Chapter Text
(Before starting, you can click on this playlist. These songs will pop up in the story. I will also post links of the songs throughout the story too. Thanks for reading!)
Sunggyu still wakes up in a cold sweat, dreaming again of that sharp, painful force that yanked him into this world. It was as if he was in a vacuum. The skin pulled tight all over his body. His insides compressing and expanding. And then nothing, absolutely nothing except emptiness of both sensation and soul and memory.
If he could feel, he would cry for how hollow his heart was. But he was devoid of emotions as well. Even less than nothing.
A light soon filled the space, too bright for Sunggyu to actually see. Feelings pour back into his empty being, like water filling a jar. He gasps. He’s in pain. But he’s also has never felt more alive. It was as if he was reborn into a new life!
But Sunggyu hadn’t been reincarnated. He’d been isekai’d, brought into a strange world. Here, he still looked and sounded like himself. He still had the same scars and aches from the previous world. His memories were still intact and bore down on him, weighing down his steps like shackles.
So what was new? Well, everything else. This new world, Dis, was filled with unknown creatures, questionable foods, and incomprehensible physics. Everyday, the laws and the inhabitants appear to change, and they probably did. For this place had pulled in beings from all sorts of worlds and dimensions. Sunggyu had encountered everything from animal hybrids, to intangible beings, to two-dimensional people. And all of them had stared back at him with just as much curiosity.
And while much of Sunggyu remained the same, there was one significant change: he was now a bard.
Yes, once beings were brought into this world, they are assigned a “hero class” and given the appropriate talents and/or tools. Sunggyu had woken up with a mandolin in his hands and a heavy cloak around his shoulders.
Fortunately an experienced “hero” was nearby and welcomed him into the world. Aasiyah was also from Earth, but from a place that Sunggyu had never heard of before. She admitted to living in Dis for a very, very long time and that her people were probably no more than a faded memory for Earthlings now. Rather than appearing sad at that conclusion, Aasiyah seemed at peace with it. But hundreds, maybe thousands of years would be long enough to come to terms with such things. Aasiyah was just pleased to meet another Earthling after so long.
And Sunggyu was very pleased to meet her. Aasiyah gave him a home and a job at her potions’ shop. She helped him to get used to this world and hone his craft. Although it did not take Sunggyu long at all to become a master of his new art, for he’d been singing all of his life.
On Earth, he was an idol, a musical actor, and an all-around entertainer. He was a celebrity, in short, until he was brought here.
And now he was a bard, which sounds like he’d been nerfed, but that would be far from the truth. If anything, Sunggyu was more powerful than before. He could create realistic and mesmerizing illusions with just his voice, just by singing them into existence.
He knew that he should be careful with this gift, but sometimes he couldn’t choke down the song bubbling from his throat.
We’re definitely both
living under the same sky, right?
If we really make up our minds
We can meet up, right?
His reoccurring nightmare always left him feeling so guilty. It wasn’t as if he chose to leave Earth behind. He was forced!
But those faces from his past were melding together, growing fuzzy. If he saw them again, would he even be able to recognize them?
No, it didn’t matter that he couldn’t perfectly recall them. Sunggyu still missed them.
I miss you so much, it pierces me
I spend all night with open eyes
At the sound of morning
I snap out of it.
He reached for his mandolin and began strumming, eyes shut tightly closed. A habit from his other life.
Even in this moment
I’m running to you
I can’t be free from you
For even a single minute
I can’t
There was a sharp knock on his bedroom door. “Sunggyu! Cut it out! You scared me half to death! I thought that I’d been spirited away all over again!” Aasiyah yelled.
Sunggyu’s eyes snapped open. He watched as the clear, blue sky and rolling greens hills dissipate into the air, leaving his bedroom empty once more. What else had his voice created? He’d also sung of piercing and running, open eyes. It was no wonder why she sounded upset.
“Sorry!” Sunggyu shouted back. “I didn’t mean to.”
A heavy sigh could be heard even from the other side of the door. “You cannot sing like you’re used to. How many times do I have to remind you?”
“One more time,” Sunggyu replied with an embarrassed chuckle. His hands were still clutching on the mandolin. His tongue itched to continue. If he couldn’t sing, how could he get rid of this gloom in his heart?
“You have to be careful. We all do,” Aasiyah remarked in her usual, dry tone. While she could be sympathetic, there was always an underlying coldness. It barely lifted the spirits, especially when followed with “Hurry up. The shop is opening soon!”
“Ah, right! I’ll be right down!” Sunggyu finally set his instrument aside and got out of his bed.
Before now, Sunggyu always prided himself as being a “T,” but after meeting Aasiyah who far outclassed him, he wondered if he was slowly turning into an “F.” Maybe his powers which were fueled by his emotions caused this change.
And he hated it. He had a harder time shaking off feelings. They hung over him like a cloud, literally. He was humming the same song as he was working in the shop, and the whole room filled with colorful fog as the song (and illusion) threatened to slip out.
He was so immersed in the melody that he didn’t notice the doorbell ring, heralding in a costumer. It was a regular. It was also hard to say if the being was man or woman. To Sunggyu, it was just a rock, a talking rock, dressed as a “warrior.” It came in to pick up its usual potions before embarking on a new quest.
“Is that a new song?” the rock spoke in his creaking voice.
“Ah!” Sunggyu yelped, not because of the talking rock. No that was normal to him now, but he had been caught off guard. He then smiled and moved to help the rock. “Ah, the song. No, it’s an old one.”
“Ah, let me guess,” the rock began as it leaned its arms against the counter. “It was one of those songs you sang when you were an eye-doll.”
“Idol,” Sunggyu corrected him. He stopped packing up the potions to insist, “I really was famous. You don’t even understand.”
