《The Throne of Lies Made for You》 1 I | l Immortality. What is it exactly? Immutable, immaterial, immanent, impermanent, invincible, and so forth; these words carry meanings of an opposite to another. But which side is the reflection, and which is the real? How does one differentiate?
I think it fitting we start with a garden. It belongs to one Mrs. Ili and playing it in now was her daughter, darling Nivin. She loved the world as much as one could love it at seven and a half years old. Even now, as pumpkins, melons, trouter-halves, and lemons jumped and squawked, Nivin could do no wrong and delighted in seeing her buddies grow so, dreaming of one day eating them and planting their children, to repeat the cycle once more. The girl thought it an honor for them to be eaten so, as no other path existed for them save the rot, and no one wanted the rot, not even the rot. The bees and squawks joined together sometimes as they try their best to avoid the irksome loaf child lumbering about. The nectar of the gods flowed freely for once, as the gods were much too tired today, and would much prefer to hide and yawn, shirking responsibilities much like a child does every now and then. The honey made tasted like yams if they were sweet, so not a taste anyone could forget, but not exactly a taste one would care to remember either. It would be wise if Mrs. Ili paid better attention to her child, but she couldn¡¯t even remember what time it was as she sought the knot to tie down her broth, brubbling and threatening rent as though it paid but a tenth. But of course, cause came anyway, bounding and skinning its knee, which caught Nivin by her eye as she turned around and watched patiently for time to move on. ¡°This is me.¡± Fate spoke even as it left, a little-ling much like him if it was Nivin, black and white as though it was living. ¡°I am you, Nivin, if you supposed me living. We could switch and no-one would know, doo-be-li-doo.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°I am you?¡± She asked, rasped. ¡°I thought we couldn¡¯t be twins if weren¡¯t of blood. Daddy couldn¡¯t have been lying, did he?¡± ¡®He did not¡¯, thought the living that could be Nivin. ¡°I am not certain, but certainly it could be true. Adults lie and cheat as they always do. Now I¡¯m not a cheater, nor am I a liar, and I promise, two, that I shall never be a liar and never be a friar.¡± Coincidentally, a friar walked past the road nearest to them all, unaware that he had lost a brother he never had. ¡°That sounds about right, I think.¡± Nivin thought, though thoughts come slowly when it came to these talks. ¡°I don¡¯t think Mama would mind if we played together some more, if you¡¯re nice and kind and won¡¯t be mean to me at all. What do you say, me-that¡¯s-the-living?¡± The he-that-could-be-Nivin pondered as he leaned back and back until his head touched the ground, his back in the shape of an ¡®u¡¯ the other way around. He scrummed and thrummed until finally he plunked, face flat on the dirt while his feet took their time getting down from the ground into the earth. It made for an amusing sight as the boy turned garden gnome turned around as though dirt was air and stepped off his self-imposed burial site. He thought long and hard until his mind gave him an idea he could share with Nivin. ¡°I can be nice, if you¡¯ll play nice with me at my place, for once. There will be candy, and food, and other-me¡¯s that we can play with together forever. It¡¯s not far, I promise. We will simply walk until I tell you to stop. Then the rest will come before you know it.¡± A small part of Nivin, which had guarded humanity against all manners of dangers and forever cautious, took alarm at such an offer and alerted the girl appropriately, her hesitance apparent as her arms clung to herself with shivers traveling up and onto her shoulders and everywhere else. ¡®It¡¯s dangerous.¡¯ Her mind spoke as she watched her mother, close enough to see but not to touch. ¡®What would Mama say if we go off with a strange little boy? She might get sad.¡¯ As she processed things, the boy-of-a-Nivin stepped into her line-of-sight, his head tilted as he tried to match Nivin¡¯ peculiar posture whenever she had to mind something particularly difficult in her life. Their eyes met and words were spoken silently, one at a time. Slowly, the boy stepped through a yawning that appeared as needed, his face contorting in what should be an excruciating experience, and yet no sound could be heard save for his breath, which went calmly as a summer¡¯s breeze. The name Nivin, borne by her for now, saw fit to think that she should never tell about this to anyone, and so walked back towards her own house, where she knew her mother would be baking cookies for her upcoming birthday party this weekend. Perhaps not now, not exactly this moment, but she knew Mrs. Ili loved her daughter. She loved her mother as well, and figured no strange boy could ever make her heart waver on deciding