A Book of Myths

Chapter Four: Pain

"So. Are we good?"

Radiant raised her eyes to the man across the table, then back down to the notebook in front of her.

"Yes. We are good, Jack. Geez, you act like me forgiving you is a lie or something." she responded, writing something down. Reading over the file open beside her, she kept writing her notes.

"I just want to make sure. I mean, what happened was... well-" he began.

"Shut up and leave it alone. I forgave you, you did your time. Move on." Radiant cut him off, getting tired of reminding him. Jack nodded before looking over at the window. Watching him, Radiant sighed and stood up, going to her room. Shutting the door, she glanced up at the unfortunate mess made from her fallen plushies. She picked up a small plush of Freddy before rolling her eyes.

"You didn't need to knock them over," she muttered, turning to the figure on the bed. The red eyes blinked once, then twice before turning toward the plushies.

"Whoops," it said, showing a crazed smile. Radiant shook her head.

"Quit it."

The figure stood up, walking over to the messy desk. It picked up a small figure of a green and blue eye, then glanced at Radiant.

"You know, Jack sounds like he really doesn't believe that you forgave him. Do I have to tell him myself or what?" it asked, pulling off the stuffed beanie. Radiant looked at the figure before laughing a little bit.

"You're gonna need a haircut soon. It's getting too long, Rui," she stated, starting to put the plushies back on the bookshelf. The figure grabbed its long hair and looked in the mirror. It groaned and flopped onto the bed.

"How is Jack?" it asked, messing with its shirt. Radiant glanced at it and shrugged.

"He's fine. Ruined, how are you?" she asked. Ruined sat up, rubbing their eyes.

"I'm doing just fiery! Like a devil on the beach in winter!" she laughed, tossing the beanie at the closet. Radiant nodded, finally finished cleaning off the floor. Ruined watched her walk to the desk and sit down.

"How are you? Wait, you're doing just peachy huh?" Ruined asked, trying to answer her own question. Radiant rolled her eyes,

"I'm fine."

Ruined shrugged and got up, headed for the kitchen. Radiant watched her leave, then grabbed her journal and started to write.

Friday, September 14th.

It played in my head again. All the blackness reaching for my bleeding throat while she walked away, an unnamed figure in my brain. The pain that intense shocked me every time I moved. I couldn't speak, like my tongue or vocal cords had been torn from my mouth and throat. But I could hear. I could hear my own voice screaming, begging to be free. By the end of it, I could hardly breathe.

"You're writing again." came a voice. Spinning her in the chair, Radiant locked eyes with Melody. She was watching the older girl, holding a cup of tea in her hand. Radiant shrugged.

"It's a habit," she said, laughing it off a bit. Melody nodded.

"M and I are going to the restaurant, make sure everything is going smoothly, considering the influx of travelers recently," she said. "See you in a couple of hours, hopefully."

Radiant followed Melody down to the first floor, waving goodbye to the two sisters as they headed out the door. Glancing around the tech-filled room, she let out a soft sigh and walked over to the window.

"Isssssn't it fun to be alone? Where all the voicessss will echo and every noisssse is ssssomething to be fearful of?" asked a voice from somewhere behind. Turning with fear flashing in her brain, Radiant searched for the source. It was too snake-like, nothing like the scorpion demon she knew.

"Who are you?" she asked, "Show yourself, you python!"

Down from the ceiling came a large snake baring its slick fangs.

"For your information, I am a cobra, not a python!" it hissed at her, sliding closer. Radiant growled and carefully moved away.

"Yeah, I kind of felt bad for assuming the voice I heard was a python. Sorry," she apologized, rubbing her arm. The cobra dipped its head in acceptance, before appearing as a human. Or, somewhat like a human. Radiant let her eyes fall and rise over the figure.

Female. She was wearing some normal pants and a plain t-shirt, nothing special. Her hair was dull and cut short. But what caught Radiant by curiosity were her eyes.

"If you are wondering, I'm not human." the figure said, breaking the silence. Radiant rolled her eyes.

"I figured that. No human can shift between animal and.. well, human," she stated, glancing at the ground. The figure laughed.

"The name is Sakyenia. Heir to the kingdom of Anord," she said, refusing to bow. Radiant looked at her, debating if she should bow to the creature or not. Finally, she bowed, treating Sakyenia like any other powerful creature she knew.

"How did you get here?" Radiant asked, standing up again. Sakyenia tilted her head, thinking for a bit.

"I felt chaos brewing! I wanted to sit back and watch, feeding on the energy that arises," she answered, walking around Radiant. The latter was confused.

"You'll figure it out later. Now, I have some chaos to attend to. Have fun." Sakyenia laughed, disappearing. Radiant shook her head, trying to make it sound like it was all in her head. Chaos is brewing? What kind of chaos?