Krampus [Book Two Of King-Queen, Jester Series](CYJ)

8 :: Dungeons

"Calling thy name
From the dungeons of hell"

⊱ ───ஓ๑♧๑ஓ ─── ⊰

Madness - that is, being disordered in mind, without reason and judgment, and given to frenzy or irrational behavior - has been seen differently at various times in history, based on our changing perceptions of human nature. Madness.

Once in Lhasa, the capital of autonomous Tibet, a young monastery disciple had asked the residing monk about the term "madness". There is no madness, he had stated then. What is madness?

Ancient Greek society had a specific notion as to the nature of people and their function in the world. They saw humankind as essentially controlled by external factors. Man was understood as being under the power of the gods; the later idea of internal identity was unknown. The seat of thinking and behavior was believed to be located somewhere between the gods and the individual.

Madness is a calibrated level of extreme sanity which lets you free to act from your core.

There is some sort of madness in everybody. And the madness which raged like a rugged storm inside Yeonjun's heart was partially driving him crazy. The meeting with Hyong Jae yielded nothing. Not a single information. He had his hands balled and clenched into a tight fist. The bulb in the desolate corridor in the E-ward of the hospital flickered above Yeonjun's head.

Eunhye shut the door to the critical care unit. Her cheeks were moist, indicating that she was crying not long ago. She inhaled a deep breath, sat next to Yeonjun and chewed on her lips.

"How's he? How's Eunseok doing?" Yeonjun had whispered timidly, his voice tired and restless.

"Critical condition. A good portion of his breast muscles have been burnt under the branding. It was good that you got to him quickly due to which, his heart didn't burn. Thank you." Tears rolled down Yeonjun's cheeks. His best friend might not survive.

"How are you, Ms. Sim?"

"I'm not okay. I don't know what we may do. That boy was no help. My brother might die..."

"Who knows, mine's probably already dead."

"I can assure, he's not."

"I can... I can only... Hope that." The faint streams hit him hard. The ever-strong man was breaking apart. Eunhye slowly wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a light, chaste hug. Once she broke the hug, she peered into her bag, pulling out the little Groot figurine.

"Here, have it. This figurine makes me believe that I can bring your brother back as a compensation for at least helping me try to treat my brother before he dies. If he dies. I am mentally prepared to lose him. When I was inside, he could stay awake for only a minute. They'll survive."

Yeonjun's penetrating gaze fell on the figurine, keeping it close to his heart. How he missed his mother at this time! He forced his weight on his feet, pulling his body up to walk.