Chapitre 16: Unveiling Shadows: A Fragile Humanity Shattered
"So, I lost? I can't believe that I actually lost!"
I bang my hand against a solid brick wall as I walked down the hall way. My hand starts to bleed. I feel a great amount of pain surge through it. I clench my fists even tighter and draw out more blood
"I didn't just loose to a demon. I'm about to lose my humanity as well, this is the last time ill ever bleed…the last time ill be human and this is where my goal to meet with Akira dies… When and why did I get so cocky? that I actually thought id beat a sadist at his own game. Did I forget that I can only speak for myself? My decisions are usually so much more logical"
I start to panic, but I quickly gather myself and calm down as I start to walk down the hallway back to my cell
"I can't panic. No, I have to be composed when I face the others. I lost and this is just something I have to accept. If I'm going to lose my humanity at least ill keep my dignity as one, I can't afford to lose that to"
After the clown showed me the pit. He let me in on the name of this prison and how it runs. We already knew it was his prison, but he has a boss he still answers to. The lord of the region we're currently in. The lord of the south. The name of this prison is The Garden of Depression and as for our cell names, their flowers. Our flowers are determined by the contents of the cell and the behavior and emotion of cell mates. Our cell name is Primrose and according to the clown that name was given to us because of how beautifully we bloom with our emotions even in times of despair. The clown also said he would tell me about the outside world and what's gone on there since we arrived. Wonder how things have been in the last month or so.
I had become so absorbed in my thoughts I took more time than usual to get to my cell. What's worse, it completely skipped my mind that the clown told me Nathan would be there, I had completely forgotten I needed to hurry but instead t. In all my here I was walking completely oblivious and slowly when all of a sudden, I felt I had forgotten something. Then it hit me, it finally hit me.
"*gasps* Nathan!"
I immediately took off to reach the ferry man, the man who would take me to my cell on his boat that rode above the fires and souls of hell, the ship that rode the air. I ran for a bit and I finally made it to him, there was no demon to pay him this time so for my fee he asked me of my blood. luckily, I had already started bleeding out so it wasn't difficult to draw out a little. I paid him and we were off. We got there after a while but when I got there I was already too late. Nathan was already in our cell with the others, and It was just like the clown said. Nathan was a demon with no trace of his humanity on the outside. I wasn't close enough for them to notice me but Nathan also took most of their attention and Nathan was to focused on the others to see me coming but despite my distance I could hear them. So, I told the ferry man to slow down his vessel and I went up to the very edge of the front, crouched and listened to what they were talking about. That's when I heard Maya speak
"Nathan?" she called out to him in a soft voice as she stepped forward hesitantly
"Nathan is that you?" She asked again
"Of course, it is, what kind of question is that? I mean who else would I be?
"Dear GOD!" Maya gasped loudly
"Nathan… What did you do to yourself?"
"Precisely what God should have but couldn't! I have received a real gift, power and purpose!"
"Nathan how could you!? Did you really let yourself get talked into this? Your smarter than this"
"Shut up! Don't you see? GOD has forsaken us and those who thought they were better than us have left us behind! This is the only way to end our suffering, to end our torture"
He opens his scaly, cold hands and steps forward
"Come on guys, become demons just like me"
After what Nathan said, for more than a few seconds everyone in the cell went quiet and had their heads down, it seemed as though everyone was really considering his offer. I became worried. From the ferry I wanted to yell out something in hopes they would change their mind but just before I could. Maya, with tears streaming down her face, grabbed the collar of her shirt and squeezed it saying with a loud voice
"We!" Suddenly the cell was no longer quiet and the others rose their heads. In that instance everyone was focused on her
"We! Are never going to give up our humanity! Do you understand me Nathan!?"
"But…But Maya"
"No matter what's thrown at us, no matter what we are told, We will not! Sacrifice the only pride and dignity we have left just to descend to a level beneath us. We will pull through and not give in. No matter what!"
The rest of the cell mates are brimming with smiles, Maya's strength has given them strength but Nathan in his disappointment drops his hand and lowers his own head. Then he says
"Pride? Dignity? Those things no longer exist in this world… What pride could there even be in being a human? Not only that, but a form beneath you? *Clenches his fists* Beneath you?"
