Stairs.

*DRIP* *DRIP* *DRIP*

The sound of blood dripping and hitting against the ground fills the room, making my absolutely massive headache worse.

That's quite literally the only thing I've been hearing these past two hours. Maybe even more, I don't really care enough to think right now, as I see the corpses of the many young men and women hanging from the ground, their exposed stomachs just dripping slight amounts of blood onto the dirty surface above me.

Wait I'm hanging upside down.

It turns out I've been kidnapped, as I find myself tied up in rope in a dimly lit, large room that has many rows of human bodies hanging on meat hooks across the seemingly large smelly room. 

This sucks.

Allow me to catch you up on the events that unfolded.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

I'm feeling a bit agitated right now. Not sure what it is. But I have a feeling it has something to do with the girl I encountered not even fifty seconds ago. I have never encountered someone so smug and bratty in my entire existence. 

She needs correction.

But that'll have to wait, right now I am currently descending a large amount of stairs back down onto the inner capital streets.

And before you ask, no I can't just jump off and plunge onto the street, I'm still only twelve years old.

My legs would shatter into a million bajillion pieces without the dark power of my right hand, which I have to conceal because causing a scene so close to the absolute MASS that is the castle of the Luthran Kingdom would only alarm the knights of the Order of the King's Will. 

And I really don't feel like dealing with those freaks right now. Not after what happened about fifty seconds ago at least.

I am now walking along the streets of the inner capital, when I am suddenly stopped by some lady with a comically oversized witch hat. The bell on the tip of her hat making the loud annoying sound of two pennies hitting against each other as she kneels to my level to speak to me.

"Oh my, you're quite the cute little thing, aren't you?" She says as she rubs my hair, blinding me from the number of black strands blocking my field of vision. "Where's your mommy, hmm?" 

And just how exactly am I supposed to tell her there's no such thing as a mother figure in my new life? I could just tell her she's currently waiting for me back home in that depressing excuse of a " house". But she is way too young, and the thought of her being my mother just weirds me out. 

And this begs the question.

How should I respond?

Do I go for option A, and tell her to leave me alone?

Or B, just run away?

Or maybe even C, ask her to adopt me so I can leech off her for the foreseeable future until I get fat and die? 

These options suck massive donkey shlong, so I'll go ahead and go with option D, which is to just stare at her in confusion and wait for her to go away.

So, I proceed to stare into her green eyes. An awkward brief silence follows, with the only sounds around us consisting of the chatter of the many groups of people, the wooden wheels rolling across the ground as horses move the many carriages that travel across the Kingdom, and the sound of the bell on her hat that continues to annoy me.

"FuFuFu.. no need to be shy around me. Let me help you back to your mommy hmm?"

A persistent woman this is... 

My patience runs thin as I suddenly grab onto her arm hovering above my hair.

"Ahhn~ There's no need to be so hasty..." She says in a suggestive manner.

I have to get away from her.

I move her hand away from me before turning around and booking it into an alleyway.

I run as fast as I am able to in the hopes of escaping the absolute DANGER that is the woman with the comically oversized witch hat. 

I pray I never have to see her again.

My legs suddenly give out, the exhaustion catching up to me as I kneel onto the ground below me within the dark recesses of the alleyway to catch my breath. I've been running for a while; I don't even recognize the area around me. I'm pretty much lost, as I sit and rest my back against the rough wall behind me.

"Greetings" says a voice I have no idea where it even came from, scaring the absolute hell out of me. 

I look off to my right and see a man in a brown cloak peeking from a doorway at the end of this secluded alleyway.

This situation just screams stranger danger. I'm not ignorant to the many creeps and depraved people that existed in my previous life. And I'm pretty sure this dude has ill intent towards me. 

I think I'll go ahead and think of a stylish way of disposing him.

"I can see you're out of breath child, if you would allow yourself to come with me, I can provide you with a refreshment" he says as he opens the moldy wooden door wider.

"Okay" I say as I stand up and walk towards him.

I'm pretty damn thirsty.

Extremely thirsty.

I'm talking your throat feeling like it's the Sahara Desert thirsty.

I'm talking the feeling of having sandpaper stuffed down your throat when you swallow thirsty.

I shouldn't have ran so much, I should really stop straining my little child body. 

I reach the wooden door and a gross odor hits my nostrils as I step one foot into the dark room that has a single staircase leading down to darkness.

The rude man then yanks me and that's the last thing I remember.

.

.

.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Welcome back. 

I am still very much hanging upside down in this large smelly room. My throat is still drier than the contacts list on my phone.

I really miss my phone.

*GHOUGHF* I cough out loudly as I struggle to swallow normally.

It turns out it's pretty hard to swallow when you've got no saliva to lubricate your throat.

"Are you alright?" Asks a young girl strapped to a dirty bed I suddenly spot from the corner of my eye.

How long has she been there? That's actually scary.

I roll around as I'm hanging so I can rotate myself a bit to get a better look at her.

She looks to be my age. She's got long blonde hair with a red hairpin, and wearing the uniform of the academy of Knights, the same one that one smug girl was wearing.

Her smug look pops into my head, and I feel a look of mild annoyance get plastered onto my face.

"Sorry for asking...I'll leave you alone now." she says as she looks away to her side.

God damn it.

We're not even three seconds into a new interaction and I'm already screwing things up. I wanted to have a conversation with her to further test my new way of interacting. What did I even do wrong? I need to find a way to turn things around PRONTO! 

"Yo look back over here." 

Wait no! That's not what I meant to do at all! How in god's green hell did I manage to combine my new greeting and a forward blunt request like that?! It seems I was a tad bit too hasty damn it. 

I should really learn to give things a little more thought in the heat of the moment, or I won't make it too far....

"Yes?" See says as she is now looking up at me from the dirty bed, confusion etched into her face.

Excellent, absolutely well done. I didn't think I was going to get an actual response from her after unknowingly pushing her away. I'll have to reward myself later, you can't clutch up the way I just did. I'm pretty sure it takes a monk that has ascended the mortal plain to be able to do something so extraordinary.

"Was there something you needed?" She suddenly says, bringing me back to the room.

"Your name, tell me it." 

Hell yeah, I didn't even put any thought into that response, and I can already tell it was the right option. I figured getting straight to the point and asking her name without dilly-dallying was the correct course of action. I can feel myself shaking from the amount of fun I'm starting to have.

"It's... Akane..." I hear her say in a rather low voice.

What's up with that anyway? She doesn't sound too happy to be here. She sounds like she wants to go home. Am I the only one having a blast with this interaction? Maybe she isn't feeling so well and probably the reason she's strapped to that bed. Not sure why she'd want to rest in this room straight out of a horror movie though. 

*CLANK*

The sound of a rusty iron door shutting makes both of us jolt up, and a figure steps in, carrying a wooden box with what looks to have metal tools stuffed inside.

"Good evening my dear subjects." He says as he places the box on the table next to the dirty bed.

The girl starts tensing on the bed, attempting to free herself from the many straps that are tightened across her body.

"Now, now, behave yourself, I will make you beautiful momentarily" He says as he removes his cloak. Revealing a man wearing a mask made of human skin, and an apron stained in red.

Oh does this guy do street art? Maybe that's the reason he wears that freakish mask. And those are probably paint stains. 

"No... g-get away from me! Don't touch me!" says the girl as she starts tensing against the bed again.

Just what the heck did I get myself into? 

The weird man then wraps a long wet thin cloth on her mouth. 

"MMBH MBHHF" Her voice comes out, muffled.

"Behave I say, I prefer silence when I am working on my art"

I knew it. He must be some kind of weird obscure artist.

"But first..." He looks at me as I am still hanging upside down. 

I must really look like an idiot right now.

He picks up a scalpel from the box and walks towards me.

Well then, looks like I'll be set free. I wonder if he has my water waiting for me somewhere, as I am still almighty thirsty.

"What is this? Take this off, let me look upon your perfect skin" he says as he brings the scalpel to my right hand, then cutting the bandage wrapped around it. "W-what...?!" He drops the scalpel on the ground as he looks at my little doodle. 

