Table of contents: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Chapter 1
It was a cold and lifeless room. Sterile white dominated the walls and the furniture with indifference. Yet despite the dreariness, glimpse of life flickered inside like candlelight.
Confined to a bed, a lonely boy whose eyes seemed shut forever was resting. Hundreds of tubes led from his body, connecting his frail shell to arrays of machines that beeped and bleeped once in a while.
His name was Ethan and he always wanted to enter the alter-realm. A world where people tasted their wildest dreams. A technological marvel designed by the human brilliance of Pegasus Corporation, a remedy for tedium and travail of the modern age. Yet he wasn't allowed due to his failing health.
Suddenly, the occasional shrill tone grew into a screeching siren. The child gasped for air, fingers stretching in a bout of agony. A perilous struggle was raging on beneath the skin, but it looked like a mere spasm on the outside.
However, the doctors were aware of the dire situation. They rushed into the room shouting over one another.
"Quick! We're losing him!" they yelled in their attempts at stabilizing him.
"Charge in three, two, one," a woman in a light green coat commented as she placed a defibrillator on Ethan's chest, immediately causing it to jump.
"It's not working!"
He had cancer.
"Try again!"
"Three, two, one..."
A very vicious type. It corrupted the body at an alarming speed, withering it like a raisin and consuming it in a ravenous conquest.
"We can't afford losing him!"
"Stay with us, Ethan!"
It seemed bleak. The little man lay there without vital signs. Despite the state-of-the-art technology, saving him proved an impossible task. All the computer assisted transfusions, modern medical technologies and automated machines were of no use.
One by one, they ceased with the effort, giving up on a hopeless case. There went another young life. But such was the way of fate. No complaint would ever change it. Not a single prayer could appease its unrelenting weaves.
They were slowly leaving the room with this conclusion. Yet nature decided to toy with them at that very moment, commanding the screaming boxes to calm down and resume beeping.
None of the doctors understood the strange occurrence. They considered it pure luck. A miracle that happened once in a decade.
"Where are my parents?" the boy wondered as his eyes opened wide, gazing around him in search for answers.
"They'll be here soon," they soothed him, still finding it hard to believe that he lived and communicated.
Despite the marvel, his survival meant prolonging of his life for merely a few days. Fully aware of it, he didn't despair though. The mind was a delicate contraption, bathing in the illusion of light during hours of complete darkness.
He dreamt of being a hero in a fairy land plagued by diabolical lords and evil spirits. He portrayed himself as a chivalrous knight that shielded the domain from vicious demons encroaching upon defenceless kingdoms. Yet he was denied all this. His condition would kill him outright, they reasoned.
"I want to enter the alter-realm," he spoke in spite of believing his pleas would fall on deaf ears.
They looked at him worriedly. He was dying in front of their eyes, his fate inevitable. Their good intentions aiming to sustain his life suddenly seemed like cruelty.
"I guarantee I'll ensure his safety," a nurse stood up for him. He recognized her immediately. Jane, a fair-haired young woman whose kind heart brimmed with positive energy.
"Alright, but if he dies..." Sean, a head physician wished to express his concerns.
"Forget the laws," his colleague Martin argued. "Do you believe they mean anything to him? Do they promise him a memorable life? For once, we could fulfil his dream."
"Fine, but I'll have no part in this."
Chapter 2
One more machine twice the size of the others rested beside his bed, but only a single wire led to him, attached directly to his brain. His eyes were closed, yet mind teemed with vibrant colours of imagination.
Jane was sitting next to him, making sure everything proceeded as expected. Her thoughts suffused with worries as she gazed at the unfortunate child, hoping to bring at least some light into the darkness of his existence.
"What kind of alter-grid do you want? The past, the future or mixed?"
"I'll leave that to you," he spoke calmly, attuning to the imaginary dimension unfolding peacefully.
"Solitary or connected?"
"Connected, please," he responded and in an instant, the void surrounding him began shifting. He breathed in, smelling a fresh scent of flowers blooming while his eyes opened wide.
An unfathomable domain stretched in front of him, revealing blossoming forests dotted across towering mountains and lush valleys where rivers curved like snakes slithering in the grass. He had never seen anything similar before, having been confined to an empty room for his entire life.
He couldn't satiate his senses, completely submitting to the marvels of that vivacious dimension.
"Hello, it's me, Jane," somebody spoke, waking him up from sweet trance and prompting him to turn around. He recognized her although she differed heavily from her earthly version. She had large wings that made her look like an alien along with the bluish scales her skin composed of.
"You are amazing," the boy gaped at her with awe, feeding his mind with as many emotions as possible, unconsciously aware of the looming threat of encroaching darkness. Death itself.
"There is a village to the west not far from here. It's a great starting place. I have a house there if you wish to pay me a visit sometimes. Do you want me to guide you through this realm and teach you the basics?"
"No," he replied. "I'd like to explore on my own."
"I understand, I'll be in touch if you need me," she smiled, popping like a bubble all of a sudden.
Left alone to wonder, he feasted his eyes upon the rich lands abounding with life. Curious about his own appearance, he gazed at his arms, noticing they were larger and stronger. He had changed to a grown, well-built man.
Overwhelmed by so many notions, he stood there for minutes, mesmerized by chirping birds and tiny rodents playing in the grass.
He felt an inexplicable urge to run. To uncover mysteries and visit unimaginable places. And so he embarked upon a journey of discovery, his lungs inexhaustible. He saw waterfalls spiralling around cascading rock formations, lakes of rainbow colours shooting geysers into the sky and breathing trees with branches that danced in the shining rays of a dazzling green star.
It seemed to be a paradise, a realm where he could finally live free and ignore the limits of his frail earthly shell. He was convinced that the voracious disease would never trace his steps and follow. He believed that the echoes of a losing war wouldn't reach him there.
Yet he was terribly wrong. The throes of the rapacious malady thrived even faster than his joy. It worked silently at first, corrupting the soil from inside and poisoning the air with toxic clouds. However, it gobbled up increasingly larger gulps, manifesting itself as an uprooting gale and sulphuric fumes that blotted out the sun.
Anxiety overwhelmed him while the evil monstrosity rose from the ground, engulfing him in shadows of dark void that oppressed his mind. It twisted him from within and paralyzed his body as if he was a rusting machine.
He ran, yet his legs resisted the command, moving sluggishly despite the urges to sprint. His lungs were burning while he breathed heavy air that felt like hacksaws cutting their way through organs.
The agony nearly consumed him, but determination ordered him to persist to the very end. Emptiness surrounded him on every turn, offering no escape. But he persevered, knowing that he had no other option.
The vicious cancer gnawed at his bones, decomposing the flesh and erasing the mind. He tried to defend against it to no avail. Demise was inevitable and his efforts reflected it.
Nothingness prevailed. In the absence of existence, only a shrill siren echoed. The noise called him back during the dire moment. He opened his eyes, gasping for air and seeing the dull white room again. The piercing clamour actually resounded from the beeping device checking his heartbeat.
"I told you this was a wrong idea! It almost killed him," Sean spoke, standing besides his bed along with a group of colleagues. "Where the hell is Jane? She told she'd watch over him."
"She's been missing since the morning. After she plugged the appliance in, nobody heard a word about her."
"I'll have her head for this. If our superiors find out... We must shut this thing down."
"No!" the boy protested. Even though he had battled horrors beyond recognition and felt exhausted, it filled him with joy. He finally experienced more than the hopeless days of boredom and knowledge of freefalling to the abyss of eternal darkness.
"You are young, you don't have a say in this," the worried doctor responded harshly, his forehead covered in sweat. "Besides, what we did was against the law. Cancer or not, we can't break the law. It might kill you."
"I'm already dead," Ethan sobbed in response. He had felt rejuvenating energy coursing through his veins only once, yet they sought to extinguish it. He wished to oppose them, but what could a weak child destined to wither unto demise do?
"The law doesn't matter in this situation," Martin disputed.
"This isn't a topic we should be discussing in front of him, but you won't change my opinion. I'll call for someone who can disconnect the device tomorrow regardless of what you think," the cowardly man replied briskly.
"You can't..." Martin tried to state his objection, but Sean shook his head, pointing towards the door. The good-willed doctor understood the gesture and they departed from the room shortly thereafter, leaving the boy in silence.
He couldn't hear their quarrel, yet already considered his case lost. The temporary flash of hope vanished, breath of life replaced by expectation of death. He would never win the war against cancer.
