Chapter 2:
T.A./H.A. Paranoia Hero
“Ha…haha…HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Olagna guffawed, tossing his head back and basking in the sun’s rays, then he abruptly stopped. “Are you serious right now…?” His claws completely submerged into Agon’s shoulders, yet Agon did not scream or wince. He simply kept that exhausted smile on his face, eyes low and devoid of any light.
Olagna snarled. “You decide to show some bravado for ONCE in your life, and it's after it already ended. And this…this is the first thing you choose to do? What the hell is wrong with you?!?”
Agon chuckled softly as he licked his lips and lightly gargled the blood from them. The fire in his stomach grew stronger. He opened his mouth partially as his body still processed the countless blows it received from the enraged being. “You’re…not wrong…I must be an idiot. An idiot to be talking to a self-proclaimed deity like this…”
“Self…proclaimed…?!?”
“When I first looked at you, I was terrified, but now I see, you’re no greater than I am. You’re just a seven-foot tantrum wrapped in a blanket of borrowed power…You looked at one lowly mortal who was afraid of the world and thought he didn’t appreciate what he had…but…you couldn't be more wrong.”
“NO! YOU DON’T GET TO PREACH TO ME!” Olagna reeled his head back and flew right into Agon’s forehead again. Agon didn’t flinch as more of the blood decorated his face. A trail trickled down his nose and dripped onto the red fish’s eye; it started flopping with more energy.
“You just…pushed your own insecurities onto some random boy, because you thought he was out to get you, when in reality…he was trying to figure out how to live. Just at his own pace…He thought about quitting…but…” Agon paused as a tear rose from the corner of his eye at the thought of his mother helping him. He breathed and stashed that memory away, steeling his nerves. “It probably didn’t look like it to you, but I was embracing my life more and more each day before you intervened. But because I didn’t do things YOUR way, how did you respond? Agon stepped closer. The red fish moved around more violently. Olagna sank his fingers into Agon’s shoulders, playing with his veins like strings on a harp. The pain was unlike anything Agon had ever felt in his life, and yet, he kept walking towards the creature. “You threw a fit, like the baby you are…and made things worse for me. Filled my mind with terrible visions, and my body with uncontrollable fear; all because you couldn’t get out of your own head.
Olagna gritted his teeth. His eye sockets gushed steaming hot blood onto the pier. The red fish started jumping around the deck feverishly.
“Olagna, the so-called deity who boasts about the beauty of life, yet was so quick to take it away because his ego got damaged. Easily overpowered by a pitiful sixteen-year-old boy…who’s scared of everything, and anything. And the icing on the cake-”
Olagna butted Agon’s head three times with all his might. On the third hit, he felt a little give in the flesh. A dent formed in Agon’s forehead. His eyes rolled back, and he began to drool. He toppled over the side of the pier railing, but after a couple of seconds, he started speaking again. His speech was slurred.
“You…ca…caaaaaan’t…fini…shhhh…finish…m..me…offfff…” The red fish, bathed in the boy and the Marrowta’s own red essence, jumped high into the air, right past Olagna and Agon’s faces, and dove back into the sea, leaving a trail of blood as it swam away. Olagna was speechless as he watched his catch return to its home underwater. He stared back at Agon’s damaged appearance. His voice resonated from his beastly throat as he began to speak.
“Hey…Agon…” The deity slowly removed his fingers from deep within Agon’s shoulders, watching as the last bit of equilibrium left him. Agon slumped against the railing, breathing quietly. Olagna stood tall, staring down at the disheveled boy.
“I killed you once, you know…You think just because I don’t have my full power…that I can’t put you out?”
Agon said nothing, his chest rising and falling.
“I can end you right here, and now. Powers or none, my body alone is more than capable of turning you inside out and smearing you like a paste on this pier. You’d just be a bunch of plastered gunk for me to pass by while I fish for the rest of all time.”
A small hiss of wind passed through Agon’s lips as he pondered Olagna’s threat, yet he didn't move an inch. All he could do was breathe and listen.
“But…” Olagna snapped his fingers. The sea’s tides began to ripple violently, and a shimmer of light emerged from its depths. The glow was enough to wake Agon up from his exhausted trance. He nudged his face over the middle railing and saw the light show of the sea, unsure what to make of it. Slowly, as the light faded, the water became translucent. No fish nor sea creatures were found within the water, however. Instead, the sea revealed a vast landscape. The top of a lush green forest, with the heads of woodland creatures running amok, and just a little further out, the peak of a rugged mountain that fed into what appeared to be a town dressed in cobblestone paths and rustic houses. Agon stared in confusion and suddenly felt Olagna grab him by his neck, holding him to his face, and grinning maliciously.
