Cube was staring at the ceiling blankly, laying down on her bed. She felt a cold presence every now and then, making her shiver.
She also began to hallucinate sometimes, from seeing things that weren't really there to hearing strange, unfamiliar voices.
She wondered how Heli and Ship were doing, as she hadn't seen them at all…
She hoped they weren't killed, or worse...
Cube felt completely powerless, her memories of the normal Paradise were already beginning to become hazy…
Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door, making her jump up and snap out of her thoughts.
Opening it, Lycanthropy was there. "Hey…"
"Oh…" Cube sighed. "Hello…"
"I know you're not doing so well, so I wanted to make you feel a little better…"
Cube nodded, smiling ever so faintly. "Come in…"
After a moment, Lycanthropy was sitting beside Cube on her bed.
"So, um… You talked to Jade, right?"
"Mhm… I'm… concerned about his mental health…" The triangles above Cube's head lowered.
"I can tell… Well, if anything happens, just know that I love you a bunch…"
Cube blushed a bittersweet red. "I love you too…" She gave her a kiss on the lips, closing her eyes.
Lycanthropy felt joy, being with her lover like this, however, she felt like her mind was in a downward spiral…
She was having more and more violent thoughts as time passed, like she was turning into an actual monster…
Cube broke the kiss. "What's wrong?"
"Ah, uh, nothing…" Lycanthropy got up.
"Wait, you're leaving already…?"
"I'll be back! Just gotta clear my mind a bit…"
Lycanthropy left the room, and Cube was alone once again.
Jade was laying on the ground, still holding the lifeless, decapitated head. The smell of flesh rotting didn't bother him anymore.
He just couldn't believe it—he couldn't believe that Gold could die so easily, after all the battles and obstacles he's gone through all these years…
He had been giving cold, short responses to his friends' worries and advice, desperately clinging onto his delusion. Whenever he spoke to the head, it'd respond back, and as time passed, its messages became more and more deprecating.
Jade was staring blankly at the ceiling. He ignored the growling of his stomach and the dryness in his throat as the memories kept repeating in his head.
Cyan was in his room with Trian, drinking a cup of coffee.
Trian was sitting on the bed, his head buried in his hands. "Cyan… I'm scared…"
"I know." Cyan sighed out between gulps. "We all are."
"What if Cube is next? What if I'm next…?"
"Don't think that." Cyan interrupted. "Fear will only make things worse…"
Trian looked up at him. "Why are you so calm about this?"
Silence filled the air for a moment. Then, Cyan slammed his coffee cup down and stood up, facing him. "Didn't you hear what I just said?! Being scared feeds him! It makes him stronger… I can't let that happen anymore…" He began to tremble, holding himself. "I can't be afraid anymore…"
He hated being so vulnerable like this, he had an image to uphold—Cyan, the fearless leader of the four heroes, unafraid to do anything—but he's lost so much already…
Trian stared at him, then slowly got up and made his way towards him. Cyan was breathing heavily, still holding himself.
Carefully and gently, Trian wrapped his arms around his torso, resting his head on his shoulders.
Cyan's breathing began to calm down, and he finally relaxed. "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that…"
"It's fine." Trian kissed his cheek. "I love you…"
"I love you too."
Another hour had passed.
Finally, the plan was set in motion as the group was outside, searching for the second piece of the Tree of Life.
Everyone was completely quiet—only the sticks and dried leaves crunching under their feet broke the silence.
Trian was holding Cyan's hand, having a bad feeling deep in his chest. He looked behind himself, only to find out that Jade was missing from the group. "Eh?" Trian began to perspire, letting go of Cyan's hand.
"Huh? What's up?"
"Jade's gone… He was behind us a second ago! Hold on!" Trian ran into the trees.
"Hey! Wait…" Lycanthropy sighed. "Dang it…"
Cyan was extremely nervous—he had an intense urge to follow him, but ultimately decided not to. Surely, Trian and Jade would be fine… right?
Cube had heavy, noticeable bags under her eyes, staring blankly ahead. Her legs were already beginning to feel weak. She lowered her head, feeling like she was being eaten alive by the darkness.
Eventually, she couldn't catch up anymore… She leaned against a tree, staring at the ground.
Groooowl…
Cube froze. Was that a…
She yelped loudly as something pounced on her, snarling.
Cube wanted to summon her claws, but her lack of energy prevented her. "Someone, help!" She cried as the corrupted shape dug its claw into the flesh of her cheek.
Thankfully, her pleas were heard as the others came to the scene. "Get… off… her!" Barracuda's melting snakes lunged forward in a mesmerizing motion, biting the shape in various areas. It howled in pain, but its attention was off Cube now.