to stay here in the moment, cherished and safe, where none can threaten her and all treated well. And it was the case eighty-two years ago. What has changed since then? 2 01 + 01 = 10 Eighty-two years on this earth. What effect could such a long time have on a child? They could grow up, fall in love, fall out of love, become a mess and dig a hole and stay there for ten years, wake up and realize you¡¯d rather sleep in the comfort of your own home, and come back renewed and content, allowing her heart to open once more and finding love again, only this time it stays, on and on until age sets in and Death comes knocking every now and then. One such visit took her husband, and now she lay neither living nor dead, hooked on machines that beeped and glowed even at night. Sometimes her children visits, and sometimes their children would tag along, gentle rubs and innocent questions asked for her to answer with the smallest of voices and the faintest of grips she could muster on whatever hand grabbed her own. And now she could see the angel of Death himself, waiting for her very last seconds to pass. His eyes peered at her from many places, even on the walls where his wings clipped through seamlessly like smoke. He was by her side, a pair of arms clasped in prayer while another reached out to her body and beyond, to grasp at her soul and pull, like thread upon the weave. But before that could happen, a hand shot out and stopped the angel from going any further, said hand belonging to a boy not much older than five. He grinned and pushed away the angel, who remained silent but now stood at the ready, wings pulled close and a weapon on each hand. A battle seemed unavoidable, except then a command came through to the angel from up on high, from the only authority that mattered. Within a breath, the angel of Death was gone. ¡°I waited and waited, and still you did not come. All this time and still tardy as ever. Have you no shame, Mallory Nivin Evergrand? Must I drag you from the bed as well? Come on, up and up!¡± In the blink of an eye, the spitting image of Mallory as a child became instead Mallory as a thirty something adult, with the fashion sense to match. He leaned forward until Mallory could feel her breath coming back to her from his face, while he didn¡¯t breathe at all. The old woman waited for herself to become panicked as she has been prone to doing in these twilight years of hers, but nothing came about. She instead felt calmer than she¡¯d ever felt in years, and with that calmness her lungs eased into breaths which felt at last like actual lungful ones instead of the half-choking, asthmatic wheezes which always felt like she was drowning from the air itself. ¡°I-I thought you weren¡¯t real. I thought you were just an imaginary friend I made up one day.¡± Mallory muttered. ¡°What do you want now? Why are you here? You¡¯re too late. Far, far too late, child.¡± Mallory felt a sudden urge to sob as memories of her childhood days came to the forefront, especially the ones where her mother was still alive and well. ¡°I am old and frail, and if you had not come, I would have been claimed for My Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ? Are you the Devil in human form, come to tempt me one last time from the path of eternal salvation?¡± ¡°The Devil? Who, me? Whatever could give you such an idea, my dear? I am shocked that you¡¯d put me on the same level as the trickster, that liar, that no-gooder banned from everywhere save here, where it¡¯s dark and comfortable to hide from the light. And I have no intention to tempt anyone to anything save for a good time, no, an exceptionally fun time. I can tell that you are in desperate need of that, ¡®Nivin¡¯, or do you prefer to go with Mallory nowadays?¡± The man gave her his best smile, which convinced Mallory even further that this man was in fact the Devil in disguise. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Are we to play games, Prince of Lies? Then get to it before the angel comes back; I need to muster once more the resolve I¡¯d gathered to die which you so carelessly dispelled like a wet towel upon a fire.¡± Mallory huffed and turned her head away from the man, which given her current condition, really just amounted to her moving her focus away as best she could and keeping the Devil at the edge of her sight. The man moved, and Mallory rolled her eyes to the other side, which he responded by simply splitting into two. With all avenues of escape cut off, Mallory found herself forced to stare at the man¡¯s face, or rather, her face. To say it a weird experience would be understating things. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to this as you got used to your own reflection.¡± Nivin-homme spoke as though it was a foregone conclusion that he and Mallory had more time to spend together. ¡°So shall we go and leave this dreadful place? I can sense him working everywhere, almost around the clock. It is cruel how much one being can be stretched so, especially in the name of duty.