Ren gasped as he jumped awake.
"What the-" Ren shouted, as he looked around himself. "Where..?"
Ren gazed upon a tall silver castle.
He was right in front of the castle's entrance.
But more importantly, there was nothing else. He was no longer at the base, nor was he in a desert, everything around the castle was hidden by a veil of darkness.
Ren froze.
Then he thought, he really thought about what was going on.
"This… this is a dream. This as to be."
Ren theorized.
He could feel it deep within, that his real body was unconscious, laying somewhere.
Just as he realized it, a little bird flew towards him and started pecking at his head.
"Ouch! What the hell?!" Ren shouted as the bird attacked him. "Why does it hurt?"
The bird eventually stopped attacking him and started flying around the entrance of the castle.
Ren held his hurting cranium as he tried to remember what happened.
Just as he did, he remembered the white orb flying towards him, and more importantly, Rita's death.
'That's right.. she's dead.' Ren finally realized.
Just as he was about to drown in his sorrow, the little bird from earlier started singing, as if growing impatient of Ren's lack of productivity.
Ren growled, annoyed at his new feathered foe's complaints.
Finally, he stood up, still tormented by the death of his companion, but now mostly frustrated at the bird's antics.
He walked towards the entrance, the castle while beautiful, also seemed to have fallen to time, or to be falling to time.
Pillars and part of the ceiling were immobile mid fall, floating in the air, as if Ren was in a painting of a collapsing castle.
Time was like stopped.
'This gives me the creeps…' Ren thought.
Right inside the castle was a book, resting on a rusted copper altar.
The bird immediately flew towards the book, and landed right next to it, as it sang to get Ren's attention.
"I'm not a dog you damn bird!" Ren said frustrated.
Ren reluctantly picked up the book, it was rather thin, with a cover made of leather.
As he opened it he could see instructions written in Latin.
Why would they be in Latin? Wasn't this a dream? Ren did not know Latin after all.
Ren immediately went still. This was not just a dream was it?
Ren put the book down, just as he did, his stone tablet appeared in front of him.
[Reach the end.]
That is all it said, no fancy phrasing, no long explanation, just one single sentence.
"This has to be a joke.."
Ren's earlier sorrow was now replaced by terror.
The bird chirped sharply, then fluttered away from the altar and deeper into the castle. It paused midair, turning its head just enough to look back at Ren.
"Oh no," Ren said flatly. "Absolutely not. I'm not following you."
The bird flew toward Ren's head again, pecking at the exact same spot it did earlier.
Pain shot through Ren's head again, sharp and very real.
"—Ow! Okay! Okay, fine!" Ren snapped, rubbing his temple.
'Damn it…'
He took a hesitant step forward.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the darkness outside the castle thickened, swallowing the entrance entirely. Ren spun around.
"Hey—!"
Nothing. Just black.
"…Of course," he sighed. "Why would it stay open."
The bird flew ahead, deeper inside, its wings the only thing moving in a place where everything else felt frozen mid-collapse. Ren followed at a cautious pace, every footstep echoing far louder than it should have.
He took a hesitant step forward.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the darkness outside the castle thickened, swallowing the entrance entirely. Ren spun around.
"Hey—!"
Nothing. Just black.
"…Of course." he sighed. "Why would it stay open."
The bird flew ahead, deeper inside, its wings the only thing moving in a place where everything else felt frozen mid-collapse. Ren followed at a cautious pace, every footstep echoing far louder than it should have.
They reached a crossroads, the bird immediately flew toward the right entrance.
It brought him to a wide chamber.
Ren stopped.
Most of the floor was gone.
Only a narrow strip of stone clung to the walls, circling the room like a broken balcony. Below, rows of metal spikes jutted upward, sharp enough that Ren didn't need to imagine what would happen if he fell.
"…You've gotta be kidding me," he whispered.
The bird hovered above the gap, then turned and chirped, tilting its head.
"You want me to cross that?" Ren pointed. "With what, exactly? My charming personality?"
The bird flew in a circle above, as if waiting for Ren to pass.
He almost followed through but then stopped, his distrusting side taking over.
'Wasn't there another path..?' He thought.
Ren glanced back at the chamber. At the narrow ledge. At the way the spikes were positioned directly beneath the widest stretch of the gap.
"…No," he murmured.
He turned and walked toward the entrance the bird hadn't gone through.
Three steps in, the floor vanished.
Ren barely had time to curse before his foot slipped forward into nothing.
His heart slammed into his throat.
He threw himself backward, scraping his palms against stone as he barely caught himself on solid ground. His breath came out in a sharp, panicked gasp.
"Holy shit…" he gazed downward at countless spikes that would have pierced through him if not for his quick reaction. And he did not want to die in a dream the system appeared in.
The bird chirped once. Satisfied.
Ren lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, his heart pounding.
"Fine… you win." he muttered.
The bird chirped joyfully as it flew right above Ren's head.
Grinding his teeth, Ren pushed himself up and returned to the ledge. His legs shook as he pressed his back against the wall and inched forward, fingers digging into cracks in the stone.
"Slowly… slowly..!" He told himself over and over again as if it was going to help him pass.
Halfway across, a chunk of stone broke loose under his foot.
Ren yelped and flailed, barely regaining balance as pebbles fell into the darkness below, the sound of them striking metal echoing for far too long.
"…I hate this place…" he breathed.
After a long time of freezing in place from fear, and slowly moving forward while his back kissed the wall.
But he made it.
The bird flew ahead immediately, as if the room no longer existed.
And Ren collapsed on solid ground.
"I hate it here so much..!" He cried.