《Discorder: Heart of Fear》 Chapter 1: Whats It Worth? ¡°You¡¯ll find your perfect human with these funny alien costumes!¡± a strange sci-fi magazine seemed to scream from its front pages. ¡°Like any human would ever find me perfect.¡± a bitter voice hissed as the magazine was thrown in the garbage. ¡°To be honest, who in their right mind would find THAT attractive?¡± Saken muttered under his breath, continuing his long trek to school. Saken Kenji wasn¡¯t in the best of moods today, nor had he been in a while. After being rejected by his crush for the third time, he decided he was done trying to pursue a relationship, they never seemed to work out in his family anyway. His dad left him when he was only three and Saken¡¯s mother decided to turn to alcohol as a solution. She passed away in a car wreck three weeks ago. To make a long story short, Saken was done with his life and wanted a new one. He adjusted his headphones and played his favorite song on max volume while he took a shortcut to school. The sun is awfully bright today, he thought. When he finally arrived at school there was no one outside. ¡°Oh no! The bell¡¯s about to ring!¡± As if it heard him the bell sounded, it¡¯s long tolls spelling tardiness for Saken. He rushed through the hallways to his class room, barely making it before the bell finished its call. ¡°You''re real lucky kid,¡± the homeroom teacher said, ¡°next time I won¡¯t be so forgiving.¡± Saken swallowed nervously and went to go sit in his seat, grateful for the rest after sprinting down the halls. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°You good mate?¡± a voice asked from Saken¡¯s side. ¡°Yeah,¡± another whispered from behind, ¡°you sound out of breath.¡± ¡°I had to run or I would¡¯ve been late. Otherwise I would¡¯ve been screwed!¡± Saken responded to his friends, Dante and Dumont. Saken met his best friends in the third grade and has stuck with them through everything. They had also stuck with Saken through the death of his mother. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have had to run if you woke up earlier.¡± Dante responded. ¡°True but like, I NEED SLEEP.¡± Saken said. ¡°Then go to bed earlier.¡± Dante fired back dryly. ¡°What were you even doing last night?¡± Dumont asked. ¡°Uhhhhhhhhhhhh¡­¡± Saken was hesitant to answer the question. He stayed up until three am last night watching his favorite YouTuber Grain. ¡°You were up all night, weren¡¯t you?¡± Dante asked disappointedly. ¡°Not all night! Just until three am.¡± Saken responded sheepishly. ¡°GO TO BE-¡± Dante was cut off abruptly by the teacher calling the class to start. Saken daydreamed during homeroom like he always does. He reminisced about his life so far and what he could¡¯ve done differently, before discarding it and fantasizing about relationships instead. After school Saken decided to take the whole walk home instead of the shortcut so he can look at the stars. Saken has always enjoyed stargazing, a hobby he shares with Dumont. After a long trek home, he scavenged up some food from the fridge, making a mental note to visit the grocery store tomorrow. After a quick shower Saken hopped into bed and fell asleep after asking, ¡°I wonder if tomorrow will be any different.¡± Chapter 2: New World, New Life Saken woke up the next day feeling worse than he did yesterday. He felt hot and sweaty, he felt like he couldn¡¯t breathe, and his limbs were heavy and weak. ¡°I must be sick.¡± Saken thought to himself. But if he missed a single day of school, he¡¯d be expelled, and he¡¯d rather not take that chance. Even still, a little cold won¡¯t stop him. He got up and almost immediately face planted. ¡°This is going to be a long day.¡± Saken groaned at the floor. On his way to school Saken checked his phone and wished he hadn¡¯t, he had a message from both Dumont and Dante saying that they wouldn¡¯t be attending school for their own reasons. This saddened Saken greatly, he would be alone for the next few days. He shrugged it off, not much he could do about it, no use complaining about the situation. When he arrived he was thankful to see he was not late, so he took his time entering. No one paid attention to Saken, not anymore. Once he was the center of attention, the top of the school, the most popular and well known student in the school. Now he¡¯s just another ordinary Joe in the sea of other people. When he reached homeroom, no one else was there. Which is strange, where was everyone? School was about to start and not a single student, not even the teacher was there. Saken found this immensely suspicious, but eventually it grew into confusion as the bell wouldn¡¯t ring. ¡°Huh?¡± Saken muttered looking at the clock and seeing that it had stopped as well. That was definitely not supposed to happen, especially since they had just changed the clock¡¯s battery three days ago. ¡°This is weird¡­¡± Saken trailed off as he heard his favorite song being played from somewhere else in the school. Getting up, he exited the classroom to investigate. As he walked down the hallways, he could hear the lyrics echoing through the now empty school. Saken once again wondered where everyone had gone but he continued walking. ¡°Old life of pain¡­¡± Saken jumped from how close it sounded. ¡°You¡¯ve caused me such strain¡­¡± Saken was having issues finding the source of the music. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Looking at what I thought I knew¡­¡± Saken saw a classroom he¡¯s never entered before slightly open, as he got closer the haunting music became louder. ¡°... I never needed you.¡± As Saken entered the classroom he was surprised to find it exactly the same as his own classroom, even down to the drawings hung on the wall by his friend¡¯s and crush, and the many other creative students in his class. ¡°When everything you know has long ago said goodbye¡­¡± Saken looked around the room and saw a small music box. Curious, he walked towards it to get a closer look. ¡°How far would you be willing to go¡­¡± He slowly reached for the music box. ¡°To begin cutting the ties.¡± The music abruptly ends as he picks up the box. ¡°What are you?¡± Saken whispered to the box, not expecting it to answer him. He gave it a closer look before suddenly feeling very dizzy, he dropped the box as his hand started to tingle. ¡°What¡¯s happening-¡± Saken cut himself off with a cry of pain from a sudden splitting headache. Saken closes his eyes and the pain starts to subside. As quickly as it came, the agony ended and Saken seemed to notice that he was no longer on the floor, but bent over a desk laying on his arms like he was asleep. ¡°Was it all a dream?¡± Saken questioned himself, before noticing something hard painfully digging into his arms. Raising his head he came face to face with a monsterly mangled face. Flinching away from the sight, Saken noticed that the face was attached to an inhumanly long neck and noticed the rest of the body standing by the blackboard at the front of the classroom. ¡°So you¡¯re finally awake, are you?¡± The disgusting creature spat out the words like it had been chewing on rotten tobacco for a while. Saken was too shell shocked and genuinely terrified to answer before noticing his reflection. He had grown black horns from above his temples, curling around his head in almost an ebony crown. The whites of his eyes had turned an inky black and his irises had become a pure white like snow. His hair and skin were a beautiful white too, no signs of the acne that once plagued him can be found. Saken stared in shock at the reflection, he didn¡¯t know what this beautiful devil was, but it was still him. When Saken looked past his reflection, his fear returned like a great flood. The world outside looked like it was slowly crumbling and destroying itself from the inside out. A great score of nightmares Saken had when he was younger can be seen running through the streets cackling cheerfully. Saken had no idea where he was or what had happened, but he was afraid. He had never felt such fear in his life, and he knew deep in his gut that this terror would become his life now. Chapter 3: Darkness, as far as the Eye can See Saken stared at the destruction playing out below him, he was still frozen in shock. Saken couldn¡¯t think, he couldn¡¯t process the amount of information being thrown directly in his face. If he wasn¡¯t already sitting, he would¡¯ve collapsed into the nearest chair. It took him a full three minutes before he realized that the other people weren¡¯t humans either. There were zombies, werewolves, ghosts, and many more that he couldn¡¯t name. Saken was convinced that he was going to die of shock before the teacher asked his name. ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Saken was so lost in his thoughts he only barely registered that the teacher was talking to him ¡°What¡¯s your name child?¡± The teacher repeated grumpily. ¡°S-Saken Kenji ma¡¯am.¡± Saken suddenly wondered if this was actually a woman. ¡°Saken. Hm, yes I see- so you¡¯re new around here?¡± The teacher questioned. ¡°Well-¡± Saken didn¡¯t want to admit that he had come here accidentally. ¡°Don¡¯t even try to lie, you appeared in that seat with quite the show. Stirring up wind, blinding half the class and scaring the other half that couldn¡¯t see in the first place.¡± The teacher lectured. Guess that cat was never in the bag. ¡°O-Okay yeah¡­ I¡¯m not from around here.¡± Saken admitted sheepishly. ¡°Well in that case we¡¯re changing up the lesson then.¡± The teacher said, erasing what she wrote from the blackboard. ¡°Wait what?¡± Saken¡¯s heart jumped to his throat when suddenly every student stood up at once and stared at him with big grinning faces. ¡°Class! Let¡¯s show him how this world works.¡± She smiled menacingly as the entire class attacked. Saken¡¯s first instinct was to grab the arms of the student closest to him, and throw them at someone else. This worked but he only took out three students and before he even had a chance to breathe he was completely surrounded by the rest of them. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°You managed to take out three?¡± scoffed a voice in the crowd. ¡°It¡¯s gonna take a lot more than that to save yourself.¡± Giggled a female voice from off to Saken¡¯s left side. Saken didn¡¯t respond as he tackled a student at the thinnest part of the crowd. ¡°Don¡¯t let him get away!!