The musky smell of moss and trash invades my nose as I’m lying on the cold ground in a dim alleyway. A puddle of freezing rainwater soaks my back, chilling me to my bones. Yet, I don't feel the bitter cold. Instead, I feel warm. My chest burns as a slight metallic taste coats my tongue.

A faint scent of gunpowder surrounds me as my mind feels murky. My thoughts feel as if they're submerged. Using the little strength I have left, I look down to see blood. My white shirt is stained red as more gushes out. The puddle of rainwater beneath me turns crimson. I try to say something, but no words come out. Only the noise of me gurgling on my blood echoes through the empty alleyway.

I can’t breathe. It feels like I’m drowning and my vision is fading. I feel so warm, no, I feel cold. I can feel my consciousness slipping away, yet I don't feel anything. I can't even feel fear as my mind is so foggy that all emotions seem to leave me. I can't even remember who shot me. The only thing that remains is a profound sense of dissociation like this isn’t real.

Why did this have to happen? What did I do to deserve this? Why was my life full of misfortune? I spent my whole life running away, and I couldn’t even retaliate in the end. My entire life was controlled by those mysterious bastards. I can’t even fix it because I'm bleeding out in an abandoned alley.

I'm only 15 years old, and now I'm saying goodbye to the world that has done nothing but kick me to the side of the road. My only dying wish is for those mysterious bastards who caused my life to be miserable to get what they deserve. I want nothing more than their lives to be filled with pain and agony for eternity.

Ah, what am I thinking? I sound like an edgy high schooler.

As I reminisce about my short depressing life, I suddenly feel something in the air. It's like the air turned thick, like the air of a sauna without the heat. The thick air slowly starts to surround me, until it suddenly starts moving towards my open bullet wound. It started slowly at first, but it gradually sped up until it was like a floodgate opened, releasing the weird air directly into my body. Suddenly a wave of warm energy enters my body all at once. It feels the same as submerging myself in a warm bath as relaxation seeps through me. 

It feels peaceful and it made me forget my pain for a moment. As the warmth flows through my body, I can feel a newfound strength flow through my veins. I can feel it in my muscles and my bones. It feels like I can overcome anything, overcome any adversity.

. . . But it’s not enough. 

I know that there's no way to save me from dying in this deserted alley. It can only prolong my suffering as I know my lungs are filled with blood. The random strength provided by the weird air has given me a few more minutes to live at most. I can already feel my life slipping away again. There’s nothing to do except lie here and wait to die. The random energy was like putting gasoline on a fire, but no flame can burn forever.

I sense the warmth in my body slowly collecting itself in the center of my chest. My limbs feel numb and cold as the warmth leaves, the cold pricking my skin like little needles. I follow the warm energy as it slowly moves upwards until it all accumulates in my eyes. The warmth felt nice at first, but it got too intense. It started feeling as if I’ve had my eyes open without blinking for hours.

Before I can realize what's going on, an electrifying pain races through my eyes. The agony feels like a million scorching needles piercing my eyelids. I can feel them shifting and transforming under my eyelids. It feels like my eyes are being juiced like a grape as blood leaks from my tear ducts.

I try to scream, but I still can't get air into my lungs. I cough up blood as I try to claw my eyes out, but I don't have enough strength. I try to do anything to get this unbearable pain to stop, but nothing I do works. I can only pray for the sweet release of death as it continues.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pain finally subsides. The entire alleyway is coated in a layer of blood, myself included. I have no idea how my body ejected that amount of blood without turning me into a raisin. It should be physically impossible for me to lose that much blood, yet the evidence is in front of me.

As the overwhelming metallic smell of blood bombards my nose, I can tell I still don't have long left. The blood loss only hastened my inevitable demise. I have no idea what happened to me, but I know I'll never find out.

“...reus? Dreus…? Dreus…? DREUS!!!”

I hear a familiar voice. He's calling out my name as he gets closer and closer. I hear muffled footsteps getting louder until I hear him drop beside me.

“W-WHAT THE FUCK!?!? HOLY S-SHIT, WHAT HAPPENED!?!? DREUS!! Please talk to me!! I'm going to help you, okay? Oh god…”

I slowly force my eyes to peel open against my body's wishes as I look at my only friend, Hoku. His light brown hair and narrow shoulders hulked over me, trembling in despair. His frame is uneven as air fills the space where his left arm should be. I can see his usual round joyful eyes filled with grief. Tears and snot drip down his narrow malnourished face. He puts pressure on my chest to stop the bleeding. His messy brown hair is drenched from the rain. I didn't even notice it had started raining.

“Please… Please don't leave me… We promised to help each other. To always be there for each other. You can't just leave. What am I supposed to do..? Dreus please…”

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I hear Hoku silently sob as he tries his best to save me, but I know there's nothing he can do. Forcing my tired body to move, I gently tap Hoku to notify him that I’m still conscious. He looks over and notices I’m still awake. 

“Hey buddy, it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay” Hoku mumbles nervously as he continues to mutter assurances to me. I rest my hand on his thigh and he quiets so I can speak.

I try to speak, but I only spit up blood, but I keep trying. Eventually, I force out the words

“Thank you”

After I say those words, the rest of my strength leaves me. I accept my fate as I fall limply into Hoku's arm.

