The way home was a long trek through backyards and railroads longing for use. A sprinkle of rain clatter on my shoulder as I marched through the overgrown weeds and discarded trash of passing cars. I cursed at myself, I had left my jacket at home. I thought again and again in my mind, battling familiar thoughts and forgotten memories. I knew this wasn’t my body nor my place in the world, nevertheless marching to a place I called home. I was miles away from the school, the rain seemed to pick up the moment I reached a small overpass of an abandoned road. Its crumbling infrastructure provided little comfort as I sat and wrapped my arms around myself for the small bit of warmth. Stopping was the best I could do to stay dry, but it proved to be a fatal mistake as a group of hooded boys approached me in the rain.
Their chattering sparks an instinctual fear in the feeble heart of my body.
“Well, well, well. What do you know? He is homeless.” The leader of the group took one look and smirked viciously like a wolf had finally found prey.
Donald Hughes, the bully who had tormented me since he had first laid eyes on me, and his group of lackeys sworn to defend and ridicule all the same.
They chuckled as I tried to look away, trying to hide in plain sight.
“Where were you during Homeroom, runt? You missed reading time, and I know you just love reading time you fucking nerd.”
“Go away…” my voice feebly croaked, the respite of the nap I took inside the nurse’s office wearing thin.
“I’m not in the mood to beat you today, wrestling tryouts were after school today. You aren’t worth my time.” I was shocked to hear this, he had beaten me up after every event or afterschool since first grade.
“I would say go home, but lucky for us… you are trespassing on our turf.” The panic surfaced in my mind, I had forgotten the most important place to avoid after school.
‘How could I have been so stupid, the overpass.’ I glanced at the graffiti that littered the stonework and concrete; the swear words and vaguely obscene images combined in a random scramble that layered over each other throughout the years. They are going to kill me.
“You have to pay a toll if you don't want us to hurt you.” The second in command, Richard Harris, said as pointed his order to surround me. I was helpless, the cold proving too much without my jacket.
“What do you want?” I chattered through my teeth, my body felt as if I was freezing solid.
“Nothing we want, but we take what you have to offer.” The largest boy, William Porter, sneered from underneath his hood. In an instant, they rushed me. I kicked, and I screamed as they ripped the damp clothes from my body. Each piece of fabric that was torn away brought more cold until all I felt was my skin exposed to the element, my flesh festered with goosebumps as the chill of the wind and the bitterly freezing rain pelted my skin.
Finally they had taken every piece I had to cover me, they continued amongst themselves as they laughed mockingly as they tore each article of cloth into smaller and smaller shreds.
“You little shits, I’m going to bust your heads open.” A large burly man appeared at the other end of the overpass. Carrying a crowbar drenched in a deep red substance, then like any other logical person would do, the group of pubescent tormentors scattered like rats in a fire; each of them ran in a different direction than the last.
“Get up Arthur, it will be okay.” As I stared at the figure, I was not able to fully appreciate the sudden arrival of my savior as I shut my eyes for a moment.
I awoke to a small fire and a majority of my body wrapped in a scratchy blanket of stained wool.
“Thank you.” I said into the night, but startled myself when a voice spoke from behind me.
“It’s nothing really.” I swung my head around to see a girl perched on top of a large slab of concrete, the same crowbar of the man leaned against the wall.
“Aurora… how did you do that?”
“I’m not too sure, I knew you were in danger and I came. It was surprisingly easy to hide in my house and go to sleep.” She said as her fingers swung a necklace back and forth on the tip of her finger.
“What is that?” I stood, but quickly pulled the blanket up to my shoulders. My body ached all over, but after seeing the kind eyes of my first friend, the pain began to slip away.
“I got it from a boy, he is kinda like you.” I watched as the silver glinted in the moonlight, revealing a small crescent moon pendant.
“I mean I like you, but you aren’t real. My daddy says that imaginary friends are just that… imaginary.” Her words stung, but she was wrong.
“I’m the one that's real, you are the imaginary friend.” Anger sparked in my voice, I had seen this girl in my dreams and now in my waking life.
“I’m hallucinating. I know what that means for people around here. I’m real, not you!” I shouted at her. I saw the tears ripple across her eyes as they slowly fell down her cheeks.