"You... ha..ha..HAHAHAHA!" He begins to crack up for some reason.

I knew it, I really do look like an idiot hanging like this.

"Who would have thought the bearer of death is here right in front of me and ensnared in my web?"

The girl in the bed then looks at our direction, as if she's learned a new word.

Again, that stupid edgy name. When are people going to just start calling me by my actual name? Should I really have just went by 'Aleksander'? 

He picks up the scalpel from the ground and brings it to my right hand.

"I'm going to enjoy exploring and taking what is yours, boy." He says as the scalpel makes contact with my mark.

PPFWOOOOM!

A small red explosion pushes him away and slams him against the wall.

The explosion caused the room to shake, making me and some of the hanging bodies drop onto the very hard floor. The bed the girl is in has also been knocked to its side. I've noticed the rope wrapped around me became loose, so I start to free myself.

I stand up and start stretching, the sensation feeling heavenly after being held in place for so long. This moment would've felt even better if I wasn't so h2o deprived. 

"Ghh...!" He mumbles to himself as he stands up, the mask around his face becoming loose and falling at his feet, revealing a very wrinkly face with half a mark similar to that annoying crow lady on his cheek, but his isn't so faded.

I guess these weird tattoos are all the rage with weirdos.

"You... I think I would like to dissect you now." He says as he reaches for his scalpel, which starts glowing believe it or not.

The bodies around me start to float as they zoom past me and encircle him.

Just what in the actual heck did I get myself into? 

The dead lifeless heads on the bodies start to twist and turn as they reach into their exposed stomachs and scooping up a handful of their own blood and throwing it at me.

I immediately dodge to the side; I really don't want to get that on my clothes. The heck is their problem throwing blood at me? 

The blood that pools onto the ground and wall next to me then get lit in a black fire.

That's actually kind of sick, I should see if I can learn to produce black flames like that.

"I will make sure my pretty children rip open your body, then I will stuff your insides with candy and feed it to my perfect creation." He says maniacally. 

I don't even attempt to wonder what he meant by that, and I don't even bother speaking back to him. Because I can't, my throat is so dry that if I tried speaking up now, I would sound like a dying old man on his deathbed. 

He then raises his scalpel at me and the many bodies surrounding him are sent my way, surrounding and looking down at me.

I really wish I had my sword right now.

I feel my right hand throb and glow as the mark lights up, and a hilt slowly rises out of it.

I ask no questions and grab onto it, then I pull on it until I am now holding my trusty great sword, the mark on my sword also glowing.

Well, that's convenient.

The bodies surrounding me then lunge and attempt to grab onto me, which I prevent by going absolute ham on them and slicing them to pieces. 

"No! My children! What have you done?!" The man yells at me as he falls to his knees and pulls on his loose wrinkly skin in frustration. 

He then rises back to his feet before yelling out loud.

"COME TO ME MY PERFECT CREATION!" 

What? We're going to start yelling out nonsense now? I knew this guy was demented the moment he called those dead bodies his children but now I can see he's cuckoo crazy.

I feel a little tremor below me before the ground breaks and out comes a large hand covered in other smaller hands running across it.

I fall back against the wall behind me until the thing fully emerges.

It's a large fleshy humanoid monstrosity with a large metal chain around it. It's made out of various body parts etched onto its body. There's arms, legs, heads and eyes protruding from its limbs. And it's wearing a doll mask where the face is supposed to be. Now this is something worth putting in a genius record book.

For being the most bullshit thing I've ever laid my eyes on.

The man jumps onto its back and grabs a hold onto its chain then speaking.

"BEHOLD! MY BEAUTIFUL CREATION!" The monster lets out a loud gurgling growl and black liquid leaks from the eyes of the doll mask its wearing.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL, BOY? HOW DOES IT FEEL TO LOOK UPON THE PINNACLE OF ART?!" 

I think he's giving himself too much credit.

The monster slams its large gorilla hands onto the ground, causing the floor to give out and dropping everything within the room into a large chamber below.

