After the impact, Gwyn's feet suddenly began to tremble.
“Hey, hey! Don't tell me that's it. I still have so many questions left,” Gwyn argued helplessly, but every struggle was pointless. He felt the world around him collapsing, breaking into tiny pieces. With his last strength, he tried to reach out towards Joyce, though it was already too late. Starting at her fingertips, she started to evaporate before him, just like the white fields surrounding her. Everything turned to black around Gwyn. He was left to only his thoughts once more. It was the calming feeling of being laid to rest, as if he had traveled thousand upon miles, and was given a moment's pause. He didn't know how long it had been dark around him, but he thought that this probably was the feeling of being laid to rest. Until a voice burst through the darkness, like a ray of light, waking him up one more time.
“Oi, kiddo, now's not the time to be dead!” As if hit by a giant truck, Gwyn awoke from his comatose-like condition after a hearty smack onto his face. The intensity of the smack was long felt after its impact, so much that even a hand print remained on his face.
“How wonderful of our princess to grace us with her presence,” the voice of a man jokingly said.
“Ugh, no. Not you again,” Gwyn groaned.
“Exactly, the one and only. Your trusted and valued aspect. Looks like you were out for quite a while. Did you miss me?” Delirias asked Gwyn with his usual, sinister grin.
Whereas Gwyn, now fully awake thanks to his aspects efforts, could eventually grasp where he had woken up. The young man was laying on top of a giant lump of rock, surrounded by the strangest looking forest he had ever seen. Vibrant colors and strange patterns enveloped his senses, while Gwyn stared with his mouth wide open
“What is this place?” he wondered in excitement, as the first thoughts popped into his mind. “Could such a place really exist? Is this what I've always dreamt about? A place for me to be? A fresh start?!”
Chapter 7 – The Unknown
“I didn't hit you that hard, little one. So, stop idling around. We have much to do,” the green-eyed figure said to him, as he slowly closed Gwyn's open mouth with his long, sharp fingertips.
“I thought I got rid of you,” Gwyn snarkily remarked, still somewhat irritated.
“You really thought so, huh? Kikik,” Delirias giggled. “Too bad, right? Though, we have more important matters to attend to. For instance, where are we,” he proceeded.
“Wait, wait! You don't know either?” the young man was outraged.
“My, my, you're an impatient one. With time comes knowledge as you know,” Delirias raised his index finger. “You should stop loitering and join me in gathering information. It doesn't look like we’re safe here.”
“I didn't know you were giving the orders now,” with a heap Gwyn jumped from the crag and looked around. Everything was covered in huge trees, bushes, weeds, and stones. Isolated puddles of water were easy to spot, and it almost felt like every forest Gwyn’s ever been to – yet something felt off.
First off, it seemed to have already been nightfall, as he could see the moonlight shining through the branches, which covered the forest in all kinds of different colors. There were tiny little dust particles, shimmering in the light in a dark purple tone, switching to a more blueish one. It enfolded their surroundings with an almost mythical clarity. Even the puddles were glistening in the same purple colors.
It felt so familiar and strange at the same time. As if he was thrown into to a wonderland, just like the characters in the stories he idolized as a child.
“Stop daydreaming,” Delirias exhorted him with a slap on Gwyn’s buttock.
“Grr,” he growled to deviate from the topic, “just tell me what happened.”
Delirias seemed to pause for a moment as well, as he tried to remember what exactly went on. After almost taking too long, he finally answered him, telling him that he abruptly woke up from a dreamlike place, before searching for Gwyn. Though Delirias wasn't exactly sure where they ended up either, he was about and ready to explore, after which he found Gwyn laying on that lump of rock.
“And you think I'm just gonna trust you to tell the truth?” Gwyn asked sarcastically.
“Well, it's the only thing you're getting out of me, so take it or leave it. Isn’t it boring to over-explain every little detail right on the spot?” Delirias talked down to him, grabbing his forearm and pulling him alongside. “Let's go and experience the magic of the unknown for ourselves!”
