The Segmented Empire

Chapter 3

TW: (none)

  Breakfast was overwhelming, his first maturity? The boy could barely believe it, just the night before he was being scolded by his father asking about training, and now he was to start the next day with his brother's trainer. He didn't understand why this had happened, it made his head hurt, and having everyone crowd him like they did made him want to scream just as he did in his dream, he hated the attention. Once he finally escaped the crowd of servants, he made his way through the halls of the castle, letting his thoughts take him over. The castle was surprisingly quiet, but it was comfortable for the boy. He usually hated it, but today he took in the comforting sound of silence, the small sounds of the Nether outside muffled by the castle walls.

  He had never been outside the castle, not once, it was too dangerous for him as his parents would say. He would ask many times if he could go into the garden outside to pick up Nether wart for potions, but they'd always deny, sending one of the maids out instead to fetch him a good amount, he hated that, but now he'd no longer be trapped within the walls, he would get to train outside with his brother, he had to not wander off of course, he knew that, but he'd atleast get to be outside. He was deep into his mind, not bothering to pay attention to where he walked, that was until he ran into someone.

  With a loud thud the boy fell to the ground, bringing him back to reality.

  "O-oh my, I'm so sorry y-young lord, I w-wasn't paying attention to where I was going!" The small girl stuttered, reaching her hand out to help the boy up.

  He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a throbbing go through it, he looked up at the girl. It was the youngest maid in the castle, a small piglin girl, she had short brown hair that stopped at her shoulders, cut in a way that matched her appearance quite well, like any other piglin, her eyes were a pure white, glowing slightly just like his own, she didn't have tusks due to her young age, and she was petite and slightly thicker than most maids in the castle, although that didn't deteriorate from her looks at all, if anything it added to them. He sighed slightly, grabbing her hand and allowing her to pull him up.

  "You don't have to apologize, it was my own fault, I was zoned out.." The boy admitted, still rubbing the back of his neck that took the most impact during the fall.

  The girl released his hand folding them behind her back and bowing, quickly making her way past him afterwards. Her cheeks were dusted a light red from the prince, she wouldn't admit it, but he was quite handsome, and around her age as well. The boy sighed again, continuing down the hall, paying much more attention to his surroundings this time, but his thoughts eventually took over once again. He thought back to the dream he had, it was strange, the voice still burned into his mind, he had never heard it before, never in his life, yet it made him feel safe in a way, he couldn't understand why.

  Paying closer attention to the thought, he took in the details of the voice again, realizing how much detail he hadn't noticed about it before, a soft father-like voice, gruff yet higher in a way that fit with his accent, that was one thing he hadn't payed attention to before, the accent the voice had, he didn't recognize it, but it made the voice all that more welcoming in a way. He snapped back into reality, realizing he zoned out again, quickly shaking his head and continuing on down the hall. The rest of the day went by as normal, but he couldn't stop thinking of the voice, he wanted to figure out who it belonged to, and why they were in his dream.

  That night, the boy lay in his bed, finding it hard to fall asleep, the voice still burned into his brain, repeating the greeting over and over, eventually his thoughts quieted down and he let the warm feeling of sleep take over him, closing his eyes and curling himself up within his blankets to keep warm. Upon opening his eyes once more, he found himself back in that room, the same one from before, except he could make out his surroundings a bit better, the room seeming more light than it once was. He stood, almost falling, his legs feeling numb as if they had fallen asleep, eventually he found his balance, looking around the room. Still dimly lit like it was before, the soul lanterns seemed much more bright however, as if they had been fueled again, but had been sitting there for a while, making their light fade slightly.

  He could see much more of the room, seeing a few doors sealed with iron bars, like a prison almost. He still couldn't seem to find an exit however, his eyes than locked onto a small purple light in front of him, a soft glow, he slowly made his way towards it, the light becoming bigger and bigger as he continued forwards. He then heard it.

  "Hello?" The same soft voice as before, but much louder, as if he was closer to it.

  It came from the light in front of him, he shook slightly, his body tensing up, freezing in his tracks. The silence returned, he exhaled slightly, gaining courage once again and cautiously stepping forward, breaking the silence with his own voice.

  "⊑⟒⌰⌰⍜? (Hello?)" the quiet ender speech escaping from his mouth, he didn't stutter as he did before, but it still confused him, how did he speak ender without meaning to?

  A small footstep came from the direction of the light, causing him to freeze, that didn't happen before did it? Was this a different dream? It couldn't have been, he was in the same place he heard the same voice. The sound of footsteps continued towards him slowly, he tensed, he wanted to run back, but his curiosity stopped him from moving, he wanted to know who it was the voice belonged to, but was it worth it?

  "Who's there?" The voice came again, sounding much more cautious this time, the boy stood, frozen in place, not knowing if he should respond or stay quiet, the footsteps continued in his direction, a much slower pace than before, he could tell this person was afraid, or at least on edge in some way, he quickly blurted out a response, his voice trembling.

  "⟟-⟟'⋔ ⏃⋏☌⎍⟟⌇⊑, ⟟'⋔ ⋏-⋏⍜⏁ ⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏁⍜ ⟟⋏⏁⍀⎍⎅⟒.. (I-I'm Anguish, I'm n-not here to intrude..)" he stated, still speaking in ender.

  The footsteps paused, making the boy tense once more, he stared out into the darkness in front of him, the soft purple glow suddenly revealing a silhouette, before the figure stepped out into the light of the lanterns. The man seemed to be average height, wearing a green jinbei and black haori, the colors dimmed by the darkness of the room. His dirty blonde hair was messy and covered by a green and white bucket hat, his blue eyes piercing through the darkness, seeming to glow slightly, although he couldn't be sure. The male was pale, which was easily told even with the darkness surrounding him, the thing that stood out the most being two large crow wings growing out of his back, it seemed he was an avian creature of sorts. He had slight stubble on his chin, giving more to his appearance in a way.

  The male had a strange aura to him, the boy felt safe being in his presence, but he couldn't possibly understand why. He moved towards him slightly, making the younger male flinch, he quickly backed up again, seeing the boy was on edge. The silence was ungodly loud, making the boy's head throb, he quickly reached up, holding his head in his hands, waiting from the throbbing to stop. He was far too distracted to realize the male coming towards him, he crouched down to the young boy's height, he was tall for his age, but he wanted to be more eye level with him. He reached his hand forward, gently pressing it against the boy's forehead, easing the throbbing he felt.

  The boy lowered his hands looking at the older male in front of him, he didn't know who he was or why he was here, but he felt calm, he felt he could trust this man. He leaned into the man's touch, only now realizing how cold the room was, shivering slightly.

  "How'd you get here?" The man asked, softly patting the boy.

  He didn't know how to respond, even he didn't know, he was just here, as if he had to be. Darkness surrounded him and suddenly he was back in his room, right, a dream, that all it was, and yet it felt so real. He sat up, letting the warmth of his room engulf his body, questions ran through his mind within seconds, he didn't understand, who was that man, and why did he make the boy feel safe, and why was he in his dreams?

  1567 words

  Ah yes everyone, that's right, the man himself has made an appearance, sorry this took a bit longer to get out, luckily tho, I was able to get motivation for it. If you have any criticism or  tips on the story, feel free to let me know, just don't be mean about it ig, I would love to get your opinions on how I can write this and my other books in the future. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed chapter 3, thank you for reading!

               -  The Author