I land on the bed the girl is still strapped to. She has a look of shock, as if she's been looking at inconceivable horrors beyond human comprehension or something.

I forgot she was still here; how long has she been watching everything unfold?

I look around the room, its dimly lit by the various torches along the walls, barely illuminating the large room. There are various huge jail cells and corpses nailed on to the walls. There are also organs of various kinds of creatures encased in small and large capsules within the chamber.

It's almost like looking at a museum. This guy's such a nerd.

"BARE WITNESS TO MY GLORIOUSLY SCULPTED CREATIONS! AND SOON I WILL LEAD AN ARMY OF MY PERFECT CHILDREN TO DEVOUR AND REND THIS KINGDOM NO MORE! HAHAHAHA!"

The various jail cells get destroyed and out comes more of those ugly fleshy things. And they're all wearing doll masks like that first one.

Now I've got to deal with a whole group of these? This day couldn't possibly get any more painful.

The ugly creatures start to combine, their fleshy limbs sticking to each other, the various doll masks shifting and turning across its body. The sound of stirring mac and cheese in a pan fills my ears.

Why does god hate me?

"WHAT IS IT LITTLE DEATHBEARER? HAVE YOU SEEN THE TRUE EXTENT OF MY GLORIOUS CREATION? HAVE YOU COME TO TERMS WITH JUST HOW IMPERFECT AND UGLY YOU ARE IN THE FACE OF ART?!" He yells out from atop the creature, barely incomprehensible as the creature is now the size of four garbage trucks stacked onto each other. 

I jump off the bed and kick it behind me, sending it sliding across the floor.

It then throws out a punch onto the ground below me before I jump up and land on its arm.

I run along it and bring my great sword onto its skin, but it doesn't even leave a cut, making my sword recoiling backwards. 

I'm starting to wish I never went out to the capital in the first place. 

What a pain.

The hands etched onto its body then grab my foot and start dragging me down inside its flesh.

I bring my right hand onto the edge of my sword to light it up, then slash at the fingers and then onto its skin, leaving a scratch this time.

The monster lets out a loud gurgling groan then a large hole opens within its stomach, releasing a torrent of black liquid towards me. 

I jump and run up along its hand as it releases its juice across before I jump onto its head as I am now face to face with the wrinkly man.

"HAHAHAHA" He laughs at me rudely as he lets himself be sucked into its skin, escaping me.

Dude are you serious?

I start to lose whatever amount of patience I have left as I bring my right hand onto the mark of my sword, and begin channeling it, causing both marks to glow.

I then jump off its head and land on top of a horned colossal red glowing titan that materialized below me shortly after. 

The titan then raises its hand to summon its own giant glowing sword in a spark of light.

Let's assault this man.

The monster throws its fist towards me, then the titan throws and returns its own fist.

The two fists meet with an explosive impact.

The chamber shakes and the walls start to collapse.

I jump off the titan and run along the connected hands, before jumping up and slashing downwards with my sword, making the titan mirror my action and bring its own sword crashing down onto its flesh.

*SHLLLCKK*

As the titan sword makes contact with its flesh, a sudden red explosion gets set off from the giant sword, making the monster's many body parts get thrown across the chamber.

"W-w..what?!" The man's body is now exposed within the monster's insides. "P-preposterous! PREPOSTEROUS! I AM ART! I AM THE PINNALCE OF BEAUT- AGHCK" His declaration is cut short as the sword I threw makes contact with his head.

The giant ugly thing begins to fall apart, its body melting and dropping the many parts and limbs onto the ground. The various doll masks shattering as they hit the floor.

I jump onto the floor as the titan vanishes along with the monster.

I walk towards the body of the now dead man as I retrieve my sword, the mark on his cheek getting absorbed onto my sword and joining the other mark engraved on it.

This day has just not been worth it, I'm going to say that right now.

"Just who are you...?" Says the blonde girl that I once again forgot was even here as I jolt and turn around to look at. She has 'what the fuck did I just witness' glued onto her face, something even I don't have the answer to.

I am once again reminded of the difficulty of speaking as my throat still feels like its flooded in sand from king Tutankhamun's ass.