¡± screamed someone but they were too slow, Saken had already escaped the classroom and was running down the halls full sprint. ¡°I have to find the way out of her-¡± Saken was jerked to a halt as something grabbed him by the head and lifted him off his feet. ¡°And what are you running from so fast?¡± a surprisingly sweet voice said. Saken was too stunned from the grab to respond, he wheezed out something about his classmates trying to kill him but that was about as much as he could get out. ¡°Awwww so the new blood is getting hunted down, is he? That¡¯s cute.. The vampires are always starving for some fresh meat.¡± The voice giggled at his situation. Saken finally managed to look at who was talking to her, and his terror hit him like a frieght train. The woman was long and skinny, her limbs lanky and her hands had huge claws at the tips. Her hair was a long and tangled black mess, but her face was quite the sight. With sickly pale skin she had startlingly blue eyes. It reminded Saken of a sunny day in his hometown. Saken then saw the mouth, and almost screamed. Her jaw reached her chest, and down her throat there were rows upon rows of sharp fangs lining her esophagus. She smiled at Saken and now he felt like he was gonna die. ¡°I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± Saken was not expecting kindness here. ¡°You won¡¯t?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t like the way the school treats newbies.¡± She set him down gently. ¡°Do you have a place I can hide?¡± Saken asked her. ¡°Mmmmm¡­ I do. You probably wouldn¡¯t like it.¡± She responded ¡°Where is- nevermind. I¡¯m going to hide in the empty classroom.¡± Saken muttered as he opened the closet door. ¡°Hope you stay alive.¡± The girl smiled as she wished him luck. ¡°Thanks- but before you go, what¡¯s your name?¡± Saken asked. ¡°Mina. Mina Shindu.¡± Mina replied leaving before Saken could tell her his name. ¡°Mina¡­¡± Saken whispered her name under his breath. ¡°She could be an ally.¡± he thought before slipping away into the shadows to make a plan to escape this hell. Chapter 4: When the Rake Meets the Devil Mina continued her walk to the cafeteria. She had found the boy interesting, but he had to fight off the rest of his class by himself if he wanted to survive this world. ¡°Maybe we can be friends if he survives.¡± She thought but discarded it, no one survives the opening test of resilience. Mina was born into a family of Rakes, man-eating monsters whose body stretched and worked in unnatural ways. She was lucky she was born with only a stretched mouth and not a mutilated body like her little brother did. She continued her way until finding the cafeteria. It was empty like usual, no one ate lunch at the school but she personally liked the food better than what everyone else would call food. Arriving at the counter, she asked the lunch lady for her usual. ¡°Coming right up.¡± The kind hearted siren behind the counter wheeled away to get her the food. ¡°Do you need any help?¡± Mina asked. ¡°No no no, It¡¯s alright darling I got it-¡± the lunch lady said from somewhere in the kitchen. Mina patiently waited, most people got frustrated by how slow she was but Mina knew that trying to work in a wheelchair was frustrating. The lunch lady got the food to her a minute later. ¡°Enjoy!¡± The siren smiled with all her pointed teeth, she was genuinely grateful for Mina visiting her everyday. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°I will.¡± Mina smiled as she took her plate to a table near the back of the cafeteria. She ate her meal for a total of three seconds before an entire class burst through the door following the guy from earlier. Mina realized the situation and was about to step in when the boy flipped around suddenly and took the head off a zombie girl and started using it as a weapon. She was impressed and when a vampire tried to get him from behind he kicked her across the cafeteria. Mina was amazed as he slowly but surely took at every single one of his classmates and the only one left standing was her and him. ¡°I never got to tell you my name.¡± He said. She smiled. ¡°Maybe I judged you wrong.¡± He smiled back ¡°Saken Kenji is a man who defies expectations!¡± Mina laughed. ¡°Alright mister corny, you came from another world right?¡± Saken¡¯s demeanor changed. ¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°Word travels fast.¡± Mina replied, ¡°You¡¯ve been the talk of school for a while now.¡± Saken looked worried, ¡°Maybe sleeping outside was a good idea after all.¡± Mina laughed, ¡°Good luck with that.¡± She got up and left the cafeteria. A few hours later, Mina was cleaning up after her last club activity and just happened to look out the window. She was not happy to see smoke rising from the wooded area behind the school. She quickly finished what she was doing and rushed outside. What Mina found didn¡¯t surprise her. Saken was trying to light a fire and nearly set the woods behind the school on fire. She sighed and helped Saken put out the fire. Mina looked at Saken and asked, ¡°Would you rather just stay with me?¡± Saken lowered his head, hiding his face. ¡°If you would be so kind.¡± Mina rolled her eyes, ¡°Alright c¡¯mon firestarter, let¡¯s get you home.¡± Chapter 5: A Rake鈥檚 Kin Saken wasn¡¯t sure what to expect when he arrived at Mina¡¯s house, but he definitely wasn¡¯t expecting an almost completely normal house. The only noticeable difference was the walls seemed to literally be painted with blood. This put Saken on edge as Mina opened the door. ¡°I¡¯m home!¡± She called into the house. ¡°Welcome home!¡± A disgusting deformed beast scurred out to meet them. Saken didn¡¯t even know how to describe how utterly sick and sorry he felt looking at the awful shape of its body. What surprised Saken even more is when Mina picked it up and hugged it. ¡°Hey Lional. Have you been good to mom and dad?¡± She asked him. Lional took a deep and shaky breath, like inhaling was a challenge. ¡°Yeah!¡± He suddenly seemed to notice Saken standing behind her. ¡°Hey sis¡­ who¡¯s this?¡± Mina smiled. ¡°A friend from school.¡± Saken waved sheepishly. ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Saken.¡± Lional narrowed his eyes at him. ¡°Why is he here?¡± ¡°He needs a place to stay,¡± Mina said, setting him down. ¡°So he¡¯ll be staying with us.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Lional then turned his attention to Saken once more. ¡°If you do anything to my sister, I¡¯ll send you to meet your maker with my bare hands.¡± Lional said threatenly. Saken looked over Lional¡¯s malformed body and shrugged. ¡°Thanks for the warning I guess-¡± Saken was interrupted by a much larger Rake woman coming into view. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had friends Mina.¡± The woman was so thin she almost looked two dimensional, like if a fictional character came to the real world. Saken was at a loss for words, he had to crane his neck up to look it in the face. ¡°H-Hello¡­ My name¡¯s Saken Kenji.¡± Saken stuttered out. A long hand came down and grabbed Saken¡¯s cheeks, crushing his jaw from the pressure. ¡°I am called Juno.¡± The beast said quietly, squeezing harder. Saken was afraid he was gonna have to fight this creature then Mina stepped in. ¡°Mooooooooom! He¡¯s my friend! Don¡¯t hurt him!¡± Mina then pried her mother¡¯s grip off of him. ¡°You ok?¡± Mina asked Saken. Saken rolled his jaw around. ¡°I¡¯ll live.¡± He said. Mina nodded and then went inside. Lional looked at Saken and stuck his tongue out at him before scurrying back inside. Saken would¡¯ve been offended if he wasn¡¯t so impressed that Lional was physically capable of doing that. He was about to enter the house when a literal ball of flesh and fat with a face rolled up to the house calling out, ¡°Honey, I¡¯m hooome!¡± Saken was rather disturbed but when he looked back at Mina he could see the happiness on her face. ¡°Maybe they aren¡¯t as bad as I thought.¡± Saken said before helping the father in. Chapter 6: A Family of Flaws Saken may have been a little too optimistic. The household was so much worse than he expected. Saken watched in horror as Mina¡¯s mother pulled out a human like it was roast turkey, told them all to dig in, and was left with nothing but a pinkie toe and an appendix for his meal. ¡°I¡¯m not really hungry.¡± Saken said, tossing the meat to Lional. He snatched it out of the air and swallowed it whole. ¡°Your loss.¡± Lional said while licking his lips. Saken left to explore the house. After wandering for a bit he saw Mina¡¯s father sorting an assortment of strange animal parts; wings, claws, beaks, and fangs could all be seen laid out carefully on the table. Saken must have alerted him because Mina¡¯s father suddenly turned to face him. ¡°Interested in what you see? Come take a look.¡±He beckoned Saken did and was quite impressed by the odd collection he had. ¡°I¡¯m trying to get Mina and Juno into it as well.¡± ¡°How should I address you sir?¡± Saken asked He smiled, ¡°I am called Albert.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Pleased to meet you.¡± Saken replied. ¡°You too.¡± Albert returned to his collection and Saken went to continue exploring the house. He eventually found Juno in the garden watering a dangerous plant and Saken realized, once again, that he wasn¡¯t home. She simply smiled as he inched away and ran back inside. ¡°Where¡¯s the bathroom?¡± Saken asked ¡°Upstairs, third door on the left.¡± Albert responded. Saken thanked Albert and headed upstairs to relieve himself. Once he had found the door he was looking for, he opened the door and came face-to-face with Mina getting ready for a shower. Saken¡¯s brain didn¡¯t register what he was seeing for a second but a second was too long. Mina screamed and slapped Saken out of the room, into the wall and slammed the door shut. ¡°My apologies¡­¡± Saken wheezed out before falling unconscious. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mina stood there in embarrassment. ¡°This was a mistake¡± she thought. She took a quick shower after locking the door, learning her lesson from this experience. After she got out Saken was not where she left him. After wandering the house she found Saken on the bed in the guest room. She sat on the bedside and looked Saken over. ¡°Why am I doing this? I don¡¯t know this guy at all, and here I am looking over him like I¡¯m his elderly wife or something.