Year 2054

It was all or nothing. The moment had come when the boy had to choose, and everything rested on his decision. Either he chose the correct one, or he would choose the wrong one. The fact he had gotten this far proved he was no ordinary boy. He was the chosen one.

Why couldn’t he have lived a simple, standard, ignorant life? Did Noctisanguis hate him so much, to make him suffer all the pain and suffering?

Everything up to this period in time has been a warm-up boy, for thus far has been the introduction for what has yet to come, it whispered conspicuously, voice like a hissing snake, sending shivers up his spine. A warm-up. . . The boy glanced at what said it. A warm-up. . . this is the end, it had to be. There was no way he could endure more if everything this far had only been an introduction to what was to come. His life seemed to never end, at times wondering if death would be a mercy. Wishing he could just die and not keep coming out barely alive, only to endure more and more and more misery. Was it deceiving him, trying to convince him to give up? Was it asking to be picked or telling him not to choose it? The boy was losing it, and if he didn’t hurry, everything would have been for nothing. This is it, all or nothing. Endure or die.

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Focusing on his breathing, he took many deep, intricate breaths. He focused on the ones taught to him by his master, making his heartbeat reduce to a mere fraction of what it had been only a moment ago. With a final slow, incredibly calm breath, the boy cleared his mind. His jumbled thoughts raced to a stop. He relaxed, muscles that were taut unravelving. Vascular veins receded back in magnitude, reducing to their normal size. His panting stopped, his sweating vanquished. With a clear mind, he could do this.

Lifting his arm ever so slowly, the boy chose. Touching it, he knew it was about to reveal itself, about to show the trueness of the one he had picked. Reality seemed to pause. Seconds became an eternity—hours contained within a single second.

The boy then discovered which one he had chosen. Realization hit him in the gut doubling him over, bile rising from his stomach. He had heard the myths and rumors of what happened if you chose this one. He had heard of what this one had done in the past. Touching it, he knew he made the worst decision of them all.

He laughed, but it was no human laugh. It was the laugh of a demon.