'What do I do? If I say the truth, he might kill me with that burnt thing he calls Rerik... if I lie... what if he knows I'm lying and kills me anyway... what do I do? What do I do?' Desmond's thoughts churned, desperate for a solution to the predicament.
'He's thinking whether to lie or tell the truth. Good. He's not naive.' Yellow thought.
"Sometimes silence is the best answer," Yellow said, breaking the tension.
As Desmond visibly relaxed at those words, he saw Yellow stand up.
'...Is he going to kill me?' Desmond thought, fear creeping back in.
Under the fading glow of the wall, Yellow's battered body came into view.
'...What the hell?' Desmond was shocked by the sight — a body so damaged, blood still oozing from open wounds.
"The Warden's artwork. Makes you wonder how I'm still alive, doesn't it?" Yellow chuckled.
'The Warden... so he was busy with him...'
"I'll ask for the details tomorrow... as you can see, I need some rest," Yellow said before Rerik appeared.
He came into view suddenly and opened the door to his cell. With pained groans, Yellow walked in and sat with his back to the cold wall. The moment his bloodied body touched it, the wall glowed once again with an orange light.
THUD!
Desmond watched the mesmerizing light as the door closed, plunging the room back into darkness. It only made the orange glow more beautiful.
'I should rest too... after all that,' Desmond thought, laying down.
His eyes followed the rhythmic pulsing of the light until he drifted into sleep.
************************************************
Far from the prison, past the mighty walls of the Mortal Land, there was scorched sand, the chill air of night, and the maddened beasts that roamed.
GRRR!
Rocky snarled at his enemies, forcing them to back off.
The maddened dogs hesitated for a moment, but their sense of reason dimmed as they gazed hungrily at their bloodied prey lying on the ground.
GRRR!
'You dare to eye my servant like that?'
Rocky saw where their gaze went and snarled again.
Then—
"Howl!!!"
A maddened howl echoed from afar, catching the dogs' attention.
"HOWL!!! HOWL!!!"
They all responded in a frenzy. For a moment, Rocky nearly howled himself.
Almost.
Then, as quickly as they had come, the dogs bolted away together, leaving Rocky sighing in relief.
"A dog," a male voice said from afar.
"Don't you know they're called Fa Lupus nowadays?" a female voice replied.
"...So a dog."
"No, you idiot," she retorted.
'Insolent humans, all of them... except my servant,' Rocky grumbled, his Welsh Corgi ears twitching.
"He's dead," came a casual child's voice behind him.
Swerp!
Rocky's eyes narrowed.
'Mirus!'
he turned in alarm.
His servant-Mirus- lay in a pool of blood — gray hair dirty, wrinkled face pale, an arrow pierced near his heart.
Beside the body squatted a girl, no older than seven. But the glint in her eyes spoke of wisdom far beyond her years.
"But don't worry... in here, no one ever truly dies," she said, standing and gazing down at Rocky.
'She doesn't seem to have ill intentions...' Rocky relaxed visibly but asked with caution "What do you mean?"
The girl smiled slightly, then nodded.
'What?' Rocky suddenly sensed danger—
Too late.
A needle had already punctured his side.
'How... are... they... bypassing... my... senses—'
FLOP! THUD!
Rocky collapsed, struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Take care of the dog," were the last words he heard before blacking out.
************************************************
**"Take care of—"
"Take car—"
"He's dead."
"Young master, you have to run... I'll hold them off and join you."
"...No one ever truly dies..."
"Take care of the dog."**
GASP!!
Mirus jolted awake, gasping.
Wheeze. Wheeze.
His mouth greedily drank in air as he fought off a blinding headache. Everything felt dizzy.
'Where... am I?' he thought as his vision cleared.
Then he saw it.
'That's me.;
To be exact, he saw himself lying next to him pale and lifeless.
His muddled mind took a second.
"WHAT...THE...HELL!!!"
BANG!
His shout was answered by the door bursting open.
"What?? What happened?!" a man stormed in, needle in hand.
He was so flustered, he forgot to wipe the drool from his mouth.
The sight of a drooling, dazed man only escalated Mirus's panic.
"AAAAHHH!!!"
"AAAAAHHH!!!" the man shouted back.
"AHH! STOP SHOUTING!" a woman entered, rubbing her tired eyes.
"..."
"..."
Both men fell silent.
She looked at the scene, sighed, then spoke to the man:
"Cynthia, how many times have I told you not to sleep during work?"
"I just dozed off for a couple minutes... but thanks to Mister Muscles over here, I'm wide awake now."
"...it's almost sunset and That's not what I asked."
Mirus watched their argument, confused.
"His name is Cynthia...? Mister Muscles — me?" he thought, then noticed something else.
His wrinkles and fat were gone.
His body looked young. Muscular.
'I've... become younger...and...hmm some parts grew more than others,' he noted, raising his eyebrow
"...How?" he mumbled, surprised by the sound of his own voice.
Cynthia and the woman finally turned to him.
"Ah! Forgive my manners," the woman said, stretching her hand toward Mirus.
"The name's Rollo."
'Now your name is Rollo...?' Mirus's confusion only deepened. His voice trembled.
"What happened to me? Where... am I?"
Rollo flashed a dazzling smile and answered with words that shattered what little logic Mirus had left:
"Don't worry, Mr. Mirus. You've successfully reincarnated... and you're in the Southern Sector of the Mortal Lands."
***********************************************