Isaac-

“Izzy! Help!”

Dashing forward I buried my fist into the chitin of a monster centipede. It was like piercing a watermelon full of dirty oil. The inky blood spilled over me as the beast let out it’s final cries. As soon as its core fragment broke, the body and blood turned to ash.

With no enemies in sight, I pushed forward running through the streets of a familiar yet foreign medieval city. Which may or may not be a twisted up version of Entropy’s capital.

The roads were like a labyrinth. The buildings lining the road were so tall and close together that there was no other way of getting through, but to take the impossible maze. At one point I was sure I’d gone left 5 times yet the streets somehow managed to look different despite the obviously massive circle I’d taken.

Along the way I ran into waves of monsters. They were all centipede of varying sizes and levels. One after the other they fell. Swiftly I began to clear my way through this city-like dungeon.

“Please! I need help! It hurts Izzy!” Alice’s voice sounded so far away. I wasn’t even sure where it was coming from. It seemed to be an echo of an echo.

“I’m coming!” I yelled as I kept moving forward. Kept punching. Kept calling her name. “Alice!”

Finally, after a mountain of dead centipede ash. I burst through the final wave of mobs and found her. She was suspended in the air, held up by Squirmy’s needle-like legs. His top half had taken the form of my brother. While the bottom half had become that of a centipede, coiling around Alice’s body.

His dirty legs were stabbed deep into her, controlling her joints like she was some kind of puppet. Her bones were being shifted. Twisting and sliding under her skin. Distorting her body into something unrecognizable. She no longer resembled a human being anymore.

Squirmy smiled, his eyes glowing a crimson red. “You’re running out of time Isaac.” He ran his claw-like fingernails over Alice’s misshapen neck, causing blood to bubble around the wound as tears ran down her twisted jaw. Her vertebrae had been pulled up into her neck making it arc to the left. She made the most inhuman cries as Squirmy laughed.

“No! Let her go!” I tried to move, but couldn’t, as sudden pain radiated from my right leg. I looked down only to see a black needle stabbing out of my shin and through my foot, pinning me to the ground. The chitter chatter of mandibles rubbing together filled my ears as I realized one of those monsters was right behind me.

It's body tilted to my left side and pulled forward. I turned to look at it. It’s red eyes stared back as yellow venom dripped from its mouth. Its mandibles opened for attack as a thin needle sprung out of the opening.

Weakly I tried to knock it off with a backhand, but it pulled away before I could connect. Squirmy found it hilarious and began laughing in my brothers voice, only for it to distort towards the end into a much more demonic chuckle.

“Make him watch.” Commanded Squirmy.

The demon spawn stung my back injecting a paralytic into my body. My limbs went limp as I fell to the ground unable to do a thing. Before my entire body could go numb I closed my eyes in fear of what came next.

It’s legs stabbed into the sides of my head holding it up. In this position my eyes would have been fixed on Alice. I didn’t want to watch and thankfully my eyelids were closed before I could lose complete control. My quick thinking was for not as the bug bit down on my face, ripping off chunks of skin.

I was unable to do a thing as it’s acidic saliva melted it’s meal allowing it to swallow. It continued ripping out my face until both my eyelids were gone. It was so painful, I couldn’t even scream.

Unable to blink I was forced to watch my wife’s horrible fate. Though, instead of fear or pain in her eyes. She looked upon me with anger and disgust.

Squirmy began to snap her bones back into place returning her to her original shape. Her skin had become a dark purple and had swollen significantly, but it was my Alice.

The last thing to pop back into place was her jaw bone. Now able to talk I expected her to call out for help. To cry for me to get up, but instead she said, “It’s all your fault.” Accompanying her words was a splatter of blood and saliva on the ground.

Squirmy’s arm turned into a thin black scythe-like blade. He laughed as he cut Alice into ribbons right in front of me. The whole time she kept that same hatred in her eyes. Even when her head rolled out in front of me, she looked at me in disgust.

-Aku/Isaac-

I woke from my sleep in a cold sweat. I had to stop myself from screaming and waking everyone up. The sound of the centipede screeching from worlds away rung in my head. It wasn’t real! It was a dream! It had to be!

I hugged my knees and cried. “It’s not real. It’s not real… it’s not real.” I repeated those words over and over again in hopes of them being true.

“I’m so sorry. I killed them. Why am I so useless! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! You fucking dumbass! Why couldn’t you just let Centa have your life… that’s all you had to do. You just had to be selfish! You just had to want something better! You never deserved any of it!”

Tears continued to fall onto my pants as I sobbed quietly in the dark. Snowball was there next to me. Her eyes judging me. Even she hated me.

I wish I was never born. I’m the worst. I killed my dad. I destroyed my family. Worst of all, I sentenced an entire world to a fate worse than death. All because I wanted to be selfish. All because I wanted my own happy ending.

Sleep was the worst, so I stayed there crying into these unfamiliar chicken legs. I didn’t want to go back to sleep. I didn’t want to see those horrors again. I wanted to die. Only then could everyone else be happy.