“W-what is that?!” Gwyn interrupted him, shocked, as he pointed towards one of the rustling bushes. Surprisingly a small being emerged, sprawling itself right in front of their feet.
“You've gotta be kidding me,” the young man grumbled as he nibbled on Delirias coat, still pointing at the creature.
“You say that like it's your first time seeing a fox.”
“That's no fox anymore,” Gwyn admitted while being stunned.
A little, delicate creature, which was coated in red fur, shook itself pleasurably before them. The small, pointy nose and the four tiny paws were indeed very fox-like, but that's where the similarities ended. Its eyes were almost human, as both of them gazed upon them, glistening in a yellow tone in the bright moonlight. They were the most beautiful pupils Gwyn had ever seen. It was a uniqueness that had reached its own level of fascination. Its tail looked more like a trail, shimmering in radiant orange instances, winding on for many more inches. Glowing as far as the eye could see, before almost vanishing at the end.
“Well, almost at least,” Delirias eventually added, while he smiled and the creature energetically started to clean his fur with a thin tongue, which was split in the middle.
With Gwyn almost mesmerized by the little fellow, Delirias managed for them to push further through the bizarre forest, which became more and more like an uncanny jungle. The deeper they delved into it, the more Gwyn couldn't believe what he saw. They walked past miniature organisms that looked like branches coming to life, marveling at him with their big, blue eyes. The duo jumped from giant tendrils to enormous roots, downwards to ponds with waterfalls and more extravagant living beings. While their search for an exit seemed to grow more pointless as time moved on, Gwyn started to be far more interested in what was going on around him. The mushrooms and flowers he walked past looked nothing like what he had seen before, with all their different shapes and patterns coexisting with each other in this habitat. Miniscule balls of light were whirring around him, smiling at him with four eyes each, leaving him in a state of wonder and bliss. “Beautiful,” he managed to utter.
“Did you say something, kid?”
“It's nothing. Are you finally going to tell me about your grand plan?” Gwyn asked curiously.
“I'm searching for the exit, isn't that obvious? I don't plan on wandering around here any longer than I have to.”
“Yeah… I don't really mind, but how long did we walk? My feet are already starting to hurt, and it's still nighttime.”
As if he almost asked for it, both of them suddenly heart the voice of a child giggling through the branches.
“What was that, Delirias?” Gwyn was startled.
“Just ignore it. We are not here to solve life's mysteries. It's of the utmost importance that we get a clear sense of where we are,” his aspect answered, but Gwyn already stopped paying attention and went into the direction of the giggling noise. His curiosity overwhelmed him as he listened to the voice over and over. As he hasted along, his eyes could almost catch a glimpse of the girl. She barely vanishing behind the bushes he brushed aside, making him think he was about to close the distance between them.
“There she is. A little girl, who's lost and scared in this giant forest,” he thought while climbing over another giant root. He had already lost sight of Delirias, who was still marching forward. Continuing on his path in silence Gwyn started to remember the words of the Lady in white he had met before he woke up.
“That's right – I was with her,” he paused, “and if i
t's true that all of this is real, then I should better hurry and help, since I may not be the only human around here.” After stumbling around, barely knowing which route he took he found a glade, at last.
It was decorated with wonderful formed stones, which were covered in dosh and tendrils, stretching in every direction. In the middle was a pond, on which the moonlight shone brightly. He had to squint many times to believe it, but there it actually was. A little girl, crying on the small hill inside the pond, with a little dirt path leading up to it.
Without really thinking about it twice he rushed to her side, while not realizing that something had already wrapped itself around his leg.
Before he could see it coming, he lost his balance and fell. Just yards before his goal he slammed onto the ground and gazed in surprise as he saw his leg covered in chains.
