"…"
"…. Eh?"
The girl removed her fingers out of Akrema stomach, before moments later Akrema backed away, alarmed and scared, while trying to hold her stomach as the blood began pouring out of it.
"…W-why?" – asked scared Akrema.
"Why?" – said Shuten while licking the blood off her claws.
"Oh, please child."
"I'm oni."
"Did you really though that "Oni" was your friend of all things?"
"You are just cute and innocent child…. With is why it was worth an wait."
"Oni don't eat their prey from get go."
"No, no, no."
"We fill them up with fear, despair, anger and all sort of negative emotions."
"This makes our victim meat taste way better!"
"?!" – Akrema backed away in fear as the oni monster smiled at her.
"What is wrong?"
"Couldn't you tell?"
"The monster from before wanted to kill you."
"These monsters now tried to kill you."
"And I'm monster myself, so what to say I wouldn't kill you?"
"By the way, are you just going to run away?"
"It's boring mate."
"And honestly, you are fully aware that you cannot escape, can't you?"
"So common! Fight! Fight! Show me despair as you struggle to fight back!"
"I mean, I can somewhat promise you that it will hurt way less if you would fight back!"
"!"
(D-dammit! Forget fighting back! She straight up one shoted all 3 of these monsters!) – though Akrema as she looked at hand covered in her own blood.
(I'm going to get KILL!) – though Akrema as her thoughts began getting filled with the monster bear from before.
"…"
(Oh. This is interesting.) – though Shuten.
Shuten suddenly rushed, alarming Akrema who instinctually swiped with her hand like claws, trying to hit Shuten, only for the oni to step back, dodging the attack.
"So, you stopped pretending?" – asked Shuten with an smile.
"?"
"Pretending?! What the fuck are you talking about?" – said confused and alarmed Akrema.
"Your arm." – said Shuten.
"Its not an human arm, is it?"
"?"
Akrema looked confused at the oni…. But then she looked at her arm with horrified expression.
Her hand was partially covered in hair and her nails had grown, turning partially into claws.
"?!"
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" – shouted horrified Akrema.
"W-what…. What did you do?! What did you done to my arm?!"
"ANSWER ME!"
"…."
"Hm…." – Shuten did not replied and instead just stared at the Akrema.
"Want to hear the answer? Nope. Its not my doing." – said Shuten before then rushing at Akrema who tried defend herself with her arms, causing her second arm to also transform, but even that wasn't enough as the girl ended up having her defense broken and then getting tossed to the ground.
*Cough* *Cough*
"?!" – Akrema tried getting up, but then she saw her other also transformed.
"SHIT?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" – shouted Akrema who got distracted by her second hand, only to then kicked by the oni and end up rolling on the ground again.
"…."
"F-fuck you…" – said Akrema while trying to catched an breath and standing up, only to again get horrified by her own hands as she saw them together, but then quickly getting herself together as she looked towards her oni.
"…"
"Hm…"
"Tell me. What is your favorite music?" – asked Shuten.
"…W-what?" – asked Akrema.
Shuten stomped with her feet, cracking the ground with ease.
"I said. What is your favorite music?" – asked Shuten again.
"…"
"I… I don't really have one, if I were to say one then maybe some battle themes from the games are the things I like?" – said confused Akrema.
"What is your favorite food?" – asked Shuten.
"…. Spicy chicken breast?" – replied confused Akrema.
"Hm… I see, I see." – said Shuten.
"Then how does the sour food taste?"
"???"
"Well. It taste FUKING SOUR! Sour food taste sour! What kind of question is this?!" – shouted Akrema.
"Did you ever tasted it?" – asked Shuten.
"OF COURSE I FUKING ATE SOUR FOOD!" – shouted Akrema in confusion and anger.
"Hm…. Okay. That will do it." – said Shuten.
"Okay. You win."
"…."
"Wut?" – replied confused Akrema.
"You win. Congrats." – said Shuten with smile.
"…."
"I ain't falling for it." – said Akrema who still had her guard up.
"Oh? You say that, but didn't you saw me obliviate the entire monster body by just smashing it against the ground?" – said Shuten.
"Your arms looks beastly, but their durability is only bit stronger than that of a humans and something you can easily replicate by building up solid muscles."
"If I really wanted to play with you, then I would from get go rip apart your arms while still holding back."
"Let me tell you this other way around."
"You said that monster that attacked you had an ability to transform from an dog to an brown bear."
"But how do I know you are telling an truth?"
"…"
"What do you mean?" – asked confused Akrema who was still not letting down her guard.
"Well, lets just say…. "YOU" are this monster." – said Shuten.
"How do I know if you are not that monster that attacked the girl and then just taken on her form later on, pretending to be her?"
"!"
