Hazel wrinkled her nose, not yet ready to open her eyes. The words seemed to come from far, far away, maybe from another land, another planet, another universe. Was she late? Probably. It was a first for her, always the punctual one, but her body felt too heavy to even attempt to get up. Not a surprise, considering she had been staying up late researching some obscure sources for her last essay of the semester. It had been a considerably good one, and she did not want to mess it up, much less with Lucius watching her every move, waiting for her to fail and then snatch away the crown they had been chasing since they met. The mere thought of him as their senior class representative made her blood boil. He was not fit to lead: his words were never eloquent enough, his methods a reflection of his selfishness. She, however, had been born to fit the role. Every calculated move she made was accounted towards her goal. And so, she would not let him win. She could not let him win. Over her dead, cold, mangled body would the world ever see Lucius Huxley as a champion, a defeater. She would make sure of that.
A sigh escaped her parted lips when she realized it was time to face reality. She opened her eyes, and turquoise met blinding grey. It was a clash so unusual and spectacular, it left Hazel in a state of perpetual confusion. When her brain started to work again, in a panic-fueled frenzy, she reached two staggering conclusions: 1) whatever was above her was definitely not her ceiling, and 2) whatever was below her was definitely not her bed. The shock of realizing she was not – for whatever reason – in her bedroom made her sit upright in a second. There, in front of her, sat a boy her age, his face an ode to bewilderment. He had ashy blonde hair that fell messy on his forehead, and yellow piercing eyes that, strangely, appeared to shine a blood red shade whenever sunlight reflected on them. A few fresh cuts adorned his face, small and not threatening in any way. In her seventeen years of life, she had not seen his face before. Not once. And now he stood in front of her, both in the middle of a... lilies field?! Every little bit of information she was receiving made absolutely no sense.
« Well thank whatever god in the universe you finally woke up, princess. » The boy spoke, his voice so raspy she wondered when was the last time he had uttered a single word. He sounded angry, and maybe a little surprised. Hazel struggled to understand the situation. « You seriously just ripped up the book, huh? Like two children fighting over a fucking toy. Do you have any idea the mess you're in now? Trust me, I've been trying to escape this place for the last century. » His rant continued, but she was not listening anymore. She zoned out, suddenly scared. Had this man kidnapped her? Was she about to be killed, or maybe even worse? She bit her lower lip hard and lowered her gaze. Dying was absolutely not part of her plan, at least not for that day in particular. « –and even when you break free, you still have to get through the door and reach the tenth level, which is just a pain in the ass at this point. Hey! Are you even listening? » Hazel looked at him, fear written in her eyes. The stranger stopped speaking and made a sound so weird she was sure she would not forget it while she lived.
« Oh, no. No, no, no. Don't you try and put the blame on me. I was here, minding my own business, like I've been doing ever since I got trapped, and then you two idiots have the audacity to plop down from whatever shithole country you're from. » He sighed, exasperated. Everything he had said up until that point had been complete and utter nonsense, but something caught Hazel's attention. "Two" idiots? As far as she knew, he was speaking directly to her only. And that's when she felt an unfamiliar tug on her right hand. Horrified, she moved her head carefully and slowly towards the unknown. If only she knew her nightmare was just beggining.
There, by her side, and handcuffed to her freaking hand, was Lucius Huxley.
"Could you please stop that terrible screeching you're doing." Lucius muttered, rubbing his head as he pulled himself into a sitting position. He couldn't will himself to open his eyes, so instead he sat with them closed. His head was pounding, probably because he'd hit it on the floor when he went down. The last thing he could remember was fighting over that book about ancient cultures. To feel so much pain over a book was feeling more pointless to him by the second. His pale fingers dragged through his ebony locks in exasperation as more and more words reached his ears, though he wasn't really listening to the words. Who was this guy jabbering at them anyways? The librarian or something?
"I'll pay for the stupid book, if it means you'll be quiet. Besides, if I pay for it, it belongs to me. Ripped or not, I need that information." Lucius said, his golden eyes finally flipping open. However, it wasn't the face of a librarian that he found himself staring into. In fact, this wasn't the library at all. Were those... flowers?! His eyes widened in confusion, taking in the landscape. Sure, it was beautiful, but it most certainly wasn't the school's dingy library. A floral scent met his senses, somehow going perfectly with his colorful surroundings. This was what he'd imagine an acid trip to be like- not that he'd ever tried it. He needed every last one of his brain cells.
