Placement

"Huh? Hey, Rosary. Did you hear that?"

Faint whispering could be heard through the ears of Wanderer. While he was indeed a Wanderer, his name was also that as well. His first meeting with Hiro and Xylvia didn't exactly go smooth, but after some time they began to trust him. He was staying with Rosary in order to try and lure the man that made a deal with Wanderer out since they came to the conclusion that he wanted to kill Hiro.

"You're probably just imagining things Wanda." Rosary said.

While Wanda was more of a fit name for a female, Rosary thought it was a cute nickname for him. Wanderer didn't seem to mind.

"But, I swear that I can here whispering. It…sounds like someone's hurt- in trouble!"

"Are you sure? I don't think anyone else is here."Rosary said that she couldn't hear anything or anyone, but Wanderer was convinced that he was hearing something. He began following where he felt it was coming from, through the living room and towards the front door.

"Wanda, I'm not so sure about this." Rosary insisted.

"But what if it's one of the city people," he suggested. "What if they're hurt and need our help?"

Without anymore hesitation, Wanderer walked up to the front door and…

"Huh? No one's there?"

No one stood at the front door where Wanderer thought he was hearing people. He was about to agree with what Rosary had said about him just hearing things…

"…get it off…"

The voice was extremely hard to here, but Wanderer could make out the words that were being said.

"There it is again," he exclaimed, convinced that he was hearing someone. "But, it's coming from much farther away."

"Wanda, I'm not so sure about this," Rosary said worriedly. "Even if there is someone, isn't it a little risky for us to follow whatever that choice is you're hearing?"

"We can figure something out I bet. Besides, we won't just walk up and greet whoever it is. We can stay hidden until we know if it's safe or not."

While Rosary was still very hesitant, Wanderer was already out the front door and following the voices he was hearing.

"Wha-! Wanda, wait!" Rosary exclaimed, hastily putting her book down and rushing after him.

Am I falling? Where's the ground? Why's do I feel weightless?

I barely had my eyes open, but all I could see around me were moving clouds. I could feel the cool air brushing up my body as I continued to fall back-first towards nothing.

Is this what dying feels like? Or am I just dreaming? Or could this be one of those near-death experience type visions? I've heard stories about those, how people would see magical things when they came close to death.

But why am I here? I remember running…and then stopping…and then screaming?

I looked over at my left leg that was getting pushed upward from the air I was falling through. It remained intact, as if what had just happened was all made up.

Was all of that really a dream?

*SPLASH!*

"HUUH?!!"

I jolted upright in a panic. I thought I had felt my body hit something hard, but I patted myself and felt fine. Well, almost fine.

I could feel a stinging pain in where my left foot used to be.

"Holy shit, you're ok!" Xylvia cried, leaping straight onto my chest.

"Easy girl," a familiar woman said. "He just lost his foot. Don't wanna overwhelm him anymore than he already is."

That didn't stop Xylvia from locking her arms around my neck and sobbing into my chest.

"Fucking hurts, doesn't it." She whimpered, almost sobbing.

"Obviously." I whined out.

I looked down at where my left foot used to be. The severed part of it looked blistered and burned an ugly shade of red.

"I used fire to melt off the severed blood lines," the woman said. "It should heal given time, but I'm guessing that's the least of your worries."

Despite how gross it looks, it just stings and feels raw for the most part. It's not painful to the point where I'd cry. Only considerably irritating.

…

What am I supposed to do now? Walking will be near impossible for me now without crutches or some kind of support. I'll have to move much slower, and that's not beneficial for when I want to go on adventures…

Can I even do that now?

The thought of not being able to go around exploring this world sent me spiraling down into a severally depressing state.

"You ok kid?" The woman asked me.

I wanted to say something, but my voice got caught in my throat. My lips instead just quivered as my eyes began to burn with tears. I silently shook my head.

"…no." I barely croaked.

I rested my forehead on Xylvia's shoulder, sobbing a little from my realization.

"Is Catherine ok?" I asked the woman, my face still buried in Xylvia's shoulder.

"She lost a lot of blood and ended up fainting, but I've closed off the wound so she should be ok."

That's a relief at least.

"I wish I could just faint right now." I whispered to myself.

"Hey, we can make it work," Xylvia said to me. "It's just a downgrade. That doesn't mean you can't go adventuring."

"Xyl…I'm missing a foot. I can't run. I doubt I can walk well for a while. What if we end up running into danger?"

"I…I can protect you."

"Are you sure?"

Xylvia was about to answer, but she stopped. Her eyes began shifting left and right until she looked down in disbelief, her depressing aura making me feel extremely guilty.

"I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but the last thing I wanna become is someone's burden," I said. "We can try to find a solution, but I'm not sure if we can find one at all."

I shouldn't be thinking like this. I should think that this is only a small issue. That this is just me going through a phase from trauma. However, this is a little hard to recover from.

The more I stared at the stump where my foot used to be, the less hopeful I feel about myself. I could see all the imaginary premonitions I thought of beginning fading away into an abyss, where nothing but ashes and emptiness remained. I stayed silent for a while and just went deep in though, letting Xylvia's grip around my back grow tighter.

