Esurience - Part One

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* * * * * * * *

Boredom could perhaps be the word closest to describe Cobalt’s attitude towards Trials.

Things started rough for him. The world was seemingly an unconquerable wall that towered over him. What you needed, to win, was strength—that’s what he thought. But when he found refuge in hueless halls he initially was drawn to love, his impressions of the world quickly adapted to fit the new life he lived.

From that day, Cobalt was always able to conquer the obstacles that came before him. It came naturally. Not a world ruled by fists or effort, but a world ruled by dispensable, trivial nothings. So why was it, that Cobalt was born a natural prodigy in that department?

In a world ruled in such a way, effort was something he didn’t need.

No—was something they didn’t need.

If something arose that Cobalt didn’t know, or couldn’t solve, Bismuth always could.

And conversely, if a problem arose that Bismuth couldn’t solve, Cobalt always could.

It was this symbiosis that gave them the type of “easy life” the two of them believed they needed, in order to let go of little issues.

There was no “challenge” in any of that. It was just boring.

If something was solvable, it would be solved with no effort. However, if something was unsolvable, it simply was never attempted. There were many things like this, such as running away. Meaningless, trivial thoughts. Simply unsolvable.

Was such the curse to being gifted? Most people can only dream of being able to instantly solve fractions, and complex multiplication, or to retain the useless information needed to survive highschool.

But to Cobalt and Bismuth, it was that very symbiosis that sucked the meaning out of any Trial they were to face.

And over time… There grew to be absolutely no reason to try. Motivations and goals were for the people who struggled, after all. Cobalt couldn’t be bothered for any of that. He was simply complacent.

“Effort’s just a chore, not a challenge.” That’s how Cobalt would respond to failing grades.

Bismuth’s outlook was similar, but she still tried.

Whether that was because she believed staying on top of tasks was necessary to staying sane, or because she simply liked seeing Cobalt be proud of her—that was unclear.

But to Cobalt, he couldn’t be bothered to work at things anymore.

Surely he’d reached his peak, right? Surely there was no reason to care anymore, right? As long as he was alive. As long as they were alive…

Being dragged out of the flames, these foregoing—and yet stingingly relevant—thoughts clung to him, weighing him down.

Regarding the rift, he had done good enough, right?

Regarding the cultists, he had done good enough, right?

He had.

Surely, he had…

But if that was the case, then why…

The sparks and ashes arising from the torrent of unworldly fire caressed his face, numbing his cheeks as it both cruelly and yet soothingly gave that answer to him.

Realizing that, he could only hope to swallow his consciousness as far down as he could.

All of it. All of it was swallowed down.

Cast away and buried under the ivory ashes.

Because in the end… All of this.

All of this, was in a realm to Cobalt…

That was completely, unfathomably, unattemptably, undoable.

In fact, it simply resided in the realm of absolute insanity.

That people like this… were truly allowed to exist in this world.

If that—if all of what he had seen and calculated—was truly the case, then at this point in his life…

It would never matter how hard Cobalt were to try, or if he were to ever try again.

* * * * * * * *

Hueless halls were a familiar sight to Cobalt, but as the grey trees slowly thinned out revealing a blackened crevice in the intramurals of the rocks, a subsequent familiar sight followed: an Abyss.

Devoid of brightness, Cobalt felt a kind of cold embrace which beckoned him to walk forward. To push through into the unknown, and to let his mind rest, formerly overwhelmed with uncertainties and variables. There was a type of love that resonated in that darkness. And accepting devoid of both caution and mindfulness, he heedlessly walked forward.

But before his shoes could disappear from sight…

“Aha!!! Yes! Yes! Yesyesyes!!! Look at that!!! That dumb memory ended up saving us, after all!!!”

His shoes lit up again, gradienting back to a light grey.

“---!”

The rocks lit up in a warm, almost golden light as a rather whimsical girl jumped about in circles. His eyes were drawn to that show without his cognitive input, and while watching her bounce up and down his thoughts started coming back to him.

Was I seriously not paying attention at all…? You could have tripped on something. Don’t be stupid.

Chastising himself for his thoughtlessness, he then started to look around the former “Abyss” he was wandering into.

If that place could be put into words, surely, the most fitting one would be…

“It’s… Beautiful.”

No one could blame him for being unable to hold back those words.

