Work Text:
Teaser:
Away… He had to get away… He had to go anywhere else, be anywhere else than be at his house. Today that had meant a walk in the woods, which was what usually helped a little. He just needed to get away from his home. He called it “home,” but was it really? There was a reliable meal only once a week, a tiny baby brother screaming and crying constantly, and when his parents were home together they were fighting. Sure it was the place his bed was, but it wasn’t a “home.” Other people had real homes with a loving family and video games, but not him. Why would he ever want to go back? Why should he want to be there? No one would ever notice if he just kept walking and then was gone. For now, all he could do was just keep wandering the woods. No matter how long the evening dragged on or how dark it got, he would just keep moving, but then the rain started.
Even through the canopy of the forest, it wasn’t long before he was soaked. Turning around would have been the safe option. His home might not have much going for it, but it was dry. Instead though, he was determined not to go home tonight. He had had enough with his house. He kept slogging forward through the mud and pushing past the bushy undergrowth.
Up a tall hill, past a clearing, down an incline, but was this the same giant tree he passed before? With only the lightning to go by, the trees all started to blend together. He decided it didn’t matter. Forward he moved as the rain kept pouring.
The lightning rippled in the clouds above as he worked his way past several overturned trees when suddenly he dropped through the underbrush as the ground gave way beneath his feet. Down he slid on the mud with water rushing along his sides.
“Wait, whoa!” It was a surprised remark, not even a cry for help.
With a thud he finally landed and rolled. Dirt continued falling as he looked back and up at the steep slope of mud to the hole in the ceiling. He felt as dirty now on the outside as that home made him feel everyday inside. The cave opened around him into a dark void only punctuated by some rain that still made it down this far through the hole above. The air around him was cool, but not cold. All things considered, it was a comfortable temperature. He laid and closed his eyes taking in the silence.
With the excitement of the fall started to fade, he almost missed the whisper from the dark, “My new master. You have arrived.”
He opened his eyes. The ceiling was already too bright, so he looked off into the darkness as he raised to his feet. He could see shadows and forms standing there now. This room was a small cavern with burrowed hallways in several directions and there were inhuman forms surrounding him. One of them, more human looking than the rest yet with dimly glowing red eyes, seemed to be the one who spoke.
“Is someone there?”
“I had been hoping you would have found us sooner. You didn’t need to put up with the world outside for so long. We’ve been calling you and waiting.”
This felt right. The shadows living on the walls here were his real family. The whispered voice seemed to speak a divine truth. It reminded him that outside, those places and those people didn’t really accept him. Now that the shadows here were celebrating his arrival, he might really have a home and a family. Had his friends at school ever really been there for him? Maybe they just tolerated him or felt sorrow for him. A front put up to look like friendship wasn’t the same as the acceptance he now felt from this dark frontier ahead of him. The longer he lingered here, the more things were becoming clear in his mind and the more the chill became a comfort as it settled into him.
“Ah, yes. I should have remembered this place. It feels so familiar now.” He could feel this was the home he had been searching for. How ironic that he had lived so much of his life nearby and never realized his true home was so close.
The figure turned and followed a tunnel headed further downward while it continued to whisper, “Yes. Come now my Master. Come visit the Sanctuary. Our Great Diviner slumbers still.”
Everything was becoming as it was supposed to be… “Yes. I put up with life out there for too long.”
The dark form never turned or bobbed as it silently and slowly glided down deeper into the dark. “Indeed. With the Great Diviner’s power you will be the one everyone envies soon.”
This was his destiny, the figure was right. The shadows all danced along the walls for their new leader. The tunnel system opened into a large cavern. The figure stopped and moved to the side. Much of this cavern was formed of carved blocks setup as a shrine with a pedestal overlooking a dark square of water. Further back were regular long stone blocks that made it look like an outdoor theater in a history book, but this was all underground.
Without hesitation or fear, he knew his place. It’s as if he had seen this all before and done this in a past life. He moved to the podium, looked towards the audience of shadows all cheering for their new master, and then he moved over to the edge of the perfectly still pool. He knelt down and held his hand just against the water so as to touch it without disturbing it.
“I have arrived, my Great Diviner,” he announced to the new glowing eyes looking up from beneath the dark pond.
Act 1:
Waking up on-time was a skill children were expected to learn before becoming adults, but Matt hadn’t gotten that far yet.
