After a brief moment, Lucid got up, fully healed, and walked toward the knife. He retrieved it and approached the creature's carcass. He was considering skinning it and selling it in a nearby town-if there even was one-or finding some other use for it.
"Is it edible?" he wondered aloud, looking at the purple mess. After a brief consideration, he grimaced. "Ew. I think I'll pass, even though I'm starving."
Alice looked at him with sparkling eyes. "Older brother, let's go! I think I heard some people earlier when I was wandering around."
"OLDER BROTHER?" Lucid echoed, taken aback. He muttered it without thinking.
Alice chuckled, clearly amused. "Come on, let's go!" She grabbed his hand and started leading him down a man-made path.
After a while, they reached the edge of the forest. Before them stretched a vast field of dark purple grass, the color of twilight. In the distance, a town sat nestled beneath twin moons.
"Why the hell is everything in this world purple?" Lucid muttered. He realized, ironically, that this was probably the first real question he should've asked himself.
As they walked, Lucid noticed something peculiar-the terrain sloped sharply, revealing what looked like a cliff edge far in the distance. Not a border, but an end. Like the edge of a floating island.
He let the thought go for now. Alice hummed as she walked ahead, holding his hand, seemingly at peace. Lucid glanced at the lavender sky, the twin moons glowing in harmony, and the eerily beautiful fields surrounding them. It was unsettling. And yet-breathtaking.
"Is it day or night?" he asked himself quietly. But he already knew it didn't matter.
"This... This is the end of my journey. Or at least, it was supposed to be," he thought. But now, for Alice's sake, he would carry on.
He clenched his fist. "And those who left me behind-no, the whole damn party-I'll show them what weakness truly looks like. I'll make them regret it."
Though his face was hidden behind the glass mask, his dark thoughts leaked through in the heavy atmosphere surrounding him.
"Big brother Lucid, we're here!" Alice's voice snapped him back. They stood just outside the town.
A man with a sheathed sword approached them. He looked like a seasoned veteran-purple hair, sharp black eyes, clad in a ronin's attire. His gaze scanned them with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.
"Who are you, and what business do you have with this town?"
Lucid stepped forward, clearing his throat. "We're just travelers passing through."
"Travelers? From what lands?"
Lucid froze. He had no idea how to answer. Geography? He barely knew where he was.
"Uh... Earth, sir."
"Earth? Never heard of it."
"It's a great place. You should visit sometime," Lucid replied awkwardly.
Alice gave a big thumbs up. "Ten out of ten! I highly recommend it!"
Lucid glanced at her. Since when have you been to Earth? he nearly laughed not just at alice but how he himself doesn't know anything about it too.
The man narrowed his eyes. "Are you pulling a joke on me?"
Lucid quickly bit his tongue and shook his head. "No, sir! Not at all."
Thinking quickly, he added, "When we were walking through the purple forest, we encountered a creature-a four-legged monster with twisted limbs. It chased us, but we managed to escape."
The ronin's expression shifted. "The Mawler... You're lucky to be alive. That thing devours its prey and leaves no trace behind. That forest has been barren for years because of it. We've tried hunting it before, but always failed."
Alice scoffed, putting on an air of nobility. "Good grief! Is that how you treat visitors in need? If I, Alice, were anyone else, I would never spend a single dime in this village!"
The ronin bowed slightly. "Forgive me. You're welcome to enter."
She shot Lucid a mischievous grin and winked. Lucid would've laughed-if he could feel anything other than exhaustion and pain. Instead, he simply followed.
"Hey! Don't ignore Alice!" she pouted.
The town was surprisingly refined. Traditional Japanese-style homes with sloped roofs, stone-paved streets, and elegant people moving with practiced grace. Children trained with wooden swords in courtyards. Compared to the townsfolk, Lucid and Alice-with their ragged clothes and travel-worn gear-looked painfully out of place.
Guards stopped them occasionally, but their story about surviving the Mawler quickly earned them sympathy and awe. The tale had clearly reached folk-legend status.
Lucid eventually found a merchant willing to buy the Mawler remains he had salvaged. At first, the merchant scoffed, assuming Lucid was a con artist. But after inspecting the flesh and the unusual coloring, he was convinced-and more than willing to pay handsomely.
With the money, they purchased clean garments and fresh outfits to blend in.
"I'm hungry," Alice whined, tugging on Lucid's sleeve.
"Don't worry, we'll find something."
They followed the scent of food to a small ramen stand, the aroma warm and rich. Two bowls were placed in front of them-steaming purple broth with shimmering noodles.
Lucid took one bite. "Nope."
The color made him nauseous.
He handed the rest to Alice, who happily devoured it.
"She's got a stomach of steel," Lucid mused. "Well, who wouldn't, after everything we've been through?"