¡± A hand was stretched towards Mallory, who remained still as she wondered how much longer this near-death dream would last. ¡°If you must know, my name is Di¡¯at, Ma¡¯am. I figured you would rather trust someone you know than a stranger with no name.¡± ¡°I trust my Lord, devil. And if it be my time to meet his angel, then I will gladly wait however long I have to wait until we meet again once more.¡± Mallory huffed and tried to cross her arms, only to remember that she pretty much had no more strength left in her body. But time crawled, and she realized it was only crawling because this man, Di¡¯at, was around. It was only this compression which enabled her usually frayed mind to recollect and bear an echo of the sharpness it once held, with what would happen if the man were to leave becoming painfully obvious as well. ¡°I do admire this side of you; this willingness to stand for what you believe in so. But again, Mallory, I bear you no ill-will. I am no Devil, nor am I of the demons which harms your like most willingly. But I am no angel either, for my will is my own as your will is your own. I will leave, as I had done so before, should you wish it. But I beg of you,¡± The man grasped one of Mallory¡¯s hand with the tenderness of one touching a child. ¡°, Mallory, to at least give me the chance to show you what I¡¯ve always wanted to show you all those years ago. A place like your childhood, when all was well and happiness was abound.¡± Mallory was tempted to throw the offer right back at that man¡¯s face and proclaim her faith once more, but a tiny sliver of her aging heart leaked the longing she had repressed over the years, coming out now in a near-whirlwind of emotions and memories. They, once faded with time, now renewed in heart-wrenching detail put the old woman into a loop of paralyzing wants and needs. She was young and she wanted to have fun, and now she is old and only wants out. She was Nivin, and she is Mallory, but for this next part, whom should she become? 3 iii III iii Eighty-two years as Mallory. The old woman thought as she saw her life go by in a flash. And only several summers as Nivin. My mom always liked Nivin more than Mallory, and I did too. Until she died, and I can¡¯t bear the name anymore. I buried it along with her and everything else, and I guess I buried him as well until now. What would mom say to something like this? Maybe laugh, ask me if I¡¯ve been drinking. I think she would want me to go for it, just for the hell of it. ¡®You only die once, after all¡¯, as she put it so eloquently. Before Mallory could think further, however, an immaculate recreation of a clock tick-tock-ing away came from the men standing to her left and right. It was just the right amount of annoyance for the old woman to make up her mind. She mustered all of her strength to lift up her hands, which the men took as a sign to help her get out of her bed. Minutes passed which Mallory was sure meant her end was imminent come the return of the angel of death, but nothing happened. She took it as a sign that whatever was going on, she was only going to get any answer from the man that started everything. ¡°May God forgive me for what I¡¯m going to do.¡± Mallory muttered as she glared at the two men named Di¡¯at. ¡°Now you have me, standing, shaking like a leaf, but standing anyway. Are you going to make me wait any longer, Devil, or are we going to get this show on the road?¡± Di¡¯at smiled as his two bodies walked into one another, becoming singular once more. He held out his hand and made a motion like pulling upon a thread, whereupon a dark portal appeared in the air. The man stepped forward first, going through halfway before looking back and waiting for Mallory to follow suit. ¡° ¡­ If there ever was an entrance to Hell, that would be it.¡± Mallory commented before moving forward and following Di¡¯at through the portal. On the other side was a gray, desolate plain that seemed to stretch on forever. While the place looked right, Mallory was also expecting to feel searing heat, maybe the wails of the damned filling her ears from everywhere. That those two things were remarkably absent was both a relief for the old woman and unnerved her in a way she never felt before. Di¡¯at never stopped walking, which prompted Mallory to catch up and walk beside him. ¡°Is this Hell? I imagined it-¡° ¡°Are you still on about that? I told you, I¡¯m no Devil, no horns nor tails here to see. And this isn¡¯t Hell, as you put it. This is just where we need to go through for a bit before I can bring you to our actual destination. Think of it as a transient location, like a cloud or a sea. Oh, and you can stop looking like that now. Freshen up before some really judgmental folks come around and see you. Their barks really bite.¡± Di¡¯at gestured to all of Mallory as though the old woman¡¯s looks were shabby clothes. ¡° Why, I¡¯ll be! Just the sort of thing a Devil would think to say about someone like me.