I was forced to be out, and the price for that ended up being far more greater than I could anticipate. Because not only do I have to keep up playing as Arsin, I also have lost the vital part of my plan.
Yes...
Art is no longer with me and I have a wretched rat to blame.
"Mad Star." I call out, turning to the mirror again. Observing how deep the magical cracks ran since last night. Seemingly deeper and more wild with the vision of the Madness Realm overlapping with the dreamscape.
"Something wrong?" Mad Star sings as he takes a long sip from a beer bottle, disgusting me with how nonchalant and playful he acted. As if he had nothing to worry about, despite the fact that we both lost something.
The frustration is compelling me to give him a good beating. But I am not a man of violence.
"I am going to have to quickly push my plan forward."
Between my sentence, a sharp pain pierces the area above my brow, inducing discomfort and a loss of my grip on the mindscape. I try my best to hide it as only a mere nerve twitch passing by.
"I-- you should reconsider." Mad Star breathes, now weary of my words. As he should be. "Pushing the plan now might be a bad idea. Given you just lost the ability to--"
"Nervous?" I chuckle, to which he averts his gaze. "I was only kidding. Although you had the stench of betrayal all over your act of freeing Art, you happened to have pushed my plan towards a great path."
"What...do you mean? All of this was...?" Mad Star questions, nervousness hanging onto each word he spilled out.
I turn to him with a great smile. He has been fooled, as much as everyone else has. And I feel great joy in their foolishness. But also great pain in knowing how utterly alone I am.
"You did a very fine job. Who knew controlling an otherworldly puppy would do the trick." I push myself from the mirror and make my way to the Mad Star.
It's funny to think about how much more power he has over me, yet I am always the one in complete control.
I give the petrified Mad Star's shoulder a pat and squeeze.
I want him to feel my grip and remember how much pain I can inflict on him.
"I am in control, Mad Star." I taunt. "I found you and I have every power to end you back there."
"Right..." Mad Star breathes. Never glancing over to face me. I suppose he already feels my intention and how disobedience brings nothing but the same feelings I inflicted on him when I brought him over.
"I suppose I'll see you again soon." I smirk and push myself out of the Mindscape before Mad Star can have a chance to reply.
As I make my way to reality, my lungs and sight are met by smoke.
Suffocating and thick smoke, dancing around me like hungry vultures.
I cover my nose, coughing and coughing. Forcing my way through the thickness in an attempt to find where I am. But the roaring fire crackling all around me and the smoke further poisoning my throat leaves me breathless.
"Help me!! Please!!" A familiar female voice screams.
I turn to the direction of the ear-piercing scream with a quick heart.
"Sin! It burns!! It hurts so much!" Another familiar voice joins in. Sounding an awful lot like--
"Sin." A hand grips my shoulder, forcing me to look. To look at their burning corpse stained with the stench of dark magic and cooked flesh. On top of their shriveled hair is a Mirrikhian crown, slightly melted and stained with blood. "Why didn't you help us? Why did you let it happen?"
The longer I stare into their lifeless eyes, the more familiar they become. Until I force myself to utter, "Mother?"
"WHY?!!?!!" The corpse cries, disappearing into a mountain of ash.
I fall back to avoid it, wheezing and coughing.
I did not...I didn't want this. "I DID NOT DO THIS!"
"You did do this. You did this to us all because you were jealous and sick." A gruff voice, like my father's, murmurs into my left ear. "You are evil."
"I condemn you, old man." I snarl and stop to suppress the urge to vomit. Tears running down my eyes.
I can't lose my focus. If I do not fight the urge to scream I'll attract attention. I'll make a fool out of myself.
Besides, the old man isn't here. I have to remember that none of them are alive, therefore not real. They ceased to exist ages ago, leaving me with the aches and scars to prove it.
I have to ignore everything and find a way out before the smoke ends up killing me.
But where am I? It is dark. The sky no longer visible as well as the sun nor the blue hue that always surrounded this city.
I stretch out my hand, reciting a chant that can despell the side effects of the smoke. And as I finish, someone grips my hand.
"Arsin! It's me!"
It's Attor, who pulls me towards him with a blanket already over my head.
"Don't worry, I got you." Attor growls. "I'll cast a fire protection spell."
Within the cape, I take a moment to breathe and collect my thoughts as he chants the protection spell on me.
"What happened?" I ask him. If he was outsode of the hotel, perhaps he saw what happened--what caused it.
"I dunno. I was inside this restaurant across the city eating when this fire..." Attor whispers without a hint of struggle to catch his breath nor hold back excessive tears. And his sharp eyes are able to catch movement through the severe cloak of smoke interfering with my senses.
"This isn't normal fire." I respond, having confirmed my suspicions.
"What?"
I uncover myself. "What type of fire smoke doesn't affect you at all, Attor the dragon?"
Attor turns to me with surprise on his face and I nod.
"Dragon fire." We answer in unison.
Dragon fire is not like natural fire. It has controlled magical properties (as opposed to wild magical properties that is seen as natural) and burns a hundred times more than natural fire does. As its fire burns anything it touches, including other dragons, its aftermath induces side effects that affect and kill non-dragons. These symptoms include third-degree burns, irritation, severe hallucinations, vomit, and suffocation.
As we lead ourselves to the open, it becomes clear; dragon fire with the color of deep gold and amber is running rampantly through the Blue Oasis like a Phoenix. Burning anything it touches until death has taken everything.
"Where is the fa- Ezephyr?"
"I don't know. You're the first person I've bumped into so far."
I turn to our surroundings. Using my sight to tune in with the magic in hopes of catching auras. But it is no use. The dragon fire smoke has too much magic in it, disrupting my senses.
"The fire!"
In front of us, the fire grows stronger and more apparent. Crawling towards us slowly but with great heat irritating my flesh.
"Is there somewhere that's free from flames? We have to see what's happening." I murmur, waving my hand around. No matter how much I attempt to push away smoke, it ends up replacing itself with more. Clouding my senses as well as my comfort.
Wait, there's a lot of magic in the air. I can recycle it for a spell.
But if I do, I could end up exposing myself.
"I got it! Hold onto me and I'll fly us into the air for a better view." Attor suggests and I sigh.
"Let's hurry it. And hold me normally. Not like a damsel in the arms of her hero."
"Hup!" Attor ignores my mutters, swooping me by the legs into a damsel lift as he spreads out a pair of magic-made black wings.
As we travel up, with me constantly shielding my face from the smoke, Attor releases a worried gasp.
"What is it?" I ask.
"This fire..." He mumbles, his wings heavily flapping him in place as his eyes wander across the flames. "It feels...dead, somehow."
"Dead...?" I murmur. If flames feel dead, even though they are very much actively devouring anything then he means the source of the flames. Which means....
A large shadow looms over us. And we find ourselves face to face with disaster.