Shantae: Clash of Arms

by IllusoryNomad

After her Tinker-Brain was destroyed, the notorious Risky Boots hatches yet another dastardly scheme to annihilate Sequin Land as we know it. Only this time, she's managed to pilfer an extensive collection of military weapons from another world! With the threat of Risky's conquest more perilous than ever, Half-Genie Hero Shantae and an unlikely ally must join forces to stop her!

48. Aftermath Pt 5B: Flashbacks

Aftermath Pt. 5B: Flashbacks

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..."...Maybe you need to..."

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..."...Dreams... keep happening... I'm te..."

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..."...It's okay... You're not alo..."

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..."...She looked so sad...! I can't take it...! I... I can't ta..."

..."...nd every time I see him, he looks so mise..."

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..."...Stay here for... longer... eventually, Shan... and these dreams about T..."

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Whah! Dang it! It happened again! Gosh, I really wish I knew how to stop these obnoxious blackouts… Of course, I'd have to figure out why it keeps happening before I ever get a chance to even try… In the meantime, I hope that I can stick around long enough to at the VERY LEAST finish a single conversation with Tay. Our conversations, however short, have been among the most interesting I've ever had… as far as I can recall, of course. My frustrations with not staying awake can at least be curbed by the fact that I get to see him again whenever I wake up.

Yet, when I woke up this time, I found myself immediately bearing witness to a grueling brawl between two men in the middle of the village with a bunch of ghosts circled around them. When I got close enough to get a better view, I saw that one of the men was this hulking behemoth pretty much wrapped in a mixture of tiger pelts and metal armor plates as his outfit. I had no idea who this guy was, but he was HUGE! And man, did he look scary… Wild, spiky red hair, piercing yellow-green snake eyes, dark orange skin, horns coming out of his forehead, disgustingly huge, veiny muscles that looked like they were gonna burst any minute… Spiky shoulder pads, a sweat-drenched brown tribal tunic with rips and tears all over it, tiger-skin trousers, spiked knee pads, gladiator sandals… and a gigantic sledgehammer that he just swung at the other man with an earth-shattering *KRAPLAAAANG* on the ground. The second man narrowly avoided getting crushed to bits as he jumped out of the way and landed a safe distance away. The man was bathed in this strange bluish light that… I could've sworn had some splotches of dark purple in it as he took the moment to catch his breath. However, I immediately recognized this other sweaty, shirtless man as…

"Tay!" I called out, wondering just what the heck was happening as I pushed through the crowd of onlookers to get an even closer look. "Hey, are you o-!"

"You will take not one step further, revenant!" the bigger, burlier man shouted at me as he launched what looked like a giant spiked ball at me.

"Whaaah!" I shouted, panicked that I was suddenly under attack. Just as I was about to scramble to get out of the way, though…

"Hrraaaaah!" Tay roared out as he came racing toward me. Almost instantaneously, he showed up right in front of me just in time to catch the weapon. I could tell it was heavy, though, because the *THWAAAANG* it made when he raised his hands to catch it, in addition to the fact that he almost buckled under it made it seem like that other guy threw a building at us. "HRRRRRYAAAAAAAGH…!" Tay grunted with all his might, slowly but surely lifting the building-sized ball up and over his head as his body became even more engulfed in this incredibly bizarre light show. Before too long, though, he turned around and flung the ball off to the side, where it hit the ground with another *KATHUNK*. Afterward, Tay nearly fell over, breathing like he'd just done five hundred laps around the entire village as he tried to get himself together.

"Hey! You could've seriously hurt me with that thing, you jerk!" I shouted at the other guy, of course not at all amused by the fact that he just tried to crush me with a giant, spiky metal ball out of nowhere.

"Most impressive, Ethereal One! Where was that level of strength during the majority of our epic battle?" the other guy, who had to be at least three times as big as Tay, demanded to know while completely ignoring anything I had to say to him. Tay appeared angered by the backwards compliment as he turned and glared at him.

"That was a cheap, GUTLESS move, attackin' my friend like that!" Tay shouted in disgust and frustration that I felt was thoroughly justified. "If you even DARE t' try it again, I will BURY you!"

"Hah! An empty threat…" this total jerk muttered, evidently not at all ashamed that he just attacked a beautiful, defenseless young woman for no reason. The nerve of some people, I tell ya…

"We'll see how 'empty' you find it if you wanna keep pushin' me…" my friend also muttered, taking a moment to collect his thoughts as he recovered from saving me.

"Hey, stud muffin," I worriedly greeted him, approaching him to check on his condition.

"Yo, homegirl. I was wonderin' when you'd show up again…" he tiredly remarked, regaining just enough strength to rise to a full stand again. "You okay?"

"I'm peachy, though it sounds like you missed me," I very accurately guessed with a smirk, knowing I was right. But then, that wasn't exactly the most pressing concern I had at the moment. "Also, thanks for the save. Who the heck is this guy, anyway? And why are you two fighting?"

"This dude apparently calls himself 'Igor the Atrocious,'" Tay explained to me, catching his breath and stretching as he did so. "He didn't give me much info before he randomly attacked me. All he keeps babblin' about is how he's heard o' me before an' how he's lookin' for worthy fighters t' conquer. I don't have a clue how he knows me, though, but-!"

"You needn't be so coy, Ethereal One," the man spoke up to get our attention, also catching his breath as he readied his sledgehammer. His voice had this weird double effect in it, and he sounded like he had a jar's worth of marbles in his mouth, but I'll try my best to translate. "You had a reputation among these pitiful lost souls as something of a living grim reaper before you found yourself sent to the very same abyss of eternal condemnation you sent so many others before you. Your little excursion through the Oubliette of Suffering proved just what they were talking about!"

"You said all that already, but you ain't explain why you're attackin' me," Tay shot back, stepping forward and striking a battle pose with his fists up in front of his face. From the sound of it, these two had been fighting for a while before I showed up. I only wonder how long they'd been going at it, because they both look like they'd been run ragged… "What do you want from me so badly that it has you houndin' me like you are?"

"For one thing, you stole an important artifact from that forsaken dungeon that I had been keeping a close eye on for quite some time. I had hoped to procure it when the time was right, but you and your monster gal pals completely sabotaged that for me! I require that item to capture a certain genie that had been wandering around here recently, so that I may be granted new life and an escape from this miserable cesspit to begin conquering the world as I had when I was alive. Now that the lamp is in your possession, your only saving grace is that you saved me the effort of maneuvering through the Oubliette of Suffering to retrieve it myself. My other reason for hunting you down is that I sought a worthy challenge from the fabled Darkness-Swathed Hero. And so far, you have NOT been living up to the legend. Not that it matters now… Now, you will hand over that lamp or suffer my wrath!"

"Hm. I didn't even know there was a legend t' be lived up to, considerin' we're both dead," Tay offered a smart remark in response to this 'Igor' guy's condescending comments. "Doesn't help that almost none o' the people I talked to here were capable o' sayin' anything outside o' how miserable it is t' no longer be alive. An' if you're talkin' about that Tarnished Oil Lamp, you can forget about swipin' it off me. I was granted this thing for a purpose, an' I'd be insane t' hand it over t' you, so you could try an' catch yourself a genie to abuse t' your heart's content. Sounds t' me like it's far better off in my hands than yours, Igor."

"You certainly talk big, but I'm not so sure you can back it up," Igor barked back, striking his own battle pose with his hammer in his hands. "You've already proven yourself incapable of damaging me beyond a few scratches, much less defeating me in battle, Darkness-Swathed Hero. If you continue to toy with me instead of showing me your true power or surrendering that magic lamp, I will CRUSH you!"

"Are you sure about that? I'd be careful o' what I wished for if I was you," Tay warned, the radiant glow getting slightly stronger around his body as he prepared to fight. "Because you just might have it granted in the worst way possible. I can play the role o' your 'genie' in that regard, if that's what you want…!"

"Hah! A crude joke on top of your foolish bloviating, Darkness-Swathed Hero? I didn't take you to be such a fool; not that it surprises me in the least," Igor shot back with an obnoxious cackle.

"Laugh all you can now. It might make this beatin' you're about t' catch just a little bit less humiliatin' for you," Tay continued to talk smack, making me question if he knew just how much danger he was in, fighting a guy who looked like he could EAT him whole and still have room for seconds. That said, Tay tensed his body up, engulfing himself in even more of this weird, flickering blue and purple light. "I… I can't remember very much about how I got this power, but I do remember what I could do with it when I was alive. An' t' be completely honest, you DON'T want that smoke. I'm tellin' you right now, so you know what t' be ready for."

"The only 'smoke' I'm seeing right now is the smoke you're blowing with these ludicrous comments!" Igor yelled, seeming fed up with simply talking. "In that case, prepare yourself for more punishment, human!"

"An' here, I was hopin' he'd be smart enough t' listen…" stud muffin complained before turning to me. "So, it's clear this guy ain't goin' down without a fight," he explained to me, though I knew what was up.

"I've got enough context to know what's gotta go down. I'll be honest and say I'm not exactly sure how this is gonna play out, but you sound confident. I believe in you! Whatever you need to do, stud muffin, show this meathead who's boss!" I cheered for him as I also took that as my cue to back up into the crowd to give the two fighters the space they needed to continue their battle.

"I plan to…" he assured with a confident nod before turning and approaching his enemy with a look of total determination on his face. I mean… I can't say the odds looked very favorable for Tay, but… I had faith in him. "So, what's it gonna take for you to give up, huh?" he asked Igor as if the hammer-wielding behemoth of a man would give anything close to a rational answer.