¡± Mallory spoke with unrestrained venom, ¡°There will be no sorcery, trickery, or bedevilment done to me of any sort. Do you hear me, Devil?!¡± ¡°Something of the sort is already happening to you, my dear. Are you not wondering how you¡¯re able to move right now? And my name is Di¡¯at, though you seem insistent on matching me one-to-one to the Devil himself. There is a limit to rudeness, you know.¡± Di¡¯at¡¯s words rang true in Mallory, which shocked her so much she had to stop and think. This gave her the chance to examine herself, specifically her body, and what she found frightened her. Wherever she checked, she was finding signs that her body was very slowly becoming healthier, restoring her to when she was at the prime of her life. ¡°W-What have you done to me, Devil?! Release me from your spell, at once!¡± Mallory shrieked as she collapsed to her knees, her hands clawing at her arms as she shivered from the great fear gripping her heart. Di¡¯at stopped and turned back to where Mallory now sat, looking down on her with clear pity on his face. ¡°This is simply the nature of this realm, Mallory. I¡¯ve never stayed too long here for obvious reasons. But I need you to stand up and keep walking a little bit further for me, just until we can get out of here and on to the next part of our journey.¡± Di¡¯at extended a hand out to Mallory, who was tempted to swat the hand away from her, but instead chose to remain in her small cocoon, hugging herself as she cried tears of sorrow. ¡°I¡¯ve been tricked by the Devil. Forgive me, my Lord, for I¡¯ve been led astray. Forgive me, for I couldn¡¯t see the way even though it was right in front of me.¡± The old¡ªnow turning young¡ªwoman spoke in near-delirium as her mind kept replaying the moment she decided to follow this man that was the Devil through his portal to Hell. She remembered how close she had been to salvation as the angel of death closed in, only to have him interfere and even banish the angel away by some method she knew not. And now she was here, in Hell, where her body was being transformed into an abomination of nature, in defiance of the accord between Man and God. Any further thoughts Mallory might have had was interrupted as Di¡¯at scooped up the woman up into his arms and carried her like she was a lamb. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°I mean you no harm, truly, Mallory. If, by at the end of all this, you still do not trust me, then I will hand you a sword and you will run it through me. I was never the Devil, but for you, if it will bring you peace of mind, I will die as one. This, I swear upon my name.¡± At that moment, Mallory could feel a certain bond formed between her and Di¡¯at, which spoke to her exactly the terms the man had said, with no falsehoods or lies to be found. Without meaning to, her heart weeped with joy upon learning that she wasn¡¯t in Hell, that she wasn¡¯t kidnapped by the Devil, that she was in fact in the arms of a stranger that meant her no harm. ¡° ¡­ But, if you¡¯re not the Devil, then what are you?¡± Mallory said as she struggled against Di¡¯at¡¯s grasp, which the man took as a sign to let her down. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Are you a spirit then? A ghost? Why did it take you eighty-two years to find me again? Why-¡° Mallory was silenced as Di¡¯at placed a finger upon her lips. His eyes gave her a plea to wait most succinctly, as he directed her attention towards something in the distance far in front of them. ¡°We can talk some more over there, once we¡¯re in some shelter.¡± Di¡¯at spoke just as the wind started to pick up suddenly in the desolate plains. ¡°There¡¯s a storm coming. A big one, if I¡¯m correct.¡± He put a finger on his mouth upon his tongue, then put it up in the air as though tasting it for something. ¡°There¡¯s going to be ice as well. Bigger than anything you¡¯ve seen before. Can you run?¡± Mallory frowned as she almost answered no to the question. Looking down, her hospital gown parted easily to reveal a pair of toned legs she hadn¡¯t seen since the 50¡¯s. She nodded to Di¡¯at, who took that as the cue to immediately start running, which caught Mallory by surprise for a second before she too took off like a bolt, cursing her luck all the while the wind start whipping the ground and lightning whipped the clouds. Mallory couldn¡¯t believe she would be running again after so long, even if it was while she was in another dimension with a man that, minutes ago, she was convinced was the Devil himself. Granted, all those times spent being sedentary took its toll on her stamina, but even catching up her breath felt new and exciting again. The wind clung tightly to her form as it tried its best to blow her away, though never for too long as soon it would go somewhere else and make way instead for the cold to creep in and rain hell upon Mallory¡¯s exposed body. The lightning were content to stay