The Prisoner
When?
When will you release me?
Better yet, when will this end?
I'm tired and sick from all of it. The flickering light that always gives me a migraine, this dark and cramped cell I'm in, the chains that restrained me from any movement. Then there's the torture that left me with bruises, cuts and broken bones all over my body, the starvation that made my stomach cave in and the mind games that would make anyone go insane.
I can't even tell the time. Lost track of how many days has passed since I was captured.
Hey, is that offer still available?
You know, the one where you'll consider breaking these chains if I talk.
...
Really? Great!
Then I'll tell you a story. A story about me. Now, there's no need to complain since you didn't specify the topic. Don't worry, it'll still going contain some fraction of the information that you desire. Hopefully, you'll find the answers you seek within. Also, it's a good way to kill some time.
Let's start with some introductions. Why you ask? Well, every good story begins with one so why not. And don't get me wrong, I for one have no interest in your name be it an alias, a codename or a nickname. Your occupation spoke to me all the same, that is a member of the police here in Whisphillia [1].
As for me, I'm sure you already know who I am. My name could be seen all over this land be it from wind newspapers [2], water televisions [3], earth tablet announcements [4], even in students' textbooks. All of you called me by various fancy names like "The Bloody Sky.", "The Dark Whispers.", "The Silent Judgement." and so on. Some of them were a mouthful, but never the less I'm actually quite flattered by that. Being famous and feared at the same time.
Aww, don't look at me like I'm some sort of crazy person.
Anyway, I'm sure all of the citizens in this land had been itching to know my real name. Well, I would love to tell you but doing that would be bad for my already sad situation. So, I'll just give you my nickname as compensation. The one that latches onto my childhood like a plague.
They called me Kuro.
A strange nickname right? But as some would say, don't judge a book by its cover. At first glance, there's nothing about me that could possibly tie me to that name, that has the meaning black in one of the many foreign human languages. I have blue eyes and hair, the exact shade of a sunny sky. I have pale skin that made me look almost sickly. And no, I'm always like this. I never change my hair color, eye color nor was I tan before this.
Hehe.. You're curious. Just admit it, I saw your eyes searching me for answers like I'm some naked sexy lady. But I'll save you from your confusion and spare you some dignity. I'll pretend you didn't just ogle me. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. For now at least.
Back on topic. They called me that for two reasons. One, strange as it may be, Kuro was actually a part of my name. (See, I'm actually telling you my real name, even if it's just a bit.) And second, I have a weak presence. So, they compared me to a shadow, easily forgotten and most of the time unnoticeable or simply ignored.
And that's just how life has been treating me. Almost everybody seemed to have forgotten about me. Except for the times I made my presence known and uhh... they kind of, sort of, ran away from me, some screaming that they saw a ghost or something like that while others showed their surprise and irritation physically. And my pale complexion along with my monotonous and soft voice didn't help one bit.
It's not like I did that on purpose. I never asked to be born with such low presence, my voice is soft because of my weak throat, I can't really change my monotonous tone of voice, and my hair and skin tone haven't darkened a bit no matter how many times I got scorched under the sun. So you can see it wasn't my fault. It never was.
This world is cruel and unfair. It was made evident as my life went from bad to worse to horrible. Apparently, everyone thought I was strange and because of that, the people of the village where I lived at that time, be it, worried fathers, paranoid mothers, frightened children or fanatic priests, discriminate me from the other kids. As a result, I have no friends.
Sad isn't it? Just because I'm a little different from the other kids, they treat me like that, like I'm some sort of incurable disease. And to an extension, my brother got the same treatment as well.
Yes, I have a brother. Didn't expect that, huh? Well, now that I dragged him into my little story might as well explain a bit.
Just like how I was discriminated, my brother was too. They condemn him because he had this air around him that was similar to that of Satan. (Really, it's like they'd actually met the fallen angel.) And to make it worse, he had flaming red hair and mismatched eyes, the left one gold while the right one red just like his hair. But actually, if you get to know him a bit, you'll find that he's a big softy. Just a bit prickly on the outside. They never gave him a chance.
