Screams pierced Ferrin's mind, drilling through every nook and cranny of it, but as his eyes gazed at the monkey grinning at his misery, something else.... other than the screams, began to drown him.
"KEKEKEKE!" The monkey grinned with such joy as if it had never known happiness before.
It clapped its hands in as of applauding their wonderful performance, 'This son of a... it's just like tha- no... this is... That Genius!'
Ferrin felt shivers run down his spine. Slowly, like him, even the boy stopped crying, his miserable screams, his desire for somebody to help him started fading. That's when Ferrin started feeling it, a thing he had never felt, even in is miserable life outside this nightmare... hopelessness.
The boy's eyes shifted, causing Ferrin to take in a new sight, a sight of two adults having stabbed one another, they were hanging from the ceiling through a rope. Just looking at their smiling faces as they gazed in the child's direction was enough to cause anyone to feel the urge to throw up.
"Mommy!" The child's voice chocked up, it was a barbaric thought that sprung inside Ferrin's mind hearing that innocent voice continue, "Daddy!"
The sight shifted to the monkey, it had stopped laughing and was intently listening to the child's words, almost as if it could understand them.
"The nice monkey... told a little lie!"
Ferrin's heart started beating at its normal pace, 'You... Genius you... you asked them to perform that garbage with the vow to spare the child?'
"KEKEKEKEKEKEKE!" The Genius burst forth into thunderous laughter, its hands clapped loudly, it nodded its head in approval. "KEK!!"
Its shrill scream pierced Ferrin's ears, drowning him completely. Thankfully, it ended just when it began and Ferrin finally managed to snap back into reality.
The reality which began with pain and helped him wake up sooner.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
'What a beautiful rhythmic sound... like a drum! I always wanted to dance to the beat of a drum but... I never could.' Ferrin stared at the monkeys enjoying themselves and moving around in sync with the beat.
'I always hated it... that I could never move quickly. I couldn't run... even though I dearly wanted to go at such a speed which makes the wind hit me hard.
'I wanted to live my life like other kids, I wanted to sing when they did, I wanted to dance when they did, I wanted to run when they did, I wanted to smile... when they did but... I was different from them. I couldn't involve myself in their joys.
'When I moved it felt like the weight of a mountain was crippling me. Each day I just wanted to lay down for sleep and never wake up. Even chewing food was a hassle.
My parent's ended up separating because of me. I somewhat hated myself for putting my mother through so much for someone like me who had no way of repaying her.
'I wanted to live freely, but I couldn't. I was chained by my abnormality. After my parent's divorce I started getting bullied and my mother had to step up to put an end to it.
'What use am I? I am just a useless person. An abnormal scum. I wonder why I am so free here? Maybe... if I die here then I could at least fulfil one of my dreams... to die the death of a normal human. To become normal. To not be bound by anything ever anymore.
'It was fun! I fought monkeys... I-I ended up killing a human... I massacred hundreds... wait, just how did I even manage that? I just started moving so well with that Guardian... it was as if I knew her for billions of centuries and I had been putting my life on the line all my life...
'Now that I think about it... I think... I am also a nightmare... I have also become apart of it, like she said, I am a partial conscious one. I am most definitely being influenced by the nightmare as well. That's why so much about me has... changed.
Or did I harbour hate towards humans? The Guardian did say the worst side of humans become apparent in this place. So I guess... if I am indeed apart of the nightmare, then I am probably... doing everything I ever wanted to do.
'Moving fast, so fast that the wind hits me. Repaying my mother for everything she did for me. Taking revenge on those who bullied me. Finding myself a beautiful and breathtaking lover who could make thousands of people's head turn.
'This is like a dream! A beautiful dream! Yea... I an fine dying here!' Ferrin's back-bone had long snapped, all he was doing right now was take a beating... with a serene face which radiated a blinding light from his small smile.
His eyelids started becoming heavy and he allowed them to shut down, not even having the strength to glance at the monkeys.
"Fer__"
A meek voice reached inside Ferrin's ears, it was as if this voice was something he could never miss even if his ears were being bombarded by loud speakers.
'That voice... it sounds cozy and warm... Why did it stop? ... Its breathless, hehe! I guess it also gets tired quickly like me, huh?' Ferrin chuckled to himself.
"Sigh! FERRIN!!!" A shrill shout pierced through the beat of the drum, like God showing his anger, the voice clapped like thunder, causing the tails of the monkeys to come to a halt.
"GET UP!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING LAYING THERE?! GET UP OR YOUR MOM WILL PUNISH YOU FOR LAZING AROUND FIRST THING IN THE MORNING!!" The voice was slow, as if it required everything to be spoken out loud.
"Mom!" Ferrin's eyes trembled, his eyes opened up, not to the monkeys' dance but to the sight of his mother supporting herself next to the reeling. The doctor was right besides her, supporting her breathless body. Her teary eyes screamed loudly at him, begging him to get up on his feet
"I-I... mom! You're awake! I am... so glad!" Ferrin's eyes shot wide open, his hand weakly reached forward, as if even from here, he could take hold of her's and feel its warmth.
"What? What? What? What's that?" One of the monkey's gazed at the other.
Hearing its words, Ferrin's heart turned cold.
"Kekeke! Food! Food! Food!"
"FERRIN! GET UP! GET UP OR I AM COMING TO KNOCK SOME SHAME INTO YOU!" Aria chuckled meekly, her eyes turned red as she stared at her son's miserable state.
