Book of Darkness: Chapter 9
Decimator of Light: Book of Darkness Chapter 9: New Clothes
To Cin’s surprise, all the food in the Darkness was tastier than practically anything he had ever had on Earth – which instantly also made him guilty, since his father was a chef. But the experience was so interesting he managed to put that thought aside for the time being.
The food looked roughly the same -- what appeared to be meat, grains, vegetables, fruits -- but they didn’t seem to be the exact type of things that grew back at home, and like everything else in this place, every slice of food looked like some sort of painting that belonged in a museum. But he was so hungry, the beauty didn’t stop him; in fact, he hardly could pay any attention to the appearance to the food or anything around him once it was in his mouth. Whenever anything touched his tongue, it was almost like he was waking up taste buds that had been asleep his whole life, ones that could tell his brains about flavors he’d never had before on earth, with the smells being equally new but entrancing. His whole head started to spin slightly just from the flavors alone; he had to close his eyes to sit and truly savor what was going on in his mouth with every chew. And yet, as he ate, all four Squadron members were constantly apologizing for not taking him anywhere fancier than the place across the street from the “Squadron Hall,” the place they’d been talking in and that Cin had thrown up in.
According to Sterk, all Squadron members lived there, sort of like an apartment for them, though anyone was allowed into the big area with the bar and bubbles so that all people could come and give support to the various Squadrons or simply to just have fun. Even though they were having a big party because of Cin’s arrival, apparently, it wasn’t exactly uncommon for there to be a party going on pretty much any night that a Squadron was home instead of on some mission. Cin liked the sound of it – it made the Zero Squadron seem a little less intimidating and overly-serious to him.
After Cin finished eating, which took a while as he stuffed any food he could reach into his mouth until he felt ready to throw up again, he was led back towards the Zero Squadron’s corridor, though this time, through a back entrance. There was a secret hallways hidden behind a painting on the back half of the beautiful building, through what looked to be the image of some being of Darkness protecting some humans from some sort of ultra-bright explosion. Only, it wasn’t that the painting was moved aside and the hallway was visible. It was just a wall like everything else. Cin didn’t get a good look at it; he was pushed right through, and walked right through the wall as though it hadn’t been there.
Cin had to blink several times and look behind him again and again, wondering if that had actually happened or if he was so tired he was hallucinating, but in the end, he couldn’t decide which it was. Either way, he ended up in a corridor with different stairways that seemed to lead off in eight different directions. The Squadron members led him up the flight that seemed to go to the very top, which confused Cin, as he remembered simply entering a door on the first floor when he first got there, but sure enough, when they opened the door, they were back in the same place he’d been before. Same table with a cube hovering above it, same cushions on the floor, same doors with the Squadron members’ faces on them, Tishina even still leaning against the same wall they’d left him against when they’d left. Cin was definitely confused, but decided he must have been considerably more exhausted than he thought he should be for someone who had passed out twice in the same day. So, when Sterk suggested that Cin get some rest, that idea sounded really appealing.
As Cin started to head towards Tishina’s room and looked at Tishina, who was supposedly still watching the Versabic, the teen felt a little strange. Cin felt as though he had let someone down. The feeling only doubled when he noticed Tishina’s bored, unfocused eyes lift just enough to focus on him for a moment. Once again, they filled with pity, and Cin felt a gnawing urge to speak to him, to ask what was wrong, why he always looked at Cin in such a way -- but Cin was pulled into Tishina’s room by Veder, and Tishina’s tattooed head tilted out of view as the man’s as his eyes drifted back to the cube as though he had never given Cin so much as a glance.
“Do not mind Tishina,” Veder assured him once he closed the door behind them and noticed Cin’s concerned expression. “He is not very traditional in his approach to people, but he is amazingly proficient at his work. And he is not one to get angry over something as simple as using his room...”
“Why didn’t he go eat with us, though?” Cin asked, eyes still locked on the closed door, trying to picture that man still staring at the cube. He hadn’t even been bothered by it until he had seen Tishina again. “I mean, doesn’t he get hungry? Isn’t he tired?”
“He shall eat eventually. He is not one to do things outside his personal pace,” Veder replied with a smile. “Please, do not worry yourself in his behalf. Tishina is more than capable of taking care of himself. Like Frio, he was once a Castigator, after all.”
