***Italicized words are thoughts! And yes, they're not speaking aloud at parts, but in their heads. This is an excerpt from the middle of this section! (The section I'm referencing is "The Third")***                                                                                          

                                                                    Skye

Day two-hundred forty-six, I'm still stuck in the same room I've been in for a long time. I've been able to keep my concept of time in check, but it's not helpful in the slightest. There's no noise, no light, no end. I don't know how much more I can handle. I want to go back to my normal life again. Not this. This is torture.

Day six-hundred twenty-five, I've started talking to the non-existent walls. I know how long I'll be stuck in here, and I don't want to think about it. I started shutting off my old memories because memories equal pain. I don't want to be here any longer. I want to go home.

Day I-lost-track, I'm sure I've been in here for years now. About maybe fifty-five years? I lost track of time and don't feel like figuring it out. When I get out of this prison, this entire place is going to rot.

Year nine-hundred ninety-nine, one more year to go. Just one more, and I'm out of here. That little snitch who framed me will pay.

Year one-thousand, I'm free.

I stepped– more like stumbled– into the bright lights of the realm. I threw myself on the cold tile floor and breathed in all the colors I had missed so dearly. For these people bowing for me, it's only been five minutes. It was much longer for me. Much longer.

My eyes darted to the rest of my body. The hands I used to write letters with, the feet I used to walk on, and the head I used to think with will never be the same.

Is it over?

"The worst is yet to come," Arin commented. He jumped up from behind me, landing on his feet. Nobody else could see him, but me. "At least I'm far away from you. Ten minutes is too much with you, let alone a thousand years,"

Don't fret. This hate goes both ways.

"Oh, I know," he replied, grinning. "Let's see if you last longer than the first." The faceless figure vanished behind the pillar I was balancing on. Even though I couldn't see him, he wasn't lurking too far behind.

Unfortunately, we're bound at the hip, meaning one of us depends on the other. Without him, I don't have enough power to control the realm and without me, he can't waltz around the real plane. We share the same mind and thoughts and much to my dismay, I'm the only person he can communicate with.

"Welcome back, Skye," a familiar voice came, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I scowled at him and picked myself off the ground. I opened my mouth, but the words refused to form. A force was holding me by the throat, stopping me from speaking. I looked into his eyes, which were gleaming with satisfaction.

"You've forgotten how to speak. That's tragic," Arin taunted, reappearing from the shadows.

Instead of insulting me, why don't you help me?

"Where's the fun in that?" he shot back. He held in a laugh as the only word I could say was "veln," or "what," in Altan.

"Oh that's depressing, don't you think?" Wyand asked, leaning down slightly to meet my line of vision. Arin's smile dropped, and I could feel his stare even though he didn't have eyes.

"Of course it is," I managed to choke out.

"All of those years in that place, and you haven't changed your attitude one little bit," he said, looking away. "I have to be honest, I expected more from you." His legs began walking in the other direction. With a wave of the hand, he dismissed all the officials standing in the room, including Irene. She caught my attention as she walked out, cowering behind her grandfather as usual. As the doors slammed shut, all the torches extinguished from the heavy wind, leaving the room in complete darkness.

Wyand turned back around, putting his hand down and throwing the spear in his hands to the wall. It landed on the stone and cracked it slightly, causing a small rumbling sound to echo throughout the room.

"Don't be mad at me, Skye," he told me. "You just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time."

"You did this to me- no." My breath hitched slightly before I spoke. "You started this whole plan since the moment I was born."

"I planned nothing," he said, denying it all.

"You made someone push me off a skyscraper! I didn't get a choice of where I would be, ok? This whole thing is rigged."

"Of course, I rigged it for you," he replied simply, unworried. "You are my candidate after all. Now, I'll be leaving this realm in your care. The ownership should be transferred to you soon— how old are you again?"

"I have no idea," I said, my voice blank.

"Delightful! Have fun with your new realm."

He started walking away from me and heading out the door of the dungeons. There was nobody around anymore since they all left him alone with me. I dragged my feet quietly behind him.

"Who said you were leaving this place?" I asked, tilting my head to the side..

He turned around, confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Do you need some more time to recover your speech abilities?"

"No. You know exactly what I'm saying." I grabbed the spear that was jammed in the wall and yanked it out. The wall started to crack and crumble slowly. The blade had the remains of blood stains still on it, refusing to go back to its former glory. Parts of it shone brightly, taking in the little light coming through the windows and reflecting it right into my pupils..

"Do it then," he said, glaring directly at the weapon. "You don't have the guts for it."

