ã€ŠThe Scarlet heirã€‹


 prologue

    Dear Elena,

    Writing this email has been a lot more difficult than I originally thought. Many things have happened in the past few months, to the point I had to rewrite this letter at least seven times.

    Five months have passed since the time I sent you this letter. I made sure to visit the fracture constantly to try and slow down my aging so that when you return, I won¡¯t have aged as much.

    </a>

    My brother still hasn¡¯t recovered from the trauma and has doubts on whether his kids are really his or not. Within a few days, the entire village became aware of the affair, and despite divergent views on the appropriate punishment, the majority believes a reconciliation is necessary for the children''s benefit.

    I don¡¯t know what''s best for this family, so I tried to not meddle with it and simply lend Kiriam a shoulder to cry on; honestly, this whole thing made me uneasy. I don¡¯t know what to think, and your parents haven¡¯t been easy on me either.

    Every day they come checking for me, forcing some small talk; they¡¯re starting to make everything uncomfortable, and it quickly backfires on them as the neighbors accuse them of trying to turn me into a cuck.

    Tensions are rising, and my parents haven''t exactly been easy on me either, so by the time you come, you might hear a thing or two from my parents and yours.

    I never really thought how such a small incident could spark such a wild drama, with investigations starting left and right and some adulterers almost stoned to death. Carl, for example, the good old Carl, was having an affair with Cynthia, the married lady you hated so much. Turns out, all of her kids are actually Carl''s. I can¡¯t even imagine how poor Jessie is feeling right now, and it was such a long affair too. Did you know anything about those two?

    There were a couple of assassination attempts on both Carl and Jessie, and they both managed to best their assassins, but for the sake of keeping peace, both were kicked out from the neighborhood.

    Apart from the affair incident, a bunch of visitors came in for the usual harvest. Since there were more than usual, we managed to sell everything. I even managed to sell the last few packages of Ashen for more than double their usual price.

    I hope you¡¯ll be able to return within a couple of months so that you won¡¯t miss out on the New Year''s festival. This year we¡¯re collaborating with a bunch of neighboring villages to create something truly unique. (mainly Tursa, Bellina, and Costa) I think this is all I had to say.

    I hope you¡¯re doing fine wherever you are, your dear boyfriend,

    Robert.

    ___

    </a>

    ¡°What¡¯s that? Didn¡¯t they tell you to keep all devices turned to minimum light?Are you trying to get all of us killed?¡± One of her companions snatched the small device from her hands and turned it off.

    The man who stole the device was a man who seemed to be in his late forties; his head had gone completely bald, his forehead filled with wrinkles as his old skin was starting to grow flaccid around his cheeks, and dark circles around his eyes indicated that he hadn¡¯t had a good night of sleep in a while.

    He was a veteran explorer with over seventy years of experience under his belt, the second strongest member of the group.

    The group was in the middle of traveling through a very dark section of the fracture; they didn¡¯t know what dangers were lurking around, and their nerves were already stretched thin, but the sudden reckless action to turn on a communication device brought everyone to action before they could even realize who they were stealing from.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Oi, who do you think you are to piss me off right at this moment?¡±

    The red-haired girl spoke; she was the captain of the expedition and their strongest member, a powerful explorer who had made a name for herself by being the first to ever return with her entire team alive after having explored the deepest levels of the second fracture.

    The old man was startled when he heard her voice; having realized the severity of his action, he tried to immediately hand back the small device, but his head fell to the ground before he could do so.

    </a>

    Most of those who already knew her simply nodded without turning around; they also stopped anyone from accidentally turning around and witnessed the demonic form she took whenever she started using her borrowed powers.

    The Laughing Widow was the main cause of this expedition; after the original owner of her powers had died, she was once again unleashed into the world. The red-haired girl had organized this expedition to capture her and assimilate her powers.

    ¡°That dummy, why does he always have to be so indirect? If he wanted to know if I had a lover that badly, he should¡¯ve just asked¡­ Now, now, how do I deal with this?"

    Her subordinates were all trembling in fear; the sudden shift in tone of her voice was clear: she was in no mood for any other mistake.

    "No matter what I say, I doubt he''ll blindly believe my words that everything is alright; he won¡¯t believe it no matter how true that is, especially after what happened.¡± The other members of the team could hear the sound of flesh exploding, bones cracking, and something very flaccid and sloppy fell to the ground retrieving the communication device.

    All of them were somewhat used to seeing people turned into creatures with a demon-like appearance due to the nature of demonic abilities, but nobody had yet witnessed her full transformation, and they all were starting to be terrified of even witnessing it.

    Whatever that girl assimilated was strong enough to have earned her the title of the strongest; her powers worked in strange ways, but everyone knew, the moment they saw glimpses of a red glow coming off of her, that the man named Julian had already died.

    ¡°Alejandro!¡± Suddenly the girl started walking in front of the group; her body and clothes had gone back to normal, which immediately made the others feel even more uneasy. Most transformations were sure to rip clothes and dirty them with demonic fluid and whatnot, but she was as clean as ever, even while exploring an extremely humid environment.

    ¡°You''ve also got a girl knocked up on the surface; how do you keep her calm? Doesn''t she fear you might get a little handy with some other gal you may find down here?¡± She asked her while leading the group towards an unknown route.

    ¡°Relax; there¡¯s nothing around these parts; it¡¯s safe.¡± The woman said to calm down the rest of her teammates while some others were starting to put the corpse of Julian inside a large bag to carry it back to the surface. The head of the man was missing, and his chest was split in two.

    How would you know?

    They thought no one, however, voiced their opinion in fear of the chances of getting killed for it.

    ¡°Alejandro! I¡¯ve asked you a question!¡±

    The man named Alejandro jumped in place; he was still recovering from seeing one of his friends die a futile death at the hands of that tyrant and couldn¡¯t quite comprehend the question she had posed to him.

    A partner? My partner? How does she¡ª

    As soon as he saw the girl turn around, impatiently he stepped forward and cleared his throat and tried his best to keep his head attached to his body.

    ¡°I don¡¯t, or rather I can¡¯t; we just came to an agreement that I wouldn¡¯t bring back any kids¡ªany kids that are mine.¡± After answering her question, the small man held his breath until he saw the satisfied look of the expedition leader as she turned around; only then did he finally exhale.

    Holy shit, I almost died there. Why did¡ªIt¡¯s obvious why; she has a husband! But what kind of husband could put up with that¡­ no, it must be a girl; that is the only logical explanation, but if that¡¯s the case, how can a girl handle being left alone for over¡­

    No matter how much he tried, Alejandro couldn¡¯t seem to be able to calculate how much time passed on the surface.

    Still, it must¡¯ve been at least a year, give or take. I had to take this job because I was in urgent need of money, but even then I had to fight with teeth and nail to get permission to go. What kind of person would be fine with seeing their partner once every couple of years?

    The man thought as he quietly headed back to help his other companion put the corpse in the bag.

    "You''re thinking of something useless again; I can see it in your expression. You should concentrate more on your surroundings rather than in other people''s businesses; this is the fracture after all."

    After admonishing the young guy, the lady with red hair began speedwalking into the unknown dark tunnels of the cave they found within the large

    ¡°A kid! That¡¯s probably what I should do, but then how will I raise it? What will happen to my job? Argh! But if I don¡¯t, then he could decide to stop waiting for me..." Her voice echoed in the dark cave; the others had already turned off every flashlight to preserve battery and proceeded to cautiously follow the girl from a safe distance.

    ¡°That fucking bitch! What was her name again? Why couldn¡¯t she just keep her legs closed instead of making life harder for everyone, including me? Robby was already nagging me enough as it is, and now this¡­¡±

    While the girl was complaining, the men accompanying her noticed a swarm of tiny, microscopic ants had surrounded them, and as the girl kept walking towards the unknown direction, they opened up a path for her.

    What is going on...?

    They thought, their sixth sense was warning them of an imminent danger.

    Before they could follow her footsteps, the ants rapidly closed off the path they had carefully made for her and began swarming the group of explorers.

 Lucifer, son of the Scarlet Devil

    ¡°Oi! Lucy! Can you bring the package lying over the kitchen table to the Staffen family? I¡¯m a bit late on the production of ashen, so I won¡¯t be able to deliver the package myself, and they¡¯ll start pestering us if we don¡¯t deliver the goods this morning.¡± My father shouted from his small workshop far into the distance.

    His powerful voice echoed throughout the entire building, making my whole body shudder for a while. I was currently trying to learn how to speedrun a game, and that moment of distraction made me input the wrong command right after I performed a jump, essentially killing the run.

    Fuck.

    I threw the controller away in frustration; after many failed attempts throughout the entire night, my nerves were so tense they felt as if they were about to explode.

    It was extremely early in the morning; the sun had just risen on the horizon, and that man had already begun working.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Lucy! How many times do I have to tell you that? It sounds like a woman¡¯s name!¡±

    ¡°Stop arguing over nothing and go deliver the package! If you don¡¯t, I¡¯m going to confiscate your game thingy!¡± He shouted.

    ¡°It¡¯s called a Playcube!¡± I yelled in return, pissed that he had chosen to annoy me this early in the morning during the holidays.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡±

    It was a horrible situation; I hated his job; I hated everything that had to do with that rainbow-colored powder, and I especially hated how everyone took our kindness for granted.

    They should all be licking our feet, begging us for our mercy, and sending special offerings monthly! Mother was kind enough to let them live under the isolated dome she conquered! We should expect something in return! Shouldn¡¯t we?

    We lived in a rather lush and secluded area within a large dome that contained a large quantity of cities and metropolises.

    A small cemented road connected us to a small city visible in the distance, and that¡¯s all I knew about the place I lived in.

    Although the city had long lost its colors, the residents of this area had were paying large quantities of money to keep the colors of the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars projected inside the dome.

    When I got to the kitchen, there was a plate with a toasted sandwich containing scrambled eggs, some sausage, and probably some salad. There was something a sour and mushy spread on top of the large and crunchy layer of cabbages, but I wasn¡¯t about to spit it just to check what it was.

    The large package was waiting beneath the lunch table.

    Out of curiosity, I checked the contents of the package and found the usual thing lying inside, plastic-wrapped packages of that rainbow powder; he was probably already working on the next batch to deliver.

    Do I really have to deliver those? Me? This is why we should¡¯ve hired a butler or a maid. I¡¯m the son of the stronger being, not some errand boy! We shouldn¡¯t forgive them because they¡¯re powerful families¡ªwe¡¯re the strongest.

    I stood still, staring at the package.

    In my mind all the bad memories with that family were resurfacing, every time we visited the third wife of the head of the family would usually make her inappropriate comment about my weight, his second wife would glare at me with her cold eyes while the first one would ignore me.

    The sons were not better. The first son was a piece of shit, always picking on me, flaunting all the present his parents would buy him, and excluding me from any group activity.

    Damn it, Dad, you promised that by my eighth birthday we would start living together in the upper cities; we even bought a house there, so why are we still living in this shithole!A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    No matter how much I wanted to curse him, I knew the answer: my mother. She was the cause of all my misery; her horrid naming sense and violent tendencies are all I remember of her, apart from her beautiful red hair I inherited.

    I took a clean-looking glass lying upside down near the sink and filled it with some newly bought milk lying inside the fridge and ended up drinking the whole pack out of stress.

    I¡¯m stuffed; what even was in that sandwich? Maybe I should go and lie down for a bit; it¡¯s not like the Staffens will complain that much about a late delivery.

    As I was thinking of what to do and what excuse to come up with, I heard someone ring the doorbell, so I headed to check who it was, and when the display turned on, it showed Glaive Staffen accompanied by Gloria Staffen waiting in front of our door.

    The family head accompanied by his first wife.

    Glaive had been working within the rapture all of his life, and because of that, he still looked in his early twenties, with blond hair and purple eyes. A side effect of his demonic power, most likely, since everything else had no colors apart from black and white.

    He constantly fixed his hair with his hands, ensuring his bangs were evenly distributed on both sides of his face and that his long hair didn¡¯t cover his ears;

    Both of them had fair skin, light-colored hair, and were dressed in elegant and fancy-decorated clothes, with the head of the household even putting on some fancy-looking earrings and adjusting his suit in front of the camera.

    Well, it¡¯s even better this way.

    ¡°Oi, Rob, do you have my package ready? I¡¯ve been feeling dizzy all day; I desperately need it, especially because today I¡¯ve got a special appointment with a noble regarding the permit I talked to you about. I had an entire speech ready to say but can¡¯t really memorize it because of this headache constantly getting in the way.¡± He said while he kept pressing the doorbell.

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Luke, uncle. My dad is currently preparing the next batch of ashen, but I think he has some left from yesterday. Let me go check; I¡¯ll bring it to you as soon as I get my hands on some of it.¡± I responded while looking at the package destined for them.

    I didn¡¯t want to see the uncle in the face, nor did I want to meet his eldest son in case he was hiding somewhere. Whenever we met, they always made stinging remarks at me, so this was my way of punishing them for it.

    ¡°Oh, sure, but can you open the door? We also have something important to discuss with him.¡± He suddenly asked.

    Shivers run down through my spine; my father and Sir Staffens were good friends, that was sure, but he was never allowed inside whenever Mom was at work; everyone knew about it; it was a rule set by her.

    Like the control freak she is, she has also planted lots of cameras everywhere, so if I were to open the gates of the house to them, not only would I condemn them to death, but I would also get the spanking of a lifetime.

    Why would you¡­ I mean... I know, you know, everybody and their mothers know about the cameras; you¡¯re staring directly at one of them.

    ¡°But uncle¡­ You can tell me what you want to say to him; I can deliver the message as soon as he¡¯s free.¡± I tried giving it a second chance; maybe it was me who heard it wrong, but that wasn¡¯t the case.

    ¡°No, I need to urgently speak with your father; it¡¯s a matter of life and death. I know he¡¯s working and all, but this time something serious has happened.¡± He repeated himself while visibly getting more impatient.

    A scammer? Is this an illusion? This is the first time I see an illusion; wow, it¡¯s so detailed I can¡¯t even tell the difference from the real thing. What do they want? The ashen? What kind of decrepit junkie would even think to come here to steal?

    The worst-case scenario was that those were really our neighbors and had come here to deliver bad news about my mother, like an affair or an illicit child.

    The corridor to the front door felt as if it was slowly growing longer over time; the world around was spinning. Nothing about that situation felt real.

    I could already picture her coming back with a meek-looking man, carrying him in her arms like a princess.

    Their child would be in his arms, coddling up in between the two, with the signature red colored hair that defined our family.

    Kicking the door open as usual and barging in without a care in the world, dropping her newfound partner somewhere in the living room, and yelling my father¡¯s name in order to call him.

    That was the type of person she was: loud, ignorant, violent, and controlling.

    As usual, she would sniff his body to make sure there wasn¡¯t the lingering smell of another woman, and then she would present him to her new man, in the same way she would call me and force me to accept that new brother of mine.

    The mere thought of that scene was enough to make my stomach twist in disgust; I would¡¯ve a thousand times preferred to strangle whatever new kid she would¡¯ve brought rather than accept it as my brother.

    Haa, I should stop having such negative thoughts; I might end up doing something I regret later on. Last time I was caught bringing the topic of divorce to my father, I was left without food for half a week.

    I then took one last deep breath to calm myself down; I relaxed my nerves and summoned my weapon, a blue revolver made of a strange power, one of the few gifts left behind for me by my mother, put the package under my right armpit, and prepared myself for what was about to come.

 The arrogant prince

    Colorful Madness is the name of the power my mother left me when I

    was around five. It had the peculiar ability to give color to

    whatever its bullets hit, giving powerful headaches to whoever was in

    possession of a demonic weapon.

    It was a weapon for self-defense, but I treated it more like a toy

    than anything else.

    The power takes the shape of a small revolver coated in blue

    paint. Although its shape might present some weak points, it actually

    has infinite projectiles. There¡¯s no need to reload as well, so it

    is quite easy to use.

    When I came face to face with the Staffen family head, he didn¡¯t

    seem bothered by the small blue gun in my right hand. He kept his

    composure, waiting in front of the gate a dozen meters away from the

    entrance door.

    Look at these scammers, pretending as if everything is

    alright, let¡¯s see how long you can last against Colorful Madness.

    ¡°Is that my package?¡± Glaive Staffen asked while pointing at

    the package I was holding.

    ¡°Cut the bullshit! Who are you? How did you get your hands on a

    power like that? Who sent you?¡±

    I felt quite proud of myself as I spoke those words; I was unable to suppress my smile as a result of my pride.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t curse out loud. You¡¯re picking up your

    mother¡¯s habit.¡± His wife responded. Her voice sounded just as

    arrogant as the last time I heard it.

    Don''t you dare compare her to me!

    Glaive frowned. He didn¡¯t seem threatened by my sudden threat,

    just mildly annoyed.

    His wife was wearing a pretty dress that looked at least coming

    from a style used a millennium ago, with a corset used to enhance the

    look of her bust..

    Her dress also had a large skirt that was held up high by a bunch

    of odd metal circles. She wore white candid gloves and was using an

    enormous umbrella to cover herself from the sun¡¯s rays.

    That dress, is this how they see the people that come

    and go to heaven? We¡¯re not that pretentious. Even I dress with

    just regular clothes. Who do they think we are?

    The moment I raised the gun and pointed at them is when the

    disappointed frown turned into a glare.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this? You might get into a lot of

    trouble if you pull the trigger.¡± He threatened me while standing

    still.

    ¡°Like what? Do you think my mother will punish me? After you

    tried to break the rules?.¡± I smiled in return as I pulled the

    trigger. It was the revenge for all the comments they made about my

    belly back when I was a kid.

    I immediately got confirmation that those two were fake when the

    first wife lowered the umbrella to use it as a shield while pushing

    the lord out of the way. She probably was relying on the power of her

    relic to protect them or outright block the attack.

    Ha! Serves your right, dumbass.

    After the bullet landed, it revealed the hidden colors of the

    enormous umbrella and its wielder, alongside the fake Glaive Staffen

    The enormous umbrella turned out to be mostly white. Many pink,

    frilly clothes strings decorated it. The dress the girl was wearing

    was mostly yellow. A white corset adorned the girl.

    But when the colors reached her face, it suddenly turned

    different. The girl had freckles, red curly hair and dark eyes. Her

    face was long and had a large scar on the right side of her face.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    Wait, what? Do these bullets dispel illusions?

    How? Why? It makes no sense!

    Her skin was mostly white with some odd dark spots around her

    arms. She had dark nails and instead of high heels; she was wearing

    regular running shoes.

    The man standing next to her, instead of wearing his intricate

    suit full of square patterns and pompous decoration, was wearing a

    dark hoodie and gray sweaters. He was wearing a small hat and had a

    red piece of cloth wrapped around his face.

    ¡°See, I was right at the end.¡± I said while shooting a couple

    more bullets their way, aiming at the umbrella, putting the girl on

    her knees.

    You shouldn¡¯t have blocked it. The real Glaive would¡¯ve

    known better than this.

    The third bullet, however, didn¡¯t affect the last guy, as she

    was no longer touching him by that point.

    ¡°So it was an illusion, and my guess is that either the umbrella

    or the dress is the culprit for that ability, what a terrifying

    ability¡ª¡± As I pointed the gun towards the man in the black

    hoodie, I felt something wrap around my left wrist.

    ¡°The hell?¡± A weakened thorny vine had wrapped around my left

    arm and pulled the arm to the left side, saving the man from another

    bullet to the head.

    Ah! Fuck, this hurts!

    The thorny wine had left a cut on my wrist.

    I immediately looked around and found nothing else. The road

    seemed empty that day, no vehicles in sight. There must¡¯ve been a

    bunch of other illusions. It was odd that the road was so empty of

    life.

    The culprit had to be the lady. There was no one else besides her

    who held a demonic artifact. Her umbrella had something to do with

    it.

    I created yet another revolver in the right hand and just as I

    raised the right hand, something blocked my hand and blocked my

    mouth.

    Another one?

    An invisible hand was pressing something wet against my mouth and

    nose to stop me from calling for help and pulled my arm away from

    her.

    I could still shoot a couple more shots their way, hitting an

    invisible black van along with hitting another white car waiting

    behind the van.

    Fuck! I was¡­ a bit¡­ too careless.

    I struggled as much as could, even biting the hand that was

    covering my mouth, but I couldn¡¯t overpower the invisible man that

    was standing behind me. The only thing I could do was simply point

    the gun in my right arm and shoot myself in order to hit the man

    restraining me.

    The last thing I saw was a large bat summoned by the bastard

    covering his face with the red cloth being swung at me.

    A kick woke me up; I had both hands and feet tied behind my back

    and was lying on a cemented floor within a gray building. Dim lights

    illuminated the empty place. The man who kicked me was the one

    wearing sweaters and the red cloth over his face.

    They had stuffed a bunch of wet cloth in my mouth, sealing it

    shut.

    They had also applied something to me so that no matter how much I

    struggled or screamed in pain, no sound would come out of my body.

    ¡°Wait, please, I was kidding earlier. We can talk this out,

    okay? I¡¯ve brought you the ashen you needed, so you owe me one!¡±

    I wanted to say but couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°Stop it Luciano, if you want even the slightest chance to

    survive you shouldn¡¯t mess with the boy more than we did, otherwise

    who knows what that monster could end up doing to you if she ever

    gets a hold of your precious neck.¡± One man waiting around warned

    the guy who just kicked me.

    He was one of the few people that wasn¡¯t colored, meaning he

    wasn¡¯t in the cars when I shot them both. He was probably the

    invisible man that put me to sleep.

    There was someone sitting on the other side of the room, slumped

    over against the wall, panting with his mouth. The other had placed a

    cold, wet towel on his forehead. He had dark skin, had blond long

    braided hair tied up in a ponytail, clear eyes, thin lips and a nose

    that resembled the beak of a parrot.

    He was wearing a red jacket over a pink shirt with a large

    cartoonish cat pictured in the middle giving a thumbs up with his

    human-like right paw, while holding a can of wet food in its left paw

    and standing upright. As for pants, he was wearing dark jeans.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m out of here, since I¡¯m not as brightly colored as

    the rest of you. I can easily take the Ashen with me and blend into

    the city. I¡¯ve already called some friends. They¡¯ll be here

    within twenty minutes with brand new cars to pick you up.¡± He said

    while putting the cardboard package inside a large backpack.

    Oh? Am I safe? Tell him to not kick me! If mom or the

    Staffens catch you, I¡¯ll ask them to either spare you or die a

    painless death.

    ¡°What? You¡¯re going to abandon us just like that?¡± The man

    seemed surprised by this sudden development, no matter how obvious it

    was.

    Obviously, he¡¯s going to make a run for it. What do

    you think? That he¡¯ll stay here to face my mother? As if!

    ¡°The package of ashen is not going to deliver itself to Rabbit.

    Come on, we don¡¯t have to make a big deal about this. Just try to

    lie low until the effects of his weapon wear off, and don¡¯t make

    too much trouble for the others. They¡¯re nervous enough as it is.

    We don¡¯t want conflict to rise between us.¡± The man said while

    quietly putting on his backpack and walking away.

 Demonic Awakening (I)

    What Is he doing? I can¡¯t see shit! Damn it, these ropes are

    tied too tightly, my wrists are hurting like hell, I only hope that

    they won¡¯t leave a bruise¡­ Idiot! Idiot! why did you decide to

    confront them? You should¡¯ve just stayed in the house. Father

    would¡¯ve dealt with them if they got too close.

    I could hear the man walking back and forth on the other side of

    the wall, but apart from that, he didn¡¯t seem to be doing much

    else.

    The lady who once wielded the large umbrella was now sitting in

    front of me, with her back slumped against the wall, with a cold

    towel resting on her forehead, panting heavily. Small clouds came out

    of her mouth at her every breath because the room was so cold.

    Another guy sitting in the corner of the room banging the back of

    his head against the wall behind was starting to make me feel a bit

    uneasy. He was wearing a white shirt and black pants. The only

    notable color he was wearing was a red band to keep his hair away

    from his face.

    He was constantly muttering ¡°It¡¯s not real, you¡¯re not real,

    don¡¯t worry about it!¡± to himself, his gaze lost watching the

    empty space ahead with eyes wide open, crying because he wasn¡¯t

    able to blink.

    He had already injured his head, and blood had splattered on the

    wall. What was worse was that the blood was slowly extending itself,

    attached to the wall, forming an intricate web pattern around the

    main area where the blood came from.

    Monsters, all of them, this is why these people should not be

    let out the fracture unchecked, but what can I expect from this

    place? In this place filled with savages, I doubt they even have

    something like a government.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± The man on the other side of the wall smashed his

    fist against a table and then screamed in pain.

    It was about time. Now release me and I¡¯ll put a good word

    for you to my mother. Maybe that way you¡¯ll be spared. I can¡¯t

    guarantee anything.

    I was thinking of what had happened, the thing they said, and I

    came to the conclusion that they knew a little too well of the

    mannerism of the Staffens, even what was most likely supposed to be

    confidential information regarding their families.

    Wait, you can¡¯t jump to conclusion. It¡¯s likely there was

    simply a leak of information, but what if my hunch is true? If the

    Staffens are in on this? No, why would they? They know best not to

    anger my mother.

    I started recounting the events, and found it odd that such a

    small group of people could go completely unnoticed in a

    neighbourhood filled by renowned families, famous for their might and

    wealth.

    But what if¡­ just if¡­in the remote case this is their

    revenge, maybe they want to lure dad away, and kill him when he¡¯s

    at his most vulnerable then dump all the fault on to these guys. No,

    I watched too many movies to be thinking of something this absurd.

    Then I heard the sound of a phone ringing.

    ¡°Yes? Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡±

    What succeeded afterwards was a long silence, broken only by the

    sound of a guy smashing his head against the wall.

    The guy that was covering his face with a red bandana then walked

    back into the room. With a kick, he knocked out his comrade so that

    he would stop hurting himself. All the while, he kept listening to

    the phone.

    The web of blood began to drip slowly down the wall for a moment,

    but then it grew back again, much larger than before, and even made a

    strange sound of a loud drum played in sync with the heart of the

    unconscious thug.

    ¡°Yeah, I got it, but what about the kid? The scarlet devil¡¯s

    kid. Yeah, he figured out the issue immediately and confronted us at

    the front door of his house, holding the package of ashen.¡± The man

    explained to the phone while heading over to check the two feverish

    members of his team.

    He didn¡¯t seem to notice the web of blood or hear the sound it

    was making.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    He then looked at me with a glare that seemed intent on piercing a

    hole into my body. He got distracted by whoever was calling him. He

    nodded his head a bunch of times like a fool, as if whoever was

    talking to him could see him nod.

    ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll get the others ready in a minute. I¡¯ll try to

    be as fast as possible. Yes! No, actually I was thinking of ¡ª We

    still have yet to figure out its true ability, but it seems to take

    the shape of a projectile that can give color back to someone, we¡¯ve

    yet to confirm the true extent of its effects.¡±

    What? That¡¯s my ability? Why are you suddenly revealing my

    ability? Who are you talking to? Wait, now that you¡¯re talking to

    someone with a functioning brain, can you ask him or her to go buy me

    an ice cream? I swear I¡¯ll put a good for you to mom so that she

    won¡¯t kill you as brutally, in the best-case scenario you might

    even get to live.

    I tried to talk, but I failed to utter a single comprehensible

    word. Instead, the man angrily turned around and kicked me in the

    face to shut me up.

    ¡°Nothing, sir, just a pest that is getting rebellious here.

    What? Why? He¡¯s the son of that¡­ Fine!¡± The man was visibly not

    pleased about how that conversation ended. After turning off the

    phone, he threw it against the wall in frustration, destroying it on

    the spot.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± He shouted as hard as he could.

    Slowly the clouded sky in the windows started disappearing. The

    illusion covering the place was fading away, revealing the outside

    and true interiors of the apartment. Outside the window, there were

    large towering buildings full of light. Strangely enough, the lights

    of that place all had different colors.

    On the streets there were many red signs or even orange light

    bulbs, most other buildings had yellow lights instead. It was a

    landscape I have never seen in my life. The many buildings in front

    of ours blocked the dark cloudy skies to the point we could barely

    notice if it was day or night.

    The sounds of that place were surreal. I could hear people

    laughing and happily discussing their lives, happily strolling

    through the busy streets filled with shops. It was something entirely

    different from what I was used to.

    ¡°You¡¯re not real! Release me! Release me! Let me go!¡±

    The guy that was bleeding off of the back of his head suddenly

    regained consciousness began to spasm all over the place, flinging

    his arm around and ramming his head against the wall at a faster

    rate.

    The sound his head made violated my ears. I was terrified and

    confused; I closed my eyes, hoping that the world around me would

    suddenly cease to exist, but that wasn¡¯t the case. The sound of

    broken bones was simply growing louder and louder.

    The guy that was hammering his head against the wall eventually

    collapsed on the ground. The back of his head melted into a black

    ooze, letting out the insides leaking on the ground. As soon as I saw

    that, I felt the sudden urge to puke out of disgust.

    On the last crash I saw for a glimpse of a second the large webs

    extending to cover the entire room, turning the whole place red, then

    they disappeared as his body collapsed to the side.

    ¡°Carlos? get your shit together Carlos, you can¡¯t collapse

    like this! Carlos!¡±

    The man covering his face with the red bandana quickly crouched to

    check his dead friend. Whatever power had given him the ability to

    create illusion had begun killing him the moment he came in contact

    with my ability.

    He was shaking the body of his dead friend, hoping to get some

    sort of response, but the only result he managed was to make the arms

    of that corpse flail around.

    I was doing my best to try to suppress the urge to puke, thinking

    of cute things and the good food waiting for me at home, when

    suddenly I heard the sound of a flaccid object hitting the ground.

    I knew I shouldn¡¯t have watched it, but curiosity got the best

    of me, and there I saw a large chunk of Carlos¡¯s brain, my mouth

    was already tasting the putrid taste of puke at that point for at

    least a couple minutes but that was too much.

    I began to puke, and when the puke couldn¡¯t come out of my mouth

    because of the piece of cloth used to gag me, I began to understand

    what hell on earth truly feels like. I was slowly drowning in my own

    puke.

    I struggled, trying to break free of the robe that was binding my

    arms behind my back. The taste, and the feeling of the small solid

    pieces of puke stuck on the back of my throat, was killing me.

    In my mind, I was cursing in every way as some of that puke even

    came out of my nostrils. Every second of that torture felt like an

    eternity. The more the pain I felt, the stronger the urge to puke

    got, only intensifying my suffering.

    Eventually the man realized in what kind of mess I was and took

    out the large clumped up piece of cloth stuffing my mouth allowing me

    to relieve myself, but because I was suffocating to death, the moment

    I got freed it took a mouthful of fresh air, allowing some of that

    puke to go to my lungs.

    My hell became even worse. I was coughing, puking, and trying to

    breathe in some gasp of air in between.

    This is crazy! Get me out of here! Please! I don¡¯t want to

    stay in this crazy place anymore. I don¡¯t care if you bring me to

    your boss. Please, just spare me!

    I had already emptied the contents of my stomach but I still felt

    the strong need to puke, at that point I had also puked all the

    liquids I was holding in my stomach, so even though I was trying to

    puke nothing came out of my mouth after a certain point.

    ¡°Fucking hell, you¡¯re the son of the Scarlet Devil! How can

    you be so pathetic?¡±

    When I raised my head to look up, I found that strangely enough,

    the brain of the person whose head had just melted had disappeared.

    No, please, just give me a break, I can¡¯t, anymore than this

    and I¡¯ll go crazy.

 Demonic Awakening(II)

    He¡¯s dead! He¡¯s fucking dead, and it¡¯s all my

    fault! I didn¡¯t mean to kill him! Dad, where are you? Please save me!

    I was trying to sob as silently as possible, fearing another

    retaliation from the guy who had his face covered with a red bandana.

    So I tried to squirm away from that room that had fallen into

    madness.

    The drums I heard playing in the background were getting louder

    and louder, the intervals were getting shorter by the second and the

    red webs made out of blood suddenly began to develop spikes.

    Everyone¡¯s condition was slowly getting worse and worse. I could

    hear strange voices coming out of their bodies. They were mumbling

    something incomprehensible, but it felt extremely scary and ominous.

    I felt the world spin around me at a speed so high I could barely

    even keep my head straight. I kept my body and head attached to the

    ground as the man slowly dragged me by the legs elsewhere.

    It was all my fault, all my fault that the man¡¯s head was now

    just a black puddle of boiling flesh and his brains were scattered¡ª

    The brain had disappeared from the ground. A sense of dread set

    in.

    I felt as if my ears were about to explode because of that drum.

    Something beneath my right eye was twitching, and the air was

    progressively getting colder.

    The man was dragging me away from the puddle of puke that stained

    the floor and even offered me some water to cleanse my throat, but

    because of that, he wasn¡¯t able to see the large brain that had

    suddenly disappeared.

    ¡°T-the thing, gray¡­ the voices, your comrade has disappeared!

    Quick! Please, just believe me! We must escape! The webs are growing

    bigger! The spikes!¡±

    My brain could hardly piece a couple of coherent thoughts

    together. Much less a coherent sentence.

    My eyes were going all over the place. I wanted to point out all

    the things that the kidnapper didn¡¯t seem to notice all at once.

    ¡°What nonsense are you spitting right now?¡± He asked me after

    taking back the small, empty plastic bottle.

    He punched me in the face to calm me down and it was then that I

    realized that the drum I constantly heard in the background was none other than my

    heartbeat. The kidnapper kept kicking me until I stopped stuttering.

    ¡°The thing, the brain, it¡¯s not there anymore!¡± My hands

    were tied behind my back, preventing me from pointing towards the

    corpse.

    He turned around annoyed, and he too noticed that the brain of the

    guy who had just died had disappeared.

    Is this where I die? What is going to happen to

    me? No, I don¡¯t want to die! I can¡¯t die here! Quick! Let¡¯s run

    away from here! Please, I promise I will not rebel or make your life

    difficult!

    The brain had rolled into a corner of the room all on its own and

    was completely intact for now, yet it was emanating an ominous

    energy. All five of our senses were telling us to run away from it as

    quickly as possible.

    ¡°What in the¡­ don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± The kidnapper remained

    standing still for a couple of second with his eyes wide open,

    sweating cold.

    We both felt a chilling energy suddenly fill up the room. Whatever

    was happening, it was something nobody in the room could deal with.

    Even the other sickly kidnappers had woke up because of it.

    We saw the many wrinkles of wrinkles suddenly starting to open up,

    emitting a weird screeching sound. The brain then split in two, the

    two hemispheres separated.

    One remained whole, while the other opened itself up, creating a

    bunch of small and pointy legs, a couple of small fangs, and from the

    many wrinkles small eyes emerged on top of it, all combined to give

    life to a large spider-looking creature.

    It was still covered in that lucid yet slimy substance that was

    oozing off of its body, and the screech it would emit were launching

    parts of that fluid in all directions, while those wrinkles in the

    back of the spider looking creature would constantly flap around from

    the screeches produced.

    It was the first time I saw a demon in person, so I didn¡¯t know

    what to say or think. I didn¡¯t even know how I was feeling.

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    The man was quick to react and put my body over his shoulders and

    rapidly began to carry me away from the scene as the demon began to

    crawl towards our position.

