They had little to no enemies, friends or even allies to say the least. They were as discreet as a needle in a haystack and like salt in the ocean. You couldn't see it, but the taste remains with every sip. They knew so many secrets and kept so many lies away from the unknowing people of Tenebrae. For all these years, they had never faltered in their loyalty towards The Holy City. The true patriarchs of This great city. The people that made it what it was today. They were never given the credit they rightfully deserved. Living in the shadows and having nothing to do with the Tenebrites.
Mark slowly made his way into the wreck he made on the walls of Tenebrae. The Wreck was so wide it was easily a ten meter across. With the rhythmic dripping of a certain liquid on the floor, intensity in the air, and Milana still strapped gently on his back as did Aria he left sitting on his left hand, He realized an interesting fact. The walls weren't as thick as he thought them out to be. It was more of a Large circular vessel than it was a tall thick wall. The deeper he went through the cut, the more he realized that there was enough space inside the walls. The path his feet took was wet, as soaked in a certain liquid, but he wasn't concerned enough to find out which liquid. The air Inside the walls reeked of Dew. He noticed this but still stayed on his path. He just kept walking straight. A bit cautious but precise. There was so much to uncover in this space that laid inside the walls, but Mark had no use of it. He was on a mission. A friend of his remains in a coma and he wouldn't want to let her die, not without trying anyways. His entire mindset wasn't about exploring the walls. All he was looking for at the moment was somebody, anybody that'll help him with this. He needed a doctor and quick. With each passing moment, every step he took, Mark realized he hadn't even seen the other end of the wall. He was in deep and there was no turning back.He kept venturing forward. However, his body began to feel the impact of the heavy burden placed upon it through countless times of unrest. He had been through so many cities. So many to keep track of. He's been to Murabak, Mer and now Tenebrae in the shortest of times. He hadn't any idea the repercussions of his intense voyages. It slowly dawned on him as his paced movements slowed down to a complete pause in the middle of the wall. He began feeling dizzy but didn't want to fall because he was holding Aria in his arms as Milana was strapped to his back. He decided to take a knee to recover but this attempt proved Null and void. Every ticking second drew Mark closer to the ground He didn't want to stop. He knew he shouldn't stop. Not now. He did all he could but his body didn't respond to his commands. He wanted to keep going, but there was only so much he could do with his body. "Is this it? Markandeya, is this the end of the road for you? Aren't you the one that promised to be humanity's greatest protector? Aren't you The Knight Of Nyx? Aren't you the Peak of Masculinity? The hero. The Living Legend! Get up! Move! You are the strongest! You have no business with fatigue. You know not defeat nor do you seek vulnerability. You are the one that stands at the pinnacle above all others. Why do you let a mere state of mind such as exhaustion bring you down? I cannot believe what I am seeing right now. You disappoint me. You were so powerful I always revered you. I venerated your nigh-omnipotence. This Wall was built, because you inspired the entire city. Weren't you the one that defended us in the time of our greatest tribulations? The entire City Of Tenebrae know about your tales. Seeing you in such a state as this makes me bow my head down in shame. You used to be so invulnerable. The undisputed champion of human race. Weren't you the one that slaughtered tens of thousands of Halos with a single sword? Are you not the one that single handedly stopped a civil war between two cities? Do you know how valuable you are? Do you know you are worth more than the finest irons and the shiniest bronze? Have you no idea you are worth more than the hardest diamonds and the rarest gold? You are not meant to die here. Not now. I can't let that happen. This won't be the end of my life-long hero." A voice echoed from the dark. A voice so deep it made the entire walls shake with authority. Mark tried looking up to see who it was but even his head and neck refused to obey him. As soon as the voice stopped speaking, a shadowy figure approached from the dark. The steps could be heard with every thump of feet. Slowly, it took one step at a time towards Mark. A metal object could be heard being dragged as the creature approached. A head came out from the shadows to reveal a face twice the size of Marks head. Following behind was it's body. Mark managed to spare a look at the creature and what he saw was exactly what he had in mind. A face with acne so much that it looked swollen. It's eyes were so small and was almost swallowed by it's swollen face. Hanging on both saggy earlobes were earrings made of pure gold. The eyebrows were clearly unkept as the extended all the way to cover the already swallowed eyes. It's neck was completely covered by a large jaw. its' torso was almost normal. Its' body wasn't shredded in some sort, although looking like it wasn't well kept, it still maintained a normal human torso symmetry. The abnormality was mainly dominant in his hands, and legs. Its' arms were a little bit bigger than a normal sized humans', it extended way past its' hip to stop at the knee. This was all thanks to it's monster sized fingers. One of which was left hanging as the other dragged the metallic object. This object had no shape, or neither was it recognizable in any sort. You could only tell it was metal by the sound made as it was dragged through the ground. Looking down to its' groin area, mark discovered a little bit of clothing that extended all the was to its' ankles, covering the entire skin of his legs all the way to his toenails. More of a rag than cloth per se. This insignificant piece of clothing left a space for the peaking toes that could be visible as Mark looked downwards. A toe looking so unkept that it changed colours from normal human skin to that of the color of algae. His toenails breaking off in the spots the could find a chance to, leaving a toenail with many cracks and breaks in-between. Looking at the pattern of this toes, The exhausted Mark smiled. He hadn't the slightest idea who or what it was, but if there's one thing he knew, was he could tell people apart by looking at their toenails. A creepy trait indeed. He smiled on realization of who it was. "You could have just said your name rather than going through all that pep talk, Theodore." on hearing this, its' acne-infested face lit up with a smile that travelled from ear to ear. This smile revealed a neatly kept teeth. A phenomenal trait, considering all of its' body said otherwise.