It might have already been too late for that. My death wouldn’t fix what was already broken. I was the one that created this mess. It wouldn't be fair to shit on the carpet and leave everyone else to clean it up.

Then again, all I was good for was making big messes. If I tried, the only thing that would happen is I’d smear it around and make it worse. Why was I so useless?

Eventually sleep came knocking once more. My head felt so heavy. My eye lids begged to be closed. I had a horrible headache from lack of sleep. My body was always sore. My bones were in so much pain. My feet felt like tenderized meat, and I was pretty sure I had a mild fever.

A sleepy fog began to cloud my mind. My body demanded rest. It was so tempting. My eyes closed and for a moment the sounds of the bugs outside stopped as I fell asleep again. Within a second of falling asleep I saw Alice being torn to shreds by a sea of demon bugs.

“No!” I cried as my aura flared to life. 20, 30, no 50 layers covered my body in a blueish silver glow. I thought of my childhood. I thought of the apathy the world felt for me and watched as a dark miasma engulfed the room. I pulled. Not a few. Not half, but as much of the dark aspects as I could fit into my aura.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Apathy flooded the fuzzy bubble around my body and soon nothing bothered me anymore. Even my body became numb as all I could feel was warm sharp needle pricks along the entire surface of my skin. Only one thought inhabited my mind.

“I need to get stronger.” I murmured.

Rising to my feet, I headed out the door. My steps were heavy thuds as I made my way down the hall and out into the courtyard.

Once there, I practiced just about everything I’d learned so far. The kata, my auras, even the few spells I’d learned. Then a Fireball sprung to life becoming a solid red flame. I fired it into the sky and watched it explode several feet above my head. The embers quickly twisted and expanded into a ball the size of a car, as the kinetic force pushed the flames out. It almost looked like a blooming flower.

I needed something to hit. Seeing the trees all around me, I began to create several fireballs. Draining the heat aspects from the courtyard. Even if it was cold outside, I was still able to draw in the ambient heat in the area, freezing the ground and lowering the temperature by several degrees. After all, nothing could be absolute zero.

I was about to launch them when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Stop it! What do you think you’re doing? You’re going to burn the whole monastery down!” Yelled Zubu.

Her touch seemed to Inject another 0 tier aspect into my aura. It was so persistent and invasive. Like getting honey on your hands. She was attacking my aura somehow.

I hated the aspects. They were slowly undoing my safe cloud of apathy, causing my mental fortitude to crumble. What was she doing? What was this aspect and why was it so attached to me? No matter what I did I couldn’t shake It off.

Whatever it was. The foreign aspects burned through my apathy like it was made of paper. Immediately, I felt like falling back into the foggy darkness of sleep. Back where my demon could reach me.

I shook my head. “No! I need to get stronger! I need to keep going!” I cried.

She gave me that look. The one I hated so much. Pushing her arm away I yelled, “I’m not crazy! I’m not! Stop looking at me that way! Why do all you stupid people look at me like that! Stop it! Stop looking at me!” I shoved her, putting a little more distance between us.

She tried to come closer again. I felt like blasting her in the face. Maybe once her eyes were gone then she’d stop looking at me like that. That was what I wanted, but I couldn’t.

My fireballs dimmed. Their orange glow faded as I dropped to my knees and broke down. My aura was all over the place. It was so unstable that it sputtered out.

I couldn’t do that. Lashing out at the world would only end in way more pain. It wasn’t fair. Why did reality hate me so much? Even if I were to burn this entire world to the ground, reality still wouldn’t care.

Zubu got down on her knees, closing the distance between us. “Isaac… it’s okay.” She wrapped me up in a hug. “You’ve been working really hard. You deserve a break.”

I shook my head and like a cranky toddler that refused to sleep. I cried, “No! I don’t want to sleep! I don’t want to watch my wife get torn to pieces again! Don’t make me! I hurt you too! I’ll do it again and again! Its happened so many times now! I keep hurting everyone!”

“Shhh, shhh.” She cooed. “It’s okay. I forgive you. I’m not afraid.” She said as she stroked my back.

“You can’t! You shouldn’t forgive me! You don’t mean it! Just because you feel pity doesn’t mean I didn’t do horrible things! I’m not a good person! I’m a monster!” I cried.

“You, a monster?” She laughed. “No way. How could a little piss baby like you be a monster? If you try to throw any of those little tantrums I’ll show up to punish and put you in a corner. It’s time for bed Isaac. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get a good rest.” Said Zubu.

“Shut up! You’re only forgiving me because you think I’m crazy! Let me go!” I cried as I thrashed in her arms. She only seemed to hold me tighter.

This stupid girl didn’t understand. Why does she keep trying to get herself killed! Doesn’t she know I was about to burn her to ashes!

“Don’t be a dumbass!” She yelled. “I forgive you because I don’t want to see you in pain anymore!” That was when I felt something warm and wet land on my shoulder. Was she crying?

She couldn’t do that! She couldn’t suddenly care like that! It was fake! She was a bully and was trying to trick me!