"You'd only know if you could defeat me! HRRYYAAAAAAAH!" Igor yelled at the top of his lungs, lunging forth like a superpowered rabbit as he cocked his hammer all the way behind his back. It was pretty obvious he was going to try and smash Tay to pieces with it, which scared me to no end… yet, Tay didn't move out of the way. Instead…

"WIDE OPEN!" he announced as he jumped in toward Igor while the barbarian was bringing his hammer down. And MAN, did Tay cut it close, because he NARROWLY missed being pulverized as Igor came down. His hammer cracked the ground beneath it, sending debris everywhere as the head of it landed with a *KAPLAAAANG*. Just as his oversized weapon hit the ground, however, I saw Tay's fist basically set itself ablaze with this strange… aura, I guess I'll call it? Whatever it was, he cocked his glowing fist all the way back while digging his back foot into the ground. And within the blink of an eye, he sent that fist racing forward like a bullet from a gun. I was only able to tell he landed his attack when I heard the brutal *KRATHRAAASH* of his fist on Igor's exposed gut. Oooh, I FELT that one, too…! I swore I could see Tay's fist print poking out of Igor's back, he hit him so hard…

"Hwaaaargh…!" the gigantic madman hollered out, staggering back a bit as he kept his grip on his hammer tight. Tay didn't let up for a second, though, as he dashed ahead and jumped high enough to clear a basketball net…

"TAKE THIS! HORYAAAAH!" Tay shouted at the top of his lungs as he launched his next attack. With a startling, metallic *KWAAAANG*, he delivered the MEANEST airborne spin kick to Igor's face, causing him to stumble back some more. Igor quickly shook it off, though, and reacted as soon as he saw my friend charging at him again. Tay threw another punch, but Igor ducked under it and countered with a DEVASTATING uppercut. The *PLOCK* of it against Tay's chin made me cringe as the so-called 'Darkness-Swathed Hero' got sent hurtling into the air like a volleyball. Igor wasn't done yet, though. Shaking off the damage he took from Tay's attacks, he quickly stood up and readied his hammer like a baseball bat. And when Tay started to fall, it became immediately clear he was in for a WORLD of hurt.

"GRRRRRRRYAAAAAH!" Igor shouted loud enough that it could've been heard from outer space as he clutched his hammer's handle with both hands and performed two of the most aggressive spins I'd ever seen as he wound up. And, with a bone-smashing *KAPLONK* of Igor's hammer against Tay's back, my unfortunate prediction came true.

"GHUWAAAAGH!" Tay shouted in unbelievable pain as he got sent flying all the way across the arena and into one of the houses nearby. With a horrifying *CRAKKRUNCH*, he smashed through the wall and caused a ton of debris to come raining down on him.

"Oh, no! Tay! TAY!" I panicked, worried that he got OBLITERATED by taking that massive block of what had to be reinforced STEEL right to his back like that… yet, as I was about to go charging in to dig him (or his remains) out of the rubble, he suddenly emerged from the wreckage of the house and shook the pebbles out of his hair. Still surrounded by that weird glow, he stretched his aching back and calmly stepped out of the crumbled house to face Igor again. Holy cow…! How in the heck did he take a hit THAT HARD and THAT BRUTAL, and still have the strength to get up and shake it off!? What the heck!?

"Gaaah, man… That's what I get for bein' sloppy…!" Tay complained, stretching out the presumably MASSIVE kinks in his back as he readied himself for more.

"Didn't feel so good, did it?" Igor taunted as he cackled at Tay's misfortune like the intolerable jerk he made himself out to be. Of course, he'd also been rubbing his stomach where Tay punched him a second earlier as he caught his breath. That nasty boot-shaped bruise on Igor's cheek also spoke wonders about how tough he really was, as opposed to how tough he said he was…

"Can't say it did," Tay openly admitted, still brushing himself off as he approached. "But believe it or not, I've taken harder hits from MUCH stronger fighters than you; hammer or no hammer." Just telling by Igor's death glare at Tay upon hearing that, it was no mystery that the dude… was… furious…

"And still, you continue to goad me!" Igor shouted in complete indignation, evidently offended by the comment. "I will NOT tolerate being made a fool of, Darkness-Swathed Hero! I DEMAND you show me your full strength! And if you won't, then I'll have no choice but to go all-!" he was about to declare before Tay dashed in again and tried to punch Igor's lights out. Quick on the draw, Igor raised his hammer to a point where the Darkness-Swathed Hero's light-covered fist slammed with a *PLANG* against the steel handle of it that just HAD to at least hurt his knuckles, if not outright SHATTER them. Igor followed up by throwing a punch of his own, which stud muffin blocked with his forearm. Stud muffin tried to counter by throwing a powerful kick at Igor's shin. Igor responded by raising his knee up to block the incoming attack, at which point stud muffin's boot clashed with Igor's kneepad with a startling *CLACK* that sent literal sparks flying from it.

"We've been at this for long enough, don't you think!? No matter how big you are, you can't win! Give up!" Tay urged Igor as he ducked to avoid a vicious elbow coming from the hulking barbarian and did a backflip to avoid the incoming *WROOOOSH* of a one-handed hammer swing. Igor, getting frustrated, whirled his hammer around again with both hands and tried again to crush Tay under it, only for Tay to barely dodge it by stepping to the side just as it got close enough to him to graze that magnificent black puff ball he called his hair. With another *CRAKANG*, the massive hammer smashed into the ground and sent rocks flying far enough away that one of them whizzed past my head like a bullet! Jeez…! Er, anyway, as Igor tried to pick his hammer back up, Tay capitalized on the opportunity by jumping and winding up with another energy-infused fist. "Toryaaaaaaah!" he hollered out as he launched his attack as hard as he could. And with an incredibly scary *THROCK*, he socked the giant right in the face!

"Ghooaagh…!" Igor groaned in pain, almost being knocked over as he took the hit full force. He fell to a knee, planting his hammer upside down on the ground and holding it with one hand to keep from plastering himself on the rocky floor beneath him.

"Hyah!" Tay shouted again, rushing ahead and aiming a spinning kick at Igor's hand while it was practically glued to the handle of his war hammer. And with a frightening *WHACK*, stud muffin hit his mark as Igor pulled his hand back in unbelievable agony!

"Ghaagh! My fingers!" Igor shouted, sucking in air through his jagged, rotten, brownish-yellow teeth as he tried to shake the pain out of his fingers. And based on how hard Tay kicked him, I was surprised Igor's fingers weren't broken like twigs… Rather than attack him further in the moment, though, Tay opted to grab the hammer and, with strength I had NO clue he could muster, lift it up and whirl it around…! Okay, WHAT!? HOW THE HECK IS HE SO STRONG!? I mean, I had a feeling he was in good shape, but this… this should NOT have been possible…! That hammer looked like it weighed at least FOUR TIMES as much as Tay himself did…!

"HRRRRAAAAAAAAH!" stud muffin shouted as his body basically ERUPTED with an audible *FROOOOOOWSH* this blinding, sparkling glow the likes of which I'd NEVER seen before… I could only guess that he was using all the strength he had, though, because all these veins came popping out of his arms and his forehead like any one of them could've burst at any second. Yet, with a mighty *WHOOSH* of his enemy's weapon in his hands, he managed to spin around once with the hammer that, mind you, had to ALSO be as tall as he was in addition to being super heavy, and just… totally HURL it at Igor, who'd just gotten done recovering from that nasty jumping hook he took. As soon as he saw Tay grab his hammer, though, he rushed back to his feet to try and stop Tay from tossing it. It was too late for him to stop the throw, but…

"WHOAHAH!" Igor yelped in surprise as his sledgehammer went ripping past him with a startling *WHREEEEN* after Tay flung it like he was competing in some sort of Olympic sport. Within a couple seconds, though, the hammer went crashing into another building a good few meters behind its owner, where it smashed into the wall with a devastating *KAPLOORGHSH* and completely DEMOLISHED the house in the process. At this rate, these two were almost set to completely destroy the village… Yet, they still weren't done. "You insolent cur! Let's see how you stack up against my ultimate technique! SHADOW DASH SHARPSHOOTER!" Igor barked, cocking a fist all the way back before throwing the HARDEST punch I'd ever seen a guy his size throw. And, like I said before, this guy was at LEAST three times as big as Tay was, and he looked every bit like he ate entire families for a bedtime snack. So, imagine taking a punch from a guy whose fist was like, the size of a BOULDER, coming at you at the speed of a nuclear rocket. And to make things even MORE concerning, the dude had this weird string of bluish shadowy afterimages coming out of him as he moved. Scary, right? I'm sure that's an understatement, of course. Only someone completely insane would ever be willing to face that kind of force head-on with any hope to wake up in one piece. Aaaaaaand speaking of 'completely insane…'

"HUURYAAAAAH!" Tay shouted, tensing up as hard as he could as he grounded his stance and crossed his arms in front of his chest to defend. With a *KAPLOCK* loud enough to rival a hundred gunshots happening at the same time, Igor rammed his fist square into Tay's forearms, causing him to go sliding ALL the way across the village grounds with an emphatic *SKISSSSSHH* of his feet across their makeshift arena. He had to have slid back by at least a dozen yards, he was hit so hard! What kept pushing him back, however, was the fact that Igor's weird afterimages mimicked his move and hit their target with just as much ferocity as the original. With three afterimages following up after Igor's initial attack, it was all too apparent Tay would have his work cut out for him. With another horrifying *KRATHWACK*, the first afterimage sent him sliding back more as he quickly approached the outer wall of another building behind him. "Gaaah…! Shoot…!" I heard him complain as he still kept up on defense. Just then, the *THWACK* of the second afterimage's fist against Tay's forearms rang out as it landed its hit, actually managing to knock stud muffin off his feet for a second. "Whoa!" he yelled as he stumbled back a bit, though he knew the attack wasn't finished. Just as the final afterimage came in to attack him, Tay ducked under the incoming punch so narrowly that the shadow's fist went whiffing through his puffy, curly hair. Despite the afterimages disappearing after that, though, he still wasn't safe. Adding to the danger, a bunch of the ghosts surrounding him scattered to get themselves out of harm's way.

