Chapter Six: The King Of The Faeries

Never before had he felt so cold.

This was a strange sensation. It was unlike the freezing wind that would blow through the stable during winter. Different from the stabbing cold of jumping in a frigid stream.

The cold did not come from anywhere. It was in every part of his body all at once. Everything was simply cold.

Cold and dark. There was no light anywhere at all. Even when he closed his eyes, He had never been in a place so completely dark.

This is death? Cold and dark for all eternity?

［You are not dead.］

“Huh?”

［You are not dead.］

“What?” He was not hearing the voice, but the words entered his mind regardless.

［You are not dead. Idiot.］

Rook was dumbfounded. Of course, he must be dead. He remembered the spear high above his head, falling to split his head open, before the world went dark.

Now, he was in a place with no heat or light, and a strange voice was speaking to him in his head.

The question of whether he had died or not had already been set. Where he was now, and what this place was, however, was a more pressing mystery.

［I can’t believe how dense you are. I just told you that you are not dead.］

“If I am not dead, then where am I? What is this place?”

［…］

“Who are you?”

［…］

“No answer now? Are you a spirit? Or a demon, come to take my soul?”

［I’m no demon. Or spirit, either. And you are not dead. How many times do I have to tell you that? Sheesh.］

“Who are you then?”

［…］

“How can I believe you? You won’t even tell me who you are. Where is this place, if not the afterlife?”

［…］

“How did I get here?”

［I brought you here, obviously.］

Rook was starting to dislike the strange voice. It reminded him of Rhaegun. Prideful and abusive.

［Rude!］

“What?”

［How can you call me prideful after I saved your life?］

“What do you mean? Who are you? How did you save my life? I am obviously dead now.”

［You are obviously an idiot. I brought you here so you wouldn’t get your head smashed in like a pumpkin.］

“What’s a pumpkin?”

［You know. Big orange thing. Anyway, not the point. You are not dead. I brought you here. You could at least say ‘thank you.’］

Rook had never been so confused. He was in a place with no light and, as far as he could tell, no floor. He wasn’t standing on anything, yet he was not falling either.

It was so cold, and yet he was not shivering.

［Yeah, the decor is kind of crap. I’ve been meaning to get a guy in to spruce it up.］

Rook realized that the voice could hear him, even if he didn’t speak.

He felt oddly calm. He had been so frightened a moment ago, but now he was detached from everything. How long had he been here?

［What do you think? Should I go with carpet? Or how about hardwood floors? They say that hardwood floors always class a place up, you know?］

Rook was starting to ignore the strange voice in his head. It wasn’t answering his questions anyway. It wasn’t even making sense. Instead, he tried to remember what had just happened.

Thayn! The old man had been hurt badly. Maybe he was dead. The boss, too, and the others. Everyone except Willis, that traitor. Was he with the bandits?

［Duh. When did you figure that out? Before or after he tried to put a spear inside your head?］

“You! Voice! If you brought me here, can you send me back? Maybe I can help Thayn.”

［Huh? You want to go back? Sure I can send you back, but you’ll just get that spear to your face again. How dumb do you have to be? ］

“But the old man. The fat man, too. He gave me food. They are hurt.”

They were also the only way he would be getting out of the forest alive, Rook understood.

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［They are toast. Just like you will be if you go back now. Just stay here for now. Those guys can’t get you here.］

“Where are we? Why can’t I see anything?”

［… Look, It’s complicated. Just know that as long as you are here, you are safe.］

“Why are you keeping me here? I can’t see anything. I can’t feel anything. You must be a demon, tormenting me in this place.”

［You are nothing but an ungrateful idiot.］

“At least tell me your name.”

［… Fine… It’s… Oberon. You may call me Oberon, the king of the faeries.］

“… king? Of the faeries?”

［Yeah, what? I brought you here. I can send you back. I have great magic power. Show some respect, you scrub.］

“Huh?”

［What? Oh, yeah, never mind. You peasant! Be grateful that King Oberon has saved your miserable life, and I do mean miserable. All those years, cleaning up cow dung, and the first time you leave the farm, your entire party is wiped out while you just sit there like an idiot.］

“Send me back.”

［To your certain death? You are still paralyzed, you know?］

“What?”

［I swear, you are dumber than those ugly-ass cows. He slipped it into the stew. Some kind of paralyzing herb. Good thing they only gave you half a bowl. A whole serving would have stopped your breathing.］

“Huh? Who? Willis?”

［Yes, you moron. Of course, Willis. Weren’t you paying attention to the whole, evil traitor-I’m-gonna-backstab-you-all-when-you-least-expect-it, cliche thing? He had bad guy written all over his character sheet from the moment you met. He just needed slicked-back oily hair.］

“What are you saying? I don’t understand what you are talking about. Am I still poisoned? Is that why I can’t see or feel anything?”

［Hmmm, well, kind of. I mean, well, not really. But yes, you are still paralyzed. It should wear off in… maybe half an hour or so? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. Anyway, if I send you back now, Willis and his buddies will still be there, and you’ll still be paralyzed, so for now, just sit down and shut up. There’s nothing you can do.］

“Sit?”

