"Quit staring at the sky and lend a hand!" Midas barked, snapping me out of my daze.

I turned to see the golden figure hard at work in the grave pit. Despite the imminent danger, an odd calm washed over me. Perhaps I lacked the imagination to envision anything worse than my demise.

Tap. Tap. I sprinted toward the pit, yelling, "How can I help? Do we have another shovel?" The encroaching darkness left us with little time.

Midas continued to dig, his arms a blur, paying no mind to the mud clinging to his golden form.

"jump down and use your fucking hands dipshit!" he shouted angrily but I could feel the fear he was feeling, 'hmm. okay,' I thought as I readied to jump in.

Rumble. but just then I heard a rumble from behind me. my feet froze in mid-air as a shiver ran down my spine.

rumble, rumble the rumbling increased but I didn't turn around to see what it was, that would be a stupid and cliche move. ' jump!' I shouted in my mind.

rumble. rumble. rumble. THUD! amidst the distant and terrifying rumbling, I heard a distinct sound.

realizing what that sound meant, I felt relief as I thought ' finally.' but Midas was not so happy about it.

I looked down to see the ground he was digging cracked like a mirror. "huh" he froze not moving at all, his face pale.

"Midas!" I shouted as I reached out my hand.

rumble. the ground rumbled again at a bad time for Midas.

CRACK! CRUMBLE! the ground crumbled completely.

" ah...FUCK YOU NIGHT!!!..." he fell while cursing the night with all his might but as he fell deeper his voice gradually faded.

'what the hell? is that pit that deep.' I thought in fear. As I had just 'died' I still had the emotions I had before, fear being one of them. so I couldn't help but hesitate my decision to jump.

RUMBLE!

but I suddenly heard the rumble that was initially distant sound so clear.

"huh!" robotically lifting my head, I looked at the source of the mighty rumble.

"fuck!" and I cursed.

the rumble originated from the humungous rock that was just a few meters away from me. then it cracked. distinct crack runs across its surface. then under my fearful eyes, the rock spilt as 'it' transformed.

the cracked rock spilled to form a golem that was slowly getting up. it opened its red eyes, clearly symbolizing its danger. but I didn't continue gawking at it. I closed my eyes tightly as I took a step into the deep pit.

whoosh.

I was falling. the airbrushed past me as my hair waved. although falling into the pit might hurt more or the same as being hit by the rock golem, I decided to choose the lesser evil considering how Midas behaved.

and I disappeared into the dark deep pit feeling relieved.

and silence greeted the night.

only to be broken by the giant stone golem Ethan had seen, as it walked towards the pit shaking the ground underneath.

rumble. rumble. step. it stopped before the pit as it looked around. many giant stone golems were waking up as the barren land was being filled with a small army of giants that illuminated the night with their shining red eyes.

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if Ethan had seen the number of stone golems he would have understood why this area was called the 'home of the giants.'

but this stone golem was different. it was the only one standing before the pit, while the others aimlessly walked around or became stuck in the same place.

it felt something different. seeing that its companions didn't seem to feel the same thing, it turned its head toward the pit.

WHOOSH.

and the deep dark pit welcomed another guest.

*****************************************************

in a land far away from where Ethan was, there was a city. the

the land itself was not normal as parts of it were broken and were floating in the air. they resembled rocks floating in the vacuum with zero gravity.

beyond these floating rocks was another layer of humongous pillars of rock with diverse fauna growing on it. they seemed to be broken off a huge mountain.

amidst these floating lands there lay a city...inverted. the city was inverted but for the people on it, it wasn't uncomfortable as they seemed to walking just fine but they also appeared inverted.

the city was known as the "inverted city of the floating lands - Kairo."

and at this moment, one man stood at the periphery of the floating lands. the man was just like Midas - unusual. but unlike Midas, he had a body made of normal human skin and bone. but that is all he was just a man with his skin and bone tightly stuck together. there was no fat or muscle to be seen in his body. he was wearing an oversized t-shirt that covered his whole body.

but that didn't intercept the man who was already accustomed to his appearance in the afterlife. it was his spirit form.

so with a calm face, he stepped inside the floating lands. immediately he felt the familiar floating sensation enveloping him as his body lifted in the air.

after balancing himself he looked in a certain direction as he suddenly propelled towards it. it seemed like he was no stranger to these lands as flown with ease. after crossing the pillars of rocks on the way he finally reached the inverter structure in the middle- Kairo.

after seeing that he flew toward one of the four entrances of the city- north, south, east, west - he was going towards the east entrance.

the entrance seemed empty. no guards or people were lining up to enter it. just as he came closer to the city the floating sensation was replaced by a force that pulled him toward the city.

he didn't struggle against it and let himself land.

tap.

then he walked into a large arch which was the entrance. As he passed through it, the arch glowed green which allowed him to enter. this was one of the I-technology of Kairo where the arch analyzes the thoughts of those who enter the city and those who are in it. if there are any malicious intentions then they are expelled from the city ground and propelled toward the floating lands. because of this, the city of Kairo had no crime.

man then walked amidst many people in their spirit forms, they were all different with one body covered in flowers and one body having two heads or three heads each arguing with each other.

the man walked along for a while before arriving at his destination. he was standing in front of two large hands that seemed to clasp something in it. the large hand relaxed when it felt someone standing in front of it.

the man nodded and then climbed into the hands. he then felt a tingling sensation before disappearing. the surroundings didn't find this act strange as they kept going on their businesses.

the man then appeared inside a large room. this room was rectangular with many stalls lined up on its sides. it was with numerous books occupying it. however one may see it this was a library.

"what do you want Dustin?" an old and tired voice echoed inside the hall. Dustin turned towards the sound, facing an empty wall. at his actions, the empty wall squirmed as it came to life, the wall became waves that arranged themselves to form a face. the face was old and wrinkled but had a lively voice echoing from it.

" so tell me." the wall man said. he was the librarian of this hall. his spirit form was a library with the books he studied in his life and books he found in the afterlife kept in here. " Mr. Eden, I am not here to bother you, I had agreed to meet here for a bet with a friend of mine."

at his answer, Mr. Eden tried to remember who he was talking about before he exclaimed. " ah! do you mean that golden friend of yours who keeps bothering me to publish his autobiography? - what was his name...hmm"

"it's Midas," Dustin said simply. " ah! yes yes...but I didn't see him for a long time, saying he was going to find a legendary treasure." Mr. Eden said.

" yes we both were going to search for the treasure in the rumors but we made a bet about who finds it first," Dustin explained.

"hmm...so that is how it is." the old face in the wall seemed to go up and down as it nodded in understanding. " so who won ?" the old man asked.

Dustin just shrugged his shoulders and said, "As far as I investigated, the rumor is just that, a rumor so I think no one won?" he said not sure about the result. " anyhow I thought to meet him here...but it seems that he still hasn't given up." he continued.

the librarian's face smiled lightly as he said. " maybe he found something."

at his words, Dustin pondered for a bit before he mumbled.

"maybe..."