Why… am I so hungry? Despite being a small eater, I devoured the entire burger Dad would get. I just wanted to indulge a bit. Not that big of a deal.

But now… With the words Alice had screamed, how many times this bird followed me around, and the nightmare being different… I can’t help but fear the possibilities.

Alice’s eyes held so much fear. Tainted by the tears of blood she now cried. Tears rolling down her face with no sign of ending. And her fear hadn’t ceased for even a second.

The appearance of the Red Sparrow petrified her. It also stunned me.

“You… Why are you here?” I said. Hardly above a whisper.

I probably looked like the crazy person, causing a girl to cry tears of blood. Then talking to a bird right after. A bird that was now much bigger than it had been. I couldn’t explain the sense of déjà vu or why I thought the bird understood. I only knew it could.

The slight tilt of its head in my direction proved, at least somewhat, I wasn’t crazy. I attempted to speak, but finally the girl made more noises. A lot of noises.

Pressed against the wall, looking at the two of us in pure horror, Alice took my full focus while she whimpered and whined. “W-why? What d-did I do t-to deserve this… E-even that thing looks at me in anger. S-so why… WHY?! A-AND THE DRAGON… Oh god… W-when did it move. W-wait… P-please.”

With a whimper, Alice was sobbing while looking up at the sky.

I didn’t even have a window to react. I saw a red blur out of the corner of my eye. Then the sky was angry at existence itself. A rift of spectacular proportions opening from a shock wave of air being blasted apart. No doubt carrying the power of several bombs.

Alice’s voice must have reached a terrifying volume to drown out the initial thunderous boom. Her screeching wasn’t remotely sane anymore.

All I could do after witnessing the explosion was to gape. I didn’t register the danger, nor did I realize what was happening in the moment. If it wasn’t for the rumbling getting more intense; I would have stayed like that, gaping at the sky that was clear, as if someone had blown a hole through the clouds.

Moments after I took my first step to escape, however, the blast wave hit.

I wasn’t standing anymore, rather; I was sure I was on my ass with both legs in front of me. Legs that looked off, which I promptly glossed over because there was no pain. Everything was blurry. Dizziness made the world swim while everything was silent. Keeping my head up alone was a chore. A concussion and busted eardrums. The ringing was a prominent signifier.

How odd… It should hurt more. However, I only feel hungry. So hungry.

My left arm was stubborn to move, but my right responded quicker. A dislocated elbow and several fractures. Something I was sure should hurt.

Just holding my head did little to ease some of the dizziness, so I stubbornly looked all around me. I couldn’t see much. Brain damage. Probably the reason I couldn’t feel any pain.

Why… Why was I calm?

I searched around for Alice after my vision at least became a bit more than color splotches, which ended up being quite useless. So I turned my gaze up at the sky, only to face something a bit more shocking. The blurriness never cleared, yet there was something that so prominent that I couldn’t have missed if I tried. The Sparrow that currently fought the beast wasn’t the one that caught my attention, even if the bird was much bigger now.

No… What had drawn my eye and filled the sky with nothing but its majesty was a dragon…

It was so big. It… It was just like in Dad’s stories.

Hundreds of heads. Thousands of eyes and tentacles coming out of its back like roots reaching for the sky. One large tail balancing its many rows of legs. All bigger than the titanic Mount Everest.

Alice said she saw a dragon. But… Dragons weren’t real. They were fiction.

Yet… There it was.

Dad… Dad said it watched over the world while protecting it from Fantasy. So why was it attacking?

I… I can’t think about that now. It’s there, and that is all that matters.

Maybe it was the concussion, but the next thing I focused on was seeing my legs. A grousme sight that made me look away. A shattered left kneecap and… a glass shard lodged in the right ankle. Not deeply thanks to my boots, but I wasn’t walking anywhere soon.

Now that I was accessing the damages further, I found that breathing was uncomfortable. Some bruised ribs and internal bleeding. Not serious enough to be deadly. Not for a while.

Why did this have to happen now, of all times?

Biting my lip deeply enough to cause the tang of iron to fill my mouth, I weighed the thought of crawling away. Where would I even go, became the next concern. I probably wasn’t the only one crippled right now, either.

SCREEE—

What… I thought I was deaf. How can I—

While I was focusing on my situation, the moment another shockwave slammed me against the wall, it became obvious the fight hadn’t lulled in the slightest. Though thankfully it was just my insides that felt it more than getting even more injured. The internal bleeding became aggravated, but that shouldn’t be a problem for now. Even if the blood slowly trickling down my chin was proof of the contrary. Calling for help was out of the question. The fight still continued after all.

I… I was helpless. I was at the mercy of these creatures. Just taking a glance at the sky was enough to show that. A blurry red bird versus an enormous dragon. A dragon meant to protect.

As I stared into the sky, my vision slowly narrowing on the only solid fact, the fight in the sky, my thoughts spiraled.

Why was it glaring so hatefully at me? Why did I feel as if each strike aimed to end me? Why… Why was Alice so scared?