above her, though sometimes a single bolt would land several miles away and shake the earth, causing Mallory to stumble and almost fall on her face. Time felt once again like it was crawling as she saw Di¡¯at¡¯s back in front of her move with no breaks, a veritable juggernaut undaunted by anything the elements threw at him. Mallory found herself finding comfort despite her reservations, allowing her to move forward and on as the weather really started to pick up steam. The storm winds now moved much more orderly than before, striking the ground and anything it could find with almost animal-like intelligence. Ice crystals were starting to fall on the ground from those the size of small pebbles to enormous boulders that plough through the ground like it was clay. The lightning joined suit in this mad circus, raining as rain would upon the ground in fences that scour the earth in lines after lines of voltaic destruction. ¡°In here, Mallory. Into the ground!¡± Di¡¯at suddenly shouted as the place the two had been going for now suddenly loomed over them, an ancient complex of sort that the ground had mostly swallowed up. Mallory saw where Di¡¯at was pointing and grimaced, as it looked very much like a hole that would collapse on someone and bury them alive. But the man, sensing her distress, gathered something into the palm of his hand before slamming it into the fissures above the hole. Immediately the hole started becoming bigger, growing upward until all Mallory had to do to get in was bend down and get herself on her knees, crawling away from the light and into the darkness. Except, some kind of light permeated throughout the ancient complex, as Mallory found out once her eyes adjusted to the dark. It led her to keep moving until the hole exited into a room of sorts. With nowhere else to go, Mallory pushed on and made sure she had one leg out before she removed herself fully out of the hole in the wall and into the room proper. As she looked around and tried to figure out where she was, the hole in the wall shuddered and groaned before it spat out a thoroughly disheveled looking Di¡¯at, his previously sharp attire now quite scuffed and banged in all sorts of places. He sighs and dusted himself off before moving onto the hole in the wall and knocking once against the wall, which quickly moved in close to fill the gap and the hole was no more. ¡°That was exciting.¡± Mallory spoke before she realized what she was saying. ¡°I mean terrifying. That was terrifying. What were you thinking getting us into this place? It¡¯s practically a tomb!¡± Di¡¯at frowned and walked closer to Mallory, who suddenly felt very small compared to the much taller man. Before she could say anything, the man tapped her on the shoulder once before moving away, a sensation enveloping the woman as she felt her hospital gown somehow melt and move across her skin. Once it was done, Mallory found herself wearing an ensemble reminiscent of one Indiana Jones. ¡°There. I figured you¡¯d be more comfortable in these moving forward. You¡¯re welcome.¡± Di¡¯at spoke with clear pride in his voice. ¡°All of that is real craftsmanship you know. No shoddy construction here. It can even stop bullets.¡± Mallory checked her new gear one by one, noting how everything fit her remarkably well. Then something hit her and she frowned, glaring at the man known as Di¡¯at with extreme disappointment. ¡°You let me run through a desert in nothing when you could¡¯ve made this?! Oh, I¡¯ve got you know. I know what you are, Di¡¯at.¡± Mallory stomped on over to where the man was standing and promptly slapped him, catching the man off-guard. ¡°You¡¯re a moron, that¡¯s what you are! I¡¯m through with you. I don¡¯t even want to know what you are anymore; I¡¯m getting out of here!¡± Di¡¯at stared wide-eyed as he was left behind in the dim darkness of the room while Mallory stomped on ahead. 4 10 = 02 + 02 ¡°Wait, Mallory, you can¡¯t go one alone in here.¡± Di¡¯at came to his senses and walked in front of Mallory, blocking her way. ¡°Let me go first and take care of anything that comes up. I¡¯m the one that invited you first, after all.¡± Mallory took one look at the man and shook her head before going around him and moving on. When Di¡¯at tried to stop her again, Mallory growled and started to push against the man with her head, which did very slowly start to shift the man forward. ¡°I¡¯m not talking to you anymore.¡± Mallory said, ¡°You might not be the Devil, but you¡¯re not very trustworthy. I¡¯ll find my own way back from this hell you put me into.¡± Even as she said it, Mallory felt herself hesitate on going any further on account of how completely dark everything was. What faint light there was didn¡¯t have the strength to illuminate the more minute details of where she was, which could prove fatal were traps to be involved. Some of Mallory¡¯s anger at Di¡¯at really came from her own regret at being lured so easily away from her death. She had accepted her fate, didn¡¯t she? And yet here she was, stumbling in the dark while being followed by a man that could easily pass as her given a change of clothes and demeanor. ¡°Look out.