What It Means To Be King

Chapter 40: Illusory Laced With Light And Trust And Care

You know I'm lazy from how normal the header looked right now. So apparently, I underestimated school, and hence the late update. Very late update.

I DID NOT learn real life hypnosis because it's boring an unsuitable for fictional purposes, and therefore the hypnosis done in this story will most likely be fake and may not necessarily work in real life, ever, and I'm not trying to make it seem real either.  

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"Shut up, you idiot." Gion hissed for the 5th time within the last 10 minutes, earning a low whine from the silverhead in his arms. Livio had one arm slung over his shoulder, or specifically held there by Gion. Another arm was limp by his side, unable to move much other than to guide the two of them through the dirty hallway. Gion struggled to keep their balance, being the shorter of the two.

 "Another word out of you and I'll throw you away." 

Livio laughed, a little nervously, "You wouldn't do that...., would you?" 

Gion sent him a look that did a pretty good job at stitching his lips together. By all means, their pace wasn't too bad, considering how anyone would struggle with walking on a floor filled with shattered glass, empty cans, bricks and even nails. They should be lucky that up to now, Livio hadn't stumbled on any of those debris that caused him to fall down, that would drag Gion along with him, which would upset not only the prince but Livio himself for respective reasonings. 

Livio sighed, working out his numb legs to move faster to catch up. Which was funny, because he and Gion was currently at the very front of the group, with Ciel, Albert, Alex and Charles being more than ten steps away from them. They weren't falling behind, nor were they slowing down the group. But there was something unsettling that churned in Livio's stomach whenever he saw the icy cold gaze Anubis had on him at almost every 5 minutes or so. No glares, no scowls, no grimaces were sent, but it bore the disgust, the hatred all the same. 

Livio realized the reality a little too late for his own good, though. The cold glances Anubis had sent him weren't frequent enough, weren't long enough for him to feel an ounce of fear. A total of three times, all of which lasted barely one second, so why did it feel like the world had stopped, corners of his vision turning dark and monochrome until all that was left of any hues were those gold irises, glowing, piercing, freezing. 

He'd find himself unable to move, frozen stiff in the air, until he saw Anubis turn his head, the glance fading away from view, ever so slowly that before he knew it, his feet had already touched the ground, and his steps had continued as if he never stopped. Livio glanced at Gion, brows stitched together in worry, but Gion hadn't the tiniest bit of alarm on his face, only the urgency as they pave their way through. The grip on his waist tightened a bit when Livio stumbled, reeling him back to reality, and Livio shuddered. 

It scared him, he admitted, to be separated from reality so against his will, as if his mind was pulled into a different realm, a different world within the one where everything was moving. It felt like that when his vision turned black and white. It felt horrifying to have only amber striking him in the head, sending spikes of adrenaline into his blood. It scared him, to be unable to move, with the only thing that's left to do was watch as the person who had been the cause of this....this mirage, shatter his thoughts as soon as it came. 

"That juncture...." Gion groaned, breaking him out of his thoughts. Livio gulped, paying attention to what was being said. Right ahead of them, just a few dozen meters away, was a juncture, with light rays soaking the floor, indicating for an opening, an exit, or perhaps just a window where the light from outside was able to reach them. A shadow formed  on the dirty floor, similar to the one before and Livio realized that it was the same juncture as back then, when they first turned around.