“Oh my God! OH MY GOD! Can you please walk faster with those two legs of yours, man?”

        A boy in his early teen age wearing a plain T-shirt and pants shouted at a particular boy whom was pacing towards them slowly. He was walking with a speed which presumably mocked the rest of the group he was accompanying.

        “Hey, you told me to slow down, man. Anything wrong about that?”

        The boy, wearing trousers instead of pants argued back since he was emphasizing the term ‘slowing down’ and insisted to do so at an extremely horrible speed. Even the grandma next to him was actually faster than the slow coach that acted on purpose.

        They were supposed to stay together while going on this trip, and if one of them was left going astray, it’ll be the group’s fault for leaving anybody behind.

        The punishments were… agonizing.

        “Yes! It’s damn slow!”

        Not though everyone in this group knew, the boy finally had a chance to follow them on joining an annual event. So a typical person to express his excitement in a childish way was a sign to hint the guys that he does not know how to act when the opportunity arrived.

        “Oh, okay… Race you first!”

        Although this was one of the weirdest way to tell people what you were thinking or feeling.

        “Not again!”

        I chuckled to myself as I watched the scenery, the boys chasing after a overly hyperactive freak. I could do nothing but laughed at my own childishness. Anon too, snickered underneath his hood, unable to bear the first dramatic scene when he was done channeling energy to perform a spectacular feat. It sounded impossible at first. But with magic, anything can happen.

        He brought us to my sea of memories, uncovering the sleeping dreams that I had once encountered in my life.

        This part of the memory I owned was where I first entered the festival held every year. It came with a plain name, but it delivered whatever you needed to know when you enter.

        The Fantasy Festival. A plain name with capital letters for the words, but it was enough to explain what it has to offer.

        I’ve heard from many people that went into the place came out with a big smile on their faces. It was a dream come true to see hundreds of mystical creatures appearing despite that all of them were fakes. We could all just get mesmerized by such a view, enjoying our delusional thoughts while we could.

        “This does refresh my memories nicely.” I said.

        “I knew it will. But cherish it while you can do so.

        Nothing in this world lasts forever anyway.”

        “Hmm……”

        I was able to recognize some of the faces in the all-boys group. I am sure that one guy in the red T-shirt was called Philip. And there should be a boy called George… Yeah, he’s there. Shying away from the larger crowd as usual. Oh, Carl’s here too. I’m surprised that he grew taller than the rest from my last thought of him. The fact that he must had hit a growth spurt came a little while later on to fill in the memory gap.

        Ah, there’s Fred. He’s always on the lookout for snacks to chow on… Hmm? Hey, that’s Billy! He’s getting chubby; thanks to Fred pointing out all of the high content calorie consumables at the same time.

        I could tell the boys were fairly more than just feeling annoyed, but soon my past self also got tired of playing like that and chose to obey them without further complains. That was indeed a very immature act for me to pull on them, whereas I should be grateful.

        Well, as how I assumed in my past, being the youngest in the group became a good excuse to stay like a kid.

        It didn’t help them to explain the issue though.

        “So this is how you will act in front of me the next time I show you something interesting? That’s gonna be a keeper then.”

        “Huh?”

        “I can film some of these and show it to the whole world. That’ll be really fascinating to figure out what will happen next.”

        “No!” I screamed at Anon, who took out a portable camera from his magical pockets and aimed at the suddenly paused scenery. To expect that he could actually project my sleeping memories into the surroundings, I am sure that he was capable of doing things out of the normal.

        *Click**Click**Click*

        And I’ve got neither the supernatural strength nor the flexibility to stop him.

        *Vrmm**Ka-chak*

        “Mm. This is a nice one. I’m keeping it.” He said in front of me that was on all fours, while he placed the newly printed photo into his right pocket. I had gave up on preventing him from taking candid shots of my past goofy self that was not aware of it happening.

        *Click*

        And of course, taking a photo of me falling awkwardly onto the floor.

        “Can’t forget you too, man! You make a good clown of the century!”

        Fuck that hoodie boy.

        “Now, now. Mind your tongue, Winston. Lest you want a pinch on somewhere else.”

        “…Yes, Anon.”

        “Alright, you remembered this area. Anything special over here to be highlighted?”

