Chapter Text
There’s still too much to do.
So much groaning. So much complaining of aching limbs and weary feet. They always did this. Why couldn’t they understand? With what…happened in Humphrey, couldn’t they see that they needed to toil twice as hard? God, they were bleeding his patience dry.
With a cut from an axe and a dunk from a spiked ball, another shadow fell. Omori knew more would come as they fought out of the Deep Well skull.
He didn’t have time to chastise his friends again. He didn’t have time for the pangs of dull nagging in his feet, step after step. He didn’t have time for the lethargy that made his attacks sluggish. He didn’t have time for his friends to drag their candy-colored feet, intent on being nuisances.
They needed to pick up their pace. Basil couldn’t…wouldn’t be a good substitute for Hero. Not while those shadows were here affecting…everyone. Omori couldn’t afford another scenario like Boss Rush happening again (obviously an invading Something’s fault.)
The Royal Royal was too gentle for fighting. He was better suited to stay safe by Mari’s side in the castle or on a picnic blanket. Basil simply wouldn’t do.
And never in a million years am I reinstating Hero. The king can’t go back on his word.
It’ll only be the three of them now.
“When will you give your friends a break? It’s been a long day.”
Well, four, technically speaking.
“We have no time for…breaks.” Omori spat the word out as if poisonous. Which it was. Stranger, that bastard, kept trying to sabotage them with whispers and taunts of rest. If they took the bait, the shadow would command all his minions to attack the kingdom while it stood unprotected.
Even through his daze of exhaustion, Omori was still a clever and wise ruler; he would not be caught in a trap.
“Trying to race your own conscience, are you?” Stranger drew up from behind him, chain clanking as he kept pace beside Omori. “You should know it’s pointless. The wound will continue to fester no matter how many band aids you stick on top.”
“I’m not racing anything. I have all the time I need.”
There was no wound. There was no festering. Only shadows that needed to be eradicated.
“Pretty soon, there will be no kingdom for you to rule over, either.”
Omori flexed his fist, ignoring Stranger, and stepped through the portal. In the soft light of the cave, static overtook the gentle ambiance of dripping. The water lapped at the shore, depths contaminated with glaring eyes watching and judging. Somethings.
“Omori?” Basil touched his arm, and artificial floralness washed over his senses. He tried not to let it make his head spin.
“Just…stay back like last time, Basil,” his voice came as a murmur. “We’ll protect you until Mari’s picnic blanket comes up.”
“Yeah! Don’t worry, Bas. We got you.” Kel shifted into his battle stance, Aubrey nodding as she did.
Omori unsheathed his knife, stiff fingers momentarily fumbling, and the blade clattered down.
His ears warmed as his friends watched him swipe it up. The non-judgement in their gazes only made his ears heat up. Stranger’s unquestionably judgmental stare burned.
Fatigue is an illusion of the mind. Transcend beyond it. Break through.
“Your bones are going to break first,” Stranger whispered, breath ghosting over Omori’s ear. He fought the shiver up his spine and stepped away. Goddamn, this shadow.
Omori banished the tremble of his hand with a mighty clench around the handle. He would persevere in the face of adversaries. He would stand tall and not fall.
His friends' focus was still on him. Omori rubbed his face with a hand, trying to press out the beginning of a headache. He pointed at the shadows with what he hoped was the assurance of a commander in charge of an army. “Attack! Bring down as many as you can.”
Aubrey and Kel exchanged the briefest hesitance before charging into the water, swinging weapons and bouncing balls. Omori followed, trying to ignore the stinging in his feet. There was no time for rest. He couldn’t sit down until his throne’s future was protected.
Swiping, cutting, stabbing, Omori tried to enter the flow of battle, but his attacks were slow and kept missing. His feet stumbled as a Something dodged and retreated further away. His head ached deep and low.
The water impeded what would usually be the quickest of side steps. Splashing got in his eyes and blinded him from making what would habitually be the most accurate of slashes.
Omori’s breath came fast, and his heart thudded nauseatingly, vexing his throat while his attacks whiffed.
He needed to focus. He just needed to…
Another stumble. Omori clenched his jaw and sliced wild and clumsy, frustration pounding his chest in time with his head. He swayed off balance when the momentum struck nothing. A limb lashed him, and he fell face-first into the water.
It rushed up his nose and stung his eyes. He fought for a foothold to stand but abandoned the idea as sharp shadow limbs stabbed the water, prodding searchingly into the sand.
It’s…the water. It’s pressing in on me. I’ll…I’ll stand on shore for a minute and…overview Aubrey and Kel.
He was not running away from the battle. Taking a moment to recollect himself was not defeat.
He swam blindly and managed to dig his hands into something grainy smooth. He pulled himself onto the sand, crawling out of the water. Basil came to help, patting his back supportively, and the syrupy perfume churned his stomach.
Omori coughed. The burning in his nose grew worse with the introduction of air while his head throbbed from the brief lack of oxygen. Stranger stood beside him, pitch-black feet and legs all Omori could see from his spot on the ground. “Look. You’re not going to win. I’m even starting to feel like I should drop some healing food for you.”
Omori glared at the dark feet, visioning himself stabbing them squarely in the center with his knife. He hissed out an exhale through teeth as pastel hands helped him to his feet, hating the small, slight (probably unmeant on the shade’s end) truth in the words.
Indisputably, being the ruler of everything, he would overcome his enemies, but that didn’t eliminate the possibility of victory taking a while with such limited resources.
