Why do I keep recalling everything? Did they even happen? Did they really happen? It just keeps replaying like a stage drama in my head; word for word.....blood for blood... everything... especially.....
*Crackling of fire, blade shrieking through flesh*
[...]: Help.....Help me.....Help...me...please... I'm dying....
..... Especially then....at that moment....Even if every other thing could not be erased...I cannot stand that one in particular. ...She was begging,.... calling for me....but I couldn't budge... I couldn't move....a pure coward....a scrawny weak bastard. Why do I even deserve to live? Why didn't I just die?
Hosiah: Jared? Hey, are you all right?
Jared: It will all end....
( Hosiah is startled by his sudden tone of words, and gasped. )
Jared: The whole world.... everything....
Hosiah: Hey, what are you...
Jared: Flesh will be torn and burned to ashes...The heart of subjects will be the feast of kings..... Governments will fall....the blood of the innocent will flood the river banks and beyond....The remains of the dead will be crushed by the flames of eternity,...and the residence of man.....will be....consumed in eternat the flames.
Hosiah: Uh, hey. What are you saying? I don't understand.
Jared: Flesh will be torn and burned to ashes.....the heart of subjects will be the feast of kings...
(But he started repeating the same thing again, which scared Hosiah. The words didn't sound familiar, more of a prophecy or a spell maybe? It couldn't be far from any of those. Jared was the type to always dig into apocalyptic items and stories. Perhaps he was just dreaming, or telling one of his crazy stories as usual, he tried to assure himself.
But the way he spoke this time made him fear to the core for a normal situation. He drew himself back, spooked by how he keeps repeating the same thing over and over again. His breath hitched, and sweat pulsated his face like he was being baptized. On instinct, he carries himself up and ran out of the room. )
Hosiah:.....He was speaking really slowly, and -and - and he was looking really scary...he was - I was really scared.
(His voice was suddenly heard from outside, and then soon, he came in followed by a tall young man by his side. The young man wore an all black kimono, and carrying a bottle at his left waist. Hosiah ran inside and went over to Jared checking him with a worried look on his face. The young man calmly walks over to them and paused.
He stares at the boy's body for a moment with a calm almost expressionless face, before letting out a sigh. He then squats over him and pulls Hosiah back. He then straightened the hands of his kimono, and then, stared. He puts his two fingers in front of his face , then the other , at blinding speed, touched all the temples on Jared's body, and like a miracle, everywhere started glowing.
He opens his eyes and straightened himself. He stands up, and sighed. To the look of things, everywhere glowed but nothing moved. Time had frozen. Soon after, the image of the room starts peeling off, and it drifted to a pitch black setting, and at the corner, was a glowing figure. Then suddenly, the young man appeared in the scene flying on two talisman.
The figure's eyes shot open, and gasped. It looked around, and was immediately scared. )
Jared: (panting) Wha...Where am I? How did I get here?
Rodulf/Azureal: Don't fret, young spirit. You're safe. {Except you're not. One single threat, and you're out.}
(Jared looks up, and sees the young man flying on the talisman, and was a bit shocked. It was a really rare occasion to see someone use an old traditional equipment nowadays. It felt somewhat like a feast to the eyes.
He shook the thought. He didn't have time to be distracted at a moment like this. He was currently in a vacuum space, and his body felt really odd. And again, he's standing in the presence of someone he's never met before. He immediately stood in a defensive pose, but in his mind, he was completely defense less, just praying that the strange man didn't do anything while he might seek to know him.
Still, though, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he looked really cool on the talisman. He's read countless books of people in Lewisian history, using the talisman to cast out demons and for attracting good luck to them. Seeing someone use it for something so passive is truly a sight for sore eyes.)
Rudolf : You seem rather calm for a kid in a scenario like this. Have you been kidnapped before?
(Jared shivered at his voice, but back to himself, he was a bit confused about the whole situation himself. )
Jared: Um... Sorry.... I mean...
Rudolf : (sighs) Whatever. [Looks back at him, his eyes darkening to a scary extent] Jared LanCrofty. Son of Gregoire Birrad and an unknown mother. (Jared gasps) In possession of the eyes of the angel's sorrow.
Jared: What are...
Rudolf : Has an extremely poor background and suffers from the bleeder's disease. [Lowers his head and secretly smirks] You have quite a pathetic backstory.
( Jared stared at the strange man blankly for a moment, before breathing silently trying to surpress the confusion that tried to surface. He had to stay calm right now and think straight. Not only can he fly on a talisman, he also mentioned the most hidden parts of his life. He had to be cautious with whatever he says while getting information from him. )
Jared: Excuse me, I don't understand. Do I know you from somewhere?
Rudolf : Do you even know where you are?
