Suddenly, beyond the humid air, unease gnawed on reality like cancaworms. Mr Grey had said nothing for a while, and only the sound of clashes of sole against concrete floor permeated the whole caven.
Haruto walked behind him, shivering warily.
Out of anxiety and intense cautiousness, he reeled into the table ahead of him.
'Curses!'
The glasses tinkered, but thankfully, nothing fell. Mr Grey however, stopped walking. Then, he turned ever so lightly, and said in a calm voice.
"Lad, the seed of understanding revolving around the subject of your fear is rooted in my heart, but whatever you do…"
He paused slightly and said in what seemed to be a cold whisper:
"...do not break the glasses"
Haruto shivered.
After saying that, the man continued to walk ahead.
Gritting his teeth and cursing under his breath, Haruto followed closely behind. He knew better than anyone that although he had said the words calmly, it carried a lot of weight. He had seen for himself how much he cared for everything in this large cave. His obsession with the glasses however, was even worse. He dared not think about what would befall him if he broke as much as one.
Haruto scowled.
'Who said I was scared?! Why the hell is the cave ever so creepy all of a sudden?!!!'
After an eternity of tension and movement, Mr Grey stopped at…the other end of the cave?. Yeah, it had to be at the other end. Only, Haruto could see an exit there too, it led to five different tunnels.
The shelves on this side of the cave weren't populated by books, but a lot of stuff that seemed to belong to…a magician?. Before one got to the shelves, there were a lot of tables, each arranged orderly in just one row…or column, whichever way one looked at it.
Then, Mr Grey suddenly turned around, hesitated slightly, and let out a hearty laugh.
"Welcome lad! To my divination workshop!"
His voice was comical and very enthusiastic, suddenly easing the heavy tension weighing on the atmosphere, he looked like he suddenly had no worry in this life.
Instead of his usual dumbfounded look however, Haruto…sighed in relief.
'Thank God his madness his back'
He choked on his thoughts, cleaned the droplets of sweat on his forehead, and smiled back at him awkwardly.
With a chuckle, Mr Grey said:
"Bing me that book lad"
Haruto took a step forward and presented the book. Mr Grey collected it and approached one of the tables. He dove straight to work, enthusiastically calling out strange ingredients from a page of the book, each time, staring at it intently then picking them from the large wooden shelf behind him.
"...An enchanted bark of cinnamon"
"...A feather of an ugly peacock"
'What the hell is a peacock? And why the ugly one?'
All the while, Haruto watched him attentively, and soon enough, a big cylindrical flask had bubbles of different sizes sprouting from it, and accompanied by hot steam. Mr Grey didn't even have to use fire, it boiled spontaneously .
Haruto stared in awe.
The man was sweating profusely, all the while wiping it off to avoid It dropping into the potion.
"...and finally, a drop of inchot"
The man carefully pressed a small tube, out of which came a drop of clear liquid. Then, the big potion exploded with green smoke, its colour had changed as well. It was now green.
With a stainless spoon, the man fetched 10 teaspoonfuls into a glass cup and placed it on the table, heaving a tired sigh afterwards.
Then he turned to Haruto, his expression turning serious.
"Lad,"
He started.
"Becoming a Sentinel isn't a simple thing really, do you really want to go on this journey?"
Haruto stared at the man with a frown.
'What kind of person packaged his goods before asking the customer if he/she was interested in buying? Besides, what's there to be afraid of? I can grow stronger now you know!'
Haruto hesitated before he said:
"I'm ready"
Mr Grey left the serious expression plastered on his face for a moment, then he let out a hard laugh. He continued to laugh without stopping, until Haruto actually felt embarrassed.
'What's so funny?'
When he was done, he smiled and pointed at the tunnels. Haruto followed his fingers.
"The fifth tunnel from your left, go bring me my slippers"
Haruto froze.
'Slippers?'
Then, he directed his gaze at Mr Grey's legs.
'Slippers?! Of course slippers!'
