Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 156: Evil Within ()
A low growl escaped Xenon against his own will as he staggered into his cave on unsteady footing,
He placed a hand against the wall to steady himself as a piercing ache tore through his skull and a loud ringing sound echoed in his ears.
Xenon’s eyes were wide and dazed, his pupils darted this way and that, unable to focus on anything in particular and his breathing was heavy, echoing through the cavern.
There it was again... that madness that crept up on him at the most unexpected moments, that uncontrollable rage and bloodlust that possessed his mind.
That malicious curse that afflicted him for decades, placed on him by the one person who was meant to cherish him the most.
It had taken just a memory... just a reminder of her to trigger the darkness, the evil that lurked within him... the evil he could never escape from.
Like a virus, the moment it was triggered, it spread... slow and excruciatingly painful, yet steady and surely and Xenon could feel it all down to his bones.
The wild haze was coming... Xenon could feel it, he could feel it in how his throat itched, a dry and scratchy sensation accompanied by a growing thirst,
Xenon could feel his scales growing out of his skin, covering a side of his neck and even up to his chin.
His gums ached terribly as his canines elongated, much larger and sharper than what was possible in human form,
They pierced into his bottom lip, drawing blood that went trailing down the sides of his lips.
Xenon could hear the sound of his claws scratching against the wall from where he held up his weight,
His ears twitched, the most insignificant sounds like the billowing wind and the distant cries of the animals that lurked mount Edar echoed loudly to him, piercing his sensitive ears painfully.
One breath...two breaths, and then three...
Xenon breathed in deeply, holding the breath before exhaling slowly, in a desperate bid to calm himself and still the wild haze.
To stop it before it took over him completely, but when had his efforts ever been successful?
As his senses grew sharper, Xenon’s mind and thoughts grew clouded and completely muddled.
Xenon could not think straight, he could think of nothing truly but his desperation to escape what was coming.
Xenon staggered forwards, heading deeper into his cavern on shaky footing till he arrived the inner cavern.
As he moved, he found himself headed in a direction he never would have in his sane mind, pulling out a scroll that should long have been disposed off and forgotten.
Decades had passed, yet even in her death, Xenon could not completely be rid of the effect she had left on him.
She had made him into this...into a monster who in his state of madness would recognize just one existence...hers.
Another low growl rumbled out of Xenon as he tossed the scroll aside, resisting the urge to open it...a glimpse would only make things worse.
Xenon would never be willing to let her control him again, he would fight it, no matter how painful it was.
Leaving behind his inner cavern, Xenon ventured into the back mountains, staggering into the woods... the wild where a monster like him truly belonged.
It was a chore to place one foot ahead of the other but Xenon pressed forward till he arrived at the clearing...at the only place where he could be certain he would not hurt anyone.
Everyone in dragon keep knew better than to come out here, furthermore, Xenon knew his brothers were unaware that his haze was returning.
Xenon crumbled down to his knees, resting his hand against a rock for support as he panted,
One breath... two breaths, and then three...
Xenon counted his breathing again, there was hardly hope that it would be of any help but when it was all that could be done, Xenon still had to try.
There was one other remedy...a remedy Xenon had recently discovered but had not confirmed, yet at this point, he did not dare try it.
Though Xenon knew thoughts of the golden haired princess brought a calm that put all his turbulence at bay,
In his mind at this moment, the image of the golden haired princess and the black haired woman had intertwined, to think of one was to risk thinking of the other.
There was no facial resemblance... this was true, Xenon could not even tell why he likened one to the other when it had never been so before.
But Xenon could never control the workings of his own mind... what was the similarity?... Just what?
And then, when Xenon’s thoughts slipped away as the madness laid claim to his mind, Xenon heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
"Xenon?" The voice sounded from some distance away, beyond the woods yet it was perfectly clear to Xenon’s sensitive ears.
In that moment, somewhere beyond the muddled thoughts in Xenon’s mind, a feeling of terror stirred up.
Not for his ownself but for the one who came to him, completely unaware of his current state and what Xenon’s wild haze truly meant.
Unaware that what came first to Xenon’s hearing before her voice and her footsteps was the sound of her heartbeat... the rhythmical thumping that served as proof of life.
And then the sound of the blood that flowed through we veins, pumped by that very same organ that would decide the life and death of any living creature... mortal or supernatural likewise.
"Leave..." Xenon made to say but all that got out was a low growl.
...No one was meant to be here... she especially should not have been here, she could have been anywhere else at this moment, but the one place she should not have been was here... where Xenon lurked.
A Xenon that soon would be gone and in his place would be the black fiend.
Yet she was here and she headed in his way, having no idea that if the final strand of control Xenon so desperately held onto slipped...she would not be leaving alive.