“Indeed, I do not,” the rock freely admitted. The rock-people tended to be too straight-forward, unknowing how to bend or think beyond their own perspectives. “You weren’t a bard. What’s the point?” That wasn’t meant to be an insult. The rock truly didn’t see the point in people listening to Sunggyu sing without his illusions. After all, a rock cannot be moved, but apparently it could be curious. “What is this one about?”
“Uh, um,” Sunggyu struggled to explain it. He didn’t even know why the song still clung onto him. “It’s such an old song of mine. I don’t sing it with much thought.”
“Ah, so it’s one of those vague shows,” the rock responded. “Explains the fog.” It whipped its hand in the air, batting at the fog slowly dissipating. The illusion was sticking around longer than usual. Sunggyu didn’t care to find out why. He was too focused on the earlier question: why this song?
“Not really. Back home, we have a saying ‘under the same sky.’ Like, even though we may be apart by a great distance, we’re still connected because we live under the same sky,” he tried to explain. “But is that still true when I’m in another world?” Ah that was why.
“Of course not.”
That snapped Sunggyu out of his reverie. “Well, maybe if you go far enough out,” he tried to argue.
The rock shook its head. “Dis is in another dimension.”
“Possibly.” Sunggyu clung onto the edge of the counter.
“It is.”
Sunggyu let go. There was no point in arguing with a rock. It’d never move. “Well…True,” he’d have to be the one to yield. After all, the rock was a customer. “Would you like anything else besides the usual?”
Although he knew that he shouldn’t take the rock’s words to heart, Sunggyu felt even worse than he did when he woke up that morning. When Aasiyah gave him a break, he stepped outside of the shop to stare up at the sky that had been occupying his thoughts all day.
He hated it. He hated thinking that he was so far away from his loved ones that they aren’t even under the same sky. There was nothing to connect him to them anymore.
Would they feel the same? Those back on earth? Had they begun to move on from Sunggyu? Had he?
His feet dragged behind him as he walked to the village square. He used to do this, a long time ago, venturing into a crowded place, hoping to rid himself of this loneliness. It didn’t work back then, and it was even worse now. These faces, they didn’t even resemble those back home. Sunggyu felt even more out of place.
He lifted his gaze up to the large fountain that decorated the middle of the square. Once, it might’ve actually held water, but now it was a spawning point for new “heroes” entering Dis. How many times had Sunggyu waited here, hoping to see a familiar face? And even if he did, what would it mean?
No, he wasn’t doing this again. Sunggyu turned around and walked away. A new song came out of him.
I once believed it would be okay
I must have already been tired
Oh, what should I do
If the fog clears like a lie tomorrow
I could find a way
I can’t see it no matter how hard I try
Just like yesterday, I’m still here
No matter how much I search for an invisible road
I remain in this darkness
I’m a loner
Like always…
Sunggyu sat down at a bench nearby, closing his eyes tightly again, breathing in deep. He wasn’t calming down. He buried his face in his hands, hiding. “I’m not a loner,” he reminded himself. “I’m not.” But it brought him no comfort.
“Oh! Sunggyu! Kim Sunggyu! Oi!”
“Eh?” Sunggyu snapped up. Was that really? Was he hallucinating now? It could be. But it sounded exactly like…
“Oh, it’s Mr. Kkyu! Mister!” a child shouted from across the street. He waved fervently at Sunggyu, who waved back in a daze, his eyes still searching for someone else. But soon his vision was overwhelmed by children of every variety, shouting his name and begging him to sing.
Yes, Sunggyu was a celebrity in Dis too. People flocked to see his show of illusions. Of course, his voice was well liked too, but the crowds were mesmerized to see their favorite songs coming to life. And none were so charmed as the children. Nursery rhymes tended to tell stories rather than just expressing vague feelings. So Sunggyu sang a lot of them, as well as some songs from musicals, which also told stories. But they weren’t as fun as nursery rhymes. So Sunggyu didn’t mind singing them. He didn’t mind that he had become essentially an idol for children. After all, some of the children had been torn away from their homes, much like him. He wanted to do what he could to help them; even if it’s just to put a smile on their faces.
And so Sunggyu sat on that bench, taking requests from the children. He sang song after song, until Aasiyah came, grabbing him by the ear and pulling him back to the shop.
Although his ear now hurt, his heart didn’t anymore.
Days later, Sunggyu was at the village square again. But this time, he was on stage with his mandolin. Before him was his audience. He couldn’t see where it ended. So many had come to hear him play tonight.
When he first started performing in this world, he’d play at the tavern nearby. However, word got out about the “bard who brought songs to life.” Not only would the villagers want to see his show, but people from all over Dis would come. Even when Sunggyu would announce his performance at a spur of a moment, like today, there were still outsiders flocking in. The tavern soon became too small, and he was granted permission from the village chief to hold performances in the square. This stage was set up just for him.
Was it possible that he was even more famous now than before? Maybe.
This fame felt different. He didn’t want the attention nor the money, although that helped. He wasn’t performing for his love of music anymore either. Sunggyu wanted a connection, to others, to his past self.
And his audience did too, which was why his last song was always the same.
My day is the same again today.
I’m awakened by longing.
Even if you don’t want to wake up, it’s like an alarm.
It doesn’t turn off and is bothering me.
I’ve been thinking again since yesterday.
You can’t bring us back into the cage.
I’m gonna have to do this.
I’ll be alive in this deserted memory room.
That’s how it ends when you pass me by.
What I can do is just a stupid thing.
If you go, I’ll be left alone.
Time is stopped here, and I’m crying again and again.
This illusion was unlike the rest. Usually, everyone would see the same thing, but whenever Sunggyu sang this song, for some reason, a thick mist covered the entire place. Everyone saw the person that they longed for the most, in this deserted memory room. And that was why the audience demanded Room every performance. It was also why he had to end the show after the song. It was too overwhelming. Like the mist, the feeling was so thick, nothing but time could clear it.
