Recently, and for various reasons, I've become quite irritated at DYN2. And I think they're entirely aware of this. I think it was funny to them.
Today when I awoke into my dream (which I guess really isn't waking up, technically, but whatever.) DYN2 was simply sitting down in a chair, looking up at me with the biggest, most disgusting, irritating smirk I'd ever seen in my life. Which was impressive, considering the amount of time I spend around S and Catface.
To add further insult to injury, they were wearing a fancy black suit and tie along with cartoon monkey pajama pants.
"Monkey business." They said with a shallow whisper, their grin seeming to widen as they squinted their eyes mischievously.
Bad puns are especially heinous when they're delivered by someone one's mad at.
It's not even clever. It's just clothes. They didn't even put any effort into it.
"Aaaaanyways! Someone's had one hell of a day today, didn't he?" DYN2 said, getting up as the chair disappeared into a puff of smoke.
"Yep." I stated.
"Yep,' indeed." They said. I hate how they're not fazed by my lack of enthusiasm. "At any rate, I'm not about to sit here and repeat what you already know. I believe you've done plenty of that yourself, correct?"
I also hate how they act like they know everything about me. Though, I hate how often they're right even more.
"But I will say this, I know that, right now, it seems like a lot. But I think at the end of the day this'll be good for you." DYN2 explained, taking my silence as an answer.
"That, or it'll break me into a million pieces." I said.
"Ah, pessimism, pessimism! Don't think that way! Think of it more as a... Metamorphosis! Yeah, that's good. A metamorphosis. One that's so slow you'll hardly notice! Until one day when you realize you no can longer recognize the man in the mirror! And, all at once, you'll become keenly aware of the crushing weight of the world on your back, and despair! Or maybe none of that will happen and you'll just start hitting people more, who really knows, honestly."
"... Yeah, sure." I'm really glad I'm on, like, 2 hours of sleep right now, so there was no way I was gonna be able to process any of that.
"Of course. At any rate, to facilitate said growth, I will offer you a piece of advice. Aren't I swell?"
"More vaguely threatening premonitions? Been a while since the last one."
"Oh, c'mon, don't be like that! I'm trying to help you here! What kind of friend would I be I just gave you all the answers?"
"A helpful one."
"Bah. You just don't get it. You could stand to be more appreciative, you know. In a lot of ways, I'm basically your dad." Said DYN2, coyly. "... Not that you'd know anything about that."
"... I'd appreciate it if you didn't bring my parents into this. Or anything, ever."
"Fair enough. Though, I do think you could stand to learn a thing or two from them. Just a thought."
". . . As if I could, even if I wanted to..."
"Yes, yes, I get it, you're very melancholic. Verrry interesting." DYN2 said, pretending to pick at their nails. "At any rate, it's wise to slow down sometimes, isn't it?"
Once again, really glad I can barely comprehend this conversation, or I'd need to see a chiropractor for the whiplash that transition would've given me. "Uh, s-sure."
"Life's a party after all. Take it slow. Have another drink. Don't worry about wandering a little bit. You never know what you might find..."
. . .
I don't get it.
Still, their delivery and increasingly sinister grin on their face was just enough to send a chill down my spine.
"With that, I'll be off. Unless, of course, you have something you'd like to add?" They added, grinning expectantly.
Figures... "Y-yeah. I, uh... I've got something I need to ask you." I interrupted. "Uh, and it's not about... It's about me this time."
"Oh hey, a flashback." Sis rather abruptly stated from the other side of the hole.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothin'."
"R-right..." Said S.
. . .
Kind of a weird thing to say, isn't it?
. . .
"Hey, Beyes," S said quietly, though not quite in a whisper.
"Wha?"
"About that thing you said earlier, about the dark magic being special and all that... There was somethin' else you wanted to say, right?"
Ah...
I sighed after he said that.
Once again, damn him and his incredible perceptive abilities.
Y'know, what if he says something like that at some point but he's just, like, mistaken? He'd be setting himself up for one heck of an awkward situation.
"Oh, and, uh, you don't gotta say if you don't wanna." He continued.
Especially if he followed it up with that. He'd totally decimate the vibe.
... Unfortunately, this time... He was right on the money.
