The darkness made of black smoke envelops him.All around him, this darkness seems to exist.
And only this darkness seems to exist.
Ethan Kales does his best to understand this darkness, this concentration of horrendous smoke, but he doesn"t make any progress at all. Despite all his efforts at trying to come up with an explanation or meaning for it, this darkness seems to just simply be darkness.
Ethan: "Why doesn"t it ever go away?"
He questions himself.
Ever since gaining the Eyes of Truth, Ethan has seen this black smoke all around him whenever he has tried to sleep.
This is the reason why, ever since that day 12 years ago, this man had never been able to sleep peacefully. After all, this uncomfortable darkness is what he finds himself in as soon as he closes his eyes.
The sleep he finds himself in while in the middle of the smoky darkness, it can never be a peaceful slumber.
Ethan: "Just go away already!"
He yells at the smoke, but no response comes back.
Ethan: "Just ��� let me sleep for one night, d.a.m.nit!"
He even begs, but no response comes back.
What is the meaning of this black smoke? Is there any meaning at all?
Ethan has asked himself those questions many a times, but never once had he found answers. There were no books on this subject and there was no theory he could come up with that he was able to confirm.
"You didn"t have any purpose to live."
Yet, when a particular "G.o.d" said particular words to him, Ethan found himself getting closer to unveiling the mystery of this smoke.
"It was as if, you were living for the sake of living."
When he heard those irksome words back on the island during the reverse time dilation fiasco, Ethan"s mind froze with the image of this place coming in the forefront of his brain.
"It was as if, no, you really were … hollow inside."
Ozyllus had given that observation of his 8-year-old self, and said that he thought giving Ethan the purpose of something as grand as saving the world would fill that hollowness inside him.
But, he had also himself realized that this boy wasn"t completely hollow either. There was … something … inside him.
Something?
*******************************
Gabriel: "Are you kidding me!?"
Gabriel Was.h.i.+ngton asks with an expression that would tell any onlooker that he is at a loss-for-words.
It makes sense for him to be at a loss-for-words though. He is looking at an apartment complex, a place where Kais used to live, being used for something completely different.
A jet – broken into a thousand different pieces – with each apartment in the apartment complex having 3-4 pieces hidden in them.
Gabriel: "Wasn"t this place supposed to be turned into something different? I had heard the government had plans to make "
Sneha: "Yeah, they are about to extend the neighboring shopping mart to this place."
She says in a casual tone.
Sneha: "There job starts 2 days from now and before then, if any of them comes here, they will find the illusion of a perfectly normal and abandoned apartment complex."
Hearing that, Gabriel Was.h.i.+ngton really finds himself at a loss-for-words.
Abgere: "Not a bad strategy to hide your stolen jet here, though, I guess it is kinda … weird."
Sneha: "Well,"
She says with an awkward smile,
Sneha: "Weirdness is always a part of our head of the strategy department"s schemes."
Abgere: "Please don"t!"
Gabriel: "Stop!"
They both say to her, almost at the same time.
Gabriel: "I can see Kais and Sona using that "head of strategy department" bulls.h.i.+t but it is just plain heart-breaking to see you using it."
Sneha: "…"
Abgere: "Although I hate to agree with him, you feel much more like a normal person than those two and so it is pretty uncomfortable seeing you use their jokes."
Sneha: "…"
And so, Sneha Stone finds herself at a loss-for-words now.
Sona: "Are you guys done with your chit-chat? We could really use some help."
Sona says from a distance away.
Abgere: "Why should I help? I wasn"t even-"
Sona: "Get your a.s.ses to work!"
Abgere: "… fine!"
Abgere clicks his tongue and starts heading towards the upper floors. Gabriel sighs and starts heading towards the lower floors.
Sneha, who carries the pieces of the plane from the room they were all in just a moment ago, smiles sheepishly.
Sona: "Speaking of helping though, where the heck is Ethan?"
She asks, quite annoyed by not seeing him helping.
Sneha: "He said he had some business to take care of back at his house so he"ll be joining us some time after."
Sona: "Tsk!"