From across the room, his clock radio began playing a pop song at its programmed time: “Danger in the air, Destroying everything in sight. The time has come to right the wrong, With Prism---” and he pressed the large snooze button as fast as he could get out of bed.
“Ugh, already time to get up!?” This is why the alarm was across the room and atop a dresser and he fought the urge to lay back down in bed.
He failed to fight the urge, “Yeah… five more minutes...”
In another few minutes, there was a call from downstairs, “Get up, Matt! You got 10 minutes already, but you can’t miss the bus.”
His dad cared, Matt knew, but did he have to care today? Matt had been up late working on an art project and was hoping he could sleep in a little.
“Can’t mom take me to school today?” he yelled back down.
“Mom went to work early. You have to take the bus.” She worked for a dentist and it was common for her to start early depending on their appointments.
His dad had come upstairs now. He pulled the sheets off the bed, “You know what Ben Franklin used to say, ‘Early to bed, early to rise-’”
“Healthy, wealthy, and wise. Yeah I know.” Matt replied. It seemed like his dad would quote a historical figure whenever he had an opportunity to. Why are parents so lame?
Matt had no choice but to get out of bed. He dressed while his dad went back downstairs. The morning routine was rushed, but complete.
“Do you want me to cook you eggs and ham?” his dad offered.
“NO! I mean, no thanks.” Matt quickly replied. “I’ll just have a quick bowl of cereal.”
His dad seemed to like his own cooking, but no one else did. It didn’t help that by “ham” he actually meant the canned meat product that everyone else seemed to find unpalatable. Maybe it was from his time before having a family or just his taste in food in general, but Matt would never understand his dad’s love of canned ham.
With his cereal eaten, Matt grabbed his backpack and art project. “Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to forget that after all this?”
He was out the door and running out to the road just as the school bus pulled up. Panting and out of breath, Matt pulled himself inside the bus and took a seat next to his friends. This route wasn’t very populated so there were plenty of seats.
“Hi, Chris! Hey, Jeremy, what are you doing on the bus today?”
“Yo! Yeah, my parents needed to do work on my car, so I won’t have it back for a while. At least there is good company on the bus. You know, even if it’s not as convenient,” Jeremy explained. “Were you able to get your art project finished? When did you even start on it?”
“What do you mean, when did I start on it? We’re in the same class, so I got that assignment the same time that you did.”
“Well yeah, but when I saw you on Friday you told me that you hadn’t been ‘inspired’ to start it at all yet.”
“Oh… you listened to me huh? Well, I started it over the weekend.”
“You mean that you started it yesterday night?”
“Art is a process and sometimes it needs a looming deadline to bring out the right creativity! Chris, back me up here!”
Chris looked up and over. He seemed to have been staring at his reflection in the window. “Oh, I don’t have an art class with you this year. I took it last year, I think.”
“You seem distracted this morning, did you get enough sleep or did you pull an all nighter like Matt?” Jeremy tried to keep the pressure up on Matt.
It took a minute, but Chris seemed to rub the daze out of his eyes and then perked up and smiled. “I’ve just been distracted by a... math class I have. Yeah, I’m just not getting it, but we all have that kinda problem.”
“Hey, you don’t live that far from me, walk your textbook down to my house and we’ll go over it,” Matt offered. He might not be good at art or scheduling, but math was something Matt could do.
“When I come over, I want to do something fun. Math isn’t fun.”
There was a smile now from Chris. At least for the rest of the morning bus ride, Matt had his friend back.
Their conversations came to an end as the school bus stopped at its destination. Madison Middle School was a standard midwestern American school housing the three grades before high school. Its only notable distinction was the art shop in a separate building across a sports field from the rest of the school.
Like so many students around the world, Matt had only his own experience at his own middle school, so its distinctions were lost on him and he just proceeded to his hallway locker as part of his morning routine.
Adren was there waiting for him since they shared their first period homeroom, “I bet 5 bucks your locker won’t open today.”
Matt hadn’t known Arden for very long, but they were technically distant cousins. However, since the big move in Arden’s family that brought him across the country to the same neighborhood, they were friends. Arden’s red hair and free spirit personality was always a refreshing way to start the day, but their more worldly experience gave them a distinct perspective here.
“My locker works just fine. You just have to open it the right way,” Matt replied while setting down the art piece. “Look.”
It was almost as routine as anything else here: he flicked the handle for luck, slightly raised, and then violently giggled the handle while pulling up.
