SUBMERGED IN DARKNESS

The night fell like a gentle rain, moonbeams showering the rooftops of buildings in soft light. The streets were silent and empty, and only a few windows burned in light, casting their shadow on the street.

Wind blew valiantly yet slowly, as the gale wrapped around the bushes and flowers, swaying them left and right as if floating atop the river. The entire town slept in strange visage, as if the world around was utopia of green and blue, stretching into far infinity of nothingness.

Within the calm of the town, in places light of the moon and the stars could not reach, dozens of figures dwell, strangely affixed to the point in the sky. Their hoods were cast back, faces grotesque revealed; some had blisters as large as rocks, some had layered skin, some heads were shaped like peach, and some had no features to speak of save for the eyes.

Of all the differences between what they were, they all shared the same, pitch-black eyes. They had no pupils and no light reflected within them, as if the abyss ran so deep light was devoured the moment it touched its surface. As they trucked along the city streets, they left a decaying scent behind them which lingered in the air. Beneath the soles of their feet a black, thick smoke arose, as it painted a character as large as the city border itself.

Yet, whatever they did, they made no sound doing it, and even if people were to look at them, they’d only see an edgeless shadow wriggling in the air. Of the dozens of figures, only two remained still; one was a tall, sturdy humanoid creature, its head slightly sunken downwards, eyes narrow and slated, skin scaled like that of a lizard. It had horns rising where the ears were supposed to be, and hooves for its feet. A long, thick tail bushed out from its behind, wrapping itself around its waist.

Next to it stood a small creature, barely up to its knees, with small, round head and a single, round eye. Its head was tilted sideways slightly, seemingly imbalanced atop its plump body. It cast no shadow, as if it was not even there, and seemingly had no presence to speak of.

“It is done.” it spoke in a monotone, flat tone.

“Good.” the tall creature replied in the exact same voice. “Order the Children to leave the town.”

“I have.”

“We need to leave as well,” the tall one said as it turned around. “These things are best witnessed from afar.”

“Indeed.”

The dozens of figures slowly crept out, leaving the city streets and the town itself as silently as they came. Soon, the moonbeams dimmed, and the light grew dark. The starlit sky turned starless, and the space began deforming around the town. The moon disappeared behind the clouds, and the clouds lost their hue, as it all turned dark.

Lynne suddenly sprung in a seating position in the inn he was staying, rushing over to the window. His heart was beating fast, and he was sweating profusely. Alarming voices of the Spirit and the False God echoed inside his mind as he finally reached the window and looked out. Sky, moon, stars… it was all gone. The mountainous world around had disappeared, and was replaced by endless void of nothing. Far above, two suns, burning like blaze, stood in the midst of endless darkness that the sky became. The two suns were paralleled and round, but they gave off no light.

“What the f…” Lynne muttered as he quickly dressed and left his room, running over to Thalia’s and Fen’er’s.

“Get off! What the hell are you doing?” before he even entered the room he heard Thalia’s scream, prompting him to burst through the doors; he immediately saw her, lying on the bed, as she fought off Fen’er.

“Hey, hey!!” Lynne ran over and pulled Fen’er off; as she turned and looked him in the eyes, he felt shivers run down his spine. Her eyes were pitch-black, and nothing else to speak of. Her skin was extremely pale, with veins visible red running across her face. Her mouth was agape, teeth akin to that of a beast, as she lunged forward at his throat. “Holy shit!” he quickly threw her aside as she hit the wall. And then it began.

From outside the window, and from within the inn itself, screams began rampaging through the sky. Some of genuine agony and pain, and some of deepless terror. It turned into a symphony, a choir which sang atop its lungs, for it had no other choice.

“What the hell is going on?” Lynne muttered as he ran over to Thalia. “Are you okay?” he asked as he grabbed her gently.

“Yeah, yeah,” Thalia said, getting off the bed and slowly walking over to Fen’er who had passed out due to the impact. “Why the hell did she pass out? You barely even did anything.”

“Or, more importantly, I don’t know, why the hell did she attack you?!” Lynne protested as he joined her.

“Hey, guys, you okay?!!” Parsia’s voice startled them as he ran into the inn. His clothes were bloodied red and his expression of terror and confusion. “Thank god! What the hell is going on?!”

“What happened to you?” Lynne asked him.

“Some fucks attacked me in my room out of nowhere! The entire inn has gone to shitters!”

“As has the rest of the town,” Thalia said, sighing, as she looked outside the window. “The question is, why is Fen’er out of it, and why aren’t we?”

“This isn’t a time for logical questions!!” Lynne cried out. “Shouldn’t you be asking, I don’t know, what the hell are we supposed to do now?”

