"Is something wrong, do you not have it?"
"No, it's not that, it's just that it's not that popular of a book. I didn't think you knew about it."
Allen had read the book himself and knew Jack and the Bean Stalker was a dark retelling of the classical fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk and was much less whimsical of a story than what it was based on.
"I see. I just got nostalgic for it is all."
Allen shrugged and retrieved the book. Charlotte proceeded to purchase it then left with a bright smile on her face. Afterwards, the rest of work day was uneventfully boring until it was time for Allen to leave. He decided to head directly to the pizzeria despite how far out of it was from where he lived.
While on the way there, he thought about why he had even come to Atelier City in the first place.
'After hearing that night filled with rising stars was just one big publicity stunt orchestrated by a single city to invite people. I had to come here because I thought it would be an opportunity for me to do something really amazing with my life.'
Allen had always wanted to break away from the mundane trivialities of his routine but it seemed even going to the most advanced city in the country did not achieve that.
'Instead, nothing really changed. I'm still running away from no-good punks, working a boring job, and doing meaningless stuff like returning a stupid trinket to someone I don't even know. Was it really a good decision to come here?'
***
When he finally got to the pizzeria after walking for about half an hour, the sun had already set, making the streets nearly pitch black aside from a few streetlights and the glow of a full moon in the sky. Allen observed that the restaurant was kind of small and shabby as well as, much to his dismay, already closed. No lights at all shone from it and a giant "CLOSED" sign was placed in the front window plain to see.
Allen sighed defeatedly.
"I guess this is what I get for not checking what time it closed."
He decided he would just come again another day and turned to walk away. That was when he heard a shriek ring out from nearby that froze him in his tracks. He looked around until he heard another shriek call out into the night. Now, almost regrettably, he was sure of where it was coming from, the alleyway right next to the store.
Allen pulled out his phone to possibly call for help but all that showed on the holographic screen was static.
'Dammit, this thing cost me too much to be glitching out at a time like this!'
Allen looked back at where the sound had come from and was not sure what to do now, whether he should just run until his phone started working again or he found help, or try to intervene himself. He was about to choose the former when he heard another cry. Before he knew it, he had already run into the alleyway, but he was not able to see anything due to it being clouded in fog.
He slowly and nervously stepped through the fog. The fog was surprisingly cold like he had just stepped into a wintry storm even though it was the middle of summer, but in only a few steps, he was already past it into a mostly empty alley with heavy mist inside of it. He was confused and not sure he had heard where the sound had come from correctly until he heard that same shrill cry come in front of him beyond the mist.
He ventured outside of the mist to find himself in the open alleyway and a giant mural in front of him. It depicted a monstrous creature that resembled a tree in the form of a lion. It had a body made of bark and a mane of vines. It was so lifelike that it appeared the brick wall was actually a window instead.
'That noise definitely came from here. Was it some sort of illusion? For now, I might as well take a sketch of this and see if I can find out what it is later.'
Allen, partially mystified by the mural's realism, began to draw the painting within his notebook. Drawing everything down to the tiniest detail. When he was almost finished, he found something was off between his work and the mural that served as its inspiration. Instead of looking sideways like he had previously seen, its eyes were now staring directly at him.
'How did I get this so far off? My skills are subpar, but I'm not that bad." Allen spoke out loud. "It's almost as if it mov-"
Allen could not finish his sentence before a mass of vine-like tendrils erupted from the mural and tried to entangle him. He leaped out of the way just in time and was horrified to see most of the monster's body bound from the wall as if it was completely natural. The only parts left inside were a large mass of the green vines that made up its mane.
“What is going on!? This has to be some sort of illusion as well, right?!"
Large thorn-like spikes began to emerge from the monster's body. Some were as long as Allen's arm and looked like they could pierce right through him as well. Allen's mind froze from bewilderment but his pencil started to move again, simply through instinct. The moment his hand started to draw, the monster halted in its tracks.
"Huh? Oh, it didn't move while I was drawing did it?!" Allen grinned nervously and started to draw as if his life depended on it. Moments like this had overtaken him before, but this was the one rare time where it did. He kept on til it was a complete replica of the monster, but when he had done that, the beast began closing the distance once more.
