The Segmented Empire

Chapter 2

TW: (none)

  The boy woke, but not in the room he had fallen asleep. In fact he didn't even recognize where he was, the room was dimly lit with soul torches that were almost burnt out, the only thing that could be seen being his body, but even that was barely visible in the darkness. He stood, looking around him as if to find some kind of indication of where he was, but nothing seemed to help, the room was completely unrecognizable. He hadn't even realized how silent the room was until it was finally broken by a voice.

  "Hello?" A simple, questionable greeting, he didn't recognize the voice the word came from, it was soft and gentle, yet gruff in a way, like an older man.

  He couldn't think of how to respond or even if he should respond, he didn't know where he was, nor who was talking to him. Hesitantly he decided on responding, a simple greeting back would suffice.

  "⊑-⊑⟒⌰⌰⍜.. (H-Hello..)" he stuttered out, he quickly covered his mouth, he didn't mean to speak in Ender, it felt involuntary, as if that was how he'd always spoken. He quickly shook his head, assuming he spoke in that way out of fear.

    No response came, only silence, he hated it. It was the loud type of silence, the one you'd hear after telling an unfunny joke to your friends. It made his head hurt, it made him tremble, it made him want to scream as loud as he could just to break it. Even after telling himself he can't, the urge wouldn't leave, he wanted to scream, he needed to scream, so that's what he did. His jaw unhinging and his cheeks tearing to form smaller mouths on either side of his face, as if they had always been there but he didn't know how to open them, and he screamed, nna loud, ear shattering scream, only those of the ender species could manage to let out, and suddenly, he awoke, violently pulling himself upright.

  He inhaled deeply, trying to fully understand the dream he just had, he wouldn't classify it as a nightmare, but it wasn't anything like the dreams he had before, as if he was actually in that room. He calmed his breathing, finally feeling the pain in his body, a strong aching, as if every muscle in his body was completely tensed while he slept. He sighed, crawling out of his bed and into the bathroom, he felt taller but he didn't think much of it, that was how gravity worked after all, you are about 1cm taller when you wake up. He still couldn't ignore it though, so despite his better judgment, he looked into the mirror studying his appearance. His eyes widened realizing how different he looked.

  His hair was still pink but more saturated, matching surprisingly well with his completion, which now seemed a much more magenta color than before, it was still light, but he could easily notice it was different. His hands and part of his forearm seemed to have the same obsidian like look as his legs did, giving them a slightly more Strider look. The most recognizable change was that to his face, his right eye was still the same, a black iris and pupil, while his left eye had changed, it was still white yes, but it was completely white, no iris or pupil in sight, just a white void.

  He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he was indeed taller, but how? He didn't know, nor did he want to. He shook his head, snapping his gaze away from the mirror and opening the curtain to the shower, turning the knob. Once the water was to his liking he stripped off his sleepwear and climbed in, closing the curtain behind him. It was warm, just the way he liked it, just the way he liked everything, warm. It calmed him, made him feel safe, he cleaned himself, taking extra care in hard to reach areas. Once he was finally clean, he got out, turning off the water and wrapping himself in a towel. He quickly dried off and changed into his prince attire, a black long sleeved shirt and trousers, a light grey poncho that he acquired from his brother, and his crown, much to his surprise, everything still fit.

  He threw the towel and his sleepwear into his laundry bin, leaving his room to the dining hall. He had assumed that his parents were already awake and were there as they normally were, and this time was no different, walking in he found his parents at their respective seats eating their breakfast. His mother seemed to notice his presence inside the room, seeing as she was the first to speak.

  "Did you have a good sleep dear?" She looked up at her youngest son, nearly dropping her fork, her eyes widened and she let out an audible gasp as seeing his appearance.

  The boy looked at her from his spot next to his seat, he had expected her to see, he didn't bother to hide his new appearance really at all. His father seemed to notice his mother's staring at her youngest son, letting out a quiet grumble as he looked at Anguish.

  "What did the boy do now..." his voice seemed to quiet as his sentence went on, also staring at the change the boy seemed to have undergone.

  Scar was the last to look over, he didn't stare, instead he let out a small gasp of excitement, his eyes shining with delight as he stood up from his seat running to his younger brother and pulling him into a tight bear hug.

  "Anguish, you've finally had your first maturity!"

  957 words

Hey, how are you?  

I finished the second chapter finally, it didn't actually take as long as the first one, but I had to properly get myself motivated to write , which didn't happen so I just kinda, told myself that I need to get another chapter done, and luckily I was able to get enough motivation while writing the first paragraph to come up with the rest of the chapter, so, let me know what you all think, if you have any helpful tips or criticisms, please let me know them, I'd appreciate any help for how I should write my chapters and other stories in the future. 

Thank you for reading chapter 2! 

                                 -The Author