But that's just how they were I guess. Even though at that time we were just little kids, who like any other children, carved for the warmth of a loving family, the joy of having friends, and the fun of playing tag or hide and seek. We craved for those happy days that we foolishly hoped even though we knew it would never come. I had lost count just how many sleepless nights we spent alone in our shared bedroom in that rundown orphanage, crying our eyes out and cursing our fate. And more often than not, treating each other's bruises, cuts, or broken bones with scarce medical equipment, enduring the pain.
Now, do you see the pattern? Realize the cause? It's because of our unusual appearance be it hair color, skin tone or eye color. And to an extent the "air" around us. They didn't care about our personalities, what matters is the outside. They won't hesitate to punish us based on that small reason.
What was that? Run away? You think we didn't try that? Both of us had tried many times, but those villagers just kept on foiling our attempts saying that "We won't let both of you spread your curse." They said that like they're the saints of the world. Just remembering their mini-lectures and speeches about that particular thing made me want to rip their tongues.
Th- Ah, you cut me off again. What is it this time? Hmm? The older one? Well, we never knew who's the older one between the two of us. We were left in a box on the footsteps of the orphanage, with some meager possessions and a letter. From what the caretaker there told us of the letter's contents, our parents left us there because they're poor. But to most people, they speculate that we were abandoned because of the curse we brought to their lives. The letter was never shown to us, so we don't know the exact contents.
Continuing on from when you interrupted me, They called us "The Children of Calamity and Despair", "Harbingers of Destruction", The Cursed Twins", and a lot more that I didn't bother to remember. The names kept on piling up, sounding far worse than the last. Seriously, if I didn't know better, I might have thought it's their hobby. You should have seen them. Every day a new ugly name. They deserve an award, or maybe they broke the record for the most creative name making villagers.
Why so many horrendous monikers? Good question. That's a tough nut to crack. I don't know, maybe because they blamed us for every single thing that had gone wrong when we didn't do anything. For example, like when the harvest wasn't plenty enough, the village's priest died, rats invaded the food shack, even when a girl fell down and got her knee scratched, they blamed it all on us. I'm okay with all the blame, but seriously, they don't need to beat us up too. They're so violent.
Oh! You don't believe me? Then how about I ask you one question. What village do you think it was?
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The one at the far west? Flauverg Village [5]? Oh, come on! Don't pull at my leg. Though I have to admit, the joke was rather funny.
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Dear Lord... You actually don't know. And here I thought you were smart. Guess I overestimated you.
Alright, alright. I'm sorry. Don't look at me like that, geez. I swear, your glare could kill around a dozen dragons in the span of one second. Okay, to answer you, it's a village in the human realm. Forgot the name, didn't bother to remember. Seriously, only a sick person would remember a place's name that brought them pain.
Keep plastering that kind of face, and it'll get stuck. I'm serious here, I even dropped a lot of hints throughout my story. For the love of The Holy One, what is wrong with people these days. Are all of you so, what's the word? ...Ah, forget it. I'm too disoriented to think straight.
Since you're so clueless, I'll give you some help. I did say that the villagers discriminate my brother and me from our skin tone, eye color, and hair color right? Then try to use that dusty old brain of your's to think. Why? Why did they do that?
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That's right. Thank Goodness you're still salvageable. Yes, it was because in their eyes we were monsters. Demons. Two boys with unnatural hair color, skin tone, and eye color. In Whisphillia all of those didn't matter, all of us are colorful, like a jumbled rainbow. Splashes of colors here and there wouldn't faze us, it's natural. But for them, the humans, it's anything but. Because humans only have either black, blond, brown or in the rare cases red hair. Although their red hair is a bit brownish, unlike my brother's bright red. As for eyes, they're only blue, black, brown, and green. Green's rare and their blue eyes resembled more of the sea, unlike my sky blue ones.
But if you asked me, that's just an excuse. In reality, there's actually another reason. Another reason for their fear of us. This one is more logical.