Snapping out of his bewildered state, he tried to find his way to his feet quickly. His long legs buckled, arm yanking him back to the ground as if weighted down by something. A loud "Oof!" escaped him as he landed on his hands and knees. His wrist stung, causing him to wince in pain. What the hell, was he tied to something or..?
The boy looked up slowly, and his irritated glare met familiar blonde locks. He couldn't help but groan in annoyance. None of this made any sense, and his practical thinking mind was in a whirl. From what he was seeing, somewhere between him ripping a book in half and now, he'd managed to find himself handcuffed to Hazel in a field full of flowers. With some annoying blonde guy talking nonsense to them, for comedic relief purposes. This, by far, was the weirdest dream he'd ever had.
He didn't need much time to think about his next move. A loud thump echoed as Lucius fell backwards. His dark hair fanned out around him, eyes closing. This was ridiculous, and he refused to go along with whatever weird game his brain was trying to play. He needed to wake up and study. Besides, who knew how long he'd been passed out on the library floor. If his classmates found him, they'd think he was weird and his chances of becoming class representative would be ruined. What if his rival had already taken the book, and left him asleep on the floor? Just the thought of it made his blood boil.
"No, nope, definitely not. I don't have time for this." He huffed, crossing his arms. Well- attempting to. His handcuffed wrist didn't make it too far, so he settled for holding his free arm awkwardly against his chest. It was a little childish, but hey, this was his dream after all.
Turquoise orbs wide open in shock, mouth parted slightly, lungs on fire due to a sudden lack of air. Hazel could only watch as Lucius spoke his first words on that eventful evening (or was it morning? she didn't know how to or what to read in a sky that wasn't her own). He propped himself into a sitting position without warning, pulling on her hand violently, although he didn't seem to notice or care. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, both options seemed tempting enough. Being handcuffed to Lucius could easily rank into the strangest, most uncomfortable and awkward things she had done in her life. Maybe even get into the top three. It suddenly dawned on her that the stranger in front of them hadn't actually done it. As he had said, he had merely watched as they fell from, uh, the unknown? Someone was behind this, and Hazel could not wait to meet them. Oh, the things she had to say. Starting with the goddamn lilies field, seeing as she was allergic to pollen and her eyes were already starting to water.
The possibility of speaking up and warning Lucius raced through her mind, but quickly perished when she heard him offering to buy the book. What a surprise, his egocentric personality shining through even in a situation as unprecedented as the one they were in. Both Hazel and the stranger stood quiet and still as Lucius opened his eyes to the new world they were, apparently, trapped in. Seeing shock twist his oh-so-elegant face made her smile. For once, he couldn't quite make sense of what was in front of him. She savored the moment, knowing opportunities like that were rare. He never let his guard down, at least not around her, so his smug face was all she could picture when thinking about him. Ugh. It made her want to punch a hole in the wall – if only there were a wall. She resorted to the next best thing and shot him a death glare. That'll show him.
Her train of though was abruptly derailed when Lucius attempted to get up. « Ouch! » She winced, offended by the sudden movement. His try was obviously futile, and he fell back to the ground again. She moved her wrist in circles, trying to get rid of the pain. Being handcuffed to someone was definitely not as fun as movies made it seem. The mere thought of spending even a single more minute in that situation made her want to kill herself and get it over with. Hazel shot another look at Lucius, only to find him already staring at her. So now he's getting it, huh? She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, demonstrating she was not at all happy with the situation either. Once again he fell, this time backwards, and Hazel groaned when her wrist stung. « Could you please stop doing that? » She asked, her tone monotone. He didn't deserve to know the panic she was in.
Her classmate was, apparently, refusing to deal with the situation at all, and she once again felt lost. She diverted her gaze towards the stranger, but he was preoccupied with something else. Rubbing her eyes with her free hand, she sighed. « Very well, since I don't want to stay like this forever, I propose we find the key to this handcuff. This is obviously not a dream – a nightmare, maybe, but still not quite right. » She suddenly looked at the stranger again, this time with a cautious tint in her eyes. « Is this some kind of hidden-camera thing? Are you the host? Because, really, this is not gonna be good for your ratings. You should probably just free me. » The stranger looked back at her, confusion written on his face. « Besides, isn't handcuffing people together without their consent illegal? » Hazel moved her wrist so as to make the metal clink, proving her point.
