{Current form: human}

---

An early light shines through silk curtains.

It illuminates a beautiful hallway filled with bejeweled furniture and soft purple carpet.

Maid and butlers walkabout smiles on their faces ready to start the day's work.

A window is opened to let the fresh air in.

A woman leans on the window cill looking at the gorgeous garden.

Everything is perfect.

"Prince Marcel! good morning your highness!"

The man corrects his poster!

She knows who that voice belongs to!

His face turns red with embarrassment! his heart beating quickly!

Before she turns around princess Marcel takes a deep breath to calm herself.

Marcel slowly turns around now with the dignified appearance of a prince!

"Oh! sir knight, good morning, I hope you had no trouble sleeping"(Marcel)

"Nope! I had nightmares again hahaha!"

Marcel frowned at that response.

She studies the knight in shining armor.

His handsome face, his soft black hair.

His black eyes he can look into forever.

Marcel stops herself from smiling.

He coughs.

"sir Kthanid! that's no laughing matter! your job is to protect me! I don't-....We can't have you getting sick!"(Marcel)

Marcel turns his head and fills her cheeks with air.

"Don't worry! princess! nothing will be able to defeat me! not with these guns!!"

This time Marcel couldn't stop himself from smiling.

She looks down at the little cat girl in armor to big for her, trying to flex her arm and force some muscles out!

"yes yes very impressive......very....very impressive....."(Marcel)

He can't take his eyes of the knight.

Sir Kthanid was far taller than the princess that it hurt her neck to look at him!

Those bulging muscles, that hair cut.

And not to mention the extremely cool fanny pack! practical and fashionable!

His body can only be described as god-like.....

Marcels wipes the drool from the corner of her mouth.

He puts on a serious demeanor more appropriate for a prince.

"How are things going on the front, did we get more funding?"(Marcel)

Things have been going bad for a while, Princess Marcel has been doing everything she has in her power to fix it.

Every day it seems more and more problems occur, and more and more people suffer. 

It's gotten to the point she doesn't leave her room for days.

The only person who can get her out is.

"Well...not exactly.....here"

Sir Kthanid uses his giant bear arms and reaches for his back.

He pulls a sack of coins from a flap.

Marcel stares at the bear crab wrapped in armor.

He imagines himself being wrapped around those strong arms......

Marcel takes the bag and looks inside.

"What do you mean not exactl-"(Marcel)

Marcel realized immediately what he meant.

It was half of what Marcel asked for.....

Marcel desperately needed funds to start her plans, she asked for funding from the king.

"sigh.....I guess I should be happy I even got this much..."(Marcel)

"um....princess........here this should help"

A tentacle holding a bag slowly approaches Marcel.

The tentacle belonging to the fuzzy white spider ball in armor.

Marcel takes the bag and looks inside.

It's filled with iron and gold coins, it's very heavy.

"This should cover the rest of the costs"

".....Kthanid......where did you get this......"(Marcel)

"That's not important my prince please use it"

"no....Kthanid is this............how much......"(Marcel)

Kthanid squirmed.

"not much! not much at all! just you know some of my money"

"Some"(Marcel)

"....ok....it's all of my money...."

"I CAN'T-"(Marcel)

"Please! just take it princess, I have no need for money serving you is more than enough, and with this money, you make our country a better place! it's way better than wasting it on anything for myself"

Marcel puffed out his cheeks but in the end, he accepts the money.

She then slowly leaned her body on her knight.

"You're so unfair~~~"(Marcel)

"My prince?!?"

Marcel pushes her self on the meatball.

He had metal slabs wrapped around him for armor but the front was exposed.

His flesh was so soft.

"Princess!? what if someone sees us!?"

Marcel pushed himself further into the soft flesh.

"shhh~~~ this is your punishment~~~"(Marcel)

Marcel turns her head right and left pushes herself more into Kthanid.

"pun....punishment!?!? prince I don't understand!?!"

"hehehehe~~~~idiot~~~~~~~~~"(Marcel)

"ooooooooh what am I going to do with you!!! Prince Marcel......marcel.......marcel.........MARCEL!!!!" 

---

"MARCEL!!!!"(Kay)

Marcel snaps their eyes open.

They look to the left and then the right.

The beautiful castle is replaced with an old wooden shack.

The maids and butlers replaced by a greasy faced teenaged girl cleaning tables.

Instead of having the company of their knight in shining armor they have....

"don't just start sleeping all of a sudden!! they're going to bring the food!"(Kay)

Marcel blinks a couple of times.

Coming down from a world of perfection to..........this...

Marcel sees something quickly retract from the corner of their eye.

"damN iT! KaY!"(Ruby)

Ruby quickly sheathes her greatest weapon.

A blacktip marker.

The amount of dicks drawn with this thing could cover an entire library of books.

Which she has done before.

Librarians all over the world have cried tears of blood because of this sick weapon.

Marcel narrow their eyes at Kay and Ruby.

A light murderous intent comes out of unhappy Marcel.

Ruby smiles warily, slightly sweating.

Kay.

Doesn't give a shit.

She just sticks her tongue out.

Marcel imagines ripping it out of her jaw and sticking it in-

Ring! Ring! 

Marcel turns their head back.

Four trays of food are set on a counter by a pimpled faced teenager. 

A weirdo in a trench coat and fedora receives them.