Chapter 3
The night ruled the skies and stars dotted the landscape visible from the window in the room, but he could barely lift his head to see. Only shadows of cold and emotionless machines accompanied him on the silent journey towards the final horizon. It wouldn't be long, he believed.
He couldn't sleep, mind caught in that realm teeming with raw energy. He craved to live there, desiring to taste the freedom once again. A distraction from an empty existence. He didn't care it could mean his demise.
The door opened. In curiosity, he gazed at the emerging silhouette, not sure of its identity. Maybe Jane intended to reconnect him. Or perhaps some doctor decided to put him out of misery and euthanize him.
He recognized the person fairly fast. Martin stood there beside his bed, leaning over to him. Was he the harbinger of the end, preparing to whisper the poem of decease?
"Ethan, I won't lie to you. They say that you... that you... well, I've arrived to plug you in. Don't worry about being brought back to reality. Your dreams won't be disrupted. I guarantee that."
He sighed as he finished the last sentence. Even though he tried to conceal the truth the best he could, the boy understood. By the time anyone came to disconnect him, he would be dead.
"Are you ready?" the doctor asked and Ethan nodded. "Farewell then, my friend. May the wind carry you far away from this place."
As the child closed his eyes, the dimension in the depths of his mind began transforming, black blur gaining colour and pools of void shaping into a landscape. Soon, he spotted hills forming and seeded with life. The fabric of the world was bending and twisting, creating a familiar realm.
He stood on grass so green that it almost blinded him, but he didn't allow delight to take over. The shadow of darkness was slumbering and he didn't desire to provoke it by lingering.
Perhaps Jane could tell him how to beat this unwelcome intruder that dragged him back like an iron ball tied to his legs. It was the only thing preventing him from tasting freedom to its full extent. He had to search for her in that village she had mentioned.
His steps led him through a dense forest where trees bowed down upon seeing him and birds warbled uplifting melodies. He eventually emerged into a valley with tall and slim structures twirling in helix formations rising from the soil, intertwining with some and diverging from others at various points of its length.
As he was closing in, he recognized windows on the walls at the base of each entanglement. Along with those strange buildings, there were random individuals strolling around. Many resembled humans, more seemed bizarrely alien. From floating slime of green to slender stickmen, the species differed heavily. However, he had to find a particular person. The nurse.
His investigation didn't yield fruit though, so he decided to ask the first being he crossed paths with. "Hello, I'm searching for Jane."
"Jane? No, I don't know anyone with that name. Sorry."
That response confused Ethan, but he didn't give up yet. He ran to a woman that he spotted nearby, trying his luck again. Yet much to his dismay, she shook her head. "Who is that?"
The replies always sounded like that. He couldn't understand. Had she lied to him? Was this a prank? He immediately recalled the words of the doctors. Missing. Still, that didn't answer the question. She might have vanished, but that didn't mean the whole world would forget about her.
"Does anybody in here know Jane at all?" Ethan shouted, hoping that at least someone would respond affirmatively. Unfortunately, they gazed at him as if he embodied madness, passing him by without uttering anything.
He should have accepted her offer and let her show him around. But how could he have predicted that he couldn't hide from the darkness that plagued him? Even now, he felt its cold fangs reaching out in silence, making him shiver.
For a moment, he wished that time hastened so that she would have enough to come back. And although the latter seemed impossible, the former somehow became a reality. In the blink of an eye, night replaced the day, presenting him with a fascinating view on purple nebulas and blue galaxies far away.
"Were you looking for someone?" an unfamiliar voice spoke, causing him to turn around in an instant. A woman named Theresa stood in front him, her appearance nearing perfection. It was no wonder though, for who wouldn't imagine themselves at their best when given the opportunity?
"Jane. Have you heard of her?"
"What do you know about her?"
"She's... a nurse in the real world."
"And you? Who are you?" she inquired, her eyes measuring him unsurely almost as if she considered him a threat.
"I'm a warrior!" he responded in accordance with his fantasies.
"A warrior, hmm. You surely act like one. Brash and... perhaps a little stupid."
"Hey!" Ethan felt offended by her insults.
"Asking around for people in the hub might make others consider you a weirdo, don't you know that?"
"What is the hub?"
"Oh my dear god. Are you kidding me? What is the hub?!"
"I'm sorry, I don't know. Jane should have to tell me. I'm new here."
"Are you her friend? She didn't mention that to me. Strange."
"So where is she?"
"I wanted to ask you the same."
"You don't know where she is then?"
"No. She's been missing for some time. In truth, we were supposed to meet hours ago."
"Hmm. She disappeared from work and the doc... her colleagues couldn't find her either."
"What? Is something wrong with her? You've got to tell me!"
"I don't know."
"Oh god, you're so useless. Listen, I'll go to the Centre to check whether she has been around recently. You should go with me, but no headlong actions, alright? You might be Jane's friend, but you certainly aren't mine. Once I make sure she's safe, we'll part our ways. Deal?"
He nodded.
"I guess that since you're new, you don't have access to transportation. So let's use mine," she jeered, raising her arm in the air and clenching fist while grinning. The very ground shook and in an instant, a vortex of grey hue warped the soil, spawning a winged white horse in front of them.
Ethan just watched with breath held as he observed the marvel. This domain had lacked any sort of limits.
"What are you waiting for, get on!" she reprimanded him for his slowness, prompting him to act.
He tried to mount the stallion without success, having never done so. Jumping up again and again, falling down and repeating the process.
She couldn't hide her amusement, laughing out loud yet calming fast enough to respond: "You know, I'm not sure what Jane sees in you. If you're as hopeless in the real world as here... well, it simply doesn't make sense to me. She must have felt pity for you. Ah, doesn't matter."
Suddenly, his feet pulled from the grass along with his whole body. He floated, carefully navigated by her until he finally landed on the back of the horse. Only then did she proceed to climb up with ease, probably to show him her superiority.
"Off we go!" she shouted and the beast heeded her command, spreading its wings and flying into the distance.
He enjoyed each second of the amazing voyage, letting the air press against his skin and gazing at every marvel he could sight below. Luminescent cliffs constantly rearranging themselves, swamps inhabited by fireflies dancing in the night and cities celebrating carnivals with loud and lush fireworks.
"I'm Theresa," she introduced herself, breaking the silence and waking him from enthrallment.
"Ethan," he replied, his mind back from the clouds and thinking about current events. "What is the hub?"
"The hub, you ask? It's a shared zone where you can meet the majority of people. It's where adventures are planned and debated. Beyond it is the open sphere. Place where the fun happens."
He felt that the grudge she held against him was melting like snow, making him happy that he found someone who could be a friend. That word had always sounded so alien and distant to him, a child trapped in a white room where no-one wished to go.
Yet as he imagined their friendship growing, he failed to spot the rising threat. It blended with the night easily, preying with the skill of a seasoned hunter until it scented the right time to attack.
His head hurt while he sensed the ravenous cancer attempting to seize him and his surroundings by force. The steed faltered, struggling hard to maintain pace. The darkness was infecting its hooves, working its way up.
She noticed at the very last second, trying to steer away and evade the deathly grasp of the monstrosity. The skies behind them twisted beyond recognition, shrieking like a tormented soul. Driving them both insane, it toyed with them, infusing them with images of their own demise.
It was spreading relentlessly, voraciously gulping down each star and demanding more in its rapacious hunger. However, it would be satiated only after consuming Ethan whole.
His mind filled with distress, he realized that if it won, he would vanish forever. But he was powerless, having to rely on Theresa, whose stallion still fought the losing battle, unable to break free from the grip of emptiness.
"Get off me!" she shouted angrily, but showing rage didn't help.
The beast's legs were curling and slowly dissipating like a burning sheet of paper. Ethan braced for the unavoidable, saying his prayers and shutting close in his thoughts. Soothed by the fact that he had lived the twilight of his life to the fullest.
"Jump, damn it!" she yelled at him, forcing him to open his eyes and spot her taking a dive. Confused, he followed her example, escaping cancer by a hair's breadth. He glanced upwards while floating, seeing the enemy as nothing more than a blurry stain sitting beside the stars.
He was darting through the air, the ground drawing nearer each second. Did he trade one grim fate for another?
Suddenly, a canvas spread wide below him and he landed on it, adrift in the night along with her. It carried them to a small hill surrounded by a thick forest, but they had no time to explore.
"Quickly, unless you fancy getting caught by that thing!" she yelled at him as she spawned a horse, mounting it. Under the perilous circumstances, he managed to climb on remarkably fast. Before he knew it, they rode the skies again.
