Chapter Text
They were screaming. Why were they screaming? All they could feel was pain. The screaming, it wasn’t stopping. It was loud. Why is it so loud? Why does this feel so wrong? Why is? Why this? Why? W̴̠̫͖͖̫͖͎̾̊̆ḩ̷̮̬͓͎̼̗͗̒̄̉͂͊͠y̸̨̛̦̭̪͙̭̹̎̓͂ͅ?̸̩͍̜̀͐̎̃̒
W̴͓̭̜̜͆̋̏̎̅͝͝H̶͎͙̋̑̏̂̏̎̀̽̈́͝Ỷ̸̖͍̰̩̮̣͈̰̹̌̌̈́̓̅̌̐?̴̧͎̝̰̎̓̀
Ḯ̶̪̜̠̞̝̚t̶̨̡̢̺͚̪̦̝̽͋̀̾̇̅̑ ̶̥̊̅̐͋̈̅͛̈́̕̕w̷̡̡̺͚̬̩̩̔͐͂͒͐ͅͅa̶̢͍͉̯̯̟̽̓̏͘͠ŝ̴̡̘̘̹͝ ̶̖̫̳̺̗̳͎͉̖̄̄̊͗̉̔͘s̸̤͂̓͆̅̕͝ǫ̶̻͎̜̭͋̎̈̈́͛̋ ̷̧̢̼̺͕̗̥͙̎̉̈͒͐̎̈́̄͒͘l̵͂̀̚͜͝͝͠o̷͙̜͉̾͐̉͊̒͛̊̚̕͘ủ̴̧̧͕̩̘̳́̈̇͑d̴̲̤̣̜͑̓̎̆͌͋̑͐̽̕
P̴̼̖̭͈̜͔̥͙̲͓̏̋̏̀̅̿̾͛͘a̴̩̭͕̱̯̜̟̋̍͋͛͛͊͆̚͝ị̶̲̿̏́̌͊̑̃̕ṉ̴̨͓̹͕̿̾́̂̃
Ţ̵̛̻̲̬͖͓̻͉͐͋́͒͒̈͠h̴̢̪͈͓̖̓͛̌̾͐͛̕ĕ̴̢̊̀ŕ̵̬̣̤̻̝̣͔̤̬̣͗͌̊̅̃͐e̸͔̹͖̅̀͆̏̓̽̃̽̏ ̸͔̲̲̬͓̻̬̽͂́̏̈̀͂͠͝w̷̦̳̥̥̒̃ȃ̸̠͐̉̉̂͘͝š̵̡̢̰̿̋ ̸͖̘͓̱̜͕̲̻̇̾ͅo̴̧͖̬̗̲͛͌̐n̵̯͉̭̭̰̊̓̓̉̋̚l̴̦̤͒̅̿͆͋͗̍y̸̡̤̝̣̱̰̔ ̷̢̩͖͔̳͇͙̻̈́̃̈͋̽͌̾p̵̧̻͚̯̜̼̺̐́̈́̽a̴̛̛̰̼͗̄̆̈́i̴̘̲͈̩̮̪͛̈́̾̅͋̇̈́̅n̷̼͎̝̪̪̖͍͗͂̓̕̚
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Then it all stopped.
There was nothing. A sudden gasp came from their mouth as they shot up, alert. As their chest heaves their eyes adjust to the light. The sun was rising over the water.
Their body stiff as if they had just awoken. Maybe they had. Their mouth is dry, they need water. There was water right in front of them, in the ocean.
Wait ocean?
Since when did they live near an ocean?
They had never even been to the beach before.
With a sudden alertness, they side up realizing they're in between a building and a seawall. How the hell did they get here? Where even is here?
As they examine the area they realize how different everything feels. Their vision feels slightly sharper, the world seems to be filled with more color. Everything feels tougher under their grasp. But everything felt right like all of this was normal for them. It wasn’t they knew that but somehow they knew that this was it. That this is who they are.
As they finally take a stand they see just how different they appear to be now. They lead over the edge of the seawall at the stirring water below to take a look at themselves.
A tall lanky body with a pale white complexion. With two horns sprouting from the front of their head curving backwards and up. With one hand on the ground, they go up and touch their horns. Definitely real. Their smooth texture is like their claws.
Wait claws?
Looking at their hand they touch their claws, examining their hands.
They look so different than what they did before. But this new form reminded them of something.
They stand up, dusting themselves off. Looking at their new clothes.