He tries to grab four trays of food at once.

He turns around looking at the group, asking for help with his eyes.

Of course, the polite thing to do is get up and help him.

And of course.

No one got up.

The weirdo sighs and tries to grab all four trays at once

He clumsily makes his way to the table and sets the food down.

"....thanks for the help..."(Dave)

"you'rE welcomE"(Ruby)

".........................."(Dave)

Ruby stares at the food in front of her.

A simple burger and fries meal.

"yoU knoW wheN yoU saiD you'D treaT uS tO A meaL I thougT we'D gO somewherE lesS shiT"(Ruby)

Dave smiles and tips his fedora.

"I know this place looks a little run-down M'lady but trust me the food is good"(Dave)

 Ancient burger was a restaurant chain (with a very unfortunate name) that popped up about 100 years ago when the boom of the era of the ancients happened.

 During the boom, every explorer, treasure hunter, scientist, adventurer, someone who was just bored, was looking for remnants from the era of the ancients.

A businessman took the opportunity to open up restaurants and inns and era of ancients theme parks and collectible toys for these people at every ancient tower or shrine.

Sadly after hype started dying down everything had to close up.

The only thing left of its legacy is Ancient burger.

The only thing keeping it going is the novelty of it.

And that sometimes it really is the only thing around and you really don't feel like cooking right now so you might as well if there was something else you'd eat there but there isn't I mean some of these places are just so out there you have no choic-

uhm....wait what was I?

Crap I'm just going on an unnecessary tangent....

I'm just really on edge lately.

I know I heard something outside this time!

Did someone find me?

No.

That's impossible even if they know where I am they can't get to me........

But, what hell made the noise.......I'm starting to think maybe I'm not so-

Nevermind.

Where the hell was I?

Sigh.

Oh yeah.

Ruby bites into the burger.

"hmmmM it'S ediblE!"(Ruby)

"Told you"(Dave)

In this world, the word edible is a compliment.

"so Mr detective"(Kay)

"Call me Dave"(Dave)

"Mr detective"(Kay)

"........."(Dave)

"You said you wanted to ask some questions but before we do that I'd like to ask some questions of my own, I hope that's fair"(Kay)

Dave gives the sort of smile someone would give their doctor when they fake back pains to get drugs.

"Umm yeah sounds fair"(Dave)

"oooh~~~acting sensible to gain our trust~~classic Mr detective move~~"(Marcel)

"can you stop calling me Mr detective-"(Dave)

"HeY MR detectivE! yoU worK foR reD masK righT!"(Ruby)

Ruby points at the red mask patch on Mr detective's shoulder.

"Sigh....it's....um...."(Dave)

The red mask patch beeped once.

"it's great! it's great!! the best job ever!! I get treated sooo well!! I never think about quitting!!!!"(dave)

Dave stuffs his face with fries.

"huH, everyonE I asK whO workS aT reD masK sayS thaT"(Ruby)

Dave scarfs more fries down.

"yeah...I bet.....so why were you in Roland."(kay)

Kay takes a bite from the burger.

The ketchup drips off like blood from her lip.

Dave stayed silent for a moment.

He had a bluff ready.

He looks at Ruby.

She had a cool demeanor.

But her eyes were locked on to him, not missing a single one of his movements. 

Lying to a half-devil was a pretty bad idea.

"There are many reasons, all them have to do with...what does it call itself, Kthiand? ...Kthanid! right?"(Dave)

The mood changed.

Dave felt it immediately, in fact, he predicted it.

Kay's eye narrowed dangerously.

Marcel's smile grows a little bigger.

Ruby used her nail to scratch the wooden table.

Dave very carefully worded his next sentence.

"It...he..she..I'm just gonna say they, they were involved in my last case, they're semi-related to my current case, and also I was tasked with giving them this"(Dave)

Dave slides an envelope on the table making sure it doesn't touch the ketchup stains.

The envelope was sealed with a red mask pin.

"What is this?"(Kay)

"I don't know, it will only open for Kthanid but whatever it is, it's from red mask himself"(dave)

The mood shifted again.

This time from hostility to uncertainty.

Ruby takes the envelope and examines it.

"soooO iS thiS gooD oR baD?"(Ruby)

"I don't know but from what little direct communications I had with Red Mask he seems to favor the...umm....Kthanid...to the point where he shut down my previous case"(Dave)

"previous case?"(Kay)

Dave eyed kay.

"You see I was hired by a duke to investigate an adventurer party, they had something the duke wanted, I followed them to a village near the kingdom of roses"(dave)

"........."(Kay)

"When I got there I found two of the adventurers dead, the third's body was never found, the duke's items were also missing, but that's not all"(Dave)

"........"(Kay)

"You see the reason the adventurer party was near this village was that the village hired them to exterminate a devil! they were a party that managed to get to C rank in a month!  it usually takes years for that happen, and yet not only were they killed but the devil and the villagers all died."(Dave)

"So you trying to find the person who did it?"(Kay)

"what!? no! no! no! I'm not that kind of detective I just do what people hire me to do"(Dave)

It almost felt like dave had to throw up that sentence....

