"ALEX! WAIT! WHY AR-ACK!"
Without listening to Dex, I cut him down, slicing a thin diagonal line across his torso.
Blood exploded out from his falling form; his face frozen in one of terror.
I took in the sight and smiled, a dry forced one.
"HAAA...."
I let out a low rumble, sleeking my hair back with my blood-soaked hand. I spared a glance at Silver Lining; it was doused with blood.
Hehe...
I looked up, ignoring the frightened screams around me. My gaze met the furious flare of the spotlight above and yet, the light couldn't dispel the darkness clouding my expression.
The darkness encroaching my mind.
"I wonder...how serial killers do this shit..."
My heart thundered against my ribcage, as my eyes narrowed at the flare.
Oh, that's right...
"They laugh!"
"HAHAHAHA!!"
I broke into a fit of laughter, one that seemed to curdle my soul. It was loud, jagged and unhinged but it was just what I needed.
"Wyrtweard, you bastard."
Those were my last words before I dove back into the fray.
"EEK!"
A girl screamed when I lunged at her, she spun around in a bid to escape but I was inevitable. Silver Lining fell like a guillotine, slashing through her nape with terrifying ease.
She slumped to the ground, drowning in a pool of crimson.
Samantha.
I gave a silent farewell before pouncing on my next target.
Like a hurricane of steel, I hacked through the remaining students, cutting them down without mercy.
Blood sprayed like rain, soaking into my skin, into my very being. It was almost funny how easy it was.
They fell like wheat before the scythe, limbs severed, bodies split. Some tried to run, but I was faster. Some begged, but I was deaf. Some even fought, but of course...
I cut them down.
I cut them all down.
Every last one...
"ALEX! STOP! STOP YOU BASTARD!"
Seba let out a furious scream as I approached, dragging Silver Lining across the floor.
Behind him was the quivering frame of Vicki who clung tightly to his shirt.
It was funny.
Did she really think that Seba could save her?
"Alex...p-please..."
Vicki said through tears, her hands were quivering, her legs were shaking. Her glasses had long been discarded, as streams of tears rolled down her cheeks.
I approached them with slow measured steps, deliberately sowing unease to ravage their psyche.
My lips curled into a smile.
"Seba..."
He froze.
"If you leave Vicki behind, I'll spare your life."
Silence.
For a moment, the world stopped.
The air was thick, thick with the stench of blood and horror. The weight of my words pressed down on them, heavier than any blade. Vicki's breath hitched, a small, choked whimper escaping her throat. Seba stiffened, his jaw clenching so tightly I could hear his teeth grind.
TMP.
I took another step forward, dragging Silver Lining across the floor. The metal screeched against the tiles, the sound of looming death.
Vicki shuddered behind him, her fingers clawing at his shirt as if she could fuse herself into his spine. As if she could hide from me.
Hahaha...amazing...these actors are amazing!
I tilted my head, amusement creeping into my tone.
"Well?"
Seba didn't answer. He just kept standing there, blocking my path, his arms slightly spread like some sort of protective barrier.
How ridiculous.
"You're hesitating.", I continued, my voice calm, almost mocking, "I don't blame you. I mean, what's one girl compared to your life, right?"
Seba flinched, a shadow crossing his face.
I smiled even wider.
"She's weak.", My voice was low, insidious, "She's dead weight. You're smart...we both know it."
Vicki let out a small gasp, and for the briefest moment, Seba's grip on his resolve cracked.
I could see it; the worm of doubt. The smallest flicker of survival instinct worming its way into his mind.
He wanted to live.
They all did.
And I—
I wanted to see him break.
I took another step.
"Don't listen to him.", Vicki whispered, voice trembling, "Seba, please—"
THUD.
Seba crashed to his knees, tears trickling down his eyes.
"Am sorry, Vicki..."
Before Vicki's eyes could widen, his head went off and before she could scream,
I stabbed her heart.
Bringing the memory to a solemn close.
...
"I guess it's time."
The teacher rises from her seat, the chair collapsing under an unseen weight. She walks briskly across the podium, her eyes never leaving the frozen frame of the Fool before she spoke,
"What did you see?"
The Fool was still for a moment before slowly turning his head to her.
He smiled.
"I saw a beautiful nightmare."
The teacher opened her mouth, but then closed it.
Then she asked,
"What is a memory's worth if the holder ceases to exist?"
This was Elder's philosophy.
It was the very question that had plagued him for eons and the very one that had made him what he was now.
Elder had received many answers and yet, he craved more.
The Fool scoffed,
"Memories? They're buckets. Empty unless you give them water. And when you die, they tip over, spilling slowly over time until they're empty and forgotten."
The teacher hesitated before saying, "Is that what you truly believe?"
For a moment, the Fool was silent.
He simply stared at her before slowly he smiled, his blade glinting as he said, "That is what I believe...but one should not forget that even if the bucket spills...even if it becomes empty...it was once full."
"It was once there. It once existed."
The Fool paused,
"There was once a bucket and there was once water."
The moment he said that the teacher gasped, the dreamscape hummed before unraveling, returning back into the Garden.
The teacher or rather the Forgotten had now returned to the shape of a Nucifera.
It watched in silent reverence as an elongated black figure loomed over the Fool, a watering can in hand.
The Elder of Oblivion gazed at the Fool before saying, "I was wrong."
"You didn't descend because of loneliness.", he paused before continuing, "You descended because you were meant to...because it was inevitable."
At the mention of the word 'inevitable', the stem of a bloom twitched.
The Fool tilted his head and said, "Hehe..."
Wyrtweard spoke, "You go by the name of the Fool, the harbinger of beginnings and yet you embody finality, why?"
"Who knows? Maybe I'm the beginning after the end."
"Hmph! The Abyss would be the judge of that."
My stem twitched.
Did Elder just crack a joke?
The Fool chuckled, "I guess..."
Wyrtweard sighed, "Little seed, do you still wish to descend?"
The Fool turned to Elder and spoke, his face serious, "Yes."
"I see...you may now descend."
With that, the vast tapestry of roots parted as well as the countless forgotten items beneath it. A white chasm loomed beneath, one with countless watching eyes.
The ground under the Fool vanished and he descended.
Deeper into the Abyss.