(Jared paused. He looked around, and to his shock, he didn't recognize the place where he was. But more confusing, if he was anywhere, he would've guessed the location by its features, but now....he was nowhere at all. What exactly was this leading to? )
Jared: Uh....um....well, no. But, I demand to know who you are first, if you don't mind.
(Rudolf states at him for a moment, then inhaled. )
Rudolf : I do.
Jared: (gasp)
Rudolf : I don't wish to tell you my name or anything about me. More importantly, you are the one who matters here.
Jared: What...do you mean?
Rudolf : As we speak right now, your spirit has been severed from your body. You are dead.
(Jared shivered from the cold breeze that hit him after the last statement. Dead? How come? When? How did it even come about?)
Jared: Wait, I don't understand....If I'm dead then how am I speaking to you?
Rudolf : As we speak, you are currently in The Void, the space between the land of the dead and the land of the living. The human body gets severed from the soul and it finds its way to its final destination.
(Jared tried to pull his mind together after hearing all he said, but the unusual terms just kept pushing him over shore. What did he mean by The Void? Yes, he understood it was a place nowhere but why did he make it sound like the name of somewhere special? The land of the dead...and living? Too many questions, he nearly felt like a light bulb overloaded with electric current. He pulls himself together finally and mustered the energy to ask again.)
Jared: Wait, hold on. I'm not catching up with you. What do you mean I died? How did that happen? I was alive some minutes ago...
Rudolf : [He stays silent and observed his face, looking out for any hint of fear in his eyes. And sure, there was. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold himself if any more information he tells him, so he just coldly told him.] You need to come back.
Jared: [Already shivering in fear] Where did I go? How am I here? What's going on with me?
(Jared was already losing his grip. What exactly was the science here? He couldn't exactly pin down any exact explanation to everything. Everything doesn't make sense at all....Had he gone mad? He asked himself, but only felt more pain from not being able to understand his own self. Rudolf observed all this, and was already getting a bit bored. He then lifts his hand and a talisman suddenly appeared. )
Rudolf : I think we've talked enough here. We'll do the rest back on earth.
(He skillfully shot the talisman unto Jared's chest, then clenched his fist, an the next thing, everything turned white.)
*******
[Jared's body laid peacefully on the floor mat, while steam and smoke came from the interior corner of the room. His body was covered by a silky blue bed spread, and a small head-size pillow supported his head.
The sun was slowly but surely starting to set over the horizon, it's golden rays scattering across the land, casting shadows over the trees and peaks as it slowly waved it's goodbye for the day handing duties over to the sun of the night.
The soft breeze whooped by at an interrupted speed as it passed by the trees and ran over the house. It was cold and mild, and it passed soothingly over the skin. At this beautiful setting, a young man sat outside the house in the veranda, with his gaurd of wine by his side. He picks it up and pours some of the wine into the wine cup, and took a sip. He lowers the cup, and stare into the sky, watching as the sun finally faded to night.
His eyes softened at the view and then carries the wine cup again, but this time taking a long sip, finishing the wine in a few gulps. He sharply exhales letting out a satisfied 'ahh', then his head fell in a daze. He lazily carried the wine gaurd again and poured some more into the cup, and kept it aside. He looks up again and stared into the sky.
Soon, Hosiah came from inside the room after checking Jared's body in concern. He comes and sits beside the young man letting out a stressed sigh]
Hosiah: Gosh, I'm so wasted. I can feel every bone in my body breaking....(Pouts)
[He doesn't get any sound as a response. Huh. That's new. He'd often ask him if he wanted the bones completely broken or just dead completely. What happened, he asked while looking over at him. But sure enough, one should be able to predict it. His head was completely bent over his neck and one hand lazily held the cup of wine on the ground.
He was breathing softly, and his black hair showered generously over his face, that shimmered as the golden full moon rose over their heads.]
Hosiah: He fell asleep, huh? What a drunkard.
[He tries to distract himself by darting his eyes around with no specific thing to gawk at. They lived in an isolated area, no neighbors, no kids around. Nights like this often felt boring when he fell asleep so early. But even now, his best friend was here, but he too wasn't better. He's been asleep ever since his brother performed the rite in him.
And for a moment again, his heart found something to be distracted with, but he rather didn't want to think far about it. But, what if his life was actually in danger? And what he was saying back then....it didn't make sense, but it actually felt like the words were a prophecy. But it was so obscured for his understanding. But then, he remembered. Perhaps he was just speaking out of consciousness. He must've been spewing this because his mind was not in the right place.
He tried to comfort himself with the thought, but on looking at Jared again, his heart felt uneasy. He believed there must be a proper explanation to this.
