Hi~
Sorry for the late update, my body tried killing itself again and I ended up having to go to the hospital for a while.
…this is probably going to become a trend from now on. But, c'est la vie, right?
I hope you enjoy. I'll try to post again soon.
Your humble author,
Falling_Mountains
———I am the dividing line that separates story from author———
Beep- Beep-
Nia groaned as she reached out blindly, dragging her hand across the bedside cabinet until she felt the snooze button on her alarm clock and gave it a firm slap. Unfortunately, some birds outside seemed to believe it was their duty to fill the newfound silence and began chirping loudly. Ugh… whatever time it is, it's way too early to get up...
"Oi! Nia!" Kyo's voice called from the apartment kitchen. "It's already noon - get up already!"
"I'm up, I'm up..." Nia replied sleepily, silently covering her ears with a pillow to try and block out both the sound of birds and the errant rays of sunlight shining in through her curtains. But I'm going back to sleep.
"If you don't get up already, I'm switching my breakfast with yours-"
"I'M UP!" She immediately flung herself up from the bed, her pillow flying into the wall from the momentum as she scrambled out of her bedsheets. "Don't you dare leave whatever abomination you're making for me to eat!"
"What?" Kyo's voice became much more confused. "I don't have any weird tastes, y'know. I just made my pancakes with banana instead of blueberries..."
...right. Why did I assume Kyo'd make some sort of horrific insult to all food ever? Nia's brow furrowed as she scratched her bedhead. That's strange...
————————I am the dividing line that skips time————————
"Thanks for breakfast!" Nia clasped her hands together before pouring liberal amounts of syrup over her pancakes.
Kyo raised an eyebrow, pulling back the sleeves of his Astral Dress that he seemed to always wear. "Are you eating blueberry pancakes with syrup or syrup with a side of blueberry pancakes?"
"Speak for yourself," Nia snorted as she gestured at his own pancakes... or rather, two pancakes covered entirely with bananas and chocolate sauce. "I don't remember you having such a sweet tooth."
"I..." Kyo went silent, seemingly lost for words. After long enough that the silence started getting awkward, he spoke up again. "I don't know. For some reason, I just really wanted to taste chocolate again..."
"Hm." As she continued to munch on her own food, Nia observed Kyo's face carefully. "Did you suddenly develop a sweet tooth overnight? Or maybe..." She smiled mischievously. "Are you trying to hint at something?"
Kyo tilted his head as he gave Nia a sideways look. "Dare I ask what you think chocolate banana pancakes could possibly be hinting at?"
"Chocolate's an aphrodisiac-"
"Aaand we're done with that conversation!" Kyo facepalmed with a sigh of exasperation as Nia stuck out her tongue at him while chuckling. "Honestly, do you ever run out of these jokes?"
"I can always go for another round," Nia smirked. "Why? Are you tired already?"
"...I walked into that one, didn't I."
"Absolutely."
"Hmph." Shaking his head, Kyo stuffed a piece of pancake into his mouth and chewed slowly. Five seconds, fifteen... by the time he'd chewed for half a minute straight, Nia was beginning to worry for him. It was as though the bite he'd just taken was the last one he'd ever have, and he was trying to savour every hint of flavour... but seriously, is he even chewing anything anymore? Surely it's all just mush in his mouth by now.
"Kyo, you can swallow now," Nia announced suddenly. Kyo's eyes widened comically, and he almost instinctively spat out the contents of his mouth.
"PHRASING!"
"Ahahaha!" Yet even as Nia cackled away, she couldn't help but think that something about today was... off, in some way.
—————I am the dividing line that shifts time and perspective—————
Kyo wasn't sure, but something about his body felt a lot more... free, for lack of a better word. In every step forward, every breath he took, and every bite he ate, Kyo felt as though there was once an invisible burden that, now lifted, made every action more wonderful. Even the very colours of the slowly setting sun felt more colourful. As cliché as that sounds. Ah, what am I even thinking?
"So, Kyo..." Nia drawled, turning around to face him as they strolled down the city streets. "What do you think about elemental stereotypes?"
Kyo gave her a strange look. "Elemental stereotypes? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Y'know!" Nia waved her hands around in the air. "Like, how characters that control the air are really carefree, or how characters that control ice are super stoic and boring?"
"Uh..." Kyo pursed his lips while thinking. "I don't really mind them."
"...and?"
"And what? That's it, really." Kyo suddenly dashed forwards, grabbing onto Nia's arm.
"Whoa!" Nia stumbled forwards. "What was that for?"
"For preventing you from banging your head against a lamppost," Kyo replied dryly, pointing behind her.
"Ah.... whoops?" Nia scratched her head as she turned to glance at the innocuous steel pole, letting out a light chuckle.
However, Kyo's attention was no longer on her. Instead, his eyes were focused on a certain figure down the street, standing next to the entrance of an alleyway. The man's entire body was cloaked in a choking black mist, obscuring both clothing and flesh. And yet, despite rolling off the silhouette like a waterfall, it would always disappear just before touching the ground. By all means, it should've been ringing every alarm bell in a normal person's body. And yet... why does that guy give me a familiar feeling?
"Uh, hello~? Earth to Kyo? You there?"
Kyo blinked, pushing Nia's waving hand away from his face. "Nia... do you see that guy?"
"Eh? Who?" Nia looked down the street, as though trying to espy whatever guy he was referring to. "It's an empty street, Kyo. Are you feeling ok?"
