*Tick tock tick tock tick tock*

Rex opened his eyes to a bizarre sight. He was in the middle of a giant chasm surrounded by enormous gears. Its intricate arrangement never-ending, going out into the distance. They all moved rhythmically, thudding at each turn. He noticed he was on a fairly large cogwheel, horizontally place with a rod going through the center. It turned to the left every second, moving Rex along with it.

It seemed that he was in the center of this complex structure. Above him, a giant pendulum swung back and forth.

Rex stood looking around, amazed by the elaborate machinery, but the question remained. Why was he here? Where even is he? He pondered at the thought, his foot tapping the ground.

Suddenly, he heard a screech that echoed throughout the entire area. The gears shuddered in place, each in danger of falling out of their delicate positions. Rex looked up and squinted, seeing something tiny falling towards him. It was a small screw, landing on the giant gear he was standing on with a resounding clink.

Uh oh, that isn't good…

More tiny objects started falling from the sky, followed by gears of various sizes. The screeching returned, slowly getting louder too the point where it was almost deafening. He covered his ears while trying his best to avoid getting hit. It was hopeless, he was being pummeled by tiny gears, nuts, and bolts. A fairly large cogwheel struck him hard on the head, knocking him out. He fell to the floor, watching the place fall apart. His vision was blurring, slowly getting darker.

Right before passing out, he could faintly hear the cry of a girl…

Rex!.

.

Rex woke up with a start, jumping out of his position and collided his head to a tree he was laying against. Small streaks of sunlight gleamed through the canopy of the trees onto the forest floor.

"Ow?! What the-?" Rex cried out in pain as he rubbed the spot on his head.

Wide awake now, he got a good look at himself. He was laying at the foot of a large tree, covered in leaves with some sticking out of his hair. His clothes were all tattered and his shirt covered in dried blood.

Where am I now? He pondered, quickly remembering the events that happened last night.

"That woman! I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind!" He got up, restless to confront her once more but realized that was a mistake. He quickly fell back down, groaning in pain. His previous encounter with Yukari left him sore all over. Numerous cuts and burns covered him, each too sensitive to touch.

"Holy… this hurts like hell!" Rex hissed. He rolled onto his back arms outstretched and started looking around. It seemed like he was in the middle of a forest, green everywhere he could see.

"Wow…" he whispered, impressed with the beautiful environment. "This place looks amazing…" Looking back up, he noticed a human-sized hole from the top of the trees. He put two and two together, figuring out that Yukari's gap had dropped him in the middle of some forest.

Finally done admiring the scenery, he forced himself up, pushing through the soreness. Using the tree to support himself, he stretched out in discomfort, finally loosening his joints and muscles from the cramped sleeping position.

Now… where do I even go from here on out?

He decided to pick a direction and stick to it until he reached something that signaled civilization. Using the surrounding trees, he limped in his hike.

Here goes nothing…

It's been only about thirty minutes into the journey and the sun was setting, but he was already dehydrated. The inside of his mouth had no moisture, feeling as if he just swallowed a mouthful of sand. The walls of his throat were like sandpaper, scratching his throat at every word. It was hell.

"Hoh ma god... " Rex murmured, unable to speak properly with such a dry mouth. "Wata… I need it…" He was reduced to a pathetic crawl.

Out of all the things that could kill me right now... it ends up being thirst... what a way to go...

In the middle of his cries, he heard it. The fountain of life. An oasis in the middle of a desert. It was water!

Or rather he heard the splashes of water nearby. It didn't matter to him as long as it was something to drink. He got up and ran to the source of the sound, his thirst overpowering his aching body.

The surrounding area was slowly getting foggier, a possible sign for a lake! He sprinted through the fog as he could feel the temperature dropping.

There! He could faintly make out the edge of a lake, his vision partially obscured by the emerging mist. Upon reaching the lake, he hastily scooped up the water drinking as much as he could. The cold water revived him, refreshing his body. He felt like a new person, energy back into his system.

He toppled onto his back, panting heavily while wiping his mouth. "Hah… What are the chances… " After solving his thirst problems, he could feel his stomach rumbling.

I haven't eaten in a while… agh, just when I thought I was fine...

Getting back up, Rex began to explore the area. It was nightfall, darkness covering the lake and forest. The heavy fog was making it difficult to see, blocking most of the moonlight. He could only see within an armlength, showing how ridiculously thick the fog was. Running into a tree, he cursed out loud and continued forward.

*BRRRRIINGGGGG*

A resounding ring of a bell echoed throughout the night, waking up the creatures of the night.

What the hell was that?!

Rex suddenly had a chill run up his back. The bushes around him started to rustle.

He did not want to stick around to find out what it was, darting away from the bush and blindly running through the forest.

Fuck that shit, I'm out!

He had no idea where he was going, losing his sense of direction as he swore he could hear more bushes shaking behind him.

