Glenn’s heart was racing, his eyes glued to the opened mouth set in the hand hanging in front of him. No, he didn’t hear it wrong. The thing talked, with a human voice that had a slight echo, a discreet otherworldly feeling, as if it shouldn’t belong to this world.

And it spoke to him.

“Hey? You got hearing issues or something?”

The mouth spoke mockingly, startling Glenn once again. He shook his head and forced his lips open.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I heard you. Wow.”

The mouth faded away and the hand made a fist, bumping it in the air victoriously. Glenn would have probably found the movement humorous or familiar, had it not been for these bloody strips of flesh attached to the hand-like strings of a puppet. His heartbeat was loud, but it wasn’t louder than the fleshy sounds coming from his surroundings. The thick smell of blood and rotten meat was making him want to puke, but he was quite sure that doing so would sign his death sentence.

So no puking for now. A glance at the hand’s source, where the strips of flesh came from, but he could only see a squirming mess of mixed crimson and darkness. It moved like countless snakes slithering around, worming their way through to—

“Ugh!” Glenn coughed as a sudden pang of pain shot through his head, the equivalent of a dozen chalks screeching slowly against a chalkboard. Sweat drenched his back as he averted his eyes away from the…the thing, and instead focused on the “happy” hand moving around. The pain calmed down gradually, but the threat of being its victim again was still hanging in the back of Glenn’s mind. If there was one thing positive to that pain, it was that it woke Glenn up completely, clearing his mind from any blurriness or sleepiness left over. His body was completely back in his control, allowing him to find out the strangeness of his surroundings.

A scarlet chamber, composed of walls and floors built with beating flesh oozing with thick, red blood. The room pulsated rhythmically, mirroring the cadence of the white crystal from earlier—like a heart.

And it now made much more sense why the crystal was beating this way, if there was this whole thing contained in it. He could almost taste the air, a metallic tang that made his stomach churn—but no! No puking! Glenn looked down and realized he was sitting on the beating flesh. He instinctively jumped back, but his back only touched a bloody wall, cutting any way out of there.

“Am I…In the crystal…?” He slowly inquired, piecing things together. After all, he arrived here after touching the cursed thing, so it could only mean one thing. He somehow landed in this place because of it.

“Sigh…Yes, well observed,” The mouth reappeared in the hand, grimacing distastefully.

‘Shit, I spoke out loud.’ Glenn closed his mouth, fearing to say something he shouldn’t. The hand was certainly not a normal being—but then, nothing was normal in this world.

“In this world…?” The hand echoed Glenn’s thoughts, sending a chill down his back before adding, “Oh, and yeah, don’t bother thinking, since I can hear all of you.”

The mouth in the hand grinned wickedly and hovered closer to Glenn’s face before moistening its lips.

“Be it your racing heart or thoughts, they are all mine to read. So, rid yourself of your pitiful escape plans, and let’s converse normally, like normal beings.” The hand insisted on the last word, evidently making fun of Glenn.

“What the fuck?” He blurted out, unable to contain his confusion anymore. The hand froze for a second, before exploding in laughter.

“Hahaha, yes, that’s the very question I wanted to pose,” The hand sneered and added with a touch of irony, “...Maybe you can read minds too. An interesting coincidence, don’t you say?”

Glenn shook his head, trying to understand what the fuck was the hand talking about. Reading minds? What? Of course, he couldn’t! But perhaps—ah, no, it could read in his mind, so no use trying to find a way to exploit this information. This was fucked.

“I agree,” The hand said with an honest tone, “But hey, at least you’re not dead!”

Glenn squinted at the hand.

“I’m not?”

The hand made a negative motion, earning a sneer out of Glenn. This situation was so unbelievable, so illogical he could only laugh at it.

“Anyway, did your parents not teach you manners?” The hand suddenly exclaimed, surprising Glenn.

“What..?”

“Shouldn't you ask my name? Or at least knock before barging in my c—room?" The tongue hissed with a veneer of authority. Glenn gulped.

“...What—no, who are you?” He asked, obeying the underlying order of the entity. He’d rather play his game than die.

“Good choice. But who’s asking? I did not invite you in, so I believe presenting yourself would be the proper thing, right?” The hand continued to mock, still applying pressure on him. Glenn ignored the sweat pearling down his forehead and concentrated.

“My name is Glenn, and…my last name is of no importance anymore, I suppose,” Slight anger took over Glenn and he added with a sarcastically polite tone, “May I know your name?”

The hand’s grin grew from the thumb to the pinkie, its peerlessly white teeth gleaming with a strange hue, which also made Glenn wonder about where the light came from. But well, it wasn’t that important of a detail compared to the probably evil thing smiling in front of him.

“Finally some manners,” It laughed before moistening its lips again, “You can address me as Diamanes. Not exactly my real name, but it’d be unfortunate if your brain just imploded by hearing it, right?”