“Since you decided to finally grow a pair… I’ll entertain things a little further. Besides, this means that we can play my game.”
“Ah…mnuh”
“As I stated before, I’m sending you to a brand new world, one filled with absolute magic and legends untold. It should be much more inviting than your last life. Consider it a second chance at living. You're welcome.”
“Ughuh…whuh…”
“What’s that, you say? ‘But Olagna, how will I protect myself?’ Not to worry! I’m being extra generous and giving you your very own skill! No need to learn the generic fireballs or ice spells. THIS skill will be much more intriguing for both of us.”
Agon’s eyes widened. Within the depths of his mind, he received another vision. This time, however, it was not of gruesome laceration or wicked souls, but of a tree. A skill tree, to be precise, found commonly in role-playing games. Agon recognized the sight only by remembering one game his mother tried to get him to play when he was younger, but he was afraid of the enemies, and shut the game off before he got too far. Ironically enough, this skill tree was twisted into the shape of a human heart. A petty jab from Olagna, no doubt.
“Ta-da! Welcome to your skill tree! Or skill heart, as I like to call it. This is where you’ll advance that special skill of yours and get all sorts of fancy upgrades." Above the skill heart, was a sign that read “T.A/H.A”.
“T.A…H.A…” Agon muttered.
“That’s your very own, custom-tailored skill! One of a kind, from yours truly. Itching to know what it stands for, hm? Very well, I'll tell you. Agon Cora, I grant you the “T.A./H.A.” skill, also known as the ‘Time Attack/Heart Attack’ Skill.”
“Time Attack…Heart Attack…AH!”
Agon suddenly shrieked, snapping out of the vision of the skill tree as he felt a burning sensation across his sternum. He squirmed as Olagna continued to jostle him by his neck. A branding that read “10:00” sat in the center of Agon's chest, mirroring Olagna’s own tattoo, of the same time.
“You died at ten on the dot, so that will be your starting time.”
“W-what are you…Ghh! Ack!”
“Here’s how it works. Every day, the very moment the sun rises in your new life, the timer will start, and you will have ten minutes to live. How you’ll manage to stay alive for that long, I’ll tell you at a later date. When the moon rises, the timer will stop. And by the next day, it will reset back to ten minutes, repeating the cycle. If your time reaches zero at any point during your journey, you will die by heart attack and return here to me.”
“You..AGGGGHH!” Olagna squeezed Agon’s throat tighter.
“I will then rip your heart out and use it as cut bait for all the fish in this sea. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
“You’re just proving my-ACK! Point…! Nggh…you’re an immature deity…who doesn’t deserve even a QUARTER of power!”
“Uggh…Here you go again. If anyone doesn’t deserve anything, it’s YOU. You really have to understand how merciful I’m being here. Well, Agon…if that’s how you want it…” Olagna’s deadwood fishing pole spawned out of thin air. All ten hooks shimmered in the sunlight, especially one in the center. The biggest hook of the rest appeared to be made of pure metal with serrated edges; it quickly began to hiss with the sun’s staggering heat. Olagna took the hook into his free hand and plunged it into Agon’s mouth, hooking his left cheek as deeply as he could.
“GAHHHGGH…HAAAAAA!!!” Agon flailed around as he choked on the hook and Olagna’s fist. The crackling hook blistered Agon’s cheek from the inside out, making him scream even louder. Olagna laughed from the roots of his gut as he watched the boy alternating between crying and gagging. A fusion of tears and spittle coated the Marrowta’s arm, which made him all the more ecstatic. With enough effort, the hook finally set within Agon’s mouth, with the tip pointing back out of his upper cheek.
“Like mother, like son…” Olagna cooed and released his grip on Agon’s neck; the deadwood fishing pole held him up with ease, making him dangle in the air while he softly wept to himself. Olagna walked over to the railing of the pier and clutched his pole in his hands, winding back.
“Go on…be a ‘hero’...Be like the red fish...” He set his fishing line.
“BE THE ONE WHO GETS AWAY FROM ME!”
Olagna shouted and cast Agon’s nearly lifeless body out into the translucent sea. He flew through the air for several minutes. As his skin finally hit the water, Agon looked up and watched as Olagna and the infinite pier vanished behind an evening sky. Agon fell for what felt like several minutes, until he finally crashed into a nearby tree, tumbling down and hitting every branch until he landed on his side, right at the base of the roots. He glanced at the fishing line that strung from his cheek high into the air from which he descended. His entire body ached, yet he had no more energy to scream or cry out. The sound of nesting birds and easy winds brushing against the leaves lulled him to a rough slumber.
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