Aside from the unnatural colors, there's one thing that differentiates us from those humans. This one's obvious, but for the sake of my faith in the police, I'll just answer this myself.
It's magic.
In this land, magic has become a part of our lives. Every inch of this land has some sort of magic in them, and we utilize them to such extent that we became dependent on it. Transportation? We could just fly to our destination or create a portal [6]. Security? The police and soldiers here are armed with magic weapons or could use high-level spells. Food? No need, as long as there are magical energies around, we could survive without having to fill our stomachs. Heck, even our whole being is full of magic.
In the human world? No such things. For transportation, they use animals like horses or use boats. For security, sure they have police and soldiers, but they're mere humans, their weapons consist of only swords, guns and sometimes cannons. Our magic imbued ones could easily demolish their defenses. Food? You'll feel like shit if you skip just a day or fall unconscious because of starvation.
See the difference between them and us? The difference between humans and demi-gods [7]?
So it came as no surprise that they feared us, my brother and I. who wouldn't? Suddenly, two little boys appeared in their village, having unusual hair color and supernatural powers. That's just like the sign of an apocalypse. The only thing stopping us from annihilating that village was because we didn't have anywhere to go and at the human realm, there's hardly any magical energies [8]. It's suffocating.
It's not like we purposely showed them. They just somehow knew. But looking back now, I think it was that time. That one time when we played at the hills surrounding the village. My brother and I had never been there and was never allowed to, seeing as the hills were the 'territory' of the other children. But that day we decided to sneak there as the other kids were celebrating a holiday. I forgot what it was called, but it was this holiday where they would gather together with their families and have a feast. So we played many games with each other be it hide and seek, hopscotch, or jump rope, overall having the time of our lives. But it was when we were playing tag that it happened.
So engrossed with such a rare feeling of joy, I didn't see my way and tripped on basically nothing. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it but I was really clumsy when I was a kid. Nobody knew that as I'm mostly invisible to them but my brother knew and immediately tried to catch me before I squish my own nose. But instead of falling, I was floating face down. The winds had caught me from falling and propped me to my own two feet again before whizzing away. By the time we returned to the village, words have spread. The villagers grew more weary of us. Soon after that we started realizing our other powers and would secretly practice them at the forests at the edge of the village.
And here comes the question asking our powers. You're prying, huh. That thirsty for information? Eh, no matter. I'll answer your question. You already know one of mine which is wind as I often use it many times throughout my dark career. But I'm feeling a bit generous, so I'll tell you my other power which is water and to an extent, ice. As for my brother, his were fire, earth and to an extent, plants. A lot of power, right? Two boys who literally have all the elements under their command. Well, except for shadow and light but those doesn't count, only The Holy One [9] could control those two elements.
And that's just rare. Only one in a million could control more than one element, but my brother and I could manage three. What are the chances? It's ridiculous. But that's the truth and did you expect less from the children directly blessed by Ifrit [10], Undine [11], Gnome [12], and Sylph [13]? Like those sentiences would give their chosen ones power less than the average person.
Getting tired of that expression there. Although I can't blame you. It's your choice to believe me or not. I won't force you.
Now, I guess you want to ask something along the lines of "How did both of you get to the human realm?" and "How did you found your way here?"
Am I right or am I right?
Well, I'm not sure how to answer the first one, it's still a bit of a mystery, even to me. I was there in the human realm for as long as I could remember. My brother and I were dumped there when we were still babies, no memories whatsoever for how we ended up there.
As for how I got here, well, do you still remember that incident several years ago? I don't really know the details, but if my memory serves me right, a novice tried to control all elements to travel through time. I think it's called the twisted rift incident [14] by the people. Well, it's actually because of that that I'm here now.
That rookie, I don't know about you guys, but I think that person is a genius. Sure, he did miss the mark because instead of traveling through time, he opened a portal connecting the human realm and this realm.
And here's the ridiculous thing! The portal opened up in our room!