"TAY, LOOK OUT!" I called to him after I spotted Igor trying to ambush him from above. In that moment, Igor was coming down with his hands clasped over each other to form the most vicious double axe handle I think I'd ever seen. "ABOVE YOU!"

"Huh?" Tay perked up, having heard me before looking up to see exactly what I meant. "Ah, shoot…! He's comin' in quick…!"

"I'LL BURY YOU SIX FEET UNDER WITH THIS!" Igor yelled, tensing up every muscle in his arms to the point where I could see the pink veins protruding from them and pulsing in the most disgusting way imaginable. Seriously, it was like looking at a bunch of worms crawling all over him from the inside. So GROSS! Dah, a-anyway, the descending ball of overworked muscle known as Igor came barreling down toward Tay like a meteor ready to annihilate the entire village in a single strike. Rather than panic or try to get out of the way, though, Tay stood there, seemingly in preparation for what was to come.

"TAY! GET OUT OF THERE! HE'S GONNA HURT YOU IF YOU-!" I tried to warn because I wasn't sure he heard me. I didn't get to finish my statement, however. Before I could get the final word, Igor's feet crashed into the ground with a *KAPRISSSHK* so devastating that it caused the floor beneath me to quake, and I was standing at least a hundred feet away. Shoot, the weight on that guy… Anyway, he swung his arms down with the force of a guillotine as he found himself totally bent on trying to decimate stud muffin… Yet, his attack didn't land. I could hear the heavy *WHOOOOSH* of Igor's arms sweeping against the humid, muggy wind as he whiffed his attack entirely.

"What!? He was just-!" he was about to ponder as he began to recover from his move when Tay, who'd apparently waited until the last second to hop back and dodge the incoming meteor smash, raced forward without warning.

"Hooh!" Stud muffin grunted as he jumped and landed on Igor's arm before the barbarian had enough time to lift himself up. It was also worth note that Tay had still been glowing so incredibly brightly with this strange light that… the more I saw of it… the more I started to remember… or at least, I started to think that it may or may not have been… magic? I'm not sure at all how I'd know that, but for some reason, that idea clicks in my head as far as why he's been glowing like that. But, seeing him move so quickly and hit this giant warlord as hard as he had been… It… It HAD to be… The feeling I'm getting from watching him is WAY too familiar to be ignored… Tay… he was using MAGIC to fight Igor!

"You no-good, slippery little-!" Igor prepared to insult as he tried to snatch his arm away to keep Tay from running on it. It was too late for him, though, as Tay took as little as two steps before jumping off yet again… this time, while cocking a foot back. "What the-!?"

"CHIN CHECK!" Tay shouted at the top of his lungs as he flung his foot upward as hard as he could while in midair. And, with a truly gruesome *KRATWAAAANG*, he kicked the ever-loving MESS out of Igor's jaw, causing the ogre's head to jerk all the way back as he was knocked way off balance. His quaking steps, on top of the fact that it seemed he was about to take a major spill, startled a bunch more of the onlooking spirits in the area as they scattered in all directions to protect themselves. "Now, go t' SLEEP!" Tay shouted again as he cocked his magic-imbued fist back while he was descending upon the disoriented Igor. "HRRRRRRRAAAH!" he shouted again as he launched that utterly FLABBERGASTING punch that found itself smashing into Igor's eye with the force of a boulder being flung by a catapult. With a horrifying *WHAPLACK*, Tay sent Igor plummeting to the arena floor with a ground-shaking *KRABLOOOM* that almost made me lose my balance from the sheer intensity of the tremors Igor's fall caused. I guess it's true what they say: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Soon after that, though, Tay landed on the ground above Igor's head, though he had to tuck himself in and do a ground somersault as his feet touched the heavily damaged, craggy surface beneath him. Recovering quickly, Tay propelled himself back to his feet, though he was out of breath by the time he completed his counterattack. Igor seemed to be down for the count as Tay patiently, albeit tiredly anticipated Igor's next move.

"…Urrrgh…! D-darn it…! Garrrrgh…!" Igor groaned, also out of breath as he gingerly rose to a seated position with his back facing Tay. Pressing a hand to his forehead to shake off any form of dizziness he may have been suffering, he slowly rolled over and pushed himself back to his feet. In getting up, though, I couldn't help but notice that he seemed to have another NASTY bruise on his chin and a swollen eye from Tay's vicious counterattack. It seemed he was reaching his limit, though he stood as tall as he could and faced stud muffin, who entered a battle pose in case Igor kept fighting. I gotta give it to stud muffin, though: He's REALLY impressing me with how well he's handling himself! It's almost… like he was TRAINED to handle opponents who outsized him. And then for him to have access to MAGIC of all things to give himself a power boost? I didn't think it'd be possible, but the sight of him beating up this ogre so handily is incredible…! With the kind of unbelievable power he's showing, I could only WONDER how it was possible for him to have died in battle… even with the knowledge that he sacrificed himself for our friend…

"Had enough yet?" Tay dared to ask, still catching his breath as he did so. "Whatever your answer is, I'd kindly advise you t' give up tryin' t' gank me for this lamp. An' as far as this fight goes, it's clear t' me that you're hidin' the fact that you're winded an' in a lot more pain than you're lettin' on. Do yourself a favor an' walk away while you still can, Igor. Otherwise, you're only gonna get hurt worse."

"Fool! You dare to even CONCEIVE the idea of making a mockery of Igor the Atrocious!?" Igor bellowed in a very obvious sense of frustration, though he winced in pain as he took a step toward Tay. "I… I cannot allow this to stand! I am one of Sequin Land's most infamous and merciless conquerors! I am one of the greatest warriors who has EVER lived! I have seen more bloodshed in one day than you probably have in your entire life before your demise, you miserable, arrogant little wretch!"

"An' yet this 'wretch' is givin' a supposed conqueror like you such a hard time that you can't figure out a way t' beat him an' him alone? I can't say I'm convinced. If you was HALF the fighter you say you are, then you should've been able t' destroy me without an issue," Tay confidently shot back, readying himself for yet another round of their grueling battle. "Not that it matters now. The fact is that you're not gonna win against me. This is your last warning; give up an' LEAVE! NOW! If you keep goin' like this, then you're NOT gonna like what happens next."

"Yeah! You tell 'im, stud muffin!" I cheered, beyond excited to see that Tay had the situation totally under control despite the glaring size difference between the two fighters. What can I say? He looked REALLY cool, fighting a guy so much bigger than he was, and winning! "That's what he gets for messing with the Darkness-Swathed Hero!" I cheered some more, using the nickname he was given despite me not having a clue where it could've come from. At that, though, Igor shot me this really dirty look… that, I'll be honest, frightened me stiff. Worse than that, though, was the fact that after staring at me for what felt like forever, he eventually changed his expression to this really, REALLY unsettling grin as he turned his attention back to Tay. I… don't have a good feeling about this all of a sudden…

"Heh… It seems to me like you've got quite a noisy girlfriend over there…" Igor ominously remarked, causing Tay to suddenly glare at the barbarian with enough intensity that I'd have thought he could've made Igor explode into chunks on the spot.

"If you even think about doin' what I think you're gonna do, I will make you SUFFER…! Do you understand me? Don't you DARE even entertain the idea o' hurtin' her…!" stud muffin calmly, yet very tersely warned, implying that he suspected Igor was going to try to hurt me. Uh-oh… Now I REALLY don't like the feel of this.

"Then you should consider your options, Darkness-Swathed Hero… Hand me that lamp, or she suffers the consequences…!"

"I knew it…! You spineless COWARD!" Tay barked in total disgust, his magic suddenly changing to where it was mostly light, but showing off stronger traces of this haunting dark purple… and I swear I can see at least one of his eyes beginning to glow. Something about that seems… familiar to me, too… "Leave her out of it! You're fightin' me!If you take one step toward her, I swear I will TEAR YOU T' PIECES!"

"Poor choice of words there, Hero, for you've just predicted EXACTLY what I'll do to your girlfriend in return for your rampant disrespect and refusal to surrender that lamp! HRRREEEEYAAAAAH!" Igor roared, turning directly toward me as he, with a burst of unbelievable speed, raced toward me… Oh, no… Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!

"Graah, you son of a-! STAY AWAY FROM HER!" I heard Tay shout at the top of his lungs… but, that's all I could remember him saying… the last thing I remembered at that point was Igor's gigantic form showing up right in front of me as though he teleported… I remember him lifting his foot up and stretching it across his back… and then flinging it toward me as I tried to defend myself… After a sudden *PLOCK*, I… urgh… everything went black. I… I couldn't remember much else… except that my vision was suddenly blurry… I was on the ground… and that my stomach and the back of my head were throbbing like crazy… and… my glasses… I couldn't find my glasses… It hurts… it hurts so much…! Ooooogh…! Oww… I'm… fighting the urge to cry, but the pain is too intense…! I can barely hear anything as I try to pick myself up… but then… I lift my head up just enough to see the humongous shadow of someone… really big and ugly running toward me… and while my vision is blurry and I'm completely disoriented, I… I can piece together that this man was looking to hurt me. I… I don't know what to do… I'm scared…! I… Why does he want to hurt me…? I didn't do anything… I… I curled up into a ball, hoping it was enough to protect me…

"You, little girl… You're gonna make for a-!" I hear the evil man start to tell me as he races over and reaches a hand toward me. Yet, before he even finishes his statement…

"HWWWOOAAAAAARRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" I hear someone else screaming loud and clear from behind the jerk who punted me halfway across the village for no reason. Within a second, my ears are suddenly filled with the *PLAAAAAAWWWNG* of something metallic striking the guy from behind. The next thing I hear as I try my hardest to shake off the disorientation and pain is a nauseating *KRUNCH* like… like someone having their bones pulverized under the weight of a mountain.

"GHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAGH! MY KNEE! YOU SHATTERED MY KNEE!" I hear the evil guy shout in blood-curdling agony, prompting me to use what little strength I have to look up at him… and… he's kneeling down, clutching his leg in horrible agony. It… it looks like it's bent at all sorts of angles it's not supposed to be in… That… looks like it hurts a LOT… But then… I fade out…

"I TOLD YOU T' LEAVE HER ALONE! ZZZZRRRRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I hear the second voice shout in what sounds like unmitigated, burning RAGE, which causes me to fade back in to see… what looks like a THOROUGHLY ticked-off Tay as he was totally engulfed in magic… that was equal parts light blue and dark purple… and burning and swirling with such intensity that it felt like a fiery Category 5 hurricane had whipped up right in front of me… and then I saw him firing a jaw-shattering hook to the other guy's face, the incredibly loud, thunderous *BRABLOOOOOOM* of what must've been an explosion sending that guy flying way off into the distance. I… I barely see him because my vision is fading in and out… and I feel myself slipping like I'm about to be hit with another blackout… but as Tay comes racing toward me to tend to me, I… I see it… His eyes… He's got this immensely worried look on his face as he kneels next to me and cradles me in his arms… but his eyes… they're glowing gold… it's so strange… and he's… so warm… but these lights… this… multicolored shroud of magic coating his entire body… it's so strong and so foreboding that it… both amazes and frightens me at the same time… not sure why…

"Hey…! Hey, wake up! Are you alright!?" I hear him ask, though I'm… I'm getting too tired to even reply… I… I only remember trying to reassure him by smiling as my eyes shut… "No, no, wait! Don't pass… ere fo… ay awa…" is all I remember hearing as I see the distress in his face before I passed out…

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..."...nightmare about someone atta..."

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..."...saved me aga..."

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..."...ome time to practi... ation with me, Rot..."

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..."...don't want therapy! I want my friends bac..."

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..."...hug them again... I can't stand this! I ha..."

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..."...wracking your head like this is unheal..."

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..."...forget it. I'm tired... back to sle..."

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Oooh… Hah… S-sorry… it happened again, didn't it? Dang it… I keep saying I'll stop blacking out and get my head straight, but I haven't accomplished that in the slightest. My bad… but then again, I got knocked out by some giant, sweaty, muscle-bound ogre that had a bone to pick with my friend this time. I hope you don't consider that to be my fault… Thank goodness that the pain I felt from when that ogre attacked me is long gone. I'm A-Okay now, so don't worry! I'm back in business and ready to HOPEFULLY give you a full account of what was going on here in the Village of Lost Souls. So, without further ado, where was I…? Oh! Turns out I awoke not standing, but lying down… and… someone was holding me? What the…? Why would someone be holding me? I feel their arms wrapping tightly around me as though they're afraid to let go of me… and judging by my position, the person was sitting down as they cradled me. My vision slowly comes into focus as I blink a few times and get a look at… a golden-eyed man with a goatee and scars all over his face whose hair… kinda looked like a big, black bush… Oh, wait… It's… It's…!

"…Tay…?" I wearily called to the man as I arose from my slumber…? Or, maybe not 'slumber,' considering what happened to me.

"Oh, thank goodness…!" he gratefully proclaimed as he hugged me, which did just enough to jar me all the way back to full consciousness. "I thought you was never gonna wake up again… Are you okay?"

"Huh? Er, y-yeah, I'm alright, stud muffin," I assured him as I lifted myself up just enough to hug him back. Something about this embrace, though… it feels… so very… comforting to be wrapped in his arms like this with his breath tickling my neck as he nuzzled his face into me… despite the reason for it. Yet, it reminds me of another time I may have hugged someone like this… and to be honest, it made my heart race… "Sorry to worry you… I didn't mean to conk out like that…"

"That ain't somethin' you need to apologize for," he countered as he patted me on the back before we separated. Or rather, he stood up and set me down on my feet. I… will be honest and say I didn't really want the warm, tender embrace to end so soon, but we can't have everything we want. That aside, he made extra sure I was okay by staying close by in case I lost my balance or something. I was perfectly fine, but it was nice to see that he cared so much about me… It was actually really sweet of him… "I'm just glad you was able t' recover from that attack by our not-so-friendly acquaintance."

"Oh, right…" I grumbled, shaking my head as I looked down to see splotches of dirt all over my favorite-slash-only outfit. I dusted myself off before getting a look around to see that we were standing inside one of the dilapidated buildings in the village. There was hardly any light inside except for the crimson rays of fire burning somewhere outside through the doorway and broken windows at the front. We were definitely still in the Village of Lost Souls, alright…

"Do you remember what happened?" Tay asked me, shaking me out of my distracted stupor as I looked at him to see him handing me my glasses… which had thankfully not been broken.

"Barely… I remember you beating up some meathead jerk of an ogre, only for him to turn his attention to me before I passed out. But then, just in case I'm remembering it wrong… I passed out because he attacked me, didn't I?"

"That's the whole story in a nutshell," he confirmed with a nod. "You sure you're okay, though? You were out for quite a while… I'm not even sure how long, though, because there still ain't been a clock or anything t' tell me the time."

"Well, what about that watch on your wrist?" I asked, calling attention to the broken wristwatch he was wearing. There was no way he COULDN'T have noticed it and at least tried to fix it or something…

"Oh, this thing? Yeah, it's uh… it ain't a watch," he shared, surprising me a bit as I tilted my head in wonder. "It looks like one, but it doesn't tell time at all. For that matter, it just plain doesn't work at all, either."

"Then, what is it? And why doesn't it work?"

"I… I can't remember…" he uncertainly answered, studying the non-watch device up and down. I could see that it was cracked and in need of serious repair, though I didn't have the first clue on how to help him. "It doesn't work, though. No matter what I try, I can't get it t' turn on, much less tell me anything related t' time or its function."

"Bummer… Did it happen to break during that fight with that Igor guy?"

"I… don't think so," he replied, though he seemed like he wasn't sure. "I've been through a lot since comin' here, an' I feel like it could've happened at ANY point… Although, Igor possibly had somethin' t' do with it, considerin' how rough that battle was."

"I see. Well, if it don't work, then it don't work," I dismissed with a shrug before shifting topics. Much as I'd have liked to pry into him about that watch to see what he could remember, I had… something slightly more important to discuss with stud muffin. "Say, whatever happened to Igor?" Surprised, Tay's eyes widened as he looked me directly in the face and said nothing for a few seconds.

"Uh… Well…" Tay nervously stammered as he momentarily batted his eyes away and scratched his head. It seemed as though he didn't want to tell me…

"What's with the hesitation to answer?" I ask, just a bit suspicious of him for his change in demeanor.

"Ah… W-well, I… I'm not sure how you'd take it if I told you what happened…" he nervously suggested, gulping as he rubbed the back of his neck like he was trying to keep a dirty secret from me.

"What, did you, like, kill him or something?" I guessed with a chuckle, knowing how dark the humor was. I also figured I'd ask if Igor was dead because, well… EVERYONE in the Village of Lost Souls is dead. I thought I'd just use the joke to get stud muffin to ease up a bit. Only… he didn't chuckle with me. Instead…

"…Yyyyyyeah, that guy is SUPER dead now…" he sheepishly admitted with this guilty look on his face, catching me WAY off-guard.

"Wait, WHAT!? You KILLED Igor!? Or, like, DOUBLE-KILLED him?" I remarked in complete and utter astonishment. Like, seriously, how in the WORLD do you kill something that's ALREADY DEAD!?

"It wasn't on purpose! M-mostly…" he tried to explain, though the way he was waving his hands in front of himself told me that he thought I'd be upset with him. "I-I don't normally do that sort o' thing, but he was gonna hurt you if I didn't do somethin', so… I uh… uhh…" he trailed off, seeming to be looking for any reason in the book for doing it. It didn't exactly take a theoretical physicist to tell me he was concerned about what I thought about him in the moment. So…

"In case it needs to be said, stud muffin, I'm not mad at the fact that you killed him. If anything, I'm impressed," I shared, taking my turn to catch him off-guard as he flinched in shock. "That brute was WAY bigger than you, and you beat him with your bare hands!"

"What? Whoa, r-really? You're not upset about the fact that I-!"

"Of course not! You saved me when I thought he was going to hurt me worse than he already had," I explained to mellow him out while letting him understand my stance. "I'm not saying I condone violence of that kind, but… I completely understand why it had to be done. You gave him a chance to chill out and leave, and he took it as a chance to hurt me to try and force you to give him what he wanted, as far as I remember. Thank you for protecting me again, Tay… I owe you another big one…" I offered my gratitude… though, I'm not sure where the 'again' part came from. It just… seemed right to say, as though I had past experience with him saving me from certain doom… Hmm…

"Oh. W-well, then… That's… a relief," he hesitantly admitted with a sigh as he relaxed himself just a bit. "An' don't worry about it. I only did what I needed t' do t' ensure your safety. I wouldn't have killed him if he wasn't about t' do the same t' you...which, now that I realize it, is strange when you consider that everyone here is supposed t' already be dead."