Running as fast as he could, small branches whipped across his face while the bushes below scratched at him. He stumbled into a small rocky clearing and got on top of a fairly large rock. Moonlight shined down on him. Using it to his advantage, he started surveying the area in hopes of spotting his pursuer, but the dense fog made it difficult.

What the hell was chasing me?

He continued to scan the area, goosebumps running up his arms. Suddenly, a small shrub shook to his right, quickly turning to it.

As soon as he turned, he blinked and the whole world turned dark.

"Wha- I can't see?!" Rex yelled in surprise, waving his arms in front of him.

As he was panicking, he felt something slam into him.

Rex and his assailant went down to the ground. A sharp pain ran down his back, falling onto multiple rocks. The collision had knocked the air out of him.

Opening his eyes, he realized he still couldn't see and felt his attacker leap on top of him. The assailant was stupidly strong, pinning him down. A vicious grip crushed his wrists, forcing them down off to his sides. Rex squirmed, struggling to get out, but it was impossible.

What is this absurd strength?!

He summoned the stopwatch into his mind, ready to freeze time, but his train of thought was interrupted with a sudden jolt of pain.

Something bit down on his shoulder, the pain was unbearable. I'm being eaten alive?!

The assailant's fangs crushed down on his shoulder. Rex let out a cry, but no sound came out of him. Indescribable pain overtook every sense in his body, his back arching. He tried to shake off his attacker, but the fangs sunk deeper into his flesh, horrific squelches coming from it.

I- I need to do something! He panicked. It was impossible to focus on his ability.

Rex desperately searched for another solution. Thrashing around, he managed to slip an arm through their grasp and blindly scoured the ground for something. Feeling a rock, he picked it up and struck down on his attacker as hard as he could, flinching them. It loosened their grip on him for a split second.

There! It was his only escape!

That split second was all he needed. Quickly, he reimagined the stopwatch and broke it, before he felt the bite squeeze back tightly.

"AHHHHH!" Rex screamed in agony, his voice returning. Time was stopped, briefly giving him a break. Slipping his other arm out, he blindly clawed at his assailant, still unable to see.

Rex needed to get out, but how?! He only had a few seconds left as he could barely maintain the image of the stopwatch in his mind, the pain worsening in his shoulder every second.

An idea formed in his head. He was unsure this would get him out, but he had no chance. He felt around his assailant's face (what seemed to be a feminine figure) and felt an opening where their mouth was from his shoulder. Clawing up dirt from under him, he quickly shoved as much dirt as he could into the opening.

Let's see how you taste this?!

Time continued once more.

What a silly human, thinking he could beat me with some stupid stones?

Rumia had flinched at her food suddenly striking her. Her meal was struggling too much, making it hard to find a proper grip to rip out a chunk of flesh. This was irritating her.

I'll make sure to end this human's life painfully slow.

As she was about to clamp down harder on his shoulder, her mouth was suddenly filled up. A disgusting bitter taste washed over her entire mouth.

"ACK?!" Rumia spat, letting go of the human. Dirt started spilling out of her mouth, gagging at the aftertaste. She released her spell of darkness which let Rex be able to see again.

It worked?! Rex thought to himself, amazed his idea had worked. There was no time to marvel at his success, acting quickly by sliding himself away underneath Rumia.

"Pftttt- wha- hey!?" She felt the human beneath her start to slip away. Her meal was getting fleeing! Spitting out the remaining bits of dirt, she readied for another bite, but before she could, Rex had magically disappeared underneath her. "W- Where did he go?! He was right in front of me!"

She scrambled back up, bewildered. There was no way. How does her meal just vanish into thin air?

At that moment, Rex had started back up time and was already a couple of feet away from Rumia. He had frozen time to get the hell away from her. Now, he was running for his life.

"Agh… get me out of here…!" Rex hissed, running while tightly holding his shoulder. His wound bleeding throughout his black shirt. The area where he was bitten, his short jacket and shirt was torn and ripped apart revealing a large bite mark, bleeding from the fangs of his assailant.

Rumia could hear footsteps and the crackling of the forest floor off to her side. The scent of blood and a blood trail towards that direction made it even more noticeable.

"You won't be getting away from me this time!" Rumia yelled. She started to float off the ground, manipulating the darkness to surround herself and shot forward in search of Rex.

Rex leapt over a fallen log, almost tripping during the process. He stumbled over, but quickly recovered and continued running. Rumia loudly tore through the forest in search of Rex, making it apparent where she was.

There's no way I can avoid her, I can hear her getting closer! He was panicking, thinking of some ingenious way to get rid of her. No idea was coming through to him this time. He was going to be eaten alive.

Rex tightly grasped his shoulder, but it continued to bleed, leaving a bloody trail behind him. He rushed through a cluster of bushes, shooting out at the end, but to his surprise, it led to a declining hill.