“What the? Chains?! Wait a moment…” He gasped, before trying to free himself. Without further ado, he heard a loud roar coming from the pond which was followed by a giant silhouette bursting out of the water. Entirely covered in dosh, only revealing red eyes, that were staring menacingly at him. It was more than six feet tall, with sharp paws, bigger than Gwyn's whole torso. Water dribbling beneath the wet body and sinister wheezing were coming from it.
Gwyn was way too scared to scream, all while desperately trying to unchain himself. The monster roared again, bringing the water, and forest around them, to vibrate under its monstrous sounds. Before the young man could even react, the creature already prepared its first strike, ready to end his life at once.
In an almost senseless approach, Gwyn closed his eyes and prayed.
Yet, nothing happened.
Stertorous breathing and the jingling of chains were promptly heard. Cautiously the young man reopened his eyes where he could see a familiar figure towering before him.
“Oh my, oh my. I can't let my eyes off of you for even one second, kid,” Delirias snickered as he stopped the first incoming attack without any effort. After the impact, his green-black coat was fluttering in front of Gwyn's face as if he meant to arrive at the last possible second.
“Let's see what this scourge is made of,” said his aspect full of joy, flailing around the chains that were wrapped around his arms and fingertips.
Everything afterward happened lightning fast, where even Gwyn had trouble following every movement, leaving him completely dumbfounded.
Again the beast was about to strike, but before it could even finish the motion, Delirias already vanished into the air with an acrobatic jump. He shot long, iron chains from his sleeves that were twisting themselves around the arms of the monster. Afterward, he effortlessly landed on top of its head, before jumping down behind its back, all while his fingers were still tightly holding onto the chains.
Followed by a powerful yank, Delirias jolted them into the opposite direction. A loud breaking noise roared through the forest.
Delirias had disjointed the bones of the creature with such force that they were puncturing the beast’s own skin, sticking out of its body - spraying blood everywhere.
The painful screams could be heard throughout the area. Before Gwyn could even avert his gaze in disgust, the giant was already in a spur of rage, trying to hit Delirias with its broken arms. Showing off his slick movements the aspect evaded the strikes without a sweat. Another jump followed, and Delirias managed to lay chains around the neck of the creature. While airborne, the aspect began to spin around his own axis. Like a whirlwind, he twirled in the air before he slammed the beast into the ground, headfirst with his chains. This was done with such high intensity that the ground beneath them began to crack, and the skull of the beast split open as well. In mere moments Delirias made short work of the beast that was about to kill Gwyn.
A wide puddle of blood started to present itself in front of the unlike partners, which mixed itself with the glistening pink water of the pond. Gwyn, who still tried his best not to scream, seemed to calm down after he forcefully pressed his hands to his lips. Meanwhile, Delirias was busy with examining his sleeves in admiration, complimenting himself.
Without notice, the little girl that disappeared during the fight seemingly tried to escape. Gwyn noticed the little legs rushing past him, but it was to no avail. He already saw a chain in the form of a noose flying after her, right past his face.
The chains got her legs, and Delirias reeled her in, like freshly caught fish, to his astonishing amusement. The aspect grabbed her at her feet, dangling her upside down before him.
Eventually, even Gwyn saw what was hiding underneath all the hair, which was falling into the face of the child. In shock, he realized it was not the innocent being he thought it to be. It was more like another, even more gruesome, monster underneath.
Its face was covered in warts. Big bushy eyebrows were trying to hide nasty looking eyes, and a crooked nose was hanging above a grim looking mouth, with even more crooked and rotten fangs embedded in it.
“Eww,” Gwyn burst forth, as he saw the figure fidgeting in front of Delirias. In a hefty struggle, it tried to free itself. It was meaningless, as the terrifying grin of Delirias was already in full view.
“You'll not get in our way ever again,” he said with an excited look before he laid another chain around the dwarfish creature’s neck with two of his fingers. He let go of its feet, while still holding tightly onto the noose with an experienced grip.
It was a scene Gwyn would never forget.
