Maria woke up feeling heavy, her legs were weak and her eyes were pressured. She was small, like a child and she wore a raggy red shirt and shorts.
In front of her,hwas smiling at her. "Oh my baby Maria, you've grown so strong", her mom said.
"Mom?!", she said before tears started flowing from her eyes. "I've missed you so…so".
"Now don't cry, aren't you happy to see me??", she asked.
"It's not real, it can't be real…or is it??", she said before looking back up at her mom and hugging her.
"I don't wanna leave here mommy!".
"Oh no baby, we're staying here together…even Oscar is here".
Oscar then appeared from the mothers back holding onto her hand and saying "Come on Maria, let's be a family again".
"This is a test. It's a test, right?! So why is my mom touching me, same soft skin, beautiful hair and even the same scent", she monologues.
She heard a knock from behind her, she looked back and there stood a red door. The door was a bright crimson red with a shiny golden knob.
She looked down in disappointment and muttered "It really isn't real".
She then hugged her mother once more and said "Why?! Why'd you go?!!".
"I'm sorry Maria, I'm here now…don't leave".
"I have to, none of this is real…you aren't real".
"I love you Mom", she said before pushing her back.
"Maria come on…please stay here!", Oscar begged but Maisse just got up and walked to the door.
As she was about to open it, she looked back at them and saw her mother on the floor bleeding from head to toe and a younger version of her and Oscar crying over it.
Her eyes began tearing up but she held them shut, opened the door and left. She woke up outside the spirit tree in a cold sweat and felt robbed of all her energy.
Besides her were Oscar and Rachel who were already unconscious, she tried getting up but was unable. Eventually, she passed out.
In front of her was a familiar face, a tall figure dressed in black. In front of them stood the man who easily put Tolo to his knees. The man walked past them and walked in front of the spirit tree, the leaves instantaneously turned blood red.
The tree refused to open when he was there but that didn't deter him. He sunk his arms into the tree and plied it open, blood
He entered inside and the tree closed up, meanwhile Kinea is having his dream. He woke up in his room back home, everything around him was normal. His room was well arranged, it was bright and sunny outside and in front of him was his dad sitting and looking at him.
"Dad?!", he yelled out. Mr.Patrick looked back at him with disgust "Don't call me that, I can't have a monster for a child".
Kinea gasped the words of his father struck harder than any blow he's received before, "What's that supposed to mean?! I'm not a monster!".
He moved forward and attempted to touch him but was slapped across the face, there was a moment of silence after this. Kinea's my d was racing, his blood was boiling and his cheek was burning.
"Don't touch me you piece of shit!". Kinea bowed his head and said "Yeah, you really aren't my father".
Kinea lunged at him, pinning him to the ground while Mr.Patrick didn't even struggle. He then began landing punch after lunch after punch. In between the punches, Mr.Patrick said "You are not mentally stable… you're a beast…you have no hope, why do you always act strong when your dreadful inside!!".
"Shut up! Shut up!! Just shut up!!!". Eventually, Mr.Patrick was pulverized to death, his face was dented and bloodied. He stopped moving and talking and Kinea just stood over him with tired eyes, his clothes were stained with blood and his knuckles were absolutely covered in it.
He let out a loud cry and everywhere turned pitch black, everything around him vanished and all that he saw was the little girl they fought against in the abandoned home.
He saw her and began tearing up, he dropped to his knees and covered his face feeling all the pent up dread wash over him. She walked over to him and hugged him, her embrace feeling pure and powerful.
"It's okay to cry, your not a monster…you have emotions too", she said. Kinea balled his eyes out, "This is all too much, how can I ever make it??".
She cleaned off the tears from his eyes and said "You can make it because you have him". Kinea looked up and saw the silhouette of his Kean and sighed before saying "Ah yes, I have someone I want to salt and with, I have my brother".
Meanwhile Kean woke up in hard golden chains which were attached to a wall, he was surrounded by bones, skulls, blood and flesh. He looked around in fear, he saw the amount of bones scattered across as if someone performed a genocide here. Although they were bones, he could identify everyone there.
His old classmates, teachers, friends, King Logan, Tolo, Maria, Rachel, Oscar. He knew all of these, he knew who all of these came from. A voice started telling him something from inside his head and it proclaimed "Your weak!!".
The voice continued time and time again getting louder and louder each time, his head felt like bursting due to the noise and he began frantically pulling at the chains trying to break them but to no avail.
He then dislocated his hand and got through the chains, running out of the area but the more he ran the more he saw the same bones almost like a loop and the louder it got. The voice began sounding like people he knew from the old classmates to even his father, the voice brought more and more insults and remarks that was driving him insane.
He dropped to his knees and wept, holding his head and screaming out his lungs. "I am not weak!!", he bellowed.
The voice then yelled "You are! You were weak all through and I know you miss your old life but your too weak to bring it back. Your a ravaged beast that has no strength of its own".
"No! Nothing! Nothing makes sense in this fucking place!! I'm not even sure who I am…".
"Pathetic", the voice said back in a tone of irritation. "Everyone you love will die because of you".
"Even if I am weak, I will save the ones I love because…I have those who can give me strength and I have someone i wanna stand alongside. I have my brother, so I won't let anyone die!".
The voice then vanished and Kean could find a bit of rest.
In the deeper parts of the spirit tree however, a strong evil is about to be released. The man in black appeared infront of a man with pitch black hair and bright white skin, he was chained by what looked like blue flames.
He was only wearing a pair of black shorts which were dirtied, torn and ragged. The man looked up and saw him, his dark green eyes shined a tiny bit.
The man in black stood infront of him and said "It's time to be free, Loki".
END OF CHAPTER 23