"Mhmm~" Emilia regained consciousness, but to her surprise, she woke up in a familiar yet unsettling place. "This place…"
"A bed?" she muttered, her body covered in bed sheets and bed covers.
As she rose up from the bed, she recalled what happened before she lost consciousness. The revelation of Frank's true nature, what followed with Mira, and then… the intense electrocution she felt.
Before she could even collect her mind, the door of the sublime bedroom she was in, as if royalty frequently rested within, opened up without notice.
"I'm starting to wonder if you Lessers have any knowledge of knowing one's place," their white hair swayed as their body moved with grace.
'This person…?!' Emilia's eye widened as her expression was a mix of fear and anxiety.
"How do you do, Little Queen?" the white-haired man asked, his garments hitting home that he was akin to nobility. "What brings you to my domain unannounced this time?"
He stood before her with hands clasped behind his back, his eyes sharp and terrifyingly cold. But this time was different as Emilia didn't feel the same pressure she felt during her first encounter with this entity.
"I'd much rather you waste none of the time I'm offering you, Lesser," he expressed himself with confidence and an authoritative tone.
"I'm sorry if this is impolite, but… where am I?" Emilia asked, her voice full of hesitation.
"Hooo…" the white-haired man was impressed by her courage. "You dare question me, do you? It would seem you did mature, if only shortly. Not only that, but it would also seem that you are growing accustomed to the power I lent you."
'So that time… wasn't just a dream.' Emilia had cold sweat running down her face. 'In that case…'
She stood up, her body clothed in a white nightgown with her bare feet touching the ground. She walked towards the white-haired man and stood before him.
In response, the white-haired leaned in close to her, his piercing blue gaze locking with Emilia's eyes. Emilia's unwavering gaze intrigued the mysterious entity.
"I approve of your resolve," the white-haired readjusted his posture and turned his back on her. "I sense you have questions for me. Follow me."
Emilia released a sigh of relief, her heart beating so fast she thought it was going to jump straight out of her chest.
'I don't know what's going on, but hesitating won't help me achieve anything. At the point I am right now, I can only move forward.'
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"Ugh," Ace woke up within an expansive white void.
"What the hell? Where am I?" he muttered as he rose up from the make-shift ground that didn't seem to be reliable at all. 'That old man… What the hell…?'
"Finally! I thought you had already gone six-feet-under!" a voice called out to him.
"!?" acting on instinct, Ace leaped backwards, putting his guard up.
"Wow. Chill out, dude," the origin of the voice showed itself.
Its appearance was stunning. A white fox mask was staring at Ace, and beneath it, a young boy with seemingly blonde hair and adorned in a black hooded capelet with sleeves. Additionally, he wore a white t-shirt under his capelet. Long, black, denim shorts clothed his bottom half and high-top black sneakers with white socks covered his feet.
"Who are you?" Ace asked, feeling an indescribable threatening feeling coming from the boy.
"Who? Me?" the masked boy started stretching out before summoning two pitch black swords from the shadows in his hands that were covered in black leather gloves. "You should already know that."
"Huh?" Ace didn't even have the time to voice out anything as the masked boy was now only a few centimeters from slashing him from the left.
Within an instant, though surprised by the sudden offensive, Ace evaded the strike by diving low and then countering with a kick to the gut that sent the masked boy flying.
The masked boy did a combo back flip as he landed on his feet.
"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow," the masked boy held his abdomen in pain while groaning in pain. "Nice kick. Yep. A very nice one."
"Oh well!" he immediately recuperated. "Now that I think about it, it wouldn't be fair for me to be the only one with a weapon, right?"
"Wha?" Ace blinked only once before stopping a sword that suddenly came flying at him in front of him with his bare hands by reflex.
'When did he…?' Ace wondered as his blood flowed down the blade.
"Haha. You really managed to stop that," though hidden behind a mask, the boy's tone definitely carried a hint of surprise and amusement. "Well, you're still lame though."
"Huh?" Ace was surprised by the masked boy's words.
"What? It's true, no?" the masked boy tilted his head. "You're so lame, weak and lukewarm that it's just boring. I mean, how did the awesome me end up with someone like you? It doesn't make sense."
'What the hell is he talking about?' Ace became confused as the masked boy continued to talk.
"Oh! Sorry. I guess you wouldn't get it, right?" the masked boy then tapped his foot twice on the ground.
In an instant, a pulse traversed the white void and the surroundings changed.
Ace's eyes widened as the new environment became familiar.
"Brings back memories, right… A$@r& T^&4y@$#i?" the masked boy's last statement made Ace's heart sink, something he had never experienced before.
They were now within a giant cave that seemed to stretch out into underground galleries, and Ace, with all of the thing happening at once, his mind went blank, evident from the shocked expression on his face.
It was to the point that his arms trembled, letting go of the blade in his hands as memories simultaneously started flooding his mind. The same memories that continuously haunted his mind plus others he had never witnessed before.
Each of those memories came to him in bits and pieces that glitched and flashed in his mind as if on repeat. The flow of info was such that he held his head in pain.
'Shut up,' he repeated internally as the same instructions echoed strongly and repeated endlessly in his mind: Survive. Survive no matter what.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT THE HELL UUUUUPPPP!!!!!" Ace lost his composure.
"Pitiful," the masked boy appeared behind him and returned the favor with a kick to the gut that was more powerful than Ace's.
Ace repeatedly bounced off brutally against the ground before crashing into wall, making him cough up as he then collapsed on the ground.
"And that's why I said that you're lame," the masked boy looked down on Ace, his voice carrying a cold tone. "Just had to poke you for you to lose your cool. Talk about being weak. So lame."