    Suddenly, the many webs covering the surfaces of the room began to

    flow back towards the demon, dragging us to it. Some spikes even left

    some cuts in my arms, but my mind was so terrified I could barely

    even feel the pain.

    The lady with the umbrella stood back up despite the pulling force

    and stabbed her weapon on the floor, shattering the webs.

    ¡°We¡¯ll deal with the demon. Just bring the kid to safety!¡±

    The lady shouted at the man holding me.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    As she opened the umbrella, she somehow stopped the others from

    running away and forced to stay and fight the beast to stall for some

    time.

    After we got out of the room, the man slammed closed the door

    behind us and locked it with a key, leaving the metal key stuck in

    the door.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just pray the new guys will make it in time.¡± He said

    to himself as he carried me in a hurry down the flight of stairs.

    As we made it all the way towards the ground floor, I noticed that

    apart from us, there was no one within this building, which was

    strange considering it was right in front of such a highly populated

    road.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked the man that was carrying me

    away.

    ¡°Shit! Shit! Fuck! We¡¯re all fucked now. It won¡¯t be long

    until it kills the others and frees all the other demons.¡± He

    muttered to himself as he jumped off the long set of stairs leading

    to the underground parking lot.

    ¡°Fuck! Why did it suddenly go berserk?¡± The man complained.

    Then I heard a large thud. The demon was slamming its body

    desperately against the locked door and the sound of it was so loud

    we could hear it from downstairs.

    The demon broke the door in a couple more attempts. The second

    loud screech made me wet myself out of fear. I was so frightened for

    a moment I had completely forgotten how to breathe.

    I could feel the anxiety building up in the man carrying me, his

    legs shaking to no end, gasping for air as he desperately turned

    around to check if the demons were headed our way.

    Once we reached the parking lot located beneath the building, he

    rapidly shut the glass door behind us with multiple locks.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, c¡¯mon.¡± He was repeating to himself.

    No cars in sight, just pure terror. Even I was starting to feel a

    bit unsure whether we were going to survive or not.

    Is this how I die? Do I really have to go out like

    this? Killed by some lowly demon in an unknown city,far away from mom

    and dad?

    I began desperately trying to wiggle around to free my wrists,

    even injuring myself. I wanted freedom. I wanted to run away as

    quickly as possible, but with both arms and legs tied, that wasn¡¯t

    possible. If I had to die, at least I wanted to die while on my

    own feet.

    We heard the loud footsteps of the creature rapidly descending,

    then just as a speeding car just got inside the parking lot, we heard

    a loud explosion coming from above us.

    What is it now?

    The large vehicle seemed particularly durable. It had six wheels;

    it had three sets of doors, and it seemed pretty tall, tinted a pure

    black with dark tinted windows.

    The vehicle turned around, almost toppling over, and only hit the

    brakes when it almost ran over us. The kidnapper then hurriedly

    opened the door to the back of the vehicle and shoved me in and sat

    in the seat in front of mine.

    ¡°What about the others?¡± The driver asked.

    He was currently wearing sunglasses, a white mask over his nose

    and mouth, a black hat and a large gray coat.

    ¡°Dead. A demon got them. Now hurry up before we also end up like

    them.¡± The kidnapper responded as he slammed the door shut with all

    of his strength.

    ¡°Aigo, my friend, don¡¯t take it out of the car. It¡¯s brand

    new. Lord Fredrick himself gave this beauty to us. You should be

    grateful to even being allowed inside.¡± The man said while chewing

    on something.

    ¡°Stop smiling and get us the fuck out of here! The Gray

    Collector has freed himself.¡±

    After that, the man rapidly accelerated and got us out of the

    parking lot. In the meantime, we could hear the people on the street

    starting to panic as whoever tried to subjugate the demon had most

    likely failed.

    ¡°Haa! Can¡¯t have shit in Litua, anyway congrats on the

    successful mission, I heard you stole some high quality ashen, good

    work, now let¡¯s drop the problem the first chance we can, I feel

    nervous having the kid of the crimson devil in my car.¡± The man

    cheerfully kept blabbering without end while trying to put some music

    on the radio.

    He then gave up and grabbed a disk from under his seat and put it

    on to listen to some music.

    ¡°What the fuck are you doing? Keep your eyes on the road!¡± The

    kidnapper immediately freaked out when he saw the man bend down to

    get his disc.

    ¡°Calm down, take it slow, enjoy life a bit!¡±

    The man was clearly under the influence of something. There was no

    way he would have behaved like this normally.

    ¡°How am I supposed to enjoy life if you¡¯re about to end it?

    We¡¯ve got a demon on our ass! Do you understand? Or are you too

    high to even know what¡¯s happening around you?¡±

    ¡°Fiiiine!¡± the man responded with a light spirited smirk,

    humming and nodding to the beat of the song he had just put on blast.

    After driving through the steep path between the parking lot and

    the road above, the man almost ran over a couple of panicking

    pedestrians that were running away from the demon.

    ¡°What a mess you¡¯ve caused. This is going to make news all

    over the fracture. I can already see the headlines. Maybe we should

    drop the kid here. If he dies at the hands of the demon, then the

    problem is solved.¡± The driver said.

    When I heard him utter those words, I felt as if someone had

    stabbed in the chest. I felt small and powerless. All I could do was

    to curl up in a ball while trying to ignore whatever they were

    saying.

    ¡°Stop spewing nonsense. The boss has ordered us to bring him

    with us.¡± The kidnapper replied.

    ¡°Crazy bastard! Does he think with a hostage he can defeat the

    crimson devil? As if¡­ I bet she¡¯d kill us all before we even have

    the chance to speak up,¡± he then added before the driver could

    reply.

    I wanted to breathe a breath of relief, but the troubles

    weren¡¯t over yet.

    ¡°Orders are orders. Perhaps this is the best time to say goodbye

    to this life and start living like civilians would. Who knows, we

    might get away with it.¡± The driver simply couldn¡¯t help himself.

    Even though he was blasting music at max volume, he couldn¡¯t stop

    talking.

    He then made a sudden turn allowing me to take a sneak peek to

    what was happening behind us through the wind, the gigantic spider

    was growing bigger and bigger, absorbing other brains to grow bigger

    and creating a large exoskeleton using the bones of his victim.

    It could melt the bones to create its exoskeleton, creating a

    large skull protecting its abdomen, large blades on the sides of its

    legs, and fangs made of bones. The eyes instead remained the same

    size, only their numbers kept increasing.

    ¡°Remember, kid, this is all your fault. If you hadn¡¯t provoked

    that demon, all these people wouldn¡¯t have died.¡± The driver said

    as he began to accelerate in the highly populated road.

    "Stop talking nonsense and drive. How would you know if that''s his fault or not?" The kidnapper with the red bandana said as he took off his shirt.

    "I have my sources?" The driver answered.

    The last thing I saw before we turned around the corner was a tall

    blonde man with long and pointy ears, dressed with a red trench coat,

    a red hat, white gloves and red pants standing on the back of the

    spider watching everything unfold as the spider was wrecking through

    the city.

    The screams of the surrounding people remain stuck in my head as

    the kidnaper didn¡¯t care about how many people he had to run over

    just to get us out of there as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Even their deaths are your fault. Make sure to at least look

    them in the eyes as we drive past them. That way, they can understand

    what killed them in their last moments.¡± The driver said while

    cheerfully humming a holiday themed song.

 Betrayal (I)

    As soon as I heard the gunshot, I let go of everything I was doing. Protecting my son had the priority over everything else.

    Dammit, why today of all times?

    This neighbourhood was supposed to be our shield. Any incoming foe had to overcome the most notorious families that originated from the surface, yet now most of them were missing for one reason or another.

    It was also the only day my brother and his family were away.

    I gathered every bit of strength I could and made a long leap over our house to immediately face the threat. The first thing I saw as soon as I landed on the ground was a couple of cars rapidly driving away from our location.

    Instinctively, I drew out my powers, tore a hole in the back of my right hand, gathered a few droplets of blood, and used them to shoot the drivers of those two cars. Unfortunately, an invisible force deflected both projectiles.

    Damn it, invisibility? No, I would¡¯ve sensed them, they are hidden by an illusion¡­ This is bad.

    As soon as I reached a conclusion, I began mentally preparing myself for the battle that was about to happen.

    There were traces of demonic powers being used, and there was the pungent smell of blood staining the yard. More specifically, Lucy¡¯s blood.

    I felt my blood boil at the mere thought of them escaping with my son. I was already thinking of how to deal with them as I turned around to prepare myself for the chase.

    They had already destroyed the car stationed in front of our house, the spare car in the garage was destroyed by a large spear that came down from above.

    I started to feel uneasy. I didn¡¯t hear nor sense anything strange happening within our perimeters. A bunch of random kidnappers wouldn¡¯t be able to do such a thorough job in such a short amount of time.

    So this is how we¡¯re going to play? Was he your objective from the start, or was I? I need to wrap things up quickly before those bastards get too far away from here.

    They knew when to strike; they knew how to strike and even had the tools to do it without me even noticing it¡­ if they wanted to kill me they would¡¯ve tried long ago meaning this was not only a premeditated attack but it was by a large enough group that possesses a monopoly over certain demonic abilities.

    There was only one individual, or group, that knew the necessary information to pull off a stunt like this one.

    ¡°Are you not going to show yourself after causing this mess?¡± I shouted while looking at the Staffen family manor.

    Uneasiness was slowly building up in my heart. I hoped to be wrong; I hoped that whoever it was would attack me from behind, so that I could rest those suspicions of mine, but ultimately, my hunch turned out to be correct.

    The kids were gone. Just a couple of days earlier, they had gone to visit a parent who lived somewhere far away. The only ones that remained behind were the patriarch and his many wives.

    Even the other neighbours had decided to disappear, and that day was coincidental when the entire neighbourhood was empty.

    To think you would stab us in the back after we¡¯ve shown you nothing but friendliness, we¡¯ve allowed you to raise your kids in a safe environment and this is how you repay us? Shame on you! What kind of man would backstab the hand that fed it when he was in need?

    No, everyone was in on this. They closed their eyes and feigned ignorance¡­ How dare these fuckers, after everything we¡¯ve done for them?You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    I clenched my fists, ready to fight at any time.

    ¡°Are you really going to pretend that nothing happened here? Do you think you can get away with what you¡¯ve just done? You do know that this is a death sentence, not only for you, but for the rest of your family as well?¡± I shouted as I began to use my powers.

    They manifested in the form of a blue mantle covering my back.

    ¡°You think I¡¯m as retarded as Julian? I know what¡¯s at the end of this road. You¡¯re going to try to kill off the rest of my family, anyway. Might as well struggle as best as I can in an attempt to carve out a future for my kids.¡± He shouted back at me with  contempt. His purple eyes were snining brighter than ever.

    The illusion placed around our territory was slowly vanishing, revealing a handful of armed combatants, people wearing tactical suits, holding rifles, and pointing them at me.

    ¡°And you¡¯re telling me you didn¡¯t deserve to be wiped off after pulling a stunt like this? We offered you a choice. It was you who refused it.¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a helping hand, but a shackle. You tried turning us into your slaves! We¡¯re not going to serve you or your tyrannical family any longer!¡± He responded.

    None of his wives were present there. The people present there had all different scents I couldn¡¯t recognize; they didn¡¯t seem to hold much power, and from the looks of it none of them had assimilated even a single one of those odd beings.

    He¡¯s more careful than I had given him credit for. He knows some of my abilities and already took preventive measures to deal with them. Damn it, I need to be as quick as possible so I can start chasing the car.

    I knew that at that point there was little I could¡¯ve done to change things or turn them in my favor, but I simply couldn¡¯t just bow down my head to him, I was filled with so much anger I wanted to rip his face apart with my own hands, gouge his eyes, and rip his teeth off his mouth by hands.

    The surrounding soldiers were trembling in fear, nervously holding their firearms with their fingers already on the trigger, ready to shoot at the given order.

    Their helmet had black tinted lenses to protect them from flashing lights. Their body armor would¡¯ve probably protected them fairly well against friendly fire, and some of them were probably holding small demonic artifacts.

    The moment I tried to make a step forward, one soldier holding a semiautomatic shotgun opened fire, landing his shot on the right side of my face.

    ¡°This is revenge for Lucy.¡± Glaive said while his soldiers began to shoot at me.

    I used my power to piece back the flesh that had come off my head as a result of getting a shot at point blank range, afterwards; I sent the blood coated pellets back at the sender.

    ¡°Are you really going to sign the death of you and your family over a small scuffle between kids?¡±

    Then I had to use some of my blood to create a protective wall around me as the many soldiers began firing at me all they had.

    ¡°If what you want is the survival of your kids, this is not the way to go about it, even if you can kill me. What do you think will happen? Do you think you can escape the eyes of both my brother and my wife? They will be hunted down till they made sure that your bloodline has been eradicated.¡± I warned him.

    He didn¡¯t seem moved by my statement, not one bit. As a matter of fact, he smiled at me. His eyes seemed satisfied for some reason.

    This lunatic! Don¡¯t tell me¡ª

    ¡°If you want your kid to stay alive, then put your arms behind your head, kneel down, and surrender yourself.¡± A soldier shouted.

    ¡°Stand down!¡± Another joined in.

    ¡°Put away that liquid!¡±

    ¡°On your knees!¡±

    Soon every soldier was shouted the same thing in unison while keeping their fingers on the gun trigger and aiming their weapons at me.

    His soldiers were a lot more scared than he could have anticipated. I could feel my abilities brimming with power. There was enough fear to create an attack powerful enough to kill quite a few of them.

    ¡°I swear to god, if you touch my kid¡­¡±

    ¡°Open fire!¡± He didn¡¯t even allow me to finish my sentence.

    I took small glances at the soldiers, their eyes were filled with terror. They, too, were hoping to resolve this issue as peaceful as possible.

    Fighting here is pointless¡­ No, he¡¯s fighting to protect his own kids, I doubt he¡¯s going to kill his only hostage, so long as he cares for them he won¡¯t be able to kill Lucy

    I made spikes emerge from the wall, impaling the nearest soldiers, and pushing away the ones charging at me. I rapidly absorbed the body fluids of the few soldiers that I had killed and conjured most of it in my hands to make a spear.

    You¡¯re dead.

    I rushed forward, freely extending and shortening the reach of the weapon while spinning it around my body to cut through the endless waves of soldiers in front of me, then thrusted the spear aiming at his face.

    Glaive Staffen, in response, placed his right hand in his mouth and ripped his lower jaw, infusing it with his demonic powers to summon an army of giant maggots emerging from underground to form a large wall in between us.

    I was about to turn my spear into a sword to cut down the fleshy wall but I was then shot once more by one of the soldiers behind me, so I stopped myself to extract the bullet and made a tall wall all around me to act as a shield.

    Many eyes began to appear all over his face as he also began to unleash his transformation. His flesh was slowly melting and falling off his bones, only kept up by a bunch of maggots living in his body.

 Betrayal (II)

    I heard a loud, sudden gunshot. It felt as if lightning had thunder close by. The sound was loud. It almost turned me deaf. A sniper had just tried to kill me, the bullet was stopped by the barrier of blood surrounding me.

    These people do not seem trained to deal with this kind of situation. Why would he ever use them? Or this was the best he could find that was willing to put themselves up against us? No, there are plenty of lunatics in this world. Was he scammed then?

    I put the right index finger in my mouth and bit it off. It naturally turned into a whistle. I blew it as if my life depended on it as I drew more of my blood to create spikes over the surrounding barrier, piercing the nearest soldiers.

    Don¡¯t think! You¡¯re only going to slow yourself. You¡¯re up against a veteran that has more experience in fighting than you do. If you slow down even for a second, it could turn lethal and jeopardize the rescue.

    I began assimilating their blood and use it to further grow the large blades, and spun them, each in a different direction, either left or right.

    I retracted all the blades to further enhance the durability of the barrier around and barely survived the next sniper shot.

    What the hell just happened?

    Whoever that sniper was, quite a powerful weapon armed him. Even with such an enhanced barrier at my disposal, he was able to bring me to one knee.

    Something incredibly fast had just struck the barrier from above this. The power of said strike had easily destroyed the surrounding area, destroying our precious home with a single strike. I was standing in the middle of a giant crater, barely being able to hold myself.

    ¡°Tsk! I guess your powers remain as strong as ever. How bothersome!¡± another voice spoke.

    The voice belonged to a man standing next to the Staffen family head. He had just appeared besides, with the right palm of his hand pointing at me.

    Who the hell is he? Another veteran?

    He was wearing a long and gray trench coat, had light colored hair, fair skinned, and was wearing a black mask with no opening left for the eyes.

    If I fuck up now, it¡¯ll be over. It¡¯s all or nothing.

    Meanwhile, besides him, the Staffen family head¡¯s body was slowly breaking down under the influence of the whistle I blew earlier. The maggot demon residing in his body was making maggots fall out of his body while making him bleed green blood.

    Large horns appeared on his head, the bones in his body grew larger, bursting out of flesh, releasing even more of those disgusting maggots. Long wings sprouted from his back along with many strange fleshy tendrils around his chest.

    I quickly gathered the blood lost during the impact and used to create a cane. My legs felt numb, I was covered in scratches, and I felt as though I were on fire; plus, glass shards were embedded in my skin.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe you¡¯re the same man whose name once commanded so much respect and fear. The passing of time hasn¡¯t exactly been gentle on you.¡± The bodyguard of Glaive Staffen mocked me.

    I doubt they can unleash multiple of those shots back to back. He¡¯ll probably try to buy some time in order to charge up the next shot¡­ no, wait? Is he even the one that¡¯s responsible for that attack?

    Instead of using the blood to make a wall around me, I turned it into the shape of an armor, to use it to better control the movements of my body since my muscles were so badly damaged.

    I had a way to heal myself, but if I used it, I would¡¯ve had to give up on chasing after the kidnappers afterwards.

    You piece of shit, I¡¯ll tear you apart, limb by limb, until you regret ever choosing to rebel against me.

    ¡°You should back away sir, you¡¯re still within range of his abilities.¡± The man in the trench coat tried to escort away the man bleeding green, but it was all a useless effort.

    The Staffen family head came rushing at me. The many maggots he had spilled from his body were all gathered around his right arm, forming some sort of club made of organic matter.

    I crafted a couple of blades using the blood I had stolen from their soldiers; I raised the left hand to and extended the reach of the blade to pierce the raised right biceps of my opponent, places my right hand just below my left elbow; I spun around his body and, with a swift movement, beheaded the Staffen¡¯s family head.

    I let go of the sword I held in my left hand to grab a small pendant hanging around my neck and, after crushing it in my hand; it turned into a gladius covered in bandages.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    I rushed forward, holding the new sword with my left hand. With the right hand, I commanded the blood to form a spear, then I expanded the spear¡¯s length, piercing Glaive¡¯s body.

    I bent the tip of the spear it towards the ground to pin him down and pulled his body closer to me to swing the sword in my left arm, only to be stopped by the many corpses lying on the ground.

    Most of them had been cut in half in my first attack, some of them even had missing limbs, their bodies had already lost their heartbeat, yet they were still crawling on the ground.

    Without me noticing, one of them managed to get a hold of my left ankle, then another got a hold of the one that was holding my ankle. Before they could form a long chain, I created a couple of flying swords and cut them down.

    Once free, I proceeded forward, and just as I had finally reached my target, another powerful attack struck me from the left side.

    I was sent flying away, my body was somehow still intact, my ribs had been cracked, but thankfully they hadn¡¯t shattered completely. As I was flying away, my head came in contact with the ground and that¡¯s where I almost died.

    The impact made my body roll on the ground uncontrollably until I crashed against the ruins of my old house. Now, with my back against the rumbles, I could properly see what was going on.

    The multi-layered illusion was coming off due to the residual powers left by Colorful Madness, showing more and more soldiers. The previous ones were now being controlled by a bunch of strings connected to large floating hands.

    A bunch of other soldiers had rushed over the bastard whose head I had just cut off and were dosing him with high doses of ashen to free him from the effect of my whistle as he was biting them and brutally killing them.

    Just a little more, once your cannon fodders are dead, your body will eventually head to your bodyguard and lastly, that goddam sniper of yours.

    Behind those were a lot more soldiers, better equipped with futuristic glowing guns, some had long split barrels, some had metal suits constantly vibrating their metal plates for some odd reason, and some others were carrying flamethrowers.

    When I tried to get back up, I realized I was no longer holding the Gladius. The previous blow had knocked it out of my hands and it had now returned to its previous form.

    Dammit, my legs, fuck! It hurts all over.

    I gritted my teeth and worked through the pain to get back up. The image of my son in tears as he was being tortured by the enemy was enough to give me the strength I needed to fight.

    As I tried to muster whatever strength I had left in me, I failed to stand up. My hips had no strength and, for some odd reason, my thighs felt extremely weak.

    Get up, you filthy piece of shit! Your only son is in danger! You¡¯ve grown too soft, the old you would¡¯ve been able to wipe the floor with their bodies, even if they aren¡¯t using demonic weapons.

    Some soldiers began to step forward but were quickly stopped by the man wearing the trench coat.

    ¡°Stand down, even though he¡¯s retired and has only but a small fraction of his former power, he¡¯s still one of the most skilled warriors of his era, just keep firing your plasma weapon for now, the others just stand by for now.¡±

    This ought to buy me some time¡­ no wait, what did he say again?

    Cracks had begun to form in the armor, even though it was made of the blood I had gathered from the soldiers I had slaughtered earlier. When I tried to use the ability to make my body stand up, the armor shattered into a thousand pieces.

    In one last attempt to gain resources, I shot the blood downward, piercing the ground in search of water pipes and when struck, I immediately used them to create a shield.

    Immediately after the armor broke apart, the soldiers began to shoot at me.

    Fuck! At this rate¡­ I might lose. It¡¯ll be over if all I do is put up a good defense, they¡¯ll slowly drain all the fluids I¡¯ve gathered and I¡¯ll become defenseless. If I plant the banner now I might win, but then I won¡¯t be able to chase after them¡­ Fuck! Fuck! You¡¯ll pay for this Glaive!

    I gathered the fluids to form a protective bubble around me thin enough to handle a couple of shots in order to have some spare fluids to use. Whatever was spared was used to create small projectiles.

    In a last ditch effort I shot the few projectiles I managed to create, and unfortunately, most of them missed their target, the corpses on the ground were lifted in the air, blocking the shots. Only one out of three dozen projectiles made its way to its intended target.

    In the meantime, their projectiles had already managed to pierce through the barrier of blood and got to me.

    I saw some of the soldiers rapidly closing in to protect Glaive and rush him towards a safer place while the others kept firing their weapons at me.

    To stop them, I used the blood from the guy I had shot. I made large spikes erupt from his body, impaling the soldiers standing nearby. I crushed their weapons and kept expanding the amount of blood under my control.

    I shaped those fluids in the form of a snake and commanded it to bite and ravage the remaining soldiers.

    At the same time, I was trying to repair my body from the heavy injuries sustained during the fight.

    It didn¡¯t take long before the soldiers adapted to my ability, using their weapons to vaporize the blood spike, trying to impale them. They were also agile enough to dodge them while advancing forward.

    I saw one taking out special ability suppressant cuffs and immediately realized their intent. So I began using the fluid counting as a shield to drag me away from the soldiers.

    Damn, I can barely move my body anymore. If I keep this up I might seriously die, fuck am I really backed against a corner right now? Damn it! Damn you Glaive, you piece of shit!

    It was during the heat of the battle that I noticed something shining brighter than ever in the distance, then something explosive hit my head.

    Fine, I won¡¯t move out of my house, but you¡¯re not getting out of here alive.

    With my right hand, I stabbed myself in my chest and ripped my heart out of my chest, unleashing a wave of demonic power that froze the environment.

    The muscles quickly tore themselves apart and formed a long pole. Blood gathered around it to form the large banner. Within its area of effect, I became immortal.

    ¡°If you want to survive, you better start spilling out the truth. That way you¡¯ll get to enjoy a nice and peaceful¨C¡± a giant pillar crashed against my head.

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. I¡¯m immortal now. You¡¯ve won. I can¡¯t chase after your kidnappers, but in exchange, none of you will escape from here.¡± I said after my head had finished regenerating itself.

 Betrayal (III)

    I rapidly gathered most of my blood spilled nearby in the palm of

    my right hand. I was preparing my next move when suddenly a strange

    man appeared in front of me.

    Huh? A proper warrior? Why so suddenly?

    I rapidly closed my fist, squeezing the fluids out until I managed

    to summon my gladius once more.

    The soldier that had just appeared in front of me tackled me. In

    the blink of an eye, we were both outside the area of the effect of

    the Banner of Immortality.

    So he knew about this as well? While it¡¯s true

    that I¡¯m immortal so long that I stay within the area of effect of

    the banner, it seems they don¡¯t quite understand how it works, all

    the better for me.

    I was able to stab him just before my body melted into a steamy

    puddle of flesh, and almost instantly regenerated back in front of

    the banner.

    I didn¡¯t think you could even find these kinds of abilities

    anymore. I thought we had found all the teleporting demons. I guess I

    was wrong.

    I wrapped the bandages floating around me on my left arm as the

    soldiers were trying their best to stop me by launching bombs at me

    and shooting me with everything they had.

    Your teleportation ability looks interesting

    enough. I hope you won¡¯t mind if I get it for myself. Right now, I

    need it far more than you.

    I pulled the bandages forward with all my might, slamming the body

    of the guy with the teleportation ability against the ground. The

    gladius was still stuck to his back and the cursed bandages were

    preventing him from using his abilities.

    I gathered blood around my right fist, raised my fist ready to

    punch a hole through his skull, then a bunch of large maggots emerged

    from the ground forming a large wall in between him and I.

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. You¡¯re only delaying the inevitable.¡± I

    shouted.

    I punched through the wall of maggots, then I conjured all of my

    blood on the knuckles, making a spike emerged from my fist. It

    pierced the body of the warrior on the ground, wrapped the blood

    around the handle of my gladius and retrieved it from his body.

    After I extracted the sword from his body, the bandages began

    drilling into his body, wrapping themselves around a bunch of small

    marbles left inside.

    The bandages then wrapped around my arms, forcefully injecting

    those marbles into my flesh.

    Time to kill to the man with the black mask.

    The strings puppeteering the dead rapidly descended from the skies

    to wrap themselves around the body of the warrior I had just killed.

    The man in a trench coat, then took off his coat revealing a

    pretty muscular build underneath, wearing a skintight black shirt and

    black sweatpants. He immediately charged forward and I in response

    blowed the whistle as hard as I could, but nothing changed.

    A blade emerged out of the right hand of the corpse lying before

    me, piercing my right inner thigh. The strings connected to the

    corpse made it violently spin, splitting open my leg, and even

    managed to harm my right eye.

    If you think I¡¯ll let you get away with this, you¡¯re dead

    wrong.

    In the meantime, I tried to use the fluids gathered so far to

    obliterate the remaining soldiers, but the same powerful sniper shot

    blocked my attack and vaporized the water gathered.

    How annoying. If that masked guy has remained

    unaffected by the whistle, it means that it¡¯s not a demonic tool.

    The only one suffering from it is Glaive over there.

    The masked man grabbed my right wrist as he pulled me closer. I

    made my wrist explode, using my blood to create sharp blades piercing

    his hand. I made them spin, cutting off my mine and his hand.

    He distanced himself before I could swing the gladius at him, only

    to then fall into the mouth of the gigantic snake made of fluids.

    After being swallowed and crushed, his body turned into wood.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Tsk! How annoying.¡±

    Glaive had a bunch of tree branches violently emerging from his

    body, tearing his flesh apart as they merged together to create a

    lance for him. A weapon filled with maggots and oozing a strange

    liquid off the tip of the weapon.

    Out of the many branches, many more mannequins were formed, taking

    the same aspect of the man that I had just killed.

    ¡°Xavier! Be careful, he doesn¡¯t fight in a conventional way.

    Try to stay as further away from him as possible! Remember that he

    doesn¡¯t feel any pain. Use that to your advantage, but remember,

    that¡¯s also one of his biggest strengths.¡± The muscular

    bodyguards shouted as one.

    Xavier? Who the hell is Xavier? Wait? What does this mean? Who

    talked to who just now?

    I made blood burst out of my throat. It was a neat trick to

    restore the fluids lost. Since I was immortal, I could extract as

    much blood as I wanted. It would¡¯ve all regenerated within a few

    seconds.

    I used the blood to create a spear in my left hand and waited for

    the sniper to attack me. I wanted to block it this time to figure its

    position, but I couldn¡¯t block this time the attack came from

    above.

    Damn it! How is he¡­ How does that weapon work?

    Does he have to set it up? It has been striking me at irregular

    intervals. There is no repeating pattern here. How am I supposed to¡­

    The power of the first attack wasn¡¯t strong enough to break the

    armor. The second time, it was strong enough to blow up my head

    without me feeling any pain, but the third time was weaker than the

    previous three strikes.

    As annoying as it is, I can¡¯t deal with

    whoever that is unless¡­ No, even then, I don¡¯t have enough people

    to expand the range. Well, attempting won¡¯t hurt.

    As soon as my body, along with my clothes, finished regenerating,

    I grasped the banner that was granting me immortality, and further

    dug it underground.

    Flesh tendrils came out of it in response, reaching out for the

    many corpses lying all around us. They reached for the many moving

    corpses and rapidly pulled them away from the control of the many

    strings.

    Using the blood under my control, I retrieved my weapon once more,

    then I expanded the blood in order to cover the whole area under the

    effect of the banner.

    He summoned his celestial armor, a white, holy-looking armor

    equipped with a blue mantle.

    It had a large golden cross on the shoulder pads, a halo made out

    of golden feathers hovering over his head, blue flames coming out of

    his elbows, sides and heels. His body was still spilling maggots

    wherever he stood who rapidly died if separated from him for too

    long.

    He rushed towards me, pointing the large lance at me, but our

    weapons never clashed. Before he could even get within twenty meters

    of me, a couple of spears emerged from the ground, piercing both his

    sides and then pinning his body to the ground.

    Many maggots poured out of his wounds, gathering around the base

    of the spears pinning him down, feasting on the fluids currently

    pinning him down.

    The flames coming out Glaive body rapidly set those maggots on

    fire, causing them to explode, releasing green flames.

    What is this?.

    ¡°Any last words?¡± He asked me.

    ¡°Go fuck yourself.¡± I answered.

    ¡°Alright, you asked for this.¡±

    I tried to manifest the teleportation ability, but all I achieved

    was splitting my vision in two. I was seeing multiple scenarios of

    the same battlefield unfold before, and I controlling both bodies was

    headache inducing.

    What? how does this work?

    I tried to make the other copy walk towards my left side while I

    rushed towards the opposite side, then a kick from Glaive¡¯s

    bodyguard hit the copy. The blow pulled my consciousness back into my

    injured body, and the other body disappeared.

    How? the other copy wasn¡¯t visible, it didn¡¯t really exist¡­

    no, taking it was a trap, and I fell for it.

    I noticed a dark hole in the palms of the bodyguard¡¯s hands.

    Poking out of it was a small silver key.

    This is troublesome. Guess I¡¯ve got to get rid of the fakes and

    find the real one as soon¡ª-

    A sudden wall of flames crashed onto me. Glaive successfully freed

    himself.

    All the flames concentrated themselves around me and got more

    intense with each passing second.

    Now or never!

    I cut to pieces my body and spread it apart, then while

    regenerating my body in a safe position, I covered the gladius with

    blood and substituted it with a fake, hiding the real weapon

    underground.

    I need to master this ability if I want to have the slightest

    chance of defeating those guys.

    I once again, activated the teleportation ability, splitting my

    mind in two once more. This time, I focused on suppressing one of the

    two bodyguards.

    One copy of me leaped upward, the other simply gathered its own

    blood to shoot an empowered projectile.

    This time, the copy on the ground was shot by the sniper,

    interrupting the ability.

    Suddenly, in front and behind me, there were two massive opened

    gates, from which many tentacles emerged attempting to subdue me.

    I jumped to escape, only to then get hit by a fireball.

    Glaive rushed towards me, with a sword in his hand, covered in

    maggots.

    "No, you won¡¯t!" I said, making spears erupt from my

    chest, clashing with his sword and pushing it away from me.

    The blood spears then quickly turned into chains. I wanted to stab

    him with my sword, but I was pushed away by his bodyguard. He pushed

    me to the ground with a kick coming from my left side.

    I got back up and immediately created a wall in front of me to

    block the following attack, a large burst of flames.

    Behind me was the other bodyguard who tried to put on the

    suppressant cuffs on me. As soon as he put on the cuffs on my right

    hand, I cut off the right arm, then I impaled him using the blood

    coming out of the injured shoulder.

    Fuck, at this rate I might even lose. I need a plan. How can I

    even deal with this?

    Most other soldiers were dead by now, the few remaining alive were

    too shocked to even hold a weapon properly, it was only a matter of

    time before eventual support would come to help Glaive and if by then

    I didn¡¯t manage to kill him, it would¡¯ve been disastrous for me.

 Betrayal (IV)

    The more time passes, the less that bodyguard''s body resembles that of a human; however, their power has increased, so the less human the remote puppet looks, the stronger it gets. What an annoying ability.

    I blew the whistle yet again, and it didn¡¯t work on him. Glaive, on the other hand, seemed to suffer its effects more greatly than I thought possible.

    The branches bursting out of its body grew so big they were obstructing his movements and so heavy they eventually brought him to his knees. The tree branches were lashing out, impaling the bodyguards he was creating and ordering his maggots to consume them.

    His body was ripped apart, then regenerated, only to be destroyed again in a cycle of screaming agony.

    In between the many cracks and hollow spaces, many eyes opened, yellow eyes glowing in the distance.

    He must¡¯ve been preparing for quite a while; he¡¯s using none of the abilities I often saw him using. Moreover, those bodyguards of his, they¡¯re also pretty tricky to deal with him. Just how long were you ever truly loyal to our family? No, this piece of shit was planning to betray us from the start.

    ¡°No matter how much fear those guys have for me, they will betray you the first chance they get. Don¡¯t get too comfortable around them.¡± The words of my wife suddenly came back to my mind.

    Yeah, we should¡¯ve made a rotation of families like you said, made the ones that conspired against us disappear, and brainwashed their kids. That way, we wouldn¡¯t have found ourselves in this situation. You were right not to trust them.

    My body was starting to slow down, breathing was slowly getting more and more difficult, and my eyes felt as heavy as an apartment building.

    Damn, I guess this is it. My body cannot hold out for much longer under this constant pressure. Perhaps instead of letting them capture me like this, I should just kill myself. That way I won¡¯t trouble my wife more than I already have.

    I began expelling all the blood in my body, squeezing every drop I could find while flooding the nearby area.

    Before I could try to make my next attack, my head was blown up by a sniper round. All the while, the area became dark.

    How are you able to still summon more and more shit? Just how much ashen have you prepared for this occasion? Even with lots of it, you still won¡¯t be able to escape the side effects.

    I attempted impaling Glaive like I did before, testing out the durability of his armor. Yet strangely enough, the damage was reflected back to me.

    Even this¡­ You fucking bastard, at this point you¡¯re just showing off. It doesn''t matter; soon you''ll succumb to your own demon. You should''ve known better than to challenge me; you know that the more you rely on demonic powers, the weaker you are against me.

    I blew the whistle more, rattling the beasts within his body more and more, till the lance he was holding changed form. The many branches that were twisted together, forming the spear, suddenly freed themselves and stabbed Glaive, slowly eating his arm.

