Meeting the Sage

A girl climbs inside the deserted home to seek temporary refuge. Through the rear entrance, she entered and proceeded to the hallway. She discovered a staircase leading to the attic while investigating. She said, “I think that's a decent location,” and made a decision to go up to the attic.

Even though the room had only low light and was really dark and chilly, it was nevertheless rather comfortable. It was peaceful and warm. “Well, all I need to do now is prepare myself and delight in this magical book” she opens the magical book, and a dazzling light bursts forth, blinding her.

“Eh? What's that light all about?” She asks as she squints her eyes in perplexity and flips to another page. When the light fades, she looks down and sees words in front of her like a spell, spelled out in blood with the same red hue as fresh blood. "Screw the Sage: The Worst Secrets You Will Learn On This Planet," the sage book, was now getting a new chapter.

Unexpectedly, a left black arm reached out and seized her hair. Her hair was being pulled in the direction of the book. She yelled in agony as it jerked her head violently, causing her eyes to water.

Her hair was being seized by an unknown power, and she could see blood flowing out of her head as she was drawn further into the pages of the tattered book. The girl on the ground gasped for oxygen and let tears roll down her cheeks as this continued until the hand holding her hair disappeared.

As she was able to breathe again, she searched around for her assailant but was only able to make out the curse book in the area. The girl was pulled toward the book by an additional arm that materialized out of nowhere and gripped the back of her neck.

She was being carried through the book more quickly with each step when another set of arms suddenly sprang out and grasped her legs, keeping her from kicking at the mysterious creature holding her.

The first arm vanished once again, and a headless man emerged. He grinned at her before opening his mouth wide to show rows of shark-like fangs. As the other hand came up to the girl's throat and securely gripped it, one of the arms let go of the girl and began to yank at her hair once again.

The girl gasped as more blood poured out of the hole in her scalp, and then she completely stopped moving when the two remaining arms grasped both of her shoulders and brutally shook them.

Before she felt the grasp on her throat tighten, she was utterly motionless. She attempted to open her eyelids, but the amount of blood loss had sealed them shut. The darkness obscured her view, making it impossible for her to hear or even see.

It extended its lips and swallowed the girl whole as soon as she came close to him, carrying her away. The last thing she remembered seeing was the torn curse book of darkness swallowing the gloomy planet she knew so well.

Yet rather than vanish, it persisted in drawing her further and deeper into its depths until all that remained was complete quiet and darkness.

----

A hymn through the wind, beating the sound of nature as it calls the prophet.

Lah~ Tarat-tara~

Lat Tarat-tara~

Lat tarat tarat Tarah

Lat tarat~ tara~

This is the song he always sings. He has obviously forgotten where he last heard it, but his Last Song Syndrome keeps on bugging him. As he walks to the greenery valley, he keeps reminding himself it's a peaceful era, nothing can go wrong…

“Yes, you heard that? Nothing goes wrong because it is currently peaceful time.”

“Anyway, hello their person from the other side…”

“Yes. You. I know you can hear me, or watch me? Or… maybe you can read me?”

“You don't need to answer because I'll never hear your thoughts and voice anyway. Hmm… People will think I'm crazy, so how about this…”

“Let's say— I'm assuming you can hear me or see me. How's that sound?”

“I don't care whether you're convinced or not, I'm talking to myself— I'm convincing myself.”

“Welcome! Welcome person from the other side of the screen. Welcome to the world full of nuts.”

“I humbly bow, named Screw.”

He introduced himself while bowing in front of big rock. After the self-introduction he continued his happy walk, and as he walked deeper into the valley he noticed a single drop of blood.

“Blood? Where did this come from?” He looked around for a hint. When he looked up, another drop of blood fell from his head. “A blood again. This is strange” he saw a single light flashing from the sky, and it feels like it's going to fall from the sky...

“It looks like the sun but then again...it's not that bright... I'm just confused... what happened?”

As the third drop of blood started to fall on him, everything turned pitch black. “Was that indeed the sky, or what was it?” He enlarged his eyes to see fully and inquired, “Where did this blood come from? The moon? It looks like a moon, and the stars too. Is it a star?”

“No! Is it another planet?” he said, but before he could continue, the dazzling light vanished and everything around him turned pitch black once more. The light flashed once more as the stars gradually came back to life.

“So that's what it is,“ he continued to walk after saying, “that makes sense now.” He grinned back at you and said, “Seems my readers are puzzled.” He sighed, “I can only say it's a struggle of Sages; the gods desire something.”

He appeared to be thinking carefully as his hand came up to scratch his mask. “So I'll do everything I can for my readers,” he replied, grinning back at you.

He resumed his walk and stated, “I'll help them grasp the entire Sages narrative.” He smiled at the girl in front of him and replied, “I'll do my best.”

The girl nodded back as he finally left, but soon the girl's thoughts drifted back to the bright light just a moment ago. “A war between sages? What could have possibly happened to cause that?”

Her train of thought got stuck on the question, because no matter how many questions she asks in the future, she still doesn't know the answer. “If a god wants something, they won't let it happen themselves.”

A splitting headache attacked her head so forcefully that it forced her to close her eyes and press her temples together with both hands until it subsided. Her body ached all over. She was exhausted, weak, and sick in every sense of the word.

She can't remember how she got here or where she is. But somehow, she's sure she knows. The memory flashes by quickly, but each time more clearly than the one before it. It feels like a part of her is missing or out of sorts. She can feel it. Something isn't right. There is something very wrong.

“Who is that guy anyway?” The girl tried to walk, but her body didn't move at all. “Why can It move?”

“I need to follow that guy; I can feel that I need to follow him wherever he goes.” She looked around in search of any signs of him; she just wanted to know who it was she was speaking with.

The only other thing she felt in her mind was this intense need that urged her to go after the stranger. The urge became more and more unbearable until it almost felt as if her head would explode, and before long, a voice resonating in the depths of her brain told her to get up from the ground where she was sitting and leave.

‘That person is your destiny. Go and find him. But you won't have long until he leaves. You won't have much time before he's gone forever. Go and search yourself… you'll never forgive yourself otherwise.’

“But how do I even know that this guy is my destiny? He could be some random guy, like anyone else. No one wants something bad enough to force themselves into an unknown. It's so stupid…” She sighed heavily then she remembers the cursed tattered book.

She whispered through her breath “Screw the Sage…”

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