As I’m fading away, I hear Hoku's grief-stricken words. “No… Please. Didn't you want to prove them wrong? Make them pay for what they've done? Get revenge on those bastards who’ve been chasing you? You can't die and give up now. You can’t just let them win. Come on…please… Don't leave me… I can’t lose you too…”

As I’m about to lose consciousness, I realize he’s right. What am I doing? Wallowing in pity and just accepting my fate? No. I can't just let them win. After what they've done to me? No, I'm going to put all of my efforts into paying them back. I won't stop until they've felt my agony. Not even death can stop me from getting revenge.

As I firm my resolve, the tiniest spark is ignited inside of me. I try to think of anything I can do to live, but my foggy mind is barely able to form cohesive thoughts. As I try to think of any way to survive, something I couldn't describe happened before my eyes.

Before me, words glowing with white holy light, as if a message from a deity, floated in front of me. It read,

[Temperament created]

[Access to the Mystic Far-Lands available]

[Enter?]

[Yes | No]

Every second I was conscious, the pain got worse, and I could feel my resolve and consciousness slipping. I could barely make out the words and their meanings. Every other thought that crossed my mind was the irresistible feeling of wanting this pain to end, but I couldn’t let my story end this tragically.

I remembered every terrible thing I had to endure, every time I barely escaped with my life. Remembering the trials I had to endure just to continue living, using pure spite and hatred to keep trekking on, I used the last remnants of my strength to utter one word.

"...yes"

And then I lost consciousness.

____________________________________________________________________________

HOKU

Dreus was supposed to be taking a piss, so why has it taken him half an hour? I'm going to find that cocksucker and yell at him for making me wait here.

I walk through a dingy alleyway that's covered in the trash as I berate Dreus in my mind. While walking, I accidentally step into a murky puddle, going through my shoes and soaking my sock. I swear I'm going to give Dreus a piece of my mind when I find him. 

*BANG*

As I’m searching for Dreus, I suddenly hear a gunshot. It sounded like it was only a few blocks away. Immediately I started worrying for Dreus again like maybe he was hurt and I’m not there to help him, but I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my head as I knew I was just being anxious. We haven’t seen them for almost 2 years, so nothing should be wrong. 

I quickly scanned through alleyways yelling for Dreus as the sky darkened and it began to rain. I searched for a few minutes until I heard something. It was faint, but it sounded like someone gargling water. I follow the noise, and as I get closer, I notice there's an intense metallic smell. 

I round the corner, and there I see my best friend, Dreus laying on the ground, coated in blood. The alleyway looked straight from a horror movie. There was crimson on almost every surface, and laying in the middle of this bloodbath was my friend.

Why is there so much blood? It shouldn't be physically possible for his body to contain that much. Even if he could hold that much, he should be dead from blood loss. Yet I can see his chest moving, albeit faintly.

Dreus has been the only person who has stayed by me throughout the years. We’ve helped each other endure the suffering both of us have been through. He’s the only one who understood the abandonment I felt.

Overcome with shock, I shout and run over to him and I drop beside him as I frantically examine his body for wounds. I found one situated in his chest, and it seems the bullet punctured his lungs based on how he's spitting up blood and struggling to breathe.

Looking over Dreus's body, I see how his entire body is stained with an unholy amount of red. His black hair and pale skin are covered as the rain lightly washes it away. I still can't fathom where this amount of blood came from, but my mind's focused on more pressing matters. 

I know it's useless at this point, but I use my hand to put pressure on the wound anyways as the reality of the situation hits me. My best friend is dying and there's no way I can save him in time. 

I keep wailing, asking him not to leave me. Suddenly I feel him move and tap my leg. I look over and see his soulless eyes and I can tell he's lost his will to live. There's no life inside his eyes, only the expectation, and longing for death. This was a stark contraction of his usual spirited and determined personality.

As I observe Dreus, I notice his eyes leaking a faint amount of blood, staining his cheeks scarlet. The bullet wound is located in his chest, so why are his eyes bleeding? Whatever, it doesn't matter. All that matters right now is saving my friend, however impossible it may be.

I mutter to him that it'll be okay, that he'll make it out, but he puts his hand on my leg, and I turn quiet as I know he's trying to tell me something. He opens his mouth to speak, but he only coughs up blood. Even so, he continues trying to communicate until finally, he utters the words,

“Thank you”. After he says those words, I can feel him go limp in my arm.

“No… Please. Didn't you want to prove them wrong? Make them pay for what they've done? Get revenge on those bastards who’ve been chasing you? You can't die and give up now. You can’t just let them win. Come on…please… Don't leave me…I can’t lose you too…”

As I express my emotions, I can see the life come back in his eyes and can see his fighting spirit come back to life. Yes!! Fight! Show them you won't be taken out so easily! 

I stare into his eyes now alight with determination, and I was caught off guard as I notice something I previously missed. His previous gray eyes are now a bright coral color, like a sunset on the horizon. 

As I notice his bright unwavering eyes, Dreus only utters one word.

"...yes"

And he finally loses consciousness.

Before I could cry in despair as his body went limp, I felt the air become… thicker? As the indescribable feeling washed over me, I could feel the air congregate towards Dreus. As I watched in amazement, the air condensed until it formed a sort of white fog.

Then suddenly, as if a fire was lit, the fog was dyed a coral color. The same color as Dreus's new eyes. The smoke covered his body until I couldn't see him. It was beautiful, like clouds colored by the warmth of a sunset. It momentarily made me forget the world around me as I gazed in awe. The smoke grew stronger and thicker until It eventually dispersed, and Dreus was gone.