“I’m going home.” I turned away from her, leaving the fire to burn itself out, but when I turned to take one last look, she was gone without a trace.
‘I don’t need your help.’ I grimly thought to myself. The sky was beyond dark and the weather had subsided. I knew it would be back, but not for a few hours.
Soon after that I saw the familiar street lights and the faded signs that I loathed.
The lights of my home were off, like normal and the door locked tightly. Nothing was worth stealing inside, but cheap alcohol strong enough to strip paint. Even then that was a prize worth having in a town like this.
I pried the window of my bedroom and climbed inside. I rejoiced for a moment in the lingering heat of the furnace that would remain off until my father returned home. I pulled some of my clothes from the hamper, although these were beyond small on my frame, I felt comfortable until a noise sounded from the living room. I walked out cautiously to the sight of my father’s girlfriend in a deep sleep on the couch. The heavy tobacco that wandered in the air stung my nostrils and almost made me cough, but I kept my composure.
I didn’t like her as a mom, but she knew how to cook and joke with us. I sat at her feet. This day was too long, this life was longer.
I could feel the edges of myself chip away every day, but something was different. As my eyes struggled to stay open, I heard a singing. A ringing so twisted inside itself that it seemed to speak. I woke up in the gray room I always dreamt of.
In the void of gray, I was the master of my dreams, of my life, of my destiny.
I spotted a figure at the corner of my vision.
“Who are you?”
I shook myself awake as I opened my eyes in the gray room. A boy younger than myself stared curiously at me.
“Are you my new imaginary friend? Are you going to tell me that I’m not real either?” The boy asked as he sat before me.
“Arthur?” I spoke, hearing the echo of my voice in the distance. There was no denying it, this was the Umbra, but far more limited in its reach.
“Yeah that’s my name… listen, it's been a hard day for me. If you want to come back later, I’ll understand.” Arthur spoke as looked for something in the distance, staring at what seemed like thousands of miles away.
“What do you see?” I ask as I sit down beside him.
“I’m deciding now.” His breath began to slow as he concentrated, I watched in anticipation.
I knew for a fact, that this was the beginning, but somewhat lacking.
“Do you want to hurt them?” I stare into his eyes, now facing him in an instant. He paused his train of thought, and stared back towards me.
“I can’t.”
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“But if you could, I mean.” his features rippled and his expression changed.
“I would,” He said, the edge of his lips falling into a frown, “and I wouldn’t stop until they felt how I felt.”
I decided to let him work, I couldn’t do anything yet, but the feeling was strange nonetheless. I had his memories, but what he sought was not the same as before. I remained baffled as he finally stood, and held out a hand.
“You didn’t tell me your name yet.” Arthur says with a hint of condescension.
“My name is Atlas.” I treated my words with warmth, the gray of the room seemed to darken slightly as if it were a thunder cloud.
“I think I knew that one, I remember reading about it in school.” He said as he turned to walk into the gray expanse before them.
The further we walked, the more colors and shapes began to form from the nothingness. Great scenes of nature to pathways stretching endlessly between buildings of impossible heights. A song played across the ethereal landscape, and finally Arthur stopped before a door. The song imprinted itself inside my thoughts, shifting between familiar notes and unknown chords. The sound was beautiful yet unnerving as the noise seemed to stop when Arthur placed his hand upon the door.
“I wish I could have had more time, but if I got back I would never find this again.” Arthur choked back his tears, I knew what he was thinking. ‘His family will be lost to him after he opens that door.’
“Could you forgive them?” I asked as I placed my hand over his, noting the considerable difference between their hands.
“I don’t think I can Atlas. I spent years dreaming of the end. Every moment I spent in the waking world, every second they spent beating me. It would mean nothing in the end.” Arthur’s tears streamed down his cheeks and fell to his feet, but did not rest on the ground.
“Our world was one of many, doomed to repeat every step in a march towards destruction. When you have a chance to do something, we must take it.” Arthur’s voice quivered, the maturity of his words betraying his visible age.
“Do better than them, be stronger than the others. You could grow up to do anything, don’t waste the life you were given.” I said before pulling him into a tight embrace. ‘I could change this so that he doesn’t become the ragged man, make it so that he can’t become my family’s tormenter.