¡± Di¡¯at was suddenly at Mallory¡¯s side, gently pushing her back as something large flew through the air in front of them both. Several minutes later, that same thing came rushing back, and only then did Mallory realize that she had triggered a trap. She looked at Di¡¯at for an explanation, but the man became annoyingly tight-lipped and said nothing. So she crossed her arms and took note of what she could find about this trap. The area it affected seemed fixed, and the sound it makes as it goes through the air suggests that it¡¯s something rather large and heavy, but light enough to keep moving. All these things put together in Mallory¡¯s mind presented something like a large blade on a pendulum, which is a pretty classic trap in movies and the like. But simply knowing the kind of trap at hand was markedly different from having a plan to get through it. She had no idea how large the blade was, as well as how big the gap that let the blade swing through was. Her mind briefly touched upon asking Di¡¯at for help, but that thought was ruthlessly stomped down before it could get any further. She said she wouldn¡¯t talk to him anymore, and she¡¯d keep her word, come hell or high water. Her resolve found, Mallory began to time the blade in her mind, keeping track of how much time she had until it came back round. Once she was sure her counting was sound, Mallory walked back a couple steps and braced herself to sprint and jump across the gap just as the blade passed its lowest point. The seconds ticked down until- Now! Her mind screamed at her to move a second too late, as her body was already moving. Wholly ignoring Di¡¯at, who wisely stepped to the side, Mallory sprinted like she had never sprinted before, each step taken already feeling like they might fail her, but still she moved until she felt the edge and beyond it, freedom. She leaped across the gap and hoped she had built enough speed, her time in the air feeling like she would never come down in one piece, and yet she did, landing sprawled on the ground with the wind knocked out of her. Mallory didn¡¯t dare move for a minute or so as she waited for something horrible to happen, some realization that she had been cut, that part of her didn¡¯t make it, swallowed by the gap. When no pain besides exhaustion made themselves present, Mallory felt the urge to laugh and cry at the same time, her hands touching every part of her just to confirm what already fact. She opted to laugh, at her triumph over the stupid trap and over Di¡¯at and his stupid words and over her own inflated fears of death and, and- This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Oh my Lord, I could have died. I really could have died just now. With her body returned to its youth, Mallory found herself awash with the full brunt of her emotions in their rawness and clarity. What once were dull prods upon the psyche were now spears tipped with poison, twisting her nerves until they burned. Her second panic attack in short order, Mallory nearly hurt herself as she collapsed on the ground were it not for Di¡¯at who caught her as she fell and laid her gently on her back. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think it might have been a mistake of mine to bring you here. I tend to do that when it comes to humans and their limited lifespans; it¡¯s rare that my playmates lived as long as you have. It just feels like I blink and then they¡¯re gone, and that¡¯s why I got so excited to see you were still alive. But now I see that it¡¯s probably for the best that you return back to your bed, to where your fate waits. I¡¯m sorry for even thinking it was a good idea to get you out of there to come and visit a place you never even visited before.¡± Di¡¯at stepped away from Mallory and held out his hand to a nearby empty spot, whereupon a familiar dark portal appeared, though this time it showed what was on the other side. There was the bed, and the soft electric glow of monitors and assorted instruments dedicated to keeping an old woman stay alive. The lights of the room was dim but compared to the near-complete darkness of where Mallory and Di¡¯at were at, it might as well have been the sun itself. ¡°Take my hand, Mallory, and you can go home. All of this will just be a bad dream soon forgotten.