Be Holden

Chapter 23: Doubt

Ether and Zen touch Ishin's shoulders the ice around her chips off as she gently shakes awake. Ishin's eyes widen and she exclaims: "Thyme took Evelyn!"!" Thyme did go missing after I woke up. Maybe he could not stand to be away from her for that long. He seemed to really care about Evelyn and loathe Ishin. This is somewhat expected. "Isn't that the love of his existence or something like that? Why is it a problem that they are together? You should focus on which husband you want to spend eternity with." You say.

"You don't understand. I feel like something is not right. He could have hurt her."

"He is not as bad as you think. Your hate towards him is clouding your judgment and making you biased."

"He took her from the desert match and promised me that he would end my existence."

"I knew this was not about Evelyn. All this time, it was about making Thyme enemy number one to everyone so that one of us would destroy him for you."

"You are being ridiculous! Why would I turn to you or your friend to take down an overseer?"

"Yes, but I was not really talking about either of us. I was talking about Ether and Zen."

She gasps. Zen looks at you disapprovingly. "No, one speaks my name besides my family and I. I would kill you but you fall under my regime. Instead you will be punished! You will go with Ishin to investigate her suspicions about Thyme since it is clearly against what you want to do."

Ishin reaches out to her side and the golden double doors appear. You follow her through the doors. She opens a few single doors and different monsters come out. Women with wispy black dresses like the ones who sent you to Ether's realm exit the last door Ishin opens. They sigh and whisper among themselves as you exit through the double doors on the side of the hall. You hear a door shake in the distance and continue walking with the group. You all find yourselves near a remote hot spring. The archers and black garmented guards split up around the perimeter of the spring with faces that are missing eyes. There is no space made for eyes on their faces and their mouths are covered with a sheer black fabric. The spider perches itself in a tree nearby and a little girl takes a diverging path away from the springs. She was not obviously monstrous but she had serrated teeth when she smiled. Now, it is just you and Ishin.Wait a second...the witch looking women were here. Where did they go? Ishin enters the hot spring with her thin beige dress and Thyme is sitting on the opposite side. You stand on Ishin's side near the edge of the spring. Thyme chuckles. "Where is Evelyn?" She asks him. "She is here and there. Darn, I just can't remember her exact location." He says then jumps out of the water. You both follow him to a small cabin with a bungalow in it. He slams his hand against a wooden support in the cabin and the cabin collapses on you all. You are knocked out briefly but you wake up to see Thyme strangling Ishin on the ground near you. "You dirty bitches are all the same. I will take you to her since you want to find her so bad!" He yells. His body sits on her as he strangles her. You push debris off of you and run up to Thyme. You grab his shoulder and yell: "Stop!" He shrugs your hand off and Ishin stops struggling. Her translucent skin turns indigo. The ground beneath you all blackens and spreads all over the area like a forking spill of black oil. You all sink in until the black surrounds you. Three males stand before an opening in a tunnel. "You have comeback, Thyme? Are you offering this lady to us?" The older male standing between the teenage boys says. They all look sweaty and tired. Their clothes droop on their skinny frames, their skin is tan, and their hair is as black as the night. The unusual feature on them was the black diamonds that made up their iris and pupils.

Thyme nods and the older male takes Ishin away by dragging her down the mouth of the cave. The boys lead you and Thyme down the musty tunnel to a diverging path, in which the older male went the other way and you all went the other way. You and Thyme sit before a feast with fly larvae infesting every food item on all the dishes. Sickly women clumsily dance into the space and one sits on Thyme's lap. She coughs until a big, coagulated piece of blood lands on Thyme's once empty plate on the dining table. The boys sit at the table shortly afterwards and begin to chomp on the infected food. "I want to see Ishin!" You yell. Thyme chuckles. "If that is what you wish, then I will grant it." One of the boys says as he stands up and stomps toward you. He grabs your arm and roughly pulls you out of the dinning chair down the hall. You enter the dank adjoining path the older male went down earlier. You both reach a mud pit that is mixed with coal. Ishin and Evelyn clumsily move around the mud away from the older male. He chases them and laughs when he corners Evelyn. Ishin jumps on his back and scratches his jaw. "You're one of those creeps that like to watch, huh." The boy says. He vomits on the ground beside him and spits out remnants of what he puked. You turn back to the scene to see Ishin being thrown off of the older male's shoulder.