At Peace Among My Demons

Dressed in crimson red, from head to toe, the Minister of Fear had a shoking realisation : not only were the demons going about this realm were now aware of him, they were flocking around him, stealing curious looks at his peculiar appearance.

He just walked out of the Great-Grey-Tower, at quite a pace, his clothes flapping in the high wind of the valley of the flower's shadow. Above everything was not a sky but the glowing aura of an immense flower, and in it's shadow were a buzzing realm of impossible beings of all shape and nature.

To his left the man witnessed a Bored-white, one of the many names he came up with to differenciate the multitude of apparitions, or demons, he came to see, as he made his way to the end of the Valley. The Bored-White was hovering a few inches from the mossy floor, as if avoiding the miasm. Under it's skin was a shadow of nothingness, that became visible as it moved. In it's path the Bored-White would travel as if unconscious, only to react strongly to whatever it was seeing at that time, be it another apparition or the landscape. After a few moments of what seemed like a horrifying study, the demon started drifing off again.

Thing is, the Minister was the only one leaving footsteps, every other beings were either flowing freely in the air, at a maddening slow pace, or walking on multiple limbs, somehow their motion not leaving a damn trace. He was also the only one to have a proper consciousness, since every other were more simple beings, with one dominant behavior. From what he could observe, at least.

To his right a Ooze-Dark, this sort of aggressive looking blob of black liquid. It's head was focused on something in the great distance, some sort of all important truth, since no matter what motion it's body would choose, it's head was always in a fixed position, as if in a staring contest with a distant opponant. Almost like an owl, twisting it's head multiple times in a row, it's body rotating around it. Some times, as if pushed or startled, the Ooze-Dark would accelerate or stop completely, for a few moments.

With his many travels the Minister of Fears noted that most apparitions had incomprehensive behaviors. Some smaller ones used to gather and ''talk'' to each others, he called them ''Scheemers''. Yet every time he tried to eavesdrop he could only hear gibberish. Maybe it was a sick joke. Maybe they were plotting a coup, or simply talking about the weather. As he took a look at his pocket watch, a sort of alarm, or signal reasonated through the valley, causing great commotion. Even far away apparitions seemed to hurry at the sound.

As they all lined up, like proper minions, the Minister began to make his way between them, inspecting and examining them. He was going at quite the pace, since no time was to be wasted before he reached the end of the valley. He had things to do, places to be. He reached the end of the line, but instead of going his merry way the Minister decided to hang around a bit, to find out what was the point of such an arrangement. Never had he witnessed the apparitions organising themselves in such fashion, and he was quite curious.

A sort of fanfare begun, and from one of the petal of the skyflower, purple clouds emerged, and approached the ground, at the very beginning of the congregation, not far from the Great-Grey-Tower. A sort of heavy-ness filled the air, as a figure emerged from the clouds, now hovering slightly above the miasma. The Minister was quite far away, at the end of the line, so he couldn't clearly see who or what it was. As it walked down it seemed as though the numerous apparitions followed her, en masse. A few moments later he could finally see her, a tall feminine figure, with red clothes and antennas.

As the Queen gazed upon him he had a sudden urge to flee. He tried to run away as fast as possible, to put as much distance between them. After all, the end of the valley was near. As he ran out of breath, the Minister turned around, gasping for air, to see if they would pursue him. He realised soon enough that he had not taken a single step, he was still right there in front of her Majesty, her massive compound eyes and antennas studying him, as he was seemingly paralysed. Only his red clothes were flapping in the wind, a maddening sound, the rest of the realm having seemingly stopped. He felt as a living book, that some higher being was skimming through, with no regards for it's horror.

Ironic, he had chosen his title properly, being the Minister of Fears and all.

The Queen then seemed to get quite bored, saying some impossible sentences he couldn't quite understand, and she vanished, engulfed in a cloud of purple smoke. At long last he could move, and move he did, as he pulled up his red clothes to his mouth, covering his breath from the clouds, as he figured they may have mixed with the miasma. The Minister lost no more time and got going, his only wish to be as far away from there as possible.

But something had changed. The once peaceful apparitions were now seemingly aware of him, and were stealing curious looks. How peculiar he felt, to be noticed by such beings after being ignored for so long. Did the Queen make him visible to them somehow? Just thinking about her made the Minister sick and dizzy, a cold sweat forming on his forehead.

He kept walking, but the end of the Valley was still ways to go.

He kept walking, yet the Great-Grey-Tower behind him stayed the same distance.

He kept walking, and wondered what time it was. He had places to be, things to do. He had checked his pocket watch before her Majesty had appeared, but he forgot, due to the nature of the events. The Minister took out his pocket watch, only to see that time wasn't flowing.

What? One second would pass, then it would dial back, forever. His mouth was dry, his eyes red. He had his pocket watch at arm's lenght, in front of his eyes, and once he looked up, he noticed that the demons he studied so often were now surrounding him.

To his left, a Bored-White. To his right, two Black-Ooze, and many Scheemers and a plethora of other apparitions were seemingly captivated by his presence. He raised his arm, and the now the countless beings laid their gaze upon the pocket watch. The pocket watch was not a pocket watch to them, it was as a black hole, an anomaly, absorbing both the light and the gaze of onlookers.

The Minister of Fears let the watch rotate, and in a short glimpse he caught a reflection in the shiny metal. A sort of red flower, it's petals flapping in the wind of the Valley, it's face stuck in perpetual horror. If he were to give a name to this new apparition, it would be ''Timely-CrimsonFlower''.

The Minister of Fears had a sudden grand idea, and in a moment of pure spontaneity he swallowed the pocket watch, to the horror of the many demons around him. Soon enough, to his relief, the normal state of affairs came back to the Valley. Apparitions were going on about their incomprehensive goals, and he could finally get away from this place.

In a few moments he reached the end of the valley, entered a hollow door and sighed, alone at last. He walked down a grey corridor, and remembered that he had business on the other side of the Valley. He arrived at the Great-Grey-Tower, opened the great portal and felt the high wind of the Valley of the flower's shadow, home to impossible beings of all shape and nature.

To his surprise the Minister of Fears met a new demon along the way, oddly familiar. It reminded him of his own clothes, with the red petals flapping in the wind. What a grotesque apparition, he thought, as he went on his way. I don't think I'll even come up with a name for that one.