        “What do you mean?” I asked, getting up and brushing the dust off my sleeves.

        “Is there anything worth recalling in the festival?”

        “Hmm… maybe. A couple of friends or so, and the many, many activities we get to participate in.”

        The festival held every year had the wonderful creativity to make more and more things to appear to appeal us and the tourists that often bugged the cosplaying residents. It’s not that it concerned any of the group members, though it was worth remembering how dressing up as an otherworldly being was surely bringing in a lot of attention.

        Take my memories for example, there was a person who cosplayed as a Grim Reaper wielding a large scythe got bulldozed by the people thanks to its realism. The robe. The weapon. Everything looked so real, so it depicted how much effort he wasted on only to have it left in a cloud of dust.

        Another cosplayer, dressing up as one of the famous game characters who had quite a very real, bulky and heavy arsenal got dragged along by the similar group of tourist that assaulted the former mercilessly. For a certain reason, I recognized him and I forgot who was that, but he was the only one to survive with half of his outfit intact. The rest of the victims had them torn to shreds. My friends and I went in to bail the poor guy out, before he got drowned by a sea of flesh and camera flashes.

        The tourists and travellers fought over for a picture of him, you see. He was at first delighted, then traumatized after Tourist Wave No. 50, which involved thirteen of them armed with phones, curious faces and a very deadly smile. The additional weaponry included the hands that fought over to immobilize his movements, or for a better word, pinning him down for a pose.

        He was a brave man to face that alone, whereas the others did that in groups of three and four. The festival itself lasted for fourteen hours, and it’s unlikely that the courageous cosplayers could stand their ground for more than one.

        So I assume he was depending on the plastic swords, daggers and one large hammer to fight back.

        “Alright, guys! Let’s head for the stalls over there!”

        “Way ahead of you, man!”

        The leader of the group shouted directions as my past self ran off before the guy pointed at an obvious row of snacks, candies, beverages and souvenirs. My mouth drooled on seeing so much processed sugar arranged neatly in one big stall, which promptly caused me to look into my pockets for some money.

        That was the real me doing that idiotic action. And when I realize that, Anon was probably filming me.

        “…Right. I’m in my memories, not reality.”

        “Good for you to remember that. Here.”

        “What the heck?”

        Much to my surprise, he didn’t. While I wasn’t looking at him, Anon was personally chowing on a large piece of fluffy cotton candy, and was handing out a second serving of that edible sugary cloud to me.

        “What’s your prank this time?” I grunted.

        “Not a prank, but a breather for you to rest for a moment before I pull more of those things.”

        “Wha…?”

        “Don’t say that I don’t know the word mercy. You are going to be my apprentice soon, no?”

        “Ah, right.”

        Back at the Underworld, we had come to terms to sign a proper contract so that Anon doesn’t screw me over or me screwing him over. One of the conditions was that I’ll be under his care, which meant fun for him, and torture for me. I would be forgiven to think that my resurrection would be an easy price to pay off. Perhaps I needed to give away my soul, or something like that, but this was no devil so as to say.

        This guy wanted amusement as his payment, and he’d gave a fair reason for that.

        When you’ve got all the time in the world, 24 hours worth of boredom was sufficient to drive somebody insane.

        “Alright, then. I feel the need to look around and see what is so interesting over here so that I’ll consider participating the next time this event is available. Mind you follow me and point them out before we move on?” Anon asked calmly with a neutral look.

        “Well, sure. Why not?” I said, taking a bite of the cotton candy that almost made my tongue retract to my throat. Anon chuckled at the sight when he forgot to remind me of a particular catch on the sugar we’re eating.

        This sweet cloud we’re scoffing on was about four times more sugary than the usual ones, and raises a high concern over going down with a case of diabetes mellitus if you are not an immortal.

        I could sigh in relief that I am one right now.

        Right?

        “So what’s that cosplayer over there?”

        “Oh, that? I think it’s what they call a Realm Ripper. Don’t know who named that, but it sounded cool.”

        “Agreed.”

