7:30 PM: Sunset

Despite everyone being dismissed for the day and most returning to the RV camp to enjoy dinner, Clay still lay on the dusty dry lakebed, exhausted and with a gun clinched in his right hand. It was in these quiet times that Clay often wondered what the hell happened to this life and why.

Despite the rumbling of his stomach, Clay was too tired to get off the ground. Suddenly, Clay started chuckling. Clay’s sudden laughter came to an equally sudden end when a familiar pair of fancy shoes entered his field of vision.

“What is so funny? Tell me.” Shane asks with a paper plate filled with steak and mashed potatoes in hand. When Clay sat up, he noticed the steam coming from the plate and the smell made his already rumbling stomach turn into a motorcycle engine.

“Nothing. It’s just ironic is all….” Clay vaguely observed.

“How so?” Shane prodded as he offered Clay the plate.

“I always loved stories about heroes. But man…… I really wasn’t ready to learn that the hero’s journey really sucks.” Clay declared as his laughter quickly returned, his gaze still locked on the gun in his hand.

All Shane did was silently look at his formerly online friend losing his mind and eventually he joins in on the laughter.

“W-what the hell i-s s-o funny?” Clay questioned Shane as he struggled to get his words out amidst the laughter.

“I always told you to lay off the shonen. It’ll give you unrealistic expectations. Even some SOL is better for you man.” Shane commented.

“I mean, if I wanted to watch a bunch of high school students do stuff, I would have just become a teacher.”

“I figured you were going to say, ‘berserk is the best slice of life series’, but I guess I’ll take the other response I’ve heard a million times over.” Shane commented, a warm familiarity flowed through both of their words, or maybe it was the heat from the setting sun, who knows.

“……. No comment.” Clay responded, his laughter having died down and replaced with a slight smile.

“Anyway, you still need to watch Monogatari. I mean it’s not as good as Zaregoto but it’s much better than the standard shonen.” Shane suggested.

“I’ll watch it with you. The viewing order still makes my head explode.” Clay explained.

“Didn’t I give it to you like, 20 times already?”

“That didn’t help…. at all. Besides, we need to discuss the philosophy of the scene that ‘ruined toothbrushes’” Clay commented, which caused both him and Shane to start laughing again.

“Anyway, eat.” Shane commanded once he finished laughing, nudging the paper plate at Clay’s empty hand.

“Well…. since you asked so nicely.” Clay snarked as he grabbed the plate and held it above his lap, letting go of the gun in his other hand.

“Before I go, don’t be like Phil. Remember, when the choice between using a fork and your hands arises…. the obvious answer does not need any explanation.” Shane philosophically mused, which Clay thought was just him saying ‘use your fork’. A point Clay did not really need explained…. Though despite wanting to chow down on the New York strip and pile of mash potatoes on his plate, Shane’s bizarre ‘advice’ made the questions he had about Ophelia rise in his mind once again.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“No. Please eat.” Shane immediately shot him down; the stern insistence combined with his constant smile slightly unnerved Clay.

“Look!” Clay ordered before scooping up some mash potatoes onto his plastic fork and shoved it into his mouth.

“Naw can ah ashk you?!” Clay forcefully requested, with potatoes in his mouth.

“Fine. But please don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s just…. Gross.” Shane relented.

“Mhk so….” Clay began just before swallowing the food in his mouth.

“What’s the deal with Ophelia?”

“What do you mean?” Shane wondered.

“I mean…. Where the hell do I start? What’s with her hard-ass attitude? Why did she try to kill me? And aside from that, why does she act weird around m-?”

“She’s a tsundere, didn’t you know?” Shane interrupted Clay’s line of questioning.

“I-i’m being serious here man!” Clay responded with a light bit of embarrassment and irritation in equal measure. Some of that mix of feelings being due to Clay having felt the same way but he didn’t want to say it out loud. Besides, Clay had no patience for that kind of character. Though he never had a girlfriend before in his life, he would prefer his romantic relationships to be direct, honest, and straight forward. No will they or won’t they BS for him.

“Oh, so am I. Didn’t I mention that Phil and I come from another dimension?” Shane tried to remind Clay.

“Speaking of shit that makes my head explode. From Monogatari watch orders to interdimensional travel….” Clay commented as he scooped another bit of mashed potato onto his plastic fork and into his mouth.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Don’t focus on the details right now. Anyway, I don’t know Phil as much as my brother-.”

“You have a brother? Think you mentioned that before but I’m not sure….” Clay interrupted Shane, after swallowing the mashed potato he had been chewing on a few seconds ago.

“His name was Shawn.”

“Let me guess…. Twins?” Clay wondered as he put the third or fourth forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

“Nope, he was bigger than me, by two years.” Shane confirmed. This minor revelation caused Clay to do a spit take, mash potatoes having landed on the left pant leg of Shane’s blue striped pants.

“….. I should have seen that coming really,” Shane commented as Clay tried to gather his thoughts. Given that a large part of their online friendship revolved around Clay grasping at any straw that Shane would leave hanging about his life outside of anime fandom, Shane’s sudden candor caught Clay off guard.

“W-w-Hold up! Older brother? Didn’t you tell me you had a couple brothers and a couple sisters? Did you just tell me all that to get me off your trail?” Clay asked in a perplexed tone.

“Who knows? Didn’t I say to not get too caught up in the mechanics?” Shane reminded Clay, letting out a loud belly laugh response.

“…. Sorry. Please continue. About Ophelia….” Clay apologized in a quiet trembling voice that bordered on being a mumble, taking another scoop of mash potatoes as he hung his head low.

