A Breeding Darkness (Complete)

(28)

Steeling herself, Lucy squared her shoulders and stared straight at the glowing eyes that hovered a few feet away. Whether it was a trap or not, she was going to show this creature that she was not afraid.

"I asked if you know where Joon is?" she said.

The creature finally floated forward into the light, revealing itself. It looked like a Denizen, except ever so slightly... off. While it had the same misty and shapeless form, this one seemed to be a bit more humanoid and solid. It was almost as if a shadow of a human rested inside the misty outline of a Denizen. "All creatures of the Heart know where our prince is," it said.

"The Heart?" Lucy asked.

"This place. I think you walkers have a different name for it, but we do not know what it is. We simply refer to it as what it is. The Heart."

Lucy shook her head. She didn't have time to uncover the mysteries of Zerkalo, though her pulse quickened at the thought. No one knew anything about Zerkalo except that it had appeared overnight and only a few people could enter it. But now was not the time for stories and history. She needed to find Joon and fix the mess that was ruining the lives of too many people.

"Can you take me to Joon?"

"I could. But the normal way will take too long. The more spend time here, the less he has to finish this."

"What do you mean, 'less time'?" Lucy repeated.

"The poison is strong, and each passing minute leaches him of himself more and more."

"Please stop talking in such vague terms!" Lucy said, exhaling sharply. She just wanted Joon, and this creature was only serving to make her more confused and worried than before.

The creature tilted its head, its white eyes dimming just slightly as it studied her. "If you wish direct speech, then you would say that the poison of the beasts is killing him."

"Killing?" Lucy asked, clenching her fists as her whole body suddenly started to shake. It wasn't possible. She had come to save him. He couldn't die before she could reach him. "Please take me to him. I need to help."

The creature took a step out of her circle of light. "I told you. If we take the normal ways, we will waste too much time. That would not be good for any of us, so I recommend that you come with me by the way that the creatures of this world take."

"What is that?" Lucy asked.

"It is hard to explain. Much like the creatures of your world cannot fathom how you walk in the Heart, so you would have trouble fathoming how we travel through the darkness."

Lucy licked her lips. "What does it entail?"

"You hold on, and never let go while we are moving," the creature said. "Letting go would result in the destruction of your consciousness. You do not want that."

"I'm sure I don't," Lucy said.

"If we travel through the darkness, then we shall reach him in a matter of seconds. Or, at least that is how long it will seem to your mind."

It was tempting. So tempting. She could see Joon in a few seconds. She could grab his hand and never let go again. She could save him. She could save Strana. All within a few seconds if she just accepted this creature's offer. 

So, even though she knew it was a horrible idea, one that could cost her everything, she stepped forward and enveloped the creature in the ring of light.

"I'll go with you in the darkness," she said.

The creature didn't take it. "You'll have to put out that light," it said. "We cannot travel in darkness with it."

Lucy nodded. "You'll have to take my hand, then. I won't be able to see you."

"Of course," the creature said.

With a deep sense of foreboding, Lucy held the lantern to her lips and blew the flame out. She was immediately eaten by the heavy darkness that pressed on her so heavily that she forgot how to breathe. But even worse than that was when she felt the strange sensation of the creature placing its body under her hand. It felt like touching the night sky, if that was a feeling that could be felt. It was as if the emotion of wishing on a star had become solid, or like smelling snow when you could not see it. It was strange and lovely, but also terrifying. And then the creature's white eyes found hers, the only light in the entirety of Zerkalo.

"Do not let go," it said, and suddenly the world shifted under Lucy's feet. Her brain felt like it had moved on while her skull stayed still, and for a moment she really fought to keep her hand on the creature as dizziness threatened to drop her to the ground. But she fought down the bile that rose into her throat, and tensed her muscles to stay upright. And other than the dizziness, it almost felt as if they weren't moving at all. Instead, it felt like she was delving into a story of emotions. Like someone had opened a book of feelings, letting them play through Lucy's mind. Happiness and joy, then sudden sadness, boredom, hatred, hopelessness, and so many more. They crashed through her mind, one following the other, whizzing by. It was like racing through someone's life, but told thoroughly through the swinging emotions of their heart.

As she felt the creature's arm tense under hers, and the waves of dizziness began to depart, she realized that the emotions had slowed. Now she was doused in a wave of guilt so strong that she felt like dropping to her knees underneath it. This was not the guilt of a broken vase in childhood, or the guilt of losing a friend. It was something that was so vicious she felt it become alive in her chest, rearing up and racing toward her heart to extinguish it in its waves of darkness.

But then the world snapped into focus around Lucy and jolted her back to reality. The creature slid its arm out from her hand, and the emotions disappeared as suddenly as they had consumed her. Now, nothing but her own feelings danced through her chest and mind, and they were mostly numbed panic.

"What was that?" Lucy gasped, shivering in the darkness. The creature's white eyes floated in front her.

"It was the truth of the Heart," it whispered.

"It felt like it was going to kill me," Lucy gasped, feeling tears spilling down her cheeks.

"You would have died if you did not have me guiding you," the creature responded. "Only things of the Heart can travel within it. We were created from its power, so it cannot destroy us."

Lucy shook her head, trying to clear the memory of the crushing guilt that still lingered in the cavity of her chest. She lit her lantern with shaking hands, and practically drank in the warm light as it washed over her skin. She turned to see that they were in a clearing in the woods, with the creature floating by her side. A few feet away, Joon lay on his side, his back to them, still dressed in Lucy's coat and bloomers. She couldn't see what he looked like, but she saw his ribs expanding through the back of her coat, and it filled her with joy. Smiling, she rushed forward.

"Joon!" she gasped, dropping to her knees and putting down the lantern so she could roll him over.