Feeling as though his head was going to explode, he tries to calm himself down. But he couldn't; he's already been spooked enough to have a nightmare if he even tried to close his eyes. He needed to distract himself.
And like the idea fell straight from heaven, his eyes landed on the gaurd by the young man's side. Wine? He slapped himself. He was too young to start drinking. Unlike him who started drinking at a young age and has a high threshold for alcohol. What if he lands himself in a very irresponsible length of sleep?
He discarded the thought and continued darting his eyes around again. But, what would hurt? That'll be better than having no sleep and overthinking the whole situation. At least, one sip wouldn't hurt.
He musters the courage, and creeps to his side, and reaches out for the gaurd. He stressfully stretch himself forward to grab it. ]
Hosiah: One more.....One more....Gosh, it's too far....
[But, he gained his little hope was regained when his fingers touched the tip of the gaurd. He stretch even more, and finally, it wiggled back and forth. He cautiously placed his finger tip at the mouth of the gaurd, preventing it from making any more noise. After a moment, he resumes his attempt, and this time, he was able to retrieve it safely.
He holds the gaurd to his chest, breathing heavily and shaky. He calms down and gave one last breath, before holding out the gaurd to his face. This gaurd was in fact made by his father before he died. He and his father usually shared a glass through it while having some father to son conversation, sharing wisdom and fun talk under this same setting.
He'd often stand at the door, and observe them from the closed gap. They always made sure he was asleep before they began their feast for a reason he presumed to be because of the excess wine they had. His father always rebuked the idea of letting him have it.
That made him wonder. What was so special about it?
Curiosity took it's grip, and before he knew it, he was already toppling it over to have a sip.]
Hosiah: Huh? What, is the wine finished?
[He was totally surprised. He bottle was inclined to his mouth, but nothing flowed out of it. He fully opens his eyes, and his surprise was turned to shock at that instant. The young man's hand blocked the mouth of the gaurd, stopping the wine, while the other still held unto his cup, his head still held low, hanging as though his neck couldn't support it anymore.]
Rudolf : Like I didn't warn you about touching my things...
[He muttered lazily. Hosiah carefully let's go of the gaurd, and Rudolf takes it back to himself, this time holding it to his left chest. Hosiah felt totally embarrassed, and lowered his head in shame. What had really come over him to do such? ]
Rudolf : Did you was the dishes?
Hosiah: Yes.
Rudolf : What about...
Hosiah: I did everything as you demanded. The house is neat now.
Rudolf : Hmm.
[Was all he said, and after that, nobody spoke again. And for someone who'd just committed a crime, he was getting a bit uncomfortable. He needed something to start up th mood. But what could he say?
He was the shy and introverted type, so talking was mostly not his thing. But the silence was killing him. What if he turns and punished him instead?]
Hosiah: Um...Ru...
Rudolf : You wanted to ask about your friend, right?
Hosiah: (gasp) Uh...yeah. (nervously) I was thinking...but I just couldn't bring myself to say it. A lot has happened within a short while, and the confusion just keeps stretching deeper and deeper. (Looks at his hands with worry filled in his eyes) I'm scared that something might happen to him.
Rudolf : ....Have you ever asked yourself who your friends truly are?
Hosiah: (Looks back at him confused by the question) What? (Looks back down calculating) Who they are....Not really. For Simon, he's just a regular guy with an ego the size of the sky. But I mostly admire his ambitions and hardwork. He's a good guy.
(Rudolf listens carefully.)
Hosiah: Jared on the other hand is.... like a brother to me. He takes our relationship like a mother caring for her son, and that his soft side always made me so fond of him. (Smiles softly) Like I was always in mother's presence every time we were together.
Rudolf : ...Hm.
Hosiah: I don't want to admit it, but I'm really worried about him. And all this madness especially started since he started working overtime at the mines. I've told him to rest countless times, but he never listens and just stylishly shuns the idea with a flashy smile.
(Sigh) I'm really scared, right now. I don't even want to imagine the worse scenarios possible. I just hope he gets better.
Rudolf : You two...seem to share a deep relationship than I thought. I guess it's only normal that you didn't notice.
Hosiah: (glances over at him) Hm? What could that be?
Rudolf : Your shouldn't bother yourself too much. He has just gone through a lot in his life, much to the cost of his health. He'll be fine within a couple of days.
Hosiah: (silent, but looks away and reluctantly nods) Okay.
[The atmosphere became silent again, and only the trees swinging left and right at the rhythm of the wind made a few noises which felt soothing. Nothing felt more comfortable than nature's own spa in the evening. ]
Rudolf : {That'll give him hope for now. Involving him into the spiritual warfare is too dangerous. And about that Jared guy....those eyes if his.....He certainly can not be the one, right?}