Quick movements rushed over the trees and bushes, cutting through the silent dark forest. Observant eyes took a quick and sharp look around; Ellmer recalled the task he was given around two hours ago.
-Ellmer, please hurry to the forest immediately. I don’t know what will happen or is already happening, but please stop whatever is there. I’m currently following Kaven. He’s heading to where Davante is resting now. I already informed dad. We’ll take care of it, so you take care of your side.
Adding to Owin’s instructions, Ellmer narrowed his eyes as he recalled something one of the twin brothers told him not long ago and mumbled, “According to Kito, Javi and Elois headed to the forest 3 hours ago…” he sighed as he charged further into the forest. He abruptly slowed down and stood still in the middle of the darkness. There was no sound around him. The forest was oddly too silent, not the comforting type of silence. He furrowed his brows slightly at the air and mumbled, “…invisible barrier” he looked over his shoulder with cold eyes. “I crossed it…” he looked forward again, standing still quietly as if waiting for something.
He then heard little rustles around him in the dark; he waited. Then it came, the sound of murmurs and whispers, barely noticeable despite the chilly silence in the place. He could see pairs of eyes glowing around him in the dark, all looking at him from a distance.
“It’s the cursed child…”
“The son of the demon is back again—”
“T-The bloody evil—”
“Hah, I’ve got no time for you.” Ellmer swiftly swung his arm in the air with enough force to cause a harsh swishing sound from the trees around him. The voices and whispers instantly disappeared. His eyes irritably sharpened and almost glowed in the dark.
“Ridiculous barrier with laughable illusions. Not good at all, especially for two rascals I know.”
----------------------------------------
The Red Flower
Chapter. 27
----------------------------------------
“Welcome to the only safe and sane place ‘for you’ right now, Mister. Would you like a cup of non-existent tea?”
“……” Elois glared at the fancy Davante, who was chatting ever so elegantly and respectfully to him. ‘Why do I feel like he is mocking me politely…? Did he just throw a joke at me with a completely straight face? How is he even speaking with no lips?’
“Ah, but I’m afraid we cannot indulge in our precious luxury time, so we will have to delay our tea party some other day. However, before I get into business, I believe I should at least give you a chance to release your ever-growing confusion and frustration. Dear Mister, I will give you only 5 minutes to ask whatever you want, and I will make sure to be of help. Please, stop blanking and go ahead, shower me with your questions.”
‘……somehow, his way of speaking is getting on my nerves? Why does it feel like he’s laughing at me the whole time he’s talking?’ Elois frowned at the other as if he was offended but unable to retort in any way.
“Please be informed that 10 seconds have passed. Time is running, esteemed Mister,” the other spoke with his elegant voice once more, his stance never wavered or moved, standing tall with hands clasped behind his back.
“Alright, yeah, let’s start with your identity first. You’re not…Davante, right? Obviously…” Elois asked; he narrowed his eyes to figure the other out.
“I’m my owner’s mind core, you could say.”
Elois frowned even more, if possible.
“I suppose that was one level above your brain capacity. Let’s make it simpler, then. You can say I’m both my Master’s psychic guard and weapon. I take care of my Master’s mental stability and can dive into others’ mental realms under my Master’s command.”
Elois’ frown deepened at the other, looking exasperated ‘…am I stupid, or is he spouting nonsense…?’
“My Master ordered me for the first time to rush into your mental realm and help you in any way, but it looked like you were going through countless dimensions at an alarming speed, so it took me longer than estimated to finally find you. However, I can’t let the clown scoundrel know of my interference, so I had to drag you to my realm instead.”
Elois almost flinched at the insults that slipped out very elegantly and gently from the very much calm fancy Davante. “Uh, okay…your Master is Davante, I guess…how did he know of my state…?” he then frowned for another reason, ‘Isn’t he supposed to be resting in the hospital as my dad and Owin said last time…?’
