Deja Reve

Just as Lucius felt like he was on the brink of losing consciousness, the movement stopped, and the doorway opened up. His journey felt like eons, but also like the blink of an eye, somewhere in between the two. And Ultra was right about the weak stomach part, as Lucius was sure his hurling sounds could be heard from outer space.

It never gets any better, he thought, wiping the drool from his mouth.

The grandfather clock tunnel had led out right into an alley between two overshadowing buildings, but he was unsure how far he had actually traveled.

Moving out towards the street, he found himself in a particularly regurgitated part of the city.

Every direction in view looked like a bomb had gone off, like someone crumpled the city in their hands, chewed it up for good measure, and spit it back out. The buildings leaned on each other for support, none of them having the strength to stand up on their own. In a few empty windows Lucius thought he could just make out faint glows, like lava lamps were sitting just out of view.

He could see the same bone-like structures that had been around on his first walk through, but it was like they had evolved. Their pale spirals had twisted and lined the streets like weeping willows, the complete antithesis of a scenic pathway.

This city is beginning to get to my head, I can feel it messing with me.

Lucius desperately wanted to reach the place Ultra had mentioned. He tried to make out any discernable details that could give him some idea of where to go, some nudge in the right direction.

Down that way I can almost make out a…no, that can’t be it. Maybe over the-

“Hey kid, gimme a blessing and I’ll tell ya your future,” a coarse voice said from behind him.

Lucius spun around surprised. Slumped against the wall was a disheveled looking man, his clothes old and torn from days long past, a brown fedora covering his face. In his focused thinking, he hadn’t even noticed that the man was there when he exited the alley.

“Sorry, I’m all out of blessings, I could use some myself actually…uh…what happened to your face?”

The man’s face was now visible in the light, or more accurately, his lack of. Where there should have been a face was blank skin, like a canvas god forgot to paint.

“I sold it for knowledge. People used to call me the Watcher, now they don’t seem to call me much at all. You keep on going Lucius, you’re almost there. Just a couple more blocks that way. But I should warn ya, there’s nothing but despair from here.” The man pointed down the opposite direction that Lucius had been considering, seeming confident in his decision.

“I…uh…I’ll take the risk, thanks,” Lucius quickly replied, wanting the interaction to end as soon as possible. He picked up his pace and continued down the pointed road.

What a freak, but I mean…I think this is starting to look familiar.

Then there it was, a structure came into view out of nowhere, just as it did the first time he saw it.

The cathedral, with its gleaming jeweled window like a bloodshot eye, the open doorway welcoming him in with open arms. Except this time, the plaza looked different, barren. There were no bandaged figures in sight, no line of cursed wretches pleading for one more chance at salvation. It was just Lucius and the silence.

No one’s here like before, but this can’t be right the way to the spot. Did the guy back there point me in the wrong direction? I swear I followed the road like Ultra said… Lucius’s face suddenly lit up with a realization.

No, this is perfect! This is how I can bring Lain and Surazal back! They sacrificed themselves for my life, and now I can make a sacrifice for theirs.

Running up the cracked steps, he entered the sanctity of the cathedral. The interior looked just as he remembered, its columns and vaulted ceilings like the inside of a beast’s belly. The dim candlelight flickered along the nave, the flames acting as the only source of light in the whole place.

But again, there was no line at all.

At the top of the aisle in the chancel, Lucius could see the Vatics sat upon their thrones, the contrast in their outfits more apparent than ever. But there were no bandaged figures waiting to question them, and even more uncannily, there were no Hourmen guarding the two robed seers.

Lucius slowly walked up the blood red carpet, calling out in case there were beings hidden in the shadows, checking if he could make out Grimebank’s lit cigarettes under the darkness of an archway.

“Hello? Is anyone here? Anyone at all?”

He reached the base of the chancel, right in front of the offering box where he had paid with his mother’s jewel. The Vatics remained completely silent, but Lucius knew the one way to get them to speak.

What do I have left to offer?

A dark essence began to emerge from the offering box, it moved like smoke but was thick like spilled ink. Like a serpent it coiled through the air in a hypnotic trance, folding into itself, but getting closer and closer. The point of the essence sharpened its tip into a needle, and hovered just inches away from Lucius’s right eye, urging it forth, demanding it as a sacrifice.

It…wants my eye? I can feel it calling for it. By doing this I can bring them back, I can absolve myself of my sins. If this is what must be done, then I…I accept.

The pointed tip of the essence broke off from the coagulating mass, forming into a sharpened blade made up fully of the dark energy. It molded into Lucius’s grasp, ready for his hand to guide the way.

Yes. It will be done.

Suddenly he felt a chill run up his spine, like a gentle breeze that carried up to his ear in a whisper. You don’t need to do this.

“Wha-? Who’s there?” Lucius spun around, sure that someone had been right behind him.

This is not the way.

Am I hearing things? I really am going crazy, Lucius thought to himself.

You are not crazy, not yet. But if you continue down this path, your soul will be lost. Do not give in, Lucius. Do not give in, the whisper replied.

The offering box called out to him even more vigorously, and he felt his hand tighten around the blackened blade. The demands grew louder, deafening howls in his ears even though in the air there was only silence.

The blade’s essence began to extend down his hand, coating his arm with its blackness as it began to edge the point towards his pupil. He could feel that he was losing control.

“No no. I won’t. I won’t give in! he yelled, using his left hand to grab his forearm where the essence hadn’t reached yet.

His fingers began burning with a jade glow, covering his arm like armour that prevented the black from moving onward. As soon as the dark essence touched the green, a shriek cried out through the air like the gates of hell had just been opened. Immediately, the spilled ink retreated down his arm and back into the offering box, taking with it the entire cathedral.

Lucius’s surroundings began to glitch, the Vatics in their robes contorting like they didn’t belong, the pale stone walls and cathedral ceiling shuttering like flashes on a camera. The entire structure was fading within its very being, palpitating like the countdown on a bomb, as Lucius tightly shut his eyes to brace for the eruption.

But none came.

There he stood, in the exact same spot as a moment before, but his surroundings were that of the city. The cathedral had completely vanished, taking with it every single spec of dust that ever existed within it, leaving Lucius in the empty space of where it all would have been.

He dropped down to one knee and ran his fingers through the dirt ground, making sure this wasn’t just another trick of the mind.

No, this is real. It really just disappeared, he told himself. But that voice, it stopped me, knocked me out of the trance. Was that real too?

A gentle silence was carried upon the cool breeze, tossing his hair ever so slightly, like delicate fingers running through the strands. The breeze came from behind him, blowing around his body and continuing up the street to a concrete structure now perfectly in view.

There it is, that building. That’s where I woke up when I first arrived in this world. It’s gotta be the place Ultra was talking about.

The tender gust shepherded him patiently, completely contrasting the dark essence of before. After a deep breath, an attempt at calming his pounding heart, Lucius continued up the road.