"But I'm not!" – shouted Akrema.
"And how can you prove it?" – said Shuten.
"Your hands aren't that of a human. Isn't this an prove you are not an human but an monster?"
"!"
"I…. I…." – Akrema stared at her hands in confusion and fear, not knowing how to response.
(Now that she says that…. Something was off from the get go…. My body was completely destroyed and I should be dead…. And now these…. These…. THESE HANDS?!) – though Akrema.
(Am I really an monster?)
"But by the look of things you are really just a human." – said Shuten.
"…. What?" – said Akrema.
"As I said, you are really human." – said Shuten.
"Honestly, sorry for the whole attack and the pretending from the moment we met, but I needed to make sure you are "you" and not something else, for example that monster that could change forms that you had encountered."
"What if you were to rip my head off the moment you gained my trust? How can I tell if you are human or an monster if you can forms?"
"An questions ones needs to ask in order to ensure their own survival."
"However, congratulation. You had passed my little test. You have proven that you are "human"."
"…"
"Oh, don't look at me." – said Shutten before then walking towards the nearby building debris and picking up an giant piece of it, alarming Akrema who then saw the oni easily smashing the debris.
"See? I can just snap your bones like that instantly." – said Shuten as Akrema finally understood the situation and let her guard down.
"I can still easily kill you ass, so resisting isn't even an option." – said Shuten as she started approaching Akrema.
"Anyway, let me heal ya." - said Shuten before putting her hand into something air, straight up partially disappearing, showing as if the space around the oni hand ended up getting distorted.
(WTF?!) – Akrema stared confused.
"Ah, here." – said the oni as she took her hand from the distorted space, taking an bottle of vodka.
The oni opened up the bottle and began drinking some of the alcohol from it, before then spitting it at the Akrema wound.
"?!"
"THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" – shouted furious Akrema.
"Shut it and look at your wound." – said Shuten.
"?!"
"?"
"?!" – the angry was suddenly shocked as she saw the wound that she had received from the oni began healing at rapid rate and before long, it completely healed.
"I'm called drunk oni for an reason kiddo." – said Shuten with smug look.
"Call it my specialty! You may call it alcohol magic or something."
"Simply put, if I have any sort of alcohol I can do all sort of magic tricks and stuff."
"Including this simple thing called healing."
"…."
Akrema looked at her hands and saw that they still remained the same.
"Hm? You think I can heal that? Nah, forget it. It's your doing." – said Shuten.
"?"
"My doing?" – asked confused Akrema.
"Yeb. You were the one that transformed your hands into this and you can probably turn them back." – said Shuten while drinking some of her vodka.
"I can say that you activated it by accident via survival instincts, but even so it is still weak and probably easily reversable."
"Let's try this method."
"Look at your hands. Trust me."
"…. Okay." – said Akrema as she looked at her hands.
"Look at them good…. Now. Close your eyes."
"Now imagine your hands, move them and feel them…. Once you get an good image think about your human hands, as the ones you had before they transformed."
"Imagine your hands slowly transforming, changing shape and just becoming your normal human hands. Try to force it and feel it."
"…."
"…."
"!"
"I feel something?! What is it?!" – said Akrema.
"Keep the focus and use that weird feeling you are having, try and use it as an tool to sculpture your hand." – said Shuten.
"Easy for you to say!" – said Akrema.
"…."
"…"
"Okay. Open up your eyes. – said Shuten.
"…?"
"?!"
"M-my hands!" – said Akrema as she stared at her now completely normal hands.
"See? It wasn't that hard?" – said Shuten.
"…"
"What is it? Are you not satisfied?" – asked Shuten.
"…. No…. Its just…. I have way too many questions." – said Akrema with serios expression that did shown an hint of panic.
"What is this place? What was with that crack? Who are you really? What happened to my body? Why am I not dead? Why my hands turned into those things?"
"And most importantly, what is the deal with those things that attacked me… Especially about that weird bear monster that should had murdered me!?"
"What the fuck is going on?!"
"And don't you say you don't know! I maybe panicking and shitting in my pants right now out of pure confusion and chaos, but I can well damn tell that you have answer to most of these answers if not all!"
"Huh. I guess you still can somewhat think straight up and properly about stuff, even though you are panicking." – said Shuten.
"Anyway, you are right. I know the answers to your questions, specifically I know answers to all of your…. Well, not exactly all. I know answers to everything expect one thing, the creature that attacked you. I think I know what MAY have attacked you, but not its true name."
"So, with that said, I don't want you to get annoying or something, so I will do in my power to answer your questions."
"But lets move while we are at it since I don't want to waste any time."
"You good to go?"
"…."
"Honestly, I don't know…. But I think I can just in case in my current state." – said Akrema.