“Guys,” Parsia suddenly stuttered as he swallowed a gulp, a look of utter terror on his face. “Try… try using Magic.”

“Hm?” Thalia raised her hand slightly but nothing happened. “Whoa whoa, what?!”

“…” Lynne did the same, and nothing happened. “Oh fuck me dry!”

“Watch out!” Thalia screamed at Parsia who immediately ducked, whereas a person lunged over and crashed onto the floor. Lynne quickly ran over and stomped him once on the head whereas he stopped.

“Okay, the question is: how bad are the things outside, and should we just barricade here for now?” Lynne asked.

“What about others?” Thalia asked Parsia.

“I don’t know and – frankly – I don’t really care. The four of us are here. Let’s just barricade the doors and windows as Lynne suggested and see what happens.” Parsia replied.

“Lynne! Thalia!!” a familiar voice echoed out through the inn; it was a man’s voice, and it was panic-stricken.

“Ugh, stay here with Fen’er,” Lynne said as he pulled Thalia. “We’ll go check on others.”

“…”

The two left the room and found themselves in a hallway next to a staircase; walls were already painted crimson with blood and stairs were laid with mutilated corpses beyond recognition. As the two navigated through the madness, they were forced to fight off people who had gone mad. They didn’t listen and only screamed as they lunged at anything near them – whether mad or normal. There was no reason or logic to their action, just pure chaos.

They slowly made their way to the floor beneath whereas they spotted Ryn standing in the corner, face painted in red, as he held passed out Leana in his arms. He was panting, eyes scouring left and right, while his body shivered as if cold.

“You’re here! You’re fine!” he screamed out as he saw Lynne and Thalia and immediately ran over, shortly after breaking down in tears. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… they… they just started… they started biting each other and mauling and… oh god… it was… what is going on?!! Why is this happening?!!” Lynne helped him by taking Leana from his arms and leaning her back onto the staircase.

“Hey, calm down first,” Thalia said softly as her eyes watched left and right in alarm. “Are you the only one not… infected I guess?” she asked. “Hell, wait, we can’t just stay here and talk. Let’s go back up.”

“Yeah,” Lynne said. “Here,” he handed Leana off to Thalia as he helped Ryn up. “I’ll take the back, you take the front.”

On their way up, they were no longer attacked, and the screams somewhat dulled and grew distant. They quickly reached the top floor and entered the room where Parsia and Fen’er were, quickly closing the door behind them and barricading it with a nightstand and a chair. Then, they ripped the bed apart, leaving behind only mattress, as they took the wood and clumsily barricaded the windows in the room.

Fen’er and Leana were lain on bed next to one another while others sat on the floor.

“They know anything?” Thalia asked Lynne.

“They’re not sure,” Lynne said, sighing. He slowly extended his arms and pulled her into his embrace as the two stayed hugged, leaning against the wall. “What happened exactly Ryn?”

“I-I don’t… I don’t know…” Ryn stuttered, still shivering. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I’m sorry… please forgive me…” he began rocking back and forth slowly as he muttered apologies over and over again.

“Any idea Parsia?” Lynne left him alone and asked Parsia who was sitting next to the mattress.

“Illusion?” he proposed. “But, not likely. Those people are dead. And others killed them.”

“Anyone noticed anything strange today?” Thalia asked.

“Nothing,” Lynne sighed as he tried to remember. “Alright, let’s think about this from a different perspective. Why are the two of them ‘infected’,” Lynne pointed at Fen’er and Leana. “But the four of us aren’t? What makes us different from them? I mean, they’re both a bit mean-spirited or flat out bitchy at times, but that can’t be it, can it?”

“…”

“…”

“… yep, that was tasteless.” Lynne added, smiling nervously.

“I’m more interested in why can’t we use Magic,” Thalia said as she tried using it once more but to no avail. “If it was something like a city-wide formation, we’d have discovered it quickly. Some Natural Treasure? No, can’t be. Nothing on this scale at least. Someone much more powerful than us? Ugh, this is giving me a headache.”

“Hey,” Lynne muttered out as a glint of understanding flashed through his eyes. “I woke up just before everything began because I felt a slight spacial distortion… but one so powerful I felt like I was being dragged into nowhere, even if the distortion happened far away. Could… could it be that the entire town was transported someplace else?”

“…”

“… if it has,” Parsia said, sighing as he looked at the barred window. “The question is where… and why…”

The strange order was assembled on the streets of the city; mutated stopped attacking one another and were instead roaming the streets in silence, shoulders cast down. Outside of Lynne and others, there were several more who survived and were hiding in the city, while their eyes looked at the sky and two burning suns within otherwise endless darkness, all asking the same questions, and all getting no answers.