Swish!

Crunch!

A nauseating, fleshy crunch reverberated in my ears with the wrath of a wailing banshee. It circled me like a pendulum, decelerating as it brushed past one ear before hastening to assault the other in a wretched cycle that would seemingly never end. Accompanying the sound was the sensation of a cold, metallic object drilling into my temple.

Aughhhhhhh!

The pain!

Damnit! What in the world is going on?!?!

Did I die? I'm... dead? That's not fair! I'm too young to die!

No. There's no way. 

In my stupor, I stubbornly attempted to stand up, to get my bearings, but my limbs ignored my commands. They remained idle, betraying me and leaving me both helpless and immobile. Something was holding them back, completely disabling me from taking any sort of action. 

Had I somehow awakened midway through a brain surgery?

Following this thought, panic surged within me like a tidal wave, accompanied by pain that felt akin to a power saw cleaving through my skull. The agony branched out to every fiber of my being, ensuring that no inch of me was spared from its relentless grasp.

The muscles within me were now being torn asunder with horrifying ease, turning into bundles of mush. With each feeble attempt to move, the nerves surrounding my muscles howled in agony, sending alarms throughout my body. Each nerve screamed for me to halt, yet I was unable to remain still.

Every nerve in my body throbbed with otherworldly cadence, wailing a melody of anguish and convulsions with each fleeting moment. The rhythmic pulses of pain left me disoriented, making every slight movement trigger electric jolts through every inch of my body. The intensifying shocks had me reeling in position, stiffening and jerking around like a madman on drugs.

Badump! Badumpp! Badumppp!

Non-rhythmic explosions went off in my chest as my heart became overloaded with all the intense happenings. The smashing of my heart against my ribcage sounded like a battering ram. With each thump, my heart grew heavier and sickish.

Ah–ah, aaaAAAHHH, AAAAAHHHUGHHHHHH–!

What did I do... to deserve this?

Using descriptive words to give an exact idea of the pain I experienced was simply impossible. Nothing could give justice to the pain.

To merely comprehend the supernatural agony devastating my feeble existence, various forms of inhumane torture were mentally being labeled onto my "experience" to give shape to something unexplainable. I was being skinned alive. I was burned alive. I was impaled one billion times.

No. That's not true.

Nothing man-made could do this. The Devil himself must be torturing me.

The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain.
The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain.
The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain.
The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain.
The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain.
The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain.
The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain.
The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain. The pain.
THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! THE PAIN!

AAAAAHHHUGHHHHHH-

Like a machine being cut from its power source, my body ceased to function. The rhythmic beating of my heart failed to roar in my ears. The normal raspy breathing originating from my mouth grew faint, slowing to a complete stop.

A creeping darkness enveloped my senses, dreadfully ravaging and consuming "me."
*****
The weak humming of an ancient "machine" signals the awakening of an old and decrepit piece of the universe. Chugging and whirling can be heard across the cosmos as "Fate" stirs, revealing a path forward for a single individual to take. This "machine" has long foresaw the birth of a "child" born to fulfill an ancient prophecy, one that shall shake the foundations of the cosmos.

The child forced to walk this path is none other than Lancelot Rallen Lake Valcaress, formerly known as |?|, the main character of our story and the Child Of Prophecy.

However, this path is riddled in thorns and misfortune. When all seemingly goes all to well, a disaster shall descend onto the lands to ravage and decimate everything in its path. Chaos and death populate Lancelot's path forward to a brighter future. For Lancelot to change the world he must stake his all, even his life, to truly achieve anything. Yet, even gambling his life on a seemingly guaranteed victory is not enough to flawlessly achieve success.

Fret not, as his journey is teeming with wonderous and lovely people, who all share with him a reason to strive forward. They are The Fated, destined to walk entwined journeys throughout Terra, the realm a majority of this story takes place in.

One of these Fated is the birth father of Lancelot, Sol Invictus Leon—the man who gave his everything to protect his beloved family.
***
Death was hot on Leon's heels.

Pssh!

Psssh!

The sound of Leon's boots squishing mud and intense agonizing breathing assaulted his ears.

"Huff!

Hufff!

Augghhh!

Le..on! The baby..." A voice whimpered.

Unable to withstand the pain in his partners voice any longer, Leon immediately came to a halt. Only after thoroughly scanning every inch of his surroundings did he turn his gaze to the person in his arms.

