Jump Higher

The fault in our demons

A war with demons isn't just a one continuous battle. Hours passed yet there's no sign of losing or winning in both sides. The sounds of sword clanking, growls, moans, and blood splattered filled the atmosphere. You're still struggling to fight the ferocious commander. He was ten feet taller than you, wielding his massive axe with ease. The pale face showing no trace of mercy and hesitation.

Lucifer, the demon king.

"You're good, but not good enough" he said undoubtedly. With a quick feet, you kicked some sand to his face. Even demons fall for cheap moves like that. Lucifer backed away a few feet, he weeps in pain from the attack. While distracted, you quickly jump to perform an air attack. But Lucifer anticipated the move from the beginning. You're the one being deceived actually.

He let out a powerful uppercut while you were airborne, straight to your jaw. The pain is like having all your bones crushed together. Such godlike strength he had. You landed hard on the ground. The atmosphere started to twist and turn followed by Lucifer's evil laugh echoed inside your head. In a few seconds everything went dark.

.......

The wind blew strongly. Sand and dust covering the whole area. Something crawling on your body woke you up. Your eyelids felt so heavy. The pain is so great it almost paralyzed you. A crow is scavenging your body. "Shoo shoo, go away you stupid bird. I'm not dead." It flew away. You threw a rock and luckily hit it.

Soon, you realize that the battlefield was in dead silence. Where did your army go? The legions? Most important, where's Lucifer? Ignoring the pain, you stood up and tried to look around.

The place was totally deserted. No sign of life here. You started running when you heard a noise from the other side of the alley. That's right, this place was just an alley. How did we all engage in a war in an alley that's just fit enough for your car? Continuously shaking your head, you couldn't figure out a solution for these nonsense.

When you arrived at the other side, a slight sound of music and applause filling slightly in the area. A few trails of light passing through the holes on an old wall. They must be behind the walls. You started climbing to get across. What was on the other side startled you. Your army and the demons were chilling out, dancing around a campfire while a band playing some reggae.

Luckily it didn't scare you to death. About thousand pairs of eyeballs staring at you once you stepped in. Your heart can't stop pounding in the intense situation. Were you still hallucinating? Then all of them just happily invited you to dance along.

"I'm not a very good dancer guys, seriously." you confessed. A familiar voice called you. Lucifer stood out from the crowd. OK, this is getting ridiculous. It seem that Lucifer wasn't holding any weapon, so there's no reason to engage on him.

"Can't work your way on the dance floor?" he replied. "You better move along little one. Cause this ain't the place for you."

Oh, he did not just challenge you.

"Alright dance master, you're on!"

Both of you started to engage in a dance battle. The crowd cheering wildly. Lucifer started first. He surely is a dance master. His popping and locking moves were astounding. You started to regret for challenging him. Plus, you still recuperating from Lucifer's attack.

After showing his finishing move, he stared intently at you. It's your turn. Anxiety filled your mind. But no, you can't give up yet, you just have to 'Jump Higher' like you used to. At first you showed some rigid moves then you started to show your real moves. The crowd applauded except for Lucifer, who looked stern and disbelieved. Who's laughing now?

After the show, Lucifer approached to you. From the beginning, you never let your guard down until now. Lucifer instead, congratulate you for beating him in the battle.

"You my friend, shined just like a star." he pointed. "I'm proud of you. But let me tell you something. All of this ain't real."

Your eyes become wide-open. "Wait a minute, I slap myself almost a hundred times and nothing happened. If this was just a dream, I would probably fall from my bed when you punched my face."

"It's because the pain was just a figment of your imagination." he replied. "I've been watching you and you just trying to hurt yourself when these things happen. In retrospect, it couldn't work and will never work. But you've done well to face it despite the odds."

Lucifer's word stunned you. He did gave you the answer for a few things but, how did he knew all of this?

"Wait, so you're the one who cause all of this madness?" you asked. "Why did you do it? And why did you tried to kill me earlier but ended up having a dance battle with me?"

He chuckled. "I absolutely have no idea about that. Let's just say it's a glitch"

What?....

Before he could answer the rest, a glimpse of light appeared above us. It turned out to be a portal. A powerful force sucked almost everything. All the demons and your army being sucked as well. Surprisingly, it didn't pull you. Lucifer too still standing at his place. He looked calm as nothing happening right now.

"3 days" he said before he jumped into the portal and vanished. The sound of crickets filled the area. You just froze. It all happened so sudden.

Today was totally different. But look on the bright side, you got a few clues for your mysteries. The only problem right now is when will you wake up? You headed back to your car. Thank God it's still in one piece. A high-pitched beeping triggered when you opened the door. Before you could even flinch, the car exploded.

You felt your body swayed and the universe around you turned dark in seconds.

"Gaaahhhhh!!". You quickly scanned the whole place. You're in your bedroom? Gasping for air, you tried to figure out what the heck just happened. It can't be a dream. What a disappointment. You heard a soft chiming under your pillow. Your boss. Maybe he'll ask why you're late for work. You just need to face the music then.

"Hey there, quite a party last night right? Haha, you're probably still sleeping at this time from all of those dances yesterday."

"WHAT!!??" you shouted after a cryptic reply from him. "Oh I'm sorry, could you hold on for a second?" You looked at the date on your phone. A day has passed. How did you go through the whole day unconscious?

"Uh hello sir, what do you mean by a party?" you asked.

"Oh come on stop acting. It was a party for your promotion. You and I had a dance battle remember? You were amazing and got an overwhelming victory against me. We should do that more often don't you think? Oh, I can't talk for long so I just want to congratulate you on the promotion. By the way I left you a gift in your car. You can thank me later. Bye."

He left you speechless. You headed to your car to look for the gift. It's on the backseat and quite big. Maybe he gave you a microwave oven or something about it's size. You eye caught something under the front seat. A letter. You tore it as soon as you saw the name 'Lucifer' on it.

I know that you're asking a lot of questions right now. Honestly, I'm not the one who responsible for this. I'm just a messenger, sent to guide you in your journey. About yesterday, we must make you sleep for a day in order to help you to make the right decision.

Don't worry, just go with the flow, we'll handle everything. And remember, 3 days.

Lucifer.

Not much information. "...we'll handle everything"? "...help you"? He landed a killing blow on you and he just tried to help you. Interesting.

But what did he meant by '3 days'?