hero and the devil (Skephalo Hero AU)

capítulo 2

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Darryl (P.O.V.):

Sitting on the bed, I look at my new medicine box, tirelessly debating whether I really want or should sleep. I was tired, but I didn't want to go back there, to that nightmare.

I hug my legs, leaning my head against the wall next to the bed. If I take it, will it just go away? Maybe, if I take a little more, I'll even die... But that would mean eternal nightmares or the peace I want so much.

I get up, grab the medicine from the bedside table and sit back on the bed. I look carefully at the box, reading and rereading the label, thinking and rethinking. Until I take action: I take four pills and swallow them dry, all at once.

"The bitter taste of the medicine starts to make itself present in my mouth, making me swallow my saliva to see if the taste would be less bad."

"I wait a few seconds, seconds that only make me doubt even more if I should have done that. The chance of dying was high, I could have just taken a pill and dealt with it... dealt with the dream.

But, as soon as I notice that nothing happens, I let out the breath I didn't even realize I had held. Placing my legs on the floor, I stand up, going to the table, placing my glasses and antidepressants on top of it."

"I stop when I feel my legs tremble and my breathing accelerate, as if all the air was being pushed away from me. I push myself back, falling on the bed, holding my own neck for air. I start to see everything blink and tremble and I feel a strange, metallic taste invade my mouth. My mind was clear; I couldn't think clearly. My eyes felt heavy against my face, along with the shaking sensation, which made me twist and move on the bed. But the darkness finally wins the fight, making me fall, not knowing if what was coming was sleep or my death."

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The moment of darkness passes and the scenery changes. Instead of my room, I am in a wide, open field. The differences between reality and this place are impossible to ignore. The sky is red and, although it seems like day, there are two moons on the horizon.

"I look at the ground, covered in red flowers. Something about them is familiar to me. They are beautiful, but I can't remember their names. They move in the wind, filling me with a sense of calm, almost making me forget that I am no longer in my home. But the strangest thing was not the sudden calm and security they gave me; it was that, at the same time, my body seemed to know that I should not touch them."

I try to look around, but all I see are rows and rows of the same flowers. Unlike in other dreams, I could see everything clearly. Nothing was blurred, as if I shouldn't see it.

Further ahead, towering over the entire field, I see something that looks like a castle hidden behind a large forest with trees that seem to have gray or black wood and crimson red leaves, but I am too far away to see more than its colossal silhouette.

"I feel the cold wind pass and spin around me, and a bad smell, similar to sulfur, invades my nose. A shrill scream makes me jump a little as I look around.

"How could I feel cold or smell if I was in a dream? That didn't make sense," I think, hugging my own body, which had begun to tremble. I just didn't know if it was because of the cold wind or the fright of the previous scream."

I stop my thoughts when, out of the corner of my eye, I notice something moving. Someone falling backwards on the ground, amidst the flowers.

— You finally arrived, I thought it would take longer for you to try to kill yourself or something — the voice echoed from all sides but I knew it was coming from the person lying on the ground

— what do you mean I finally arrived, who are you, where am I? — I say, approaching carefully and curiously

— This is our prison —

— what do you mean our prison —

" I ask confused, finally getting close enough to see who I was talking to

"He was wearing a hood with small horns on the top, reinforcing a demonic air. It looked like a moment. black with red details on the edges of the hood and on the cuffs. He also has a strap across his chest, probably to hold a weapon."

"But the scariest thing is that he didn't seem to have a face, and of course he had a face, but his skin was completely dark and only gave space for two big white eyes that looked like two moons in a completely black sky. He also had a mouth that was equally white."

"And you were seriously scared by my appearance," he says, sitting on the floor while picking up one of the flowers that I still didn't remember the name of.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" he begins, noticing my curiosity about the flowers. "Red spider lily, that's the name you're looking for."

"When he says the name, I instantly remember it and mentally curse myself for being stupid and not realizing it before and thanking myself for not having touched it, otherwise I would be dead if I wasn't already.

"What did you mean by that? to do with our prison" — I insist again, ignoring that he was holding one of the lilies up for me to take

Haven't you noticed yet? — In a quick movement, he stands up, inches from my face. — We're both the same person. So, automatically, this is also your prison.

— W-we're not the same person! — I retort, shaking my head in a totally confused sign of denial.

— Oh, Darryl... of course we are — he says, putting his arm around my shoulder while holding a lily right in front of my face. — We're the same person, just from different times and races.

— Times? Races? — I repeat, doubtful, saying the only words I had managed to assimilate

— Yes — he lets out a tired sigh. — I was supposed to be reincarnated in this body of yours, but then another soul appeared at the same time and boom — he says, making the lily that was in front of my face burn with a black flame. — Now, I'm... what do you call it these days? It's like I'm your power.

I feel nausea invade my body while my head seems to spin and throb. It was very strange. I don't have a power... what do you mean by "two souls"?

"If I knew, we wouldn't be here," he says.

"Can you read my mind?" I ask, astonished.

He answers with a simple "yes," as he turns his back to me. It is at this moment that I notice that he has a tail with an arrow-shaped tip.

"It's almost time for you to come back," he says, turning back to me with another lily in his hand and holding it out. "Take it. It won't kill you. Like I said, I am you, and I won't get hurt."

Reluctantly, I take the lily from his hand. As soon as I do, a warm feeling invades my chest. It was as if an infinite energy roamed freely through my body, as if it were already part of me, like someone returning home after a long time.

"I'll explain it to you later," he says, with a relaxed and affectionate smile on his face. "When you wake up, I recommend looking for Dream. I don't know how he is these days, if he reincarnated as someone or became someone's power, but he will remember. He will help us.

"Who is Dream? How will I find him?" I ask, extending my hand to him as I see everything around me disappear.

"He will know. He always knows."

With those last words, everything disappears, leaving a huge void. I fall, going straight to the bottom of the abyss.

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