Even for Sunggyu, he couldn’t sing afterwards, no matter whom he saw. And it would change, cycling through those he longed to see the most, his family, his friends, his…His eyes fluttered threatening to open. It was so tempting to open his eyes and see what phantom was standing in front of him this time. But once he saw it, his throat would tighten up, and he wouldn’t be able to sing anymore. So he frowned, shutting his eyes tightly closed, until the last line.
I’m crying again and again.
Although that was what he sang, Sunggyu wasn’t the one in tears. It was the phantom in front of him. Strange. Sunggyu would swear that he’d want nothing more than to see him smile and laugh. Wasn’t that how Sunggyu had always imagined him? But why was he crying? Sunggyu immediately stood up and reached over to wipe the glistening tears from pale, translucent cheek. “Woohyun, why…”
His hand went through the cheek. The phantom dissipated back into the mist. Ah, how silly. It was an image of his own creation. Same with the tears. But Sunggyu’s longing was all too real.
It took minutes for the mist to clear. Most of the audience had gone with it. The ones who remained were clapping softly for the bard.
Sunggyu bowed at the distracted applause. When he stood back up, his eyes met someone else’s. That glare, it was like he was offended by Sunggyu’s performance. Shivers shook through the bard. He was the first to break and left the stage.
That’s right. He’d forgotten. Among a crowd of fans, there was always an anti-fan.
“Sunggyu, this was on the door for you.”
A blue envelope was slipped underneath his bedroom door. It was a quest. Dis was a place for heroes, and so quests were very common. Sunggyu had even gone on quests before. Nothing too intense, like entering dungeons or slaying high-level opponents. Mainly, he accepted escort or retrieval missions. Those tended to involve small children, and Sunggyu could not refuse.
His first quest was to escort a princess to safety, when her kingdom was under attack by another. She was anxious about her parents, who could not go with her. Sunggyu distracted her with simple songs like Baby Shark. He lulled her to sleep too, in that rickety carriage, her small body curled up against his.
It was easy for Sunggyu to gain their trust. Eventually he was invited to more and more parties whenever the mission involved children. After all, Mr. Kkyu was their idol.
Sunggyu had expected this quest to be like the rest. But as soon as he entered the meeting location (the local tavern), he froze. It didn’t feel like he belonged here at all. All of the other heroes were dressed in expensive armor, with weapons forged from materials scavenged from the deepest dungeons. They were serious heroes, unlike Sunggyu who had half a mind to turn around and go back to the shop. But then he had caught sight of the man in front of the room, the anti-fan from the other night.
Maybe it was incorrect to name him a man because the being surely wasn’t human. It was more like a spider, with six red eyes, long fangs, and an extra set of arms, folded across his bare chest. Sunggyu, once again, was reminded that Dis drew in heroes from every world. And heroes normally spawned in a location much like their home world, which was why Sunggyu was stationed in a mountain village. And this creature was probably from the Sibillian Caverns, an elaborate cave system in the south, the “Monster Village,” as some referred to it as. But why would someone from the Sibillian Caverns travel this far north to assemble a party? Surely there was more than enough talents in those caves. Just look at the creature next to him! Parts of his skin was covered in brick-colored scales. His eyes were yellow, constantly flittering around the room, catching every movement. His smile revealed a mouth full of carnivorous teeth and a thick tail swished behind him.
Back in Korea, people were often called “dinosaurs” for their sharp features. This was the first time Sunggyu had ever seen a true dinosaur-human hybrid.
Sunggyu and his mandolin did not belong here, but now he was too scared to leave.
The tarantula man stepped forward and cleared his throat. “First, I’d like to thank you all for coming,” his raspy voice spoke far more politely than Sunggyu expected. “You can call me Rimson, and this,” he gestured over to the grinning and waving dinosaur next to him, “is Jarry.” Sunggyu bit his lip, holding back a laugh. Such cute names for such scary faces. Maybe he belonged in this meeting after all.
“I’ll cut to the chase,” Rimson stated. “A demon appeared at the Sibillian Caverns.”
“A demon?!” a few heroes repeated.
“Fuck!”
Sunggyu’s blood ran cold. No, he didn’t belong on this quest after all.
“I thought we were rid of them,” a heroine muttered.
A strangely robotic laugh echoed in the room. Sunggyu turned around to see a large armored being by the doorway. “You can’t get rid of them forever, dumbass,” the armor cursed without a trace of emotion. “They come popping out of the ground like the snakes that they are.”
“True. true,” the crowd murmured.
Demons, they probably came here the same way that they all did. But demons must have been from a world that cannot get along with the rest. Beings from that placed thought themselves as superior, and so it was only proper for them to have supreme power over all of Dis. After all, in their eyes, all other races were no better than toys or food. They would never feel sympathy, not for other races and not even within their own kind. It was almost like they were entirely incapable of emotions. The only thing that brought any light into their cold, black eyes was destruction.
That was why they were called demons. Unanimously, the heroes agreed to slaughter any demon in Dis. The sooner, the better.
“Are you sure? How do you know?”
Rimson took in a deep breath. “I saw it with my own eyes,” he started lowly. “It looks small and weak, but that’s how it lures you in. It killed our village chief and then stole away our women, children, some men. It brought them over the mountain pass to...the Ivory Gates.”
Several heroes gasped. Whispers swarmed the tavern.
“Are they okay?” one hero shouted.
“Did it eat them?”
“One managed to escape,” Rimson revealed. “She said that they are all still alive, but under the demon’s control. We don’t know what it wants.”
“What if the demon wants to open the gates?”
The whole room fell silent. The Ivory Gates were always bolted shut. What lied behind them, no one knew. No one ever dared to open them, but a demon might.
“So,” Rimson’s raspy voice shook. “Who will join us?”
