Night fell gradually after dusk. A beautiful voice echoed through the cells of the Judgement Tower.
"Oh, hit a horse, hit a hose, hit ah-oh-ah horse~" Someone sat in bed and sang lovingly at the bare wall, "Twenty-one horses, thirty-one horses, forty-one horses…one hundred and one horses but still not as good as hit~ a horse~"
The entire prison was immersed in this cheerful song. All criminals felt the beauty and hope of life. Repenting their sins, they could not help but shed tears, moaning in pain with their heads down.
"Charles, I'm going to kill you tomorrow!"
"Shut up! Stop singing!"
"Guards! Where are the guards? I'll confess, I'll confess! Make him stop!"
Finally, even Constantine could not stand it. He coughed awkwardly and cut off his singing. If he did not do anything now, the b*stard would be killed tomorrow.
"You seem happy, Charles… Uh, is there good news?"
"Today's Sunday, Mr. Constantine. Did you forget?" Charles said animatedly. "We get grilled meat!"
"Huh?" Constantine was still troubled. "Just that?"
Charles froze. "Is grilled meat not good?"
Constantine shook his head helplessly. "Stop singing. I've had indigestion these past two days. You might need to take my portion."
"Really? I'd love to help eat it for you!" Charles was ecstatic. "Sir, you must take care of your health as you age. Should I ask the guard for fried chicken to help nourish you?"
Constantine really wanted to roll his eyes. Finally, he shook his head and stopped speaking.
Seeing him like this, Charles could not help but sigh. "Mr. Constantine, I know you're an important figure and look down on grilled meat but we're in the Judgement Tower now. We'll either live here for free for the rest of our lives or we'll get dragged to the gallows and there won't be a tomorrow… Life is hard so don't treat yourself badly. Grilled meat is great. Why don't you like it?"
Constantine shook his head. "Charles, you are satisfied from meat because there is no sun in your heart."
"Sun?" Charles chuckled. "The sun has already set."
"It's still there. You just can't see it." Constantine looked up and out the window behind Charles's back, staring at the black sky. "As long as you stand high enough and close your eyes, you can still hear the deafening sound in the long night. The sound of the sun's operation echoes through the vacuum, changing in the atmosphere.
"It lifts the tides of aether, pouring down endless light and heat, pushing the world… It is there, waiting for you to find it. When you have a true sun in your heart, you will not be pained by dust or cheered by the mirage before your eyes. You will look further into the distance."
There was a long silence.
Charles gaped at him. After a while, he felt that he needed to give a reaction so he nodded as if suddenly enlightened. "Oh."
Constantine mused for a while and could not help but laugh at himself. He waved his hand. "I said something hard to understand. Don't mind it. It's almost dinner. Go eat grilled meat. After saying all this, I want to eat some more too."
"Okay, okay!"
As the bell for dinner rang, Charles rose and waited excitedly for the cell door to open. But after a long while, no one came.
It was silent.
There was the sound water dripping. Viscous liquid dripped from the unmaintained ceiling. Charles felt something wet on his neck and looked up in confusion. Reaching out, a drop of red liquid fell onto his palm.
Something screeched.
"Not again…" Charles murmured. His vision went black and all energy left his body. He held onto the railing and practically collapsed. Bending over, he vomited. "F*cking again…" He listened as drip drops sounded around him. When he looked back, the entire room was dyed blood-red.
The carcasses clung to the blood and grinned at him. Some hung from the ceiling beams, their legs kicking happily. Others lay in bed, blood flowing from their slit wrists into a trickling stream.
The cell door had opened without him realizing. At the door, a rotting skeleton looked down at him. It seemed to be Constantine.
"Charles, time for dinner." He reached out to pull him up but the hand weathered in the air, turning to dust. The skeleton crumbled and existed no more.
Bodies were scattered in the hallway. They seemed to have died during a dramatic change. The souls seemed to still be frozen in the air. Horrible screams echoed one after another.
Chaotic scenes appeared and disappeared endlessly. Sometimes, they were strict guard pacing the hall. Sometimes, they were countless furious prisoners. Other times, they were prisoners being strangled to death in their cell, their features twisted. But mostly, this place was empty—still as death.
Faint figures moved through the halls. They were of all genders and ages. They could not sense each other but were enveloped in this dazing hallucination.