It was a lie! Why was she so comforting? Her emotions. She was sad. Sad for me. No, it wasn’t real. How could I trust her! How could I trust any of these people when all they ever do is lie and try to lock me up!

She was trying to get me to have more nightmares, so she could laugh at me! She even took my aura away so I’d be in pain! Dispelling auras wasn’t possible! What the hell was with these strange aspects! They were clinging to me like a wet blanket!

How did they break my aura? It wasn’t possible! This stuff was… Oh, but that didn’t make any sense. Why would Zubu have love aspects? Better yet, how could that effect my aura? No, it didn’t dispel my aura. Just the aspects.

My apathy was built on the memories of no one carrying about me. That’s why the love aspect was able to break it down. Without a foundation my aspects crumbled away. Despite the situation, that was actually pretty cool. Ideas and philosophies could actually battle it out on a battlefield.

I’m an idiot. I knew it wasn’t true. The apathy was born out of a time when I was used as a punching bag. Back when everyone else got to be selfish. Of course this was only a small part of my life. Since then I’ve found people that actually cared about me.

Though it was never about the people. It was about the apathy of the universe. I suppose people also counted. Was my philosophy just disproven by this bad mouthed girl? I guess it wasn’t that infallible to begin with. In all honesty it was the ideals of an emo kid. I felt myself cringing inside.

Alice cared about me, so did my guild mates. My sister cared to a certain degree. Maybe not my brother. He was to weak for loyalties. My mom… she cared. At least that’s what Cosmo told me. Dad definitely cared. Hell even my boss cared about my well being.

As an adult the world was a lot better. I no longer got my ass beat for one. People actually treated me with a bit more respect. I didn't have enemies anymore. Everything was a lot more mundane. I mean sure I now had responsibilities, but those weren't necessarily a bad thing. If anything, they made me feel a bit more confident.

Why the hell did I become an unfeeling monster to begin with? My dad was kind of like that. I guess it was easier if I pretended they didn’t care, because then I wouldn’t hurt anyone when I did horrible things. Because if I did care, then they could hurt me. By not feeling anything, or having expectations of people. The world couldn’t effect me. It almost made me invincible.

Of course I couldn’t hold my emotions in forever. Eventually something would happen. Whenever someone I truly cared about got hurt. I’d instantly jump in to fix the wrong. Granny was the first. Then there was Alice.

Did this mean Zubu actually cared about me? It was the only way to undo my apathy, so she had to have been concerned. She was still crying.

I really didn’t like the fact that she was sad. She was also, regretful that she was so mean to me. Zubu was feeling my pain. It wasn’t on the same level of empathy I could accomplish. It was the basic level any human could give to another. I wouldn’t call it pity. She genuinely felt like I had been wronged.

I wasn’t sure on what. if it was how she treated me, or my crappy past. He’ll maybe it was what I had to face in a few days. Who knew, it could be all of the above. What I understood was that she was upset because of me.

I didn’t want to, but I did care about Zubu. I cared about her a lot and I’m also the reason she’s sad now. The fact was that I hurt her. I made her cry. Realizing that, I began to feel bad. I didn’t like it when the people I liked felt bad. Especially when it was my fault. I even made her get up in the middle of the night.

“Don’t cry. I’m really sorry.” I apologized as my guard dropped completely, allowing myself to be fully embraced. Maybe I could be her Snowball for a bit. I was soft, squishy, and cuddly. Why not?

“What are you sorry about? I shouldn’t have been such an asshole.” She cried.

I giggled. “What do you mean? That’s just who you are. It’s kind of scary, but it’s also a lot of fun too. You’re the only person that doesn’t fall for my charms.”

“You’re such a weirdo.” She said.

For the first time since Alice, I felt like I could completely trust another person. So much so that I fell asleep.

-Yukio-

I held Isaac in my arms. His body was burning up. Almost like he had a fever. I knew he was having trouble sleeping, but this was different. This was full on exhaustion.

That aura was so dark and dense. It was like a void. I never knew there could be so much apathy in one place. It wasn’t just in his aura. It was all around the courtyard. This level of madness was beyond anything I’d ever seen.

The amount of PTSD written patients that have come through this mountain were nothing compared to what I just witnessed and to think I was such an asshole to him. I really wish I’d been a little nicer. Neutral at the very least.

I looked around at the damage. Nothing was truly broken, but the ground had ice over it. Isaac was always doing impossible things. Normally drawing in heat aspects was way harder the less heat there was, but somehow while sleep deprived, he managed to almost suck the area dry.

I could feel heat already spreading from the points where the fireballs died out. It would probably take an hour or two before the aspects integrated back into the area.

“That child is very dangerous isn’t he?” Asked the lore keeper. She appeared from the shadows. I hadn’t even noticed her until she spoke.

“Should we tie him up?” I asked, half joking, half serious.

“Heavens no. Right now, I think he needs rest. I’ll see if Cosmo can talk with Morpheus about those dreams he is having. For now put him back to bed.” Said the lore keeper.