“A what?” Cin’s curiosity was piqued. As much as he hated to admit it, he was still curious about Frio’s reaction earlier, and if she had been whatever the heck a ‘Castigator’ was, then maybe it had something to do with it. Not to mention, he was desperate for any information he could get on Tishina.
“Perhaps it would be best if you rested for the time being, Cin?” Veder chuckled a bit, motioning to the bed Cin had awoken in about two hours earlier.
Cin barely managed to bite back the urge to groan. “I mean, yeah, sure, I guess...but could you at least explain it before I do?” he bargained, climbing into the bed and pulling the abnormally warm covers onto himself as a sign of compliance, but it still felt as though he had only gotten up three minutes ago and was already climbing back in. The desperation in his voice was clear, however, and with a sigh and a gentle smile, Veder sat down in the chair beside the desk and explained.
“It is the title of a position, much like being a member of a Squadron. The official title of a Squadron member is actually ‘Vizard’.”
“So you guys are magic!” Cin sat up in triumph, but Veder just gave an entertained chuckle and motioned for the boy to lay back down.
“Vizard. Not wizard. Because we must disguise ourselves in the Gray World to be able to do the work that is needed there. Regardless, Castigators are in groups called Teams, rather than Squadrons, and their work lies not in keeping matters on the Gray World peaceful, but gathering information from the Oth- er...the L-Light,” he had to choke the last word out as though it made him a little sick inside, but Cin did vaguely appreciate the effort. “It is considerably more dangerous and involves considerably more physical prowess and combat. It involves much more deception and secrecy than even we do in the Squadrons. So, I think you see how someone as mysterious as Tishina did well in this sort of job,” He lifted an eyebrow at Cin, clearly waiting for agreement, and Cin did have to nod. Tishina did seem like someone who could easily keep any secret in the world.
“Now, if that has satisfied your curiosity, Cin, I must ask that you sleep. You will truly need your rest, as when you awaken, we will attempt to help you use your Ability. Would that be alright?” He asked the boy.
Cin nodded, and Veder chuckled, standing up to give Cin a solid pat on the shoulder before exiting the room and closing the door behind him, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts. Cin turned away from the door and hugged a pillow close to his chest. He frowned. Frio had once been a sort of fighting spy? He would have thought that Sterk had been, seeing all of his scars...but then again, now that he thought about it, Frio had quite a few scars, herself. Tishina, however, looked perfectly unharmed, and he had not shown any signs of what his Ability was when kidnapping Cin. But they had both been Castigators (why did that word sound so intimidating?), and Tishina and Frio happened to be the two Cin felt closest two. Was there some reason for that? Maybe Tishina would show his Ability during the training that Veder mentioned. Maybe then, Cin would have another piece to add to this weird puzzle.
With these thoughts swirling around in his mind, Cin drifted off to sleep, never even hearing the beginnings of the excited conversation amongst the Squadron members outside the room.
“Enatha! Enatha, look! It’s beautiful...!!” he gasped in awe, looking out of an oval mirror. His face was so full of excitement, she couldn’t help but laugh lightly as she approached him.
“What is it...?” She asked gently, but gasped when she saw what her friend had been talking about. It was a shape, a large orb, and around it, all the elements were flowing. Water flowed gracefully into wind, which, in turn, flowed into an electrical storm, which eased itself into fire, which was somehow avoiding burning the earth beside it, which was not dirtying the small specks of powdered metal next to it, and the metal in turn solidified, then turned back to speckles and glittered back into the wind. As the elements swirled, faster and faster, the two forces within the circle were flowing as well. Light and darkness, flowing in and out of each other like two fish in some sort of ritualistic dance, until finally, it glowed a bright, shocking and beautifully balanced gray. The elements then closed in, and with a loud burst and a wave of light, the gray circle became a fresh planet.
“This...it is amazing...” Enatha said quietly, tears forming in her eyes. “Did we...? Is this because of...?”
“We did it!!” Alanore cried, turning towards his friend and grasping her hands. “We made this! A product of Light and Darkness -- it was us, Enatha! This is what our people can do together! We created a whole new dimension, but now...now we have a planet we created by WILL! Maybe...maybe we can help life flourish on it as well!”
“But what should it be called...?” Enatha asked, unable to stop her smile. “A name would make explaining this much simpler...”
