Klint showing up at his door in the middle of the night, banging on it and ruining his sleep, had driven Faust absolutely fucking insane.
The guy was normally calm as a millpond—quiet, chill—at least during the day. When he was hanging out with the brothers, he'd have everyone dying of laughter. But he was also the type who got pissed off fast, and his mood could tank just as quick. He'd flare up in a second, then instantly adapt to whatever was going on and roll with it.
The way he felt everything so intensely, how his emotions could flip completely in the blink of an eye—that made him kind of… dangerous. But for someone trying to survive in a world full of rivals, where life was already brutal, that danger was usually a plus.
The brothers got him. They'd been together for years, so real problems only cropped up maybe once a year. Strangers, though? They weren't so lucky. Especially in a world also where even kids didn't get mercy—what wouldn't a guy with a hair-trigger temper do to them?
That wasn't Faust's only issue
But it'll do for now. Last night, Klint pissing him off like that had fucked up his whole night. His head was a mess, he couldn't think straight, so naturally he couldn't sleep properly either. Still, he had to sleep somehow, so he gritted his teeth and forced it.
But the state he finally passed out in cost him a nightmare.
* * *
Faust was lying in the middle of a forest—but only in terms of position, obviously. A closer look made it clear his physical consciousness wasn't exactly home.
It felt like some weird nightmare, but why wouldn't it? It was a nightmare but his surroundings were saying else...everything around him was lush green, packed with apple-heavy trees, colors bright and vivid. Right in the center lay Faust, flat on his back, out cold. At his head stood a pitch-black cloud resembling a human.
The only thing that really made this a nightmare was probably the idea that the black cloud might do something hostile—but it didn't seem to have any intention like that…
The cloud talked with a muffled voice...
"Faust. Wake up, Faust…"
"Open your eyes, Faust…"
Hmm…?
The voice was getting closer, but it wasn't getting any sharper.
"Get up. It won't take long, don't worry."
Am I about to get waken up in a dream? Oh hell no! Just go away.
The black cloud didn't have a proper shape, maybe, but there was no doubt it definitely resembled a human—arms, legs, standing about six feet tall. Even if you somehow couldn't figure out what it was, the movements would make you think it's a human anyways.
The cloud brought its hands, which it had been holding behind its back, forward. It raised its right hand…
My eyes might be closed, but I can feel it. You dumbass.
Whoosh!
The black cloud slammed its right hand down right where Faust was lying. Dust flew everywhere. But when the cloud lifted its head and looked ahead, the person standing where it had just tried to strike…
Was none other than Faust.
"People can't just let me take a nap can they?"