Several heroes got up and left, giving their condolences. Dungeons and high-level opponents they could defeat, but a demon was another thing entirely. Many heroes before them went up against demons and only a few came back. What had happened to the rest? What happened after their time on Dis came to an end?
They were all scared to find out.
Except one. “Fuck it. I’m in,” the robotic armor marched forward. “I’ve always wanted to kill a demon, those sick freaks.” It slammed its fists together. “I want to crush its skull into dust.”
“Great.” Rimson and Jarry seemed apprehensive about their new ally. It was all too eager to risk life and limb for a stranger.
Then another hero came forward. It didn’t make as much fuss as the robot, for it was just a cloud that could not speak. But it showed its enthusiasm by swirling around the others and etching a grin onto its soft face.
“I’m glad you could join us, Cirro,” Jarry said with a laugh. “I knew I could count on you.”
Rimson, on the other hand, moved towards the table where Sunggyu sat. “What about you?” he asked, while pulling up a chair.
Sunggyu twiddled his thumbs and pulled a tight smile across his face. “I think you have the wrong person,” he began. “I just work at the potion shop. You really want Aasiyah. She’s the alchemist.”
Rimson grinned, which made the bard shiver again. He couldn’t get used to the guy. “Sunggyu, everyone knows who you are,” Rimson said. “I asked for you.”
“But,” Sunggyu still couldn’t understand. “I’m just a bard.”
“Yeah, you’re the strongest bard that there ever was!” Jarry exclaimed and joined them at the table.
“No, no, no,” Sunggyu denied. “I’m not.”
“You’re fucking with us, right?” The robot thudded up to the table. It didn’t sit down, but just loomed over the rest of them. Its digital voice continued, “This isn’t the time for modesty. You know that most bards play healing songs or ‘let’s fuck ‘em up’ songs. But you create illusions. No one else can do that.”
Sunggyu gazed at the table and shook his head. “But they’re just illusions. They aren’t real,” he grumbled. “I can’t…”
“That’s what Cirro is for,” Rimson nodded over to the cloud. “It can do elemental magic and make your illusions seem real.”
“I can too!” Jarry exclaimed, pulling out his guns. “Ratatataaa!”
“Yeah, sure,” Rimson brushed his friend off. He was too focused on recruiting the bard. “Besides…” he motioned for Sunggyu to lean in, which the bard did apprehensively. Although he was slowly getting used to the literal spider-man, the shivers still came in waves, whenever Rimson looked at him. “The demon is a bard too,” Rimson whispered. “It lures people to do its bidding with its voice. That’s what it did to the chief. He threw himself off a cliff because of its song.”
Sunggyu frowned. It was a familiar story told on Earth. The siren that would lure sailors to destruction. The Pied Piper that stole all of the village’s children.
Sunggyu’s eyes widened.
“As I said, the demon’s taken children too,” Rimson reminded him. “He could go into other villages and…”
“Okay,” Sunggyu cut him off.
“So you’re in?” Jarry roared. At which Sunggyu only nodded. “Yeah!”
“Don’t sound too excited about going demon hunting,” the robot whirred.
Sunggyu looked up at the armor and forced a smile. “Well, it’s my first.”
And it would be his last.
After informing Aasiyah, Sunggyu was on his way to the Ivory Gates with the rest of the party. Rimson, their leader and warrior, hadn’t recruited as many heroes as he would’ve liked. But he claimed that his brilliant plan would take down any demon, no matter how many heroes joined him. And he would just reveal that plan in bits and pieces as the journey wore on.
Rimson also revealed more about himself, at night around the campfires. He wanted nothing more in this life than to kill the demon. Not only it had ruined his village, but it also had taken away his lover. He had to win at any costs. Even though the woman who escaped described the demon like a cult leader, forcing them to dance and sing at its will. All fairly innocent for now, but the demon had already killed before. Rimson wanted to stop him before it was too late.
He recruited his best friend, Jarry, to the cause first. And if it weren’t for their friendship, Jarry wouldn’t be on this quest at all. The dinosaur’s constant smile was fragile and shook whenever even a threat of danger was near. He was the gunslinger for the group.
The party had taken to calling the large armored creature “Robot,” as it refused to divulge its name or any personal information. Obviously, the Robot was the party’s tank. It was also the most excited about facing a demon.
Or Sunggyu assumed that Robot was. It was hard to tell what their mage, Cirro, felt about anything, since it was a cloud. But Cirro seemed to like Sunggyu and would hover around him. Suiting, as they were to be partners, complimenting each other’s skills.
And it did work out as Rimson had planned.
While walking through the mountain pass, the party encountered a small swarm of low-level opponents (they were called “opponents” because Dis was full of heroes of several races, so no other name seemed appropriate. Opponents were mostly plant-like creatures, in this case, weeds). The other heroes stepped aside to let the mage and the bard practice.
Although it was low stakes, Sunggyu’s hands trembled when began to play.
Your eyes, your face
They sweep me up again
You fall as rain that are like prison bars
Closing up my heart
Cirro flew around him. It looked like heavy rain was falling down. But everyone was still dry, until Cirro whirred. Rain came pouring down.
After a break up that hasn’t ended
I’m saying goodbye to it
The fate that has remained with me
I try to escape from you
I try to run far away
But I’m swept up by you again.
Sunggyu’s cloak began whipping in the wind. A tornado was hurtling towards them. Sunggyu looked over nervously at his partner. That wasn’t real, right? They were moments away from being sucked into its vortex.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The weed-creatures disappeared, leaving behind menial items and coins. Jarry had shot them. His smile was trembling again.
Sunggyu’s illusion dissipated, but Cirro’s spell remained. The cloud had conjured nothing more than rain and a strong breeze.
“Oh thank gods that tornado wasn’t real!” Jarry roared. “I was worried for a moment!”