…

"Someone's screaming."

Wanderer continued to follow whatever the voice was through the City of Colors, which led them to an abandoned area of the city. Shredded tents, damaged building debris, and dusty signs littered for stretches. Rosary followed along with him, a displeased look on her face.

"They sound like they're in pain." Wanderer said, picking up his pace.

"Mm…"

The voice led him over to a large crowd of people who were injured and bruised all over. Various people who looked to be doctors tended to the wounded and gave various orders about evacuation and safety. However, Wanderer paid them no attention, as if they weren't even there.

"Lower…" he said to himself.

Rosary looked around in utter shock of what became of these people.

"They were all here this whole time…" she muttered. "In a place like this…"

She quickly caught up to Wanderer, who was defending down a staircase found in one of the rundown tents. There, he was met with another crowd of people who were all circling around something. Wanderer weaved his way through the crowd until…

"-!"

"Hiro!"

That voice…

I lifted my head up off of Xylvia's shoulder and could see Wanderer trying to squeeze his way through the crowd. He looked glad to see me, but his face went pale when he looked at my foot.

"What happened to you?" He asked me.

I grimaced a little from that question.

"I…was a little too slow." I said, trying to play it off as a joke.

Wanderer's gaze followed the trail of blood that led all the way back to the closed wall.

"D-Does it…hurt?"

"It's…numb. Kinda hard to describe. Like, a part of me is gone."

"So this is where everyone is…"

I could see Rosary managing her way through the crowd, a wave of relief emanating from the look on her face. It lasted up until she saw my left leg.

"Hiro…"

"I'm ok…I think," I reassured her with a faulty smile. "We found where everyone was. They were kidnapped by some weird group."

I looked over at the Wanderers who were grouped up and just huddled over near a wall. They looked like they were conversing, but they're mouths weren't moving.

"Over there…" Wanderer muttered.

His eyes were fixated on the group of Wanderers minding their business. He began to walk closer to them.

"They saved me," I said to Wanderer. "I'm not sure if they can understand me, but could you tell them thank you for me…if you can understand them?"

"What are they doing here?" Rosary asked as she approached.

"The group that took these people also had these Wanderers trapped," Xylvia explained. "Jos-…their leader went on about some Satan person and his divine power and wanted to kill all the Wanderers. They all ended up in Stage 4. The leader along with the Wanderer that brought us here to free that group were killed in the rubble."

"…I see."

"They must've been hunting them," Wanderer said as he admired his people. "But why did they bring your people here as well?"

"Sacrifices. Maybe wanted to make some of them join them? Either way, none of it was for anything good. We got them all out though."

"Three stayed behind." I said.

"What do you mean?" Xylvia asked me with concern.

"Three Wanderers stayed behind. The walls were closing and we weren't gonna make it. They weren't as strong as the one that held Josiah back and protected us, but they stayed behind. One even…petted me on the shoulder."

My left shoulder. I never felt anything like that before. Such a wholesome and comforting feeling. That feeling would forever be engraved into my head for the rest of my life.

"And the one that brought us here. They looked at me… They looked so sad…so angry."

I clenched my hands slightly.

"But…they also looked really happy. As if death meant nothing to them. I've never seen someone's eyes look like that before. They may have saw something else, but all I saw was…"

A small tear rolled down my right cheek.

"…hopelessness…"

I didn't only see it, but I felt it as well. That hopeless feeling. The feeling you get when you realize that nothing you did or could've done would've mattered anyways. That feeling you get when all the decisions you've made end up making things worse for you or for the ones you love.

Such a horrible feeling.

I had my arms rested on the knee of my right leg, my head buried into them.

"I couldn't help anyone," I muttered through my arms. "And now I'm down a fucking leg…"

I felt the stump on my left leg begin to sting.

"Hiro…" Xylvia started.

Suddenly, everything went silent. Not silent, muffled, as if I had a pair of headphones on. The hairs on my arms raised, and I could feel a shiver creep up my spine as my shoulder began to shudder in response. I lifted my head and began to look around, an uneasy feeling beginning to overwhelm me.

"Hiro…what's wrong?" Xylvia asked me in a muffled voice.

"I…don't feel right." I said, my own voice muffled as well.

I only had one leg, but I felt the need to get up.

"Hey, Hiro…!"

Xylvia put my arm around her shoulder to help me walk. Rosary and even Wanderer looked over at me with concern. I could tell Xylvia was very confused, but she still helped me move where I felt the need to go.

Something felt off. Mysterious? No…menacing. No, worse than that. Malicious. Evil. Relentless. Murderous. Insane.

I closed my eyes and calmed my rabid breathing. My heart began to beat slowly, slow enough for me to focus. Somewhere…in the crowd…

"…"

*ba-dump!*

"…"

*ba-dump!*

"…"

*ba-dump!* …*zing!*

*SNAG!*

The tip of the blade was about seven inches away from where I was standing as I held it in my hand.

"Gotchu." I muttered to a person standing fifteen meters away and within the crowd.

