Charisma took Baethan’s mind away from the siege that was befalling the prison. The agony of the survivors being slaughtered by The Corrupted was etched into his thoughts.

Baethan was brought back to Charisma’s realm. Charisma’s mystical song, which Charisma had used many times before to sooth Baethan in an unknown language to him, was numbing his mind with a serene melody. However, thoughts and memories were driving his focus away from the song. He remembered his mother giving him his playing card necklace, the same one that he’d just seen hanging around the neck of one of The Corrupted while its claws extended toward his throat.

“Are you not going to answer my question, child?” Charisma said. “I asked if you would like to see the true extent of His destruction for yourself.”

Baethan did not answer Charisma for a while. When he did speak up, he did so in a small voice.

“Was that thing really my mother, Charisma?” Baethan asked.

“What benefit would you receive if you knew?” Charisma asked.

“I just want to know!” Baethan exclaimed.

Charisma paused for a few seconds before answering him.

“Yes, child, that was her,” Charisma said.

Baethan became silent again. He could not manage a single word, only whines and sobs.

“Are you still nothing more than a child?” Charisma said. “Your world is crumbling underneath you, yet still you cry for your mother?”

“It’s just that she didn’t deserve to become one of those monsters,” Baethan said. “No one in that prison deserved to die. Hasn’t He caused enough pain? I just want it all to stop.”

“He will not stop until your world has been completely obliterated,” Charisma said. “Have you truly learned nothing from your experiences with all of the people who were affected by Him and The Corrupted? Very well. If you really choose to hold onto your ridiculous childishness after everything you have been through, then you leave me with little choice. I will show you the end of your world.”

Charisma split Baethan’s subconscious into the minds of every single person left on his world; once again he was able to passively experience everything that the people were thinking and feeling. Baethan could see hundreds of places and could hear thousands of thoughts all at the same time. Scenes were being played in front of him all simultaneously.

Baethan tried to focus on one mind at a time: Buildings were burning. A man was running with a crowd away from The Corrupted, pushing and shoving others in order to get away. A young woman was beating an elderly man in order to steal a piece of bread that looked untainted. A child was crying in the middle of a barren street. A dying man was living his final moments in a pool of his own blood.

Baethan’s senses were in a pure state of chaos. He could not hold focus onto one mind for very long, quickly become lost in all of the information that his mind was processing. He could not call out to Charisma for help. The sheer amount he was experiencing prohibited him from speaking.

Suddenly, there was silence. The images and the sounds were gone – Baethan was back in Charisma’s strange realm. His mind was trying to reform itself as he processed everything that he experienced. When his mind was finally put back together, Baethan could hear that Charisma was talking to him.

“Do you see now?” Charisma asked. “Do you see how no matter what you hope for, it is already too late? The Corrupted have overrun your world and are preparing it for Him to devour. No matter what your people tried to do, whether it be honorable or deceitful, led them to their deaths. So, do you finally see now, child? Your world has ended.”

Burke Bischoff can be contacted at [email protected]