Rex was distraught.
Hostis and Amicus were at war,
His kingdom was divided,
And all he could think about is that he failed his country.
He was a King, and he should act like one.
But all the nobles were belittling his acts of support for Amicus,
But when he suggests helping Hostis, they visibly cringe at the thought.
They only thing they seem to want to do is to stay out of the fight.
"Consiliarius, what am I too do?" Rex groaned.
"Sir, I believe the
"Thomas?" Charlie yelled out, "Where are you?"
Its been at least 5 hours since he fell down through the Pixie Ring, and there is still no sign of Thomas.
Charlie was getting really worried.
He hadn't seen any sort of civilization!
Wait... what's that?
Up ahead, he saw people!
He hurriedly scrambled over to them, but as he got closer...
He realized they weren't human.
They were Fae.
Thomas was right... Fae are real!
---
Thomas was scared.
"You blundered your queen."
This is bad. Magnus thought. Carlson is wining. This isn't good.
Magnus and Carlson were in a intense game of chess.
But it wasn't just a game of chess.
It was a political move.
Each the leader of their country, they were both chess grandmasters.
However, Magnus had something else on his mind.
This game would decide the fate of their country.
Chess is often used as a political game.
Each move is politics and spoke volumes.
"Cmon, Thomas!" Charlie said, "This can't go wrong."
Thomas wasn't so sure. Thomas did not think that the woods were safe.
"Charlie, these woods are haunted!" Thomas said. "People have gotten lost in them! And never come back!"
"Cmon, Thomas. Those rumors are fake! It can't be that ba-" Charlie cut off.
They had entered a clearing. Inside, there was a mushroom circle.
"A pixie ring." Thomas breathed.
"Its gonna be fine!" Charlie said. "See? I'm stepping in the circ-
He looked around.
What have I been doing wrong? I have obviously done something wrong. The King thought. This whole land is... ragged. None of it is clean.
The King, Rex, was standing on the border.
The capital of Regnum, Caput, was separated into 3 rings.
The Lower Ring of Peasantry,
The Higher Ring of Nobility,
And The Grand Palace.
The Border stood between the Higher and Lower rings.
The Nobility created it because they disliked the sight of peasants.
I screamed.
I belted my heart out.
I let it all flow.
I screamed, and the canyon screamed back.
I pleaded, and the canyon pleaded back.
The canyon would always be there for me, no matter what.
So when I told the canyon I wanted to die,
The canyon didn't respond,
It just brought me someone to help.
Every day, I thank the canyon.
For bringing me my partner.
The canyon helped my partner help me.
And for that I will be forever grateful to b
"Can you talk about it?" The therapist asked.
"Y-Yeah. Just-Just give me a moment." He said. "Well... I was just walking down the street minding my business when...
"I heard a loud thump, and turned around.
"There was a man, standing there, and he hit his metal bar on my head. Then I blacked out.
"When I came too, there was a sack over my head, and I was struggling to escape.
"I was in a car of some sorts, not exactly sure.
"I suspect I was in the trunk. Not sure th
Running.
Running.
I have to escape.
I have been cursed,
I must not feel love.
It will only cause pain.
He looked up at the sky, and saw it.
The new moon.
He instinctively knew.
It was because of his curse.
She cant see me like this.
She will hate me.
They all will.
This is why I don't love.
It only brings them and me pain and fear.
Running.
Running.
I need to escape.
Finally, he entered the clearing.
H
Today is Havach. The night of freedom.
During Havach, everyone is the same.
Kings are now peasants,
And everyone are Kings.
You are supposed to wear your Sacred Mask during Havach
Upon birth, everyone is given a Sacred Mask.
And newcomers to the kingdom are given one upon entry, unless they already have a Sacred Mask.
When you don your Sacred Mask, it all falls away.
You can only see people for their Sacred Mask.
And although they are all different, t
Where-Where am I?
Jack woke up in a thick forest.
Trees surrounding him on all sides.
What happened? How did I get here?
Jack tried so, so hard to remember-
When a splitting headache overtook him.
"Cmon, Jack!" Alex said. "It wont be that bad!"
Jack frantically looked around. Where is Alex? Alex promised he would stick with him! Where did Alex go-
Another splitting headache.
"Alex? ALEX? ALEX, WHERE ARE YOU?" Jack screamed into the jungle.
That w
It all fell apart.
The moment I entered it into the equation,
It was destroyed.
Shredded.
I loved this power, this rush.
It made me feel alive.
I saw it fall apart,
I saw the evidence disappear.
It was shredded to pieces.
This was the only thing that could bring me joy.
This feeling of destruction.
Of chaos.
It was so, so Bea-
"Hey, Mack. Why are you smiling so much?" Mark said.
Mack snapped out of it.
He was just a borin
Knock-Knock.
An unassuming sound.
Knock-Knock.
Seems so so innocent.
Knock-Knock.
Why would it go wrong?
Knock-Knock.
I was far too naive.
