Jace opened his eyes to find himself away from his room. Fog crept around him and vague outlines slipped from his visions. The outlines resembled shadows. Dancing shadows.
It was lit, just barely, yet no source of light existed. The sky was a blank canvas of darkness. Jace took a step forward, walking through the foggy mist as he felt his foot sink.
Jace pulled his foot harshly, his leg sliding cleanly off…mud. Jace frowned as he gazed around. Behind him was darkness, yet this was different from the ones around him. This was the darkness of terrors that people spoke. Darkness that could only be created by shadows of the deepest. Darkness that sent shivers down the young student's spine.
The choice was clear. Onwards, through the mud. No matter what vague entities existed in this different world. Jace felt his body sink the minute he stepped into the mud. He waded through it, his legs straining as the thick liquid sought to trap him.
And then it was gone. The mud vanished as the fog did. Jace felt the imprisoning force vanish as trees appeared in front of him. Glancing down, Jace noted his still clean joggers. Where was he?
Jace approached the distant trees, searching round for anything. There were no plants. Hell, Jace couldn't even see the ground. All he could believe was that there truly was a ground. The thought of him journeying upon a terrifying monster came to him, yet jace had no choice but to push the thoughts into the depths of his mind.
He sniffed the air as he walked, stretched his hand above to feel something. No stench permeated the surroundings, no wind traveled across. Jace thought back to the illusion. Maybe this was the same.
He willed himself to yell, yet his mouth remained closed. He frowned. He whispered to himself, his lips parting as the words came, yet struggled to yell out, to scream into the foreign world. It was insane. Jace was insane.
Jace traveled for minutes, his strides large yet the forest still seemed as far away as ever. Jace whipped to his right. He had seen it. A shadow dashing across the ground. Jace shook his head.
The environment was getting to him. Making him see what wasn't there. Jace turned back forward, jolting a few steps back. The elusive forest was now metres in front of him.
Jace glanced at the trees, his earlier shock now easing into silent terror. He peered closer at the bark, noting, with a glance, he couldn't see it. The bark, while there, was the same as the ground. No matter how closely Jace looked at it, he couldn't see anything.
Jace glanced up at the stems protruding out of the trees. The leaves on them were a dull gray. Jace took a second to take a deep breath, walking into the forest. He passed the two trees which served as a gateway and adventured into the forest.
The trees around him felt almost dreamlike. They were unnaturally tall, tall enough to pierce the blank sky. The fog from before appeared, creeping just below Jace's knees.
Jace walked forward, gazing around for anything. He noticed the trees held no shadow, nothing held a shadow. He briefly wondered if he held a shadow in this world.
Then the fog moved.
The fog covering Jace's legs drifted away, revealing footsteps in front of Jace. They trailed forward, disappearing into the shadows up front. Frowning, Jace examined the footsteps, fitting his foot into one of the prints left. It matched.
"Welcome. Do you like my home?"
Jace turned, pausing as he saw …himself? He was standing metres away, his clothes similar, his hair similar. The only distinction between the two, were the empty pools of dark acting as eyes.
"You're a near immortal taking the body of a teenager. Doesn't that seem perverted to you?"
The new Jace simply tilted his head, almost confused. Then it laughed. It's laugh was grating, like metal sliding against metal. "I'm not the Devourer. Oh, I'm something far worse,"
Dark Jace took a step as fog stirred around him, like a pet greeting its master. "I'm you,"
The fog stretched, spreading around the two and obscuring Jace's vision. Jace gazed about his misty surroundings, talking in the same deadpan tone. "Don't tell me you spent years coming up with that. Did you look in the mirror telling yourself that every day? Did you…"
Jace shifted constantly, still muttering as many insults he could think of. He tried peering into the fog yet that seemed impossible. Throughout his adventure, Jace had only relied on one sense. Now, that sense was gone.
"Dusk eyes," Jace whispered. Nothing. There was no clarity, no rush of energy. He barely had time to think of his skill's failure when a large force slammed into his chest.
Jace fell to the ground as the fog receded. Dark Jace emerged from the mist, a sinister gleam in his eye. He raised his hand as the fog obediently curled into a ball before resting on his palm. "There are no mirrors in this place. But there were,"
Jace clutched his chest and groaned. "Is this the time for your villain monologue? Should I get a chair?"
Dark Jace grunted, "I was fine here, living in you. I was fine with everything. But you brought destruction here. You brought calamity. You brought death."
He paused for a second, taking a deep breath. "You…How could you be so stupid? I have watched you for 17 years and you have been a failure. You haven't even discovered who created me. Who created you? Who seal–"
Jace lunged. The fog moved. Jace's fist slammed against solid, the fog formed into a wall. He backed away as the fog wall crumbled. Dark Jace stood on the other side. "Missed,"
His tone was matter-of-factly, almost bored. "I know how smart you are, how calculated you are. I practically trained alongside you. I hold everything. Past and present. Even future. I am your realized potential. I am the perfect one."