What… What if the dragon was protecting the world… But… But that would be impossible…

What could I do to the world? I was just a teenager. I don’t want to end the world. Yet here it was, trying to kill me.

Me…

The red sparrow! It’s fighting that monster. A bird…

Dad… Was it all real? Was Fantasy really our story?

Huh… Everything feels so much colder.

But it was only minor internal bleeding?

My… Heart…

Heh… That’s cruel, you know.

Of course, you would stab me…

Alice.

At least I get to see it… Our Fantasy Dad.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Only question I have, I guess, why does the Sparrow fight for me?

And… Why does it look like it’s enraged?

A painful cough made my entire body convulse a little, but I could only smile. She really was so cute, even if she will be the one who killed me. So I decided to at least leave a parting gift as a, though lesser, blast wave washed through the world.

Eventually, after struggling to move, my right hand rested on her cheek. I couldn’t stop grinning with my usual cool behavior when flirting. “Heh… N-not so scary anymore, am I?”

The shock in her eyes was funny. Maybe that was just the lack of blood reaching my brain. Still, as the world swirled and blurred, I looked to the sky to watch the titanic fight between a sparrow and dragon.

I sadly didn’t get to see a fight. The dragon was already falling to the ground. Yet as I watched the endless sky, I saw a blob of red. A blob that was growing bigger and bigger by the second. Until a face as beautiful as the cloudless sky behind her was visible. Not a bad way to go if you ask me.

“NOOOO—”

Dad… Ironically, I’m going to leave just like you. Let’s explore Fantasy together.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

P.O.V.—???

Why?

What did I do wrong?

I-It wasn’t supposed to be like this…

Plop Plop Plop

We… We’ve been through this so many times.

Why does it have to be one of us, always chasing after the other?

Why are we always supposed to be apart?

I… I thought this time would be different…

Beatrix… My Beatrix…

Next time…

Next time will be better…

I’ll make sure that big oaf doesn’t do it again…

I… I’ll kill that girl…

So please don’t die again…

Stay in Other…

My love… I’ll set things right.

You have died 5,763,912 times. What is once more at this point?

This time I’ll keep you in Other if I have to.

I’ll—

An Offer

“Y-YOU!”

A Chance at Love

A New-Path

“W-WHY! WHEN HAVE YOU EVER STEPPED IN BEFORE!”

A New Crown

One With Qualifications Met

One With An Eternity of Struggle

One With An Eternity of Heartache

One With An Eternity of Travel

One With An Eter—

“S-SHE CAN’T! SHE ISN’T MEANT TO BE ONE OF US!”

One With An Eternity of Trauma

One With An Eternity of Hunger

One With An Eternity of Blood

“I SAID SHE CAN’T DAMNIT! SH-SHE WILL LOSE SO MUCH!”

One With An Eternity of Change

One With An Eternity of Slaughter

One Who Consumed the Flesh of Horrors

One Who Consumed the Bounties of Desolation

One who Consumed the Blood of The Bleeding Crown

One Who Survived—

“WATCHER! I SAID SHE CAN’T! PLEASE! L-let enough be enough. She won’t ever remember it. Like all the other times. So please.”

Plop Plop Plop

One Who Survived A Rapture

An Offer Presented

An Offer to Become The Monarch

An Offer to Become The FIRST

Sniff

Plop Plop Plop

“Please… Don’t let her know the pain an eternity holds. Pl—”

“Heh… Can’t even die in peace. I have a promise to keep though…”

“B-Beatrix… Please… The cost is too high. You… You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I… I only have so much life left in me. But I’m already fucked aren’t I… I’m only alive because of what I took from Other, aren’t I? So, I’m sorry… I ACCEPT.”

“W-wait. Y-you won’t be the same… Please… Please don’t leave me again.”

“It seems I’ve made two cuties cry today… Heh… Sorry, but… It sounds like this is the only way I can keep my promise. I… I’ve waited too long to meet you… Lillia.”

“Beatrix…”

An Offer Accepted

A New Chapter to Begin

A Life at the End

Lover of The Sparrow

Friend of The Tiger

Beloved of The Eye

The Bleeding Crown Shall Have Its New Seat

WATCHER ACCEPTS

SEEKER ACCEPTS

“I… I… Love you Beatrix… I ACCEPT!”

GUIDE ACCEPTS

So It Shall Be Told

A New Crown Born

OTHER Quakes

Advent of FIRST

Transmutation Commences

Feast

Journey

Survive

Conqueror of Other

Devour Your Destiny

“I… I’m so sorry, my love… Sleep and grow. I can’t interfere with your Story… I can’t guide you anymore. Journey to OTHER. Become more than all of us. Just know I will be waiting.”

Plop Plop Plop

+=+=+=+=+=+

P.O.V.—Alice

I did it… I… I killed it. “Heh… Hehehe… ahahahaHAHAHAHAHA I FUCKING DID IT! I KILLED IT! I ACTUALLY KILLED ONE! I—Eh? Her eyes… E-eyes? A… A girl?”

