The clattering of tableware filled the diner hall. Waiters and waitresses swiftly passed by them. Most were holding jugs filled with booze while occasionally someone could be seen carrying plates full of appetizing dishes. Laughter from every corner reached his ears.
Noah sat at his table staring at his lunch. He was still not able to get the experience out of his head.
"Did you see the training the knights went through?"
"Of course, I couldn't stray my eyes off for a second..."
Although, his two tablemates seemed far more interested in chatting than being worried about his condition.
His mind wasn't in the conversation for obvious reasons. He kept playing with his salad. Idly spinning the fork in his hand, he recounted the experience repeatedly in his mind. The truth was, one can't just walk off something like that. Sitting in the cheerful atmosphere; He felt disjointed with reality.
"Noah?" She called out to him all of a sudden.
"Hmm." He responded absentmindedly.
After waking up, he had gone through a checkup. Finding no further complications, he was given permission to leave. Further training was canceled because of the incident. Therefore, he had headed back for lunch. With some help from his friends, he somehow managed to get back to the Inn.
Did he?
Everything felt fuzzy to him. He credited it as another one of the side-effects. There was a plethora of them to count by now. Migraine, dizziness, temporary loss of motor control. Heard that right. He was actually paralyzed for some time after becoming conscious. Now adding to all that was memory loss. He couldn't bother to care at this point.
"You got to pull yourself together." She said sternly.
"Yeah, no shit." He grumbled quietly, picking up a roasted potato with his fork and chewing on it.
"Eh, It wasn't a pretty sight." His best fella couldn't resist putting in a snide remark.
"I didn't expect him to fail at such a simple thing." She said giggling as if it was a funny thing.
Resisting the urge to scowl, he tried focusing on the dinner. He could be insufferable sometimes, for sure, but they were going a bit too far. He almost died back there, damn it.
"He was a complete wreck, ain't that right." He was laughing his heart out. The earlier comment clearly wasn't enough for him, he needed to rub it in by putting on a show.
Surrounding noise faded in his ears as Noah could feel everyone's attention was on them.
That was the tipping point. He couldn't stay shut. They would continue to just roll over him.
"Sorry, what?"
"You made such a show back there. I feel bad now considering myself as your friend." She said, contemptuously eyeing him.
"What do you mean? Should I have just died back then?" Noah finally snapped. His friends' attitude affronted him. He felt estranged by their uncaring nature. The least they could do was ask about his state of mind. No, they were more concerned about how he made them look.
"She is right, man." He scoffed and continued. "You have become a joke among the Trainees."
"What has gotten to you two?" Noah asked. An unsettling feeling sprouted within him. His friends were behaving abnormally. The following statements only intensified the feeling.
"What has gotten to you? We are acting normal. I would say it is you who is acting like a clown, not us."
"The whole thing has taken its toll on you. Cool yourself down. Stay away from us for now. Maybe you should change your room."
"Hey, you can't just..do...that." His voice trailed as he found out the source of unsettling feeling in his heart. Focusing on them for the first time in the conversation, he was horrified to find both of them looking at him with blank faces.
"What are you?" He blurted out. Why didn't he notice it sooner? It was almost as if his brain was purposefully ignoring them. Fear crept upon him as he noticed similar looks in the crowd. Everyone was simultaneously turned in his direction. He could feel their emotionless gazes boring through him.
Was this some sort of elaborate prank? If it was, it had clearly gone too far. Where is the announcer declaring he got pranked?
He wasn't able to continue those thoughts when he noticed everyone stepping towards him.
His panic increased with every step they took before reaching a crescendo as they halted a few feet from him. The tension became suffocating as the eerie gazes never strayed away from his figure.
"Forgot me, Noah." A playful voice reached his ears from behind him.
It snapped explosively as the color drained from his face. His heart froze hearing that hateful voice. Turning around slowly, his dread turned into reality as 'she' was standing there smiling at him.
"For I didn't."
"All these years," She said slowly. "you didn't change at all."
He clutched his fists in rage. With sheer will, he restrained himself from going berserk. However, it was considerably difficult with her presence alone continuing to test his patience.
She took slow, confident steps towards him. The anger radiating from his face didn't so much deter her approach in the slightest. Trailing her finger across his body, she circled around him like a predator gauging its prey.
"You may think that you did, but deep down, we both know that you are still that wimpy kid stuck in the orphanage."
Propping up his chin, she asked with a condescending gaze.
"This mask of bravery you wear. How long can you keep it on?"
"VERA" Noah growled. He hated saying that detestable name. Pushing off her hand, he glared at her.
Painful memories surged in his mind. Memories he wished to keep bottled deep inside. The gleeful smiles filled with malice. Relentless thrashing in the corner. The constant struggling against them. Day by day, the worsening acts that eventually became unbearable. Feeling imprisoned and confined in that building.
As if showcasing his memories, the puppets surrounding him progressively transformed into indistinct black figures.
