“You are all that remains of the Ruined City… you have nothing there. Nothing remains,” Vulgar’s voice came like a sharp blade.

Fallen trembled as tears welled in his eyes. “It’s still my home… the moon will shine… one day. It will shine brighter than before and it will free my people, just like it freed me…” His voice cracked, “By showing them the monsters of the dark they have become.”

“Your moon has no pure light anymore… it was all drowned out by the hollows. The sun is for the nobles and the moon for the ruined, so just accept it’s dead, it’s over, and I’ll give you an opportunity,” Vulgar whispered venomously into his ears.

Fallen fell silent as he lay on the floor, cradling his body as a cold silence enveloped them. “Why am I here?” he broke the silence, his tone low. “Why are you talking to me? Why do you want to give me an ‘opportunity’? Why do you want me to hear you?”

He looked up toward the shadows, and Vulgar honestly responded, “Like I told you, you are all that remains of the Ruined City. You fell into the hollows, were only shone a mere flicker of dying light… and crawled back up in search of more. You survived the darkness… all because of a mere flicker of light. I would be foolish not to show interest in you…  Seeker of Light.”

“Seeker of Light, huh…” he recited. ‘That's the first time someone’s ever called me that.’

Vulgar remained silent for a moment before saying, “Do you know why I want you to hear me? It is not because I cannot make you, but because I want you to have the desire to hear me. You are interesting, strong, and yet so foolish and tasteless … Seeker of Light. And, yet somehow, it makes me want you to hear me… and fear me.”

Fallen suddenly burst into wild laughter—pain, confusion, frustration, anger, sadness, and weakness—all bitterly intertwining in that laugh.

He stopped cuddling his body and simply sat, his body loose, eyes dark and swollen, lips sombrely curled. “Fine. I’ll listen,” he said as he looked ahead.

“You should feel proud to have made a being such as I... feel so pitied,” Vulgar spoke, his tone laced with a strange sense of bitterness Fallen formerly enjoyed hearing.

A brief silence passed before Vulgar began, “Have you ever wondered why your home does not have a sun, only a moon?”

“No… the moon and its light were more than enough,” Fallen lowly answered.

“Hmm, well, it is because your worlds were divided after the Curse; my kin and I came to exist. A bridge was formed between humans, a bridge they could not see. Though you remained neighbours with some sense of morality and equality, ultimately, you were still divided and viewed each other as different, though you were and still are… one.”

Fallen quietly listened, remembering the border where the light of the sun ceased entering, colliding with the dying light of the moon to create the Bridge of Sun and Moon. So it was all caused by Vulgar and his people.

“Once, there was no bridge between humans,” Vulgar continued. “They foolishly viewed each other as equals, knowing well they were anything but. The Sun and Moon worked together, inspiring many fable tales of love as the Sun gave its light to the Moon, and they were two, but also one. But after my kin and I came to exist, you were divided. One humanity was taken, another took the Sun and its light; the other took the moon and its light, and all shared the darkness of the night. But ‘sadly’, your side, your ‘home’, fell and only knew darkness. Your dear moon’s light was slowly drained… and now it’s only a matter of time before it’s all gone.”

“What’s your point?” Fallen questioned, frowning.

“I will give you the opportunity to restore the light of your moon so it may free your people from the chains of the darkness and hollows.”

Fallen’s eyes widened at the declaration before Vulgar continued, “If you return to your home, it is only a matter of time before the hollows swallow you again, and you know that well. I will give you the opportunity to destroy them… forever, Seeker of Light.”

Fallen remained frozen as his thoughts spun in his head before he questioned, rising to his feet and glaring into the shadows, “Why? Why would you give me the ‘opportunity’ to kill the hollows when you’re the reason they exist? And drugs! My people are being destroyed by drugs!” He hesitated. “I would have said yes without a thought if you had told me you’d help me get rid of the drugs—the true killers of my people.”

“Do you really believe drugs are the only ones responsible for the fall of your people? Do you truly think drugs are capable of sucking the light out of a moon, dividing it from the sun and feeding it darkness?” Vulgar retorted.

Fallen started to doubt himself upon the words before Vulgar continued, “The light of your moon brought you back, the day it shone on you and helped you see yourself clearly in that glass. Those things are not just drugs, and if you truly wish to save your people from them, help them see the light of your moon, its true light… and they shall be free, and you will no longer be darkness within, Seeker of Light.”

Fallen watched the shadows mingle, an expression of defeat and resignation on his face before he asked, “Why are you doing this? At least give me that answer,” his tone low.

“I already told you why. You have a strong spirit of the light… and I want to watch it break. I want to watch you break. That is why I brought you here and am giving you this opportunity… I am even swearing upon my fate just so I could see you fall… just so I see all that light in your heart cease and turn to darkness.”

Fallen fell silent as he finally realized who Vulgar was. To him, it was all nothing; his people and their lives were nothing. All he wanted was to see him fail… and nothing was stopping him from making sure he did. Vulgar practically admitted to being an entity of power, just like that from the legends of the nobles—an entity who could defy life and death, darkness and light.

And he, Fallen the Forgotten, he was just entertainment. Vulgar seemed to have a kick and desire to watch him beg, but did any of this mean or guarantee his word was true?

No, it didn’t.

There was no guarantee his words were true, and just because he said them didn’t mean he meant them.

Fallen slowly closed his eyes and tried to remember when the light still shined and his people were still well, but his mind was blank—only darkness, a darkness that felt like the one he stood in.

He opened his eyes and pondered:
‘What do I have to lose?’

“Nothing; you have nothing to lose,” Vulgar interjected as if reading his mind.

Fallen fell silent, his lips pressing together as an expression of resolution and defeat lined his features before he asked, “What do you want in exchange?”