Wait…No, that didn’t match his triumph over Stranger, which he said would come soon. So then…
…Why was he even trying to find a way to fit Stranger’s nonsense into this?
Steel yourself, Omori.
Don’t believe an inch in his words.
Stranger rolled his eyes. Crouching, he picked up a broken fragment of stone.
Omori lifted his eyes to the walls, watching the spiderweb of cracks run through them. Broken pieces that fell off littered the sand. Slowly, he raised a thumb to his mouth and scratched hard into gum. Letting the pain distract him from the pit in his stomach, the creeping dread.
He could do this. He could still fix it. He wouldn’t fail. He mentally chanted the words, finding truth in them…somewhere.
The sound of a struggle drew his attention back to Aubrey and Kel.
The Royal Knight flailed in the water as a Something shoved her under. The other deformed shadows piled on, and Aubrey became lost under their masses.
Kel yelped with alarm. “Aubrey!” With how far away he was, having been busy fighting his own enemies, he wouldn’t make it to her in time.
“Oh, no!” Basil gasped, turning panicked eyes to him. “Omori, what do we do?”
Can they not handle themselves? Do I have to do everything?
“What a callous thought.” Stranger drew something in the sand with the rock fragment. Despite him not looking at Omori once, the words were biting. “Do you not see the way you’re becoming? Or is that repressed as well?”
Callous? It wasn’t…it wasn’t callous. It’s not as if Omori didn’t care. It was merely that…
No…I can’t let him get to me. Resolve yourself. Make your mind a fortress impossible to invade.
“What a very formidable fortress you have.”
Omori could only sigh, resisting the urge to stab Stranger in the mouth. Rather than waste energy on that, he materialized a red hand. It dived under the water just as the bubbles burbling beneath the writhing black slowed to a stop.
Basil stood frozen, gaze flicking erratically over the water, searching for movement. Kel stopped treading, stilling in anticipation.
The hand emerged, holding a spitting, sputtering Aubrey by the scruff. The shadows fell over themselves as the platform they’d been using disappeared, scattering into the water like writhing worms.
She was disposed of on the sand at the same time Kel reached her. The two lay gasping on the ground, catching their breath. Basil kneeled next to them, patting Aubrey’s back, teal hues glimmering in concern.
See? Callous? Me? I am a dependable king.
None of my friends have to worry about anything with me–especially since I handle goddamn everything either way. What troubles do they have when I carry the world on my shoulders?
None. They can’t even take the shadows seriously. It all falls on me. And yet, I’m the callous one?
“You’re sounding very resentful there, Omori.” Stranger stood, brushing nonexistent dust off his shorts, a simple flower now etched in the sand. “Are you disappointed your cardboard cut-outs aren’t as flexible as you’d like?”
They are flexible! They’re dynamic and third-dimensional and…
No, no…what am I saying?
They aren’t cut-outs to begin with. They’re real like everything else. Physical…and with free will (if you just overlook the mind-altering a bit).
They’re as real as me.
“As you?–” Stranger cut off laughing, smiling as if someone had just told the most damn funniest joke of all time. He put a hand to his mouth to smother the snickers as confused heads turned his way. Omori frowned at him, daggers in his stare.
“Omori…” Aubrey coughed, taking his attention. “There’s too many of them…and the water…makes it so hard…to fight…”
Kel turned over to his back, lying sprawled. “This is gonna take forever.”
For once, they’re right. The fighting conditions are undesirable. This will prolong our work.
His legs felt crampy. His feet tingled as if they had fallen asleep. The desire to sit down and stay down was an imprint in the back of his mind.
We have to keep going.
“It doesn’t matter,” Omori declared. “It might take us a day to get out of here. It might take us a week. But the kingdom comes first. We fight for it until the day we die.”
Instead of the applause due for his inspirational speech, his friends only groaned. Omori fought not to pop a vein.
“This will take you days,” Stranger said.
Omori shot him with a glare. “Nothing is a waste when protecting my kingdom.”
“I disagree.” Stranger crossed his arms. Something flickered in the corner of Omori’s vision. Taking a startled step back, the shadow cast by his body shivered and shook. Basil flinched, and Aubrey and Kel scrambled up as their shadows trembled. Dark tendrils slithered from them, and they yelped in surprise. Even the shadows cast by the Something’s wading in the water had vines crawl out. “My time is being wasted.”
What was this? An ambush? Omori braced himself, raising his knife, then lowering it again as the shooting tendrils went straight for the Somethings in the water.
Shadows screeched. The air filled with whirring static and distorted screaming. Dark vines wrapped around their limbs and entangled them. Omori cringed at the piercing noise and covered his ears, trying to grasp what Stranger was doing. Was this an attack on the king? Was he gathering his minions to rush them? Some sort of powerup for his lackeys?
Somethings and sharp limbs lashed and squirmed as the tendrils dragged them under. The screeching and static silenced into burbling gurgles and ripples on the water.
They watched as the ripples stilled, and the bubbles eventually stopped.
He…
Aubrey and Kel circled Stranger; pastel forms a stark contrast against the shade’s darkness.
“Woah! Cool! I didn’t know you could do that,” Kel said, the tone infuriatingly admiring.
“Thank you!” Aubrey chirped. “Now we won’t be stuck here all day.”
Omori narrowed his eyes at the unwarranted praise of his prisoner. They couldn’t be doing that! Not to mention, the specific instructions not to communicate with the criminal. Had that memory been wiped?
“But…” Basil's voice came echoey in the dripping cave. He fidgeted in place when Stranger’s eyes moved to him. “Weren’t they supposed to be your…friends…minions?”
“I-”
“They are!” Omori thought fast, mouth running and words falling out. Exhaustion pricked at his sharp mind a tad, but not enough to hinder him. “He’s attempting to trick you by appearing to help, but it’s all a scheme.”
His friends swapped confused gapes. Stranger pointed an exasperated glare at him. Omori ignored it and continued.
“Look at what a callous villain he is. Disposing his loyal minions so easily for his evil agenda.” He fought to keep the smugness from showing in his voice.
Who’s callous now?
Stranger almost laughed. Almost, but not quite, eyes hardening.
“Well, that’s not cool, man.”
“Kel’s right for once. You can’t do that to your friends!”
Basil said nothing, teal eyes observing Stranger with too much doubt and not enough shock at the reveal of the shade’s true intentions.
“Exactly,” Omori said approvingly, hiding the smile blooming on his face by turning away. “So, ignore this criminal, my friends, and let us continue our duties.”
The shade scoffed, his eye roll practically audible as they fell in line behind Omori.
Omori ignored the stiffness of his kicking feet, wading into the water. He ignored the burn in his arms in favor of assuring himself of his logic.
They’re still his minions. It doesn’t matter how many Somethings he helps me fight. It doesn’t matter what he says.
He’s still the one perpetrating the destruction of my kingdom.
It’s still his fault. Nothing else would make sense.
“Nothing else would make sense?” Stranger’s voice came clear and low in his ear despite the splashing water. “Or do you mean…nothing else would make sense in your screwed narrative? If you need to twist things so much for them to fit into that little box you’ve made…then maybe it’s your truth there’s something wrong with.”
A zing shot up his spine. The skin Stranger’s breath whispered over buzzed. He hated that he didn’t hate it as much as he should–No, he did hate it. He hated everything about Stranger. That thought needed to be disregarded immediately.
“Stop doing that,” Omori growled under his breath, cooking warmth spreading from his ears to his face. The water did nothing to cool his burning body. Skin prickling with heat, his limbs refused to move faster to get him away from Stranger.
“Does it bother you so much?” There was a smile in Stranger’s voice.
“What do you think?”
“That your thoughts speak a lot louder than your words.”
What the–
“Get out of my head!” Omori surged out of the water, whipping around to hit the smirking shadow with a furious glower. “I’m serious.”
Stranger pulled himself out of the water, crossing his arms. His entourage huddled at the tip of the water edge, trading confused looks.
“Whatever do you mean?” Stranger tipped his head, a smirk light on his face and so goddamn annoying.
“Enough of your foolish tricks.” Omori stepped closer to the shadow. He poked a hard finger into his stupidly soft chest. “How do you do that, and how do I keep you from doing it again.” A finger jab accompanied each emphasis.
Stranger’s smile, to Omori’s delight, faded with each jab until an annoyed frown overtook his face. “I don’t know, Omori.”
He gasped in outrage as the shadow stabbed his own finger into Omori’s chest. “Why don’t you tell me since the great king seems to know everything.” A jab accompanied each emphasis.
Scowling, he slapped away Stranger’s hand. “The only correct response you can answer with, servant, is the truth to my inquiry.”
“Since when did you ever want to hear the truth?”
“You think you’re so clever, aren’t you?” Omori fumed, fists clenched so tight the bite of nails dug into his skin. He resisted the urge to take a swing at the shadow.
“Maybe just more clever than you. But I suppose many could make that achievement with how you dumb down yourself with backbending denial.”
A monochrome hand grabbed a fistful of shadowed shirt, bringing Stranger’s narrowed eyes inches away from Omori’s.
“Say that again.” The words dripped violently with threat.
“And what will happen if I do? It’ll just be another tantrum, won’t it?”
Omori ground his teeth so hard that the taste of bone dust blossomed on his tongue.
This infuriating shadow. Didn’t this brainless fool know the horrible future he was building for himself brick by brick? The day Omori brought down Blackspace would be the day the worst agonies, the bleakest of torment, would rain down upon–
I can imagine it now…
I’ll have the dungeon double soundproofed to keep the shade’s screams from making it out. I’ll give myself the leisure of splurging on different constraints and torture toys. He’ll barely be conscious, only in a constant state of delirium. And then, when I’ve finally had my fill, this idiotic invader won’t even have the strength to stand. He’ll have to be carried to the guillotine, where he’ll finally be executed.
Stranger’s irritated expression shifted to mild, uncomfortable amusement as he raised an eye.
Omori startled as he realized the annoying shade had just invaded his mind again.
He tightened his grip on the shadowy shirt, ears starting to boil, their noses still inches apart. “I told you to stay out of my head.”
“Then maybe you should keep your thoughts down a bit. They’re getting out of hand, don’t you think?”
“Shut up!” Omori let go of the shirt to seize Stranger by the shoulders, resisting the urge to go for the neck.