The large room was shaped almost like a sphere, with a diameter of maybe 200 meters. Dancing around the large circle in a rocky crescent shape, the land that split the cavern in two arched around the hollow center, clinging to the right, towards the other side, which was also no longer cloaked in darkness. His eyes guided upwards, taking notice of long and striking stalactites—several meter long “icicles” of tapering calcium salts. Cascading down, down, down the large rock dome that they bathed in light, some of these archaic formations stretched to the ground, creating ground formations which separated the edges of the cavern into intricate halls, which were then further divided by stalagmites, a similar structure but protruding up from the ground.

Seeing all this with his own eyes, it was apparent neither of them had seen anything like this before.

Similar to the rest of the Tomb—still being referred to as a “Tomb” was a semantic Cobalt would now argue even more heavily against—large crystalline structures of blue and green accepted in the light from Arabelle’s lantern, reflecting it in shades of unnaturally cool pigments. Those colors danced together, changing from gold to aquamarine abruptly as his eyes moved around, depending on the size of the stalactites.

But whereas the rocky formations resided in the form of a crescent, forming a massive, almost-circular hole on his left side was a clear, aquamarine, mineral-rich pool, falling dozens of meters down from the edge of rocky cliffs. It could be argued that the sparkling pond laying still against orange-pigmented stalagmites was the most beautiful thing in the entire cavern, beating out even the several hundred thousand year old formations above them. The shimmering pool glowed immensely, and spectacularly bright, even from so far down.

It was also clear not all of this light was coming from her lantern. More likely than not, those small light sources simply being there changed the way this room was made to accept and distribute light. Simply put—Arabelle was spot on. These “Sagas” bypassed the “Darkness Rule” that persisted down here, allowing the breath of life into this once-dormant cavern.

As for Cobalt’s initial reaction, “It’s beautiful,” was surely an understatement. After the grey, and the monochrome, and the ash he had been sucked into, this sight was remarkably refreshing.

He walked behind her slowly with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He wasn’t sure exactly how he should feel at the moment, so…

Wordlessly, he agreed in his mind that he would just let Arabelle decide the answer to that, completely oblivious to how pathetic that would make him look.

Having someone else decide your goals… Your motivations… And even your emotions…

“I kinda get it now, Cobalt—this place is pretty beautiful.”

The girl—which could be described as both a hero and a monster—twirled around one more time, taking in the scope of the stalactites, before resting her hands behind her back with a grin. All of this, be it fighting the cultists, finding the fireflies, or destroying an entire sunken forest, Arabelle had done all of it on her own. Knowing that, to Cobalt, hurt, to say the least.

“If I were to guess, though… I’d say our reasons for agreeing are different this time around.” He slowly inhaled while looking around the two of them, before continuing. “It feels like you’ve leveled up in a videogame, right? So seeing this is like a reward, rather than just a pretty sight.”

Despite the harshness of his words, there was no spite in them. He had certainly felt that same emotion countless times playing games while growing up, but whether due to a dopamine addiction or a newfound appreciation for the smaller things, he no longer shared the “giddy” sentiment she was most likely feeling.

In response to his candid assumption, her grin rose higher, and a certain smugness came over her as well, answering that question for him before she even needed to respond.

“I wasn’t expecting all that to work, to be fair. But everything, from finding the fireflies, to them not being pixies or anything like that, to getting to crush a mean doggie, to my light trick working, everything turned out pre-tty well, all things considered. Take some pride in that,” she declared, pumping her fist against her svelte chest.

“—We?”

He couldn’t help but let that word slip off his tongue. It didn’t feel at all like this was a victory that Cobalt had earned. Instead, it felt like he was just along for the ride, only still here by mere chance.

But, as for how Arabelle felt about it…

“Well, you’re alive, aren’t you?”

Her elated nature on the subject wasn’t a gift horse he particularly wanted to look in the mouth. But despite her happiness built up from actually succeeding, praise wasn’t something he felt he had earned at all—least of all from a monster such as her.

But simply giving in on the issue, he gave a short nod before continuing his gaze downwards, down to the orange cave floor, and down to the sparkling blue below it. Hands slipping into their respective pockets, he found his fingers grazing the aquamarine crystals he had pocketed from the Demon’s Lair—something he had almost forgotten about several times.

He was assuming that “loot” was unique, however, from the entrance of the Tomb to the lower intramurals, he had seen dozens of these structures. This one was special, however, as it was simply the only one he was able to reach. Although, in saying that, collecting magic crystals from 30 meters up would likely be no problem for the doll-like monster accompanying him.

