There was no possible threat between them, as they were one, equalized, united, together. There was death and numerous other ways to look at it.

  Unfortunately, neither thought was something William had reconsidered in the past few weeks, let alone today, when it all broke down. Also, the demon gets him more than himself, and that alone spoke thousands of words in a simple gaze. It judged him. Saw him. him.

  He felt his Emblem, and from there, he felt himself more, threading between fine lines until pushing against those boundaries.

  “Are you my Emblem?” William suddenly said, cocking his head as this demon did, and thinking about it more than ever. “I thought you would be bigger.”

  The demon knew that deep inside its consciousness, it had watched over him for more than just a decade. The true matter wasn't just the first crumbling. A single crack and everything obeyed its order, but this tiny guy wasn't so simple. It, too, wasn't... but that was what ego was, and what it thought of itself.

  William wondered whether it was related to pain, voices, or noises from his memory or to physical pain. He tried to look for an answer in this big ass demon, who didn't consider his question whatsoever, so he asked again. “Are you Dark?”

  

  “Then who are you? What?”

  “I... see. Emblem. It is alive. You are what you eat, so... you look like a bunch of them, frankly, so you must be within me... or always me?”

  

  William got a headache from this rumbling voice that seemed to get into his head. “Whatever. What is going on?”

  

  “Oh. Doesn't feel like it.” William wasn't sure whether to feel shocked or helpless, so he felt nothing in particular. The surroundings were completely still and calm; he doubted death would feel anywhere close to this from his memories or whenever he became wild.

  “Hm? I appreciate you, whatever you are.”

  The demon smiled and nodded.

  “One mistake, right. Yeah, I am supposed to be somewhere else, and this is just a bad real dream.”

  

  A distant, yet still rumbling voice left William in wonder as he slowly sank into the ground; he faced it and felt no disturbance when this world swallowed him, leaving the demon far above him.

  He didn't panic as his vision blinked and pain returned, then cracked red veins spread as he lost himself again, and he fell into the surface of that pond and sank deeper than ever.

  Reality was very painful after all, and whatever was still dying or not, he couldn't do it whole.

  How typical of the Awakening. Death was very close to every Walker. Killing, progressing, and even taking Rank-ups as a new end and a new beginning were fine sentiments. Dying in the process was included, looming like the moon or a sun, and so was the reviving dawn or break.

  On the other hand, calmness could be seen as a weakness, often associated with inefficient Emblems or unfit humans. Hough experienced many youths, yet never a demon straight out of a nightmare. It manifested in this immense vector flow, resembling Fissures a little, if the Fissure was mixed with Primevals, or other nasty things he had seen in the past.

  Hough pretty much completely forgot about the Awakening or the youth behind this. The demon held vortexes of Vectors rising in each claw, forging links to the storms, and causing the ground and air to shake. It was a weird instrument, but it seemed totally in control.

  It was a wonder how far this went outside. Barriers around machinery stood up to this force even without Butlers in sight. Their work was safe, while William's death was secondary.

  Some signs were obvious, as one in Celeste. She showed off odds of different flavors, and few were confident whether she utilized Vectors or a purer form of Arcana. In this one, the difference was wild, which Hough loved even more.

  To show its fangs to such a capacity, coming and spreading. Like death. Like the end when Madness and Corruption stretched forth, and speared them in!

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Forced Awakening should have a prudent start. Youths would simply die otherwise. Eveyrone belived that for them to feel the bad kind of Madness made no sense whatsoever because they didn't have the experiences, accumulation, or sequences ready.

  But what if the disparity wasn't that huge, or important to some kids? That was a failure of the past, rather than the future. Hough supposed that the constant pursuit of evolution gradually modified and raised the bar. Rank 5. Rank 6. Rank 7? Rank 8 was a bit too rare, but eventually, the status they brought to the table will surprise Darks, who no longer consider humans their... well, nothing much at all besides fun sneaky bugs.

  Usually, deaths came with Darks and their mistakes in the fields. That was common and expected of Walkers. To die for humanity or pave the road for the future.

  Perhaps this was no mistake at all, but Hough didn't care either way and enjoyed the show with a wide smile, and wished to speak to it further. Despite his efforts, the demon neither spoke nor listened.

  He saw it enough to memorize it and etch it into his memory, so it was about time to get closer. It wasn't some spiritual forms or via elemental signs.

  This wasn't about little kids. Hough liked working on already established Walkers because youths were far too brittle, and most prominent issues were more obvious further up the Ranks.

  It was deep, slowly invading everything, even Hough's eyes. They still watched on beyond his breadth. He wished it were different, but, as an observer, being a small savant was his call.

  The vortex of the Vectors continued to revolve, mirroring the demon's appearance, which was becoming more and more real. It was glaring at William's position at the moment, ignoring Hough, and taking the surrounding storm for a mere breeze.