Stranger, didn’t fight, letting himself go limp, laughing as Omori shook him back and forth. Melodic laughter and flowers stained his brain. He had to fight harder against the desire to grab the shade’s neck and squeeze. He wanted to wring this writhing, invading worm apart limb by limb. He’ll rip his pieces to pieces. He’ll bite off each shred with his teeth himself. He’d sink teeth into that neck, crushing down on the jugular and letting blood pour into his mouth–
Fury…or something, built with each laugh that fell out of Stranger’s mouth, each inhale of cool sunflowers. Omori tightened his grip, feeling the curve of his shoulders through slightly plush sweater. Fluffy hair swayed with each shake, lush tufts dried from the water, appearing…so…
Why was he so transfixed with those things? The most unimportant details about the shade left an itching impression on Omori he couldn’t seem to scratch out. It was so…annoying…
Warm hands grabbed and squeezed Omori’s wrists, and he let them stop his shaking because white eyes meeting his, twinkling with the most genuine of amusement, hypnotized him.
Is this…even anger anymore? It has to be. What else would it be? What else could it be?
He felt Stranger stiffen before leaning forward the tiniest inch and making Omori agonizingly aware of how close they still were.
“What else do you think it could be?” The shade’s gaze seized his and made him unable to move back. His heart leaped. His legs felt vaguely jelly-like; he couldn’t tell how he was still standing. Blonde hair flashed in his vision. Moon eyes blinked, and a slither of blue glinted in them momentarily.
His mouth opened. No words came out. What was even happening? What was he even letting happen?
“...I–”
Cracking boomed through the cave. Echoing thunderously, pebbles and rocks hit Omori as everything quaked.
His friends, gawking quietly, bewilderment rendering them statues, let out shouts of alarm.
“Aw, man! Not again!” Kel blurted, crashing to his knees.
“I didn’t notice that before…” Stranger sounded vaguely annoyed by the events transpiring, as if they were inconvenient.
The floor splintered and shifted under them. Omori ripped his eyes from white ones in time to see the ground beneath his feet crack open into a dark chasm.
The fall was just as unpleasant as the other times.
Air stained with the smell of stagnant, mildew water slammed against his face. His eyes were forced to squint against the cold air pouring over them. His friends’ sharp yells mingled with the roar of wind.
His hands stuck out in front of him, bracing for an impact he couldn’t see in this abyssal world.
Never mind that, he could see the incoming impact. Mud blue gravelly sand and purply rocky walls came rushing to meet him in a hard embrace.
Omori summoned red hands, bracing himself as muddy blue came one inch away from his face.
He felt himself stopped with a forceful jolt. Opening eyes he didn’t remember closing, red hands set him down on the sand.
He sat up and put a hand to his pounding chest as the red hands distributed his entourage and, regretfully, the shadow around him.
“What…what happened?” Basil’s teal hair lay disarrayed in a mess of strands and flowers. He winced as he tried to separate the flower crown from his hair, which had somehow gotten tangled in it.
“Were those the earthquakes Mari talked about?” Aubrey said, standing up shakily.
Kel bounced to his feet. “Where are we?”
Blue sand and dark walls. Peering down the hall and seeing the peek of a dark pink ladder, Omori’s heart dropped.
The–
“The abyss,” Stranger laughed. The bastard sounded happy about it. “We’ve fallen from Deepwell to the abyss.”
No… no…
Stranger practically skipped to his feet, circling Omori like a shark. “All the way from Headspace to here. The holes are getting quite deep, aren’t they, Omori?”
No, no, no!
“The lies you tell yourself don’t change reality. You can deny it all you like, but what will that do when Headspace residents free fall into Blackspace?”
No!
“Shut up. Shut up!” Omori sprung up, swinging his knife at Stranger. “I don’t want to hear another word.”
Stranger swatted the blade away, suddenly leaning close to Omori so fast he didn’t have time to react.
Eyes lidded with a quiet victory locked onto his. Stranger’s smile was cheshire.
Feeling anger smolder like heartburn, he shoved the shade roughly. The shadow’s smile didn’t fall as he stumbled back and regained footing. He just kept knowing eyes trained on Omori. It was maddening.
“They’re doing it again. Acting weird.” Kel whispered to Aubrey and Basil, not silently.
“Weird?” Omori frowned, turning his head to him. “What do you mean weird?” Didn’t they know how treacherous it was to call their king something so insulting? Any other tyrant would have them punished for defamation, but Omori, being a gracious ruler, would excuse this infraction.
“Well…” Aubrey began. “You know…suddenly acting like…friends with each other.”
“What.”
Kel nodded. “Whenever you start talking about that mumbo jumbo stuff.”
Basil fidgeted with his now freed flower crown. “It’s true…”
An eye twitched dangerously. Stranger hid a snicker behind a hand.
“Enough of that nonsense. How often do I have to repeat that this shadow is a war criminal?”
“As often as I have to remind you about the truth.”
Omori pointed his knife at the shade again. “Will you shut up?”
“They’re doing it again…” Kel whispered, nudging Basil. The Royal Royal just looked questioningly at Omori.
“Enough. I mean it.” Omori massaged a temple, releasing a long-suffering sigh.
He glared down the hallway at the dark pink ladder, trying to decide.
Is this area even worth exploring? There’s nothing for us here.
I can simply lift us out with red hands and forget about this place…and everything in it again.
Stranger’s smile dropped. He glared at Omori. “Will you really not even check on her?”
“Who’s her? You guys are always talking about things we don’t understand, and it’s not fair.” Aubrey pouted. “We wanna know too! Right, Basil?!”
“I…” The Royal Royal squeaked as Aubrey jostled him with her shoulder coercingly. “I-I guess?”
“We’re not talking about anything!” Omori snipped. “Never mind this. Fine, let’s go check on The Abyss’ condition.”