    With time, his bodyguard¡¯s number had multiplied by at least a hundredfold. The more I killed, the more appeared. Even with nigh infinite blood, it was almost impossible to win that battle.

    The clones of the bodyguard had slowly lost more and more of their details with every incarnation, and right now, they had lost all that made them look human; now they looked like colored mannequins made out of wood.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    The waves of blood around were no longer enough to stop them, as one of them managed to reach me and tackle me to the ground. Before he could land an attack, I used my own blood to push him away, only for yet another copy to emerge from the ground.

    It locked its arms around my chest and kept me steady as more copies fell from the skies, ready to kill me.

    I made my whole body explode and regenerated somewhere far away from all of those remote-controlled puppets, gathered all the blood lying around in my hand, and unleashed it back in a giant wave, crushing all of those puppets.

    I then fell on my knees; this way of fighting was making me feel lightheaded; constantly draining my own blood was starting to take a toll on my body.

    I need to hold out, just a little more¡­

    Out of curiosity, I created a large pillar to pierce through the giant floating hands in the skies that were now idling around. Hidden within the pillar was the ability-sealing gladius.

    Surprisingly, the gladius landed on someone as the bandages quickly extended themselves to wrap themselves around my waist.

    The sniper then, instead of shooting at me as usual, targeted the bandages. But his weapons couldn¡¯t pierce through the bandages.

    Well, I might as well give it one last try before ultimately going down.

    I wrapped those bandages around both arms and dragged down whatever the bandages were attached to.

    Instead of a person, a large open gate fell on me, trapping me in a dark, empty space without colors.

    What is this? Is it a pocket dimension? What for? Do they intend to kidnap me as well?

    The bandages were connected to something hiding in the distance, completely hidden by the darkness of that strange place.

    So far it doesn¡¯t look like they¡¯re trying to move me elsewhere; otherwise, my body would¡¯ve once again melted and regenerated next to the banner¡­ This is just a waste of time; let¡¯s just kill whoever made this and get over with this.

    I walked forward, following the bandages. They led me to what I could only assume was the real body of the bodyguard. He was currently floating in an empty space, bleeding from his neck and with the sword stuck in his belly.

    I bet even killing him or taking his powers away will end up making me lose. If the teleportation ability sucked that much, I can only imagine how this could potentially kill me.

    I grabbed the sword and forcefully extracted it, cutting open the bodyguard, and then I beheaded him. When the sword tried forcing me to absorb the powers he held, I cut off the bandages using the blade and put away the sword.

    I do wonder, now that the bodyguard is dead, what will happen to those wooden copies?

    As the pocket space around me slowly began to disappear, the two marbles containing the demonic abilities began to expand, preparing to unleash the demon back into the world.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± As soon as I was out of the pocket dimension, my body was split in two by a sharp blade, then both halves were blasted away by an explosion of flames and melted until nothing had remained of them.

    Then, as he was about to continue to cuss me out, gibberish came out of his mouth. It was probably another foreign language, a strange language I couldn¡¯t understand.

    While I was away, Glaive went through a substantial transformation. The maggots were now amassed together, forming a bunch of tendrils floating around him or forming weird braids behind his head.

    The angelic-looking armor had disappeared, and in its place there were layer upon layer of wooden plates; hiding in the crevices of that newly made set of armor were many eyes.

    A crown decorated with large antlers was sitting over Glaives¡¯ head; his head was covered by a spiked helmet split in two in the middle that showed his exposed brain. The mouth of the demon was located in the chest, a large voracious mouth from where many tentacles emerged.

    The demon was extremely brightly colored, each eye stuck in his body glowing a different color, with moss growing all over its body, which resembled that of a centaur.

    As he turned around to face me, I saw the many spikes on the helmet suddenly stab the brain. Whatever that creature was, it looked as if it was about to win the battle of wills. If it did, it would¡¯ve killed its host and set itself free.

    The creature charged at me, the wooden armor on their arms growing exponentially, forming large spears and swords.

    Fuck, maybe I shouldn¡¯t have provoked that demon; well, I might as well let it go all out now. Whatever, who cares about the consequences?

    I tried to use the whistle, but my body froze in place when I tried to do so.

    Fuck, what now? What¡¯s this? Why can¡¯t I move even a single muscle?

    I desperately tried to keep moving, starting from the tips of my toes up to my head, but nothing worked.

    Glaive used his lance to impale my chest. He then pinned me to the ground and began slashing at me using the sword.

    Not even the blood under my command was obeying my order.

    Is this it?

    I gave up, unable to do anything. I closed my eyes and surrendered myself. The last thing I heard was the loud roar of the demons I had just freed.

 Warm encounter (I)

    I woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling; the moment I tried to get up, I felt extreme pain running through my body.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake! Dad, he¡¯s awake!¡±

    An angelic voice screamed at the top of its lungs before running away.

    Where am I? What happened?

    My blurry vision prevented me from properly seeing and understanding the situation. My vision was limited to a gray ceiling, a nightstand, and numerous blood bags transfusing blood into me.

    Did someone come to rescue me? Or is this yet another illusion? Am I really safe?

    As I looked down, I saw some bandages all over my body.

    ¡°Where am I?¡±

    I was still in a dazed state; I could barely lift my head, but this time my voice seemed to work just fine; my ears and my body were feeling a bit sensitive, but apart from that, I seemed to be doing fine.

    The man who came to check how I was was someone with a disfigured face; the right side of his face was covered in a nasty burn scar, and his right eye was also blind.

    He walked using a cane as a support; along with him was a small kid; she was smiling, happily dragging her father into the room to check up on me. Short hair up to her shoulders, wearing a white sweater with a bunny sewed in the middle of the shirt.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, let¡¯s see.¡±

    The man then rummaged among the furniture in the room to get a mask to cover the disfigured half of his face. Probably in order to put me at ease, but after what I had been through, nothing could¡¯ve scared me anymore.

    ¡°Thanks!¡±

    That was all I could say. My heart was already beating out of my chest; I didn¡¯t know if I was rescued or captured once again; my eyes were already filled with tears, desperately holding on to a thin thread in fear that I would break down if I even so much as exhaled.

    ¡°It must¡¯ve been scary for someone like you; thankfully, we managed to get you out of the Weeping Abyss before it could force you into becoming its host. We¡¯ve also sent a letter to both your parents telling them what happened; I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll get here in less than a month.¡±

    As if he could read my mind, he put my worries at ease; all the while, he rummaged through the various drawers in search of something.

    The man then began taking out strange tools and quickly began inspecting me, opening wide my eyes, using a thermometer to check my temperature, checking my mouth and ears, then he helped me sit on the bed and began checking my heartbeat.

    ¡°What I¡¯ve been trying to say is that everything is fine; you can relax now; you¡¯re safe. Now, when I tell you to, why don¡¯t you take a couple of deep breaths for me?¡±

    ¡°Why is his hair so bright now? What color is that?¡± The girl asked while intently staring at me with wide eyes.

    ¡°That¡¯s the symbol of his family. Only the Scarlet Devil and her family possess bright red hair. He¡¯s her son,¡± he explained while carefully removing my bandages to put in new ones.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    That¡¯s when I saw my body covered in scars and stitches. A lot of the minor injuries had healed on their own. I didn¡¯t realize how bad I was until I saw it with my own eyes.

    Ouch, ouch! What the hell?

    Just looking at them is bad enough, but even breathing the wrong felt extremely painful.

    ¡°Do you feel anything weird? Maybe some headache, other kinds of pain, maybe some lightheadedness?¡±

    The kid beside the man smiled at me when she noticed that I was staring at her. She had chubby cheeks, light-colored eyes, a round face, and a short body; her eyes were gleaming with curiosity.

    ¡°Hey, hey, where do you come from?¡± She asked me.

    The child seemed unbothered by my scars, talking as if nothing happened. On the other hand, I could still see the many glass shards stuck within them. I could still feel the burning pain and the slimy feel of blood dripping down my body.

    ¡°Where am I? Who are you? Do you know who I am? If so, you better treat me well or¡­¡± My voice couldn¡¯t come out of my body; after a couple of attempts, I simply remained in silence. So I was moving my mouth for nothing.

    ¡°All done here. You can use the bell on the nightstand in case you need anything.¡±

    After removing his bloody plastic gloves, the man rapidly cleaned his hands and went to trash the dirty bandages, leaving the girl alone with me.

    ¡°You¡¯re the son of the Scarlet Devil, right? That means you come from the surface, right? How is it compared to down here? I heard that everything is colorful, so colorful you can even see other shades of color other than the primary colors! Is that true?¡±

    I could barely hear her voice; all that I could see was the incident, over and over again. The memory of it had just returned to me. It was a premeditated attack.

    The group was guiding through an empty road. We had to take a large detour because apparently, that day, lots of soldiers had appeared, claiming that now the land belonged to a king of sorts and were doing inspections on everyone.

    Those two were discussing the news they heard on the radio about the powerful demons that appeared in the city of Litua; apparently after stirring quite the ruckus, the demons disappeared without leaving a trace of their presence, all the buildings they had destroyed returned to normal, and everyone was puzzled by it.

    Then a pipe shot at an unimaginable speed, broke through one of the windows on the right side, and pierced the skull of the driver; a bullet pierced the skull of the guy with the red bandana, making his head explode, and a bunch of hands emerged from the steering wheel, forcing the car to steer off the cliff.

    Why would anyone work here? If all you will ever accomplish here is die like that at the hands of those monsters¡­

    I wanted to puke. The smell of blood was only bringing back horrible memories that only kept getting stronger over time.

    ¡°Heeey! Yoooooo! Can you hear me?¡±

    The cheerful kid took my right hand into hers and handed me a small gummy bear.

    ¡°The food here sucks, so here¡¯s a small treat to cheer you up.¡±

    Then she took out a remote hidden beneath the bed and turned on the TV standing on a table across the room, rapidly scrolling through the many channels in search of something to watch.

    ¡°Elena! You¡¯re not bothering the guest, right? He¡¯s still recovering from his injuries; you shouldn¡¯t bother him too much!¡± The doctor shouted from the other room.

    ¡°I know, I know!¡± she shouted back while putting the remote in my hands.

    ¡°Are you not going to eat it?¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what to do; a part of me wanted to shout at her to go away, but I was simply in too much pain to even bother raising my voice. When she pushed me to the side, she tried to be careful with her hands, but she still pressed a myriad of injuries left on my arm.

    Before I could open my mouth, she grabbed my hand and put it over my mouth so that I could eat the candy she had given me.

    ???

    ¡°Sweet, right? Is there anything you usually watch, or can I put there anything I like?¡±

    The smug look she had on her face was starting to annoy me; moreover, I couldn¡¯t feel anything in my mouth other than the disgusting taste of blood. I almost immediately gagged the moment I tried to chew on the gummy bear and almost puked.

    Then, when I felt the bile traveling towards my mouth, I was reminded of when I almost suffocated on my own vomit and puked all over the bed.

    The doctor from before came running to the room as soon as he heard the sound of me puking; the girl next to me was panicking, pleading with her father while he was yelling at her to get out of the room, repeatedly until she ran out in tears.

    Everything slowly became covered in a fog, dulling my senses, washing away the bad memories off my body, and singing a lullaby so soothing it made me feel as if I was resting over a cloud.

 Warm encounter (II)

    When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on my bed back in my room; after a long time submerged in that colorless world, seeing such colorful objects brought me some comfort. Especially my blue pillow, my yellow walls, my light blue bed sheet, and the dark dawn-filled comforter.

    The nightmare is finally over. Phew, Mom is faster than I thought; to think she carried me from underground back to the surface in the time I fell asleep¡­ This feels nice.

    The television, as usual, was left on; I wasn¡¯t even looking at it anymore; the sound simply kept me company in that empty house since lately my uncle wasn¡¯t visiting us anymore, and I didn¡¯t want to get anywhere near that sauna my father calls a workplace.

    ¡°Lucy!¡±

    The voice of my dad was calling to me. He seemed pissed at me, yet I couldn¡¯t be happier to hear his grumpy voice nagging at me about the stupidest things, such as leaving my toys on the ground or maybe even leaving my bed undone, so I bolted out of the room and headed straight towards the small workshop he owned.

    Dad, you have no idea what I went through; there were demons and weird places.

    It was a small building located somewhere far behind our house, sitting a little outside the fence that marked the end of our lawn.

    The moment I opened the door, I was suddenly blasted with a wave of steaming hot air, and there he was at work, putting the strangely colored liquid into a square mold. The stench was so strong it immediately overwhelmed my nose and made me gag.

    As usual, he was putting the strange purple liquid into the mold after having worked on it all day, then closed the metal mold and threw it inside the gigantic furnace he built. After making the liquid evaporate, he would need to treat the remaining powder to turn it into ashen.

    ¡°Dad?¡±

    I immediately went in for a hug, but he vanished the moment I wrapped my arms around his waist. Instead of him, many bloody hands appeared, holding me down and digging their nails into my body.

    ¡°It¡¯s all your fault!¡± A familiar voice shouted as another hand appeared in front of my face to push me down and plunge my body into pure darkness.

    No, it wasn¡¯t my fault! You kidnapped me! I didn¡¯t do anything wrong.

    No matter how much I tried to regain the reins over my dream, I couldn¡¯t keep that image of those demons out of my head, the large, towering spider killing and absorbing the body of anyone he came across while the other demon was laughing maniacally, sitting on his back.

    I landed on a mountain of corpses; each one of them was crying tears of blood, desperately crawling over each other to get to me, grabbing me, and demanding an answer out of me.

    ¡°Why did you kill my family?¡±

    ¡°What did my girlfriend have to do to deserve this?¡±

    ¡°Murderer!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean for this to happen! I didn¡¯t know something like this would¡¯ve happened!¡± I shouted back while kicking a couple of those crawling corpses away.

    The moment I kicked their hands away, they came crawling with increasing ferocity, slowly dragging me under the huge pile of bodies. Trying to choke me with their rotting hands, trying to gouge my eyes, and trying to rip my body to shreds using their hands alone.

    Before they could rip my head out of my body, I woke up screaming in pain and fear.

    Next to me was the doctor with a syringe in his right hand. He had tied my body to the bed during my sleep and was using his whole body to pin my left arm against the bed to keep it stable.

    ¡°Sweet dreams!¡± He said, before injecting the strange liquid into my veins.

    ¡°No! Wait! I don¡¯t want to go back to sleep!¡±

    What are you doing?

    I desperately kept wiggling around, trying to free myself and stop him from putting me to sleep with that mysterious and colorless syringe.

    I screamed in frustration as I realized that the restraints placed over my arms wouldn¡¯t budge, and then out of desperation I even tried to bite the man on his back; in return he almost knocked me out using his right elbow.

    ¡°What¡¯s that? Can you not leave your chocolate wrappers lying around everywhere? If you keep this up, I¡¯ll revoke your TV privileges for a week!¡± The doctor¡¯s voice seemed much more relaxed now compared to earlier. After injecting me with that weird substance, he went right back to talking to his daughter, who was present there.

    ¡°Help me, please! I don¡¯t want to sleep. I don¡¯t want to see that nightmare again.¡± Was all I could say before passing out, tears scrolling down my face as I desperately tried my best to fight the sudden urge to sleep.

    This time, I didn¡¯t dream about anything. I was simply standing in pure darkness alone with my thoughts until my body began to reawaken.

    Strangely enough, I felt calmer than ever; all my worries had washed away enough for me to care about the conversation going between my benefactor and his daughter.

    ¡°Yeah, I know, I know. But the holidays just started; I have plenty of time to do my homework; I can always do them later; now get out! You¡¯re in the way.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    The young girl was a lot bolder than I originally imagined, or was her father a lot less strict about her than mine?

    ¡°Okay, but don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a waste spending the rest of the day holed up in this room? Plus, it¡¯s such a beautiful day outside; why don¡¯t you go and play with¡ª¡± That was a kind of discussion I was all too familiar with. I was giggling inside thinking of how annoyed that little girl was right now.

    ¡°Don¡¯t wanna!¡± She protested as she threw herself at a plastic chair nearby.

    ¡°But¡­¡± Her father approached her slowly, getting on his knee to ease her into following his suggestion, but she remained resolute.

    ¡°Don¡¯t wanna!¡±

    Ultimately, the doctor gave up. After a resigned sigh, he simply got out of the room in silence, leaving the child sitting next to me watching the television.

    Not long after, she got tired of sitting on her chair and began nuzzling me away in order to make room for herself. She snuck inside the bedsheets and crossed her bare frozen legs with mine.

    ¡°Why are your legs so cold? Damn, you¡¯re freezing me.¡± I complained while trying to move my legs away.

    ¡°Whoa! You¡¯re awake? Since when?¡± She seemed startled by my sudden exclamation to the point she almost jumped out of the bed.

    ¡°I just woke up; now get off; you¡¯re freezing me.¡±

    ¡°The whole house is freezing! It¡¯s winter outside! You should be thankful we turned on the heaters so that your room is hot enough to not notice it.¡± She snapped back at me, hugging my left arm.

    On the screen there was a documentary about lions, showing their hunting skills and powers; it was the kind of animal I had never seen before, but it was cute enough to want as a pet, plus it had a cool mane made out of fire.

    The males had the fiery mane, while the females had none. They hunted in large packs consistently, mostly of other females; every pack had very few males and at least six to seven females.

    ¡°Do you want some chocolate?¡±

    What? Didn¡¯t she just get scolded for eating chocolate in my room? Why would you keep eating it if it gets you in trouble?

    ¡°Is there something else we can watch? Maybe a movie or something with a little more action?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like lions?¡± She asked me while handing me a handful of chocolate snacks.

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate them.¡± I responded as I turned back to look at the screen.

    ¡°They¡¯re not that cool; they don¡¯t have that¡­ that spark, that thing that makes you cool. I expected to see lots more blood and fights, but they look too calm.¡± I added after a couple more minutes of watching a boring expert trying to explain how they socialized their cubs.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like seeing violent stuff on television.¡± The girl argued back.

    That doesn¡¯t make any sense! Are animals in the wild less violent? They¡¯ll be ripping each other apart, feasting on the carcasses. Do you really like lions that much? Why? They¡¯re just large cats with bigger bodies than normal.

    ¡°Land animals are boring; if you want to see something interesting, you should look underwater instead. Down there are plenty of weird creatures; some have glowing bodies, some are see-through, some can only live in the deepest and darkest places, and some are big and violent enough to easily wreck even an armored ship.¡±

    The girl simply scoffed at my enthusiastic explanation and hid the remote as I was still speaking.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t like whales and sharks.¡± She said so before I could resume my explanation.

    ¡°Sharks and whales aren¡¯t the only beings that live in the sea; there are actually a lot of different kinds of creatures you can find there.¡±

    ¡°But they¡¯re so mean-looking! I saw lots of films where they just keep eating people, no matter how much they plead for mercy!¡± I could see the fire in her eyes; no matter what, she was unwilling to let me win the argument.

    That statement felt somewhat silly. I chuckled a bit at her ridiculous belief and then promptly corrected her.

    ¡°How many sharks have you seen in your life?¡±

    ¡°Zero, I¡¯ve never been to the surface, but my father just got his permit approved, so in a couple of years we¡¯ll be able to start living on the surface.¡±

    ¡°Ah, figures. Well, sharks aren¡¯t that common to see; even I only saw a handful of them, and they¡¯re a lot more chill than you would think. Some of them are even harmless. Like, even if they bumped into you, I doubt their bites could tear off a limb.¡± For the first time I saw that determination wavering; she didn¡¯t know where to look, so I waited eagerly for her to answer so that I could debunk her arguments.

    ¡°Elena.¡±

    I called her by her name because she looked distracted while fidgeting with her arms behind her back.

    ¡°How do you know my name? Can you read minds?¡±

    Her flustered face was cute to look at; her chubby cheeks stuffed with chocolate made her look like a hamster.

    How boring! I¡¯m dying of boredom here, please! Tell me you have something fun to do here; otherwise, I might just go crazy!

    ¡°No, no, I just heard your father call you by that name. Do you have anything to play with? What kind of video games do you have?¡± I asked, and the troubled look in her eyes vanished, and she was gleaming with joy. The proud smile on her face irritated me.

    ¡°Wait, can you repeat what you just said? I wasn¡¯t listening.¡± She asked me while resting her head over my chest.

    Oi! Don¡¯t get too comfortable here. I¡¯m thankful you saved me, but don¡¯t get carried away; I can still kill you if I say the wrong thing to my mother.

    ¡°Do-you-have-some-games? Do you play video games?¡± I asked her.

    Her puzzled look left me in shock.

    Do the people of the fracture not know what a video game is? What kind of life have they lived up until now?

    I didn¡¯t know how to explain without sounding like a total nerd or like a brag on my part.

    ¡°Ah, I got it! That expensive stuff you buy for the television, I never had that. Dad says it makes your brain rot.¡±

    She then raised her head and untangled her legs from mine to sit with her legs crossed, pointing her right index finger at me, in a lecturing pose I was all too familiar with.

    Don¡¯t point at me.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! They¡¯re just a way to pass time and relax.¡± I immediately argued back, sitting up and pushing the finger away from me.

    ¡°They¡¯re brainwashing you!¡± She shouted in return.

    ¡°Again, that¡¯s not true! They¡¯re just like movies; they¡¯re nice to look at and enjoyable when you want to relax and do nothing for a while.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re brainwashing you!¡± She simply wouldn¡¯t allow me to put up more than a few sentences together and kept interrupting me until I finally gave up.

    ¡°Fine, you¡¯re right, video games are evil.¡± I gave up.

    ¡°See! It wasn¡¯t too easy to admit it!¡± She said with a proud look on her face, a smile from ear to ear, and standing on the bed looking down on me with an annoying fake laugh to mock me.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even give me¡ª¡±

    ¡°Ah-ah-ah! You said it, video games are evil! No taking back now!¡±

    The satisfied, smug look on her face irritated me to no end, but then everything faded away when I gulped down a piece of chocolate she handed me.

    It had a strange texture; I expected it to be rather crunchy, but it quickly turned soft and malleable, with a strong metallic flavor. That sensation brought bad feelings into my mind and made my body shiver uncontrollably, yet I couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint why I was feeling that way.

    ¡°Are you okay? Was the chocolate not to your liking? Here, spit it out if you don¡¯t feel like eating it!¡± The girl hurriedly took out a handkerchief from a pocket on her right side and offered it to me.

    After I spit out the chocolate snack, I looked back on it to see if the color or texture had changed, and it hadn¡¯t.

    What? But I was sure it tasted different¡­ What¡¯s going on?

    ¡°Are you okay? You¡¯re scaring me. Is there something odd with the small chocolate?¡±

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine; everything¡¯s fine; I just don¡¯t feel all that hungry.¡± I replied to calm her down, since she started to panic.

    I slapped myself in the cheeks a couple of times to stop the shivering of my body and then gave her a thumbs up. She was still extremely worried, but that at the very least had stopped her from calling her father back.

 The tale of the brave knight (I)

    ¡°So, what do you usually do when you¡¯re bored?¡± I then asked while getting up on the bed to

    ¡°I study; there¡¯s not much to do here. I also like to play volleyball, but lately everyone¡¯s so obsessed with video games, it¡¯s rotting their brains! They¡¯re all zombies!¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious, right?¡±

    Oops, I shouldn¡¯t have let that escape.

    ¡°Yeah! They¡¯re glued to those tiny screens that they can fit into their pockets and play make-believe with some monsters; they¡¯re so annoying! Can you believe they mocked me for not having one of those things?¡±

    She seemed to have misunderstood what I just said.

    ¡°Anyway, is there anything we can play with here?¡±

    I immediately tried to change the topic to not start talking badly about people I didn¡¯t even know, desperately looking for something stored in the room, but there was nothing that caught my eye.

    The room was mostly white; the furniture placed on the corners of the room was made out of wood, and it was pretty scarce in such a spacious room.

    ¡°Can you at least put something else on the screen? I¡¯m getting tired of the life of a pack of lions.¡± After some more time spent in silence, I grew too bored to stand that situation.

    ¡°Oh, sure, just pass me the remote.¡±

    What? You¡¯re the one holding¡­ That¡¯s what that was¡ªthe fidgeting from earlier. She was hiding it!

    My immediate instinct was to check her hands, and they were empty, then the nightstand behind her. I checked underneath the bed, in between the mattress and the bed frame, and lastly, I checked in the space behind us, in between the bed and the wall.

    Nothing.

    As I was looking around, I saw the edges of her mouth slightly rising as I kept researching and failing to find the remote.

    She must still have it. There¡¯s no way she doesn¡¯t.

    When I got closer to her, the small smirk vanished and was replaced by a blank expression as she was trying to hide her emotion from me. I once again took her hands and checked them one more time, then I began to pat her arms in search of the remote.

    That¡¯s when I saw her finally cracking. As I began inspecting her body, I noticed her slowly leaning away from me, then when I began inspecting the loose sleeves of her shirt, she rapidly got away from me, making the remote fall out of her left shirt sleeve.

    Caught you! I win, you lose. I¡¯m the best, as usual.

    I quickly rushed to get the remote, and the girl kicked it away before I could pick it up with enough force to make it fly towards the other end of the room, breaking it against the wall of the room.

    Really? Did you really have to break it? Just so I couldn¡¯t change channels? I mean, you could have simply refused if you didn¡¯t want to change channels; it¡¯s not like I could¡¯ve done much else in this situation.

    ¡°What was that for?¡± I shouted at her.

    ¡°Ah, no!¡±

    The girl rushed over the fragmented remote, hoping, but it was already too late. The remote had shattered; the plastic buttons were scattered across the floor. Her father was quick to notice the commotion.

    He seemed worried about his daughter, and when he saw her standing on the other side of the room picking up the pieces of the broken remote, he let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Ah, ehm¡­ Sorry!¡±

    She was on the verge of tears as she turned around and handed her father the broken remote. He simply took the broken pieces and hugged her.

    ¡°Just be careful now; we can always buy a new one. This stuff is pretty cheap; there¡¯s no need to cry, okay?¡± He reassured her while patting the top of her head and giving her small kisses on her forehead.

    ¡°B-b-but!¡±

    Is she doing it on purpose? There¡¯s no way you would cry over a broken remote. Ugh, this feels odd; just be normal, please; just apologize, bow your head, and say I¡¯m sorry; no need for the tears.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everything¡¯s under control.¡±

    Since we couldn¡¯t switch channels anymore and I was starting to get bored, the disfigured man brought in a deck of strange cards.

    The deck was incredibly large. It must¡¯ve surely contained over ninety cards, all with a strange ring on their back made out of two snakes biting each other¡¯s tail.

    ¡°Since we can¡¯t watch the TV, how about we play a card game?¡±

    He had already started shuffling the deck, so it was too late to refuse. We set up the nightstand that was right beside my bed as our table and brought in some chairs for the father and the girl and began playing a strange game.

    The girl was sitting right in front of me while the man was sitting on my left side.

    Each card had a different theme: some had depictions of wars, and some had simply some infrastructure, like giant towers, amphitheaters, and more.

    In total, there were five kinds of cards: character cards, peaceful cards, violent cards, cards that show depictions of buildings, and lastly, mirror cards.

    Once we all sat down, the doctor distributed the cards until we all had five cards each. I had the luck of drawing a mirror card immediately, as it is the most beautiful and mesmerizing among all others.

    It was seemingly see-through, but it also functioned as a mirror; it seemed to have large shards of a mirror floating in the cards that reflect whatever is on the other side.

    How does this even work? There can¡¯t be something inside the card; it¡¯s basically paper-thin.

    ¡°The game is really simple. It¡¯s a storytelling game. The cards are used to tell a story. I¡¯ll be the narrator narrating the events, and you¡¯ll be the ones deciding the story, while I¡¯ll try my best to interpret your choices.¡±

    What a lame game¡­ It sounds boring. Why do I have to play this? The cards are beautiful, but this sounds boring as hell!

    Then the man tapped twice on the deck of cards, and suddenly the entire room around us disappeared and turned completely dark.

    An illusion? Why would there¡­ Wait, don¡¯t tell me these are¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll start.¡± He said while placing down a character card representing a knight.

    ¡°There once was, a long time ago, a valiant knight. He was the strongest and purest soul there could ever be. Hailing from an unknown village, he set off on his adventure at a young age to make a name for himself, dreaming of becoming the strongest knight.¡±

    As the man was narrating the story, the illusion started to become clearer and clearer; a knight riding a majestic horse appeared, both armored to the teeth. The knight''s armor seemed extremely large and heavy, with spikes on the shoulders, knees, and elbows.

    Suddenly, the game didn¡¯t look so boring after all.

    Then Helena placed down the princess card. Her eyes were ecstatic the moment she had drawn her cards, and that must¡¯ve surely been one of the reasons why.

    ¡°As soon as he arrived in the city, he fell in love with one of the kingdom¡¯s princesses; her name is Aisha, the Flower of the East.¡±

    And now it was my turn. In my hand, all I had was a tower, a duel, a greedy king, a prince, and a mirror card.

    A tower would be too clich¨¦ here. I should probably put down either the duel or the greedy king¡­ But I really want to see what the mirror card does.

    I placed down the prince card because he had an unsettling smile, and I wanted to rid myself of him and not look at him any further.

    ¡°Unfortunately for the knight, a prince in a faraway country had already betrothed her. Knowing this, the knight set off on an adventure to prove himself worthy of becoming the princess consort.¡±

    When the princess appeared, she was stunning and was wearing an elegant, flowery dress that reached her ankles. She was currently standing in front of some sort of balcony, waving at a group of knights as they were preparing themselves to duel with one another.

    The knight protagonist of the tale was looking at her and glaring at her companion, who stood beside her, clenching his fist whenever he saw her trying to refuse the advances of her prince.

    I then drew the rebellion card.

    This seems a little more violent than I thought, but who am I to judge? This is the game the people of the Fracture play; I should just enjoy it for now.

    ¡°In his quest for greatness, our hero encountered a village currently being raided by bandits.¡±

    The other knights and the princess disappeared. We didn¡¯t even see the hero leaving the city.

    We suddenly found ourselves sitting near a river staring at a village in flames, civilians fleeing, and savage barbarians chasing them.

    ¡°The knight couldn¡¯t possibly ignore a group of people in need, so he set out to slay the bandits and free the village.¡±

    The knight was merciless. He was far more skilled in swordsmanship and spearmanship than all the barbarians combined.

    They had surrounded him, yet their combined efforts weren¡¯t enough to even leave a scratch on his armor. The knight spun around their attacks, constantly changing weapons, disarming them, or stealing their weapons and throwing them back, leaving no blind spot.

    He charged forward, running headfirst against the line of spears, and moved to the side at the last minute to avoid getting impaled by their spears, grabbed the spear by the shaft, and killed its owner by stabbing him in the neck with his sword.

    The sound of the barbarians dying remained imprinted in my head. I looked around to see the reaction of the others, and they seemed perfectly used to this.

    The knight moved forward, pulling away the spear from the corpse¡¯s hand to stab the soldier standing on his opposite side, pushed him out of the way, and then threw his sword, piercing the head of the barbarian standing right behind the one he had just killed.

    Another warrior tried to attack the knight from behind using a large hammer. The knight spun around his weapon and unsheathed a dagger hidden within his armor, stabbed the barbarian in the neck, pushed away, stole the hammer, and used it to crush his head.

    In the end, he stood over a mountain of corpses, covered in blood and shouting a war cry so powerful it made my whole body shiver.

    One thing that I didn¡¯t like about that game was how real it seemed, with the pungent smell of fresh blood, the terrifying sound of blades clashing, the sound of the fire burning down the buildings around us, and the smell of the smoke.

 The tale of the brave knight (II)

    Next up, Helena played the card of demons, more specifically succubus, and I played the card of the greedy king since I wanted to preserve the other to use them in a more opportune situation and drew the card of a pestilence.

    Ugh, can¡¯t you give me something like a dragon, a war, or a siege?

    As time passed, I started to enjoy more and more looking at the perfectly choreographed fight rather than understanding the story; it was an extremely simple story, so there wasn¡¯t much to follow.

    ¡°While on his quest to slay the demon lord, the brave and valiant knight stopped at the city of Litua to rest.¡±

    Wait, I think I¡¯ve heard that name before.

    The background changed once more. This time we were in some sort of impoverished city. The muddy streets were filled to the brim with corpses, as a strange phenomenon had struck the city.

    I was getting slowly more and more invested in the story we were creating. After some time, I simply stopped paying attention to the cards I was playing or what the narrator was saying and simply enjoyed the movie-like experience the illusion was showing.

    During the night, a group of succubus attempted to take the life of the knight, and he, as usual, defeated them; it was all a ploy of the king that reigned over that kingdom.

    In the capital, there was a famous arena where all the most famous knights would duel to decide who was the strongest in the world, and the king was rigging the matches to hoard wealth.

    Using the succubuses, the king was deciding the victors of the arena before the match even started.

    After exposing the king, he was dethroned and exiled along with the rest of the royal family for having sided with the demons. The demons were hung in the city center the very next day; the royal guard barely even seemed willing to protect the king.

    Then, diseases struck twice in a row in the same city, and the valiant hero remained there to help the victims. In the meantime, he got close to a peasant called Veronica. A mage.

    The knight had started recruiting people to join him in his heroic quest, and the mage was his first companion to join; next up was a bard, an assassin, and a beast tamer.

    As they ventured around the world, they faced various enemies; some were humans, some were demons, and some were just large beasts.

    I adored the knight¡¯s weapon; his preferred choice was a spiked ball attached to a very long metal chain. He would throw it around, spin it over his head, use the chain to block incoming attacks, or wrap it around his arm to block using his arms. Sometimes he would even kick the spiked ball into his enemies after pulling it back.

    Then, just as the group set foot on the demonic continent, they were greeted by the dragon king.

    Hold up, I feel like we missed some crucial step in this adventure; shouldn¡¯t we focus on the demons and their army? Why would you put the card of the dragon king? What kind of person would use such a card so early?

    It was Helena.

    Ahhh, what a headache; it was all going so well too.

    What, is she getting bored and wants to rush the story? It¡¯s useless, after all; I¡¯m the one who holds the demon king¡¯s card.

    I threw in the tower card, and it was promptly ignored by the narrator. It was present in the background of the illusion but served no purpose in the story.

    The dragon king was among the few characters who actually possessed colors, possessing black scales, yellow glowing horns and eyes, with weird red runes carved all over his body, bleeding dark blood out of them constantly.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    That fight was impressive to look at.

    The knight was capable of jumping so far and so high he would effortlessly catch up with the dragon whenever it tried to fly away to unleash its fire breath, using the large spiked ball; he first broke its wings while also leaving as many injuries all over the dragon¡¯s body.

    His companions weren¡¯t slacking either, but his jumps, backflips midair, and seeing how he skillfully utilized his weapon left a deep impression on me.

    The battle was arduous, but the heroes came out on top ultimately. The group infiltrated the kingdom, uncovering every mystery possible there was about demons and their culture. They knew where they stored weapons, what kind of weapons they used, they learned the magic they used, and more.

    When they returned, they used the information gathered to prepare themselves for¡ª

    When the card representing war touched the nightstand, the whole room began to tremble, then I dropped the card of the demon lord, and the narrator dropped the port city card.