And I really feel like going home, so I grab onto my sword and dematerialize it into my right hand before wrapping it with a handkerchief I collected that was hanging from a broken wood beam, then I make my way up the ruined staircase. 

I hate stairs.

.

.

.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

I've just about reached the very top of the same staircase I saw before I got snatched, the blonde girl following close behind me, and she's grabbing onto the side of my coat for some reason. 

"I-.." She tries saying something but stops herself. I didn't do something wrong again did I? I feel like I've made way too many mistakes today. Me going out into the capital on this day being a prime example.

We step foot out into the now darkened alleyway. The only light coming from the moon and the ugly grey cathedral up in the sky.

"Oh~! It's you!" Says a voice that sends a tinge of dread down my spine. As the smug girl in twin tails is right in front of me, and she's got a large group of knights behind her. The knights then march past me and head down onto the staircase behind me, as if they're starting a bust operation on a place they've been trying to locate.

Akane lets go of my coat and peeks from behind me, making eye contact with Yukki, who then extends her arm out to her.

"Hii! I'm Yukki! She says with her trademark wink.

Akane moves in front of me to reluctantly take her hand in hers. Before she can even begin to say something to her, Yukki quickly intercepts to get straight to business.

"Soo what were you and little Alek doing in a place like that hmm~?" She says with a skeptical look in her eyes.

"N-no... we weren't" Replies the blonde girl, a slight flush appearing on her cheek. Kinda weird, it's not even hot out, it's pretty chilly.

"Just kidding~" says Yukki, the usual annoying mischief in her face.

I take this moment to try and sneak away before I get involved in such a pointless interaction, seriously just get me out of here.

"Ah, Ah, Ah" I'm stopped as Yukki grabs onto my hand. "I'm here on some very very important secret mission..." She says as she winks and brings her other hand up to her mouth and giving a 'shh' look with her finger. "Sorry Alek! But you're involved so I gotta question ya~! Don't hate me now okayy?"

Oh boy.

I can't walk away from her since it's true that I'm involved in whatever the heck I just went through, and I have a feeling if I refuse to cooperate with the knights, they'll see it as treason or whatever. And I'm already convinced this Yukki chick is with the Order of the King's Will. Further amplifying my current dislike for her. 

I give a defeated nod as she then links her arms around mine and leads me and Akane to a nearby tent the knights set up. The whole street just surrounded in knights and horses. Seriously what kind of operation is this? 

"Y'know you're a little quiet today... say something!!" She says as she pouts and squeezes onto my arm as I just remain silent and let myself be escorted. 

.

.

.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

A young blonde girl is laying in a dirty bed, her body enveloped in tight straps. The last thing she remembers is her mother screaming her name and looking for her as unbeknownst to her, is being carried in a sack, sedated.

When she wakes up, she finds herself in a chamber that has many bodies hanging on meat hooks. The sight horrifies her, her mind clouding in thoughts of never seeing her mother again. The thought of never becoming a knight like her father. A tear threatens to spill from her eye as she is startled by a loud cough within the room.

She notices a young boy hanging, facing away from her.

"Are you alright?" she asks out of concern for the boy that shares her depraved predicament. 

The boy starts shaking and turning. Is he trying to set himself free and help her now that he's detected her presence? 

His empty gray eyes make contact with hers; a shiver runs down her spine. Why does he have such a gut wrenching and intimidating aura? He suddenly glares at her. She decides to deescalate the situation and apologize.

"Sorry for asking...I'll leave you alone now." she says as she turns to avoid his gaze.

There is a brief tense silence.

"Yo look back over here." 

She gets startled, a bit of confusion in her face. 

Yo?

Who's "Yo"? 

Is he referring to her? 

She turns to look at him again before speaking.

"Yes?" She manages to let out.

The room grows silent again

Was he not referring to her after all? But who else could he mean? They're the only ones inside this depraved foul-smelling room aside from the many horribly mutilated bodies hanging across the room. Just what could he be plotting? 

She gathers her remaining courage to ask.

"Was there something you needed?"