He wished the darkness passed. He dreamed of day replacing it. And somehow, his desire came true. The cancerous blot was nowhere within sight, making him sigh in relief as they rushed over the lush land.
Safely away from harm, she slowed down in order to concentrate on the ensuing confrontation.
"What the hell was that?! Who are you?! Explain yourself!"
"I..." he stuttered. "I'm just a boy. I don't know."
"A boy?! Oh great. Another twelve year old whose daddy bought him a passage to the alter-realm. Simply amazing. And you don't know what that monstrosity is. Hmm, that figures. Have you plugged the cables correctly before delving in?"
"Yes," he nodded, not sure what she meant. He couldn't reveal the truth to her however. She helped him now, but if he told her, she would most likely leave him to his bleak fate. He feared that even more than death.
"Are you Jane's cousin? I can't imagine she wastes time with a sucker. Does she have to babysit you? Or... on second thought, I don't want to know."
He didn't like her vile and taunting tone, but had to put up with it. He had no other ally in this dangerous world.
"I'm sorry," he tried to mend the situation.
"Just shut up," she snarled, allowing silence to pervade the rest of their journey.
Chapter 4
A magnificent city of gigantic scope wrapped around rolling hills in their view. It looked like a web of multi-storey buildings of overwhelming proportions, each floor containing hundreds of structures and facilities. It dwarfed every town on Earth with sheer size and vast constructions.
They were flying that way, watching arrays of windows on each skyscraper and thousands of people pursuing their goals with unusual speed. The place was teeming with life, something unfathomable to Ethan, who had never seen anything beyond the dreary confines of his boring world.
"We're headed for the Registers. They hold information about users of the alter-realm," she commented their journey as they dodged roaring jets and paper cranes that roamed free areas.
They were closing in to a structure that towered above all. Its star shape housed innumerable archives and offices. It served as the heart of the machine, the control centre of the design.
They pulled up by one of its doors, entering magnificent halls where trees lined marble tiled floors and golden rivers rushed along the ceiling. While she led them towards the goal, his eyes gulped the sights, unable to satiate the fascination.
Mesmerized, he didn't even notice that they stood in front of an information hub until a bluish fire passed directly through him. Flashes of light were running back and forth, creating a speedway of data that streamed from one node to another. He gazed at the digital chaos, imagining that each flicker represented a player in the alter-realm.
Yet while he indulged in the dimension of wireless transportation, she accessed the information she needed, her grimace freezing in a dire realization. "Damn it!"
"What's happening?"
"She isn't even in the database! Did she erase her profile? Something's wrong with her. I have to disconnect and check in the real world."
"Wait! What am I supposed to do here?" he pleaded her to stay, feeling lost on his own.
However, she didn't respond, vanishing instead.
Fears began crawling in, gnawing deep at his mind. He was at the mercy of a carnivorous demon that feasted upon flesh, decomposing its cells one by one. Worse still, he knew of no effective weapon that could shield him from its aggressive conquest.
Ethan was drowning in fright, paralyzed by the thought of cancer reaching him again, aware of his powerlessness. Yet he realized the errors of his ways fairly fast. He didn't dream of paradise only to be dreading the arrival of his nemesis. He desired to experience life beyond anyone's wildest expectations.
He recalled her mentioning the open sphere. His new destination. However, he lacked a vehicle that would carry him there. He didn't despair though, for he had a plan. Emerging out of the Registers, he glanced around, breathing in the unique atmosphere of the busy world surrounding him.
He remembered the summoning of the winged horse, but his attempt to do the same failed. It didn't mean he gave up. Instead, he searched for a vacant aircraft, his eyes scanning the vast streets, ignoring all the people walking, running or flying.
Yet there was a person whose squalling bypassed his determination, penetrating the shield of his defiance. "Slaying dragons! Rescuing damsels in distress! Do you have the strength and are you cunning enough to take on the ultimate adventure? Step forward and begin your journey! For a simple fee. Refunds guaranteed if not satisfied."
Ethan's interest led him to the old man in a shining blue cloak, prompting him to ask: "It isn't for free?"
"No," the individual laughed.
"But I was told that you can imagine anything in the open sphere."
"Imagine. That's the answer. My brave soldier, some lack imagination. Never mind that though, for I am here! Do you wish to experience the unthinkable? To ride giant beasts and tame monsters from the deepest pits of darkness? Do you desire to plunder a kingdom or save it from a terrible scourge? All for an appropriate sum of course." He brimmed with joy, convinced that he gained a customer.
"I... I'd love to, but I have no money."
"No money, eh. A shame," the elder replied while the bright fire went out. "Next please!"
Ethan understood. He had to procure means of transport another way. And as he wandered the endless maze of buildings, somebody suddenly stopped him. A man with a baleful grimace and a neatly pressed suit, his eyes screaming with evil.
"Excuse me, have you seen those?" he spoke in an arrogant tone. In a second, pictures of people appeared in front of him. Some were human, others at least of a humanoid form. One had an especially large scar stretching on his face.
"No, sorry," Ethan answered truthfully without caring that much because he sighted something he searched for. An unmanned paper plane was hovering above the ground, parked by a skyscraper.
"Never mind. Thank you for your time," the slithery individual responded with a crooked smile faked to every ounce, proceeding to ask others.
Ethan already went past the suspicious person, marching towards the aircraft with confidence. He glanced around briefly to ensure its owner wasn't sauntering near, but then he climbed up and seated himself.
He fantasized taking off, considering it the correct way of making it fly. However, it remained still, defying his imagination like a stubborn child. He assumed that it was a dummy, but the giant sheet of white unexpectedly pulled off the surface.
He struggled to maintain balance as it shook. Was it trying to knock him off and throw him overboard?
"What the hell are you doing?!" someone shouted, yet Ethan didn't have a second to look around and spot a biplane darting by, nearly having crashed into him.
He fought with his own mind to steer the paper device, but it seemed to do whatever it desired. To the left! No, now right! He grasped its wing before he tumbled, hanging by a thread.
Learning the ropes proved harder than he thought. Those strolling about found his trouble amusing, stopping and watching the helpless attempt at taming the lifeless beast. Yet all of a sudden, it heeded his wishes, rising to the sky and heading towards the distant lands of freedom.
He couldn't believe he managed to subdue the aircraft, fearing that it might start resisting and treacherously toss him away when he least expected it. But as time passed by, he accustomed to the paper plane and the fright vanished.
He flew above mountains blanketed by snow and swollen rivers defining sunken ravines, wondering how far the open sphere was. The landscape showed mesmerizing qualities, but he couldn't sight the location of the boundary he had to cross so as to unleash his wildest dreams.
However, such a thing had to be felt and not seen. And he realized it once he emerged on the other side, his heart soaring with joy. The paper dissolved beneath him and the skies poured down with white, imprisoning him in the room he knew so well. Yet he broke it with a mere notion, shattering the walls, razing the ground and setting fire to his bed and the machines keeping him alive.
He indulged in every little morsel of this liberty, imagination straying from a tedious and restrained life. It danced between worlds and thoughts. He drove a speedster, rushing along roads and overtaking sluggish vehicles. He flew towards the stars, commanding a spaceship that reached uncharted planets where alien civilizations thrived. He was a famous scientist, a professional boxer and a soldier. He singlehandedly fought of hordes of barbarians, flowed through highways of an optical cable and observed the Big Bang.
It took him few minutes to experience it all, but he enjoyed every second, aware that this paradise wouldn't last forever.
At the moment, he styled himself an explorer with a ship anchored by the shores of a lush island dotted with palms. He bravely marched forward, searching for untold riches and hidden legends. Tribesmen were eluding him, but he followed the trail diligently. Soon he stood in front of their chief called Oko and believed they would embrace him as their own.
Yet that was a mistake. The strong bald man curled his arm around Ethan's neck, squeezing the living soul out of him. Attempts at setting free proved pointless, his mind unable to understand how this could be happening.
Those were Ethan's dreams! Nobody had the right to disrupt them. He tried hard to make the assailant disappear along with the hordes of servants, but none of them heeded the commands Ethan whispered in his head.
"Stop it!" he demanded while hopelessly gasping for air, coming to realize that his imagination hadn't spawned them. They invaded his realm without consent.
"Not until you surrender," the chief tightened the grip, almost breaking Ethan's neck.
"I give up!"
The crushing arm let go, allowing the explorer to jump back instantly and finally fill his lungs with oxygen. "Who the hell are you?! How did you do this? This is my world! Get out I say!"