Suddenly Nathan turns to Cayafaz on his left and with speed as quick as lightning, punches him into the bars. Cayafaz presses against the bars of the cell forcing it to swing. The cell swings to the left and then to the right and continues to do that for some time until it finally stops. Cayafaz the moment the swinging stops, drops and is immediately knocked out. But Nathan despite all the commotion managed to stay still in the cage where everyone was being flung about. He then asks Maya
"Tell me, Dose that look like power any of you here are capable of? Stop being stubborn and accept things for what they are. Ill personally see to it that you all become powerful demons"
Mr. Will and Maya come to Cayafaz and carry him on both their shoulders. And in unity all of them say
"We will never surrender!" Maya with a cocky smile on her face then says to him
"There's your answer Nathan"
Nathan is disappointed once again because if there was truly anyone who couldn't accept things the way they are it was Nathan, and what he couldn't accept was the fact.
"So, its true what the clown said" Maya is confused and asks Nathan
"What are you talking about"
In that moment Nathan starts to hear the clowns voice in his head saying to him
I told you she didn't love you, she doesn't love you, she won't become a demon with you, why you of all people? She's tired of you Nathan, she's no longer in love with you, that's right its someone else, it has to be someone else, she would rather become a demon with someone else, why else wouldn't she pick you, she used you Nathan, it was always to good to be true, and you trusted her, you'll see, you'll see. Nathan with a deep voice asks Maya
"Who was it?"
"Nathan, I don't understand what you're saying"
"Don't you dare lie to me you whore! I know you haven't been faithful, who have you been cheating with?!"
Maya breaks into tears
"Nathan! How could you even say that? After all that we've gone through together? You think id throw all of that away for a fling with someone else?
"It's the only logical explanation isn't it? You know, deep down I always knew you were to good for me. It made sense, I mean how could someone as perfect and gorgeous as you ever end up with a guy like me. No way! It just couldn't be possible. So, I thought maybe she doesn't know she could do better and have any guy she wanted or maybe she hasn't seen me for the looser I am yet, so I prayed for days and nights every day" He puts his right hand over his face and closes his eyes
"But it seems prayers weren't enough and you figured it out" He walks around her slowly and starts to laugh. His hand slightly falls and revealing his left eye covered in streaks of red veins bulging as he stares at her. He stops walking, his laughter ceases. He turns… he charges at her and stops right in front of her. Their eyes meet and are in deadlock. Maya trembles. Nathan places his mouth next to her ear and whispers
"Who is it?" Maya trembling tells Nathan once more
"I already told you Nathan, there's no one"
Nathan raises his voice in her ear "STOP LYING" he say's
Maya screams and falls to the floor covering both her ears. Nathan squats with a calm look on his face
"This is your last chance to tell me who it is Maya, I'm not mad at you but if you keep protecting this person I might just kill you" In that moment Maya's heart stops beating. His cold words like ice daggers stop all thought and all feeling. For just a few seconds… Maya is dead.
Nathan puts his hand on her head and pets her "I promise you nothing will happen to you Maya as long as you give me the name" he stops petting her head for a brief second and says "As long as you do that, he's the only one… that has to die"
"No way" Maya says as she looks up at Nathan. Nathan with a confused look on his face
"Huh? What is it?" Nathan asks Maya as he calmly removes his hand from her head
"There's no way you're my Nathan. My Nathan couldn't hurt anyone for any reason. Even if he was trying to protect me. He would rather take a beating and talk things out than fight anyone. If you can so easily want to take a life"
Maya stand up slowly. Nathan takes a few steps back, she slowly raises her head as she rises
"If you can so easily choose to take a life… You're not. You can't be" She says with a stern look on her face and disappointment mixed with rage in her eyes "You can't be my Nathan… get away from me, you imposter"
"You can't be serious Maya, I did this for you! So, you could have a strong reliable and better man by your side!"
"But you're not a man right now… are you? No, that makes you an imposter"
"You can't be serious, you can't possibly be serious! You just told me you loved me! Maya don't you remember the promise we made to each other? How we would go everywhere and anywhere together and make any choice together?"
"Yes, I do"
"Then don't let this be the end of us, don't let us separate because of this"
"You didn't let me finish!"
"Huh?"
