" Brother Ethan! Help! Help!" Ethan woke up hearing the screams of his little sister.
Rrrrawrr! Rrrrawrr!
A pack of beasts had attacked his home and Rhea was covered in blood and the mother was in a pool of blood in the living room. Ethan was left in a daze as he watched the beasts have a blood feast off the mother's flesh.
"What is this?" He said enraged. "How…? How is this happening?"
Ethan stood still, watching as the tragic event unfolded before him.
Out of nowhere, lightning rained down on the house killing each and every beast that was around as his Lexicon manifested in front of him revealing the hilt of the lightning sword.
"Yh, I'll cleanse this world of beasts – and anyone that stands in my way will fall." Ethan said coldly as he faced Rhea.
" Stay on my back. I'll protect you to the very end." Ethan said again as he put Rhea at his back and then turned to face his mother's corpse.
" Don't worry, nothing is going to happen to Rhea." He said and drew out the lightning sword which was still sheathed.
He walked out of the house only to see the people outside walking around and living happily as if nothing was happening.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Ethan bellowed, clearly enraged.
" What's wrong with him?"
" And what's with his sword?"
" Even if he wanted to fight, was it supposed to be a sheathed one?"
" Pathetic…"
" I can't believe he is the one to even ask us what is happening."
The crowd mumbled as they saw Ethan in such a distorted appearance.
Ethan turned back and the house was fully fixed and even Rhea wasn't at his back. More confused than ever, Ethan opened the door to his house and entered only to see his mother singing a lullaby for Rhea.
"What's this?" Ethan asked with tears streaming down his face.
"What's wrong Ethan?" Mia asked.
*******
Ethan woke up from his dream panting heavily only to see Elandra standing by him.
" Now I hope you understand what it'll feel like to be in front of those beasts and grimlores if you were to be powerless." Elandra said.
" What was the meaning of that?" Ethan asked coldly.
"A test that you failed." Elandra said without hesitation.
" A test that I failed?" Ethan asked.
" Yes. I had the butler cast his mind breaking spell on you as a test to see if you could control your emotions but you failed miserably. Under normal circumstances, keeping your family safe is always a priority but not being able to control your emotions will cost you more than that. What will happen if you rather die with your emotions? Who will now protect your family?" Elandra asked and stared down at Ethan.
" No one will do that for you. Yes, that is the reality." Elandra had to answer her own question as Ethan had not been able to talk after his last question.
"You have more to learn. More than you can ever think of." Elandra assured him.
" Now you'd be doing just this training for about a full day. Note this, you'd be aware you're going to start the training but once you're in your mind resets and doesn't recognise it as a dream but as reality that how advanced his Lexicon's abilities are. He calls it the Mystery of the midnight hour and he is known as the Weaver of horrors." Elandra explained.
" Bryce." Elandra called and in an instant a tall and slender man was already behind her. " We'll be starting now."
" Yes. Great elder." Bryce said as he moved in front of Elandra.
"You'll still be doing this training on my space-time domain." Elandra explained to Ethan.
"Ok." Ethan responded awaiting what was going to come on.
"Silent hour." Elandra said and flicked her finger towards Bryce and Ethan but this time a white bubble instead of the previous black one went towards them.
Pop!
When the white bubble touched them, a soft ripple spread out like the surface of disturbed water and then the world around them warped as a strong distorting light forced them to blink.
The second after blinking they were in a clear white world void of darkness.
Before Ethan could even turn to speak to Bryce, he heard the words.
"Mystery of the midnight hour."
Ting!
Ethan heard the sound of a small hand bell and in the next second passed out.
***
Ethan opened his eyes standing in the middle of a silent street.
Everywhere, clocks ticked — but none moved forward. Their pendulums swung with eerie grace, trapped in one second that refused to die.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The sound echoed from walls made of glass and bronze, from rooftops hanging low over narrow alleys. Each time the second hand moved, the same moment replayed: a child tripping over a loose cobblestone. Her loaf of bread tumbled from her grasp, hit the ground, and rolled. The loaf never finished rolling.
He reached to catch it — and time snapped back.
Click.
The loaf fell again.
Click.
The loaf rolled again.
Click.
The boy cried again.
Before the child could successfully pass by he trips and falls and starts crying out aloud.
Ethan tried to help the boy but it seemed as though an invisible force had tied him down.
"Am I this weak? Am I really this hopeless?" Ethan kept on asking himself as he watched the boy cry.
When he looked up again, the boy had already gotten off the ground and was at his previous standing point coming back to pass by again but he trips and falls again and starts crying all over.
Ethan tried standing up to help the child but his body still won't move.
"What's happening? What's happening?" Ethan kept on questioning himself.
The same event kept on happening again and again and Ethan wasn't able to stand up to help the boy.
On the fifty third (53rd) happening of the same event Ethan who forced him to even manifest his Lexicon but couldn't, now sat coldly watching as the boy stood up and tripped any time he tried to pass by. He was now drenched in his own sweat as he realised how pathetic he really had become.
The same event still kept on happening till about the hundredth time and now Ethan felt untouched even when the boy tripped and fell.
A smile appeared on his face, it wasn't the normal smile a normal person will show when they are happy.
Hours, or maybe days, passed. The sun didn't move. His hunger didn't change. The air tasted of dust. He screamed once — a raw, desperate noise — and the sound folded back into the ticking, swallowed whole by the loop.
"I really am pathetic, huh?" Ethan said coldly as he looked up to the kid trip and fell again but this time there was still no reaction from Ethan's face, just the inhumane smile.
All of a sudden the environment changed at once and now Ethan sat on the roof of a house in the middle of the night with the same smile on his face.
"Where is this place?" Ethan asked coldly with the just past event taking a toll on his emotions.
"I'll not even be able to do anything if I stand up from place right now. Pathetic." Ethan said to himself and closed his eyes.
"There's nothing I'll be able to do to help." Ethan repeated and put his back on the roof of the house.