"Well, it's like I was telling you before," I reminded him with a pat on his arm. "Different people have different experiences when they come here. I'm not really sure what it means when someone who's already dead can be killed again, but I've seen crazier things happen around here."

"Hm. I'll bet you have," stud muffin remarked, raising an eyebrow as he presumably didn't really grasp the full concept of my explanation.

"I can tell that you're still wondering what I mean, to which I'll say you'll come to understand it for yourself eventually. The main point, though, is that Igor brought what happened to him on himself. I don't mean it to sound unsympathetic, but if a guy his size has the gall to attack innocent people when he can't have what he wants, then all I can say is that I wish he'd have made better decisions in life and even as a resident of the Village of Lost Souls. I hope you're not blaming yourself for what you had to do to protect me, because I'm not at all holding it against you. I completely understand the necessity behind what you had to do, and I can't thank you enough for saving me, Tay."

"I hear you loud an' clear, homie," he assured with a salute and a nod. "Thanks for the clarification. I'll do whatever it takes t' protect you, but I'll be mindful, in case it needs t' be said."

"Don't worry, stud muffin. I promise you, it's all good! I'm just glad to know I've suddenly gained a powerful and fearsome new bodyguard to escort me around. I've never felt safer, my 'Darkness-Swathed Hero'~!" I teased, grabbing his arm for a minute and squeezing it into my chest as I oh-so adoringly batted my eyelashes at him.

"You play too much…" he laughingly shot back with a slight blush, evidently finding a great deal of humor in my suggestion. I mean, that wasn't actually a joke… or rather, I was, like, ninety percent joking, but I didn't mind that he found the idea funny.

"You say that now, but after the way you totally mopped the floor with that gigantic ogre, you know I'm calling you any time a monster or another hammer-swinging madman comes bursting from the shadows of this place to kidnap me or something," I straight-up told him as I let go of him. "A girl as pretty as I am would be fodder for them, you know! I could use the protection."

"Okay, okay, you convinced me," he finally caved, albeit very flatly and with just a tinge of sarcasm in his tone. "Fine, princess. You've earned yourself a knight in shinin' armor."

"Why thank you kindly, good sir~!" I expressed my gratitude with a playful little curtsy as I grinned in amusement. "I just hope you know this job doesn't pay all that well, A.K.A. it doesn't pay at all, and there's no benefits other than making me happy and keeping me safe. My stunning beauty, infectious smile, and eternal love and appreciation for you should be payment enough!"

"Hmph. Well, now I don't know if I like the terms o' this 'agreement.' You're makin' it sound like you're rippin' me off…" he oh-so suspiciously complained with a chuckle.

"Nonsense, Tay! I could only rip you off if we had any money to play around with. All I'm doing is letting you know your responsibilities, and that you should only expect my eternal company and appreciation in return for your services! No ulterior motives involved here! Plus, you and I are best friends now, so this only comes natural!"

"Oh, is that your twisted logic on how this ain't a raw deal for me, makin' me break my back t' keep you entertained, Your Highness?"

"Yes it is, and you will accept it without qualm or quarrel, my loyal subject," I laughingly concluded, laying down the law to my new bodyguard. "Now, come on. Let's get out of here," I royally decreed as I took his hand and led him out of the building. "Anyway, how long were you fighting him before I showed up?"

"I don't know exactly how long, but it was long enough that he an' I were really wearin' each other out before you came along. If it was, like, a boxing match, I'd have t' say we would've been on… maybe round ten, if not eleven or twelve."

"Really!? Whoa, that's a MIGHTY long time for you to be fighting someone that big without eventually getting overwhelmed…"

"Tell me about it," Tay agreed, stretching a bit as he thought about the grueling fistfight in question.

"If I only knew how… And… No offense, but how in the world did he not completely squash you at some point or another? Between his sheer size and that sledgehammer, it's hard to imagine ANYONE being able to walk away from that unless they were evenly matched… So, how?" I had to ask because I was still in disbelief. Not because I doubted my new special friend here, mind you. I was just amazed that he pulled such a thing off…

"Well, it helped that I was faster than him," he began with a shrug, though he looked at me as though he knew I was going to ask that last question. "Other than that, it was me deliberately tirin' him out by keepin' my distance as he chased me most o' the time an' takin' opportunities t' counter when I could. When we started, it took me a long time t' get myself ready t' actually fight him, and I couldn't remember how t' fight at all until the first few times he punched me in the face, kicked me across the village grounds, grabbed me and nearly crushed me under his weight, or nearly caved my skull in with that sledgehammer…"

"YIKES, Tay…!"

"I know… I cut it REAL close… but, the more we kept fightin', the more I remembered everything I learned. An' once I finally recovered my combat sense, the battle was a lot less difficult from there. It also helped that I kept gettin' stronger as we carried on tearin' into each other. I started hittin' him harder an' findin' more opportunities t' exploit his numerous weaknesses. It was still really hard t' tell if I was doin' any damage because o' how big he was, but yeah. Side note: Would you believe me if I told you I was a seasoned martial artist on top o' my military background when I was alive?"

"Ohh," I droned in realization. "Well, THAT certainly explains that stunning, virile physique of yours…" I… TRIED not to gush as I instinctively flicked my eyes toward his bare chest and bit my lip. My breath caught in my throat and my heart sped up a bit as I saw his gaze follow mine… Oopsies… I-I should probably be more mindful because he was technically spoken for, buuuut… A girl's gotta get her eye candy whenever she can, y'know? Hee-hee! Er, a-anyway, I looked back up at his face to see that he'd been blushing again as he looked right back at me. Funny… I've never seen a guy so big and so burly blush as much as Tay did, but… I found it endearing. Aaaand MAYBE just a tad (by which, I mean VERY) amusing because I got a kick out of flirting with him and getting him all worked up. It's… a guilty pleasure of mine, I'll admit. You didn't hear that from me, of course, so don't tell anybody!

"Stunning and Virile? Jeez, you're layin' it on thick…" he nervously remarked with a chuckle, which I couldn't help but share. But what can I say? It's not every day a hot, muscly, shirtless guy comes dropping into your lap and giving you all his devotion, love, and attention! As I said, a girl's gotta get her eye candy whenever she can. And in case you're NOT the type who appreciates the appeal of an attractive man of Tay's stature up close and personal… I'll just say that it's VERY exciting in ways you might not imagine… or even want to imagine, if that's not what you're interested in; by which, I mean if young, hot, shirtless men with well-groomed beards, glistening, highly toned, lean and muscular physiques aren't your cup of tea, then I get it. To each, his or her own. Aaaaanywaaaay, enough about my taste in men…

"I'm only telling the truth, stud muffin~!" I teased with a giggle as my cheeks heated up, making him even more nervous in the process. And just for the record, it's also super cute when a guy gets flustered by a compliment from a girl. It doesn't work for everyone, but I ain't complaining. Okay, let me stop gushing… I'm getting distracted, and I'm sorry. Can't promise it won't happen again, though. So anyway… "That aside, I'd totally believe you if you told me about your fighting skills. You certainly look the part for more reasons than one."

"Hm. Considerin' how I look exactly like I got dragged across a long road littered with broken glass for five miles, mauled by a sleuth o' bears, an' then fed to a particularly aggressive shark before bein' stabbed t' death, I… can't say I could fault you for comin' t' that conclusion," he pointed out, causing me to bust out laughing at his latest outlandish comparison.

"I wasn't gonna say you looked THAT rough, Tay! Come on… You're cracking me up over here!" I tried to assure him, though I couldn't help but keep giggling at the morbidity of his comment. It… probably goes without saying by now that I have… kind of a dark sense of humor. I'm actually both surprised and impressed that he also had a dark sense of humor, though! Bonus points for his humor being dry on top of it being dark. This is the best!

"Heh. I'm only callin' it as I see it," he shot back with a slight grin as I finally calmed down. "Anyway, the tides o' that fight slowly turned to a point that they was in my favor by the time you reappeared. Everything else that happened from then on is history."

"Wow… The more I find out about you, whether it's new info or not, the more I wonder just how strong you really are… and even, how much you must've went through in your adventures to pick up all those scars before you wound up here."

"Well, I'm always open t' tell you a story or two… as soon as I eventually recall enough details t' piece together a tale for ya."

"Awesome! I can't wait! I mean, I know we'll have to wait anyway, but still…"

"Heh, I gotcha," he assured me with a smiling thumbs-up.

"Cool," I concurred with a nod of my own, though I found myself morbidly curious about just ONE more detail regarding his battle with that ogre… "…So… how'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How'd you kill Igor?"

"Uh… it… surprisingly didn't take as much effort as I thought it would," he started off, nervously scratching his head as we strolled out into the fresh...ly haunted, unfathomably thick, muggy atmosphere that was the typical climate for this place while we basically had no destination. Oh, what I wouldn't give for it to be cold once in a while. Buuuut, I digress.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… In another nutshell, after Igor kicked you, he tried t' rush over t' you to either attack you some more or grab you t' hold you hostage. I chased after him t' make sure he didn't hurt you further, because he was definitely gonna do somethin' else t' you if he was allowed. Sorry about not stoppin' him from attackin' you in the first place, though…"

"Hm? Why apologize to me? I'm not holding that against you either," I assured with a flick of my hand. "You didn't tell that guy to come rushing over to punt me away like a football."

"Got it," he acknowledged with a nod before continuing. "So, after he hurt you, I found myself filled t' the brim with this… this explosive BURST of energy that felt like it was burnin' me from the inside. With that bein' mixed in with the adrenaline rush I was feelin' at the time, I chased after him an' landed two really heavy blows on him before he got the chance t' hurt you again. And, in case you're wonderin', I broke his leg by kickin' him in the knee from behind before I threw the hardest adrenaline-fueled punch I could muster at his face that sent him flyin' across the village's common area. I thought I'd just knocked him out, but after you passed out, I went t' verify. And… before I got the chance t' take a closer look at him, his body just exploded like a balloon bein' popped an' turned t' dust…"

"Ohh…" I droned in amazement, wondering just what happened to make that situation play out that way.

