Descent into Infinite Mysteries [REWRITE]

Chapter 8: Paradise Lost

Misako finally found a movie she liked and put down the remote. I get on the bed next to her and place my hand on top of hers. She clasps onto my hand, interlocking our fingers. She's paying attention to the movie, but I'm staring at our hands. She hasn't let go of my hand and is completely focused on the movie.

"Hey, Cain."

"Yeah?"

"Your hand is actually...really sweaty. Can you let go?"

HOW COULD THIS BE?!

"Oh...yeah! I'm so sorry!"

I let go of Misako's hand and she wipes it off on the bed sheet. My hand is completely clammy. I can't believe at a time like this my hand would do this to me...after all we'd been through.

"Why are you so nervous? Your sweating even though the room is set to like 68 degrees."

I wipe my forehead and I'm sweating heavily; my heart is racing.

"I...I don't know. Maybe I'm just anxious to be close with you?"

Misako tilts her head and gives me a puzzled expression.

"You're better than that, Cain. I don't intimidate you, do I?"

Kind of, but I'd never tell her that.

"I don't think so. I'm just really tired after everything that happened, I guess. I'm gonna lay down on the other bed for a bit."

I get up from the bed and look at the imprint of sweat I left behind. Misako's face twitches as if she wants to make a disgusted expression.

"Do I need to turn down the AC more...? Are you sure you're okay?"

My heart beats quicker and I grab my chest. I feel something slipping within me as I gasp.

"I'm...fine. I just need to lay down."

I plop my body onto the bed and feel myself drifting away. I slowly lose my vision, the world closing around me. The last thing I see before my vision is enveloped by darkness is Misako looking over me.

I feel my body drifting through an endless abyss, my mind slipping into a distant place. I reach out into the unknown, reaching for anything to orient myself. A voice cries out in the distance, distracting me from my focus. It starts as a whisper, growing louder as it takes my attention.

"Joseph...Joseph wake up...! JOSEPH!"

Why are they calling for my dad...? Who is that...? As I open my eyes, my consciousness slips, melting into the abyss. I feel new emotions, a new purpose...I feel...

Chapter 8: Paradise Lost (Joseph POV)

Michael rocked me there...I can't let that happen again. Not here, not now. Everyone is crying out for me; I can't let them down. In the corner of my eye, I see Kat, Jimbo, Chiyo...even Abraham is here to watch me. I pick myself back up, wiping the blood off my mouth.

"That all you got, you punk traitor?!"

Michael's eyes are wide, like a frenzied beast. My friend is still in there...I feel it!

"Traitor? You keep using that funny word...still not realizing that YOU betrayed ME! Which one of us left the other to succumb to darkness?!"

I wince, the wound he speaks of is still fresh on my mind. Mike...just how far have you fallen?

"You kept pushing me to get stronger...right until you couldn't defeat me. I had broken past all of my limits...I broke the chains binding my soul, and yet you told me that was enough. You don't want to be surpassed...YOU JUST WANTED A PUNCHING BAG! YOU NEVER WANTED ME TO GET STRONGER, YOU ONLY WANTED A FOLLOWER! And when I finally left your little gang and found my spot atop the throne of the Devils as the strongest martial artist alive...you couldn't bear to watch any longer. Too little, too late, Joseph. Kill your supreme mistake now or watch as I take away what matters to you the most."