"But what if more of these monsters attack?"
"Nah. Don't worry about it. I will try and avoid the combat and even we do end up running into something, I will just murder their asses, so don't worry about your safety." – said Shuten.
"You say that, but I was mauled sometime ago and you also stabbed me right in the guts!" – said angry Akrema.
"…"
"Well then, its time to go." – said Shuten as she began walking away.
"HEY! DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" – said angry Akrema as she quickly catched up to and began fallowing Shuten
"…"
*Sigh"
"Okay…. Most obvious question first…. What is this place?" – asked Akrema.
"Well…. This is unknown and known world that nobody can give you an proper answer." – said Shuten.
"I will tell you about this world that I DO know…. And most importantly the creatures that live in this world."
"Let me ask you this first."
"What do you think of the fantasies? History? Myths? Or any form of stories?
Each one has its own story, own characters, own lore.... But what do you say it "doesn't have anything"?"
"What if those stories would just.... Shatter? Just like that."
"Call them shattered, unknown or fake.... But the fact remains that these "Different" stories are themselves and now, these stories gained the lifes of their own."
"This entire world is the world of stories that took their own form that. This is their world."
"You can call this world an shattered mirror, but in reality it's not that. It is own thing."
"This world doesn't have real name, but right now people call it "World of own stories" or if you want to go by an simple name: Peran."
"?"
"Peran?" – said Akrema.
"It's an Greek word that is something about "other side" or "beyond", if I remember correctly. I didn't picked the name." – said Shuten.
"Anyway, this world as you could say is somewhat similar, but also completely different from the world you came from." – said Shuten as the due entered an cave made out of roots and Shuten snaped her fingers, creating fire on the tip of her fingernail in order to create light source.
"By the way, if you are thinking this is some sort of apocalypse world, then you are wrong. The world you came from is still alive and kicking."
"And it is possible to return to it, but I will explain it all in the moment. For now, I will focus on explaining about this world, since this is far more important."
"…."
"You were saying stuff about fantasies, history and myths. What is the deal?" – asked Akrema.
"Well, these stories could be said that they were "manifested" and "given life"."
"Person from the myths, Odin. Person from the history, Napoleon. Person from the fantasy, Peter Pan."
"These stories were given form and had manifested into the world."
"But before you say anything about "Dead coming back to life", it's not that."
"I mean that their stories had given birth to the "things" that were birthed from them and posses the form of these characters, monsters, heroes and villains."
"So no matter if they are fictional or real, they will gain their lifes here."
"But as I said before, "they are not them", these creatures are completely separated beings."
"…"
"So, wait…. Are you….?" – said Akrema.
"I get what you are talking about, but I'm not. I'm the real Shuten Doji that live on the same earth as you." – said Shuten.
"I know, I know."
"Shuten Doji was slain by the Minamoto no Raikō. But that is the told story. I'm an proof that this story did not ended this way, since I'm alive."
"Anyway, let me continue."
"Those creatures that are born from these stories and legends are called "Tales"."
"You know what Tales means in English, right?"
"Of course I do." – said Akrema before moments later the duo left the cave and the oni extinguished her flame.
"…"
"Nice view, isn't it?" – said Shuten as the due looked to the side and saw an forest alongside an giant lake that is also mixed up with the modern buildings that are somewhat stable state.
"Yea…." – said amazed Akrema as she observed the scenery.
"…"
"Anyway, let me continue." – said Shuten as she resume walking alongside Akrema.
"These Tales are…. Well, they are hollow."
"?"
"Hollow?" – said Akrema.
"Well, to be more exactly, they are incomplete."
"These stories do not belong to nobody."
"These stories don't have proper existence."
"These stories are lacking."
"These stories are not stable."
"And most importantly."
"These stories are not "Themselves"."
"?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" – asked confused Akrema.
"How am I supposed to know?" – replied Shuten.
"All I know that these stories came to be and came to life."
"However, as I said, they are incomplete and that they are not "themselves". You could call them an mirror or maybe just some pages without their own identity."
"An nobodies that cannot be really called "nobodies" since they are nothing….. "Yet"."
"These creatures are not necessary evil or good. They are just moved by their instincts and instincts that completely controls them."
"COMPLETION."
"These beings wants to be completed, they want it, they feel it, they need it. They cannot help themselves."
"They don't have their own mind or ability to think, only instincts with the "NEED FOR COMPLETION" being the dominated instincts."
"However, its not really completion, more like…. They want to be "born", they want to become "themselves"."
"They want their own "identity"."
"But their own existence isn't it." – said Shuten as she jumped down, before then Akrema fallowed behind.
"To be more exactly, their own existence isn't enough to become "something"."
"And that "isn't enough" part is very important."
