_Chapter Begins_
As the fresh smell of underground moisture assaulted his nose, his eyes slowly began to open.
His pitch-black pupils revealed themselves—as two abyssal caverns that sank into his skull and beyond.
His sleepiness was slowly chased away from his mind as his senses woke up from their momentary rest.
The first thing that his brain managed to perceive was the familiar purplish light that had covered his vision for the last few days.
He closed his eyes and then opened them again. Slowly his blurry vision began to clear.
And as soon as it did...
"...."
William placed a hand over his face and began to massage his forehead.
"I really didn't want to start off my day this way."
Elsa gave a polite smile as she loomed above him like a creep.
"And why is that?"
Ignoring her question, he slowly sat up and stretched both of his arms out.
Small cracks were heard as his arms extended outward and over his head.
"Gods, I feel like hammered shit."
Standing next to him, a sigh escaped her lips.
Pointing a finger at William, she spoke in an indifferent tone that lacked the flavor and emotion of human speech.
"You slept on a pile of rocks. What did you expect to feel like?"
Giving her a short glance, he simply shrugged.
"I honestly expected to have some type of resistance to these sorts of things... considering the fact that my body has been altered by the sin of envy."
Elsa remained silent for a few moments. Her hand that was still pointing at William slowly started to move down.
Looking to the side, she spoke in her usual lifeless tone.
"That's good reasoning, I guess..."
William looked over at the other side of the cave where his sister was still sleeping.
"She's still sleeping?"
Elsa flipped her golden hair back and let out a small cough.
"The influence from the fog has very much damaged her mind. So she needs to rest."
The red fog... he really wanted to learn more about it.
Rubbing his chin, he spoke in an even tone.
"So if I remembered correctly, you told me that you would 'guide me through this Hell.' Could you maybe elaborate on that statement?"
Looking at William with her gorgeous blue eyes, she lingered with her reply for an uncomfortable amount of time.
He shifted slightly as the silence began to ring loudly in his ear.
Though eventually, she finally came up with her answer.
"Well... I can sense that you already know that there is something abnormal with my body."
Her reply did not have anything to do with his question, but William knew why she was saying it.
Smirking a little, he waved a hand to the ground below her.
"It was kind of obvious if you ask me. Your missing shadow was the first giveaway."
Elsa looked down at her feet and frowned a little.
A frown... finally she was showing something other than just a polite smile.
As his smirk widened a little, he continued to talk.
"So would you mind explaining what exactly is wrong with your body?"
She looked back up at William. Her frown was not gone, which made William's smirk dull a little.
She spoke in a cold and indifferent tone.
"I won't go into details, but to put it simply... my body is an illusion."
Was that her idea of a simple answer?
William was not as shocked as one would expect at this information.
In fact, this piece of information made a lot of sense.
He remembered when that cursed cult had chased the both of them around the city.
At that time, he had noticed the fact that the cult was completely focused on him and him alone.
At that time, he had not thought much about it. But now, knowing what he did...
They didn't target Elsa because they literally couldn't see her. She only existed as an illusion inside William's mind, so only he could see her.
Elsa's sudden disappearance when he had died to the cult made a whole lot more sense now.
William's serious and tense expression was suddenly broken, as two red circles formed around his cheeks.
"Wait a second... so all that time that I had walked around the city talking to her..."
She was an illusion that manifested inside his mind only. So all the people of the city that had seen William walk and talk to himself and only himself.
He had probably looked like a crazy person.
Shaking his embarrassment away, he looked at Elsa with a serious expression.
"So you only exist inside my mind, meaning that you can't interact with the physical wor—"
He cut his own words off as he suddenly remembered something.
A very important detail that poked holes into Elsa's answer.
While he was in deep thought, Elsa was looking into his eyes—a small and slightly amused smile on her face.
"You have a very sharp mind, William."
Looking up at her, William's expression was completely stoic.
"If what you're saying is true and you really are an illusion... then how did you pick up those crystals back then?"
The crystals he was speaking of were the ones Elsa had used as demonstrations to show him how his new ability worked.
She had held one in her left hand and one in her right.
If she was an illusion, then how had she done it?
Elsa did not linger with her answer, as she seemed pretty confident right about now.
"Simple. I can make you see illusions of me, so why do you think that I can't make you see illusions of other stuff as well... like crystals?"
At her words, William's expression dropped and his eyes widened.
The crystals she had held in her hand were just illusions she had created for his mind.
That was...
Just how much power did Elsa have over his mind? Could she make his whole surrounding just an illusion—a figment of his imagination?
These thoughts made him shed a few cold drops of sweat.
At the frightened sight of her new ally, her amused smile turned into a small and polite one.
She did not want her own ally to be scared of her,atleast not now.
"Hey William. You need to remember that I am on your side, and I came here to help and guide you, so don't be afraid."
Her words did not give any comfort to him, but William still decided to calm himself down and look at the positives of the situation.
Crossing his arms, he looked at Elsa with a serious expression.
"If what you're saying is true, then you really can't interact with the physical world after all."
She simply gave a nod at his words.
Tilting his head a little, a small smile enveloped his face.
"You offer no combative support. So I'm guessing that you plan to help by giving me all that knowledge you possess."
She lingered for a moment, before looking to the side and ending the staring match between her and William.
"Well, there are certain pieces of information that I can't share. But I can tell you most of the stuff you want to know."
William's smile widened with a dangerous glee.
A single word left his mouth at that moment.
"Excellent."
_Chapter Ends_
(Note:Sorry for not uploading for a whole week guys.I just had a lot of outside work that i needed to get done 🙏.Now i'll be going back to droping 3-4 chapters a week once more,so be ready 👍.)