One wiggle of its body made circular projectiles fly everywhere—Cyan dodged most of them, a few grazing his skin, but he unsheathed his sword and dug the blade deep into the corrupted shape's arm.
Lycanthropy sent out her own projectiles; Blixer sent out his raging fists.
Cube watched everything play out, scrambling away—as much as she wanted to fight, she felt too weak…
Meanwhile, Trian was still searching for Jade, shouting his name. His worry grew worse and worse each second, to the point he was sweating.
Soon, he smelt something. It smelt… like ammonia?
Trian walked towards the strong smell, his heart pounding—and soon, he arrived.
Time felt like it stopped. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
First, he saw the dangling legs, and then the rest of the body. It was Jade, hanging from a tree with a thick noose around his stretched out neck.
"Ja… Jade?" Trian looked up at him, trembling. "No… no…" He walked up to him, gently clutching his shirt. "No, Jade, you can't… you can't do this…" His voice began to break. "We're the heroes… we have to save Paradise together…" he broke down in tears, sobbing.
He felt so guilty as he mourned the death of his friend.
The corrupted shape was battered and bruised, breathing heavily. Slowly, a small pure triangle emerged from its body.
Cube and the others watched—they were just as injured.
The triangle wandered around them aimlessly for a moment, then stabbed itself into the shape's gut. The shape screamed, stumbling backwards and tripping over a rock, falling into the pond behind it.
Cube went a little closer to the pond, staring at the water. It remained a pitch-black color for a moment, then slowly turned blue.
She yelped as the now uncorrupted shape jumped out of the water, gasping for air.
Cube squinted at the circular shape, then the realization began to fade in…
"Dot…?"
Dot was panting still, shaking his head to get some of the water off of him. "Huh?" His eyes widened. "Ah…"
"You piece of shit!" Cyan grabbed him by the collar, causing Dot to squeal. "You killed Gold!" He punched him repeatedly in the face.
Cube grabbed Cyan's hoodie, yanking on it. "Cyan, Cyan, stop! Please stop!"
Cyan was about to punch him again, when he noticed something fell out of Dot's clothes. It was the second piece of the Tree of Life!
He dropped him and grabbed it, then glared at Dot. "Why were you hiding this?"
"I… I'll explain everything I know once we leave this forest…" Dot's voice was trembling as he covered his face with his arms.
Barracuda sighed. "Great… so, the water is pure now…"
Cube couldn't help but stare at Dot. He lived on the opposite side of Paradise, and she couldn't get to speak with him much because of work, but he was always a kind guy…
She never expected him to get corrupted this badly…
Cube opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by the rustling of the leaves. "Huh…?"
Trian came into view, his head low. Cyan looked at him, then ran over to him. "Trian! Did you find Jade? What happened?!"
"Jade is…" Trian sniffled, "Jade is dead."
"...What?"
"Jade is dead. He killed himself…"
They all stood in silence for a few seconds. Blixer's head lowered, staring at the ground. Cyan was shaking, tearing up as he clenched his fists. "It's all his fault…"
"Cyan, please…" Tears streamed down Cube's face. "Let's just go home…"
"I'll bury him." Blixer said.
Back at the house, everything was silent. Jade's corpse was buried right next to Gold's.
In the living room, Cube and Dot were sitting on opposite sides of the couch, a table in between them. Cube had explained everything that happened so far to him.
"I… I see…" Dot responded, looking defeated. "I don't even know why you brought me along… I'm so sorry…"
"It wasn't your fault… Everyone's angry right now, but they'll understand soon…"
Dot nodded. "I almost forgot, I have to tell you what happened… So, back when Paradise was normal, I kept having these strange dreams… he was in it…" He explained. "He kept telling me about his 'project', and how useful I'd be… and then… and then all of this happened… He gave me the power of the Tree of Life just so I could take you…"
"Ah, Cyan had a dream like that as well… and then he got possessed…" Cube didn't even want to mention it.
"Right… and… you said Gold and Jade had fought somebody, yes?"
Cube nodded. She was depressed by the mention of them.
"That must've been Whimsy. I'm not sure why they didn't tell you about him… I knew him. He used to be a shopkeeper here, and from what I remember, he had the same dreams as well… and so did Hexia…"
"Hexia? The flower girl?"
"Yeah, she's corrupted as well… My memory's a little fuzzy, but we'll have to face her eventually…"
"Alright… Thank you for telling me…" Cube said. "I'll tell the others about this now…" She got up.
"Alright…" Dot got up as well. "It's been nice talking to you—uh, where will I sleep?"
"On the couch."
"Oh, alright."