¡± Mallory, who by now was slowly starting to calm down, sat up and stared at the portal, and then to Di¡¯at, the man that got her into this mess and now was offering her the way out. This was exactly what she wanted and taking his hand should have been a no-brainer, but something stayed her hand. A part that was growing with each second Mallory remained young began to erode the steadfast will and determination Mallory¡¯s older self possessed after a lifetime of living and replaced it with the doubt and fear of the young. If this was all not going to matter in the end, then surely it wouldn¡¯t hurt to see how it was all going to play out? She hadn¡¯t felt so alive in years, would she really want to go back and feel those ages come back in a moment just in time to meet the angel of death once more? Was this not a chance to live, actually live, for a little bit longer? Kings, queens, emperors and tyrants have killed and died for such a chance, and Mallory Nivin Evergrand had it dropped on her lap, addressed to her name with a neat and tidy bow on top. These ponderings and questions and the like shifted the scale ever so slightly until finally Mallory stood up and stared at Di¡¯at with a calculating look, as though she was weighing what the man¡¯s worth was to her. ¡° ¡­ No, I think I¡¯d like to stay and see what you¡¯re offering me, Di¡¯at. I made it this far; I can go a lot further.¡± Di¡¯at¡¯s mouth opened and closed as he looked genuinely surprised at Mallory¡¯s answer, but he closed the portal all the same. Mallory could see he was dying to ask her why she had decided to stay, and felt much better knowing she would never answer those questions. She had the upper-hand now- ¡°Oh, watch out for that ¡­ trap.¡± Di¡¯at said as Mallory stepped on a trigger and the wall ahead of her immediately crashed upon one another in a great roar of kinetic force. The man winced at the impact, but Mallory remained still. Perfectly still. Upon closer inspection by Di¡¯at, he realized that she had fainted, and sighed as he realized he would have to carry her on his back for some time now. 5 25 125 625 3125 Traversing the depths of the underground complex became a lot easier with Di¡¯at¡¯s help, which left Mallory with a lot of time on her hands. ¡°I have a question I want to ask.¡± She began asking as Di¡¯at calmly let himself be a pincushion for several dozen darts coming out of the walls before shaking them off. ¡°You may ask, though I may not answer.¡± Di¡¯at replied as he took off one last dart off his arm. ¡°And no, I¡¯m not a demon. Let¡¯s just put that to rest for good.¡± ¡°What exactly are you?¡± Mallory asked, trying her best to keep her voice even. ¡°I¡¯m your old friend, obviously.¡± Di¡¯at spoke as he secretly hoped she would accept this answer and move on. ¡°And all the things I can do that you have seen is as how you find yourself breathing even when you don¡¯t think about it. It comes naturally to me.¡± Mallory frowned as she processed the not-an-answer answer from Di¡¯at while waiting for the man to shut off a series of vents releasing poisonous gas from yet another trap. I remember meeting a boy that talked really weird and wanted me to follow him back home. I said no because I didn¡¯t want mom to get mad, but I never really thought anything was weird until he walked back into a portal and disappeared. I should have freaked out, but I didn¡¯t. I just forgot and now he¡¯s here, ready to do the same thing all over again. It¡¯s like nothing changed for him. Mallory¡¯s mind spun as she tried to remember anything at all about spirits and monsters, but nothing came to mind except demons. Capricious, cruel, and lying demons out to trick mankind from their eternal salvation at God¡¯s side in Heaven. But he isn¡¯t a demon ¡­ is he? It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve ever seen a demon in-person before! Oh Lord Jesus Christ, please help this poor soul find her way out of here. Mallory walked forward without seeing where she was going, stumbling onto something with her face. She inadvertently cursed and rubbed the part that got hurt before taking a proper look at what she had bumped into. It seemed like a patch of white rock, which does appear every now and then, though they were more like slivers than the outcropping staring back at the woman. Di¡¯at looked on with some amusement as he waited for Mallory to sort herself out. ¡°Some warning would be nice next time.¡± Mallory grumbled as she checked if she had gotten herself hurt. Once she confirmed nothing was out of place, Mallory moved to start walking again, but stopped once she saw a curious sight before her. The tunnel she was in was widening into a large hall-like cavern, where spires of white rock jutted out here and there from the floor, the walls, and even the ceilings. Just as she noticed all this, Mallory noticed that at some point, things had gotten bright enough that she could see vaguely see herself at last. Was my hand always this big? She thought as she held her right hand in front of her, opening and closing the fingers as she felt the muscles contract and the bones grind against one another smoothly. Without pain. She was well and whole, and it was because of a man that thought himself her friend. Not a man. A being, a creature, a monster even. Nothing about all this makes sense. Nothing about this is normal. Don¡¯t get caught up in his pace; you need to survive and escape. Get back to reality. ¡­ and then what? Die? It