LIMINALITY
Table of Contents
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 56 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 ENDChapter 53
Standing before them is a giant, intricate gate forged of a dull gray metal. It is made up of thick bars and beams, all of them twisting and turning into each other, creating a solid wall of protection. In the middle of it all was a small but noticeable futuristic-looking keypad with a digital display, which seemed to be the only thing capable of opening it.
After having spent a lot of time being constantly bored searching for this place throughout the dense labyrinth, they have gotten to grips with its dirty rock surface walls and surfaces along the lit-up torches that remain them as time passes without noticing how they managed to still keep on being lit.
"This must be it," Janus said in seriousness, approaching the entrance before placing his left hand and forearm onto the gate, feeling the rough texture and strength of its material. "The location where she is imprisoned is inside of this very cell."
The answer didn't greatly make Saomi feel any better by the minute; in fact, she is wondering if this is even a good idea to go along with this plan. "Janus, I don't think we should—" But Schrodinger cut her off immediately, not seeing any reason or benefit in staying behind, especially when they'd come this far already.
"She is contained; there's no risk in letting her out except us," the white feline said bluntly, no longer wanting to delay this any further, and decided to step forward and walk up to the gate, "open the gate," ordering the young woman to use the handheld scanner they were given.
Saomi became reluctant, feeling uneasy at the thought of releasing the girl who was responsible for an entire kingdom to have her imprisoned, let alone being the culprit who almost committed an entire genocide after having gone insane.
Whether this was a smart decision or not, there's no going back now that they made it this far, as Schrodinger had put it. Sighing deeply, Saomi approached the keypad, raising the handheld device in her hand before pressing the trigger to activate its scan mode.
Beam emitted from the device penetrated the interior of it, scanning the screen in a grid pattern while producing fast, moving tiny numbers of digits in progress. Then a single beep was heard as the keypad suddenly became active, illuminating brightly all of a sudden with a soft buzzing sound coming from it.
Seconds later, they heard the massive door opening, allowing them to finally enter the place and get the components needed for Lime to finish the repairs to her machine. As for Janus and Schrodinger, the two held no fear or doubt in their pursuit of completing the job.
As I entered inside, what stood In front of them stood a large, open-space area surrounded by a circle of people created from the insane mind of Jester, with rows of seats that stood still, unmoving. Despitethe fact that they had already landed themselves in a strange place, their attention was entirely focused on the very center of the awaited court jester.
Holding the brightest and craziest smile they have ever seen.
"You came!" Jolly said with the utmost glee, followed by clapping with excitement, "It's about time I get to see visitors today," then lowered her hands while jumping up and down like the happiest person in the world, "I have so many things that need to be said; would any of you like to volunteer?!"
Immediately, their once-only exit suddenly closed shut from behind, creating a loud echo with a rumbling sound across the entire room, catching all of them by surprise as the crowd themselves roared in excitement from the commotion that's about to ensue.
Dropping her scanner, she held her katana tighter than ever. "What should we do?" Saomi's eyes were entirely focused on the insane woman ahead of them, for she knew too well that if any of them stepped forward, the crazed jester would undoubtedly try to do something incredibly stupid or dangerous.
"Stay behind."
Janus answered with a coldness in his voice that gave the impression that he was trying to keep his emotions in check. "I'll handle this," he said, making no effort to step forward, much to the human's persistence in stopping him from doing so.
"Wait, Janus. You shouldn't do this; you're not capable of—"
Desperate muffled sounds suddenly drew everyone's attention as he turned around to see her mouth vanish. "Saomi...?" Feelings of horror, confusion, and shame swept over him from what had transpired before he quickly returned his attention to the jester.
Giggling insanely, Jolly then smiled in twisted pleasure at her current accomplishment of what she had just done: "There! That would do it!" Proudly stating the act of silencing the human, "Now that I got your boys attention, let me explain the rules of getting my princess's everr-so-cherishe components; all you have to do is play a silly game!" She stood with a look of pure glee.
Schrodinger widens his eyes at this but remains calm. "And what would that game be?" He asked as the loud voices of this manifested crowd were echoing into his ears, causing him to cringe uncomfortably at the unpleasant sensation.
"A simple game of who dies first, but I got to explain the rules because it won't be fun if any of you break it," said the said the sad pout of the jester. "So buddy, are you in or not?" She happily looked at the god of time with anticipation and said, "Come on, don't be shy!" The constant shouting from the audience and the silent Janus were becoming more boring by the second.
"Hm..." Caressing her own chin, she tried to understand the unblinking stare she was getting from him. "Is there a reason why you won't say anything?" Sadness was slowly creeping onto her. "Did I do something wrong to make you upset? A wide grin flashed at them.
Everyone in the crowd began to gasp in mockery, some laughing crazily at the question she asked him, some pretending to cry as others did the same, some pointed fingers at the god of time and his cat friend for not talking. It was enough for her to get away from him.
So many emotions froze him to his spot, unable to say, think, or do anything due to how overwhelming they are, as he couldn't control them anymore from his own thoughts and intense feelings of seeing someone he cared about being hurt.
