Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-663

He who fell upon the cruelties of this world.

He who was used as a tool.

He who could not fight against fate.

He was eaten, fragmented into pieces, and his body was used as a 'perfect vessel' by that being.

The companion that he held within his bloodline was eaten and fragmented with him, disappearing as his feelings of despair and hopelessness took his entire soul.

The soul of a future Hero, just how different could it be than that of a normal mortal, or that of a… god?

What did lay within the soul of such being?

He was slowly eaten, absorbed by the eternal darkness, becoming one with the being that used his body as its vessel…

He really had thought that he had died, his mind just shut down as he felt the excruciating pain eat him away…

The pieces of his soul did not simply disappear, they became part of the being.

Theoretically, he was still alive.

But who was he and who was the being?

And as the being absorbed more of such minds, they slowly were assimilated.

He glanced and perceived as all of them became part of the abhorrent being, yet two minds remained within, working with it for some strange reasons that he could not grasp.

He felt weak and fatigued, his thoughts were very slow, and he felt as if his entire being was spread all across a vast world.

He needed to find himself, the fragments within himself…

He felt he perceived… that amidst this chaotic world made by countless monstrous souls, there was hope for him to come back to his family, and his friends…

"I need… to quickly… find it… find… myself…"

He wonders, as his consciousness drift in and out of consciousness constantly.

He finds himself submerged in a sea of eternal darkness, he cannot see anything, yet he feels that the pieces of himself are scattered.

Amidst the darkness, his pieces resemble glowing pieces of golden glass.

"Who… am I?"

He swims through the darkness, he is nothing more than a drifting memory, yet, for some unforeseen power, he holds into the memory as he makes of himself a small being, traveling through the chaotic and monstrous soul.

"I only remember… that I must… protect… my family…" He muttered with fatigue in his voice, as his amorphous body drifts into the shore of a bizarre island within the sea of darkness.

"Where… is this?" he wonders, glancing around him.

He glances at the 'ground' to find that the island was in fact a gigantic piece of pulsating red flesh.

Countless eyes twisting and glancing elsewhere than him, red scales, fleshy blood vessels, ponds of warm blood, fangs, and claws. There are even horns and what seem to be snouts. The bones raise into bizarre pillars, making for a mysterious and bizarre temple.

He discovered that he had reached someone or something.

He walks as he feels the whispers of something, unaware of who it is and what it wants, he himself cannot remember who he is, so there is little fear on his mind other than the desire to find his pieces again.

The unintelligible whispers become louder and more common as he approaches a palm forest, whose tree wood is made out of white bone, while the leaves are fleshy membranes, the fruits resemble eyes that glance at him ominously.

"I'm starving…"

However, he feels only curiosity as he grabs the fruits after a bit of hard work getting up the odd tree, grasping the fruit, and eating it somehow.

"Delicious… Fleshy and bloody, why does its flavor feel familiar?" he wonders, as he walks through the forest while eating many fruits in the form of eyes.

He grows stronger through eating them, as he feels as if his mind and ethereal existence become wider, the power within the soul he was merged with begins to be shared with him.

The whispers become louder, as he reaches a temple made out entirely of bones covered in red scales.

He glances at it with curiosity, as he makes his way in, discovering a series of bizarre labyrinths, he gets lost for many 'days' but manages to get through the hazardous place, finding a room at the bottom of this place.

There, he finds a bright, red-colored piece of a glass-like material, it had a similar nature to his own.

"Who are you…? Ah, you! I… I don't know who are you…" it muttered, incapable of moving, it remains above the bone pillar.

He moves towards it, grabbing it.

"Hey! Where are you carrying me?" asks the red-colored piece.

"You're… I do not know who you are. But I know that I should know who you are… Come with me…" he says, as the piece of red-colored ethereal glass falls into silence.

"You're such a weird kid, but you're familiar to me… I wish I could remember anything,"

"You're the same as me then. We must find our pieces to find ourselves… This strange and ominous place, we must keep exploring… I know that there must be something that we can do…"

"Then let me become part of you so I can be of some help, although this might be a bit awkward…"

"Huh?"

Flash!

Suddenly, the red piece combines itself with him, as both become one, yet two.

He let the immense growth in power and vitality, while the other becomes healthier and his mind clears itself.

"We are one, yet our minds are separated, this is convenient,"

"This is…"

"See? We seem to be compatible. I just had that itch…"

He and the red piece now as one, reach the outside of the ominous bone temple, as they glance at the dark sea.

"So this is the outside world, huh? It looks terrifying…"

"Terrifying? I have been drifting in this sea for how long… I finally reached this place after a lot of time,"

"Hm, so what do we do now? I can sense my other pieces, can you sense yours?"

"I can… to the east, we must go…"

"But how so?"

"A boat we shall build, this island has many materials that we can use,"

"Very well then, lead the way, captain!"

"I am not a captain… but your cheerful nature does brighten my mood,"

He and the red piece, now as one, begin to wonder the island as they gather materials, taking down several bone trees and provisions.

He and the red piece took pieces of flesh from the ground, tasting it and nourishment themselves, while they built a boat.

