A King to Be

Wrrrrrrghhhhhh. The door groaned as it was pushed through. The full width of it was wide enough to fit about ten recruits and their guides through.

The orange spikey-haired man and his comrades walked briskly ahead through the double doors and walked a good ten feet or so before stopping and turning at the sound of the doors closing.

Spider's eyes blinked leisurely as he took in the hall.

Wide.

That would be the first word to describe it. A large space with white stone and green outlines drawn upon them to accent their beauty.

Not the beauty of the walls and the floors, for that wouldn't, in Spider's eyes, be particularly worthy of note.

It was the beauty of the staircases.

Spiraling and winding, their marble frames stood perfectly tall, a masterful advancement of architecture that perfectly balanced between being grand and seeming delicate.

There were many of them.

The large hall contained 40 at least. All of them stretching into the ceiling where their tops disappeared into the ceiling above.

When all the new recruits had walked into the room, the orange-haired cloaked figure spoke.

"This," he said brightly, "is the hall of new beginnings. Each staircase here leads to a different area of the Dream. And honestly, they're the reason we put the 'deadly' in the 'Deadly Dream Headquarters.'" He smirked.

"So," he said, dramatically slapping his knee, "we're gonna go this way instead."

The boy with hands in his pockets and the aura of a delinquent from a faraway world emanating from his body strolled up to the wall on the left of the large hall.

Then he yelled at it.

"Oi! Wall!!! Open your measly mouth, thing! We fed you like ten times yesterday, so don't be sleeping on us, kora!"

Then the hall was silent. Forty masked figures throwing eyes at each other in expectation; at this point, they had seen it all, hadn't they?

Wrmmm. Wrmmm. Wrmmm. Wrmmmm.

Qrmmm. Wrmmm. Qrmmm. Wrmmmm.

Wrnn.

Wrnmmm?

"Yeah, wall, I hear you. Just open your measly mouth, we'll feed ya agin tomorrow."

Wrmmm.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Yeah. Yeah. Now open up."

The wall stopped its internal rumbles all at once.

Then the green slowly began to move, pulling itself from the tiles' decoration and slowly amassing toward the center of the left wall.

Rip.

With a sound like a zipper being pulled too fast, the wall split open. The tiles on its edges popped off at its opening, hanging right at the edges.

All in all, the finished product made the tiles look like teeth, and made the wall appear as if it was a menacing maw ready to swallow them whole.

"Alright. In we go."

///////////

Smooth jazz pumped out of a colorless box as it puffed out smoke that danced in the image of fairies.

The new cloaks stopped with a "Wooooooow," collectively as they took in the room draped in luxury.

Spider, later, wouldn't care to remember most of it, eyes lapping over most of it, then his eyes fell on a chair.

It was gold and black with a rim of gold around its silhouette reclining seat. Imposing almost in stature, being the width of a large bed cut in half.

It was quickly taken.

One girl, her feet streaking with thunder, dashed forward, streaking across the room and landing in the chair.

Even through her mask, one could see triumph.

Then something went amiss.

The chair bent in, and with a "puthooo" sound, the cushion fell in, a hole seemingly eternally deep opened wide and swirled with a mysterious white twirl.

Donk!

A wall across the room went as it was slammed. Dark cloak and crackling thunder mixed in with a girl breathing through the shock of her life was echoed by the strike of thunder that struck from her feet.

It seemed the near-death experience had slammed the magic out her feet.

Time passed, food was brought in from somewhere unseen, carted by small fae who laughed like bells as the smell of the snacks began to fill the room. Drinks that tasted like honey were drunk lightly, and soon the music increased, and the smoke fairies and the fae began to dance side by side.

"Ah, I forgot to say," the spikey-haired man spoke. "For the day initiation, all masks are to be removed." Then the man's face was naked.

An odd word to use, but fitting. For the last three months, these youth had kept their faces covered under the strict rule. An assassin is not to be seen. Up to this point, if an examiner had caught their faces free to the elements, their faces were removed and hung from a rope as a warning.

But now that was over.

Nervous fingers around the room gripped the edges of the leather, pulling them down with tense concentration.

Spider observed. It was interesting to see how easy the human mind was to wire. Three months ago they would have done removed their mask with a quickness, as Spider did now.

The light warmth of air tickled his face as he felt the leather pull free.

It was a nice feeling.

"Spider. Spider. Psss. How do I look?"

Nella whispered in his ear from his side.

She looked ravenous.

Her hair fell loosely in a curly twin tail that draped her shoulders and accented her almond eyes, her small face, her full lips.

Spider felt a hunger.

With a hand placed around the back of her neck, he leaned down and kissed her.

A hungry thing it was, involving some pulling, biting, and squeezing accompanied by a soft moan before being released.

Spider licked his lips.

Tasty.

There were a few gazes on Spider then, but the emotions that came with them, well, he didn't care enough to notice them.

Instead, he let the wave of pleasure mellow his thoughts as a suave that would ease him into his next move.

Now then, what was left on his list?

He began to recount a mental list he had made as Nella purred into his ear and over his arm.

Make it into the Deadly Dream selection,

check.

Find a person he could trust to stick by his side,

check.

Retrieve the ancient blade of Asmodeus, Spider reached into his sleeve and felt a blade land squarely in his palm.

Check.

Make sure the team he had used to infiltrate the dream was still alive.

He looked around the room and saw a series of recognizable faces. Snake mouth even caught his gaze, giving him a nod.

Check.

Spider prepared himself mentally for the most interesting item on the list as he felt his neck be battered with kisses.

Regain his crown.

Soon to be checked.

And so Spider stood and looked to the gaping hole in the wall.

It was time to go.