A silver-haired girl lay peacefully in bed, completely oblivious to the stare down occurring right next to her. Her silken hair spilled across the pillow like threads of moonlight, glinting faintly with every rise and fall of her breath. Long lashes rest gently against her cheeks, and a faint, serene smile softened her features, the kind of expression that belongs only to someone lost in a tranquil dream.
Except, that tranquil dream wasn't reflecting in reality so much.
On her left, was a rough looking boy with a look of dissatisfaction hanging on his face. He constantly exuded aggression, not aimed at the sleeping girl, but directed at the much meeker boy on the the other end.
On her right, was Cassius still covered head to toe in bandages, although much lighter now. Despite his entire face being wrapped in them, you could still make out the very frightened look he had on his face.
He asked, his voice trembling,
"C-Can I go now?"
Sylas bluntly answered,
"No."
'Why did I get left alone with him!'
From the moment Ki Song and Epsilon left, Sylas had his eyes on him like a hawk. Nowadays, he barely had a moment of privacy to himself as he felt every single one of his actions be judged with a weird malice.
'Whenever he watches over Gracia too, he drags me in here and doesn't let me leave!'
He was terrified of the guy.
'Epsilon! Please come back soon! I feel like he's really going to kill me at this rate!'
But at the same time he didn't blame him. In fact, he kind of found it admirable. After all, he wasn't really doing it for himself, but for Gracia who was the most vulnerable of them all. He'd heard about how he almost fought an awakened terror on his own to go save her too.
He didn't bother trying to hide it, but it was very obvious that he cared about her.
'I have someone I need to protect too. If I die here, they'll be in trouble.'
In that regard, he could sympathize with him. They both had something that they needed to keep safe.
'Even so, I can't take this anymore!'
He had to make this stop somehow! If he wanted to get Sylas to trust him sooner rather then later, then he needed to befriend him quickly.
'A conversation! What do we talk about even..'
How about the reason why they're in this predicament in the first place?
"Hey, Sylas? What's your relationship with Smile Of Heaven?"
Sylas flinched harshly at the sudden question. His hardened face quickly broke, and for a moment it flashed bright pink before he quickly brushed it off by coughing. He was expecting him to say something eventually, but this? It was way to sudden.
Looking at him indignantly, he shouted,
"What's it matter to you?!"
"Sorry... just asking.."
It was obvious how he felt on the surface, but whether she felt the same way back was a total mystery. Either way, it was too late! His pride was wounded, he had to get revenge!
"If anything, I should be questioning why you haven't tried anything yet."
He pretended to not understand,
"Erm.. tried what?"
Despite his attempt to make Sylas doubt himself though, his aggression only increased.
"Anything! You being an enemy is a fact that the others don't want to believe, and the fact that Gracia can't protect herself means that I can't tolerate you. The only reason I haven't gotten rid of you myself, is because they sided with you."
The chair scraped back across the floor, sharp and sudden as he slowly rose to his feet, while air around him seemed to tighten, making Cassius feel like he was about to choke.
"You may have them fooled, but believe me when I say, that I'll never fall for your deceit."
In his defence, Cassius added,
"But I have no motive."
"I'm in the middle of figuring that out."
It really didn't matter if Cassius had a motive or not anymore. For Sylas, he was even more of a threat than a nightmare creature, simply because he could pretend to be on their side.
"And if Gracia is involved, I will kill you, without hesitation...
I'll Beat you up.... at minimum."
That hard, unblinking stare made Cassius feel like a bug pinned under glass.
Not being able to speak back either was incredibly frustrating. If he got on his bad side anymore than he already was, coming back would be almost impossible. He had to remain passive no matter what...
He could still say whatever he wanted in his head though!
'If I could, I'd beat you up too! There's only so much I'm willing to take!!'
And then, a spark suddenly lit in Sylas's eyes.
"What did you just say!?"
Without even so much as a wind up, he suddenly launched himself over the bed as he crashed right into Cassius, knocking him off his seat while pushing them both to the floor.
It took him a while to comprehend what just happened, but once he did, he asked completely bewildered,
"How much do you hate me????"
**
His mind stuttered from just trying to make sense of it. It wasn't just out of place, it was wrong. Like a single off-key note in a familiar song, or that one small blemish in an artists masterpiece. His eyes blinked, checking that phrase again and again, seemingly waiting for it to correct himself.
But no matter how many times he double, triple, or quadruple checked, it was the same thing every single time.
Epsilon could not understand what he was looking at.
'Understand isn't the right word... its more of.. WHAT THE HELL IS IT DOING HERE????'
[McDonalds doesn't sell cheese rings]
Those words lingered in his mind for a long while. He repeated it again and again and again, it was all too hard to believe.
'McDonalds.. in the dream realm?'
It didn't make sense at all.. McDonalds was restaurant chain based in the waking world.. how'd it even end up, nevertheless get mentioned here??
Slowly turning to Bob, he asked with a slight bit of hesitance,
"Can you... explain this?"
"What? McDonalds? It's a bit of a pun, an inside joke if you will. Someone I met told it to me once, and it just kind of stuck. Can't remember anything after though, nor how it got there."
'And Ki Song noticed it before me?'
Somehow, Epsilon felt more appalled by that fact, completely forgetting about the McDonald's business for a moment.
Anyway, with this new bit of info, he was almost certain that the phrase was associated with the throne. Was it a kind of password?
Without thinking about it too much, he walked over and sat down without so much as a care in the world. Bob, was about to throw another fit, but a mean stare quickly made him think otherwise.
Taking in a deep breathe, he repeated,
"McDonalds doesn't sell cheese rings."
"..."
'Nothings happening.'
There was no reaction, so simply saying it didn't work.
After thinking for a while, he added,
"I'm Lovin' it?"
The throne began to tremble, a deep vibration rolling through the stone floor like distant thunder. Dust sifted down from the ceiling as the massive seat of power shuddered to life, as the golden grooves and carvings written into the chair began to glow with a faint blue colour.
Suddenly, Epsilon found himself slowly moving backwards, or rather the throne itself was moving backwards, revealing a boundless darkness deep below, with a single row of stairs penetrating right into it.
"Now we're getting somewhere."