"It's dark, it's empty, my eyes feel glued shut. It's like… I'm in an eternal void."
These were the thoughts of 17 year-old Kazuya Ouya, who was transported to a place unbeknownst to him. After some time, he awoke to the sound of another person, though he was unable to make sense of what they were saying. He didn't know if they were speaking a different language, or if his hearing had been muffled by whatever had happened to him.
As he widens his eyes, he gets a better glimpse of a tilted view of an endless gray void, while he lays sideways on a platform of a darker shade of the same dull color. He then lays flat on his back, only for a man to pop in from his top view, and stare at him with a welcoming, yet slightly sinister smile. The man had a scar on either side of his mouth, pale gray skin with a tint of green, messy gray hair, dark green eyes, surprisingly white teeth, ragged clothes, and crumbled & cracked areas in his skin.
"Ah! You're awake! Thank the skies, I thought I had gone and killed a human! Well, guess that's one less weight off my shoulders, haha!"
As Kazuya stared into the man's eyes, he had only one thought running through his mind: "what the hell is going on?!". Unable to muster the words, he simply started staring with fear into the man's eyes. The man stared back, and then closed his eyes, and stepped away from Kazuya's face, only to sit in front of his legs.
He then took a more relaxed position with his legs crossed and his arms holding him up from behind, as he stared at the top of the gray void.
"Man, did anyone ever tell you ya look terrifying with that look on your face? you would fit in perfectly with the monsters at the mid-levels of this place, haha!" The man said in an annoyed, yet joking manner.
Kazuya, starting to regain his senses due to the shock he had sustained upon awakening, started to make unintelligible sounds, but was still unable to move or speak. Whatever had transported him here must have affected his body greatly.
"Oooo, that's a good impression of 'em!" He said while laughing.
Finally, Kazuya musters the ability to slightly formulate words in a sluggish manner.
"...Wha..t…goi…ng?"
"Hm? So you can speak!"
"Whe..re?..Who...?"
"AH, where are my manners!? How could I forget! I never introduced myself!"
The man stands up, and crosses his legs, almost as if to prepare for a performance.
" My name is Mono, and I'm a ghoul! Yes, that's right, a ghoul! Those who are feared in the sky by ALL! Those who are the most hated amongst all races, I am one of them!" He said, with body movements and hand gestures that emphasize his supposed 'greatness', before finishing with a bow.
Silence broke out between the two, Kazuya in disbelief and confusion, and Mono hopelessly waited for some form of response, as he held his bowing position. As the silence continued longer, Mono started to sweat a little, and his facial expression started to change from a gentle smile, to an annoyed and depressed one, and a discomforting grin of sadness stretched across his face.
"Uh… aren't you, you know… gonna say anything?"
Kazuya was still unable to speak, and hence just stared blankly at Mono, even breaking a slight grin. Mono then sat down, and took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves…. Before turning his back on Kazuya and starting to sob…
"C-c-couldn't you have at least *pretended* to be shocked or something?! Why did you LAUGH?! I put on a whole dramatic sequence for my intro as well!"
As Mono continued to cry, Kazuya started regaining his ability to move, starting with slight movement in his arms and hands, as well as regaining his ability to speak.
"Uh… Mono, was it? Um… nice show back there." Kazuya said in a confused tone.
Mono immediately turned back, with sparkles in his eyes and his face almost touching Kazuya's.
"REALLY?!"
Kazuya looked to the side, with a discomforted smirk.
"Y-yeah, sure..."
Mono then jumped into the air, and started celebrating and twirling around, as though he was a dancer (and a really bad one at that).
As Mono celebrated, Kazuya was able to gain some strength to push his body upwards into a seating position. As he stared at Mono's self-celebration, he started to look around him, trying to find anything that he can make sense of, but alas there was nothing. Additionally, he couldn't recall what it was he was doing before he got here, in fact, he doesn't remember anything besides his name, and how to speak and perform human functions. Upon realizing this, he didn't know how to feel, although he knew one thing was wrong: this wasn't where he was supposed to be.
"Hey, where exactly am I right now…?"
Mono stopped his celebration, and then looked at Kazuya blankly.
"What're ya talkin' about? Don't you remember?"
Kazuya stared at Mono, with confusion in his eyes.
Mono approaches Kazuya, and sits down in front of him with his legs crossed, and his arms resting on his knees.
"So you're meaning to tell me that you don't remember a thing about what happened down on the ground? You don't remember how the sky literally came crumbling down onto you?"
"The sky? Crumbling? Hold on, what're you-"
"What's your name, kid?"
"K-Kazuya… Kazuya Ouya."
"Aright then, Kazuya. Lemme explain what happened to ya okay? A few moments ago, you were on the ground, and then the sky EXPLODED, like *boom, bah*, y'know? And then, I fell through, and kinda accidentally merged with your body in an attempt to survive the fall. Good news, I survived. Bad news? They registered you and me as one entity before draggin' us up here. So that's the whole story, you remember now?"
Kazuya stared with confusion, and a little bit of disbelief at Mono, as if he was telling some weird joke.
"To be frank with you, I don't really remember anything from before waking up, not even where this 'ground' is. But, I know now that this isn't where I'm *supposed* to be."
Silence broke out between the two of them, with Mono blankly staring at Kazuya.
"...huh?"
Mono started chuckling, and then laid on his back, with his arms and legs spread out, and his eyes closed.
"Well, kid, looks like you're gonna die here to be honest with ya."
Before Kazuya even had a chance to react, Mono got up and walked a few steps forward, with his eyes closed, yet still sensing the surroundings around him. Eventually he stopped, and squatted down, touching his two palms onto the ground, causing a rectangular shape to glow a bright green, and then fading into a hole that leads into what looked like a dark, pitch black abyss. He then turned his head towards Kazuya, with a serious expression on his face.
"Well, that is if you stay here. If you follow me though, and follow my orders, I'll help ya get outta this place. Deal? Deal. Aright, follow me!"
"Wai-" Kazuya said before Mono jumping down into the abyss. The opening began to close, but Kazuya mustered up the strength to approach the mysterious hole in the ground, and took a leap of faith in hopes of his survival.