“Name?” Alanore asked, pulling back. “Name... I know! It was gray for a minute, wasn’t it? The Gray World! The first planet in this solar system of our dimension to have life! The Gray World!”
“Perfect,” Enatha nodded, smiling gently.
Alanore suddenly frowned, and his white eyes looked dreadfully worried.
“What happened!?” he demanded, looking at Enatha with panic. “What’s going on!?”
“Hm?” Enatha only blinked at him, confused. “What are you talking about, Alanore?”
“You...you faded for a second! It was like...like you weren’t there for a little bit! What’s going on!? Are you alright? Is this normal!? Do you need medical attention!? Do-”
“Shh,” Enatha laughed a bit, pressing her pointer finger gently to Alanore’s lips. “Calm down. I am fine. I am sure you simply imagined it.”
The man seemed to melt a little at her touch, his cheeks suddenly turning a little pink. She pulled her finger away, and Alanore nodded weakly, smiling down at his friend as a hand drifted to the back of his head.
“I’m sorry. Sorry...I must be a little tired, I suppose,” He laughed at himself. “Sorry, just...the idea of you disappearing -- that scared me so much...!” he put a hand on his heart like it literally ached.
Enatha laughed gently at this as well, as though finding this idea absurd, but when she turned away from him, her eyes stung with tears. She felt that the inevitable was coming closer and closer every day. The least she could do was try and hide this from Alanore, at least until their project was done. It was all she could ever really do for him, all she could ever really be to him -- a lab partner.
And only a temporary one, at that.
Cin awoke with a start, feeling the door opening. It made no form of sound and he was over ten feet away, but he could feel the air being pushed away from the door. Quickly, knowing right away what the dream had caused, Cin wiped his tears away while extending his other arm, so that when Pila peeked her head in, he looked as though he had just awoken from a pleasant dream and was stretching instead.
“Ah, Cin, you’re awake!” she said with surprised excitement as she entered the room. She had several boxes in her arms and had to use her shoulder to open the door. She quickly toppled all the boxes onto the yet-to-be-slept-in bed beside Cin and then plopped herself down next to them. She seemed the most casual around him out of all the Squadron members. “How’d you sleep?”
“Fine,” Cin said, his eyes still on the boxes. They were of various shapes and sizes, the largest big enough for a basketball, and the smallest about the size of a ring box. He was worried that whatever was inside them was going to be used to force his Ability out of him. “What’s in those?”
“Clothes,” Pila said with a grin, patting the closest box next to her, a flat one that looked it could hold a pie. “Sterk, Frio, and I figured you could use a new outfit to help you fit in a little better. Not to mention the clothes you’re wearing now are all sweaty and probably have some vomit and blood on them.”
Cin felt his ears get hot, realizing that he had been in his pajamas for almost two days now. The idea of a change of clothes was very appealing. Even more appealing, though -- was a shower.
“There’s a Hygienics Room right there,” Pila added, motioning to a part of the room Cin had ignored earlier. To his surprise, there was a door there, though it looked like it was simply a part of the wall with no door frame around it. All the other doors in the Darkness had been so elaborate that he had simply not seen the one normal one.
“Er, thanks?” Cin said, hoping that was the bathroom. He stayed in bed, expecting Pila to leave after that, but she continued to sit where she was, smiling at nothing in particular. After a moment of awkward staring, he finally asked, “Uh, so, do I just go in there and change or something, and then...?”
“Oh, right! Sorry!” Pila clapped her hands together as though just remembering something important. She seemed a little out of it and more than a little distracted. “After you’re dressed, Sterk and Veder are going to take you to the Darkness Dungeon.”
“Th-the what?” Cin felt his heart jump in his throat. A dungeon? Was he getting arrested?
“Oh, don’t worry!” Pila laughed a bit at his reaction, waving a hand to dismiss his thoughts. “It’s just the term we use. It’s kind of like a training hall or dojo on the Gray World. It’s just underground, away from the surface so no one gets hurt, and it’s easier to draw Darkness for Abilities there. They’re just going to try and help you train, that’s all.”
“O-Oh. Okay,” Cin sighed with relief. “But what about you, Frio, and Tishina? Do you guys just have to wait for them to finish with me?”
“A few of the other Squadrons are having trouble,” she replied very casually, leaning back on the bed and kicking the air with her feet. “Tishina went off to help One already, Frio’s going to go help Four, and I have to help Three. Three’s near an electrical plant, so they need more than one Pauser, and we’re the only Squadron that isn’t on any real mission at the moment. So it’s just going to be you and the guys.”
“Huh,” Cin nodded a bit, though he was a little confused by Tishina wasn’t included in ‘the guys’. But Cin quickly realized he would have been more than a little embarrassed if Frio and Pila would be the ones to see him fail around during his attempts to master his Ability and quickly appreciated the situation. Not that Veder or Sterk were necessarily any less embarrassing to flail in front of, but Cin got the feeling those two were going to judge him no matter what the situation, anyway.
As he climbed out of bed, Cin noticed something glimmering on Pila’s chest. It hadn’t been there the day before, even though she was in the same uniform, otherwise.
“What’s that?” Cin hadn’t actually intended to ask that out loud, but thankfully, Pila didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh, this?” Pila looked down and smiled widely as she hopped to her feet, touching the beautifully-detailed flower charm she now had around her neck. “Sterk got me this while we went shopping for your clothes. He saw me and Frio staring at the shop, and he snuck off while we weren’t paying attention...” The way she shifted from one leg to another as she spoke made Cin raise an eyebrow in confusion, but he decided he cared a lot less about the necklace and a lot more about getting showered at this particular moment.
“It’s really nice,” he did offer her, since she looked so happy about it. “And good luck with helping the other Squadrons,” he added before disappearing into the Hygienics Room.
He closed the door behind him and looked around. It was similar to a bathroom -- the floor and walls were shiny in a way that suggested they wouldn’t absorb water and there seemed to be the basics with a sink, toiler, and shower -- but the differences were really what got Cin’s attention. There was what he only could have assumed was a toilet, only it had no back to it and seemed a bit longer than it should have been. Next to it was a counter with what only could have been a sink, though it was crescent in shape, and the water was constantly flowing from the edges, like a little waterfall. In the corner, next to some towels, was what appeared to be a shower or something of the sort. It was a small rectangular room a few from any wall, with glass doors revealing the inside. But instead of the usual faucet or handle, there only appeared to be buttons. No knobs, no shower head, no shampoos or even soaps. The shower space was completely bare otherwise.
Cin let out a low groan as he reluctantly opened the glass door. He already hated it when he had to shower anywhere new and figure out how a shower head not from his own house worked. How he had to go in blind with buttons? Though he was incredibly afraid of experimentation with buttons in the Darkness, he was far more self-conscious about simply going back and asking someone about how the shower worked. No, third degree burns were easily better than having to have someone explain a shower to him like he was a six-year-old. So, the teenager stripped himself of all his clothes and, after a little thought, even the bandages, and climbed into the rectangular room, closing the clear door behind him.
Within twenty minutes, Cin had tried every button on the wall.
It was considerably simpler than he had thought, as well as a lot more entertaining. The buttons ranging from blue to purple to red had to do with the temperature of the water. Blue was cold, red was hot, and purple was a nice, even mix, with the shades in between correlating to the temperatures in between. There was no wait time – the moment the button was pushed, that was the temperature of the water before Cin could even lift his finger. The black buttons with silvery shapes on them showed where the water would come from. It sprayed out from the ceiling, the sides, and even up from the floor, and the buttons could be used in combination with one another so that water was literally just spraying from everywhere at once. The other buttons were all soaps and shampoos that smelled like different fruits and flowers, all of which either landed in his hands, on his hair, or just somewhere on his body, keeping on which of those small buttons he pressed. That part was especially jarring when he figured out which one was meant to soap up his backside.
By the end of the experimentation, Cin was completely clean, but left the purple button on, letting the water drip onto his head. His soaked, purple bangs obscured his vision, but he leaned back against the shower wall to stare at nothing in particular, so it didn’t matter.
Though Pila had surprised him and the shower had distracted him, now that he had nothing else on his mind, his thoughts were drifting back to the dream, of all things. The memories of it were much more vivid in his mind than dreams he’d had back home over the years. And something about them was nagging at him in the back of his mind, though he couldn’t place the feeling.
That newest dream definitely took place after the last one he had had. Enatha had felt a little more tired, a little more hopeless than before. Though she had been temporarily pleased by their project working, she wasn’t too surprised that Alanore had seen her fade. She had been so upset that Alanore had almost caught her, and it had stung at her so badly when he had said he’d hate to see her go...Her eyes had even filled with tears...
