Chapter 1: Death

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I am releasing this chapter early, and this book will not have any updates for months or maybe even a year, so keep that in mind when you read this chapter. It is not my fault if you like it and get annoyed that there are no more chapters.

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As the sun rises, a young girl rushes out of her room and starts rushing through some chores. As she is getting through her second chore, a woman seemingly of middle age comes into view, with a young boy following right behind her.

"Lutie, can you please slow down? Your friends aren't going anywhere, ok. So just calm down. You're being loud right now. You even woke Candy up." The woman says to Lutie, trying to calm her from her excited state.

"But Aunt Frau, it's the 5th anniversary since I met them! I can't just keep waiting! Don't worry. I'll finish up here fast and be out before you know it!" Lutie quickly explains to her Aunt Frau while continuing to do her chores as fast as possible.

"Lutie, can I come if I help you right now?" Candy asks, hoping to follow Lutie to her anniversary with her friends. Though he can be seen with a slight blush.

"Ok, just hurry and start helping me!" Lutie responds without looking back at what she is doing. Also, keeping the words that he just wanted to see Ranz from escaping her mouth.

"Ok, ok, I'll do the dishes and feed the dog. You do the rest." Candy says, going towards the sink and grabbing the sponge.

"Thanks a lot, Candy. I already did everything else, so hurry up. I'm going to go get ready!" Lutie responds and rushes away to her room to get changed and grab anything she might want to bring. After finishing her chores, she and Candy enter their rooms to get ready.

Five minutes later, she comes out of her room dressed in medieval-style black pants and a gray shirt with one sleeve at elbow length while the other goes to the tips of her fingers. Entering the hallway outside her room, she makes her way towards the living room and goes toward the door, only to be stopped by Candy yelling at her.

"Wait for me! I always tell you to stop forgetting to bring me since you know I'm not allowed to go without you bringing me. Plus, the guards are hard to slip by. Only you know how to do that." Candy talks as he follows behind her as she opens the front door and goes around the tiny house.

"Candy, you should know how to get by them already. Like I showed you how many times I am in shock, you still manage to get caught. One of the more loose guards even tried to pretend you weren't there, but you still got caught by another guard." Lutie complains to Candy partly because he is slowing her down.

"Oh, you act like you haven't gotten caught before. In case you forgot the time, you tripped on your own foot and pushed a lantern over, which got us caught and we even got grounded for a few weeks." Candy retorts, irritating Lutie with the embarrassing story.

"Pfft, whatever, let's just hurry up. Let's hurry under the hole, the guards changed how they patrol, but it's still effortless to get by, don't worry." Lutie says, slightly mocking the guards of her small village as she uncovers a small hole that leads under the village walls. Going into the hole, she peeks her head out the other side as she checks for any guards nearby before bolting out of the hole.

"Hahaha! Hurry up, Candy, we need to meet the others at the tree!" Lutie yells behind her as she starts running towards the spot she agreed to meet her friends.

"I'm coming! Just give me a sec! I'm not as strong as you!" Candy runs towards her shouting out complaints to Lutie.

As they run towards their meeting place, a tree of orange wood and red leaves comes into view, standing taller than the ordinary trees surrounding it. Getting closer to the tree, they see three figures. A boy with green hair, pale skin, and pointy ears. A girl with red hair, a smile filled with sharp teeth, and skin mirroring the leaves from the tree. Finally, the strange deer with white skin, antlers seemingly made of marble, and bright blue eyes.

"Candy, Lutie!" The girl with red hair calls out.

"Hey, Ranz! Hey Luca!" Lutie responds. But, just as they were about to continue their usual activities when they met. The earth rages, shaking with great intensity, boulders and rocks fall from the mountains, a series of roars from the predators of the forest sound about, chirping and screeches from the birds pierce the air, and trees raise their branches with their once dull but full of life leaves starting to become luminescent.

"What in the Fienal is happening!" Yells Ranz as she tries to keep her balance.