¡± Mina thought to herself. But after taking another look at his sleeping face, she realized why. He was dragged into this world and this life, he did nothing to deserve it. So why was he here? She shook her head, these questions wouldn¡¯t be answered anytime soon. She placed a protective hand on his head and decided to protect this unfortunate soul. It was the least she could do. Chapter 7: Everything You Loved Saken woke up the next day ravenous. He wished he had eaten that meat last night. Looking around he saw it was still dark outside. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to scavenge.¡± he mumbled to himself. But as he sat up he saw Mina asleep by his bedside. Saken was slightly confused but decided to let Mina sleep. He managed to pick her up and laid her in the bed and left to find some food. As he went downstairs though something greeted him. It was a tall shadow man, with tiny white dots for eyes. Saken was frozen in fear, staring into those cold white eyes. Then it spoke in a strangely normal voice, ¡°It seems you¡¯ve settled here in the world of Discorder.¡± Its voice was cold and cruel, like It knows every horrible thing Saken has ever done. ¡°W-who are you??¡± Saken stuttered out. The thing laughed, ¡°I¡¯m the one who brought you here.¡± he answered harshly. Saken was confused, ¡°Why..?¡± The thing cackled again. ¡°Because I was watching you. I saw how you suffered. So I¡¯m going to make you suffer more. You lost everything you loved in your past life, and you¡¯re gonna lose everything you ever loved in this life too!¡± This time it¡¯s laughs sounded purely insane. Saken was taken aback, ¡°Who the heck are you anyway?!¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The thing answered simply. ¡°I¡¯m called the Sadist and I¡¯m here to make sure you are the saddest being to exist.¡± He gave the Sadist a look, ¡°Did you seriously just make a pun off your-¡± ¡°Silence!¡± It shrieked, ¡°I have done what I set out to do.¡± With that it vanished. Leaving Saken to his thoughts. Who was he? And was all the pain¡­ no, Saken couldn¡¯t jump to conclusions. For now he had to make plans to protect everyone. His stomach interrupted his thoughts, and he decided to tell the Shindus what he saw in the morning. As he rummaged through the fridge, he pulled out some edible looking vegetables and meats, and prepared a small sandwich for himself. Thankfully his instincts were correct, and it was actually pretty good. As he cleaned up after himself, he looked outside and stopped for the first time since he got here to marvel at the beauty he saw. The stars twinkled and the moon shone brightly. The sky was not black, but rather a very deep blue. He looked up at the constellations and saw several he recognized. It was a reminder that this was Earth too, just not the one he¡¯s used too. After he finished washing the dishes he went back upstairs. He saw Mina in the bed and realized this would be very awkward to wake up too, so he went back downstairs and slept on the couch for the rest of the night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saken woke up to the sound of fire crackling and laughter. He couldn¡¯t open his eyes or move. He heard screaming and crying faintly, but then he heard Mina wail and was able to move again. He sat up and nearly cried out himself, he was in agony. He opened his eyes and saw the house around him had burnt to the ground. Albert, Juno, and Lional were all lying on the floor dead. Mina was weeping and screaming curses at monsters as they ran away from the house making rude gestures. Saken remembered what the Sadist said last night and clenched his fists. This was all his fault. Chapter 8: Her Vow Saken¡¯s first instinct was to chase down and disembowel the monster that destroyed the house, but Mina needed comforting after the death of her family so Saken walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She gave a trembling sigh and addressed Saken directly. ¡°I won¡¯t let this stand. I¡¯ll find and kill every last one of the fools who decided to destroy the Shindu family.¡± Saken kept quiet because he didn¡¯t want to tell her about the Sadist or about what it wanted to do to him. He didn¡¯t want her to hate him, but Saken didn¡¯t want to lie to her either. As Saken was deciding what to say, Mina stood and turned to face him, tears still dripping down her face. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Will you join me?¡± Saken didn¡¯t even hesitate, ¡°I will.¡± He replied in a grim tone. Mina nodded and started scavenging the ruins of the house for anything they could use. Saken found some food and Mina found some extra clothes as well as a backpack to carry everything. After deciding whether or not a burnt piece of wood with nails in it would be a good weapon, Mina called out to him. ¡°Let¡¯s get going before we lose their tracks!¡± She shouted from the front yard. ¡°I¡¯ll be there in a second!¡± Saken replied as he tossed the studded stick into a pile of rubble. As he leaves he sees a flash of bone and finds Albert¡¯s collections. With no thought of the action, Saken grabs the fangs and stuffs them into his pocket and meets Mina. ¡°Shall we go?