"I see you have been doing well, Mark. I wonder, why did you come back crawling to Tenebrae. You said to never let you in even if we had to kill you to do it. Why now?" Theodore asked.
"Inquisitive as always I see. It's so nice meeting you here. Please, here you go." Mark said, as he used every last strength left in his body to pull Aria out of his body, revealing Aria's fragile body. She was covered in the black liquid that filled the floor.
"By the Halos Rings! Where did you find her?!" Theodore asked, as he took Aria from his arms and looked closely at her. She looked even smaller in his arms than on Mark's, considering Theodore was twice the size of Mark.
"Don't you worry Mark. There's enough to save you all. even you too. Come. we haven't the slightest time to waste! Come on people!" Theodore said, as he beckoned to the dark. From there emerged people looking like him. some looking way unkept than others and some just looking human like. The all had the same traits, some taller than others. "Is he?" A voice asked from the crowd.
Theodore replied "No he isn't. Make haste! These people are in need of urgent attention. Quickly! Begin the repairs of the outer walls! We have until midnight to do so. We haven't the slightest time to waste!"
Upon Theodore's command a large "Aye Aye Sir!" Echoed through the crowd, as the Moved towards the direction Mark was coming from, with Metals clanking through the iron floor as these gentle giants made their way to begin the repairs of the outer walls. By this time, Mark had already completely passed out. Theodore carefully unstrapped Milana from Mark's back and what he saw was a gore sight. Milana's body was completely white. The result of intense blood loss. Her once beautifully lit up face had a smile with her eyes closed. Theodore quickly strapped all of them to his back with a piece of cloth he tore from his rags, and ran straight into the darker side of the walls. In a short time, he disappeared, into the darkness.
Mark slowly felt light pierce his retinas as he opened them up. He had no idea why they were closed in the first place, but he wanted to keep them shut for as long as he could, or even shut it down forever but he just couldn't. "Milana, Aria!" These thoughts came spilling into his mind as he got up with haste only to be met with an ache on his right shoulders. He looked around the bed he was laid on and saw how huge it was. An amazing sight to behold. He had never felt like this in a long time. He had no business with vulnerability. He had never felt so weak in his life. He was in despair. He was ashamed. These negative emotions were beginning to get the best of him, until he looked up. There was Theodore on his right, sitting on a large chair. He wore glasses this time. In his arms laid a book. The room was lit up by a bright candlelight. It came from a candle that was safely kept on the table close to him. He would turn the book towards it every now and then to make out a few words he couldn't see correctly. As all of Marks' senses came through, he realized Theodore was reading out loud. His voice like that of an old man gasping for air. This gave Mark a sense of satisfaction as he recognized the voice. He looked on as Theodore read out of the book. He looked towards the floor to see a groups of people on the floor. Small children I might add. Although the looked like children, the were all the size of Mark. Seven feet tall each, sitting on the floor listening carefully with suspense to the valiant reader of the the book. amongst the crowds, he spotted a rather small person. This person was smaller than the rest of the flock. He looked closely and as shocked as he was, there laid Aria, sitting in the floor with the rest looking at Theodore telling them Tales from a book. He wanted to tear up from the sight of this But as soon as he started, His eyes met Aria's. She immediately smiled at him as she waved. He waved back. On seeing this, Theodore looked to see who she was waving at. As he saw Mark waving back he stood up and went towards him. He face couldn't hide the excitement in his little eyes. He was so relieved Mark came through. The other little kids followed him and the all gathered around Marks' bed.
"Is he the one? Is he the legend of old?" Said a feminine voice from the crowd.
"I wonder why he's so small. Should he be this small?" Another voice echoed from the gathered flock.
"Excuse me. Coming through. Oops, sorry." Aria's voice said as she squeezed herself through the excited crowd and found herself in front of the bed. She looked up and there sat Mark, looking back at her. She was smiling, so was he.
"Hey" Mark said.
"Hello" she replied. "How are you feeling? I heard a lot from sir Theodore over here." she said signaling towards the direction where Theodore stood, smiling on like he had seen all he needed to see. "He told me what happened. It seems we're inside the walls of Tenebrae. I had no idea one could enter the walls let alone live inside here. This is news to even me." Aria said.
"Well, there are so many things you are yet to know. Don't worry. With time you'd come to know what I mean. Where's 'she'?" Mark asked, referring to Milana.
"Oh, yes she's over there." Aria answered, pointing in the direction of Milana. Her smile disappeared while doing so. Mark turned to his left and in a few meters gap, he saw her on an equally large bed. Still unconscious.
