Awaking in the world of dreams, Arthur sat on the ledge of a tall building. The breeze was gentle, meant to be warm and lovely.
"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked.
"Ah… ahaha, hhhhahaha…"
"Arthur…"
He grabbed his head with both hands, continuing the laughter of a lunatic. He fell to his side, looking down at the city below. Such a sight reminded him of seeing Sally with her head dismembered from her body.
He sat up straight immediately, letting out a screech as he did so, before going back to laughing.
"Arthur, you—"
"Shut up, shut up shut up shut up, shut up!"
She immediately stopped, feeling a bit hurt but trying to see through his intent. She went over to him, crouching down and looking at him with concern.
His head truly was just a bunch of piano keys being slammed down one after the other, again and again and again.
"—"
She left the world of dreams.
…
Arthur woke up in the real world, laying on the couch of the Graves family mansion. When he looked to his side, he saw Chad standing above him.
"Yo broski! I heard you were tweaking out, that trueeee? Why didn't mom come back? She still needs to make dinner, cause I'm hungry!"
"Aaagh, ah…"
"Hm?"
And then, Arthur remembered—
"Why didn't you… why, why didn't. Ah. Agh, ah. Why didn't, why didn't you… why didn't you help us…? B-because, because of, because of you, she, she, she's, dead."
"Dude, you're stuttering a whole lot. And when you say 'she,' ya mean my mom? That sucks, cause now I'm gonna have to go meet my uncles and whatnot. They suuuuck—"
"No you fucking idiot, I mean my friend!" Arthur screamed, getting off of bed and grabbing Chad's collar, pulling him down to his level. "My friend, the one who got kidnapped! Because YOU weren't there, she's dead, she's dead, one of my only friends is dead, and it's… and…"
Arthur let go, grabbing his own face with both hands as the tears streamed.
"Why's it my fault?"
"Because if… if you were there, you're the strongest, if you were there, then—"
Immediately, Chad grabbed Arthur by the shoulders, both of them, and looked him in the eyes.
"It's your friend. Seriously bro, don't be so pathetic as to blame someone else for your own weakness."
His eyes widened. He sank back down to the couch, leaning forward and keeping his hands on the side of his head. Long, rugged breaths escaped his nostrils.
"You couldn't save her. If you were stronger, you could have saved her. And mom while you were at it too. Ever since you found out you were a dragon, how come you haven't dedicated every moment to being strong? Isn't it natural to need strength to protect those you love, when you yourself are targeted by the world?"
"Agh… S-shut up! You can do anything you want, can't you!? If I'm your friend, why couldn't you help me?! How can you call me your brother if you won't help me!? You can do anything, anything you want, yet you didn't want to help your own brother!? Don't act like you care about me, you…!"
His voice laden with pain, Arthur—
"That's right, I can do anything I want. That's precisely why I can refuse to help you. I hate people who're overly attached to family, so you sound really stupid right now. I kinda care about you, but I'll only care when and how I want to care. And you truly can't claim that it's my fault either, when you were the one who was too weak."
With a soft scowl, Chad gave him a slap to the face.
"So stop acting like it's my fault. It's yours."
'Stop… please.'
A heavy heart was crushed. It wasn't because Chad was being mean that completely tore him up inside. After all, it was the sheer truth of the words that pained him so.
It was a truth he ran from. If he wasn't strong enough, if he wasn't good enough, if he was incapable, then he would always lose.
The entire world of dragons was after him. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.
And when that time came, Arthur lost horribly. It was because he wasn't good enough, because he wasn't strong enough, because he didn't try to grow stronger, because he didn't want to try and get better.
Because he hid his face from the world, because he didn't want to get better, he lost someone very close to him. He lost a fraction of himself, really. Of the only people who'd ever shown him that he could be loved for who he was, he had now lost one of them.
He did not truly want to change.
He said he wanted to, did some small stuff here and there, but that minimal effort was neither consistent nor large enough to truly matter. If he did minimal effort consistently, he'd hone his abilities and develop well.
If he did large efforts at a smaller consistency, then perhaps he could reach a breakthrough in his knowledge and develop well.
But because he did nothing with himself, he stayed weak and stunted his growth.
And so, Arthur did indeed change from this moment. That seed of hatred for "monsters" which had been planted so long ago, was watered. Now, it had blossomed into an ugly flower, the roots embedded in his heart.
'I hate monsters. So much, so much I want to kill them. I'll kill the monsters.'
Arthur looked up, seeing Chad looking down on him with a blank expression.
"I…" Arthur mumbled, as though it was merely a pipedream—no. Starting off as merely a pipedream, then quickly becoming a reality which he must set out to enact.
"I'm going to destroy the world of dragons."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Chad asked.
"I'm… I'm going to…"
Arthur laughed slightly, before frowning and balling up his fists.
"I'm going to ruin everything… I just want to destroy everything, I'm tired and I can't take it anymore. I just want to end it, I want to make them stop."