Robot patted the dinosaur on the back. “You almost fucking pissed your pants. Ha. Ha. Ha,” such a stilted laugh.
“Safe to say,” Rimson chimed in. “My plan is probably going to work.” The leader then motioned the other to follow him down the mountain pass.
“Probably?” Jarry and Sunggyu said in unison.
“When are you going to tell us this plan of yours?” Sunggyu asked.
“When I finish working out the kinks,” Rimson spoke, distracted as he climbed over some rocks with his six limbs. “It’ll work. Trust me.”
Sunggyu stood still for a moment, shivering. He’d gotten fully used to Rimson’s appearance by now, but what had rattled Sunggyu was that eerie sense of déjà vu. “It’ll work. Trust me,” were words that he’d spoken as a leader time and time again. Words that he’d spoken without believing them himself. Rimson was just making up things as he went, just as Sunggyu had done for years.
But would Sunggyu himself follow a leader like that? To fight against a demon?
“You tired already, old man,” Robot worded the question like a statement as it lifted the bard onto its back. “Just with one shitty fight. We have to level you up. Or else you won’t even make it to the demon alive.”
“I’m not tired. I’m just resting,” Sunggyu argued, but he still wrapped his arms around the Robot’s neck. “But I won’t turn down a ride.” Anything to avoid climbing over the rocks.
“Just sit back and relax, princess. I got it covered,” Robot replied. “Just think of ideas for new songs.”
Sunggyu cringed. That was the problem, wasn’t it? Although he could create these illusions, most of the songs that Sunggyu knew were about longing and obsession. There was nothing useful to take down a demon.
Or was there?
Sunggyu’s skills were soon put to the test again. They were crossing the charcoal sands of the Orcan Desert when they were ambushed by opponents. This time, they were stronger. Rimson and Robot immediately went on the offensive. Jarry stuck behind and tried to pick off as many as he could.
Cirro then nudged Sunggyu, waiting for its cue. Sunggyu sighed and pulled out his mandolin. Now was a good of time as any to put this song to the test.
This song, Sunggyu had nearly forgotten that they’d recorded it, until their group’s youngest member wanted to perform it as his solo. Such a ridiculous song, but it suited him. And it just might work now.
Lock tight your door
Avoid it if you can
A place without the light
I pray it’s not you and me
Darkness fell onto the battlefield. Lightening crashed.
Sullivan, Squishy, Oozma Kappa
Terry with an I and Y
Don, Art, Wazowski
With every name that he sang, a new creature crawled out of the charcoal sands, causing the opponents to scatter.
Let’s get it started
Scare games
Yes, my time with you
Tick tock tick tock, time stops, let’s play
Shamelessly having fun by yourself
Monster, monster, no one knows about this electric feeling
Dizzy, dizzy telemonster time!
Sunggyu’s monsters looked as if they were actually attacking the opponents, which were being dealt damage. But they were just illusions, right?
In the cold blood, the moonlight rises
It’s a hot start, a new nightmare
Feel the fear from the cry of the night
Hide behind the moon, I can see you
Will you be able to survive the night?
When I’m looking at you under the moonlight?
A rough hand clapped Sunggyu’s mouth shut. “We’re done. We’re done,” Jarry declared with a nervous laugh. “See, battle’s over! No more opponents. So you can stop now…please?”
Sunggyu pulled the scaly hands from his face. “It was all fake,” he reminded the other.
“Didn’t seem that way.” Jarry wasn’t smiling. The thin pupils in his yellow eyes shook.
“That’s because we were out there fighting,” Rimson said as he walked up to them. “Good work, Sunggyu.” One of his hands patted the bard on the back while another patted his head. “That was the perfect song! The darkness covered us and whatever you made created enough of a distraction for us to gain the upper hand. This is exactly what we should do when we confront the demon!”
Sunggyu sighed. He was right. Rimson really had no plan and was just hoping for things to sort themselves out. “Yeah, I think so to,” he agreed with a slender smile. “But I’ll probably need more practice.”
“Don’t worry,” Robot clumsily walked over. Its heavy armor kept sinking in the sand, slowing it down. “In this fucking desert, we’ll have more than enough opponents. Just look.” It pointed to the horizon, where you could clearly see shadows of opponents milling about.
“Great,” Sunggyu muttered below his breath, exhaustion seeping into his limbs, numbing his fingertips. In the past, he could perform on stage, singing and dancing, for hours. But that was with his members, who made everything easier. And this now, Sunggyu was fighting for his life with practical strangers. Everything about this was draining life from him, slowly like a poison.
And he wasn’t the only one.
That night, they settled at an oasis. Orange and pink grass peeked through the dark grey sands. The palm trees had yellow fronds. Luckily the water was normal, nestled in the colorful fauna. The dinosaur halfing looked at home among it, but he also appeared like he wanted to disappear, hiding in the shade of a boulder.
Sunggyu stood a several steps behind him, weighing whether he should just pretend like he didn’t see anything or ask the carnivorous reptile with guns what his problem was. The bard turned on his heels and tried to walk away, but Cirro suddenly whizzed past him and flew down to Jarry.
“What?! No! I’m not crying! You are!” Jarry roared. “Huh? What do you mean ‘I’m making Sunggyu worried’? He doesn’t fucking…oh, hi, Sunggyu. What’s up?” Jarry stumbled out of the shadows, just as surprised as the bard was to be standing face-to-face. “Don’t worry about me. Cirro just made it rain…on my face…It was a joke! Yeah, a joke!” Jarry wiped his eyes and nose, which were both still running, and that toothy grin was still plastered on his face. “No worries!”
Sunggyu’s sigh was so heavy that Jarry froze. The two heroes stared at each other as Cirro hovered between them.