"You are not in a position to demand," the tribesman responded as his body transformed along with his surroundings, changing into a gangster in a seamy, decrepit room filled with ruffians. They gripped pistols firmly in their hands, holding him at gunpoint.
"How did you do this?!"
"Didn't I make it clear?!" the invader shouted like a madman, the veins on his weathered face expanding almost to the point of explosion. "Now you'd better talk before I make a sieve out of your pathetic shell, then find you in real world and do the same!"
Ethan shuddered. He didn't know what followed being killed in this dimension, but he suspected disconnection. Such a fate equalled death, dooming him to wake up to reality and count the minutes of his waning life.
"Talk about what?" he tried to conform to their demands.
"Don't play dumb! A woman goes missing and you wind up searching for her in the Registers. Isn't that a curiosity?"
"Are you a cop of the alter-realm? I don't have anything to do with her disappearance. She was my friend."
"Don't lie to me, worm!" the gangster yelled, shooting an inch beside him.
"I'm not lying!" he shrieked in fright. "It's true! She's a nurse that helped me to get here. Doctors said that they couldn't find her either."
"What doctors?"
"At the hospital where I am. She didn't come. They..."
"There you are!" a familiar voice exclaimed all of a sudden. Theresa emerged out of nowhere, walking through the wall and stopping near Ethan. She gazed at the thugs in disbelief, taunting them with her braveness as she looked each in the eye. "And who might you be, gentlemen?"
"This doesn't concern you, begone!"
"Oh, you're mistaken. This concerns me greatly. You see, you are threatening my friend. I'll ask only once before I get really angry. Who are you and what do you want?"
"You're testing my patience. This is between us and this coward. Step aside and you won't get hurt."
"Alright," she responded, a gleeful smirk curving her lips. "I won't intervene. But don't expect that this... craven, as you say, will allow you to play with him. In truth, he'll beat all of you in the blink of an eye."
"We'll see about that."
"I don't have a weapon," Ethan protested, fearing that he wouldn't stand against his foes.
"Just imagine!" she snarled at him.
With confidence shattered by the interlopers, he did his best to focus the thoughts, concentrating them on forming something powerful to smite his enemies. Yet a mere iron blade appeared in his hand.
"A sword," the gangster laughed. "Strange choice. Completely useless against a gun. Nice try though."
Before anyone could have acted, the cold metal left Ethan's grasp at Theresa's will, launching itself at the boss of the ruffians. He dodged it at the last second and a storm of bullets ensued.
She was faster. Her arms raised, she spawned a barrier around Ethan and her while the room crumbled and revealed emptiness beyond, burying the outlaws beneath rubble. It occurred so rapidly. Ethan didn't know what happened. He felt her holding his wrist and pulling him away, seating him on her horse that darted through void.
Yet it didn't stop them. They were right behind. Riding motorbikes, angry and shooting.
"You won't get out of here alive!"
"Go to hell!" she yelled back, steering the steed towards bleak skies.
The shield absorbed the hail of lead while Ethan recovered from shock, trying to contribute to the defence. Chaos reigned his thoughts, preventing him from putting up formidable resistance. Flickers and sparks emanated from his head, but that was it.
"Give us that fool and you can walk away from this!" they intimidated her.
"How about you ceased with the babbling?!" she squalled, taking a dive. They were plummeting in the dark, seeing little besides streams of black clouds. Yet then they crashed into the ground, drilling in like a mole digging its burrow, entering an eerie sable haze below.
The pursuers followed, however, showering the escapees with an inexhaustible rain of bullets. The shield was weakening each second, the end approaching. It infuriated Ethan, making him double his efforts of coming up with something useful.
He succeeded. A missile hurtled out of the void, drawing in voracious power and dashing towards their opponents. A fiery explosion blinded the two for a while, yet the outlaws somehow survived.
"We won't give up no matter what you throw at us!" the thug boss shouted with determination, but cracks of doubt showed.
Their perseverance served as food for Ethan's anger. Yet he felt exhausted, unable to form a weapon strong enough. Weak arrows spawned at his command, broken instantly by the storm of lead.
"Just release that coward! He owes us an explanation!"
"He owes you nothing!" Theresa retorted, ordering the steed to make a U-turn and career to their foes. Bracing for crash, both sides stepped up their efforts. Yet the woman suddenly sent the barrier forth. Like a shockwave, it knocked their pursuers off.
"You'll pay for this!" they squalled as the stallion dashed away. Ethan thought the chase ended, but they recollected, catching up fairly fast.
She set up another protective field around them, not willing to surrender. "Only if you catch me!"
"Give us that craven! You're providing cover for a criminal responsible for the demise of an innocent life!"
"I'm not a criminal!" Ethan defended himself as they rushed upwards, quickly emerging on the surface and keeping the pace. "She's my friend. I would never kill her! Do you hear me? Never!"
"What are you talking about?!" Theresa snarled, almost tempted to stop.
"We're not your enemies, woman! Hand over the murderer!"
"She helped me get here! I'm just a simple kid, leave me be!"
"Hey, are you talking about Jane?" Theresa wondered, pulling up and turning to face their pursuers.
"Yes," Ethan replied. "They think that our visit to the archives has something to do with her disappearance."
"Oh god... you fools, you think we killed her?! She's my best friend! I went to check why she was missing!"
"And we're supposed to believe you?" the thug lord responded, parking along with his cohorts in front of them in the void.
"What would you do, dumbheads, if someone you hold dear vanished? Sit around and wait?!"
"But that doesn't add up."
"I don't care what doesn't add up in your tiny brains. You know something about her I don't? Spit it out!"
"You don't understand. We're refugees. Somebody is out to get us."
"Don't make me laugh," she interrupted. "You chase us like hungry wolves yet cry sheep now? Nice joke."
"Our lives are at stake, damn it! We have to look for ourselves! You were a lead so we followed it! A hint of who might be behind attacks on us."
"Attacks? You are talking rubbish."
"Listen for a second. Your friend is missing. But we were supposed to go missing as well! Someone is targeting people for reasons unknown. First they're erased from the minds of non-person characters and then the entire database. Nobody remembers them."
"Nonsense," she shook her head in disbelief.
"You don't trust me? Well hear this. My mother lost the will to live when her firstborn son died in a car accident. That changed when I brought her to the alter-realm. You have never seen such a lively person. How do you explain that she deletes her account so suddenly and vanishes?
"But it only starts there! Completely normal people opting out and disappearing. Co-workers, newscasters or celebrities!"
"So this problem is widespread?"
"Yes. It began at least two years ago. That's when my mother vanished. I hired three detectives, I yelled at so many policemen to try harder, I searched for her on my own... to no avail.
"The clues led me far and I followed, learning about uncertain fates of various people leaving without a trace. No explanation, no reason to do so. I thought I arrived at a dead end, but then the weight of the whole world crushed down on me. I became the prey as well."
"How do you know you were targeted?"
"It's simple. My profile has been wiped out from the database. My comrades in arms have suffered the same. We can't even return to reality because of that. We're trapped, involuntarily playing the game of cat and mouse, forced to run for our lives and constantly look behind our backs."
"So you're stranded here? And all that needs to be done is being erased from the records? I can't believe it."
"It happened to your friend. Doesn't that serve as proof?"
"If you're aware of some dark scheme, why didn't you intervene and save her?"
"We're refugees. We hardly have time to sit around and search for those about to disappear."
"But you had time to spy on us. Strange."
"We noticed she went missing and believed we had a unique opportunity to find out what this is all about. Answers we have sought for so long."
"So that's it? No clues, no idea what to do next? There has to be a link. They can't be choosing their victims at random."
"Well, we could resume our spying. Perhaps we weren't thorough and luck will shine on us."
"Great. Sounds we have no other option anyway. Hmm... makes me wonder. Where can I locate you in the real world? I could try to get you back."
"That's an enigma. I already asked for help in that aspect, yet nobody could find me where I last entered the alter-realm. It's more than apparent that they move the bodies."
"I could try nevertheless."
"Fine, but first we should get out of here. Will your friend dispel the void and return us to the open sphere?"
She glanced at Ethan, who concentrated on doing their bidding. The fog surrounding them swiftly dissipated, replaced by the usual template of vibrant meadows. The shadows that concealed the gangsters' faces faded, uncovering a truth that startled him. He recognized every last one of them. Wanted people from the pictures shown to him by the enigmatic individual in suit.
"They are looking for you!" he exclaimed, gazing at the bald thug, whose visage had changed drastically. No longer a heap of muscles, but a slender commoner with a scar on his cheek.
