《The Fallen's Offer》 Prologue: The offer Currently, a sword is pointed to my neck, threatening to take my life away. Four humans who I have no clue about is interrogating me. What kind of situation am I in? I also don''t have a clue about it. All I know is that just one slip of the tongue could send my head flying at once. I could only reminisce one particular memory not long ago that might have caused my predicament. ~~~~~~ "Hey, I heard that one of the members from the famous band called One Way left!" "Yeah! I saw an article about it on the internet. The member who left was my favorite too. It''s such a shame..." "I know right?" "You girls are always going on about those oh-so-handsome band of yours. They''re not even that good. Better you chicks check out the new game that had just been released last week. It''s way cooler!" "Stop it Damian. It''s not like those birdbrained fangirls can understand anyway." "You''re right! Ahahahaha!" "--- ---- ------" "-- ------- ---- --------------" The sounds of chattering still continued without any signs of it dying down. How annoying. If I had a sewing kit (and actually know how to sew), I would have sewed their big mouths already. I know it''s the last day before summer holiday and the damn teacher for the last period didn''t come in but that doesn''t mean that they can run their mouths, interrupting someone''s peace. However, to my distress, I can''t bring myself to actually do anything about it. I''m an antisocial and coward cynic. Although the blood of a cynic isn''t thick, I don''t believe much in humanity. Sure there are those who are really kind and pure with positive intentions at heart but there are only a few of them. Especially in this current era with natural resources dwindling down where war could erupt anytime now fighting for them. How hateful. Hateful that I''m also one of those disgusting humans. I bet if humans were to be wiped out from this planet, it would be because of their own wrongdoings. I could only sigh and put my head down on the desk, trying to sleep and waste time until the school bell rings. "Umm... Honoshiro-san... um.." Ugh.. What is it this time? I slightly looked up and saw a girl fidgeting. "... W-what is it?" I asked, quite reluctant to talk to the fidgeting girl who also happens to be the class representative. I''m never good at dealing with her. Scratch that. I''m not good at dealing with anybody. How troublesome. "Um... Here''s all the homework that... uh.. our teachers gave to do during the summer holiday." The class representative was holding out quite a bundle of sheets of paper that appeared to be the mentioned homework. I reached out one of my hands and took it from her. I then proceed to quickly put it into my bag and went back to my last activity which is wasting time by sleeping. "Thanks." A simple word of gratitude that may or may not hold the meaning of the word from the perspective of the girl. It''s not like I really hate her or anything. I actually prefer people like her rather than chatty brats. I''d also like to keep my sentences as short as possible so that I won''t stutter as much. "Oh, um... you''re welcome." The said girl answered back and went along to the other people''s desks to hand out the same homework she handed to me. The sound of her footsteps quickly faded into the surrounding''s sounds. Among the sounds, I managed to hear some not-so-good remarks about me. "Hmph! Honoshiro is so unpleasant. Even the way she thanked our class rep was clearly insincere. How I wished she wasn''t in this class." "Yeah you''re totally right. She''s always alone at her desk in the corner of the classroom which is also very creepy. I wish she''d stop her crude behavior and attitude." "---- ---------------- ---- --" Do you think I care about your opinions? Dream on. I better use my time to sleep rather than listen to their worthless chattering. ~~~~~~ A woman was chasing me with a knife in her hands. I''m trying to run away from her with all my might. "Ah!" I know that scene. A nightmare. It kept haunting me. It''s like a common occurrence to me now but I never got used to it and I''ll probably never will. "Haa...ha.. huff.. How unpleasant..." One thing it''s good for this time was waking me up from my sleep. With my still drowsy pair of eyes, I looked around me. There''s nobody in the classroom anymore. I looked at the time on my cheap watch on my right wrist. It indicated that it was nearing 7 o''clock. I looked in disbelief. Really? No one tried to wake me up? I had always known that my classmates disliked me but I didn''t know they dislike me that much. Crap, I better hurry. There''s no use lamenting over things that already happened. I really, really hope that the school isn''t closed yet. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Just as I took my bag and was getting up from my seat to head out of this classroom, an unknown man with black hair and wearing all black like going to a funeral came into the class. Despite his great features and handsome face, he looked more like a reaper to me. "Eeek!" Well, that earned a girly squeak from me. It''s natural that I would be scared. I mean, a guy dressing like that is in this classroom in the night where there should be nobody here. This is really creepy. The man kept walking towards me silently without uttering a single word. Okay, this is very,very, very creepy. Who''s this guy? What do I do? What should I do? What''s going on? A lot of questions started flooding my panicked mind. Involuntarily, I tried to step back. However, my action was unsuccessful as I''m already at the corner of the dark classroom. Behind me was only a wall, with no way out. I could only close my eyes and shrink in fear. My ears didn''t fail me as it kept track of the sound of the man''s footsteps until the sound came to a stop. Then, a greeting broke the silence. "Yo!" I opened my eyes slowly in curiosity due to the greeting. "Whoa! ... Ouch!" Surprised by the close proximity between me and the unknown man, I forgot that there was a wall behind me and tried to get away from him, resulting in me hitting my head. S***~! "You''re really anxious don''t you know that? Maybe I chose the wrong person after all. Haahh..." The man shook his head. "W-what d-do... y-you want? W-what do you mean by you chose the wrong person?" I could only hope that this guy doesn''t do anything weird or dangerous to me. "Don''t worry, I wouldn''t do anything indecent to you." The man sported a smile. I don''t believe you. In any case, am I that predictable? He just read my thoughts just now right? How? "You''re not predictable at all. I just have the ability to... read minds that''s all. Putting that aside, I''m going to go straight to the point. I''ve come here with an offer for you. The offer to leave everything behind and start a new life. However, you need to join our ranks and become one of us. One of the fallen. The fallen angels." ....... What? "I''m sure you''re confused but I will only offer this rare chance only once. It''s either you accept or you reject. I''ll give you a minu-" "I accept." "That was fast. You didn''t even stutter this time. Well, I practically know everything about you so I guess there would be no reason for you to refuse nor hesitate. Oh, that means you don''t know anything about me while I do know everything about you. Well for now, my name will suffice. I''m Sed. One of the previously mentioned fallen angels." "Wait..what? You know everything about me?!" Even that? "Yes. Even that." Dammit. Stop smirking you piece of thrash. "Haahh.. So? I accepted your offer so now what? You said I need to become one of your kin but how? And... to leave everything behind meant that I would be able to leave this god forsaken world right?" I eyed the man, trying to confirm what I''ve heard. The man took a few steps back and began doing something. Then, a weird, suspicious black door suddenly appeared out of thin air. That sure surprised me. "You don''t have to worry about the details. You just need to go through this door." The black door then opened by itself, revealing a white endless space followed by a creaking noise. "I just need to walk through it right?" "Yes." That''s all the confirmation I needed. I dropped my bag to the ground and started walking towards the door. I stopped right in front of it. With renewed determination, I stepped into the door.... only to fall. The next moment, I realized that I was in the sky, falling down with the distance of at least a thousand meters off the ground. "What the hell!?" Sed then appears next to me with jet black wings on his back. It didn''t surprised me though as I''ve thought that angels have wings. However, that was not the issue. "Explain this situation, you little piece of thrash!" As I''m talking, I''m falling with high velocity. My fury towards Sed kept what little composure I have left intact. "I''ll explain that later! For now, I wish you have a safe landing!" I wanted to smack him for his remark but he disappeared without a trace a second later. With the disappearance of Sed, I quickly turn my attention towards the ground below me. Oh screw my life. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" BOOM! The sound of me crashing into the hard ground. Chapter 1: Meeting the Heroes A/N: This is a work of fiction which means it has nothing to do with real things in life such as religion, people, history, etc. Also contains some weird humor that may or may not upset you. If you''re still willing to read, then please enjoy.