Hearing that not so comforting answer, the blonde-haired spirit-user clicks her tongue and says,
Sona: "I am gonna ask him what exactly he had to take care of when he gets here. It better be something really important or he"s going to go through h.e.l.l pretty soon."
Though she could, Sneha Stone decides to rather not comment on that statement made by the hot-head of their group.
And so, the five people continue their work as they slowly bring out all pieces of the jet out in the open and finally, with help from Sona"s spirits, Gabriel and Kais" psychic and Sneha"s aural abilities, they rea.s.semble the jet.
*******************************
Ethan: "What the h.e.l.l do you want now?"
He asks, quite irritated, to the person on the other end of the call he is on.
Bronzer: "Are you alone?"
The man on the other end casually asks as if he"s oblivious to Ethan"s irritation.
Ethan: "Yeah, I am alone. Now what the h.e.l.l do you want!?"
Bronzer sighs and it only gets on Ethan"s nerves even more.
Bronzer: "You know when I hear all these exploits of you being all cool and stuff, I think you might have matured somewhat. But I see that I was clearly wrong in thinking that."
Ethan: "Tsk!"
Bronzer: "You can only act cool in front of those that you have convinced yourself are below you in intelligence. When having to talk to someone like me, you lose all that and become just a sh.e.l.l of a man who is … completely hollow inside."
A sound of a plastic object hitting the floor does not reverberate. If it did, the sound of a Smartphone hitting the floor right now would be reverberating pretty hard.
Bronzer: "Throwing away your phone only proves my point, you know?"
With a toe, Ethan turns the call to loudspeaker mode and says,
Ethan: "I"m getting sick and tired of listening to you."
Bronzer: "And yet, you are listening nonetheless."
Ethan: "Tsk!"
Bronzer: "Oh, don"t be mad. I like that you have so much trust in me that you don"t hang up the phone no matter how irritated you become."
Ethan: "Tsk!"
Bronzer: "It is trust, isn"t it, Ethan? Or … is it fear?"
His eyes starting to form a glint in them, Ethan Kales yells.
Ethan: "THAT"S ENOUGH OF YOUR BULLc.r.a.p!"
Hearing so, the man on the other end sighs and says calmly,
Bronzer: "Alright, alright, I"ll get to the point."
Ethan barely holds himself back from yelling pointless things at Bronzer as he listens to what the strategist of the Vampire Kingdom has to say.
Bronzer: "I am a.s.suming you guys have teamed up with Abgere already. So, what are you planning to do next?"
Ethan can only hope that Bronzer does not come to know about Abgere having an aunt, who happens to be a psychic.
Ethan: "We are planning to go to Reid Vezalius Rosevelt and ask him some questions."
Bronzer: "Is that so?"
Bronzer asks with a doubtful voice.
Bronzer: "I am a.s.suming this came about because of the hints Barry left those two when they were little."
Ethan: "…"
Bronzer: "He did leave them a lot of hints so it"s good that you guys are capitalizing on that. However,"
In a disapproving voice,
Bronzer: "It"s not like the Phoenix would just tell you what you want to know and none of you stand a chance against him so you can"t force the answers out of him either."
Ethan"s fists tighten.
Bronzer: "I really don"t see how going to Rosevelt would accomplish anything, especially at this stage. Better to think some more before you act, Ethan Kales."
Silently cursing him, Ethan picks up the Smartphone and says.
Ethan: "Well, I guess I didn"t think of that."
Bronzer: "Nah, I am willing to bet you did think of it."
Ethan: "…"
Bronzer: "And you are probably not going to Rosevelt. You probably have some other strategy in mind."
Ethan: "…"
The voices everywhere grow silent. Silence would permeate the room if Bronzer"s voice wasn"t coming through the cell.
Bronzer: "Well, whatever your plans are, I am going to be at the edge of my seat waiting for you to reveal them."
In this silence that is haunting for Ethan, only one man"s voice exists.
Bronzer: "Good luck, Ethan!"
Just like in that black smoke, the silence that comes about when that call ends is not comfortable at all. It"s not peaceful at all.
It"s a chaotic and nauseous silence, a silence that grips at Ethan"s soul and tries its best to tear it apart.
Ethan: "d.a.m.n you, Bronzer!"
*******************************