So that's how I ended up here. Lost, confused, scared and utterly broke, not a single penny on my person. So, it came with no wonder that the first thing on my to-do list is to get money and buy some clothes and food. For that, I started stealing from people. I don't care if they were men or women, children or adults, the only thing in my mind is to get some cash for the sake of survival. I was never caught, too sneaky and unnoticeable. They never realized, at least not until they searched for their wallet or purse, finding them empty. It was after a couple of days that I realized that I don't need any food, hunger never overcame me, and the streets were empty of any restaurants and cafes.
You might have thought that that was the end of my stealing days, but unfortunately, no, it just got worst.
Living your whole life poor and abused, having everyone tell you you're cursed and unwanted, you'll eventually have your will to live drained from your being. At some point, I've been through that phase. You don't know how many times I slashed my wrist and stab my chest, and there's this one time I jumped off a cliff. Every single day was torture, I tell you. But my brother, he's always there. I don't know how he did it, but he's always there to save me from dying and would give me a good scolding along with a pinch to the cheek or a pull of my ear right after.
So, is it that hard to believe that I finally found my worth? Found my talent? Thought that maybe, if I kept on doing all that I could finally live the life I wanted?
It was foolish, I'll admit that. That line of thinking I had back then was full of holes. I didn't think things through. Didn't see far enough. I was still young but what do you expect? I was terribly desperate at that time.
And before I knew it, I fell into this dark lifestyle.
At first, it was just pickpocketing, snatching a few pennies to buy the necessities. Then I started stealing things like a pocket watch or a communication sphere [15], selling them while keeping some to myself before moving on to more valuable things like historical artifacts. Not long, I started killing, from small monsters until eventually important people like the last prime minister.
Yeah, that was my doing. Shot his brain with a thin wind needle. Entry point from the right temple and exit point through the left. I made the needle so that when it went through the brain, it'll slice parts of it before exiting through the left temple. That's why the medics claimed that the cause of death was internal brain bleeding. Nobody knew it was an assassination. And that massacre at Yuvrell [16] was my doing as well. Just needed to deprive them of air for five minutes [17] before the area was bathed a beautiful crimson color. No need to kill them the classic way with weapons and causing chaos. My methods are more effective and deadly.
My reasons? Oh, you mean why I did those illicit acts? Well, at first, it was for the money, people would contact me and arrange a meetup, then they'll give me the details. If it's an assassination request, then they'll tell me the supposed target's photo, occupation, daily activities, and so on. If it's a request to steal items, they'll tell me the location, the security there and all that crap before offering the amount of money. I could accept it immediately or ask for a raise to the payment, and if they refused, then that's their loss. I'm the best of the best, every mission executed flawlessly. Being turned down by a couple of people won't make a change. I can always have other clients.
But now that I think about it, I guess I did it just for the heck of it. Just to give my life a bit of color. I like the feeling of excitement whenever I accept a request, the adrenaline coursing through my being when I aimed my attack at the target, the satisfaction that I got when I see the life blink away from their eyes or the surprise that showed itself on people's faces when the valuable item vanish. It's like a game. A twisted game to see how long I'll last in an onslaught of attacks, how fast I could kill the target or how many valuable items I could steal. It was exhilarating.
And by the end, I got the money along with this feeling of fulfillment.
Although there are some acts that I commit on my own free will, no one asked me to do it. I blame it all on boredom.
Sure peace is nice, everything's calm and controlled, but I'm not that person. I like chaos more. The screams, the destruction, the distortion of the all round air, that's more enjoyable than boring, quiet days. I don't get why people yearn for peace, it makes life so bleak and insipid. I mean, where's the excitement and fun in that?
Haha! That look on your face! It's priceless! What's with you and your expressions?
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What? Huh? My brother? Umm... can we not talk about him?
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Well, yeah, I did drag him into my story but-
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Fine... Goodness, you're so pushy. Just promise me that you'll release me from these chains after this, Okay?
...