¡± She asked him. Chapter 9: Conflict Saken had been traveling for 5 days straight. It was odd, he could¡¯ve sworn he was getting hungry, but every time he looked at Mina¡¯s determined face his hunger dissipated and his second wind came for another burst of energy. Before long Saken stopped to look at where they were. It was a black desert, further than the eye could see. He saw rolling dunes darker than night and the bright sun setting, turning the sky a drab gray. In the distance he thought he saw trees but it must have been the heat getting to him. Saken looked back at Mina and decided they should rest for a while. She was displeased by this, however. ¡°What do you mean rest?? I thought you said you¡¯d help me-¡± ¡°I did say I¡¯d help you.¡± Saken interrupted, ¡°But not at the cost of our own lives. We can¡¯t avenge your family or find out why they died if we¡¯re buried in the sand.¡± Mina grew quiet as she thought about what he said. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± She admitted, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just so angry and I¡­¡± She trailed off. ¡°I know. I understand. Let¡¯s set up camp and get a head start tomorrow.¡± Saken reasoned. Mina agreed and shrugged off the backpack with the equipment they have been collecting over the past few days. She started setting up the tent while Saken started a fire. He was glad to be resting but he didn¡¯t enjoy having to argue with Mina to do it. As he reached for the rations he found cockroaches had eaten everything. In anger he threw the bag into the fire. Mina looked at him then did something uncharacteristic. She came over and gave him a hug from behind. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve been selfish and only thinking about myself this whole time. I haven¡¯t considered your side of things and led us to fight. You don¡¯t need to help me anymore if you do not wish to.¡± Mina whispered while leaning on him in dejection. Saken thought for a moment before he responded. ¡°I won¡¯t leave you. Even if we fight I¡¯m not leaving over anything that petty.¡± Mina gave him the most thankful look, making him blush in embarrassment. ¡°Let¡¯s get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us.¡± Saken said, smiling nervously. ¡°Sure.¡± Mina said, wiping her tears. ¡°Goodnight.¡± As she curled up in the tent Saken looked up at the stars. ¡°This won¡¯t last forever¡­¡± a cruel voice sneered from somewhere in his mind. ¡°Not if I do something about it.¡± Saken growled. He wasn¡¯t going to let the Sadist make this life hell too. He refused to, but something gnawed at him. That feeling of guilt, ¡°It¡¯s all your fault.¡± It whispered in his mind. Saken couldn¡¯t stop the tears rolling down his face, he clutched his shirt tighter. As he knelt there, grieving for Mina, he heard cackling from somewhere off behind. Saken whipped around, expecting to see a monster but it was just in his mind. Saken calmed himself after breathing deeply for a couple minutes. After he wiped his tears, Saken curled up in his sleeping bag and passed out instantly. Chapter 10: Autumn, Winter The hot sun rose on the oceans of obsidian, waking Mina up instantly. She groaned as she sat up, she wasn¡¯t used to sleeping on anything besides her bed. She looked at Saken and saw he was still fast asleep. She smiled as her heart sank, she still felt bad for how she acted yesterday. As she walked over to Saken she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked and saw a crimson leaf gently floating in the breeze. This confused her because there weren''t any trees around for miles. But what confused her more was the coloring. She never saw such a beautiful red, not even during the Harvest season. Saken groaned and sat up while she was mesmerized by the leaf. ¡°That¡¯s not something you see everyday¡­¡± He muttered while rubbing his eyes. Mina shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a leaf like this my entire life.¡± Saken stood up and started packing. ¡°Then let¡¯s see where it came from.¡± Mina agreed and started packing the tent and her sleeping bag. She was glad that they had at least an idea of where to go. Saken suddenly went west. Mina looked and saw exactly where he was going. Long dark trees stood in the distance. ¡°We can make it there by nightfall if we don¡¯t stop.¡± Saken looked at Mina, ¡°Ready?¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Mina nodded and they started walking. It took just as long to get there as Saken had guessed, which was impressive. As they made their way into the forest, they noticed the sand underfoot had turned into maroon grass with crimson leaves scattered around. ¡°Strange¡­ It¡¯s still Heat season¡­¡± Mina muttered under her breath. ¡°What?¡± Saken looked very confused. Mina gave Saken a look, ¡°Do you not know that the leaves of trees don¡¯t fall till Harvest?¡± Saken shook his head, ¡°I know leaves fall in Autumn, but what¡¯s Heat?¡± ¡°The hottest season. We call it Heat.¡± Mina stated. He gave her a look that said he thought of something else entirely. ¡°... I see. Back in my world we called it summer.¡± Saken muttered. He looked like he was upset about something, so Mina tried to take his mind off it. ¡°What did you call Frost and Renew?¡± Mina asked Saken, genuinely curious. Saken¡¯s bad mood dissipated, ¡°We called Frost Winter, and Renew Spring.¡± Mina''s eyes lit up. ¡°Winter¡­ Autumn¡­ I¡¯d love to name my children that.