Chapter Text
Chapter. 01 - End of the Dark
Time seems nonexistent...
Stone hallways decorated with hieroglyphs continue for unknown lengths with no end in sight. Moving forward in a place as estranged as this with endless corridors laced with dust is a pointless endeavor, even after several thousand years of time have all but vanished to the dark of unlit hallways.
Nothing repeats here...
He knows where he stands in this mess of dark endless corridors after all its his domain and nothing challenges that, every room and twist in the framework of this place once it’s seen is known and will forever be. Once it’s visible returning is easy no matter where he stands within it’s maze, but everything moving forward into the unknown is always new.
To him the darkness is a part of himself as seeing through it reveals the shape, patterns, and colour on the walls as if the place was illuminated by cold blue tinted light. The walls have been laced with turquoise and filled in with gold, the details are intricate, from his beginning in the dark that’s all it’s ever been.
Before is forgotten and the future is unknown, the only thing he knows is loneliness and the known passages filled with a frigid cold.
What is there?...
The walls felt different, looking through the dark revealed something new for the first time in what has possibly been 10,000 years, the walls felt warmer and less sturdy, one push too hard and he would fall through if he were not careful. The mono-yellow colour has taken the place of gold and turquoise within sandstone carvings, the walls felt too light and brittle.
Looking forward, yellow fluorescent lights were flickering in the distance, he had no need to see through the dark when light was for the first time in thousands of years visible in this place he was so very well accustomed to.
Moving towards the light with caution and all his defenses up was the logical choice, sharp canines large and imposing and nails which more resemble claws out fully and the shadows at the ready if the situation turns too fast to the south.
He was not taking any chances.
Reality seemed to have all but broken right in front of his eyes, it was bright, the fast pace flickering of the lights annoyed him, the color of the walls felt off, none of it made any sense.
Double glass doors slid open on rails, the sound made him jump back a foot in distance, the doors slid closed again. He was confused as this was new, all of it was. When did light come from glass tubes connected to the ceiling, when did doors open on their own accord when no use of the shadows was initiated by him?
His attention was divided, he could see his reflection in the glass.
His eyes glowed red towards the center mixed with gold at the outer edges, the two colors seemed to move like a slow whirlpool at the bottom of a waterfall where the current slightly intertwined with the other where they meet.
His hair was red at the tips and black everywhere else minus his bangs which were bright blonde in color, they framed his face and shot up in certain places to meet the black.
His attention once again went back to the sliding door, his only option was to step through it and see what lies on the other side.
Beyond Stone Walls...
The other side was accompanied by a low buzz, a sound that annoyed him more than anything else he could ever describe, it was coming from the fluorescent lights as they flickered. Other than the slight annoyance the lights caused nothing jumped out at him.
The space opened up from tight corridors to larger passageways, the ceiling was higher and the odd chair was placed along the side where the wall pushed back in the shape of a rectangle. He was determined to follow the hallways through for the rest of eternity if he so has too, there really was no other choice to begin with.
Turning back around to the sliding doors to inspect the opposite side from a new angle he realized the doors would not open again for him, an attempt at using the shadows to unlock the door ended in failure. Slow rising panic and confusion took over from there, he clawed at the middle where the metal on either side crashed together but nothing gave way. Turning towards the brittle walls he tried putting all of this weight to the right side to break through but nothing moved, he continued trying to get back to familiar territory but nothing allowed him so.
It was forwards or nowhere with the corridors closed off for the first time in thousands of years, he wasn’t exactly distraught about it, more so annoyed and caught off guard then anything else. Returning to familiar passageways gave a sense of identity but now that’s inaccessible it really is forwards or nowhere.
The new hallways seemed off, the strange way the walls connected, the mono-yellow that coats the walls, and even the carpet on the floor that was composed of a dark red diamond pattern placed within dark grey squares, it all made him so uneasy. It was too immaculate and too clean, there was no dust or chipped walls, it was too bright.
Further on the corridors opened to other rooms on either side, they were illuminated by different coloured lights on top of doors in large lettering, in a language he has never seen but understands completely. Continuing even deeper writing was painted along the walls in rainbow coloring, it was clearly written there by someone else without any prior permission as the style was so different, the lettering was crude and incoherent. Moving further along more writing was visible, even painted pictures covered the walls now. The visible decay of this new place was progressively getting worse, debris littered the floor, broken wood from the ceiling and fallen plaster from the walls all lie on the now concrete floor.
Looking forward there was natural light visible from a collapsed hole in the roof but what really got his attention was further past that, shattered glass littered the floor and finally a broken window where natural light was bleeding in with dust particles visible in the air.
‘Is this real?’
Movement caught his eye further down the hallway, someone else was here.