Jace threw a punch. The Dark Jace leaned to the side. Jace struck with his knee. Dark Jace pushed forward amidst the strike, pushing Jace's chest as if shoving it.
Jace stumbled as his perfect smile came upon him. A simple punch. Jace weaved. Then a kick. Jace wasn't fast enough. He fell to the ground, scrambling to stand as Dark Jace kicked the ground.
"Why? Why are you not faster? Why are you not stronger?" The foreign being gritted his teeth, the fog stirring. The shadows behind dark Jace seemed to open, enveloping all. "Why have you forgotten?'
Jace shifted back as dark Jace lunged. He was faster now, Dark Jace. His kicks held a furious intensity, his punches more brutal. If previously he had toyed with Jace, now he wanted to kill him.
Yet he didn't.
He avoided Jace's organs, softened his blows at impact, even gave Jace chances to counter attack. But as time went on, his mercy began to fade.
Jace narrowly blocked a high kick, stepping back as a punch grazed his cheek. He was sling. Jace was losing. A blow struck Jace's chin as he deliriously thought that maybe that was his punishment. Maybe this was the universe's way of settling the close.
Jace fell to the ground as his opponent stood above him. Dark Jace gazed almost mournfully at his fallen opponent. The fog circled quietly, the shadows stilled as Dark Jace whispered, "We truly are pathetic."
And then fists descended. One, two. Jace struggled to keep count. He was dying. He knew that. And yet he didn't fear it. He welcomed it. This was his salvation, his atonement. This was…
His hands trembled, his chest felt heavy. The blows continued and he felt his mind fade. His thoughts drifted to his father, to his cousin, to Eric, to Elena, to Jax, to Silas. His face felt warm, a slow liquid dripping down. And he was scared. Oh, he was scared.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why was this happening to him? Why was this his fault? Why was everything his fault?
He didn't want to die. He didn't want to ;eave the world. He was selfish. He was inconsiderate. He was reckless. He wasn't accepting of his punishment. He was a child.
"Devourer!!!!" Jace yelled with every fiber of his being as the blows paused. Then they continued jace felt desperation creep in, felt his body weigh heavy.
"Are you okay letting me die here? Are you?"
The blows paused, the surroundings brightening up lightly. Jace dragged himself across the crowd, pausing at Dark Jace's frozen stature. He was hunched over the ground where Jace previously was. One of his arms was raised, his other formed into a fist, a way of hitting the ground.
The fog trailing behind him had frozen, the shadows too. Jace dusted his clothes, formed a broad smile and turned back, to the only movement in the frozen world. "Hey,"
The Devourer sat on a golden throne. His grey hair seemed almost white, a long robe draped over his shoulders, floating down to his foot to create a murky darkness.
His right hand slowly tapped the armrest of his throne, as he shifted uncomfortably. His left arm was gone, disappeared as if it never existed. Maybe the Devourer never even had a left arm.
"So, you called upon me."
"Yep, thanks. Goodbye now."
"Goodbye?" The Immortal Entity laughed.
"So what do you presume will happen? I'll snap my fingers and unpause time. No. Besides," The Devourer paused, "It is impossible for you to win."
"Thought you didn't care about me?"
The Devourer tapped his throne gently, deep in thought. "Do you still wish to die? I can help you. Kill you now and do us both a favor."
Jace quieted. He gazed at the entity in his presence, gazed back at his opposite and made a decision. "No."
"Good," The Devourer leaned forward. "Now let's make a deal."
Jace frowned as the Devourer raised three fingers. "I'll offer you three questions. Anything you can ask, but you'll need to do something for me."
Jace groaned. "Let me guess, I don't know what you want me to do but you d–"
"Kill someone."
The command settled between the two, the Devourer leaning against his throne, Jace shell-shocked. "Hold on, what do you mean kill someone?"
The Devourer shrugged, "As simple as it sounds. I tell you, you kill someone." He leaned forward. "Want me to tell you a little secret? You'll want to kill that person too."
Jace felt his mind slip to Bill. Was this him? KIlling to avoid being killed. The answer lingered uncomfortably in his tongue.
"Now ask."
"How am I sure you won't tell me to kill someone I don't want to?"
The Devourer grinned. "You aren't. Now, ask quickly. This space hates laws."
Jace swallowed his grievances, choosing to focus on the questions. He had three. Three questions he could ask a being that lived centuries. Yet what could he ask? He could ask about the system, about the world he was in, about Dark Jace. He could ask about his bloodline, ask about the prison.
In the end, Jace settled on a simple question. "The system. How is it related to you?"
The mythic entity laughed. "System, huh. That's what you use?'
