Slap

Slap

— "Wake up!"

I could hear a faint high pitch voice... It's dark. I can't see. I need to open my eyes. And so I did, only to be greeted by a young boy with orange eyes and hair, with lightly tanned skin, wearing a red-white Kimono... And also fox ears and tail? What is happening–

— "Come on! Get up! We need to get out of here!"

— "Wha... What happened... Why am I here?! More importantly, who are you?"

— "It's a long story! Let's get out of here before anyone sees us!"

My intuition agreed with this boy's demands. We're both stuck in a cell, with stone walls and a small candle that lit the corridor outside of the cell. I can see small bits of bones in here. Probably from the remains of the other people that were kept here... Creepy.

— "What are you lollygagging at, Owens!"

— "R-Right! We need to get out of here... Hold on. We're locked in here behind bars."

— "Oh, right."

The young boy then clasped his hand together and closed his eyes whilst facing the locked bars.

After a good few seconds, a small crystal surrounded by floating runic text float above his clasped hands.

— "Unlock!"

He then opened his eyes and fair enough, the locks on the cell opened... But there's just one problem, there was a guard smirking at us, as if he watched everything that the young boy did...

Although, before he could continue smirking and beginning to talk.

Tap

Tap

Smack!

Before the smirking guard could say anything, the young boy lunged towards him in a dropkick which gave the both of us the window to run for it!

We both ran out of the cell and straight down the candle-lit hallway with the guard gaining his balance back and running after us but because of his armour, he couldn't catch up to us.

— "Get back here, you damn fox!"

— "Serves him right. Mwahahaha!"

The young boy laughed as the both of us ran in random directions in the hallway. Now that I think about it, I've never asked for his name–I shouldn't be thinking about this when we're on the run but I just had the urge to!

— "What's... Huff your name anyway?!"

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I hurriedly asked as we both ran.

— "Leo! My name is Leo!"

We then saw a glimpse of the outside...?

Anyhow! We don't have much time! A few more guards were tailing us and we needed to get out!...

But what we saw wasn't outside, it was a large black dome with a faint white glow with metallic tubes connected to it from the outside with an ominous wooden door connected directly to the black dome. But what's more interesting is that there's a young man standing in front of the door as if he was expecting something.

As soon as we both got in the room, the doors behind us closed and... Disappeared?! How did that happen? The door disappeared and was replaced by a wall as if there was never a door there.

— "I knew it."

His voice echoed throughout the room, every corner of it had his voice heard.

I feel a sudden connection with this man like I knew him from a certain period of time.

He turned around and looked at me... He vaguely looked similar to me with the only difference being that his hair is dark as night and his eyes are red as blood...

...This man looked like the typical villain in an edgy piece of literature that I've read once!

— "Owens."

Hearing my name, I snapped out of my playful thoughts–Wait! More importantly, how does he know my name?!

— "That key hanging on your neck. Give it to me."

He commanded. He wanted the black key that I now wear as a necklace.

— "W-Why?"

I asked with my voice quivering from his ominous presence and voice.

— "This guy is weird! Who even are you?!"

— "I have no interest in talking to a Demi-Human like you, you irksome fox."

— "Mean..."

The man glared at me and his eyes lowered to the black key hanging from my neck.

— "JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN KEY, OWENS!!"

Rage and irritation was seeping from his words. But before I could say anything else, Leo grabbed the keys from my neck.

— "Now I'll make you talk! What do you need this dumb key for? Just look at it! It has unusable pins that won't work at any door! Are you stupid or something?!"

Leo is just taunting him and gouging a reaction out from him. How does he have the courage to talk to this guy like that?! I feel like he could kill us both just by glaring at us!

He looked at us sternly with glaring eyes...

— "Do you see this dome behind me?–"

— "Do you think I don't have eyes?!"

Leo playfully noted whilst teasingly smirking at him.

— "DO YOU WANT ME TO EXPLAIN OR NOT?!"

He suddenly snapped out of his calm and ominous personality in an instant. Right after Leo made his joke.

We were both quiet, now that Leo was satisfied gouging a reaction out of him.

— "What lies beyond this door are godly spells and abilities. I will use it to completely dominate the whole world."

— "You sound like the generic villain in the book I once read!"

What Leo said struck a nerve. I guess he's insecure? I can't take this man seriously when Leo keeps interrupting him out of the blue.

He sighed and glared at me instead of Leo, completely ignoring him and his high-pitched, fox-like laugh.

— "What you have dangling from your neck is a family heirloom. I want it. I need it..."

But what was weird is that I didn't want to give it to him. I feel a strange attachment to this black key.

I looked at the black done behind him and... I was out of my thoughts as if I lost control of my body.

His eyes widened as if he knew something and suddenly lunged at me but luckily, Leo blocked his way.

— "Sorry, Mr. Villain, I have orders from my master."

— "Get out of the way, you lowly fox!"

He commanded. His words are full of desperation like he fears that I would do something that would go against whatever he was planning.

I was suddenly presented with the window to run for it again. My legs started sprinting suddenly towards the black dome but this time, Leo wasn't paying attention and I was suddenly pierced with a blade from my back to my stomach.

I spewed blood from my mouth but I was close enough to touch the black dome and...

I was suddenly placed in a baleful white space with a woman sitting down on a chair. She had pale skin that would blend into the white space without the dark dress that she is wearing and the color of her hair. She has a serene expression on her face that tells me that she was expecting this to happen.

— "You were so close, Owens. I just gave you a little push to the finish line. Anyhow, welcome to my world, Owens... My dearest."