2 Chapter 1 Where (Re-written!!!)
At Ohio, 18:03, Dante, a young adult barely out of his 18s, was sitting on the couch in his small apartment, chatting on his phone with his friend Haydan. Frustration Painted his face and words as he shared the difficulties he was facing in becoming independent. The task was turning out to be more laborious than he had expected.
The apartment was a tiny one-bedroom with a simple layout. It was clear that he had a lot of work to do to make it comfortable. There were mountains of dirty clothes piled up beside him, empty pizza boxes, and takeout containers scattered everywhere. Even a tower of all kinds of "Monster" drinks pridefully showed itself near the computer.
Dante took a sip of his coffee as he continued talking to Haydan. With a defeated face, he babbled, "Becoming independent sounded better as a kid,"
Haydan replied, "Well, life isn't as simple as we thought it was when we were kids."
Dante rolled his eyes. "HA! Easy for you to say you still live in your mother's basement. Wait until you're on your own."
Feeling some hunger, Dante got up from the couch and noticed the peeling paint on the walls and the worn-out furniture. He had inherited most of the furniture from his uncle, who recently passed away.
Dante knew it was time to spend some cash on his home, but he couldn't afford to do so just yet.
He walked over to the kitchen, which was small and cramped, and opened the fridge. It was practically empty, save for a few cans of soda and some expired condiments. "I really need to eat something," he muttered to himself.
Dante went to look for his wallet. After searching for a few minutes, he found it lying on the dining table near a water leak from the roof. As he picked it up, he noticed that it was his "MLP" wallet, which had "Queen Chrysalis" as its design. He barely knew the show but still liked the design of this insectoid girl.
After taking the wallet, he opened it and checked if everything was in order. He found his driver's license, some cash, and a few credit cards. Dante carefully put them back in the wallet and slipped them into his pocket. He muttered to himself, "I don't want to forget my wallet again like the last time..."
I walked to the door, remembering the history of the wallet, and for some reason, I wanted to defend myself about its design, "To be honest, it's a little weird that I'm carrying this around because I'm not even a brony I just liked the songs, I would give a try to the series, but I don't have the time."
I took my umbrella and my AirPods, connected them to the phone and queued up my playlist. Looking at the heavy rain outside, I muttered, "Fuck... they prognosticated rain but not this heavy."
My gaze turned to the cheap, cracked version called Zpotify on my phone.
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Next Songs
"Gypsy bard"
"Discord The Living Tombstone"
"My Way (2008 remastered)"
"The Moon Rises"
"Babylon - Dirt Poor Robins"
"Mili - From a Place of Love "
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As I listen to the melancholic tone of "My Way" and watch the rain hit my umbrella, random thoughts pass fleetingly through my mind. I mutter, "Stupid life, why are we even here? What is the purpose of existing, to reproduce?"
Obviously, no one answered his philosophical inquiries. A god wouldn't go there and just respond to the whims of an insect. The mere thought of it is preposterous. But as he tried to find an answer to an answerless question, sad memories of his past invaded the drenched Dante.
He stopped his dwelling and began trying to think about all the good things life has given him, "Well at least I have a decent life," ending with a sigh.
Abruptly, I heard a loud thunderous bolt of lightning followed by the sound of tires screeching and a vehicle losing control on the wet road. I quickly turned around, looking at my surroundings, and saw a rapid truck careening towards me.
I tried to run, but the slippery pavement made me almost trip. The truck was getting closer and closer. Out of my lips only escaped a low, "SHI-"
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At the last second, Dante managed to leap out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit by the massive truck. He stumbled and fell to the hard ground, His heart pounded at a thousand per hour in his chest. The loud sound of the truck crushing beside him could be heard, coupled with the spray of water everywhere.
As he caught his breath and looked around, a nervous chuckle escaped him. "Ha-a Ha," Breathing heavily, he stood on the rain-soaked sidewalk, with water streaming down his face.