"Fake…all fake…"
The broken shadows seemed to sense his distress and started laughing mockingly at him.
Charles cradled his head and tried to plug his ears. But when he raised his head, he saw a pair of eyes in the chaotic scenery. There seemed to be looking at him quietly from the lowest level of the cruel scenes, deeply buried under his memories, in a forgotten corner. Her face was far away and blurry but the red hair was right before his eyes. The color was like burning ashes.
It was as beautiful as a curse.
"Mom…" Charles froze, staring at the figure. "Why…are…you here?"
The figure stared back. After a long while, she turned and left.
"Don't leave!" Charles stumbled forward and chased after her. He ran through the corpses, trying to stop her. "Don't go—"
In a daze, he seemed to touch the wisp of her hair for a moment. But then the figure disappeared.
Everything collapsed and fell into the abyss.
The darkness swallowed everything.
-
After who knew how long, Charles shot up with a scream. He stared at the sunlight in confusion. The noon sun shone radiantly into the cell. It fell on his face, chasing away all hallucinations. It seemed that nothing had happened.
Charles looked around in confusion. Nothing had changed but he had fallen asleep without realizing.
"You awake?" Hearing his yelp, his cellmate looked over. "You really sleep whenever you want and can't even be woken up. If the doctor didn't say that you were sleeping, I'd think you were dead."
Charles smiled awkwardly. He didn't know how to reply. In silence, he looked down at his clenched right hand. Between his fingers was a strand of hair. It was dark red like burning ashes.
-
Soon, he was startled by a loud noise. The ground shook and the clouds in the sky broke apart. An invisible wind swept from far away, whistling toward them.
Charles looked out the window in shock. Amidst the cacophony, a beam of red light shot up into the sky. It dyed the sky red as if blood was bubbling.
"No way. Again?" he murmured. But he quickly realized that this was not a hallucination. Everyone else was surprised as well. An alarm went off in the prison.
"What is that?" He looked curiously at the red beam of light.
Across from him, Constantine looked up and his eyes grew mocking. "Probably…the new morning call that the Sacred City created."
Night fell gradually after dusk. A beautiful voice echoed through the cells of the Judgement Tower.
"Oh, hit a horse, hit a hose, hit ah-oh-ah horse~" Someone sat in bed and sang lovingly at the bare wall, "Twenty-one horses, thirty-one horses, forty-one horses…one hundred and one horses but still not as good as hit~ a horse~"
The entire prison was immersed in this cheerful song. All criminals felt the beauty and hope of life. Repenting their sins, they could not help but shed tears, moaning in pain with their heads down.
"Charles, I'm going to kill you tomorrow!"
"Shut up! Stop singing!"
"Guards! Where are the guards? I'll confess, I'll confess! Make him stop!"
Finally, even Constantine could not stand it. He coughed awkwardly and cut off his singing. If he did not do anything now, the b*stard would be killed tomorrow.
"You seem happy, Charles… Uh, is there good news?"
"Today's Sunday, Mr. Constantine. Did you forget?" Charles said animatedly. "We get grilled meat!"
"Huh?" Constantine was still troubled. "Just that?"
Charles froze. "Is grilled meat not good?"
Constantine shook his head helplessly. "Stop singing. I've had indigestion these past two days. You might need to take my portion."
"Really? I'd love to help eat it for you!" Charles was ecstatic. "Sir, you must take care of your health as you age. Should I ask the guard for fried chicken to help nourish you?"
Constantine really wanted to roll his eyes. Finally, he shook his head and stopped speaking.
Seeing him like this, Charles could not help but sigh. "Mr. Constantine, I know you're an important figure and look down on grilled meat but we're in the Judgement Tower now. We'll either live here for free for the rest of our lives or we'll get dragged to the gallows and there won't be a tomorrow… Life is hard so don't treat yourself badly. Grilled meat is great. Why don't you like it?"
Constantine shook his head. "Charles, you are satisfied from meat because there is no sun in your heart."
"Sun?" Charles chuckled. "The sun has already set."
"It's still there. You just can't see it." Constantine looked up and out the window behind Charles's back, staring at the black sky. "As long as you stand high enough and close your eyes, you can still hear the deafening sound in the long night. The sound of the sun's operation echoes through the vacuum, changing in the atmosphere.
