'It all began when the moon turned red!' Michael began. 'Tell me, how many days have passed for you?'
'I would say around two days,' Sarah replied. 'Why?'
'Time here flows slower. It changes as it pleases. Sometimes ten days here can be one day outside—or just one day. Sometimes it even goes faster. I found out when—' 'Wait,' Sarah interrupted. 'Excuse me but what's the current situation then?'
'Sorry, I can't tell you. Only the King knows. He can manipulate time and space. You know darkborns and brightborns have ranks. The highest rank after the King or Queen is Celestial. But there are people called king or queen candidates. They're not as strong as the King/queen, but trust me—they could challenge one. And the one who controls this space is a king candidate.
When all this shit started, it was chaos. We only saw black ghouls. But one day, that person appeared with his own army and helped us. He said that to keep us safe, we had to hide underground. Maybe he just didn't want people to see how the white ghouls devoured everyone on the surface. Things were peaceful... but here and there, he would take people and call them the chosen ones. Some came back, others didn't—and of course, he always had some lie to tell us. The people were blind and believed everything. The ones who returned from the chamber had changed. Maybe you've already seen one—'
'I assume the smiling man,' Rick said, and Michael nodded. 'That creepy bastard!'
'Yes! One day it was my turn. And as blind as I was, I went there full of energy. There are two reasons why you're called to the chamber: either as a chosen one or as food. I was the latter. The moment the gates closed behind me, he revealed his true self. And before I knew it, my arm was between his fangs. I wanted to know why he did that. I thought he was a savior,' Michael stomped the ground, his jaw tightening.
'He decided to tell me because I was about to die either way. The priests and some brightborns planned an union at the White House. They decided that instead of fighting each other, sharing the world would be a better idea. Not everyone agreed, but they had no choice. The King, at least that's how we called him in Paradise was a loud opponent of that treaty. He also hated his Queen – the queen of the brightborns. He said he should ascend the throne—and if he couldn't, he'd create his own. So he holed himself up here and began experimenting to create his own army—'
'He would then kill the other darkborns and brightborns,' Sarah concluded. 'That's good. Let the two forces weaken each other!'
'Well, it's not that simple. Right now, his army isn't strong enough. So he decided to stop the ritual that summons the darkborns and brightborns. There are two ways to stop those rituals. One is to fight your way through and destroy the altar by force. But destroying an altar takes a huge amount of power. Even a Celestial couldn't do it. Maybe the King could—if he used all his strength. But he'd be depleted. That's not good for him. So now he wants to sacrifice the humans down here. It could be to gain more power to destroy that altar. Because if the King and Queens show up it could end bad for him. Over the years, people have come to this place, but no one has ever left. I told you—he controls this space!'
Sarah massaged her temple.
'Fuck! We have no choice but to attack him then. The time, the sacrifices, the experiments!' She stood again and paced the room, massaging her temple. Then she stopped.
'Okay, then how did you escape? And why do you have two arms? Wasn't one eaten?'
'Back then, he offered me to some ghouls—and of course, I fought back. The first one bit me, and then I felt it: I was one of the immune ones. The King decided to spare me and take me under his wing. I played along until I found out about some artifacts. That hole over there belonged to the King. I stole it. Down there, he can't track us. Same goes for everything within a certain radius. So don't worry about us talking out here.
We plan to attack him soon. Kill him and his deformed humans and free the others. Then we use his artifact and head to the White House. We are not sure how we will destroy the altar at the moment but we will somehow find a way! We must! I'll keep it short. Are you with us?' Sarah gulped, mumbling to herself,
'And I thought it couldn't get any worse... Michael, leader of the Resistance—you have our support.'
In the King's Chamber
The door opened, and Brightbornica entered. Behind her, two ghouls dragged Nade along. Brightbornica bowed, placing one hand on her chest.
'I greet you, my great King!'
'Welcome back, Brightbornica. And you seem to have brought someone. Who is that?'
'That human is possessed by Glacia. I thought bringing him alive might be the better choice.'
'Hahahaha, oh Brightbornica. It was the better choice. Throw him in the prison and put the chains on him. He may be possessed by a Celestial, but we're talking about Glacia—and in his condition, the chains should be enough.'
'I shall do that, my King.'
'Were there others?'
'Yes, but they escaped, my King,' Brightbornica said, bowing her head further and hiding her one shuddering arm behind her back.
'I see. Don't worry. I wouldn't be surprised if they met—' his voice grew rougher, 'Michael.'
'My King, why didn't you hunt him down?'
'Let him have his fun. He wants to play leader? So be it. As long as he comes back bringing his resistance, I don't mind. More people to sacrifice.'
'But are you sure he'll come back? I mean, he could just wait. Why would he care that we're sacrificing citizens?'
'His sister is here. That's the reason why he'll hasten his plan now that I leaked the info that the sacrifice will be held earlier! Well, that might just be better that way!'
'How do you mean?'
'That masked woman was here. That bitch dared to threaten me!'
'Should I send people to look for her?'
'Don't, they would die. Most of the time I feel nothing from her, but when she does reveal her power–' the king glazed down on his shuddering hand. 'She's a monster! Even if we all attacked her, we would not be able to do anything if she were to get serious. That's why I will absorb the power of everyone here. Then comes the king and the queen and lastly I will face that woman again. And she will regret not having dealt with me earlier! Hahahahha…!'
In Paradise
Dae and the others had reached Pandora's house. Well, it was more of a villa than a house. At the villa, maidens waited and welcomed them with bows.
'Who are you?' Dae demanded. 'Even among the houses we saw on our way, this one–well it's a whole villa!' Pandora stopped and turned around.
'I saved many people by bringing them here and offering them a new life. The King, of course, was pleased with my service and loyalty. He bestowed a title upon me and gave me an even better life. I lost my family on the first day of the apocalypse. But he told me that in the future, I would have a big family—and so a villa was just right. Maybe I'll even become a chosen one! I'm so happy! But okay, enough about me. Let me show you in!'
Somewhere
'My friend,' Abaddon said. 'I think I'll leave first. Seraphina already joined Dean.'
'Then you'll join my other son, my friend,' the man replied. He looked over at the woman who stood before the gate, channeling her power into it. 'After we've set enough precautions, we'll join you.'