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They used to pray to me. Men fell to their knees in worship, kissing the ground I walked upon. Hands were raised towards me, seeking my blessing... But those days are long gone, I have been cast down. Now I am in hell, and my mind is lost in nightmares.

The moon is growing. Its blackness is like staring into an abyss. It grows and grows, devouring the stars on its way. It weeps dark tears which fall upon the earth, melting all that they touch. The ground trembles and opens up in long, gaping gashes, like mouths eager to drink their fill.

I run but I get nowhere. I sink into quicksand, as the moon eats the world behind me. The light fades, and I sink deeper and deeper the harder I struggle. The last thing I see is the moon staring down at me like a giant, bleeding eye, and then I sink below the surface. It is cold, and I feel the earth's body pressing against me as the air in my lungs run out. I fight, but I can no longer move. I need to breathe, but the earth squeezes me in its tight embrace. My fingers claw through the dirt and my throat burns as if it has been set on fire. I part my lips in a soundless scream, and sand fills my mouth. I try not to breathe, but my body fights and kicks against its own dying. I convulse, and my throat spastically gulps for air. The sand tears through me like razors, but I get no air. The light flickers in and out of my mind. I jerk, my throat latch opens and closes as the muscles heave more and more of airless dirt into me. It feels like I am being torn apart, limb by limb. And then... finally... I die.

Except I don't.

Instead, I wake. My eyes open to a dark sky where stars twinkle like gems strewn across black velvet. I draw breath, drinking in fresh air that smells like water and grass. Sweet as honey, it glides down my throat until I feel drunk on it. I sit and before me lies an open landscape, untouched by human hands. My eyes roam across my body as though they have never seen it before. It does not look like my body, but I am inside it, so it must be mine.

I look around and see that I am at the centre of a small crater, as if something big fell down and now, in its stead, here I sit. The moon showers the grassy fields in its pale blue light, and I think see the shape of trees far off into the distance. To be honest though, they might as well be mountains, or something else about as tall as trees or mountains. Are they moving? I think they might be moving.

I was "sent to Paradise"... Paradise, yeah right. Did he who named it think himself clever? If anything, the name points to someone being rather simple minded. I almost pity the fool who came up with it, even though I am sure his family must be mighty proud of him. Anyway, unless the mindless flesh has learned to spout wings, which seems unlikely if you ask me, I must still be on the fabled Paradis Island.

I stand up. From this vantage, the crater looks just about big enough to fit a... you know what.

I remember perfectly well how I lost my humanity; sharp stones dug into my feet as they walked me up towards the edge, the man shoved me forward hoping I would fall, and the needle stung as they sunk it into me. The contents of the syringe burned like fire inside me, and then I felt myself dissolve. I was turned into mindless flesh, but by some twist of fate I am returned to myself.

I raise my hands towards the sky. If the moon turned into one of them fat Marley swine right now I would embrace him, because what he tried to take from me has been returned. They tried to throw me away, but they failed. Laughter bursts from my lips and I sway slowly from side to side like a dancer, or an open flame.

I am free.

I look towards the maybe-trees or maybe-mountains. That's the way I should go, whether they be trees or mountains, or something else entirely. My new life awaits me. I begin to walk, and after some time I pass by some actual trees and bushes. This will take forever at this pace. If only I could go faster...

Wait, I can go faster if I can only figure out how to trigger the transformation. After all, there is only one way I could have been made human again– I must have eaten one of them, the vessels. Eugh, that is one pretty disgusting thought. I mean there is no telling where it might have been, and besides, people are quite literally rather full of shit... But wait, for me to be able to eat one of them, someone must have let them out of that shithole... Why have they been let out? Whatever the reason, they must be working for Marleynow. I'm not even sad I ate one of them, serves them right the damned traitors - to hell with them. The whole blasted world can rot for all I care.

I have decided to carry the name they condemned me for. I used to think the name Ymir was a loving gift, and that the power that came with it was my own. With hindsight, I feel rather different about it. Still, it is the one thing no brute force could take from me, and that has got to count for something.

Those are definitely not trees. They walk slowly but intently. Some have their heads lolling to one side, some look like they have tiny skeletal limbs in place of regular ones, some crawl or drag themselves forward - but most of them walk normally, like regular people out on a stroll, wearing nothing but the hair on their heads. I count thirteen ahead of me, which leaves hundreds, maybe thousands being somewhere else. Any time now I might turn around and see one behind me, trudging forward with its glassy eyes staring into yonder even though it is headed right for me.

I look behind me, seeing nothing but the shapes of grass and a few trees scattered about here and there. I do not know what is more unsettling, the idea of looking around the next group of trees to find them all advancing in some kind of disorganised formation, or wondering where they all could be since they are not here. It is not like they would be doing anything, except seeking the descendants of Fritz's people.

I turn my gaze forward again. Is that smoke billowing towards the sky? Yes it is. It stands out against the backdrop of star spangled sky, like a bad omen. Maybe the walled people are celebrating something... but that would have to be one massive bonfire to be visible all this way. I think I see the outline of the wall now. A faint blue line seems to dash across the sky where the moon showers the top of the wall in its soft light. It is taller than I ever could have imagined. The sky has begun to brighten with the oncoming dawn, and I see their naked forms more clearly now. Suddenly they look small, dwarfed by the immense height of King Fritz's last fortification.

At first I do not understand why the mindless flesh seem to draw together in formation, but then I see it – the hole in the wall. There must have been more than one of my brethren, and those remaining got here before me. So, there is an entrance after all, but if I go there I will die.

While pondering this cruel twist of fate I step into a crevice that might or might not have been a rabbit hole, and fall forward. The ground rushes up to greet me, and I hear a crunching sound as my nose flattens against it. I see stars as I move my head, and I hear more than I feel the bone and broken cartilage grinding together. Instead of pain, I feel a wave of heat as something inside me tears free. Flesh is ripped from my body, expanding and sprouting large, clawed limbs. My vision narrows and then disappears entirely. I hear a guttural cry uttered in a voice that is not my own, and then the nightmare takes hold.