Osamu woke.
There was a throbbing pain in his heart. Not metaphorically. Like, real real pain in the real real goddamn-ass heart.
He was being jostled around, carried on a black-caped shoulder. Huh? What in the fucking worlds. He should've died there for real -there shouldn't even be medical assistance enough to prevent heart failure in that extreme situation.
Uh.
Stabbed twice since he came.
Just what the fuck is this pacing? Don't fantasies usually drag it out? Drop some bullshit exposition and place some characters for harem? Eh. Guess this is just reality.
Boy someone really is out to get his mother. For some reason. He didn't think the woman was worth that much -since she was basically exiled here to Tarkhan's out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere Fugol Palace, given a low basic living expense, and Tarkhan had never visited them in all of the past four years -out warring and some shit.
What a shit dad.
The man carrying him was running through some kind of tunnel or some shit -he couldn't really tell. All the jostling was making him dizzy from the pain of his wound.
"H-hey dude. C-can you stop fucking jostling?"
The man breathed heavily from the run and didn't respond.
Huff huff huff.
Fuck fuck fuck it hurts.
If only he could've taken that well-dressed man's pipe.
No what he needed right now was some Mevius.
Fuck.
He should sleep first a bit. The pain is getting too much to handle.
He dozed off...
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When he woke again he was laid on the floor on the guy's black cloak in a hollow cave about the size of his mother's room and the outside was slowly brightening. Kinda cold. There was indeed a fire lit in the center of the cave, propped with some sticks and dried leaves, but it did little to shrug off the cold of the dawn.
His mother lay next to him, and the man who'd carried them squatted next to the fire in only his grey tunic. Strapped to it with brown leather were knives and daggers of every length and size. One was really cool -a single-piece armament all silvery from hilt to tip and writ upon it faint white runes that he couldn't auto-translate. It was the lanky retainer that followed Alphonce about that he never bothered learning the name of.
The man stared at him now. It was a disconcerting gaze that never averted.
"Um... hi. Thanks for saving us." He noticed his chest was bandaged and bound with a tree-shaped talisman glowing green. A rather messy job compared to the infirmary nurse's work -but who's he to complain?
The man didn't respond, just kept staring at him. The silence started to get uncomfortable.
"So." Osamu exhaled. "Sorry, I forgot, did you tell me your name? What was it again?"
The man stared at him for a beat.
He turned his gaze to the fire.
"I didn't tell you."
Wow. What a douche.
He studied the cave. The interior was simple -just a hollow perfect for a quick shelter. The outside showed it to be in the middle of a forest -the same woods out the back of the palace, probably, seeing as the foliage seemed generally the same. A bird was just waking up amidst the trees in its little nest -chirping lazily and pecking at her babes.
Wow. He couldn't believe reincarnation fixed his eyesight. He used to have to wear glasses from the long hours of reading and writing -all made worse with the rise of computers and internet-only tasks. His glasses always felt too oily on his nose and ears.
Thank you whoever reincarnated me. Ah, yes. Such perfect clarity.
The man rose -he'll just call the dude Ben for now. Seems like a Ben. Very American, what with his white skin and European looks. Slightly off from any real-world races he could conjure to fit the man's looks -but Ben is fine.
Ben doused the fire and strapped a harness on his back. He then gently lifted Temius' mother and straddled her into the harness. Osamu saw that her mother also had a tree-shaped pendant.
"Swap." The man said gruffly.
"What?"
"Swap charms. Your mother. Her pendant is glowing weak.
Osamu saw that it was true so he took off the pendant without ado.
Bad mistake.
He instantly collapsed -torment long formented in his heart roaring up now like a funnel of metal scraps and fire -brimming to foam in his mind. His mind went pure red for a while.
Fuck fuck fuck fuuuuu...
Before it suddenly abated.
The man had strapped the weaker pendant over his heart on the bandage. He did so with no particular ceremony and proceeded to sling him over his shoulder again, wrapping the cloak around him this time.
Fuck. That was terrible. Fuck that dude. Fuck Ben. What an asshole.
"On second thought... can I keep the stronger pendant?" He asked weakly.
Ben ignored him and started running.
Fuck.
The pain was felt now -way worse than when he had the stronger pendant. Every single movement made by Ben rammed into his chest like a warpick's end now, piercing his lungs empty with every strike.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The pain went on with each bump.
He felt so dizzy he wanted to puke.
And after a few steps puke he did -all gushing out of his stomach a torrent of rancid white.
Fuuuuuuck.
Then he died.
Okay, he didn't. He really wanted to die is all. Fuck. He wished he was tired enough to go back to sleep, but now he was as awake and clear-headed as a morning songbird.
Pure torture.
The woodlands scenery flashed by them in a blur -the man really could run. It was as if he had infinite stamina -he just kept going and going. Fuck him.
Please just end him now. Please. Please. Fuck. Please. Please. Fuck. Fuck.
Whatever. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck.