The Jester of Apocalypse

Chapter 89: The Thing Within the Cave

Within a shimmering, nigh-impenetrable barrier, the Great God sat in his mortal disguise, biting his nails. His eyes were bloodshot, and his leg was bouncing in place.

“How!?”

Astrador had sacrificed both his arms to restrict access to this realm, yet that brat was here anyway, dragging several people in before a day had passed and staying inside longer than he should be allowed to.

So how?

Astrador turned, glancing down the mouth of the cave behind him. He could hear faint whispers and echoes.

It was laughing at him.

Astrador stopped biting his fingers. He could move his arms in this realm since this wasn’t his true body, but they still felt numb since he had used that method to seal them.

He turned to the cave entrance and laughed right back, “This was your fault, wasn’t it?” It was a manic, unhinged, and, most importantly, panicked laugh.

This was no joking matter.

How far was that thing willing to go? This was already far too much, but as if it would care about something as trivial as the integrity of the border between existence and non-existence.

No… It wouldn’t stop at anything. Astrador knew it. It would annihilate all in the blink of an eye if it could.

“That thing… It must never be set free.”

He would have to act again. They had far too much time in this place.

So he would have to cut their time short.

Astrador got up and placed his hand on the barrier. He clicked his tongue. As expected, he could only leave if he put the border down, making his sacrifice meaningless. Not to mention, he had made the sacrifice for a reason in the first place.

No matter.

He hadn’t lived this long without picking up a few tricks along the line.

***

It took a step forward and a deep breath.

Then, it turned directions again. Its toothy tentacles pulled it through the thick obsidian growth, allowing it to move completely unabated. The demon paused and dropped to the ground.

It got up again, standing far more firmly this time. It scratched the back of its head and stretched.

The tentacles were retracted back into its body. It walked over to an obsidian brush, breaking off a small branch. It gripped it firmly and felt it crumble beneath its palm.

“ᏔᏔᏔᏔᏔuuuҾҾҾҾҾҾuuuҾҾҾҾҾҾ” It spluttered, spitting black ooze everywhere.

It walked, combing through the thick growth, but it didn’t shift as usual. Now, it just ran. It came across a few thicker bushes. Once it did, it snapped another branch off. It cocked its head as it seemed to be holding up beneath its grip.

Yet, it was to no avail. Soon, this fragile piece had shattered in its palm as well. It walked around, endlessly searching for a branch that would be good enough for its goal.

It finally found it. It gripped the branch of a shrub, and it didn’t shatter beneath its fist. So it broke off a roughly dagger-shaped piece. Then it broke off another. It held one of the daggers in a standard grip and the other in a reverse grip.

Then it turned and sniffed, sensing nothing of importance in a place as large as this.

So it ran.

Eventually, it came across a bit of destruction. It turned in one direction, ran, and found nothing along the path.

So it turned back. It picked another path and, yet again, found nothing.

So it turned back again.

It repeated this several times until it finally found a trail. Then, it followed it.

Eventually, it came across a cave entrance.

A single branch on a single shrub had a bit chipped off. Its gaping maw of teeth stretched out, revealing its nasty innards and several eyes peering from within.

“ҾҾuuᏔᏔuᏔᏔuҾҾҾҾҾ… ᏔååååᏔå… KᏔuҾᏔuҾ… ꃈꃈꃈꃈuҾ… ꃈuååuunDu uҾ”

It ran into the cave.

***

Hunter worked much slower after he had been stabbed. The stab wound was only partially to blame, though. He had received more significant injuries in daily spars, so this was nothing in comparison.

The thing that was really slowing him down was… Shame.

He felt humiliated.

His first reaction to getting stabbed basically amounted to ‘What did I do!?’. It was a rhetorical question, as he found it evident that he hadn’t done anything wrong. He was literally just there to help! So why the fuck would she stab him!? This was insane! In what world was such an action justified!?

It was natural that he would be furious after that interaction. It took him quite a while to calm down. It was stupid. He was just trying to help.

Yet, Marven clearly believed it was his fault.

Marven's reaction was one thing, since he couldn’t possibly be more biased in this situation, but even that Dukean guy, a complete stranger and outsider, wasn’t taking his side in this argument.

So… Had he really done something to deserve getting stabbed?

It was an unwelcome thought. One that defied what he knew of rational behavior. Stabbing someone who was merely trying to help you was insane and unjustifiable. No two ways around it...

He wanted to claw his eyes out in frustration. Why would they act as if it wasn't a big deal, then!? How did that make any sense!?

Could it really be possible that it was Hunter's fault? What did he do then?

He wasn’t being dismissive anymore, but rather, he genuinely wanted to know. Hunter knew he wasn’t the roundest pill in the bottle, yet, this went above his stupidity.

This was important.

He had to know what he did wrong. Or at least try to find out what he did that the others perceived as being wrong. A big part of him wanted to be better, but how could he achieve such a goal when he couldn't even understand this?

A while had passed since the incident. Hunter’s wound had already mostly stabilized. No more blood ran out, and it looked to be healing for the most part.

Hunter had picked up the pace with his work, hoping to get his mind off the subject. They were close to clearing out the entire cavern of the obsidian shrub, so they would likely soon be handed another task.

The moment they finished, though, Marven told them to rest a bit instead while he discussed the plans for construction with Gabrias.

Hunter went together with Dukean as they awkwardly headed to the water cistern.

Dukean wasn’t walking at the same speed as Hunter, but rather a little faster.

They had removed all the branches, but there were still a few trunks, fat chunks of obsidian that had to be removed, which was likely their next task. Dukean walked over and around them as if they weren’t even there, but Hunter nearly tripped a few times.

Hunter opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words to say.

Dukean turned his head away and did his best to pretend that Hunter wasn’t there.