Whether it’d be on Earth or in Dis, old habits died hard, and Jarry was stirring up so many old memories and feelings within Sunggyu. The bard was already hugging Jarry, patting him on the back, before he realized what he was doing. Did dinosaurs even hug? Instead of comforting, did Sunggyu accidentally start a fight?
Sunggyu still knew so little of this world and its people, but one thing became clear. No matter what species one was, a hug was universal.
Jarry squeezed the other back, all too tightly. “Thanks. I needed this.”
Sunggyu squirmed out of the other’s embrace before his bones broke. “Why don’t we talk?” he suggested instead.
“About what?” Jarry dropped his yellowed eyes to the sand.
“I,” Sunggyu started. He then cleared his throat. “I want to talk about where I’m from. I never really get a chance to. Aasiyah always said it was better to move on and not dwell on the past, but…I can’t. So, will you let me tell you?”
Jarry perked up. “Yeah, of course!”
The three of them settled by the water’s edge, well Cirro floated in between them. Off in the distance, Robot was powered down, and Rimson was laying in a hammock made from webs. Over the desert, no stars shone in the sky, causing Sunggyu to frown. They really weren’t under the same sky anymore, he and his loved ones on Earth. A cold lump of longing weighed down his stomach. It always had, as soon as he arrived in Dis.
“I heard that you were famous bard in your past life too,” Jarry mentioned. “So your life didn’t change much did it?”
Sunggyu sputtered into a scoff. “Sorry,” he quickly apologized. “It’s just…Earth is nothing like this. My life was nothing like this before. So much has changed, so fucking much.” He sighed and relaxed, looking up at the pitch-black sky. “I didn’t perform on my own, you know? I was with six other people. Well, five now.”
“Did one of them die?!” Jarry yelped.
“No! He just moved on. I mean he didn’t go into another world like us,” Sunggyu explained as the other opened his mouth again. “He just had other aspirations…other quests to complete, so to speak.” Jarry got it then. “Also I didn’t have a mandolin. We didn’t play any instruments at all. We just sing and dance.”
“You danced?! I can’t imagine.”
“Right,” Sunggyu giggled. “It’s hard to imagine now, but back then, I…we were famous for it. Knife-like dancing, they called it.”
“Were you like a gang or something?” Jarry was having a hard time keeping up.
“Ah, no, no! Nothing like that,” Sunggyu tried to explain. “Just our moves were sharp like a knife, and we were all in sync. That’s all that it meant.”
“Ah,” who knows if Jarry really understood or not, but he acted like he did. “It must’ve taken a lot of work.”
“It did. There were some days that we hardly slept or even ate,” Sunggyu was reminiscing with a slight smile. “But that was in the beginning, now we can eat what we want and work as long as we want. Even then, we’ll chose work over sleep when it comes down to it. That’s because Infinite is something that we’ve invested so much into, especially me. It was my money that got our company off of the ground. And I’m basically working there for free, so that those ungrateful brats could go home with more money,” his tone was light and his smile grew wider as he ranted. “And then they’ll still ask me to buy them food or get them a television. Sometimes I think they see me more as a bank than a leader, but…it’s what’s right. It’s my duty to take care of them. They aren’t just people I work with. They’re family.” The smile was gone now. Sunggyu brought his knees to his chest. “Fuck, I miss them.” He turned his head slightly to Jarry. “Don’t you?”
Jarry’s jaw had dropped. He clamped his mouth shut as soon as their eyes met. Jarry cleared his throat and looked away. “I do, but I…don’t get me wrong. Haven’t you been here awhile?”
“Yeah, about five years, why?”
“You speak like you came to Dis yesterday,” Jarry explained. “Really? Five years? Huh? Interesting.”
Sunggyu gritted his teeth. “I just don’t like all this ‘past life’ talk. No matter if I’d been here for five years or twenty. I’m Kim Sunggyu, and I’ll always be.” He stretched his legs back out. “I can’t pretend to be anything else.”
A strangled noise came from next to him, causing Sunggyu to jump. Jarry was struggling with his emotions again. “Can’t pretend…I can’t…I can never change, can I?!” he roared into the empty sky. Sunggyu scrambled onto his feet with his hands in the air, ready for whatever would come next. But Jarry was just having a mental breakdown, claw-like nails tearing at his red hair. “Sunggyu,” the dinosaur started with a sniff. “I’m a coward.”
The bard crept over on the tips of his toes and hesitantly, gently patted the other on the back. “So am I,” Sunggyu shamelessly admitted.
“Easy for you to say!” Jarry snapped. Sunggyu fell back down onto the ground, landing on his butt. “I…I’m an apex predator. I have sharp teeth that can tear through armor, claws that’ll cut through bone. And what have I done with them? Nothing but hide and fucking stay at home, too scared to do…anything.” Jarry’s large tail curled around him, hiding him. “My past life…I didn’t do shit with it. I was too scared to fuck anything up. I just did the bare minimum to exist. I wasn’t like you. You weren’t a coward at all, not like me.”
“But now…you’re a hero,” Sunggyu tried to cheer him up.
“Hmph,” Jarry let out a frustrated gargle. “I thought I could be. I thought I could finally be something, be someone different. Actually try to fucking live life for once, but…” he glanced up at Sunggyu. “Just like you said, I can’t be anything else. I’m just stupid fucking me!” He then pulled out his guns from his holster. Sunggyu jumped again. “I’m an apex predator, and the gods made me a fucking gunslinger! I can’t handle confrontation! I can only shoot things from a safe distance because I’m a fucking cow-wa-wa-ward!” The dinosaur began to cry again. And he wasn’t going to hide it anymore. “Su-sung-gy-gyu!” he whimpered. He dropped his guns to the ground and hugged the other. “I don’t want to die-e-e-e! No-not a-a-a-again!”