« Look, I don't know what the hell is a "hidden-camera thing". » The stranger retorted, seemingly exhausted from the conversation. « I've been trying to tell you: you're trapped inside the book you both ripped. As to why you're handcuffed, that's for the book to know. Probably decided you were too stupid to figure out the starting level on your own and decided to help you. Go figure. »
Despite his decision to go back to sleep, Lucius couldn't help but scoff. "Don't tell me what to do. It's your fault that we're here- assuming that this is real of course, which it most definitely isn't." His frown was set onto his face as if it had been drawn with a marker. "I've noticed that every inconvenient thing that happens to me is your fault. If you'd just given me the book, this all could have been avoided, and I wouldn't be sleeping on the library floor." He added angrily, sitting up again. This time though, he felt the harsh tug and begrudgingly scooted closer to Hazel to alleviate the pain. Despite the harshness of his words,he believed everything he said. The blonde girl with her bright eyes was always trying to best him- and he didn't want to be bested. He worked very hard to get where he was, and believed with every ounce of his being that he deserved to be number one. Lucius never claimed to be a nice and humble guy, because he knew he wasn't. But he could also guarantee that he could recite the first seven chapters of his economics textbook by heart.
Lucius narrowed his eyes at the obnoxious stranger. Since going back to sleep clearly wasn't an option, the only other thing he could do was go along with whatever bullshit this was. Step one was to figure out what this idiot was going on and on about. He kept saying that they were stuck in the book, and now he was calling them stupid. Considering that they were both tied for first in their class, their entire school actually, they were far from stupid. As much as he disliked Hazel he could never call her stupid, because he wasn't a liar. No, if the stupid book wanted them handcuffed together, it's as an inconvenience. The fact that he was even trying to figure out the motives of a book was absurd. The girl was right- this was a damn nightmare. Why his brain would do this to him made no sense. His brain was supposed to be his friend, not leave him in a meadow handcuffed to his biggest enemy.
"It is illegal to handcuff any persons that are not under legal arrest without their consent." He said, as if he had been asked what two plus two equalled. He then turned to the blonde stranger, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his pale nose. "All right, since you seem to know everything, I'd love for you to explain how being trapped in a book works." He sighed, hating the feeling of someone having more knowledge than him. He was definitely used to being the smartest person in the room, so this was completely new.
The dark haired boy tugged on their handcuffed hands lightly, motioning for Hazel to stand with him. He curled his trapped fingers, bending his wrist awkwardly to keep his hand from touching hers. For the first time ever, he couldn't do something without her help. Even though it was something simple and physics based, it made him shudder. He wasn't the type to want help from anyone, but he had a feeling they'd have no choice but to work together if they were going to accomplish anything in this state.
It didn't take long for Lucius to put the blame on her. It came as no surprise, either. Hazel had not even thought about the possibility of them working together to get out of the mess they were in. That was not how they did things. If they had not been handcuffed together, she thought, they would have probably drifted away a long time ago. Alas, that was not possible, at least not for the time being. « I found the book first. It is absolutely not my fault that you're not entirely aware of something called manners, and instead opt to act like a child. This would not have happened if you'd just let it go, like the mature person you claim to be. » Anger seething through her words, only a grunt escaped her lips when he sat up. She glanced at her wrist: it was already turning bright pink. The pain was somehow alleviated when Lucius decided to scoot closer. Hazel tried hard not to roll her eyes, once again. Confusion and shock had given way to anger and impatience. Right now, the most important thing was finding her way out. After all, the minutes were ticking by, and she really did have to finish her essay. There was no time for such ridiculous situations.
The stranger smirked, seemingly amused at Lucius' way of asking for help. « You're quite the charmer, huh? » He laughed, dryly. « This is a magic book, handsome. You've apparently awoken it, which hadn't happened before, at least not while I've been trapped. You are the firsts to fuck up this badly in a really, really long time. Really, you should feel proud. » The stranger chuckled again. « Magic has no way of being, it just is. Everyone knows that, and you should too, considering you think you're hot shit and such. Now, as for how you get out of here, for the millionth fucking time: you have to beat each and every level the books throws at you. There's not a definite number. When it's done playing with you, it'll let you go. Or maybe not, and you'll be stuck here with me for all eternity and yada, yada. Bet you'd like that. » He shrugged, and again his eyes shined a blood red shade.
