A few hours had passed, but the silence remained as if it had never ended before. Noen was sitting in deep thought, and Sera lay motionless on the ground.
Beside her was a burning campfire; its heat brought warmth to the area, along with the shadows drowned in an orange hue.
A panic was surging inside Noen's heart. A worry made him keep looking at her, who hadn't woken for hours since their escape. The only thing that assured him was her slow breaths, moving with the faint sound of dripping waters.
Above them lay a series of large dripstones, where far away, a cascade of water gushed out to a never-ending path. Mushrooms were growing in the moist atmosphere, and moss looked like it had conquered the place.
Noen stood up, unable to sit idle. He circled the same path, thinking of something, as he murmured,
"How that shell was formed… from what I saw, it was made from my blood, but how?
I tried pricking my finger before, but it didn't solidify; it only did when it came in contact with that shell."
"Ahhh!"
He rammed his hair in pure frustration as his gaze landed on a mushroom growing nearby.
Something was ominous about it as a weird-looking worm came closer to it, trying to eat it. But the mushroom shifted its shape, turning into a shell-type structure, releasing spikes that pierced the body of that worm. Blue blood splattered all over the ground as Noen saw it with pure concentration.
"What was that?" he wondered, though it looked dangerous to touch,
But his curiosity led him closer to the mushroom. He picked it up in his hand without a worry as he observed it closely.
The mushroom kept its shape for a while before it shifted back into its original form, but this small change clicked an idea in his brain as he wondered,
"What if… I—"
Noen closed his eyes. Everything shifted into pitch dark as he sensed the world around him.
His insides flowed with a weird rhythm. The heart pumped the blood, expanding his veins with the flow. Every part of his body ignited in heat as his eyes welled up into tears of blood. His body started to swell up like a balloon before it burst apart into a splatter of blood.
He opened his eyes, unable to feel his hands as he looked at the burst mess.
"I guess I concentrated too much."
He sighed as suddenly his body came to its original state.
But he didn't look satisfied as a thought was keep bothering him.
"Can I control my immortality?"
This was the thought that made him sit for hours, trying and trying till his breath came short. Whereas there was no motion in the wards of Sera; her body was stagnant like a log.
Her face only twitched a few times over the past few hours, as if she were experiencing a nightmare.
***
"Mom?"
"Who are these monsters?"
"They are called plague."
A woman with a darkened face said with a low voice, looking at the frail girl lying beside, Her eyes were filled with warmth and affection as she slowly patted her head.
Her voice somewhat felt like she was in pain, but her expression remained hidden in the dark. She said, continuing further.
"Sera, one day you have to go outside, to see the beautiful world. Though there are many dangers outside. But always remember if you ever meet this monster, stay away from it."
"Are they bad?" the frail girl asked. Though her voice was filled with complete innocence, her mother looked at her with a faint smile.
"Yes, they are bad, pretty, pretty bad.
So if you ever meet them, just run away.
Do you promise?"
"Yes, Mom."
"But what do they look like?"
"They are evil. They have a skull on their head, and their eyes glow in deep colours in the dark.
Their body is always covered in a cloak, and if the flowers around it start to wilt, then you know it's a plague."
"But why are the flowers sad? Aren't they beautiful?"
"Oh, Sera, once the time arrives, you will understand.
But remember, you are a V̸̰̄$̶͉̽@̶̡͌#̶̶͖̻́͌(̴̴̺͎̆͘."
Everything started to glitch. Red and black coloured the void as her mom started to get further away.
Sera's voice echoed in the dark, trying to call her mom, yet her voice didn't reach, as if it were a distant past. They kept getting further away, and she just followed her, endlessly.
"Mom…"
"Mom!"
"MOM…!!"
Though the emptiness never ended. As she fell trying to catch her, a deep pit opened below, dragging her down into the depths, bound with the freedom of a bird locked inside a cage.
***
"Haff… haff… haff…"
Sera woke up in jolting breaths, eyes trembling from uncontained fear as she felt like vomiting. Her face was engrossed in sweat as a tear fell from her cheeks.
"Mom…"
Only those words came from her mouth. Her eyes were red, but soon she snapped back, wiggling her head and looking around where she was. But her gaze landed on something—something horrific.
In front of her was the body of a man covered in crimson blood. Tendons were scattered all over the ground, and an eyeball fell out from its socket, looking at her, trying to reconnect to its place. Seeing that, she screamed. Her voice trembled as she tried to step back, dragging herself toward the cave wall.
"Wh- wh—ekkk…"
Her voice couldn't get out of her throat; instead, only her screams echoed. But then a voice followed.
"It's me, Sera."
"Wh- who's talking?"
She looked around, trying to find out who said it. Her face looked as if she would cry; trembling, she tried to escape, even though a wall stood behind her.
But before she could have taken more steps back, someone came towards her, fully recovered, looking at her.
"Sorry, I scared you. I got lost in practising."
"Mister!" she said, trembling beneath her feet, her voice stuttering, " How did you…?"
"Well, don't worry about it. It's just… a normal thing."
"But." his voice got deeper and calmer.
"You are covered in sweat. Did you have a nightmare?"
She didn't say anything, but everything was visible on her face as she just nodded her head.
Noen looked at her assuringly as he asked,
"Is it something that you can tell?"
"It's about the plague," she said in a low tone.
Everything fell silent as his eyes stiffened. Looking at her, he asked,
"What do you mean?"
"My mom used to tell me stories when I was a child. In one of them, my mom mentioned the name plague.
I don't know what it is, but…"
She moved her head away, a sad expression blooming on her face. She said,
"I still remember what she used to tell me.
When you go outside the house, always remember—
A skull on its head, eyes darker than the shadows, its body covered in a cloak… then you know it's a plague.
And if you ever encounter it, always stay away from them."