        ……

        …

----------------------------------------

        It was about a week ago back at the secondary school of the city having a miniature version of a small Reaper’s gathering in the gardens concerning a very crucial and fatal topic of the era. There was plenty of strong-worded swearing against each other among themselves, due to the fact that they were fighting over for ideas to handle what was known to be the toughest, hardest and most fucked up issue in the Underworld.

        It was after all, the first time he declared such an order at them, which in turn became a crisis.

        “For fucking sake, this is him we’re talking about, so I suggest that we should take my idea!”

        “No!! It’s too risky! That idea is completely bullshit! We should take my idea!”

        “The both of your of suggestions suck like hell, man! We’re using mine!”

        “No, mine!”

        “Mine!!”

        “MINE!!!”

        *BAM*

        “SILENCE! This is him we’re speaking, so we are definitely not fucking this up! Lest you want to repeat the Neverwill, you are welcome to try!”

        “……”

        On that day, the bang on the stone table placed in the garden’s gazebo emitted a very dangerous sound and at the same time a very dangerous crack was visibly seen growing on the top and was splitting the thing into two neatly halved sections. The subordinates blinked for a moment before it fell into two pieces under the impact, frightening them as a result of their leader’s intimidating aura.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

        “This is something that we should… we must work together to overcome! So I will not accept the sight of this going off in front of me!” The Reaper roared.

        “Then should we inform the council instead…?”

        “NO!!!”

        A subordinate in the crowd timidly suggested what could be the best idea for them to take and face the problem, though with everyone rejecting it in unison, that idea was probably going to be dumped into the mental bin at record speed.

        “Mister, even if this is a big problem, it does not need to be informed to worry the council.”

        “…That would be the dumbest mistake to be done there, I know that.”

        “Gah!!”

        “WAHH!!!!”

        On the other hand, when it was not the former that answered the scolding, the sudden appearance of their current topic had arrived and was hanging next to the head of the Reapers, sending his workers into a quick scream, squeal or piss-in-the-pants all at once. This in return surprisingly made the boy tilt his head in confusion, wondering why they had to react so badly at his presence.

        “So what’s this about the council? I haven’t been hearing from the since last year during my visit.” He jokingly said.

        “Oh yeah, and that went so well, huh?!”

        “Well, for me, it did.”

        “Argh!! You scared the shit out of all of us you asshole!”

        “Oh, I did? That’s cool!”

        “……”

        Admittedly, during the previous year when the immortal went to the council and asked for his request, the whole Underworld was in an uproar and would want to look for an excuse to reject, yet for some reason, he never takes anything that sounded like a ‘no’ for an answer. Not a single person had tried saying that, but everyone was sure that not a single living being had actually got out alive if they said it either.

         The boy’s request was rather simple, and would’ve been approved as it was a common practice especially in other worlds, given that permit to reach the Soul Realm was done. Even if this was the first time this act was pulled in a non-magic zone, it won’t bring too much of a headache to the Underworld other than some thick paperwork.

        His reason to do so though, was more than just requiring a bunch of extra paperwork.

        “Dude, I beg you. Can you take back your papers?”

        “No can do, Reaper. I had to do this.”

        “Oh come on! Don’t you think there’s enough Chaos already?”

        “Look, this is why I ask you to keep an eye on him for abnormalities, and not use the way you assume is correct to take care of it. Now thanks to you, you just made my job harder.”

        “Do you even have a job?”

        “I thought everyone consider my existence as a job.”

        “Uh…”

        The group of Lil’ Reapers stood in silence, or to be precise sitting in silence when they lost their balance in their run. They weren’t too worried of exposing the whole commotion to mortals, not because of the fact that the garden was an isolated part of the school, but they had preemptively placed a sound proof barrier around the area. This was an important step before the dwellers of the Underworld perform secret talks in the Overworld.

        The Chaos immortal innocently looked at the Reaper, who was in a lost for words to reply some of the coldest facts that this boy could spontaneously come up with. He could only fidget in his seat, while a pair of chaotic eyes stare at him to squeeze an answer out of the otherworlder.

        “Look, man. I appreciate that you helped me during Neverwill, and I’m grateful that you did. But that’s literal history, and it’s hard for me to trust you when you’re putting petty grudges in a favor I gave you one full year ago.”

        “And you want to…?”

        “It’s simply like my request. Leave him to me. That’s all.”

