Chapter 69: Eyes Wide Open

Chapter 69: Eyes Wide Open

Neave had no doubt.

This man wasn’t an illusion, even if his appearance was deceitful.

Neave felt his mental state revert to normal as everything anchored to this stranger's existence. His incredulity overflowed and returned to normality, as the absurdity of the appearance of a god was so immense he knew not even insanity could make this shit up—which left him incredibly confused.

Why was this man here?

How was he here?

Neave thoughts were interrupted as the man spoke up again.

“Now, you may not believe this kid, but I’m a...”

“You’re a god.”

He stared blankly at Neave with an appraising look in his eye. Then he continued.

“That’s exactly right!” He clapped.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m just stuck here, the same as you are.”

Neave’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t believe you.”

“What do you mean you don’t believe me? Don’t you have eyes? I’m standing in front of you inside this creepy place. What other proof do you need?”

“You’re neither here nor are you stuck.”

The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“Ouch, I guess this will be trickier than I thought.”

“Answer my question. Why are you here?”

“Let me answer with a counter-question. Why are you here?”

Neave simply stared at the man in silence. The man sighed and continued.

“You’ve come here to go underground to that place, right?”

Neave perked up but stayed quiet, letting the man speak.

“Well, I’m here to let you know that you won’t be doing that.”

Neave snorted. He got into a stance and used a movement technique to slip past the man, deep into the cave, and...

He woke up.

Neave found himself back in reality, flabbergasted as to what had happened. Did he die? There was no way the man could kill him that quickly, right? No, he was a god. Perhaps he somehow forced Neave out? Neave knocked himself out again.

He appeared in the nightmare realm again and immediately ran back. The man sat in a chair outside the cave entrance, shuffling strange cards and completely ignoring Neave. Neave once again went past him.

Only to wake up again.

Change of plans.

Neave knocked himself out again and went underground, completely circumventing the traditional cave entrance. He reached a wall he estimated would lead to a cave connecting to the underground chamber.

He took one step forward, then another, jumped, and...

Woke up again.

“What the fuck!?”

Neave once again knocked himself out and went to the cave entrance. The man was still shuffling the strange cards.

“How are you doing that?”

The man simply ignored him and kept shuffling the cards. He placed some in the middle of the air, and they remained floating there. Without turning to face Neave, he spoke.

“You want me to teach you how to play this game?”

“Wow, you’re a tough nut to crack, aren’t you? How about this instead, make the fucking oath, or I will execute everyone you know and love.”

Neave grinned.

“Now that’s more like it. I thought something felt off. Makes sense. No way a god like you could be up to anything benevolent.”

The man clicked his tongue.

“Suit yourself. I will simply kill you every time you come in here. There is no way you could get past me, not in a billion years.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure...” Neave grinned maniacally as he put his hands together. White light shone...

And then vanished instantly. Neave felt as if a million mountains weighed on his spirit. He couldn’t breathe or move. Everything felt utterly cut off from reality. There was only one thing he could perceive.

The god stood above him with a hand gripping his head, a bewildered expression on his face.

“What the fuck did you just do, kid? Show me again!”

Neave grinned.

“No.”

It felt like every cell in Neave’s body was being destroyed hundreds of times every second, the agony worse than anything he had ever experienced.

“Show me what you just did, or you will regret it.”

Neave simply smiled again, staring straight at the god’s eyes.

“Do you worst.”

Neave could hear a faint whistle. The sound grew increasingly resonant until reality snapped away.

***

She was tied to a chair. Her toes had been cut off so long ago that they had already scabbed over. The man she had once called her husband boiled water and poured it into her eyes.

“That’s what you get, you fucking wench!”

The weight of the false accusation made every drop burn hotter than the hottest corner of hell. She wept boiling tears as her children stared in horror, witnessing their mother’s life leaving her eyes.

***

He was tied to a tree. His once glorious crown had been replaced with feces, smeared all over his body. His enemy had tied him to a tree planted over his father’s grave. His father’s corpse had been dug out and played with, becoming a mockery of the once Grand King.

The empire of the Grand King was being razed before his eyes as his very eyelids had been cut off to ensure he couldn’t look away. As the king witnessed the masses of his people being mindlessly slaughtered, the agony of failure and the weight of his despair crushed his heart, and he passed, never to regain peace in a million lives.

***

He was hanged, but his neck didn’t snap, and he wasn’t even suffocating. He kept trying to free himself, despair flowing through his veins instead of his once red blood as he watched his entire family be violated before his eyes.

In the days of watching them suffering endless agony, he was the one to pass first, the thirst finally taking his pain away. Leaving behind the uncertainty of how long his loved ones would suffer...

***

Millions and millions of agonizing deaths, unfairness so extreme, the anger alone, enough to end many lives. He watched as they spun in front of him, slowly, agonizingly crawling by. And so did he. And so did she.

***

It finally ended. Neave woke again, staring at the god gripping his face.

“Either tell me exactly what you did there, or you will face round two. There is plenty more where that came from.”

“Of course there is.” Neave grinned ear to ear, “It’s only natural there would be more.”

The god’s eyes shot open.

“What did you do? Did you find a loophole somewhere?”

“I didn’t do anything. Thank you, honestly. Thank you for showing me your failures, Astrador. I would gladly see them again so I never forget why you must die. So I will never forget that your rule is nothing but a selfish dictatorship. Show me again, and then again once more. I will watch it, eyes wide open. And you will be forced to sit and wait until I crawl up your throne and devour you alive.”

The man stared at Neave with a complicated expression for a few moments.

Then Neave woke up, back in reality.

He got up, stretched, and sighed in satisfaction.

“Well, then. It is time for a gameplan.“