Boundless fog rolled thickly outside the window to the point where the outside world seemed to disappear from the inside, leaving only the unclear light that somehow managed to penetrate into this Carriage.
It's been like that, ever since the start of Stark's Quixotic days traveling with the Big-heart Circus.
Miss. Sia said that They were traveling on an abandoned Pathway through the Dark forest. So... yes, that made Stark want to see; a bit curious about what the dark forest actually looked like.
But, what he saw was only Fog. It was, as If the dense fog completely obscured the outside world, making it seem as if nothing exists beyond the carriage.
Which probably was a bit creepy and unnatural in and of itself. But Stark was not worried about it. He, however, was worried about something else.
For several times, Stark had the feeling that they were traveling in circles inside the dark forest.
But in the end, she was every time, assured that they were on the right path by her.
He was told by Miss. Sia, Who visited him every so often to treat his injuries, that one of the members of the Big-heart circus crew was pretty savvy in navigating the dark forest.
So, It wasn't a problem. And since... She said that Stark did not feel it to be a problem, either.
Also, he had, at present, a bigger fish to fry.
At the moment, Stark was looking at an empty page of the diary that Miss. Sia gave him, sitting on the small desk that found its way into the small and narrow carriage he was given to stay at.
She told him that he should start keeping diaries of his daily experiences, lest he forgets them too. Reasonable enough. Yes, very reasonable.
He did not protest; She was the doctor, after all.
He looked at the page, leaned forward, thinking he should start writing now,, and moved his right hand to line the empty page with words.
But, just right then, he was suddenly interrupted when a sudden Guffawing sound crashed onto his eardrums as he jerked his head sideways...
...He looked At the old Clown sitting by his left and stiffened slightly.
'When did he get here?'
The old Clown, Mr. Solomon had an expression that betrayed the fact that he was holding in a laughter.
Stark painted a faint smile on his face, looked at Mr. Solomon,, And said, "What is it? Mr. Solomon. Do you, perhaps, have something you wanted to tell me?"
"Yes... Yes, my boy. Yes, I very much do. You get me, boy. You get me so much better than the others do. I am really happy that you do. Really am. Indeed I am. So I was thinking...
...that You should become my subordinate. You really should. I will rule over the whole World in the future, anyway. Why not become my subordinate right now, rather than later? What say you? What say you?"
Stark looked at him, smiled less faintly than before, and said, "No, I think I will refrain from doing that right now. But, I Might change my mind later on."
"Oh... Oh, okay. Yes, I will leave an open spot for you. No problem."
"Ha, Ha, Okay, thank you. Thank you." Stark paused before adding sincerely, "Also, can you Perhaps let me be alone for a few minutes? I intend to write a few pages of the diary, the one Miss. Sia gave me. I need to think quietly for a few moments."
The old clown looked at Stark, "Oh... Oh, are you now? Writing? Hmm... Okay... Okay, I'll be back in a few moments. Will that be fine?"
"yes... yes it would."
"then. Do write. Do write. Write what should not be forgotten. Yes, yes." As he finished that, Mr. Solomon walked away, and Stark somehow calmed his wildly beating heart ever so slightly.
Stark... Well, he always gets a bit tensed up around Mr. Solomon. He is a bit creepy and Weird. Though he did not know why he thought that, to be so.
Stark let out a low sigh, looked at the diary, and moved his right hand that was holding a dark-farmed ink pen.
After a while, Stark stopped writing and looked at the few pages of the paper that were once blank but now lined with letters, words, and sentences.
He let out a low sigh once again as he realized that his handwriting was probably, perhaps, slightly, maybe not that good. But understandable, surely.
He lowered his head and looked at what was written:
"Today, Miss Sia came again and replaced my bandages and treated them. She said I would be fully healed, probably just in two or three days. I was very happy to hear that.
"She, also told me why we are going through the dark forest even though it is dangerous.
The circus master, Mr. Raymond, thought it would be a good idea because he had ways to navigate through it and the sufficient manpower that was needed for it. I did not get what she meant by my Manpower, though."
"Also, Today, Mr Edmond reacted to one of my remarks about Mr Solomon's rambling. I have been talking to him for such a long time but he only gives me a faint nod. What was that about? Talk about being Impolite
"Also, the new carriage is really comfortable. I like it. A lot. Though, not the people that I am sharing it with. They are kinda annoying.
I am Stark Arriate.">
Stark looked at the page and then nodded in satisfaction after correcting a few spelling mistakes.
He then looked at the metal clock hanging on the left corner side and sighed.