“Hmm, a very caring spirit informed my Master. It was even kind enough to teach Master of the weapon inside him in a short time. Master, however, was unsure who to save first. Knowing his limits, he could use me to save only one person right now. Me jumping through dimensions had already tired him a bit, so I have to be careful not to overdo it.”
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Elois blinked twice; the frown was gone and replaced with a blank look on his face. “Spirit? Who to save first? Limits??” he blinked again, “…does he have, uh, ghost friends?”
The other remained silent for a while before responding very gently, “Mister, you, hmm…” he hesitated for the first time, contemplating something with a serious face. “Your brain capacity is quite tiny. I am deeply sorry for not noticing sooner. It seems I’ve already caused quite the trouble to your brain. Again, I’m terribly sorry, sir. Perhaps 5 minutes isn’t enough for you to understand the matter at hand?”
Elois stared back with a blank face. ‘Did he just call me stupid in a very respectful way…?’
“I’ll do my Master a favor,” the fancy guy closed his eyes for a moment as if suppressing a sigh before reopening them. “To make it short, you and your friend have been pulled into an illusion barrier. A living spirit that had been following my Master for a while now hurried to inform him about you guys and helped him recognize his ability to get into others’ mental rea— mhm… let’s say dreams for now. It is a useful ability to interfere in others’ dreams and illusions when needed and make it better or worse for them, which means it could be quite a horrific ability. However, because of Master’s weak body and heart, he could only use it once a month only on one person. So, my Master ordered me to hurry to you, and he chose you for he was sure you would be more in danger than your other friend.”
Elois blinked, still looking blank. ‘…did he and his Master just decide that I can’t be left alone at all and need help more than anyone else? Just like a baby, is that it?’ the frown started to get back again. ‘The thing is…I agree with them? I’m kinda offended by my own judgment…’
“I’m sorry, but I did not mean to offend you, sir.”
He frowned more at the other’s calm retort, ‘No, you’re definitely kinda rude, you little—’
“I am sorry if I came out rude to you, but please be informed my intent is really to help you in this situation, Mister.”
Elois widened his eyes slightly, eyes looking suspiciously at the elegant guy. He was about to ask, but the other beat him to it. “Ah, one thing I forgot to tell you, sir,” he then added, “I can listen to your inner thoughts loud and clear. This is my realm, after all. I think it’s only proper to let you know.”
“Oh, and you say it now?!” he felt a light irritation bubbling in him; he pointed his finger accusingly with an irritated smirk. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Whatever you mean, sir?”
“Oh, really now?” he couldn’t help but scoff at the blatant feigned ignorance. “Whatever, so are you gonna help me now?”
“Oh, you’re done with the questions, sir?”
Elois smirked, suppressing another scoff. “I thought you were getting tired of my questions?”
A very graceful nod. “Indeed, you have a bit too many questions, sir.”
“Hoh! now you’re openly complaining, huh?” he laughed at the other somewhat playfully. “Let’s get straight to business. We can’t afford troubling Davante anymore now, can we? I’m oddly too calm right now, might as well move fast before I go crazy again, don’t you agree?”
“Correct,” the fancy-looking guy nodded before adding in a very calm tone, “You just need to enjoy your madness, sir.”
“Huh?” Elois frowned yet again, urging the other to explain.
“Basically, this illusion will only show you things that will break you the more you get into it, slowly driving you to immense madness. And the more broken you are, the harder it is for you to wake up from it. You fail if you cry in your madness. However, it is a different story to sincerely enjoy your time with your insanity,” he added calmly. “When you enjoy your time even at your worst, the illusion will have no effect whatsoever. You could say it’s like causing a massive error to the system by enjoying and embracing the nightmare rather than running and hiding from it.”
He took calm and composed steps toward the frowning Elois and stood within arm’s length between them. “Oh, and one more thing,” he slowly moved his hand from behind his back, “I’ve got a mouth just fine. You just can’t see it unless I speak an order with absolute results.”
