the inevitable end

Season 1: Glimpses of the past

What is this madness? What is this thing in my hand? It seems I have gone mad. The mouth on our hero's hand spoke, saying: "Hello, I will explain everything calmly without any agitation. Please, I can answer your questions. I know there are many questions running through your mind. I know you are still doubting if you are alive, but don't worry. I am a parasite. I found you dying, and all I wanted at that moment was to eat. My instinct directed me to you, and I entered through your left eye into your brain. But I don’t know what happened; it seems I merged with your spinal cord and brain, which gave me a thinking mind. I was amazed because information started flowing into my brain at a crazy speed—your memories, your experiences, and many other things."

Our hero, confused and seeking clarification, said: "None of this matters. Why did you save me?"

The parasite, understanding the hero's urgent need for an answer, replied: "In short, now I am you. The same memories, the same experiences, and the same thinking. I am your shadow, I am your reflection in the mirror. Even if I tried to leave your body, I would die. Strangely, I have linked all my vital functions to you, so leaving your body means my death, and your death means my death as well."

The hero, still trying to grasp this strange revelation, asked: "Since you’ve lived here for a long time, why do you think they died when they wished for freedom?"

The parasite, using the shared memories, answered: "From my analysis of past memories, it seems the village was cursed by a strange being who granted them immortality. But in the end, they are human. Their bodies rotted, disease spread among them, and they lived this hell for hundreds of years, sacrificing animals to this king for freedom."

Our hero, trying to piece together the events, said: "It seems I understand the situation here. But is there a way to leave? And how long have I been here? It looks like maggots have taken over their bodies until only bones remain, and the smell of rot dominates the place."

The parasite, aware of the severity of the situation, said: "Yes, I am a genius, or you are, it doesn’t matter. You are right. I have controlled your body for thirty-seven years, during which I was healing you."

The hero, shocked and mumbling, said: "What about them? Did the wave reach them? Are they okay?"

The parasite, trying to comprehend the hero’s emotional connection, replied: "Are you talking about the bartender and the child? You don’t even know the bartender’s name, and you didn’t spend much time with the infant. Why do you care? You even tried to kill her. It doesn’t matter. What will happen if those you love stand in your way again, as happened before? Will you kill them again? Even if you wanted to return to them, they would certainly be dead from some wave. It’s rare for someone to die a natural death now."

Our hero interrupted with anger and hysteria: "Shut up, shut up! What concern is it of yours who I care about? None of your business! Who are you? Get away from me! They are alive!"

The parasite laughed sarcastically and said: "I am not interested in any of them. I am only interested in you. And you know, you will repeat what happened before. You are a fool if you do the same thing and expect a different result, even if they are alive."

Our hero looked at him with anger, then the parasite said: "Okay, okay, I will shut up. But you will regret it again if you walk the same path. Don’t expect a different result."

The parasite's mouth disappeared from our hero’s hand. Feeling a mix of relief and dread, our hero got up from the altar, looking for a way out. He searched the courtyard but found nothing. Then he entered the door from which the monsters had emerged. All he found was an old gate in the middle of the darkness. He opened it, and he saw the forest where the entrance to the dungeon was. Without thinking much, he exited through the gate, and when he turned to look back, he found it had disappeared.

His clothes were torn and covered in his blood, but he didn’t care. He ran quickly to the tavern to check on the bartender and the child. He ran, panting and stumbling, but he didn’t care. He got up again and ran until he reached the tavern. It was dawn. The tavern was as he had left it, and so were the streets as he remembered them. He knocked on the door, but no one answered. He knocked harder, and he heard the bartender’s voice saying: "Damn it, who’s knocking at this hour? I’ll kill you if it’s not important."

He opened the door, and there stood the bartender. Our hero was shocked. The bartender looked at him and said: "Damn it, what a mess you are in, you i***t. Anyone who sees you would think you’re a beggar. Come in and take a bath."

Our hero bathed and then went down to the tavern. The bartender asked him what had happened. He told him his story, but he hid some aspects like the sacrifice and the parasite, telling him only about the time he spent in the dungeon. The bartender told him that this was normal and that he was lucky to have fallen into this type of dungeon. Although they had appeared throughout history, they were rare and could be counted on one hand. Only eight had been recorded in the history of the continent. He was lucky he didn’t fall into the opposite type of dungeon. There was a person in the continent’s history who spent a month in the dungeon, and when he came out, he found nine thousand and forty-seven years had passed in the outside world. He couldn’t accept the reality and committed suicide a month after his release. And it seems that your bad luck has made you number nine." He started laughing.

The hero, trying to understand the surreal nature of his experiences, asked: "How is the infant?"

The bartender replied: "What infant? It seems the girl you picked up is not human but half-human. She aged a week to the age of a three-year-old child. How unlucky are you?"

Our hero couldn’t believe what the bartender said, thinking he was drunk. He got up from the table, telling him he was going to sleep because he felt extremely tired. When he went up to the room to sleep, he was shocked. It seemed the bartender wasn’t lying. He said to himself: "Damn, my life has been weird lately. It looks like everything around me is changing, and I don’t know what to expect next."

Exhausted, he collapsed on the bed, his mind racing with thoughts about what he had learned and gone through. As he sank into sleep, he wondered what the future held for him.

He heard the voice of a little girl waking him up from sleep, repeating, "Daddy,wake up, please. I'm feeling hungry." He got up and found the girl dressed in clothes too small for her, remembering they were the clothes the girl he brought used to wear. Analyzing the situation, he wasn't sure. He told her to wait a moment and looked at her back, spotting the tattoo that was on the girl's back. He sighed, "Damn, I wish all I'm experiencing now is a dream. I wish" .

[to be continued]