Astro's Trials Begin

Octavious: “Oh my, oh my. This really was a piece of cake. Those books were truly filled with correct knowledge. How blessed I am to have come to this surface and learn about the wonders of the world. Although…This is not what I remember Kanji telling me. The ending shouldn’t look like this.”

Astro: “There’s probably different endings for everyone. I don’t really care what it looks like. We are going through it.”

Octavious: “I-I agree Astro. I do, but this looks kind of eerie, does it not? This is like someone’s imagination. Once we beat the last island, we ended up here and I don’t really enjoy this place quite much. This certainly doesn’t make me happy and giddy.”

Astro: “Just stick by me like you did in the past when we beat up that group of girls. Fight like you did and you’ll be fine. Although, something tells me this is going to be a different type of fight.”

Astro and Octavious marched through a still waterfall. The space was empty and black and only the water over the edge continued to flow.

A mix of white and purple mist started to surround them. They both pulled out their weapons prepared and stood back to back. Astro looked onwards, expecting Octavious to cover his other side.

A voice called out.

It was small.

‘A child?’ he thought.

He saw her run across in the distance, but could not see her face. Nothing was there and she quickly disappeared into the darkness. Black slime came down out of nowhere onto both of them. They could not barge out of it, nor could they even yell for each other. It was like quicksand. They sank and sank until falling through a layer of glass underneath the water.

Confused and puzzled, they both were unsure of the events taking place. To them, this was only something that could happen in dreams or nightmares.

Astro fell and fell, not knowing where he was doing.

He threw a small rope-like line to the sides to see if this was a barrier, but it attached to nothing. Astro was reminded of a certain chaplet’s ability, but realized it couldn’t be that. This was just the doing of the person in charge of the Infinite Library. He knew it, but still couldn’t find a way out and his stubbornness wouldn’t allow him to succumb to whatever she was doing at this moment.

He landed softly on the ground and the imagery changed. “Octavious! Octavious!” he called out, having lost him amongst the chaos.

Astro: “Goddammit. This better be over quickly. What is this–?”

Astro couldn’t finish his question before he realized where he was. A town covered in Cherry Blossom trees that lined the paved sidewalks. Most of the houses looked the same, but traditional minka type housing covered the land.

Kids laughed while playing with kites and balloons.

A house further down highlighted his eyes. It wasn’t like the others. It was beige in color and made out of wood. It was one story, with uneven bushes along the sides. Patches of dead grass were evident. It wasn’t upkept, yet it wasn’t a disgusting place to live. It was more so a comfy abode for a small family.

He recognized it immediately and walked inside.

Around the table sipping tea and eating rice was his wife and daughter.

Astro: “S-Silvia? E-Emi…I–”

The house caught on fire out of nowhere. He turned around to see the flames and when he looked back they were gone. Through the door came multiple people that he had thought he shut out of his life, all having different characteristics. They picked him up and dragged him out of the house to their home in the nearby village. They threw him inside a doorway and hid as an army of witches approached.

Astro: “The hell are you all doing in this? Hey! Stupid ruler! Stop reading my every thought!”

Pike: “Shhhh. Quiet Astro. Did the smoke already get to you?”

Astro: “Great. I’m stuck with all of you again. Don’t think we’re all buddy, buddy Pike. I could care less about the 6 of you. I should have never joined this group in the first place. Wipe those stupid tattoos off of your faces. I ripped mine out myself, you idiotic group of delinquents that killed thousands of people. The 7 Eyed Snakes.”

A woman by the name of Hanna covered his mouth again. Her short pink hair and piercings made her more menacing along with her dual sided axe that she carried.

Hanna: “Shut up Astro. I don’t know what drugs you took, but if those witches here us, then we’re all dead. I don’t even know anyone myself who could deal with 50 witches. Why are they here?”

Another man similar looking to Astro, except with red hair and a red beard spoke. His cape even matched him, although his weapon was a sword that looked just like a feathery arrow, but it was sharp and could do damage. His name was Altus.

Altus: “Some woman and child pissed them off I guess. Took one of their sacred wands and ran.”

Another woman spoke.

She had tattoos all over and long brown hair. She didn’t have both eyes, but didn’t cover the other one with anything. All anyone could see was the hole in her face along with the other eye. Her name was Chola.