To her surprise he instantly responded in a demanding voice.

"Your name, tell me it." 

She gets slightly intimidated by his sudden assertive tone, and notices he is shaking. Did he find a way to escape? Could he have a plan ready to be set in motion? 

"It's... Akane..." She says in an unsure voice.

She forces herself to try and ask for his name in hopes of coming to an understanding and cooperate in escaping,

But before she can attempt to ask, a loud sound is echoed into the room.

*CLANK*

A rusty iron door opens and in walks a man in a brown cloak. He is carrying a wooden box.

"Good evening my dear subjects." He says as he sets the wooden box onto the table next to her, which she can now make out is full of various types of metal tools and sharp instruments.

The sight sends various signals to her brain, and she begins tensing on the bed. She prays the sharp tools won't be used on her, she can't stomach the idea of going through whatever awaits her. She helplessly attempts to somehow free herself, but the tight straps holding her body down prevent her from using any of her small muscles.

"Now, now, behave yourself, I will make you beautiful momentarily" Says the man as he unveils his cloak and watches her struggle.

 She doesn't want to even imagine whatever he could mean by that as she continues to struggle. And the sight of the mask made out of a human face clinging to his skin is enough to heighten her state of panic.

"No... g-get away from me! Don't touch me!" 

Her struggling is interrupted as the man restrains her mouth with a wet dirty cloth. She can't form any type of comprehensible sentence, as her voice is now muffled.

"Behave I say, I prefer silence when I am working on my art" 

She gives up, she's lost the last remaining hope she had. The thought of amounting to nothing and having her hopes of becoming a Kight of the Order of the King's Will being stolen from her devastates her spirit. 

"But first..." He says as he suddenly moves towards the boy hanging upside down.

"What is this? Take this off, let me look upon your perfect skin" He says as he speaks to the boy in a predatory tone in his voice. 

"W-what..?" She gets startled by the sound of something metallic hitting the floor.

"You... ha..ha..HAHAHAHA! Who would have thought the bearer of death is here right in front of me and ensnared in my web?"

She suddenly looks in their direction.

"Bearer of death"? What could that mean? What are these series of words she's never heard of and why do they sound so ominous? 

"I'm going to enjoy exploring and taking what is yours, boy." He says as she watches him bring the scalpel he picked back up and bring it closer to the boy. She's never thought she would experience a murder of a boy so young in front of her very eyes.

But that thought is instantly vaporized as nothing could have prepared her for the explosion that would follow and make her faint as the bed she was lying in is suddenly knocked to its side.

PPFWOOOOM!

.

.

.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The impact of the bed hitting hard against the ground is enough to bring her back to consciousness, and she is hit with a force of horror as she gazes at the giant monstrosity in front of her and the boy that is now standing on her bed. He is now holding a giant great sword, something a boy his age would have the impossible challenge of even raising. She doesn't even bother to notice the various other demented details within the large chamber she now finds herself in. Her eyes are glued to the abomination in a state of pure trauma. She didn't even know such thing could exist in this world already tainted by darkness and other horrors she has yet to see, and this terrifies her.

Is she really cut out to be a knight? Can she really do it? 

"BARE WITNESS TO MY GLORIOUSLY SCULPTED CREATIONS! AND SOON I WILL LEAD AN ARMY OF MY PERFECT CHILDREN TO DEVOUR AND REND THIS KINGDOM NO MORE! HAHAHAHA!" The old man yells. His face contorted in hideous amounts of wrinkles in a manner she's never seen before.

The loud sound of metal bending echoes throughout as more of those monsters pour into the chamber, surrounding her and the boy. And she watches in horror as the many abominations start to combine and become one in a disgusting display of fusion until it becomes something she'll never be able to delete from her memories. At this point she's ready to give up and accept her fate. 

"WHAT IS IT LITTLE DEATHBEARER? HAVE YOU SEEN THE TRUE EXTENT OF MY GLORIOUS CREATION? HAVE YOU COME TO TERMS WITH JUST HOW IMPERFECT AND UGLY YOU ARE IN THE FACE OF ART?!" yells out the old man. Just what is a "deathbearer" she wonders? 

The sight of the boy jumping off the bed surprises her and she gets startled as he kicks the bed, making it slide across the ground and hit a wall behind her with a hard impact, causing her to faint yet again. 

.

.

.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Another sudden explosive impact is enough to regain her consciousness, as she rises from the bed, which is now half destroyed from the previous collision of the bed hitting against the wall. She sets herself free and walks towards the boy as he retracts his giant sword from the now deceased wrinkly man. She watches his sword glow, along with a strange mark on his right hand she's never seen before. She notices the chamber now destroyed and the many piles of rubble stacked against each other.

Did he do this? All by himself? Was he really capable of doing all of this? Just who is this boy?

She approaches him, her head full to the brim with many questions, but she asks the most important one.

"Just who are you...?" She needs to know. Is he in The Order of the King's Will? Or could he even be someone sent from the outer heaven's above...? 

He turns to look at her, and he just stares. His gray eyes looking into hers. Not saying a word. Perhaps there are just things this mysterious entity isn't able to tell her. And if he could, would she even be able to comprehend them?

She watches him turn away and dig his sword into his right hand before wrapping a handkerchief he picked up from a broken wooden beam around the strange red mark around his hand and concealing it. Perhaps that's just the way it has to be. So, she decides to not comment on it or bring it up to anyone, fearing that he would eventually find her if she brought the events that unfolded to light. 

But would he really have any ill intent? After all he just saved her from an unbelievable situation. She watches him ascend the stairs in silence, she proceeds behind him.

As they reach the upper level, they pass through various rooms full of things she'll never be able to forget. She instinctively reaches her hand out for his rough coat, seeking some sort of comfort from the cruelty around her. He continues advancing through the rooms in silence, and she takes this as a sign to continue staying close by his side. 

"I-.." She once again attempts to ask for the boy's name, but she can't find a way as she is still slightly tense from the aura he gives out. She decides to wait until they are in a better place as they reach the top of the final staircase. 

.

.

.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

They eventually reach outside onto an empty alleyway, the moonlight and the rays of the heavenly Cathedral above illuminating the ground and casting its reflections onto the puddles.

She sees a group of knights coming their direction and past them as they storm and make their way down the staircase behind them.

"Oh~! It's you!" Says a girl in black twin tails wearing the same uniform as her.

The girl in twin tails notices her behind the boy's shoulder as she lets go of his coat. She takes a peek to see that she is wearing the same uniform of this Kingdom's academy of knights. The girl in twin tails notices the same and extends her arm out to her.

"Hii! I'm Yukki! She says with a friendly wink. 

The blonde girl accepts the invitation and steps in front of the boy to take her hand in hers. She noticed the way she greeted the boy and attempts to ask how she knows him and see if she can tell her anything about him.

She gets interrupted as she asks her a sudden embarrassing question however.

"Soo what were you and little Alek doing in a place like that hmm~?"

"N-no... we weren't" Replies the blonde girl, her eyes widened, and a slight flush creep onto her cheeks. Then she realizes something.

'Alek'? So that's what the name of the strange boy that saved her life goes by. 

"Just kidding~" Yukki suddenly says in a playful tone.

She notices Alek slowly inching away within the corner of the eye, and Yukki notices it just as she does, as she reaches her hand out to grab onto his hand.

"Ah, Ah, Ah, I'm here on some very very important secret mission...Sorry Alek! But you're involved so I gotta question ya~! Don't hate me now okayy?" She says in a flirtatious tone. 

Secret mission? So, this 'Yukki' girl must be with the various knights surrounding the area that are suddenly investigating the scene.

She watches as Yukki grabs onto his arm and brings her body closer, giving her a tight feeling within her chest that she isn't familiar with. 

"Y'know you're a little quiet today... say something!!" She says into his ear.

Just what is the relationship with these two? And how deep does it go? She has many questions she's gathered on this very eventful day. But right now, she'll just follow and prepare for the upcoming interrogation, as she walks behind this seemingly 'touchy' pair in front of her.

.

.

.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-