"Wait, no additions I'm making are affecting it. Damn it, maybe I can erase it and start-"
Another volley of vines was unleashed toward him even more numerous and swift than before. Allen had no choice but to run away for the second time that day. The monster completely vacated the wall and chased after him. All of the remaining vines that had still been on the surface of the wall, were now outside of it. The young man headed back to where he came from through the fog.
After a few seconds, the fog faded around him and he noticed that the modern alleyways were replaced with walls bearing a resemblance to medieval architecture. This bizarre change in scenery only added to the intense confusion he was facing. However, he shook his head and kept on running with everything he had. That morning had been a cakewalk compared to this all-out sprint.
The passage seemed much longer than it had been when he entered, but he still felt he could escape. The exit was in reach before his eyes before too long he thought, but someone else was there as well. A young woman with golden features from her hair to her clothes to even her skin. She looked like a princess straight out of a fantasy novel Allen had read. The golden dress she wore was in tatters and her golden complexion was marred by grievous wounds. It looked like she had been running from that monster too.
'She must be who I heard those screams from earlier."
Allen winced as he considered leaving that person to fend for herself and hope for the best, but his conscience overrode his cowardice momentarily. When he passed her, he tried urging her to get up and follow him out before the monster could catch up.
Instead of a verbal response, a faint smile and uncertain eyes were all that he was met with. It was like she had given up on the possibility of escaping already.
"C'mon, get up! We have to get out of here before it shows up!" Allen pleaded desperately.
The golden woman looked back at where he had come and then somberly stared down at something she held in her arms. It was a gold sword with a branch-like handle, With both hands, she raised it up to Allen as if telling him to take it.
"What is this? ...Is this what that thing is after? Is that why it chased you?"
She nodded her head quietly.
"If you had something like this, why didn't you use it to fend that beast off?" Allen had thrown all logic out the window and assumed that blade must have some sort of extraordinary power. That golden woman simply shook her head while standing up to face Allen's gaze head-on. She pointed first at the sword and then at him.
'Wait, was this meant for me to use?' Allen thought to himself while contemplating the situation. This woman wanted him to take that sword for himself to defeat that strange monster. He could not tell what would happen from there. There was a chance he could become a target for other monsters of its kind and Allen could not be sure of where he was now. The possibility that he had somehow stumbled into a magical realm where the normal rules of the world did not apply raced through his mind.
Oddly enough, that possibility actually made Allen enthusiastic. This was another chance for something extraordinary to fill the hole of his dreary existence. There were so many things he had been failing at in his normal life, but maybe getting thrown so far out of that into a new path selected just for him could change that.
Allen slowly reached out his hand to take the exquisite weapon that of all people, he appeared to be chosen to wield. Unbeknownst to him, paintings were etched on the walls around the two that showed humans sprouting with thorns and their bodies being covered in armors of vine.
He reached out to that golden blade for himself. Right before he could lay a finger on it, he noticed a slight change in expression from that mysterious sword-bearer.
'Disappointment?'
Vines shot through the golden woman's body and her form broke apart into mist. Allen screamed in shock as his limbs were ensnared so tightly he could not even move his fingers. He was brought to the ground to watch while that giant lion monster gradually approached him from the fog that had lied before Allen.
Too stunned to even think, all his strength drained from him, and by this point, he could not even turn away from the monster as it was about to attack. With explosive power, the monster leaped straight towards Allen whose eyes were opened wide with terror.
From out of nowhere, a figure slammed downwards on the monster stopping it in its charge.
"Magical Kick Breaker!!!"
The beast was crushed under the heel of that figure, causing it to splinter into chunks of wood and thorns. At that exact moment, the vines wrapped around Allen lost their hold. This left him there on his own as the clouds moved past in the sky and revealed a crescent moon shining up above and illuminating the alley enough for him to make out who had rescued him.
"You..."
Standing on top of the massive remains of the tree-like creature was the same peculiar young woman he had met earlier that day. She had a slight grin on her face as she recognized his face as if this was as normal as bumping past each other on the sidewalk.
"Looks like you did need saving this time around.", she casually remarked.
On the other hand, Allen's head was boiling over with so many questions he could not process them all. He only managed to voice two.
"What's your name...Where are we?"
She chuckled, "It's Nera and this is a place where counterfeit legends lead people to their deaths. Welcome to the Underworld."
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