¡± Saken gave her a look and blushed, his face was easier to read than an open book. ¡°Those would be nice names¡­¡± Saken refused to make eye contact with her. Mina smiled, when she looked on ahead she saw a town in the distance. ¡°Who would live all the way out here?¡± She asked, looking at Saken confused. ¡°Let¡¯s ask.¡± Saken answered with a determined look. Mina nodded and set her own face in determination. They would find out why her parents died here. Chapter 11: The Forest that Reeks of Death They arrived. Saken took in the sights, and the first thing that came to his mind was suspicion. This place looked too good to be true. He looked up at the sky and saw that deep blue sky with twinkling stars and thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him. He took a deep breath and the air was almost like he was breathing air freshly made. He glanced at Mina and saw she was enjoying it. Saken decided not to voice his suspicion for now but he would never trust this place. As they walked, the crunch of the leaves and the wind rattling the branches was the only sound made. It was so soothing that Saken¡¯s suspicion had faded and he actually smiled. Walking for a couple of minutes, Saken spots a flawless apple on the ground. Curious yet cautiously, he picked it up and examined it. The apple was perfect in every way, even down to the shape and color. Saken took a small bite, it was delicious. Saken had never had an apple this good even in his past life. Saken offered it to Mina. ¡°This is delicious.¡± He said as she took a bite from the apple. Mina¡¯s eyes sparkled as she devoured the whole thing in one bite. Saken smiled and turned to continue walking when something very odd caught his eye. It was a human skull, but it was so purely white and sparkly he thought it was a crystal. When he noticed the skull, he suddenly started seeing more and more bones hidden in the leaves. His suspicion came back, but it slowly drained away again. He didn¡¯t like that, it¡¯s almost as if this place wouldn¡¯t let him think anything else besides what it wanted him too. But as he had that thought, it disappeared and he smiled again at the sky and continued walking. When they finally arrived at the town they saw, it looked like everyone had just left to go to a party somewhere. The candles in the houses were still burning, the dust on the windowsill just beginning to collect. Saken looked around and saw a bonfire that had just become embers. He told Mina to look around and he entered one of the houses. It was fully furnished, and well decorated too. ¡°Whoever lived here had great taste.¡± He thought to himself. When he checked the kitchen, he found food still on the table. Warm and almost like it was made for him. Saken face lit up. ¡°Mina! I found food!¡± Mina didn¡¯t take very long to get to him when he yelled that at her. They prayed for their food at Saken¡¯s request, which earned him a strange look from Mina but she went along with it. Afterwards they dug in. After feasting for a little while Saken saw another apple on the table. Ignoring the roasted beef, pork, and chicken he grabbed it and took a bite. He would never get over the sweet taste of it. But something was off, the texture didn¡¯t feel quite right. Saken took a napkin and spat out the semi chewed food, and what he saw made him instantly nauseous. He found bits of maggots and worms in the napkin. Saken looks up and then freezes from fear. The table wood is black and rotten, the food looks like it had been there for years. It was covered in maggots, and fungi. Saken shot up from the table and ran outside to throw up. After emptying his stomach, Saken looked around and he broke out in a cold sweat, eyes wide with fear. The town was so vile he couldn¡¯t even look at it for more than a few seconds. Bodies were piled on the bonfire, making the air reek with the smell of burnt flesh. Saken looked at the trees and saw that each and every one of them looked to be dead and rotten. Everything was vile to him. He couldn¡¯t see through the thick fog that had suddenly appeared. Saken felt like vomiting again, but when he blinked the tears out of his eyes everything went back to normal. The stench left his nostrils and the calm feeling overriding his suspicion returned. Mina ran outside concerned, This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She asked Saken. He stared her in the eye, unable to answer. When Saken next blinked, it all changed again. Saken screamed, Mina¡¯s eyes were missing and all her teeth were gone. Her skin had turned black with a blue-ish tint and her hair was a mangled mess of blood and ice. Saken couldn¡¯t take it, he shot up and bolted away from the town and Mina. Everytime he blinked, it switched from the peaceful forest to the dead rotten version and back again. When Saken stopped for breath, the taste in his mouth was overpowering and he felt like he couldn¡¯t breathe. The stench, the stench was indescribable. When Saken blinked, he saw hung corpses on the branches of the trees around him. Saken heart sank so far he thought it would fall right out of him. Sweat continued to drip down his face and body, but he felt extremely cold. When he raised the face of a corpse to see who it was, he nearly screamed and threw up once more. It was Dante, an eye gouged out