It was around 1:00 am.
He was spent. He did not do anything laboring, because of his injuries. But he was spent because of not sending anything.
'It was a boring day, Today'
He yawned slightly and leaned back on the wooden desk he was sitting on...
...He did not do anything for a while and looked at the ceiling of the Wooden carriage, with a vacant expression. He then yawned.
"time to sleep"
But just right then, the Old clown, Mr. Solomon appeared before him after walking in from the carriage door.
"Oh... Oh, you are done. You are, Aren't you? That is great. Really is. I was waiting.
Now... Now, let me tell you today's story, my boy; let me tell you about the time when I Killed the demon of apathy and ruled the second abyss for a century until I was killed for the fifth time, killed by the demon of Prejudice, that is. Wait for it, wait for it. Wait till you hear all about it.
It really is an interesting one. You will surely like it. I even had five demons at my service. Sit, Sit, Let me tell you all about it."
Stark was Momentarily dazed. Lost in his thoughts...
'What do I do? Now. I need sleep. Sleep. How do I refuse him, but not hurt or maybe angry him at the same time?!'
But, he was torn out of his thoughts and slammed hard, on the rock-solid floor of reality by the sudden hand that pinned him down.
"Now, Now... Where to start, where to start? Ok. I found it. Listen. Listen closely" The old clown took a deep breath and then Started, "I was dead, in every meaningful way, I was dead. Dead. Utterly devoid of life. But then... I lived... "
'My sleep... '
*****
Sound Asleep, Stark Arriate, jolted awake from his half-dreamt dream that shattered, instantly at intoxicating sounds of slow whispers and murmurs.
'what?'
He opened his eyes to a dark space, devoid of light.
'Did the oil lamps go out?'
He looked around and realized that the old clown, Mr. Solomon was sleeping on the floor.
'He probably fell asleep while telling me the story... how bazaar, this person.'
While Stark was figuring out what was happening, He heard once again the vaguely audible Whispers, probably coming from the outside of the carriage, Or maybe inside.
For some reason, He could not tell.
'Who?'
At first, Stark thought of attempting to fall asleep, Ignoring the Sound of the Whispers. But, Unfortunately, It wasn't to be.
The more he tried to, not hear the Whispers, the more they made him listen to them.
As if they weren't going to let Stark sleep tonight, no matter what.
"Agh..."
Stark stayed still for a few long moments, gradually becoming more and more irritated by the faint Whispers. Then, He shook his head faintly and stood up from the small desk he was sitting on.
He lazily rubbed his lips with the back of his left hand.
As he did, he realized that the Carriage was not moving anymore. He was still half asleep so he did not realize at first.
Well, there wasn't any reason they should be in the middle of the night. But, Miss. Sia said they had to get out of the dark forest as soon as possible.
The person in charge, the owner of the circus, Mr. Raymond, decided not to stop moving even at night.
Therefore, the fact that it stopped, meant that something was wrong.
'Mechanical problems?'
As Stark thought that, he moved his body and took a slow, measured step while raising both his hands up, Careful not to bump into something. There weren't many things he could bump into inside this carriage, but he couldn't be sure.
While he did so, he realized, suddenly, he could not see anything at all. Nothing. For some reason, he was utterly blind.
Then, in the next moment, He became a bit alarmed when he heard the sound of the slow Whispers, growing ever so faintly, ever so slightly.
Stark could not see, so he focused on his ears which were preoccupied by the faint whispers at the moment. He, for some reason, thought of following the sound of the Whispers.
He wanted to hear what they were saying. What they meant.
As he thought of that, he heard a sudden Tick-Tock sound slowly but surely growing more and more audible.
He, without realizing it, was suddenly standing near the left corner of the carriage, where the metal clock was hung.
'When did I get here?' He thought Dazedly.
He leaned his head forward ever so slightly and felt the rough surface of the wooden Carriage faintly touch his ears.
While he did that, both the sound of the clock above and the Whispers, slowly but ever so slightly and surely became more and more clear and vivid.
Zawa-Zawa-Zawa-Zawa
Tick-Tock
Zawa-Zawa-Zawa-Zawa
Tick-Tock
Zawa-Zawa-Zawa-Zawa
Tick-Tock
Zawa-Zawa-Zawa-Zawa
After an eternity, or probably a few seconds, of eiri silence, Stark felt his head starting to ache.
As the headache gradually grew slowly but surely, Stark felt a few drops of warm liquid roll down his nose and fall on the wooden floor surface of the carriage.
He rubbed his nostrils with the back of his hand.
'Blood?'