    We found ourselves standing on a ship, currently navigating a tempestuous sea, while navigating towards the port city of the demons; around us was a fleet of ships so large they expanded as far as the eye could see.

    We could see giant dragons flying above our heads, the loud cannons mounted on the walls of the city shooting at us, and the sound of the cannonballs either crashing against the ships near us or in the sea.

    ¡°Keep navigating straight ahead! We¡¯re almost there!¡± The knight shouted as loudly as he could.

    The bard was using his spell to make the words of the hero echo throughout the sea while the mage was charging up her magic circles. Through magic, she was capable of controlling a large quantity of seawater, shaping it into spears with chains attached to them, and used those to try to bring down the dragons.

    The knight, by spinning his spiked ball, was able to wrap it around one of those spears and use its momentum to launch himself at the enemy dragons.

    Whoa, that¡¯s so cool.

    He was bouncing from one chain to another, spinning his body to swing the massive spiked ball, and eventually successfully landed a heavy blow to the dragon¡¯s head; the dragon rider later almost killed him.

    Even if I was squinting my eyes, it was extremely hard to see how the fight was going; at that instance, he looked like a blue line going back and forth between dragons. The crew of the ship was also in turmoil, rapidly reloading the cannons to keep the sea monsters away.

    The beast tamer summoned a massive kraken, and just as the many soldiers were about to take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, the massive kraken began to strike the ships nearby.

    The beast tamer revealed himself to be a demon, and in a swift surprise attack, he managed to best both the assassin and the bard in a single attack. His creatures emerged from underwater, devouring those soldiers in a single bite and disappearing before any of the soldiers on the boat could react.

    The mage instead reacted in time, creating a massive ice pillar around herself, piercing the head of the sea serpent that tried to eat her.

    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± she asked the traitor while making the ice shatter, sending pieces of the serpent¡¯s head flying all over the deck of the ship.

    ¡°You know all too well what it means; you saw the greed of the humans, the way they treat each other, the way they shift the blame of their misery to others; there¡¯s nothing to elaborate on. If we return victorious, that will only make them greedier for these lands and sour the already delicate relationships between the kingdoms.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to end in this way.¡±

    The tamer turned around and extended his hand towards me. I naturally raised my hands, thinking he wanted to harm me; instead, he simply stole a card out of my hand, the mirror card.

    ¡°And with this, finally my family will have the proper burial it deserved a century or so ago.¡±

    The mirror card shattered into a thousand pieces and recomposed itself as one card that was already played in the past; here, it copied the dragon king.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be an illusion?¡± I asked Helena¡¯s father, startled and confused by the situation.

    He didn¡¯t respond to me. He remained silent, looking at the bard with disdain in his eyes.

    The corpse of the dragon king emerged from underwater and began sinking all nearby ships with a single flap of his wings; using his golden fire breath, he began to wipe out the human army.

    But when I turned back to see what was happening, I saw the beast tamer on its knees, pierced in the heart by a large spear made out of ice, and the magician standing before him with a sad look in her eyes.

    He was trying to get the large spear unstuck from his body, but it was all useless; he was far too weakened by the blow to have enough strength to stand up and fight again, and just before the girl could finish him off, a cannonball was able to strike her, killing her on the spot.

    ¡°Why!¡± I shouted as I turned around, trying to know who was responsible for that sudden death.

    Helena was the one who decided to kill her.

    ¡°Because the tamer is so pitiful.¡± She answered.

    ¡°What part of him is pitiful?¡± I asked her.

    I was enraged; he has sided with the enemies, sabotaged the war, and killed half of the hero¡¯s party. Why would a person like him deserve to survive in this situation?

    And before I could focus on any of those thoughts, the whole ship was shocked as the hero had finally landed back on the deck, completely drenched in blood, shortly after the many dragon corpses also crashed down into the ocean.

 The tale of the brave knight (III)

    The traitor was still impaled by the spear made of ice, unable to break free while his beasts were wreaking havoc in the background.

    He was the only one in the hero¡¯s party who dressed in peasant clothes, without ever bothering to buy a new armor or weapon. So he was powerless to the mage¡¯s attack.

    A sorrowful look covered the hero¡¯s face as he walked past the remains of his former comrades, his jaw trembling as he stared at the corpse of the mage. He hesitantly reached out to her with his trembling hands but later stopped himself.

    ¡°Why?¡± He asked the beast tamer. His voice was trembling, yet that question alone raised the tension in the room a hundredfold.

    Even I could feel the tension in the air; it felt as if I was walking on an extremely thin thread that was about to snap. It felt as if the entire world had stopped moving, just to let those two have a conversation.

    ¡°Ha, you¡¯re not so perfect and infallible as I thought then; even you, at the end of the day, are just human.¡± The beast tamer seemed pleased to see the state the hero found himself in. His voice slowly grew weaker as he was losing more and more blood.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t answered me.¡±

    ¡°You know, I always envied the likes of you, born strong and confident, with the ability to learn anything taught to you on the first try¡­ If I was only half as good as you, then maybe my life could¡¯ve turned out for the better.¡± The beast tamer began spouting nonsense as he began to look up towards the cloudy sky.

    ¡°Don¡¯t change the topic; tell me, why did you do it?¡± The voice of the hero was unlike the usual; it was cold and emotionless, something I had never heard before from him, as he was quite an emotional individual. It removed all the tension yet made me feel uneasy about him; it was too unnatural for it to feel right.

    ¡°It¡¯s useless; no matter how many times you ask, I won¡¯t give you the answer you want me to say. I''m not going to give this last moment of mine, you monstrous freak. You won''t get your good ending, not after all the atrocities you''ve committed¡­ Do you think just killing everything in your path will get you applauded? Fuck you!" The tamer said before he began vomiting blood.

    The hero rapidly unsheathed his sword and rushed forward to execute the traitor, but just as he was about to do so, Helena intervened by using her mirror card.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I shouted at her.

    She used the card demonic corruption to heal the beast tamer and turn him into a demon so that he could put up a fight against the hero.

    A wave of darkness covered the skies and turned the moon red; all that energy was then shot down and coated the beast tamer¡¯s body, granting him horns, wings, a long tail covered in metallic scales, turning his skin dark, and splitting his pupils in four.

    I used the card ¡°duel¡± to make sure she could no longer interrupt the fight between those two individuals.

    I saw the flesh of the demon¡¯s right arm melt, reshape itself, and then harden once it had taken the form of a sword.

    The demon screamed loudly as he charged forward, ready to clash swords with the hero. Crying tears made out of blood as he swung down his blade.

    The hero, on the other hand, moved past him, completely ignoring the sword of the corrupted beast tamer, stabbing his right biceps using the sword. He then spun behind the demon, violently extracting the sword and then stabbing it into the demon¡¯s left side.

    The hero lowered his head to avoid a backhanded fist, extracted the sword out of the body of the demon, and hit him one last time under his chin, using the pommel of the sword.

    In such a short and extremely fast exchange of blows, the hero had brought the traitor to its knees, yet I didn¡¯t feel satisfied with it, not one bit. I wanted the hero to make him suffer, to make the traitor pay for his crime.

    When I had the chance to get a proper look at the hero, I realized his once pure face had vanished; his eyes no longer glimmered with hope and wonder; they were void, empty of any emotions.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    He didn¡¯t hesitate for a second before beheading the demon that was once his companion; he then pierced his chest using his bare left hand and retrieved the pulsing heart of the demon only to crush it in his palm.

    When he turned around and faced us, I instinctively took a step backward.

    W-what? Why am I trembling? Why is that illusion scaring me?

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to play your card? It¡¯s your turn!¡± the old man asked me while tapping on my shoulder to get my attention.

    ¡°My turn? Ah, yes, my turn; let¡¯s just put an end to this.¡±

    I had no more cards in my hand; my new hand was simply waiting on the table. It contained four mirror cards and a card showing a winged human hugging a deer called angelic embrace.

    I decided to play one of the mirror cards and copied the knight.

    I had no idea what something like this would¡¯ve caused; I didn¡¯t care anymore; all I wanted was for the story to end now that it was ruined.

    The salty smell of the ocean mostly masked the smell of blood, thankfully, but even that faint smell could nauseate me; I felt like throwing up. Instead, I simply swallowed whatever was rising towards my mouth and endured since everyone else seemed to have no problem dealing with the smell.

    The card of the hero simply allowed him to unleash a series of devastating long-ranged attacks using his sword; they swiftly dealt with the dragon king, the kraken, and the defensive walls of the port city.

    Of the many humans that departed, the hero was the only human who landed on enemy soil. All the other ships had already sunk down, and the remaining humans were now left to be sea monsters¡¯ prey.

    End it, I¡¯m no longer having fun; this is just¡­ I don¡¯t like it!

    I saw the exhausted hero fall on his knees, taking some time to recover his breath while the demons were desperately running away; they were giving priority to women and children; the men stayed behind to buy time.

    ¡°Just go, ignore them, don¡¯t waste more time, kill the demon lord, finish your mission, and return a hero.¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡± Helena asked me.

    Oh, did I say it out loud?

    ¡°Nothing, I was just¡­ It¡¯s nothing.¡± I responded.

    The knight dragged his body forward. He was barely able to walk, much less hold his sword properly, yet he didn¡¯t give up, nor did he stop. He simply kept advancing forward, slaying every being that got in the way until, at the end of that path, his sword finally pierced the heart of the demon king.

    When he returned, however, it was too late; the princess had already gotten married to the foreign prince and had two kids with him. He had become the most hated person in the kingdom for leading countless men to their deaths when he could¡¯ve simply resolved the situation all on his own.

    His family suffered persecution, and he received a death sentence.

    Why hasn¡¯t the story stopped? Why do they hate him so much? He just saved the world; now the threat of the demons is gone, and everyone can rest easy knowing that everything will be fine.

    The hero ultimately chose to slay his own kind after he had enough of the persecution, killing everyone he could until there was nothing left.

    Only then did the illusion finally dispel itself.

    ¡°Does it always end so tragically?¡± I asked the old man.

    He was shuffling the cards back into a pile and then hid them inside one of his pockets while everyone else was stretching themselves.

    ¡°It depends. I saw much happier stories being shown, some with good endings and some with tragic endings; everything depends on our choices.¡±

    Mph! Is this his way of preaching to me? Something along the lines of cherishing every moment? Is he really using this moment to nag at me? Do you know that one word of mine could get you killed? Are you not scared of it?

    I wanted to say something, but after locking eyes with the disfigured man, I simply remained silent. After a small pause, he smiled at me, then switched the focus of his attention back to his daughter.

    She was yawning a lot and had been secretly crying all along, so after wiping away her tears using a paper tissue, he took her in his arms to bring her back to her room.

    ¡°Excuse ourselves.¡± Was the only thing he could say to me before heading away.

    From my room, I was able to take a small peek at hers and saw that the room of the girl had many teddy bears, mostly on the larger side, with one on her bed that was bigger than her. One thing that bothered me was the absence of colors.

    The more I realized how colorless the life of the common folk was, the more I missed my home.

    I wonder if my father has finished dealing with those thugs. I wonder who will make it here first, mother or father? Once we¡¯re back, I want some ice cream¡­ Maybe some hot chocolate and a soda; that would be nice.

    Once the man put his daughter to sleep, he headed downstairs, never to be seen again.

    This is incredibly dull; with a broken remote, I can¡¯t even enjoy some alone time. What are my options?

    I took a peek outside and saw another building next to ours, so I checked the outside to see what the neighborhood looked like.

    The building we were currently in looked to be a two-story building the man owned, with a small garden where he was raising a bunch of plants such as some tomatoes, some peppers, and cucumbers.

    Around us there were mostly four- to five-story apartment buildings, all lined up in front of a large stadium; every house seemed to have well-decorated balconies; most of those buildings had a little space for plants to be cultivated; some gardens were big enough to host large trees.

    There wasn¡¯t a need for artificial light to see, yet there was no sun to illuminate the place; there weren¡¯t many people around, and the few that were there were happily chatting, sitting near small bars, drinking coffee, and enjoying light snacks.

    It was in complete contrast to what I imagined the fracture to look like. I always imagined it to look like a war zone, constantly in conflict with demons, with strange superhumans battling in every corner just to earn their living.

 Colorless world (I)

    Later that day, Elena barged into my room unannounced. After her long nap, she was bursting with energy, while I, on the other hand, was just about to finally fall asleep.

    ¡°Hey, red hair! What¡¯s your name?¡± She suddenly demanded while standing on top of my bed with her shoes on.

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s happening? My name? What? Ah, my name, it¡¯s Luke!¡±

    I was still half asleep, pushing her feet away from me so that I could turn around and rest on my belly. I just wanted to rest; I was feeling incredibly relaxed for once, and even though I didn¡¯t have any memories of the past few days, I felt like I was just recently freed of an enormous weight in my mind.

    All my injuries had finished healing a long time ago. I didn¡¯t even realize it until Helena mistakenly stepped on my right side. I immediately put pressure on what I thought was a wound but felt nothing; when I removed my shirt, I realized my wounds were gone.

    Wow, whatever you did surely worked fast.

    ¡°Be grateful; the heavens above have decided to grace us with hamburgers for dinner!¡± The girl shouted in her overly ecstatic voice while dodging my feet.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired; can we discuss it later?¡± I complained as I rolled around in the bed to face the opposite direction from her.

    ¡°Get up! I want to eat hamburgers!¡± She threw a fit, trying to drag me out of them.

    ¡°Is that something you should say to your guest? Hasn¡¯t your father taught you that guests are sacred?¡± I complained as I struggled against Elena to keep my bedsheets, rolling in the bed to wrap them around my body.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care; take this, some spare clothes my dad bought for you.¡±

    After throwing the spare clothes in my face, Helena jumped off the bed and ran away before even giving me time to refuse her offer to go out.

    What a headache! I¡¯m too tired to bother with this! I just want to sleep right now¡­ I doubt she will let me off the hook with just that excuse.

    Hamburgers did sound appealing, but these were hamburgers of the Fracture. They could¡¯ve easily been radioactive for all I knew. I didn¡¯t know if those hamburgers were in any way safe to eat or not.

    Maybe I¡¯m just being paranoid. How bad can one screw a hamburger before it turns inedible? No, you¡¯re in this position because you didn¡¯t overthink things enough.

    That¡¯s when I felt that something was wrong with me. When I tried to remember what happened to me, I couldn¡¯t recall anything. I instinctively knew it was because of a mistake I made but couldn¡¯t pinpoint exactly what I did wrong or what happened to me in the past few days.

    ¡°Are you done changing?¡± Shouted Helena from the other side of the wall.

    Barely a minute has passed; who do you think I am, the Flash?

    ¡°No, I barely even started; just be patient.¡±

    Well, I doubt that after saving me and contacting my parents, they¡¯re going to do something as idiotic as poisoning me.

    I decided to go along with their plan. I put on the dark gray shirt along with the mostly white shorts. They didn¡¯t have any shoes to give me, so I went in with some sandals and a small cap to hide my hair.

    ¡°Finally! You took an eternity to get changed; come on, let¡¯s go; it¡¯s getting late.¡±

    I barely had the time to utter a single word before she grabbed my right hand, dragged me downstairs, and escorted me towards a small garage they had.

    I noticed she had changed her clothes. She was now wearing a simple, clear, long-sleeved shirt along with a skirt of roughly the same shade of gray.

    Another thing I noticed while walking past the many pictures hanging on the walls was that there was no trace of Helena¡¯s mother.

    ¡°Hey, is it weird that¡ª¡±

    Helena ignored my attempts at a conversation and simply dragged me towards a backdoor that led to a small garage where they were parking their car.

    It looked like a generic car. Nothing seemed to stand out; it reminded me of those generic-looking cars used to crowd the streets in many video games.

    Helena¡¯s father had also changed clothes; he was now wearing a white sweater and dark jeans. He was standing right in front of the car, and when he saw us coming out of the back door, he unlocked the car.

    ¡°Are you sure you feel alright? You just recovered; if you don¡¯t feel like it, we can simply order some takeout or even cook something simple.¡± He asked me while his daughter was dragging me towards the back seats.

    As usual, he was wearing a mask to cover his disfigured face, leaving only the healthy part of his face visible.

    ¡°Hey, can I ask you¡­ What happened to your face?¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    ¡°Ah, this? It¡¯s nothing too serious, just a small accident at work. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t get the scar fixed, but with this mask, the problem is fixed.¡± He answered while fastening the seat belt.

    Elena, in the meantime, had fastened both my belt and hers.

    Really? Are we really going to put on the safety belt even though we¡¯re sitting in the back of the car?

    The driver then turned on the radio and began singing along with his daughter for the whole trip. I, on the other hand, was looking at how the fracture looked.

    Strangely enough, there were no conflicts. I expected to see a lot of violence and thieves running rampant on the streets, but none of that was happening.

    As we traveled outside of the city, I saw a variety of small shops, restaurants, or other kinds of small businesses, usually located on the ground floor of an apartment complex. Most buildings in this city were built with no more than six floors.

    I fell asleep in the car. When we woke up, we were in the middle of nowhere. It was dark outside, in a busy parking lot in front of a large restaurant that had a large sign of a chicken drum and some peanuts.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake. Can you wake up Helena? Also, adjust your beanie; you should hide your hair for now, just to be safe.¡± He said that as he was parking the car.

    Even Helena had fallen asleep right next to me.

    I wonder what the restaurants from the Fracture look like.

    So far, everything had been opposite to what I had imagined; the highway next to us was barely trafficked, the parking lot wasn¡¯t full of drug dealers, and the city didn¡¯t seem in ruin, so my poor expectations were blown away.

    ¡°W-what is this?¡±

    I was shocked; the restaurant was a mess. The people weren¡¯t extremely loud, the floor was completely covered with peanut shells, the people were eating extremely large portions of food enough to satiate a family of five by themselves, and the waitresses were barely dressed.

    On the many screens hanging on the walls were displayed many sports matches.

    What the hell is this?

    Helena led the way as we headed toward the second floor of the restaurant to find an empty table.

    ¡°It¡¯s fun, isn¡¯t it?¡± Helena asked me.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re boring.¡± She pouted and turned around.

    ¡°Why is it my fault?¡±

    The second floor wasn¡¯t much different; the only notable difference was that there were more male waiters that were also properly dressed.

    ¡°Luke, how old are you?¡± Helena asked while looking around.

    ¡°I¡¯m nine; what about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ten!¡±

    As we settled on an empty table, a waiter came to hand us the menu options, and I was disappointed to see no colored image.

    Each dish had an extravagant name like the Toilet Buster, a Vegan¡¯s Nightmare, the Meaty Balls, the Heartburn, the Sleepy Joe, the Turtleneck, the Greasy Six Chins, and more. Each dish has a picture on the side to show what it is along with a list of the ingredients used.

    ¡°Dad? Can I get a Slobberfest with a side of fries?¡±

    What did she just say?

    I even heard someone in the background near us choke on his drink after he heard her sentence.

    She was making puppy eyes trying to convince her father while I was desperately searching to understand what she wanted to eat.

    It was a large sandwich filled with pulled pork, raw onions, some cabbage, some tomatoes, and some crispy bacon sprinkled on top.

    It doesn¡¯t sound that bad when you read the description, but the image is a bit¡­ big.

    The round sandwich was larger than the plates I had at home. Since the picture also showed the forks next to it, I immediately knew that serving was enough for the three of us and more.

    ¡°Come on, please, pretty please, Dad? Can we?¡±

    ¡°I think you should ask Luke this time around; you can¡¯t force him to eat something he doesn¡¯t like; he¡¯s our guest after all.¡±

    He put on an awkward smile as he redirected her attention back to me, and then she began clinging on to me, her large sparkling eyes begging me to agree.

    I don¡¯t even know what pulled pork is. I¡¯m sorry, I have to be safe for my first time and order something resembling a classic hamburger.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we look for something a little more¡ª¡±

    ¡°But the Slobberfest is the best item on the menu!¡± She immediately interrupted me and slammed her hand against the table while a waiter brought us a basket full of peanuts.

    ¡°Are you ready to order?¡± He asked Helena¡¯s father.

    ¡°Not yet, I¡¯m sorry.¡± He replied.

    ¡°Why is it the best dish?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Because it has raw onions!¡± She replied.

    But I hate onions!

    Unfortunately, there were no dishes free of onions; some even had onions paired with mushrooms, the worst possible combination. My best option was the Brutalizer, a dish not too big, not too healthy, and reasonably priced.

    It was a sandwich with spicy, creamy sausages, onions, melted cheese, some mortadella slices, and some porchetta dressed with a generous amount of sauce.

    ¡°How about we try the brutalizer?¡± I proposed.

    ¡°It sucks!¡± Helena didn¡¯t even bother checking the menu before replying to me, which irked me a little.

    At least pretend to care about what I¡¯m saying.

    ¡°Come on, you won¡¯t regret having a bite of the Slobberfest; you should try it!¡± She kept pushing and pushing, so I ultimately caved in and agreed.

    ¡°See! I knew you would come around and join the good side.¡± She said while patting my shoulders.

    Not that I had much of a choice anyway.

    She then began peeling the peanuts, removing the shell, and throwing them on the ground. It was something odd, but as I looked around, I noticed everyone seemed to be doing the same.

    Isn¡¯t it filthy? Don¡¯t they hate to have all this mess on the floor? My mother would kill me if she saw even so much as a single toy left hanging on the ground.

    ¡°Is every restaurant on the Fracture like this one?¡± I asked Helena while pointing at the floor.

    ¡°Oh, no, absolutely not, this is just the best of the best. You can even get half your money back if you break the large glasses they serve you with.¡± She added while passing me her large empty drinking glass; it was a large mug that was as big as her head.

    It was quite heavy to lift as well.

    Glass is glass, at the end of the day. No matter how much effort you put into it, it¡¯ll eventually shatter once you put enough pressure on it. This doesn¡¯t seem all that durable.

    I simply pushed the large glass mug over and was surprised to see that it didn¡¯t shatter; not even so much as a crack had formed on its surface, so I picked it up again and threw it on the ground a second time. This time I put a bit of force and quickly stepped away to avoid the shards.

    Wow! No! It¡¯s probably because of all the peanut shells; they act as some sort of cushion, and that must be it.

    With my foot, I pushed away the peanut shells, creating a clean area, and then threw the glass mug with all my strength, only to fail at breaking it once more.

    The people around our table were already beginning to laugh at my attempt, talking about us and snickering from their table. Ashamed, I picked up the glass mug and handed it back to Helena.

    ¡°So? How was it?¡±

    She had a satisfied look on her face and a smug smile stamped on her face. She enjoyed every bit of that embarrassing moment for me.

    ¡°No comment.¡± I answered.

    ¡°Oh, come on! Tell me! Tell me! Come on, don¡¯t be mean!¡±

    She was begging while shaking my whole body, waiting for an answer that I simply didn¡¯t want to give to her.

    ¡°Hey, I can give you nuts! You want some? With some salt, they become delicious!¡± She said as she handed me a handful of nuts she had peeled. I refused and simply kept my mouth shut until the food arrived shortly after.

 Colorless world (II)

    The massive sandwich looked quite intimidating; the waiter seemed to have difficulty carrying it all the way over to our table and even left us a massive knife to be able to cut into the large meal. When the waiter let the giant plate fall on our table, it made a strange sound, spilling the juices of the meat.

    It all felt as if reality was going on slow mode: the panicked expression of the waiter dressed like a stripper as the plate fell on the table, Elena''s father reaching out with his hands to save the giant sandwich, and the large, scalding hot drop of grease flying straight towards my right eye.

    "Fuck!" He cursed as the massive plate slipped out of his hands.

    I screamed in pain. I thought I was about to go blind. The fracture was indeed as scary as I thought.

    The waiter was quick to react; he rapidly handed me a bunch of tissues while Elena''s father was using his powers to heal the wounds. When I regained my vision, he immediately put away the artifact used to heal me.

    I swear to god¡­ You''ll pay for this; once my dad''s here, you will be the fourth on the chopping block!

    I could hear some folks laughing in the background, which made the scene feel ten times more humiliating than it should''ve been.

    The waiter bowed down a thousand times, apologizing over and over again, but I couldn''t care one bit about it; we accepted their apologies and free drinks and simply moved on.

    The smell was something like never before; the juices slowly dripping down the massive plate made my mouth watery.

    Mhhh, they were able to save it, thankfully, but¡­ how will it taste?

    Pork wasn¡¯t my favorite kind of meat, but it wasn¡¯t my most disliked. But I wasn¡¯t courageous enough to immediately cut a piece or ask for it to be cut for me, so I dug in the side of fries.

    The lack of colors made the food look a bit more bland, but there was no impact on the flavor; the fries tasted the same as always, although they seemed a bit saltier and had a strange added flavor that was simply addicting.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t hog the fries! I ordered them; if you want some, just ask for them!¡± Elena protested as she snatched the small plate away from my hands.

    ¡°Come on kids, let¡¯s all just share for now; we can always order some more fries later.¡± Her father intervened shortly after to calm her down.

    Then he took the knife and began to carve the massive sandwich like a cake and handed a generous portion.

    Meanwhile, I served myself a glass of the two different sodas he had ordered earlier when I was occupied trying to break the glass. One was clear; the other was dark.

    The former had an odd smell. It seemed sweet yet pungent at the same time. It was sweet, but in an odd and disgusting way. The strong acidic flavor overwhelmed my mouth in an instant, and even after swallowing, I could still taste that bitterness. Moreover, the carbonated drink was so strong it felt as if I was trying to swallow a bunch of needles.

    ¡°Ugh, what the hell is this? It¡¯s disgusting! What kind of man could drink this?¡± I complained while my body was still shivering from the shock.

    Regrettably, half of that establishment was currently enjoying that drink.

    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s delicious! It¡¯s best to drink after a full plate of meat.¡± She replied, offended by my statement.

    No, seriously, get yourself checked! There¡¯s something really wrong with your tongue to like shit like that; not even my father is that extreme, and he¡¯s into very weird food; he just does it because he¡¯s obsessed with staying healthy; he too hates the taste!

    I looked at her father, and he simply shook his head.Stolen story; please report.

    The second drink was regular cola, which I used to wash away whatever aftertaste the first drink left in me.

    Now I couldn¡¯t escape anymore; I had already tried everything else on the table; all that was left was the large slice of sandwich.

    My first instinct was to lift the bun to seek out the onions; there I saw a good amount of sauce covering the top bun; right beneath was the first layer of chopped tomatoes resting over the layer of raw onions.

    Nope, never in hell will I eat this¡ª

    ¡°Hey, Luke, isn¡¯t it a bit too early to give up? Why don¡¯t you try it first? Who knows, you might enjoy it?¡± Helena¡¯s father tried to convince me to try out the dish without removing the veggies.

    I sighed, not wanting to argue. I decided to swallow my pride and attempt a bite; however, I quickly realized that no matter how I put it, the sandwich was too big to fit in my mouth.

    Why is a sandwich this big? I''ve seen birthday cakes smaller than this on the surface. What''s the point of ordering something so big? No one could possibly finish this on their own!

    I could hear Elena in the background desperately holding out her laugh as I struggled to get my first bite; ultimately, I decided to get a bite of the top half of the giant sandwich. I experienced something I never had before: the beast was so tender and juicy I barely needed to chew it.

    Unfortunately, the onion ruined what to me felt like heaven; the first crunch sent shivers down my spine, the second ruined the taste of the meat, and the third felt so strong I almost spit out the mouthful I was enjoying.

    It all felt like a sudden combo; first they lured me in with the sweetness of the meat, then they took advantage of the moment of sweetness to punch me in the face with onions, and then the greasiness of the meat overwhelmed my mouth.

    ¡°Nope, I don¡¯t think I can enjoy this.¡± I said as I quickly removed the top bun once again and began to remove all the onions.

    ¡°What a shame, you¡¯re missing out on some real good stuff.¡± Elena commented while grabbing the onions I was taking out and putting them in her own portion.

    On the second attempt, I tried to start from the lower bun and quickly came to regret it as I was attacked by a sea of flames. Not only was the meat still piping hot, but there was a spicy sauce spread on the bottom bun.

    ¡°Argh! What is this? Why is it so hot? How can you even eat this?¡±

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t tell me that this is too spicy for you; this is not even that bad. At most, they put some black pepper on; you can¡¯t possibly be weak to black pepper.¡± Helena seemed surprised.

    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡±

    I mustered all my willpower and took a second bite of the sandwich, desperately holding the urge to pant under the pressure put on by the spiciness.

    After a bite too big for me to handle, I tried to wash down the spices with the cola, but that only added fuel to the fire.

    ¡°Calm down for now; why don¡¯t you just scrape the sauce off the sandwich? It¡¯s fine if you can¡¯t¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m perfectly fine; I was just a little surprised. I have no problem handling spiciness!¡± I interrupted Helena before she could finish her sentence. I didn¡¯t care if she was genuinely worried or wanted to tease me more; I couldn¡¯t let her look down on me.

    Finishing my portion of food was a mixed experience; the meat was extremely savory, but after a while I couldn¡¯t taste anything due to the intensity of the spices and could barely feel my lips.

    ¡°I¡¯ve done it! I ate it whole, you see? I can totally handle this level of spiciness.¡± I shouted after I was able to finish the plate.

    I could feel my stomach making weird sounds, and I was sweating buckets, but I felt proud of myself at that moment.

    Fuck. I really am hitting my limits¡­ I can barely feel my lips anymore, my throat is on fire, and my lungs are taking in pure fire. What the hell is this?

    ¡°Here, you can freshen yourself up with this.¡± Said Helena¡¯s father as he handed me a bowl full of ice cream.

    I felt so sweaty and stuffy I tried to take off the beanie, but Elena stopped me; she grabbed my hand and handed me a bunch of peanuts.

    Ah, sorry, I forgot.

    I took another look around us and felt some sort of peace; it was calming seeing so many people simply relax and enjoy themselves; it helped me feel a bit more at ease.

    If the people that have to fight on a day-to-day basis can relax here, it probably means that it¡¯s safe.

    It was strange; this place was completely different from what my mother always described to me. There weren¡¯t demons, the explorers were nowhere to be seen, and so were the ashen dealers.

    The ruins my mother described seemed far more technologically advanced than the city I saw today.

    Were all those bedtime tales lies then?

    As I was enjoying my strawberry-flavored ice cream, I kept glancing around; Helena and her father were now talking about school stuff, so I didn¡¯t really care about taking part in that conversation.

    And after a long time, I was to catch someone using the rainbow-colored powder; somewhere far away, a young man wearing a dark hoodie and gray pants was snorting that powder, using a strange object to make a few lines on the table.

    After every time he snorted the powder, his body shivered, sometimes almost spasming out of control. He was making strange sounds; after every use, he would slam his head against the table.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at him, just ignore him, Luke.¡± Helena¡¯s father said, as he covered my eyes using his hands.

    ¡°Why is he like that?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ You¡¯ll understand when you become a grown-up; for now, just ignore him.¡±

    Helena¡¯s father kept a close eye on me to make sure I didn¡¯t turn back around to look at that individual, and then once Helena finished her meal, he quickly dragged us away from that restaurant.

 Colorless world (III)

    ¡°Luke! Want to play hide and seek with my friends?¡±

    Helena barged inside the room, kicking the door open. I had even shifted the position of the nightstand to try to block the door, but it flew on the other side of the room after being kicked away.

    Can¡¯t you just let me sleep now? What¡¯s up with you? Don¡¯t you ever feel tired?

    I hadn¡¯t slept well because of the constant stomach pains; I was feeling terrible, and I had been burping all night long.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel well, so I don¡¯t think¡ª¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure, let¡¯s get you ready now.¡± She quickly began dragging me out of my bed, and then, after inspecting every drawer present in the closet, she took out my outfit for the day.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about not feeling well; my dad can fix you up later. Quick, get yourself changed!¡±

    Please, I¡¯ve had more social interaction in the past couple of days than I had last week. Can we please keep it that way? I¡¯m exhausted; I want to enjoy my holidays. I don¡¯t want much, just the usual fries, a soda, and my colored video games.

    Yet my request was abruptly denied; Helena had no shame and was ready to dress me down herself just to get me ready to play with her friends.

    Her father was downstairs, happily enjoying some time alone with a cup of tea and a strange book in his hand, sitting close to the window so he could at least keep an eye on the kids.

    The rest of the kids were waiting outside, five of them, four girls and one boy. Out of the four girls, one looked to be a lot older than the rest.

    ¡°What about the others?¡± Helena asked the group.

    ¡°Kairie is busy doing her homework, Kisen is staying at her house, and the rest of them are enjoying their holidays playing with their new PlayCube.¡± One of the children spoke up.

    She was a kid with a strange tone of gray in her hair; her eyes were odd; she seemed to have cross-shaped pupils; she was wearing a pink circlet over her head, a mostly white shirt with a bunch of cartoon female characters drawn on it, and a short skirt made out of jeans fabric.

    Even though she was delivering bad news, she was ready to play; her skin was shining, and she was already holding on to a large sponge ball.

    To her right side was a girl with short hair, up to her shoulders; she was wearing many strange bracelets on her right wrist, and she was carrying a small backpack in her hands. She didn¡¯t look too happy to be there with the rest of us.

    The small girl had dark hair and dark eyes and was the shortest of the group. She had bad hair; she was yawning constantly and chewing on chewing gum.

    To her right was the other male kid, a small kid with long hair, an excessively skin-tight shirt that made his slightly overweight body look like a sausage, long effeminate nails painted with all sorts of colors and decorated with stars, glitter stars under his eyes, and tinted hair blue.

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    Just one look at him was enough to tell me I didn¡¯t want to have a conversation with him; if my cousins saw him, they would¡¯ve most likely started mocking him to his face.

    Why does he look so weird? Why don¡¯t they just¡­ tell him? Tell him he looks stupid; you¡¯re not being kind; you¡¯re all so mean.

    ¡°Who¡¯s the new kid? Elena?¡± The tall girl spoke as she got closer to me to get a better look at me.

    She then grabbed me by the cheeks and began stretching them and playing with them for a bit, and when I tried to free myself, she let go and ruffled my hair, removing the beanie by accident and revealing the red hair in front of everyone.

    Release me! Stop it! I¡¯m not your doll! Do you know who my mother is?

    ¡°So cute, what¡¯s your name?¡± She asked as she picked up the beanie from the ground and put it back on my head.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Luke; my dad found him lost out of the civilian zone, so he brought him back here. He¡¯s currently staying in our house as a guest.¡± She answered in my stead.

    ¡°Oh, poor kid, he must¡¯ve been terrified; don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re safe here.¡± She said as she massaged my cheeks one last time.

    I don¡¯t remember any of it. Did they mess with my head? Was it that bad? I doubt it; after all, there¡¯s nothing that scares me.

    She was a tall girl wearing jean shorts and a light shirt that didn¡¯t even cover her belly completely. She wore a ring with a colorful gem on her pinky finger and was wearing high heels. Her skin was tanned, and she also possessed fairly long nails.

    The last girl seemed the more reserved of the group, with straight, long black hair covering most of her face, a shirt with long sleeves and a large bunny sewed on the back, and a pink skirt.

    ¡°Whoa, how did you get your hair colored red?¡± The other male kid asked as he approached him.

    Don''t talk to me, you freak!

    ¡°Ehm, I used an ability.¡± I lied, and before Elena could reveal the truth, I manifested Colorful Madness.