        “No.”

        In the wave of a hand, an enchanted force strangled the Grim Reaper in an instant, followed by the others that tried to save him. The leader himself knelt in agony, grasping for the invisible energy crushing his throat.

        And a shadow loomed over him, which made him look up at the boy.

        “Sigh… I had enough of your rejects, dude. I hate it when everybody explains so much just to say no at me. Well, I’ll tell you this.

        I don’t care.

        Because of your emotions, it was difficult to keep him under control after he knew the truth, and thus leading to you-know-what-it-was. You know that I chose him, and I will take full responsibility to make sure it does not happen again. Perhaps I could give him a freewill period…”

        “……”

        “Oh, you’re choking. Sorry about that, and to you guys too. I almost forgot that you’re in mortal form. My bad.” The immortal said before releasing his magical grip. Everyone rapidly inhaled a lungful of air when the restriction disappeared.

        “Alright, it’s all settled, time for me to go.”

        “W-what? No! It’s… Huff… not!” The leader yelled hoarsely, letting out unstable squeaks as his voice recovered.

        “You don’t make the rules here Reaper, and neither do I. Let me take over this matter and you can go on with your normal life.

        Though, let’s hope that he doesn’t come here and cause a ruckus, eh?”

        “I said… Huff… no!”

        “For the last time, I’m not taking no for an answer, at least if you didn’t protest so much earlier. Also, I won’t let you interfere with his path. If he insisted to come here, let him be and allow him to finish whatever debt he did not accomplish, regardless of the severity.”

        “You are not going to do that.”

        Physically clutching his school uniform collar, the immortal spoke grimly with his signature smile, revealing a set of human-sized beastly teeth.

        “I’d like to see you try… I’ll be back in a week with his ripped soul, thanks to you.

        And let me remind you all, if anyone of you wanted to stop me, don’t say that I did not warn you of the dangers in the first place.

        Get in my way, and I can make your life the most miserable one in all of life, in all of history, and in all of the realms. Nobody wants to take that title, and I’m sure none of you wanted that either.”

        “Mister, we won’t be obeying you. We will stop you.”

        “I’ll be waiting for that moment, buddy. See ya.”

        *Snap*

        A powerful gust of wind was blown at the otherworlders, and had their eyes taking cover from its sheer strength alone. Some that stood up were temporarily caught up in the cyclone and was thrown into the man-made lake with a splash or into a prickly bush with pain. When it died down, the immortal was gone, and only the remains of his giggling echo boomed over the herbal garden, bringing in more silence in the aftermath.

        The Reaper looked into the sky, as their sound barrier was broken and fading like a popped bubble. He was still rubbing his red skinned neck, the pain throbbing his and all of the subordinates’ throat as if they just directly consumed a full tube of super duper spicy sauce. To fate’s surprise, that did happen when an otherworldly delivery guy sent the wrong topping to the wrong place. That was supposed to be sent to the local hot realms and a couple of Mexican restaurants, not a plane that favored cold toppings.

        “So, boss… Cough. You’re surely not going to do something this crazy, right?” The same boy in the crowd asked again.

        “…When I made friends with that psycho in Neverwill, it was the craziest thing I’ve ever done.”

        “……”

        “Did you know that he’s the one that gave me my job? He even personally went to the council for a recommendation through their suggestion box. That doesn’t mean I’ll let that pass, not that it will become a hazard to my life.

        He shall not get through… One of you!” He pointed at the group, “Inform the council about this after school and tell them to send some of the best elites to me.”

        “Sir, yes, sir!”

        “Also, have someone to think of an excuse of why the stone table’s split into two.”

        “…Sir, yes, sir!”

        As the day went by, the Reaper was forced to proceed on with his studies in his mortal identity, having to let his superiors handle the situation, although he was the first to insist that he should take it on without them. 

        That is, until the date 23rd November 2019 came into the calendar, being the final day before the holidays arrive.

        The wind blew at him and pierced straight into his spine to make him shiver in fright and frustration, because it caused his aim to go off in his basketball training while the crowd asked to see his legendary trick shot, ‘Over the Black Rainbow’.

        With a *Thunk* and a loud THUD, the ball slammed onto the board and ricocheted itself to hit an admirer’s head that requested to witness the trick.

