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The world swirled. Nithel’s stomach flipped and he appeared in another room. Giant. With bright walls, almost appearing to be made of ivory or alabaster. The floor was smooth, with golden designs twirling through it, as if they had been melted into the floor. He blinked rapidly at the sudden light, and the despairing fog did not leave his mind. Was this even still the castle?

Four people were in the room, only one a female. All dressed in clothes he’d never even considered a possibility.

Nithel’s legs felt like dead weights. He just wanted to collapse on the floor, so done with all of this. Then he felt Alessio grip his arm. Alessio. Nithel hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until now. He made himself breathe and gently squeezed Alessio’s arm back, heart thundering.

Alessio buckled over, causing Nithel to lose his grip on the youth’s arm, and vomit spewed from his mouth. The fog in Nithel’s mind cleared a bit, and he stepped closer, brows arched in concern.

*thoughts* Nithel squeezed Alessio’s arm again, firmer, but still gentle. I’m here.

“You didn’t…fail…” Alessio trembled, still staring at his refuse.

Nithel’s chest tightened, and he doubted the youth was speaking to him. Was it too much to hope Alessio was speaking to himself?

Alessio’s voice shook and his body still trembled from throwing up. But he still spoke, softly, struggling to wheeze it out. “You did your…best, with the experience…and skill…you had at the time…And it wasn’t enough.” Alessio looked up at Nithel, eyes understanding. Such a depth to their dark irises.

It was then Nithel knew Alessio was talking to him. Tears touched his eyes. He pressed his lips together and blinked, trying to hold them down. Do you know this about yourself, abni?

“Sometimes life doesn’t give you a chance, sometimes it just gives you a choice.” Alessio mumbled, “Whether you’re better or worse for the pain. That’s the only choice sometimes.”

*many thoughts* Nithel held Alessio’s gaze, feeling so broken. So alone. The smallest smile touched his lips, almost too small to see. A light flickered in the back of his eyes, gratitude. He was about to whisper, Thank you, when Alessio snapped and Nithel jumped.

“The devil are you looking at?!” Nithel looked at the strangers Alessio was speaking to. “Don’t worry, we’re fine, by the way!” Alessio gave his hood a quick jerk.

A voice, like metal on a whet-stone, shrieked. It bounced and echoed off the hard smooth walls. “Dear characters,”

Nithel stepped closer, to where he was pressed against Alessio’s side, and did not release his arm. Characters? Are our lives just a game?

“I have seen the darkness of your worlds and I will expose it. Nobody in this world matters, because all are evil at heart.”

Evil at heart. Nithel’s brow wrinkled and he almost started to cry again. The words cut like a dagger, though somewhere, he knew the castle could not judge the state of a person’s heart. It could not label such things.

“My demands are simple. I want Jacob Baron to be dead within five days. If he is not dead after five days, I will eliminate Arsone, Alessio Eliakim, and one random character in the Character Castle 2.5.
The formless given form, the temptation and darkness.
Amnesia.”

Nithel’s chest hardened. Kill Alessio? What was this? He stepped forward and put his hand to the hilt of his sword. His nose flared and he looked at the ceiling corners.

Then the world went dark. Nithel growled and dove back, intending to land on Alessio, if at all possible. Terrified they’d be separated if rooms changed again.

But he didn’t touch him. Cold panic raced through Nithel’s heart as he thudded on the hard ground. I wasn’t that far away. It was a single step.

“AHHHHHH!” Nithel growled into a shout, swinging his arms around, trying to feel his friend. But Alessio was gone.

Then there was light, like a fire lit. Nithel froze, unsure if he wanted to look up from his position on the ground. Dirt sifted under his palms. Some sort of tiles, large, square, covering the ground. Manure was smeared on it. He glanced up. Horses, a stable, people rushing about, so many people, carrying so many things. It looked like a small city, but with no homes but a giant one behind him. Walls surrounding. A courtyard.

His heart raced in him, and he jumped up, not wanting to get run over by someone. He stumbled backward to press his back against the wall. *quiet prayer*

Crystal shards exploded out of a tower a few hundred feet to the left. He didn’t know how or what it was. A body spun as well, falling, until it landed/was pulled into a large cart/box. Another man jumped from the height.

Nithel’s jaw dropped, stunned. Unsure if he was still in the castle. Unsure if that was Alessio, or not. Unsure if he wanted to talk to any of the people about, to find out. It wouldn’t take much for people to realize he was a soldier, of some sort. He would be taken for questioning. His sword likely confiscated. If things went badly? Prison and what could go with that. There would be no finding his son. Returning to his girls, his unknown child. No finding Alessio.
He glanced about and slipped into a dark alcove, watching as the cart barreled his way.

Jump on the outside? Nay. Manage to get beside the driver? And be thrown off or turned in for his trouble. Throw himself on the ground, to hold on beneath? Domnik… had done that with the supply cart. *remembered the whupping he’d given the boy* But Nithel could be trampled by the horses, assuming there was a way to hold on beneath.
And what if Alessio wasn’t even within?

Nithel began to run along the side of the castle. Pushing himself to go faster. It’ll be close. He bounded up abandoned hay and boxes, scramling onto the roof of the stable and running as the closed-in cart was just starting to go past. Can I make it? I can’t make it. Can I?

He didn’t even notice the explosions of colour in the sky. But if he had, it would have terrified him.

——