Chola: “Stupid woman and kid. Witches don’t even need wands to produce magic. Did those idiots think that they were doing anything by taking that?”

A different man butted in this time. His hair was blonde and messy. His blue eyes sparkled and were hard to hide, but half of his face was burned as if he was in a fire. His black clothes were half ripped as well. His name was Genkin.

Genkin: “Hehe. Say Astro, I wonder what their names were. Oh, wait I remember. Silvia and Emi. Does that ring a bell?”

Astro: “What? My wife and kid are out there?! Who let them go out there?! They were just here with me!”

Genkin: “Uh oh, he’s mad. Someone cool him down or else I might wanna have some fun.”

Chola: “Shut it Genkin. If we’re caught, then we are all goners.”

Pike: “Shhhhhh! Everyone shut your mouths. Let me listen.”

Pike’s small dagger held in both of his hands produced grey mana lines. In fact, everyone’s swords in this group produced grey mana lines on all of their weapons besides for Astro.

Pike connected the mana lines throughout the floor to each person’s body. Astro tried to avoid it and run outside, but Hanna stopped him with her mana that had an ability that could counter Astro's. She could control shadows and stop him from moving, although Astro never remembered her having this ability.

Altus held him back as well while he tried to scream and yell at him, but Genkin covered his mouth and threatened to cut it open with his bright polished silver blade.

He was forced to listen to the witches' conversation with his wife and kid standing in the open right outside of the village as the flowers from the sakura trees flurried down. The lead witch named Castella began to speak. She was old, really old. Her eyes were non-existent.

Grey pupils filled the blank space.

She hunched over on her brown rotting cane while speaking slowly.

Castella: “You took what is not…yours. Punishment…It is the only option. Do you have any last words.”

Silvia and Emi smiled and both quickly responded in sync. “No,” they both said and grabbed each other’s hands and spun in circles.

The many witches raised their hands and aimed at the two of them. They all chanted together one spell. When witches are together, they are even stronger than individually. It is not like swordsmen. If their chaplet abilities are strong, then they likely can prevail against any enemy, unless that enemy knows how to use chaplets to counter that. However, Silvia and Emi stole a very important wand in their collection, so the witches chanted all together, “Death’s Symbol,” which really didn’t mean anything, but it was just to state a point.

Black sparks flew out of their hands targeting the two of them and instantly turning them to dust. Astro watched out the doors and listened through Pike’s power. His veins almost burst out of his skin when he saw this. He pushed through the three of them with everything he had in rage.

Genkin quickly threw his blade through his left leg, stalling him while he fell to the ground in agony. Pike disconnected his mana and jumped on Astro. Hanna, Chola, and Altus pulled him back onto the ground. They covered his mouth and made sure he couldn’t move. However, the witches heard his screams when he got out.

They began to head over to their section.

The floorboards creaked though, so they stayed quiet not knowing what was going on.

An animal came out of one of the boards. A mouse that hopped around all the way to them. It began to speak.

???: “Come on, we have to go. Rip the rest of the floorboards up. I made a tunnel. I can put them back without them knowing. Hurry!”

They threw Astro down the hole in the ground when they ripped up the wood. The mouse was the last to go down, but waited on the side of the wall underneath and focused hard on the items above. They floated and moved back into place like nobody was ever there.

The witches barged in the front door expecting people, but to their surprise, there was nobody. The mouse stayed still, listening to them as they decided to move to a different section.

‘Whew, that was close,’ the mouse thought as it slid back down the hole down to a different area. They were in an underground arcade that looked abandoned on a checkered floor. Cobwebs covered the place, but some of the games still worked, notably the pinball machines where Chola and Genkin played.

They tied Astro up on the floor before the mouse got down, but he assured them they could take the duct tape off of his mouth.

Astro: “You bastards! Let me go! Take this rope off of me! I’ll kill every single one of you!”

???: “Astro! Look at me! Look! Look into my eyes. Are you paying close attention? This isn’t real. This is an illusion.”

Astro’s eyes widened and the floor beneath him fell through. He blinked and before he knew it, he was floating in space, still tied up by the rope. The mouse remained in front of him.

Astro: “Shifter. What–What’s going on? Tell me! You’re the only one that I ever respected in this group. Tell me the truth.”

Shifter: “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on. Why are we here? Hanna is the only one that’s still alive. Tell me, how come I am in this reality?”