"My job was getting the items back, one land deed and one potion"(Dave)

"anD how'S thaT goinG?"(Ruby)

"Well I know where they are or I guess who has them......."(Dave)

"oooh~~~ ~~~~ are you here to take them back~~~~"(Marcel)

"I feel....I feel like none of you are really listing to me.......or even respecting me really......................my case was dropped, red mask knows about this but he still dropped the case he could have sent his best mercenaries or assassins or robots but he didn't so that should show some goodwill right?"(Dave)

"We got attacked by a red mask robot how do we know he didn't send that?"(Kay)

"kaY don'T bE A stupiD fuckinG cunT anyonE caN ordeR A reD boT, anD iT wasn'T thaT stronG anywaY, sO geT thE fuckinG sticK ouT oF youR asS I thinK it'S iN youR braiN righT noW"(Ruby)

"seconded~~~~~~~~"(Marcel) 

"god you're both such fucking bitches"(Kay)

"ahem....so I guess I can ask questions now?"(Dave)

"yeah sure whatever..."(Kay)

"Good! ok umm.......fuck....what the fuck was I gonna ask?? we kept pushing it"(Dave)

Dave pulls a small notepad from his pocket.

"can you tell me everything that happened in ghost town"(Dave)

"who'S tO saY wE werE iN ghosT towN"(Ruby)

Dave places a picture of the party in ghost town.

"thaT coulD bE anY half-deviL, elF, outlieR, anD whateveR thE helL kathnaiD iS"(Ruby)

"Please just...wait...I thought their name was Kthanid??"(Dave)

"We all call him different things, I just call him Kath"(Kay)

"I call him kathy~~~~~it's way cuter~~~~~~~"(Marcel)

"I calL hiM kathnaiD becausE it'S waY easieR tO saY"(Ruby)

"OK OK OK! no more distractions! just answer the question"(Dave)

"fine..."(Kay)

The party then proceeded to give dave a very detailed and very undetailed summary of what happened.

"hmmmm.....I see....this...black spike what did you feel when you were close to it?"(Dave)

Everyone fell silent.

Ruby was the first to talk.

"iT.....iT waS.........baD......iT felT likE....aN insulT tO lifE itsleF.....sorrY thaT doesn'T makE anY fuckinG sensE"(Ruby)

Dave writes it down.

Kay goes next.

"It had this weird thing coming of it almost like it was pushing everything away, like EVERYTHING even space itself...I couldn't look at it for too long...it made my skin feel like it was peeling off...."(Kay)

Marcel closes their eyes an eery smile grows on their face.

"no comment~~"(Marcel)

"I see..."(Dave)

Dave writes everything down even Marcel's response.

"Have you seen the black spike next to Roland?"(Dave)

"shouldn'T yoU knoW iF wE diD oR noT?"(Ruby)

"I'm not authorized to have that information..."(Dave)

And also because the drone tasked with monitoring them was destroyed.....

"No, we didn't see it if anything I spent my time Roland making sure I couldn't see it.....for some reason that one felt worse....."(Kay)

"I see......."(Dave)

"What are those things anyway?"(Kay)

Dave blinked.

"didn't the umm Kthanid tell you? if anyone should know it would be it...them..."(Dave)

"oooH! yoU havE nO ideA hoW shiT kathnaiD iS aT explaininG thingS!! I reallY dO likE hiM buT thE guY can'T expresS himselF withouT goinG oN randoM tangentS oR beinG overlY specifiC abouT thE mosT unimportanT shiT! hE spenT mosT oF thE timE describinG hoW iN therE thE skY lookeD purplE anD hoW somE partS werE morE purplY thaN otherS!"(Ruby)

"hehe~~~ yeah it's pretty cute~~"(Marcel)

"I.......see........"(Dave)

Dave started scribbling out the purply sky part from his notes.

"Ok look....how do I explain this..........there is one point in time where things went from really bad to hopeless......I'm sure everyone here has a different idea of when that point is..."(Dave)

"......"(Kay)

"but most people will tell you it's when the hero died....before then the spikes were...there...they existed.....they did weird things but not like this......now everywhere that has a spike is getting worse and worse...you saw what happened to ghost town and that was right under it...."(Dave)

"so it's true! the demon king did it right! he's dying so he turned them on like this as his revenge!"(Kay)

"Not exactly"(Dave)

"what!?"(Kay)

"The demon king doesn't have that type of power....his power was to destroy water and light combined he was able to destroy life...these spikes don't destroy life....they distort it, they turn beings into horrible monsters and the ones affected the most are the demons, the demon royal family are the only pure demons alive so they're the only people who can actually rule sanely, so it wouldn't make sense to destroy his own kind as well"(Dave)

"THEN WHO DID IT!?"(Kay)

Kay grabbed the edge of the table!

While the whole elves care about nature and the world thing is an extremely exaggerated stereotype it wasn't completely untrue.

The original hive mind was very close to the earth on a psychic level.

At the end of the day, elves do care, maybe more than anyone else about the planet.

........no matter how much they try to deny it.

Not enough to do anything about it mind you.

Dave sighed.

"I don't know...........all I have are hunches...but other than that......nothing"(Dave)

".........."(Kay)

Kay slumps down.

A sigh holding all of her disappointment leaks out of her.

To say this rot has affected her life negatively would be an understatement.

Ever since the age of 6 she has lived through hell and saw just how rotten this world was.

Her parents death. 

Losing her innocence.

Her curse.

And the worst part is.

There's no one to blame... 

She gets up.

The old chair creaked in protest.

She then walked over to the play place ancient burger had set up for children.