［Oh, yeah. Well, just float there, then. Remind me to order chairs.］

“You are strange, Obe…”

［Oberon. King Oberon, or Oberon, king of the faeries. I’ve given you my name. The least you can do is respect to your liege.］

“You are not a king. A madman, perhaps.”

［Nope, that’s a different play.］

“Anyway, I suppose I should thank you. I still would like you to explain what is happening though. Where we are and how I got here.”

［Look, I’ll explain everything eventually. When you are ready for it, which you are most obviously not, right at this moment. Besides, you are not out of the woods yet. Literally, you are still in the middle of the forest. Getting out of this space is only the beginning of your troubles.］

“I’m… Am I still in the forest? This place is in the forest?”

［… err, yeah. I mean, technically, you haven’t moved an inch. When I send you back, you can only go right back to the spot you were at before. Right in front of that dillweed with a spear.］

“Where are we? Can’t you explain where this is, at least?”

［Hmmm. Okay, lemme give you a hint. Give me a second while I figure this out.］

Suddenly, the pure darkness was broken. Somewhat.

Floating directly in front of Rook was a wooden box. It had appeared out of nowhere, and something was still wrong. He could see the box, but there was no light, no shadow, no ground. It was simply there, and he could see it, but he couldn’t even tell how far away it was from him. He tried to reach out to it, but he still couldn’t see or even feel his own hands. It was more like he was looking at a memory, than a physical object in front of his face.

Rook looked closer, or tried to look closer, and as if on command, the details became more clear. He knew this box. It was one of the crates from the porter’s luggage. The same luggage that he had put into his storage space earlier. He recognized the blood splattered on the side.

“Isn’t that…”

［Yup. There’s some interesting stuff in those boxes. Magic stuff, as far as I can tell. Good thing you brought it in. It’s what woke me up. I’ve been sleeping for who knows how long. But I could tell there was something interesting for once, so I was checking through the boxes when all the craziness went down.］

“Wait… Do you mean… We, right now, we’re inside…?”

［Wow, not as stupid as you look, I guess. Yeah, you are “inside” now. Well, I mean, that’s not technically correct, but from your limited perspective, it’s as close as you can understand, I guess. We’re in a different, but connected space. I’m sure there is some egghead science-y explanation, but it’s a kind of under-space or sub-space. You guys call it your “soul space,” which is super dumb sounding and completely unscientific and wrong, but who am I to judge.］

Rook was shocked. Somehow, he had been pulled into his own soul space. He had never heard that such a thing was possible. Worse yet, there were things living inside his soul space. Did everyone else also have demons inside them?

［That is so disrespectful.］

Rook forgot that the demon could read his thoughts.

［King. Not demon. King. How many times do I have to tell you?］

There was something else. Rook could sense something familiar. He could hear it in the tone coming from the voice. It was just like Rhaegun when he tormented Pig. This… Oberon, king of the faeries, It was… happy. Despite the crude and abusive tone, it was enjoying this.

“Have you been here this whole time?”

［…］

“Alone?”

［…］

“Why? Why didn’t you say anything before? Have you really been here the whole time?”

［Don’t blame me. It’s your fault. I never had the power to do anything. You never left me as much as a single coin. All I could do was watch.］

“How is this possible? Can this really be true?”

Rook felt foolish, guilty, and angry at the same time. All these years, he could have escaped. He could have hidden. If he had only had some coins in his soul space?

He had learned to hate them, the coins. Every time he was accused of holding something back, they hit him with the stick. Every time the count was off, he got the stick. This entire time, they had been his means of escape, but he never knew.

And this Oberon, was it a demon trapped in his soul? All alone, unable to get out, or to even let him know it was inside him. How pitiful was that? Trapped in this black void, year after year. That might have been even worse than the beatings.

［Hey! I told you, it’s King Oberon! And I never asked for your pity. And stop calling me a demon. I’m not some stupid made-up monster.］

“Then what are you?”

［…］

“Tell me. Why won’t you?”

［… fine… I can’t tell you, I don’t really know. But I can show you.］

The floating crate faded away as if it was slipping into a dark pool of water. Then, a small shape appeared in its place.

At first, it was hard to see what it was, but again, just by wishing to get a better look, the details of the object came into clear focus.

It should have been impossible to see such a thing in this dark void as the object was as pure and completely black as the space around it. Despite that, Rook could tell what it looked like in every detail. Still, he still wasn’t sure what it was.

A small round crystal, slightly larger than a coin, perfect in shape and a pure and deep black in color.

After a moment, Rook made a guess. He had only seen one of these before, and he had never heard of a black one, even in the stories that Rhaegun would spout.

He was by no means an expert, but as far as Rook knew, there were four types of skill stones that could give people with the correct affinity for magic powers. Blue stones could give water magic, Red ones for fire. Green stones carried life magic, and yellow ones contained air magic.

Even with no light, he could tell the color was black. A pure black.

He had also never heard of skill stones that could contain a mind, and he had never heard of a black skill stone.

“But how? How could there be a skill stone in my soul space? I never put one inside, and the purge stick never forced one out. I’ve never seen this before in my life.”

［Of course, you have never seen it before. After all, it’s been here the whole time. I’ve been here the entire time, and nothing in this world could ever get me out unless I wanted it.］