And speaking of that monster…

As Cobalt’s eyes fixed themselves downcast, he heard a disappointed “Awww!” escape the lips of the girl who had ventured ahead.

“I must’ve shaken them up too hard…” Arabelle sighed to herself as she plopped down on the orange cave floor, fiddling around with the lantern.

Cobalt’s back was turned, but as he heard the creaky glass door to the lantern swing open, he was able to make out that one or two of the notpixies had most likely dropped to the base of the lantern and stopped moving.

“You don’t think they’re just sleepy, do you?”

A light smile came over his face at the sweetness of the monster’s words.

“They don’t have the longest lifespans anyway. If ya leave it there, the others might have a nice snack.”

“Gross!”

The glass door swung shut, indicating she had probably thrown the buggy corpse away.

Then, looking down at his feet, Cobalt caught a glimpse of a faint light passing by to his right, emitting the slightest traces of light before dying out for good.

“…”

Seeing that, he unconsciously fidgeted with the crystal in his pocket upon realization of the faded light’s identity

The presence of those notpixies makes pretty much anything start reflecting light again…

Putting two and two together, Cobalt bent down to pick up his fallen ally as Arabelle nonchalantly placed both her hands behind her head as she walked around.

“This is the third zone or whatever I’ve been to. The one we didn’t visit was the worst… There were plant cannibal things, huge hornets, I’m pretty sure everything there was poisonous… And every time I went in, I’d just come back through the same entrance—It was probably like a spacial loop… Anyway, the whole place had some really nasty stuff, but at least magic worked there.”

“Magic doesn’t work? I thought it was just lights.”

“My ex-per-tise is in anything with explosions or fire. I mean yeah, sure, there are other schools of magic I could have dabbled in, but why learn party tricks when you can destroy an entire forest with just a fraction of your Essence?”

“You seem like the type who’d look down on water mages or something.”

“Well, no, that isn’t exactly fair to say. Other schools may suck, but I know from experience what it’s like to be looked down on. Hell, I was even rejected from magic school!” Upon revisiting that particular thought, she clicked her tongue while looking away in frustration. “Can you believe that?! I’m super talented.”

Cobalt was still on the ground next to the notpixie while listening. But turning just slightly, “No, I honestly can’t believe that. They sound annoyingly pretentious.”

A monster like her was rejected… Maybe she was already too powerful as it is?

It is true that some of the most brilliant minds never attended most standard schooling. But it was a rare case even so.

But coming to terms with what she said, her face reddened a bit. She cleared her throat while facing downwards, evidently overthinking. “I didn’t mean to say something so embarrassing, so forget it…” She trailed off as her eyes started ascending the rim of her peripherals. “But yeah, you’re right… They’re stupid.”

Hearing the dishonest girl’s honest thoughts, he stands up, putting the luminous crystal back in his pocket. While she was recollecting, he had come up with a back-up plan, just in case.

It’s not like this is necessary… I just thought maybe it’ll make me look like I’m being precautious… You know?

If Arabelle saw his plan, she’d likely tell him it was a smart idea. Sure, that was true, but…

He really did hope he could be useful for once.

“I wonder if these weird corridors have anything important in them? Maybe the start of a new Trial?”

“—Trial?”

“Either way, I’ll go check it out. You can stay here if you want.”

“…”

Arabelle continued to dictate the conversion as though the very person she was talking to wasn’t even there…

And as that poor excuse for a briefing concluded, the monster’s footsteps echoed off, leaving Cobalt on his own again.

For the first time in a while, Cobalt had the opportunity to just sit and relax. He still wasn’t in the best of shape, all things considered—his lip was still busted, although it had stopped bleeding, and the back of his head still throbbed uncomfortably.

Cobalt had been through a lot in the last couple days, but even despite all that, he hadn’t even thought about the pain since coming to the “fourth zone”.

He stroked his chin with his knuckles before pushing his jaw at an angle until his neck cracked. Then repeating the same on the other side, he sighed to himself quietly. After the encounter with a wolf the size of a hippo concluded, he was drenched in uncomfortable sweat. Pulling at his lavender sweater, Cobalt ventilated himself, letting his torso feel the cool cave air. That sensation was cool at first, but the more he let it in, the closer that feeling got to actually cold.

He hadn’t realized it since a lot of the air was doused in flames earlier, but being this deep down in the Tomb made the air around him almost freezing, getting colder by the second.