They looked semi-formal. With a black button-up jacket laced with golden accents. To their golden-grey undershirt. Even their black shorts had golden accents for crying out loud! Who needed this much gold? They were going to stand out if they went around looking so shiny. Tugging off the jacket their hand grazed their pocket and felt a familiar solid edge.
As they tied the jacket around their waste they reached into their pocket to pull out a box. Much like their outfit, it was a matte black with a golden symbol embellished on each side. The familiar weight resting in their hand. They knew this box.
It was their gear, a forbidden box.
That’s who they were.
They were Forbidden Box.
Their gramps had told them to never open the box unless in a dire situation. That there were dangerous creatures stored within its confines. Locked away from the world, with them as their keeper.
Was this what they were missing? It was so familiar as if there was just one more piece to fall into place. As if they were on the edge of some big realization.
Feeling around their pockets searching for answers they another object and pull it out. It was a wallet, opening it revealed their ID.
Name: Forbidden Box
Phaction: Lost Temple
Spawn Day: 10/15/XXXX
Height: 6’4”
After that they stopped reading, it was useful but they would need more than that to get by. Opening the wallet further reveals they had some money. Quickly counting it reveals 188 buxs. Enough to get by for the day, but not enough to live.
As they put everything back in its place they begin to look around. Not much to see, it seems they awoke in a pretty unorthodox spot. Looking at the building they see a couple of balconies, which must be housing of some sort. They decided to get moving before the homeowners found them and made them move.
They shuffled around the building to an alley beside it, taking one last look at where they woke up before continuing. The sun has fully risen now, as it seems so had others in the area. The streets were slightly crowded as everyone walked to and fro. Without much of a destination in their mind, they decided to just keep moving forward.
As they walked the feeling of deja vu once again overtook them. As if they had seen all of these places before, but not as them. Through someone else’s eyes.
All of these places were so familiar. Everything seemed more and more recognizable as they went further and further into the bustling city.
Yet only certain buildings stuck out to them. A pink cafe, a blue fast-food building, and a skate shop.
Whatever was going on it better go away soon, they were starting to get a headache. The further they headed in the more there was. Cars, buildings, demons, memories, everything was so overwhelming.
At this point, the headache had increased tenfold, as the solely focused on the floor and walking. They didn’t know why they kept going. But they didn’t stop. They couldn’t stop, it was as if something had possessed them driving them forward.
Then it all stopped. There was a calm. Looking up they realized they were under some sort of giant tower. There were screens broadcasting something. It looked like demons were attacking each other. A broad purple figure jumped onto the point, slamming down a huge hammer, and a pink demon sprung up as a giant lotus enveloped one of the teams. The camera pans to a biograph rushing on point, swords humming with electricity and they swung them with dangerous percussion. The battle was neck in neck, as the sounds of allegro express filled the plaza, transitioning to a cappuccino crescendo at the last minute. Zooming out, seeing the two teams on point, relentlessly attacking each other. Hyperlazer’s phisher wiping out 3 on the other team. Slingshot fires at Hyperlazer, killing him. As the other team starts to gain traction. In the final moments, sword throws his sword into the enemy knocking them all off point.
The words, the songs, and the names, all come to them as if the knowledge had always been there, as the music reaches its crescendo. Their eyes scan the screens. Twirling in a circle looking at each broadcast in the plaza. Eyes widened as everything came crashing down on them. As the battle finished all of their memories returned to them in a rush.
Valk and Dom's voices were filtered out in their frenzied state. The roaring sea of memories, they could recall it all. Their inner peace was shattered as they fell to the floor clutching their head. Memories of everything.
Of playing a game.
Of spending time with their family.
Of all the work they had done.
Of their friends.
Of their accomplishments.
Of their failures.
Of their death .
Of their reality .
It was all right there in front of them. Their whole life, and death. Then as soon as it was there, it was gone.
It was over. They knew what they were missing. It was them, or at least of a past life maybe.
Was it even a past life if they couldn’t even remember their current one? What kind of Isekai situation was this? They couldn’t remember any isekai tv shows or books like what they were going through right now. Why the hell had they ended up here, with no memories only to recall them so shortly after their arrival?
Wasn’t there usually a guide or something to this whole reincarnation thing? A system to give them tasks, an entity to prepare them to move on, a sponsor to set up their life here?
Where the hell was all of that? They could have used that help right now. Navigating through the crowd they moved to sit down at a bench nearby.
Gazing up at The Flipside’s show, watching the recap of the phight. All they could do was wonder why.
Releasing the breath they had been holding. They looked around, muttering under their breath, “What the phuck is happening to me.”