“Ta, da!” The locker door opened.
“We’ll try double or nothing on the next one. This isn’t the way a locker is supposed to work, you know.” They often had this conversation and Arden rolled their eyes ahead of Matt’s reply.
“It just adds to the security,” he said as he stuffed the art project and backpack inside.
He had just organized his books for the day when the first bell rang, “let's get to class.”
Act 2:
“Come on, please open,” Matt whispered to his locker. “Why are you doing this now? I’m going to be late.”
“Hurry up, Matt. We still have to walk over to the art building,” said the impatient voice of Matt’s friend Jeremy.
“You go on without me, I’ll be right there. I promise.”
“If you say so,” Jeremy turned and dashed down the hallway and out the doors.
“Please!” Matt prayed with another pull of the locker’s handle. He fell as the door released like everything was normal. “Thank you!”
He swapped his books and grabbed his art project. If not for this homework, he could have just skipped this. Maybe he could still make it. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since the last bell, but he was now outside himself.
These buildings had all been constructed decades apart, so maybe that's why they had put the art building across a soccer field from the rest of the classrooms. There was Jeremy waving him down from across the field at the corner of the building. Matt hurried, he could still make it.
Halfway there, Jeremy turned and looked like he was talking to someone. Matt was still too far away to hear it, but Jeremy started looking concerned and held his hands up.
“What are you--” he exclaimed as he fell over. A dark aura seemed to envelop his prone body as inverted lighting arched to a shard of glass pointing to the sky.
Matt stopped and dropped his things. “Get away from him!” He moved forward feeling a need to get to his friend. A shadow moved from behind the building corner and a pair of pale arms emerged. They motioned upward and the glass shard obeyed, floating out of Jeremy as if it were nothing but dark light. It hovered there and then started spinning.
“Dream shard, awaken! Bring to form his darkest fears. Muahahahahaaa.”
As the shard continued spinning, Matt could see a face inside it: fiery red eyes and bestial features. The spinning shard made the creature look like a flipbook animation, but then a flaming arm reached out from the shard as if it were an open window. The size and shape of the creature didn’t seem to matter, as it reached and crawled forward into a physical form. Although the shard it crawled from was hand held, the monster seemingly gained depth.
“This can’t be real,” Matt had no other words, but Jeremy stirred slightly with a look of fear on his face. It was like he was having this nightmare too.
With Jeremy’s pained look, Matt moved forward quickly. While Matt was almost stumbling over himself to get to Jeremy, the monster stood up to it’s full size. Grabbing Jeremy Matt pulled him away to get any space they could. He wouldn’t let someone he knew get hurt. Being so focused on moving Jeremy, Matt missed the arm of the beast swing into him. Feeling the heat of it’s fiery body, the force of the impact pushed him down before anything could catch fire.
Rolling over and pushing himself up, Matt was now back on his feet. Trying to keep just out of reach of the monster, he cautiously put himself back between Jeremy’s prone form and the hideous monster. Although humanoid in form, the alien creature was almost squatting on it’s legs back and forth as it moved. It seemed like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. Willing to keep just out of reach and circle around, it never took its deep piercing flame filled eyes off its victims.
“I, umm... I won’t let you hurt him,” Matt announced, although not entirely sure what else could be done.
The black of its face parted as fire escaped the form of a mouth as it spoke, “I’ll take your energy first, so don’t worry about the other one.” That otherworldly voice seemed to echo in the air for extra moments after it ended. The being almost seemed to know it was the embodiment of a nightmare.
Even with no other options, Matt wouldn’t abandon his friend.
The monster was okay with that. With seemingly no effort, it finally sprung forward. In seemingly a single long step, it was forward extending a clawed hand. The hand grasped Matt’s chest and shirt while finally the heat of its body caught up.
“Die slowly for me” it whispered, smoldering fire erupting from its every pore.
It was hot, but the fire wasn’t the real problem. Matt could feel his draining life force as the claws dug in. Where his fear and determination had been inside him, there was now a hopeless void. The pain of such deep fatigue and sorrow that seemed to form in that void was excruciating. While his body began to slump, Matt’s vision of the world and that monstrous form was being replaced by a soothing blue glow.
It wasn’t an awakening, but it was as if he had faded into two places at once. He could still feel the claws and his own shallow breath in that frozen moment of time behind him, but as his vision cleared he was in a place that was both dream-like and yet familiar. As he saw things more and more clearly in this dream, Matt was gaining a feeling that this place was his home. Some place he had always been, yet a place he hadn’t returned to in a lifetime.