“Don’t know why I was expecting this place to be a summer paradise in November…”

But stepping towards the edge of the orange cliffs, he took a deep breath, basking in what little accomplishment he had after coming this far.

Even though he refused to let the thought fester, Arabelle was right—sometimes just surviving is an accomplishment in and of itself. Looking off into the cerulean cave sea below, he started to accept his circumstances. It was better than being filleted by cultists, it was better than being anywhere near Irvelle, and it was undeniably better than being stuck in that hueless hell, alone.

Yeah…

Sitting on that thought, he watched this rare side of nature that existed down here. The orange stalactites hung, unmoving, and the crystalline water lay undisturbed, yet somehow clear as day.

That sight was comforting… That sight was a sign of reassurance, and, acknowledgement of his efforts. That sight, was…

『Ya know… I really wish Bismuth could see this with me, too…』

In that sight… Cobalt had become dangerously comfortable to let that thought slip.

You selfish son of a bitch.

After almost dying countless times now… Only now, was Cobalt learning he hadn’t changed one bit.

Thinking about the feelings of Arabelle, as well as the feelings of Bismuth… There was truly no crueller way to trample over both of them simultaneously.

That’s seriously what you’re thinking about right now?

At that moment, Cobalt wanted to slap himself in the face, but didn’t want her to hear the noise.

He wanted to claw at his skin, to gnash himself open, but didn’t want her to see the blood.

With no where to vent those overwhelming emotions, Cobalt suddenly found his canines biting down on each respective side of his lips.

He felt nauseous, absolutely repulsed at his words. He wanted to shout, he wanted to vomit, he wanted—

He snorted slightly as he inhaled, clicking his tongue against his clenched teeth.

No—no this wasn’t like Cobalt.

Cobalt was the same person as he’d always been, and he knew that.

But he hated himself. He hated the image of himself. He wanted to rip his flesh apart for thinking such disgusting, and putrid words.

For being such a revolting, and sickening piece of shit. For trampling over everyone’s feelings for his own rotten and execrable meaning of the word “ideal”.

But feeling that stomach-churning hatred, coupling with a sudden nauseous dizziness-

No, that wasn’t all Cobalt felt. He had completely lost touch with himself.

He didn’t feel the pain at the back of his head. He didn’t feel the blood which dripped from his dry lips. He didn’t feel anything else… But as that thought festered…

What…

…

Since when have all my hairs been standing on end like this?

What kind of pathetic feeling was that? What type of revolting weakness was he show-

It’s… It’s fucking freezing…

Cobalt had learned, growing up as what they called a “super soldier”, a lot of information about the battlefield.

As for what was retained—Cobalt forgot most of it.

But in moments like this, with such a freezing chill he wasn’t used to…

There were certain times where your senses realized something you hadn’t… And in that moment, all of his senses were shooting alarm bells at him from everywhere…

No, this wasn’t Cobalt being sensitive to the cold…

No, this wasn’t Cobalt being pathetic…

“—kck!!!”

Before Cobalt could process what his nerves were trying to tell him, his knees gave out.

“—ough!!!”

Before he could interpret the chilling fright he felt, his stomach gave out.

“—hhn…”

Falling onto his knees, he spat out the blood that was festering in his mouth in utter disgust as his canine teeth snarled at the thoughts bursting through the seams in his mind.

Various inhuman sounds and chaotic thoughts swirled around, as if they were mixing Cobalt’s brain into putty.

Dry heaving as his damp lips could almost touch the freezing ground, he had nothing left to give after his fresh blood.

When was the last time he had eaten…?

The thoughts continued, the sounds continued, the nausea continued… His mind continued to swirl.

Tktktktktktktktktktktktktktktktktkt.

Turning around rapidly, drool still dripping from his snarled mouth, his eyes caught hold of the halls that monster had gone into.

Tktktktktktktktktktktktktktktktktkt.

It was beckoning him… That sound… That sound… That sound… That sound…

Cobalt furiously clicked his tongue as he stood back up, doing so so quickly that he almost fell over backwards.

Leaning towards his back, his arms hung in place, before he lifted the unnaturally heavy appendages to wipe the festering blood on his lips.

…

“That sound…”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIGHHGHH!!!!”

A girlish, blood-curdling scream filled the now chilling atmosphere around him, before a distant echoing thud followed suit. Festering in souplike thoughts, that scream echoed alongside ravenous noises, which rustled incoherently in his mind…

Hearing that scream echo… Again, and again.

