- Ninjini, are you okay? Dusk asked. Don't leave me, please!
- Dusk? What happened? Ninjini asked in a daze.
- Oh, thank God! You are okay. You worried me.
Dusk helped Ninjini to get up.
- We can't do this anymore. Deadeye must be stopped, once and for all, Dusk said.
- But how? asked Ninjini. I mean, now he made an alliance with that Eric who is too strong.
- I have an idea! Dusk said.
- And that is?
- We will go to them together, then at some point we will separate. You'll head in Deadeye's direction, and I'll head in Eric's. You will fight Deadeye and I will fight Eric. It's important that you last as long as you can against Deadeye, while I fight Eric. When I'm done with Eric, I'm coming to help you.
- Okay, Ninjini agreed.
IN THE DUNGEON WHERE DEADEYE WAS
- As he lay on the bed, Deadeye heard a voice approaching him and saying:"Welcome, sir?"
- Deadeye. You can call me Deadeye.
- Okay. We're just going to do a quick psychiatric evaluation. The doctor sat down on the chair next to him and asked Deadeye:Bad day, huh? Cops in this city. Always beating on the sick and defenseless. Deadeye, looked at the doctor and asked:Tell me something, dear. Have *you* ever had a really bad day? At that moment, Deadeye began to remember everything that had happened to him up to this day.
- And what do you mean by that? asked the doctor.
- You of all people should know... There's nothing so CRUEL as MEMORY. The pointy, bitey little THUNDERBOLTS. Unwanted party crashers, SCREAMERS through your synapses. Inescapable, unrelenting... not at all friendly. You can't even escape into MADNESS! And then you meet someone who changes your life. And you feel that you don't even know who you are anymore. Isn't it funny how one little encounter can CLEAVE off little pieces of your past, DEFORM your memories and persona until you rethink your whole identity. And as you realize how foolish it all is. Your LAUGHTER reverberates off the walls of your own emptiness.
- Ohhhkaayyy... I'm going to need more specifics. How about we try some word association?
- That sounds... delightful, said Deadeye.
- Acceptance.
- Now that's a little trite, isn't it? Deadeye asked.
- Look... I'm only doing this to help you. Let's try this again. Acceptance.
- My favorite stage, Deadeye said happily.
The doctor smiled and said:O.K. One more. And I need you to be serious for this one. Fate.
Deadeye laugh and ask:You want to know something funny? I used to think of Fate as EVIL. Predetermined. Not by some higher power, but by the rules of human NATURE. But tonight, that's all changed.
- What's changed? The doctor asked.
- Have you ever had the feeling that your entire life has been building towards this one moment?
- Is that how you feel?
- Well now, yes. Now I realize that all the BATTLES, the BAD DAYS, the BRUTALITIES. It was all the hand of Fate at work.
- So now you see fate differently?
- Absolutely. Now I understand. There are no chance encounters. It was all meant to be. Everything leading up to who I've met tonight!
- So you've met someone special?
- Yes. And you might say it's changed EVERYTHING.
- Everything?
- Absolutely. I mean, do you realize what a vile world we live in? How lonely it is to wade through all the wretch and filth on your own?
- It is kind of lonely, isn't it?
- Of course. Of course! You understand! Even in a crowd of other screwballs, you're so alone that you can kick, claw, yell, scream at the top of your lungs. And no one cares. It's like you don't even exist. I feel... Sometimes I feel like I'm trapped on this path leading nowhere. Into just emptiness. But now...
- Now you feel like you've got someone by your side. To share the journey with you. And how does that make you feel?
Deadeye thought, then said:I feel adrift, floating. Like someone's pulled the stopper on my reality and I'm SUCKED down the drain into something new. It's all very exciting really. You wouldn't know what that feels like, I'm sure.
- I - might... actually. Can you tell me more about how this person makes you feel?
- It's like meeting someone I can actually relate to... which, believe me, dear I've NEVER felt before.
The doctor smiled.
- You understand. You're someone who's not afraid to let go and fall.
The doctor smiled once more.
- Free falling, said Deadeye. And I didn't pack a chute. Deadeye fell silent, then asked again:Do you know what I mean?
- Yes. Yes I do.
- I figured you would.
- So, may I ask, who is this person?
- Someone very, very special, but whose real name I don't even know yet!
- My name's Leia. Leia Mintz, said the doctor.
- What a pretty name. You must have a lot of friends?
- Actually, I don't.
- Well, Leia, you got one now.
At that moment, Deadeye laughed.
YOU ARE READING
THE WATCHER
FantasyA high school student who ends up in a fantasy world and gets to know his bad and good things there.