A palace of jagged, frozen ice reached up like an iceberg from the rolling ocean, yet sat completely still. The churning ocean reached to the horizon, yet with a star burning overhead filling most of the sky. That star bathed everything in bright light, yet around in the rest of the sky the stars of the galaxy were visible as if on a moonless night. So many contradictions, yet everything was comfortable and pleasant. It felt like stargazing in the country on a relaxing fall evening.
Matt moved forward. Those events behind him could wait, he didn’t feel a need to run from them, but he knew there was something for him here. Approaching the palace doors, he could feel where he was going. A palace had a throne room and that’s where he would find an answer.
Moving slowly and deliberately as if in a dream, the opulent yet humble palace doors were behind him and in this hallway Matt approached the next door. Drapery and regalia on either side showed the classical Greek symbol of Mercury. Just as he touched these doors, there was suddenly a melody from a piano. It started as if having been waiting for him. A sad melancholic piece, it seemed to acknowledge the empty hallways and the loneliness of this palace on the ocean in a sea of stars.
Without a push and without any sound, the magnificent doors opened on their own as if in time with the music. The throne was as empty as the rest of the palace. The palace itself seemed to feel the absence of it’s master, but the music of the piano drew Matt past the throne. Next to it was a man draped in a fine white uniform. His cape hung around his left shoulder from under a crystal pauldron and sash. The cape shifted slowly back and forth as his arms moved slowly on the instrument.
The stiff uniform never impeded the performance, “I only once visited this place in my old life, but many times since have I come here in my dreams. I find it... comforting... to know it remains here after all these millennia,” he spoke while continuing to play.
Such a dreamlike encounter in an alien place kept Matt feeling a sense of deja vu or history. Yet, there were no questions to ask and nothing to say. It was like he was looking through the mirror at a reflection moving on its own. A mirrored reflection of himself, but it was someone he had never met.
The melody on the piano never wavered or faltered while the man continued, “Our beautiful jewel Earth needs protection. There should be Guardians and my Prince of the Earth to protect it, but this is too early for them. They still sleep in ignorance of their true identities. The curse upon them by the Moon Queen means they won’t awaken until a different evil appears again. I am… a shadow… of one of the Shitennou, but they too are still dormant.”
These names were something Matt recognized, but not from any history book. Long forgotten memories of a Moon Princess and an Earth Prince who’s love brought jealousy, betrayal, and loss. He could see a Queen with no more domain to rule who used the last of her power to create a hope for a brighter future for her child.
“Where are we? How do I already know this story, Zoisite?” Matt felt like he should be confused, but it was as natural to recall these memories as if it was a story from his own childhood.
“Good, it’s given you my name. For today, consider me your patron.” Zoisite was still playing the piano uninterrupted. “This place holds its own memories. They are a part of the power that the Palace of Mercury grants when called upon by someone it deems worthy.”
Interrupting the peaceful ambiance of the palace, the man in white suddenly played several sharp cords. As the surprise of the moment wore off, the music became a low pitched and high tempoed musical phrase on repeat. With the music repeating, it seemed to pull a metal watch from some invisible dimension. Going on and on, a bracelet watch appeared on a flat part of the piano. As it completely materialized, Matt almost absent mindedly picked it up and admired the detailed symbols and gemstones on the watch face.
The music stopped abruptly and the palace was now uncomfortably still. Matt looked up towards his patron.
Zoisite’s voice was more desperate this time, “You’ve seen this evil for yourself. You’ve felt the suffering they can cause. You’ll think that other people could do this instead, but you were here in this moment and you felt a need to help. It can be no one else, it must be you! Your heart seed, the center of your humanity, is now tied to this place just like mine and just like our Princess of Mercury.”
With the name, the image of a girl became clear in Matt’s mind. A teenager like him, with short dark hair using the magic of water and ice to protect the Princess of the Moon. Faces, memories, and even feelings from long ago all belonged to him now bestowed by the Palace of Mercury.
The bright blue glow of light reflecting through the icy walls began to overtake his vision again. As it washed through his entire being, he felt rejuvenated and he knew how to activate his power.
“Mercury Planet Power, Make Up!”