“You would think that, wouldn’t you child?” A presence loomed above the two of us. A crimson cloud forming tendrils circled like a hurricane above us.
“I had half a heart to think that you would just kill the boy and be done with it, but no. There is no such thing as the easy path with you humans… Such a need to take the righteous path, it's quite disgusting.” A man approached them from the fading path behind them; cane in hand resembling a serpent, and a deep red suit.
“Who are you?” Arthur pushed me away, I felt his mind begin to repel me.
“Well who I am isn’t important, not really. This is only a body I stole in my search for the both of you. See now What I am is what concerns you. I spent lifetimes in search for something like you two, but I missed only by a measly decade. It's unfortunate, but now I get a do-over, you know before time has a way to repeat itself.” A crooked smile spread across his lips revealing a row upon row of teeth covered in a gory viscera.
“I am the lord of this realm, reveal your name!” Arthur shouted at the top of his lungs, shaking the ground beneath us. I felt myself visibly cringe away at such a phrase. ‘He truly believes he controls this place, and what memories he held, only proved my point. Dungeons and Dragons, whatever that was.’ I thought to myself.
Arthur stared at the man, but gave me a glance.
“If you are my imaginary friend, help me. We can win this.” Arthur readied a stance like he was going to change the man, but I knew we were no match.
“You are technically correct Arthur, but you can only view the dreams of others. Is that correct? Now who really controls it, is your friend right next to you. The reins go to the strongest. The Umbra is not a playground for all to have an equal share, then it would be chaos.”
Arthur turned to face me, the stance remaining as strong as ever, with a look of betrayal carved deeply into his features.
“Is it true?” Arthur’s tears dried quickly as the gears began turning inside his head.
“Of course it is true Arthur, in fact this a memory. That gift is valuable… if you know how to use it. Atlas only came here to stop you, rewrite history the way he says fit, which means destroying you.” The man cackled sinisterly.
“It’s not true, Arthur. We can change the world, but I do have a secret.” I felt the shame fluttering in every beat of my heart.
“I killed your family because your grandfather trapped me after tonight. Luring me into Sinn House. A place where stories and dreams were so abundant that it rivaled the very universe in size. 47 years only to be brought back here, to where it all started.” Arthur ripped through my memories and connected the pieces. I felt the hostile void beginning to stare back at me as I gazed into his eyes, hoping to find the shred of good that still remained.
“That’s not what this evening is for, see Arthur… What Atlas doesn’t know is your purpose, but I do. You were meant to open a door and you would have if not for the girl, she is going to be in a special place you hold very dear, but I have since taken care of that,” The man let the red juice drip from his teeth and down his chin.
“You’ll find that whatever fragment she left here and in the waking world is gone. Torn to impossible little pieces, I hope you don’t mind.” Arthur’s face paled immediately, as he searched inward. I knew what he looked for, his sister.
“You bastard!” Arthur grabbed my head and with an impressive show of strength, he slammed it into the door. It opened on unseen hinges as my vision faded, I watched the cloud as the sky began to swirl with an unimaginable speed, lightning crashed and collided together.
“Yes! Yes!” The man shouted to the heavens as Arthur passed through the darkness doorway, he walked proudly towards me and bent at the knee to meet my eyes.
“You had so much power, but you know how these things are. Early bird gets the worm, but let's not have a repeat of the last time.” He stood and smirked before delivering a powerful kick to my abdomen, sending me through the doorway after Arthur.
I felt a cool stream wetting my hair and my clothes, waking me entirely. I rose to my feet and glanced at my surroundings with awe of the unknown spectrum of colors. The pain in my stomach scorched like acid behind my skin. I double over in pain, vomiting up stomach acid and clumps of blood into the crystal clear water. Even as the mess touched the water, it immediately disappeared as if it was impossible to dilute. I wiped the corners of my mouth with my sleeve, and felt the eyes of thousands suddenly on me. The pool stretched ahead for miles, revealing nothing, but a shimmering surface reflecting those impossible colors and darkness.