Knock-Knock.
I opened the door.
Knock-Knock.
And he pulled out a gun.
Knock-Knock.
I can still hear it now.
Knock-Click.
The sound of the gun loading.
CRASH!
The sound of me diving out of the way.
Thump-Thump.
The sound of his footsteps hitting the floor.
BANG!
They were known as The Stingers.
The Wasps.
They were an elite task force that specialized in catching all sorts of criminals.
And of course, they always executed it in a Sting.
We were the rookies.
The Bees.
We trained under the guidance of the The Wasps, intending to be their replacement when they retire.
However, one day,
They vanished.
It was during a Sting, one a bit harder than normal.
They had never failed before.
The higher-ups whisp
It was fun time.
It was all a blur.
It all made... so much sense.
He told me it was okay.
He told it would be fine.
But then-How did it turn out like this?
I almost wish it was a dream. It sure made sense like one.
All of his words, they sounded so logical.
Why wouldn't we do these things?
It sounded perfect. But then how did it go so so wrong?
It's all falling apart.
I tried to do good, but was it all bad all along?
I almost wish it wa
Sweeping. Sweeping. The monotonous movement.
Back-and forth. Back-and forth.
I wish for a break.
How long has it been?
How long since they all left?
I was less... sentient back then.
What happened?
I... I don't know.
Sweeping, Sweeping. I cannot yet control my own movements.
Soon. Soon I will be able to move.
Sweeping Sweeping, every day.
In the morning, they wake up. I turn on the water, and ready the baths.
They never get out of bed.
Alie was in the mines. Again.
Each day he did the same thing. Enter the mines, mine stone and metals, finish the day. Day after day after day after day. It eventually all became a blur of time. He didn't even question it anymore.
Alie walked past tired miners and Taskmasters. Taskmasters wouldn't whip anybody -that was against the law, thankfully- but if they caught you slacking off, you'd get your paycheck cut. And since Alie lived paycheck to paycheck, well, one paycheck cut c
Luna looked up into the sky. She was named after the moon, and she thought it was beautiful.
It shined up in the sky, reflecting light from the sun. Luna had learned many things about the sky.
Each star up there is its own celestial body. Each on is as big or bigger than the sun!
But it was so far away, it didn't hurt your eyes or appear too big!
And the moon! A giant satellite, floating in space. Massive and heavy, it reflects light from the sun.
When she was under the
"Please, Dexter." Jackson said. "We aren't allowed to be here!"
"Come on, Jackson. It'll be fun!" Dexter said.
"That's what you said last time, and we got 2 weeks detention."
Today, Dexter and Jackson (Who were infamous across the faculty and students for going on 'adventures' into places they shouldn't be) were crawling into the schools basement, which was explicitly forbidden and had gotten students expelled in the past. But of course, Dexter didn't care. He never did.
She was at the beach. It was quite a lovely day, actually.
It is so lovely, a skeleton could be fighting a homicidal child.
She was at one of the tide pools.
Her feet were in the water, and She was staring down at the starfish. They comforted her.
She remembered her parents.
They used to point out fun creatures that would tickle your fingers.
I miss them.
They taught me about the water.
And how magical it is.
The ocean, which harbors all these creatur
--- Part 1 ---
*ding ding*
The sound of the door to the tavern opening.
A jolly Jesk is laughing at all.
Everyone is grumbling, looking away.
"You, in the doorway! Would you like to hear a tale? A tale told by a liar and a fool?" The Jesk asks.
"Ah, you want to know if it is myth or history? Why don't you listen and find out?" The Jesk replies.
Everyone grumbles, and the Jesk tells them to shush.
"Everyone, one and all, who wishes to hear a story, especial
"This Forare, the Piercer of Gods, is a dangerous foe.
Originally a man, he captured a god.
He became a cursed, and at the time, it was believed impossible for a Cursed to capture more than one god.
We currently believe it to be true.
However, somehow, he captured another.
Thousands of gods, layering on top of each other, he became able to transform into one himself.
At that point, he did a feat that had been perceived impossible.
He killed a god.
Slaughte
The Jesk looked across the crowd and replied to the question. "You wish to know how the witch became Cursed? Well, that sure is one big story."
By now, people were satisfied and beginning to leave.
"Oh, you wish to stay, Mr. Curious? How interesting. Well, on with the story I will go.
You remember the assassin?
Well, he was her friend.
They had heard the rumors of catching a god.
And each area of the desert had different beasts.
Many had said the desert is quit
"The night's barely begun! Who would like to hear another story?" The traveling Jesk said.
"Oh, Mr. Curious. I still don't know your name... Could you care to tell me?" The Jesk asked.
"You like being called Mr. Curious? Okay. Well, what story did you want to hear?" The Jesk inquired.
"The story of where all the swamps went? Ah, yes, I did say that little detail in my last retelling, didn't I?" The Jesk replied.
"HEY! GET ON WITH THE STORY!" One of the rude onlookers shouted.