Glenn disregarded the latter part of the sentence and rubbed his glabella, struggling to contain the growing anxiety in his chest.

“It’s a…a pleasure to meet you, Diamanes. Uhm, wh—what are you?” He asked candidly, unable to find another way to phrase his question.

“I’m a hand,” Diamanes replied simply, unperturbed.

Glenn blinked, momentarily dumbfounded.

“Okay…? Care to elaborate on whose hand, or…?”

“Don’t feel like it,” retorted the hand, moving abruptly to position itself inches from Glenn's face. He held his breath, wondering what he was supposed to do in this situation. The hand's fleshy tongue passed over its teeth, its grin growing maliciously.

“Enough with you. I have a few questions of my own, you see,” Diamanes declared, his words ringing with an ominous weight. Glenn opened his mouth but his jaws clenched shut as a sudden pressure bore down on his shoulders, nailing him to the floor. The pain felt earlier when trying to look at Diamanes' main body returned with greater intensity, the sensation of an ancient being waking up and looking down on him raging in his mind. A forbidden horror that threatened the very base of his sanity, pushing him to the very brink of madness.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Glenn gasped, his hands reaching helplessly for his throat in a desperate attempt to free it from whatever was stopping him from breathing. He gritted his teeth, feeling his consciousness mere inches from slipping away as he struggled to keep his eyes open. The lack of oxygen soon made his sight blurry, but Glenn still struggled, for he knew death was worse than whatever this was. This was painful, more painful than that damned spear or ghoul from earlier, but he couldn’t give up.

There were no second chances, only the present. And his present was this demon. Shitty day, wasn’t it?

“Impressive. See, that’s why I have to ask: what the hell are you? You can’t be a human, or else you’d already be groveling at my feet—metaphorically, you know.” Diamanes’ voice washed over him with a sudden relief, the pressure receding and disappearing away like a mirage. Glenn coughed out a few times, heaving with difficulty while enjoying each breath of rancid air. Rancid air was better than no air after all.

Diamanes seemed satisfied to have proved his point, as evidenced by the dirty, crooked finger he pointed at Glenn. The entity almost appeared like an excited child who found something new and was showing it to its parents, only there were no parents and the new thing was Glenn. Less exciting all of a sudden.

“Now, humor me and explain yourself. What kind of abomination are you?” Diamanes became serious once again, hovering back to leave Glenn some space to breathe. He rubbed his throat with furrowed brows, tears welling up in his eyes.

“...Cough…The hell do you mean?”

Diamanes smacked its lips, annoyed.

“I mean it very literally? Are you a Fallen One? Or…or perhaps something altogether different—a sort of aberration?” It questioned with a threatening tone.

Glenn bit down on his lip, squinting at the hovering hand. What—what even were those choices? Where was the ‘human’ box so he could check it?

‘An aberration… may be coming from another world counts…?Wait—shit!’ Glenn barely had the thought that Diamanes groaned in puzzlement. It cracked its fingers in a disturbing motion before caressing an imaginary chin.

“Uh. Interesting. See, last time I checked, humans shouldn’t be able to touch the crystal or they’d die. And you say you’re coming from another world…”

Glenn’s breath accelerated alongside his heart rate. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to empty his mind. He probably shouldn’t have let the hand know that he was coming from Earth—fuck!

“Don’t bother. The harder you try to hide it, the easier it’ll be for me. Earth, you say. Hmm…”

The hand hovered away for a moment, pondering silently as he left Glenn to his own devices. He clenched his head, his eyes wide open. This whole isekai situation had been a nightmare, and it didn’t seem like he would wake up anytime soon.

“...so you’re a Fallen One, then?” The hand suddenly said as it flicked its fingers in realization.

“I am?” Glenn’s eyebrows rose in doubt and disbelief. He suspected as much, with what could be written in Jefferson’s diary, but…it didn’t add up. He didn’t fall from the Moon Rift; he woke up during the Blood Moon, and that’s all.

"Yeah, starting from now, you are. I'm too lazy to try and understand your circumstances, so it will be easier to just say that you're a Fallen One,” Diamanes decided, before adding, “And only Fallen Ones were supposed to be able to enter this place, so it's safe to say that you are one of them.”

Diamanes persisted in his contemplation, muttering intelligible words and dancing in the air, pulled by the fleshy strings like a macabre marionette spectacle.

Glenn rubbed his chin. Perhaps it was better to mirror the entity and not bother with finding an explanation. It did look like a massive waste of time since even this probably very old and very powerful being couldn’t find an answer.

What mattered was to find out why he ended up in this world, and if someone was the reason, try and have a talk with them. A violent talk, if possible. The culprit will better have a very, very good explanation for ruining Glenn’s peaceful life and bringing him to this hell of a world. No one should have to experience what he did. Glenn swore to himself; that he’d find the truth someday. And make someone pay. Because someone had to.