"…and then his head, which turned out t' be located a few yards away from where his body was, wound up disappearin' shortly after…" he VERY nervously revealed to me, making me gasp in complete shock. Dude…! He PUNCHED that ogre's HEAD OFF!? Wow…! Jeez, what kind of strength is this guy packing!? That's SCARY!

"Whoa… No fooling? You seriously-?"

"Knocked his head off with one punch because o' how angry I was that he hurt you, yes," he finished, sighing in… what looked like apprehension as he worriedly locked his eyes on me. After a moment, though, he opened his hand and looked down to stare at it as though he was contemplating what he'd done. Huh… And here I was, expecting him to be proud of his strength or the huge victory he scored. But he… just seemed… not quite distraught, but like, really worried that he did something he shouldn't have.

"Wow, Tay… Now, THAT is hardcore. I've got so many questions about how you were even able to hold your own against Igor, much less actually BEAT him, I don't even know where to begin! And for you to be strong enough to knock the head clean off a guy multiple times your size? My mind is totally BLOWN!" I continued to gush, in part to shake him out of that stupor he was in.

"Shoot, I don't blame you," he agreed, taking a moment to stare at his own hand before turning his attention back to me. "I've… got a few questions myself, if that makes any sense t' say."

"That makes perfect sense," I assured. "A lot has been happening with you since you got here, and it seems like you remember at least a little bit more about who you were every time I see you. That said, what was with that whole 'Darkness-Swathed Hero' business? And why did Igor want that dirty old oil lamp so bad that he tried to splatter you into bits with a sledgehammer to take it from you?"

"I wish I knew all the details, t' be perfectly honest. I'm still tryin' t' figure out why it was so important for me t' have gotten the lamp in the first place. Nobody mentioned there bein' gigantic, murderous barbarian ogres sniffin' around for it or tryin' t' fight whoever got their hands on it. All I know is that Igor had his eye on it, an' that he planned on findin' some way t' escape this place by findin' a genie t' capture with the lamp, so he could force them t' grant his wishes," he explained as I tuned myself all the way in. "He caught wind that I had it, an' as soon as he saw me wanderin' around again, he attacked me without warnin'. I don't know how, an' I can't even fathom who he met in this existential wasteland that would know me enough t' tell him about me."

"It could've been anybody, really. I still remember him saying something about you being a 'grim reaper' of sorts when you were alive. Do you have any clue what he meant by that?"

"Not… really, but… as I fought him, I got more familiar with this magic that's been coursin' through my body… and… the more Igor an' I fought, the more familiar it felt… but it wasn't until he attacked you that I figured out the reason behind that 'Darkness-Swathed Hero' nickname…"

"Oh, really? Interesting, because I was gonna ask you how you're even able to USE magic," I informed him. "I mean, I've noticed it before, but your fight with Igor COMPLETELY blew me away. You start glowing all bright blue and dark purple, and it just seems like you become a total blur when you move. And… now that I'm recalling it from right before I passed out, I remember feeling an all-encompassing heat coming from you that felt like we got stuck inside an oven set to broil… and there was wind swirling around us like a hurricane was about to hit… and… and your eyes were glowing this magnificent, yet very intimidating shade of gold… well, MORE gold than they are now, I mean. And the light and dark energy around you was BLAZING like you'd been set on fire…" I described, though I knew he understood what I was talking about. "What… What was that? And… are you sure you're human? I've never seen a human do anything like what you've done…"

"I… can't remember all the details right this minute, because I only recently rediscovered that I could use magic. I remember that it wasn't ALWAYS a thing for me, though. I remember just bein' a regular human being from… somewhere different than Sequin Land. After a couple of incidents I'm still fuzzy on, I… remember bein' able t' do whatever it was I did against Igor, against someone else… named…"

"Named what?"

"…The person who killed me… She… Gah…!" he winced, hunching over and grabbing at the scar on his abdomen as he began to pant… I don't know what the heck's going on, but he suddenly seemed like he was in unbearable pain…

"Whoa! H-hey, are you alright? What's the matter?" I frantically asked, still holding his hand as I moved to help, only for him to shake his head as he looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"Hah… Hrgh…! Gaaaaah, what a terrible mixture…! That gut feeling came back, an' as soon as I started t' remember the name o' the person who killed me, I… Gaaaaaaahhaaaaagh!" he howled in agony as he nearly collapsed. Clenching my hand into his own, though, he did his best to remain on his feet. "Haahgh! Hrrgh! Gaaah! Sh-shoot, it feels like she impaled me with that sword all over again…! Haaahgh!" Wait… WHAT? This person impaled him with a SWORD!? THAT'S how he died!? Gosh, what in the world!? But then… as he's mentioning this, I'm also hit with an image… That same image from earlier… of him lying on the ground with that gruesome wound in his stomach… at the exact spot he was clutching… with our purple-haired mutual friend holding his head in her lap… and me trying to find something to… to try and heal him with… and… and…

"Tay! It's alright! You don't have to remember it right now!" I practically beg, immensely worried about him as he kept trying to deal with the sudden excruciating agony he'd been suffering. "Not if it hurts you like this… It's alright…" I did my best to comfort him. I refused to let myself be distracted by that uncomfortable dream at this moment, because my new best friend needed me right here.

"Ghaah…! Hah…! Hah…" he panted, seeming to be calming down as he finally regained the strength to very slowly rise to a full stand again. "Sh-shoot… Man, I could never have expected t' feel that miserable, torturous pain again…" he understandably complained, still rubbing that same spot like it still resonated with soreness that he could hardly take his mind off of.

"Are… are you sure you're okay, stud muffin?" I asked, needing to be absolutely sure.

"Y-yeah… I'm good," he assured with a deep breath, rubbing that same spot just a little more before he refocused. "I guess you're right, though. I… should probably be careful with certain memories as they pop up if the case is that some of 'em do that t' me… Yet, weirdly enough, that just reminded me of how I got this magic power we was just talkin' about…"

"Whoa, really? You wound up getting a clue from that?" I asked, trying to hide my immeasurable surprise as I kept my eye on him in case he got hit with another twinge of excruciating abdominal pain…

"Yeah, but it ain't a very comfortable one… It ain't comfortable at all…" he answered, seeming just a tad unsettled by the mere thought. And by 'a tad,' I meant that he seemed VERY unsettled by it as he shot his gaze elsewhere and took on this look of… what I could only describe as some form of inconceivable pain… this time, of the emotional kind, as his brow furrowed. He took a deep, anxious, shaky breath as he suddenly began to tremble. Whatever it was that he was remembering… it must've hurt him… and badly… Jeez… These flashbacks he's having… They're TORTURING him…!

"I see… Well, you can tell me anything, Tay," I politely offered, hoping he'd open up to me just a bit more as we continued to chat. I also squeezed his hand to bring him back into focus as I sensed just how bothered he was by this thought that he didn't seem to want to talk about. And for that matter… if it hurt him this much to even think about, then I… I was okay with him not bringing it up.

"Much appreciated," he accepted with a smiling nod, calming down just a bit as he sighed out some of his apprehension. "T' be honest, though… I'm gonna need t' take some time t' get my head straight on it all before I even attempt t' explain everything I remembered t' you in full. There's way too many different things swimmin' around in my head, an' it's been confusin' me more than it's been helpin' me relearn everything about myself. I hope you understand…?"

"Absolutely!" I brightly remarked with a cheerful smile as we continued to walk and talk together. "No need to rush or to overdo it on figuring yourself out. We've literally got all the time in the world until we crack the mystery wide open, and I'm more than comfortable just having someone to talk to."

"Thanks, homie. It's been good hangin' out with you, too… even with how abruptly our hang-outs always end," he confidently let me know with a bright grin of his own while making a sneaky little joke about my blackouts that I couldn't help but chuckle at. "That said, what about you? All these times you've been appearin' and disappearin', an' reappearin', an' vaninshin' an' then showin' up again out o' nowhere… an' with you seemin' t' learn somethin' about how we might've known each other in life or some detail about who you used t' be…"

"Yeah, I know, my random disappearing acts are to die for," I wittily remarked with a grin, causing him to laugh a bit before he cleared his throat.

"That pun hits a little bit close t' home, don'tcha think?" he pointed out, stifling a chuckle as he did so.

"Sure does, but I'm dead serious… with an emphasis on 'dead.'"

"Y-yo, you're trippin'! Stop that!" he remarked again, chuckling it up as he caught my very appropriate puns. "You're killin' me!"

"Eh, I think I'm just a little late to that party, Tay," I hit him with another pun, though I couldn't help but burst into another fit of laughter at that word he used. Trippin'… Trippin'! I'm trippin'! Hahhahah! It just sounds so cool, and yet so strange!

"Aww, now that's a low blow," he pointed out, though he was still cracking up at my impeccable humor. Honestly, I was worried he would've gotten offended at that one… I'm glad to know he didn't, though… "You ain't right for that one, homie."

"What can I say?" I asked with a nonchalant shrug. "We've gotta liven up the mood in some way or another," I added with another sneaky little pun.

"I don't disagree, but does it have t' be so dead on?" he asked, ironically matching my pun with one of his own.

"Ah, so I'm not the only one able to make light of our terrible situation with awful puns, huh?" I teased, nudging him with my elbow.

