Faust finally opened his eyes. The black pupils in his gray irises had shrunk down, looking traumatized. What had happened? Even Faust didn't know.
His memory was always shrouded in fog, but recalling a nightmare shouldn't be this hard. He bolted up from his bed. Glancing around, everything in the room seemed to shrink even smaller within those tiny pupils.
As his vision narrowed, his focus sharpened. He wasn't even aware of why he was panicking, it was an emotion he'd never remembered feeling before.
How utterly pathetic.
He collapsed onto the creaking wooden floor. The splinters digging into his head didn't faze him. He just wanted a moment of relief. His mind had plunged into total emptiness, like a newborn baby fresh to the world. Fear? That sounded impossible for a man like him. Then what was it? Not a single thought in his head. No memories he could grasp. He was experiencing this for the first time, with no clue why, and no way to remember.
Am I cursed?
Crawling on the floor, heavy and labored breaths, he curled into a fetal position. Even trying to breathe slowly felt impossibly difficult. His windpipe was like it had been walled up, no air could get through. The world around him was darkening, his head spinning, his sense of direction slipping away. He had to get to his feet, even if it meant staggering like a drunk man.
He had to tell Mike or anyone else, but the idea flipped in an instant.
No one should see me like this. I'm not weak.
On his knees, he put his hands on the ground, hunched in a position like he was about to throw up, but that didn't happen either. His head thudded against the wooden floor. The splinters pierced his skin effortlessly which is normally hard as stell. With those same hands braced for support, he clutched the floor tightly, the wood's cracking and splintering noises barely audible amid Faust's heaving breaths and pointless struggles.
His eyes had turned bright red once more. The thin veins on their surface...but didn't stop there, they had burst out across his face as well. Stress and pain flooded the room.
I'm strong... I'm stronger.
Those meaningless words, muttered just to feel even a little better or at least convince himself of it, weren't doing any good. He didn't need praise or consolation; what he needed was help.
Even though he usually took suggestions from psychologists, in that moment he truly succumbed to his weaker side, and even the idea of going to a doctor crossed his mind but the brutal facts couldn't be altered: he was still collapsed on the floor, barely able to breathe, unable to make a sound, incapable of perceiving his surroundings, and utterly lost in terms of direction and balance.
Damn this body of mine.
He continued writhing in agony. Tears streamed from his eyes, but without any real cause, like his body was reacting to some disembodied emotion. The pain wasn't even that intense, but he felt hypersensitive, as if a mere mosquito bite could have sent him spiraling the same way.
Collapsed in the corner of the room on the floor, he pondered what to do next. If showing weakness felt like a mistake worse than death, what options did he have? He had no idea what to do without calling for help. He could try to heal himself, but he lacked the energy for even that. If he attempted to drag himself downstairs for some fresh air, he'd probably tumble down the stairs and catch someone's eye anyway.
In that moment, all he wished for was that this, whatever it was... wouldn't be permanent. His life had always been fraught with danger; if this illness or suffering stuck around, it could strike during a fight or battle and lead straight to his death.
"What a wonderful day to be—"
Cough-Cough!
"Alive... I guess."
He had barely managed to prop himself up with his hands and leaned against the wall. Dying in this old white room, with peeling paint, stained windows, like water was dripping from the ceiling even without any rain outside.
What a grim possibility.
Since he'd made it this far, leaning on the wall, he figured he could try the next step. But how was he supposed to climb onto the bed? He'd only shifted himself a little by using his hands like stiff poles, pressing down on them for support, it's not like he was actually controlling his arms in any precise way.
"Good progress, that I've made, sooo~ What do I even do now."
In his desperate state, only one solution came to mind. Even if it meant passing out in the process, he was determined to climb onto that bed. That way, if one of his brothers suddenly burst into the room, he could just say he was sleeping or didn't feel like coming down, and brush it off. It was a plan that seemed impossible and full of flaws to actually pull off, but clearly, he had no other choice and if he could somehow make it... he would look arrogant instead of weak, which was the simple point of the plan.
He took a deep breath... channeling every ounce of strength into his legs, gearing up to somehow hoist himself onto the bed. His skin, lacking its usual toughness, was getting scraped and wounded from pressing his feet hard against the floor, but it was necessary for this one-shot attempt.
He tensed up, his eyes bulging like they might pop out, veins swelling on his forehead, his eyes growing redder by every second. Without pulling his back away from the wall, he spent the last drops of his energy to push himself up with all his might.
CREEaakk...
Cough-Cough...Huff...
He'd done it.
He made it onto the bed. The landing wasn't soft at all, making a pretty loud thud. He hoped it was still night, since he had no idea what time it was.
Right then, a thick, lively voice came from behind the closed door.
"Faust!?"
It was Darius's voice. Clearly, the noise had been too much and caught his attention, but at least Faust had enough strength left to call back and respond.
"It's nothing! Go back to sleep! Or head out or something!"
After Faust shouted that, there was a brief silence, but soon he heard footsteps heading down the stairs, and he finally relaxed.
Huff...
Thank god.
He had really thought it was going to be the last day on earth for him. Yet it seems like fate has some real diffrent plans going on for him