"It lifts the tides of aether, pouring down endless light and heat, pushing the world… It is there, waiting for you to find it. When you have a true sun in your heart, you will not be pained by dust or cheered by the mirage before your eyes. You will look further into the distance."
There was a long silence.
Charles gaped at him. After a while, he felt that he needed to give a reaction so he nodded as if suddenly enlightened. "Oh."
Constantine mused for a while and could not help but laugh at himself. He waved his hand. "I said something hard to understand. Don't mind it. It's almost dinner. Go eat grilled meat. After saying all this, I want to eat some more too."
"Okay, okay!"
As the bell for dinner rang, Charles rose and waited excitedly for the cell door to open. But after a long while, no one came.
It was silent.
There was the sound water dripping. Viscous liquid dripped from the unmaintained ceiling. Charles felt something wet on his neck and looked up in confusion. Reaching out, a drop of red liquid fell onto his palm.
Something screeched.
"Not again…" Charles murmured. His vision went black and all energy left his body. He held onto the railing and practically collapsed. Bending over, he vomited. "F*cking again…" He listened as drip drops sounded around him. When he looked back, the entire room was dyed blood-red.
The carcasses clung to the blood and grinned at him. Some hung from the ceiling beams, their legs kicking happily. Others lay in bed, blood flowing from their slit wrists into a trickling stream.
The cell door had opened without him realizing. At the door, a rotting skeleton looked down at him. It seemed to be Constantine.
"Charles, time for dinner." He reached out to pull him up but the hand weathered in the air, turning to dust. The skeleton crumbled and existed no more.
Bodies were scattered in the hallway. They seemed to have died during a dramatic change. The souls seemed to still be frozen in the air. Horrible screams echoed one after another.
Chaotic scenes appeared and disappeared endlessly. Sometimes, they were strict guard pacing the hall. Sometimes, they were countless furious prisoners. Other times, they were prisoners being strangled to death in their cell, their features twisted. But mostly, this place was empty—still as death.
Faint figures moved through the halls. They were of all genders and ages. They could not sense each other but were enveloped in this dazing hallucination.
"Fake…all fake…"
The broken shadows seemed to sense his distress and started laughing mockingly at him.
Charles cradled his head and tried to plug his ears. But when he raised his head, he saw a pair of eyes in the chaotic scenery. There seemed to be looking at him quietly from the lowest level of the cruel scenes, deeply buried under his memories, in a forgotten corner. Her face was far away and blurry but the red hair was right before his eyes. The color was like burning ashes.
It was as beautiful as a curse.
"Mom…" Charles froze, staring at the figure. "Why…are…you here?"
The figure stared back. After a long while, she turned and left.
"Don't leave!" Charles stumbled forward and chased after her. He ran through the corpses, trying to stop her. "Don't go—"
In a daze, he seemed to touch the wisp of her hair for a moment. But then the figure disappeared.
Everything collapsed and fell into the abyss.
The darkness swallowed everything.
-
After who knew how long, Charles shot up with a scream. He stared at the sunlight in confusion. The noon sun shone radiantly into the cell. It fell on his face, chasing away all hallucinations. It seemed that nothing had happened.
Charles looked around in confusion. Nothing had changed but he had fallen asleep without realizing.
"You awake?" Hearing his yelp, his cellmate looked over. "You really sleep whenever you want and can't even be woken up. If the doctor didn't say that you were sleeping, I'd think you were dead."
Charles smiled awkwardly. He didn't know how to reply. In silence, he looked down at his clenched right hand. Between his fingers was a strand of hair. It was dark red like burning ashes.
-
Soon, he was startled by a loud noise. The ground shook and the clouds in the sky broke apart. An invisible wind swept from far away, whistling toward them.
Charles looked out the window in shock. Amidst the cacophony, a beam of red light shot up into the sky. It dyed the sky red as if blood was bubbling.
"No way. Again?" he murmured. But he quickly realized that this was not a hallucination. Everyone else was surprised as well. An alarm went off in the prison.
"What is that?" He looked curiously at the red beam of light.
Across from him, Constantine looked up and his eyes grew mocking. "Probably…the new morning call that the Sacred City created."