"Imagine that their existence is an bottle."
"The bottle can contain over an 1 liter of liquid and their own existence value is an half of it."
"Now, here comes the question."
"How do you fill the remaining half?"
"Simple put, you take it from somebody else."
"These "TALES" murder each other, destroy each other and devour each other."
"They take their stories and their mix them with their own being, using their own and taken stories to create an bran new story, an brand new self, an brand new identity."
"These beings are known as "Autos", an Greek world that translate to "self"."
"Anyway, these Autos are being of their own."
"Unlike Tales that are just mindless beast without any sort of mind and identity, the Autos are beings that had gained an sense of "self" and became "themselves"."
"So…. Are they like two stories combined? For example, they would be both Siegfried and Oda Nobunaga?" - asked Akrema as she the duo entered the destroyed building that appeared to be once an office.
"I know what you are trying to say and I will say it straight. The answer is "No"."
"The two stories are mixed up, changed and fused, creating something brand new that is similar, but is also completely different from them. An "New story" and "new being"."
"The stories that were used to make them are no longer "them". Sounds stupid and complicated somewhat, but there is really no other way of putting it."
"For example. Let say that the Autos was formed by combining the Tales of the saint Jeanne D'Arc, the holy patron and saint of the France and the saint Martha, the one that defeated the dragon tarasque with her prayers."
"Two holy saints that are definition of a "good guys", right?"
"But that does not mean that the Autos will be same like them."
"The combination from these two saints may not result in the new saint being born, but instead an evil monster."
"Somebody that enjoy torturing, raping, murdering and all sort of stuff."
"She ain't praying to the gods and ain't an holy virgin."
"She may not care about virginity at all and just give into lust, having sexual actives all day while also sometimes torturing people to death as some sort of hobby."
"Two saints may pray to the god, but the creation made from their stories may pray to the devil itself."
"You get the picture?"
"They are "not" them."
"Their stories "gave birth" to them, but they are also no longer part of their stories."
"The birth could also make some differences that you would find it weird."
"Let me tell you like this with basic combination and what result there could be."
"Two men result in woman."
"Two woman result in men."
"Two humans result in an monster creature that does not look remotely human."
"Two monsters may result in human looking creature."
"Two evil villains that are total scumbags may end up being an paladins of justices."
"And two holy saints may end up as nothing more than worse evil there is."
"Many different stories may end up many different outcomes that may be something similar to "them", but can also be something completely different."
"Imagine an mirror. Two figures from two stories are reflected in those mirrors. Then you take an hammer and shatter both of these mirrors that still holds the reflection of the two characters and then you just melt the mirrors themselves to create an brand new mirror with it has its own reflection, an reflection born from the two stories. That is the Autos."
"In nutshell, the Tales will do anything in their power to "become something" and they are not really in control, it's just their instincts controlling them."
"Once they finish up their "self", they will be born, giving birth to an new creature that is really "self" and "alive" known as Autos."
"And here comes the creature that attacked you." – said Shuten as she stopped in place and sat down on the random debris.
"The creature that attacked you was definitely Tale."
"And the reason why it attacked you was in order to "complete" and "give birth to itself"."
"…. Wait, but I'm not Tale." – said confused Akrema.
"Yeb. You are not. You are flesh and blood human. Ain't some legends that are told tales about or anything like that." – said Shuten.
"But who said that you need another Tale to complete themselves?"
"Your existence can also be used to "give birth"."
"?!"
"Wait, stop right there and now!" – said Akrema.
"You said, that this monster that could transform, it wanted to fuse with me?"
"Not fuse. Give "birth"." – said Shuten.
"The two sides will become one, but also be no more. So, it is both an fusion and its not fusion, since what would happened would be an completely brand new being."
"And that is the desire, need and instincts of the Tales."
"The reason why it tried to destroy you was so that you two would become one and give "birth"."
"…."
"But…. I'm…. I'm still "me" and if I remember correctly I was at the dead bed." – said Akrema.
"I should had died!"
"But I'm here and my body is somehow okay, even though I should had died from those injuries."
"There is also the whole transformation part with my hands."
"Just like that beast that attacked you, isn't it?" – said Shuten.
"Yea, it…..Is?" – said Akrema as her expression completely changed to that of an terror.
"…."
"…"
"S-Shuten…W…. What…. Am I?"
"Am I "Not" myself?!" – said Akrema as her entire face was covered with terror.
"Nah. You are still you. You weren't "birthed". You are still Akrema."
"However, you are not the same Akrema that came to this bizarre world."
"It seems that somebody had saved you before the "Tale" could had become one with you."
"And as for the Tale that attacked you…. Well, I know what had happened to it."
"You became it."
"That monster became part of you."
"…"
"What?" – said Akrema.