"Is she?" Mark asked with a voice filled with angst.
"We've done all we can but she's not waking up. All we can do right now is wait for her to awake. No one knows when though. The damage was so much. We're even lucky she's still alive." Theodore said, as he helped Mark to his feet. Mark went towards her bed and sat there. Looking at her with so much guilt in his face. He knew it was all his fault. He made sure to blame himself for all that happened.
"My dearest apologies sir." Theodore apologized.
"Don't worry. It's all right. You did the best you could. If only I was a little bit faster. This is all my fault. I have to fix it." Mark said, as he stood up, wore his robe and went through the door in front of Milana's bed. He was so angry that he wanted to cool off, even if it's for a bit. "No wait!" Theodore screamed. Mark had no idea what was happening. He had already opened the large door and had already taken a step forward. It was too late. Mark had already stepped on the other side of the door. After taking a step he realized, there was no floor at his feet. He looked down and saw nothing but dark. He wanted to retrace his steps but his body had already adjusted its' weight to the feet that was outside the room. The feet that was standing on nothing. Mark looked down and realized he was about falling. He looked downwards but saw nothing. It was all dark. Peach black. His fall began but was quickly ended soon enough, as Theodore stretched his long arms and caught Mark just in the nick of time, holding Marks' entire body with just his thumb and index finger. Mark was scared at the moment but he didn't show it.
"Are you okay Mark?" Theodore asked, as he dragged Mark back up into the room.
"I'm sorry. I caused you so much trouble."
Mark apologized.
"It's nothing. I should be one apologizing. I should have warned you the soonest you were awake. We're in an apartment. You can't go to another apartment without ordering a cable car. Once it's ready, They alarm," He said. pointing at a top corner in the room where a red light bulb laid hanging. " would be triggered and it begins glowing. For now I suggest we stay inside the room. I wouldn't want you opening doors that lead to nowhere." Theodore suggested.
There was a long silence, disturbed from time to time by the disturbances caused by the noisy children. Mark sat on the bed close to Milana, still waiting for her to come through. "Why did you come back though?" Theodore said, as he came closer to the bed from his seat. He had gotten to business. He was no longer smiling. He was serious. Mark looked at him with the same facial expression. "I didn't want to. I should have never come back here. You know that. If we're being honest, I have absolutely no idea why I am back here. I am going through with what my mind is saying. This is the way I have always lived my life and you should know. However, if there's one thing my instincts always tell me, it's that I should never contradict my self, which I think I have failed miserably by coming here. I am sorry for what happened the last time. I really am. I will be sure to repay you for this. You have my word. Right now, I'm about to ask you for the most bizarre favour and I definitely understand if you decide not to go through with it."
"What is this favor of yours?" Theodore asked, cautiously. His initial attitude towards Mark had changed from a state of worship to a face of disgust. He knew Mark and he knew what he was up to, but he wanted for Mark to spill the beans right from the horse's mouth.
"I have thought about so many ways to cure these two, but I haven't found one. Ariadne is on the brink of death and now Milana has joined her. The situation for the both of them is looking bad and I don't think there's a solution to this, 'HERE' though." Mark continued.
"I think you should be putting the pieces together by now."
He said, as he looked at Theodore, whose face was filled with concern.
"I do understand what you're trying to say and I hoped it wouldn't be what I initially thought it would be, but knowing who you are, is there anyway around it? I'm trying to save myself too right now. You should know how strict my clan is. Even by having you here right now, I can hear the gossips from every corner of the Wall. Imagine what would happen when I eventually help you out with your ridiculous idea." Theodore said, looking at Mark.
"Theodore I don't think you understand the situation right now do you? I coated my request as a favor because you are my friend. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your clan now, do we? This favor I ask of you isn't compulsory that you should do it, but it's necessary for the survival of your clan. If you don't follow to it, I will kill your entire clan and there's nothing that would be stopping me. I do appreciate you doing this for me as my friend, I will leave your family though." Mark said, as his eyes changed completely. He was very serious with this threat and Theodore knew what Mark really was and there was no stopping him when you decide to go against his decisions.
"You didn't have to threaten me you know. I never said I wouldn't do it." Theodore assured, with every hint of fear in his face. Although never seen anywhere, the relationship between Theodore and Mark was that of a master and his servant. Theodore knew there was no other way around this. He knew this is what would transpire should he let Mark in
He couldn't watch and let those girls die though. Not from the goodness of his heart, but from the mere fear of what would happen should Mark find them dead when he awoke. In all his time with Mark, he realized that although The Legend Of Old was a savior to the human race, he also played the role of retribution to whomever stood in his path. He realized Mark wasn't all roses. He had his own problems that he wished be solved. He's had his rage moments. Moments so cruel some you can only imagine. "Who knew what he had in mind this time? Time will tell." Theodore thought, as he nodded his head as slowly backed away from Mark who sat one the gigantic bed, Looking decisive as ever. He had a mission. He was going to fulfill it no matter what he had to do. Even if it meant killing a few people to get his goal. Whatever it takes.