Lucius motioned for her to stand, and she relented. Really, there was no position comfortable enough to forget her hand was mere inches away from his. It annoyed her to no end. « This is the starting level. You'll have to find the key and then find the door which will lead you to the second level. Maybe start wi- » « Wait! » The blonde said, cutting off the stranger. He looked rather annoyed, but kept quiet. « You've said numerous times that you're also trapped here. In the hyphotetical case that this all were true: why? Did you also rip the book?And if you did, how do you know so much about this- » She gestured vaguely around her with her free hand. « -whatever this is? Was there someone here to teach you? Guide you? Why haven't you gotten out yet? » There were a lot of questions, but Hazel needed a lot of answers. If what he was saying was true – and she sincerely hoped it wasn't –, it meant being handcuffed to her greatest enemy was the least of her concerns. Head tilted to the side, she waited patiently for his answers. Maybe some of them could help her discover the way out of that damned place.
« You dumb, dumb girl. » Eyes widened in shock, Hazel stood still. That was definitely not the answer she was expecting, at all. « Do you think of me as a mere human? No fucking way. I'm not here by choice or mistake, like you dimwits. I'm here because I've been bound to the book by humans who were as foolish as you are.I'm Susanoo. » Right as the words left his mouth, his eyes turned red and he opened his mouth to reveal the most threatening set of teeth Hazel had ever seen in her life. She raised her eyebrows. TV effects had definitely gotten better through the years.
"If you could present me with a child that has an IQ as high as mine, I'd name you class rep myself." Lucius scoffed. Before he could think of anything clever to add, however, the annoying stranger had begun to answer his questions- albeit a little more rudely than he would have liked.
A sigh escaped Lucius, but he didn't interrupt. He didn't need charm to get what he wanted. All he needed to get his way, usually, was the ability to open his mouth. Not for flattery, but for wit that was typically unmatched. The blonde next to him was one of the only people to talk back to him, which was what made her such an annoyance. If she'd just be quiet and listen to him like everyone else, he'd have been class rep long ago. He also wouldn't have to spend his nights constantly studying in order to stay tied with her.
A dark eyebrow arched questioningly. He'd never thought of himself as hot shit, mostly just the hot part. Of course, looks were only trivial, but he wasn't particularly self conscious. What that had to do with being stuck in a book, he had no idea. The vulgarity of the man's language was astonishing. After awhile, Lucius had stopped listening and instead began counting the cuss words that he heard. It seemed much more interesting than whatever was being said about magic.
...Magic. How ridiculous. If magic were real, it'd probably have rules, and means of understanding. Nothing in the universe just was. Everything had an explanation. Some sort of scientific answer. To believe that he was at the mercy of a book would simply go against everything that he'd been taught to believe. Part of why he loved science so much was because it didn't leave things unknown.
"You speak like a normal human, and not an intelligent one, either." Lucius finally purred, happy for the opportunity to speak. "Also, if you're Susanoo, that makes you a trickster God. Not only do you have dishonorable intentions, but you've been kicked out of heaven altogether." He chuckled for a second, placing his free hand on his hip. "Rather than send you to hell, they trapped you in a book, and clearly those pointy teeth of yours haven't helped you much escape wise."
Despite the fact that he'd stopped listening for a moment, he'd pretty much gotten the gist. It reminded him of an old video game. Progress through the levels, until you beat the game and accomplish your goal. The fact that his only companion was his enemy meant that this was some sort of challenge. If he couldn't wake up from this dream, he could at least use it as practice. So, he'd play the game until he could wake up and take that damned book. He could never say no to a brain challenge, if that's what this could be called.
He wordless tried to walk away, tugging on their restraints. He frowned, turning around. "Come on, we don't need him. He's the last one we should trust. If he knew how to leave he'd have done it already." The boy huffed, disliking the fact that he couldn't move about as he pleased. If they weren't handcuffed, he'd have left a long time ago.
It was strange seeing Lucius humoring the stranger (or was she supposed to call him Susanoo now? Give in to his bizarre and false pretenses of divinity?). The blonde shot him a quick look: if she honestly required his aid to get out of the situation they were stuck in, she needed him to be in control of his mind and not falling for an obvious scam as the one presented to them. His cold golden eyes were, for once, not hatefully looking at her, and Hazel realized it was the first time she had really, genuinely looked at him. Of course, his face was part of all her nightmares, but his whole essence – the one that lived in her mind – had been carefully curated by her to fit the role of the enemy, the antagonist, the point of inflection on her otherwise calm and neutral life. She didn't know Lucius Huxley, and yet she did, all at the same time. To get out of there, Hazel realized bitterly, she would have to learn about his every facet, even the ones she had chosen to avoid. Would he have to do the same? Certainly.