"Really? Because I've had a lot of time to reflect on that decision. A thousand years alone with your mind has a toll on you eventually."

A bright light shone in as the large doors opened again. Helena came running in and quickly went along with her usual routine, checking my face for injuries. She didn't say a word as she grabbed the weapon from me and threw it on the floor. Her deathly stare was pointed at Second– or should I say Wyand – who was clearly not pleased with the situation.

"I can explain this," he said calmly, walking towards her with his hands up.

"I don't want an explanation," she said. "It's clearly what it looks like. You're trying to get yourself killed."

He scoffed and turned his head away in denial.

"Look at me," she enunciated. He refused. She redirected her attention back at me, giving me the same look, disappointment. I'm used to it.

Second rolled his eyes and started walking out, muttering something along the lines of, "You're pathetic." He wanted me to hear that. Arin's arm appeared beside me, outstretched and gesturing for me to do the same. The very creature I despised was the one who would follow me blindly to the end.

My hand clenched around a type of hard stone that had appeared from thin air. Arin knew exactly what to do. The shard coiled back and was ready to release at any second. So, what did I do? I let it go. It whizzed through the air, catching his attention. He stood there smiling over his shoulder and time seemed to slow down.

"Wait, stop!" she yelled. I ignored it and closed my eyes as I heard the shard cut through flesh. Afterwards, I heard silence. Pure silence.

It's so quiet. Why? Did you do it?

"It wasn't me. It was you," Arin told me, the sound of his voice echoing in my head. "You did this. I merely aided you."

I opened my eyes to look at my victory, only to be gassed by my loss. Instead of getting rid of just Wyand, it had killed her too.

"Helena!" I yelled, sprinting to where the two had fallen and collapsing to the ground. I took her limp bloody hand in mine and squeezed it, waiting for a movement, a sound, anything. Instead, she laid there, the only person I would have called my own mother. The only person who truly cared about me in this horrible place. She gave me hope of becoming normal again and now it was gone.

"Stop with the mourning. It's driving me insane. Get up and deal with it," he told me, whispering in my ear.

Her hand had gone pale from the temperature of mine. I retracted from the bodies and stood up to examine myself. I brushed myself off, turning away from the two.

I don't need them.

"That's right. You don't," he assured me.

"I still have two hands, ten fingers, two legs, and two eyes. I can do this," I muttered aloud, taking a good look at myself.

"No, you can't. You're a walking disaster," Arin said, placing his elbow on my shoulder for support. A small laugh escaped him at the thought of me managing to command one of the strongest realms. Only second to the realm of Time.

For Wyand's sake, pick a side.

"Since when did you care about him? As he's lying dead on the ground, you're plotting how to cover this up." I glanced over at him only to see a frown on his lips. "Besides, just because we share a body, doesn't mean I'm obligated to be affable."

You win. You always do.

As much as I wanted to mourn her death, anger and frustration overpowered my emotions as I looked down at the man who had tortured me for so long.

"I'm only taking care of her for Helena. Not for you." I surrendered the spear to the ground and walked out of the dungeons to the outside world.

"This is going to end badly," Time said from next to me, walking in through the open doors. "Very, very badly." She stood in front of the bodies, groaning as she cleared them away with a simple timeskip.

"One day, I alone will show the world what death is capable of," Arin mumbled. "After I get away from you."

What are you blabbering about?

"Because of you, I'm unable to do anything," he clarified, stepping closer. I backed away slightly as he placed a hand on my shoulder, vanishing into my body. "If only it were like this all the time," he said, opening and closing my fingers to make sure he was truly in a toll.

Time scoffed and walked away as he started taking control of my actions. She used her staff to shove him out of my body, the toll he had taken over. Arin fell to the cold floor, clutching his head.

"Idiots. The lot of you," she breathed out. "I can only imagine what the future of this place will look like."

How did we get here?

"You," Arin responded, laying still on the ground. "How did you get here?"  

Author's note:

Is it supposed to be confusing? Yes. That's why I make prologues in the first place! (I'm aware that's not the point, but it's fun to see people struggle to comprehend what they just read)

Another small detail, if you haven't realized by now, this is complete fantasy with hints of romance and other stuff. People represent different aspects (Like the random person that appears mid-way represents Time), and our main character happens to be one of them (If you read the first part, you'd know what he represents!)

The book cover will change as we go on, but the title won't make sense till the third section of this story, which is manyyyyy chapters away. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this confusing excerpt and stick around for the first chapter!

-Hershey ヾ(≧▽≦*)o