Charisk: Charatale

Charatale: Episode 50 - Partner

Charatale: Episode 50

I awaken in a rush of adrenaline.

My sense of sight was the first to come back to me. Shortly afterwards, the overwhelming sensation of petals... I was surrounded by them: a flourishing field of golden flowers — they must've cushioned my fall.

I could suddenly hear the sound of my panicked breathing, not long before a dreadful ring in my ears causes me to propel myself to sit upwards. I still can't make sense of it... I look around the dim, clammy cave I seemed to have fallen down into — the only source of light being the rays of sunlight peering down from the large crevasse above.

It's all so familiar, yet something doesn't feel quite right. I've been here before, haven't I? So why does it feel... slightly off?— Like everything I've been able to make out thus far has been tuned up to the maximum.

I've never given it this much thought, yet everything feels so real...!

It's like I've just awoken from a terrible, terrible nightmare, and I'm just now coming to my senses. Like, I was stuck in an endless purgatory, and the sudden shift in scenery is causing my brain to work in overdrive.

Agh.. J-Just calm down and think. I can answer all of these questions, right?
No matter how surreal they seem.

M-My name is-

I...

I don't-

I've been here... many-a-time, haven't I?

This is... This is the Underground?

Hundreds of years ago, it was here that humanity banished monsterkind, sealing them within its confines using a powerful, magical barrier.

And I'm... I'm a human too, right?

Right... I-I had a family. A mother & father...

Wh-Who... Who are mother and father...?

Why can't I remember who they were...?!

...

Oh.

No, that's right.

It's cause they aren't family.

They never were my family.

They never wanted to be my family.

The monsters were my family.

And...

And I killed them.

I killed them all.

...

The memories come rushing back. In a fit of panic, I stand up and back away from the field of flowers. My vision flashes back and forth towards my hands... the inexplicable feeling of dust covering my palms almost distracting me from the visions of the innocent monsters I relentlessly murdered.

My head begins to throb. The pain... The feeling of my sins weighing on my neck | the feeling of my sins crawling on my back... it's too much for me to bear.

Those monsters... no, those PEOPLE. They feared me- ran away from me. It wasn't a matter of self-defense anymore... at the time, I enjoyed seeing them suffer. They begged for their lives; they tried to stop me... they tried to halt my progress the best they can to make sure everyone else was evacuated safely.

They weren't just mindless animals acting off survival instinct. They were intelligent beings with empathy and fear... the empathy to protect those I was ruthlessly targeting, and a cold, rearing fear of death.