Sunggyu hugged him right back. His cloak was slowly getting soaked with huge tears, but Sunggyu just clung on more tightly, shutting his eyes just as tight. This was why he hated all the ‘past life’ talk. Sunggyu refused to believe that he had even died at all.
After all, out of all of the memories that he had from Earth, his death wasn’t one of them.
After they all calmed down, (yes, even Cirro had a rainstorm of tears too. Who knows why?) Sunggyu and Jarry finally laid down to sleep. Cirro curled up into Sunggyu’s stomach, like a cat, even weirdly warm like one too.
“Hey, bard,” Jarry spoke softly with his eyes closed. “I…can’t stop thinking about…stuff. Like I’m starting to think that it might not be too bad to join the demon’s cult, do as it says, not think. I think that I’ll be seriously fucking weak to the demon’s powers. Can…can you make sure that I don’t?”
“That you don’t think or don’t give into the demon?”
Jarry sighed. “Both.”
Sunggyu chuckled. “Well, Rimson supposedly has a plan.”
“He does,” Jarry groaned as he rolled onto his side. “I trust him. It’ll be okay.”
Sunggyu scoffed. Yeah, the dinosaur would be easy pickings for the demon, if he fell for Rimson’s vague “trust me” without question. But what else could they do? They were almost at the Ivory Gates.
“It’ll be okay, huh?”
Like an afternoon when the rain stopped
The sun is covering me.
Lost in the dark memories, getting farther away
The empty night sky began to slowly fill with stars. Streaks of purple and milky white were painted across. Those streaks continuously got lighter and brighter as Sunggyu sang.
Up and down, I couldn’t stand.
Day and night, I’m tired now.
You and I are lying on the gentle waves.
Yes, like this.
It will be okay.
I’ve been praying all day.
Is that just the wind? I don’t believe it.
It will be okay.
That desperate moment, insanely ordinary to me at that time.
It will be.
I expect it.
“Sunggyu,” Rimson rasped from his web. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”
“Ah sorry,” Sunggyu whispered. And the daylight that he’d created faded back into night, dark and dreary. The bard sighed and looked over next to him. He smiled.
Jarry had fallen fast asleep.
The next day, they reached the edge of the Orcan Desert, after fighting a few more swarms of opponents. It was easy work. In spite of meeting recently, this party had good chemistry. Hopefully these bonds would not falter under a demon’s power.
With each fight, it was starting to seem like this could actually work.
But first, there was a short jaunt across the Oneirothera Meadows which ended at the River Ocean, which encircled the boundaries of Dis. What laid next to it were high mountains, like a wall around the whole world. The tops reached beyond the sky, it seemed. There was no way over them and only one way through them: the Ivory Gates.
Rarely any hero approached these gates. None had dared to touch them. But all were curious.
There were several villages settled along the shores of the river, looking at the mountains. The party settled into one of them for the night, trying to gather more information about the demon.
“I haven’t heard anything about a demon. Honestly, I thought they were made up, you know? A part of Dis’ lore. I didn’t think they actually existed.”
“Oh, a demon? I don’t know about that, but I did hear of a large caravan going through here. There must be a hidden dungeon nearby. I’ve been searching for it ever since! Care to join me?”
“You’re trying to find a demon? Don’t most people try to avoid them? Anyway, try some of my brown bread. It’s delicious.”
“Demons don’t exist. They’re just anomalies, if you ask me. Not harmless, but not harmful. The real demon is this fucking economy! Three silver pieces for your dry-ass brown bread?! You’re out of your fucking mind!”
“A demon? Oh goodness, no! He’s no demon.”
“Eh?” the party collectively gasped. Finally, they stumbled across a real lead.
A woman stood in front of them with an eerily serene expression. “I’ve heard the rumors too, but when I finally met with him, when I finally listened to him. I learned the truth. You and I meeting with each other is not a coincidence,” she said as she brought her index finger and thumb in a shape of a heart over her lips, kissing them.
“What the fuck does that mean,” Robot whirred as it tried to mimic the gesture with its thick fingers.
“Ah,” Sunggyu began, but he stopped. “Never mind, it’s not the same.” He cocked his head. “Not the same.”
“What are you muttering about?” Jarry hissed lowly as he knocked his elbow into the other. “Do you know something?”
Sunggyu brought his fingers into the same shape as hers. “Where I’m from, it’s a called a ‘finger-heart.’ Because it’s a heart…made with your fingers. See?”
The rest of his party stared at him skeptically, even Cirro.
But the woman clapped her hands. “Oh! So you’ve been enlightened too? Will you be coming to the meeting tonight?” She glanced around to the others. “All are welcome. He invites everyone to be his dear friend.”
“Who is this ‘he’ of whom you speak?” Rimson asked. “Does he have a name?”
“Well, of course! It’s Destiny! That’s what he is. Our Destiny.”
“Eh?” Sunggyu balked.
“Right,” Rimson whispered lowly to the bard. “What a load of shit, but it has to be him. We’re going to that meeting.” He then cleared his throat and stated, “We would like to go to that meeting, please.”
“Certainly! Meet me here at dusk. I will take you there myself.” She began to walk away, repeating her same gesture from earlier. “You and I meeting with each other is not a coincidence. Farewell!”
“Uh, yeah, same to you.” Jarry awkwardly repeated the gesture. He then turned to his friend. “This can’t be it. You think?”
“Well, it’s a cult near the Ivory Gates,” Rimson replied. “Bumblebae didn’t say that was right next to them. She just said that the demon was going near it. And it was starting a cult. Obviously, that woman is a part of a cult. And those,” he gestured over to the moments, “are the Ivory Gates. It wouldn’t hurt to check it out.” He nudged the bard. “What do you think? Obviously Robot is in.”
“Fuck yeah,” Robot responded, monotone but ready for a fight.