"Oh shi-?!"

Bracing for impact, he raised his arms to his face and tumbled down the slope, toppling into trees and bushes that scratched him up. "Oomph!?" He coughed, colliding into a stump that sent him flying and came back down to the ground with a sickening crack.

"A-ah..." Rex painfully gasped, his mouth left gaping wide open, but no words could come out.

The pain was just too much to handle.

He laid there trembling for a brief moment before coming to his senses. Carefully, he got back up slowly, his body throbbing in pain. Getting back on his feet, he realized he couldn't use his opposite arm to hold onto his bleeding shoulder. It had broken in his fall during the landing.

Great, a broken arm, just what I needed. Rex silently swore to himself, but he couldn't run anymore. He was forced back to a crawl. Every action left him in burning agony. This was getting to be too much for him to handle. He was reaching his limit.

Please… for the love of God, please help me!

As if on cue, he could make out a stone wall in the distance. He could barely see it, the night getting darker and his vision faltering due to blood loss.

A man-made structure?! This was the first sign of civilization he had come across in a while. He was beginning to feel hopeful, believing in at least a chance to get some help, but they were suddenly crushed, hearing the cries of Rumia in the distance behind him.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Rumia screamed, furiously yelling at the top of her lungs. It pierced through the silent night, nearly waking every creature in her vicinity. She flew across the sky, the moon illuminating her as she continued to follow the blood scent of her meal.

Enduring through the pain, he stumbled over to the stone wall. Stopping in front of it, he got a closer look at its condition. It was a deteriorating wall, some of its bricks sticking out, but giving it a push, it was still quite sturdy. The wall was only a couple feet above him. Vines covered the entire wall, meaning it must have been here for years.

He knew that he had to get over, but it would be impossible with a broken arm and injured shoulder on separate arms. However, he had no choice. It was either do or die.

Rex could not use his broken arm, but his other one was left functional at the very least. It did burn like hell if he put any pressure on his shoulder, but he had no other option. Gripping onto a jutting stone of the wall, he lifted himself off the ground and put his feet onto a couple of vines.

"Ugh…" Rex groaned, the pain steadily building up. He ignored it as best as he could, riding out the pain. He continued to scale the wall, latching onto hanging vines and small crevices in the wall. His broken arm hung off to his side, climbing with one hand.

Eventually, what seemed like forever, his hand reached the top of the wall, gripping onto the metal railing on top. He hung off the wall, catching his breath and trying to ease the stress put onto his body. "I-I can do this… I just n-need to hold on for a bit longer…" He reassured himself.

That reassurance would soon fade quickly, as he could hear Rumia cry out behind him in the distance.

"YOU!" Rumia howled, finally finding Rex who was about at the top of the wall. "I've been starving all night! Get back here!"

She was pretty far, but she was closing the distance fairly quickly.

Rex started to panic, scrambling up the wall. Clenching his teeth, he hoisted himself up to the top, grabbing onto the metal railing that covered the top of the wall. It hurt like hell, his muscles nearly giving out at that last move.

Finally, upon reaching the top, he leaped off without hesitation and was sent plummeting to the ground. With a crash, he laid there sprawled out and out of breath.

I'm done… I can't move anymore… Rex silently thought, using his last remaining strength on the climb. He tried getting up but he was powerless. I-... I have to move… run… go… His eyelids were flickering, before finally closing. Exhaustion had taken over him, burned out from all the running and torment.

Rumia was floating away at a meter's length from the wall, after watching Rex go over the wall.

"There goes my meal... I can't go after him now...," Rumia sighed, giving up the chase that easily, despite how infuriating it was to her.

She looked at the area Rex had entered. It was territory that she wasn't allowed on. If she was caught in it, she would surely be dead for trespassing.

In the middle of thinking, her stomach started to growl. That human was supposed to be her dinner for the night, but it looks like she'll have to find something or someone else to eat instead.

"If only that stupid human didn't go in there... " Rumia fussed, stomping her feet on the ground. "Hmph, I hope Mystia has some leftovers… or maybe some grilled lampreys…" She started floating to Mystia's home.

Taking one last glance back at where the human was, she flew away. The moonlight shining down on her and the enormous structure behind her. It was a red European-style mansion with a tall clock tower on the roof. The bell rang once more in the night.

*BRRRIIINNGGGGGGG*

Looks like that human's going to end up someone else's food

As you can tell, my upload schedule will be inconsistent. The past month was very busy for me because of school-related stuff so I only had about an hour to work on this every day, some days I just went right to bed. Despite my slow schedule, please do enjoy every chapter that I do manage to release. Let me know about any grammar, lore, or anything else that needs changing in the story. I'm not the best at storytelling or writing, but this is something I want to do as a side thing. Thank you for reading!