For the first time in hours, Yuki finally got an opportunity to catch his breath properly, and alone.
He let the newfound silence envelope him and his surroundings, staying awkwardly still as he studied the room.
He still felt ridiculously out of place amongst the national treasures that decorated this fever dream of a room, and that was not even considering the sense of sacrilege that each mote of air in here exuded, like this place was somehow directly cut out piece of heaven.
Safe to say, the feeling of vertigo was not going to go away anytime soon.
That was when his eyes caught onto to a door on the far right of his vision, and he finally acknowledge his immediate need for a trip to the bathroom.
Against all odds, his hunch ended up being correct, the closed door leading to extremely lavish bathroom, adorned with jewels so astronomically out of place Yuki almost felt like a criminal walking in.
Doing his business... He had almost passed out from the frightening surprise that had waited for him.
He hurriedly walked out, stomping his feet towards the wash basin.
He took in a deep breath to steady himself, then looked at the reflection in the wall mirror in-front of him, into the blood red pupils that were staring back at him.
The feeling of vertigo that he had been struggling with peaked, and for a terrible moment, Yuki found himself re-living the events of last night. The gargantuan silhouette, the fear he had felt—and how painful it had all been.
His fingers unknowingly pressed against the hard marble countertop, and Yuki found his breath coming a little short.
He bent down, splashing his face with the cool water from the fountain.
And when he looked back up, it was all still the same. He was still in the unfamiliar bathroom that felt more dreamlike than real.
He let out a small sigh, whispering to himself as he struggled against the vertigo.
"Calm down."
It was just... some kind of weirdly realistic dream.
Nothing that should be worried about.
He took a deep breath, focusing on the noise of water running to keep himself steady among the deafening thumping of his heart. The organ felt more like the incarnation of all his worries than something that was supposed to keep him alive, and for a fleeting moment, Yuki found himself hoping for respite from the weary task of keeping it beating.
The shifting sea that was his vision didn't help the nausea that rose within him, and he tasted the faint traces of bile rising within his throat.
He took in a deep breath, struggling to control the flow of his own lungs.
"Calm..." He leaned down, glaring into the sinkhole of the basin. "...Down."
The silence that enveloped the bathroom felt heavy against his skin, the air almost murky, sending tingles down his spine.
It did not help that the wrongness he felt towards his body, the strange, nauseating alienness that clouded his mind because of it was starting to peak after that trip to the toilet.
Breathing had already become a laborious task, and with each passing moment, he felt the rest of his mobility slipping away from him.
The first thing that gave in, naturally, was his brains, and his train of thoughts.
It may have been true that he had been taking everything that had happening in one big stride, moving along the flow of this alien world fast enough so that he remains alive. So that he wouldn't die a terrible death.
Still, it had been a miracle that he had even been able to survive his arrival here. That intense pain, that feeling of hopelessness, just that should have been enough to break him. To shatter his mind into pieces so small that it should have been impossible to recover.
But no, contrary to what the world wanted, he had held himself together. Even as pieces of his sanity flayed away, he had made sure to never let go off that childish hope that this was all some sick dream. That it was all going to be okay.
He had even dared to find comfort in a stranger. In a person that felt more myth than human. In a person that he knew, could have left him for dead any moment she wished for.
Even then...
Even then, he had dared to remain strong amidst the tidal wave of suffering.
He missed his home.
He missed his brother.
He wanted to go back.
He wanted to wake up from this painful dream.
By this point—if he could even manage to summon one thought, he would have genuinely preferred the dread that had gnawed at his mind yesterday morning instead of whatever miserable fate this was. He would have rather been scared at home, than whatever this place was.
Yuki's trembling legs finally gave in. And with a dull thud, he fell down towards the floor, his terror stricken—shivering, lifeless eyes still staring towards the ground.
With all his strength, he tried to keep the tears from welling up on his yes.
The feverish shivers had completely taken over his body, and all his strength had left him. His spine felt like it had been tossed into a wringer, taking all of his strength from him before it curled in on itself. The best that Yuki managed to do being—shifting his body so that his legs wont be crushed under him.
By which, his mind had completely deteriorated into a state of mindless panic of confusion.
A thousand different thoughts and worries overwhelmed him, the stream of terror unyielding, and the wave of panic too large for him to catch his breath.
"Someone—" He chocked amidst the heaves for air. "Help... Me"
That was all he managed to mumble out in his misery.
The world caved in on itself, and the bathroom walls—large as they might have been, started closing in on him. The air felt heavy, oily—feeling more like something resembling poison than a source of life.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and particularly intense shock passed through his spine, making him yelp in pain.
Then the panic reached it's crescendo as he remembered the last thing his brother had told him before leaving.
"Call me if something happens, okay?"
He curled in on himself, burying his trembling head between his knees.
The sweat that clung to his skin felt like liquid fire, and each breath—desperate as they were, felt like he was inhaling a chunk of needles. His stomach churned , and his lung's pricked from inhaling. His chest felt heavy, the bile that rose within him refused to go back down.
The thousand different streams of thoughts merged into one large tidal wave of despair, and the terror that stuck him finally flatlined, sending a desperate bolt of pain throughout his entire body.
He clutched his ears, and gritted his teeth as his back convulsed.
Then, as quickly as it had come, the grip of terror eased away.
Yuki let out a final breath, managing to eek out a small whimper before his consciousness finally faded away.