and blood dripping from his mouth. Saken back tracked violently only to trip over another corpse, and this one was even worse. Saken¡¯s chest felt so tight, he thought his lungs would burst. The corpse he found next was Dumont, whose head was flipped upside down to an awful angle because his neck was shattered. He also had a hole in his chest where his heart was, and Saken could¡¯ve sworn he heard a heartbeat somewhere behind him. Saken couldn¡¯t hold back his tears now, he sobbed and ran out of the forest, tripping on corpses of the people he loved, his mother, burned and flattened from a car accident, his crush beaten and abused and a bloodied knife in her hand. Saken¡¯s anguish was overwhelming at this point and he ran. He heard screams and crying and laughing in the distance, he wanted nothing more than to prick out his eyes and to stab his eardrums to end this nightmare. When his eyes blurred up from the tears he blinked them away, but the forest stayed the same. He hit a hanging corpse and fell hard on his knee, hearing an awful crack. Saken limped to the tree to lean on but when he saw the corpse that was hanging, his will to continue living left his body. It was his dad, with a gunshot to his forehead. Saken wept silently for an unknown amount of hours, until Mina found him again. She said nothing but she picked him up and carried him out of the hellscape. When they left Saken saw Mina normally again and the pain and exhaustion hit him both like a train. ¡°Sleep.¡± Mina said simply, and Saken complied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mina looked after Saken for a couple of hours, and had no idea when he would come too. She was extremely concerned for him, he just randomly started freaking out. But what hurt her the most was the scream of fear he let out when he saw her. She¡¯s praying it¡¯s because something happened in the forest and not her, but her insecurities gnawed at her the whole time she knelt by his side. After about 3 hours Saken woke up again. ¡°You¡¯re awake!...¡± Mina trailed off as he shook in fear. ¡°Mina¡­ I can¡¯t open my eyes. I¡¯m scared¡± Chapter 12: Pride and His Eyes Mina didn¡¯t know what to say. Saken sat there, hands over his eyes muttering things about how they betray him. Mina put a gentle hand on his shoulder. ¡°Hey, I know you''re scared but can you just try to open your eyes? I need to see what¡¯s wrong.¡± Saken shuddered but after struggling he opened his eyes, and Mina immediately saw what was wrong. He had a curse placed on his eyes, Mina had no idea what he was forced to see but from the way he looks like he¡¯s about to scream and cry it must have been horrible. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Saken you can close your eyes.¡± Mina whispered to him and he slammed his eyes shut. Mina thought about the closest curse-eater and decided that she could carry Saken there. ¡°Saken, I can fix your eyes. I know someone who can fix you, and the fastest way would be for me to carry you.¡± Mina almost begged him to let her but he agreed instantly. ¡°If the fastest way is a piggyback ride, my eyes are more important than my pride.¡± Saken set his face and his shaking subsided. Mina bent down so he could climb on and when he did she started a light jog towards the closest curse-eater. Which just so happened to be in the City of Tears. Mina wasn¡¯t excited to bring Saken to a place like that but she must for his sake. She just hoped they didn¡¯t die on the way in. Chapter 13: A City of Tears ina gazed up at the gates, they looked even taller than when she was here last time. She felt Saken snuggle into her back, asking why she stopped. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± She replied simply. She bent over to allow him to stand himself. He took her hand to help him steady himself, which made Mina flush terribly. ¡°Lead the way.¡± Saken said. Mina took a deep breath to compose herself, then pushed open the gates to the City of Tears. The first thing Mina noticed was they added more hives. A lot more hives. Bug-like monster flew overhead carrying some spider eggs to the hatchery. The giant cave never ceased to make her shiver, and the constant rain from the lake above the roof didn¡¯t help. The ground shook quietly and when Mina looked up she saw Arachnophobia fixing a silk building that looked like a boulder had fallen on it. She looked even bigger than Mina remembered her, last time she was only as big as a blue whale. Now Mina had no idea what to compare her too. Mina shook her head to focus on the location of the curse-eater Saken needs. Saken noticed the ground tremble underneath his feet and gently grabbed hold of Mina¡¯s wrist. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± He whispered to her. ¡°It¡¯s a giant spider on the ceiling, but we don¡¯t have to worry about that right now.¡± To his credit, Saken just nodded and looked ready to go wherever. She would have to be extremely careful to keep him safe. Mina took his hand and began to lead him to the curse-eater¡¯s abode. They passed bugs big and small, a couple tried to take Saken but they ended up with limbs being eaten by Mina. When they finally reached their destination however, the shack the curse-eater lived in was gone.