"Yes, I do remember, I remember our love, our smiles and our joy. I remember our pain, our hardship and our patience. But those are memories I had with a boy named Nathan. A boy who knew how to love because he wasn't loved. Something you would know nothing about. I did love you Nathan, I honestly really do. But if you're like this? If you could think this was something that would make us happier. We were never meant to be together in the first place and we would never have worked out
"So" Nathan says hesitantly. I started move, a voice inside me screams in my head. "No, don't ask her!" As I start to run off the ferry.
"You're basically saying" Nathan continues. Another voice goes off in my head "Stop it!"
"We were…NEVER MEANT TO BE?" Another voice fires off in my mind. "NO! Nathan!"
Maya sighs "I'm sorry Nathan"
Nathan goes quiet. "Damn it! I won't make it to her in time" I try my best to stop this convo but I can't seem to reach the gate fast enough and there's so much tension in the cell that no one has managed to notice me, if I don't make it in time… I'm worried that Nathan might…
"Is this your final answer… Maya. Are you sure this is what you want"
She turns her back to him and buries the side of her face in her left shoulder. "This is goodbye Nathan"
"Alright then. If that's your choice…. I know what I want too then"
Nathan turns his back to her. Takes two steps away, Stops briefly, Exhales… And immediately turns around to kill her with a single blow
"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it! Make it in time!" I burst through the gates and quickly grab a hold of Nathan from the back. "Stop this Nathan!" Nathan immediately responds
"So, it's you" He says as he turns his head to Edward and looks at him with a death glare in his eyes. It's a brief staring contest between the two. And before Edward can utter another word Nathan spin's and the force of his blow doubles as he is about to kill Edward with the blow originally made for Maya.
"That was his goal from the beginning. He did sense my presence he just acted like he didn't so I would act. From the beginning he thought I was who she was cheating with. He was never going to kill her"
"Id grant you a last word but your voice only annoys me. At least enjoy the mercy of death with one blow"
The entire cell tries to rush Nathan and stop him, but he's too fast. No one will reach him in time. No one can save him and Edward will die. In this moment everything is moving fast and yet everything is moving slow. In the motion of all of this a tear drops from Maya's eye as she screams
"Noooooooooo!!!" All of a sudden
"All this in the brief time I left you alone? You children can so easily resort to violence" He cackles shortly "Not that I don't like that about you all, but I unfortunately can't let Edward die today."
A gush of wind and fog blows into and through the cell and everyone but Nathan is thrown back. After the gust of wind passes along with the fog. The clown is found standing in front of Edward blocking Nathans fist with just two fingers
'Now I have an announcement to make so why don't you just sit in the corner like a good little boy" He turns his fingers to the left and Nathan is knocked back. Nathan gets up and protests
"No, you can't do this! You can't take this from me! You said I could kill whoever took her from me!"
"Boy you best know your place! That was for anyone other than Edward and when it comes to him I decide if he lives or dies. He is mine just like you are… Or do you want to learn the hard way?"
"I…I'm sorry master"
"Good boy. Now, everyone, I have an announcement for you all"
Ethan stands up and approaches the clown
"Wait. What do you mean Edward is yours? He doesn't belong to you!"
"Oh my" The clown says as he smiles
"There was so much hot drama going on thanks to Nathan that Edward didn't get to share the announcement he came to make"
Cayafaz adjusts his glasses and gives Edward a stern look, straining his eyes"
"Edward? What does he mean by that?"
"Do you want to tell them Ed? Or do i need to help you out"
"No thanks, as if I need help from you"
"You did need it to save your life just a minute ago, but "do good without expecting a reward" is exactly what I live by
"Whatever" I stepped forward and stood in the very center of the cell to tell everyone about what I had done with the clown and the bet involving my humanity
"About two weeks ago I made a deal with the clown, If half the prisoners turned into demons or accepted the mark of the beast id hand over my humanity and become a demon alongside the clown, but that was the losing condition. The wining condition on the other hand was less torture and a few more benefits after more was worked out from the victory"
"No way" Says Ethan overwhelmed with a wave of emotions
"I never expected Nathan to be used as the final digit to complete the number of prisoners turned evil, I didn't even know he was being targeted until today. I'm sorry your all just finding out about this now"
"Your sorry?" Cayafaz says to Edward approaching him slowly.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone