Chapter Text
The world was a much different place now. It had all happened so fast. You went to bed one night, expecting the same life when you woke up, but everything had changed. There were monsters roaming your apartment complex, creatures that were once ordinary people.
All they did was look outside.
There was something out there, filling up the entire sky, that changed the world forever. You didn’t even bother looking outside after watching one of your neighbors take a peek.
You had gone over to check on them after seeing people literally turning into mush and sliding through the cracks underneath their front doors.
Right as you managed to get their door open, you saw them float away into meaty chunks into the sky. The curtains closed and you decided you wouldn’t dare get close enough to the windows until you had proper answers.
You took your neighbor’s cat into your home and hunkered down.
You didn’t come out until the authorities, or at least, what was left of them, came knocking on your door. Even then, it took a lot of convincing to be encouraged to open your door.
There were a few people left over in your apartment complex, ones that had managed to survive. A good chunk of them weren’t even human anymore. Most of them had shifted into creatures that your mind could barely comprehend.
Beasts with multiple limbs and eyes, piles of flesh, insect-like creatures. But they were still human deep down inside as they conversed with you like they had done before. They were just a bit different looking now.
They were called the Cursed.
They made up a giant part of the population now. That’s what you were told when you were finally able to go back outside. It took a very, very, long time for you to even step outside of your building, even with the authorities trying to drag you out.
But the sky was normal.
It took fifteen days, fifteen whole days for this to pass and even so, about twenty-five percent of the human population was wiped out with even animals being affected by whatever had fallen over the planet.
Odd, tendril-like trees had been sprouted everywhere too. The people who were acutely aware of them treated them like they were people and it didn’t take too long afterward for you to find out that the trees were once ONE person.
One person had been changed by the sky entity so much that they now covered the entire planet.
Why?
Life was mundane and repetitive, sure, but you definitely didn’t want something so catastrophic and horrible to come and change everyone’s lives!
Survivor’s guilt plagued for a little bit after the sky cleared up and you wondered why you hadn’t been affected by whatever it was that had changed all of those people. But that was besides the point now.
Now you had to continue on with your life.
Even without those you had been acquainted with. Most of your family had perished, leaving you to start anew. It was like being born again, getting a do-over of the worst kind. You stuck out like a sore thumb, being completely normal looking compared to those around you. The world felt lonely.
Work wasn’t hard to come by, though, and you found yourself integrating back into a regular schedule. Everything had changed, though, truly. Grocery stores were stocked by individuals with hundreds of arms and cashiers with clusters of eyes helped you buy your items.
At first, you thought you had simply perished and this was all a strange dream, but life continued on.
That was two years ago.
The world was now almost fully recovered with many Cursed living somewhat ordinary lives. You were once again living a repetitive life. But you had your cat, and the Visitor had made you realize something.
You were small in the grand scheme of things and your life could be snuffed out at any moment. You needed to make a change. You only live once, or something like that. Maybe something like this would happen again in the future, so you couldn’t live out your remaining days working a boring job and not having a social life.
It was time to change.
The trees, once a man, were your ideal go-to person to talk to. They didn’t speak back, but their knowledge of the human race helped them aid those around them. They, in all honesty, were the reason everything had returned to some kind of normalcy so quickly.
So you’d ask them for help.
“World Tree,” It was cold outside, a foggy morning when you decided to roll out of bed and give it your all, “I need help.”
The branch, fleshy and covered in tendrils, slithered over to place itself relatively close to you. It pointed its tip toward you, like it was listening.
“I don’t want to keep living my boring life. I know everything has changed, but I don’t feel like I have. I feel…” You sighed, “Like- maybe I should have perished when the Visitor was here.”
The tendril immediately wrapped around you, hugging you. You hugged it back, holding onto it and confining in it like an old friend.
“What do I do?”
The tree backed up, sliding away on the ground before moving a single, tiny, red tendril to press against your chest.
Where your heart was.
It was a dopey, cheesy thing to do, but you did feel a wave of determination and warmth run through you. The world tree was everywhere, witnessing everything, and this was the answer it gave you.
You should probably listen, then.
“Thank you,” You smiled at the tentacle-like creature, “I’ll remember that.” There wasn’t much else you could ask it for right now as a few others had gathered for the tree’s wisdom. The bigger parts of the tree had altars or temples where people could converse with it. This particular branch was outside, helping as many people as it could.
If this tree used to be one, single person, well, you couldn’t imagine how long it took for them to get adjusted to such a massive, overwhelming form.
You watched as a Cursed approached the tentacle, holding out a bouquet of flowers. They were covered in a cloak, dark, and adorned with intricate designs. They sounded mechanical, whirring and clicking with every move they made.
“H-here you go, Sam. I-I hope you’re doing well.”
The tentacle took the flowers, holding onto them before setting them down carefully. Could it smell?
You turned away, deciding the head into town to ‘follow your heart’. It was a broad way of solving the issue, you realized, but, in a way, it was the perfect solution. Your life was fragile, and you could be snuffed out at any moment. You weren’t going to party all of your money away, but you were most certainly going to start focusing on your bucket list.
Heading to the card shop was your first idea.
You have always wanted to play a campaign of Mazes and Wizards, but you never had someone to lead the campaign. There was always a good chunk of people hanging out in the local card shop, running their campaigns and playing various, nerdy games.
Now was the time to look into such things, especially if that sky-creature, the Visitor, was ever going to come back. The devastation might be even worse next time, especially if the Visitor had ill-intent.
Thankfully, the shop was nearby, and you quickly found yourself reading the signs pasted to the door.
There were some establishments that showed disinterest in certain people depending on if they were Cursed or not. This store, thankfully, posted that they welcomed both Cursed and Unturned alike!
You never shopped at places that didn’t allow Cursed. The hatred reminded you of ancient history, something that should’ve been left in the past. But there were people out there, unfortunately, that didn’t trust them.
Some Cursed had behavioral issues, of course, given the fact that they’ve been mutated in every possible sense, but that was only a slim part of the populace. The Cursed that acted out violently were swiftly dealt with by the World Tree and rehabilitated.
So there really was no need for such distrust. But Humans were Human, still built on hatred and disgust, focused on keeping their ‘kind’ together. You didn’t understand it, seeing as everyone was probably Human at some point.
You were all in this together, that’s how you viewed it.
There was only one establishment that didn’t allow Cursed in your town, and you never even glanced at it. Reading the sign was enough to make sure you never gave them a dime.
Turning your attention back to the card shop, you entered. Your skin prickled, there was an electric feel in the air, a buzzing you had experienced in a while. Anxiety ate away at you, your chest started to rise and fall at a quicker pace.
Were you really going to approach a bunch of strangers and ask them about the game?
You started to look around, everything on the walls was so intimidating to you. All of these different board games, bits and bobbles for other various games, paints made for miniatures, a whole wall of miniatures.
Practically spinning, you were finally forced to halt as you collided with something or someone.
“I’m sorry!” You apologized before you could even turn around.
“O-oh! It-it’s okay!” The figure that you bumped into faced you. They were Cursed, obviously, and, in fact, they looked a bit familiar to you.
Aha! They were the Cursed that gave the flowers to the part of the World Tree!
But that was all you knew about them. You didn’t know their name or why they were here.
“I should’ve been paying attention,” You continued, “I’m just… really overwhelmed by all of this.”
The larger figure finally faced you fully. Geez, they were quite large. Cursed came in varying sizes, some being as small as insects and others being as big as the New Gods. He was large in more ways than one, built like a bus.
Every time he moved, your ears were met with an array of clicking and whirring sounds. He definitely sounded mechanical underneath the adorned cloak he was wearing. The cloak itself was a deep blue, like the night sky, dotted with embroidered stars and patterns.
His eyes were wide, perfect circles, staring down at you.
“Really? I find it q-quite soothing.” He smiled softly, “D-do you… maybe… n-need some help?”
“That would be perfect,” You sighed. Finally, some sort of guide to help you on your journey! “I really know nothing about this stuff.”
“Wh-what brings you in h-here?” He pressed.
“Ah, well, I sort of realized that you only live once, or whatever, and I was hoping to at least play one campaign of Mazes and Wizards-”
The Cursed let out an audible gasp, a long, surprised sound that made you jump a little bit. “R-really!? O-oh! Do you need a DM?”
“I… do… actually.” Well, this was a bit strange. There was absolutely no way in the high Heavens this guy was just placed here for you to find. But then again, this was the right place to go looking for someone like him, wasn’t it?
“Awesome! W-well… I have a new campaign I-I’ve been wanting to try… do you…” He started to tap his fingers together, “Want to play?”
Of course you were going to say yes.