She took her boots off and slowly sunk herself in the ball pit.

The cold colorful balls giving her an out from her current reality. 

Ruby quickly finished her meal and kay's leftovers and then goes to comfort her.

She sits in the ball pit next to Kay.

Who promptly makes her get out and take her shoes off first.

Marcel is the only one that stayed.

Dave and Marcel enjoyed an awkward silence.

They just kept smiling at each other.

Dave lost to Marcel very easily.

Marcel's smile grows to the point it was a bit too big for Dave's liking.

"well~~~they're gone~~you can ask the real questions now~~"(Marcel)

"all questions are real questions to me"(Dave)

Marcel responded with an even bigger smile.

It looks like it hurts.

"Cut the shit red mask dog"(Marcel)

Marcel was now glaring at Dave.

But they still kept their smile.

Dave.......didn't react.

"Red mask dog huh.......yeah that's about right"(Dave)

Dave said it so quietly he might as well have mouthed it.

"What's the cult of outlier's stand on this"(Dave)

"We're just watching the show"(Marcel)

"do they know-"(Dave)

"Of course they know kthanid is behind it don't be an idiot, the only reason why they haven't killed us is because they approve of his actions, thanks to him they were able to take over the kingdom of roses after that he destroyed two cities, if anything they're grateful he's doing things some outliers dream of"(Marce)

"all of them"(Dave)

"on the outside yes"(Marcel)

The cult of outliers was strange in its power dynamic.

The cult was cut into three groups.

On the top were the subjugators who followed the high subjugator.

After that were the priests who followed the high priest who followed the high subjugator.

Lastly is the followers who followed both groups.

Other than the fact that priests were lower-ranking another surprising fact was that at any point any member of the cult can call out any other member including the high priest for being non-believers, and if they successfully killed them they wouldn't be punished in fact they would be rewarded for cleansing the cult.

That's why unlike other cults and religions the outlier's high priest changes constantly.

So any member no matter how high ranking can lose their life to even someone who just joined with no evidence, so everyone with a problem with kthanid's actions is keeping their mouth shut.

The only exception to this rule is the high subjugator.

Anyone who dares question their faith will enter a hell so brutal that the other member will actually feel pity for you.

"Interesting"(Dave)

Dave's notepad was getting filled up.

"You seem pretty loyal to your cult"(Dave)

"Of course I am, I shall take my place on the stage after the world is gone"(Marcel)

"I wonder how strong your loyalty will be once they try and kill Kthan-"(Dave)

Marcel's smile shifted a little.

Dave stood up!!!

He quickly pulled out his gun and pointed it at Marcel!

Marcel didn't even flinch. 

They stared at Dave's gun, it looked like a normal pistol, but the barrel was way too big and Marcel could see all the way through it.

The ancient burger employees only gave annoyed looks at this exchange.

They already had to clean a body yesterday! one of them conveniently took his break at this time.

Marcel........raised their hands.

An innocent smile on their face.

Dave.

Had made the right decision.

If he was one second too late he would have died.

Dave put his gun back into its holster and sat back down.

If Dave was good at anything it's knowing when things were going bad.

He made a mental note to never mention the Kthanid again.

Marcel seemed to act like nothing happened so Dave did the same.

He continued the integration.

Dave intertwined his fingers and used them to cover his mouth.

He thought for exactly fifty seconds before asking his next question.

"one airtight package was stolen from a red mask engine carriage"(Dave)

To an outsider, that didn't sound like a question.

But inside that one sentence were THREE questions.

Does the cult know about this?

Does the cult know what was inside it?

And of course.

Did the cult do it?

Marcel's smile lowers down a little a bit.

They put a finger to their chin and start tapping.

"An airtight package, stolen from a red mask carriage, hmmmmm, why the hell should I give a shit?"(Marcel)

Dave's eyebrows crash into each other.

Two questions were answered.

Does the cult know about this?

Yes.

Does the cult know what was inside it?

No.

Dave had a hunch about this.

While he wasn't told what was inside it, Dave was able to compile a theory.

In that airtight package was either the remains or some sort of relic of the demon god.

Dave knew Red Mask had it in his possession.

It's the only thing red mask would be this concerned over losing but at the same time won't declare that he lost it.

And if that theory was correct.

The outliers would be moving far differently.

That didn't rule out the last question.

Did they do it?

It's very possible they were hired to get it.

Even though that didn't make much sense considering what would happen when they find out what's inside.

On the other hand, that fact that it didn't make any sense would be the perfect cover....

Dave had to push.

"And you don't know if someone else got their hands on it"(Dave)

"hmmmmm~~~~~~~~~nope~~~~~~~~~not~~~~~rining~~~~~a~~~~~~bell~~~~~~~~~"(Marcel)

Dave didn't let up.

Dave had to push.

He let out a bitter sigh.

Dave started glaring back at Marcel.

"well as you said, Let's cut the shit"(Dave)

Dave inches his chair closer and puts both arms on the table.

"Tell me subjugator Marcel, The cult of outliers and The Red Mask corporation relationship at the moment is very tense, in fact, it wouldn't be too presumptuous to call it a crossfire, your testimony won't be enough but it will still lower tensions a bit, it might even lower the cult in our list of dangers, if ask me that's good enough of a reason to get you to cooperate with me, even if you think your cult is stronger you don't think you'll win without large casualties do you?"(Dave)

Dave lowered his fedora up and then crossed his arms.