It suddenly hit him.
Her eyes. How could it have taken him so long? Enatha’s eyes! They were black, pure black, just like Cin’s, just like everyone’s in the Darkness. Enatha was a being of the Darkness!
Cin’s heart rate double instantly though he wasn’t sure why.
The fact that he had been dreaming about a being of the Darkness before knowing anything about them was more of a shock that he’d expected. There was a strange, unfamiliar glimmer of hope. He knew, somewhere deep inside of himself, about the Darkness. About someone from the Darkness. Could that have possibly meant that he was actually what the people said he was? Could he really have been the Decimator? Maybe this was something actually all connected to him.
He quickly pushed this thought out of his head. He didn’t need to get his hopes up. A whole race was depending on the Decimator. Cin had no right to assume that he was their savior simply because he had had some dreams.
But something else was still bothering him. Something he wasn’t sure about. The way the planet had formed in his dream had been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, hands down. And yet, it had been strangely familiar. Not to Enatha, though he had been seeing it through her eyes. To him, to Cin. As though Cin had seen it somewhere before, somewhere recently. But where? There were so many designs everywhere in the Darkness, was it even possible for him to find a specific one?
He could always ask one of the Squadron members, though he didn’t love the idea of possibly being questioned about his dreams. But Cin had only been in three buildings so far, someone was bound to remember a design as beautiful as the one he’d seen as long as he could narrow it down to three buildings, right? Maybe it was worth it, telling them about his dreams...
“Nngh-!” Cin lurched forward unexpectantly, grasping his stomach to stop the wave of nausea.
Cin panted for a moment, swallowing down the extra saliva that had accumulated in his mouth, trying to understand what had caused this reaction. He shakily pulled his hand away from his stomach, coming to the realization that it had been the idea. The idea to tell the Squadron, anyone, about his dreams. He had never had the urge to do so before. But now that he had considered it, suddenly, his body was rejecting the thought. Physically.
He breathed deeply looking down at the shower floor, idly watching the water disappear into the floor instead of ever splashing. After a minute of this, Cin blindly pressed the buttons on the water, shutting the water off, and exited the shower.
He wasn’t going to tell them. At least, not yet. His body’s reaction made him completely reconsider ever doing so in the first place. He wasn’t prepared to go up against his own body quite yet. Maybe one day, but it was only his second day in the Darkness so far. He’d have time to ask another day, right? Now, he was going to go train or something. Cin was going to try and find out his Ability, see whether or not he was this so-called Decimator, and either make everyone happy or very disappointed.
Soon, Cin was all dry and trying on the clothes the three had gotten him. Though they all looked to be skin tight, as all clothes appeared to be in the Darkness, they were also amazingly comfortable and pleasantly warm. With some searching, he found a black pair of pants that weren’t too tight, but not nearly as baggy as what he was usually used to. After he had those on, he found a silver belt to put on as well, even though it wasn’t necessary with pants that fit snugly. He couldn’t find a single shirt that was anything short of form-fitting, and finally settled on one with no sleeves but a high collar. He saw arm bands and a few pairs of gloves as well, and after a moment of contemplation, put a set on. The arm bands matched his belt, and the gloves were fingerless. It wasn’t so much that he thought he needed them, but he sort of felt a “Decimator” would wear something like that. It looked kind of cool on his arms, too. Like a futuristic video game character.
Finally, he found a nice pair of black boots and pulled them on. They fit just right and seemed to be made out of a more comfortable, but just as sturdy, material as leather. There was no mirror in the bedroom, nor any mirror in the Hygienics Room at all, so he just ran his patted his hair until it felt like it should have been sitting correctly. His hand innately went to his nose to push his sunglasses up, when he realized that he wasn’t wearing any. He blinked for a moment with surprise, realizing that he hadn’t worn any since he had entered the Darkness.
It was different now. Everything seemed so different. He usually hated different, hated new. And yet, this? He was welcoming it. It was bizarre but not necessarily bad.
“Okay,” he said to himself, carelessly tossing his pajamas onto his bed before exiting the room in his new outfit. He felt he was ready to take on the training, no matter how difficult or unpleasant it was going to be.