    The eyes of the group of children suddenly widened open; they were sparkling with curiosity and excitement. It felt good to be at the center of attention.

    That¡¯s right, I¡¯m the coolest, I know, I know. Get in line, girls; this man is very busy. You¡¯re lucky I even bothered to remember what kind of dress you¡¯re wearing.

    ¡°How does it work?¡±

    ¡°How do you summon it?¡±

    ¡°How did you get it?¡±

    ¡°Where did you manage to buy such a precious ability?¡±

    I was showered with questions; I didn¡¯t have the intention of answering most of them, but I wanted to tease them a little, to get their full attention, but then I heard a question that sent shivers down my spine.

    ¡°So, did you already defeat a demon to get it?¡±

    The quiet and shy girl asked me this question, and it terrified me, something in me made me feel the worst case of goosebumps.

    What¡¯s this? Why am I trembling so much? What happened to me? Why did that single word just scare me? What happened?

    ¡°Give him a break, guys; you¡¯re asking too many questions. Why don¡¯t we start heading to the park? I¡¯m getting a bit tired of simply standing out here in the scorching sun.¡± The tall girl said, leading the group away, holding Helena and me by the hand.

    No, wait, I need answers. What the hell did you do to me?

    ¡°Luke, how about you put that away? Someone might get the wrong idea and think you¡¯re a criminal.¡± She then whispered to me.

    ¡°What? This? It¡¯s harmless, look.¡±

    As I pointed the gun at myself, the girl quickly intervened, grabbing the gun by the barrel and pulling it away from my head.

    ¡°Whoa, calm down there; at this rate you¡¯re going to hurt¡ª¡±

    Before she could finish her sentence, I summoned yet another gun in my free hand and shot at my feet, revealing the color of my skin as well as that of my clothing.

    I was wearing light blue sandals with a yellow shirt and some light brown pants.

    ¡°See? Totally harmless.¡± I said to her.

    I was feeling a bit odd, an extremely mild headache, but since it didn¡¯t pose a threat to me, I tried my best to ignore it.

    Ah, fuck! Now I stand up a little too much.

    All the kids flocked to me once more, trying to see the small handgun and understand how it worked. They were asking questions left and right, not even giving me the time to understand a single one of them, sometimes even dragging the gun barrel to their forehead asking to be shot.

    Then, as things started to get a bit interesting, we were interrupted by the sound of an old woman screaming her lungs out in shock at the sight of me pointing a gun at that effeminate-looking kid.

    Fuck.

 Colorless world (IV)

    ¡°What the hell are you doing? Help! Where are the enforcers? Quickly! That kid is holding a demonic artifact in a civilian zone!¡± The granny screamed, catching the attention of all the people nearby.

    Sorry, my friend, you have to go now.

    I quickly made the handgun disappear, but the mistake was already done. I stuck out like a sore thumb being so brightly colored in such a sad-looking road. Even the girl had gained her colors back.

    ¡°No, miss, we can explain!¡± She tried to plead with the screaming hag, but she simply wouldn''t listen to us; she was screaming, waving her hands to make herself as noticeable as possible.

    ¡°Where are the guards! Please help! These violent monsters are trying to disturb the peace of the civilian area, showing off their demonic relics! Enforcers! Please help!¡± The old lady kept screaming her lungs out, desperate for attention.

    ¡°What¡¯s her problem?¡± I asked the tall girl, who was still holding my hand.

    ¡°You can¡¯t say that to someone much older than you! Where are your manners?¡± She quickly scolded in that chaos and even stopped me from pointing at the annoying hag.

    Why am I the one getting scolded? The one screaming like a crazy one is that annoying hag! I am the polite one in the situation! I should be praised instead for not flipping her off! I already learned the forbidden R-word! I''m not afraid to use it if necessary!

    I shrugged my shoulders and turned to the others to see their reaction. Helena didn¡¯t seem to care much about the old lady; she was simply tugging the girl acting as our supervisor to hurry up since she wanted to go to the park to play with the others.

    The boy and the shy girl seemed a bit worried but seemed confident the tall girl would surely fix the situation.

    ¡°Help! They¡¯re coming to kill me! They want to silence me!! Enforcers! Help!¡± The hag got even louder when the tall girl walked towards to calm her down.

    For fuck''s sake! Get a life! Who cares! We''re not disturbing anyone! We were just playing with colors! Is it too hard to understand? How can you be so¡­

    Now I could properly feel all the gazes of the neighborhood directed at us; the passersby had stopped to glance at us, the people enjoying themselves at the bars had stopped talking to look at the granny, and even the people relaxing in their own homes came out to check out the old lady.

    And as luck would have it, a couple of police-looking individuals eventually came to her rescue.

    They were wearing mostly dark outfits, with metal cuffs on their sides along with a small handgun. They also were wearing a badge on the right side of their chest displaying their first and last name.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her? Why is she screaming so much just because I had demonic artifacts on? Aren¡¯t those weapons kind of the norm around these parts? I mean, they were discovered in the fracture; why is she freaking out so much?¡± I asked Elena.

    ¡°What are you talking about? They¡¯re not that common. Apart from you, my father, or Lucia, I never saw another user of those cursed items.¡± She responded.

    ¡°Lucia?¡± I was confused by the sudden name drop.

    ¡°Yeah, Lucia.¡± Elena repeated, unaware of the confusion in my mind, and when I repeated the name, she simply kept repeating this response; only after the fourth time did I finally ask for a clarification.

    ¡°Who¡¯s Lucia?¡± I''ve asked confused; the screaming noise in the background was making it hard to hear Elena well.

    ¡°The old one.¡± She said pointing at the tall girl.

    Lucia once revealed her colors: she had brown hair, had white skin, and had a light pink shirt. She even had what seemed to be a bear tag hanging on the side of her extremely short jeans.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Are these people harassing you?¡± The cops quickly sided with the old lady and pushed Lucia aside.

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    Don''t tell me they''re going to believe her now¡­ fuck! I shouldn''t¡ªNO! Why is it my fault now? It''s her! She''s the one who ruined it for the rest of us! She should apologize!

    They took her away from us to get her side of the story, and judging by the expression she made and the way she was gesturing, it didn¡¯t seem like she was telling the truth.

    ¡°Can we go already? I¡¯m super tired, and I don¡¯t want to stay here all morning.¡± The girl with weird eyes asked Elena.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know; I think we should wait for Lucia; otherwise¡­¡±

    The other cop was getting the story told from Lucia, then they both turned towards me, and she pointed her finger at me specifically. They then approached us.

    The cop was massive; he looked big from the other side of the road, but when he came closer, I saw the staggering difference. He barely looked human; he was probably a head taller than my uncle, who was the tallest man I had ever met.

    He was a tall, bald mountain of a man, with incredibly large arms; even his hands seemed bigger than my face.

    I resisted the urge to pee myself when he got closer; I still took a couple of steps back, and then he got down on one knee, and even then, he was still taller than me.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be afraid, kid. Can you tell me your name?¡± He asked me if his tone of voice was extremely relaxed; he had a warm smile stamped on his face, which helped combat the fear of him.

    ¡°I-I-I¡¯m Luca.¡± I answered.

    Lucia looked at me with a weird look on her face.

    ¡°What about your last name?¡± He asked me; he tried putting up a smile, but his large face became only ten times more horrifying to look at.

    ¡°Jitter Meist.¡± I reluctantly replied, as I felt cornered against a wall by that massive enforcer.

    The moment those words came out of my mouth, I saw the eyes of the police officer widen. He seemed to have suddenly lost balance on his one last remaining leg, but he quickly recollected himself.

    He reached out to me with his hand, and I immediately tried to run away. Lucia stopped me; she grabbed me, lifted my body, and brought me back to the anxious cop. His hand was trembling; his eyes were so focused he appeared ten times bigger than he already was.

    Please don¡¯t hurt me! I¡¯ve done nothing wrong!

    After removing the beanie I was wearing, he remained silent; he and the girl exchanged a worried look and then put the beanie back on top of my head.

    What? You¡¯re not going to hurt me? Oh, my hair! Now that you know who my mother is, get the fuck out of my sight; you disgust me!

    I wanted to act tough but my legs simply couldn¡¯t stop shaking, I still wanted to run away and the more I struggled to free myself, the more panicked I felt.

    ¡°Have a good day.¡± The cop quickly retracted his hand and distanced himself from us.

    Only when he had spoken to his colleague and both got away after convincing the old hag to stop yelling did finally Lucia put me down.

    Her arms were covered in injuries I caused while struggling to free myself.

    ¡°I-I-I¡¯m sorry! I didn¡¯t mean it.¡± I immediately began to apologize as soon as I saw her bloodied arms.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± She reassured me while patting my head in her usual affectionate tone. ¡°I barely felt a thing, now¡­ How about we all take an ice cream?¡±

    The other kids rolled their eyes; the dark-haired, shy kid cowered behind Lucia the moment we crossed paths, and Helena rushed towards me the moment I was put back on the ground.

    ¡°Are you okay? What did that enforcer do to you? Do you feel strange?¡± She came for a hug and almost made me fall on my back. Then she began meticulously inspecting me, both my hair, eyes, and neck.

    I was still shocked by the recent encounter. I didn¡¯t know what to say or what to feel, so I simply sat still, waiting for my heart to calm down, allowing them to drag my body left and right until we reached the damned park they so wanted to enjoy.

 Colorless world

    The park we reached was extremely large; it even had a massive pond full of fish and turtles.

    It was relatively close to Elena¡¯s house, being at most a twenty-minute walk away from there. Located right in front of a school, the large park was surrounded by tall, metal fences and even had a small area near the entrance with dedicated gear to train.

    On that sunny day there were plenty of people in the park; there were some old men running around trying to remain fit, and some people were selling food in the park; those usually were black or had darker skin than most and were surrounded by similar kinds of people.

    As for the kids running around, there weren''t many that were truly on their own; most were accompanied by an adult or two in groups no bigger than six.

    ¡°Hey, later can you give me colors as well?¡± Elena asked while tugging me closer to her.

    The others had immediately begun to run in search of an empty spot to play around. The tomboyish girl with dark short hair had taken a plastic ball out of her backpack, and they had already ditched the sponge ball.

    ¡°Colors? Are you sure? We could all get in trouble if someone sees the gun. Plus, you¡¯ll be sticking out; are you sure you want to be the only colored thing in this large gray park?¡± I whispered back to her.

    She nodded affirmatively with the biggest smile on her face.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Lucia suddenly interrupted us, startling both of us.

    She was accompanied by a man, probably around the same age as her, her arms crossed around his. He was wearing dark clothes, a small hat to cover his hair, and a dark face mask. I also noticed a faint blue tint on the tip of that guy¡¯s hair.

    ¡°Who is he?¡± I asked while pointing at the guy using my right index finger.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t point at people with your finger; haven¡¯t your parents taught you it¡¯s disrespectful?¡± Lucie said while folding my fingers in her hand and lowering my hand.

    ¡°Not at all, my mom said. Those who find this disrespectful can shove it in¡ª¡± I was interrupted by the girl, who quickly put her hands over my mouth to stop me.

    ¡°Oookay! We¡¯ve got the message; why don¡¯t you join the others for now? They¡¯re probably waiting for you.¡± She said, pointing in the direction where the others were headed.

    Her boyfriend giggled at her flustered reaction; he had a much deeper voice than my father. It was surprising; I thought only people on television could possess that kind of voice.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Helena enthusiastically dragged me towards her friends, who were waiting for her on the other side of the pond.

    How annoying. Do we really have to stay out here, in the open? Under this heat? I¡¯m dying out here.

    ¡°Finally, where did you go? Why didn¡¯t you arrive sooner?¡± The effeminate boy shouted at us while waving his hands to make himself more visible in the distance. His presence alone was making me feel more uncomfortable with each second that passed.

    ¡°Sorry!¡± she happily apologized as she kept dragging me by my right arm, much to my embarrassment.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    The surrounding people were looking at us, sometimes making comments such as ¡°How cute they look together.¡± or ¡°She¡¯s got the new kid all wrapped around her finger.¡±

    I really shouldn¡¯t have shot myself there; now I¡¯m at the center of the attention.

    ¡°Wow, today all eyes are on us,¡± the girl with strange eyes commented.

    ¡°Hey, hey, can you give me colors as well?¡± Asked the other guy.

    ¡°Hey! I said it first! Why are you suddenly trying to cut the line?¡± The girl with weird-shaped pupils protested while getting closer to me.

    ¡°Guys! Can we just¡ª¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I would also like to know what it feels like to have color, even if it¡¯s just for once.¡± The shy girl chimed in on the discussion, interrupting Helena.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should; after all, I was scolded earlier, and I even got in trouble with those scary-looking cops.¡± I replied, trying to sound as troubled by their request.

    Inside I was smiling from one ear to another; seeing them beg me for something that, to me, was so normal felt pretty satisfying; superiority felt pretty sweet. It completely washed away the awful moment I had with those enforcers earlier.

    ¡°Mhh, what to do¡­¡± I pondered out loud to encourage them to beg me even more.

    ¡°Pretty please!¡± They all begged even more, so I caved in.

    ¡°Fine, fine, but I don¡¯t want to get in trouble because of you, plus this thing can cause mild headaches; you¡¯ve been warned,¡± I said as I summoned the blue revolver in my right hand, then aimed it at my chest to not worry the ones looking at us in the distance.

    Everyone was cheering happily.

    ¡°Weird eyes, you¡¯re the first to go; now take my hands and close your eyes.¡± I said, pointing the finger at the girl I was speaking to.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name again?¡± I asked her as I grabbed her hand. ¡°Whatever, it doesn¡¯t matter right now.¡± I added it before shooting at myself with the gun.

    When she gained her colors, it was revealed that she had light blue eyes and pink hair; she was wearing a pink shirt, and her jean skirt was blue.

    Her flustered face quickly became red as she was staring at her hands, marveling to see her skin so brightly colored.

    Everyone began pushing to be the next one to experience colors next, some more desperately than others, but everyone looked forward to me making my next decision.

    Well, the pretty first and ugly last, so the first one is¡­ Elena.

    I pointed the gun at her and shot at her next; after that, I shot the shy girl with long hair, then her tomboyish twin, and lastly the strange kid accompanying them.

    ¡°Wow! Don¡¯t I look fabulous with all these vibrant colors?¡± The male kid asked me while striking a strange pose, bending his body forward and making a V sign with his right hand.

    ¡°Is that how you think we people on the surface dress up?¡± I asked him outright, not even trying to hide my disgust.

    ¡°Luke, Luke, come on, be gentle with him; he¡¯s always the one being bullied the most at school; can¡¯t you at least try to be nice to him? It¡¯s your first time meeting him; you can¡¯t just¡ª¡±Elena immediately began scolding me.

    ¡°No, thank you.¡±

    After I interrupted her, she began pinching my arms in retaliation.

    ¡°Ouch, what was that for?¡± I complained.

    ¡°For being a bully.¡± She responded, pouting back.

    He¡¯s the weird one! He should be¡­ fine!

    The guy was surprisingly resilient to my treatment of him; he ignored my harsh treatment and kept acting in his usual way, so after some back and forth with Helena, I decided to stop insulting him to his face.

    Can¡¯t believe I¡¯m getting bossed around like this¡­ especially right now that I was starting to enjoy myself a bit. Annoying; everything is annoying me today.

    ¡°Ah, right, I forgot to introduce them to you, sorry, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve been puzzled the whole time.¡± After we reached an agreement, I could see something light up in that head of hers as she began to speak again.

    ¡°You still don¡¯t know the names of my friends, apart from Lucia, so I wanted you to at least know their names.¡±

    Not that I will remember them tomorrow anyway, but it¡¯s cute that you¡¯re still trying.

    The girl with weird eyes was Vera, the tomboy was called Chiara, her shy twin was Laura, and the kid was called Lorenzo.

    Then, after the extremely brief presentation, Chiara took out of her backpack yet another ball; this one, instead of being made out of sponge, was made of plastic.

    Wait, if we throw this ball at each other, won¡¯t we hurt ourselves? Is this safe? What if you, by mistake, hit me in the face? Can you even pay for the damage cost?

    She then passed the ball to me, and instead of catching it, passing it to someone else, or sending it back with greater force, I flinched. I instinctively raised my arms to defend myself, afraid of the ball.

 Dull world

    The world was rapidly spinning around me; I felt nauseous, and my heart was beating so loudly I made my ears feel as if they were about to burst. Strange images flashed before my mind for a split second.

    Many voices were screaming all around me, belonging to figures and shapes resembling distorted humans. Those things emerged from the ground, covered in dirt, sand, and weed. No one else seemed to notice their presence.

    They were slowly marching around me, staring at me with their mouths wide open, letting out horrific screams. The closer they got, the more they screamed in pain, sometimes even collapsing to the ground, cursing at me with all they had.

    I couldn¡¯t move; I felt as if I was living a nightmare. Looking at those dark shapes made me want to run, to leave those kids on their own and save myself.

    ¡°What are you doing? You have to pass the ball, not block it!¡± Helena protested.

    The abrupt call brought me back to reality. I looked down and saw that there was no hand grabbing my legs; there were no specters roaming around me screaming in my ears. I then exhaled for the first time while drenched in cold sweat.

    ¡°I changed my mind; I don¡¯t want to play this game. I don¡¯t want to be here; let¡¯s go back¡­ I just¡­ I can¡¯t stay here any longer.¡± That¡¯s what I wanted to say, but I refrained and simply answered. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I think.¡± With my heart still beating out of my chest.

    My body was reacting strangely; the slightest trigger was enough to terrify me, be it the sound of a kid tripping on a bush and scraping its knee, the sound of one of those food vendors screaming out loud the price of its food, or the ball rapidly flying at me. My heart was beating out of my chest, and I had already begun to sweat.

    What the hell is wrong with my body? Calm down¡­ Don¡¯t panic; everything¡¯s okay; you¡¯re safe.

    I kept repeating this mantra in my mind whenever I felt my heart bursting out of my chest.

    ¡°Luke? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Helena kept asking me every time I was on the verge of breaking down. I wasn¡¯t crying or doing much, yet she would always notice first that I was paralyzed in fear.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± I responded every time.

    Everything seemed to be fine, and with time, the panic attacks gradually decreased until we all got tired. When I sat down to take a moment to rest, everything exploded around me; I saw the whole place lit on fire, blood raining down from the skies, and people screaming in agony all around.

    Everyone was looking at me with puzzled looks on their faces, waiting for my response. Helena was calling my name, but I couldn¡¯t hear her anymore; the only thing I could hear was a high-pitched scream in my ears along with my heartbeat.

    I tried saying something to reassure the others, something along the lines of ¡°I¡¯m okay; I just felt a little lightheaded; we can resume playing.¡± Instead, all I did was plant my face on the ground and pass out.

    I woke up to the sizzling sound of something being fried. The smell reminded me of a donut, so it quickly woke me up.

    What? Where am I?

    We were no longer in the park; we were in a sports center, in front of a small bar, full of sweaty kids.

    The place was mostly outdoors, with many football camps; I counted four in total, an empty swimming pool, and a tennis camp.

    The sizzling sound came from a woman cooking in front of one of the many football camps; she was selling her street food there along with sweet drinks.

    The others were waiting in line in front of the old lady selling those fried snacks; after she finished cooking them, she would coat them with a sweet syrup and sprinkle some sugar powder on top before serving them.

    The hell? Why am I here? Why didn¡¯t they bring me to a hospital? Ah, my neck, what hell have they done to my body?

    I was resting on top of a plastic table, away from the large crowd; next to me were Lucia¡¯s boyfriend and Helena. He silently passed me a glass of water.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Why is it salty?

    I thought as I spat out the drink as soon as I put it in my mouth, it was also incredibly bitter, so bitter it woke me up. The drink left a stinging feel in my mouth. Similar to the toothpaste my father used regularly.

    ¡°What the hell? Are you trying to poison me?¡± I shouted at him while tossing the drink away. The glass shattered on the ground, startling some of the folks standing nearby.

    My complaints flew over his head as he ignored me, his eyes glued to the screen of his phone; that¡¯s when I realized that his eyes also had color.

    Wait? Were they colored before? I don¡¯t think so¡­ damn it, why didn¡¯t I take a proper look at him? Wait, why is Helena so silent? Usually she would make a big fuss, asking me if I¡¯m okay or not.

    She was currently watching a video on a phone, most likely Lucy¡¯s.

    ¡°Wow, video games are terrible, but not the internet?¡± I teased her after jumping off the table.

    I still wasn¡¯t feeling well, but since everyone else around us was partying, I didn¡¯t want to spoil the mood, so I gathered every bit of vigor left in me and put on the nicest, most jovial front.

    ¡°Shut up, those are completely different things?¡± She rebuked.

    ¡°So what about online games? Are they worse, or are they better because of the internet connection?¡± I asked.

    Surely you¡¯re not going to say they¡¯re better. Checkmate!

    She simply ignored my question and kept looking at her videos of cats reacting to kittens.

    ¡°We¡¯re back. Oh, he¡¯s awake now. How are you feeling now?¡± Lucia said as she came back along with the rest of the kids; they were all holding a small white plastic container filled with freshly cooked donuts.

    ¡°You scared us when you suddenly passed out out of nowhere; we brought you to a pediatrician, but he said you were perfectly fine, so we decided to get one last snack before going back home. You don¡¯t mind that, do you?¡± She sat down along with the rest of the group. She spoke so fast I didn¡¯t understand a single thing she said.

    ¡°Can you repeat what you just said? Slower if you can.¡± I asked her.

    Instead of repeating what she had just said but slower, she handed me one of those plastic containers.

    The shape of the donut was a bit off; they didn¡¯t look quite as round or smooth as the ones I was familiar with. Not only that, but they had a different smell. Inside the container were six donuts and a cup full of chocolate spread.

    ¡°Enjoy, my treat.¡± She said as she handed her boyfriend the same container.

    I could once again feel the stare of everyone present at that party because we had colors; everyone looked at us weird.

    Big deal, we¡¯re less boring-looking than the rest of you; does that give you the right to stare a hole in our backs? No, now can you please stop staring at us? Or at least stop doing it so openly! I¡¯ve just recovered from a weird sickness!

    ¡°How much?¡± Lucia¡¯s boyfriend suddenly interrupted our silent moment; he had taken out his wallet and was talking to Lucia at the moment.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked the other while trying to listen to what those two were talking about.

    ¡°Picarones!¡± Elena answered with an annoyed tone.

    W-what¡¯s with that tone? Why is she suddenly pissed? What happened? Is it because of me?

    Everyone else was staring at me, waiting for me to take a bite of the snack.

    Did you do something to the food? Why are you staring at me so much?

    ¡°Is there something on my face?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°No, no, don¡¯t worry, it didn¡¯t cost much; thankfully the old man selling them recognized me and allowed me to pay less than the usual amount.¡± Lucia responded to her boyfriend.

    Damn it, you made me miss something.

    I sighed, then I mustered up some courage and ate a small chunk of the fried snack, and strangely enough, despite the sugar, I found it to be flavorless. The consistency of the food was nice; it was nice and soft, not too chewy nor too crispy.

    ¡°So? How is it? Delicious, right?¡± Vera asked me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know; I can¡¯t taste much, but at least it¡¯s nice to chew on.¡± I commented as I tried to dip in the chocolate spread.

    ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t taste it?¡± Lucia suddenly asked me, forcing me to turn around using her right hand.

    The tone had suddenly shifted again, and it was now more serious and tense than ever. She had a frightened look on her face; her boyfriend too suddenly turned his head to look at me with wide eyes.

    Why are you all getting so agitated? Can¡¯t we just relax? Maybe lie down and look at the stars¡ªwe could watch a reality TV show! I¡¯m sure you too have those, right?

    The chocolate, on the other hand, was more delicious than usual; it was so rich when paired with the fried donut, it didn¡¯t feel like a regular donut; it seemed sweet but not in the same way a donut would be.

    Lucia was extremely agitated; her boyfriend too seemed shocked by the revelation as he almost choked on his glass of soda. Lucia then got up and hurriedly headed away to buy a large variety of food.

    Some dishes had fried chicken, some had green rice, some had potatoes drenched in spicy sauce, and more. She made me taste all of it, and with each dish I tried, her desperation seemed to grow further.

    ¡°Ugh, I can still feel the spices. But at least I cannot feel the lime anymore.¡± I commented, trying to cheer her up.

    Hey, I¡¯m looking at the bright side, see? We¡¯re smiling; everyone¡¯s happy. Why are you two so worried?

    That didn¡¯t seem to cheer her up; the others in the meantime were happy to eat the leftovers, and after the seventh time, her boyfriend stopped.

    ¡°Stop! You¡¯re just wasting money at this point. The result won¡¯t magically change after the eighth attempt. Let¡¯s just take a break, and then once we¡¯re finally calm, we¡¯ll think of a way to solve this situation.¡± He said to her while holding her arm.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Asked Lorenzo.

    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s the problem?¡± Asked Vera.

    He then pulled her close and said, ¡°Nothing serious, just enjoy your meal for now.¡± As he patted her head.

    Why is she suddenly sobbing? Why is she crying for this? I don¡¯t get it.

 Stolen memories (I)

    After dinner, we were brought back home, and there Lucia was confronted by the parents of kids; they were all clearly angry about something but held themself back in order not to look bad in front of us.

    "Go back inside; we''ll talk about this later." Elena''s father said to us; he was also extremely agitated; I could see the hand gripping on his support cane trembling.

    He was gritting his teeth; the veins in his neck seemed about to burst because of how angry he was; the veins in his eyes were also visible. He gave the aura of a monster barely able to keep his human disguise. It was disturbingly horrifying.

    I initially hesitated to follow his order. I feared that our absence could stop the adults from holding back against those two, as all of them seemed extremely pissed at them; Elena, on the other hand, didn''t. She grabbed my hand and silently carried me back inside the house.

    Her hand is also trembling¡­

    I wanted to be courageous for once, but seeing the pack of angry parents made me rethink my choices; that was something I didn''t want to deal with.

    When we got back inside, we immediately rushed towards Elena''s room; her window was directly facing the front of the house, allowing us to peek at what was going on.

    All the kids were walking back to their respective houses; Lucia and her boyfriend, on the other hand, remained there to be scolded by the parents.

    "Do you even know how worried we were? Why didn''t you answer any of our calls?" One of the parents shouted.

    "Who is the man that is accompanying you? Do you know? We''ve received distressed calls for someone using demonic powers right in front of our kids!" Another parent joined in. They were all extremely angered by the situation.

    I hope everything can be resolved peacefully.

    "Sir, we didn''t mean to¡ª" The boyfriend tried to apologize, but he wasn''t given time to; all the other parents complained about all sorts of things; some were related to me, some weren''t, but the common theme was that they received a formal complaint from the old lady.

    Some of them complained they had to leave work early to deal with this, and when they did, Lucia was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but she refused to answer their calls.

    I felt a little bad for her as half of the problems were caused by me.

    At the very least, they didn''t seem to notice the bright colors their children had.

    They eventually touched on the topic of the children, asking why they were colored and such, and when she looked up to our window, I instinctively hid beneath it.

    Damn, I really shouldn''t have done that.

    I feared being confronted by a mob of extremely angry parents, but they didn''t; after the babysitter explained that it was part of a harmless ability, they still complained against her for quite a while.

    "Wow, they really didn''t like it. I think it was a pretty nice experience. What do you think?" Elena asked me while watching all of this unfold.

    I don''t know! How should I answer here?

    I simply remained silent.

    "Oh, the others have finally stopped complaining." She then picked me up by the armpits and lifted my body so I could watch what was happening outside.

    Stop! I don''t want to watch that thing; let go of me!

    All the other parents were leaving, all of them equally pissed; Lucia and her boyfriend, on the other hand, remained standing in front of Elena''s father. She was fidgeting around with her hands, avoiding his gaze while the boyfriend was bowing down.

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "What do you think they''re talking about?" She asked me.

    Again, I''m not a¡ªwhy do you ask me? I know nothing of this place; I should be the one asking you what is going on! Especially since everyone seems to be changing moods at lightning speed!

    "Why are you silent? What are you thinking? Luke?" She asked me, for some odd reason¡ªshe was whispering now¡ªand hearing her whisper right into my right ear gave me chills.

    To get my attention, Elena started pinching my cheeks. It was done lightly, not strong enough to hurt me, but definitely strong enough to annoy me. As I turned around to face her, I saw her giggling to herself.

    "No, I''m fine." I answered.

    Suddenly, Elena''s father stomped his feet into the ground, cracking the concrete floor. He raised his fist ready to punch the girl but then refused to do so. The only thing I was able to hear was him screaming, "If I see you again, I don''t know what I''m going to do with you. Get out! I don''t want to see you again!"

    It was strange; I didn''t imagine that even with his legs crippled, he still held that much power in his body.

    "Ah, that''s not good¡­" Elena said as she put me back down. She looked worried, which also made me anxious; my first thought was, "Crap! I''m going to get beat up for this, aren''t I?"

    "What do we do?" I asked her.

    She began thinking but never actually answered; she remained lost in her small bubble until it popped at the sound of the front door of the house being slammed.

    "Elena! Can you come here for a moment?" He shouted from downstairs.

    Oh no, I can recognize this tone from a mile away; we''re screwed. No wait, she is! I''m just a guest here; I doubt he would get angry at me after all I did to anger him.

    "I''m coming!" She shouted back. "Don''t worry, my dad never got too angry with me; I doubt he''s going to punish me." She then said with a confident smile, her pink hair seemed to shine brighter than ever whenever she was smiling.

    "N-no, I trust you; you can go ahead." I replied.

    I knew from experience that when a father shouts like that, you won''t get away with at least a slap across the face; depending on the answer, you might get the belt in the worst cases.

    I should probably warn her, but she sounded so confident a few minutes ago¡­ Maybe I''m just exaggerating; maybe it''s not all that bad¡­ I hope so.

    "So, can you tell me what happened?" Her father asked her as soon as she got downstairs. His hand was trembling, and he didn''t seem like he could support himself well, so he walked towards the kitchen and then threw away his cane.

    "Erhm, I¡­ w-we went to the park."

    "Don''t lie to me! You smell like booze; where did that girl bring you?" He asked, raising his voice.

    Maybe I should go there, just in case; it wouldn''t be fair for her to take all of the blame; I was at fault as well after all.

    I sneaked out of the room and silently climbed down the stairs.

    "Where did you go? I already received the call from that decrepit hag, so I know that you played with the Scarlet Devil''s son''s ability! She was on the verge of filing a formal complaint against us and reporting the illegal weapon!" He shouted.

    Seeing that scary man that angry was terrifying; the scar on the right side of his face made him look like a demon.

    "I''m sorry." She quickly apologized.

    As she lowered her head to avoid his gaze, she seemed much smaller, while her father seemed to be steadily growing bigger and bigger. He had such an imposing aura it made it hard to breathe.

    "What was on your mind back then?" He asked her. He was still angry but was trying to calm himself to not scare her away.

    "I¡­ I was a bit excited because his ability can give colors back. S-Sorry," she apologized; her voice was barely audible.

    "I heard so!"

    The man then took a moment of silence to calm down his nerves.He covered his face with both hands and massaged his forehead to get rid of his wrinkles.

    "I also heard that Luke has problems eating now; can you tell me what happened?" He asked her.

    She told him everything: how after playing dodgeball I fainted, how they brought me to a pediatrician that was located nearby instead of going to the hospital, and how the lady asked them to keep what happened a secret.

    Apparently, a proper diagnosis couldn''t be done because there was some residual demonic energy attached to my body, most likely caused by the emergency treatment given to me by Elena''s father.

    Then she even told him about the small party at the sports center.

    "Is that truly all?" Her father asked her once more.

    Elena nodded as she was almost on the verge of tears; that interrogation was taking a bigger toll on her than I imagined.

    Her usual cheerful persona had disappeared, and she had become a sobbing mess.

    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to be so harsh; come here." After a small, touching hug, he tried to get up.

    Without his cane, it seemed hard for him to walk.

    How was he able to destroy the concrete with legs that can barely hold his weight?

    I was peeking from the entrance of the kitchen, trying to remain partially hidden. I just wanted to be sure nothing bad was going to happen to Elena, and then suddenly a bunch of cars were flung in my direction.

    Most of them got stuck in the door frame, but one of those cards managed to leave a scratch on my right cheek.

    Blood? What is going on? Why did you attack me?

    I thought as I touched the injury and examined my hand to see how much blood I lost.

 Stolen memories (II)

    I took a couple of steps away and fell on my back, tripping on my legs. My heart was beating out of my chest; the warm blood spilling down the small injury on my small face hurt as if something had lit it on fire. I stood incredulous for a couple of seconds, unable to comprehend what was happening.

    Why? What did I do wrong now? Why are you attacking me?

    ¡°Dad, no! What are you doing?¡± Her daughter shouted as she tried to push him back to his chair.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, honey, but this is not something we can avoid. If we hand back the son of the Scarlet Devil in this state, she will claim our heads; it¡¯s a matter of survival now.¡± He said as he shoved her aside, grabbed his cane, and tried to come at me.

    A deck of cards had suddenly appeared in his hands, and I immediately recognized what it was.

    I immediately got back up and ran towards the exit, picking up the card stuck on the wall that had just injured me.

    ¡°Help me! This bastard is using a demonic weapon in a civilian area!¡± As I opened the front door, I shouted the same words that the old hag shouted earlier.

    Once I kicked the door open, I found that the outside city had disappeared; a grassy plain surrounded the small house.

    Behind me a bunch of tentacles slammed against the wall of the hallway; I could hear the desperate Elena trying to hold back her father, but it was all useless.

    Fuck! WHY? WHY? I thought you were friends. Why suddenly attack me? What did I do? What did my mother do to you? Please! I just want to leave this place! I promise you I won¡¯t hurt or harass you. Please.

    I looked back and saw the tentacles reaching out to me; they were extremely faster than I could ever be.

    I tripped on the exit, and naturally, I tried to get back up and run away, but that wasn''t impossible. Horrifying images flashed before my eyes as I was preparing to exhale my last breath; a giant eye in the skies and tentacles made out of re liquid were dragging a bunch of corpses away.

    The tentacles suddenly turned red in my eyes, and just as they were about to reach me, I raised my hand that was holding the blood-stained card, from which the hero of the tragic tale, me and Elena, was made.

    I didn''t know what was happening; my mind was racing from one thought to the other. A chilling sense of dread had taken grasp of my heart; I could barely move anymore. I could smell the pungent smell of blood filling my nostrils.

    The environment around me was slowly distorting; from the shadows, I could hear people screaming in agony as their screams were being suffocated by the sound of a car.

    The knight from the heroic tale emerged from the card I was holding, carrying on his back a multitude of weapons as always: a large bow, a crossbow, a mace, a sword, a spear, and more. His presence alone was enough to dispel those phantoms.

    "Huh? What are you¡ª" I was surprised by the sudden appearance, but after checking the card I was holding, it was the same from that story. The one who ended so miserably and the one who held the power to turn the situation upside down.

    Without batting an eye, the knight began cutting down all the tentacles, swinging his sword; the blade of his weapon was long and bent around like a whip, effortlessly cleaving through the tentacles.

    I felt a surge of confidence when I saw the knight. He was the shining beacon of hope I desperately needed at the moment. During the game we played, I saw how powerful that being was; nothing could match his power, not even a dragon.

    As he swung his long weapon, he was able to clear the area around us effortlessly.

