single voice suddenly split the clamor.
That voice was clear, bright, and full. Yet also deadly and painful to whoever heard it.
"Everything will be arranged, young King..."
All hissing, laughter, and screams ceased instantly. The silence that followed was more terrifying than the chaos before it.
It provoked the strange shadow with violet eyes to turn, searching for the source of the voice that dared disturb the death he was bringing.
That voice...
Spoke again.
Closer... Right behind his ear. A whisper that brought back sanity amidst the silence that was stealing his sanity and the melody of his soul.
He felt his eyelids grow heavy. His waking thoughts now slowly dulled. A part of the darkness that had once been hostile now embraced him, gentle yet tormenting every inch of his skin.
His vision blurred, his inner self sank together with the voices that had now obeyed and become one.
"There is no more suffering."
_ _ _
Ken's focus shattered instantly—right as a voice came from beyond the darkness—whispering as if born from his own skull.
Ken froze—his breath trapped within his body.
You know who he is
.....You know who he isss
.......He and you—he is hunting you
In an instant, he realized who—not only with his reason, but with something more primordial—something that recognized the darkness long before his eyes could see.
He shifted his gaze slowly.
Fighting the cosmic weight that had begun to gnaw at his mortal body.
The shadow only stood still... but deep within himself, he knew something ancient dwelled inside it.
He nailed his eyes. Staring at something he had never even recognized at all.
But as he stared too deeply—
A gleaming violet light blinded his vision—
A pair of eyes radiating dark violet light stared at him, impossibly close—
The world collapsed, simultaneously shaking his body down.
Visions came from every direction...
showing memories that were not his own.