Familiar Strangers, Unfamiliar World [LEON]

“Ugh…”

Noel is impaled.

Leon screams her name. Uncle tries to move but his legs give up.

Then, to make it worse. The red-eyed shadow twists the spar and drives it through Noel reaching Leon too.

Leon is also impaled.

Both are impaled together with the same spear.

“This is just like before” Noel coughs blood.

She reaches her hand to Leon’s face.

Gently brush over it.

“Leon...I don’t know if you will remember this or not but let me tell you this. I shall appear in your future. I will definitely appear in your world. So, please welcome me, help me, and guide me.”

She tried to laugh but coughed blood instead. Still, she continued...

“I prefer mushrooms over meat… hehe… remember that. Treat me someday, okay?”

“Remember our bond and relationship. Also, meet with the great hero. Natsume Maruyama-”

Before anyone could say a thing, the red-eyed shadow twisted its spear, taking the life of both.

Darkness claims Leon.

His eyes snap open and he is met with a familiar ceiling. His breath is heavy and his body trembles. He looks at the clock beside his bed and it's already too late for work.

Then…tears flow down his eyes as he screams and cries out Noel’s name.

He doesn’t go anywhere. He just sits in his room thinking about what he should do.

The night came fast. He closes his eyes. He prayed to traverse again. To meet with Noel again.

Then…

As he opened his eyes, it was already morning. He was still in his same apartment room. There was no dream.

Leon cries.

All of a sudden, he remembers the last words of Noel. The great hero. Natsume Maruyama.

He is confused by what she means and thinks that Natsume could only be his clue to find out something about this.

With a determined mindset, he sets off to find a way to meet the great hero.

He reaches the same point where Noel would appear in the future. As he passes the crosswalk.

Something occurs.

It appears yet again.

The glitch.

The entire world distorts. Something had changed within Leon.

The glitch stole the crucial fragments of memory from Leon’s mind.

He remembered the other world. The adventures. Noel, her family, their relationship, everything but the memory containing the red-eyed shadow disappeared. Everything related to it just vanished.

Leon is in a daze. He thinks about what was he doing here. Where was his destination?

With such a change, Leon returns back to his apartment.

His days continued in a mundane manner.

After a few months, a tragedy struck Leon’s life. His father passed away due to an accident.

The entire family sobs in memory.

Leon decided to move to a new apartment. A bigger one containing two in-built rooms inside a single flat.

He never understood why he picked a flat that big.

Then, the time came.

The time of Noel to appear. Leon rushed to the place where he felt that she would appear and there he saw Noel, looking lost and frustrated. A drop of tear fell from Leon’s eyes.

He walks slowly towards Noel.

“Are you lost?”

This started the story of Noel. Everything occurred exactly like before. The game center. The amusement park. The zoo. The aquarium. The night by the lake. Natsume Maruyama.

Then…came the farewell it went exactly like before, nothing more nothing less. Then, the story continued in a cycle. A loop.

But then…

In one hundred and eight attempts, a disturbance occurred.

Just like hundreds of times before, Red-eyed shadow impaled and killed him along with Noel.

He snaps his eyes open. Then, just before he could break down.

Something appears in his mind out of nowhere.

A voice of a woman.

“Do not forget her. Do not waver”

He is shocked by the voice.

The voice didn’t disappear for a while. It guided him somewhere. Leon subconsciously follows it.

He traveled quite a distance. He somehow reached the lake by the hill. The lake near his hometown.

The whisper disappears. He feels a chill in his chest.

Then as he investigates, he finds a pendant that he is wearing. He is shocked because the pendant was from the other world and it should not have appeared here.

This was the same pendant containing the demon’s eyes. The one forged through the pouring of both Leon and Noel’s mana.

He takes out the pendant and hovers in the sky.

Then…it starts to glow. A radiant color of frozen mana appears.

Suddenly, it appears again.

The glitch.

The entire world distorts. It is on the scribbles. Though, this time…Leon finally sees it all. The pendant protects Leon as he sees the world changing.

The wave of memory flows down into Leon’s mind. The memory of the loops. The memory of countless lives that he experienced in a cycle. Tears flowed down his eyes as if it was just too much for him. He never even realized that he was trapped in a loop.

Then the clash of energy grew wilder. The glitch and the pendant’s energy collided.

Crackle!

Shatter!

Boom!

Everything turns black.

…

…

…

Then, as Leon opens his eyes he is met with an unfamiliar place. An intoxicating place. Dark and eerie surroundings. He is more shocked to find that his attire has changed. He is clad in armor and is holding a sword.

The whisper of the woman appears again.

“Leon…Cut through your way. Make your way to the X spot. There you shall find everything.”

Leon doesn’t question her intention. He just knew that he would find the answer at the end.

He traveled. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. He never felt hungry but he was exhausted.

He found out that this is the demon realm. He encountered violent demons. He slayed one after another. He suffered yet there was no one to listen to it.

For the demons, he was like a lone prey. So, they flooded towards him. Leon killed all who stood in his way. He was injured. He was in a brutal state. His eyes grew lifeless but he never stopped.

After months, he finally made it to the point where the whisper told him to.

The whisper finally materialized.

The appearance of a middle-aged woman.

A familiar face.

“I am Aciel von Redlaw”

Leon’s lifeless eyes widen in surprise. A surge of energy originates and waves around Leon. It heals his injuries. It heals his mind and soul. It brings back the Leon of the past.

Leon’s voice trembles, “Noel’s Mother?”

Aciel nods, “Noel told me about you, Leon. I know that you’ve suffered a lot but this is the final hurdle you have to overcome. Go on, make your way beyond this point and recreate your destiny,”

Leon doesn’t hesitate even for seconds. He makes his way to beyond the place. He reached a certain point. There he meets someone.

A large demon clad in a dark amor. It is crouching down. It notices Leon’s presence and stands up. As he looks back, shivers run down Leon’s spine.

Those glowing eyes were something that Leon recognized too well.

It was the red-eyed shadow…