He then lightly pushed Elois at his chest with his hand. Elois stumbled back and found himself falling to the ground and felt himself diving into a pool of black water. “Wha—” he kept looking up at the fading fancy Davante; however, this time, he had his lips visible and stretched in a gentle smile.
“Show your worst, sir.”
‘…even your smile looks kinda rude, you brat.’
And then, the black mud engulfed him back, making everything dark for a moment. He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around him like he was deep in water. A sudden familiar voice echoing around him spoke gently. “Ah, also,” the calm voice added, “The things shown in this illusion are not random dreams. They are moments drilled deep into the soul. You may or may not be aware of them. However, you can’t change anything to change their futures, so go ahead and destroy everything with ease, sir.”
He abruptly snapped his eyes wide open, ‘They are not…dreams?’
Before he thought more about it, he found himself in his shared room with Davante. He eyed the ceiling for some time before pushing himself up with a severe look on his face. ‘Though I can’t change anything ‘cuz they are simply long-gone memories, is that what you want to tell me? But how are they memories…?’ he narrowed his eyes, silently eyeing Davante, who was cooking in their shared kitchen. He lightly shook his head. ‘I’m best not to think too deeply into complicated stuff. I’ve decided that I’m dumb in that aspect, indeed.’
He started pushing himself off the bed and stood with a smirk. ‘All right, let’s go crazy then.’
He walked slowly to the other in the place. ‘I’ll just convince myself this is a silly dream with silly wooden puppets looking like my friends or whatever. I’m good at this, sadly. Who would have thought my cowardly habits would ever come in handy one day?’ he pulled his dagger while whispering to himself, “Let’s cause mass murder. Today’s a party for the beast in me.”
.
.
“Ah!”
“What is it?” Asked Albern, not really bothered.
“One of them broke free from my illusion, that orange kid…” Belvedere pouted with narrowed eyes. “Weird, I was sure he was going to be crushed easily,” he turned over to
Juli, who was seated on his lap like a doll. “You think it’s weird too, right?” he didn’t wait for an answer as he was sure she wasn’t even listening; he jumped up and gently let the girl stand on her feet. “I think we’re done here then, yeah? We’ve gathered enough information about Elois to get an idea of where he stands in the game now.”
“The stench.”
“Hm?” he looked over to Albern, whose face became even colder and eyeing down with eyes as if he was looking at something sickening, his crimson eyes glowing in the dark forest at night. “A smell…?”
“The stench of dirty Cowndrel.”
Belvedere flinched at the word; he then avoided looking at the other, sweating slightly as he mumbled, “…I’m pretty sure there aren’t any…the only ones left are— you know, me and Emmie, sir…?”
Albern simply ignored the other, coldly narrowing his eyes down in the forest. He then said in an even colder voice.
“…The Cowndrel Queen and…” he paused in thought, trying to catch the smell, “…a Cowndrel Alastair,” he smirked coldly as he looked down with amused eyes. “It seems my rampage wasn’t enough to kill all vampires. Rats managed to hide all along.”
.
.
Elois struggled to open his tired eyes, silently choking and groaning. ‘Can’t breathe—!’ he grabbed the hand around his neck. ‘Who the heck—?!’ he gritted his teeth, ‘Screw it!’ he reached his hand to the side, clutched what he believed would be a big rock, and swiftly aimed it at the one choking him.
However, he missed as the other jumped away from the attack. The good thing was that he could breathe now; he forced his body up from the ground and coughed, “Ugh…” he groaned before looking around to find the person who was choking him moments ago, ‘Now let’s deal with the prick who tried to kill me while I was dreaming of some shi—’
He froze the moment he found the ‘prick,’ it was dark in the forest, but he was able to adjust fast to know who was standing there at a distance from him. He couldn’t even bring himself to call the person a human anymore, he didn’t know what it was, but he was sure of the identity of that dark body and long hair.
“…Javi…?”
----------------------------------------
The End of CH. 27