Arc 1. Chapter 16. Bonds for life.

The compact darkness enveloped the gray and grassy plains, almost entirely covering the world in pitch blackness and making it unable for anyone to see what they were doing.

That was why a figure ran on the way away from that darkness.

It wasn't going to stay there longer, for if it did, something would surely go wrong.

Making his way over the plains without any way to see where he was going but a distinct light disappearing behind dark mountains, the boy barely knew what he was going to do.

All he knew was that he had to get back to the cave from which he had come, even if he couldn't see it.

He had already felt too much pain for a single man and now he was on a mission to go back to a place where pain wasn't as hard on him, a place where people just like himself existed.

Han had wanted this from the start, and it was a wish he wanted to fulfill from the bottom of his heart.

But while this had been the initial goal, when he had grown too fond of the people of this world, he had promised an ally to help them flee far from there.

Han didn't know all the details of the pain of this world, nor did he know why his ally, Phil, had wanted them all to escape so much. But if that was his wish, and Han could fulfill it, why shouldn't he?

"Damn this darkness!" He muttered as he got up after accidentally tripping.

Looking up, he realized that he had to hurry because only the last rays of that light were visible, and the world was almost completely gone from his view.

Brushing off the dirt from his shirt, he sprinted toward the silhouette of the mountains, something he had burned into his eyes.

"Heh- heh- heh- heh- heh-!" He panted.

But despite him running as fast as he could, it didn't seem to make him go fast enough, and soon enough, the white light was stolen from that world, leaving him alone in a dark world.

"Damn it!" He clutched his knees as he felt his legs shake.

Now he was all alone. Alone in nothing but darkness, isolated from light.

His contours could not be seen anymore since they blended into the darkness so perfectly that it was impossible to see a thing.

"Where the hell is the cave?!" He murmured as he carefully made his way through the solid darkness.

But then suddenly…

"Who's there?!" He exclaimed, looking around wildly as he grabbed the shaft of the dagger that he held possession of.

But to his question came no answer as the sound of grass getting trampled over became louder and the presence of something in that darkness became not distant, but so close that he couldn't help but jump a little.

"-!"

Quickly drawing his knife, he pointed it out in the dark, where not even he could see, and protectively swung it around himself, trying to defend himself from the being that he could not see.

His eyes wide, his mouth dry and his hands shaking, he swung around the knife recklessly, trying to somehow defend himself and chase off whatever was there.

He did not want to experience what he had before, death.

But due to his Eternal Returnal ability, he could not die, and that was something he knew, and something he knew that he could use, so even if whatever was there would kill him, he would just come back.

Despite this, he logically feared death, and the brutal ways he had died until then made him want to forget it all forever and ever.

The thoughts rushing to his head almost made him dizzy, but something interrupted that.

"–!"

He felt the world spinning, a pitch blackness standing still without rotating, but he had felt it.

Han felt the blow to his gut, a powerful one that made him cough violently.

"What- the h-!" He stuttered before feeling something erupting from inside him as his body responded to the blow that had sent him down, making him throw up on the grass.

"Pueh-! Ouch… ahh!"

He backed away, looking around wildly with wide-opened eyes, but without being able to see a thing.

Despite being thrown to the ground, he kept his dagger in his tightly knit hand.

The sudden shock had passed and what it had left was fear, but something else also…

"Damn you…" He muttered as he tried getting up.

Just then, the knife in his hand lit up, emitting a flame of red that covered the blade and lit up the ground as well as his face and his furrowed brow.

Anger had been born, embracing his soul as the remnants of his first death in the cave came back to him, reminding him of his uselessness at that place and what grotesque horror had gotten him killed. It all infuriated him beyond belief and he raised his dagger toward the darkness again, without doubting the flame that had started from it.

His anger at his death exceeded that of his fear for his life, giving him something that forced him up on his feet, blade in hand, to fight the unseen demon attacking him.

He bit his lip hard, forcing blood to run from it to prove his newfound determination, and to check that he wasn't just dreaming.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Demon!" He exclaimed as he looked into the darkness, approaching the place where he had previously stood until being swung away.

He had previously wondered just why the creature had attacked him, and what it was. But that wasn't part of his concerns anymore, as he knew exactly what it was.

If it had a mouth, it would growl at him. But instead, a whisper-like laugh came from it, mimicking that of humans, or possibly a gray child's.

But this wouldn't stop Han.

As the contours of the monster became visible thanks to the red light emitted from the knife, Han saw the disgusting creature that had killed him before, a Waonderer.

The Waonderer had no skull, no bones, no spine, and yet it gave off a human look but in a way that made it look fragile enough to be weaker than the surface of the water.

It was in an incredibly fluid form but tried taking a solid, like a weird ball of mud without its wetness.

It looked like a thick stain of paint, something that made Han grimace at its very being, for it was a disgusting creature trying to mimic the shape of a human.

"What a disgusting creature..!" He growled, furious.

The red flame almost looked like it was shifting to a greener color for a moment before the first attack happened.

However, it wasn't the Waonderer but Han who had attacked, raising his red flamed blamed and swinging it toward the grotesque and sad-looking enemy.

"Filthy monster!"

And as the blade went through the surface of the supposed skin of the Waonderer, it howled and backed away because the blade had burnt through it, leaving but a frightening and corrosive wound.

"A-!" He exclaimed before the creature charged at him, throwing him across the grass once more, but failing to flip him.

Getting back on his feet quickly, his gaze sharpened as he locked eyes with the target and yet again, swung the sharp, burning dagger.

A quick hit made the Waonderer flee back, but Han would not let it escape, gritting his teeth and furiously stabbing what should've been its chest.

