Suddenly the world turned quiet.
The voices were muted before reappearing as a rumbling noise.
The noise quickly expanded to fill every oxygen atom, leaving Luca gasping for air.
It wasn't just around him anymore—it was him.
His heartbeat turned from a pounding drum to a crackling tin can, giving a warning for the bolt of electricity yet to strike.
As it hit, the last of the air in his lungs was expelled.
Sound vanished again.
For a moment, he thought the world had ended.
The silence began to move, crawling beneath his skin, humming where veins ought to be.
He tried to scream, but the air that had left refused to come back.
His eyes trembled before the scenery, as if trying to induce some empathy from the skies.
Then a sudden gush of fresh air hit his face as he took a deep breath, filling him with a cold sensation spreading from his lungs to the tip of his fingers.
He started breathing heavily, believing this was his last opportunity to do so.
A dizziness filled his head as his vision started to unblur.
As his eyes began to focus, a busy street came into view.
The street bore a resemblance to a place from Luca's hometown. However, it was only a resemblance, nothing more.
He knew this was not a place anywhere close to what he was familiar with.
As he looked down, he could gauge the state of the town.
The ground wasn't soil or stone, it was something between them.
The dust clung to his boots, stubbornly refusing to let go.
"What just happened...? Where am I…?"
As he yelled out, Luca looked around at the different buildings surrounding him.
The walls were half clay, half rotted timber, and were patched with either straw or cloth.
The roofs were not tiled but layered with tar-stained planks, slate fragments, or flattened scraps.
Most buildings had a chimney, however, the smoke that came out from those chimneys was both dark and heavy.
"It looks like an old village…"
Correct
Luca instinctively grabbed a piece of wood lying by his feet and thrust it towards the sky.
His legs were shoulder-width apart. Knees slightly bent, leaning most of his weight on the front of his feet. All preparations were made unconsciously
The voice was calm and feminine but carried an unease like he had never experienced before.
"Who are you? Are you in my head? Why are you there? I have private stuff in here!" Luca yelled as the people around turned to look at him.
I am not interested in your fetishes, I am here only to pass your sentence.
"I don't have any weird fetishes or anything like that, so—" Luca stopped mid-sentence, realization dawning on him.
"What do you mean sentence?"
The surroundings seemed darker and more oppressive, as if God himself had dimmed the world just to ensure that Luca would listen.
You will learn in time
The voice of this higher being vibrated in Luca's head and seemed increasingly familiar.
Why not just tell me now, you kidnapper, Luca thought
Know this, Luca, you are a talented individual. Yet you chose to use those talents in a horrible way.
We who chose such a path cannot ask for forgiveness, only attempt atonement.
We?
Luca's body was slammed against the ground. Gravity's pull was increasing at an exponential rate.
The other villagers seemed unaffected.
They did not notice the cracking noise of his bones.
Nor did they see the blood on the ground merging with the sand into a thick paste.
Luca did not make a sound, for he could not.
His jaw was crushed closed.
Every nerve was screaming for help, but the world around him remained eerily indifferent.
His heart was pounding harder so as to quicken his suffering.
The warm blood enclosing his head was weirdly pleasant.
He closed his eyes for the last time, but they were forced open.
He was now standing like he did in the beginning.
Luca quickly patted down his arms, stomach, and legs, checking for injuries.
Nothing.
"Wait, no, what? What is going on? I was just... ha..."
He whispered to himself, his voice shaking as he forced out a laugh.
Stop resisting and begin doing what you were sent here to do
I need to get away from here. She is clearly insane. I am insane.
Suddenly, Luca's fingers began to wither, the skin peeling off, exposing raw, bloodied muscle beneath.
His arms and legs followed.
This time he could scream—a raw and screeching sound echoed through the desolate village.
Yet no one moved to help. The villagers merely glanced at him with hollow eyes before turning away, as if his suffering was a mundane occurrence.
"Help! Please, fuck, it hurts."
Luca gasped as he forced the words out between choked breaths.
The adrenaline made his body shake.
He trembled as he clutched his decaying limbs, trying in vain to hold himself together.
His body was unraveling piece by piece, held together by his nerves—only for them to be torn apart slowly.
The voice returned, cold and indifferent.
A disease similar to your symptoms is quite common around here. They will not help you. Although they may do something to ensure that it does not spread.
Luca finally understood what the dark smoke really was.
Why the ground was covered in ash.
The simple answer hit the tip of his tongue as he was gasping for air.
You cannot escape this.
If you don't want this to be permanent next time, remember, do not question your guide
Luca barely had any time to comprehend the warning before his body was healed.
His limbs were still trembling and aching as though they remembered the torment.
"Wh-What exactly am I supposed to do here?"
He muttered weakly.
You must atone for your actions by cleaning up the mess you created. You will be set up with a team. The rest you will be told in time.
"I'm not really a team player," Luca stated somewhat reflexively before realizing his error.
Did you say something?
"No ma'am, I did not."
I will send out a yellow light, follow it. It will lead you to the city of Vaelgard, where the others wait
A small yellow light suddenly appeared in the sky.
It was daytime, but the light was clear and easy to spot, shining strongly without pollution.
Luca started walking in the direction of the light, passing by a small shopping district.
The shops on each side were either closed or barely had any customers.
"Why is everything here empty? It looks almost abandoned."
You can view this as your sentence in a world you corrupted. Did you expect it to be beautiful?
Luca went quiet, staring only at the light as he walked.
Here he was completely at the mercy of this being.
A being that clearly did not favor him.
In a world that seemed as if it was designed to punish him