Prologue:

"Max. Max..." His hands glide over the golden strands hanging from the ceiling, glittering despite the room's black walls and dim lights. "Max is a smart little boy," he murmurs, allowing his long, spindly fingers to fall. "Don't worry, Uki," he says, turning to her, sending a shiver down her spine as if an everlasting cold was settling in. "I won't hurt him... badly." An almost silent snicker escapes him as he turns back sharply to the place where golden watches tick rapidly. Tick. Tick. Tick. He focuses on one watch in particular: Maximus Manga’s.


Uki clears her throat. "Sir, he is just a kid. He didn't know what he was doing. He doesn't deserve any form of punishment. He's too young."
 

"Sixteen is not that young," he interrupts, and she hears rattling from next door, where his wild beasts live. "And even if he didn't understand it, he did it anyway." The rattling slowly grows louder during the tension between them. "Why didn't you feed them?" he asks as he holds the watch carelessly tight, almost crushing it.


"I was busy. I have my own job to do, you know."
 

"I do, but you have always found a moment to do it. You know you could have just asked for some help?" She shrugs. If she could, she would have set his own 'pets' on him. He has always been so careful... he wouldn't — no, couldn't — change now that Max changed things a little. Right?


"I know what you are thinking," his snake-like voice wraps around her, threatening to crush her ribs. "Max won't make Horace change. Horace has always been a good boy," he mocks. "Think again. I don’t care for anyone. Not even you." He lets his grip on her loosen. "Now get to work before you suffer the same fate as him."


"You wouldn't..."


"I would," he challenges her, but she backs away, knowing that going against him won't help. "Run along now." 


“You do care for Morana, though. You’ve become so reckless since she left.” Uki backs away towards the doorway. “She would be destroyed if she saw you like this.”


“Good thing she will never see me again.” When Uki is gone, Horace calls up his model of the dimensions. Lights of all colours dance across it, weaving in and out to make an intricate web. He sighs before slowing everything in the room down ten times. "Where are you hiding?” he mutters. After poking around a while, he finds what he is looking for: a minuscule lime-coloured dot near the centre of the model. “Peek-a-boo," Horace gasps. If he had a heart, it would have jumped right out. A lilac dot. Right next to Max’s “It can’t be.” Redetermined, Horace snarls, “I’ll fix it all. I always do. I’ll get Morana back. And I’ll get rid of Max." He hates the word. Max. 

Everything turns jet-black.