The neon lights of the city reflected in the puddles around while the sound of the rain drops hitting the pavement filled the area.
As he laughs, he inspects himself for any possible injury. He tries to say something to relax: "I almost met my maker today... Stupid protagonists, how could you possibly die from a simple tru-"
*BOOM*!!! Suddenly, A deafening explosion rattled through the air near him, and then His vision went completely black.
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As his consciousness slowly returned, he found a totally dark place. No, the word dark doesn't do justice to this place. It's as if he was submerged in an endless abyss of black nothingness. Looking up or down, left or right, all he could see was more darkness. There was no end to it.
He was completely disoriented and overcome with panic. He could hear his own heartbeat ringing in his ears. "Where am I?" I screamed out loud. "Is anyone there?" But no one answered, and the silence only added to Dante's fear.
As he stood there, lost and alone, he began to walk in a direction that seemed as good as any other.
The Human Wandered for hours, till the hours turned into days, the days weeks, but the darkness never seemed to end. Dante was completely isolated, with no track of time or space.
He muttered to himself, "It seems that time doesn't exist in this place, my appearance hasn't changed, my hair is still short, and I am not hungry, there are hardly any physical changes."
I keep walking...
How much time has passed?
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Why am I still here?
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Should I stop?
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I don't want to stop and close my eyes. I know that if I stop, something terrible will happen to me. I don't know why. I just know that I know it because every part of my being screams it out.
Dante kept walking aimlessly, not knowing where he was or how much time had passed. With only a gnawing sense of unease that had been growing with each step.
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Thoughts of sadness whirled through my mind, making me question why I was even here in the first place. Part of me wanted to give up and accept my fate, but another part of me refused to surrender. Tears slowly began to well up in his eyes as he considered his options.
Almost crying, he babbled with a hoarse and weak voice. "I-I think I should just close my eyes and give up it would be better I won't have to worry about anything stupid taxes, diseases, I wonder what it will be like not existing it must feel great there won't be any more problems" The tears finally began to trickle down his face.
He was so tired, so drained. Perhaps he deserved a break...
Remembering his life, he yelled, enraged, "Don't give up..." But as he remembered those bittersweet moments and wonders, it only served to deepen his sense of loss, of longing for something he could never have again.
Dante was gradually slowing down, and the time between his steps was delaying. "So why am I hesitating?" he thought to himself. The feeling of sadness was enveloping his body, making it hard to move. Yet there was something inside him that refused to surrender, something that drove him forward even when all seemed lost.
Deep inside, he knew it was worth it, those little moments as a child when he believed that Santa was real when, with 100 dollars, he thought he could buy everything and every single one of those little details about life that make it worth living and even if nothing of that was the answer at least he had to try even if it meant that mean failure
With more determination than ever, he straightened his back and continued on his way. Retracing his steps, wandering through the black nothingness once more.
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"You are a very interesting," suddenly he heard a voice echoing through his head. The voice was not his own. It was a voice that he had never heard before.
Dante froze. Every fiber of his existence was euphoric to hear a sound that was not his footsteps. His heart raced as he tried to process what was happening. He had been alone for so long that the sound of another voice was almost too much to bear.
From the shock, he didn't know what to answer. His mouth was paralyzed, his tongue was numb, and he couldn't react.
A kind of black goo manifested itself in front of him. It twisted and shaped into many things in seconds, the being asked, "Have you forgotten how to communicate through your vocal cords?"
He was scared and amazed at the same time. One of the reasons he could hardly do something was that there was something or someone here. The second reason was because of the being's form. It was unexplainable, as if trying to explain a new color or how to use a body part that didn't exist.
After a moment, the being seemed to understand what was going on. It changed into a more friendly form that Dante could recognize.
Dante watched in awe as the being rose from the puddle. The silhouette of what seemed to be a human being slowly took shape until it was almost complete. As it formed, Dante could see intricate details in the being's form - its eyes sparkled with a strange kind of energy, and its skin shimmered in the darkness.
