Oshose soared over the plains. A look of absolute insanity clouded his judgment as well as his eyesight. "I'm going to conquer this land!" yelled Oshose, broken—at the end of his proverbial rope. "No one can stop me!!" Balling his hands into fists, his claws digging into the skin at the center of his palms. He looks down at the lake as he flies over it. His reflection looks back at him with the same broken and deranged expression. The exact shadowy figures from earlier loom over his watery reflection, getting closer. Closer. He saw the phantoms. "No one will ever hurt me again," muttered Oshose painfully, looking dead on at their exaggeratedly sinister details. As if in an instant, the self-delusions stopped as he ceased flight mid-air above the lake. "Aghhhhh!!" exclaimed Oshose in a bloodcurdling baritone cry.
The same electrification that had just surrounded the sword now covered his entire body. He tries to break free, but to no avail. "I c–can't m–move!! What the hell is this!?"
Looking down at his torso, searching for the source of the pain, Oshose felt the first real sense of fear that wasn't in his nightmares; the shadowy figures back in his sights. And just like that, the surrounding area goes black. The recurring flashbacks became more vivid than ever. Though a hint of uncertainty remained. A tall and lanky demon with piercing yellow irises, black eyeballs, and white pupils stands in his external vision. Coupled with a single-crown double-sided hair part, pointy ears on either side of his head, a long-sleeved black leather jacket, brown khakis, and long black low-heeled dress shoes with slightly pointed tips. Sticking from the top and back of his head: were four moderate-length black horns lined with gray width-wise grooves up and down them, each side holding two of these horns. A nametag can be seen pinned on the left side of his jacket. It reads "Solrac, Prodigy of Wrath." He doesn't move from the burned-in hallucination. "Ha-ha, you're worthless!" chuckles the past Solrac calmly but with a raised voice. His eyes dilate as his evil intent becomes more visible. "You disgrace."
Now a short but sort of muscular demon is seen. One with red irises, black eyeballs, and white pupils. Two horns, one on either side of his head, both equally curved down. He wears a studded black leather collar, black leather belt, and wristbands. This demon sports a shirtless look and has slightly impressive pecks and a six-pack that shouts hard work. Finally, a piece of dark-gray fur wrapped around his waist, tucked underneath his belt, which goes with his torn brown khakis and black lace-up ankle boots. This one also has pointy ears, rocking a shaved haircut with a red Mohawk. Red letters embroidered into his belt read "Ecniv, Captain in Training."
"You were always weak," mocked Ecniv in his annoying crackly voice. "I'm glad they're finally taking out the trash." He laughed an evil yet annoying crackly laugh that faded out soon after.
Another tall demon is in vision, but he has his hair shaved on the left side, and it's swooped to the right. Black eyeballs, purple irises, white pupils, and two horns curved sharply up on either side of his forehead. He has animal ears beside his horns and a cocky expression on his face. Wearing a purple dress shirt with a name tag that reads "Xavier, Prodigy of Pride," dark blue suit pants, and brown dress shoes that are the same shape as Solrac's. "I don't know why they didn't expel you sooner," said Xavier with a condescending tone. "You are an embarrassment to demons."
Oshose looks on in horror, trying to contemplate what he just remembered. He looks at the sky, then at himself, and now at the mountains. "I can only remember their voices, yet these memories keep flooding in," exclaimed Oshose distressed and stressed. "Make it stop, goddammit!!" he yelled in agony and confusion. The electricity intensifies, and the look in his eyes becomes one of great worry. Oshose struggles in place and shakes as he is electrocuted constantly. "What is this feeling all over my body?!" exclaimed Oshose in pain. "It hurts," he then whines. A chill runs down Oshose's spine. The air becomes colder suddenly.
"Why do you even bother struggling, Oshose? It's about time you remember," the woman's voice says confidently and calmly. Oshose notices the voice, and his stomach jumps ten feet.
"About time I remember what?" Oshose exclaimed, terrified. He tries to break free once more, barely wriggling his arms and legs. "I have to get to the ed–!" His mind goes blank for a second. Arms drop side to side. But then it becomes clear to him.
