Paradise Lost (JSAB)

It's Trying to Say Something

TEN THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED WORDS

THAT'S A NEW RECORD

0610 Hours, Tower, earlier that day.

Of all things Barracuda was expecting, a loud ringing phone and about five missed calls all from Fresh was not one of them. She blinked confusedly at the notifications, wondering why the hell Fresh would be calling her when he knew she wouldn't even be awake at this time.

Nonetheless, she groaned, and face planted back into the pillow. A handful of snakes atop her head took the phone, wrapped around it and bought it close to her ear.

A/N: Fun fact! Due to the snakes on her head, Barracuda has to literally sleep on her stomach burying her face in the pillow or she'll squash all of them. So she resembles a worm. It's quite funny. Fresh walked into her room while she was taking a nap once (he thought he left his jacket there and she didn't respond when he knocked so he assumed she was out), thought it was hilarious, took a picture, and she quickly became a meme in the Tower. Needless to say she was pissed. Fresh apologised later though.

"What the fuck do you want, asshole?" She snapped. Someone's not a morning person. "It's literally-"

"What time is it?" Fresh interrupted, voice sharp and surprisingly tense, almost anxious.

Barracuda was highly confused about that strange question. "...Ten past six...?"

"And the date?"

"It literally says on your phone, the phone you're using to call me right now, can't you check it yourself or are you brain dead?"

"May 24? Is that right?"

"Yes. Yes, May 24. God damnit, Fresh, did you seriously call me at six in the morning just to ask me what date and time it was???"

"It just felt like I was asleep for days."

"Fucking hell, what time did you go to bed?"

"Literally twenty minutes ago, but it felt like I had been sleeping for hundreds of hours."

"Lucky you. For me I can sleep for hundreds of hours and feel like I've only been sleeping for twenty minutes." 

"This is not a joke, Barracuda." Fresh snapped. "It was such a strange sensation, so unnatural. Like I was trapped in my dream."

"And you decide to call me?" 

"...Yes." 

"Has this ever happened before?"

"Barracuda in all my two thousand years of living never have I felt like I had been permanently trapped inside a dream. I don't know if you know this, but I hate feeling trapped." 

"And lemme guess, you panicked."

"...Yes."

"Wow. The great King of Corruption, His Majesty Fresh himself-" 

"Shut up."

"Panicking because of a nightmare like a six-year-old."

Fresh went quiet.

"What was the dream, though?"

"I was just surrounded by flames. That's literally it, nothing more, nothing less, just fire all around me. Pure heat. For hours on end."

"So you went to hell."

"Well-"

"Not surprised. Anything else you want to tell me, before I block your number and sleep for another five hours?"