Endless

cHaPtEr tWeNtY fOuR

I opened my eyes.

The light that once blinded me was replaced with darkness, and my shock and sadness were replaced with a fear of what was to come.

The darkness completely covered whatever room I was in, except for a spotlight which I was in the middle of. I assumed it was a room with a checkered black and white floor since that was all I could see when I looked down.

Where was this anyway? Surely it was another strange world. The floor led me to believe that this was some kind of fancy place like a mansion or even a palace. Alyssa didn't really get any points for creativity so far.

I tried getting up until I realised that my arms and legs were bound by chains. Dammit...I hated feeling this vulnerable. What kind of sick fantasy did they have this time?

My fear amplified when I heard something in front of me. They were footsteps, and even though I couldn't see what was heading towards me, I could hear them getting closer with each one.

Sweat started to cover my face. I didn't want to move at all because I was really afraid that I might provoke it further. The fact that I couldn't see it due to the darkness didn't help matters...

"Hehe. No need to scare the poor boy yet, my sweet beast~"

After Alyssa's voice surrounded the room, I heard the beast move backwards away from me. It didn't make me feel reassured though, quite the opposite actually.

"You deserve to see where you are now, so you can begin your task."

The room started to light up, but when it did, I realised that it wasn't a room. I...I didn't even know what it was.

I looked up and the sky was painted with bright stars, illuminating the purple and light blue mists that surrounded them. It faintly resembled space...

Not only that, but I definitely wasn't in any kind of mansion. I was in a strange place full of levitating checkered floors and corridors. Some of them were horizontal, some were vertical, others were even diagonal.

There were also pillars and arches attached to them which looked like they were made of stone, that helped to connect all the floors together in some areas. As I looked around, the floors and pillars seemed to all be connected to each other. It was like I was on the inside or outside of a castle mixed with an optical illusion. I had no idea where it ended or where it began, and I kept seeing floors, corridors and pillars in all directions. There were only a few gaps where I could look up at the sky from up above.

It didn't end there, but there were waterfalls that I couldn't possibly determine where they originated from. To finish it all off, there were vines that covered these floors that occasionally moved or disappeared, and red roses were attached to most of them. I guess Alyssa was still focusing on the rose motif for now, maybe because it fitted with Dorothy.

I couldn't help but gaze at the beauty and majesty of this place. Previously I was taken to very disturbing places but this...I did not expect this. Not even after that flower garden.

I knew Alyssa had unlimited power or whatever but...it still astounded me that she could design something so complex. How long would it go on for? Maybe an eternity...

I then realised that because I was so focused on the seemingly impossibly beauty that this place possessed...I didn't notice that that monster was still there, and that I was still chained up.

The monster was...nothing short of an abomination. It had the body of various animals formed into one. The body of a giant black dog that had spiky scales on its front legs and back, it had the wings of a bird, but they were dirty and ruffled, and the tail of a lizard. But that's where the animal similarities ended as there were giant skeletal clawed arms attached to the sides close to its bird wings, and it had no neck. Instead, there was a giant human skull covered in blood and attached to the body by weird looking wires.