"Ow, ow , ow... That freaking hurts! ....Wait, what? I''m not dead?" I exclaimed in anger. It''s a wonder I survived falling at that kind of height. Next time I see Sed, I''m going to strangle him to death. Although not literally. Enough of that, more importantly, where am I? I suppose I need to look around then. It seems like I''m in a grassy field or should I say practice area? There are wooden dummies here and there that''s usually used in a dojo. I then proceed to stand up from my lying position (caused by the falling). "Did you call me?" Just as I thought it won''t be until a while I would get to see him, he suddenly appeared out of nowhere; surprising me in the process. Is this the power of a fallen angel or is it just him? "Ugh, stop appearing out of nowhere like that! It almost scared me to dea- huh? My voice sounds different...." What is this? Don''t tell me this is the side effect of me falling, right? "No, it''s not. Didn''t I tell you that you would leave everything behind so I thought I''d change your gender~ Of course that includes your appearance as well. And since you have somewhat survived that fall, that means that you''ve qualified to become a fallen angel like me. I thought I''d brief you about your situation." Oh, that means that you weren''t 100% sure that I''d survive that fall, eh? I''ve thought that the offer was too good to be true. I''m sure there''s a lot more than a catch to this. Ah, whatever. I can''t revert things back, can I? "Yeah, thanks buddy. Haahh, now I''ve got to learn how to pee using this body and get used to this thing between my legs. It gives me shivers. Anyways, could you tell me where in the world am I? Or at least tell me what I''m supposed to do? Now, that would help a lot." "That''s what you''re worried about? Well, that aside, you are currently in the royal palace where the heroes and the royal family reside. There should be some people coming towards here since you made a loud noise with your fall. It even created a crater. That''s amazing~ On the other hand, I will tell you what to do later on so do what you want to do for now." "What?! That fall was not my fault!" I looked at Sed in disbelief. I hope it can''t get any worse. "Don''t be so angry~ Here, I will give you a little congratulation gift for successfully becoming one of my kin." "Wait, what are you doi- ugh!" "Trust me." Sed, grabbed my head or face to be exact and strengthened his grip. A massive amount of information of some sort then flooded into my head. Information that I don''t know anything about became known. It hurts. My head hurts so much that I feel that it''s going to explode. I can''t take the pain anymore. "Augh...Ugh..What..did...you...do?" I asked as my consciousness is leaving me. My sight becomes blurry as time fly. The last thing I saw was Sed, standing with a grin on his face. Then, the excruciating pain that my head was suffering claimed my consciousness and I fell to the ground. ~~~ ~~ ~ "Sed!" I shouted, trying to call the crappy Fallen. I hurriedly looked around only to find myself in an unfamiliar room. Wasn''t I in the grassy practice area look alike? I do remember losing my consciousness because of Sed but I don''t know what happened afterwards. It seems like somebody carried or moved me into this room. I am currently in a bed, sitting with my legs straight out. I went to the side of the bed to try to stand up and go inspect the room closer but my effort was to no avail as my head was hurting badly. That made me slumped back onto the bed. "Ouch... Damn that Fallen. I''ll get him for this..." Bang! The loud sound almost made my heart leaped out of my chest. I looked in the direction where the noise was coming from, only to see a door; the door to this room opened wide with several people coming in. In total, there were six people. Four men and two women. Two of the men looked like they were guards while the rest looked like teenagers of my age; 16 years old. Although that''s just my assumption. "What happened?!" One of the guards was asking anxiously and was walking towards me followed by the other five. The way he spoke sounded weird, like a whole different language but somehow I could understand him. He proceeded to scan the room, looking for anything out of place. After he was done with that, he continued to walk until he was right in front of me. He then turned to speak to me. "There doesn''t seem to be anything suspicious. So, what''s the matter?" The guard narrowed his eyes as if suspecting me of something. His actions then reminded me of the words that Sed spoke. You are currently in the royal palace where the heroes and the royal family reside. Aaah~ No wonder the guard was eyeing me like that. Of course he wouldn''t trust me a single bit when I just crashed into the