VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 64

Gregory could see nothing. He could only hear. Only listen. He was thrown into the back of a car, and it drove for a long while, before it finally stopped. No words were said as he was pulled out of it, and they began leading him somewhere. He had no idea where, but he could tell they'd entered a building from the change of ground texture underfoot and a shift in surrounding ambience, and then they entered an elevator, which descended.

Once out of the elevator, he was led down winding halls until a door opened, and he was thrown into it. The door closed behind him, leaving him in total silence. After a few minutes, he tore the bag off of his head and tossed it aside. He was greeted by total darkness. They'd locked him inside some . . . room. He didn't know where or why, but here he was, unable to see anything.

Gregory looked around, squinting to try and adjust his eyes to the darkness . . . but there was no way, especially since his glasses had gotten knocked off at some point during the whole ordeal. He began to stumble through the room, feeling along the walls for a lightswitch or something . . . had he been taken prisoner? Was this some kind of sick punishment?

As he found the walls, he began walking around the room, feeling about for a light switch, but came across nothing. There wasn't a single thing he could see. He couldn't even hear anything aside from his own ragged breathing. After he made what he believed to be a full circle- or square, as he was in a box-shaped room- he let his hand slide off the wall. "Think, Gregory . . . think . . ." He muttered, before recalling when Frisk and Terrence had been texting Rian and Sadie how to summon their SOULs.

What had they said, again? He needed to focus really hard on his ambitions, get in a fight, or get sprayed by turtle water, right? The latter two options were unavailable right now, but the first one . . . what was important to him right now? Getting out of here and protecting his friends and family was number one on the list for sure. He felt sick to his stomach thinking about what the Messiah would do to them if Greg didn't act fast . . .

He closed his eyes, resulting in no difference in what he saw, trying to slow his breathing. 'I want to get out of here.' He thought to himself. 'I want to help my friends fight the Messiah.' However, nothing happened. He was about to get frustrated, before he took a deep breath. "C'mon, Gregory. You got this," he said to himself. "I got this . . ."

And yet, still, no SOUL emerged. Greg was beginning to get angry at himself- why, even when his family's lives were in danger, was he unable to come through for them? This all felt like a disgusting dream. He was ready to wake up.

Gregory closed his eyes, concentrating so hard that his head began to throb. "Please . . ." Still nothing. "Please . . ." He repeated. "I have to be there for everyone. I have to get out of here." He opened his eyes, and was greeted with darkness. Gritting his teeth, he dropped to his knees. "C'mon!" He growled. "C'mon! Why won't you appear!?" Nobody responded. All he had was silence and darkness to greet him. Finally, out of anger, he thrust his fist into the wall. What happened surprised him, causing him to fall back on his rear. When his fist had struck the wall, a burst of violet light had seemed to erupt out of his hand.

A smile split its way across Greg's face- even though he couldn't see his SOUL, he'd just used its power. Maybe he could break out of here . . . "If you think you'll be doing your family any favors by escaping, you're much less intelligent than I thought," a familiar voice called to Greg. He frantically looked around, expecting to see Krashna, but nobody else was in the room—not like he could see otherwise. "Don't look so nervous. I'm communicating with you through a microphone. I know you can't see the speaker without your glasses, nor in the dark, so don't bother looking for it. Gregory, as the merciful-"

Krashna's voice was interrupted by someone speaking Russian in the background. "Ahem . . . as I was saying . . . as the merciful leader I am, I've decided to give you one last chance to surrender the easy way. If you don't comply, I'm going to have my subordinates beat you into obedience."