Chapter 5: Planning, Forshik With an ally Matt finally ended his streak of isolation, finding himself a semi-comrade in the exact same situation. Perhaps if Matt didn’t arrive first Ronald (It would be a pain to learn his last name) would’ve joined the pile of bones under where the tree once was. His own survival was more luck than anything. The hole left behind by the vanishing tree was already filling up with uncompressed ash, uncompressed. It was certainly a falling hazard, yet too far away to collect any material form without leaving the safety of the formation. Beginning the... day? by talking with Ronald confirmed Matt’s suspicions, this was some sort of afterlife and he did indeed get sent here by falling through a hole of some sort. To get out of here he would have to get back to the fiery area, get to the ceiling, get through a hole as a victim fell in. During the conversation Matt attempted to understand the formation… it was impossible to, scribbles and lines he couldn’t draw or understand without aid. If demons were sentient and more would be sent through this formation, perhaps someone with more knowledge would get through. Another victim who could actually be useful. “What’s your power?” A confused expression started on Ronald’s face. “My legs make fire, just like how your head should be able to do something.” Ronald shook his head. “Do you not know what it is?” Another nod. That was an issue, having another source of heat would’ve been ideal, and Matt certainly wasn’t ready to explore by himself. Ronald was less than ideal for a partner, unable to communicate. They began to "talk" about their lives. “I don’t know why I’m here” “I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong.” “Did… you see an angel?” “I wonder what would happen if we escape.” “We haven’t seen any demons in reality, right? So what are the actual chances we escape?” “That's true, the transporter demon got to go to earth to bring us here. Are we actually under the earth?” Starting a conversation with a mute… a coocoo’s chirping sounded in Matt’s head. Perhaps they were too isolated, the numbing cold inhibited their movements, pain forgotten by Matt. Ronald held a branch above his head, shielding his bald redhead from the ash. To be honest, Matt felt a bit hysterical just waiting for more victims to arrive here. In a short period of time, he went back under the small shelter to sleep some more. Tiredness and encroaching pain allowed him to just watch as Ronald expanded said shelter, eventually settling in close to him. Was he really just… stuck here? Unable to move outside of this extremely limited zone? Matt gritted his teeth in frustration, knowing that he had at least two things to do: 1)Test viability of walking in ash while angry 2)Find out Ronald’s power With the soft sound of ash falling, Matt once again closed his eyes. And awoke to Ronald’s screaming. Another demon towered over the ashen rocks and broken branches. Nearly translucent, its outline was covered in ash and its body served as an umbrella. A blank, masked face of a bulb. It wasn’t moving, and Ronald had quieted down. A voice. “Curious. Did you, did you, did you?” It was a command, words began spilling from Matt’s mouth, while Ronald began to scream incoherently. It was the truth that spilled from his lips, supported by the harsh voice of another person. A hand, or what served as a hand lifted Matt upwards. ‘Why wasn’t this demon frightened off like the rest?’ A look downwards revealed Ronald bleeding from his mouth, words legible but harsh and stuttering with spurts of blood serving as interruptions. Fear of drowning in his own blood, Matt stopped his resistance to whatever force that made him talk. “Well, well, well.” “I’m Forshik, and I welcome you to my family.” Words unfiltered came out of his mouth, details that even Matt had begun to forget. A sentence about his family. A sentence about a fight he had started. A sentence about a secret. And then he fainted. Perhaps this was a commonality in this realm, slowness, and sleep. ___ How did Ronald see Forshik? Forshik had fallen into a hole. ___ When he woke up, it was a blue palace that was around him, a temperature that was warmer than he expected. “Well hello there” Turning his head, a blue pixy looked at him, a small humanoid with beating wings. The buzz and pitched voice hurt his ears. “Any questions for me” As Matt began to ask in confusion, expecting the other shoe to drop, the pixy sped away. He was on a blue bench in a blue room, the doorway and floor just patterns of blue. The material was grown out of the floors and walls, where did this appear? Light… wasn’t present. But he could still see. Why was that? The pixy was back, “How are you doing?” “Not that well, I-” “Great, go train in the yard!” “I-” He was alone. Matt was looking around once again. There wasn’t anything he could take, the drawers, if unstuck, had nothing. What were flowers were hard and stubbornly unmoving, ugly. ‘I… What… this isn’t a place here? Huh?’ “Go to the yard!” “I’m telling you-” And it was gone again. Matt was ignoring the pixy now. “Any questions?” He was ignoring the pixy, the fucking pixy. In fact, to get away from it, he walked away. “Hey look, Forshik is the head here!” Perhaps the advice was important, but it was a high-pitched voice that grated on his ears. Leaning forward, he broke out into a run. The place was painless, the area without ash, the light somehow feeling normal between his red legs and the blue. His legs perhaps could serve as a blood pressure meter. It was okay here. Not cold, under shelter, under the service of another demon? If the demon wanted something from him, what was it? A deal, yes, a deal with a devil was what he had to be wary of. And then he slowed to a still. Where was Ronald? It wasn’t like he cared, but where was Ronald? Beyond anything, Ronald was neutral, not a demon. Unless he was also a demon just tricking him, but decidedly unlikely. “It’s four, y’know?” The pixy was back, and he started to wander yet again to avoid it. He came across many rooms, entering them and leaving them just as fast. A room of clear bookshelves and clear books, unmovable and stuck to each other. A room of unusable kitchen tools, an empty room, and… Flowers. Flowers of blue and white. They mimicked roses, mimicked lilies. And a presence was felt behind him.