Again, and again.

Again, and again.

That monster.

That monster, That monster, thatmonsterthatmonsterthat-

“ARABELLE—!!!”

That echoing scream was quickly followed by another, as Cobalt ran forward with all his reserved speed.

His muddled thoughts and vision spiraled around him as his uncertain steps fumbled themselves forward, one after another.

A frosted chill wind whispered through his ear, circling around and around.

But that concept… Wind…

This wasn’t right.

This wasn’t the world he had stepped into.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong.

“This isn’t right, this isn’t right, this isn’t—”

His words shook, as if they weren’t sure where they were landing.

But as he almost tripped forward, catching himself on the blurry stalagmite, only then did he finally see the creature he was after, that dolllike monst—

“Arabelle!!!”

That girl, the one with a pure smile, and devious nature—not one of malice and animosity. That girl, who had been by Cobalt’s side and had even saved him, even going so far as to make up a reason for doing so. That girl…

On the other side of the stalagmite he was clasping onto, Arabelle had fallen against it as she took a defensive stance, waving her lantern around aimlessly towards a slender figure…

Slowly, steadily, and suddenly clearly, his vision realigned itself, seeing now…

The twisted, ghoulish presence that his senses had warned him of…

His eyes drifted from the shadowy figure to the defenseless girl who had fallen against the orange rocks. Her lantern waved in search of flesh to tear into, and in tandem, a fading strobing light cast itself across the wincing faces of the two humans present. But the third creature—its slender ashen chest heaved as if it drew breath, its unrhythmic ice blue heart beat, and its both heavy and almost weightlessly dangling appendages swayed with movement, much as if the creature beat with life. But even still, the walking horror that dangled and swayed from side to side before them couldn’t even be called alive, let alone human.

Her strobing lantern which she was now using as a weapon illuminated the creature's face bit by bit, as it also recoiled bit by bit. But the emotion residing on the creature’s shadow-casted face wasn’t of fear—it was something else Cobalt couldn’t even describe.

Craning his neck just to see its emaciated face, Cobalt realized this creature wasn’t just a monster. It was a horror—an abhorrent dread that filled his entire stomach with anxiety and a frantic, erratic sense of starvation.

As it stared down at Cobalt with small and hollow yellow eyes, it felt as if a million rabid beasts watched him, prepared to pounce and tear flesh from bone. But watching the revolting terror flick its tongue across chapped lips, Cobalt was disgusted to feel a similar impulse of hunger towards its meatless frame.

A stand-off of insatiable hunger, two unfulfilled and ravenous souls watched each other from around the corner of an orange twisting hall. But even that—even the color Cobalt saw in this place—he felt was being drained of all of its color. In this place of grey, and death, and decay, the colors dripped away as if slipping off a melting painting of oil. All of those colors, just by locking eyes with that predator of decomposition, fell from his vision, sucking everything from his world. But even then… Even despite the terror of this nightmarish, hueless hell…

Cobalt had seen enough. Tearing his eyes from the black and white horror scene which fell before him, Cobalt replaced his starving instincts with one of an unhoned and yet resourceful urge to survive. A creature’s survival instinct would surely be to run away, and yet Cobalt’s own reckless movements spelled survival for more than just himself.

The thoughts swirled around, ceaselessly, damaging the corners of his brain they crashed into. Erratic voices, erratic noises both inhuman and human. They begged something towards him. They begged a movement from his nerves, but Cobalt ignored them all.

Casting aside the frantic nothings that crashed through his nauseous headspace, his knees gave way, squatting so hard he almost fell flat on the ground.

Moving before his muscles could even keep up, he latched onto a rock on the ground maybe twice the size of his head.

And then throwing himself back up against the grey slumped walls, he caught a glimpse of the horrifying eyes that beckoned him to devour them in a fit of gluttony.

Caught in the traction of that ravenous gaze, he hadn’t a single coherent thought in the soup of inhuman noise that perpetuated in his mind—save the one quiet voice that just might have belonged to himself.

Fucking die.

An erratic and static grin licked through yellow teeth as its face was crushed in by rock.

Falling down the towering visage, its dangling head cracked backwards down its slender neck, crumpling effortlessly against the now-grey rocks.

Screams of madness ensued through Cobalt’s meddled thoughts, as what was real and what wasn’t blurred substantially.

The sounds and clicks and voices of utter horror seemed to beg something of him, though he had absolutely no idea what a single one of them could be asking of him.

