1.1 No way home

Why...Why can't I teleport back to the end?

My world stopped completely.

And a phantom pain appeared in my chest cavity.

The rustle of the trees was drowned out by constant static as something pounded against my skull, the feeling of grass beneath my feet slowly disappeared and it felt like I was standing in a puddle. S burning searing puddle. The world turned black and I was left alone to wander the darkness for eternity as the pain only grew more intense.

As my mind raced hundreds if not thousands of questions and scenarios ran through my mind at high speeds. Was mother's offspring killed? Impossible, the egg is invulnerable, so then did it hatch? If so did it live to adulthood? If not then did it at least lay an Egg?

No, no, no that can't be, even if mother was gone she had fail-safes in place to make sure the End survived anything the players could throw at us. So then why? Why can't I get a lock on--on my home?

I started to despair, for the second time in my entire life I felt fear.

If I couldn't teleport back to the End then only two things could have happened. Either mother's plans were somehow foiled, which is impossible considering the fact that they are infallible, or the Tether dissolved and the End was flung off the Infinite reality chain and into the Dimensional Void.

But how? I'm alive right now arent I?

If the Tether dissolved then how long was I asleep?

No, no, no, no, no this makes no sense.

This can't be...T-this can't be.

The End is gone?

Finally, everything went blank.

~~~

(3rd person pov)

As The First stood in the middle of the clearing completely motionless, like a statue, a wandering professional huntsman entered the area and laid his gaze on The First.

"What the hell is that? A Grimm" He questioned to no one but himself as he scanned over what he thought was a new type of Grimm creature.

Looking at its tall stature that made Beowulfs look small and its hollow eyes void of any color or light he got goosebumps all over his body, though it didn't deter him from grabbing the whip he carried on his hip and slowly stepping out of the tree line.

As he tiptoed towards the still creature he debated on whether or not to simply report this new Grimm subject to the military and get a cash reward, or kill it and claim he was the first to kill a new type of Grimm.

If he handed it over to Atlas, he could get at least 2.5 million Lien alone for catching a glimpse of it, and if he caught it then he could quadruple that amount of cash and be set for life.

On the other hand, if he killed it and then reported it, then he could finally get his Silver badge at the Hunters Guild and become like so many other legendary and well-known hunters.

It was greed over recognition.

As the huntsman neared The First he finally decided on handing it over to Atlas, the money would let him retire early and chase after his passion project that was on hold because of his low income and travel periods.

He could finally start the maid cafe he always wanted to create.

The man was a certified degenerate, the only reason he graduated from a huntsman academy and joined the hunters guild was that he wanted to amass a large amount of cash and start his own food chain with a female-only staff all outfitted with Maid costumes, and by all he meant all, even the chef would wear one and it would be glorious.

His friends and classmates at the academy all looked at him like he was the strange one when it was them who didn't understand the absolute perfection that is a maid cafe.

He wouldn't let them spit on his dream, he would become a pro huntsman--no a legendary huntsman and open up his very own maid cafe and open the eyes of everyone around the world.

"Hehehe" He giggled creepily as he dreamed of his ideal life. He would spend his days surrounded by beautiful OF AGE GIRLs and women in maid outfits with short skirts all calling him master and catering to his every desire, he would treat them right and they would happily take care of him as he lived a happy and blissful life of laziness growing old and fat and finally dying having achieved his dream.

"Oh, what a wor--Eek!" While dreaming longingly a sharp snapping noise alerted the man and as a pro, he started jumping, screaming, and freaking out, like a 7-year-old who had just discovered their intense hatred for bugs in an attempt to psyche out the enemy.

Seeing as his trap didn't lure out the enemy he decided to look around and see if the enemy was going to jump out of the forest, his head jerking around in a panic as he did, but no foe leaped out to attack him.

He wouldn't let that trick him though, he was a pro huntsman ready for any danger that this world holds, and he knew what he was dealing with. So calming down and getting his whip at the ready to strike down anything, he searched beyond the clearing and into the forest for danger with his semblance.

As the dark forest suddenly lit up like fireworks at midnight for his eyes he looked around tense and a little panicked though after a couple of seconds, he had found nothing but trees, trees, and more trees.

"Phew~" He let out a sigh of relief and turned around to face the Grimm he had seen once before, the noise reminding him that he was currently in Grimm-infested lands and that he needed to hurry and get this thing back to Atlas before it woke up.

But when he turned around to face The First his blood ran cold, right in his face were the hollow eyes of the Grimm blanky staring right at the man. The creature was bent over and right in the man's face, its body giving off a low humming noise.

The Man's eyes widened in terror, and his body froze up as his palms became sweaty, the whip slipping out of his grasp as he and the Grimm had a showdown. The man had never before been this scared, not when his mother brought out the belt when he was a child for misbehaving, not when his father would chase after him drunk off his ass and beat him to a pulp, and not when he fought his first Grimm Creature, nearly dying in the process.

But this?

He couldn't see it before but now that it was right in his face its weirdly human-shaped face gave off a sense of familiarity while its height and hollow empty eyes made it look more terrifying than even the biggest Creatures of Grimm.

Why?

All because it looked human, it looked like that could be him or someone he knew, it looked like this creature was once human, and it looked like this creature was human no longer.

As the man's lips trembled the Whip fell out of his grasp and onto the ground, though he was still frozen in terror his mind fell back to his dream, and slowly but surely he mustered up all the courage he had and took a step back.

He wouldn't die here.

He would let this thing kill him in this unknown forest never to be discovered, he wouldn't just be discarded like that. He would get out of here, he would capture this creature and get the money he needed to start his dream, and he would finally gain the courage to do so at this very moment.

Right here, and right now was where the man's world would either end, or just begin, and he didn't plan on dying today.

He drew in a sharp breath and opened his mouth to scream loudly, if this creature was even slightly human then its anatomy would mean that it was weak to high-pitched sounds, and despite it being shameful he could scream at decibels reaching 110.

He would survive this.

And with all of his might he let out his voice. However, his will to survive meant nothing, it meant absolutely nothing in the face of true power, and without even reacting to the man's high-pitched yelling The First shoved the entirety of its claw into the man's gut.

"Gah!" The man let out a mouthful of blood on the ground with bits landing on The First arms as his voice became hoarse with the blood filling his throat and lungs.

Opening its mouth The First let out a shrill shriek that instantly blew out the Man's eardrums and shook the ground around them, giving him a head-splitting migraine, though the pain in his abdomen was still present and took over most of his thoughts.

The man didn't know what to think at this moment, pain clouded his mind but some part of him was still clear enough to assess his situation. He saw the claw that was stabbed into him and he was feeling the pain that came with it, he was dying and his body knew it even if his mind didn't, though even if it knew it was dying it couldn't do much.

So the man started dreaming once more.

As The First opened its mouth, the skin around its lower jaw ripping and tearing to its mouth could open to an unnatural and simply ugly degree the man's world started to blacken and his body grew cold as the pain started subsiding.

Though his dream never stopped, right before The First could finish him off he spit out "M-my m-maids" while reaching out in an attempt to grab something and then with the man still impaled on its claw, The First it lowered the man's head into its jaw before it snapped shut and the man's head was uncleanly torn away from its resting spot among the shoulders.

That was the End of Byron summers.