Against the Universe - After ONE 18

EIGHT | Tough As A Lantern

Airy's only eye was piercing through him like a stake through a tomato.

What did he mean by that? Liam shivered. He glanced at the lake - he knew himself that it was deep.

Turning to face Airy again, he flinched: the lantern got much closer in a span of a few seconds.

"Wha- DON'T DO THAT!"

"You have no power here," stated Airy simply. "It's... funny, honestly.... Why are you... overworking yourself? It won't change anything. Why not care for yourself a little?"

"What? Why? Why would that be more important?" Liam raised a brow. He felt his confidence growing, pushing through the constant nervousness. "All I want is to know they're safe from you. And I WILL ensure that you never kidnap anyone again."

"You're missing out one crucial fact... and that is, you're lonely."

"I'm... not? Why do you care anyway?"

"Don't you see... they're your only companion here? There's... nothing else here, in this world. Why would you send them back? You need them."

Discomfort rose with each of these questions. Liam felt lonely indeed, but why did Airy know all this? Why did it seem like he was reading his mind? Liam squinted at his captor.

"I don't care about myself, I care about them. But you obviously won't understand that, you big-headed lamp."

"I'm not... a l a m p, I'm a lantern," Airy hissed rancorous. "Clearly you don't know the difference, you scatterbrained backpack."

Liam blinked, confused. That's both off-topic and out of character.

"Anyway..." said Airy, hiding his irritation under a mask of calmness, "yeah, you care for them, but again... if you send them back, you will be alone here. Doesn't that... scare you?"

The backpack shook his head. He tried to gather thoughts.

"I don't plan on staying here."

"You... don't?"

"Mhm. I won't become like you. Isolation wiped out all your morals, it seems, and I'm not letting the same happen to me. I'm getting back to the waiting room."

At this point, it seemed like Airy could hardly contain himself - the metal object stared at his kidnappee intensely, with a hint of anger. Which puzzled Liam a lot.

"You mean you'll kill yourself?"

"I will have to. There is no other way to get there."

Just as Liam said that, the figure in front of him rapidly jumped forward. Liam felt Airy's fingers aggressively clenching his fabric and pushing him backwards. He didn't have a moment to react and Airy successfully pushed him over - to the lake's surface. Liam panicked upon touching water, feeling his straps soaking already; he frantically clutched Airy's wrists.

"AAAAH! STOP! STOP!"

Airy gripped him harder, mumbling to him ominously:

"I will kill you before that then. What's the difference? You can get your sweet eternal sleep now."

Liam gritted his teeth and tried to fight back. He couldn't let this happen, not now. He needed to live to free the trapped.

"GET YOUR DISGUSTING HANDS OFF M-!"

The rest of the sentence came out as a muffled gurgle when water covered Liam's face and his world turned blue. He quickly closed his mouth not to lose any more air.

Airy's silhouette was blurred. Liam held his wrists for dear life, the grasp being the only thing keeping him from sinking deeper into the lake. In a desperate attempt, Liam put all his force into kicking the lantern's chest with his less sore leg.