He was not giving in to Stranger’s pushing. That was not what was happening. He simply needed to make sure there were no unaccounted gaps to Blackspace. That was all.
While it’s slightly more acceptable for a Headspace denizen to fall and get stuck here, it'll be a disaster if a hole leads them into Blackspace.
An open connection like that will leak into Headspace.
“Blackspace is already leaking into Headspace. Maybe you’ve missed a few ‘open connections,’ Omori. Or maybe your repression is speeding it up. Who knows?”
Omori drew circles on his knife and disregarded him. His friends fell in line, and he walked them all briskly to the ladder.
Climbing down, the muddy blue sand became duller. Their feet kicking aside sand echoed across the corridors of the rocky cavern.
Shadows polluted the dark halls. The sight aggravated Omori, like nails on a chalkboard, but they showed no interest in the group. He decided to search everywhere for holes first before obliterating them out of the area.
Some cracks, small and thin like twigs, spotted the ground, but nothing big enough to be worried about.
See? The hub’s fine. It’ll be fine. Merely a few cracks…nothing big enough for Blackspace to bleed through…
Stranger hummed to himself. “Let’s see about that.” He pulled ahead to go down the next ladder. Omori’s mouth dropped open in rage as he got pulled along by the shadow's chain.
“You are not to walk ahead, servant,” Omori snarled, practically being dragged down the ladder rungs. His foot slipped as his arm jerked, and he very much nearly broke an ankle. “The king is supposed to go first, and it is a punishable offense to–”
Stranger held up a dismissing hand as his friends scurried down after him. “Enough of that, Omori, will you? It’s gotten old now.”
“Don’t tell me to shut up!”
Huffing, he sped up his aching legs to overtake the shade. A few chain loops around his wrist shortened the leash, and Stranger’s explorable range shrank.
The environment was darker. The purple walls had splits veining through them, and the cracks on the ground were the size of branches. Somethings grew denser.
It’s still passable... This is fixable. This is still fixable.
Stranger sniffed at the thought, turning to the next ladder. Omori rushed ahead before the shade could drag him again.
The caves' turns and twists grew more intricate. His friends stumbled cluelessly behind him as he dodged past multiplying shadows and widening cracks, steps purposeful.
“You’ve been here before, haven’t you, Omori?” Aubrey inquired. “You seem like you know your way around.”
Omori stiffened at the question. “A…A king knows all parts of his kingdom.”
“Is this part of our kingdom, though?” Kel slipped past a Something with long spider legs, making a face at the monstrosity. “I don’t ever remember Mari reading this place off the checklist.”
“There are a lot of places you don’t know about,” Stranger hummed.
“What?” Aubrey skipped closer to him. “Really? Which places are those, Omori? Can we go explore them?”
“No.” He unsheathed his knife and swiped a deer shadow from in front of the next ladder.
“How come?!” Kel sounded petulant.
“Because they don’t exist.” Omori slid down the ladder and made a face in disgust as his foot sank into a mass of black goo and eyes. It whispered a distorted cry for help as it faded away. “Stop listening to the criminal's words. His intricate lies are too complex for you, my friends. He’ll end up deceiving you at this rate.”
“Slightly condescending, don’t you think?” Stranger gave a distasteful tug on the chain as Omori stopped and slowed his rush for the next ladder.
“I kinda agree, “Aubrey huffed, cheeks puffed. “What do you mean too complex? Maybe for Kel, but not me or Basil!” She ignored Kel’s indignant noise of disagreement and Basil’s uncomfortable shuffle. The slightest glint of red in his Royal Royal’s eyes caught Omori’s attention. It must just be the lighting. “Can’t we just know? It feels like you’re keeping so many secrets…”
The cave was dim enough now for seeing to be slightly difficult. Eyes stared back at them in the shadows. Many eyes. There were even more Somethings here.
Omori rounded on her, words clipped. “What are you on about now? Secrets? What secrets?”
“I don’t know!” Words wavering, she flinched at what Omori presumed was a pretty nasty expression on his face. “It’s just– It’s been really hard to remember things these days, and it’s-it’s kinda scary, but then it seems like you know why.”
“Why is your bad memory my fault now? Don’t be ridiculous, Aubrey.”
Stranger clicked his tongue. His sharp eyes, filled with a special kind of disapproval, made Omori avert his gaze.
Noticing the way Aubrey deflated with teary eyes and the comforting hand Basil laid on her shoulder, Omori decided to rephrase. Maybe he was being a bit short with her, but could anyone blame him? Why was she bringing up such useless topics while the kingdom fell apart?
“It’s been a stressful time for everyone, Aubrey, not just you. It’s natural to feel that there are some gaps in your memory, but I assure you they mean nothing important.”
“Oh, you’re unbelievable,” Stranger hissed, gaze hard and narrowed into slits. Omori tried to glare back, but the righteous anger burning in the moon eyes made him want to avoid it.
It’s just temporary, isn’t it? Things aren’t going to be like this forever.
I’ll fix everything, and it’ll be okay again. Aubrey won’t remember any of this in the end. She won’t complain if a bit of altered truths kept her home and days of picnics safe.
A clang sounded in the dark room. Omori flinched as he felt the chain go loose. White eyes and a vague shadow outline drew farther away as Stranger strode to the next ladder.
Yanking the chain up, Omori ground his teeth at the open, unattached neck shackle. The goddamn shadow wasn’t supposed to be able to do that!
