He turned back as they got louder and louder. The faint silhouette of something humanoid began to emerge slowly. Alrick's eyes widened as whatever it was came into view.
Its figure was still blurry and hard to make out details of what it looked like and it didn't seem to want to show more than this, not that Alrick cared if it had a face or not.
He stepped back in caution as whatever it was got closer, when it saw him retreating it stopped moving entirely. It sagged its shoulders and sighed before looking back up at him, its figure squirmed in a way that it became clearer to see what it was.
The pale blonde hair styled to perfection, crystal blue eyes illuminating in this foggy space, pale skin with the same build as himself standing in regal clothing, the crest of the royal family—a crowned stag on his left shoulder.
Alrick couldn't keep his mouth closed as he stared at the handsome man before him. He gulped in astonishment as he recognized who it was.
"I am your Codex, your guidebook to ascending Lazarus Peak", the owner of the charming voice gave a gorgeous smile as he bowed lightly at Alrick.
"Wait a minute… are you perhaps… Lucien?", He had never seen his new face as he was now blind, but he knew after hearing his voice and seeing this mysterious person that looked somewhat similar to his original looks. He had a gut feeling that this person or whatever it was, was the original Lucien.
"In the flesh… Or maybe not? I have no idea what I am", he laughed, looking at the dumbfounded Alrick.
Alrick's jaw was still wide open as he stared at the handsome Lucien before him, Lucien just smirked and walked closer to him who was still too flabbergasted to move. "Well if it isn't the bootleg version of me"
"Bootleg?.. Before that, I thought you were dead. How are you still in my head?", Alrick countered, the surprise was really too much for him to handle.
"You mean my head right? And yes I'm dead, but my sentience still remains in this glorious body of mine"
"Glorious? You're literally blind! This is the worst body I could ever get", Alrick cursed.
Lucien just rolled his eyes and scoffed, "That's right, hate on the blind guy for not being able to see. It's not like it's my fault", he muttered under his breath. "But now I am finally free from that restrain!t"
"Wait, you can see me?", Alrick asked, but soon after a small bit of the dense fog solidified into a long thick line and whipped him on the behind.
"Of course I can see you stupid, Do I look like I still have those restraints? I'm a sentient being now. Besides, it's not like being blind is so abysmally different from actually seeing", he said casually.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Exactly what I said, being blind isn't much different from what I'm seeing. I can just see better outlines and colours now", Lucien said as his hands toyed with the fog all around like it was something tangible.
Alrick looked at him like he was crazy, wasn't it a fact that those born blind aren't able to see even the color black? Now this guy says being blind isn't that much different from seeing?
He found it very confusing but felt like Lucien wasn't just saying stupid stuff. But he decided to leave that for now, he had more pressing issues.
"If you truly are the former owner of this body, then I need some answers. What is this world? What is my role here? What are these tasks and who is the Lord?", Atticus asked, stepping closer to Lucien.
The handsome prince just laughed and shook his head as if he had said something funny, "My my, so many questions~ As much as I'd like to answer them all in an urgent haste, I'm the kind of guy who would like to be comfortable first."
And with that, he waved his hands and the fog around the mindscape began to squirm. The world around them somehow closed in on the two and was confined to four walls and a ceiling. The newly formed space lit, the walls changed colors, the floor became carpeted, comfortable couches sprung out of nowhere, windows formed on the walls.
Before he could even finish blinking, he found himself standing in a familiar room. This was his and his friends hangout. A room they had managed to secure at the community centre and they stayed at almost everyday after school and on weekends.
He stood there frozen for a while, the nostalgia hitting him hard. He felt his cheeks get moist as he gently ran his hand on the barely worn couch that they had gotten on a deal at a garage sale and the 50 inch tv his uncle had wanted to toss out.
The console on the coffee table that they had literally burned through their savings to get and the worn out kitchen equipment they kept on the counter next to the air hockey table.
"What is this?", he asked, his hands playing with a throw pillow.
"What does it look like, you should know it best", Lucien said as he made himself comfortable on the couch facing the tv on the wall, examining the remote control in his hands like it was something so extraordinary.
For a moment, Alrick's eyes lit up. "Then doesn't that mean…", he looked towards the exit door, the expectations in his movement apparent. He was slow at first as he walked to the door but then he practically ran to it, pulling on the handle.
His hopes were scattered when the gloomy fog from earlier stared back at him in hallowing silence.
"... You're smarter than this Alrick, getting home wouldn't be that easy", Lucien said quietly as he continued to fiddle with the remote, quickly learning how to switch through the channels.
He just stared into the foggy void, his eyes unreadable before he slowly closed the door. He sighed and walked to the couch Lucien was on and plopped down on the other end, running a hand over his face.
How could he let emotions mess up his head so badly?
"Anyways, to better explain it, I can materialize your memories in this space and make it exactly as how you remembered it. And boy do you have a good memory.", Lucien said as he found a show to his liking and selected it.
Alrick felt his nose crunch up when he saw the show he picked, "What are you? Five?"
"What? All the things I saw here are too morbid to watch, you psychopath. Plus I want to see how commoners on your planet raise their offspring. Using visual instructions in the form of plays like this is truly fascinating, those old foggies at the institute would go mad if they saw something like this", Lucien said as he elegantly bobbed his head along with the intro.
Alrick just gave him a blank look, "Aren't you going to answer any of my questions?"
"Yes yes, let me just see what this beast called 'Tiger' and this little girl who seems not to have guardians are going to do about not having enough cookies for the cookie party… Is that really a festivity in your world?"
Alrick's face was completely expressionless as he saw this grown teenager, enjoying a show for toddlers and older. How was he himself even able to remember the show to such an extent of ten seasons?
He didn't know why but he ended up waiting for up to a few seasons with Lucien, even getting slightly invested in it himself.
"What kind of friend does that? She actually tore up her unitard a minute before the finals and now Mimi can't make it to the championships!", Lucien threw some popcorn at the screen.
"But Mimi started it when she told everyone Nora's secret in front of the whole school", Alrick countered as he put some popcorn in his mouth. Then he froze, what the heck was he doing?
He grabbed the remote and switched the tv off, "You… you did something to me to make me so distracted, we're supposed to figure out what the heck all this is! Not eating popcorn over a kids show!", he said as he flipped the popcorn.
"Come on, not the popcorn. But you have to admit that it was a good watch.", Lucien said as he flicked his wrist and a vacuum cleaner appeared. He stood up, and began learning how to use it why simultaneously cleaning the room.
Alrick twitched his brows, but he subconsciously agreed with Lucien. He didn't remember the show being that good. It was one he watched a while back with his older sisters and cousins.
"See, I told you", he said as he put the tube of the vacuum between the couch cushions, really invested in this new gadgetand enjoying himself.
Alrick on the other hand felt a shiver run down his spine, this guy could hear his thoughts while 'being' in his thoughts. There was no sense of privacy at all!