Each sunrise is always a moment for living things to enter another phase of their lives; some consider it a new day, while others think of it as the last moments of their days.
No matter what, though, when the sun rose, the plants would always look just a bit greener, the streams would sparkle, and the birds, constant chatterers of nature would sing lovelier than ever.
This was how ecosystems with a sunrise and sunset functioned. However, in a particular forest, despite the beautiful rays bearing down on the earth, not a single one of these natural rituals was observed.
The leaves remained dull, perhaps even duller than they had been the previous night, the loud soothing sounds of the stream ceased to exist, and the birds and every animal in a 100-meter radius became sparse, all because of the phenomenon that began the evening of the previous day.
Ahhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!
If someone asked what agony looked like, then they should have a look at the man thrashing and screaming on the ground, and if they wondered what it felt like, they were welcome to ask the unfortunate being or, better yet, step into his shoes.
When Rio had given his command one last time and ended Ark, rather than be dipped in more pain as he had during his first two tries, he had felt himself instead descend into a state of extreme peace.
His consciousness became detached from the struggles of his body, floating in a world of darkness and silence, or better yet, limbo.
For some reason, rather than being terrified of this darkness which he could perceive, even without eyes, Rio found solace in it. His mind wasn't present to bring up throngs of unsung issues or pending problems; he was blank and free.
Unfortunately, his peace was short-lived because after what felt like seconds, his consciousness was taken back to his mind.
It didn't make sense for consciousness to exist without the mind, but this was the best way Rio could describe the situation he had been in.
Yet, to regain the feelings of his body, a treacherous amount of pain hit Rio, the origin of this pain a deep, long tear in his mind.
Rio could not see it, but he could feel it, and this was what made him thrash and scream on the ground for hours unending.
Consumed with agony, his pride and ego shattered, he begged and prayed for a saviour, ready to seek salvation through any means.
Reconnecting with his body at some point, Rio thought he had found salvation, but immediately realised that just because he could see the green around him did not mean he had been saved.
He didn't stop screaming but instead became aware that he was doing it, and unlike before, when he wailed in the darkness, now he helplessly shared his misery under the morning sky.
The damage to Rio's mind was still there, and till it healed, he was going to remain dipped in pain.
Rio was in a horrible state where he understood what was happening to him but could not think about it, and as more time passed, the pain from his body added to his misery, he began looking towards death.
Watching him from not too far away, seated on its paws, were the two-headed direhog, its eyes full of sadness as it stared at Rio's broken form.
It had been carrying him, fleeing from the evil woman and the screams reverberating through the hills, when he had suddenly become violent and thrown himself off its back.
The two-headed direhog had growled and roared, trying to get him back to normalcy, to no avail.
Seeing him hurl himself at trees and rocks, they had tried to hold him down, but the end result was a bad beat-up that left it still feeling pain in its right side and left front limb.
Throughout last night, Rio had been like this, remaining the same this morning, and what now scared the two heads was that though his movements had gotten significantly weaker, the madness and pain in his eyes were still strong.
Rio's reckless movement was causing him to worsen the injuries he had already sustained from battling Ark, and now his exhausted body was dying.
Whimpers left the maws of both heads, sadness in their eyes, but they were powerless to do a thing.
The situation with Rio didn't change even when the sun reached its highest point, but sometime after it began going down, both heads growled, the beast standing to its feet dangerously.
Though they had been hurt, none of it showed on their faces as they looked around in search of the presence that had just arrived.
"Aren't you two the cutest?" A sweet voice said from behind the beasts, making them growl and turn around in shock, their maws trembling.
Unfortunately, their growls didn't bother the female in the least as she, without bother, took a seat beside them.
Realising their act was achieving nothing and remembering that this very woman had easily caught them, they both yipped at each other and decided to seek help rather than defend their pride.
They both turned to the beautiful woman, but before they could let out a word, she grabbed them, her hold causing them to freeze, then placing them on her thighs, which men would so graciously kill to lie on, she spoke.
"There's nothing I can do for him, he played god, now he's suffering for it."
Forgetting that their savage forms were being petted by the woman with worried gazes, they yipped at her.
"No, there is a chance he won't die. In fact, I'm betting that he won't because luckily, he has something which would help him live through this, the question is if his mind can survive being put through such torture."
"Yip Yip!"
"Of course, I'll help him if I can. I want him to join my team," Catherine said, waving her hand at Rio, her staff appearing from thin air.
Floating over to his form, dots of green fell from the staff, and as these lights fell on Rio, his wounds began healing.