Alright, where do I start? Uhh... I did say that a portal opened up in our room, right? You see, the portal didn't exactly appear quietly like regular ones. It materialized one night when we were sleeping, bringing along with it a sudden crackle of energy. And not your normal everyday flow of energy, mind you but a distorted [18] one, imperfect and unstable. The intensity of the portal's energy made the ground shook, trashing the room and almost tearing down the building. At that point, we were woken up, the caretaker had barged into our room, and other villagers had already surrounded the orphanage armed with weapons.
I don't really remember all the details as my memory's a bit jumbled, but I did recall the caretaker's horrified face and the shouts of the villagers as they curse us. We tried to explain, tried our best to tell them that it wasn't our doing but they won't listen. They were convinced that we were plotting to destroy the village by creating that portal. And eventually, they attacked us, it was inevitable. We quickly defended ourselves be it with a blast of wind or an earth shield. But with us being so young and the human realm absent of any magical energies, soon, they started overwhelming us with their numbers and never-ending onslaughts.
After that, everything happened too fast for me to react. We were cornered, both of us had already exhausted our powers. The villagers were closing in on us with bloodlust similar to that of monsters. At that time, I think I saw this glint in my brother's eyes before he suddenly pushed me to the portal that was beside me. I fell to this realm, in a destroyed dark alley at the outskirts of Quartzkul city [19]. I quickly scrambled to save him but as fate would've had it the portal closed a step shy from me entering it. The last thing I saw was my brother's smiling face as he was repeatedly stabbed. He sacrificed himself for me, the fool.
I blamed myself for that. I should've known he planned that all along. I should've grabbed him when he pushed me here. I should've been fast enough to save him. It's all my fault...
I wonder what he'll say if he was still alive. Will he scold me for who I am right now? Will he be disappointed? Or maybe he'll just go along and support me?
Well, he's already gone. No use in hoping...
Hey, I'm done with my story. Can you release me now?
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W-where are you going? Oi! You promised! Don't tell me you never intended to keep your end of the bargain!
Please! You can't just leave me like this!
Dammit! People these days! Show them some kindness, and they'll deceive you in the worst ways.
Although, it's not like I didn't anticipate this...
Heh. You lowly trash. You think imprisoning me alone inside an underground cell in some stranded island and holding me up to the wall with these magic deprivation chains [20] would make a difference? Think again.
What's wrong? Hehe... did I scare you when I broke these chains? Or was it when I cut off these bars? From the start, I can break free whenever I wanted. I was just playing along with all of you, giving you the satisfaction of finally capturing me and letting you belittle and torture me. It was actually fun, acting all depressed, weak, and desperate for freedom. I even begged a little. But play time's over, I can't stay here forever, right?
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Don't bother calling your comrades for reinforcements, I already killed them. How? With wind magic of course. Just need to deprive them of air for five minutes while we had our chat. Your communication sphere? Shot a thin needle through it and it broke instantly. It probably couldn't stand the intensity of the needle. How can I still use magic while being chained? I was directly blessed by elemental sentiences. I'm not your ordinary demi-god.
See, my story has all the answers. The answers to the three main questions in your mind right now. I kept the end of my bargain, unlike you.
And I suggest not opening that door. Do that and all the air I trapped here for you will get sucked out if you do. Then you'll die the same way like your comrades. Trust me, it won't be pretty. At least, not for you. As for me, I am quite fond of the crimson color of blood as well as the splatters of whatever creature's internal organ and blank dead eyes. Beautiful in their own way if I do say so myself.
So, how does it feel? To have your life at the mercy of your prisoner? It's all your fault. If you kept your promise, I might spare you your life. But today's your lucky day! I'll give you a swift death instead of torturing you. Any last words?
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I said last words, not last terrified stuttering questions. Goodness, I can never understand you. I don't know what's going through your mind right now to be bothered with such trivial things. But fine, I'll answer you. Consider this as a farewell present from me. You're wondering about my change of hair and eyes, right? Well, I'm not "Kuro," I'm his brother. Kuro died a long time ago, I killed him. Stabbed his heart with a pair of scissors and gouged his eyes before eating them to gain his powers. Then I threw his dead body from a cliff. He's a weakling anyway, always preventing me from killing those puny humans, protecting them. And I can't do much when he decided to use his powers seeing that his could negate mine.
