I open my eyes. I know that I must have passed out at some point. The sun is still up so I must not have slept for long. I feel like shit. I feel that something crucial is missing within me. I am no longer whole. Something is missing. What is it? Ahhhh…I remember, must be something related to what happened earlier. I get it now. I am no longer whole; but a broken human. There is this hollow within me. But it had to be done. It had to be done for I must return. And to return I must survive.

I push myself off the ground and straighten my back. My bones crack and I feel the exhaustion flood once more. I guess that was expected after having the first ‘decent meal’ in a while. Eating too fast after a period of starvation is bad for the body. Or so I read at one point back on Earth. I think for a while and plan to loot what I can and carry on moving. The dead are not going to miss their belongings. I step over the remains I ate from. I walk slowly around the carriage. I count seven corpses total excluding the corpses in the cages. Two I ate from, left as nothing but skeletons on the ground. Two squashed beneath one of what I counted to be five scattered cages. ‘Unlucky bastards…they died before they could even do a thing….the beasts must have rammed the carriage from their opposite side.’ A male human mage with only his head squashed by the cage with a what looks like a female swordsman on the opposite end of the cage. I can tell the first Is male by the shape of his body, while I can tell the second is a female by the features of her half eaten decapitated head which lies in front of the cage. Her arm is torn at the elbow holding a sword. The rest of her body is beneath the cages, crushed by the weight. The mage must have been the first to die by the cage with the woman having her body crushed before the cage tilted over her neck, cutting her head off.

‘…must have been an instant death’

Besides these two I find three torn to shreds by the beasts on the other side of the carriage. There is still some flesh hanging on their bones. From what remains on the their body one seem to be a human female priest. Another seems to be an Elvish male archer, which the third being what looks to be a tank. I can’t tell his race or gender since he’s the most destroyed out of the three. His face was eaten off and his massive shield lays besides him covered in dents with a large axe with a broken handle laying on his other side.

‘They must have been rookies’ I deduce, ‘or else the mage and swordsman would not have died before the fight even started.’ They did not have a scout with them and they must not have noticed the beasts coming.

I return to the skeletal remains I ate from. the carriage is directly behind them. The mage and swordsman lay under one of two cages to the right of the carriage. The three other party members on the left side of the carriage with two other cages on their sides. I can see half of the fifth cage laying behind the carriage. I take a closer look at the cages. They are quite small cages considering the number of people inside. A 3x3 meter cage with at least 5 people inside. Probably more. Considering that the inside of the cage is felled with mangled compressed flesh with some heads poking out of the bars that were not meant to fit the heads in the first place.

‘Odd… why would a slave trader hire these rookies to guard his carriage, when he’s transporting that many slaves.’

From what I see none of the slaves with still recognizable features are human. I see a few Dark Elfs and Beastmen in the cages. I can’t recognize any of the rest. I managed to determine the Dark Elf since she had the same ears as the dead Elf, but had dark brown skin. While I recognize the Beastmen since I saw a few back in the capital. The have bodies covered in fur with long digitigrade legs. For example, Cat Beastmen are basically human sized cats that walk on two legs. If they reproduce with other species like humans, the child would have digitigrade legs and arms covered in fur with their claws and padding as a cat would have, they would have a tail and cat ears with the rest of the body looking like that of a human’s. Then, if the half Cat Beastman was to reproduce with a human as well, only the cat ears and tail would remain as a symbol of the Beatsman heritage, while the rest of the body would be identical to a human’s body.

Anyways, I looted five silver coins in total and stored it in a purse I found inside the upturned carriage. I then took the sword that the swordsman had in her hand and had to hold it on my waist with a cloth I cut off from what remained of the cages’ covers. tying the cloth and placing the sword in a comfortable position that would not hinder my movements took me a full hour. ‘Doing this with one arm is a major hassle… the tying is fine but the sword positioning has took ages’ I sighed.

The only thing I found that could cover my body properly was the tattered remains of the mage’s robe. It had turned a pale brownish color after mixing with the dirt and blood of the previous owner. It’s not high quality material by all means, but anything is better than these rags I had.