"Nah, it's fine. Uh... I was just thinkin' about dark magic. Chances are, there's more than just me and that guy out there using this stuff. We're bound to run into more of them, if don't they run into us first. And it's not just them, either, if what Maurice said is anything to go by. Any number of people could... My only hope is to learn more about this stuff, but I don't even know where to start." I explained. Just thinking about it made my head feel a little numb. Though... It was oddly refreshing to say it out loud.
"Right. Even that last guy said he didn't know much. He was just gonna try eating you, see if that did anything."
"Yea- Wait, what?"
"Yeah. Think that's what he meant, at least."
"I... Eh- Deh- buh-" It took a few seconds and a lot of heavy blinking before I was able to use words again. There's nothing like hearing someone say, with total sincerity, that someone else wants to eat you. "Sheesh..."
"Yeah..."
. . .
"That... That wouldn't work, would it?" I asked.
"What? No, of course not. Probably." S said. "Wait, you're not actually considering-"
"N-no, of course I'm not. Obviously. Pfft. Of course. But just, like, hypothetically."
"... I shouldn't have mentioned it."
"Yeah, no, probably not."
. . .
"I... I really hope the other ones don't try to do that."
"Right, hopefully."
. . .
"We could go back to Maurice," S suggested, getting us back on track. "but he said himself that he doesn't really know much."
"Yeah. And it's not like I can read ancient runes and myths or whatever... I guess I could try asking Catface, but I've got no idea how to contact them. Plus, I'm not certain they'd actually give me anything helpful." Especially considering what they said...
"Right. Well, they did seem like they knew something, at least." S said, though his unease was apparent.
. . .
Haaaah... I guess I don't have any other options left, do I?
"There is... One person I could ask. Probably." I said.
"Really? Who?"
"An old... Friend. Kind of."
"Sounds complicated."
"Yeah."
"... I get the feeling you don't really wanna talk to them."
"Yeaaahhh..."
"Then don't. There'll be other ways to figure stuff out, it'll be alright."
I said nothing, and just nodded in response.
I'm sure that's true.
I know I'm not gonna like what they have to say. I know it's gonna hurt me.
But I can't guarantee there's time to find other ways.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that S was looking uneasy.
. . .
"You guys should really go to bed." Sis insisted.
"That's exactly what I was thinking." I said.
My drink went flat a long time ago, anyways.
"Oh? Well, in that case, please, go ahead. I'm always happy to listen." They said.
"I-I want you to tell me about dark magic." I said.
"Really? Is that so?" DYN2 said with feigned surprise.
"I... I'm prepared to do whatever it takes." I pleaded. "I just need something."
To my surprise, they looked at me with disappointment. "You act as though I'm some sort of devil. I thought you'd know better than that, I'd never hold anything ransom from you."
"Then tell me what I want to know." I said as firmly as I could, trying my absolute hardest to keep my legs from shaking.
DYN2 sighed. "You know that I can't tell you everything. It wouldn't be right." They said. "Be that as it may, I respect your imitative. The gumption. The backbone. With that, I shall tell you this, at least. You'll just have to figure it out from there."
And they disappeared into a puff of smoke.
My heart felt like it was going to combust.
"As you are now," Their voice echoed in every direction, in my ears and my brain, the tone of their voice sickening me to my core. "you have the lowest capacity for the proper use of dark magic.
You will never reach the heights, the strength that you seek. Your ability will be surpassed time and time again by others of your kin. Granted, you may attain something akin to such strength, and, in truth, it may just be enough. But it will never be the genuine article. And it will never fill the hunger.
But it's not entirely detached from you. You've almost been there. I've seen it.
All that's left, Beyesy, is to ask yourself this...
Just how exactly are you different from them?
Understand this, and you can have it. I know that you can."
And the world fell away.
With those ominous words, I awoke once again in the cabin, sweating, with heavy, heavy breath as I lay in my bed roll thingy.
I felt terrible, like I'd just been more sick than I'd ever been in my lives.
Groggily, I sat up, and turned my head over to S-
W-w-wha-
With a terrible crashing of thunder, the house around me began to crumble and shift inwards into itself and me in impossible ways, revealing darkness, darkness as far as I could comprehend, darkness filling my eyes, my ears, my nose, even my mouth as I tried to scream, alone, nothing but darkness, sinking deeper, deeper, deeper, reaching further-
"You've had it once before, after all~"
I awoke screaming.