"What are you talking about?" Oko wondered.
"There was someone back in the city. He revealed pictures of you, asking if I saw you."
"Really?! Who was he?"
"A cold and evil person through and through. A regular human in appearance, but there was something within his eyes. He had short black hair and a thin face without wrinkles. However, he seemed old to me."
"Could you imagine him?"
"I could try," Ethan responded, summoning a lifeless figurine. Although harmless, even just looking at it gave him the creeps.
"That's one ugly guy," Oko commented as he observed the unanimated body. "Can any of you recognize him?"
They shook their heads.
"Well, we should go. Staring at him makes my skin crawl," Theresa said.
Chapter 5
They stood in the middle of the giant city again, hidden safely within the crowds. Having discussed their situation en route, they decided to split and lay low if possible. The only person not included in their plans was Ethan due to his age.
"By the way, my name's Oko," the bald individual spoke as he walked away.
The two shouted back theirs, but the gang dispersed in the endless flow of people, leaving Ethan and Theresa alone.
"I'm going to the real world," she told him. "And you should go too. You're too young for this anyway."
"I can't," he replied, but not willing to admit the truth. It hurt him greatly when he thought about it.
"Are you addicted already?" she smiled. "The alter-realm is indeed an amazing invention. But I should go now."
"Wait," he begged her while she turned away. "I need help."
"Help? With what?"
"Do you remember the thing that pursued us?"
"Yes. Do you have something I should know?"
"No. I just want to be able to fight it."
"Hmm," she frowned. "You're a troublemaker, do you realize that? Considering that it's you, well... I have a friend. I'll take you to her, but then I depart, alright?"
Chapter 6
"Irene, I've brought you someone who needs your counsel," Theresa spoke as she entered a magical tent of many secrets. There were crystal balls hovering above the ground, each an eye gazing at the two newcomers. They lined the path towards a wise woman in gold and blue garbs sitting behind a round table buried under heaps of cards.
"A fierce warrior with a brave heart."
"He's actually a boy. He has a problem you could help with."
"Anything for you, my dear."
"Yes, thanks. Now I should go."
"Wait!" Ethan stopped her again.
"What is it?! I told you I have to be on my way," she sounded annoyed.
"Just a question. How did you find me in that room?"
She grinned, staying silent for a second. "There's a lot you have to learn about the alter-realm, kid. Bye."
"So, Ethan," Irene started their discussion, prompting him to face her and ignore Theresa vanishing.
"You know my name?"
"I know many things," she replied mysteriously. "Sit down, young one. Rest your mind and breathe slowly so that I can read your spirit like an open book."
He listened to her, but couldn't do that. Doubts ravaged his thoughts. Could he ever break free from the shadow of death? Or would he have to live with it until the end? He wished to forget it completely, to purge that dismal truth out of his head. Yet it haunted him like a wailing ghost.
The gift given to him by Jane was priceless, but he had to ensure it wouldn't be wasted on false hopes. The burden of knowledge that he could never repay the favour weighed down on him, making him wonder. Was there a way to show at least a portion of gratitude? He felt indebted to her, bound to search for and save her. An adventure designed for him. Real yet imaginary. Thrilling and suspenseful at the same time. But would he succeed?
"You have the mark of darkness!" she screamed suddenly, waking him from meditation.
"What do you mean?"
"Something bad is about to meet you. Or no, wait. It is already here. Shroud of crimson and black. Grim fate. Poison that corrodes the soil. Somebody must have cast a powerful curse upon you."
"I know. My condition from reality haunts me."
"Condition? From reality? But you are a young man. Your life lies before you. Take my advice. The alter-realm isn't tailored for everyone. Return to the true world and enjoy it. This place holds no good things for you."
"You don't understand," he spoke with heaviness, battling to break the barrier that prevented him from saying the truth. "I'm..."
"You're what?"
"I'm terminally ill," he let it out with a sigh of relief. "Cancer."
"Oh dear, no. So young yet so... that changes things. I'm terribly sorry. This... take a deep breath. In and out... yes. Pardon me, it's too much to bear."
"Will you help me?" he asked, watching her wipe the tears rushing to her eyes.
"Help you? Of course, my dear. I... I will help you all I can. You wish to defend against its dark manifestation, correct? I'll do my best to prepare you. Just broaden your thoughts, spread them like endless sea waves that flow through the oceans."
He listened to her carefully, sensing her words reach into his soul and calm the restless spirit. His eyelids grew heavier with each second and in a moment, he couldn't control his roving mind any longer, slipping out of consciousness.
Chapter 7
He didn't exist. Body reduced to raw energy floating in the void, emotions raging like a thunderous storm. Unable to restrain them, he let them drag him around the foam of blackness, reading no pattern in the idle wandering.
"Concentrate now," an ominous voice resounded in the emptiness. "Your greatest foe is lurking near, feeding on untamed fear and doubt growing inside you."
Those echoes were gnawing deep at his ethereal existence, their resonance waking inexplicable fright within him. The cosmic rays that carried him gathered the strength of an uprooting gale, tossing him about like a rag. He writhed in pain that struck the very heart of his essence, struggling to push this invader out of his soul. Yet with every second, the darkness advanced in its conquest, showing no mercy.
"The strongest weapon is ignorance. Fading away of the enemy. It is not the opposite motion that prevents the crash. Fighting fire with fire only sparks an immense blaze that can hardly be tamed.
"Calm down your angered spirit. Exhale colours of your emotion. Fill the head with tranquillity. No foe exists without ground to stand on, no rival can breathe in the absence of air."
Her words were permeating through his body, resonating in him. Suddenly, he felt at peace. The demons threatening to consume him were disappearing, floating away on the gusts of wailing wind.
"You learn fast, my dear. Now practice your newfound skill. Hone it well and wield like a blade that breaks the greatest adversary. Remember though, that this is merely training. The true face of your opponent is far stronger. But you can prevail. Attune your senses to the universal balance. In this vast void where time flows like thousands of meandering rivers, you have every minute and hour to spend on perfecting your knowledge."
Ethan roamed the nothingness like a comet travelling through the endless reaches of space, letting impulses guide him, but tempering them when they gravitated towards shock and fright.
It felt like a rollercoaster ride, an amazing experience that connected him with every nook of the universe. He had unimaginable powers at his disposal, believing himself a god. He could create whole galaxies from primordial emptiness, smashing them in an instant and squeezing the colours out of them.
The shadow of his illness covered behind bright constellations whenever he looked in its direction. Its strength largely diminished during this eerie adventure, it couldn't harm him. The roles switched as he cleaved his way through the nebulas and tore apart the helpless image of his own dread.
Yet as with all good things, even this began fading away. The playground slowly evaporated and his ethereal existence gained shape. He stood as a warrior again, a man whose might could shatter the mountains.
"Irene?" he wondered as he glanced around the empty tent, sighting nothing besides eyes of crystal balls gazing at him with curiosity. How long had he been unconscious? It felt like an hour or two during the dream, yet now days appeared to have passed.
He left the marquee, inquisitiveness guiding him. Cold gusts caressed his skin as he gaped in front of him, finding the realm frozen and lifeless, having plunged to a deathly embrace of silence.
His reason couldn't understand the twist of events, skimming over motionless statues of once breathing people. Ghastly hum sang a disturbing ballad of a catastrophe and the wheezing carried the tones of grimness on its wings.
He asked himself what went wrong. Had his imagination brought upon the end? Had he perished in process, trapped in the oblivion that followed after life? Warm colours breathed no more, shades of apathetic grey paralyzed the world formerly gushing with variety and teeming with vibrancy.
Fear was creeping in unbeknownst to him, feeding on his confusion and thriving in the tenebrous crevices of his mind. It remained hidden from the inner eye, furtively darkening the surroundings.
All he had learned found no place in that moment, his state of confoundment leaving him vulnerable to the growing threat. The heart beating in his chest coughed as cancer tried to grab it violently. He let the fright flow through him, unwittingly opening every gate and unhinging each window.
Was he too weak and would the perverted monstrosity prevail? Was this the final hour, his life in vain?
"Thank god you're here! We thought we're the only ones," a familiar voice woke him up, making him realize the rising influence of the void inside him. He panicked at first, but then he recalled Irene's lesson, breathing in and out slowly, ignoring everything and everyone.
It worked. The illness that rusted his spirit withdrew in a minute, leaving no trace of its treacherous conquest whatsoever. He opened his eyes afterwards, noticing that he was surrounded by Oko's allies.