The faceless crowd took part in the whole performance becoming the 'innocent' spectators. Under that detached guise of innocence lied potential actors in making. Eager to impress the spectators through their endearing plays. What a spectacle, promising to reenact itself on and on.
His gaze turned hazy as he lost himself in the chaotic piece.
The memories just kept on flashing by. His mind started deluding itself to think of her as the reason behind his suffering.
It all started with her. She was the cause, the origin, the source behind all that pain.
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Twirling a crimson strand of hair in her hand, Vera pressured him further with her gaze.
"Now, where is the retaliation? Or are you all talk, no show?"
His gaze turned vicious. The red in her hair became pronounced turning into blood-like crimson.
Slowly, Noah reached out for her. He wanted to vent all his rage. Put an end to this nightmare, to all his problems. If she could just disappear, he would be back with his friends and family.
It was so easy, so simple to do this. Just give in to his impulses for a moment.
Then, why were his hands not inching further?
He found his answer in her green eyes. Clarity returned to his gaze as the realization of what he was about to do dawned on him. All strength left him as he buckled down to the ground. He began hyperventilating as the breath he didn't know for how long he was holding got released.
His figure looked utterly defeated kneeling in front of Vera but the relieved smile sporting his face said otherwise.
He had managed to keep his promise. Proven himself better than them, better than the previous him. His impulses did not control him, he controlled himself.
However, his reverie was soon to be broken by Vera.
"Thought so." She said casually.
He felt a shift in his surroundings. It didn't take long for him to discover the reason. His face turned grim as he stared at the figures restarting their march towards him.
"HaVe iT YoUr wAy" Vera's voice distorted itself into something sinister. She, no, It started rippling as its figure began turning into one of the black creatures.
Its hair started lengthening accompanied by black tar dripping out of its eye sockets. The eyeballs had melted into a gooey mess long ago. By this pace, it shouldn't be long before it becomes the stuff from nightmares.
However, its transformation was halted by a sudden battlecry.
"ARGHHHH" Picking up a chair, Noah smashed it in the monster's face. The face exploded into a shower of black goo.
"You don't expect me to stand there and watch, do you?"
The black goo began reforming itself at a rapid rate. Seeing this, Noah continued his barrage of blows to flatten it down. A shriek sounded out of its mou-, general mouth area with every hard hit it received.
By the end of it, Both the creature and the chair had become a broken mess. His hand was holding onto just a broken leg of the chair.
His face was scrunched up in anger. This piece of shit tried to manipulate him and make him break his promise. This was unforgivable.
"You shouldn't have removed your mask. It was the only thing holding me back."
He looked down at one of his hands and noticed one of his nails bleeding. "Dammit!" He exclaimed in frustration.
Shrieks in the back shifted his attention. Readying himself for facing off against the horde, he spun around.
As expected, he was met with an approaching mob of blob-men. Narrowing his eyes, he assessed his current situation. The area was wide enough for him to maneuver and fight them but it wouldn't stay that way for long.
He urgently needed a weapon. Running his eyes around the hall, he caught a glimpse of a sword out of the corner of his eyes. It was lying on the floor some distance away. His sight was soon obstructed by the black blobs.
Looks like he had to go past them.
Pulling up another chair from the table, he held it straight in front of him like a pole.
Without hesitation, he rushed straight towards the freak mob, crashing into them. Surprisingly, the chair toppled half a dozen of them which were standing in the front.
His conjecture was confirmed. Somehow, he was much stronger here, whatever this place was. Nightmare, alternate reality, soulscape. He didn't care, all he knew was that he could send these monsters into oblivion with his newfound power.
He lunged at the blade and rolled to collect it.
Swiftly drawing out the sword, the blade made a hissing whisper as it was removed from its sheathe. All the while, Noah was holding the boss firmly in his gaze. Sensing movement, he knew he had to hurry on with this fight.
He turned his neck left and right, popping it with a series of clicks in rapid succession.
Noah taunted the creatures, "Come at me, you shit stains." and continued with a quick test swing of his sword. "Time for round two."
He charged straight at the crowd. Hacking at the minions using his newly acquired sword, he was amazed by its unreal sharpness. It felt almost effortless as he made short work of them.
All their resilience and strength meant nothing if they couldn't keep up with him. They were pretty dumb and stupid. He just had to maintain his momentum while keeping a safe distance. The fact that he could die if he made a single mistake wasn't fazing him at all. His sweating face was just the result of intense exercise.
Despite his continuous offensive, the blob minions were reforming themselves fast. Eventually, the numbers started overwhelming him. The fight had taken Noah close to the edge of the hall and he had his back to the wall.
Searching for any possible way out of his predicament, He came across an idea noticing the crystal lamp affixed to the wall.
Using his sword, he yanked it off the pillar and tossed it in the crowd.
'Please, please, light them up in fire.'