I look up at the sun and think that it must be around noon time. I decide on storing some cracked bones inside my robe to snack on the marrow when I get hungry. Safest option in terms of things that wouldn’t rot.

I must leave. I feel this sense of unease growing inside. The situation is here is too weird. The carriage owner’s actions make no sense. I must leave. I finished packing everything I wanted. Took me a total of one and a half hours from when I woke up till now. Hopefully nothing bad happens.

I drag my tired body and walk onwards. Thinking that I must get a fast away from here as possible. The other carriages start arriving in a few hours since people in Fantasia tend to eat lunch around this time. Furthermore, I think I heard something about a festival being held at night to celebrate Mirai’s summoning, so merchant’s will open their shops later on the usual.

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After I pass the fifth cage wanting to continue onwards, I take a few steps and then hear the creaking of a metal door opening. Cold swear breaks down my back. I turn my head looking back at the fifth cage seeing minced flesh and guts falling out. My body trembles. Then standing within the cage stands a Dark Elf with light brown skin. Her hair is silver white contrasting with her skin tone. The whites of her eyes are a terrifying light consuming black. Her pupils and iris are the opposite, they shine the same as her hair, a dazzling silver white. Her body would drive men to madness, she was wearing black skin-tight pants with knee high black leather boots. Had a tight, white button up shirt on with a black cloak covering her with the hood off. She was wearing elbow high black gloves and held a book in one of her hands and a pen in another, writing down notes on god knows what while maintaining eye contact with me.

I remain stuck in place, my mind blank, not knowing what to think about this country ruining beauty that came out of a cage holding dead minced, squashed slaves without a drop of blood on her. After who know how long she places the book in a pocket inside her cloak and shuts the book with one hand. The sound of the book goes off like a thunderclap in my mind. My eyes blur and I fall on knees. I feel my soul shake. Something feels horribly wrong. Worse than that time when arm was cut. Worse than when I lost my virginity in the brothel. Worse than when I had to serve dozens of people a days with no rest. Worse than the constant exhaustion caused by malnutrition. Worse than the unending pains caused by the diseases that ravage my body. Worse than when I had to eat just a few hours ago. Worse than the hollow that spreads boundless cold within my soul. Instinctual fear grasps my heart and my body shakes uncontrollably.

“Human.” She speaks in a language I do not know but somehow understand. She speaks with her mouth closed. As if it is not my ears that hear… but my soul. I try to avert my eyes. I can’t. “Jin” she says, “Jin Harb” she speaks in a playful manner. Her black as coal lips slightly crack open revealing the slightest bit of her white teeth, showing a slight amused smile, as if watching the playful nonsensical actions of a child. A smile that shines like the dazzling sun. but a smile that does not engulf me in the comforting rays of the sun, but a cold that quakes my soul.

‘HOW DOES SHE KNOW MY NAME!?’

‘HOW DOES SHE KNOW MY NAME!?’

‘HOW DOES SHE KNOW MY FUCKING NAME!?’

‘NOONE KNOWS MY NAME IN THIS WORLD! NOONE! MIRAI ONLY KNOWS MY FIRST NAME AND NOONE ELSE KNOWS A THING ABOUT ME!’

“Lost Jin Harb” images of my days in Fantasia go through my mind “Lonely Jin Harb” five years of mental isolation goes through my mind. Imagies of my friends and family on Earth goes though my mind. “Broken Jin Harb” I relive what I had been through but a mere couple of hours ago in a fraction of a second within my mind. “Ho~me~less~Jin~Harb” images of my home on Earth. My mother and father… my sister… my friends… my dorm room at the university… days wasted in peaceful splendour goes through my mind. “Lost~Jin~Harb” I fall through the ground. Wake in Fantasia. Survive in the slums. Steal. Kill for the first time. Kill some more. Get my arm chopped. Return to the brothel. Relive my years at the brothel. I am ill again. I am beaten again. I endure again. I am on the brink of death again. I survive again. I am thrown out again. I am begging on the streets. I meet the Hero. I met my Hero. I survive again. I leave the capital. I devour to live. I break again.

……..….

I am Hollow

……..….

I am Lost

..……….

I am Broken

……..….

I am Homeless

……..….

