Chapter 175: Believe (2/2)
”{Sleep, devourer,}” she replied curtly. ”{Believe her. Believe that you can feel what you seek. I also know the other reason why you are scared of lying to her, hurt her.}”
'…'
”{You have smelled it many times already; the affection that she holds for you. And as much as you would like to accept it, you are scared of doing so because of something that terrifies you even more; yourself. So, why not take the first step today? Learn to trust the feelings others have for you and believe that they can reach you and help you.}”
'…horny cat, were you a sort of psychiatrist before dying?'
”{…did you have to ruin the mood like that?}”
Rakna huffed and cracked one eye open. His iris moved to look at the sleeping face of Flavia and with a small squint, he triggered Gigantism again. He employed it to its limit for the first time and soon realized that he could get even smaller than Tyran.
He shrunk until he was about the size of a kitten. He looked around at the proportionally bigger surroundings and slowly walked closer to Flavia. He curled himself right below her pillow. He was essentially leaning under her chin at that point.
He looked at her for a second, noticing a small smile forming on her face, before closing his eyes and letting himself be carried by the comfort.
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.
..
…a young man marred in blood walked down the quiet road of a small village. With each step he took, a bloody imprint of a foot was left behind him. The knives he held in his hands dripped this same life liquid at a morbidly consistent rhythm. Two other drops were trickling from his face.
In every direction around him, the light of the moon was shining over even larger pools of blood and if you followed their traces back to their source… the corpses of men, women, children, and elderly were lying motionless.
After walking for what felt like an eternity, the young man stopped. In front of him stood an older man with hair grayed by age.
”…kid, what have you done?” He spoke to the boy but there was no answer. The young man stayed silent and kept his head down. The blood on his knives still dribbling blood.
Not even a few seconds had passed, but an obscene amount of blood was pooling at his feet. It was flowing out of his body as if he was made of it. The old man didn't seem to notice it. He simply glared sharply at the boy.
”I will give you one last chance. We talked about this, kid. Answer before I'm forced to-”
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”The pool…”
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The old man was silenced. Rather, he seemed stunned. The young man slowly lifted his head and he was even more dazed. The boy's eyes were bloodshot to unreal levels. Every vein in his retinas had burst. The two streams of blood that had been sliding down his face were his tears.
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”The pool…”
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The boy looked more like a demon given flesh rather than a human.
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”The pool…”
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He started walking again and blood started coming out of his mouth as he spoke the same words over and over again.
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”The pool…”
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He did not walk toward the old man. He approached one of the bodies and loomed over it for a time before lifting a knife with clear intent.
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”The pool…”
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But before the blade could be brought down, a hand grasped his wrist.
”Rakna!” The old man shouted with thunderous authority. ”Snap out of it!”
The young man didn't seem to hear any of it. The blood at his feet suddenly changed from a small puddle to an entire sea flooding the village. It was growing higher and higher.
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”The… pool… will… drown… you…”
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He uttered one last time and like a mirage, the old man disappeared, he drove his knife toward the body at his feet, and at the same time, the blood drowned the world. The buildings, the corpses, and the very earth vanished as if swallowed by the red sea.
Within it, the boy lifelessly lifted his second weapon and pressed the blade against his throat with the same line coming out of his mouth over and over again. After repeating it more than a hundred times, he was about to drive the knife into his flesh when he suddenly froze.
His hand trembled and blue lines were lit all across his arm. His eyes spewing tears of blood dilated and looked downward. He tried to use his other hand to push the knife but it was also invaded by blue lines. His head mechanically tilted and his empty bloodshot gaze roamed without focus.
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”The pool wi-!”
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His mouth was shut by a pair of arms formed from the blood around him. They wrapped around him and sealed all of his movements. They gradually became warmer and warmer; the blood was heating up and turning paler in color.
Then, the pain came and along with it, he resurfaced, and gasped.
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Rakna clamped down his mouth. He woke up with his limbs in pain. His pupils shook as he took in his surroundings. He quickly noticed that he couldn't move. The first reason was the blue glow illuminating his fur from its roots.
With the small control that he had over his body, he glanced to the sides and spotted the head of a worried Pronos who had evidently bit and poisoned him. Most likely because his claws had extended without his knowing. He could imagine what he could have done with those while asleep, small or not.
The second reason was obviously the arms tightly wrapped around him. Flavia was hugging him as if he was a plushy and pressing him against her chest. Thankfully, she was still asleep so that meant she was unharmed.
Rakna grunted and used his tails to move his body to a better position. While still constricted by her arms, he turned around so that he was facing her. When he saw her peaceful smile, his mind went back to the arms that grasped him while in the sea of blood.
Higure was right. They had reached him.
'Believe, eh?' He snorted and his lips formed a smile that wouldn't be seen by anyone. 'I'll try.'