Arthur lunged from his spot against the wall in a cold sweat, about to manifest his sword before landing his eyes on Luke, who coiled back with shock lining his eyes.
"Relax! It's just me, Arthur," Luke said, hands raised in a placating gesture, his expression shifting from surprise to concern.
Arthur let go of a held breath of restlessness and fell back against the cold stone wall, remembering that he was safe and with his friend. His pulse gradually slowed as reality settled back around him.
"S-sorry," he mumbled, his voice rough from sleep, throat parched from the long night.
Luke smiled and sat next to him, "No worries, man. I get it... it's been rough out here."
Arthur sighed and relaxed back on the cold stone wall, looking up at the blue sky overhead. The day appeared peaceful—deceptively so, given the world they now inhabited. Suddenly, a splitting headache came on with a sense of déjà vu, and he remembered that weird dream.
Arthur's head was splitting, and he was being filled with all the feelings from his dream. It was overwhelming... he couldn't explain it, but he felt like they needed to leave... they needed to get as far away from here as possible because something wasn't right here. The pressure behind his eyes built until he could barely focus, the stone walls of the temple behind him seeming to pulse with an unseen energy.
Luke looked at him, concerned. "You okay?"
Arthur was rubbing his temples before taking a deep breath and looking at his friend. "I don't know, I- I think we should leave... now." His voice trembled slightly, betraying the anxiety coursing through him.
Luke's shock was obvious as it was painted over his face. "W-what? Why? What's going on?" His brows furrowed deeply, confusion evident in every line of his expression.
Arthur stood up and patted the dust off his robes, his movements jerky and urgent. "I-I don't know, but something isn't right here. We need to go." The ancient stone beneath his feet felt suddenly alien, as though the temple itself was rejecting his presence.
Luke stood up, still very confused as Arthur was seemingly ready to break out into a sprint. He put a hand on his shoulder, the touch grounding and firm. "Whoa, whoa, hold on... Take a breath. What's going on?"
Arthur had another headache take over and squatted over the ground, holding his head in pain. The agony was blinding, white-hot spikes driving into his skull from all directions. "I don't- I don't know, but this place isn't right... it feels like my head's gonna explode, and I don't know why, but my gut tells me it won't stop till I get as far away from here as possible."
The pain pulsed with the rhythm of his heartbeat, each throb threatening to tear his consciousness apart. The worn stones of the temple floor felt cool against his palms as he braced himself, trying to endure the assault on his senses.
Arthur rubbed his temples till the pain diminished and slowly stood up again to find his friend looking very concerned as he placed a hand on his back.
"Okay, just calm down... I don't think we should leave. I mean, look at the condition you're in. We'll die if we leave right now... And plus, whatever is going on with you has nothing to do with the temple. I've been here for almost two weeks, remember? And I haven't had any issues, so I don't think leaving will help. Instead, I think we should stay, and you should sleep it off or something."
The sunlight painted luke's face in warmth. His eyes were earnest, his concern genuine.
Arthur was reluctant hearing his words but couldn't help but believe in the mouth they were coming from... he trusted Luke, and he might be right. After all, Luke wasn't experiencing anything like this, so it couldn't be the temple itself. So who's to say it would even get better if he left? And if he did leave and it didn't get better, he'd be in some deep water if nightreavers came.
'Maybe I should just sleep it off tonight and reassess the situation tomorrow, Arthur thought, the rational part of his mind fighting against the instinctual urge to flee.'
Arthur sighed and looked at his friend with weary, tired eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right... We'll stay one more night." The words felt heavy on his tongue, as though some part of him recognized their importance.
Luke smiled and helped Arthur sit back down against the wall. The cool stone at his back was reassuring in its solidity as he stared into the open expanse of the dead roses taking in the beauty of something so deadly was an odd feeling.
They would sit, talk, and laugh the rest of the day until nighttime came to sweep them away from their tiredness. Arthur laughed at Luke's jokes, shared memories of better days, and they passed around a jar of water taking small sips throughout the day until it was finished. But beneath it all, that sense of wrongness lingered.
The sun's journey across the sky seemed faster than usual, the shadows lengthening across the temple with alarming speed. As darkness fell, the temple and the field in front of it took on a different character—more ominous, more ancient. The whispers of the wind sounded almost like voices, speaking in a language long forgotten.
Arthur had a harder time getting to sleep, being plagued by these odd feelings. Every time he closed his eyes, fragments of his dreams would flash behind his eyelids—blurred figures, muffled voices, overwhelming emotions. His body ached for rest, but his mind refused to quiet.
But eventually, his exhaustion consumed him, and he faded away into the embrace of sleep. The last thing he saw was the moonlight streaming down upon him, illuminating him and his friend as they fell asleep against the ancient temple walls.
And then, once again, he experienced a dream for the first time...