I.. am.. Lost

Countless thoughts of endless despair goes through my mind. I see them. I live them. I believe them. My soul quakes with despair.

Her words spoken playfully. Her eyes narrow slightly and her smiles widens. Knowing my thoughts.

My heart is clenched. My breathing fastens. My shaking intensifies. I gasp for breath. I hyperventilate. My eyes blur further. Black spots color my vision. My ears are ringing. My soul is shaking. Her eyes narrow further. Her smile widens further. The best smile I ever saw. The most terrifying smile I ever saw.

“Join us? ” she asks in a hopeful manner. As if my rejection would crush her heart and make her cry.

My shaking stops. My heart is light. My vision is clear and there is no more deafening ringin in my ears. The endless blizzard that her smile engulfed me with turns to the endless warmth that one would expect from a smile like hers.

Countless images of a new home go trough my mind. I see myself among Dark Elfs, Beastmen, Oni, the occasional human, and two horrifying Black Dragons that would each be capable of exterminating the capital on their own. I see a 5 meter tall chivalric man covered in Black Armor sitting on a magneficent throne. I see his majestic black horns. I see his piercing red eyes and pitch black hair. I cannot see the faces.

…………

All I see are the eyes filled with love, devotion, and trust. Eyes I missed for the past five years. I see war. My heart is clenched. I see myself fighting. Using magic that knows no bounds. I see myself weilding a blade the cuts through space. I see myself battling the the Hero Mirai, a friend I saw many times in images I have not seen. I see Mirai dead at my feet with a warn smile on her face. I see myself weeping. I see the capital on fire.

…………

I see a great victorious march filled with joy and sorrow combines headded towards a land of constant dark. I see the Dark Elf standing next to me in most images. She is the only face I see. In some we are talking. In some we are sitting enjoying the scenary in silence. In others we are fighting back to back amounst countless enemies… amoungt Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, and Dragons. In some images we are hugging. In others we are arguing. I see us laughing. I see us crying. Mourning the loss of friends I’ve seen prior.

…………

In a couple, I see us embracing in bed. I see… I see her cheerfully smile with a swollen belly. I see a child… a toddler with slightly curly white hair, and brown eyes with normal white sclera and slightly dark skin and Lips as black as coal. A toddler that shines with the radiance of the moon. I see her talk… I see her walk… I see her grow… I see her as an adult having grown horns and grown till she was 5 meters tall… I see her sit on a magnesficent throne like that of the of the chivalric man. I see myself and the Dark Elf shed tears of joy. I see us grow. I am but a weak, wrinkly old man aged 150. The Dark Elf is as youthful as ever. the girl on the throne is as youthful as ever. I see myself lying on a wide bed embraced by the Dark Elf that had tears in her eyes and a gentle smile on her face. I see the 5 meter tall girl standing by the bed crying. I see many surrounding the bed smiling gently with tears of sorrow in their eyes. I cannot tell the faces. Time passes slowly… I see myself die.

I am on my knees. Every fiber of my being demands… begs for me to nod my head and promise to join… my body begs… my mind begs… my heart begs… my soul begs… but a fierce objection ends the hope before it rises. The hollow within my soul demands…

‘RETURN!! WE MUST RETURN!!’

The hollow of my soul consumes the images and seals them. I remember nothing but snipits.

‘RETURN FOR MOTHER!! RETURN FOR FATHER!! RETURN FOR SISTER!! WE MUST RETURN!!’

My eyes moisten, my heart shatters, my soul quivers. I know something important is forgotten but I cannot force myself to remember… I cannot force myself to remember for I must return. I force myself onto my feet and force my shaking hand to the hilt of a blade that I know not how to use. I stare at the Dark Elf and ask “Who… are… you?” a mournful smile unknowingly shows on my face.

I see the Dark Elf’s eyes slightly widen as her smile vanishes for an instance. I see despair flash through her eyes. Despair that the hollow of my soul devoured and sealed.

Her eyes narrow again. I see joy showing on the surface as her smiles adds colors to my colorless world. I know that she I hiding something behind her joy. Something I should know but cannot allow myself to know.

Words flow in a voice that touches the soul and brings comfort to all who despair, “I am Uriel. Archdemon Uriel.”