“Did…Did he take off the chains?” Basil asked. The red in his eyes felt like it had grown since the last time he looked.
He clenched his fist. The question was delivered so genuinely with doe eyes, but it couldn’t help but feel mocking.
“Just…come on! Hurry up!” He set off at a fast sprint and his friends stumbled into pace.
In a fluid movement, he slid down the ladder, having to squint his eyes as the world became darker.
Seeing fluffy hair around the corner, Omori clenched his jaw and followed, nearly being able to ignore the cracks big enough to trip and break an ankle in, the layer of grey mush coating the ground smelling of rot and decomposition, and the air replete with ear itchingly loud static humming from the Somethings taking up walking space.
“Omori…this is really creepy…” Aubrey mumbled as they passed a skeleton. It had a suspiciously familiar bow on its skull. “I don’t like it anymore…”
She, for once, didn’t grab for his arm; instead, she reached for the comforting hand Basil offered and allowed Kel to pat her a bit too roughly on the back.
“Aw, c’mon, Aubrey! This is nothing compared to the stuff we beat all the time,” Kel pumped a fist.
“I’m a bit scared too…” Basil offered, smile trembling. The red glint in his eyes seemed to have grown just the tiniest bit. “But I feel better being here with you all. We can get through this. I believe in us, Aubrey!”
Aubrey smiled, not even glancing at Omori to see if he would offer encouragement. She seemed upset with him, but that was fine. It would be fine. When everything was fixed, things would return to how they always were.
“Surely you recognize them, too,” Stranger’s voice reached out. “Your friends’ bones.”
Omori flinched, freezing at the shadow standing in front of the ladder before them.
Aubrey and Kel exchanged puzzled glances. The distress contorting Basil’s face further illuminated the red in his eyes.
“Stranger. Stop running immediately and put back on your restraints,” Omori instructed, willing power and authority into his voice. “A punishment has already been added to your sentence, but if you obey…I’ll…I’ll have mercy just this once and remove it.”
“I told you to stop with that, Omori. You can play pretend king all you’d like, but shouldn’t you know when to set down the toy crown?”
Omori’s lip curled, feeling his eye twitch, warmth radiating off his heating ears. His friends’ eyes dug into his back, adding kindling to the fire. His head pounded from it all.
“You always make things so difficult! Can’t you just shut up for once and put the stupid chain back on!? I don’t have the time for this–
“I make things difficult? Me?” Stranger stepped forward, hand on chest disbelieving. “How do you think I feel?”
“And why should I care how you feel?!”
He hated the way uninvited guilt snapped and held his throat in a chokehold when Stranger flinched almost imperceptibly. The shadow dropped his hand, looking off to the side before closing his eyes with a sigh.
“One step forward, two steps back…” Stranger murmured to himself. He opened his eyes and turned to Omori again. The guilt wouldn’t banish no matter how hard Omori tried; he avoided the shadow’s gaze. “Fine. I’ll be patient for a bit longer.”
Stranger gestured to the ladder. “Why don’t you take a look at who you’ve banished? She must be lonely. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the company.”
Omori didn’t move, feet rooted. That is, until Aubrey and Kel skipped past him, racing for the ladder.
“Wh- Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Omori snarled.
Aubrey looked back at him. “But…isn’t this who you were talking about earlier? I wanna see who it is!”
“Omori, buddy, pal, c’mon,” Kel whined, pleading. “One look won’t hurt.”
He glared at them, but they did not take the hint and get back in line.
“Come on, Basil! Let’s go see!” Aubrey chirped at the Royal Royal.
Omori looked back at Basil, stilling as he saw the way his eyes flickered with red.
“I…I…I…” The Royal Royal looked more terrified than ever.
“Leave the flowerboy here,” Stranger said suddenly. “An area so close to Blackspace is not suitable for him.”
Aubrey paused, staring at Stranger, her feet on the ladder rungs. She exchanged a glance with Kel before they both looked at Omori, waiting for his response.
Omori fiddled with his knife, drawing lines on the blade that had dulled a little with use. “I…ahem. As the king, I say Basil will be safer waiting here. We’ll be back in a moment, okay?”
The tenseness in Basil’s shoulders dropped as a relieved smile came over his face. The red blinked one more time before disappearing, and teal dominated his eyes again. “Thanks…I don’t know why, but I…I was just feeling really weird.”
“Y’know, what’s Blackspace? You guys keep mentioning it–”
Omori cut Kel off with a roar. “Are you going to ambush me with accusations now, too?! Are you going to say I’m hiding secrets? That I know why you have memory problems?!”
Kel flinched. “N-No, I was just–j-jeez…”
“Stop questioning me,” Omori hissed, voice a quake with fury. “Or I’ll start considering penalties for this…this defamation.”
Kel glowered at the ground, kicking a stone. Looking at Omori warily, Aubrey hesitated before disappearing as she climbed down. Kel followed, keeping indignant eyes from meeting Omori’s glare. Basil twisted his hands, staring at the ground.
Omori stepped forward, passing Stranger and catching the words the shadow whispered.
“You always did have the habit of lashing out when the stress got bad, huh?”
Omori slipped a venomous look at the shade, feeling the poison in his glare as he descended the ladder.
The world turned dark gray, and irritating static became all-consuming. It was constant and buzzing, trying to get in his ears like a pestering fly.