But just as quickly as it had formed, the being dissolved back into the black goo. Dante was left staring at the puddle in disbelief. He wondered if he had imagined everything.
Then, a voice echoed in his head. "It would be very boring to talk to you with that form,"
The puddle began to transform once again, twisting and shaping into a new form. Dante could hardly believe what he was seeing.
He had a long body, the head of a pony, with an ivory deer antler on the right, a turquoise blue goat horn on the left, one long fang, yellow eyes with red pupils, a snake tongue, a black mane, and a white goat beard. The right paw of a pale yellow lion, the left yellow talon of a brown eagle, the right leg of a green lizard, the left leg with a dark brown hoof of a tan goat, the right wing of a purple bat, the left wing of a bluebird, and a red snake tail with a white tuft.
I took a moment to gather my thoughts and process the bizarre situation unfolding before me. My eyes remained fixated on the strange creature in front of me, whose body defied all logic and reason.
As I gazed at him, I felt a sense of confusion and bewilderment wash over me. Out of my lips, escape a disjointed "Discord?"
Discord asked me, "Well, Little one, why do you still cling to your tiny existence?"
Before I could even begin to explain myself, he interrupted me with a dismissive wave of his hand. He said, "That's a funny story," Discord continued with an explanation, "You know, most of the people I meet here have something like revenge, pride, hate, power. I think you'd fall into the last category,"
"Wait, can y-" Before I could even finish asking my questions, he answered them with ease, almost as if he saw the future; "Yes, yes, and no to your questions." as soon as the question went through my mind "Discord" answered them.
His body transformed into a question mark, throwing to the window even more all the logic I knew, "That what am I?"
already knowing my answer, he replied without caring much, "I'm just someone trying to find something fun to do." Before I could even process my second question, he began speaking again, "Why am I here?"
A small chuckle left his mouth, "To answer that first, Let me explain something: why would you do anything if you already have everything? The answer is boredom."
"Watching you, it's entertaining to watch beings trying to hold on to what they have as they climb higher and higher only to fall off over and over again is wonderful." His words were accompanied by his body constantly shaping into the things he said, and I couldn't help but feel like there was something lurking beneath the surface.
His body stood still, but his head began stretching close to me, "So I've come to offer you a "chance" " The word chance literally exited his mouth, followed by two giant quotation marks.
A fancy vintage monocule appeared in his face, with a pen and a contract, as he explained, "I will leave your soul with a body, of course, in a place where you can rise and grow stronger. I'll grant you the potential, but you will have to do your part; nothing is free. Just because you are capable doesn't mean you will. I mean, everyone can kill, but it takes a reason to do it.
His head returns to its position while his body cartoonishly spins on his own axis. As soon as he stops, his voice echoes, "Ugh, common on, do you really want to feel this way again? You lost your family because of the actions of someone with more power, and you couldn't do anything about it."
Fury and anger come over me as I recall those memories. If not for that bastard, my family would still be here.
With a big smile, he replies, "Good, you remembered that helplessness... So how about you take my deal?" His hand extended in a toon-ish way toward me.
I reply in my mind, "You said it yourself. Nothing is free, what do you want?"
Discord just shrugged me off, "Well, I explained it before, and you know I'm not a fan of repeating myself, so I'll take your question as a yes."
A black puddle engulfed me, and I felt my consciousness become ephemeral. As I looked up at Discord, who was guffawing, I couldn't help but feel a sense of fear and uncertainty wash over me.
In my last moments, Discord continued explaining, "I hope you enjoy my gift, I changed you a "bit", oh by the way don't disappoint, for your class is quite good actually as they say a rainbow is a smile but inverted," he says all that while waving his front arm in farewell, I overhear a low, "But don't break so early like my other toys"
I manage to mutter a low voice trying to comprehend, "What the fuck did I just get myself into..."
As everything went black, I couldn't help but think about my future. The strange creature had changed me somehow, and I had the feeling that my life would never be the same again.