    After disposing of the tentacle monster, the knight grabbed his favorite weapon, the spiked ball attached to the chain wrapped around his waist, and suddenly swung it around us, preventively striking a bunch of tree roots that emerged all around us.

    He swung the massive spiked ball at the house and pulled his weapon back before it could strike the building.

    "What are you doing? Attack them! Why are you stopping now?" I shouted at the knight, but he didn''t respond; he simply laid down his weapons and stood still.

    I was frustrated, but as I began to hear the sound of a demonic creature screeching inside Elena''s house, I decided to run away while I could and hide until her father would turn off whatever card he used to create the grassy field just in front of her house.

    When I turned around, a large hand crashed against my face; it made me fall on my back and kept my head pinned against the ground.

    ¡°Wait! Please! I can¡ª¡±

    In the palm of the hand, there was a large eye pressing against my right eye. I felt something prickle the skin of my neck. The knight standing behind the large being pressing me down refused to defend me this time and stood still.

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    I felt countless hands suddenly grab my body; some of them were trying to keep me pinned to the ground, some instead were scratching and attempting to tear my body apart. To keep me from screaming, a large tentacle entered my mouth and began pumping fluid into my throat.

    Save me, please. You, I did everything to make your life better back then, please.

    I woke up back in my bed; I was sweating buckets. I felt like I just had the most traumatizing nightmare. My whole body was covered with bloody bandages. The doctor was sitting beside me happily humming a Christmas song as he was working on something while showing me his back.

    It was the middle of the night; he was making strange concoctions next to me. Around him were countless trays of bloody gadgets, rusty nails, three roots soaked in my blood, strange teeth, and other parasites.

    As I tried to sit, I almost screamed in pain; the injuries placed all over my body made moving almost an impossible task. The situation felt somewhat familiar.

    The scene felt eerily familiar; the last thing I could visualize was the car that had crashed against the forest filled with demons.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked him, trying to smell the odorless container he was holding under my nose.

    The container held a strange, light-colored liquid emitting constant, odorless fumes.

    "How does it smell?" He asked me as he rapidly sealed off the container and put it aside.

    "Smell? It doesn''t have one? Why?" I was confused; my head was still hurting; I felt like a lot of time had passed; I couldn''t remember much; my brain felt drained; my throat was burning; I could still feel a viscid sensation all over it. I could barely think proper sentences in my head because I was so exhausted.

    "Once again, not it. Don''t worry; it''ll surely go well the next time." He shook his head, disappointed, raised his cane, and slammed it against my head. He was too fast for me to react to. I tried remaining awake but couldn''t.

    I woke after what felt like a very brief pause.

    Huh? When did I fall asleep?

    As I opened my eyes, I found myself once again strapped against the bed; judging from the window, it was night outside.

    I was all alone in the room; weird handcuffs kept my arms and legs attached to a bunch of poles Elena¡¯s father had installed near the bed.

    ¡°Oi? Is anyone here? Why am I strapped on the bed? Did I do something¡­¡±

    I was trying to recall the past few days, but they all felt extremely blurry. I remember visiting a park but couldn¡¯t remember the faces of the people that accompanied me; I knew Elena was there with me. The situation felt extremely familiar, but I couldn¡¯t put my finger on why.

    ¡°Oi! Are you seriously going to ignore me?¡± I kept shouting, hoping someone would respond, but I was left without answers for the rest of the night.

    I couldn¡¯t go back to sleep; my body was simply not tired enough to be able to go back to sleep.

    Damn! I didn¡¯t think you were such heavy sleepers; my mother would freak out if I even dared to step out of the bed past a certain hour. Here I am screaming my lungs out and barely getting noticed.

    I tried to pull my arms to test out how durable the handcuffs were, and they didn¡¯t budge no matter how hard I pulled. One thing that worried me, however, was the lack of pain.

    What¡¯s this? Why can¡¯t I feel anything? Did they do something to me?

    As I tried to remember everything that happened in the last week, I realized that they had probably tampered with my memories, as I couldn¡¯t remember how I even got inside the fracture.

    I guess it¡¯s for my well-being, probably? Did they erase my memories because they didn¡¯t want me to recognize the people that kidnapped me? No, if they were on the same side, they wouldn¡¯t be trying to hand me back to my mother¡­ Why would they erase my memories then?

    I sighed and gave up attempting to free myself. It was strange; a part of me was believing I was just saved from that group of kidnappers, yet my mind was sure that wasn''t the case. My memories were foggy and all over the place, so I couldn''t even remember well what transpired in the past few days or months.

    When the light came back, I heard the others wake up. I was extremely tired and felt as if I was about to fall asleep after spending what felt like an eternity staring at the empty and blank roof of my room.

    ¡°Oi! Elena! Are you there? Can you help me? I¡¯m stuck!¡± I shouted.

    I didn¡¯t have to wait much longer for her to finally show up, carrying a tray containing my breakfast, which consisted of chocolate honey-covered cereals with warm milk, a brioche filled with chocolate spread, and some chocolate-glazed cookies.

    That¡¯s a bit¡­ Isn¡¯t there a bit too much chocolate there?

    I was looking forward to eating chocolate, but that amount looked a bit excessive.

    ¡°Why was I shackled to the bed?¡± I asked her.

    "You were hurting yourself in your sleep." She responded annoyed, placing the tray of food on the nightstand to take out the bundle of keys needed to free me.

    Ah! Makes sense. Wait, who are you? How do I know your name, and why are you so familiar with me? How much time has passed down here? What happened for a memory removal to be necessary? Should I be scared?

    I knew her name; I didn''t know how I got there, but I knew I could trust her. In my mind, she was a child with a warm smile, always taking care of me and keeping me company.

    She must''ve had a rough morning.

    I said to myself to explain her cold behavior towards me.

    She sneakily grabbed one of the three brioche filled with chocolate and ate it before removing the straps pressing my body against the bed.

    Hey! That¡¯s my food! Why did you take one? Go make your own if you¡¯re hungry.

    As soon as I was free, I stood on my leg and stretched my body, especially my neck, which felt incredibly stiff, and then I grabbed the last remaining chocolate-filled pastry and sunk my teeth into it.

    The pastry was incredibly soft, and the chocolate cream was extremely delicious and sweet, so sweet it made my whole body tingle in excitement. I managed to taste what felt like traces of coffee flavor mixed in with the chocolate, but they were faint enough to enhance the flavor rather than make it too bitter.

    Wait a second, there should be two¡­ Elena!

    I looked at her with a condemning stare and was met with cold indifference, no. She hated me? I stood still in complete silence. unable to compute what was happening.

    W-w-what''s wrong?

    I wanted to ask.

    Instead of her casual clothes, she was wearing a school uniform; she had already dressed herself, washed her face, and brushed her hair by the looks of it.

    ¡°How is it?¡± She asked me; she wasn''t genuine; she seemed bored and bitter; I could tell from a glance she didn''t like me.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing; the brioche is soft and spongy, and the chocolate, well, you can¡¯t really mess up chocolate spread; it¡¯s always good.¡± I responded as I sunk my teeth into the pastry yet again.

    She rolled her eyes at me, and after filling out some questions regarding how I was feeling, she exited my room, barely even exchanging glances with me.

    What¡¯s wrong with her? Why did she leave so quickly? Why is she so cold today of all days? It''s so unlike¡ªwait, how do I know that?

 Stolen memories (III)

    When I got out of the room, I felt a sharp decline in temperature; the air was so cold every breath I exhaled kept forming small clouds.

    As I got out of the room, I was suddenly hit by a freezing wave of air; foreign images passed through my mind¡ªa candlelit room, bloody bandages, cold feet, and no, a warm day at the park¡ªno, cold again? A blonde beauty is smiling and kissing me on the lips.

    What is this? What are those¡­Whose are those memories?

    I had to pause for a moment, as the sharp pain afflicting my head was growing stronger with each passing second.

    Dammit!

    I remember clearly, when I was covered from head to toe with bandages, Elena sneaking into my bed, enjoying the heated room and pressing her extremely cold feet against my legs¡­ Back then it was winter, but then¡­ At the park¡­ I remember the heat¡­ But who was that blonde girl? I had never seen someone with that kind of hair¡­

    All of those conflicting memories made me feel dizzy; my legs were still asleep, so when I tried to walk away, I ended up tripping, tumbling over, and falling against the wall of the hallway on the second floor, barely avoiding the stairs.

    That was close, holy¡­ My legs are still numb¡­ What the hell happened? My head¡¯s a mess.

    I noticed a few changes had been done to the house. Every sharp corner was padded, the stairs had been tuned into a ramp, and a warm and comfy rug was now covering the floor.

    As I carried my tray of food downstairs, I saw Elena dressed in a school uniform, putting on her shoes, ready to leave the house.

    Is this a dream? What''s going on? Is she going to school? Now? Already? Don''t we have a couple of months of time before school starts?

    ¡°See you later! You too, Luke!¡± She cheerfully left the house with a smile on her face; her eyes, on the other hand, were telling another story; they were cold and soulless, empty of any emotion.

    They were gone before I could even say  goodbye" back to them. I wanted to wish them luck and maybe chat a little. It stung the fact that they didn''t bother to look back.

    What a shame, and here I wanted to enjoy my breakfast in company.

    I walked towards the kitchen and sat by myself, looking at the window, enjoying my chocolate-flavored breakfast while looking at all of the kids in the neighborhood come out of their houses to go to school.

    It¡¯s already time to go to school; I wonder how my father and mother are doing. This place must be pretty far if they still haven¡¯t been able to reach me.

    I took one of the bananas lying on the kitchen table and rapidly tossed it away once I realized it was tasteless.

    What a boring day. What will I do without Elena here? What do I usually do here?

    While I was squeezing my brain in hopes of finding the answer to all of my confusion and foggy memories, something broke through the roof of the building, landing right before me.

    ¡°There you are, you little shit! Took a while, but I¡¯ve finally found you!¡±

    The one talking was a blonde man wearing a white sweater and dark sweatpants; his long, straight hair flowed down his shoulder up to his waist, and he had purple glowing eyes.

    I recognized him immediately; he was Julian Staffen, a subordinate of my family. The oldest son. And my biggest bully.

    What are you doing here? Did Mom send you here? If so, why are you so rude? Don''t you know a word of mine can end you?

    ¡°Why did you break the ceiling? Was it really necessary?¡± I asked him as I finished eating my breakfast.

    Finally! Now I can finally leave; thank God they finally came to pick me up, but why did my mother send you? She knows I hate your guts.

    He began to walk towards me; he was limping, clearly still injured by a recent fight; he was bleeding from an injury on the side of his head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care; I¡¯m in a hurry, and I have other shit to do. You should be grateful that I¡ª¡± Before he could finish his sentence, a massive robot broke past the wall of the house and tackled him, dragging him away from me.

    ¡°B-03-09 Surrender yourself now or suffer the consequences!¡± The robot spoke as he slammed his head on the cement road, cracking it open.

    What the hell? What was that? An armored enforcer? Why is he here?

    His body inflated like a balloon, pushing the large enforcer away. Then it exploded, making the same sound as a plastic balloon, splattering blood and guts all over the place.

    "Is this the reason you were so bold with me earlier? You think some mere enforcers are enough to stop me? Do you really think you can trust the words of that liar? Whatever, it doesn''t really matter; at the end of the day, they can''t do much to me anyway." His reflections appearing on the glass windows said to me.

    What are you talking about?

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    He appeared once again behind me, his body completely restored. Putting his arm around my neck. His cold hand touching my neck made a chill run down my spine; something about that situation was abnormal, too abnormal even for a guy like him.

    Get off of me, you piece of¡ª

    "How about we go for a little ride, for old¡ª" His body suddenly caught on fire.

    Naturally, I distanced myself from the flames as his body was pulled back towards the large, extremely armored cop.

    Fuck, I need to get out of here, and as quickly as possible!

    The large being covered in the futuristic metal armor pulled Julian away from me, and then when he tried to flee from his flames, the large cop tackled him and dragged him away propelled by the flames coming out of its large forearms and his back.

    "Oh no, how am I going to deal with this?" Julian''s voice seemed playfully sarcastic.

    I was confused; so many things were happening all at once. Elena''s father was nowhere to be seen; not too much time had passed; Elena was most likely still nearby while all that hell was slowly unfolding, and I couldn''t understand why the cops were against Julian.

    Stop it! Get out of my head.

    "Aww, poor little Lucy, is this level of telepathy too hard to handle for you?" He whispered in both my ears, his malicious laugh echoing in the background. It brought unpleasant memories.

    What do you want from me?

    ¡°Aigo! Poor me! I don¡¯t have that many numbers with me; how am I going to deal with an army of enforcers? Just kidding, this is going to be a walk in the park for someone like me.¡± Julian sounded strangely excited about this situation. As the army of enforcers was opening fire against him, he kept shifting places, toying with them.

    "It would be a shame if you missed the action, wouldn''t it? I''ve made some preparations for you." As he was battling a swarm of incoming officers flying down from the skies, he used one of his powers to stop my body in place.

    W-w-what? What the hell are you doing? Do you have any idea¡ª

    "Guys? Are you ready or not? I''m more than ready to wreck this city! Have you secured an escape route?" He proudly shouted to his subordinates that were probably lurking around.

    He summoned a toy gun and shot himself with it, inflating his body and pushing away the many mechanical cops that were out to get him.

    When he returned to normal, a number of new items appeared on his body: a small plastic gun, a white coat, glasses with blue lenses, golden earrings, and a collection of daggers stored in a strange belt made out of eyes.

    The massive enforcer, on the other hand, was taller than any man I had ever seen, with giant hands even bigger than his head; his body was full of sharp edges. All of those edges were stained in Julian''s blood now; at the same time, gears near his elbows were spinning, emitting some steam out of the back of his hand and heels.

    ¡°Commencing execution!¡± The enforcer shouted as the steam emitted from his arm and back turned into flames.

    ¡°You wish!¡± Julian responded.

    I couldn¡¯t understand what was going on, but as the two fearsome beings clashed with one another, an invisible hand reached out to me and began to carry me out of the building.

    Oh, no, no, no, NO! Get up! Get away from this; if you get lost, it''ll be over! You need to run away!

    I didn''t have time to guess the whys and hows; I knew that Julian wasn''t here to save me, and that was all I really needed to know.

    ¡°No! Leave me alone.¡± I gathered all my courage to shake off the invisible hand, and then the hand grabbed me by the neck and carried me away more violently than it was doing before.

    I was dragged away outside the building before it collapsed and was thrown into Elena¡¯s father¡¯s car. When the invisible hand slammed the door of the car closed, I felt my heart starting to race. I immediately tried to open the door and flee, but the hand quickly locked the door.

    ¡°How mean of you! Are you planning on abandoning me again? Or don¡¯t tell me you already forgot about me.¡± Julian Staffen whispered to me.

    He was sitting right beside me. He appeared all of a sudden with his arm wrapped around my neck.

    Ack! Stop! Please! I can''t¡ªbreathe¡­too¡­

    My heart stopped pounding; it was the second time he showcased that ability of his, and now that he was sitting next to me, I couldn''t even breathe. I was stuck silently praying for him to disappear in the same way he appeared before us.

    ¡°Did you have fun these past few months? Were you able to sleep soundly at night knowing that your powers killed half the population of Litua?¡± He whispered in my ear with a spiteful tone, smiling as always with that devilish grin on him all the while he was pinching my cheeks.

    ¡°W-w-what are you talking about?¡± I didn''t know what he was talking about.

    "Me? Litua? What''s¡ªNo, I didn''t, I¡­ I couldn''t have¡­ That wasn''t my fault¡­ I didn''t." Strange images were slowly resurfacing; I couldn''t tell which of those memories were real or not, nor could I tell if they were mine or not anymore.

    In the meantime, something pulled Julian away from me, breaking the roof of the car. As soon as he was out, the car sped away into the distance.

    I felt as if someone had just stabbed my heart. I was trying to recollect what happened the past few months, but I was only met with a headache so strong and sharp it made me curl up into a ball. All I could remember was mountains of corpses, rivers of blood, and the maniacal laugh of a demon haunting my dreams.

    I was starting to hyperventilate; the more I was thinking about those memories, the more my head hurt.

    It was all¡­ my fault¡­ No, no! I¡ªI didn''t¡ª

    As we were starting to catch some speed, another car crashed into ours, making us crash against a building.

    No, this is not how I want to die, please! mom Where are you? I''m scared!

    Out of the car a bunch of scary-looking men appeared; they were tattooed from head to toe, wearing simple clothing, coming straight towards me. I couldn''t move my body; I think I had an arm broken or something. I was probably still under the effect of Julian''s ability.

    As they ripped the other door of the car away.

    No, no, no, no! I don''t want this.

    I desperately tried over and over again to open the door next to me but failed miserably at each attempt and ultimately began to try to punch a hole through the window in desperation.

    Fuck! Why isn''t it opening!? Dammit! Damn!

    Those mobster-looking guys were then killed by a bunch of sharp cards that cut through their throats like sharp blades; the gurgly sounds they made on their deathbed were imprinted in my mind.

    No, please, stop; I can''t! I never wanted any of this to happen. I''m sorry! I''m sorry; I promise I''ll never do it again! Whatever it is that you want, I''ll do it, so stop it, please.

    ¡°Not enough; this is just the start! I''ll turn this whole city into your personal hell! Witness!¡± Julian¡¯s voice and laughs echoed through the city. Out of his body, bloody strings began to appear, covering the entire city and forming a dome, erasing anything they touched, and once the dome was complete, the city itself vanished, turning into a desert.

    He was punched back into the ground; he and the large cop were evenly matched when it came to physical strength.

    I was curled into a ball, desperately covering my ears, hoping to ignore the world around me, hoping for the worst to pass.

    Elena''s father then undid his power, revealing he was the owner of the invisible hand; before I could utter a word, he picked me up and began to carry me away to a safer location while the enforcers were trying to deal with the rogue being known as Julian Staffen.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± He asked me as he threw away a couple more cards into the distance behind him.

    ¡°I-I-I don¡¯t know!¡± I answered while looking around in search of Elena.

    Oh no, please be safe, please.

 Stolen memories (IV)

    ¡°Stay behind me.¡± Elena¡¯s father told me as he pushed me out of the way.

    He summoned a number of angels and an entire fortress around us. It lifted us from the ground and placed us on top of a defensive wall.

    Why are we here? I want to go away; let¡¯s get away from here!

    Meanwhile, Julian Staffen was battling against the army of enforcers; most of them didn¡¯t look like the one that first saved me; they were a lot smaller, a lot slimmer, and most importantly, the tool they used kept materializing itself from a number of cubes floating around their bodies.

    They were capable of moving at insanely high speed, constantly repositioning themselves around Julian, keeping a safe distance, and evading the daggers he threw around.

    Julian Staffen used the gun on himself to inflate his body once more; he did this to avoid getting crushed by the giant fist of the enforcer; his inflated body was then popped by the angel Elena¡¯s father had summoned. It simply pointed its lance at its target, and a beam of light came out of it, piercing the inflated body and making it explode.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t they told you, interrupting others is very rude?¡± The angel told us using Julian¡¯s voice. His head was trembling beyond control while its fingers were slowly bending backward, making a haunting cracking sound.

    Huh?

    My body was frozen in fear; the same guy I hated and feared was out to kill me. He turned the body of the angel back into his own and then rushed forward towards me.

    He flew past the other angels present there, and before Elena¡¯s father could use another card, he had already landed in front of us, holding the angel''s lance in his right hand. I summoned my weapon and attempted shooting at him; he did the same using the spear, and our projectiles canceled each other.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see someone famous rotting down here. What happened, dealer? Was my present not to your liking? Why did you intervene in our affairs? Haven¡¯t you learned from the past?¡± Julian asked him; in the meantime, the spear in his hand disintegrated.

    "Oh, what a shame." He said in reaction to the lance turning into golden dust.

    His devilish grin widened as he taunted him to take action, but strangely enough, Elena''s father didn¡¯t; he didn¡¯t move an inch as Julian walked past him and didn¡¯t react when he picked me up into his arms.

    ¡°Are you taking care of my kid? Oh, and condolences for your wife; I only recently discovered she passed away during childbirth.¡± He added with a sadistic tone, I didn''t know what he was talking about, but the reaction from Elena''s father was a raw scream filled with rage as he drew more cards out of his deck.

    It was then that I saw a dagger stuck to Elena¡¯s father''s chest.

    No! Please don¡¯t! Don''t die on me; otherwise, who''s going to save me?

    ¡°How boring. Anyway, see you next¡ª¡± One of the enforcers shot him before he could finish his sentence.

    The projectile was incredibly powerful, so much so that it melted the defensive walls of the fortress that stood in its way. Julian¡¯s body vanished into thin air after getting hit, leaving me to fall on the ground.

    What should I do? There''s no escape here; he already trapped us! No! No! NO! I don¡¯t want to die here.

    I turned around to run away and realized that the stairs that led to the ground had collapsed already, there were many holes in the defensive walls, and a tower behind us seemed about to crumble.

    The scream of the people in panic trying to run away was clouding my mind; I too wanted to simply make a run for it but couldn''t. The fractured wall was in too unstable of a state to allow me to simply escape.

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    I loathed Elena''s father for trapping us there. I felt like a cornered rat standing on top of those crumbling walls.

    Since I was left without a choice, I headed back towards Elena¡¯s father; he was still stuck in place, with the dagger planted in his chest. The dark dagger had a human hand instead of a blade. It had crying faces carved in its handle, crying real tears.

    I hesitated before touching it, fearing it would¡¯ve possibly sucked my soul or done something along those lines, but when an enforcer crashed against the defensive walls, I simply grabbed it without thinking and extracted the dagger out of his body.

    As I extracted it, a number of fleshy bits began to spill out of his body; the fingers of the dagger quickly dried up and turned into ashes once it was out of his body.

    I began to puke on the spot; it was an immediate reflex upon seeing a bunch of worms dropping out of the wound like a cascade; they were even flopping on the ground like fishes.

    ¡°Get down when I tell you to, get ready?¡± He didn¡¯t seem okay; he was bleeding a lot and could barely keep himself upright.

    ¡°Now!¡± He shouted as he clapped both hands.

    What? Now, I''ll die!

    Lightning sparks were emitted from his hands that quickly scattered across the desert field Julian created, striking various places until they left a crack on the ground in front of the fortress gate.

    "The fuck are you doing? Jump!" He yelled at me, scared I followed his orders.

    All the angels then suddenly stopped attacking Julian and attacked the crack in space he created.

    I thought we were going to die when I saw all those beams of light beneath me, but thankfully that wasn''t the case. When I opened my eyes, we were back in the city.

    There we found ourselves surrounded by Julian¡¯s minions; they all had rifles pointed at us, some had more than three eyes on their foreheads, some had multiple limbs, and some didn¡¯t even look human.

    They were holding Elena hostage, having gagged her mouth, her hands tied behind her back, and pinned against the ground. Her face was swollen and had turned dark purple, her lips were bleeding, and her nose had been broken.

    She was currently sobbing in silence as tears streamed down her deformed face.

    ¡°You!¡± Her father was about to attack them when suddenly, the man pinning her down using his feet simply pointed his rifle against her head.

    He was a bald man with the tattoo of a dragon stamped on the right side of his face, smoking a cigar while holding gloves made out of human skin. I could see semblances of a face, the empty eye sockets near the wrist, the nose on the back of his hand, and the lips over his knuckles.

    I then heard guns being fired behind us as the thugs fired at the angels that were flying behind us.

    ¡°Honestly, you always manage to surprise me; your resourcefulness is impressive. It¡¯s a shame this will be the last time we meet.¡± The man holding Elena at gunpoint spoke; his voice had a higher pitch than I expected.

    He had a black shirt with rolled-up sleeves to show the tattoos on his forearm; I also noticed many scars on his right wrist.

    ¡°On the ground!¡± A couple of guards behind us used their feet to shove us on the ground.

    ¡°Handcuff the boy,¡± he ordered them while nudging his head towards me. ¡°Is the car ready? We¡¯ve got to leave as soon as possible; we don''t have much time left!¡± He then shouted at the colleagues behind him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir, the cars have all stopped functioning a while ago.¡± Someone shouted back in response.

    ¡°Find the fucker who¡¯s messing with us then! What are you waiting for?¡± He yelled out, filled with anger.

    In the meantime, his subordinates put us in cuffs.

    At least they didn¡¯t kill¡ª

    Another loud bang. This was so close it made my ears ring. It wasn¡¯t until I looked to my right that I realized what had just happened. They had shot Elena¡¯s father in the back of his head.

    ¡°No! Stop! What are you¡ª¡± To stop me from shouting, the guard pinning me down began to stomp on my face until I almost passed out, leaving me to face Elena¡¯s father¡¯s corpse.

    His blood was dripping down the floor, making a small puddle in front of his soulless eyes. I could hear Elena''s muffled screams in the background; I felt sorry for her until I heard another gunshot coming from her direction.

    I¡­ why? Is this really all my fault?

    ¡°Toss his body near the hostages; it should buy us some time against the incoming enforcers. Go find a functioning car or vehicle. I don''t care what you bring back; you have at best¡­ fifteen minutes.¡± The leader of the group said, as he walked up to me.

    The group scattered around while the man picked me up and put me over his shoulder.

    I was still boiling with rage, so the first thing that came to my mind was to bite his ears off.

    ¡°You piece of shit!¡± The scream of pain of that bastard was like music to my ears.

    He rapidly dropped onto the ground and began to kick me repeatedly, cursing at me.

    Suddenly, from the ground, a couple of hands emerged, blocking his foot. The same hands quickly covered my eyes and covered my ears.

    Silence was what followed; the explosions caused by Julian and the enforcers ceased, his laughs no longer echoed through the city, and all that I could hear was the sound of flesh exploding all around me.

    Mom!

 Reunion

    Mom? Is this really you? Is this another dream, or have you finally come to my rescue?

    I couldn''t hear anything; I didn''t know if I was saying those things out loud or was just thinking them. I desperately reached out forward, hoping to be able to embrace her, but I couldn''t feel anything.

    A whirlwind of emotion was brewing inside me¡ªrelief, sadness, guilt, and anger. I desperately wanted to be hugged back; I wanted that bastard to be on his knees, begging for mercy, for a moment; I wanted the bloodshed to continue. I was also angry towards my mother, because had she come a few seconds earlier, she could''ve saved Elena and her father.

    The many hands quickly wrapped themselves around me and lifted my body in a fetal position.

    ¡°You can rest easy now, honey; you¡¯re safe.¡± A tender voice whispered directly in my ears.

    It was a voice so soothing I couldn¡¯t recognize, a tone completely different from its usual; I was so used to listening to its angry rant that I had forgotten how sweet it sounded when it talked to me affectionately.

    I could hardly hold back the tears; I felt my heart being torn apart when she whispered those words to my ears.

    Is it really you? This is not a dream, right? When I open my eyes, you''ll be there for me, right? I don''t want any scary ghosts haunting me anymore; I just want to rest¡­ Please, let it be over; I don''t want to stay here anymore.

    I tried to keep my composure, but that wasn''t possible. My mouth was trembling as a flood of strange images invaded my mind.

    A burning city, a blue gun in my hands, some strange people at the front door, a large red eye in the skies, red tentacles, a golden apple.

    "What? my eyes..."  Tears began rapidly falling from my eyes uncontrollably. "I can''t¡­ I don''t¡­ I''m sorry, Mom, I promise I won''t do it anymore; I will listen to you¡­ I''m sorry¡­ I didn''t mean for this to happen! I thought¡­ I thought I could''ve been the hero¡­ I wanted¡­ I just wanted¡­" It was hard to talk. I was a sobbing mess.

    I instinctively tried to wrap my arms around her, but I couldn¡¯t feel warmth, I couldn¡¯t feel the texture of her clothes, nor could I feel how her skin felt, so I hugged what I thought was her body as hard as I could.

    ¡°Mom!¡± I wanted to say a lot of things, but I couldn¡¯t; I was barely able to speak. I feared this was just yet another illusion or was going to turn once again into a nightmare.

    She hugged me tightly, squeezing my body so tightly she made it a bit hard for me to breathe, but even that, even for a moment, felt incredibly warm and safe.

    "Thank you¡­ Thank you¡­ I promise I won''t break any rules from now on." I repeated over and over again as I clung to her, squeezing her neck with all I had.

    "Now rest up; it''s going to take a while before we''re going to be back on the surface." My mother whispered to me as she caressed the top of my head.

    No, I don''t want to sleep. What I want to see is¡­ head¡­ Julian''s head¡­ rolling on¡­ the¡­ floor.

    I don''t know what she used to, but when she gently patted me on my back, I suddenly lost all my energy and promptly passed out on the spot despite my best efforts to stay awake.

    When I woke up again, I was sleeping in an unfamiliar room, a white room with the wall decorated with golden murals depicting various animals such as lions, tigers, and more.

    Sitting next to the bed was my mother, currently kneeling on the floor, gently caressing my forehead. With a sweet and soothing expression on her face, completely unlike her usual.

    ¡°Mom?¡±

    As I called her name, she suddenly seemed to gain life; she immediately threw herself at me, hugging me so tightly she was slowly suffocating me and showering me with kisses until I tried to push her away.

    "Is this a dream? Are you going to disappear just like Dad did?" I asked while pinching her cheek to test if she was real.

    ¡°No, sweetie, I¡¯m real. You¡¯re safe now; we¡¯re in the Miran now, just like you always wanted.¡± She responded as she hugged me with more strength.

    ¡°Mom! No! Stop! Stop! I can¡¯t breathe!¡± I complained while pushing her away.

    After some time to breathe, I paused and began thinking about everything that had happened to me so far. But something was missing; there was something that didn''t feel right. My heart was aching for some reason, yet my mind couldn''t tell why.

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    ¡°What about Julian? What will happen to him?¡± I asked her.

    What is going on? Why is my heart tightening in my chest? Did something strange happen while I was sleeping?

    ¡°He¡¯ll no longer pester you, him, or the rest of his family. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± She reassured him as she stood back up, still holding me in her arms.

    I could feel my eyes getting watery, but it all stopped shortly after. I heard the sound of the door of my room being opened. I was startled by the sudden sound; it sounded as if someone was trying to break in. My heart jumped in my throat from the scare.

    My father had just entered the room holding a white wooden tray containing some risotto with parmesan sprinkled on top. It was incredibly refreshing seeing colored food again. The door was locked, and to get in, he had accidentally destroyed the doorknob.

    ¡°Oh, sorry. Didn¡¯t mean to startle you.¡± He quickly apologized as he brought my meal to my bed.

    Wow, so it''s true, I''m no longer in the Fracture¡­ I¡­ I''m safe! I''m saved! I¡­ I can''t believe it.

    Before I could say anything back, he had put a spoonful of food in my mouth. I was so distracted I didn¡¯t notice him walking from the door to my bed. His cheerful and happy expression faded away pretty quickly after he fed me. So I wiped away the tears and simply cherished this moment of peace.

    ¡°How¡¯s the food?¡± He asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± I answered while looking around.

    I still couldn''t taste anything. All I could feel with my tongue was the heat of the dish, but none of that mattered to me at the moment.

    My parents were a mess; they were trying to dress pretty elegantly, but the bags under their eyes showed just how worried they had been for me in the past few days. My mother seemed to have even lost some weight.

    The room was barely decorated, my closet was nowhere to be seen, my rug had also disappeared, the curtains were of a bland white, my small library of comics was nowhere to be seen, and the only other object I saw was the TV and gaming console on the other side of the room.

    ¡°Yeah, we should probably schedule a doctor¡¯s appointment soon; as for now, is there anything you¡¯d like to eat?¡± Dad asked me as he patted my head.

    ¡°Really, can I eat anything I want?¡± I asked him.

    He simply smiled affectionately in return while nodding back to me. In return, I asked for the only kind of food I could enjoy.

    ¡°I want chocolate, not just chocolate, a chocolate cake! Maybe even a chocolate-filled brioche! Oh, I also want a chocolate-filled croissant and one of those sponge cakes that¡¯s half and half!¡± I began to go on the request, and they simply nodded along with me.

    ¡°Sure, sure, anything for our sweet little angel,¡± my mother said while pinching my cheeks.

    Her red hair was a lot more vibrant than I thought. It seemed a lot brighter than my hair.

    ¡°We also brought that little friend of yours with us; unfortunately, right now she doesn¡¯t feel like going out of her room, but soon you¡¯ll be able to meet her. I think.¡± My father said.

    Mom glared at him for a second and punished him by pinching his legs, making him take a step back. She had pinched him so hard she had left a hole in his apron.

    ¡°Friend?¡± I was confused until my brain was still half asleep.

    ¡°You mean Elena?¡± As soon as my brain began working properly, I was floored at the realization; I couldn¡¯t believe it because I heard the gunshot that should¡¯ve killed her.

    ¡°Lucy! You¡¯re alive! I thought something bad had happened to you.¡± Suddenly, Uncle barged in the room with all of his kids.

    Uncle Kiriam, from my father¡¯s side of the family, has tinted his hair dark, unlike my father, who kept it brown. He has bright red eyes and bushy eyelashes. He had a cleanly shaven beard and was wearing a gray suit with a red tie.

    His four sons were Ilay, Elvis, Michael, and Leonhart.

    The three eldest were the sons of his first wife; they had much darker skin than me. Ilay was the oldest, being around eighteen; Michael and Elvis were twins and were both sixteen. Leo was the youngest, son of a woman we never met, with fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, having the same age as me, 9.

    Ilay was the only son with braided hair; the rest had straight hair, with Michel having long hair.

    Ilay, the oldest, was wearing elegant clothes just like his father, having his braids gathered in a long ponytail; Michael instead let his hair flow freely to his waist, with a plain white shirt and gray shorts; Elvis, on the other hand, was the one that dressed the best out of the four siblings, with golden watches, necklaces, and many rings decorating his fingers and expensive-looking leather shoes.

    Leo was wearing a white shirt with a large opening in the middle to show off a necklace with lots of blue gems, matching the color of his eyes, and black pants.

    ¡°Luca!¡± As soon as he got in, Leo ran up to me to give me a hug while the other waited in front of the door.

    My mother didn¡¯t seem all too pleased with their presence; she never was fond of Uncle Kiriam, but it was clear she was irritated they had interrupted our small family moment.

    ¡°We came here with some gifts to congratulate you on your return. I hope this can be a good lesson for the future, to not skip out on family outings,¡± he said while pushing his three sons forward.

    Ah, right, he had a work trip and even bought a museum ticket.

    I could feel the tension in the air rising between those two; my mother¡¯s veins were starting to bulge out of her neck as she tried to keep her composed smile; uncle¡¯s three sons were clearly uncomfortable with the situation but came forward with their presents.

    Leo, on the other hand, was completely clueless about the situation unfolding.

    ¡°I heard they kidnapped you and dragged you into the Fracture! How was it? Did you see any demon? How did they look? I need to know!¡± He was rapidly firing questions with shining eyes full of curiosity while standing on my bed on his knees.

    That wasn¡¯t the end of it, but before he could ask for more, he was grabbed by Michel and Elvis and was dragged out of the room as he begged them to let him stay.

    ¡°Hope you¡¯re doing fine, Lucy. If you have any problems, remember that we''re always available; after all, family always comes first, right? We''ve prepared some gifts to celebrate your return from the fracture; I hope you''ll be able to enjoy them.¡± Ilay said to me as he dropped the many boxes containing the present they had for me.