"I..." Kyo shook his head and looked again. The shadow didn't disappear as he'd hoped; it continued to stand there, keeping its head locked on him though it was observing. "…maybe you should head back."
"Me? You're the one seeing something that isn't there!" Nia protested, an incredulous look on her face. "And anyways, we haven't even had dinner yet!"
As Nia continued bringing up plenty of reasonable arguments as to why she should not in fact head back yet, Kyo noticed the shadowed figure slipping away down the alleyway. "Nia."
"Yeah?" She paused her rant as Kyo grabbed her shoulder. "What?"
Kyo looked into her eyes. "Please. Trust me."
"...ah, fine. Sure." Nia threw her hands over her head. "I'll do it."
Kyo gave her a small smile, summoning the familiar white blade of [Origin] to his hands. "Thanks."
"Hold on." Nia grabbed onto his ear before he could dash off. "You're gonna explain what this is after you get back."
Kyo nodded before dashing off, following the figure into the alleyway.
————————I am the dividing line that skips time————————
"...where exactly is this?" Kyo scanned his surroundings suspiciously. What he'd thought was a regular discreet alleyway that looked perfect for a mugging had turned out to lead into a strange alley made of what seemed to be darkness itself. Cautiously poking at the wall with [Origin], Kyo observed as the shadows writhed and space folded in on itself, reforming into ever-restless walls of darkness that only ever allowed one path forward at a time. In fact, Kyo couldn't even tell where he'd entered from anymore.
Continuing to walk forwards, his eyes narrowed. The strange shadowed figure sat upon a plain white lawn chair, as though awaiting his arrival. "Who are you?"
"Y̢̛͞ơ̶̕ư̷̷ ͢͠a̸̷̸r̷̛͟e̶̸̸ ̸͘l̸̛͏a͏̸͢t̴̷̸e̷̸̕.̴̸̕." A distorted voice emanated from the shadow, booming in his ears like crashing waves at high tide. ""I̷̢̧ ḩ͟͞a͏̷v̷̛͠e̴̸͠ ̷͘w͠͏a̸̷̸i̸̸̕t̸̢͟e̶̸̷d̵̷̸ ̷͠t̷̶̢h̴̸̷r̶̸̸e̶̷̕e̴̷̸ ̢͟m̴̢o̶̸̸r̸̢e̴̷̸ ̷͠h̴̸̷o̸̷̷u̵̷̸r̴̸̷s̵̷̸ ̷͠t̶̷̷h̵̷̸a̷̷̸n̶̷̷ ̷͠t̴̷̷h̶̷̸e̶̷̸ ̷͘p̷̸̷r̸̷̸e̸̷̷v̶̷̸i̷̷̸o̸̷̷u̶̷̸s̷̷̸ ̷͘i̸̷̷t̷̷̸e̴̷̸r̶̷̷a̸̷̸t̷̷̸i̶̷̸o̵̷̷n̶̷̸ ̷͘o̸̷̷f̵̷̸ ̷͠t̷̷̸h̷̷̸i̸̷̷s̶̷̸ ̷͘w̸̷̷o̶̷̸r̴̷̷l̷̷̸d̴̷̸."
"What? Iteration?" Kyo drew [Origin] from its sheath, directing it at what he assumed was the shadow's face. "Stop being cryptic and explain, whatever you are."
A haunting laugh echoed from the void, mocking Kyo's words. The shadow slowly stood up, its "legs" creaking with pressure, and pulled a sheathed sword from thin air. A crimson eye gleamed from its hilt, sending a terrifying chill down Kyo's spine. "Y̴̛͝o̷̷̕ư̸̸ ̵̷̸s̶̷̷t̵̷̸i̴̷̷l̸̷̸l̴̷̸ ̶̷̷d̶̷̸o̷̷̸ ̴̷̸n̴̷̷o̵̷̸t̷̷̸ ̴̷̷r̵̷̸e̸̷̸c̶̷̷o̴̷̸g̷̷̸n̶̷̸i̵̷̷z̸̷̸e̵̷̸ ̶̷̷m̸̷̸e̴̷̸?̷̷̸"
"That's...!" He grit his teeth, thousands of possibilities flying through his mind. "You... are you?"
"I̷̶̷n̵̸̷d̴̵̴e̷̶̷e̴̵̴d̷̶̷.̴̵̴" The shadow dissipated the blade before sitting down once more. "I̷̶̷ a̵̸̷m̴̵̴ t̷̶̷h̵̸̷o̴̵̴u̷̶̷,̴̵̴ t̵̸̷h̷̶̷o̴̵̴u̵̸̷ a̷̶̷r̴̵̴t̵̸̷ I̴̵̴.̷̶̷ W̴̵̴e̵̸̷ a̷̶̷r̴̵̴e̵̸̷ t̷̶̷h̴̵̴e̵̸̷ t̷̶̷w̴̵̴o̵̸̷ h̷̶̷a̴̵̴l̵̸̷v̷̶̷e̴̵̴s̵̸̷ t̷̶̷h̴̵̴a̵̸̷t̴̵̴ o̷̶̷n̴̵̴c̵̸̷e̴̵̴ m̷̶̷a̴̵̴d̵̸̷e̴̵̴ R̷̶̷a̴̵̴i̵̸̷d̴̵̴e̷̶̷n̴̵̴ K̵̸̷y̷̶̷o̴̵̴.̵̸̷"