She… she looks like a teenager. Gray eyes with a hint of blue. Black hair with red highlights at the tips. She was neither pale nor fully tan. Even with her skull broken against a brick wall, an elbow that looks positioned in the wrong way, and blood trailing down her lips, she looked so beautiful.

A-And… That smile… She’s smiling while looking at me.

“W-Why? Why are you smiling… I… I won. I WON! SO WHY ARE YOU SMILING! I WON! I—” A hand stopped me. Gently pressed to my cheek. Her smile said so many words. Even the chuckle anchored me back into reality. She showed no signs of being upset, not even a trace of being bothered. Like it was all going to turn out okay even after another blast of air flung my hair around.

“N-not so scary anymore, am I?” I… I couldn’t respond. The light had faded from her eyes. She was a corpse. And yet she was talking and acting like it would heal with time.

I wanted to scream at her again. I wanted to stab her with more glass shards. Until all her body stopped moving because I needed someone to blame.

But I didn’t…

Even though the battle was ending. Even though she was at fault. Even if I wanted someone to blame… I could only cry while looking into her eyes. Such beautiful eyes that stared up into the sky.

I… I would have fallen in love with her at first sight… Yet I killed her… What do I even do n—

“NOOOOOOO! HOW DARE YOU! SHE WAS MINE! SHE WASN’T SUPPOSED TO DIE HERE! YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR ETERNITY!”

I hardly had time to respond. One moment I was crouching over Beatrix, and the next I was against the ground, with pain coursing through my body. Immediately, breathing became impossible. Only a wheeze managed an escape, but even that was weak.

Thinking became hard at the point, and I wasn’t sure if I could feel anything lower than my stomach. It was pointless to try moving my head. Whatever position I had landed in was clearly not good for my spine.

At least… At least I get to see the sky… A cloudless, empty sky. Boundless and beautiful. An ocean to be explored. I… I didn’t do anything wrong… Yet I feel so guilty… Maybe it’s for the best I get to explore it in the end.

‘Youngling.

Do you want to live?’

I… I don’t… I don’t deserve to after I took her from the world. She was so yo—

‘Nonsense!

She will destroy everything!

THAT is no girl!

THAT THING is one of them!

She DOESN’T belong here!

She belongs in Other!’

Just hearing the word made me wince.

The name wasn’t remotely language, yet that was all I picked up. It practically caused my entire existence to quake, leaving a pounding headache.

That just made the entire thing worse. Like the apparitions I see weren’t close to the level of danger that a single word carried.

It was also when I finally glimpsed who attacked me. Focusing was hard, but she was insanely beautiful. Long red hair flowed way past her knees, a gown of feathers as red as the blood that now covered her hands. Golden shimmering eyes that looked like enough jewelry to turn her sharp and perfect face into a picture of perfection. Black tears were the only staining quality and yet they looked like drops of star dust as they fell on Beatrix’s form.

I… I did something so horrible. She didn’t deserve to die… Now I won’t even be able to say sorry. I—

‘She is yet to be slain.

They don’t perish so easily.

I ask once more child.

Do you wish to live?

Or would you rather die where you lay?

Choose!’

I… I don’t deserve to… So why do I want to accept? Why must I be the one in the wrong? She… She might not have deserved it… Neither did I.

Dragon… it’s you right? Why did you attack first? Why did you—

‘QUICK!

Choose now before it’s too late!

She is about to start her ADV—’

REJOICE MORTALS

HEED OUR MELODY

THE CROWNS GAIN ANOTHER

LAND GUARDED FROM OTHER

THE FINAL CHAPTER BEGINS

ADVENT OF THE FIRST

APOTHEOSIS OF THE MONARCH

BRINGER OF THE FANTASY

JOURNEYER OF LOST LANDS

A TRIAL OF CALAMITY WAGERED

THE BLEEDING CROWN WAITS

RISE

FEAST

SURVIVE

BEATRIX THE BLEEDING WANDERER

When the words finished, they seared themselves into my mind. They held power, a cacophony of meaning translated into a language that didn’t do the original justice. Not even the dragon could do the same. The headache was present, but with the ominous message, I—

‘Accept the offer, you brat!

I can only hold on to life for so long!

The only hope for the world is for us to merge!

Now say YES!’

Left speechless, I wanted to say no, but seeing the beautiful woman begin to stand and turn towards me, I knew my time was up.

As guilty as I felt, I wanted to just let it happen. Then the thought of my family possibly being injured crossed my mind. If I didn’t accept, would they die? If I said no, would the world really have no chance? I also didn’t want to just lie down and accept death. So I didn’t.

I nodded my head with every ounce of strength I had. It seemed to be enough, as a bright and warm light covered my body. The next moment, I was gone.

However, I still caught a glance at the red-haired goddess and the rage that colored her face. She wouldn’t let this go for a long time, I feared.

Then drowsiness dulled the pain. So, with nothing but the darkness caused by intense light and warmth for comfort, I descended into sleep.