        “Hey!! What gives, man?! I thought you say it never misses??!!” The curious admirer scowled and rubbed his sore cranial. He could feel a small harmless crack appearing in his noggin, and prayed it did not cause any future amnesia.

        “It definitely didn’t miss, and sorry!” He apologized, running to the direction of the bouncing ball. Picking it up, he gazed at the cloud and watched them move at a ridiculous speed for a while before it slowed to a crawl again.

        “Gee, the wind is a bit… awfully cold today.” He muttered, heading back to the field for an attempt of a second shot, to which the fan played with his words for payback.

        “Heh, the ‘Autumn’s Kiss’ made you shudder, didn’t it?”

        “No, it did not!”

        He knew that his Chaos friend was often serious.

        But today, it was intimidating.

        He raised his guard, in case a meteor came flying his way. It was possible.

        By all impossible means.

----------------------------------------

        “Hey, what’s that?”

        “Hmm, if I’m not wrong, then that is what the current cosplayer name it as a Worldcrusher.”

        “Worldcrusher?”

        “Yeah, the effects made by the guy was cool. Unless I’m mistaken, he got the first prize in the festival.”

        “Impressive…”

        The tour around the place went well for me and Anon, as we were entertained with tons of activities enough to keep the immortal pleasantly happy. With him pointing out the imaginative characters for me to recall, it became a win-win situation, helping the both of us to satisfy our requests. He wanted to know what the name of the clothing heap was, I wanted to refresh my hazy head. Processing useless info gradually woke up my formerly dead brain cells.

        The feeling’s rather mutual, and bothersome.

        “I know. And for the last time, keep the feeling of aweing everywhere to yourself.”

        For some reason, I kept agreeing on whatever that the boy recognized as ‘cool’ and said it out loud. Because of that, I decided to tell him to shut his mouth, and I don’t care if he wanted to pinch me for that.

        “Look, Anon. I really know that you’re curious and wanted to state your satisfaction with their naming, but…” I tried to say, but was cut off again.

        “Dude, I’ve got my rights to express verbally, and so do you. Be grateful that I didn’t restrict that.”

        “But…”

        “No buts. You were actually the one who responded in that manner.”

        “Who says so?”

        “…Hmm, that group of tourists looked awesome.”

        “I know…”

        “……”

        “……”

        “I told you so.”

        The boy was right somehow to back up my hypothesis. That group of people Anon mentioned was right behind me, and my memories later registered them properly to tell me that they were not related to my life. I suddenly spoke up to support that statement as if it was normal for us.

        Not to mention, despite what Anon said just now, was false.

        Those tourists were nightmares with legs. Flashes of light kept coming from that and several other sides of me, while Anon pulled out the fifth batch of cotton candy from behind him, scoffing them down at remarkable speed.

        “Well, *Om Nom Nom*, there is no need to be worried of that, at most you just pick a fight with someone,” He persuaded, grabbing a sixth helping with his free hand, “Until then in the near future, picking a fight with you would be a new thing for them to worry.”

        “I guess…” “Alright, no need to be so gloomy. We’ve got all of the time we need to run through all of your memories. Just make sure there’s something to keep me mesmerized, and I’ll let you hang around a little longer.”

        “Um, sure.”

        “So, which way?” He asked, gesturing me at the junction in the area we’re in.

        “Mm, to the right. We’re following my friends this time.” I responded, my feet taking me away to the direction I stated. The constant chattering, yelling and photo taking had dampened the sound of my footsteps, whereas I clearly remembered Anon’s walking was absolutely silent during the Underworld stroll.

        To which I pointlessy glared at him for a while for no reason upon pondering the fact, as he read my mind.

        “…What? I’ve been an assassin before. Anything wrong?”

        “Nah. It’s just creepy. Even with all of the noise here, your presence, it scares me.”

        “I’ve scared a lot of people in my travels. There’s nothing to be concerned about that. Ignore it, or get used to it. You’ll be seeing me very often soon this way.”

        “I can see why.” “Ice cream! Ice cream! Get your ice cream!”

        A familiar voice interrupted our talk with a nostalgic call of a particular treat being sold, and I watched me and the group eagerly running to the source to order cold treats from a man they knew.