“Sigh…what should I do with you, then? I feel like killing you would be a waste, as you certainly are a unique kind of being…” Diamanes wondered aloud, successfully drawing Glenn’s attention. The latter tried to pull himself together and attentively listened to the entity’s ramblings, but he could only understand bits and pieces. It didn’t seem to make much sense, besides a few words here and there.

“Perhaps…It could work, since…Hehe, yeah, technically he could…” The hand suddenly stopped and slowly hovered back to Glenn, hanging at eye level. The palm opened toward Glenn’s face, the mouth set in its center forming a contemptuous rictus.

“I have a proposition for you, Glenn,” The hand began talking with a suave tone, sending a chill down Glenn’s spine. He got the distinct impression that something was wrapping itself around his body, slowly slithering like a snake aiming to strangle him. He wanted to fight back, but how? What could he even do, anyway? He looked at the creature, hoping he wouldn’t have to wager his soul in this unfortunate encounter.

“As you guessed, I’m not an average existence or monster…” Diamanes trailed off, grinning while showing all of its teeth. Glenn couldn’t help but notice Diamanes’ dentition—an unsettlingly perfect set of teeth. Teeth so clean they practically shone in the unnatural light of the bloody chamber.

“Shake my hand, and I’ll give you power beyond your imagination—”

Glenn sneered, interrupting the entity. Diamanes froze in shock, unable to believe his victim. Glenn knew the moment he sneered that it was over for him, but he simply couldn’t contain himself. Perhaps it was the fatigue or the screws that were loosened with his multiple encounters with death, but it was already too late.

“Power? Why the hell would I want power?” Before the entity replied he added, “Can you bring me back to Earth? To my world, away from this hell?”

Diamanes shut its mouth, pondering silently. Glenn gritted his teeth and resigned himself. Whatever he said about living earlier? Bullshit. Why should he even struggle to live in this hell if there was no hope to escape this world? Was he supposed to abandon his sister back there? How? And was there any guarantee that dying wouldn’t bring him back to Earth?

“...I’m…Not sure of the way to travel back to your world. But…” Diamanes’ grin grew wide again, “...What I know for sure is that death won’t free you. This world will take your soul and never give it back, and you’ll lose all chances to go back to your kin.”

Glenn held his breath, staring haggardly at the entity whose voice was growing increasingly inhumane and otherworldly.

“What's certain, though, is that if you accept my proposal, I'll be a great help. And even if I don't know the way out personally, I can guarantee that it exists, otherwise, I wouldn't be here,” Diamanes swore with a wild, diabolical laugh. Glenn felt the knot tighten around his neck, and yet…Now he could see it. The way out of this hell, the way to go back to his sister and his peaceful life. But…did he really want to shake hands with this more than shady entity?

Was he selling his soul to the devil? Diamanes sighed impatiently and hovered back.

“Why do you even bother contemplating the question?”

Glenn felt the pressure and pain from earlier come back once again like a tidal wave, pushing him down to his knees. He yelped in pain as his head rang with countless screams and shouts of horror.

“There are two choices available to you, Glenn.”

Holding his head in his hands, Glenn could barely hear what the demon was saying. There was a drum beating in the background, with the same tempo as a heart, only that with each beat, the sound grew louder and faster. His own heart was already beating so fast it felt like it was trying to jump out of his chest.

“The first choice I can give you is death. A dirty, painful death that will pursue you even in whatever lies beyond.”

The screams and screeches intensified, Glenn’s eardrums exploding to try and protect his brain, but to no use. His right eye burst out as blood flowed from his every orifice in an unbearable torture. As death drew closer, Glenn thought back to his sister, to his friends, to his past, to that damned bastard… What…what did he do to deserve that? Could he have done anything better? Could he have reached higher had he really tried?

“The second choice, you accept my proposition, and I become a part of you.”

Diamanes’ voice was distorted like a broken vinyl record spinning in random directions. Glenn coughed out the blood accumulating in his throat, the screams in his ears becoming his own.

“You have…five full seconds to make your choice. How generous of me, right?”

Glenn watched in horror with his remaining eye the demon’s mouth grow wider and wider, encompassing Glenn’s whole body. Saliva was dripping in large amounts, flowing down on the fleshy floor like countless fountains. Even in this ridiculously large state, Diamanes maintained his greedy, voracious grin.

He had a hard time even thinking, the pain making him lose his grasp on reality.

“Three seconds,” Diamanes chuckled. “Tick-tock.”

The seconds passed, as long as days, and the last thing he could hear was that thumping sound in the background, the damned demon counting down to zero.

“One. Make your choice!” Diamanes shouted hysterically.

Glenn opened his mouth one last time, hissing one last breath. Diamanes' laugh accompanied him down the hatch to the abyss of his mind, shouting fanatically the same, mocking phrase like a demonical echo.

“That’s a deal!”