Even so, the voices and sounds conveyed a sense of both serenity and urgency at the same time, spelling a wave of hopelessness down his throat as he gulped down the thoughts.

He grabbed the hand of the girl who had fallen against the scene of grey, but even as her colors came into view, and her wild orange hair flew upwards against the pull, he somehow knew that those yellow eyes were staring at him.

Staring at him with a bloodlust of edacity—of excitement and esurience.

His feet carried him forward haphazardly as those muddled thoughts whispered to him in hostility.

Their blurred words spitting venom into every part of his brain, as they seemingly screamed like infants who had been ripped from their mothers.

All of these voices, all of these sounds, ripped Cobalt from his own movements as he felt he was being whisked away by them, the edges of his vision creeping further and further in, replaced with a vignette of unapproachable black.

As he watched from afar, his own feet gave out under him, while two grey hands lethargically caught themselves against the rock.

And even the sensation of pain seemed like a distant memory.

Everything the husk of a body Cobalt was now watching vicariously had experienced had disappeared as its nerves stopped responding.

Being whisked into a never ending starvation.

Being whisked into a numbing nothingness.

Where the only thought was hunger.

Was the craving and yearning that emerged from his famine.

Not even the sensation of pain could escape…

『Pain…』

Watching a separate body plunge forward as his mind gave up trying to process the excess sensations, his vision went dark as the ground approached at a rapid pace.

Hearing the splintering of pebbles next to his ears…

For a brief moment, those sounds and voices escaped entirely.

Then again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Half-awake and half-dead eyes woke themselves up one step at a time before being forced shut.

Then as the sensation of color started to return…

A drop of red fell towards the grey dirt, returning the vision of orange across the cave floor.

With the searing pain at his temple throbbing back and forth, his nerves could no longer numb themselves.

And so Cobalt could finally let a sweet breath return to him, letting a deep exhale return his once-frantic mind to his senses…

And as for the girl his hand had grabbed ahold of—

“OOuff!!!”

As the sensation of pain crossed his mind in a spark of genius, that feeling suddenly ruptured through the right side of his ribs as his body was thrown aimlessly to the side.

Having recovered from a living nightmare, Cobalt’s mind went completely blank as his own vision raced up and down through a spinning motion like flipping through rolls of film. This scene suddenly felt painfully familiar as his spinning and pained body rolled haphazardly caught by the unstoppable inertia.

As his right scapula and shoulder smacked against the cold hard ground, his eyes suddenly opened to face the peaceful and serene cave ceiling, occasionally blinking away splotches of red which tried to seep in through his eyelashes.

After all of that… From almost getting obliterated by a wolf caught in a maelstrom of fire, to staring down the stretched face of hunger itself, surely, this was the end.

…

…

“T’hell with that, too!!!”

Shooting his body upwards, engulfed in a brand new emotion —utter rage after repeating this same pointless situation twice. He then flung his body upright against the combined threat of both excessive hunger and a startlingly familiar assailant whose kicks played out like a broken record.

“Didn’t I just save your ass?! Why kick me in the ribs?!”

And sure enough, he was right—standing next to where he was just laying, a girl with the appearance of a doll and the personality of a monster watched him with an unexpectedly nervous expression.

“D-don’t throw me under the bus-!! G-g-get a hold of yourself, you were acting crazy-!!”

Her teeth chattered incessantly as she delivered her defense to kicking Cobalt in the side. This situation was harrowingly similar to one they had had only just a few hours ago—but this time, the source which pitted them against each other was significantly different.

“That’s what I was trying to do, before you kicked me! Don’t undermine my revelations. I’m just tryna work this out—same as you.”

He instinctively clicked his tongue as he looked away from her while fluffing his hair back into place.

“You’re t-trying to work it out by b-beating your head into the rocks?!”

“Sometimes my head just deserves to be beaten into the rocks, alright?! There are two rules in a situation like this: inflict self harm and throw big rocks at your enemy’s face.”

“Two rules t-to—?! Since when?! What book did you read that in?!?!”

“A pretty important one. And since I’m actually having coherent thoughts right now I’d say it’s proof of its effectiveness…”

Cobalt wasn’t exactly sure how, but he knew he could attribute his uncanny ability to bullshit with Arabelle even in a place like this as proof: pain was what shot him out of his fractured, pathetically hungry state.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about… But you worried the hell out of me!! What do you even mean by ‘having coherent thoughts’, are you just always that stupid?!”