I answered your question. Farewell and thank you for the company.
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Ugh, what a mess. How am I supposed to clean all this blood? I should've just shot his brain or burn him alive instead of crushing his skull.
The sound of a portal forming reached my ears. I looked to my left just in time to see a cloaked figure emerging from it. The new guy approached me calmly before lifting out his hood. "Are you done, Akashi-kun?"
Ah, Tetsuya. Did you come to rescue me? I'm flattered.
"Hardly. The Holy One asked for our presence at the Xycaline Palace [21]. But before that, please change your clothes first." He held a set of formal clothes including a pair of black gloves and a long hooded cloak similar to his.
Oh? Another mission?
"I don't know. He didn't say." Tetsuya replied with that monotonous voice of his. "Though I think he just needs us for a meeting with the council."
Great... We had to put up with all that blabbering again. Really, they worry about such trivial things that actually doesn't need to be discussed. Such a waste of time.
"My thoughts the same."
Well, I better to wash up first. Can't have him see me all bloody and dirty like this... Hmm... is this much water enough?
Tetsuya's sky blue eyes saw the suspended blob of water I summoned. It glistened in the wan light of the dark prison. "I think so. Just hurry up. You know The Holy One doesn't tolerate tardiness."
Okay, okay. You're such a stick in the mud. So, how's your mission? Any interesting things worth mentioning?
"No, not really. Just needed to kill a woman and did some monster sweeping at Vixterge [22], Exceall [23], and Rokklis [24]." He eyed the prisoner shirt that I threw as I began scrubbing the dirt and blood from my being. I felt my wounds caused by the tortures slowly heal. Tetsuya must have done that.
Monster sweeping? Lucky you. I got stuck playing prisoner here. The Holy One rarely gives me sweeping missions.
"That's because every time you did a sweep, you ended up demolishing the area." Tetsuya said unamused, a frown etched on his face.
Blame those monsters. They dare look down on me. Lowly creatures like them deserve to be punished. The same could be said with the police here.
"But despite what you said, it seems like you enjoyed your own mission here." He eyed the dead carcass and the chains. I took the clothes from him.
Of course! I had fun deceiving them, and I get to be a storyteller just now. It was an enjoyable experience.
"A storyteller?" Tetsuya cocked his head to the side, confused. "Mind explaining?"
It was actually a diversion. Needed to keep that police's, who doubles as a jailer, attention on me so I can kill off the other police members on this island. To do that I need to pique his interest, so I told him a story, our story.
"And I bet you twisted the story a bit into a total drama. All sappy and overly sweet." Tetsuya let out a sigh when he saw my smirk before shifting his gaze at what's left of the police.
Haha. You got that right. Really, though. Even I have a hard time telling the story. Thought I would vomit rainbows by the time I finished. And it was more challenging when I had to keep my poker face and monotone voice intact. Though I think I failed at the latter. Why's it so hard masquerading as you?
"Don't blame me. You were the one who insisted we switch personality and appearances."
You can't deny it makes all of this more interesting, right? Even father didn't oppose of this.
"Whatever you say. And please don't call The Holy One father. You know he doesn't like it. We are merely his hounds [25], his personal servants, nothing else." Tetsuya stated the fact so flawlessly like he had practiced them many times in the past.
But logically speaking, he is our father. He's the one who created us after all and the one who makes us do all his dirty work.
"He won't be pleased if he heard that."
I know. Just how many times was I punished for that?
Tetsuya sighed. "Let's just go Akashi-kun. This place is about to explode in ten seconds." And with that, he opened a portal leading to the palace. We entered, and not a moment later we were in front of our destined place. The portal closed behind us just as the prison exploded. "Don't forget to change your appearance. Can't have them see a fugitive on the loose."