His friends waited for him at the bottom, their rebellious excitement having faded upon spotting the creature they had been so fascinated to see moments before.
Holes large and wide broke up the floor. The moving black seeping out of it sliced Omori’s heart with cold metal.
“Is…Is that supposed to be her?” Aubrey raised a shaky, pointed finger to the tentacles and head. “Who…”
“That’s none–”
“Abbi.”
Omori stiffened at the interruption. He glowered at Stranger, who was leaning on the ladder. Aubrey and Kel turned confused gazes at him.
“That’s Abbi,” the shadow clarified. “You at least remember who she is, don’t you, Omori?”
Omori tightened his fist, and his lip curled in a scowl.
Moving black wormed under his shoes, pressing and flexing against the soles of his feet. After a beat, he loosened and let the furrowed brows and narrow eyes of anger he was trying to maintain drop. It took too many muscles to glare, and he didn’t have the luxury of wasting his energy on that.
“I don’t have time for this, Stranger,” Omori said in a gasp, the words being an exhale of annoyance that didn’t do justice to the frustration slithering through his bloodstream, heating it all into one big bubbling boil.
“No, you don’t,” Stranger tipped his head, eyes shining in an unnameable glint. “Not with the way things are. Not with the way things have been.”
Stranger came closer, and Omori’s feet stepped back without his permission.
Stranger smiled at this. “What will you do now…king Omori?” Another step. Omori scowled and backed away again. “Do you believe there’s still a way to fix this?” Gaze locking him in their blinding depths. “How will his majesty save his failing kingdom?”
Omori wanted to hit him. To crack him across the face like he once did at the banquet. But he couldn’t make a fist because he was tired. He was tired of Stranger’s harassing mind games and the doubt they brought with them.
He was tired of his creation drying, growing brittle, and browning despite his attempts to maintain it. Crumbling between his fingers like a goddamn dying flower.
But, he would power through it all. He…had to. The king did not lose. He couldn’t.
“You…Stranger,” Omori seethed, trembling with broiling, acidic hate. “You…are the most troublesome foe yet. And I…I will, even if it’s the last thing I do…I will bring you to your knees. This isn’t over. This isn’t even the beginning.”
Stranger stared. No rolling eyes or exasperated sighs. A careful gaze observed him, unreadable. Omori tried his best to meet them with a self-assured resolve. He fought not to waver under the scrutiny.
And he failed. Breaking contact as the full moon eyes kept him in their spotlight.
Stranger finally shifted, arms folding behind his back as he regarded Omori. “No…I think I disagree with your last statement. It’s not over…but it’s been ending for quite a while now. The beginning has long passed.”
That wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. Omori was the one who decided when it began and when it ended. And if he never made that choice, they’ll stay in limbo forever, where he’ll have all the time to perfectly plan the happily ever after for the dream—assuring his victory.
He needed to say something. He needed to stand his ground in front of his friends. He needed to let this shade know he could never sway Omori. That he’d never be able to win.
And when he opened his mouth to do just that, the tentacles around them writhed and twitched. An eye snapped open and glared at them on the head.
His friends stumbled back as a tentacle swung towards them, fast and lethal.
But Omori was faster. With a clean slice, a gash opened, and the tentacle retreated while another made its onslaught.
How dare she? How did the idea of attacking Omori ever cross her mind?
She should have spent her time here repenting and planning her apology for going against the king—not what this is!
“Going against the king?” Stranger parroted, incredulous. “Saving the dreamer was going against the king?”
“The dreamer didn’t want to be saved! No–I mean– I didn’t want to be saved!” He sank his blade into another tentacle that tried to slam him. Aubrey and Kel recovered and caught the memo, raising weapons and diving into battle.
“Of course, he wanted to be saved. There would have been nothing anyone could do if he truly didn’t. In his subconscious, he cried for help, and Abbi answered.”
Omori sidestepped a glop of black droop dripping from a tentacle. A drop of it hit him as he slashed at Abbi, and he could feel his already weak muscles weaken more. He needed to stay strong. He needed to hold out for a bit longer.
“No! No, there was not! There was no cry! There was nothing! She intruded and…and…–” He held up his arms to shield himself as a tentacle slammed him. Goddamn, Stranger distracted him!
Aubrey and Kel rushed to pick him up as he landed on the ground. He swatted a hand at them. “I’m fine. Just–fight!” He shoved himself to his feet and stormed Abbi again, knife a blur as it swished through the air, dealing multiple cuts.
“What intrusion?” Stranger barked a laugh. “Abbi is…was the dreamer’s friend. A source of comfort as he hid himself away. He created her to fill the void, and she did what she was supposed to. And then you punished her for that.”
“The dreamer…no…I…she–” Omori stopped with a frustrated groan. He didn’t need to answer. He didn’t need to take this.
He dodged a tentacle, which slammed the ground where he stood. Aubrey and Kel charged and slipped to a stop as it splashed goop on the ground at them. As he paused to scrub the dark liquid from his eyes, the tentacle wrapped around Kel, bringing him into the air. He yelled, his portrait growing afraid as the tendril prepared to throw him.
Omori stabbed the tentacle. It writhed as the blade sunk its entirety into yielding flesh. It drew away, dropping Kel with a grunt on the floor.
This has gone on enough. I can’t keep wasting my time here.
He summoned his red hands, which slipped from under his shirt and materialized in the air. With red flashing, they seized Abbi’s tentacles. Weaving through and under each other, the tentacles became tied together, forming a mass of tangled black shoelaces.