"I'm going to burn everything down until it's ash, and then I'll burn that too. And if I can't do that, I'll just do everything I can until then. I'm going to make my name known to all of history, everyone…"
Arthur chuckled and covered his face with his hand, slowly climbing to his feet. Between his fingers, Arthur's right eye could be seen, staring with an overwhelming malice.
"Everyone's gonna know the name 'Arthur Segmunt!' I'll spit in the face of this world, I'll trample on it! I'm gonna show everyone how much of a traitor, how awful, how loathsome I am!"
Arthur smiled and ran off, feeling utter exhilaration. To which, Chad flashed a toothy smile, nodding his head and pumping his fist into the air.
"Y'know what?! FUCK YEAH! That's the spirit! Gimme a good show, brother!"
Arthur went to Mrs Graves' room. He stole the clothes from her husband, wearing a mask which covered his entire face with the exception of his eyes. He put on a hoodie and gloves, going to Chad who was waiting outside the room.
"The voices are pretty pumped up! What's the occasion?" Chad asked.
"Text me the locations of the mansions of the families, please. Like the Assas family and the Oppen family. But if there's a weaker family out there, text me their location and the family they belong with."
"Oh, sure! But again, what's the occasion? Why're you so sneaky-dressed?" Chad asked once more.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going dragon-hunting. But you're right, I'm not strong enough as I am now. Which is why I'll use whatever I can."
Arthur fled the mansion.
Deep inside, two contents of his heart conflicted with exhilaration and rage.
He was unfathomably angry at himself and the world. Though his heart initially applauded the notion of a brutal revenge, the truth of the matter was that it hurt too much to process. And so, he forced out joyful boldness, trying to fake it until he made it.
But in the end, after a few minutes, the joy left him. And on his way to the store, he continued to feel his anger boiling inside, refusing to let him cling to anything happy.
Quickly, he entered a gun store, and used his speed to immediately defeat everyone inside. He didn't kill them, but they were injured as a result of his attacks.
Packing up a 12 gauge shotgun and some ammo, he soon left.
He checked his phone and saw the location of the nearest family, which was 2 hours away by car. However, he ascended to the skies, reaching there much quicker.
…
The Frost Family was a small one, but not put to shame. They were powerful enough to be generally left alone, or at least on "you don't bother me, I won't bother you" terms with the Graves family, who lived quite close-by for dragons.
The mother of three, who lived in a large house in a nice neighborhood, smelled a strange scent getting stronger. Due to their proximity with the Graves family, they knew that it was the Scent of a Traitor.
However, in her mind,
'Perhaps he's just getting closer to meet us? Well, it's better than if we couldn't smell him. It might be good to be prepared for any scenario, as even if he's weak, he might be accompanied by that monster.'
'Though, he did overcome the Silver Wolf. But it's said that that was entirely due to reasons beyond simple power or whatever.'
'If he's with the Graves, it wouldn't be wise to attack. But… I still can't help but be irritated that he's still alive.'
The scent reached a great amount, and she groaned. Her daughter, a girl of 17 years of age, went downstairs as a result.
"That's the smell of the traitor, right?" Michelle asked, and her mother nodded her head. Then, they heard a knock at the door.
"Is he here?" Michelle asked. "It would seem so. Gather your siblings and hide in the basement. If there's an attack, then you must protect David. And naturally, Cris needs to protect you in turn," Mrs Frost told her.
Michelle nodded her head and went upstairs, getting her younger and older brother, taking them down to the basement. Mrs Frost went to the front door, and opened it. The smell hit her nostrils and she was met with a shotgun blast to the shoulder.
The sound was loud, louder than Arthur was expecting. Mrs Frost fell to the floor, her ears ringing from it as she looked at her shoulder, which was entirely torn off, taking her arm with it.
…
Arthur looked down at the woman, standing over her as he lowered his gun. Immediately came the screams of pain, and he felt the urge to vomit. However, he kept it together, not wanting anything of his body to be left at the scene.
Arthur's heart felt plagued with darkness, and he took a step forward aiming the gun at her head next.
'I want… to destroy everything.'
'That's right. I want to destroy everything. I have to, don't I?'
It should go without saying that this woman was indeed a part of the dragon world. And slightly less obvious, was that she'd done nothing to him.
And yet, Arthur tried to kill her anyway.
Could his friends love a murderer? No.
So, why? Why was he…
He stopped, hesitant to pull the trigger. He became nervous, as if he wasn't before. Once he was actually going to do so, it felt entirely different.
It was then that the floor became slippery with ice, as the woman bled onto it. Arthur, without thinking, pulled the trigger, firing at her lower back.
The result was a mass of destroyed organs, a ribcage gone, and a pool of blood.
'Son of a bitch, don't, don't get nervous now. I can't run away, I can't run away.'
'I'm too weak to save anyone. I can't do anything, I'm too weak, I'm the lowest of the low… this… is natural.'
So, he pulled the trigger once more, flinching with the shot.
His first kill.