Rogue Adventures - A Tale from Neverbeen Universe

35

He felt as if his mind was cushioned in cotton wool, and his body was numb and heavy as if it wasn't actually his own body. He couldn't concentrate, but he didn't care if this was necessary. And he didn't care either that his body didn't listen to him. Usually he would have balked at being shackled and subdued, but not now. Not now... Bleary-eyed he stared into the darkness, which was so pleasantly quiet. He had the feeling it had been different once, maybe even recently. He welcomed the quietness though. Fragments of thoughts flitted through his mind, fluttering like butterflies, fragile like glass and faraway like stars. He couldn't reach them, couldn't... complete them.

'Gene...'

This was his only recurring thought, the only thing that seemed important enough to catch his fickle attention. He latched onto this thought, tried to hold onto it, but it slipped through his mind like grains of sand through his fingers. It was so hard to focus.

He might have spent an eternity down here... or just a few hours; he didn't know. It wasn't important. But he slowly blinked as the heavy door at the far end of the low massive structure of this room clicked open. A torch bathed the two people in light, and he noticed they were approaching his cage. Familiar shapes, then familiar faces.

"Raphael!" one of them exclaimed and hurried towards the cage.

'Gene,' his fuzzy mind supplied. But he didn't move, just kept on staring at the two of them; moving was too exhausting, thinking was too exhausting.

"Raphael, what did they do to you?" Gene asked. His face was etched in worry. He didn't know why he was so agitated. He was fine. Well, maybe not. But who cared? Gene, apparently. Which was a nice thought.

"Can you hear me?" Gene wanted to know. He really seemed to worry for him, and he wanted to soothe him, tell him... well, he forgot what he wanted to tell him. Maybe it was not that important. Then it dawned on him that Gene actually wanted an answer. If only he remembered the question. He had to guess what it might be, but his brain didn't supply anything. So he just nodded in the hope it was the right answer.

Gene sighed. "Eh... Listen, I don't know why you would want to destroy everything. But you just can't do that." He wanted to destroy everything? First his mind pulled a blank. But then a figment of a memory flitted through his brain. Ah, right. He did try, didn't he? "I know you've had some bad dreams, and they usually come true. But blasting everything to pieces won't make it better. You may not care about this world, but I do. And you still care about me, don't you?"

He frowned. Slowly his thoughts started to make sense again. 'I do,' he answered. It was still exhausting to focus, but he wanted to concentrate and tell Gene now. Wording was hard and he lost some of what he wanted to say. But at least he wanted to set something straight. 'But a world without you is just not worth existing,' he managed to formulate.

"Okay. I understand you. But you've forgotten one very important thing," Gene said, "namely the fact that I'm still here. We should seize the time we still have together than destroy everything that enables us to do so, just because in an indefinite amount of time we might get separated. That time hasn't arrived yet, and hopefully it never will." Gene sighed. "You know, you could've talked to me and for once shared your worries instead of deciding the fate of a whole universe all on your own. That might have solved some things peacefully."

He was quiet for a while. 'The darkness...talked to me. It always does, but usually I don't listen. At that time I was so... desperate at what I've seen, and its suggestion seemed... so plausible,' he murmured, as he fought against the mist in his mind, and slowly, slowly it dispersed.

Gene nodded. "But you don't want to destroy everything anymore, right?"

He sighed, and if he wasn't shackled he would have rubbed his temples. 'No...not anymore.' Gene seemed relieved and he smiled languidly. Ah, that smile — to glimpse it was definitely worth keeping the universe alive!

"Alright. Let's get you out of here then," Gene nodded contentedly and threw a look at... his father? Why was he here?! 'Gene persuaded me to help free you. Don't think too much into it. It is in my own interest,' Rhagkal answered, opened the cage and set about unlocking the shackles. It took a while, but eventually he was free. By then he had shaken off the sluggishness of his brain.

Gene smiled and held his hand open; he took it and stood. "Okay, once we're outside I suggest we go stop that Kaye person from completing what you started. As she helped you, she might still want to destroy Neverbeen Universe."

He nodded. "Alright. Where is the exit?"