With a tremendous squeeze, the shoelaces were crushed into a fine dust like an old shoe under a garbage compressor.
“Charge!” Omori raised his knife, Aubrey and Kel a step behind. With a final slash, a chop from Aubrey’s axe, and a dunked ball from Kel, Abbi’s resistance crumbled.
“Please…no more…I am...sorry…” Defeated, Abbi stared up at him with her eye. “Please…please…forgive me…my best friend…”
Omori paused at the words. He slowly raised his knife above his head, tip aimed for Abbi’s eye, ready to end the denizen who dared speak the truth–ahem, a vile falsehood–to the dreamer.
“Omori!”
He flinched at the snarl. He turned to look at Stranger, the shade’s eyes a light beam with his fury.
Keep your head raised. Don’t back down. You’re the king. You heed to no one–
“Oh, sure,” Stranger marched up to him, grabbing the hand that held his knife. Omori flinched from the touch, but the shade tightened his grip. Omori scowled back.
“Nothing but empty consolations.”
Omori felt himself sizzle with fury, hand crackling with lightning. “What do you think you’re doing!? Do you know the felony it is to stop a king from enacting punish–”
“You’ve fallen so far.”
Omori blinked, lightning fizzling out. Stranger’s gaze hardened into disappointment. A disappointment so grave that it made Omori’s back prickle with the sudden awareness of everything. His neck crawled with stares from Aubrey and Kel.
Stranger loosened his grip, eyes imploring. “You’ve become incredibly cruel, Omori.”
Omori’s face burned. His eyes flicked from Stranger to the ground. Words came from his throat feebly, straw-like, and brittle. Something not befitting of a king. “That’s…I am not. You…you can’t trick me with your…I’m protecting the d–...the kingdom. That does not make me...”
“How little do you value others that you’d erase someone you once called a friend? All because she tried to help you accept the truth. All to keep yourself selfishly ignorant in your delusions.”
“A friend…?” Kel murmured to Aubrey. “I didn’t know Omori had other friends besides us.”
“Why were we fighting her then?” Aubrey replied under her breath.
“She wasn’t–she was the dreamer’s– I mean– God!” Omori yanked himself from Stranger’s grasp. He threw his knife to the ground with a clang. “Enough! I’ve had enough. Just leave me alone. Leave me alone!”
Omori stomped to the ladder, turning to point a finger at Abbi. “I’ll execute her along with Stranger later!”
Aubrey and Kel exchanged glances. Omori hesitated at the ladder before darting back to retrieve his knife again.
“Thank you…dreamer,” Abbi voiced. Omori spared her a startled glance, eyes darting away as the unwelcome twang of guilt chewed at his head.
He stormed away again, and Stranger and his friends followed this time. He powered through the weariness in his bones with the colors flashing and burning in him, underneath monochrome skin, scaling the ladder quickly.
Omori couldn’t explain the stinging in his veins, which spread in curled tendrils, or the prickling of his neck back as he felt them stare at him. He didn’t like it. He hated it. He wanted it to stop.
I’m…not cruel. I made a colorful world for everyone. This…this is what paradise is. This is heaven.
“If this is heaven…I’d hate to see hell.”
Omori reached the top of the ladder and saw Basil sitting on the ground, knees to his chest. Seeing the rage on Omori’s face, The Royal Royal hesitated with his friendly greeting.
“You have seen it! You came from it. You want to know!? Well, it’s Blackspace! Blackspace is hell!” He spun to bite at Stranger. He gestured to the shade’s entirety with a sneer. “And you…you’d be the most disgusting demon there is. A…a…” His friends came out from behind Stranger, looking at Omori curiously as they waited for him to finish his thought.
“A…” Omori’s face burned as Stranger stared with a bored expression and crossed arms. He was a king but couldn’t even formulate a proper sentence? A ruler should be well-spoken and have a vast vocabulary. Damn this all. He spat out the first thing that came to mind.
“An incubus!”
Silence.
Stranger blinked, slowly uncrossing his arms. Squinting eyes and a slack jaw replaced the bored expression. “What?”
Omori went rigid. “Wait…no…no, that’s not what I meant–”
Snickering cut him off swiftly. Stranger swayed unsteadily on his feet as it exploded into roaring laughter. His hand covered his mouth, moon eyes crescent with unfiltered mirth as mellifluous chuckles slipped through fingers.
The heat burned.
Kel turned to Aubrey and Basil. “I don’t get it...was that funny? What’s an incu–”
“Enough!” Omori shouted. He pointed at Stranger. “Stop that ridiculous show and shut up!”
Stranger’s giggling eventually died down to a wide grin. He clasped his hands behind his back, eyes coquettish.
“My, that’s a very–”
“No! No, don’t say anything,” Omori seethed. “Not a word!”
Omori yanked the chain out from where he had slipped it into his pocket. Wrapping a good length of it around the shade’s mouth before he could even blink and then tying it off into a holdable strand.
Amusement refused to fade from Stranger’s eyes as Omori pointed a finger close to his chest.
“Don’t even think of taking it off again.”
The shade hummed, eyes looking to the side with faux innocence.
He wouldn’t let Stranger get to him. He was a…a virus that had crawled his way in here and made everything…more difficult than it needed to be.
Well, Omori just needed to keep it simple.
The other colors flaring needed to go. He was monochrome, after all. And that’s how he’d keep this situation as well.