Chapter Text
“ZE-WAIT!!”
My vision blurs and distorts before I view upon a familiar sight. White and black solid across my screen. My eyes feel like two boulders set in my skull, but I move forward nonetheless. I could’ve sworn I heard his voice calling me from somewhere above. My name, over and over, echoing through the torchlit hall. Beckoning.
I follow.
“Round two—c’mon.”
I breathe through the pain digging into my skin. The heavy feeling that keeps my eyes glued to the screen. It’s hard to even blink.
I round a corner, and I don’t get long before I gaze upon a mass of the ichor of it. As my eyes drink the sight, another pair opens and swallows me whole.
I barely scream before I’m pulled forward toward the dim glow of my monitor screen.
✞⟡ ⟡ ⟡ ✞
̴͕͇͕̒͛̀:̵̟̦̒̐͝ n̸̻̙̟͑͑͠ó̸̺̫̠͒͠ẗ̸͖͉́͊ḧ̵͓̙̠́̽͘í̴͔͓̞̚̚n̴͇͔̻͐̿͘g̵͙̠͕̈́̕̕ h̴͇͎̙͛̈́͛o̸͔͓̞͒͐͌l̴͕̞͍̀́y̵͉͚͖͑̓̈́ h̴̙̺̻̓̿͋é̴͙͙͒͑r̴͕͇̼̔̈́͝e̸̝͖͕͛̓̀ :̸̪̘̝̽̿́:̸̠̫̾̾͜
✞⟡ ⟡ ⟡ ✞
I blink in a new room. But I’m not in front of a screen.
It feels real.
“Mmnh…fuck, my head…” I complain to no one. I raise my hand to my forehead, pressing to ease the pressure. When I pull away, my skin isn’t mine. It’s white. My hoodie that I’ve worn for days straight isn’t mine. My jeans, my hair. My eyes aren’t mine.
“Am I really in my FUCKING COMPUTER?!? You fucking son of a—SHOW YOURSELF!!”
Silence. I rake a hand through my hair—now white with black roots, ear length—and pull slightly. A new pain, small relief.
I take in the room around me. More bedrock, what a shock. But I feel the jagged edges pressing into my skin. Real rock. And torches, too. I stand, still getting used to the feeling of code running through every angstrom I touch. I yank the torch down from the wall, with little effort, and begin at a slow pace. What sounds like gravel crunches beneath my feet, but it’s just bedrock chunks chipped away, I come to find.
I get impatient, and call:
“I came for a fight, you know—give your balls a tug and come fight me like a man!!” I scream into still air.
The air becomes more dead and humid. The stench of smoke and copper floods my senses. I tense at the pair of eyes that seem to stare through me.
“A FIGHT? HOW…PATHETIC. YOU COULDN’T EVEN FIGHT YOURSELF. YET YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN CRAWL OUT OF THIS HELL WITH HEROISM THROUGH YOUR VAINS.”
“You’re bluffing. I knew you were a pussy.”
It laughed, a horrible sound. Metal on metal, chalk on a chalkboard. I forced myself to stand straight and stare ahead.
“FINE. I GIVE YOU ONE CHANCE. BUT I WILL NEED TO KNOW IF YOU’LL BE AN ENTERTAINING LITTLE WORM. NOT A TINY ANT. I BRING YOU YOUR WAY TO THE ARENA OF MY HELL. I MAY AS WELL WISH YOU THE WORST OF THE GODS WRATH AS YOU TRAVERSE.”
My vision blurs again, and the stench clears. The air feels less humid. The path ahead unwinds into a maze, softly lit with torchlight.
“Well, I’ll take it. Thank you so fucking much.” I scoff, walking forward again.