Mr Grey wasn't wearing footwear anymore. When the hell did he put off the ugly dunlops?!.
Hissing under his breath and hesitating for a second, he approached the tunnel.
***
The tunnel was kept quiet. As if hesitant in itself to make any sound.
Just like Mr Grey had instructed, he had entered the last tunnel counting from the left. But, really, was there anything less eerie?
He swallowed hard.
The sound of his foot on the ground seemed like the only thing it had eaten in a while with how it devoured it, the sound, soon disappearing into the insatiable darkness at the end — if there was an end really.
Before one reached the darkness far ahead, there was dim light. Apparently the lot of the tunnel was illuminated by a few…yellow torches?.
'Again?! What the hell is with this place and yellow torches?!'
Haruto paled.
He didn't like the idea of yellow torches one bit. According to him, it made things all the more creepier. The tunnel walls seemed to be constructed with brittle mud, the torches, harrowing as Haruto thought they were, were arranged two each opposite each other until it stopped at the thick darkness.
'At least, there was a source of light'
Grim, he embarked on the short quest to find Mr Grey's footwears.
He walked slowly, carefully looking around to find the old man's footwear…and anything wanting to lurch at him from the darkness.
'Surely Mr Grey wouldn't send me to my death, would he?'
Having no answer to his question, he gritted his teeth and continued to walk.
All the while, he could feel it, wrongness veiled the tunnel as it silently watched him amidst the dim light of it.
'... something's not right'
Shivering slightly, Haruto focused ahead of him. And suddenly, all the torches flickered all at once. Haruto gasped, and sharply turned around, his pulse, slamming against his ribs.
Nothing was there.
He frowned and looked around cautiously. He could hear his heartbeat thudding in his ears like war drums.
Waiting for a few seconds, as if waiting for the tunnel to settle, he continued to look for the footwear.
'I don't like this at all'
He wondered were Sentinels always this creepy? If not, then Branch V was a mad bunch, everything about them was abnormal.
He came here in the first place chased by darkness, then he met the weird girl always scribbling God knows what! On the weird note. The almighty captain, whom he would bet never smiled, and lastly…
"...the crazy old man who keeps his footwear in an ominous tunnel!!"
Immediately, Haruto recoiled and covered his mouth with both his hands and gasping.
'Did I say that loud?!'
He kept quiet for a while, burning through the darkness with his flickering gaze, before relaxing a bit, and then bringing his hands down.
It still didn't make any sense though, he had been walking for a while, and still no sign of Mr Grey's footwear. Why would he keep his footwear so deep into this ominous tunnel?.
Then suddenly, Haruto's eyes widened and a seed of understanding germinated in his delicate mind.
'... Except'
'Crap! Damn you old man!'
My Grey had definitely wanted him to come here, not for the stupid slippers but for an entirely different reason. He gritted his teeth.
Apparently, he was right not to trust the creepy old man.
And as if waiting for him to discover just that, the set of torches just beside the thick, ominous obsidian flickered and tripped off, snuffed out by a swift chill breeze.
Haruto froze.
And not giving his heart anytime to settle and access the whole situation, in the same manner, the second set tripped too.
'...oh no'
Haruto could feel his heart drop to his stomach. His eyes widened in horror, as he watched the torches get snuffed out one by one, it only grew faster with each extinguished flame.
More swift than speedy, all the lights in the tunnel receded completely, instantly devoured by the ravenous and deranged thick darkness.
Then, Haruto felt something behind him, something seemed to shudder. Was it him, or the tunnel? He wasn't sure. But, something…something very dangerous was behind him, he could tell. He regained his sense, jolted and recoiled. Slowly turning to look behind him.
Haruto froze again. This time, eroded by immense fear and fright. His eyes were widened.
Amidst the darkness, two ruby eyes were staring back at him, it's look containing intense madness, the need to shed blood, the need to…Kill.
In that moment, he knew:
He was not meant to leave this tunnel alive.