Ronin had reached the cliff already, but there was a thick fog all around, and his companions were no longer with him.
He traveled alone, in this desolate and treacherous night. The only thing guiding him was that voice singing at the distance.
That siren.
He had long anticipated this that was why he managed to not be under the effects by the last minute.
But Calla Lily was wrong. Her father was much more powerful than she thought.
Or at least, right now. Ronin had a hunch, but in order to conclude this, he had to observe Hyacinth's entire body.
Yet he didn't have to. Because right now, Hyacinth was completely bare, not wearing anything.
And yet not a single patch of his skin was black. It was still pure white.
So was he not a Daemon then?
Ronin shook his head. No, he can feel that he was. And his instinct at the moment mattered more than his observation skills, as things were not what they seem.
Calla had mentioned that her father had almost the same power as her. They can create a 'Theater of the Mind', the only difference being the way it was summoned.
She merely need to narrate, while her father needed to sing.
If he lost his voice, that means it's over.
"Hmmm… mmm….. Hmmm….. mmm…."
He continued to hum to himself a sort of melancholic, yet also destructive tune.
The fog made it appear like he was floating on clouds, covering parts of his body then moving away to reveal some and cover some more.
It could be something internal. Yes, his 'dark gift', the Obsidian that was given by Maellan's spear, must be from his inner organs.
That would always be tricky, because the internal organs were vital and if it gets burned, a normal human would not survive.
"My Lord, will you not let me lull you to sleep for a while? You might find your Neverland interesting."
He stopped humming and turned to Ronin with a smile. But the fog never disappeared, and his friends were still missing.
He must also be an apparition here, Ronin realized. The real him must keep singing and singing somewhere.
"Is that the name of your Mage Focus? Neverland?"
"Yes. Because it is a land that never was." The man said, approaching him.
His feet stepped on the rocks yet he made no reaction, his movements as smooth and graceful as a swan gliding in the water.
"Let me take you to your Neverland. Even for a while. I want to find out what yours is like."
Hyacinth trailed his delicate finger over Ronin's cheek, cupping it with both hands…..
And kissed his forehead.
Before Ronin could stop him, it was already too late and the kiss made him fall backward, straight to the arms of the pearly white man.
------------------------------------------
When he woke up, there was only darkness everywhere. Nothing for miles. Nothing in front of him.
And he too was nothing.
No, he was something. He must have been something before he became nothing.
But he can't remember anything. He had no voice to call out. He had no eyes to see. He had no body to move in this endless nothingness.
He too was nothing.
And yet...
A yellow chrysanthemum appears.
Baffled by this golden flower, he tried to move towards it. The moment he had the determination to do so, he formed hands. The handS turned to arms, and eventually...
He was something again.
He was holding that flower with his dark fingers, grasping tightly. But he soon realized that the thing he was grasping was taking shaper into something else.
The vines turned into fingers interlaced with his own, and then arms, and then….
It was a golden boy.
He made a look of disdain. The boy was asleep. There were no words coming from anywhere…..
But he can still hear it.
The beckoning to squeeze out this golden flower boy.
To grasp him and kill him….. Crumble them with his own hands…..
But then he realized something. If not for the golden chrysanthemum, if not for this boy…..
He would have been nothing forever.
If he killed him, would he become nothing again?
Ronin instead reached out, cusping the boy's face and then…..
Bites his forehead!
"Wake up!" He commanded.
-------------------------------
Cermin woke up with a start. He was about to become one with the flowers and Nelson Ou…..
But something stopped him from being consumed.
He realized that he was on the island after all, and it was night. The moon still shone bright over the sea, and…..
He was being slowly swallowed by a hundred hands.
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!"
He yelled and summoned his sword, which came to free him. The hands were from several dark and disfigured figures, swimming on each other.
The Island of Ogygia...
Was made of them all along.
It was an island made completely of thousands and thousands of living dead, basically mud zombies swimming together in this sea. They were moving towards Sephyrine, slowly.
Cermin had managed to free himself but the dead still tried to reach out to him. He panicked and kicked at them, causing them to make eerie howl and disgusting crunching sounds from their broken bones.
The Sword of Solaire dispersed the fog, and he can see it clearly now. There were several mounds on this 'earth' made of hellish undead.
These mounds kept travelers captive, until they fully consume them during their sleep to become one of them.
He saw Kai's friend, the painter Riana. She was almost covered from head to toe now by the mud peaople, and Cermin went over to slice at the hands that latched on to her.
"Let her go!" He yelled as the sword completely obliterated everything it touches out of existence.
He continued to slice at the mounds, and for each one, he kept looking for Kai and Ronin. But they were nowhere to be found, and there were hundreds of mounds everywhere.
So many humans to be saved at once! He became exasperated, and shouted.
"Ronin! Kai! Don't worry, I'll come and save you!"
Cermin exerted all his force against an island made of muddy once human bodies, slashing through the whole night.
-----------------------------------------
"Naehmnaid, I was asking you the answer to the question on who was the greatest playwright in all of Magecia. Do you not know the answer?"
Hyacinth's eyes widened when he was suddenly faced to face with a stern professor with a Coal Heartstone.
The professor smirked, and as he did, his mouth with shiny white teeth looked like a crescent moon against his skin that was like the midnight sky.
"If you stop daydreaming about pretty priestesses, perhaps you would know the answer." Professor Ronin Dreadborne adjusts his glasses.
Hyacinth panicked. No. This can't be possible.
As his classmates laughed at his expense, he looked at his body that was many years younger than what he was supposed to be now. It really was happening.
"How did you..." He said to his professor in disbelief, but could not finish the sentence.
"I'm also interested in seeing your Neverland. That's only fair, right? Just a peek." Ronin raised a finger to his lips, then closed the textbook he was holding.
"Alright, the answer is Robin Goodfellow. Now, everyone would be doing the activity at page 156 as their assignment. I want all your papers by the third day, morning. Dismissed!"
Everyone left, and there was only Hyacinth Naehmnaid who willed himself to wake up from this dream but could not.
Professor Ronin Dreadborne went to his desk, reading a book while humming a familiar tune.
"Hmmm…. mmm…. Hmm…. mmm….."
Hyacinth completely changed demeanor from the arrogant and seductive siren he was earlier, rushing over to go on his knees and beg him.
"Please release me, My Lord. I'm a great asset to your revolution, there's really no need to—"
"You tried to have me and my friends commit suicide from hatred. Tsk, tsk." Ronin stood up and walked over to him.
He leaned over to grab Hyacinth's cheeks and squeeze them. "I think I deserve to give you a little slap for that, right?"
"This... You don't understand!" Hyacinth was looking crazed now, his calmed demeanor gone. "I can't relive these days again! Not this—"
"Hyacinth? Oh, excuse me, Professor."
A woman shyly peeked through the open door, but was surprised to see that the professor was still there…..
And her dear Hyacinth was kneeling at his feet.
Ronin let go, smiling at her. "Why, good day, Sister. What made you visit the Spire of Artisans all of a sudden?"
"Oh, um….. Well, I just... Hyacinth was—"
"We wanted to invite Hyacinth to lunch with us. He was our friend, you see."
Someone with golden skin also appeared behind the woman.
He looked very gentle, just like the divine and unreachable aura that Marigold had. Something that could never be tainted, or corrupted.
Ronin watched the three of them with amusement. Friendship between two guys and one girl, eh?
That could only spell trouble.
Hyacinth gritted his teeth and said the name as if he was spitting it out.
"Zephyros Rozenaur."
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