He leaned back to glare at Marcel.

Marcel's smile disappeared for a second.

And then.

They started laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!! WERE YOU TRYING TO BE INTIMIDATING!!! THAT WAS SOO LAME!!"(Marcel)

Dave's face turned red.

"shu.....SHUT UP!"(Dave)

Dave quickly corrected his posture and put his hat on the right way.

How was that not cool???

He did the exact same thing Detective Cannon did when he was integrating The multidimensional void mobster from the future!  

Marcel laughed and laughed until their stomach started to hurt.

While Dave did his best to make sure he wouldn't remember this.

"haaa~~~haa~~oh my god~~that was great~~~~~"(Marcel)

Marcel's hard attitude vanished, they were already back to their sleepy carefree mode.

"Mr detective I must say I haven't had a laugh that good in a while~~~~~as a reward I'll answer one question honestly~~~~~ "(Marcel) 

"you're not going to stop calling me that are you?"(Dave)

Dave rubbed his temples.

Dave didn't have to think about what question to ask.

"Did the cult do it?"(Dave)

"No~"(Marcel)

Of course, Marcel can be lying.

Or maybe they really didn't know.

Marcel was pretty high up in the cult but they still had people above them...

Maybe it wasn't the cult of outliers....

Dave grimaced.

Dave always investigated by pinpointing what didn't happen or who couldn't do it.

That list has been growing but he's not getting any closer to finding out who did it.

Even IF the cult of outliers WANTED to steal it.

Could they?

If they had the high subjugator with them or even if they railed their forces it would be easy.

They COULD get it.....but not like this.

The job was WAY too clean.

The two Red Mask workers were killed with no struggle.

The signal was sent out AFTER the crime.

No fingerprints, no genetic material, not even any fucking footprints in the snow.

That's not how the outliers did things...

They loved to be the center of attention.

They would make sure everyone knew about it.

Dave threw his notepad on the table.

Marcel raises an eyebrow.

He didn't even have to ask Marcel anything.

He just did this for himself.

Because he wanted to push it off.

The group he had in his head the whole time.

The only group that can do this job.

"Thank you Marcel.....there's just one last thing....."(Dave)

"I'm not interested~~sorry you're just not my type~~"(Marcel)

"wait! what? that not what I was!............not your type?? what's wrong with me??"(Dave) 

"You're not bad looking, I'm just not really into it~~~~I know some people who are totally into slobby cute men~~~do want me to give you their number?"(Marcel)

"well I mean if they're- NO! NO! NO!"(Dave)

Dave shook his head.

"look.......just tell me...............................................have you ever heard of a group named...."(Dave)

Dave brought himself closer to Marcel.

He then said the name so quietly under his breath.

"The cult of dice"(Dave)

Marcel froze.

This answered Dave's question.

Dave couldn't help but laugh.

"That's the right reaction, most people will brush the shit off, but anyone important knows to fear that name....."(Dave)

 Dave took off his fedora and ruffled his curly black hair.

"You know it's weird just how much I'm afraid of them....when I know nothing about them....."(Dave)

Dave took out a red mask self-igniting cigarette.

He tapped the butt and a fire appeared at the mouth.

Dave took a big puff.

"I'm not really that scared of the cult of outliers though, I mean sure I'll fear for my life if they're after me I guess, I just....I have an entire file cabinet on you guys, all filled with information about the horrible and disgusting things you did, the folder on you alone is very thick............but when it comes to the cult of dice......al I have is one folder with one piece of paper in it.......with the words "cult of dice" scribbled in the corner.............it's the only thing I have to prove they're real"(Dave)

Dave was already on his second cigarette.

He offered one to Marcel but they didn't move.

"That terrifies me...........how can one group do so much.......have so much power.........and not have a single goddam trace of their existence................everyone in power knows they're real.....everyone.........but they can't prove it............they say the cult goes back.....way back that they were in power during the first civilization and when that crumbled and the era of the ancients happened they were in power then too.........."(Dave)

Dave looked at the picture on the wall of the founder of ancient burger standing in front of the first temple ever found.

".............how can something that sounds like a comic book exist....."(Dave)

Dave thought about the organization in the detective canon comic.

How every mystery was somehow related to them.

How they seemed to control everything.

Would that make Dave detective canon then?

"................sorry for wasting your time"(Dave)

Dave gets up and puts his hat on.

He makes it to the door before turning towards an unresponsive Marcel.

"Oh one last last thing..........the moment your little party finds out what this Kthanid really is...........you're going to hold on to them......hold on to them like your life depends on it.....after all it can give you all what you really want"(Dave)

Dave closes the door.

A bang was heard.

And then Dave was gone.

---

Clop! Clop! Clop!

A camel runs as fast as it can through a field of dead grass.

On it are two people.

One is a beast woman holding the reins, she keeps shaking it up and down to get any more speed out of the camel as possible.

Behind her is a handsome man, two tentacles come out of his waist and wrap around the camel. 

Bounce! bounce! bounce!

You feel yourself bouncing up down on the camel's hump.

You tried to hold Taylor's waist but she hit you.

You try to make some small talk but she doesn't respond.

It seems the loss of her bike really got to her...

You decide to just keep your mouth shut and just stare at the tower in the distance.