The doctor even now couldn't realise what had gotten into her, the moment she got up she asked for he son. When he told her he was outside looking for supplies, she got up to her feet and walked outside. Seeing the monkeys fighting one another, he was most pleased but Aria started trembling in horror while chanting 'My son! My son' continuously. It was only after seeing his current state did she muster strength and started screaming at the top of her lungs.
"No mom! Run! Run away!" Ferrin's eyes darted to the monkeys', the mere sight of them caused his heart to start throbbing maddeningly.
"Let's kill this traitor first!" One of the monkeys chuckled while staring at its most recent plaything.
"Lets! Lets! Lets!" The other monkey nodded its head.
"YOU FOOLISH MONKEYS! STAY AWAY FROM MY SON! DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON MY SON!" Aria's heart palpitated in fear as she saw the monkeys walking forward towards Ferrin. Though her enraged scream did little to stop them.
"I WILL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS! GET AWAY! GET AWAY! DON'T HARM MY SON!" Aria's dark brown eyes trembled, her heart could burst any second, a piercing pain started spreading from her head, followed short by fresh blood dripping from her wound.
"Mom!" Ferrin reached out his hand towards her again, he couldn't see her bleeding but his heart was being torn to shreds glancing at her pitiful face.
"Please, just Please! Leave my son be..." Aria's voice became weak, but still, Ferrin could still hear her words clearly, "If you want to kill someone. Just kill me! But! I beg of you... LEAVE MY SON BE!"
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
Ferrin opened his mouth but instead of words, blood poured out of his mouth and coated in his blood... a horrifyingly deathly scream, "KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
His body morphed instantly in the other monkey's form.
"KEEEEEEEEE!" Ferrin's green eyes glittered like a reaper's bell, signalling... the end!
Bellowing out a loud roar, his body whooshed towards the monkey, without any hesitation, it grabbed hold of the monkey's head and smashed it into the floor.
"Kekekeke!" The monkey's snapped out of their fear and started their retaliation. Its claws pierced out of its fur and slashed around at Ferrin's skin.
But something strange occurred, Ferrin ignored the pain completely and started pounding heavily into the monkey's face. Each time he was slashed, he would punch the monkey's face with all his strength and something warm and cozy would drill inside his body, healing his injuries.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
He punched till his fingers snapped only to be healed and he continued his bombardment. His punch didn't stop, despite the monkey's claws having lost strength and its face turned into mesh.
"Kek!" The other monkey stepped back in horror. The small sound was enough to distract Ferrin, in a swift motion, his head turned back, freezing the air with his rage as everything turned motionless.
"KEEEEE!" His mouth let out a horrifying bellow once more, like a true beast, he dashed towards the monkey.
"Kek!" The monkey jumped backwards in fright, before making a desperate dash. His eyes scanned the room before landing on Aria, whose mouth couldn't shut down due to the shock of seeing Ferrin like this.
Making up its mind, it dashed towards the stairs and started swiftly climbing them.
"KEEEEEE!" Ferrin shook his head, as if trying to throw away he stinging pain that was eating him away. His body morphed once more into the shape of a larger monkey, a completely fit and heathy monkey.
His eyes glowed ominously as he flickered in front of the monkey. Causing the latter's steps to freeze in horror.
It took a step back, but it missed the stair and ended up falling down. Ferrin gazed at the monkey with a piercing madness. He opened his mouth and voiced out in a tone that caused the monkey's pretentiously death body to abruptly shiver, "How dare you make my mother... beg you?"
He jumped atop the monkey, causing the latter to groan in pain. He raised his fist and... THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
It was rhythmic like the sound of a drum but what was the irony that nobody... not even this Ferrin could dance.
As the sound grew old, like Aria's ashen face, she stepped down the stairs and stared at Ferrin not noticing her presence. "Fer-Ferrin?"
Ferrin's ears twitched, he slowly turned his head around, coming face to face with Aria's worried gaze.
He got up, his eyes started welling up, he took a step forward and reached out his hand with a wide smile but before he could take another step, his eyes fell on his own furry monkey hands, the fur was stuck together and dyed in a colour that screamed despair, they were dyed... in blood.
Something started clicking inside him, like a grand mystery being unveiled, and the marking of his self-realisation and awakening from a deep slumber, 'I have been... killing real, breathing beings... haven't I?'
Tears didn't stop from his eyes, they kept welling up. Now with even more force, "I-I... I kil-killed... I murdered... I took... I," His chest raised up and down heavily, his hands reached out and grabbed his stuffy throat, "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"
***
In another place, inside the top floor of a broken tower, a white-haired beautiful female near the age of 20 leaned against the wall, her blood coloured eyes surveyed the 9 others in the room before landing on the man standing the middle.
He pushed up his glasses and spoke in an authoritative tone, "Its decided then! Since I am the most senior, control will be in my hands.
"Now then, I am glad I waited for two days for all of you to gather together and I now declare the observation phase of the Ending.
"Half of you are to guard the unconscious ones and the other half are too__"
Some distance from the tower, a gigantic monkey appeared as if from thin air, it smashed its fists on its chest and bellowed out loudly, "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
The man once more pushed his glasses upwards, "Observe the Ending for weaknesses and regular patterns. Hereby, all of you Guardians are dismissed!"
The Guardians formed groups of two and went out, each member of the separate groups had their own things to deal with, leaving only the man and the silvery-white haired beauty.
The man smiled in amusement, "What a surprise to find you here, Hinomiki!"
'๐ด ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ก๐... ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ '๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ซ๐' ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐๐ก, ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐!' The man's eyes flickered in a strange light.
Hinomi ignored Loki and kept staring at the gigantic monkey, "The time has come... to shatter the facade of this nightmare!"