The transformation process wasn’t just a physical experience, but it was also emotional. Physically, it was like a waterfall of tepid water flowing around him. Just as it passed, he could feel the tight fit and comfort of a perfectly tailored suit. His head was submerged under a pool of water as if to immerse him completely in the magic while high pitched metal snapping sounds were seemingly set to a magical rhythm and armor appeared to accent the formal suit. The formal suit and light armor chest plate added just enough weight to feel the responsibility of his new power. Emotionally, he felt courage, but it was indirect. The memories and the power gave him feelings of confidence and hope. This might have been the first time Matt had ever truly felt love of himself and the openness to completely love others. The freedom was almost overwhelming.
The monster had let go and been forced back by the transformation magic, “What are you? What did you do?”
“Taking the form of nightmares to hurt school kids is a terror that must be stopped. I am the Guardian of Mercury and Soldier of Water, Prince Mercury.” (“Boku wa Suisei no Senshi, Mizu no Tenshin. Prince Mercury.”)
Although now more serious, the monster seemed undeterred, “It doesn’t matter your titles. We will still have what we need from you. Let there be fire!” it announced as flames erupted from its hands towards the new Prince Mercury.
With a strength and speed that he never felt before, Prince Mercury moved Jeremy’s still unconscious form out of line of fire. Setting him down next to a nearby wall, Prince Mercury moved out into the open field to draw the blasts away.
To himself, Prince Mercury began trying to talk his way through what his options were, “I don’t know what I’m doing here. Keep it occupied, then what?”
“Do you fear the flames?!” said the monster as a lance of burning magical force shot again toward Prince Mercury.
With his new agility, the Prince was still able to dodge the attack, but the monster might get the hang of his movements soon and be able to land a blow.
Now is the opportunity to gain the advantage. Activate our power, get close, then break it’s source.
Matt could remember hours dedicated to training his powers, but he never went through that. A foggy memory of long ago, in a courtyard of that palace, he had the muscle memory now as well, yet it hadn’t been exercised in so long.
Beginning by activating the power, “Mercury,” he then cupped his hands to draw in the water around him, “Bubble,” and he knew this would douse the flames, “Spray!”
Even in this wide open area, there was an immediate temperature drop. It wasn’t enough to freeze, but everything was covered in a heavy dew as the fog rolled and expanded outward around the monster. Everywhere the fog touched on the monster began to steam.
“What are you doing? Are you trying to hide now?” It threw a fireball where Prince Mercury had been standing, but the fog filled in behind the fire as it passed empty air.
“That wasn’t as strong as before,” he realized. It still would hurt to get hit, but it was nothing like before.
A half formed lance of fire tried to form from the monster, but it only reached a few feet this time and didn’t seem to be maintained. Prince Mercury could see the bright flashes in the fog. He crept forward watching the shadow move as he tried to find the right weak point.
“Well if I can’t find you; I do know where you left the other!”
“Jeremy…” Prince Mercury could hear the monster moving towards the target, still unconscious next to the building. He would have to hurry.
Our sword into the weak point, “but what is the weak point.” Matt pulled a sword from the sheath on his belt as the memories of training in its use returned to him.
“There you are,” the monster glistened from the water droplets that condensed, no longer steaming. It reached out its clawed hands, “your nightmares brought me to life, so let me finish the cycle and end yours.”
Prince Mercury was now moving in quickly from behind the monster, but as he was almost upon it, his eye caught a glint of water spray.
“That’s it. That’s it’s power,” he said as he changed directions.
The sword in front of him, he drove it forward with all his might as the creature’s claws began to descend on Jeremy’s still lifeless form. The sword’s tip pierced and shattered the spinning shard of floating glass.
The monster stopped, “What-- did you...?” It turned to look at the shattered pieces of glass. They seemed to dissolve into shadows as the creature now evaporated with the fog.
Jeremy began to stir finally and spoke with a groggy voice, “Dad look, the fog put out the...” He seemed to realize where he was as he spoke, “Who are you?”
“You’re safe now. The monster is gone,” Prince Mercury said, but he wasn’t sure why Jeremy couldn’t tell who he was. Didn’t he still look like Matt?
No one needs to know right now, maybe I can still have a simple life .
With that thought, Prince Mercury pulled his cape around and disappeared into the fog that still lingered in a few places. He turned a different corner of the building and when he was for certain out of sight, he released the transformation magic. It felt almost like sadness as if Matt was letting go of something special, but also there was a feeling that it was the right thing to do now and that it would be there later when he needed it again.