"That was a fluke," he dismissed. "I don't think I'm as great with puns as you seem t' be, but I suppose it's a relief we get t' be in such good spirits about it…"

"Baahahaah!" I burst out laughing, catching onto his joke almost immediately. "You said 'spirits!' Hah!" It took him a second to realize what I meant, but he got it eventually as I continued cracking up.

"…Ahh, shoot. I did just make that pun, didn't I?" he asked with a nervous chuckle once he picked up on it.

"Yeah, you did," I confirmed as I calmed down enough to catch my breath. "Of corpse, I have a reason to believe you knew what you were doing…"

"Wow… Really? Of CORPSE?" he pointed out in mild shock, trying to keep a straight face. "Now, that one shakes me right t' the bones, but I won't decompose an' bust out laughin' at that one."

"Ooh, you're good!" I remarked, actually very impressed that he could match my pun with one of his own yet again. I… think I smell a challenge coming on… "I hope you know you're looking at the death pun champion though, Tay. I'll bury you in the best of 'em if you're not careful!" I punned some more, getting a huge kick out of this little game of death… puns.

"I'll take that warnin' in stride, but I can be very… CREMATE-ive, if you catch my drift. You're gonna have to URN your title."

"Haaaaa, nice! But I'm telling you, you don't stand a ghost of a chance against me!" I proudly proclaimed.

"I'll zom-BIE the judge o' that," he shot back, really dialing it up on me out of nowhere. But I won't lose! I've been practicing this craft for eons, I'll have you know.

"Wow, I didn't think I CADAVER find someone as enthusiastic about this as I am!" Now, let's see him beat THAT one…

"Ooooh, now that's a good one…" he respectfully acknowledged, clearly impressed with my punning skills. "But while things might look GRAVE for me, you ain't won just yet."

"Dang it, you still had something!" I laughingly complained. "That's alright, though, because I picked up quite a few new tricks studying at my homie's side…" I hit him with another big one as I slyly winked at him.

"…Wait, what? Homie's si…" he was about to ask, though it dawned on him as soon as he repeated me. At that, he took in a short gasp before he replied. "Ohhhhhhh… Homie's side, homicide… Wow… So, you really gonna do me like THAT, princess?" he asked, still chuckling to let me know he was still in on the humor.

"Aw, yeah!" I excitedly remarked, almost to the point of shouting with joy at the fact that I was having so much fun… on top of the fact that he called me 'princess' again… I wasn't sure if he'd keep that up, but I certainly wouldn't mind being his princess if he wanted me to… and… if he didn't mind continuing to be my 'Darkness-Swathed Hero' for as long as we were here together… E-erm, anyway, back to the pun game… Heh… "I'm that good. It's one of my best CRYPT secrets, if you know what I mean…"

"I see. I see, I see…" he acknowledged with a nod as he stroked his chin with a hand and wondered what he'd possibly match my latest pun with. "…Hmm… Well, shoot, this is harder than I thought…" he murmured after a moment of being totally stumped.

"Is that an admission of defeat I hear?" I excitedly ask, knowing that I had this in the bag.

"Hmm… It would've been, if I wasn't COFFIN up more out of nowhere."

"Aaaaaah, so the battle continues!" I cheered, proud of him for digging deep on that one. "But you're gonna be real disappointed to find that I have TOMB many of these puns for you to handle," I confidently shot back, going right into pun overdrive!

"Dang it!" he complained, causing me to burst out laughing in triumph. "And here I was, thinkin' I had you beat. As if my chances wasn't grim enough, you go right ahead an' reap the game for yourself."

"Nice try with that grim reaper pun, Tay, but you'll epi-TAPH to do better than that," I quickly shot him down. I could read the surprise on his face when he saw that I figured him out, too. Ahh, priceless! At that, he sighed in a mixture of frustration and defeat…

"Alright, I give… You win," he FINALLY admitted, scratching his head as he realized he ran out of puns.

"Yes! And she scores another one!" I gloated, dancing and skipping around a bit as I relish this moment… that, much as I don't want to admit it, made me incredibly happy. Not because I won our game, mind you… but because this is the first time in forever that I've had this much fun with someone… It… it warms my heart in a way that honestly brought a tear to my eye as I kept on cheering. I'm so happy, I can hardly fathom it… I… I LOVE this feeling… I… I love him… and I'm… starting to wonder just how close Tay and I can really become as friends. I… I haven't known him long (arguably), but with how well we're getting along and how he protected me, it feels like we've truly always been together… I don't know if that has anything to do with us possibly knowing each other before either of us wound up here, but… I already feel… like… like he's special to me… just like her…

"Alright, alright, you ain't gotta rub it in," Tay complained with an adorable pout that completely betrayed the intimidating image he had. Okay, now you gotta admit: You can't help BUT love a grumpy face as cute as the one he's making! Hahahahahah!

"Sorry… That's not my intention, I promise," I assured him as I calmed myself down. "I'm just… really happy that we're hanging out like this. It feels like such a dream come true, even though we're only goofing around and making morbid jokes about the fact that we're dead…"

"Heh," he found it in himself to laugh with me, though I know I could've probably worded my comment a little better. I could tell by the fact that he was raising an eyebrow at me and taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"My bad… I uh… I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable…"

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm not uncomfortable," he assured me. "It's just that… I recall havin' a whole group o' friends, at least one o' which liked makin' situational puns t' brighten the mood…"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yep… an' interestingly enough, I… think I remember this one friend really enjoyin' makin' dark jokes an' morbid puns at the worst possible times, just like you…" he informed me with another chuckle, though that… actually kinda tipped me off to something. And out of nowhere, I felt all but compelled to ask him something…

"…Tay?"

"What's up?"

"…Do you think… that maybe… um… That… uh…?"

"Do I think what?" he asked, noticing my hesitation as I grew increasingly nervous about what was on my mind. I'm… not even sure why I was nervous, but the more I thought about my question… the more afraid I felt to ask it.

"…Well… D-do you think that… uh… that… that maybe… I was…?"

"…Are you tryin' t' ask me if I think you might've been part o' that friend group?" he curiously asked with a tilt of his head, catching me completely by surprise as he took the words right out of my mouth.

"…Y-yeah…" I nervously confirmed, though I hoped to the high heavens that my hunch was right.

"…Uh… I… I don't believe so, no…" he hesitantly replied with a somber shake of his head, seeming to know he would disappoint me with his answer.

"Oh…"

"Sorry… The friend group I'm talkin' about is from a completely different place than Sequin Land… I only meant that one of 'em liked t' make dark jokes like you do…"

"Ah. Okay…" I acknowledged, trying and totally failing at hiding my sadness as I cast my gaze toward the ground.

"But then… now that you mention it, I'm vaguely rememberin' a second group o' friends I made after I was brought t' Sequin Land…" he continued, making me perk up as I tried not to get too hopeful.

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm," he affirmed with another nod, though he began staring off into space as if the memories he was looking for were plastered all over the village walls. "…yet, the only person I can clearly remember… is our purple-haired friend…" he added, though the second he seemed to think about her, he flinched in pain as he brought a hand to his stomach. Huh… What IS that? Every time he thinks about or mentions her, his stomach cramps up? I… I wonder if that has to do with how guilty he must feel for having died in front of her… or maybe it had something to do with the way he was killed? I'm… not sure, but I felt really bad for him. Before I could ponder it any further, though… "I can't help but feel like you were maybe a part o' THAT group o' friends…" he suddenly revealed while still rubbing his stomach like someone had drilled into it.

"For real!?" I practically exploded in complete astonishment, my hopes shooting up yet again. "You think I was a part of that group!?"

"I… I can't say for sure, but… I haven't been able t' shake how familiar it feels t' hang out with you… an' if I could just remember ONE o' those people's names… then maybe… just MAYBE I could uncover more an' give you a better answer…"

"Oh! All you need is a name?" I asked, thinking that maybe I could jog his memory if I told him something… though I'm not sure why I'm getting so hopeful about this… It's a total shot in the dark that anything he remembered could ever trigger anything I could've remembered about my life…

"Yeah. I can't remember anybody's names except my own… an' even then, I feel like I don't have my full name… It's weird t' say, but…"

"Well… this might sound crazy, but I think I've got a name for you to recall," I offered, hoping that maybe… just MAYBE, I could get him to enlighten me on something.

"Do you now?"

"Er… I-I think, but only if I can accurately remember it…" I pensively told him, because the name in question is already starting to slip my mind… Shoot, shoot…! Come on, don't fail me now, memory…

"Got it. Whose name are you thinkin' about?" he eagerly asked, anticipating what I'd say next.

"Our mutual friend's," I revealed to him, causing him to reel back in surprise. "I… won't lie to you, though, Tay… I've… been having a LOT of trouble remembering anyone's names, but… something about your name… kinda reminds me of hers…"

"You don't say?"

"I do say. In fact, let's not waste time, because I'm already starting to slip a little…"

"Sure thing," he agreed, his golden eyes glued to me as they filled with hope that I could give him a clue… while in turn, I was hoping he could give me one. "So, what's the name you're thinkin' of?"

"Okay, so her name is Sha… Sha… um… Shoot, what was it again…?" I murmured, furiously scratching my head as it completely slipped my mind at the WORST possible moment. I'm… I'm starting to black out again…

"…Sha-what?" I barely heard him ask as my hearing started to get fuzzy and I started to lose vision… No, no! Darn it, not… not now…!

"…can't… remem…"

"Hey, hey, don't go yet!" he urged, gripping my hand to keep me there. I could hear him loud and clear in that moment, though I quickly started fading out again. "…ight it! Fi… ay awake…!" I heard him trying to encourage me… and he's right. I have to fight it… I have to FIGHT IT…! N-not this time…! Not when I'm so close to figuring something out about who I am…!

"Hrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" I shouted in a mixture of frustration and pain as I somehow kept myself grounded. I… I can still see, but my vision is a little blurry… I'm woozy, but I'm still conscious… I… I can feel Tay's hand clamping down on mine… and as I look at my arm, I can… I can see right through it, but it's still there.

"Come on, homegirl… Stay with me…" he calmly urged, keeping his grip strong enough to crush my hand… which, believe me, was MORE than enough to keep me awake.

"Gaaaah… Hah… Hah… Ooogh…" I groaned, shaking off the dizziness as my vision came back into full focus and my hearing returned to me… but man, did I feel exhausted… Wow, I've never had to do that before…

"You alright?" I heard Tay ask me, prompting me to look up at him to see the concerned expression on his face. Jeez, I must've had him worried sick…

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm good," I confirmed, shaking my head a bit more before reorienting myself. "I… I'm just a little foggy right now. Thank you for keeping me grounded, stud muffin."

"Not an issue," he acknowledged, though he kept holding my hand. "Are you sure you're still here, though?"

"Mm-hmm," I hummed with a nod and a deep breath.

"Okay, good. So… what were you sayin' a second ago? About our friend's name?" And at that, my heart sank to the very bottom of the darkest dungeon in this entire village… I… I totally forgot…! I forgot the name I was gonna say… No…! Why does this ALWAYS happen to me!? Darn it…! Darn it…

"…I… I can't remember it anymore…" I admitted, my voice shaking in a mixture of sadness, disappointment, and frustration at myself for not being able to keep my memories straight…

"Darn…" he remarked in equal disappointment as he sighed. "Well, it should hopefully come back t' you at some point or another. Let's… just give it some time, so you can clear your thoughts."

"…I… I guess…" I replied, though I'm completely dejected. He has no way of knowing this, but… I haven't been able to keep my memories in order for the longest time… I'm embarrassed to admit it, but it's true. I feel like this place has been messing with my head since I've been here, but… it feels like every time I come close to discovering ANYTHING, I… I…

"…I gotta ask you somethin', because I'm a bit worried about you now," Tay posed out of nowhere.

"Worried about me? How come?" I asked in surprise as I turned my full attention to him.

"It… just… sorta feels t' me like you've been goin' through this for so long, an'… I dunno, princess… I'm hit with this feeling that you've been through a LOT more than our conversations so far have been able to account for…"

"…Well, you wouldn't be wrong there, stud muffin…" I openly admitted again, finding no reason to hide it from him. "I… I honestly can't even put it into words how bad it is for me…"

"Well, shoot. Uh… Hm… I-in that case, do you feel like you're any closer t' figurin' yourself out yet? I'm genuinely curious, considerin' those blackouts an' these visions you've been tellin' me about."

"…Not really," I hesitantly answered as I contemplated my predicament for what it was. Just by looking at him as I said that, though, I could tell he felt even worse for me as he instinctively frowned with concern. "I mean… I get these vague, scattered fragments of conversations I have with seemingly random people, but I can never remember who they are, what any of us is saying to each other, or even when the conversations are being had."

"Huh… Wow…"

"Yeah… and as if it couldn't get any better, I NEVER get any significant information that would help me rediscover my identity. Not a name, not a familiar face, not even a reference to a school I might've attended once upon a time… and as you just saw, whenever I do find out a specific name, I always wind up forgetting it right when I absolutely NEED to remember it. The most I've gotten recently is dreams about how I may have known you or what it looked like when you died. Other than that, I only ever have dreams about hanging out with friends or enjoying life outside of this terrible place. And… to be honest, it's so frustrating sometimes, because I can't figure out where to even begin searching for answers…" I opened up as I grew steadily more anxious… "The only significant thing I can remember is my connection to our purple-haired genie friend, but… I'm not even sure if I knew her before I died, or if the last time we met was just a fluke…"

"What? How could that be if you remember so much about her, t' the point where you even knew she was a genie? I couldn't even remember that before you just said it…" he prodded, though he seemed especially surprised at the fact that I knew our friend wasn't what we'd call an ordinary girl.

"That's just it, Tay… I… I don't remember anything about her except for what she looks like and the few interactions I had when she visited here one time…"

"Oh… Wow, I… I had no idea…"

"Yeah… other than that, I've only ever seen her in my dreams… and despite how real these dreams feel, I know that that's all they are… just… dreams…" I muttered, sounding increasingly melancholy as I explained my situation to my non-genie friend… "And those dreams don't usually have anything to do with the life I lost… The life I had before I met her…"

"Well, what about the dreams you said you were havin' about our time together in the outside world?" he asked, seeming just a little thrown off. I can't blame him for it, though. "Most o' what you brought up has rung bells for me. Are they not ringin' bells for you, too?"

"Much as I hate to say it, stud muffin… The dreams I've been having about you have not been ringing bells for me at all," I admitted, evidently much to his disappointment as he shot me a most empathetic frown. "Or at least, they're not ringing the right bells for me like they apparently are for you. Just like with our friend, the dreams I've had about you… I… I don't think they have anything to do with the life I had before I met you, either… which is so confusing, because I feel like you and I have always been friends… Gosh, this is so frustrating…!" I complained, fighting back tears as I squeezed my eyes shut and pounded on my head a couple times with my fist.

"Shoot… It sounds so much more harrowin' than I'd have imagined…" he acknowledged with a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. "There's gotta be somethin' you remember about your old life that doesn't relate t' your dreams about me an' our friend, right? I mean, you said you had two brothers, at least. Right?"

"Yeah, but like I said, I don't remember anything about them. I haven't been able to find them here, either. I don't have a clue where to search, and I haven't been able to keep myself grounded here long enough to even try because of these constant blackouts I keep having…"

"R-right…"

"Every time I think I'm about to figure something out, I black out…" I elaborated, though it continually pained me to do so. "And then after who knows how long, I wind up right back here, with next to no memory of what I might've been working on before I blacked out. It's only been a wonder that you and I are able to keep picking up where we left off, because my memory's been shot lately…"

"Wow… wow, wow, wow…" was all he seemed to be able to say as he shook his head in disbelief that I wasn't the least bit surprised by. "So, forgive me if this sounds rude, because I want t' understand… Uh… Do you feel like you've made any progress on uncoverin' your old identity since you been here?"

"If I have, Tay, then it's not anywhere near enough to actually make a worthy note of," I admitted once again, probably not doing him any favors in terms of possibly helping me. "Sometimes, I wonder if I'll ever remember who I am, or if I'll be stuck here forever…" I further revealed, trying harder not to bring myself to tears as I contemplated just how long it's been… which, I can't even do that because I have no idea what time or day it is… and I haven't known for ages…

"I see…" he somberly replied as he stopped walking and slightly tightened his grip on my hand. I wasn't sure why he stopped, but I stopped with him without question. Never letting go of my hand, he turned his full attention to me as he reached his other hand forward and laid it on my shoulder.

"Uh… T-Tay?"

"Come here…" he suggested, though I didn't get much chance to offer a reply before he let go of my hand, closed the distance between us, and hugged me… And as I absorbed the warmth of his abs pressing up against my cheek, I felt his big, rugged hands press into the back of my head and my upper back. I couldn't help but find myself initially caught by surprise, but… the warmth of his embrace… the fact that he was doing his best to comfort me… I… I really needed that. So, without any objection, I wrapped my arms around him… I buried my face in his chest… and… and I wept as this knot welled up in my throat. "I can't imagine what you've been through since you've been here, but… for what it's worth, I hope you know I'll be here t' support you as long as I'm allowed to."

"…but I've been here for so long, and I barely have any clue why I'm here…!" I shared with him for at least the hundredth time through my tears… yet, every time I make that statement, it's always like I said it for the first time. The pain… the anxiety around being a 'lost soul' with no place to go… the occasional sense of helplessness… it never goes away, you see. Ghost or not, I still get those feelings. I… I can only do my best to cope with them as I hold out hope that someday… SOMEDAY, I'll find out who I am… Someday, I'll leave this place… Someday, I'll… I'll be free…

"I hear you, an' I honestly can't even fathom the thought… but when there's a will, there's a way," he did his best to reassure me as he stroked my hair with a hand. "You'll get through this. I know that sounds a bit naïve, but trust an' believe that you'll get through this."

"…Okay… Trust and believe… I… I will…" I stopped my blubbering just long enough to reel myself back in as I hugged my new special friend a little tighter. I know he didn't say much, but he had a point. I shouldn't just give up trying to figure things out… I should keep pushing. I haven't made as much progress as I'd have liked to by this point, but the fact that I've made progress at all is what counts… and even at this particular moment, where the two of us are nuzzling each other like the long-lost friends that we apparently were… It's… actually starting to remind me of something… But then, as we finally separated, I was just about to ask him another question… but then, my vision started to fade… my hearing started to go on me… oh, no…! No, no, no…! I'm blacking out again! Dang it, not now! NOT NOW!

"There you are!" I faintly hear someone… a female, from the pitch of her voice, calling to us. I saw Tay flinch, let go of me, and whirl around to see who it was.

"…t's you…! How did you fi…?" I hear him ask as my senses start to turn completely off.

"…been looking for you ever since you died… powerful magic signature… told you… if we crosse… by the end of your adv… what that would me…" I hear this random person tell him… but I have no idea who she is or what she looks like… Senses are failing me again at the worst possible time…

"…oh, wait! Hey, don't dis…" is the last thing I hear Tay say to me as he reached toward me in hopes of stopping me from blacking out… but… it's too… late… "…Shantae…? Is that you…?"

"N… Can't blame you for… Th… not the first time you've m…"