He laughed harder. "The system is not in any way related to me. It is all you, Vicea brat. It's all you,"
Jace sighed at the missed opportunity. Still, The Devourer's mocking meant something, whatever it was. Jace hesitated at his second question. He knew he needed a way to beat his reflection yet he needed to clarify something that had always itched him the wrong way.
"Viceas, what do you know about it? How does it connect to you?"
The Devourer hesitated, "They're monsters. Old monsters,"
His words took a cautious tone, "They were involved in the Great War of Heavens. Treasured warriors in the battlefield. In the end, they were–"
His lips seized, as if some force was shutting them. One of the fingers in his right arm gradually faded, soon erased from existence. The mythic entity glared at the teenage boy. "Happy. What's your last question?"
Jace pushed the new information to his mind, choosing to focus on what held the most importance to him now. "How do I beat the reflection? How do I leave this place?"
The Devourer grinned. "Simple. You use an energy it can't use. One it has no knowledge of. You use Nexis."
"What's Nexis?"
Jace's question went unanswered as time returned. The Devourer was gone. Dark Jace rose from his hunched position, glancing at Jace and the ground. "How did you move so…Forget it."
Jace lunged to his left as the fog struck. It no longer resembled a simple wisp, its form that of a giant fist.
Jace leaned to his left, narrowly escaping a blow to his skull. He backed away as the fog fist struck the ground. Jace glanced at the two, his breath heavy. The two seemed so independent of one another. It was impossible. It was supposed to be impossible. An ability was an extension, not a separate being.
Yet as Jace felt the fist smash against his body, he knew science had to be wrong. Who could argue against pain?
He hunched over, saliva dripping from his mouth. He attempted to rise as his reflection struck. Another kick pushed the young teenager down.
Jace stumbled back up, then fell after another hit from the fog. His mind raced as he felt warm liquid drip down his lips. It wasn't saliva.
He struggled to rise, stopping as he saw Dark Jace's glare. Jace spoke, his voice almost a whisper. "You said I destroyed everything. When?"
Dark Jace didn't answer. Jace opened his palm in front of his opponent, and willed that warm energy to come. Willed his fog to appear
His opponent didn't move, didn't strike. He simply stood over Jace and watched. He watched as the warm energy flushed into Jace's hand. Watched as Jace's fingers tingled with excitement. Watched as nothing happened.
Dark Jace just sighed, raised his hand, and let it fall. Jace pushed himself a few feet back, his knees sliding in the ground. Jace rose from the ground as he felt the icy energy that had gripped him hours ago.
It was cold, so cold. Jace needed warmth. He lunged at Dark Jace. The reflection backed away, stunned as the original pushed forward into a wild attack.
Fog clumped together, forming a wall blocking the two fighters. Jace lunged at the wall, his arms growing numb from the cold. The wall crumbled.
Dark Jace watched in shocked awe as Jace broke through the wall. For a second, Dark Jace remained silent. Then he asked, his voice cold. "You brought that here? You've brought destruction,"
Jace smiled. His arms fell to his side yet they only grew colder. Colder. His entire body was cold. His entire body was decaying. He was being destroyed by what was saving him, dying from his cure. "I brought death."
Dark Jace moved as Jace spoke, the fog covering him as he dived into the forest. But there would be no escape. The cold began to spread.
The ground began to quake and break, the trees began to wither, and the sky split open into a sea of more darkness. Jace laughed through it.
He laughed as his foot fell into a hole in the ground. He laughed as a tree fell over him, disintegrating to dust before landing on him. He laughed as the sky fell on the ground and the realm ceased to exist.
He laughed as he reappeared into reality. He laughed as multiple notifications pinged in his head. He laughed as he fell to the ground and weariness took over.
* *
The home of the King was blindingly bright.
Golden chandeliers hung from the ceilings and swung wildly in a hypnotic fashion. The splashes of red across the room's halls glittered like precious jewels. In one end of the room, a golden throne stood above a dais.
A man sat on the throne. His head leaned back, his legs swinging wildly in a playful gesture. And then the movement stopped.
The golden door across the room from the throne burst open. A young man walked in, his hair as dark as night. His clothes–brown leather armour–were stained with blood. He stopped at the dais, neither kneeling or bowing. "Father, I have paved a path through Lethe. It should be fit for an expedition."
The man of the throne raised his hand, the young warrior bowing at that. The King raised his head slightly. "Someone with a divine right, like yours, has been detected. I wish for you to take care of the matter…and of an old friend in the process."
The young son bowed. "As you command,"
The warrior turned to leave, whistling a soft tune as he strolled to the door. The shadows in the corner of the room coalesced into a wolf-like animal. Black flames trailed from its head across its black and as the animalistic entity moved, a part of its body seemed almost fixed to the shadows.
The young warrior smiled at the animal trailing his steps. He whispered as he stepped out of the room, more to his loyal friend than anything. "C'mon, Wolfe. Let's go hunting."