In the middle of the pond, drowned in the bright moonlight, he watched his aspect. Delirias’ white hair moving in the wind, and his green eyes looking apathetically down on the creature, while it struggled for its last remaining breaths. It continued for a short while until every movement had been seized. The corpse eventually shriveled up and decayed into dust that blew onto the surface of the water.
The snakelike eyes moved on to Gwyn. It felt so surreal, like nothing he had ever witnessed before. Just as he was about to contemplate what horrible thing happened, he realized yet another strange thing. As his fingers cautiously crossed alongside his face, Gwyn caught himself smiling.
“Don't judge a book by its cover. I thought you had already learned that in your own world,” Delirias interrupted Gwyn’s train of thought. The aspect lovingly grazed through his white hair and continued. “Come, we have a lot to do,” reaching out towards him.
Gwyn managed to get up, with the chains being lifted from his foot. For the first time, he felt relieved that Delirias was by his side. For the first time, he felt like something was actually happening in his life.
With few spoken words between them, they continued their travels through the seemingly never-ending jungle. While his aspect never showed any signs of exertion, Gwyn was sure that the only thing that made him go on was the rush of adrenaline still flowing through his body. A sense of endless wonder that couldn't be squelched. He had trouble keeping up at times, and just as he thought he lost Delirias behind another gigantic leaf, he heard him burst out into a loud laughter.
“Would you look at that kid?! Looks like we're actually getting somewhere,” Gwyn heard him yell, moments before he brushed the leaf aside in a hurry. He saw him raising his hands theatrically into the air, while the young man’s jaw was about to drop.
Both of them arrived at the edge of a gigantic cliff, where they eventually were able to take a close look at their surroundings. Beneath them, more and more pieces of the forest extended until they could see bright lights flashing up in the distance. An enormous dome made out of different colors stretched over something that looked like a city, with many smaller domes underneath it. The most impressing thing about it was that Gwyn could see them rising far and wide into the night sky, merging at the top as if to form the pattern of a wondrous flower bouquet.
“Civilization,” Gwyn gasped in relief.
“Fufuf, seeing as you were already peeing your pants back there, it might not be a bad thing,” remarked Delirias.
Though Gwyn ignored him after that answer,
he seemed a little bit more content than usual. Maybe it dawned upon the young man that Delirias was the only constant in his strange and ever-changing situation.
The aspect continued to smirk at Gwyn.
“What are you scheming?!” he asked nervously.
“Kiki, hold on tight, kid!” he laughed. In a moment’s notice, Delirias appeared next to Gwyn’s side, grabbing his hip with one of his arms and jumped down the cliff in front of them.
“ARE YOU COMPLETELY NUTS?!” Gwyn screamed at the top of his lungs while soughing downwards.
“This is nothing. The real fun starts now!” Delirias replied with confidence while Gwyn was about to pass out from the shock.
Unbeknownst to Gwyn and his self-imposed partner, he truly wasn't the only one wandering these dangerous parts of the forest, getting lost by themselves.
Deep into the woods, way off to the south, even further from the city than the duo were another two figures, taking a rest at a small stream of clear water.
“I still can't believe that she said that,” one of them moaned. “I bet she's just as old as I am. Even more aggravating is that arrogant douche with the ponytail and atrocious red coat.”
A deep sigh came from the second stature, which answered in a deep, yet tired voice.
“Leandro, don't upset yourself. I'm sure they have their reasons for coming off like that.”
Slowly the moonlight found its way through the branches, revealing the two shadows talking to each other.
In a wide clearing, there they were, one giant man in a weird looking armor enwrapping his whole body, and a young man next to him. The helmet of the armored giant had only one tiny and dark opening for his eyes. He was as imposing as he was large, which didn't seem to hinder any of his movements. His armor rattled as he sat down with big motions, on top of a brittle trunk of a tree. It immediately became apparent that his armor was pierced by many little holes, looking as if they were welded into the armor itself. Everything had a blue and silverish look to it, except for the holes themselves, leaving marks of a dark red color.
My Insanity Page 9