This creature was so disgusting that even the blood that sprayed out of its hollow chest, wasn't even in a bloodish color, only black, like that of ink.

"Die! Die you bastard!" He yelled, continuing to stab the enemy's way, sometimes missing and sometimes hitting, showing just how much of a newbie he was at killing. But he would get revenge, revenge for his death.

But as the Waonderer growled and howled, the violent fury inside of him started to drain from his body, like a wet towel getting twisted to empty the moist inside of it, the ink on the piece of paper seemed to fade and disappear into it, and Han just stood still, watching the enemy die.

"EEIIEGGGHHHH!!!" It yelled, screeching and howling in pain as blood sprayed all over the place, dying everything that wasn't already black, blacker.

And slowly, light died out, leaving Han, staring at the creature whose death he had made happen sooner than he had expected.

But it hadn't died just yet. It writhed in pain as it bled out, but it didn't die, no, instead it started to melt. It melted into the darkness and became a part of it, the only thing remaining being two, glowing white eyes that soon were the only source of light in that realm. It would remain the only light source, but not for long.

In the darkness, more glowing eyes opened, shining their bright gazes onto Han, only letting up his gray, blood-covered face.

"Eh-" He stuttered, staring into the dark abyss filled with white dots, panicking.

Maybe five pairs of eyes were staring at him now and Han could feel the presence of something that he remembered as gluttony.

"N-no..!"

He turned around, running as fast as he could and not waste another second.

The laughs mimicking those of children echoed over the plains, tearing Han's eardrums apart as they stopped forming laughs and the screeches of pain could be heard once more.

They were mimicking the sound of the Waonderer on the brink of death, imitating the sound of its pain, or perhaps, just repeating it.

"Ah- Hah- Pah- Hah-!" He panted as he ran.

To where he did not know. But the guilt inside him grew as he started realizing just what he had done.

"Hihi-haha-hoho-hehe-" The pitched laugh repeated, tormenting him to the point where he covered his ears in fear of hearing the sound of the laughter again.

These were not like the other ones, at least not all of them.

These weren't solid-like and humanoid beings, but floating creatures, shifting between gas and liquid forms to melt into the darkness and travel like silent snakes through the abyss.

"L-leave me alone!" He yelled for he knew that it was pointless in trying to hide now.

They all sensed him. They had laid their thirsty eyes on him from the moment the world became completely dark, and he knew it, only for what the screeches were telling him.

They were sharing secrets with him, singing about their pain and suffering, and somehow, showing him how tragic their past was.

Although he could not see it, he heard it, felt it with every part of his body,

He knew that they were going to show him, tell him, and show him by ripping him apart once again, draining him of his power, and giving him a kiss of death as final.

"AAAAAHH!!" He screamed.

He didn't want to hear it.

He didn't want to see it.

He didn't want to feel it.

They were going to destroy him. Tear his limbs off and kill him, again.

The resolve he had a second ago about not letting this happen to him, was gone, replaced by the sound of screeches that now penetrated his mind, slowly making him go insane.

He wasn't going to make it.

"What are ya doin' boay?!"

A bright light shone amidst all of that darkness, blinding him for a second as he gazed upon a pile of rocks that a figure now stood atop.

"M-Meno-!"

"Tha one and onlay!" The black cat grinned before leaping onto the ground.

Han was so surprised at seeing the black cat with white, suspicious eyes, that he stopped dead in his tracks, just staring at the back of the furry cat.

"Listen here, Grayie. If ya stay here, ya'll soon be shredded to bits, so, ya gonna leave or what?!" The cat stated while his tail waved around.

But Han just stared, frozen in place.

"B-but! I can't leave you here, not again, you do remember, right? You'll di-"

"Boay, I'm an Eternal One, it is my purpose to fight until I'm dead!" The cat responded as the Waonderers surrounded them at the entrance of what must be the cave Han had come from.

"Last time I saw ya, the onlay thing leading ya forward was that mysterious and wanderful force of determination. Don't let it go ta waist damn it!"

The cat spoke those words before the bright light from the object in his hand became yellow.

Han stared as the cat gave his speech before stretching his furry arm out, revealing the object, the black dagger he owned.

Memories from his first death came back to him, and Han remembered the power of the dagger to shine in yellow like candlelight but even stronger.

He remembered his initial surprise, but now that he had made something similar happen, all he felt was a shock.

"Now get back! Flee for gosh sake!" The cat exclaimed loudly before disappearing like a yellow ball of lightning, leaping into the dark abyss in which the Waonderers waited for him, using his shining dagger to light up the world.

And Han listened.

He climbed up the rocks and began running back into the cave again as he heard the voices stop one after one, being cut off in the middle of their screeching as Meno flew through the hoard like a fish in the sea.

Han tumbled through the entrance of the cave, looking around the small cave room wildly, gazing upon everything within his sight, trying to find a door.

And that was when he saw it.

Barely lit up by the yellow light from the outside, a stone door was drawn into the wall, like that of a strange cave painting.

Han didn't have time to look at the symbols, he just rushed to the door and tried opening it, but to no avail.

It had no door handle.

"Wha-W-W-What do I do?!!" He exclaimed, punching the door and trying to force it open using his dirty fingers. But it was impossible.

In a last effort to try and get it open, he redrew his dagger and stabbed it into the stone door, using all his strength and might to force the door open using it. His dagger had been inserted so far into the hard rock that when he pulled back, the whole door moved with it.

And at last, a light glimmered back at him as he ran through the door, putting trust in Meno to survive a little while longer.

"Huh..?"