“I’m thinking…a lot,” Sunggyu admitted with a slight smile, which fell quickly. He shut his eyes for a moment, reminding himself that he was in Dis. And when he opened them up again, he was. A sigh fell past his lips. “Yeah, I think we should check it out too.”
“Great!” Rimson exclaimed, actually smiling. “I have a good feeling about this. And I think it’s time to let you in on my grand plan!”
The grand plan was to fight as they normally would but stuff wax into their ears. It was stupidly simple, and if Rimson had told them sooner, there would’ve been far more push back. But as they were moments away from confronting the demon, everyone’s reaction was “Oh, that could work.” After all, there was no time to come up with a better plan, if there even was one.
So now they were following the woman, dressed in a long yellow dress, as they walked out of the village and towards a cathedral right at the water’s edge. The woman kept casting glances back at Sunggyu and smiling.
“Why does she keep doing that?” Jarry hissed. He was on edge. His fingers were already wrapped around the triggers of his guns. “Do you know her?”
Sunggyu shot the other a glare. The woman was covered in white feathers, which came into a crest on her head. She had a beak! “Does it look like I know her?”
“I don’t know who you know!”
There was a sharp rap of the back of their heads. “Get it the fuck together,” whirred Robot. “It’s demon time!”
“Ah, right,” Jarry mumbled, rubbing his head. “My favorite time of day…demon time.”
Sunggyu gave him a squeeze on the shoulder. “If you feel like the demon’s getting to you, just run,” he muttered lowly so that the rest couldn’t hear. “Just save yourself.”
Jarry perked up. “You won’t think less of me if I do?”
Sunggyu shook his head. “No, because I’ll probably be running right behind you.”
“Look at us, just a couple of cowards.” Jarry already seemed more relaxed and was laughing his usual laugh
“Yeah, it’s Rimson’s fault for recruiting us in the first place. He should’ve known better,” Sunggyu remarked with a click of his tongue.
“Hey, slowpokes! Get your butts over here!” Rimson called to them. They were already in front of the cathedral doors. Music could be heard, though muffled by the stone. Sunggyu stared up at the building for some time. Something about it…
“Seems like it’s our demon, judging by the music,” Rimson announced. “So it’s time to wax up!” He took out the wax and started to hand it out to the others.
Jarry somehow managed to stick wax into Cirro, and the wax nubs were protruding out of its sides like antennae. Rimson tried to do the same with Robot.
“Uh, where do I? Do you even need this?” Rimson asked as he struggled to find anything like ears on the armor.
Suddenly, the helmet of the armor opened. Inside, a mouse-like creature sat in chair, piloting the suit of armor. The mouse got up and tore small hunks of wax from Rimson. “I don’t want to hear it,” she squeaked, stuffing the wax into her large ears. “Yes, I’m small. But I’m also big! Fucking bigger than all of you! I can do it! Let me take on the fucking demon! I fucking dare you to try and stop me!” She was panting angrily by the end, gripping her gear shifts tightly.
Rimson stood still for a second, stunned at what he’d just seen. When the helmet snapped shut again, he shook his head. “Two cowards, a cloud, a mouse,” he grumbled underneath his breath. “And a dumbass for a leader.” He then broke into a roaring laugh. “Well, guys. Let’s just try not to die.” He then put his hand in the middle of the party. Everyone else followed along, except Cirro who just hovered over it. “On three, let’s shout ‘Don’t die.’ Okay? One, two, three…”
“Don’t die!”
“I’d like to see them try and get me,” Robot declared, back in her usual tone, and ran towards the cathedral doors.
“Wait!” Rimson called after her and ran. “You’re breaking formation!”
“Guess it’s go time.” Jarry followed.
Sunggyu hesitated. He’d been waiting for something, something that might never come.
“Oh, what is it, Cirro?” he noticed the cloud hovering over his hands, clutching onto the wax. “Oh, right. The wax.”
“It’s a shame,” the woman spoke up. She’d been there the whole time, with her usual expression. “Destiny has such a lovely voice. As a fellow bard, I think you would really appreciate it.” She titled her head, rustling her feathers. “You look so much like him too.”
“Eh?” Sunggyu dropped the wax.
The doors of the cathedral had opened. The music burst out. The last lines of the song fluttered into the night sky.
Someday, on the day we promised
I’m already here, waiting
At night if I become tired of waiting for you
I’ll be singing for you again
That my voice will go round and round in time
And resonate in your heart
I hope so
The song did resonate through him, not just in his heart, but through his whole body. The lump of longing that had been lodge in there was slowly working its way out. And while his whole self was vibrating, Sunggyu couldn’t move. Was this the work of the demon? No, no it wasn’t.
“Sunggyu? Sunggyu! Did you run away already? The demon isn’t that scary. I think we can take him easy,” Jarry ran out of the cathedral and up to him. “Ah, right! You can’t hear me because of the wax!” He laughed. He then began gesturing as he talked. “The demon is tiny. I think we can…What do you mean ‘Sunggyu never put the wax in his ears,’ Cirro? Why wouldn’t…Oh my gods! He didn’t! No! The demon got him! Sunggyu!”
Sunggyu shrugged off the dinosaur that was shaking. “It’s not a demon,” he muttered.
“Huh? What did you say? I can’t hear you,” Jarry roared.
“It’s not a demon,” Sunggyu repeated, enouncing every word carefully.
“N-not a demon,” Jarry followed. He frowned. “Well, if it’s not a demon then what is it?”
“Are we having fun, friends? Yeah? Then let’s keep this good mood going!” a voice echoed. “1, 2…1, 2, 3 GO!”
At “go,” Sunggyu bolted to the cathedral and ran through the doors.
Without being able to afford even a second
“Oh…” The singing stopped. Everything did. Including the small man on the stage, microphone in hand. It wasn’t a demon at all. “Hyung? Sunggyu-hyung, is that really you? What are you wearing?”
It was Nam Woohyun.