"You got us worried there for a moment," said Dirk, Oko's most trusted friend. A tall, fair-haired man that looked like an angel, having replaced his thuggish outfit with a blue suit. "I thought the lockdown got you."
"The lockdown?"
"Yes. It went wrong. Pegasus, the company that runs the alter-realm, was forced to shut its servers down, trapping everyone within. We've seen data streams of their communication. It's madness out in the real world."
"But why? What's going on?"
"It has something to do with Oko and his progress. He found the man you showed us."
"He did?! Where is he now? And what are you doing here?"
"He is safe, interrogating the slippery eel without success. Apparently, Pegasus is implicated in the disappearances. The lockdown occurred almost instantly after we kidnapped him. It is obvious that it happened because of our actions. Oko instructed us to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Thankfully, we discovered nothing so far, but I fear that it's only a matter of time until hell crashes down on us."
"How come we're not frozen like the rest?"
"Must be due to the fact that we're missing in the records. They don't have any means of pulling the trigger on us."
"So that implies I'm their target, too? I can't allow them to get to my body!" he shuddered, realizing that if they disconnected him from machines that kept him alive and abducted him, he could die at any moment.
"Don't worry, you're a recent catch, there's still time."
"Can you take me to Oko?"
"Do you think you'd be of any use to him? Well, I have nothing against it. Liz, take him to the boss."
A brutish looking woman of muscular build and green skin in shining steel armour nodded without uttering a word. She walked to Ethan, stopping a few feet in front of him. In an instant, her body warped into a bluish vortex.
"Step right in," Dirk encouraged him, tossing Ethan's worries away. The boy took the leap, emerging on the other side of the gate, a spherical dimension surrounded by tumultuous pulses of energy.
The room was made of glass that shielded it from harm the chaos outside could inflict, but he cared more about the interior than the turbulent realm. Oko stood beside a transparent tube defining the confines of the captive's prison. The latter seemed to have received a fair share of beating, yet the devious smirk on his face withstood the torture.
"Hi, Ethan, you've arrived timely," the bald person smiled, but the warrior noticed the doubt hiding in that grimace.
"Did he tell you who he is?"
"No. He keeps laughing and taunting me. But I'll crack that skull of his. It's bound to happen and he is aware of that. Am I correct?" Oko asked the villain, igniting the walls of the cell.
"Do all you wish, you are doomed to fail anyway," the evil man grunted in pain, his tone almost prophetic. He defied the agony vigorously, guffawing with a vile grin that mocked the efforts of the interrogator.
"Come on, high lord glutton for punishment. Your risk your hide for your bosses in vain. They probably abandoned you. I can keep this as long as you wish. But I can also stop, provided that you cooperate. Nothing too hard, right?"
"You have no idea of what you are tampering with. The leviathan is slumbering now, but beware of his awakening."
"Spare me of this poetic nonsense and make yourself useful by telling me who the leviathan is. Pegasus? The government? Some schemer? Speak!"
"You waste your breath," the crooked snake laughed, prompting Oko to call upon a snowstorm to torment the prisoner. Cracks on the latter's skin appeared as it couldn't withstand the combined forces of the elements, but the bendable physics of the alter-realm protected him along with his iron will.
"Is the pain really worth it? All I need to hear is the names. Who is behind this? Who wants to see me and many others dead?"
The captive didn't respond. He taunted his interrogator with a piercing glare, turning to the onlooker afterwards, gazing deep into his soul and commanding the shadows lurking beneath consciousness to rise.
The child in a warrior's body looked into the eyes of the enigmatic individual, witnessing grim horrors he had never experienced. The man sensed Ethan's fright, his lips curling in a devious smirk, amplifying the agony. Almost as if the slippery eel wasn't human but a demonic creature. A spawn of hell, an embodiment of the darkness that Ethan would eventually succumb to.
Panic took hold of him while the whirling energy outside went raving mad, engulfing the room in a quiver. Its bluish hue corrupted by blackness, it yielded to the overwhelming power of cancer.
Ethan realized the forbidding terror, but he was so shaken he couldn't tame his fidgeting emotions. It swelled with alacrity, battering the place in an attempt to barge in and squelch them all.
The grin on the snake's face froze as he noticed his defiance summoned evil far stronger than anything he had ever imagined. The child tried to surround himself with infinite calmness of distant moons, but the tremor rocking his thoughts refused to cease.
"What is this?!" the captive screamed in horror while the darkness sneaked into his cell, flooding it with deathly fumes of nightmares. "No! Let me go! Please! I'll tell you everything! Just stop it!"
Alas, the time of interrogation expired, replaced by an unrelenting plague. It tore and twisted him while keeping him alive, rising with Ethan's dismay. Cracks appeared on the glass tube, threatening to fracture into shards and ricochet around the room.
"You were right about Pegasus! It's their plan! Get me out now! Help me! They had a deal with the police to cover up their track! Quickly! Before it..."
His voice fell silent after a loud explosion, paving way for the monstrosity to advance. Oko, who had been watching the insanity with mouth agape, swiftly created a portal and leapt in, but Ethan wasn't as lucky.
He rushed to it, yet the encroaching darkness brought him down, wrapping around his legs and dragging him away from salvation. He reached out in bleak hopes of evading the grim outcome. Yet the merciless foe pulled him towards the heart of dread, desiring to rust his bones and infuse his muscles with poison.
It seemed his fate was sealed. Attempts at calming down in the face of death were futile. Fear prevailed on every turn, offering no respite in the final moment of doom. The end felt so palpable.
"Grab my hand!" Oko shouted, pumping Ethan's veins with renewed sense of life and spurring him to look at the gate.
"Swiftly!" the bald man barked, prompting the warrior to do as told. He grasped the offered redemption.
Oko exerted all his strength to pull him out, struggling against the unrelenting void that swelled with insanity. It was a stalemate. Ethan closed his eyes, trying to achieve inner balance.
He remembered the words of Irene, putting them to work. Cancer's grip weakened, but he didn't notice. However, his saviour managed to win the tug-of-war, emerging out of the core of madness and shutting the portal down.
"By a hair's breadth," Oko sighed in relief as he sat down on the cold pavement, surrounded by his allies. Ethan followed his example, breathing in and out deeply to shake off the echoes of terror.
"Sir, you've arrived in time," Dirk responded, pointing towards the Registers. A crimson blot was hovering above them, spreading at an alarming rate.
The fighter shuddered, dreading that the cancerous abomination found its way and carried on in its pursuit, yet the longer he gazed at it, the more he realized that it didn't radiate with coldness and dismay.
"They decided to pay us a visit," Oko commented upon recognizing armies belonging to Pegasus approaching. "Quickly, people! We have to get out of here!"
One after another, they transformed into gangsters sitting on bikes, making the engines roar as they darted to distant mountain ranges. Their leader signalled Ethan to hop on and when the warrior did so, they joined the formation, rushing away.
"We have to get to the open sphere where we can imagine and fight back!" Dirk shouted in amidst the din of rumbling pistons.
"Provided that they aren't inhibiting it somehow," Oko thought aloud.
"It's our only chance!"
The swarm was drawing in without stopping, spurring the escapees to torture their metal beasts to the fullest extent, causing the engines to wail in pain.
"Where is Theresa?!" Ethan wondered in amid the chaos.
"Most likely frozen along with the others!"
The armada was almost within reach. Consisting of fighter jets and heavy bombers, they dogged the bikers tirelessly, unleashing fire upon closing in enough.
"How far is the open sphere?"
"Don't know! We have to make it!" the bald man yelled, attempting to shoot at their pursuers whilst dodging an inferno of rockets.
A missile struck Dirk's motorcycle, engulfing it in flames. The sudden shock enraged Oko, prompting him to respond with a hail of lead. Yet the bullets deflected off the impermeable metal.
A hulking aircraft overtook them, dashing towards a different motorcycle. Its rider took an unexpected turn, but the pursuer didn't stop and churned a missile after another. In the blink of an eye, fiery blaze consumed the gangster whole.
The wrath of the flotilla raged on like a storm. It hounded them without mercy. A rocket chased Oko's bike. He tried hard to shake it off, but it diligently kept on their tail. They could feel the heat, imagining a searing explosion. It could send them all to hell.
Collision seemed inevitable. They gritted their teeth in grim anticipation, hopelessly swerving left and right.
Yet at the last second, salvation appeared. A mighty shield of blue that crushed every incoming projectile and tossed any hostile jet aside.