“I have heard this call since birth, and I searched for all of my life to find it. Only to be unworthy.” In the distance a fountain rose from beneath the gentle current. Arthur was there, waiting for me. Although the miles between us were immeasurable, I could hear him clear as day and much like before every step I struggled in pain amounted to dozens, if not hundreds.
“It is death. I know what it means. It is only another trial. I did not survive last time, so I fed on others like me to survive.” Arthur touched the water flowing from the fountain's edge.
“A trial for what?” I staggered for a moment, catching what little breath I could hold.
“The trials of becoming. I read all the books from endless libraries, both real and imagined. Now that I have proof, and the key, I can open the next step for all mankind. I can’t save them all, and I know I am doomed to repeat my future, but there are others to come that wish to claim this world and all beyond its borders.”
Arthur stared at the twisted band of physical blackness that rested at the fountain peak.
“The Moraband is the crown of death and the key to ending all suffering. Our first trial was Flesh. Which we stole as we crawled from the very flesh of gods.” The colors in the sky shifted to depict a fading battleground where millions fought only hundreds.
“To shadow; that we won from the demons that tricked us into imprisonment.” The scene shifts to a man shaking hands with a disfigured and malnourished form with long teeth and horns.
“With memory we adapted into stone with our homes and monuments of tools long forgotten.” Stonehenge showed in the stark contrast of shadow, the features becoming weathered as the weeds grew around them.
“Spirit; unknowingly passed and grown with every generation. Forming their laws and stories that buried the truth of origin.” Masses of citizens gathered below the pristine stone balcony of the pope, religious texts printed ad infinitum and rewritten every decade.
“Mirror; when the path ahead was too hard for our caveman ways, we looked within ourselves and found the solution of happiness and morality. People justify their own means, and their own judgment on others.” soldiers marched, leaders saluting empty promises, weapons forged in the destruction growing in power and number.
“Finally our trial. Dream. Our people searched for millenia, but lacked the tools and power to see anything come of dreams. Today we have manifestations, fortunes, lost children found after weeks of searching, and actualization of destiny in the form of a product spread worldwide; sold for profit rather than advancement or need.” Rockets streaming into the stratosphere and further, medication pumped into bottles, and artwork owned privately in the home of an extravagantly rich person.
“Death will bring an end to wars, to famine, and the greed of mankind. Our goal… our purpose in life is to create a world beyond our selfish needs. To possess the means of living beyond the life of those before us. God or whatever created this universe is gone, maybe onto the next or forever, but It isn’t coming back. The powers that created this world, and all of others, are gone. The egg is all that remains, what grows from the dreams and lives of all mortal and immortal things.”
I watched as every word Arthur said began to change him. He grew up, his arms and legs lengthened as his face became more defined. His chest became toned and sculpted as his voice deepened to a well defined baritone.
“There is a price though, there must be.” I said as I opposed him on the other side of the fountain.
“I’m afraid there is, and I’m sorry.” In the very moment, Arthur materialized behind me and wrapped his arms around my neck, squeezing with the strength of an anaconda. Every movement I made to struggle, his latch only deepened its resolve.
“It requires sacrifice.” Arthur’s chest heaved as he continued to squeeze, but just as my vision faded I felt a pull from deep within myself. The crown that sat above the water began to quiver in place as if it sought to escape. The water at my feet receded as the alabaster stone beneath began to crumble.
“Give in, there is nothing to be done.” Arthur began to twist my spine at the neck. The singing from before started again, this time the words were clearer, but their meaning was lost on me; I was losing consciousness. My form crumbled to the ground, Arthur smiled as the crown floated from its perch and rested itself in his grasp.
“Finally…”
I observed helplessly as he raised the band to his head and placed it gently on his skull.
Arthur screamed as if his very being was being ripped around. The crown shattered like glass, the pieces that remained on his scalp dug deep wounds into his flesh, turning his flesh black. The effect spread rapidly as all color of his old self was fading into a void made flesh.
I saw the pieces that failed to take hold had fallen within reach. I pushed myself, reaching with the last remnants of will. I grasped the cold fragment, it sunk beneath my flesh, but it did not hurt. I reached for another and another until none remained. I felt life return to my body as warmth filled my veins. Arthur had become himself, the form I knew him as. The ragged man.