Then something unexpected happened. He widened his horror when Saomi's head appeared in the Jester's hand. "Is it because of her?" Jolly mirthfully teased as she raised it up for all to seem, "poor, poor Janus being distracted by someone who doesn't matter!"
Claps and cheers emitted from the crowd as Schrodinger was also incredibly shocked by this sudden act. "What the?! Janus, don't listen to that lunatic! Shes trying to get rise from you!" Shouting through the reverberating sounds of the cheering crowd.
The once stupefied god of time became filled with extreme rage and deep desire of vengeance that outmatched the strongest of hate towards any being: the sight of seeing his close friend, the person who was there with him, someone he could be around and be at ease with, being beheaded in front of his eyes.
"So, Janny boy! Are you going to play or not? Pretty please!?"
There were no more words needed to exchange, for he had instantly sprinted towards her without hint of holding back, rushing forth in such immense speed that a flash of blurry white passed her. He threw his spear in her direction, and in a blink of an eye, an enormous shockwave that broke all sound barriers erupted the moment the tip of his weapon pierced through the wall.
A dusk of smoke erupted from her surroundings, filling the arena with a gray mist that covered everything inside. After seconds passed, the fog cleared to reveal the impaled jester laughing hysterically at her own blood, which was being pierced straight through her stomach.
"That's...so cool!" Bringing her head up, she watched the cold god approach her one step by bit as his fists clenched tight. "You finally took action of your own initiative; the look of your eyes, so filled with bloodlust and murder! You're finally showing us who you truly are! And that's super cool!" Jolly's blood ran across the shaft and dripped on the floor while some got in her mouth as she spoke, "Are you going to kill me now?" Mocking, she then challenged him, "Just how are you going to—"
Pushing his left palm on her face, he then continuously hammered her head against the wall as he growled savagely, leaving trails of cracks in the broken cement with each strike. Sending massive shockwaves into the surrounding area, causing everyone to shudder and lose footing on the ground for a brief moment.
Withdrawing his hand from her exposed skull, the flesh itself was visibly splattered across the entire walls, drenched with dripping crimson fluid. Grabbing his weapon, he turned and began to walk away as the body fell to the ground.
"Janus?" Concerned, Schrodinger watched his back as he walked further and further away to the door where they once entered. "We can bring her back, right?" He desperately asked, wanting to know the answer, but couldn't resist hoping this situation was somehow better: "We can revive her, and she'll come back alive, right?!"
He wished it would be the case, but there is a limit to his power. The only thing he can't do is resurrect people from the dead, and having someone kill a person close to him is so unbearably painful that he can't accept it happening. He could've prevented this; he should have done something to prevent it.
In that instant, a crackling noise broke out in the entire area, followed by a loud yawn from behind his back: "Hey, where are you going?!" Jolly's familiar voice asked, "I thought we were supposed to play the game! We are not finished yet!"
Slowly, ever slowly turning, he witnessed the recovered and healed murderer who took something precious of him, "die." He wasn't bothered to exchange words and merely ordered her demise as the Jester's heart imploded within, resulting in immediate blood escaping all of her orifices as she fell down to the ground once more.
But he wasn't done, nor was he going to let her stand up and do it again. No, he is going to make sure she pays dearly for having killed Saomi. Running towards Jolly, he jumped over the air and aimed to crush the jester beneath him. Yet, contrary to expectations, instead of seeing the figure who stole something important, she quickly became a puddle of water.
"Tch!"
Clearly upset by this evasion, he suddenly felt her presence right behind him with a raised scythe, no doubt to behead him with it, but he already expected this and rapidly spun, bringing up his weapon to block the incoming attack as sparks flew through the entire place.
Both individuals exchanged a multitude of attacks from all sides of the battlefield. When Jolly swings, Janus will parry and counterattack; whenever he stabs, the jester will dodge to the side. Despite not being as fast as him, she can still keep up with his movements in some other way.
At times, she would jump, spin, or slide around the place. But regardless of her erratic and unpredictable pattern, Janus could read the movements of her next attack through pure instinct and predict them without having to use his precognition.
He wanted to fight her in an equal match to show how someone like her didn't deserve to stand over another person. And for all his power, especially losing someone precious, the trait of humility seems to have lost itself in his mind.
Bracing for impact, he watched in slow motion as the incoming scythe moved through the air, prepared to slice apart the entirety of his body. Dropping his spear, he used his right hand to successfully grab the blade in time, much to her surprise.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, his left hand instantly reached for her neck and seized it tight, digging into the tender flesh deep enough to draw out trickles of crimson liquid. Squirming through pain, Jolly dropped her scythe, struggling with this sudden strength.
The crowd roared once more, louder than ever, as they demanded more of this overwhelming showdown. Janus did not oblige to their call for this, not a mere contest of power. This is personal, a revenge for something important that this pest had done to bring out his wrath.
Opening the boundary of space-time behind her, the created portal let out powerful blue gusts of visible winds that rapidly began to melt her entire body in its hold. "Burn," he watched as the immense force began to let her bring out agonizing screams.
The only remaining thing was her eventual silence and the melted jester on the floor, watching it drip from his extended hand. He was then left all by himself while being accompanied by the endless laughter of the crowd cheering for more.
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