"Hello gentlemen, how have you been?" Theresa asked victoriously, her body and spirit emerging from the air. Riding her horse, she joined the formation headed towards the open sphere.
"You aren't frozen? Did they target you as well?" Ethan wondered.
"I managed to cheat the system," she grinned while the armies pounded on the barrier without success. "So what's the news?"
"We found that man Ethan had seen," Oko responded.
"And?"
"The interrogation was useless. Weren't it for Ethan showing up along with some powerful chaos of a monster, he wouldn't say a word."
"It got him, right?"
"Yes, how do you know?"
"It was in the news. He died. It killed him."
"What kind of demonic power could to that?" Oko exclaimed in disbelief.
"Ask Ethan, that cute pet apparently belongs to him."
"It could get rid of our enemies in an instant."
"And kill the people."
The gangsters gazed at him, their eyes demanding answers. However, the warrior remained silent, not daring to tell the truth that frightened him so much and woke tremor inside him.
They crossed the boundary and for a moment, everyone forgot about Ethan and concentrated on their inner freedom. With their imagination unleashed, they fought the mechanical armada, tearing through metal in a fiery storm. The mountainside disappeared, replaced by ever-changing chaos that corroded the iron and melted the missiles, dispersing the particles of opponents into emptiness itself.
The darkness scared Ethan. So hopeless. It reminded him of death. Of his inevitable end that couldn't be stopped. The clock was ticking in his head, the merciless movement of its handles pacing at a furious rate.
"Ethan!" he heard his allies cry, but it sounded like a distant wail of ghosts. Like laments of damned souls.
Nothing mattered in this empty universe. The grim reaper beckoned him to take his place and pass through the gates of oblivion.
"Make it stop! It will kill us all!" Theresa screamed and he recognized her, but didn't move a limb, paralyzed in fright.
Cold arms grabbed his shoulders, yet it wasn't the ravenous hunger of cancer.
She was pulling him away. "Do something! Fight it!"
"I can't it control it! It's too strong!" he shouted, feeling the life coursing through his veins beat on alarm, yet slowly fading away, unable to withstand the poisoning corruption of mutating cells and rotting flesh.
"What the hell is this?! At least tell me so that we can defend!"
"I can't, I really can't!" he bawled, yet his voice seemed to be nothing more than a breeze carried on the wings of a wheezing wind. His consciousness was withering, body dispersing into the void.
"Ethan! We'll die if you don't!"
He opened his mouth, feeling the duty to reveal the truth despite gusts working hard to deafen him. "I have cancer," he battled to let out each word while his throat began disassembling.
"Cancer? But you never told... oh no! You must persist, Ethan! You will prevail, I'm sure of that!"
"I can't," he whispered his last sentence. Oblivion embraced him. It removed him from existence, plunging him into darkness. Peace pervaded his spirit and he calmed down. No enemy threatened to undo him anymore, no powerful foe tossed him around in a tumultuous storm.
Afterlife seemed so tranquil. The emptiness cushioned him in his eternal slumber, allowing him to gaze at stars shaping. They filled him with joy, purging the remnants of fear out.
"We must return!" Theresa's sudden shout awoke tension in his mind again, causing him to realize his eyes were closed.
"Return? But we've just got out of there!" Oko objected.
He didn't pass away. He merely followed Irene's instructions and the darkness retreated. Yet now that he saw, his heart began pounding as he witnessed the monstrosity having gulped the mountain range and formed a layer of void beyond. It advanced slowly towards them, offering no escape from the ocean of black chaos.
The only way out led back to the town, making him wonder whether cancer would stop at it.
"We can't afford dying at the hands of that murderous thing," Theresa rallied them. "Besides, our adversary is at the heart of the city and we have to take the fight to them! We must seize the Registers and expose their treachery to the world!"
Oko sighed reluctantly.
"Was your mother lost in vain?! Have you ditched the courage to see through?"
"No, certainly not. Let's go."
The bikers ignited the engines and set off. Theresa seated Ethan in front of her on the horse and followed, heading away from the darkness.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, hugging him from behind to show compassion. "I'm so sorry about being cruel to you."
He wanted to forgive her, yet the moment they crossed the border to the shared zone, the jets appeared in the blink of an eye. She barely managed to put the shield up as the gangsters withdrew to her in order to gain protection.
However, enemies counted in thousands, heavily outnumbering them. They pounded on the barrier, each hit causing it to flash and flicker.
"Help me," she gasped and Ethan did his best to imagine the defence amplifying. Yet only thoughts of darkness haunted him. Cancer could indeed destroy the foes, but he held no power over it. In fact, it stopped at the boundary, encasing the shared zone but not daring to break in.
The city was almost within reach as they careered through the sky. Yet the tremendous amount of pressure wouldn't cease, depriving her of energy and weakening her. The shield vanished, exposing them to harm.
The formation rapidly dissolved as each member dodged the incoming hail of missiles. Thankfully, they entered the town, navigating the maze of skyscrapers. They circled around them, attempting to outmanoeuvre the enemy.
Theresa took a dive, pulling upwards by a crowd, causing a pursuing jet to crash straight into the ground. However, a dozen of others pursued the stallion huffing in exhaustion.
"Just a moment," she begged the horse. "We're nearly there."
The star-shaped dome stretched before them and they rushed towards it. Claws of death tried to grasp them, launching a volley of homed rockets at them. She hurtled to the front door, defying fate. The steed galloped as fast as it could.
Turning away at the last second, they avoided splatting against the wall. But the missiles didn't swerve in time. The entrance burst into flames that cleared quickly, allowing her and the bikers to ride in.
Yet as they entered, the destroyed door suddenly reappeared, its presence silencing the roaring of fighter jets outside. That was merely a tip of the bizarre iceberg, however. Devoid of a living soul, the interior had frozen along with the rivers and withered trees lining the paths.
Where were the defenders of the alter-realm? This seemed too easy. Without any obstacle or foe to pursue them inside, they could do as they pleased. But it simply didn't feel right. Sense of urgency loomed in the stale air they breathed, yet they couldn't identify the threat.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Theresa ordered, but as she hopped off her horse, the truth revealed itself. Trees turned to ash, rivers poured down to form a puddle of goo and the marble tiles changed into rusty chains that encased the walls.
"So foolish of you," an ominous voice echoed throughout the room, causing it to tremble, "but expectable."
"Show yourself, coward!" she yelled and in an instant, a tiny old man appeared in front of her. He was dressed in a posh white suit, sporting a top hat and holding a willow cane. They recognized him immediately. Lord Reginald Hill, owner of Pegasus Corporation and creator of the alter-realm.
"Surprised?" he grinned at her.
"Not at all, you worm," she stormed in her anger. "Now free my friend Jane!"
The little person laughed, dodging her request. "What a lovely lady you are. The picture of perfection. Bold and beautiful. Yet none would have guessed that behind this facade lies a distressed soul with low self-esteem, always rejected by society. A lowly waitress working at a fast-food restaurant."
"Shut up or I'll..."
"You what? Ah, you nothing, right? You remember that this is my realm and my rules. In truth, this doesn't concern you. You might have cheated the system once, but I still hold the finger over the trigger. I could disconnect you in the blink of an eye."
"You timid prick!" she screamed in anger, imagining the darkest of woes, yet Hill negated the gathering storm emanating from her fingertips, making her vanish from the scene.
Ethan tried to intervene, but the man waved his hand in Ethan's direction, calling upon a shockwave that tossed the warrior aside along with the whole biker gang.
"You have fallen into a trap! This is my world! I decide what happens here!"
"You fail to realize that you can't control us anymore since we're not in your database!" Oko shouted in defiance, rising up and shooting. Yet the gun melted.
"Just yield. You are stored deep below the ground in one of our warehouses. Even if you manage to defy me, which is impossible anyway, you can't escape. We can kill you in the blink of an eye."
"Why are you doing this?"
"And who do you think you are to ask me? I do what I please!" Hill laughed as shards of ice spawned from his mind, hurtling towards the gangsters and encasing them in a paralyzing embrace.
Meanwhile, Ethan managed to get back on his feet, recovering from the shock. But the evil man summoned winds so immense that they pinned the warrior to the metal chains. In a second, Hill was standing straight in front of him, eyes open wide in order to gaze into the boy's soul.
"They are pathetic. In truth, I don't know why I chose them. But you... you are different. Jewel amongst shallow and dull pebbles. Let us enter my Grand Simulator and explore the depths of the axons that define you."