palace. Heck, I bet the palace had a tight defense to prevent anything happening to the royal family. The heroes... I think they can just handle themselves just fine right? Like the heroes in novels. Haahh... Now how am I going to get out of this tricky situation? "Uh...um.. Do I know you, sir?" Okay, I''m trying to act dumb and like a person who have lost their memory here. I don''t know if it would work though. One thing I have noticed is that I''m able to speak in another language that''s not Japanese. I don''t remember learning such language. The man pulled out his sword and pointed it to my neck. "Don''t act dumb. You won''t get out of this situation with an excuse of you''ve lost your memories. Even if it was true, it won''t make much of a difference." Not only the guard who was talking to me was looking at me with a cold gaze, the other guard also did the same thing. Well, that worked well didn''t it? To the point of having worsen my situation that is. "Uuu... uh.. I-I''m... s-sorry, sir." I''m genuinely afraid right now. Just a slit to my throat and I would die. Ugh, this is all his fault isn''t it? Uuuu.... "Veder-san, shouldn''t we hear what he has to say for now? Me and Kamakura also want to interrogate him but I don''t think he''s going to be able to tell things properly when he''s shuddering in fear like that." One of the teenagers said so to the guard. Apparently, the guard''s name is Veder or something. Veder or whatever your name is, he''s right! He''s right I tell you! You should listen to him and put down that sword! And did he mentioned that he and another guy would like to interrogate me too? It seems like the other guard also feels the same since he''s giving me the glares since a while ago. Uwaa, how scary. Also, why are there too many people here? This makes my already worse headache even worse. "... Fine. Just this once Sazaki." Veder the prick answered in response to the teenager who was speaking a moment ago. True to his words, the evil human called Veder put his sword back into its scabbard that''s hanging on his waist and stepped back. I''m glad. Although the other person that advised him seemed to be the one interrogating me next. "So, to start off, what''s your name?" The way this person speaks also pisses me off just like that Veder. If I have the power to blast him off, I would have done so ages ago. Well he did somewhat save me so I should lower the hostility a bit. Now, to talk to avoid further complications. Talking... How unpleasant. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "M-My name is..." Leave everything behind and start a new life Honoshiro..... Shiro... White. "My name is.... White." I decided to change my name even if I just took a part of my name and translated it into another language. "White huh... White, how did you invade into the palace?" At that question, everybody became more tense than ever especially the two girls at the back. Why do you look like you want to attack me? I''m innocent for goodness sake. This situation is very troublesome. You also said invade. I didn''t even attack so you had put a false accusation on me. Ugh, tell me, how am I suppose to answer his question? Tell them that I fell from the sky? Yeah, right. "Sheesh, you are helpless aren''t you? I guess I can lend you a hand. It''s not too tedious as it just went as I planned~" A familiar voice entered my voice. This voice...Sed? Abandoning the previous question, I started to look for the source of the voice. My eyes stop at one spot. In the corner of the room near the opened door, Sed stood there with a smirk on his face. "YOU!" The Veder guard shouted in anger. His anger was directed towards Sed. The rest of the group were also holding hostility towards him. I can feel bloodlust from them. Sed on the other hand, just brushed it off and said, "Come on, let''s go White." "O-okay..?" I answered back in confusion. I have a feeling that all of this is a part of his wicked plans. Well, whatever. It''s better to follow this piece of trash rather than be stuck here, being interrogated by these pushy people. At my reply, the attention was suddenly shifted to me. "You, I knew you were dangerous. I should have cut off your neck earlier." Veder said that while putting his hand at his sword''s hilt, ready to strike me at any given time while still keeping track of Sed''s actions. What did I do wrong? Annoying and disgusting human, please don''t accuse me randomly. I didn''t even lay a hand on anyone did I? How unreasonable. "Well, well. If you''re gonna be like that then so am I." Sed disappeared and reappeared near the other guard before grabbing his neck and lifting him up. "Augh...Ugh..Let me...go!" The Sazaki person and the rest of his company were sending death glares towards Sed. What