While you were walking you stumbled upon a merchant. 

He had a camel with him so you took it.

He was happy to give it to you.

Especially after Taylor broke one of his arms.

[you've been through a lot take a deep breath to calm your nerves]

You think back to what happened...

That was probably the hardest fight so far..

You don't count the chemo.....you can't even call your encounters with them fights.....

You think back to his sword.

Where did he get it?

You don't think he was the one who put cancer in it.

In fact, you don't think he even knew what it was.

If he did he wouldn't have used it.

Then who gave it to him!

................this is hurting your head.

The wind blows at your face, you tighten your tentacles a bit more.

You wish things weren't so complicated...

Everything seems to be covered in secrets and conspiracy...

You just want to be free of it all...

You do what the voice says.

You fill your undersized lungs with air.

You made them smaller for convenience.

But now they fill up your whole body.

And then slowly.

You exhale.

The wind its self seems to change.

It stops going against you and starts to blow behind you.

The camel runs faster.

You feel calm.

Taylor seems to relax too.

You both enjoy the breeze.

The freedom.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!:

You can now Make air.

"...................."

You're starting to understand magic less and less............

You make a ball of air in front of you.

It spirals around slowly before disappearing.

........you might need to practice more...

[ask Taylor how you can become a bard]

It seems she mellowed out a little.

"....hey Taylor...."

"................yeah......."(Taylor)

"how do you become a brad?"

"...........well, first you need ether an instrument or artistic tool, just anything you can use to express yourself. "(Taylor)

You stare at the guitar on Taylors back.

"Even though bards seem to work like mages they couldn't be more different, the main reason is mages use the verbs Make and Become to use magic while bards use Understand"(Taylor)

"Understand?"

"Yes, I can't make air, most beastmen only understand aspects, very few can we become and even less can make, but when expressing ourselves we give our understanding to the world itself so it just sort of makes it happen......"(Taylor)

"Oh"

"sigh....I probably didn't explain it very well....I know I'm stupid.....but I can feel things very well..I understand air which is like the best aptitude for bards ...I understand it so well I can even use other aptitudes like earth.....whenever I play my guitar it feels the whole world listens to me, my mom told me air represents freedom, I understand freedom....but I don't have it...I can't make people free and I can't become free...I'm stuck in this shitty system so all I can do is play....to make other people understand"(Taylor)

You slowly inch closer.

And then.

You put your arms around her.

Taylor doesn't hit you this time.

"I understand"

She whispers under breath.

"..............thanks...."(Taylor)

You think for a moment.

"I understand void! can I be a bard?"

"Well....I don't know....I've never seen bard who understands void....I mean isn't void like nothing? how to do you make people understand nothing?"(Taylor)

".......oh...."

"HEY! UM DON'T BE SAD!! I'M SURE YOU'LL FIGURE IT OUT!!"(Taylor)

"Really!"

"REALLY!"(Taylor)

"Promise!"

"um.....a.......SURE!! PROMISE!!"(Taylor)

"Thanks, Taylor!!!"

"HA..YE....YEAH!!.......I...OOOOOOH SHIT!!!!"(Taylor)

The camel trips and falls on the ground!

Its leg bends 90 degrees.

Taylor fells of!

You didn't unwrap your tentacles on time so you crashed with the camel!

It hits the ground pushes dirt out until it stops.

It then flips and falls on top of you.

You slowly pull yourself out.

The camel is breathing ruffly and seems to have broken all its other legs on impact.

"FUUUUUUUUCK.....I may.....MAY....have pushed this camel to hard....."(Taylor)

You stare at it.

Taylor covers her face.

Ok! ok! ok! ok! I think I have a potion in my bag....maybe we can...........Kthanidnaid...."(Taylor)

"yes"

"where the hell is the camel?!"(Taylor)

You look at the empty ditch next you.

"........what camel?"

"............."(Taylor)

".............."

CONGRATULATIONS!!!:

You acquired camel form!

Perfect? they look kind of dopy to you.

In fact-

.........wait.....goaud?

Her?

Girlfriend?

?????

"Sigh.....the tower doesn't look that far, we can walk, should be about 30 minutes at best...."(Taylor)

You look at the tower.

It goes all the way up to the sky.

You're really close.

Taylor stopped talking again.....

[Try to hear a new creature of the void and learn how to battle like them]

You open a void portal and look through it.

You don't see Kermit and Cookie.

You try to see as far as you can but you can't-

You see something!

Some kind of ball made of hundreds of hands locked together, in the middle is a big eyeball...

It starts talking to you.

"Hello Hello  Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello"(???)

".....hi...."

"I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton I am Hecaton "(Hecaton)

".....hello.....what the ever the hell your name is"

"Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? Friend? "(Hecaton)

"wait why do you want to be friends so bad?"

"monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous monotonous "(Hecaton)

These void creatures sure are a lonely bunch.

Since this place is literally a void it's no wonder they're desperate for anything new.

".okay! okay! I get...I'll be your friend..."

"power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power power "(Hecaton)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!:

You can now use the curse of Hecaton!

All those who oppose his friends will fall into his hands!

 "....oh....thanks...guy"

One of his many hands gives you a thumbs up.

You look around quickly for literally anything else!

You see something......floating?

It seems to be some kind of book.

You grab it.

