41 Tartarus 1

The dark room.

It was still as bone-chilling as ever; as dark as pitch and creepy as hell.

This was already Alex's second time inside the dark room. Yet, it still give him the creeps, like countless eyes are staring right at him. It was a very weird feeling or he might just be paranoid.

"Woah! Now that was new! I hope that everything was just made up." he hopes that everything really was a dream. But the scenes were so lifelike, moreover, what did he gain when he ate the fruit? Nothing!

Fighting experience maybe? But that was like what? Three days worth of fighting? Or maybe there was some sort of message or information at that time.

"Hmmm. Young man. You have passed my tests. I shall bestow you with something that could either be good or bad." a deep ancient voice entered the ears of Alex.

"Old Man!" This was the voice of the old centipede back at that world.

"Now, now. There's nothing to be excited about, human." the old man said, as if calming a child.

After calming Alex down, the old man continued, "Okay, so here's the thing. After eating Gaia's Gem you were or your soul rather, was brought here in this dreamscape. Am I correct?"

"Yes. But wha-" Alex answered, he wanted to ask something to the old man but was immediately interrupted.

"Da da da da. Less talking. Got it?" Alex nodded his head as a sign of understanding. "Good. Then I shall continue."

(A/N: The old man just interrupted and wanted for Alex to stop talking.)

"After arriving outside the rooms, you did nothing right? You just waited for nothing. Just nod your head or shake it." Seeing Alex nod his head again like a chicken did the old man continue.

"After quite some time, you realized that there were only two choices ahead of you. You either choose the black room or the white one. The black room was what you chose, that's why we're in here. Can you tell me why did you chose the black room without any hesitation?"

Hearing that the old man was asking, he didn't dare to let him wait and told the old man regarding the strange dream before the ripening of the fruit.

Although Alex cannot see the old man's face, he knew that the old man would have a frown on his face while thinking deeply at his story.

A few minutes after Alex narrated his story, the old man spoke again. "It must have been fate's doing. Well then, I shall continue. Hehe."

"If you did not choose the black room, then you wouldn't have met me, instead you would be welcomed by Gaia. She was a renowned Goddess by the people Terra, hence the name of Gaia's Gem.

"Aside from that, you have me. I am Tartarus. I don't have a good reputation here on Terra. My name was always used to threaten kids of the ancient times. Hehe. I was the complete opposite of Gaia. Gaia is just ... wonderful. I cannot really describe her to you.

"Deemed as the complete opposite of Gaia. I was labeled by the Terrans as some kind of villain, an Evil God and all the negatives that they could think of. Even my magical arts wasn't spared and was called evil arts.

"Although it pains me sometimes, being called names by puny mortals. I wasn't offended and used my powers to kill those who besmirched my name. In fact I accepted it.

"In every coin there will always be the other side. Good or bad, black or white. Sometimes people would either feed their loved ones the dark truth or a white lie. In the end, all of us makes a choice.

"The Terrans chose sides, I chose to accept it. You chose the dark room and I chose to reward you. Fate chose you, to be in contact with the Gods. Everyones choices matters, it can either affect you directly or indirectly.

"Hmmm. By being in contact with the Gods, you met me, here in the dark room. You met the old Chaos or maybe just his magic back in your dreams. As for Gaia, I'm pretty sure you already met her. After hearing your story, this was all that I could think of."

Even if Alex couldn't see the old man, he knew that the old man would be smiling from ear to ear right now. "Indeed. I already met Gaia." Alex calmly answered with a smile.

"Hoh. Don't tell me anything anymore, that was your lucky encounter. Indeed I am right! Hahaha!" the old man was laughing his heads off like some kind of kid that discovered the taste of a candy.

"It seems to me like you have gained something from them, so I would be giving you something too." the old man stopped talking and a red 'gas' was floating all around the room. It was like a source of a dim light. It started off with an insignificant amount then it surrounded the whole room.

"When you were in the future, you've been exposed to madness almost everyday. Like twice in your three days of stay. Anyway, I would grant you the power of Madness." After speaking the red 'gas' of madness began swirling. All of it was slowly surrounding Alex.

Alex was quite afraid of this red gas, however he still asked a question to the old man; afraid that he wouldn't hear him, he shouted.

"Future? I went to the future!? What are you talking about old man? How can I be on the future!?" the words of the old man frightened him. In the future, his brother, Victor, would also be exposed to such killing and cruelty. That didn't sound right to him. But then again, Victor said that he was the one who brought him there.

"Hmmm? You didn't know that you were sent to the future? How can that be? For generations, those who ate the fruit knows this. How can you not know it?"

Alex could still hear the old man's words, but the old man's voice was being drowned by the surrounding red gas. At this time, his senses were being numbed as if corroding him. The red gas was slowly entering him and his vision was turning red once more.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" a torturous pain assaulted him as an agonized scream escaped from his lips. Ever since he became a mage or since cominginto contact with the Silverback Gorillas he was always in pain and was constantly passing out too.

Alex didn't know if he would last for another tormenting pain like this. It would be nice if he would never feel pain like this anymore.

Beads of sweat started forming on his forehead as the veins in it bulged. His face was turning red and his breathing became ragged.

He kept on screaming but his voice turned into hoarse whisper.

An unknown amount of time passed and the 'torture' came to a sudden halt, like it was turned off, instantly vanishing into thin air.