Chapter 1a: Mind Fog
Hi there!
You don't look very happy to see me.
Oh… I'm sorry to hear that.
Is there anything I could do to make you feel better?
…Let me introduce myself. My name is-
Winter of 1425 ME
Forests at night sucked. The forest a man was running, or rather limping through was incredibly thick. The trees didn't allow for much moonlight to shine through, and the fact that it was cloudy didn't help either. The man stopped next to a large tree to gather his senses and allow his leg wound given to him by his pursuers to rest. Focusing as hard he could and trying to ignore the ambient sounds of the forest, he listened as hard as he could to see if they were following him.
"We lost him." He heard one of the soldiers say faintly in the background. "Well, he couldn't have gotten far. We managed to hit his leg. Both of you spread out and search." their leader ordered. The man started panicking and got up again to continue running/limping away. He decided that his priorities were to find shelter from the people chasing him, then get something to treat his wound, and finally get some sleep. The man was also getting hungry, but trying to find food while being chased would probably get him killed.
Priority one was fulfilled when he stumbled upon a cave. The man just had to hope that this wasn't some bear or wolf den, because they probably wouldn't be happy to see a human living in their cave rent-free. He also had to hope that those soldiers chasing him didn't come across this cave while he was sleeping, because that would be the end. The man then sat down to figure out Priority two. He just decided to get the cleanest leaf he could find off the ground and tie it around his leg. He hoped that would stem the bleeding for a little bit.
Gathering some more leaves, The man put them in a rectangular shape for his bed. He didn't want to sleep on solid rock. Lying down, he started to reflect on the past couple of days while trying to fall asleep.
Around five months ago the man woke up in this forest with no memory of how he got there. In fact, he didn't remember much at all; he couldn't remember his name, why he was here, or who/what had decided that he didn't deserve his memories. Most interestingly he was wearing some sort of armor. After a thorough search he didn't find anything else, save for a badge on the armor: A torch with wings on it. The amnesiac had woken up next to a river, so he just decided to follow it and see where it would take me. After several hours he discovered his first signs of civilization, a small wooden house and a garden facing the river. But more interesting was the horse person tending to the garden. She had a very pretty looking white coat and a horn coming out of her head. When she saw him, she looked shocked; he would be surprised too if some random person wearing full armor showed up to his house unannounced.
After explaining that he didn't mean any harm, she allowed him inside her cabin. She introduced herself as Sharon. When she asked for his name, the amnesiac explained that he didn't remember anything about myself or this world. Thankfully, she was willing to solve his second problem.
Apparently this world is inhabited by two species, humans and mamono, Sharon being the latter, a unicorn. Mamono were supernaturally beautiful humanoid women, and their one and most important goal in life was to find a human husband to love until they died, unless they were already dead. Sharon explained that they weren't always like this; originally they were horrific abominations that feasted on human flesh. Leading them was someone called a "Mamono Lord" or "Maou" which had ultimate authority over almost every single monster in the world.
Humans were mamono's prey and enemy. Most of them worshiped the Chief God, the main deity of this world. A majority of humanity lived under the Order, a group of city states whose one goal is to protect humanity from mamono. They were also the group who had shot me in the leg with an arrow, so the man was already off to a bad start with them and he didn't even know what he did to anger them. Then there was the story of the current Mamono Lord and her husband.
"So let me get this straight, Lilith and Adam managed to obtain godlike powers just by having sex? And they defeated a literal god?" The man remembered being fascinated by the 986th Mamono Lord's story. Apparently she was one of the very few monsters who managed to overcome their murderous instincts.
He decided to help Sharon around the house in return for her clothing and feeding him, and for a very short time, life was good. Apparently unicorns have powerful healing magic in their horns, so he had asked her to try and fix my amnesia. No such luck, the healing magic only fixes physical damage.
Unfortunately, things took a nasty turn earlier this morning. The man had just taken a walk to gather some herbs for Sharon when he came back to the house and she was gone. It looks like there were signs of a struggle; trampled plants, a broken fence, and a smashed in door. There were no signs of her or the assailant. The man then noticed horse shaped footprints leading north, but there weren't any other footprints, so it looked like she had gotten away safely. Of course, he still wanted to look for her. What sort of house guest would he be if he just absconded at the first sign of trouble?
But the man was also tempted to just run in the opposite direction without looking back. He wasn't a fighter, so what would he do if he came across whoever attacked Sharon? He decided to just hope that whoever attacked her would go down after a couple good punches, or someone that was willing to negotiate.