[Cursed Man's Diary(Highly sought after Necronomicon):

Description: This Book contains the Life, Unlife, Ascendancy and Void Absorbtion stages of the entirety of The Cursed Mans time in existence/inexistence up to his death, this books is 3 meters thick, 4 metres wide and 6 meters in length, this book is written in several languages that all species can comprehend but find increasingly more interesting as the very letters are written in the essence of the Void and Magic of the Mind of The Cursed Man, be warned however reading this for too long can be tiring but after you read each chapter you will become increasingly more satisfied with your life and have pleasanter dreams(Whether it is due to The Cursed Mans writing encouraging the reader and his strange sense of humor or the magic that is used in the book is unknown).

Weight: Nothing

Pages per day: 2

Words per page: 500

Pages per chapter: 10

Length: 89068 chapters

The Last Will of The Cursed Man: Lord Kthanidanid...if you are reading this it is likely that I am dead or dying and not in the way that can be negated by beings such as I, I am sending this book to you in the hopes that you will give to one of your followers rather than using it for yourself....I know this is selfish...but...please give this to young Wike...the lad is young and needs the help of a man of more years...I believe that this will suffice...I have dedicated much of my existence to this Book...if you are reading this lord...I'm sorry I can't see you again]

Oh man!

You liked that guy!

At least you have your sword to remember him by.

..........................................................................

You pull yourself out.

Taylor is staring at you.

"Where the hell did the upper part of your body go!?...........you know what don't tell me...."(Taylor)

You call wike.

"Yes master! how can I serve you!"(Wike)

You give the book to wike.

You then give it to him again.

You keep giving it to him over and over again.

"OW OW OW OW OW OW!!! MASTER! PLEASE STOP HITTING ME!"(Wike)

You slam the book over Wike's head over and over again.

"Wike....do you know why I hit you?"

"YOU'RE STILL HITTING ME!!!"(Wike)

He puts his hands up to protect his head.

You use this opportunity to hit him right in the eye.

Wike rolls around.

"that's for abandoning me"

Wike covers his eye.

Large drops of tears go down his...chin?....groin??

"I'M SORRY MASTER!!...huk...I...I didn't think you needed help because you're so strong!!....oh...fuck......please forgive me I'm just a simple devil!!.... I promise I'll never do it again!"(Mike)

You drop the book on Wike.

"here take it"

Wike slowly gets up while rubbing his purple bruises.

He slowly opens the book.

And his eye gets wider.

It darts left and right absorbing every letter.

"wike?"

Wike doesn't respond, his eye is stuck to the book.

He very slowly sinks into your shadow with the book.

All with a smile.

"you done?"(Taylor)

Taylor has been surprisingly patient while you were beating Wike.

"yeah I'm done"

"I didn't get to say this last time but your devil servant is fucking lame"(Taylor)

".........."

You disappointingly agree...

---

You finally after what felt like ages reach the tower.

If you had to describe it you'd say it looked like a worm that was pulled inside out and hardened with a steel coating.

In front of it was a wooden shack.

A neon sign that was on even though it's still day time spells "ancient burger".

"they're probably in there"(Taylor)

"Let's go!"

You start walking toward the front door.

After making it halfway through you turn to look at Taylor.

She hasn't moved an inch.

"ummm Taylor?"

Taylor pulled out a knife and starts using it as a mirror.

She adjusts her hair and makes her ears pointy.

She takes two deep breaths and then walks and opens the door before you.

The moment you step inside you scan the place.

Hmm.......you can't seem to find your friends....maybe they're not here......

You notice some kind of pit filled with colorful balls in the corner.

Three people are sitting in it.

You and Taylor look at each other before walking towards them.

You find Kay, Marcel and Ruby all flopped on the pit of balls.

Taylor speaks first.

"what the hell are you people doing??????"(Taylor)

They all turn to you.

"yO! KathnaiD you'rE finallY herE!"(Ruby)

"kathy~~~~~~~~~~~~come join us~~~~~~~"(Marcel)

"Kath! oh? hey Taylor! what up?"(Kay)

"What's up???? I had to help this little shit get here and had to fight fucking Ricktar! and lost my motorcycle! THAT'S WHAT'S UP!"(Taylor)

"oooooH sO that'S whY yoU tooK soO lonG, whO thE helL iS RicktaR anywaY??"(Ruby)

"He was a half-devil like you, except he wasn't all red like you only some parts"

"chumP half-deviL goT iT"(Ruby)

"..........................Ricktar....huh..."(Marcel)

Marcel's mood seems to have gone down, they sink the ball pit a little bit more.

"Well I'm sorry that you lost your bike, I can pay for a new one"(Kay)

"I don't want your money....."(Taylor)

Kay sighs.

She then pats the unoccupied pile of balls next to her.

"Why are you two standing there? get in already"(Kay)

 You go in first between siting the middle.

Taylor hesitates before sighs and sitting next to Kay.

Just as she sits down Kay puts a ball on her head.

Taylor's ears keep it in place.

Taylor frowns deeply but she doesn't take it off, her cheeks redden a little bit.

Kay lets out a cute chuckle. 

You sink as much as possible into the ball pit.

The cold balls feel good and the pretty colors amuse you.

You ignore that.

[When you meet up with Kay and Marcel make sure you tell them you're responsible for the exploding mountain, I bet they will be proud of you]

"Oh yeah! I went to the mountain thing and found a black spike! but this one was fat!"