You too. I don't want to cast another memory-altering spell like last time just to cover for your slip up.
We walked towards the meeting room. Our features gradually changing, making us look like strangers to each other. Our voices were altered too along with our physique. It's a method that we had long since perfected and did a million times over. Changing our personalities is also a child's play to us. Our missions often required us to do this to get us out of some sticky situations.
Well, it's all in a day's work as the hounds of The Holy One.
Footnotes
[1] Whisphillia: The realm where demi-gods roam along with monsters. Whisphillia is a parallel universe, existing alongside the human realm. The time here is different from that of the human world.
[2] Wind newspapers: One of the mass media used in Whisphillia. Information is compressed in a small wind where demi-gods only needed to break the seal for the winds to take form similar to that of paper. Once done with reading, simply release the spell bindings and it'll disintegrate without a trace. Wind newspaper could be obtained everywhere in Whisphillia, only needing a summon to make it appear.
[3] Water televisions: One of the mass media used in Whisphillia. By using any body of water, be it summoned or not, demi-gods could obtain information and receive a report, be it live or recorded, from anywhere. One only needed to cast a small spell, and the water would reveal a vast amount of information, along with audio and moving pictures if desired. Some people called it the encyclopedia as it could also be used to search for other information as opposed to the classic tomes in libraries.
[4] Earth tablet announcements: One of the mass media used in Whisphillia. It's usually found in the center square of each town, city, or village. Every few hours, the latest information would magically be carved there, erasing the old news. Some prefer this media rather than the others as earth tablet announcements do not require a summon and is more reliable.
{5} Flauverg Village: A relatively poor village at the far west of Whisphillia. The villagers there mainly work as farmers and breeders. Magical energies are scarce, making them having to rely mostly on physical strength. But despite their state, the villagers refused to be moved to another location.
[6] Portal: One of the many ways to travel in Whisphillia aside from flying and monster riding. A portal is summoned by creating a rift in space. One could go anywhere with this method but it requires a significant amount of energy to do so and it cannot transcend realms as only The Holy One could do that.
[7] Demi-gods: Beings that populate Whisphillia along with monsters. They are similar to humans in appearance but can weave magic and have a far longer lifespan than humans. Legend says that they were actually angels who were forcefully sent to Whisphillia because of their flaws.
[8] Magical energies: Magical energies or Mana as some would call, are the very energies that fueled every demi-gods and monsters very being. If one were to be deprived of mana, they'd be reduced to a level similar to a mere human (demi-gods) or animal (monsters), having to rely on their own physical strength and what little mana they have in their bodies.
[9] The Holy One: The ruler of Whisphillia. Nobody has ever seen him nor heard his voice as he communicates by directly enforcing his point telepathically with images. Everything about him is a mystery to the citizens of Whisphillia. One only came to a conclusion that he's a male from the hints that his hounds deliberately dropped. He's the only one who could command all the elements including shadow and light that directly affects both time and day and night.
[10] Ifrit: The strongest fire sentience who controlled the heat. He has served The Holy One for centuries, remaining steadfast by his side. One should not incur his wrath as the last time someone had foolishly did that, a volcano erupted, annihilating an entire island. His powers peaks during summer.
[11] Undine: The strongest water sentience who controlled the sea. She has served The Holy One for centuries, remaining steadfast by his side. She's the one held responsible for the tsunamis that had happened in Whisphillia. Her powers peaks during winter.
[12] Gnome: The strongest earth sentience who controlled the earth. He has served The Holy One for centuries, remaining steadfast by his side. He could often be seen carrying out his job of giving rise to some islands, shaping them and adding some forests or hills. His powers peaks during spring.
[13] Sylph: The strongest wind sentience who controlled the air. She has served The Holy One for centuries, remaining steadfast by his side. She has split herself into three, each of them carrying an identity of their own and having their own personalities. The three of them work together to accomplish their daily jobs. Her powers peaks during autumn.