  It wasn't for those outsiders. Only for Hough, right? Hough thought so, as allowed him to get inside, ?!

  He lived for this shit, and then... he got it. The demon suddenly looked at him, and that mere moment sent a shiver through his spine. In a moment, a terrible consequence shrouded his mind. He almost saw his whole life flash before his eyes, but there was not much of it. It was dark, crude, and rather useless to him.

  No guilt. Well, some guilt. Then a quick crimson wave smacked him, taking his vision to the darkness and to the ground. The vortexes flared up a few more times afterwards, but that was no longer for his eyes to see. His head bled, and his eyes skimed over a little figure, followed by a human, then a demon. Hough blinked and dropped unconscious.

  The demon hunched down before all those Vectors started to synchronize. Then, it hit him, smacking one crimson finger-spear into his chest and blasting the flow apart.

  ***

  Outside of this cage, in a different room from the Walkers. There were long but narrow windows to the bunker, which served as both a research facility and a control room. Scientists and researchers used this room for their work during the Awakening, and numerous additional monitors and machines were present, connecting the room to the Emblem Accelerator.

  Adam, one of Tom Hough's assistants, wearing a white coat, looked out the window in shock as he witnessed the crimson storm engulf his boss. He involuntarily kept the microphone close, though no voice or methods managed to reach into that cage. No answer came from the Butlers either, and he couldn't guess what was happening inside anymore, and neither did ten freaking Butlers?!

  “I swore that kid meant trouble!” he slapped his face. Everyone in the room was speechless, including a girl hiding behind the plank of wood with her papers. Ellie had been appraising everyone carefully so far, but this wasn't it. She regretted being here, as there were no answers or good shows to most of her deepest issues.

  Those Vectors were like walls of untouchable weight, keeping what was inside in a different place. Readings became zero, so their perspective no longer mattered, and they didn't even know whether their machines were secure or limited.

  “W-what should we do, Adam?” A woman wearing a white coat broke the silence and put her hand on his shoulder. “Tom Hough is not responding, so you are in charge, Adam. Do what you should do. And do it fast.”

  “I know. I know... But this never happened. As years go by and change, should we inform the Walkers? I don't think we can fix this at the moment. This is an absurd Emblem that we are talking about.” Adam argued, panicking and causing her to frown.

  “Are you seriously doubting this right now? You are the vice-director for this Awakening, so decide the best course of action because that's the status you possess. The professor is still inside, most likely not safe, so you'd better do what is best, because you know he never cares for others or himself. Few Walker will do something about it because of him. Just look at those dense and crazy Vectors. Such weight is not up to our readings.”

  As if realizing his fault, Adam fled the scene and ran to check the machines and screens. Then he ran to a door, hoping nothing worse would happen.

  Ellie observed the disappointed, tired scientists with her own little disappointment. They weren't even halfway through this shitty event, weren't they? She was feeling tired for all of them, since, unlike them, she could leave at any time.

  ***

  Worries came and lost their appeals, but the middle of that crimson cage was the same as before. The cage remained, but insides became a bit more brutal, with rain forming and the red shine deforming.

  Everything was coming to its end. It was not wrong, or right, for there was an Emblem back in William's hand, although it wasn't looking like before. It wasn't glossy and tight, but more like a swirling vortex of Vectors, and countless lines and strands coming together into chaotic patterns.

  It wasn't smooth, sailing energy. It was way too intense, cracking the new skin and changing it too, so it had to change again. And again. Countless cuts spread around the forearm and beyond, and new flesh and blood grew.

  William's clothes were pretty much gone at this point, and the demon was nowhere to be seen. The cage was still ongoing, albeit thinning out by the minute.

  It took a few minutes to tilt this balance. Then, the cage crumbled, revolving and flowing like arrows back to where they had started.

  For the first time, everyone got to see what was hiding inside. It was no longer a trick.

  Blood was dull, the air was thick, and constant, red, glowing patterns surrounded the rough-looking chair. All the remaining Vectors reached their last Cycle, revealing a three-sided coin that seemed like a throbbing flesh and heart. It was much darker than ever before, yet fuller and more menacing.

  Its insides contained unkown number of Vectors, which traveled the Emblem, penetrating the flesh and altering everything and it. There was no doubt anymore.

  Perhaps it tried to destroy the chair and everything else around it. It was a natural thing to do, considering the element. Fortunately, nothing important broke. Then the air stabilized, the shine decreased further, and around this time, Hough opened his eyes.

  He looked around in confusion, citing less crimson hues and... bloody no storm in sight, and... no demon!? Before realizing where he was, he grumbled, shouted, and didn't care where he was or what he should be doing.

  “What in the actual fuckery happened!? Where is it? WHERE is it!” He shouted out loud as if he hadn't been unconscious a moment ago. Getting to his feet was a challenge until a certain person approached the Accelerator, and the difficulties changed in mere moments.