The glass shattered, and water rushed in violently, starting from small spills to loud, rushing streams.

It turned out that the glow, the dim light, came not from within the aquarium walls but instead from the water itself, the faint hue of mystical blue pooling at their feet.

Lucas walked over to lift the boy up, gazing at the other from down the hall, liquid lapping against their ankles. They were a reasonable distance apart, and the other's shoulders shook from light laughter from where he stood in overwhelming stride, yanking the sword back out.

It collapsed into a pile of thread that looped around his wrist, mimicking a simple bracelet. Lucas frowned. For a weapon like that to be found this early in the apocalypse... it was near impossible.

There was an odd tranquility laid upon them, trickles of red drowned away by the deep blue.

The man looked around at the mess created, and the fish that spilled onto the floor, looking as if they were made from thick paper. "This was your plan?"

"It worked."

It was actually quite risky, considering they didn't know the true objective. But unlike Cinderella's Story which had a set objective and rules to follow, Lucas decided to do as he pleased here.

Why follow common sense? When life was all about doing the unpredictable.

"The objective was easy to determine, a common tale of a boy who never got his childhood, and a controlling mother." mused the man. "If this world is created by that child's desire, then you were right. There wouldn't be an exit—he doesn't want to return to the real world."

"There's an adult in this body." said Lucas, looking over at the unblinking boy that sat in his arms.

"Wouldn't it count as a loss if we end up drowning here, though?"

"The objective isn't to help him reach his missing childhood, or to escape from his mother." Lucas tapped on the child's head lightly with a sigh. "It's probably to wake him up from this delusion. He kept repeating that he doesn't want to wake up—meaning he's dreaming. It wasn't escape the maze, it was escape the dream."

"Do you think he loved his mother?"

The question was unexpected, but oddly enough, Lucas sensed no hostility at the lazy man. "...he probably feared her, but he must've also loved her. Regardless, her actions made her existence an unrivaled nightmare to the boy."

The other contemplated the answer in a comfortable silence.

"I thought the same, but what if you were wrong?"

The water reached their waist now, and the glass had completed fallen apart. The distance between them is far, but Lucas almost felt as if the conversation was happening only a breath away, with the fixated gaze certain and curious.

Lucas shrugged indifferently. "Then we'd die together."

"I'm flattered that you wanted to die with me."

"You're not significant enough for me to care either way."

Although their conversation was casual, both observed the other party with caution. Lucas lived life the way he wanted, only remaining a part of the gang because his existence was irreplaceable, and that he had freedom to do most things he wanted.

The leader never reprimanded him or forced him to cross a line that he was unwilling.

He'd been curious, actually, how he could do as he pleased and never get in trouble. Well, it wasn't as if some of the other members didn't try to reason with him and enforce the gang's structure and rules.

The only thing was, they couldn't get him to agree unless they beat it into him.

And they definitely tried.

The point was, Lucas never forgot about the tattoo during the entire time. An ace and a crown. The facts were neatly presented before him, and he couldn't pretend to not notice, even if he wanted to.

His hand habitually went around his neck, only to find empty space where the ring should've been.

"You..." His head snapped up, eyes sharpening threateningly. Across from him, slender fingered twirled a piece of metal in their leisure grasp.

Ocean eyes flickered, and a ghost of a smile stretched on those beautiful features. There was no way to run or grab it with their distance and the water that almost submerged them completely. A dark and somber atmosphere in this space of three.

Of course Lucas couldn't mess with a person like this and not face the consequences.

[A conclusion has met the requirements!]

He read the words from the man's lips. 

A name—Elias. And irritating words that followed.

"Did you want this, darling?"

The Story was crumbling apart, and their separation was inevitable.

[The Soul Story of 'Lost Childhood' is closing...]

There was another villain that would terrorize society, in ways worst than Nora could ever. Because if she was inherently good, the man was cruelty in the flesh.

When Lucas wrote him, the person had been a mystery even Lucas didn't know how to describe. 

Somebody that seemed to be created from his nightmares, a careless, heartless villain spilling onto the paper displaying a personality even an author couldn't control.

Elias would fall from his role of the Ace King after losing to Kane, and find unimaginable power elsewhere. From murdering humans, to murdering creatures, he would excel at both.

As if the world's destruction was a game to him.

And perhaps it was, when the man's sole desire seemed to be luring people to death, like a grim reaper leading foolish souls to their demise.

At some point, he even disappeared in Lucas' novel, and the latter didn't know where he'd gone. The name never crossed Lucas' mind again, and the character became forgotten.

He'd drawn Elias, once.

Splotches of black ink, and a face that couldn't be made out. A hazy image that depicted condensed arrogance and power, giving the viewer an unpleasant chill along their skin.

But Lucas knew things about this man, even outside of the novel. In fact, it was because of their faint connection through the gang that he even considered forming a deal.

Without a doubt, Elias could be the most powerful ally, or the most terrible enemy.

[The soul story 'Lost Childhood' has closed!]

Night-black hair that elegantly fell upon his defined face carved from the finest jewel, with eyes that peeked through the delicate strands in their piercing stare of promising threats. Eyes of the deepest ocean, sharp and unrelenting while hiding a myriad of secrets in their bottomless depths.

A person who could ruin another with laughter spread across his lips.

Lucas had heard of this man. This person who was above him, and all others, ruthlessly watching from the top as he controlled people like puppets.

He who held the title of the Ace King, the Puppeteer of Life.

On the other side, Elias stared back in the same calm and the sparkling waters reflected off his eyes in their subtle glow.

An expression that was calm yet sought mischief, seeming to be uncontrollable and undeniable, with wings stretched out across their cloudless snow eyes that allowed them to fly wherever, whenever. Decorated in careful yet reckless piercings and ink that added to a wild air.

Charming and deadly with a leisurely strut, and a rare smile that only promised violence.

Elias had heard of this man. This person who was under his command, yet unable to be commanded.

The Mad Dog of the Aces.

Lucas cursed in his mind. 'A damn annoyance.'

Elias raised a brow in amusement. 'This fool can only cause trouble.'

Their first impression—

—absolutely terrible.