Suddenly…

*SHWRRR SHWRRR…shwooo shwooo…!*

They began whistling maliciously. Two high pitches, a pause, then two low ones.

"I wasn't expecting that," said the voice of a man. "You really are something special. Too bad that it means nothing to me."

His hair was a dark black and was slick backwards. Malicious, golden eyes and a creepy smile made him look sly. He wore a black leather trench coat with pockets of knives that I could make out on the inside of his coat. His pants and shirt were a darker shade of white with concerning red splotches on them, and his black boots made audible clomping sounds as he walked towards us.

He was much taller than me. And he was definitely much stronger than me as well.

"So you're the man who's trying to kill me?" I said to him.

"Well, you could say that," he smirked. "Of course, I'd want to get to know you first. So much about you. So much…history that I'd need to learn. I just reeeeally want to lock you in a cage and study you for hours. If only that Mistake had stayed obedient… I'm very disappointed in you."

Wanderer took a step back, the rest of the Wanderers suddenly step in front of him, like they were trying to protect him.

"Heh, an interesting bunch you guys are. I'll be sure to put some time into you as well."

He then turned over to Rosary.

"Ooh…another Mistake?" He smiled creepily.

"What's that supposed to mean." Rosary glared at him.

The man began to circle around her, his eyes going up and down as he glossed over her. I could see Rosary slightly shiver from the man's creepy attitude.

"Hmm…vulgar," the man said. "However, quite knowledgeable. A similarity that I love to see. You know, people just don't understand the importance of taking the time to learn something. The amount of information there is to know is endless. The hours you spend being absorbed in those studies is quite the-"

"What the hell do you want?!" Xylvia shouted at the man.

"…You wanna die, Biter?"

A stream of crimson flames suddenly shot out from Xylvia's hands and went straight towards the smiling man. The crowd of people watching silently quickly got out of the way and began running up towards the entrance.

As for the man, he simply waved his hand and brushed away the flames as if it was just dust getting in his face.

"-!"

Xylvia looked completely bewildered.

"Anger, impatience, anxiety, distrust, and humiliation. So much negativity inside of you. A look into your past might be quite fun."

The man refocused his attention back at me. With the other three, he looked like he was just toying with them. However, I felt something different whenever he looked at me.

"Noticing that difference," he suddenly said. "Yep, I'm dead serious with you."

"What do you want with me?" I asked him.

"I just want to learn is all. However, those three seem to be a problem. And I doubt I can get away with it without that wench finding me out. Man, if only you had listened to me Mistake."

"If you take even a single step-" Xylvia started.

"You'll do what Biter?"

The man suddenly appeared right in front of Xylvia, inches away from her face. His eyes were haunting and his posture turned completely malicious. Xylvia was frozen. I knew that she wanted to fight, but she couldn't bring her arms up.

"I could kill every single one of you if I wanted to," he muttered quietly to us. "In fact, I really want to. Reeeeeeally want to…"

There was a long quiet pause. His stare was pointed at each and every one of us. It was only then I realized that his knife was no longer in my hand.

"You mere pesticides really can't comprehend just how far down the spectrum you truly are," the man sneered. "You dare raise your voice to a man far more powerful than your imagination could hope to be. A single breath from my mouth could wipe away any ounce of strength you could ever hope to muster. Not even your survival instinct, your rush of adrenaline, or even all the luck in the universe would be enough to save you."

He began circling us as he threw his insults, like a narcissistic predator toying with his prey.

"I can make whatever I want happen."

He suddenly appeared right behind the unconscious Catherine who was lying on the ground when-

*SLASH!*

A huge gash suddenly appeared across her neck, followed by a spray of blood that gush out like a horrific fountain. Catherine's eyes immediately shot open, her hands grasping onto the wound as she tried desperately to stop the bleeding. My eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Some of the people that were too scared to move with the rest of the crowd screamed in horror, Xylvia shouted in anger, Rosary and Wanderer were on the verge of crying.

And I…just stood there. Eyes widened, lips quivering, and my legs on the verge of giving out.

"Hm? Was that too dramatic," the man asked sarcastically. "Alright fine."

With a distinct *SNAP* of his fingers, the gash across Catherine's neck had sealed itself back up and all the blood had returned back. Catherine was also unconscious again, as if time had gone backwards.

"You get the idea now," the man asked, looking back over at us. "Now, as much as I'd looove to cage you all up, study every single part of your soul, then kill you in the most brutal way I can think of, I have to set the scene first! I need the proper…environment for every single one of you. Until then, please try to stay alive. You're all such fragile beings. It'd be a waste if you died before I have the stage prepared for you all."

Though he talked as if he was referring to everyone around him, his eyes were only locked on me. Even as he circled all around the crowd of the fearful, smiling and glaring as he looked to be almost dancing around us, his eyes lay only on me.

And with another *SNAP!*, he disappeared. No smoke, or flames, or any kind've magic shielded him as he vanished. It was as if he was just erased from this plane entirely.

…

There was nothing but silence that would last for over half an hour.