Hallucinations

It was the last staircase, the staircase that would take them to the top floor.

It was a very narrow spiral staircase, which unexpectedly interrupted itself in another long corridor.

There was no light, everything was completely in the dark.

It was impossible to see even the slightest outline of anything in there, so much as to force the three to stop.

"Lefelob, don't you have a torch??" asked Cesar.

"Even if I had it, there's no way I could light the fire to... ".

"So you're telling us that we'll have to go in the dark... " replied Cesar.

"Exactly".

Tolomew became completely immobilized, leaving the other two to continue in the darkness.

"Tolomew, are you coming??" asked Cesar.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark... " replied Lefelob.

Tolomew put his hand on his head and squatted on the ground.

"Tolomew...??" asked Cesar, worried.

"The darkness... " whispered Tolomew, trying to say something to Cesar and Lefelob.

"Tolomew, what is going on...??" asked Lefelob.

The total darkness caused him a series of hallucinations and his mind began to project him a series of images and memories. That corridor seemed to him now a very large room, in front of him there was a boy with a darkened face, a boy wearing a white mask, and a girl. This boy, with his face darkened, began to speak to him.

~~

"Don't do that, Tolomew... you know it, I know it and the whole world will know it... That things are better if they go like this".

Throughout the dialogue, the masked individual and the girl did not expose themselves but instead remained silent to watch.

"Hinaji... you can't carry out that plan... it's completely crazy... " answered Tolomew in tears.

~~

It was clear to him by now, that these were some of his memories.

~~

The boy with the darkened face, named Hinaji, replied.

"The sun, symbol of light and prosperity, alternates every day with the moon... Symbol of darkness and evil, all common clichés that go on for millennia and for which the Kormany and I are fighting... Remember, as the whole world must remember forever, that the sun, symbol of joy, illuminates what is beautiful and right... The sun also illuminates the moon, which will have a new beginning and a new era, which will save us all from a certain end".

Tolomew, filled with anger, rushed at the boy, but his memories were so blurred that he could no longer remember anything.

~~

"Hinaji... " whispered Tolomew.

"Hinaji?? Who is he??" asked Cesar.

Tolomew fell to the ground, under the effect of powerful hallucinations.

The darkness of that corridor had a terrible effect on Tolomew, who, when he looked up, no longer recognized Cesar and Lefelob: In place of Cesar he saw Hinaji and in place of Lefelob he saw the masked boy.

He hurled himself full of anger at Cesar.

"Tolomew!! what the hell are you doing!!" exclaimed Cesar after receiving a very strong blow to his face.

Lefelob tried to block him but was overtaken by the gigantic hand of Tolomew.

Lefelob tried to get up, but Tolomew was already on him. He took him by the neck and threw him against the wall.

All of a sudden, however, a light lit up that dark corridor, revealing the bricks that made up the walls.

The power of that light was enough to end Tolomew's hallucinations and make him faint.

"Cesar...??" cried Lefelob, after he had freed himself from the rubble.

"What??" exclaimed Cesar, still shocked by Tolomew's abnormal behavior.

"How did you do it??".

"To do what??".

"That light... came out of your head... ".

Tolomew, meanwhile, lay unconscious on the ground.

Cesar and Lefelob continued to argue about the source of that light: Lefelob insisted that it was from Cesar's head, while Cesar denied it and said he had done nothing.

After a few minutes, Tolomew regained consciousness.

"Light from Cesar's head??" he said still drowsy.

"Tolomew!! You woke up... " said Cesar relieved.

"Let me understand... From Cesar's head came a light??".

"No, I didn't do anything!" replied Cesar.

"Cesar, I saw you with my own eyes!! That light came out of your head... not from the floor, not from the walls, not from the ceiling... From your head!!" replied Lefelob.

Another discussion about the source of that light began again. They were interrupted only by Tolomew who, after a few minutes of discussion between Cesar and Lefelob, decided to intervene in the speech.

"Lefelob... It is plausible that this light came out of the head of Cesar and he did not realize... ".

After that, Tolomew thought.

"Who would have thought, haha... This kid could be the reincarnation of the power of the Sun... ".

"Boys... " then continued Tolomew.

"It is not the time to discuss the power of Cesar at this moment, we must first conquer this castle!!".

"Tolomew, do you know anything about my power?? My grandfather and not even his friend ever told me what power it is... At least you, please, give me some explanations!!".

Tolomew stood still for a moment. He could not imagine that Cesar was unaware of his power.

"I want to know too... " said Lefelob.

"Okay!! Okay... After conquering the castle I'll tell you everything... But for your safety, you won't have to reveal this thing to anyone... You don't know how much the Kormany are looking for that power, Cesar... " said Tolomew, scaring Cesar.

"Now come, we must hurry to conquer this castle... " said Tolomew.

[...]

Meanwhile, in the darkness of the third floor, a quartet of people sat in silence. They had long since perceived the presence of the three, but decided to stand still.

"They think they have not been caught... What kind of idiots... " said one of the figures.

"I know, they're making a crazy noise after all... It seems the guards on the lower floors were unable to stop these intruders... " replied another of the figures.

"Should we intervene?" asked one of the figures.

"No, there's no need... they'll come here, be sure... After we get rid of them, at least people will perhaps learn not to enter castles... ".

[...]