They walked into the semi-storage room that held their water. It was a small cave opening placed at a dead end. Neave had cleaned this room back when they first arrived, so there weren’t even any stumps to be seen.

It was a small, empty room with uneven walls and a lopsided ceiling.

Once they were at the cistern, Dukean grabbed some water using one of the glasses they had placed next to the container. He turned to Hunter, paused for a second, then grabbed a second glass and filled it up as well.

He reached into the cistern, grabbing the perfect amount of water in one fell swoop. He handed the glass to Hunter, who took it and awkwardly nodded to Dukean.

Dukean sat right next to the cistern, and Hunter was about to do so, but as he half squatted, he glanced at Dukean and straightened his back.

Hunter was about to move further away, but Dukean sighed, “Please, just sit beside me.”

Hunter half-nodded awkwardly and sat not too close to Dukean.

There was a considerable size difference between them. Although Hunter was two years younger than Dukean, he was over half a head taller and much bulkier in build. Yet, it was hard to tell, as he made himself as small as he could while sitting beside the opulent young master.

Dukean took a sip of water, frowning less now as he was already getting used to the horrid water. He turned to Hunter and sighed, “You look like you want to ask me something.”

Hunter jolted a bit and nodded meekly,

Dukean waved a hand, “Get it over with, then.”

Hunter opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. Dukean gave him an encouraging nod, and Hunter finally spoke, “Back then… What did I do wrong?”

Dukean frowned and responded, “If you want me to take your side, then forget it.”

“No! I’m…!” Hunter frowned and spoke louder than he intended, “I want to know what I did wrong, ok? Because I have no idea!”

“Oh please…”

“What!? I wanted to help her, but I clearly messed something up!”

Dukean stared at him, mouth slightly open, “You messed... Oh, oh… Oh! Oh, I’m sorry. I completely misunderstood you. No, I apologize. I thought you… Sorry.” Dukean scratched the back of his head awkwardly, taking another sip of the water and turning to Hunter, “You honestly want to know what you did wrong?"

Hunter nodded, and Dukean asked him a question, "You like that girl, no?”

“What!? No, I… She is… No, she used to be my betrothed, so I just…” Hunter lowered his head and distractedly twirled a finger around in the dust on the ground.

Dukean shook his head, “Dude, wrong place, wrong time.” He sighed again and touched Hunter’s shoulder, “I’m not sure how much I believe you had no idea what you were doing, but I will spell it out for you anyway. You weren’t offering help. You were trying to seem cool and reliable.”

“No, I really wanted to…”

“You wanted to help her do what? Carry a branch? A twig light enough that a child could pick it up? And you wanted to help her do it? By doing what? Grabbing it out of her hand? Carrying it for her despite there being a room full of twigs you could pick up instead? Simply doing your job better would have been more helpful since we would have finished our task sooner.”

Hunter paused, looking away from Dukean and frowning, “I…” He closed his mouth, deepened the frown, and grabbed the back of his neck, rubbing it slightly, “She could have just…”

“... Said no?”

Hunter froze.

"I'm pretty sure she even told you to piss off." Dukean couldn’t help but chuckle as he could quite literally see the realization set in, “Oh, wow, you really had no idea, did you?” Dukean got up and patted Hunter on the back, “Give up, man. As I said, this isn’t the time and place for romance. Try and look at things from her perspective. She is stuck with five men in a nightmare realm where we are slowly losing our minds. Would you feel safe in a situation like that? If you were a woman, would you really appreciate a man hitting on you in that situation, even after being told to piss off?”

“Well, she didn't have to fucking stab me.”

"I don't think she wanted to do that either, judging by her reaction..."

Hunter didn't have much to say to that. Dukean smiled a bit and put a hand around his neck, "Don't beat yourself up too much. You're a kid, and you're in the same situation she is. This endless, cold darkness isn't particularly conducive to rational behavior. The last thing you need is another thing to drive you nuts. You fucked up, and she fucked up, and now you're even. Does it really matter who is more right or who could have done what better? Fighting about that is likely to get you stabbed again."

That got a small chuckle out of the bigger boy.

Dukean pulled his arm back and got up, "Besides that, you shouldn’t pursue her even after we return outside.”

“Why?”

“She is a strong woman, and you are a weak man.”

Hunter wanted to get angry at that. He tried to retort… Yet Dukean’s words rang true.

Dukean continued, “I don’t mean that she is more powerful than you either, I…”

“I know.”

The green-haired boy was taken aback, “I see… Well, best of luck to you anyway. Work on yourself first, but be warned, while you change as a person, she will too. You will drift apart, and that’ll probably be it. I advise you to give up now. There is no shortage of women in this world. Pursuing childhood crushes like this isn’t worth it. I know from experience.”

Hunter frowned, this time in confusion, “How old are you again…?”

Dukean grinned and winked at Hunter, then walked out of the room and left him alone.

Hunter sat there for a while, absent-mindedly rubbing the wound on his chest. It itched deeply as it entered the final stage of healing.

He thought about meditating a bit, perhaps trying to cultivate to get his mind off things.

ҾҾҾҾ… ҾҾҾ… ҾҾ….

“What was that!?” Hunter lifted his head. He could hear shuffling and muffled whispers from outside the room. He ran out, only to spot Marven standing in the middle of the room, facing a cave with a black branch in his hands.

Harel left her room, peeking behind the edge to try and see what was happening.

Marven kept his eyes locked on the pitch-black cave opening. He got in a stance and whispered under his breath, “Dukean… Go find Neave. Now.”

ҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾ

The noise abruptly stopped.

Dukean got up and started running. Harel, Hunter, and Gabrias grabbed a branch in panic, scurrying to hide behind Marven.

Soon enough, footsteps could be heard coming from deep within the cave.