After thanking the chef, they made their way to a local inn. Despite Lucid's best attempts at bargaining, the only room available was a single-bed suite.
It didn't matter. It was warm. Safe. Quiet.
When they entered, they found the room surprisingly cozy-a small table, a drawer, and a window overlooking the purple horizon. For the first time in what felt like forever, Lucid allowed himself a sigh of relief.
Tomorrow would be another day. And perhaps, a better one.
Alice was fast asleep in the futon, her soft breathing barely audible in the quiet room. Lucid, by contrast, lay awake on a mat of bundled sheets on the wooden floor. It looked uncomfortable, yet it felt oddly right to him. The hardness of the floor supported his joints and posture in a way that brought him a strange kind of relief. He didn't understand the science behind it, but he assumed anything that felt this good had to be healthy.
Still, the floor wasn't the reason he couldn't sleep.
Lucid's mind was a torrent of thoughts. Fuzzy memories had started to return, fragmented like broken glass. He remembered a woman—locking a door—and then darkness swallowing him whole. It felt like death, like the end.
"But I'm still here... So how?"
More questions followed. Where had that power come from? That revolver, the way he summoned it through a glowing card—he'd done it instinctively, almost like muscle memory. And he hadn't missed a single shot.
"Questions... Questions," he whispered, careful not to wake Alice.
He glanced over at her, marveling at her peaceful slumber. "She really knows how to sleep," he thought to himself with a faint smirk.
He got up quietly and walked around the room. Moonlight—purple and eerie—streamed in through the window, casting ghostly shapes on the walls. For a fleeting moment, Lucid found the color beautiful.
He walked over to the mirror to study himself. With his coat hanging across a nearby chair, he stood in just his dark green cargo pants and a black compression sweater. The pants had an absurd number of pockets, most of which he'd already searched. He'd only found a cracked device with glass like a mirror, an old wallet, and his knife—now laid neatly on a small table beside the futon.
He turned his attention to his body. His hands were scarred. His forearms, revealed as he rolled up his sleeves, bore similar marks—cuts, burns, healed-over wounds that hinted at a life of violence.
Then, his gaze lifted to his face—or rather, the strange glass mask that obscured it.
The mask was clean, smooth, and reflective like a mirror. But as Lucid leaned closer, he noticed something strange beneath its surface: a swirling, fog-like substance. Gray and almost alive, it moved in chaotic directions, like smoke trapped under glass.
"Am I even human?" he thought. "How am I breathing? How did I eat?"
He remembered the ramen shop, the chef's strange look. When he ate, the chopsticks had passed through the glass like fog and into his mouth as if the material of the mask parted way the objects enetering his mouth, guiding food through with no resistance.
"Huh. That might explain the weird look from the chef," he chuckled silently.
Bracing himself, he lifted both hands to the edges of the mask and pulled.
Instantly, a loud sound rang in his ears—so loud it felt like a punch to the chest. It was followed by whispers.
"No... no... no... you are... my..."
They came from all directions—one moment from his left, the next from behind, then from within.
Lucid stumbled back and collapsed against the wall, heart racing. His breath hitched.
"What was that?" he whispered.
His ears still rang. The whispers echoed in his skull.
It was clear: the mask couldn't be removed. Whether a curse, enchantment, or some binding force—he was trapped in it.
"Well... it hasn't killed me yet. I'll figure something out."
He sighed and sat in the moonlight, thoughts spiraling again.
What now? Where would they go? What was his goal?
His eyes drifted toward Alice. Peaceful. Innocent.
"Maybe I can start by helping her... before I help myself."
"Help myself," he repeated under his breath.
But to what end? He remembered vague images—revenge, a girl's face, betrayal. Aika.
"Why do I feel this much hatred? I don't usually hate anyone—so why her?"
She had left him behind. Shut the door. Let him die. That much he remembered clearly.
"I'm sure the time will come," he muttered. "For now, I need to be ready."
Fatigue finally overtook him. His eyes grew heavy.
And then—
A dream.
He saw her.
Not Alice nor Aika as he knew who they were now, but it was rather a different person, someone dear to him even though they might have acted hard on him sometimes. A person that didn't judge his actions.
A girl with bright red hair and a fire in her eyes.
"Look at our boy Lucid. Are you tired?" she asked softly, kneeling beside him.
"You'll catch a cold."
A thin blanket wrapped around him in the dream, impossibly warm and light.
"Hey... I know things are tough. You didn't ask for these powers. But don't let her control you. Do what's best for the group—even if it seems selfish sometimes. I believe in you. So does our leader. You were also right, what good is pride if we are dead. I believe in you Lucid"
Lucid, half-asleep, murmured, "Kao...ri."
She smiled.
"Rest well. Tomorrow... you've got a big day."