“Oh no, it’s fine. That’s what I like about you. You are very …. interesting.” Shane proclaimed as his laughter came to a gradual conclusion.

“Anyway, where were we? …. Yes, I don’t know Phil as much as my brother, but I can only imagine seeing your face is not easy for her.” Shane alluded.

“Ok, sorry if I sound like an asshole here but could you let me in on why that is? I don’t have time to play detective like usual.” Clay ordered, apologetic and blunt in equal measure.

“Damn, you got some kind of knife on you?” Clay asked Shane as he moved onto the steak on his paper plate, having finished all his mashed potatoes.

As Shane pulled a plastic knife out of the right pocket of his suit jacket, He let out a sigh before handing Clay the knife and he sharply told him “You died.”

“Huh? Wanna run that by me again?” Clay requested in a flat tone, dropping the plate onto his lap and taking the plastic knife from Shane’s hand.

“Not you per say. Your counterpart from our reality. I barely knew that Clay Alvarez, but I know that he was close to Phil.” Shane clarified.

“….. How did he die? Was he a Chosen too?” Clay questioned Shane in a still and trembling tone as he held his plastic utensils above his plate.

“He was not a Chosen, just a boy that was consumed by the savage nightmare that the Lords left behind.” Shane confirmed.

“A boy? ….. Shit!” Clay quietly exclaimed. Hearing about his own death was frightening enough but Shane’s light description of his otherworldly counterpart brought the weight of the fight Clay picked with his patron Lord back into his mind, and the weight was heavy.

“You asked about Ophelia and made it about yourself.” Shane observed, letting out a light chuckle afterward.

“Sorry. But can you blame me right now?”

“No, I get it. This is a cruel war we must fight.” Shane grimly proclaimed, though once again, the smile on his face belied the gravity of his words.

“Yeah, I think I learned my lesson here. Thanks.” Clay sarcastically proclaimed, though trying to spice his response with humor did not take the edge of the anxiety that once again weighed heavily on his entire being.

“Well, as long as you know…. Enjoy your steak.” Shane concluded (though Clay could not catch if there was any sarcasm in what he said or not).

“Wait, that’s it?” Clay stood up and asked in a shocked tone as Shane began to walk away from him.

“I mean, what else do I have to say?” Shane questioned a few steps away from Clay, not looking at his friend.

“Wait, one more thing.” Clay requested, which stopped Shane in his tracks.

“…. What happened to the Chosen in your world…...?” Clay hesitantly asked, still not used to asking questions where he dreaded the answer.

“I don’t know really. I believe they were all killed.” Shane speculated, his back still facing Clay.

“How were they killed? Why do you think they died?” Clay asked, a subtle panic underlining his questions.

“I mean, we never saw any of them. You’d think if you were given God like power in a destroyed world, you’d want to rule over it. Though maybe the thing that gave them power over the world was the one thing that destroyed them in the end….?” Shane grimly wondered.

Despite Clay finding it funny when old cartoons and anime dubs replaced the word ‘kill’ with ‘destroy’, Shane’s current word choice only sent chills down his spine. He almost desperately wanted to make a joke out of what Shane just told him, but Clay couldn’t find any humor in his situation, not even in bad taste.

As Shane faded away in the distance with two small lizards following behind him, Clay stared downward at the steak on his plate, his appetite giving way to a despair that has been brewing since he left Las Vegas and has only gotten more potent after talking to Shane.

Though his conversations with Shane had previously always been an escape from the loneliness and aimlessness that was his life since graduating from college, this time, it was a chilling reminder of what his Lord told him during their last meeting. Clay was swimming against a waterfall. So, was all the suffering he endured the past few days all for nothing? The loss of his family and the potential that his life will get better?

Without warning, Clay threw his plate in front of him and fell to his knees. Through his panicked frustration, Clay realized a strange irony. Shane was right, Clay asked about Ophelia but learned more about himself than anything about her. And yet, Clay believes he can finally understand why Ophelia acts as edgy as she does. If anything, Clay gained a small amount of respect toward Ophelia. He originally thought she was insane but after realizing how hopeless and cruel their situation is, the fact that she was sane at all felt miraculous to Clay.

***

After a few hours that felt like two days, Clay decided to stand back up and walk toward the RV camp, the sun having well since set. Despite the long amount of time he sat alone, the weight of Clay’s fears did not lighten as he found each step he took more arduous and exhausting than the last. As Clay kept walking forward, flies, once again, slowly began to orbit around his head.

“Lea-!”

Before Clay could finish his command to the flies, two statements that he heard recently began to echo in his head:

Those that live, struggle.

You’d think if you were given God like power….

With a sudden realization, Clay stopped walking and started issuing instructions to the flies.

“FLY LEFT!” Clay commanded; the flies all moved to the left of Clay.

“FLY DOWN!” Clay ordered one of the flies that he pointed to at random. Despite having difficulty spotting one fly in a crowd of many, Clay was able to eventually spot one fly right near his ankle.

At this moment, Clay truly felt like the Lord of the Flies, his initial disgust for his newfound powers giving way to an excitement not dissimilar to having bought a new tool.

Though Clay felt like he should just stick to the basics and call it a night, there was a part of him that wanted to know how far his power and control could go. Ultimately, that part of him won out this night and after a deep breath, Clay reached out and pointed at a fly within the crowd at random and uttered the command:

“GROW!”

Like lightning, a purple light had enveloped the random fly and in a second, it was transformed into a hulking monstrosity with acid flowing from its mouth. Clay even noticed that its wings were so large that they created a slight draft in front of him like a fan.

Before Clay can bask in this transformation (in horror or in excitement, even he could not decide), A figure pops up from the darkness in front of him and yells “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?”