 Reunion (II)

    After the cousins gave me their presents, they rapidly got out of the room; the only one who stayed inside was Uncle Kiriam.

    He was standing proudly with his arms crossed in front of the entrance, staring at my mother with his usual soul-piercing glare. Then he turned to me, changing expression entirely, mellowing down from his tense expression.

    "I''m truly sorry for what happened to you, Lucy. I feel mortified for not being there when you needed us the most. At the same time, I hope you can take this event as a lesson and be a little less rash!" He said as he slowly approached me. Keeping his hands in his pockets.

    With each step he made, I could hear the sound of metal clanging from beneath his large furry coat he wore over his elegant suit. I don''t know what it was; it could''ve been just a couple of coins hidden in one pocket, maybe just a chainmail hidden beneath his clothes, or some hidden weapons.

    Either way, the metallic sound made his presence all the more grand; he looked more imposing, at least to me, and that in return made him look all the more cool in my eyes.

    The suit already gave him an elegant but deadly vibe, but that metallic sound simply made the image I had of him complete.

    I know, I know. So what are you going to say now, that I shouldn''t have skipped your family trip to the museum?

    "Maybe don''t skip on a family outing next time," he predictably added, and then the whole room shook.

    Huh? What just happened? Did someone try to attack us?

    No, my mother had slammed her feet on the ground; no cracks were made, but it had shaken the entire building.

    Seriously? Isn''t that a bit excessive? Uncle is not going to be scared by just that, so what was the point? You almost gave me a heart attack!

    My uncle then took out a golden coin from his left pocket.

    "You should visit us more often, especially now that we live so close to one another; you could learn a thing or two. Moreover, if you put in some good effort, one day you could even inherit a cushy position in our family business." He proposed while bouncing the golden coin in front of my face and catching it again.

    He was toying with the golden coin, passing it through his fingers. Teleporting it from one hand to the other.

    "What do you think?" He then asked me while extending his right hand towards me, offering me the golden coin.

    Oh, really? Sure, I can¡ª

    ¡°You¡¯ve talked enough nonsense for a day; how about doing us a favor and getting out on your feet while I¡¯m still feeling generous!¡± My mother''s venomous words responded before I could; I saw her square up against him, using her power to extend the length of her nails.

    Her eyes were burning with rage and contempt. My father was also quick to react, pulling her aside to calm her down. Gently pushing her away from the uncle.

    ¡°You¡¯re free to come anytime you want. You¡¯re always welcome.¡± My uncle repeated to me as he tossed the golden coin my way. His voice was completely unbothered by my mother''s blind rage.

    He was the exact kind of person I aspired to be: fearless, loving, and fierce.

    My mother caught the coin before it could make its way into my hands. She clenched her fist in frustration, crushing the coin; her imposing presence didn''t feel as scary anymore. Perhaps it was because I had seen this scenario replaying countless times throughout my childhood; it had now become a common routine in my brain.

    Hey, that was for me. Why did you¡ª

    She hurled the coin out of the window without thinking twice about it; my father, as usual, stood by her, worried sick, trying to calm down those two.

    Strangely enough, the coin passed through the window without leaving a trace on it, as if the glass barrier wasn''t even there to begin with, leaving water ripples on the surface of the glass window.

    As if mom is never going to hurt the uncle, not in front of me; you''re just wasting your breath, Dad.

    I wonder what kind of people I will find in the upper cities. Now that we''re going to live there, my mom won''t have any excuse to keep me locked in Uncle''s house keeping company with his kids.

    I thought as I looked out of the windows, I couldn''t see much of the outside; everything was covered by a thick layer of clouds underneath the window.

    "If he ever gifts you anything, make sure to bring it to me to check it, Lucy. Who knows what that deranged man could give you?" My mom was still agitated from the encounter.

    Here we go again¡­

    "You should not trust him! That man is a¡ª"

    ¡°Honey¡­¡± Dad was massaging her shoulders to calm her down; he even dared to interrupt her while she was speaking, but it was useless; her mood had soured the moment the uncle barged in the room.

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    "Don''t!" She hissed at him with a cold voice that froze the air. "We just got him back; the last thing I want is for him to turn into a degenerate like him!" She said with pure rage in her eyes, probably because of a feud they had in the past they never divulged to me.

    He, on the other hand, could not do anything else but let out a very nervous, forced, and awkward laugh, nodding along to all the curses thrown at his brother.

    But Uncle is the coolest of them all; the way he dresses, walks, and speaks, it¡¯s just so cool, and I bet he also fights like a beast. I can already imagine him leaning forward, red eyes and whatnot.

    In truth, I had never seen him fight.

    He was also considerably richer than us. I bet the family business would be even more successful if my mother weren¡¯t so against him.

    It took a while for her to calm down, and after yet another wave of hugs and kisses, she left my room.

    ¡°You should rest for now; we¡¯ll bring a doctor in a couple of hours, so don¡¯t wander around the house; you could get lost.¡± She shouted from outside the room as she headed away.

    After she was out, the cousins were once again allowed inside in order to monitor me and keep me company.

    Leo ran back to me, picked up one of the present boxes, the smallest of the bunch, and put it in my hands, looking ecstatic and full of energy; his brothers weren¡¯t as energetic; some were clearly sleepy.

    Eager to play with them, I got out of the bed and immediately regretted it as my feet almost froze on the extremely cold wooden floor.

    ¡°Luca! Is it really true that you''re finally moving out to the upper cities? This is not a lie like the last time, right?¡± He asked me, his eyes brimming with excitement, to the point it reminded me of a small puppy I once saw at the neighbor''s house.

    His brothers moved the other presents out of the bed and lay on it; Elvis and Michael went to sleep while Ilay took out a book out of nowhere along with a pair of glasses and began quietly reading while sitting on Elvis¡¯s back.

    ¡°Ignore us; we¡¯re only here to keep you company.¡± Ilay spoke up. His deep voice resembled that of his father; he was the most collected out of the four brothers, but he too was a bit weird; his hair was unlike anything I had ever seen, with all of his braids; every time I saw him, he was rocking a different style.

    Where did you even take those glasses from? Your pants have no pockets; don''t tell me¡­ Is it some sort of power that lets you have an imaginary inventory? Or maybe it''s a subspace? Did you materialize them using weird, super-futuristic tech?

    He was dressed in a formal suit, just like his brothers; Leo was the only exception, as he had been dressed like a small prince.

    ¡°Why the suit?¡± I asked Ilay.

    ¡°Ah, this? Ignore it; we just visited Dad¡¯s storage, so we had to dress for the occasion. We can¡¯t let our employees see us with regular clothes now, can we?¡± Ilay responded as he leaned his back against the wall.

    ¡°Can you not move around? you¡¯re heavy!¡± Elvis complained. rolling around the bed in hope of getting his older brother off his back.

    ¡°Deal with it! Next time think carefully before opening that mouth of yours; you ridiculed us earlier.¡± Ilay responded by lightly punching his back while glaring at him. Elvis then successfully got him off his back, and the two began wrestling on the bed.

    So the reaction from my uncle to my kidnapping was to arm his sons. I wish I could get a better weapon, but I doubt Mother will let me; she¡¯ll probably decide that it¡¯s better for me to not leave the upper cities for the rest of my life.

    I was curious to see what kind of artifact he gave them; it was probably something beyond my wildest imaginations.

    Then, Leo picked the smallest gift box present and opened it for me. Inside the cardboard box, I found a couple of figurines and a collection of art books depicting a bunch of well-known demons as well as a detailed description of their abilities.

    Shouldn''t I open my own presents? Leo?

    The figurines were also of other well-known demons, one of them being the eight-winged six-eyed sealing dragon. A powerful demon who once terrified the people of the Fracture.

    The second figurine wasn¡¯t packaged like the previous one but was instead put in a glass box. It was a demon I had never seen or heard of before.

    It was a large two-headed black bird with red eyes; one head had only one eye in the middle of its head, the other had seven. The belly of the demon was open, revealing a glowing red orb lying inside; the feathers on its wings resembled a bunch of swords.

    He proudly showed them to me, giving me a small summary of the identities of those demons.

    ¡°Our father made this with his own hands! It''s the first demon your dad subjugated and absorbed; it was graded blue back then. Isn¡¯t it fascinating?¡± Leo quickly explained to me while taking the figurine out of the box to show me all the details carved in that colored statue made out of plastic.

    Blue? Isn''t that the weakest rank? Wait, is blue the coldest color? Is it really something to be proud of if it was the weakest grade of demons? At the same time, it doesn''t look all that weak¡­ I guess first impressions aren''t as useful when dealing with demons.

    I wasn¡¯t quite fond of demons; I didn¡¯t hate them, nor did I like them. Leo was the only one in the family with a fascination for those beings and loved collecting all things demon-related.

    ¡°Thanks a lot, Leo, you¡¯re the best!¡± I said to him as I gave a superficial scroll to the many pages of the books he also presented me. I wasn¡¯t interested in it, but I didn¡¯t want to hurt his feelings either.

    Then I opened the other presents. Elvis had given some snacks. Michael, on the other hand, gifted me a bunch of expensive-looking watches.

    Typical. Elvis probably bought the first thing he came across, while Michael is still obsessed with expensive stuff¡­ I wish instead of useless jewelry he could simply buy me a new console, maybe a Dreaming Capsule; that too would be nice. That way you wouldn''t be wasting your money on stuff I''m not going to wear.

    Ilay, on the other hand, had given me just a bunch of keys; the largest box was filled to the brim with keys.

    ¡°What are these?¡± I asked him. Their wrestling match was over; Ilay had won and was once again sitting on his younger brother''s back.

    ¡°I hid a bunch of treasure chests in the house; one of them contains the key of a car I bought for you. Good luck finding them all.¡± Ilay responded with a proud look in his eyes; he seemed confident that his present was the best.

    Just how much time do you have on your hands? Couldn¡¯t you just give whatever you wanted to give me without this annoying process? How am I supposed to¡­ Goddammit.

    ¡°So? Who gave you the best present?¡± Leo asked me.

    Ilay put his book aside and kept staring at me. I¡¯m sure the twins were also paying close attention to what I was about to say.

    Eh? Really? I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know, the food is fine and all, but I can¡¯t taste anything other than chocolate. I have drawers full of the jewelry gifted to me by Michael that I never wore; this will probably join the group, and I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯ll be able to find the car keys Ilay hid.

    ¡°I guess Leo.¡± I responded.

    Ilay sighed and then resumed reading his book; he didn¡¯t look all too happy. The twins used the comforter to cover their entire bodies, and Leonhart was jumping out of joy. The room was full of chaos.

    Why did you even hold out some hope, Elvis? Yours was the worst gift.

    After putting the various gifts aside, we spent the rest of the day playing video games, eating to our hearts content. I had my chocolate snacks and some flavorless soda while everyone else enjoyed popcorn and fries.

 Reunion (III)

    When the doctor came in the room, it was pretty late; most of my cousins were about to fall asleep from the long wait.

    They were called away as soon as he entered the room while the doctor placed down his bag and took out his tools as he prepared himself to start with the checkup. He first took out a small spray bottle to test out something my parents seemed pretty interested in.

    So they noticed it¡­

    The moment he sprayed the content of that bottle, I immediately retracted and felt something very strange in my mouth; when he hammered my legs, they flinched as they usually would.

    I could see my parents'' faces light up as he delivered the news that everything was functioning properly, and then he took them and brought them to the side to discuss some important matters in my absence.

    I wonder how Elena is doing.

    I felt somewhat guilty for her; if her father hadn¡¯t saved me, they both could still be living a carefree life, but now none of that could be the case, and it was all my fault.

    When the medic returned, he began checking my ears, heartbeat, pupils, and even my feet. I don¡¯t know what he was looking for, but he was pretty thorough with his checkups. After an hour, I was finally free.

    The doctor had taken a sample of my urine, blood, and saliva.

    I then followed him as I thought he was headed for the exit; instead, he stopped in front of a bedroom next to mine.

    It was now Elena¡¯s turn. She was a sobbing mess, holed up beneath her bed, crying to no end. She was dressed in pajamas covered in cartoonish animals.

    She had messy hair, dark circles under her eyes, a snotty nose, filthy clothes, and was stinking.

    Before I could even greet her, my mother dragged me away from there and trapped me in my own room, where my cousins were still playing video games.

    ¡°So? How was it? Are you sick?¡± Elvis asked me, as he turned around to face me. The other two were too busy trying to fight one another to bother looking at me.

    ¡°No idea, the doctor only talked to Mom and Dad; since he didn¡¯t give me any pill, I doubt I have something to worry about.¡± I responded.

    ¡°Yeah, thankfully everything¡¯s fine. Luckily for you, only a couple of weeks have passed on the surface, so you haven¡¯t exactly wasted your holiday yet; we¡¯ve still got two months to enjoy ourselves.¡± Ilay casually said as he kept scrolling through the pages of his book.

    ¡°He¡¯s just jealous because this is his last year of freedom before Dad will force him to work in the family¡¯s¡ªOuch!¡± Elvis was quickly punished with a karate chop on the back of his head.

    ¡°You never learn your lessons, do you?¡±  Ilay relayed to him.

    ¡°Eye for an eye.¡± Suddenly Elvis put his fist down and pushed himself back up, making Ilay lose his balance.

    ¡°Tooth for tooth!¡± After he got up, Elvis tackled his brother, and they both began to wrestle on the bed.

    Again? Don''t you get tired of losing to Elvis? No matter how much you try, Elvis is simply bigger and stronger.

    ¡°Oh wait, not on my bed; you¡¯re going to mess up my bedsheets!¡± I shouted back at them as the two ignored me and kept tossing each other around.

    When they fell on top of Michael¡¯s back, he pushed them off with a violent kick that landed on Ilay¡¯s chest.

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    As the fight began to escalate, they were all interrupted by Uncle Kiriam knocking on the door of my room.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to go guys, it¡¯s pretty late now and we¡¯ve got many things to do tomorrow, come one, say goodbye to your cousin before you go.¡±

    And just like that, everyone bid me farewell and left me alone while the doctor and my parents were busy with Elena. So I did the only thing I wanted; I ran on the other side of the room to check what was outside my window.

    I couldn¡¯t see much; I couldn¡¯t open the window to peek outside with my face; it was dark outside; occasional lightning illuminated the surrounding clouds; I also saw large golden chains hanging connected to the building and heading towards the unknown.

    There were many of those same chains, but there were too many clouds for me to count them; it was also heavily raining outside.

    Ugh, I wish there was something for me to do up here; instead, I¡¯m locked in my own room. I wonder why they won¡¯t allow me to see Elena.

    As she came into my thoughts, I got closer to the walls. I wanted to see if I could at least hear her voice through the walls, but I couldn¡¯t; the war was soundproof.

    It was nice seeing my cousins; it was pleasant to see that they hadn¡¯t changed much. I wonder when I will be able to see them again. I wish it could be soon. I hope the people up here can be better than the people living in the dome.

    The upper cities sounded like a myth to me until I first visited when I was around seven. The floating cities and continents that were constantly orbiting around the world. With each building made out of a strange, smooth, and lucid white material that made the city blinding to look at on a sunny day.

    Every family living there competed on how extravagant their houses could be, how many colors they could add, as they held essentially unlimited wealth. I didn¡¯t know much about how they got so much money; what I knew was that they were all extremely respectful towards us.

    Despite my father not having restored all of his color and the same applying to the rest of my family, they never judged us and even sold us a plot of land to build our home.

    Well, there probably was some level of fear mixed into it, with my mother being the strongest being alive; I doubt they had much of a choice; if my mom had decided to take one of their houses, they could¡¯ve done nothing but bow their heads and simply move out of the way.

    I returned to my bed and jumped on it, all happy and giddy we were finally moving out to the upper cities.

    Finally! I took us too long before we got there; now I won¡¯t have to deal with those leeches, always sucking up to me. Urgh! How annoying.

    Yet a part of me still felt at odds; I was so used to that place, I was already starting to miss it. It was easy to complain at first, but now that we were moving out, I couldn¡¯t help but look down in search of the direction where my old home was.

    Well, it¡¯s not like we will never get down; maybe one day we will return to that home, revisit all the rooms, and retrieve all of my games. Yeah¡­ that would be nice.

    I didn¡¯t hate the place, just the people living there.

    I headed towards a door I found next to my bed, hoping for it to lead to the bathroom, only to discover a large walk-in closet that was bigger than the bedroom. It had everything, from clothes to drying towels, bedsheets, shirts, jackets, and more.

    Over the gigantic walk-in closet was the large bathroom, with a bathtub equipped with hydro massage, a shower head next to it, a bidet, a large sink, and a square toilet. I felt as if I was in a dream; all that space for myself, I barely know what to do with it.

    Then I noticed in the corner of the room, behind the bidet, a small black box locked with a metal locket. A box so small it could easily fit in my hands.

    Oh, is that one of the presents Ilay hid for me? Oh, I didn''t expect to find one so soon. Well, I might as well open it now that I have the time for it.

    I ran back to my room and began searching in the pile of keys amassed within that cardboard box; I almost cut one of my fingers trying. A couple of minutes later I was still digging, so I decided to make the smart choice.

    I emptied the boxes of the other presents and began to use those boxes to sort the various keys by size; the bigger ones remained in the original box, the smallest one got in the smaller box, and the medium ones, depending on the shape, were funneled into either of the twin boxes.

    After I was done, I got back up, proud of myself, only to hear the clasp of hands of my parents; they had walked in, and I was sorting the keys and waited in silence for me to finish before they began complimenting me.

    ¡°The doctor?¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say; I felt incredibly embarrassed by the whole thing, so I uttered the first word that came to mind.

    ¡°He¡¯s done for now; he went back home.¡± My father answered as he took the boxes away from me.

    "What did he say?" I asked him.

    "He said that you seem to be completely fine, but we can''t be sure of anything; for now we can only hope everything''s good." He responded as he lifted me and placed me over his shoulders.

    I then turned over to check my mother, and she simply remained silent, standing beside him, avoiding direct contact with my eyes.

    Whatever, the important thing is that we made it back in one piece; now all that''s left to do is enjoy the rest of our luxurious life.

    I thought as I imagined the kind of life we could''ve lived.

 Hatred in heaven

    The next day I woke up more refreshed than ever; my room, which had been left like a mess the day prior, had already been fixed, and the sun was shining brighter than ever, scorching my delicate face.

    Did Mom do something to me? I remember being kicked pretty brutally that day, but when I looked at myself in the mirror yesterday, there was no bruise or swelling. I guess it¡¯s better not to think about it.

    Wait, who the hell kicked me? Whatever, it''s useless thinking about it now.

    Once again my first instinct was to head over to my window and look outside. What I saw was a massive floating island, as big as a mountain, connected to ours via a golden chain that sometimes dragged us along with it.

    Wow! Uncle''s floating islands are massive. I knew he was well off, but this is on a whole other level. These things are big enough to¡­ I don''t know, but it''s definitely bigger than the small remote village we lived in before, although it''s still smaller than the entire dome.

    I remember enough of my last visit to the upper cities to be able to distinguish these floating islands from the real deal; they weren''t flashy enough, there weren''t enough decorations, and there weren''t flying vehicles roaming just about everywhere.

    We weren''t the only floating island that was being dragged by such a gigantic island; there were many others all around it; I counted at least eight. However, out of all the islands, only ours had a colored building; the others looked like sturdy gray cubes with extremely small windows.

    That¡¯s probably where the demons are stored. The one''s uncle uses to make weapons out of.

    I felt a little uneasy knowing so many demons were lurking nearby. But the fact that so many powerful individuals were gathered nearby made me feel a bit more at ease about it.

    Now, what should I do¡­ Probably see what I couldn''t yesterday.

    Before my mother could get in my room to wake me up, I decided to sneak out to pay a little visit to Elena; it was obvious that my parents wanted to distract me from the topic. Whenever I mentioned her name, they cleverly changed the topic, so I had to take things into my own hands.

    Since I knew my mother had extremely sensitive ears, I decided to put on some socks and slide on the floor instead of walking. When I reached her door, I opened it slightly, just enough for me to pass through the gap, and closed it behind me.

    The room was incredibly dark; the window in her room was covered by a bunch of bedsheets she had stacked over it, the bed was bare, having no sheets covering it, and Elena was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°Elena? Are you there? Where are you?¡± I whispered while looking behind me; I was afraid making too much noise would wake my parents.

    Oi, are you okay? Can you at least give me a sign of life? That way I can finally rest at ease.

    Then from beneath her bed I saw a card being thrown out; it was the card of the knight. A card I was more than familiar with.

    Fuck, I¡¯ve got to get out of here.

    I bolted towards the door before the knight even finished materializing itself and tripped on a small glass bottle lying on the ground, narrowly avoiding the first attack of the spiked ball.

    Fuck! That was close!

    The horizontal strike demolished a bunch of pieces of furniture nearby; I heard the sound of wood being cracked, and wooden chips flew everywhere; some almost flew into my eyes.

    I rolled my body to the side, fearing the next attack, and as predicted, after making a full spin around the room, the spiked ball came crashing down from above to my previous position.

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    I rapidly got back up and rushed to the doors, and just before I could reach them, I saw the massive spiked ball being hurled at my face. I was too slow to avoid it and definitely too weak to block it; I was stuck in what seemed like an eternity, watching that weapon inch closer to me.

    Then, nothing happened. The ball passed through my body, leaving no injuries behind; the door in front of me, however, was completely destroyed.

    Confused, I opened my eyes again only to see a spear thrown at me. I closed my eyes, thinking everything was over, but nothing happened once more. No matter what he did, his attacks could not connect.

    Huh? Isn¡¯t that her father¡¯s ability? Why does she suddenly have it?

    ¡°Get out! I don¡¯t want to see you!¡± Elena suddenly screamed with a broken voice.

    She was currently hiding under her bed.

    ¡°GET OUT!¡± She shouted the moment I tried to step forward.

    ¡°Elena¡­¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you hear me? Get out!¡± She kept shouting; she was slowly losing her voice. Despite that, she kept shouting even though she was injured and seemed to suffer incredible pain whenever she shouted.

    ¡°Why?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°It¡¯s all your fault; if you only didn¡¯t exist, my father wouldn¡¯t have saved you, we wouldn''t have had to get involved with those mobsters, and he wouldn¡¯t be dead!¡±  She kept yelling from her hiding spot.

    N-no, I, I was just¡­ I didn¡¯t mean it; we were¡­

    Her words felt like a sharp dagger that stabbed through my heart repeatedly. I wanted to come up with an answer, to defend myself, but I couldn¡¯t; I barely remembered what happened in those days; everything felt like a vague dream.

    ¡°Get out, please.¡± She said one more time in tears, sobbing for her loss.

    I remained still, I didn¡¯t know what to do, I didn¡¯t want to leave Elena in that state, I felt heartbroken because she blamed me, and I felt guilty because I believed her words.

    I felt an invisible wall slowly pressing against me; I felt like I was being slowly crushed by the atmosphere, all the while her cries and screams were echoing in my head constantly as memories of that were flashing in my mind once more.

    A city crumbling to ruins as a large fight was reshaping it, vehicles flying around, lasers being shot, and a haunting laugh echoing in my ears.

    N-no, w-what is this¡­ How could I have forgotten this? No, I didn''t cause this. It wasn''t my fault. I didn''t do it!

    Suddenly I felt disgusted at myself for having had such a happy reunion the very next day; I felt the food piled in my stomach rapidly rising.

    I-I, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean it.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Was all I could say, over and over again like a broken machine.

    I tried to run away, but my legs felt too weak to carry my weight, so I tried to slowly crawl away from there.

    ¡°I won¡¯t do it again, please forgive me.¡± After I uttered those words, Elena seemed to only get more violent.

    ¡°Disappear from my sight!¡± She shouted as she grabbed a plate full of risotto from the night prior and threw it at my head.

    When she came out of my bed, her face had changed; it was unlike anything I had ever seen before, contorted with rage as tears streamed down her face, grinding her teeth, making bone-chilling sounds with them.

    It was as if she had turned into a demon; my first instinct when I saw her in that state was to run away. I dragged my body away. She chased me away holding the glass bottle in her hands. Slamming the door closed in front of her and using my body to hold the door closed, crying my heart out.

    ¡°Get out!¡± I heard her scream desperately.

    Her voice seemed to echo louder than usual in that empty hallway.

    ¡°Or I¡¯ll tear you to pieces myself!¡± She screamed as she slammed the glass bottle against the door, shattering it.

    Then everything stopped, and I could hear only silence. I didn¡¯t know what was happening, nor why Mother hadn¡¯t reacted yet, when suddenly something struck the door. This time it was much more durable than the bottle, as I didn¡¯t hear the sound of shattering glass.

    This went on for at least a while until I heard a loud thud.

    Silence had returned, and it felt even worse than before; I didn¡¯t know what to expect. Was she trying to get something to break the wooden door? Had she truly given up?.

    My heart was racing in my mouth; it was beating so fast it was making me feel dizzy.

    What do I do? Why is Dad not here yet? Why haven''t I noticed her screams? Please come here. I¡¯m sorry for not following the rules; I promise I won¡¯t do it again. Please come here. I swear I won¡¯t ever disobey you.

    After some time had passed, I slightly opened the door to check one last time and saw Elena on the ground, bleeding from her thighs, feet, and belly because of some glass shard stuck on her body.

    ¡°MOM!¡± I shouted, calling for immediate help.

    ¡°No, no, I¡ªI, MOM! PLEASE!¡±

    Elena was still conscious; her strength was rapidly fading as she kept losing more and more blood.

    What to do? How do I save her? What should I do here? She''s bleeding. I need a band-aid. I need some band-aids, but where are they?

    I flipped the light switch to turn on the lights in her room, and as I did, I heard the sound of glass shattering all around me.

    ¡°MOM! Please help me!¡± I shouted as I tried to look around the room in search of band-aids or anything that could¡¯ve helped me in the situation.

    This time my mother reacted almost immediately, rushing over to check out what had happened.

    She didn¡¯t utter a word to me; she clicked her tongue and took Elena away, carrying her over her shoulders.

 Hatred in heaven

    My dad came to escort me back to my room. I was still partially covered in Elena¡¯s blood; it had covered my hands, knees, and parts of my shirt. My father had to forcefully drag me to the bathroom to wash off the blood staining my clothes.

    ¡°You¡¯re fine. Lucy, don¡¯t worry, everything will be fine.¡± He reassured me as he pointed the shower head at me and washed me using hot water.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it.¡± I immediately began making up excuses.

    I hated it; I loathed myself for it. Why was I trying to come up with excuses? What did I do that was so wrong for me to constantly apologize? Why was everything my fault?

    "I never wanted to hurt anyone!" I added, my voice was about to crack; I was fighting to hold back my tears as I looked at him, hoping for him to save me, in some way, to not make me feel as hurt.

    "I know, I know. Don''t worry about it; Mom will fix her up. By the time you meet her again, this will be nothing more than a bad and blurry moment between you two. Don''t worry about it." He consoled me, hugging me tightly as he gently stroked my hair.

    "I know you didn''t mean to hurt her, but unfortunately, sometimes our actions can cause someone else to hurt, despite us not wanting to; you just have to learn from this experience so that this won''t happen a second time." He later added as he took the showerhead and turned it on, testing the heat of the water.

    ¡°Take off your clothes for now; let¡¯s get you cleaned up and ready; we¡¯ll think about the rest later.¡± He added as he began to take the soap and the shampoo and thoroughly began to clean my body.

    He was a little rougher than usual, but I didn¡¯t complain since I was the one at fault in this situation; I simply accepted the pain and kept my mouth shut, no matter how prickly the steaming water was or how violently he was scrubbing my body clean.

    Once he was done cleaning me, we left the clothes soaking in water and headed towards the small clinic present in the large building. It was located in the upper floors of that massive palace, which was divided into many sections, containing an elevator for each section.

    I counted at least thirty floors in that elevator, but I didn¡¯t know how many sections that massive palace had, so I couldn¡¯t know how many floors it had.

    I felt awkward; I knew that Elena was in safe hands, but on the other hand, I didn¡¯t want to meet her again, not when she was in that state. I felt guilty and scared because of her.

    When the door of the elevator opened, I saw many nurses rushing left and right, carrying various blood bags and other medicinal tools, everyone following the blood trail left on the ground.

    I¡­ I don¡¯t think I can do this!

    After taking a couple of steps forward, I turned around and immediately bumped against my father standing behind me.

    ¡°Dad¡­¡± My voice began to crack. I didn¡¯t want to see her; I didn¡¯t want to remember all the things that had happened, and more importantly, I didn¡¯t want to feel like shit anymore. I just wanted to ignore everything and go back to the old days.

    He looked back at me with a warm smile as he gently patted my head back and forth.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to, please, I just¡­¡±

    I just want to stay happy.

    He whispered something in my ear and slowly nudged me to her room, going slower and slower over time until I had finally collected myself once more.

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    Although I wasn¡¯t crying anymore, I still didn¡¯t feel ready; I felt as if I was ready to crumble at any second; my heart felt as if it was being squeezed in my chest. The hallways leading to her room felt never-ending, yet each step I made, no matter how small, made me feel like I was running through that hallway.

    I turned around just around the corner to beg for one last chance, hugging my father as hard as I could, but he didn¡¯t stop; he forced me to take the last step forward, and we both stood in front of the door.

    Elena was standing on the bed, with blood bags plugged into her body, crying silent tears of desperation as many demonic tendrils were making their way into her many cuts.

    The small and fragile defensive wall around me crumbled immediately; my heart shattered at that sight.

    ¡°G-get out, please.¡± Even in that state she didn¡¯t want me to see her.

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want you to see me like this.¡± Her weak, trembling voice felt like a stabbing knife.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    What did I do that was so wrong? Why did I deserve to get kidnapped and dragged into the Fracture? I never bothered anyone; I always obeyed my parents no matter what and always smiled at the strangers.

    ¡°Why is it always my fault?¡± I inadvertently blurted it out.

    Elena didn¡¯t respond to me; she simply turned her head the other way. I could hear her sobbing on her own.

    I was also crying.

    I could hear all the many voices around us screaming that everything was my fault, the many bloody faces stuck to the walls pointing their distorted arms at me. They were crying tears of blood, asking me why I had killed them.

    Then, they began to manifest; the pristine white walls rapidly got covered in blood, and from that layer of blood, they emerged covered in blood, all of those anguishing souls ready to point their fingers at me.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. I didn¡¯t; I did nothing of the sort.¡± I kept repeating as their voice grew louder and louder.

    ¡°It was all your fault!¡± They screamed.

    ¡°Had you not used your demonic weapon, we would all be alive.¡±

    ¡°Had you not made such a huge fuss about it, we wouldn''t have had to suffer.¡±

    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you just endure?¡±

    They all scream while inching closer.

    When I saw their decomposing bodies emerge from the walls, I got tired of running away, but once again my father got in the way. I desperately got on the floor and squeezed in between his legs and ran away from there.

    Wherever I walked, those faces would appear, crying, screaming in pain, and littering the building with their blood.

    Some of them were terrified, some were crying, and some were now fueled by anger. Determined to shred my body apart.

    No! No! No, it¡¯s not my fault. I didn¡¯t¡ª

    Suddenly an image of a drunk driver came to my head, smiling at me with purple glowing eyes, telling me it was my fault as I saw a giant spider wreck through a large populated city.

    I tripped on the floor; I desperately got back up, scrambling to get myself together while taking a sharp turn, aiming to use an emergency exit. I launched my body against the door to push it open, and as I rushed past it, I ran into my mother, who was ready to embrace me.

    In her arms, all of those demons had stopped pursuing me.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She asked me.

    I couldn¡¯t even begin to describe what I just saw; my heart was beating out of my chest, I was crying nonstop, and I was holding on to her for dear life, fearing that those demons could appear again.

    ¡°Mom!¡± I kept repeating while wrapping my arms around her neck and squeezing her as much as possible; she, on the other hand, put her right arm behind my back and lifted me with just one arm.

    In her arms I was safe; no matter how much they tried, none of those souls could possibly best the strongest. So they vanished.

    Together we headed back to the room, avoiding Elena¡¯s room, leaving her in the care of my father.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, everything¡¯s okay now; you¡¯ve got nothing to worry about now.¡± She whispered while pinching my cheeks and wiping away the tears.

    ¡°What happened?¡± She then asked me once we were back in my room.

    She had just taken a bunch of towels to help me blow my nose.

    ¡°I¡ªI don¡¯t know, I think¡­ I saw¡­ I saw people stuck in the walls.¡± I confessed in tears.

    ¡°Did those people say hurtful things?¡± She then asked me, and I simply nodded back.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mom has the perfect way to deal with annoying people like those, a protective charm that will forever get rid of the bad people for you.¡± Suddenly, in her right hand, a strange bracelet appeared.

    A strange power came off her hand that rapidly compressed, forming a metal bracelet containing a bunch of green fragmented gems on the inside.

    ¡°It¡¯ll protect you from bad people and bad influences; you just have to keep wearing it; don¡¯t ever take it off.¡± She warned me before handing the bracelet to me.

    ¡°Promise me.¡± She said, looking me in the eyes as she put the bracelet on my left hand.

    ¡°I promise.¡± I responded.

 Rust to resolve

    Elena had to remain in intensive care for the rest of the day for some reason; she didn''t have much; her injury was easily healed in a matter of minutes, yet she had to stay in the infirmary for some reason.

    After I gave one last round of apologies to that stone-cold wall, I was escorted out of her room; my mother stayed behind with Elena, my father, on the other hand, escorted me back to my room.

    "Hey is there¡ª" Just as I opened my mouth, my father''s phone rang, so he he took the cool and headed downstairs.

    What the¡­ what kind of timing is that? Now what?

    I began to reconsider my options, I didn''t feel like playing I wasn''t in the mood for it anyway, I didn''t feel too comfortable staying on my own so I peeked outside my room to see if my father was still visible in the hallway.

    ¡°Yeah, she won¡¯t mind¡­" he said to the uncle.

    "It¡¯s for my well-being and the well-being of my family after all¡­ yeah," I could barely grasp their conversation, but i started following him until we got to the elevator.

    "I¡¯ve already discussed things with her, yes... That I can¡¯t guarantee¡­ Yeah, bring them over that way; he won¡¯t feel lonely.¡±

    He was definetely talking about me in the last part, does that mean the uncle is going to bring over his kids? Yay!

    ¡°Where are we going?" I asked as he pressed the button to head towards the ground flood.

    "You''ll see it soon enough." He responded while affectionately pinching my cheek.

    He then took out from his pocket a bunch of really soft candies, and as soon as he showed them to me I snatched them up.

    ¡°Don¡¯t overstuff yourself; you¡¯ll end up like Elvis.¡± He nagged me while stealing a chocolate filled candy from my hands..

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s mine!¡± I yelled back at him, trying to climb over him to get back my snack, but it was useless as he finished eating it in a single bite.

    ¡°Mhh, the desserts made here are something else; they were so creamy, soft, and sweet, I thought I was biting a cloud.¡± He commented right in front of me with a playful smile.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get yours when you decide to start exercising again.¡± He said while pinching my nose.

    But I don¡¯t want to exercise with you; it always hurts afterward, my body aches, and I¡¯m so tired I can barely get out of my bed.

