CH4

{Daemon's POV}

...

"You have a great purpose child, one that extends far beyond this simple life you've lived." A male childish voice told me as the distant fires raged, burning through the decades of hardwork that the village's ancestors had spent.

I narrow my gaze upon the owner of the voice, taking note of his height and the distinctly long cream hair that adorned his scalp. He was but a mere child and yet it's as if those people, the ones that had burned my village, viewed him as a person who held power.

Power... I need power... I must kill this monster...

"Go on then, shoot. Let your rage reign." He spoke, shifting his gaze to a simple wooden shortbow on the ground, a quiver filled with but two arrows beside it.

Wordlessly and without my own will, my small dainty hands rushed to pick up the bow and a single arrow while everyone else just silently watched without fear. I pull the string back, notching the arrow as my fingers shook in pain while my arms ached.

Shakily, I release the string, letting the arrow fly with just enough force to pierce the child's eye as he fell to the ground.

"Haah.... haah..." I breathed raggedly, feeling my torso expand then compress while my heart pulsed wildly deep into my chest as I felt my lips quiver to a crazed grin. "Haha... hahahaha."

I laughed and laughed even as the village in the distant burned, the wooden materials of the rural homes fueling the ever raging fires that destroyed everything.

This body took pleasure upon the child's death, but such emotion was replaced by fear and dread as the arrow that had pierced his eyes fell to the grassy dirt beneath us.

Slowly, the child rose, his body raised while eyes filled with boredom stared back at me.

At a heartbeat's pace, I rushed to grab hold of the last arrow, failing to even notice one of child's cloaked guards rushing to my position.

I screeched in pain as I felt my hand crushed into the dirt by the guard's foot, easily disabling me even as I used my free hand to pull the trapped one away.

It hadn't ended there however, as but a mere second passed before I felt a force slam into the bottom of my jaw.

The force had been enough to throw me by a short distance, feeling my consciousness fade as my heartbeat slowed to a crawl.

'Why... does my arm feel so numb...?' I thought to myself as I willed my left arm to move.

'I... don't want to die... I don't want to die.... I don't want to... I don't....'

"Hm, well, I guess I wouldn't want my tools damaged. Have her take care of his arm." He whispered with a voice that didn't really seem to care, talking as though he was looking at a dull knife.

I turn my gaze upward, feeling my eyes grow heavy by the second as I manage to keep a single eye open, staring at his departing figure before he suddenly just turned to look at me.

"I'd rather not do this but I'm sure you'll be able to fulfill our dream, so... consider this an early sign-on bonus. After all, a puppet requires strings." And so the world dimmed.

...

The searing pain that came at the mention of his words shook me awake from my slumber, feeling the cold sweat that slowly ran down my face as the sound of my beating heart filled my ears.

"That's odd, I don't think there's ever been a day wherein Sir Gryf is the last to wake." A soft, barely audible voice mentioned from outside of what appeared to be my room.

"Yes, but who knows, maybe he had been busy with managing our-..." Another voice replied before it disappeared, one that apparently belonged to the person named Lelouch based on this body's memories.

Much of the living space seemed to be devoid of any decor, having only a coat rack beside the door, a bed, table, cabinet, and nightstand with a locked drawer and lamp.

The lights that hung above the room weren't on, and the window seal kept at bay the already raised sun's light from sparing a glance into the room.

I raise my hand and reach for the ceiling, flexing my fingers to a close before releasing, feeling the small bit of pressure that had been built in my palm before color returned.

'So this is... the world outside the island.' I thought to myself as I rose from my bed, instinctively turning on the lamp that idly sat by atop my bedside table.

The headache from earlier came with a surge of memories, flooding and crashing as though it were a tidal wave that brought with it year's worth of memories, instintual muscle movement, and general habits.

'Still though... what was that...?' I thought to myself. I remember seeing something but... what was it again?

Looking around, the interface seemed absent but the very thought of it summoned it from who knows where, revealing only a lacking screen that presented only my profile, and the tasks I'd been given.

Shifting a quick glance through it, I remembered immediately that it was required of me to maintain this person's identity, forcing me to rouse from the bed as I rushed to the door.

Opening the door with a breatheless rush, I was presented to the sight of a woman wearing a maid attire caring for a child who sat upon a mobile chair that faced the direction of where her brother, Lelouch, stood.

Though blind, the very obvious noise I made even before opening the door had caught their attention, causing all of their gazes to pre-emptively shift in my direction.

It was at that moment that the world around me drained of color, turning into a light shade of gray as the world became unmoving.

A screeching noise akin to nails being dragged across a board rattled my ears, causing me to close my eyes and place a hand over the side of my face to try and stop it.

Minutes passed before the noise disappeared, and despite all my attempts, the noise never weakened but continuously rose instead. I opened my gaze and found myself floating upon a dark abyss brightened only by small, weak rays of light that seem to come from random directions.

{Warning: Performer has failed to uphold an ongoing task.}

Violation: Failed Objective:Category - Yellow - "Maintain the performer's given identity".

The same robotic voice from earlier uttered, causing me to narrow my gaze at the words that had appeared in front of me, repeating the same content given as the voice.

A few seconds later, all light disappeared plunging me into an uncomfortable darkness and a feeling of weightlessness.

'So this is what failing a yellow task is like.' I thought to myself with a sigh. Only a few seconds had passed and already I had failed a task.' It was with those thoughts circling my mind that the panel in front of me returned.

'Would the player like to resume from the checkpoint?'

Beneath these words were a singular button, leaving me no real freedom to choose otherwise lest I be left in this damned darkness.

Shifting my hand forward, I press at the singular button, feeling as though I had suddenly began to fall, causing my heart to beat wildly before I found myself on that same bed from earlier.

I looked at the familiar ceiling and hear the same barely audible words from earlier, I shift the blanket away and realize the reason for the objective's fail.

"Ah..., so this body likes to sleep nude."