A once glamorous woman writhed under immense tension, crying in the arms of her beloved. Dark chocolate skin tinged in bruising and infection. Blackened fingernails bit into their owner's body. A bird nest of blonde hair draped down Leon's arms. Unfocused aquamarine eyes teared up at the slightest bodily shift or movement. A tattered white tunic tightly squeezed itself around it's wearer, limiting her movement similar to a straight jacket.

"Elaine," Leon whispered.

Today has truly been an unfortunate day for all of us, with Elaine having it the worst. Not only is she incapacitated due to being sick and deprived of her mana, now it turns out that her expected date was pushed up by several MONTHS.

"This doesn't make any sense..." Leon grumbled.

Making sure to not apply any pressure, Leon gently laid his soon-to-be wife on a lime green patches of grass. Despite the careful handling, Elaine groaned in agony.

"Bare with it for a while longer, my love. This is all I can do to alleviate some of your suffering. Invigorate!"

Leon ignited the tip of his right pointer finger, producing a miniscule flame. Instilling intent into the fire, Leon engraved a blessing onto Elaine's forehead. Given the intent to become rejuvenated, Elaine's complexion instantaneously improved, signaled by a sigh of relief.

Now that his immediate concern was somewhat handled, Leon turned his gaze back to the surroundings.

A vibrant, multicolored, and heavily nature-filled panorama appeared before me. The world before me was one of lush, rich leafy greens, dark brown mixed with gunmetal grey tree bark, and joyfully light green hues that swayed across the floor.

Most of the forest was dominated by trees, ranging from baby sprouts to towering giants that stood dozens of feet high. Each tree was unique in its stature, coloring, and patterns, creating an almost artistic aspect to the forest. Sunlight dappled the forest floor, illuminating the vibrant green patches of foliage. Tall blades of lime green grass reached upwards, thriving in the light. 

Dark, almost black colored bushes swarmed the forest. A blanket of vines covered each one, creating a dense, thorn-filled wall. The twisted thorns were reaching out like the welcoming arms of family... who were ready to get rid of you.

In the distance, beyond all the trees, stood an unyielding mountain range. Each mountain in the group withstood the test of time, maintaining a relatively structurally sound-looking shell. The grey structures of nature spanned miles long, with spear-shaped peaks reaching well beyond the clouds. On one of the mountains, a waterfall splurged out and rampaged down from seemingly nowhere, free-falling down into wherever the water wound up.

One would call such scenery as "picturesque" when gazing at this region of Terra, yet despite this, Leon instinctually shivered. Something had polluted the mountain range with bloodlust and hunger.

This "Something" is a misfortune to stumble across, an ancient malevolent entity bent on conflict and destruction. The legends of this "Thing" stretch across all of mankind's history, only making an appearance to challenge the brave stars that shine the brightest in each generation. The name of this "Abomination" is...

"...Abaddon," Leon whimpered.

It has finally turned its sights onto me.

Not good. Not good at all!

Damn! This couldn't have been more illy timed!

So much for having "spectacular" luck!

"Huh?" Leon gasped.

What!? How is this possible!?

A invisible force rippled throughout the forest, tyrannical warping and dominating the ambient mana. In response, changes in reality manifested.

The sun that was high in the sky mere moments ago vanished, replaced by The Crimson Moon. Instead of a bright blue horizon, filled with billowing pillows swanning across it, a sea of vermillion clouds swarmed the troposphere, raining down strangely shaped white rocks.

In the wake of the blood-red clouds, a fog trickled in from seemingly nowhere.

Once spectacularly colored, the forest now took on a ghastly red tincture. Spreading its nonexistent wings, the Blood Fog scoured the forest, infesting it with an eerie atmosphere that would shake any bravery, confidence, and will to venture within.

The fog transformed itself into tendrils in the corners of Leon's peripheral vision. They moved like parts of a transparent jellyfish floating in the air, latching onto his eyeballs and manually controlling them to peer into the mist. Forcibly gazing out into the smog, a ravenous sense of hunger engulfed Leon. The hunger corrupted his present thoughts, wishes, and emotions, morphing them into more nefarious versions.

Wrath consumed love. Sorrow drowned out happiness. Hunger devoured logic.

Without even realizing it, Leon had stepped into the belly of a beast—one who had manipulated his entire being into solely focusing on blood and combat.
***