"I don't know! Let's get closer to the tree. It's a Fadewood tree, so it should be able to hold up better than the others!" Luca yells, helping the strange deer closer to the tree while ensuring everyone is heading to the tree.

As everyone gathers closer to the tree, the shaking stops, and the forest quiets. Luca is the first to get up and immediately checks up on everyone making sure they are safe. Once he has confirmed that everyone is okay, he starts telling everyone what to do as he stands next to the deer.

"Lutie, Candy, I want the both of you to check around and see if there are any dangers nearby. I don't want us to run into a group of wolves. Ranz, you head back before your parents start rushing around to find you. I don't want them to rampage just because they couldn't find you." Just as Luca finishes giving orders, the strange deer runs away straight towards the center of the forest.

"Silver! Where are you going!" Luca yells to the deer taking a few steps to start chasing before stopping and deciding it's too dangerous to go after the deer.

"Ummm, do we still do what you said, Luca?" Lutie says, wondering what to do as she sees that Luca is about to leave and chase after Silver.

"Yes, go with Candy and make su-" Luca affirms, only to get cut off as a branch is seen stabbing through his stomach.

"LUCA!!" Lutie yells, trying to go to him before getting pulled back by Ranz as Candy starts yelling at them to run.

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Here lies Luca Medallion.

Time of death-

00:00:00:00:00:17 after WORLD REBIRTH.

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(A/N year:month:day:hour:minute:second)

...

... why

... why him

'Of all people to die. It should hav-'

"LUTIE! YOU HAVE TO RUN," Yells Ranz as she frantically pulls Lutie away from the tree that used to grant protection but now brings the promise of death and the thoughts that brought darkness to Lutie's mental state.

Realizing their situation, Lutie starts running with them away from the tree they once used as a gathering area. They continue running as they escape the range of the tree branches, only for roots to escape the ground and rush after them. Just as they are about to be impaled, the roots of the tree stop right before them, still struggling to reach them. Out of the monster's range, they all leave towards the closest area with people. Lutie's village starts coming into view as they see what looks like livestock rampaging around the town as the guards try to stop them.

Lutie runs off as both Candy and Ranz are still in shock. As Lutie approaches the village from the gate, what looks like the village chief's pet cat runs out towards her, claws out as its now lion-sized body leaps towards her. Struck with fear, the only thing she can do is stand in horror as she sees her death approach, only for one of the guards to throw a large hook and yank it away from her.

"Lutie! You are safe! Head to your house and open the trap door under the rug in your mom's room!" The guard yells in relief that he found her in time and finishes the monster that once was a cute cat.

"I'll clear a way for you, so go to your mother for safety! Wait! Where is Candy!? Was he not wi-"

"I'm right here, Uncle Tyron! We brought Ranz from the scarlet clan as well!" Candy interrupts him as he and Ranz run to them.

"Let's go. We need to get to safety! Is everyone else in the bunker? If I remember, we are the only ones with a bunker." Candy says as they start going through the village with Uncle Tyron clearing a way through.

"Ye- argh! YOU FUCK! Yes, everyone is in the bunker. We are just looking for a few missing people!" he says as he keeps fighting while ripping a broken-off fang out of his side.

With their house in sight, albeit a bit ways away, they run past him, and the two siblings run for their home as they drag Ranz in a rough attempt to guide her towards their house. Passing by a few more fighting guards, they see a few corpses nearby and can't help but stop in fear and shock as they see a body being eaten by what was probably a pig. Noticing them, the now beast rushes them, making disgusting squealing noises as they panic and try to back away, only for Lutie to trip over a fallen guard's arm.

"GET AWAY FROM THESE KIDS!" Uncle Tyron yells out as he rams into the side of the beast's enormous, head-turning charge away from the group.

Knocking down the giant beast, he stabs his hook into its head as he proceeds to rip its head off and grab the head to throw it at a beast about to pounce on another guard before turning back to the kids.

"Go! When we are done searching, we will make our way over to you, so run and don't stop like that again!" Uncle Tyron yells at them as he rushes over to help his other companions.