"I can't believe you haven't realized it yet," chuckled a strange man's voice. Oshose clenches his fists and looks around for the source of the voices he hears. But no one is around except himself.
"Realized what?" exclaimed Oshose with his voice cracking. His panic grows stronger, eating at his very sense of self. "Who are you anyway?" he continues (speaking quieter). There is a blinding flash of white light. It grows more intense by the second. The ground rumbled beneath Oshose's feet.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," the strange man's voice assured with a darker tone. The white light is interrupted when the silhouettes of seven demons walk closer. The shadow of their appearance starts to become more vivid than ever before. Some are the ones from the previous flashbacks, but the others Oshose didn't recognize at all. The silhouettes fade when everything goes black.
The air is quiet, too quiet. Not a mocking word or a thought to be heard. There's a ringing sound, and a voice can be heard saying something. It sounds so far away, yet so close. Its words become more apparent. "Hey man!" yells a man with a crackling voice. It fades out. "Wake up already!!" the man continues as he screams. "WAKE UP, OSHOSE!!" the man exclaimed impatiently and angrily. His vision fades back in as he wakes up. Oshose lifts his head and picks himself up, but he can't move that well. It feels as if he is restrained by something cold and hard. Chains are tying Oshose's wrists and ankles. He is in the middle of a red circle with candles surrounding him. A few demons are surrounding him. They're the ones from his memories. He opens his eyes and sees a short demon with a Mohawk laughing his head off while locking eyes with him. His laugh sounded crackly and annoying. "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!" the demon laughs. There are letters on his belt that spell "E-C-N-I-V." It is him. The look in Ecniv's eyes is a bloodshot and deranged one. He lowers his pointing finger down to his side. "Oshose, you were always the scapegoat for our mistakes." Ecniv paces around the ritual circle that Oshose is in. He looks at Oshose with a stern look in his eyes. "You're such a worthless demon; it makes even me feel confident."
Oshose looks to his left and sees a tall demon with his hair swooped to his right. It's Xavier. "Now, Ecniv, let's not mistreat our guest of honor here," Xavier insisted with a sarcastic and confident tone. He turns to Oshose and gets closer to his face. Oshose is angry and about to attack. But he can't. "It's his special day," Xavier mocked in an even more sarcastic and rude tone while lifting Oshose's chin with his fingertips. Oshose tries to bite him, but Xavier moves away quickly. "We need to give him a proper sendoff first," Xavier now wearing a devious face. Xavier looks around rapidly. Oshose looks to his right and sees a hooded demon. The hooded demon exhales like a wild beast. "And where's Solrac? Didn't he organize this meeting?" exclaimed Xavier impatiently. "Hey, hood guy. Say something already. You're creepy as hell, even for a demon," said Xavier.
"You bastard–!" yelled Oshose. "Shut the fuck up, Oshose! You talk too much," snapped Xavier.
Oshose grunts like a boar about to charge at his prey. Xavier looks back down at Oshose with the same cocky and sleepy expression. "You should've chosen a different lifestyle other than defending all those worthless low-ranked fu –"
"Wow, you guys really started without me?" said Solrac with fake annoyance. "What a shame.", Solrac shakes his head with his fake angry smile. He looks at Xavier.
"What did I miss?"
"I'm sorry s–" quivered Xavier with regret.
"It can't be helped. What's done is done," said Solrac as he shrugged. "You can't have everything go your way."
"But sir, I was punishing the trait–" fumed Xavier with resistance to not sound disrespectful.
"Then get it over with, you pussy," snapped Solrac with increasing annoyance. "Honestly, you call yourself a demon?"
"Right away, sir," Xavier responded quickly like a good soldier. Xavier picks up a spell book and begins reading from it. The candles start to glow brighter. His speech becomes inaudible. Oshose begins to fade out.
