Mine blinked a few times, and his surroundings came back to his senses.

Well, at least it felt like it did.

The place was dark, without any light, but he could see the ground and the horizon. He was stepping into something liquid – that was at least certain – but the water was murky and dark.

As Mine gazed upon the horizon, he couldn't help but notice how perfectly flat it was, stretching out endlessly before him.

The ground was strange. It was moist without exactly getting wet and soft without deforming – like jelly.

As the boy lowered his gaze, he caught a glimpse of his reflection. The locks of hair on his head were just as he remembered them, but what he saw beyond that was a startling contrast to reality. He was now adorned in an otherworldly, semi-transparent cloak that draped over his naked form. The cloak was as ethereal as the scriptures all over his body like glowing tattoos, pulsing a divine-like light.

His body wasn't exactly human, nor his facial features, but he knew the reflected being was him, and it then turned into his usual appearance – at least the outlines.

He was the light source in that pitch-black place.

No smells in the air, no sounds, nor light. Only sensations on the skin, like the humidity, the water beneath his feet, and the cold wind that blew his cloak and hair.

His mouth opened, but no words came out until something different appeared on the landscape, and instinctively, he ran towards it. A white marble throne adorned with gold was there, but it was…empty. The adornments were so detailed that it was impossible to accurately describe all the designs and carvings.

“You really came,” a gentle voice said, slowly revealing itself beside Mine.

“I had to,” Mine said sorrowfully.

The thing seemed to hop a bit, like a bunny. Its light floated from one place to another until it finally rested upon the grand throne's seat with an air of familiarity as if it belonged there.

"I love when you come to visit me!" the voice turned into a mirrored version of Mine, but he was more like a mythological creature than a human. "I have so many plans for us!" it hopped off the throne and excitedly held Mine’s hands.

Mine looked down before looking into the creature’s glowing eyes that resembled his own.

“Well, it takes a few weeks before I come back, once I died, so..." Mine voiced, soullessly. "Ah… I'm tired of dying this way," he sighed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

But the creature didn't seem down, much the contrary. It seemed very happy, with a beaming smile sketched on its face... until a small pattern formed on Mine's wrist.

"I think you'll come back earlier than expected," the creature grumbled.

"... What?"

"Look on your wrist. So that guy really helped us," it chuckled, but with a mocking tone. "At least his eyes were charming... hm... his name... what was his name again? Ah! Addai!"

"... Come again?" Mine voiced, emotionless.

"Addai! An interesting guy indeed!" the creature beamed while jumping on its spot like a child. "Aw he has an adorable face~ his touch is also nice! It would be nicer if he wasn't freaking out! Hahahaha!!"

“Stay away from him,” Mine hissed, and the water below them started getting agitated.

That creature was the last thing he wanted Addai to meet.

His ill version? Well, that's fine.

His rude version? That's also fine.

His stubborn version? He didn't hide that.

But his Chronos... never.

“Huh? I am you, dummy! There’s no way I can stay away from him even if I wanted to hahaha!” the creature laughed as if Mine had told the funniest joke ever.

Heart racing.

It was impossible to think straight.

Mine's skin itched as if needles grazed its surface. Everything was clear to him: from the creature to the dark background with an almost feverish intensity. The noise of the crashing waves did not match the state of the floor, which remained like jelly, neither sinking nor forming waves other than the layout of puddles.

Some say a person seething with rage might maintain an eerie, unsettling silence, indicating a deep-seated anger that's brewing beneath the surface... and that might be true.

"It's a rare you being worried over a human..." the creature smiled, avoiding some of Mine's nonverbal spells. "You know... it would be cool if he was as trashy as the previous one! Yeah! This way I would be free once again!! Hahahaha!! 'Just don't kill him', right? You sinner!!"

Mine dashed and grabbed the creature's neck.

A foreign viciousness took him over.

As he squeezed the creature, the being maniacally laughed, letting the veil on its back loose in the air.

"He'll treat you like a whore!!" the creature laughed, but showed no resistance. "And here you are, trying to kill me!!! You tried it before, and what happened? You died again!!”

"SHUT UP!!!" Mine yelled, throwing the creature far away.

Panting from euphoria and rage, he still stared at the being and the storm inside him started showing on the outside.

“Awn… don’t be like that!” the creature widely smiled, levitating in the air. “Do you wanna play? I’m always up for it!”

A dash, a clash, then a light beam.

Both beings were thrown in opposite directions, hitting the once flat, watery floor that finally turned bumpy… and as agitated as the sea under a storm.

Mine stood up and wobbled, walking in the creature's direction.

The remaining humanity was now gone.

His face was hidden by an adorned white mask with golden details, showing only the glowing eyes that didn't match the skin, that looked like a dark cocoon. His body wasn't clear to witness, nor had a specific shape. The only thing that made him visible was the mask and the thin, golden cloak that covered his 'body'.

“Hahaha!! Here we go!” the being joyfully clapped its hands. “Release your anger! Release it with me!”

Mine said something in a foreign language, and the being was slapped on the ground. Sinking in the murky and vicious waters, that creature laughed, letting bubbles of air rise as its body sank.

Before Mine could dive into the floor, the being suddenly rose and clashed against him, making him bump on the water like a flat rock until he faced the floor but didn't sink.

"You know, we shouldn't trust humans," the being started, holding a sword of light in the right hand. "Remember that pipsqueak? What if Addai is the same?" it sank the sword right next to Mine, who didn't flinch nor looked at its face.

Instead, Mine kicked the sword and jumped back, giving some space between them.

"He's confusing... I can tell why you hesitate that much," the being hummed, making the sword disappear. "I don't understand why he knelt before us. I mean, we fell from the train, holding the instability's core that I absorbed... then, he appeared beside us before your body died."

Chills took over Mine’s body.

If he fell from the train, and Addai was next to him…

“Oh no…”  Mine mumbled, his voice cracking and wobbly.

His mask, once white and gold, turned white and blue.

All the details changed.

The eyes, once sharp, turned mellow and teary; the adornments completely swtiched patterns, now covering both eyes only; the eyes' glow, faded and a sole tear drop was drawn below the left eye.

A metallic liquid drop fell from the mask’s eyes, staining the floor with gold. Once stormy, the water below them slowly turned calm.

“Awn… you don’t need to be all mellow…” the being crouched, wiping the golden tears from Mine's 'face.' "If he was dead, I wouldn’t be happy either.”

“Where… is he now?” Mine weakly asked.

“He is saaaaaaafe! I made sure he was safe,” the being grinned. “I’m not a monster, ya know that! It's not that I don't trust him that I need to kill him!” it grumbled.

The being helped Mine stand up again, covering him with his own cloak. His mask didn’t change, so the being shifted his face into it, making the teardrop turn into a star shape.

A weird mirrored version of his.

“I’m tired…” Mine mumbled, feeling his body exhausted.

"So, let's rest," the being shifted into a tall, bird-like creature. Its feathers were soft and comfortable.

Mine laid down on the feathers, and the being covered him with its wings.

The flooring was calm once again as if nothing happened.

“Want a music? This place is too quiet,” the being grumbled.

“Be the DJ then,” Mine chuckled.

“Oh! I’ll sing our music. The one our uncle taught us,” it joyfully said.

“Then, go ahead,” Mine covered himself with the cloak and the being’s wing. “It’s a terrible song, but go ahead,” he teased, and the being nudged his ribs with a soft peck, making him laugh.

Bearing light in their cores,

chaos in their hands,

and glow in their soul.

Shall the universe feel,

the true light of doom.

Ethereal beings.

Convinced sinners.

Beautiful liars of death.

Chronos, the enchanting beauties of chaos.