It did light them up, just not in the way he expected. The lamp reacted explosively to their presence as a bright flash blinded his eyes. Along erupted out a thunderous shockwave slamming him back into the pillar. The impact knocked him out for a moment.
Trying to shake off the dull pain he felt all over his body, he stood back up to witness the once pristine diner turned victim to a crystal lamp bombing. A rare sight, indeed.
Moreover, except for some slight burns and singes, he found himself relatively unharmed. It didn't look like he was standing near the epicenter of an explosion.
Not to mention the mob crowd looked to be finally thinning out.
Unfortunately, his slip in concentration allowed something to latch onto his leg.
Noah was pulled off his feet violently and thrown across the floor. He skidded and tumbled along the ground uncontrollably. His tumbling was stopped abruptly by the bar top, knocking out his breath. A groan escaped his lips as the pain from the attack settled in.
He looked up and his pupils dilated in horror.
The monster was back up and it looked to have got itself a major makeover. The hair strands had thickened from the tip into large tentacles. With the way they were moving around, they didn't seem to like his presence.
He rolled to dodge a sweeping tentacle blow. His senses felt abnormally better.
Locking on another incoming tentacle, he swung his sword using both hands with the intent to slice it in half.
An ominous foreboding emerged in his heart as he didn't hear the usual cutting sound. Turning his head, he saw that the sword only managed to barely make a nick on the tentacle.
Caution settled in as he made a run for another pillar housing a crystal lamp. It looked to be the only option left. Dashing mid-way, the feeling surfaced back in his mind as he ducked instinctually, dodging another tentacle.
Quickly, before it could respond with a follow-up, Noah decisively threw the sword at its body, it lodged itself in it stunning it for a moment.
It was still open for more attacks and he was not yet done.
Reaching the pillar, He hurled another lamp at the writhing monstrosity. Then, taking cover against the pillar, he braced himself for an explosion. The crystal lamp didn't disappoint in the slightest, it lighted up in a grand firework show of magnificent blue.
"That had to hurt," Noah said to himself coming out of cover to check. "Oh, shit." His eyes widened as his mystical sense tingled, warning him of incoming danger.
Noah sidestepped to the right as a tentacle passed by a hair's breadth from his face.
He saw the monster looking completely pissed off. How could he have known that? Its switch to berserk mode made it quite obvious. The explosion seemed to have damaged it quite heavily.
The tentacles began flailing around making an even bigger mess of the diner hall. Tables and chairs were flung around with ease. Wood and glass shattered around with splinters flying everywhere.
With a healthy chunk of them penetrating his body. Pained cries came from his mouth as he felt himself getting shredded.
He decided to try to crawl towards cover for safety, it turned out to be a bad choice. One of the larger tentacles seemed to have found his crawling figure and aimed straight at him. It nailed him to the floor through his chest.
The pain sent him into shock as his body started convulsing.
Subsequently, it held him up from his chest cavity and swung upwards.
Noah collided with the ceiling and his head plowed through the woodwork with a painful cracking sound, the wood shattered under the enormous pressure from the attack.
The tentacle let go and steadied itself for another blow.
His body fell in the embrace of gravity for the briefest moment, suspended in an ephemeral moment in time, then it slammed him straight into the ground. He sensed his body was far more broken than not, but he was still somehow breathing.
The blow jolted him back from shock but the pain made him think it would have been better if he remained unconscious.
The tentacles then dragged him on the floor towards the monstrosity.
Reaching near the head honcho of blob-men, He was hung upside down from his ankle.
He could sense its empty eye sockets sweeping over him. As Noah's eyes met the black pits that once held Vera's eyes, a sickening feeling washed over him; he could feel its gaze peering into his very soul.
What... a nightmare.
He now realized the creature's identity. He had undergone the same experience just a few hours ago. This monster was the planet-sized hentai fuck he met back in space.
His mind was consumed in vengeance and anger.
Picking up a broken chair leg, he jabbed it in its face.
His face darkened as the attack wasn't as effective as he expected.
Other than slight rippling on the surface, there was no reaction. It regenerated itself in an instant.
"Was worth a try." He sighed in resignation. That was the last attack he could manage to muster, his severe condition was already inhibiting him to make large movements.
The creature melted into a goo along with all the other blob-men. The slimy mix turned the floor into a vortex leading to the unknown.
The tentacle set him free and his body began freefalling.
Within a second, a sea of inky black void engulfed him.
Passing through the vortex, his senses left him one by one. Every emotion seemed to dull. Even his mystical sense didn't work. Noah tried wriggling, struggling to break free of the eternal darkness.
He felt weak and alone. Curling himself up, he drifted into the abyss.
The seconds ticked by as time itself lost meaning. the tension left his body and he thought of nothing. His mind felt numb, emotionless and uncaring of everything.
Maybe it was far better if he died this way, not having to deal with the craziness in his new life.