        “Who’s that? You seem to know him very well.” Anon tilted his head in curiosity and crossed his arms, staring at the guys that already pulled out a handful of money. I instantly recognized that friendly face and his smile that warms cold hearts.

        “It’s dear old Uncle Joe. He’s the famous local seller of sweet delicacies. Every year, he sets up his stall at that exact spot to sell the ice cream he specially imported for the occasion.”

        “Oh, I may have heard of him?”

        “I bet you do if you did visit my town. He owns a candy store located near the outskirts of the zone. His assortment supply never fails to appeal any of us.”

        “How are you so sure that the Uncle Joe I’m mentioning is the same Joe?”

        “I’m a bit perceptive. And I believe that you’re a traveller, am I right?”

        “…You’re not wrong, but not right either.

        So you’ve been there, then would you want to refresh your memories with him?”

        “Maybe next time. Let’s go.”

        With the boys in the memories completing their purchases, I appraised the many flavors that they held in their cones. By confidence alone, I am sure my favorite flavor was Choco-mint, as seen from the fresh minty green texture from my ice cream topped with chocolate flakes. Some of my friends also chose that flavor, some others picked Villa-vanilla, and some decided against fruity Berry Mix or soda flavored Fizzy Frills.

        For fat Billy, his order ended up with him holding a bowl instead of a cone when he picked every type of ice cream available in Uncle Joe’s portable freezer, much to our dismay.

        “I am really impressed with that boy’s ability to eat that much junk food.” The immortal scoffed, who was now licking a Choco-mint himself to probably have me beg him to give me a scoop of it. I rolled my eyes in vain and resisted the temptation to do that. We continued to follow the teens and came across some more activities that we sadly couldn’t enter. The prizes alone was more tempting than the ice cream. Someday, I’ll be paying the uncle a visit to buy his treats, and then I’ll head into the festival to get the generous hampers with my immortality.

        Someday.

        It got rather boring walking here and there, while me and Anon were given with only the choice to stand aside and watch my past self play happily. Thus, after fully confirming the names of all of my friends present in the festival, I felt it was almost time to leave and move on to another memory.

        Completing a lap around the entire area that was the size of two football stadiums, I took the initiative to speak up. Anon unfortunately, caught up with my thoughts.

        “So you wanna leave this place, am I right?”

        “Yes, mister mind-reader.”

        “Good, I’m also losing my mood to watch anymore of the same shit for the umpteenth time. And I almost thought you wanted to be trapped in the time loop.”

        “Say what?”

        “It’s nothing.

        Follow me.”

        “Where are we heading to?”

        We made a turn to the left, which was the opposite pathway of what the group chose to take at the same junction. But when Anon said about being trapped in a time loop, it was then I realized the scene of my past suddenly reverted back to what it was two hours ago without me realizing. The moment where my past self began walking at the speed of a snail unfolded itself, followed by the boys yelling at me.

        “Wait a sec, if I did not suggest leaving, you’ll just let me be imprisoned in my memories?” I abruptly blurted with shock, and the immortal nodded. A cold sweat dripped from my forehead to hear his answer, cold and was not a prank to screw me.

        “Yes, I would. It’s actually fun to see the loop of time repeating what was known as the past.

        It’s beautiful.”

        “Err, can we go now?”

        I decided to not ponder over this creepy thought and increased my walking pace way faster than my one step per second record. Admittedly, it’s not a feat to be proud of. And admittedly, it turned out running had its own benefits, like redirecting my focus to not listen to Anon’s opinion on looping time over and over again.

        It scared me for some reason.

        “Hey, Winston, wait up!”

        “Then shut the fuck up with your tick-tock antics!”

        “What the hell does that mean?” The boy voiced his confusion.

        And technically speaking…

        “I don’t know!”

        I really have no idea what did I just said.

        I just hope the trip to the next memory section’s short. Again, because staying near Anon was to put it simply, a rage and fear inducing madness.

        ……

        Wait a minute. Did I just say fear inducing?

        “Yes, you did, Zack.”

        Shit. More things to worry about when I’m living with the psycho soon.

        Hope he’s giving me a freewill period.