    We reached the ground floor and headed towards a separate building containing an arena; the floor of the arena was covered in, strangely enough, it was extremely hot.

    Why can I feel the temperature all of a sudden? And why is the place so hot?

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we start making a few laps around the arena while we wait for the uncle to come?¡± He proposed to me with a gentle smile. Slowly leading me to the center of the arena.

    The floor of the arena was covered in sand, a bright red sand.

    No, I don¡¯t want it; I want to at least enjoy my¨C

    He took my arm and began dragging me with him, running just fast enough so that I could follow him.

    ¡°Come on, if you¡¯re still running by the time the uncle gets here, then I promise I¡¯ll buy you whatever you want, how about that?¡± He proposed..

    Refusing was pointless; I already knew how things worked with him. It was better to accept the deal now that it was sweet rather than refusing it, arguing, and ending up doing the same thing without receiving any reward.

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    ¡°Fine!¡± I reluctantly accepted as I started accelerating; my legs couldn¡¯t possibly keep up with him, but I needed to show enough determination for him to start picking up the pace; that way I could slow down later, and he wouldn¡¯t have minded it.

    After a couple of laps, I began to feel the change; my body was starting to feel the many months passed in the Fracture without any training; my heart was beating out of my chest; I had become a sweaty mess, and my legs had started to hurt.

    They were so frail they felt as if they were about to snap and break in half any minute.

    Fuck, this is worse than I originally remember I was. Fuck, I was too lazy out there, never again¡­

    After ten more laps, my leg felt as heavy as mountains. I could feel my muscles scream in pain whenever I raised my legs; my feet were hurting because the shoes were a bit too tight on the sides.

    My heart was beating in my throat; I was so thirsty I felt I could drink a whole lake right then and there; the sweat had started slowly getting into my eyes; my clothes were drenched in sweat and had begun to stink.

    ¡°Am I interrupting something?¡± A familiar voice interrupted the training session; feeling freed from that agonizing torture, I let myself go and almost fell face-first in the arena.

    My father saved me from an embarrassing fall and then carried me to the spectator stands where my cousins were waiting.

    Fuck, I feel like shit.

    Together with the cousins, a few maids came forward with a change of clothes and some beverages.

    I grabbed a bottle of water and tried drinking something, but I immediately spat out its contents because drinking in that state felt like drowning.

    ¡°Here are some spare clothes.¡± One of the maids said while handing me a bunch of clothes.

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll wash myself first; just wait here.¡± I responded as I dragged myself out of that hellish place.

    None of my cousins followed me; they were all interested in looking at the sparring session between my father and theirs.

    My legs collapsed while I was washing myself, so I had to get carried back by the maids who weren¡¯t all too pleased with the situation.

    When I returned, I saw my father covered in blood being tossed around by the uncle.

    ¡°You¡¯re too obsessed with the concept of always doing sneak attacks; you tend to miss out on chances to land normal attacks. Try thinking less about it.¡± The uncle shouted to my father.

    One of the uncle¡¯s eyes had turned black while the iris had turned gold, dark veins appeared around it, and the other eye turned blue. A second mouth had appeared in his throat, smoking a pipe.

    Chains were wrapped around his arms and floating around his waist. He was dressed in his usual formal clothes, and they had been dirtied a lot by my father¡¯s blood-bending ability.

    My father had planted a flesh banner in the middle of the arena; he was covered in blood and was heavily injured, currently missing an arm. Holding a strange sword in his remaining arm covered in bandages.

    ¡°So, how was the match?¡± I asked the cousins waiting in the spectator''s stands. They were barely paying attention and were happily chatting amongst themselves.

    ¡°They¡¯ve been at it for quite a while, and they don¡¯t seem to be tired at all; they might continue for a couple of hours if everything goes well.¡± Ilay responded to me while handing me a bag of gummy bears.

    ¡°No thanks, I feel like I¡¯m about to die right now.¡± I refused them.

    My father was playing extremely dirty, covering the entire arena with his blood, attacking the uncle either on his back or on his sides, yet he couldn¡¯t land a single attack.

    As he got up, he made his hand explode to shoot a spear out of his wrist; the uncle grabbed it, pulled it closer, and raised his hand, feigning a punch to the face.

    Trying to react preemptively, my father sacrificed one of his eyes to create a shield of blood in front of his face and was hit by the uncle¡¯s knee in the stomach.

    The floating chain then wrapped itself around my father''s waist, and the uncle used it to throw him away once more.

    This was something they repeated over and over again; anytime my father was knocked out, the uncle would wake him up by tossing him against the walls of the arena.

    ¡°Man, you¡¯ve gone rusty! Playing the housewife has seriously dulled your skills. I¡¯m using the same powers as the last time we sparred, so you can¡¯t blame the usage of stronger abilities this time.¡± The uncle yelled at my father.

    ¡°You think you¡¯re doing me a favor by telling me this out loud? You¡¯re just twisting the knife in the wound, Kiriam.¡± My father responded as he got back up.

    His legs were trembling and his eyes were unfocused; he seemed barely conscious, then, using his power, he managed to wake himself up.

    ¡°You need some pain then; that way you won¡¯t make the same mistake again. Don¡¯t you feel shame that you had to rely on someone else¡¯s help to save your son? I wouldn¡¯t be able to show my face ever again in front of my family if I were you.¡± The uncle scolded him as he wrapped the chain around his arms, making sure there wasn¡¯t an inch of skin left uncovered.

    The two of them rushed towards the center of the arena, unleashing their strongest blow, and unfortunately my father came out on the losing end once more, being flung right back against the wall.

 Rust to resolve (II)

    Some of the blood had remained stuck to the uncle''s chains, pulling them towards my father; in response, he let those chains go, allowing them to crash against the walls of the arena.

    ¡°That was pathetic; can you really not land one single attack? You used to win every spar, brother.¡± My uncle shouted as he removed the jacket covering his body and rolled up the white sleeves of his shirt.

    ¡°How long would you last against the uncle? An hour?¡± I naively asked my cousins.

    ¡°As if! I¡¯d die within a couple of minutes; Dad not only has the power but also the experience to back it up. Your dad¡¯s way of attacking would¡¯ve gotten me on the third strike; it¡¯s incredibly hard and stressful to deal with attacks like those, so it¡¯s surprising Dad can deal with them this easily.¡± Ilay explained.

    The twins seemed bored out of their minds, while Leo was enthusiastically taking notes, noting how each power worked.

    His obsession with demons is scaring me; what the hell does he find so interesting about them? They''re just scary monsters with supernatural powers.

    Not only that, but it was well known that they preyed on human emotions such as fear, rage, sadness, or happiness and went out of their way to ensure the human they¡¯re facing felt such emotions. Even morphing their bodies to try to evoke such emotions in their victims.

    From the corner of the arena, my father emerged, covered in an armor made out of his blood; standing beside him were three identical clones. Since the armor didn¡¯t let any part be visible, it was difficult to pinpoint which one contained my father.

    They all charged forward, brandishing large swords and running in different directions to confuse the uncle. He shook his head disappointed, grabbed the chains, and swung them around himself, making a full spin.

    The chains broke all of the clones and sent my father flying back against the wall.

    ¡°Look at yourself! This is what I meant when I said that she would ruin¡ª

    ¡°Kiriam! Stop! Not in front of my son.¡± Before the uncle could finish his stance, my father interrupted him, emerging from the wall; his hair had turned white and his eyes had split; now he had two pupils placed on opposite sides of the eye.

    ¡°Fine!¡±

    As the two rushed towards each other, my father disappeared; he somehow teleported himself above the arena along with all of his blood gathered around his right arm.

    My father shot down all his blood in a singular compressed projectile, while the uncle defended himself by removing the pipe on the second mouth and exhaling with it, releasing enough smoke to cover the entire arena. The smoke solidified, blocking the projectile.

    I decided to peek a little into Leo¡¯s notebook to see what was happening; he immediately guessed that the sudden teleporting ability had something to do with his sudden change. He then immediately scrolled back and was ready to fill the page regarding his father¡¯s pipe ability.

    So far he knew that it was an ability that got stronger the longer he used the pipe and the power gets unleashed when he exhales, a description saying ¡°Sudden tattoos?¡± and ¡°New limbs?¡±

    When the smoke cleared, my father was pinned against the ground with the uncle pressing his foot against his back while pulling his arms upward.

    ¡°Will I also be able to use demonic artifacts like you guys?¡± I asked them as I watched my father making his arms explode to free himself.

    Seeing such powerful abilities reminded me of the card artifact Elena had. I remembered the little game we played, and suddenly I felt envious of her. I too wished to have a powerful ability to use by my side.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to ask your mother for that; Dad is always ready to give you something; he even has reserved a bunch of demons just for you, but I doubt the aunt will ever allow you to get them.¡± Elvis answered as he picked his nose, nonchalant as always.

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    He was right; after this incident, the likelihood of me ever getting a demonic artifact had drastically decreased. We fled from our home and transferred to the upper cities; moreover, she despised the uncle. She would¡¯ve rather died than get a favor from him.

    When I turned around, I noticed something I didn¡¯t before: Ilay¡¯s hair was shining. His braided hair was shining more than usual and was gathered all in a long ponytail, unlike usual.

    ¡°Why is his hair like that?¡± I asked the other.

    ¡°He¡¯s got a crush to visit; he¡¯s been obsessing over every little thing; he showered twice just this morning; the little¡ª¡± Before Elvis could finish his sentence he was kicked off the stands by Ilay.

    ¡°Oh, come on! If you don¡¯t want other people to talk about it, don¡¯t be so obvious about it; even Lucy noticed it!¡± He complained as he got back up.

    ¡°Ilay, you should reconsider the date idea, as I¡¯ve told you earlier, that girl is no good; she was passed¡ª¡± Michael suddenly chimed in. He tried to whisper this to Ilay¡¯s ears, but I ended up listening to it anyway.

    ¡°Will you stop! If you keep talking like that about other people, you¡¯ll end up as bitter and resentful as Dad.¡±  Ilay seemed to be a little more nervous than usual.

    ¡°But she¡¯s been with over¡ª¡± Elvis tried to say something about the girl Ilay was interested in but was immediately cut off by his older brother.

    I stood there puzzled by what was happening; I could hardly understand what they were talking about.

    Isn''t dating kind of like¡­ a good thing? Isn''t it? Love is beautiful; at least that''s what I saw in many movies.

    ¡°Is that really all you see in her? Her previous partners? Not her character? Her personality? Didn¡¯t you say you didn¡¯t want to turn out like him?¡± Ilay suddenly shouted, agitated.

    ¡°Leave him alone, she got him wrapped around her fingers. Give it a month or two, and he¡¯ll return crying to us that she cheated on him. Look how defensive he got; it¡¯s just a matter of time.¡± Michael said while pulling Elvis away,"

    Why are those two so against him dating a girl?

    Ilay seemed on the verge of raising his fist against Elvis; he stopped because he noticed both me and Leo staring at him. He left bitterly while Elvis flipped him off.

    ¡°That guy, can you believe it?¡± Elvis commented as he sat back down, crossing his legs.

    ¡°What was so wrong about it?¡± I asked them.

    ¡°That¡¯s too early for you; I¡¯m sure one day you¡¯ll understand the situation. In about a week we¡¯ll finally reach our destination. Are you excited to meet new kids? Don¡¯t get too comfortable with them; they¡¯re all spoiled and insufferable. And don¡¯t forget about us; family is always the most important thing.¡± He quickly changed the topic as he exchanged strange looks with his twin.

    You guys really cannot go one day without repeating that motto, huh? You''re just like the uncle.

    Then, as I pondered on that motto, I began to think there was something missing from our family.

    If family is the most important thing, where¡¯s the rest of it? Where are our grandfathers? What about my mother¡¯s family, your mother¡¯s or even my father''s?

    I stayed silent and simply watched as my father was getting toyed around by the uncle; eventually, the match finished when both of them got too tired to continue.

    By then Leo had finished writing a detailed description of all the abilities they had shown so far; his eyes and brain were far sharper than those of his twin half-brothers. But that''s probably just his obsession taking over him.

    The twins were yawning out of boredom and had asked for some snacks, and when the match was finished, the stands were littered with popcorn and plastic wraps.

    The maids didn¡¯t look all too pleased seeing the mess we were making, but none voiced their complaints; they just glared at us. It was surprising how my cousins could even manage to ignore those glares or not feel uncomfortable by them.

    "Ignore them; you shouldn''t bother with them. They should be glad they''re even allowed to be here and enjoy all of these luxuries." Michel said to me as he energetically began patting my head. Forcing me to turn around, away from their gaze.

    Then the maids escorted us out while my father and uncle stayed to discuss something in private. A butler was assigned to watch over us; he escorted us back to Uncle''s house.

    Leo guided me to his room, and there he showed me his collection of demon statues; some were horrifying, some weren¡¯t as scary but definitely looked threatening with bulging muscles or simply sheer size on their part.

    ¡°Luca, Luca!  I got a new fighting game! Want to try it together with me?¡± He asked me with his eyes shining brighter than a star, staring a hole in the back of my head as I tried looking away.

    I always lost to him, and I didn¡¯t feel like getting angry over anything.

    ¡°Young master, you promised your father that today you would finally start doing your homework.¡± The butler intervened, saving me.

    When I turned around, I saw that he was wearing a white veil to cover his face and white gloves to cover his skin and was emitting a chilling energy from his body.

    ¡°But¡­ How could I? We have a guest here, right? We have a lot of time left before dinner; I can always start later.¡± He was desperately trying to come up with an excuse, but the butler wasn¡¯t budging.

    ¡°But¡­ we have a guest here.¡± Leo repeated.

    The butler then walked towards Leo¡¯s library, took a couple of books, and dropped them in front of us; they were all containing math exercises. With a touch of his hand he was able to duplicate the book, placing the second copy in front of me.

    Wait, don¡¯t tell me.

    ¡°Me too?¡± I asked.

    The butler nodded.

    ¡°But I¡¯m a guest!¡± I too began repeating.

 The upper city

    After spending almost the rest of the day at my uncle¡¯s house, my father came back to pick me up, and the moment he stepped inside, the butler was more than happy to hand him the book of exercises I had filled up.

    I was mentally exhausted, so I didn¡¯t hear the brief exchange they had and instead headed directly to the elevator, dragging my body forward.

    ¡°Keep your back straight; you¡¯re going to grow with a¡ª¡± I ignored him, got inside the elevator, and then immediately pressed the buttons to close the doors, forcing my father to rush inside before the doors closed.

    My mind was incredibly hazy; everything felt like a blur; thinking was hard; my vision was hazy; and the soothing voice of my father sounded more annoying than ever. At that moment, I just wanted to find a silent corner to rest in.

    I leaned on the side of the elevator for the whole wait until we got to the ground floor, then my father picked me up and put me on his back as he carried me back to our house.

    The rest of the week passed by without me noticing as we lived a pretty monotonous life. Early in the morning, I and my father would train, then after some warmups I would be handed to the butler that was in charge of supervising my cousins.

    There I would spend half of the day doing homework, and the other half was spent doing whatever we wanted. Sometimes we would take a stroll through the giant palace, admiring all the statues and decorations adorning the place; sometimes we would watch a movie or play a video game.

    Going outside was out of the question since it was almost always cloudy; apparently it was dangerous to go, as we could get lost in the clouds.

    During that time I barely saw my mother as she was keeping company to Elena, whom I also never saw during that time.

    As we got closer to the floating city, we started seeing the giant gates in the distance guarded by the massive white angels. They stood tall in the middle of the sky, bigger than any skyscraper, holding their massive spears with both hands.

    I don¡¯t know how fast we were moving, but the day after I saw those gates, we were already connected to them; a large metal bridge was extended, and the same kind of giant golden chain was used to keep the island attached to the giant floating city.

    We were all excited to enter what I considered heaven, make new friends, and make a new life. This new chapter of my life was starting on the right foot.

    After being thoroughly washed and dressed up by the braids, my mother even sprinkled some perfume on my body to make me more presentable.

    Everybody was well dressed; my mother, for the first time, was wearing a red dress with golden strings flowing down the dress, and my father was also wearing a red shirt and red pants with a dark jacket and tie.

    I was a little copy of my father. Since my mother''s family crest was that of a thorny rose, a special thorny chain decorated with many metallic roses dangled from our clothes.

    When we were all ready, we headed to the ground floor of the building where the others were waiting for us. Even Elena.

    She was standing in a corner of the room, ignored by everyone.

    She had regained her colors; she had pink hair, blue eyes, and a stunningly pale skin complexion. She was wearing a light blue dress. Something that stood out since we were all dressed using roughly the same colors was that our family was red and uncle''s family was yellow.

    As soon as our eyes met, she looked away; judging from her gaze, she still wasn¡¯t fond of my presence. The others also seemed somewhat tense; Ilay and Elvis were a lot more hostile towards one another than usual while Michael tried to mediate between the two.

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    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with them?¡± I asked Leonhart as he was standing shyly next to his father, staring at Elena.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know; it¡¯s probably related to the girl Ilay¡¯s been fawning over. I think Elvis made a move on her; he even got scolded by Father. Ever since then they¡¯ve been at odds.¡± He explained in a rush.

    Why did you tell me you didn¡¯t¡ªYou know what? I¡¯m not even going to bother asking.

    ¡°Who¡¯s the new girl?¡± He then asked me.

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know? She¡¯s your new cousin. The aunt has decided to adopt her after everything she¡¯s been through; after all, if it hadn¡¯t been for her father, Lucy would still be stuck in the Fracture.¡± The uncle responded as he began roughly messing with our hair.

    ¡°Her name is Elena.¡± I then added while looking in her direction.

    ¡°Time to wrap this up, come on, guys, Ilay! To my right, Elvis, stop bothering your brother!¡± As soon as he raised his voice, the two brothers got quiet, and then they followed their dad outside; we followed shortly after.

    My fighter picked me up and allowed me to sit on his shoulders as he carried me to the floating city while my mother held Elena¡¯s hand and guided us through the thick fog until we reached the bridge.

    It was completely automated, so we just had to stand there and watch as we got close to the golden gates.

    The closer we got, the more details I noticed about the giant angels; they were entirely made out of metal, constantly emitting the sound of screaming out of their bodies. For a moment I saw glimpses of blood dripping down the armored angels, but it all disappeared when I put on the bracelet my mom gifted me.

    ¡°So, are you excited?¡± My father asked me.

    ¡°Obviously, I can¡¯t wait to meet and¡ª¡± A strong gust of wind made it hard to talk; the day felt pretty chilly; the reflection of the sun¡¯s light in the armor seemed to dispel the nearby clouds.

    The closer we got to the gates, the warmer the weather got; it also got less foggy.

    I turned around one last time to see the giant demonic prison my uncle owned; the golden, spiky palaces built on those floating islands were not even those giant clouds could cover them entirely.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Elena let out an amazed exclamation as she looked back to see the palace we came from.

    Once we crossed the gates, the giant angels lowered their spears and closed the giant gates behind us.

    ¡°So? Did they live up to the expectation?¡± My mother asked Elena.

    The giant floating city had remained just as I remembered; it was almost blinding to look at, but the buildings no longer shone as they used to; the small buildings were replaced by giant skyscrapers, and each building had a side covered in mirrors reflecting the rays of the sun against a giant floating crystal kept chained in the middle of the city.

    Weird vehicles were flying in the skies, along with the many griffons.

    In front of the gate the people had prepared an entire parade in our name; my uncle seemed satisfied by the show of kindness, while my mother didn¡¯t seem to appreciate it.

    They had even prepared a large carriage in the shape of a throne for us. I desperately wanted to sit on it, but my mother disintegrated that carriage. She turned it to dust by just looking at it, and the dust then turned into beautiful red flower petals that got swept away by the wind.

    I gloated when I saw the look of amazement of the many kids watching us proudly walking in the middle of the city. Even my cousins seemed to enjoy the attention, with Elvis adjusting his hair as he walked and even giving playful winks to the girls in the audience.

    Elena was the only one uncomfortable with all that attention directed at her, often trying to hide behind my mother and ultimately hiding in between my mother and father to avoid all those stares.

    ¡°Why do they have to stare so much?¡± Elena asked my parents.

    ¡°It¡¯s a tradition; whenever someone new comes here, they all welcome him; of course, they¡¯re not forced to do it, but it¡¯s a way to see and maybe judge if¡­ whether to build¡­ I mean, if building a relationship is¡­ you get what I mean.¡±  My father tried to explain.

    ¡°He means that they want to know if by licking your ass they can gain something or not.¡± My mother specified.

    ¡°Why would they lick there?¡± Elena seemed horrified at the revelation and immediately put her hands over her own back to cover it.

    My mother burst out laughing while my father quickly dispelled the misunderstanding.

    And they have plenty to gain, even if it¡¯s just one favor; my mother is the strongest being; if they have an enemy they want to obliterate, sucking up to us is the best way to do it.

    ¡°Hehe!¡± I couldn¡¯t stop giggling at the thought of sitting on a golden throne, girls waiting in line for a glimpse of my attention, and people leaving offerings left and right; I was ready to become the new god of these people!

    ¡°Honey, I think we shouldn¡¯t hang around your brother as much; our son is picking up his bad habits.¡± My mother said as she pinched my cheeks to bring me back to reality.

 The upper city (II)

    Once we reached our house, we found it spotless; within it there was already a squad of maids and butlers. After they took our bags, they swiftly disappeared within the mansion.

    The mansion was a lot bigger than the one we rented the last time we came here. It had at least four available floors to use and was over five hundred meters large. It was the oldest-looking building present, not because it looked bad, but because the other building just seemed futuristic in comparison; ours still had visible bricks after all.

    Since Mom and Dad weren¡¯t surprised by this, they must¡¯ve hired them, finally! I was getting tired of having to do the bed myself; now we can start living like Uncle does! This is the first step into¡ª

    ¡°Don¡¯t get weird ideas; we¡¯re not going to turn like your uncle. You¡¯ll have your own chores to do around the house; if you want to eat, you¡¯ll have to contribute to the house in one way or another.¡± My mother warned as she opened the large door of the house.

    Fuck! Why not? Why do we have to do our own chores with an army this big of butlers and maids? It makes no sense! For the past week we had no trouble leaving it all in their hands. Why the sudden change?

    Immediately in front of the main gate was a large sports car; to our left and right side there were stairs that led to the upper floor, and in front of us was an indoor garden with a round marble table set up at its center with metal chairs all around.

    The ceiling of the indoor garden was made out of glass to let the sunlight pass through.

    I immediately headed to my room while my parents were giving Elena a tour of the house. The uncle¡¯s house wasn¡¯t far away, so I was planning to ask Leo to accompany me as we tried making new friends in this place.

    First, I have to remove all of this; the gel in my hair is starting to feel horrible. After I wash this perfume away, I''m going to be ready.

    Following me was a strange maid, a black-haired young girl; she didn¡¯t seem much older than me. Unlike most maids and butlers, she wasn¡¯t covering her face; she had animal ears and a tail that playfully moved left and right.

    I originally thought we were just headed in the same direction, but as I opened the door leading to my room, she was quick to enter before me. She checked every corner of the room to see if it was cleaned properly, even under the bed.

    ¡°Uhm, excuse me?¡± I cleared my throat to get her attention.

    Despite living in the upper city, she was colorless, dressing like a regular maid. I was even able to catch sight of hidden weapons attached to her calves, beneath the skirt, as she bent down to look under the bed.

    ¡°Everything seems clean and safe, young master.¡± She happily reported as she saluted me.

    What¡¯s with her? Did Mom put her up to this? Is this her way of monitoring me?

    I shrugged my shoulders and began removing my clothes as I headed towards the bathroom. I noticed she seemed flustered and covered her eyes when I began to unbutton the shirt. I left the clothes lying on the ground of the large walk-in closet.

    ¡°Young master, you shouldn¡¯t leave your clothes on the ground; they¡¯ll get dirty! Moreover, if the miss hears of this, you¡¯ll end up in big trouble.¡± The maid said while standing behind the door of the bathroom.

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    ¡°Then pick up the clothes; aren¡¯t you a maid?¡± I responded as I turned on the showerhead.

    I started with washing my hair first to remove all the gel my mother had put on my hair, then I began washing away all the lingering scent left by the perfume.

    ¡°Young master, are you okay?¡± The maid asked,

    ¡°Yeah, everything¡¯s fine.¡± I was starting to get annoyed by the maid.

    Then the door was opened, a bunch of maids entered, and before I could protest they had surrounded me with their sponges in their hands, soaps, body wash, and shampoos.

    ¡°Hey! What the hell are you doing? Get off of me.¡± I shouted only to get ignored.

    They didn¡¯t listen and kept scrubbing away at my body, rinsing it and pouring more stuff on it. Once they were done, they allowed a few moments to relax in the hot and comfortable bathtub before they forced me to get out.

    They dried my skin and hair and gave me a relaxing massage, then one last trip to the bathroom for a quick rinse of water.

    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± I asked the maid standing next to me.

    ¡°They were desperate to fix your appearance as they found it to be still rather dirty, at least by our standards.¡± She answered. Her tail was still playfully moving from side to side.

    ¡°Is the tail real?¡± I then asked her.

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t touch it!¡± She almost hissed at me when I tried extending my hand to get a feel of her tail.

    A shame¡­ Ugh, I feel so tired now; fuck, I really wished to get to know some new people today.

    Just as I was about to lie down and take a nap, the same maids that washed my body barged inside my room with a cup of hot chocolate, some orange chocolate, and a bunch of chocolate-filled snacks.

    I was starting to get fed up with chocolate; after eating it nonstop, my tongue was starting to refuse it.

    ¡°Can you at least knock before entering my room?¡± I asked the maids as they were putting socks on my feet.

    They looked at me as if I had just insulted their mother; they were all shocked and insulted by my request; it made me feel awkward. The maid with cat ears shook her head disappointedly and remained silent. After a long minute passed staring at each other in silence, they finished dressing me up and quietly got out of my room.

    What the hell? Why are the maids so rude up here? I expected them to be a lot more¡­ What''s the word? Submissive? Ugh!  Whatever, let¡¯s think about the important stuff for now. I hope Leo is available.

    ¡°Can I go visit my uncle, or do I have to report it to my mother?¡± I asked the maid.

    ¡°I can relay a message; that way she¡¯ll know where to find you, but you¡¯re free to move wherever you feel like.¡± The maid responded as she headed towards the door of the room.

    She silently stood beside it until I felt like going out, and when I got out of the room, she followed me, even outside the mansion.

    ¡°So are you like¡­ a bodyguard? A personal maid? What are you?¡± I asked her as we walked down the pristine white sidewalks.

    ¡°I¡¯m currently your personal bodyguard; there are about six of us, but only I am permitted to stand by your side. The lady¡­ The miss¡ªyour mother has personally appointed me as such!¡± She proudly stated with closed eyes with one hand over her chest.

    I wonder how those ears feel to the touch¡­

    I still had memorized the roads I needed to take to reach my uncle''s house, and when I reached it, I found the uncle talking to someone I had never seen before; they both ignored me and allowed me to get into the house.

    Huh? This is the first time I set foot in this house; why do I know¡­ the fuck?

    They also had over a dozen maids currently cleaning the house and placing a bunch of portraits of the uncle in various poses.

    ¡°Can you ask them where Leonhart is?¡± I whispered to the maid.

    ¡°No can do; I can¡¯t leave your side, young master.¡± The maid replied.

    I sighed and began my search, exploring the vast mansion, entering every room I came across; most of them were empty. Then, in one of the maid¡¯s rooms, I found Elvis.

    His face was red; he was out of breath and seemed flustered by my presence. On the other side of the room was a maid with red hair, currently facing the other way as she was adjusting her uniform.

    ¡°Lucy? Why are you here? Wait, no, haven¡¯t your parents taught you to knock first before entering someone else¡¯s room?¡± He didn¡¯t seem pleased to see me. He was picking them and adjusting his pants.

    ¡°Sorry, I kind of got lost. Do you know where I can find Leo?¡± I asked him.

    The room had a strange atmosphere. I didn¡¯t know what it was, but I felt uncomfortable looking at those two adjusting their clothes in a rush.

    ¡°What were you doing here?¡± I then asked him.

    ¡°Leo? I think he went out to make new friends; I don¡¯t know much since he got out in a hurry.¡± Elvis said, closing the door in my face.

    Even the maid next to me seemed flustered.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Who knows?¡±  She avoided giving me an answer.

 The upper city (III)

    As we were about to head out to look for Leo, Elvis came out of the room in a hurry and ran towards us.

    The collar of his shirt was undone, his hair was all messy, he was completely red in the face, and he had a weird smell covering his whole body.

    ¡°Hey, can I join you guys? I¡¯m just as lost as you here, since I spent most of my life training and studying; I haven¡¯t had many opportunities to make friends here.¡± Elvis asked us; he had already wrapped his arm around me.

    ¡°Yeah, why not? The more the better.¡± I answered.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you busy with that maid, young master?¡± The maid asked him.

    What¡¯s with this maid? How can she be so bold to us? We¡¯re her masters, for fuck¡¯s sake. Tonight I should¡­ nah, maybe I should just endure it.

    The mere thought of confronting my mother seemed like a Herculean task; fearing all kinds of possible punishment, I decided it was better to simply ignore her; Elvis, on the other hand, didn¡¯t seem as smart.

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m finished now; moreover, if Ilay catches me with her, he might just try to kill me. I wonder if he¡¯ll enjoy the present I left for him.¡± He talked to himself, his eyes gleaming with a strange glow.

    Can you stop talking so indirectly? I can hardly understand what you¡¯re talking about. What does that maid have to do with Elvis now?

    The look of the maid went from condemning to pure disgust; if she could, she would¡¯ve probably spat on his face.

    ¡°What the hell did you do to make him that angry?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°You¡¯re not planning on ratting me out, are you?¡± He jokingly answered while avoiding my questions; he then began walking ahead, dragging me along with him.

    What the hell have you done to be so nervous? No way, don¡¯t tell me, is that maid the one that Ilay told me was¡­ No¡­ You wouldn¡¯t!

    In reality, what I had in mind was leagues tamer than what happened in the room, but what was worse was the fact that the maid was in on it. How could she have agreed to it when she already had my oldest cousin wrapped around her fingers?

    ¡°You¡­ I mean¡­ how will your brother react? Why?¡± I couldn¡¯t even put into words my thoughts; the situation was so wild it made my head spin.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about that; anyway, you said you wanted to meet Leon, right? Let me guess¡­ he would probably be at¡­¡± He was in deep thought, thinking of all the possible places his brother might have run to.

    He then began naming a bunch of places I¡¯ve never heard of before, like ¡°The Yellow Pit¡± or ¡°The Virtual Arena,¡± and so on. When we got out of the house, he was still naming places.

    We met his father outside; he was smoking with someone. He probably barely caught a whiff of our scent and then immediately summoned his chains.

    ¡°Get down, young master!¡± The maid was quick to react; as she was shouting, she tackled me to the ground in order to avoid getting hit by the uncle¡¯s attack directed at Elvis.

    I was confused; why would he attack us? What the hell is happening?

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing? Elvis?¡± The uncle said, barely holding back his anger. Each step he made made the ground beneath tremble, violently pushing away the air beneath his feet, clearing all the dust he had lifted with his attack.

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    He walked past us and headed directly for Elvis, who was still on the ground, injured. His right arm had been broken on impact, and his body was full of scratches from rolling and tumbling on the hard floor.

    ¡°Young master, we should get away from here as soon as possible.¡± The maid kept pulling me away, her tail hiding between her legs with her ears flat.

    Seeing my lack of reaction, she took matters into her own hands and picked me up and carried me away as the uncle and Elvis began to fight in the middle of the road. That was also the first time I saw him with horns on his head.

    What the¡­

    He had the same form as the uncle I saw in the wedding photo of my parents, with horns and weird dark marks all over his body in the shape of hearts, with a big one around his pecs and one just above his crotch, a long dark tail, and red horns.

    The fight didn¡¯t last long, as the uncle was able to successfully tackle Elvis and pin him to the ground; he then rained punches on him until Elvis returned back to normal.

    After covering his whole body with chains, he dragged him back inside the house.

    ¡°Is he going to be okay?¡± I asked the maid that was rushing me back to my house.

    ¡°Most likely.¡± The maid answered.

    ¡°I think we should stay away from the house, young master.¡± She then added that in between her pants, she was seemingly out of breath despite not having moved much.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to protect you from that man; I was barely able to react in time to his attack.¡± She explained after she turned around the corner and the entrance of the house was no longer in sight.

    ¡°I doubt the uncle is going to hurt me; Elvis probably deserved it since he did something bad.¡± I tried to justify.

    Yeah... surely, I mean, the uncle adores me¡­ The maid definitely overreacted; the attack was too high up to land on me¡­ surely.

    ¡°Do you know any of the places Elvis said Leo could be in?¡± I then asked her.

    She turned her head around to look at me shocked; the sudden shift in her expression was funny. Her panicked expression washed away immediately as she looked at me flabbergasted.

    She then put me down, grabbed me, and began dragging me back to my house.

    ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t want to go back already! Can¡¯t we just explore a little? I still haven¡¯t made any new friends up here! Come on!¡± I protested, trying to resist the maid, using my heels to anchor myself to the ground, but whenever I did, she would simply pull me upward to stop me and would then keep dragging me.

    ¡°You still have plenty of time; tomorrow you¡¯ll have to register in the new school, you¡¯ll have to complete a bunch of tests to see what class you can join, and you should study more so that you won¡¯t humiliate yourself tomorrow.¡± She replied to me as she began to drag me away using both her hands.

    No! I''ve studied enough in the past week; I can definitely take a short pause to enjoy myself. Let go of me!

    When we reached our house, my mother was waiting in front of the entrance, her face red, nervously tapping her right foot into the ground as she looked around. The moment she noticed us, she rapidly came over, huffing and puffing.

    Ah, fuck!

    ¡°M-m-mom, I-I can explain¡ª¡± She didn¡¯t listen to me; she grabbed me by the ear and dragged me back inside.

    Thankfully my body didn¡¯t feel any pain; however, I didn¡¯t try to fight back in fear my mom might rip the ear off my body.

    I was dragged back to my room, where a bunch of tutors were already ready with their exams in hand. They had even installed a desk during my absence.

    Hold on, do we really have to be in such a rush? School is still a couple months away from now; we could just¡­ Take it easy; study slowly, one thing at a time, maybe a couple of hours a day, and then¡­

    My mother then slammed the first piece of paper in front of me; it was still warm, fresh from the printer. On the top right was today¡¯s date and some empty space for me to write a first and last name.

    I raised my head to look at my mother; she was almost glaring at me. She tapped twice on the test, and seeing as she wasn¡¯t budging in the slightest, I exhaled and turned back to the sheet of paper.

    The first test was regarding geography. It asked me about a bunch of stuff I had never heard before; I ignored all the open-ended questions and placed my faith in the multiple-choice questions, rolling imaginary dice in my head before choosing the answer.

    Needless to say, when I turned it over, the looks I received weren¡¯t all that welcoming; they were clearly looking down on me; some even scoffed at the result; some mocked me; my mother ignored it and slammed the next piece of paper in front of me.

    She was angry at me, I could tell, mainly because she slammed the piece with enough strength to leave a mark on the wooden table.

    Why do I have to humiliate myself like this?

    ¡°Is this what you¡¯ve been doing in my absence?¡± My mother asked me.

    Ah, I''m fucked, aren''t I?