Wiping the blood from his dented forehead, he then scratched across his brow as her last question suddenly sparked a chain of thoughts in his revived mind.

Then plopping his hands down on the ground, he propelled himself up to meet her at an eye-to-eye level.

“This might sound like a weird question, but… Were you in control of your senses back there? Your own thoughts, and feelings, sight, and sound… That kind of thing.”

She furrowed her brows as she tossed around the question in her mind.

“…Now that you mention it, I was hearing some weird voices—kind of like a whisper… I also feel really hungry right now… And I don’t think that I was this hungry a few minutes ago. Is that what you mean?”

“You… Didn’t even notice it until now…?”

“I mean I was a bit preoccupied…!”

“Yeah but for me…”

It was all I could think of, were the next words he was about to say, but he stopped. Instead, what replaced those words was a long, drawn out sigh.

Within the span of well over 48 hours, Cobalt had abandoned everything he had built up over years and years of his life. He had not only thrown that away, but he had come face to face with the idea that his light could fizzle out at any second so many times since then.

Cobalt knew he wasn’t in the mental state to do any of this, but still he pushed himself, clinging to the baseless optimist that “maybe it will have meaning in the end”.

“Arabelle, when was the last time you ate anything?”

“Last time I ate…? That would be last night, I had a pretty big dinner.”

Such a simple and yet necessary bodily function, it would be almost impossible for a normal person to forget about it. In fact there are even people who will plan their entire schedules day by day based on what they plan on eating.

But on the opposite end of that spectrum, there are people who don’t have that luxury at all.

Moreso who won’t let themselves have that luxury—their own minds so turbulent that they completely forget about it, until the urge is overwhelming.

“For me… I’d say it’s been over two days, maybe two and a half.”

And as for Cobalt, he despised the fact that he’d lived his lifestyle that way—with absolutely zero regard for his health.

“So if I were to guess… I’d say the reason I’m at such a disadvantage against that thing…”

The insane mood he’d been thrown into felt like he wasn’t even the one in control—like something else entirely was possessing his movements and even his thoughts.

But even so, he knew all of that was still “Cobalt”. All of those thoughts and actions were his own. He couldn’t blame anyone else for the last few minutes… But regarding that creature’s “Hunger Aura” as he now dubbed it, he didn’t currently have any options of fighting back against it.

Still standing, he fluffed his hair up again before shaking off the remaining chills he still had after dealing with an absolute freak of nature like that.

No, not just a freak—an utter Horror.

“Given what I know about this Hell, I’m guessing the only reason a thing like that is able to exist is if it's a Saga, right? The only few options I can come up with are the Wendigo, the Rougarou, or just a Ghoul or Zombie of some kind…” Scratching at his matted hair, he remembered the fierce gaze it gave him when he crushed a rock against it. He knew, somehow, that it was most certainly still alive behind those halls. And he knew he didn’t have much time to think of a way to combat it.

“Given the size and the way that thing scared the shit out of me, I’m guessing it’s a Wendigo of some kind… But in terms of the weaknesses it has, that leaves us at one hell of a disadvantage…”

“I like that you’re still trying to think of solutions to all this but, more importantly, that really doesn't hurt…? You seriously messed yourself up there…”

Scratching at his head, he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that his hand had been scraping up dirt, dust, and the putridly thick hue of red across his fingers. But still, he almost found it funny that Arabelle was most concerned with him of all things.

Holding back his laugh, he shrugged off her concern. “No, it definitely hurts like hell… If I were to rank it I’d say this probably comes in third place out of the most pain I've ever been in. But between the memory of the alternative and the adrenaline it’s givin’ me, I really can’t complain.”

“O-okay…”

It was hard to explain, but the excruciating pain he felt pulsating up and down across his head was consoling in a way. It reminded him that, at the very least, his thoughts were his own.

But on the subject of that, the tightness in his gut was still getting stronger every second, affirming his belief that the foul nightmare beyond those halls was steadily making its way closer.

In short, we not only have a dozen questions we need to figure out before making our way out of this, but we’re also limited on time… What kind of broken Boss Level is this…?

But feeling across the crystal in his pocket, he suddenly felt a spark across the pain on his forehead, giving him the first step he needed to bridge the gap to freedom.

Freedom…

As a cocky smile glimmered across his face, the ghoulish presence of famine and death itself reappeared, this time clad in the open light of notpixie and crystal alike.