was my time anyway, no use thinking-wait a minute, who said that?! Is that you, Di¡¯at?! Get out of my head, you creep! Mallory turned to glare at Di¡¯at for his supposed transgression, but the man simply smiled at her and nodded at her to keep moving. It was frustrating how little Mallory knew about Di¡¯at, save for what she could scarcely remember and what she had seen firsthand. One question that made itself to the front row seat of Mallory¡¯s mind was a simple one. Why didn¡¯t he just make a portal to wherever he wants me to go like back then? He led me to a barren wasteland wracked by storms, diving headfirst into a hole in the wall of a buried crypt of sorts. There¡¯s traps everywhere and now I¡¯m walking into bone-white rocks. The complaints in Mallory¡¯s mind grew and grew as she envisioned an effigy of Di¡¯at for her to punish however she saw fit. Her eyes became manic as she released the pent-up stress within her to a climax with the mental effigy of Di¡¯at exploding into a million pieces, Mallory¡¯s bad mood subsiding for now. It allowed her to come back to her senses and observe once more the white rocks dotting the room. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Given their recent novelty, Mallory couldn¡¯t help but feel that something about them was off. The way that light bounced off them, their texture on her hands, and ¡­ the smell. Mallory started as she realized she had her sense of smell back as well. The smell was stale air mixed with something cloy, thick enough to cling but thin not to gag. The smell was strongest around the white rocks, which Mallory took as a sign to stay away from them, which earned her a couple stares from Di¡¯at, but nothing more. It perhaps spoke to the man¡¯s inhuman nature that sometimes it looked like he had a nose and sometimes he didn¡¯t. Whatever the case, Di¡¯at was wholly unbothered by anything, not death traps, death stares, or a weird smell coming off of rocks in an underground tunnel. ¡°Do you have something to drink?¡± Mallory asked as she felt her lips was a bit dry. ¡°I¡¯m thirsty.¡± ¡°¡­ Why would you think I have a drink on me? I¡¯m not carrying a bag.¡± Di¡¯at said as he looked at Mallory strangely. ¡°You can¡¯t just grab a drink from somewhere? Portals? You know, you just-¡° Mallory mimed putting one¡¯s hand through a portal and yanking out a drink from the other side. ¡°-like that. Or is it because of some kind of lame rule, like, ¡®you can¡¯t use portals to commit crime, bla bla bla.¡¯¡± Di¡¯at laughed at seeing Mallory make a funny face. ¡°Oh so that¡¯s funny. Good to know. Can you get me a drink now?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even need to drink. You just want to drink.¡± Di¡¯at said as though what he said surprised anyone. ¡°Give me a drink or I¡¯ll make sure you walk funny.¡± Mallory said with sudden venom which was gone as soon as it appeared. ¡°What was that? Lord Jesus, what came over me? Why did I say that?¡± She brought a hand to her forehead and stopped to calm down her rising heart rate. ¡°Something-something in here is making me sick. I have to get out of here. Can you portal us to the end of this room?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never been here before.¡± Di¡¯at said as he shrugged. ¡°That storm made a mess of my travel plans, so now I¡¯m really just going along while hoping to see something that can lead us to where we need to go.¡± ¡°Just bring us up outside, then go in the normal way.¡± Mallory said, ¡°Or let me guess, the storm wrecked everything?¡± ¡°Indeed it has. You can take a look for yourself.¡± Di¡¯at stopped and conjured a portal in front of Mallory, who, after a bit of hesitation, stepped through and found herself breathing fresh air. The brightness outside blinded Mallory, causing her to fall to her knees and scrabbling for some shadow to shade her. She found it not soon after, as well as the smooth face of something that could only be the underground complex¡¯ uppermost parts. Or rather, what was left of it, as the part that Mallory was leaning against was now one of the biggest parts left of that impressive monument. A depression of broken earth lay at where the entrance must have been, anything inside crushed beyond recognition. Mallory looked upon it as she thought about just going off into the distance. ¡°Mallory? Are you done yet? We still need to keep going, you know. Unless you¡¯re changing your-¡° Di¡¯at at some point had followed through, dragging the portal with him like a dog on a leash. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Nothing at all.¡± Mallory¡¯s eyes searched Di¡¯at¡¯s own for a second as though what she was looking for was inside, but there was nothing there. She sighed and turned to walk through the portal once more, followed suit by Di¡¯at who looked slightly bored for a change. "I still want a drink, by the way. Get to it." Mallory said, not looking back to see whether Di''at said yes to her request or not.