Ethan tried to resist the imposing will of the devil himself, but his effort proved futile. The whole room faded away, replaced by white outlines in darkness. They found themselves in a blank grid.
"The way you got rid of one of my best agents was ingenious. I've never seen anyone breathe such destructive force into the mould of my universe. But frankly, I expected you were destined for great things ever since I first noticed you. If only you told me how you did it," Hill spoke, setting the warrior free.
"Over my dead body," Ethan rejected, imagining a sword and shield in his hands and wielding them firmly.
"Just to remind you," the evil man responded calmly. "I am the architect of this universe. You are but a pawn. You can't stand against me. An ant pitted against a dragon. An atom against the entire continuum."
The warrior charged, striking an invisible barrier protecting Hill. In an instant, his adversary set himself ablaze, transforming into a hulking giant in burning armour holding a crushing hammer. He towered above Ethan.
However, that didn't discourage the child. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, anger propelling him to lunge at the demon in flesh. Yet his foe countered each attack, deflecting it and answering with force. Ethan's left arm trembled as his shield absorbed one shock after another.
"Countless others came before you. They thought they could beat me at this game. Yet they all failed utterly!"
"Jane?"
"She too. She screamed in agony as I squeezed the soul out of her," Hill taunted the brave warrior, waking odium with the strength of a gale inside him.
Possessed by rage, Ethan bashed and battered his opponent until he broke through his defence, smashing him right in the face. The whole realm shattered at that second, nearly throwing them off balance.
"I will twist and mutilate you. I will crack your skull open and gain insight into the weapons of mass destruction your head contains!" Hill bellowed while the dimension twisted along with him.
They were standing on an ice floe drifting through space and the madman resembled an ever-reshaping curl of snakes with fangs as large as blades.
"Boil that anger, let it permeate so that I can feed on it when I harvest your dead corpse!" he hissed as one of his jaws leapt forth.
Ethan barely dodged the attack, severing the head. "I won't allow you to succeed!"
"You are beaten, you simply don't know it yet!" Hill taunted him, launching multiple tangles of his body at him. The boy swung his blade while bashing the incoming monster with the shield.
Yet the creature avoided the metal, wrapping around Ethan's legs and knocking him down. Ethan flailed the weapon about madly, rage having taken over. He freed himself and quickly jumped back.
"They all bowed down in the end. Perfect samples of humanity to upgrade my design! You can't resist, you fool! Join them!"
Those words bit deep beneath the child's mind, sinking claws into his thoughts and causing them to bleed with hatred. Yet the hellspawn grew in size, overwhelming him and wringing the equipment from his hands.
"You killed people to improve the alter-realm?!" Ethan grunted in fury, unable to see beyond the crimson red clouding his vision. He grasped the monstrosity by its many tails, tearing them apart.
The floe cracked and they submerged below freezing water. They tried to swim towards the surface, but the cold numbed their limbs and senses. Soon, the mesmerizing sensation broke as fire engulfed them. The liquid evaporated and they stood in hell, locked in a duel.
"Perfection has to be attained! You can't resist it! You must submit!"
Wrestling on a hot ground where rivers of black searing fluid melted mountains and demons tortured sinning souls, Ethan continuously pummelled his opponent. He didn't see Hill's face at first, but when the treacherous man turned his head, he froze in a brief moment of terror. Hill had taken the form of Sean, combining it with horns and flaming eyes.
Overwhelming revulsion overpowered the warrior. It gushed in abundance from every pore of his body, hazing his view.
"You should have seen your parents squeal!" Hill raved. "They were powerless as we dragged you away. Their torment amplified thousandfold, I let them live to grieve over the loss of their only child!"
The wrath completely overtook Ethan. He wasn't choking Sean but himself instead! He gasped for air, but didn't give up. He had to kill that traitor!
Darkness poured out of his own mouth, eyes drowning in the void that accepted the invitation. Rusting grey clouds enshrouded him and he finally felt oxygen entering his lungs. The mind fog dissipated, numbing hate and infusing him with perplexity. White colour of a room he appeared in almost blinded him.
He wasn't a strong warlord anymore, his body reduced to a frail shell of a child lying on a bed, surrounded by cold machines. He glanced about in confoundment, but then the small man in a suit showed, laughing while reaching out with murderous arms.
Ethan quickly rolled off the bed, dodging the doom by a hair's breadth. Yet he felt so weak and timid, barely able to rise up. His adversary didn't wait for him to recover though, kicking him to the ground and lunging at him, wrapping hands around his neck and suffocating him.
As the boy struggled helplessly, Hill proceeded to squeeze the soul out of him, grinning like a madman. Ethan had no hope. Death began filling his eyes. Grim guffaw of darkness resounded in his hears as it advanced with ravenous hunger, causing the walls to wither and disperse into nothingness.
"Your secrets are all mine!" the maniac laughed deviously while the throes of the void coiled around his legs, slowly dragging him away unbeknownst to him. "Perfection is within my grasp! I will turn that malfunction-inducing cancer into a powerful weapon!"
The child nearly lost consciousness, but Hill couldn't carry on with the encroaching monstrosity drawing him in. Possessed by madness, he realized his doom at the last minute, letting go of the boy and facing the abomination in terror, screaming as it devoured him alive.
Ethan finally breathed, but knew the horror continued. He rose up, noticing his eyes had been closed for too long. He opened them to witness the insides of the Registers ravaged by the cancerous disease. Time suddenly raced like a bullet, unstable and floundering.
His tiny heart trembled in overwhelming fear. There was no way to calm the uprooting gale, the ferocious black hole. Worse still, its insatiable hunger propelled it forward, almost reaching Oko and his allies.
Ethan couldn't silence the screeches. The insanity prevailed on every front, steamrolling over his hopeless attempts. Hateful grunts echoing from within were calling out for him and in that minute of decision, he realized he had to make one daring step. Nobody but him had to die. Others didn't deserve to be sacrificed.
The brave child leapt forth, welcoming the void with open arms, letting it rip him apart and discard his body. The malady finally fulfilled its mission, unable to sustain its cravings and collapsing unto itself. At the same moment time resumed its normal pace. The chains disappeared and the Registers changed to former state. Everyone woke up and life returned to their curious gazes. They were confounded, feeling as if a nightmare had just ended.
The hospital room had already dissolved, but the machines and the bed remained. They beeped songs of mourning, the sound pervading the alter-realm, flowing through the land and reaching every soul.
White clouds gathered over the skies and cushioning snowflakes mizzled down like pearly tears, making people ponder the marvel. It seemed that no-one knew. No-one but her. She arrived in time to see the darkness close forever along with the courageous boy that had tried to defy his fate. She couldn't resist her sorrow, sinking to her knees and crying.
Yet he stood right beside her, his body much lighter, death having freed him from the manacles of earthly life. He may have died in reality, but his spirit lived on in the dimension of fulfilled dreams.
"Ethan?" she couldn't believe her eyes blurred by tears, recognizing him despite his true form. She swiftly rose up, leaping at him and hugging him tightly, not ever wishing to let go.
"I did it," he replied, his voice swelling with happiness. "I overcame my fears."
But even though he managed to win, it didn't warm his heart as much as the fact that he finally found someone he could call a friend.
"I know," she whispered. "I never doubted you."
"Please, tell my parents that I'm alive and well. Tell them to come visit me."
"I will," she nodded, smiling as she saw Oko and his men thawing out and disappearing from the alter-realm.
"What happened to them?" Ethan wondered.
"They went home."
"To reality?"
"Yes. They've been freed. Hill ruled Pegasus with an iron fist, but once he died, the employees started talking. The servers are online to allow people to return. TV is full of astounding news, as they like to call it. It seems that the government was waiting for a perfect opportunity to intervene and as we speak, they are raiding the company. Uncovering unethical experiments... mentioning death toll. They identified Jane already. God bless her soul."
"Doesn't that mean that the alter-realm will end?"
"Certainly not. It is in good hands now. Changes will come, but not the end. I guarantee you that."
"But what if someone like Hill seizes the company?"
"No man should ever have so much power. That is the main tagline in the news. Do you truly expect people to ignore it? No, they will keep an eye on it. There's no need to worry at all. This adventure is over without doubt. Hell, it's the best I've experienced so far and yet, I'm thirsting for more. Say, are you in for one short thrill before I go back to reality?"
"Sure," the boy nodded and she let go. They walked out of the Registers, hopping on her stallion and flying towards distant horizons that promised riches and glory. A world where Ethan could finally live his wildest dreams without wailing shadows towering above him. A world that he always yearned to belong to.
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