Act 3:
Detention time had come and this was humiliating. Matt never got detention and had tried to plead their case, but no one else had seen a monster, the supposed fire hadn’t left any scorch marks or burned grass, and Jeremy completely recovered minus some slight fatigue. From the teacher’s perspective, the two boys had been late to class as a goof off and then also arrived without their projects. What could he do, it wasn’t fair to accept their word with no evidence.
At least it gave him time to reflect. He turned to Jeremy, who while looking confused and slightly tired, yet was clearly grateful. He knew something had happened and Matt had been involved, even if he thought it was just an intense dream. Maybe it was just a dream, but a dream they both shared?
Matt closed his eyes and leaned back. He could still feel that new power inside him as a dim light ready to shine if he just said the magical words.
He could feel the old man talking from his throne to his mind: I’m real and I’m still here with you. We now share my power as Prince Mercury.
As the minutes ticked away on the detention room clock, Matt started writing goals for his new job in the notebook:
- Protect people in trouble
- Explore powers
- Who’s sending monsters?
- Protect my identity?
He looked at them several times. Only two of them were something he could have much control over. Was it even necessary to protect his identity as Prince Mercury? He knew they did it in comic books and on TV, but this was the real world. He would have to keep pondering that.
Looking between the clock and their teacher, Matt was waiting for the words, “Detention over, class dismissed.” With that, the two boys gathered their things and walked out of the school together in silence.
As they reached their lockers, Jeremy spoke up, "Look, I don't know exactly what happened earlier," he said, his voice low. "It's all fuzzy, kinda like a dream… But I know something weird went down and I know you helped me. So I wanted to say ‘thanks, man.’"
Matt felt a mix of pride and sadness. Pride that Jeremy wasn't completely in the dark and knew he could count on his friend, but sadness that Matt couldn't share the full truth with his friend.
“Yeah, of course! I mean… that's what friends are for, right?" Matt replied, trying to sound casual. "I'm always glad when you're okay… even if nothing happened." Jeremy patted his friend on the back and headed to the late bus.
Arden came jogging up to Matt from behind offering a supportive smile, “Hey, I heard that you got detention from your art class, so I stayed late to wait for you. Is everything okay? How did you even get detention?!”
“I… uh… lost my homework and then Jeremy and I were late to class. Nothing much to do about it when you loose your big project.” Matt shrugs, trying to cover the truth. “Don’t worry my grade in the class will be okay.”
“Well that’s good at least,” they said, “but is that ALL that happened? It sure is weird that it happened the same time that crazy fog rolled in.”
“Oh, the fog, you saw that, too?!” I exclaimed happy for someone to share it with.
“Half the school saw it. Were you outside when it happened? Did you see anything else?”
“Well, Jeremy and I must have gotten lost in it and then…” Matt trailed off, desperately wanting to tell Arden about the truth, “I guess that’s when I lost my homework, but I couldn’t see anything else. It was just like getting lost in a dream.”
“Darn, I thought maybe something interesting happened around this school for once,” they looked disappointed, but Matt could only muster a half smile knowing the truth of the danger. “Well cuz, my mom will be by soon to pick me up, want to come over and keep playing though the ‘Legend of Heroes’ video game we’ve been working on?”
“I could use a ride home, but I shouldn’t be out late. My dad won’t be happy I had detention for losing my project. Maybe I can just avoid telling him and he won’t realize…” which was unlikely, but Matt could hope.
EPILOGUE
As Arden and Matt walked to the parking lot to meet their mom, there was a shadow nearby them who’s pale arms clutched at the empty air.
His eyes flickered between brown and glowing red while he stewed, “How could his plans have been foiled? How could there be a magical hero at this random town? This can’t be coincidence. This ‘Prince Mercury’ must be here to foil my plans!”
The figure continued the monolog to himself, “All I wanted was to take the energy we need here and there from these nobodies, not like anyone would notice a few missing kids anyway, but now they have a protector.”
“The Great Diviner will not be pleased, but I must seek guidance. The Great Diviner will need what little I was able to gather as tribute. Ugh, but the bigger issue was the waste of one of my shadows. You, my Brother shadow, shall be avenged.”
He closed his eyes, feeling the comforting whisper of the darkness within him, "No matter," a cold smile spreading across his face. "This is just the beginning. Next time, I'll be prepared for you, 'Prince Mercury'."
With that, he melted into the shadows, leaving no trace of his presence behind.