the heck? That guard really looks like he''s in pain. Sed, I know you can read my mind so I want you stop hurting him already. As much as I dislike these unknown people, I don''t want them to die. Unbeknownst to me, Veder disappeared from my sight. Then suddenly, my neck was also grabbed. I was grabbed from behind. "You fiend! Unhand him quickly or this brat''s head goes flying!" Veder warned Sed as he tightened the grip his left arm had on my neck. He took out his sword and pointed it at my neck for the second time. "I...can''t.. breathe." Sed then turned to look at me. You wished for them to not die yet they wished for you to die instead. How ironic. Seeing that you want the guard to be alive, that means that you don''t truly hate humans do you? Well, I should save you I guess since you can''t use your powers as a Fallen yet. ...How can I hear you? Sed didn''t answer and just disappeared from sight yet again, allowing for the nameless guard to be free. Although he was already unconscious at the time so he had no say in this situation anymore. The two girls hurriedly came over to the unconscious guard''s side. The Sazaki person and his friend who I presumed to be Kamakura, was putting up their guard; wary of Sed''s appearance. I didn''t just sit still either. I tried to release myself from Veder''s grip even with the risk of sword slitting my throat. "Stop struggling, you brat! Sazaki, Kamakura! Don''t let your guard do- !?" As if on cue, Sed teleported at Veder''s left side and landing a single punch straight to his face. Sed''s punch must have been quite strong as Veder was flung across the room along with me. Crash! "Veder-san!" All four of the remaining teenagers shouted in harmony. Although I shouldn''t worry about harmony right now. I''m glad that Veder had dropped his sword the moment Sed''s punch landed as it could have hit me when I crashed together with him earlier. Luckily, I got out with only small scratches but it seems like Veder was knocked out cold. That made my escape from him much easier. I quickly got away from Veder and try to distance myself from the other four humans. It took me some complications but I somehow managed on my own. I sent a glance towards Sed. Thanks, I thought. He must have received my message as I saw him grin the next moment. Somehow I kinda felt a feeling of camaraderie for a moment. No way, right? I must have imagined it. The guy who asked my name, Sazaki, took the nameless guard''s sword that''s still in the scabbard and pulled it out; showing a very sharp sword. "You bastard!" Sazaki-san was furious about Veder being knocked out eh? I don''t really care about his fury as it is not directed to me. I think... He started charging towards me instead of Sed. What the heck?! You''ve got the wrong person! "Sazaki! Calm the hell down! Don''t charge in recklessly!" The Kamakura guy shouted to warn his friend. "Shut up! Aaaaaghh!" The man tried to strike me down with his sharp sword. If I wasn''t the target of his sword, I would have enjoyed the drama a little bit. He''s close enough to strike me down and I don''t have enough space to dodge. I don''t think Sed can help me right now as he''s busy keeping an eye on the others or he just don''t want to. Ugh, I''m getting a stomachache. What do I do... Am I... going to die? I refuse to! If I can''t dodge, I''ll just counter then! There''s no way I''m going down without a fight! The furious Sazaki swung his sword horizontally towards me. His movements seemed like it''s moving in slow motion thus allowing me to see clearly. Using the chance, I ducked as low as possible and deliver a lethal blow using my fist. A blow to his balls, men''s weakest spot. Well, I did hold back so that he wouldn''t die. "OW! My..! My...balls!" The man took a step back, dropped his sword and fell to the ground. "I.. I''m sorry...?" Maybe I hit him too hard. "Sa-sazaki?" One of the two girls asked, confused while the other two friends were just speechless. "Pfft.. Ku.. Kuhahahahahaha! You hit his balls! His balls! Ahahaha!" Sed on the other hand, was laughing his heart out. With their reactions, I think this had somewhat turned into a comedy show. "Oi, stop laughing you piece of thrash! Get us out of here already!" I said to Sed who was still laughing. "O..okay. Pfft!" Even while holding his laughter, Sed teleported next to me and touched my shoulder. "W-well, pfft.. it was nice meeting you heroes again. We''ll be on our way." Heroes? While Sazaki, who''s thing was critically injured, stayed on the floor still conscious, his friend called Kamakura, tried to stop us. However, his efforts was futile. "Stop! I won''t let you go!" "Sayonara~" Sed said with a smirk towards the party of four who was still conscious before he- we teleported out of the place.