You really are just as disgusting as I thought…

Standing at well over three meters tall, the lanky stumbling figure was extremely skeletal, and there likely wasn’t an ounce of fat across its body.

It’s ashen skin stretched as tight as it possibly could, even separating the ribs visibly like a tight cloth was pulled over bone.

And its face…

Yellow sunken eyes and putrid yellow teeth. A slippery dark purple tongue slithered over its chapped lips, stretching a smile up across the rest of its disgusting and rotten face.

Seeing the comparison up close, Cobalt suddenly was flashed with the memory of the enormous wolf which had come a second from tearing his head off…

It’s snout had been rotting, and falling off. Even its ribs showed through thick moldy fur.

“So that’s what you do to your prey, huh…?”

With a gulp, his thoughts all aligned themselves with one last testament to the abhorrence of such a vile Horror like that…

“Yeah… There’s no way something like you should be able to exist.”

Their ticket out, the way back through the darkness, had been traversed in just a few seconds, and as inertia kicked in, its lanky top half almost fell over its bottom.

That Horror then stood, blankly blocking off their exit with a foul smile. A distance traversed in well over 20 meters per second.

But be it a startling hunch, or maybe the even more startling mutual connection he had with the creature, a part of him understood from the beginning that there was no simply escaping its presence.

Not only that, but he knew the creature wouldn’t be fooled twice.

The thing isn’t stupid… But that’s fine… It just so happens that my plan doesn’t rely on any of that at all.

Grimly greeting the beast with a smile, he gulped down the maybe 80 meters that separated them now, as he inched back towards the ledge he was standing before.

Down that ledge, maybe 40 meters or so, a crystalline lake of distilled and yet sparkling water awaited him, if he were to drop.

But yeah, not again…

The resolve that shot through him… He was just about ready to pummel it into the ground.

As he took a step forward, he cleared his throat to ring clearly throughout the slowly-greying cave.

“Alright Arabelle, first question: How many times have you been in the ‘Darkness Zone’ here?”

Hearing the little girl gulp, she faced him from behind with a shaky expression.

“Maybe five or six times…”

“And this thing never once showed up, right?”

“No, I’ve never seen it before… Do you have a plan…?”

Affirming the thoughts he was banking on, he grimly nodded. Although his face wore a smile, he couldn’t help the beads of sweat that ran down it, even despite the chilling cold.

So it only attacks if you have light… I guess that’s all I needed to know.

Pulling tight at his collar to let in the chilling cold against his hot and sweating frame, he inched further away from the ledge, getting into a defensive position.

And in turn, the abhorrent beast ahead readied itself to pounce on its prey.

Once it charges, I’ll have about four seconds… I hope this thing likes DIY glowsticks.

Then, grabbing tightly at the crystal in his pocket, he prepared himself for the little amount of time he would have before Lights Out.

“Arabelle—your cape,” swallowing one last time, he shook off the chilling alertness from his nerves. “On the count of three, I need you to cover up your lantern.”

“What—?! If you’re wrong we’ll be dead in a second!!!”

“I know that… I guess that’s why I started preparing ahead of time.”

He almost laughed at that thought. Hell, the blood and bioluminescence on his crystal was an ironclad testament to his unconscious genius.

“It’s all we got, okay…? This won’t be like last time… I promise.”

He didn’t know which of them he was promising to, but he clung to those words regardless, praying they were true.

And as she started to unclip her dark red cape…

“Alright, here we go…!!! ONE!!!”

Its scrawny ashen legs bolted into action, charging towards the two of them at the same speed as before.

It once again licked across its nasty and cavity-infested teeth, lunging at the opportunity to tear Cobalt limb from limb.

For a disgusting and inexplicable reason, Cobalt felt the same repulsive urge, a tinge of hunger surging through him at once.

“TWO!!!”

If the putrid creature were anything else, he would be able to see the whites of its eyes now…

But instead, the puny, hollow, and sunken in yellow orbs didn’t move or blink, bolting across the playing field way quicker than any human should ever be able to run…

Clearing half the distance already, Cobalt tore the crystal out of his pocket about to call the final number, until his throat caught on the words.

Instead…

『I don’t want to die…』

He bit tightly at the words he had thought, not even given enough time to question what intrusive thought had taken hold of his command.

But despite the call he failed to choke out, he heard the fluttering of a cape in tandem with the light’s slow exhaustion from this world.

~ ~ ~ Lights Out ~ ~ ~