I slowly open my eyes while softly hearing birds chirping from a large oak tree not far from my house. The twitter sound felt soothing knowing that i was home. A sound i despised because it reminded me of home.
The ceiling i had always glanced upon when waking up and a feeling i have come to welcome in the deepest burrows of my wilted heart. The familiarity is daring, but a feeling that something is not right dawns on me.
I get out of bed with my eyes glancing aimlessly around my room and suddenly leave at the screams of mother.
"ART"
I go the dinner table and a bowl is placed in front of where i would sit, with her sitting across from me. At first a smooth and sweet happiness washes over me knowing that i get to make up the time i lost not spending it with her.
I reach for the cereal and while i pour it in, that feeling i had earlier returns like a glaring answer in an exam. I place the cereal down to find this missing feeling.
Arthur while staring at his mother it is as if a padlock exploded in his mind with metal chains flying every, he unlocked a new memory.
*******************************************
"Trust your gut" says his father while sitting at the dinner table with the three of them.
"Well your gut is full of Guinness" replies his mother while looking at his belly. A young Arthur giggles with his father telling him off.
"What's so funny?" he says in a sarcastic tone. "You have a big belly" says Arthur and then his mother beings to laugh hysterically also and the infection which is happiness affects them all.
*******************************************
Grown up Arthur standing there and watching this memory like it was edited out in production. His mind is a mess and he returns to the dinner table with just him and his mother.
Ba-dum, ba-dum
He can hear his heart rate increase as he first starts to move his eyes looking around the house to see if anything is off. Then his head continuously pivots looking and looking...
The chair moves side ways as he keeps looking around and he looks back at his mother.
"Are you okay Art?"
As she speaks, the status window notification appears.
[Congratulations!]
[You have be chosen]
"What"
Eyes wide open staring hopelessly at the screen and shock that can only be manifested with time. Arthur looks down seeing the burnt corpses with black sludge grab at his feet. Each face unrecognizable, but Arthur knows.
The faces of those he killed mercilessly.
"What do you want?" he questions as he grits his teeth in anger.
He looks down at them with a stare that rivals death itself.
"Was the atrocities you committed not enough?"
"Was the salvation i offered not enough"
"Do you enjoy tormenting me even in death" he screams out while punching the table in rage.
The rage he felt tried to consume him like a blanket of darkness covering him in its warm embrace. But he refused it letting go of his fist and putting his hand out asking..
"What do you want?"
Wishing to be let out of the cage he placed himself in with the key being in his hand.
"ARTHUR" she screams while placing her hands on his face staring at him intently. With tears softly gliding down his face, Arthur returns to a reality where he is no longer alone.
"Mom?" he says as she sees her child crying so sincerely as he closes his eyes to engrave this experience.
Arthur opens his eyes eagerly to thank his mother while smiling at her and...
Nothing.
In a space devoid of light or heat, he stands there alone.
He looks around, but cannot see.
He reaches his hand out to feel, but the absence of touch is sickening.
Feeling hopeless and lost, he falls into nothing absorbing and embracing it as if it has been calling to him his whole life.
A voice echoes out out in this lonely solitude of darkness.
"You have become one with the darkness Master Luke"
Arthur opens his eyes and sees two figures with one standing and the other receiving an accolade bowed down on knee.
"Thank you" it says while receiving the sword.
With a completely dumbfounded face, Arthur thinks 'Is that star wars set in the medieval era?'
"They do knighthoods in this era as well you know" it says right next to his right ear. Arthur takes a moment to collect himself doing a breathing exercise and looks at it.
"WTF" he screams and moves away looking back at the ceremony and seeing the knight is gone.
He crawls backwards on his ass, shocked looking back and forth at the ceremony and the figure that appear right next to him.
The shadowy figure with only his white eyes and mouth truly visible, it walks towards him with the blade and prepares to strike.
Arthur closes his eyes in fear, cowering and shaking.
Nothing happens...
A few seconds later, he opens his eyes and sees the figure in it's face saying "Hi".
Darkness flows towards Arthur as he screams in shock..
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"HEY WHY ARE YOU TAKING FROM ME" the figure screams at him.
Arthur's screams gets quieter as he sees the darkness flowing into him. "What is going on?" he utters as he feels an emotion only after getting it from the void.
"You don't even know who we are.." "Do you?"
The figure drops the blade and turns around slowly walking with it's head down. The sadness released from it is suddenly felt by Arthur.
"Why am i sad?" he questions himself.
"We're Cass" "The things you left behind and use when you want" "Neglected feelings that survive on your behest".
"I'm all the negative emotions that you draw from, but i try to be cheerful"
The figure points to the right and says "That is the positive emotions that survives on delusion and optimism that one they would be useful".
"Can i ask you something" it says looking back at Arthur with an overwhelming sad look.
"Have you truly ever been happy?" "That thing just waits and waits with the biggest smile".
"But the boat always drives by".
Arthur looks towards positive as the void stops on a line with a paradise beyond it. The beauty of nature with partly clouds and warmth that feels amazing.
He remembers a moment that he felt happy, when Thomas was looking around in fear and that moment brought him happiness.
"STOP" shouts negative as Arthur returns and looks towards positive as it looks sad with the paradise looking partly corrupted.
"That wasn't happiness, it was something far far worse" says negative.
"Look there" as it points to the left.
A ball of darkness sits in the centre of a pristine white canvas, devouring all negative emotions and creating an abomination.
"It's called Oblivion" "That moment you remembered wasn't happiness, but it".
"A sinister feeling that will consume and overwhelm the mind to the moment of it's collapse."
Negative lost it's up beat and goofy mood, turning around saying to him "That's us" while throwing it's hands in the air.
He glances over at positive for a moment and he sees it again. The moment with his mother and father sitting of the TV watching Lucifer does his Last stand.
"Wow" "You never get enough of watching that with your parents". says negative with a light-hearted look on it's face.
Arthur strains his face thinking "his parents.." and he ponders on it for a second longer "Aren't we all the same?" he questions negative.
"No" replies negative, saying "We're all Arthur, but we are not the same". "You drew these lines and we stayed in these boxes that you placed us in, siphoning what you need and forgetting about us."
Negative walks towards him and gets down to his level. A soft smile taken from positive and sadness that has brewing inside of it.
"Don't forgot us okay" it says as Arthur teleports to another dimension.
A place where water lies beneath his feet and a magical finale as the sun is setting below the horizon. Arthur stands and starts to walk, figuring out what he meant.
"I forgot about them" "Locked my emotions away thinking they would be a burden to me on the path i walked" "but they were the only ones that truly understood me".
"They were my missing piece" "The stale expression i always had my face, i thought it was calm mind".
"But I did it".
He continues to walk with his head down seeing the reflect of the sun in the walk as he walks and he gets some emotion back saying "I'm sorry".