Back to the present. He finally managed to fall asleep, which wasn't easy since leaves are not comfortable. He then woke up to the sound of a twig snapping. Out of the corner of his eye, there was someone wielding a sword staring at him. There was a cross badge on their breastplate.
Oh no…
Chapter 1b: Deportation
Several hundred miles away, City of Aperia
A six-winged angel sat in her luxurious room in her castle. Her name was Ophelia, and she was the leader of Aperia, the capital city of an organization known as the Arms of the Matriarch. She had created the Arms of the Matriarch after being banished from heaven because she had tried to overthrow the Chief God. Aperia had been a medium-sized neutral city with relatively relaxed rules on mamono; as long as they behaved themselves, they could live in the city and have the same rights as humans.
Ophelia came to Aperia at an opportune time. The leader of the Aperian military had passed away from a disease that was plaguing the city at the time, and using her powers, managed to create a cure for the disease, earning the hearts of the human Aperian citizens. Later the king and queen of Aperia also passed away, and the citizens voted for her to be the new face of Aperia. The mamono Aperian citizens were less enthusiastic to see her, after all, angels were servants of the Chief God and therefore enemies to mamono should they remain uncorrupted.
Luckily for them, Ophelia had come to see them as simply a part of life as opposed to something that needed to be destroyed at all costs. She knew there was absolutely no chance of being able to kill the Mamono Lord, the Chief God failed when the Mamono Lord had just taken the throne and has only gotten stronger since then, so what chance did the Order have? That was also one of her main motivations for attempting to overthrow the Chief God. She hated seeing the Order neglect their citizens, and when confronted with their crimes, they would wave everything off as "all in the name of the Chief God".
Outside of the Aperian Castle, several miles away, a dark valkyrie and her hero-turned-husband approached the castle.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? You know how she reacts to corrupted angels." the hero asked.
"It will be ok. Trust me. Just stick to the script, don't say anything that will piss her off, and everything will be fine."
Both of them slowly walked towards the gate of Aperia. A guard in a nearby watchtower panicked at the sight of the fallen angel approaching the city. He immediately left to warn his fellow guards.
"Guys. Guys! Dark Valkyrie!" he yelled. "Coming in from the east!"
A hero and 25 knights poured out of the gate. The dark valkyrie slowly pulled out her sword, and dropped it on the ground. Then she dropped her bow, and her knife. The dark valkyrie's husband followed suit. The hero looked at the two of them, confused, then spoke.
"What are you playing a-"
The dark valkyrie pulled a medallion out of her pocket and held it in the air for him to look at. "Take me to Ophelia, please."
"Milner, you know I can't bend the rules." Ophelia paced around her office, the dark valkyrie and her husband looking dismayed.
"But you allow mamono to live in the Aperia! Why can't we live with them?!" Ophelia felt guilty, but this had to be done.
"Milner, I specifically stated that romantic relationships with your trainee are against the law. It gives the Fallen God a chance to corrupt our nation. You're lucky you were outside when you and 131 decided to fu-"
The dark valkyrie's husband slammed his fist into the table, denting it. "My name is Danik! Not '131'! And we had no intention of corrupting Aperia either! We just want a place to live!" he screamed.
Ophelia sighed. Time to use her trump card. "I'm sorry, but you do not get a choice."
Using her magic, she pulled a document out of a small portal and pointed at a line at the bottom. "I believe this is YOUR signature, Milner. I wish I didn't have to do this, but pure, untouched angels that can think for themselves are a dying breed." The dark valkyrie looked at the bottom of the paper.
I, Milner Evangelista, agree to permanent relocation to a mamono realm should I be monsterized.
Milner looked at the document in shock, then back down at the ground.
"Fine. You win. I hope you're happy, Ophelia. I guess Polove would be a nice place to live…" she mumbled.
"Good. Thank you for your service to the Aperian Military. Your belongings have been packed up and sent to the Eastern Gatehouse. A carriage will be ready in 30 minutes. Both of you are dismissed." The two of them slowly got up and left the room.
"Don't worry Milner, everything will be fine. Polove is a nice place to live." Danik tried to comfort his wife. "Just know that I'm here for you until the end. Okay?" He hugged her. Milner smiled sadly.
Ophelia watched the two of them walk away from the castle. I'm doing the right thing. They will be happy.