Candy and Ranz rush over to pick Lutie up as they start pulling her towards the house's front door. Finally picking up her feet, she opens the door, and they rush inside, closing the door behind them. Making their way to the room with the bunker door, they hurriedly knock on it, yelling to let them in. Opening their door is Lutie and Candy's mother, with blood covering most of her body and a small creature holding onto her head.

"Co…m…e..TO…..you.r…mother" The thing that was once their mother struggled to say before lunging at them like some messed up the beast.

In shock, Lutie and Candy don't move and end up getting shoved by Ranz as she kicks the monster in the face. Running forward, Ranz pushes it into the bunker, yelling to close it and move the bookshelf on top of it. Doing so without thinking, the two siblings stop before realizing what they just did.

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Here lies Ranz Scarlet

Time of death-

00:00:00:00:12:47after WORLD REBIRTH.

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Standing in shock as they deteriorate just slightly deeper into madness, they look at each other and hug one another before sitting down side by side, thinking back to everything that has happened. Hearing the front door burst open, the siblings jump up, panicking as they look for a way out or maybe a potential weapon to use. As the heavy footsteps come closer, stomping towards their room, they both grab random objects to throw at whatever turns the corner. But turning the corner is their Uncle Tyron covered in the blood of all those beasts he killed and his hook badly damaged.

With no beast attached to his head….

"Why is the bunker closed?! Move, I'll open it up." going towards the bookshelf, he gets ready to lift it up before Lutie yells to stop.

"Please don't touch that. There aren't any people there anymore." Lutie reasons with an odd look in her eyes. Listening to them, he backs away from the bookshelf before starting to get details from the siblings on what happened. As Lutie stutters through her explanation, Candy finally yells out.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!! YOU LEFT HIM BACK THERE. YOU PUSHED THE BOOKSHELF ON TOP OF THE BUNKER!!! YOU! LEFT! THEM! TO! DIE!" Candy yells out before breaking into a crying mess.

Standing in shock, Lutie holds her head, not knowing what to say or do. Before Lutie's mind breaks, Uncle Tyron ignores what Candy said before bringing Lutie back to reality, calming Candy down, and helping him relax. Getting them out of the house, he tells the other village guards and hunters to protect them before heading back inside to deal with whatever the siblings hinted at in the basement bunker. Panicking, the siblings try to rush to him and stop him but are held back by the others. They scream out, begging him not to let the 'thing' out, but he ignores them. He needs to see it himself. He refuses to believe they all died. Once out of sight Uncle Tyron goes towards the entrance before moving the bookshelf out of the way. Opening and entering the bunker, he wonders what made them so afraid as he can't hear or see anything that would cause problems. There aren't even any signs of… life. Realizing how dire his situation is, he slowly backs up while being ready for an attack hearing a noise, he quickly turns toward it before seeing the siblings' mother standing there.

"Ummm, hey? Is.. is that really you?" He asks cautiously before seeing the blood on her body and the dead corpse of Ranz right behind her.

"Oh, shit." He says before the thing rushes him, ready to shed more blood. An arrow flies by, hitting the imposter in the head, causing the speed it built up to slide forward before stopping right in front of Tyron.

"Thanks, Hine, but just so you know, I had that, so don't go bragging to the others," Tyron says before walking towards him to leave the bunker.

"LOOK OUT!" Hien yell's as the weird monster on the former mother's head jumps onto Tyron latching onto his neck. Tyron struggles as he tries to rip it off before he becomes whatever that thing wants him to be. Using his hook, he stabs the thing, managing to get it off him, and backs away as Hien shoots it a couple of times before slowly returning to the bunker's exit. Hearing more noises, they see more of those things crawling toward them and other former people entering their sight. They bolt towards the bunker as they slam it shut, put the bookshelf back on top, and stack a few more things they could find nearby on top of the bunker door.

"What has this fucking world come to, damn it," Tyron says while trying to catch his breath.

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