[14] Twisted Rift Incident: The incident that happened several decades ago that has garnered the attention of the whole population of Whisphillia. Rumor has it that a novice spell weaver wanted to save his family from being brutally mauled by monsters by creating a time traveling portal. Although nobody knew the exact reasoning and what portal he had created. The effort caused severe damage to the area. He was sentenced to a lifetime in prison, deprived of any mana for his whole life.
[15] Communication Sphere: A magical device used to communicate with one or more people. Despite the name, it's actually quite small in size as it is no bigger than the average marble. This made it easy to carry around and misplaced at the same time.
{16] Yuvrell: One of the largest cities and is the central business district in Whisphillia. When the massacre happened, it has caused the economy to be severely crippled. It took a decade for it to be restored to normal.
[17] Air deprivation: If one is to be deprived of air, they would firstly choke. At the same time, the body would expand because the internal air pressure inside is not balanced by any air pressure outside. Then the skin would be stretched to the max before bursting like a balloon. All the water inside your body (mainly blood) would come boiling out because of the lack of air pressure. In short, the body would explode like fireworks, splattering blood, organs, and limbs all over the place. (source: .edu)
[18] Distorted flow of magical energies: A state of abnormal mana. Usually caused by unbalanced energies from either demi-gods, monsters and/or the surrounding area. The effects vary depending on the level of distortion.
[19] Quartzkul city: A small town famous for its high criminal rate and a base camp for many evil organizations and mafias. The police had sent their forces many times before to try to dwindle their numbers but all efforts were proven futile.
[20] Magic deprivation chains: Chains imbued with a high-level spell that would make the wearer unable to gather the mana around them. This tool is usually used to imprison criminals, weakening and preventing them from using magic to escape.
[21] Xycaline Palace: The place where The Holy One resides along with his hounds. The whole area around the palace is covered with a gigantic shield that would prevent anyone without authorization from entering. Those who had foolishly tried in the past died a horrifying death.
[22] Vixterge: One of the black territories in Whisphillia. It was once the biggest port city that supplies large amounts of sea supplies. Now, it was reduced to a wasteland where monsters roam. The Holy One often sends his hounds to exterminate them.
[23] Exceall: One of the black territories in Whisphillia. A small island full of lush forests located fifty kilometers southwest from Vixterg. Many monsters roam here as it has an abundance of food and is made as one of the many spots for them to breed themselves. The Holy One often sends his hounds to exterminate them.
[24] Rokklis: One of the black territories in Whisphillia. Rokklis is a volcano island inhabited mainly by fire element monsters. When they are at the peak of their power, their mana filled the volcano, making it erupt and damaging the surrounding area. The Holy One often sends his hounds to exterminate them.
[25] The hounds of The Holy One: Personal servants of The Holy One who were given tasks and missions directly from The Holy One. They are the strongest demi-gods personally chosen by The Holy One himself. Currently, there are only two hounds as the other five were killed by The Holy One for their incompetence. Nobody knows of this as they were led to believe that all seven hounds are still alive. The two current hounds were created by The Holy One as opposed to the previous five who were chosen. The citizens of Whisphillia doesn't know of this too. The hounds' real identity were never known since they always change their appearances.
A/N: Hello! Origami Scrawls here and thanks for reading this fic. This is my first attempt at writing a fic from a first person point of view. I don't know what I have typed... Anyway, this idea has been bugging me for the past week and won't let me have my peace before I actually typed it up. It's kind of frustrating how my mind would come up with various ideas for this fic and nothing for my other one. But I'm always like that so no surprise there. I was actually planning to make this into multi-chapter fic but decided against it at the last minute. But maybe I'll change my mind if I could whip up more ideas to continue this fic. Right now though, my brain had burned off. I apologize for any grammatical errors and/or misspelling you may find in this fic.
P.S: I think the footnotes helped a lot in helping you readers have a better understanding of this fic but if there are any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me be it through PM or the comment box. I'll be sure to answer them the best I can.
That's it! Hope you like this fic and thanks again for reading!
I do not own Kuroko no Basket nor the image I used. They belong to their respective owners.