The boat seemed rather lackluster, it was made entirely out of bones, scales, and many blood vessels entangled around to hold it together, there was also a sack of membrane filled with fruits and flesh for them to eat through their travels.

Although it seemed like nothing in the real world, in this mysterious realm, they took many days to simply reach this point, and finally set off into the sea of black darkness.

"Off we go… This is a bit exciting…" said the red piece.

"A bit, although, this ominous and dark world kills the joy of adventure a bit… For now, let us concentrate on the task, red piece,"

"Red Piece? Is that my new name?! And what is your name? Yellow Piece?" asked Red Piece.

"You may call me however you desire…" said he.

"I will call you… hmm, the yellow piece is way too bland. What could it be then? Hmm... Err... Well... Hmm... Perhaps! No... Ugh, this is hard, Kid! Oh! Right... Maybe that?! Call me… err, Dragon. And I will call you… Kid!" said the red piece.

"Okay, Dragon," said he.

"Nice! Now let's go!"

"It is not like we can go that faster, even with these other bones to move the darkness, it is still way too vast… how long will it take us?" wondered he, as red piece noticed a large storm of darkness approaching them from behind.

"Look at the sky!" he roared, as he glanced at the sky.

Clash! Clash! Clash!

As the storm of eternal darkness where many fleshy tentacles and dragon-like creatures made out of bone and flesh alone emerged, releasing thunders made out of blackness and roars all around.

"GROWL!"

A giant dragon-like creature descended towards them, as it opened its mouth, firing a breath attack made entirely out of the darkness and corrosive poison.

"Shit!" cried the red piece, as he stood still and glanced at the monstrous creature.

"I don't remember who I was… nor what I was… but I remember that this, this power was always within me…" he said, as red piece felt a surge in power within his soul and his.

"Huh? This… Now I remember! Fire! I was always good with fire!" said the red piece.

"Yes… Let's fight back! If we want to find ourselves, we cannot simply let these beings eat us away!"

Flash!

A sudden blade made of flames appeared within his ethereal hands, as he instinctively used a series of slashes that released a storm of blazing flames, flying towards the skeleton and flesh dragon-like monster, the flames seemed to hold a power akin to divine, braking through the breath of the creature and burning its flesh no long after.

"GRRRYYAA…!"

Boom!

"What? We did it!" said the red piece.

The body of the creature fell into the darkness of the water, quickly drifting towards the boat, as he grabbed it immediately with a strength that should not belong to such a small ethereal being such as him, a mere piece of a memory… or well, two stuck together now.

But as it devoured the things within the island, its power increased, and it's whole being growing in quality, due to this, the power exerted had been enough to dispose of this nightmarish being.

The storm slowly approached them, as they quickly set off through the dark seas while making sure to devour the recently caught creature.

Drifting through the dark seas, they faced many dangers within, the storm only dissipated after many weeks, and each time it approached them enough, it would release one or several beasts that would try to eat them, but both persevered, using their newly found powers, the Fire that dwells within their hearts.

And from the depths of the dark sea, horrendous creatures tried to make of them a quick meal, only finding their end by the ones they thought would be their meals.

This world was almost endless, darkness and monsters were the only things that there was, yet both of them, together, we're no longer alone, amongst the endless darkness and terrible monsters, both companions grew together through friendship.

Although they could not recall their memories, they felt as if they were destined to be friends.

Both fragments slowly grew stronger, behind the back of the being that had devoured them, completely unaware that the two that it thought were done for had somehow awakened within his own soul, seeking to put themselves together and reclaim what was theirs.

To reclaim the life that had been unjustly taken away from them.

"This flesh… What is this taste? This power... This is delicious…" he muttered, as he glanced at the nearby island, slowly approaching their boat.

"Indeed, it is very tasty, maybe too much... and we feel like four times stronger than before! Just what is this thing anyway?" asks the red piece.

"Whatever it is, it helped us a lot, the food we gathered already was eaten, but this giant thing ended up helping us maintain our strength…"

"Well, it is not like we didn't hunt a few others, such as that squid-like thing from the dark sea…"

"That one was also tasty,"

Both fragmented souls and memories stuck together as one, glanced at the horizon, where an odd and bizarre island, seemingly made entirely out of blue flesh, appeared within.

Inside of such place, both of them could feel their fragments dwelling within, slowly releasing a trail of essence that called upon them…

"We are here…"

The world is mysterious and vast, and many things that one would think are impossible, might be possible.

The fallen Hero, fragmented and eaten, recalls his past as it finds his pieces to one day be reborn again, while the monstrous being that devoured it plans ahead of its next course of actions alongside its two new minds.

Completely unaware that within these three being's soul merged, a strange and bizarre realm seeped deeply, creating a chaotic world where the Hero would grow strong to reclaim one day what is rightfully his.

But would things go like this?

Just as it was stated earlier, the world is mysterious and unpredictable.

And because of her influence, the fate that entangled every being in the Realm was slowly loosening.

The Supreme that represented destiny gnashed her teeth as she slowly lost the control she always had over everything, as she cursed this insolent mortal and planned many things ahead for her and those that were affected by her.

Would the world maintain its seemingly 'era of peace'?

Not even the one that holds power over destiny knows the answer anymore.