Astro: “What? What do you mean?”

Shifter: “Remember Astro. What did I just say? This isn’t reality.”

Astro suddenly remembered.

His mind was wavering through this because of his wife and kid. Before he knew it, he didn’t realize that this place wasn’t real. His mind seemed to be captured by something.

Astro: “M-My wife…My-My child.”

Shifter: “Not real. And neither am I. So, how am I here right now? Pretty peculiar that we are sitting in space right now, is it not? The sun doesn’t seem very hot either. Oh, let me fix that leg for you.”

Astro: I-I don’t know. I see now. My mind was a little clouded. This stupid ruler. Hey! You hear me?! Let me out of here! Give me my one question!”

Shifter: “Figure it out Astro. You killed Genkin, Altus, and Pike. Chola and I died when we were ambushed in the Coolian Mountains when we tried blasting the mountain to shreds. This isn’t real. However, I do know that there is a timer on this watch. 2 minutes and it’s counting down. What does that mean?”

Astro: “I don’t know! You think I would know Shifter? You think I would know why you all are here and only you seem to know that this is an illusion?! I don’t have an answer! I don’t! So stop telling me to answer you. Maybe you’re an illusion too that is programmed by this stupid thing.”

Shifter shifted into his human form. He was a small kid with flat blue hair and tattoos all over his body. His left eye was encompassed in scars and he wore baggy clothes. Shifter walked around and sat down, looking at the emptiness of space.

Shifter: “Well, then I ask you a question of my own and I expect honesty just like I was honest with you about my past. Frankly, I do not care about any of you. That is the one thing that we share together Astro. I dislike the 7 Eyed Snakes as much as you do. I just never got to tell you that. Do I help in the missions that we pursued, yes. But, I never once would lay my own life down on the line to protect any of you. You all were like a family to me since I never really had one in the first place, but family bonds only go so far. I enjoyed killing people of my own merit and wreaking havoc. Do not blame me for that is all I knew. You can call me whatever names you wish, but that is simply all that I knew how to do. So tell me, as a person who hates this group and these people as much as I do with a passion…Why am I alone talking to you right now? And don’t give me that condescending crap.”

Astro looked down at the floating stars, then looked up, and to the sides, only to see the same thing every time. He could not answer that question himself. He didn’t know where he was, why he was here, or what was going on.

Astro: “To be quite honest with you Shifter, I don’t know if you’re even freaking real, but sure, I’ll give you an answer for whatever you are. I never liked you either. The feeling is mutual. I killed most of you off because of what we were doing. The only reason I let Hanna off is because her family got caught up in the mess and was standing right beside me as I raised my scythe at her. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, even back then with the cold heart that I had. Though, it’s no different now, is it? The same heart beats in my chest that let my wife and child die.”

Shifter: “I see. Guilt and regret haunts you. Well, that’s just the price you have to pay isn’t it? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Poof!”

Grey smoke illuminated the entirety of the space and brought Astro to a new place. A big, dark cave stood before him with 2 dark green moss trees separated from each other. His eyes were blurry, but when they refocused he saw people hanging over those moss trees.

Astro: “N-No! Stop it!”

He got up and tried to run over to the trees to realize that he was chains on both arms and legs. He couldn’t move but 3 feet before crumbling back towards the ground, crying like a baby.

Silvia and Emi were hanging by rope against the trees.

Their eyes and mouths were blindfolded as a hunched back man with long white hair and clothes made out of the moss from the trees walked in between the two women. He did not speak, but raised his arms in the air and lowered them swiftly, which caused a string of invisible attacks to target the two girls.

Their bodies shook and splattered with blood.

Astro screamed and screamed until the man eventually came over and put rope in his mouth. He still screamed, but now it was muffled. He was forced to bear witness to his wife and child being killed over and over and over again. His own eyes and mouth bled from how much he screamed and cried, until eventually after hours, his screams were just puffs of air that he barely mustered to get out. They had died over 2000 times in front of him.

The scenes quickly switched when he fell over and his face hit the ground. He was no longer in the cave, but in a horse and carriage. The same hunched back man was the driver, but Astro’s eyes were so dead and his heart so shattered that he did not care.

The man dropped him off at a garden with a gold hatch in the middle. “Goodluck partner,” he said, as he pushed him out onto the hatch. It opened and his body fell through to a dark room.