Deranged Writer's Afterword

“ Look at him go…”, Lydia commented from the side wearing a sweater to protect herself from the cold.

“Mommy….”, Rhys added in, his voice trailing off in worry.

It has been two years since their training had begun, Luna had taught them all she could…now all they could do was train alone, Lydia understood that Adam wanted to be prepared…but this way too much.

Lydia was going to take him back…..with force if necessary.

Adam was currently performing the ten movements, he had moved away from his clearing and had shifted towards the colder regions of the dungeon.

‘How is he not cold ?...’, Lydia thought as she watched him train, barely wearing any clothes. For some reason, he had stripped to his underwear as well.

“ Let’s go, Rhys.”Lydia moved toward him apprehensively.

“ Adam ?”

……………

“ Adam ?”

‘Sigh’

“ What is it ?” he asked, pausing his training.

Although his obvious displeasure annoyed Lydia, she flashed him a smile and said,

“ It’s time to leave…..it’s been two years.”

“ No…..I need more time.”, Adam said immediately.

………

“ Time for what…..just what are you trying to do here ?”, Lydia asked, feeling frustrated.

As much as she enjoyed staying here….she wanted to head back since they had to catch the killer.

“ You wouldn’t understand…”

Hearing Adam, Lydia’s suppressed anger started leaking out spewing its venom on him,

“ You know what ?.....fuck you and all your little secrets….I’M OUT.”, she screamed and started to storm off.

“ Wait…..”, Adam said making her stop in her tracks, “ I suppose there’s no need to hide anything from you, I did want to surprise you but….that feels stupid now….so I’ll tell you why we need to continue training….”

…….

“ Really ?”Lydia asked, suspicious about his intentions.

“ Yeah.”, Adam said, a serious expression encompassing his face.

~~~~

Three years later,

‘Hup’

Lydia trained in her clearing as she had done for the past year, she had gone weary of the training but she couldn’t stop now that she knew….the truth.

She couldn’t believe that Adam had lied to her all this time…but considering his erratic behavior throughout the time they had known each other…..she probably should have known better.

“ Huuh…I’ll stop here for now,” Lydia said out loud, her voice traveled aimlessly without ever reaching anybody as she was all alone right now.

Taking a minute to catch her breath, she thought about what she should do next.

‘I suppose I’ll head back to have dinner with the others…’, she thought, already heading back.

Lydia was tired, but she had to train….until they became strong enough.

……….

Just like that…..ten years have passed within the dungeon.

~~~~~

The flow of time is convoluted, life slowly fades away as we stand helpless against this mystical phenomenon…..everything will surely fade away. But some things stand forever even withstanding the cruel passage of time.

The world remained still as Adam performed the set of ten movements for the very last time, he felt ready….barely, but that was enough for him now. To his dismay, his body still hadn’t stabilized, they concluded that since the dungeon seemed to play around with the concept of time…it might be affecting the process.

Adam didn’t let it get him down and practiced endlessly for the past ten years, these movements had been ingrained into his very being but he could feel that he had yet to reach the level he wanted but the time for training was over.

Now….it was time for action.

~~~~

“ So…you’re finally leaving…”, Luna whispered to no one in particular as the three of them sat down for their last lunch within the dungeon.

Both Lydia and Adam remained silent as Luna thought deeply.

“ Have you thought about it ?”Adam asked, breaking the long-held silence.

Luna seemed conflicted as she answered,

“ I have and…..I’ll come with you.”

Adam had approached Luna about a year ago, he wanted her to leave with them when the time came since he wanted her help to catch the killer. Initially, she seemed against the idea but with Lydia’s help…she finally relented.

The relationship between the peculiar mother and naive daughter had changed throughout these years, even though Luna tried to stay away….Lydia barged her way into Luna’s heart. But they had yet to discuss the things that mattered…..they couldn’t as they were afraid about the strain that would put on their already shaky relationship.

After a short lunch, the three of them began packing.

~~~~

“ Well…we’re here.”, Lydia said as she stared at the portal that would lead them back home.

Luna sighed and said, “ I could have broken the link easily and gotten us out of here.”

Lydia shivered slightly hearing her mother talking about splitting apart an entire dimension as if it was totally normal.

“ I told you….we need this dungeon.”, Adam answered back, staring at the portal apprehensively.

“ Fine…fine.”

“ Are we all ready ?”Luna asked, after getting a nod from her students she took a step forward and entered the portal without hesitating. Rhys purred as he also left, he had been carried by Luna even though he had grown considerably bigger….it still wasn’t anything to her.

Lydia followed after her, leaving Adam alone.

Instead of getting in, Adam turned around and took a long…deep breath, his hair had grown past his shoulder and he had grown considerably taller.

A small smile spread across his face as he bid adieu to the place he called home for the last ten years,

After that, he too walked into the portal….ready to claim what was his.

~~~~