Lost in her train of thought, she didn't realize Lucius had started walking away until she felt the familiar tugging. The girl struggled to find balance again and cursed under her breath. « Could you please stop doing that? I'm trying here. » She motioned to their handcuffed hands and raised her eyebrows. Obviously, being much smaller than him was proving to be quite the challenge. The fact that it was so easy for him to move her around as he pleased was beginning to make her blood boil, but she would kill herself before even thinking about asking him to be more gentle. No way. Lucius had proposed – or rather enforced the decision – to leave the stranger and go on their own, surely hoping to find their way out. Hazel bit her lower lip and narrowed her eyes. « Is that really such a good idea? There doesn't seem to be anyone other than him here, and it would take days or even weeks for us to find a hidden key in this place. He's not exactly the epitome of trustworthy but he's our only chance, at least for now. »
Turning towards the stranger, who had been abnormally quiet until then, Hazel felt her breath get caught. Susanoo's eyes were oozing with bloodlust, and his smile, which had already been deeply unsettling, seemed to grow and grow to never stop. He was looking right at Lucius when a deep, gutural laugh escaped his already parted lips. She stayed silent, unsure of what to say or do. Susanoo didn't seem angry but outright insane, and the blonde feared for her safety once again in that fateful evening. The tense moment seemed to drag on, until suddenly he stopped, licking his lips. « Oh, I'm gonna have so much fun watching you break into tiny pieces of your former self. » Now, that was threat there, wasn't it? Hazel opened her mouth, ready to try and defuse some of the tension that had accumulated, when the so-called god disappeared right in front of her eyes. No smoke, no magic words, nothing. Just a moment and then another. Sighing as she felt a migraine coming, she wondered how it all got so confusing.
« Well, uh, so there's that. » Hazel managed to say, still wildly confused. « You have, unsurprisingly, found the way to piss off yet another person. Really, it's a talent. What if he was the one holding the key, and this whole "look for it" thing was a bluff? I sincerely hope I'm wrong on this one, but if I'm not, I'm going to assassinate you, Lucius. Now, come on. » Tugging on his hand, the blonde started walking down the lilies field, searching for anything shiny in a sea of annoying, bright colors. What a great day.
Lucius was growing more and more irritated, if not anxious even, about getting home. He really didn't have time for these games. If he didn't hurry up, he wouldn't get to put Nya to bed and the nanny would have to do it. While Nya was only six, she was the only other person on the planet that had complete control over Lucius. He was weak when it came to his baby sister. He'd give her anything and everything she wanted, even if it meant ripping his own heart out of his chest. No matter what he had going on at school, it was his responsibility to put her to bed at eight. He could already hear her high pitched voice in his head, lecturing him for being late. Hell, sometimes she used words that even he didn't know.
The dark-haired boy stopped kicking at the wild flowers and looked up just in time to watch "Susanoo" disappear before their very eyes. Lucius was starting to actually believe that it really was the demigod, furthering his belief that this was some stupid dream. Whether it was or wasn't, he'd be damned if he didn't find that stupid key.
Hazel's words met his ears, drawing a familiar smile from him. "He was a nuisance anyway, we'll be much better off without him." He said flippantly, gesturing to where the blonde previously stood. "He told us what we need, so now let's just do it. Besides, we can't trust that he knows how to get out anyway. If he does know, he would have left by now. So go ahead and assassinate me, but I don't think you'll make it out of here without me." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. He fully believed that the blonde was lying. Even if he wasn't, he'd probably just get in the way of everything. Last but not least, his appearance made Lucius uncomfortable anyway. He looked reasonably normal, until he opened his mouth and became something straight out of a horror film. He and his vulgar language could remain vanished forever for all he cared.
He followed the girl hesitantly, scanning the ground below them with narrowed eyes. For once, they'd managed to agree on what they should do now. The sooner they found that key, the better. Though, looking around at the neverending hills of exotic flowers, it might not be as easy as he'd first thought. "There has to be some sort of clue. Surely the key isn't just sitting on the ground somewhere in this meadow. It would take us weeks to search this entire thing- we can't even see a visible end to it." He said, wishing that Hazel knew something that he didn't. He'd never wished such a thing before, but any chance they had of escaping topped any of his petty thoughts.
Just as he contemplated collapsing into the flowers, a glint in the distance caught his glasses. He tilted his head,trying to pinpoint it. Whatever it was, it was certainly made of metal. Was that a red flag sticking up from it...? He cleared his throat, tugging gently on their bound hands. "Is that.. a mailbox?"