Kay pauses.

"Yes, I know Kath.......I wanted to talk to you about that......Kath, why didn't you tell me you were going to the mountain?...."(Kay)

"I don't know....I guess I just didn't want to bother you.....you spent most of the time trying not to look at it"

"Kath....just tell me about it next time okay?"(Kay)

Kay brings you closer and kisses your forehead.

"I'll accept you, Kath, every part of you so don't hide things from me"(Kay)

"ok"

Taylor stares hard at you.

"What exactly is your relationship again?"(Taylor)

"Well...........he's.....my child"(Kay)

Everyone slowly turned their heads towards Kay.

Marcel gave her a mocking smile.

Kay puffed out her cheeks.

"What?!"(Kay)

Taylor's face turned white.

"How....how.....what......I.......how......"(Taylor)

She held her head.

"HE'S ADOPTED OK!"(Kay)

"Adopted?"

"Yes Kathy, you're my good boy"(Kay)

[You know Kathy.... I think you should ask Kay about how good children behave towards their parents and also towards the world. Ask her what is wrong to do and what is right.]

"How do good children act? like what is....good??"

"Kath.....that is a very hard question...."(Kay)

"I can teach you how to be a good boy~~~~~~"(Marcel)

Marcel traces a line on your cheek.

Ruby swats Marcel off you and then puts a hand on your shoulder.

"KathnaiD yoU don'T havE tO bE gooD jusT bE youR selF anD iF youR selF iS gooD i'M goinG tO breaK uP witH yoU becausE I likE baD boyS"(Ruby)

"What's bad?"

"KathnaiD shuT thE fucK uP"(Ruby)

"Ok"

 You fuck around in the ball pit for a while.

"So where do we go now?"

"Hmmm~~~well there two places close to here~~~one is Unlaw~~"(Marcel)

"Unlaw?"

"It's a town that abolished all laws~~everything is legal~~even murder~~~in fact the assassins guild made that place their home base~~~everything that's most illegal is happening there~~and this time of year is when most mob bosses gather~~~so it should be fun~~~~"(Marcel)

"ooooH thaT soundS sweeT!"(Ruby)

"we're not going there, what's the second place?"(Kay)

"Well the second place is inscetoia~~~"(Marcel)

"Ok so we'll go there, what is it like?"(Kay)

"Well inscetoia is a place where people live in harmony with nature~~~~"(Marcel)

 "That sounds nice!"(Kay)

"By having bugs live in their body~~~"(Marcel)

"Oh that's interesting.....................................what?"(Kay)

"inscetoia has a very large and varied amount of bugs, they even have giant bugs~~~they use the bugs to live~~~they milk giant caterpillars and ride beetles everywhere~~and yes they have bugs live in their skin and meat~~~all kinds of bugs too~~worms~~spiders~~ants~~~they help them commune with the bugs~~~the bugs can even keep them alive so they can live way past their prime~~~humans there live up to 120 years~~~but at that point they're mostly made up of bugs~~~"(Marcel) 

"OOOOOH!!! THAT'S EVEN MORE SWEET!! I WANT TO GO THERE!"(Ruby)

"I vote Unlaw"(Kay)

"I thought you didn't want to go to-"(Marcel)

"I HATE BUGS!!!"(Kay)

"welL I wanT tO gO! I votE inscetoiA"(Ruby)

"I actually want to go to both~~so I won't vote~~~"(Marcel)

Kay turns to Taylor.

Taylor was busy making a stack of balls.

"Where do you think we should go"(Kay)

"Why the hell should I care"(Taylor)

"Your not coming with us?"(Kay)

The pile of balls collapses.

"Wa..WA....WHAT!?! when the hell did I say I was going with you?????????"(Taylor)

Kay shrugs.

"I just assumed, you don't want to go?"(Kay)

Kay tilts her head.

Taylor blushes.

"I can't go"(Taylor)

 Kay noticed she used "I can't go" instead of "I don't want to go" but she kept that to her self.

"oh that's too bad I wanted to hang out with you"(Kay)

"yeah yeah whatever you-...................................wha?"(Taylor)

Taylor's jaw hangs open.

She shakes her head and then crosses her arms while looking down.

"WELL....WELL....I AM going to the Vrineral Kingdom! and you pretty much HAVE to go there to get to the rest of the continent"(Taylor)

Vrineral Kingdom.......you know that name........

You heard it from the old man in the bar when you were at the kingdom of roses.

There was that king that looked like silver-haired, 21-year-old nobleman.

Maybe you can find out more about him there......

The old man said something about a civil war though....

"Ok! I'll see you there!"(Kay)

"you better......."(Taylor)

Marcel turns towards you.

"Kathy~~~you still haven't chosen~~~where do you want to go~~~~"(Marcel)

You think really hard....

Should you go to unlaw?

That place sounds fun! you can do whatever you want! and you can see this assassin guild! and meet some cool mob boss!

Or should you go to inscetoia?

That place sounds crazy! why are there so many bugs there!? why would people let bugs live in their bodies!? how did this place come to be??

Where should you go?

"Oh before I forget~~~"(Marcel)

Marcel hands you a letter.

It's an envelope with a red mask symbol.

You wonder what this is?

You open it up.

It's a letter and a card.

"hmmmm.....what the hell is a vip?"  

 

 {Pol closed}