The others are nowhere to be seen or heard. Oshose opens his eyes as if he awoke from a bad dream. His memories are still intact. Oshose remembers how he was imprisoned inside the crystal that became a computer. He exhales heavily. "I remember," Oshose proclaimed. "What?" while looking at his surroundings. Everything is black. Not a piece of the desktop background is in sight. Right above Oshose, a progress bar can be seen. "Rebooting: 45%" He rests his chin on his open palm. "Hmm. Solrac, Xavier, Ecniv, and Nic…?" thought Oshose as he recounted the demons' names from his past. His face turns to a stupidly humorous expression. He presses his hands against his cheeks. "Ahhhhhhhhh!" exclaimed Oshose. "What was his name again?" fumed Oshose. He's rocking back and forth. "Shit, I can't remember," he whimpered humorously. Oshose begins walking around the black space thinking. "Xavier just said 'hood guy'," Oshose thought calmly. "Who was the hood guy?", now slightly agitated.
One Minute Ago
Solrac sits at his desk with his arms folded and stacked hands holding his chin. "Interesting," said Solrac surprised. "You really are full of surprises indeed, Oshose." He looked at the reflection of a framed photo on one of the monitors. "Hopefully, he still loves me after what happened with Emilia," thought Solrac. The silhouette of an unfamiliar demon appears in the place of Solrac's reflection. A sound of footsteps emerges from behind. Solrac notices that Oshose remembers their names. "Why did you send him a memory just now?" asked Solrac.
The strange, hooded demon from Oshose's memories stands behind Solrac. "I don't know what you're talking about," insisted the hooded demon in a suspicious tone. Solrac turns around in his chair and looks the hooded demon in the eyes.
"Don't play dumb with me, Nicosal," responded Solrac with a raised voice. "You made him remember just who we are and our names," as he squinted. "But why not yours?" now with a raised eyebrow.
"I really don't know what you're talking about," said Nicosal as he shrugged. "Oshose just has amnesia," he tilts his head to the right. "He's just slowly recovering," as he walks closer. "He doesn't remember everything quite yet," he lowers his head slightly.
"Why did you give him an Edge of Execution?", Solrac asked curiously.
"Just because," said Nicosal. "Plus, it's not even a real one."
"You are a mystery, Nicosal," Solrac said calmly with a confused look on his face. Little did Solrac know, Nicosal had a real Edge of Execution in his cloak.
The progress bar inside the computer is moving. Oshose looks up. "What is that bar? 50%?" whispered Oshose. "Where's Patrick? He's usually in some kind of trouble right about no –" What did I just say? Who's that? Think, Oshose, think," he Oshose as he grunts in confusion.
"The process to seal him away was a complex one indeed," said Solrac as he rested his chin on his hand.
"Can he undo it?" asked Nicosal cautiously.
"I'm counting on it," gloated Solrac. "I want to strike him down myself," with a raised voice. "I like it when they struggle," Solrac continued as he licked his lips. He raises his hand to shake with Nicosal. "And I'm glad you took care of Ecniv."
"It's always a pleasure, sir," acclaimed Nicosal while bowing with a half-grin. Solrac slowly walked closer to Nicosal, his hips rotating with each confident step he took.
"He was a noisy one," proclaimed Solrac. He stopped a few feet in front of Nicosal. "…and a touch too merciful." Solrac rests his hand on Nicosal's shoulder and smiles a warm smile. Nicosal's expression flipped to a vengeful one for a half-second, then back to his happy one.
"Do you mean Oshose or Ecniv, sir?" asked Nicosal blankly.
"Both," Solrac quickly responded. "Plus, you're the only one I can really count on these days," said Solrac calmly as he patted Nicosal's back.
"Well, you and the other three," he continued as his eyes darted center to the right a few times.
"Them? Those fools?" exclaimed Nicosal as he pulled away and pointed to three silhouettes on a painting. Those of Oshose, Xavier, and Ecniv. "No," said Solrac sternly as he shook his head. "The others," he said firmly, pointing to another set of three framed photos.
Inside the computer, Oshose is watching two little boys fight over something.
"The laptop is mine." one boy proclaimed.
"No, it's mine!" the other boy yelled.
"It's my turn with it," the first boy said with a raised voice.
Oshose smiles sinisterly. In a desperate situation, these boys will be of use.
"Mom!!" both boys yelled, trying to get their mom to take a side.
Oshose chuckles. "You're going to help me get out of here," he muttered devilishly. "Just you wait."