Sharp, labored breaths rang out.
The ceiling, walls, and floor in this area of the labyrinth were all tree bark. Moss thickly
covered its surfaces, illuminating the passageway in a bluish-green light. It gave the
impression that not a soul had ever set foot in this part of the Dungeon. The
reverberations of distant monster howls made leaves tremble, prompting beads of
silver to dribble off sundry fantastical flora.
In this giant tree labyrinth that was completely removed from the world up above, a
lone shadow ran with every bit of energy it could muster.
The figure had supple, delicate limbs that closely resembled those of a young girl.
Azure-silver hair glistened in the light of the moss.
Besides its long, silky tresses, the being possessed skin of a bluish-white hue.
The many scales covering its shoulders, lower back, and the long ears framing its face,
tapering to even finer points than those of elves, were similarly colored. But the most
notable feature by far was the glimmering crimson jewel embedded in its forehead.
Blue-white skin and a crimson jewel were just the first of many features that proved
this creature was a monster.
Thump, thump, thump! The monster held its thin, branch-like arms against its chest as
it ran through the Dungeon.
Why?
It was bleeding.
Claws, fangs, and blades had inflicted many wounds on its body. Deep-red blood
trickled from open gashes with every step. The attacks had ripped entire scales from
its shoulders, dyeing its cerulean skin completely red.
Why?
Terror showed in its eyes. Confusion. Grief.
Several water droplets accompanied the blood on its way to the floor below. The clear
liquid flowed from the monster's stunning amber eyes as its thin throat began
quivering.
"Why…?"
The sound that escaped from its small lips was not the crude howl of a monster but a
single hoarse, mournful word.
The voice was like that of a sobbing child. As if disdaining the sounds strung together
to make a word, the barks of monsters echoing through the labyrinthine Dungeon
closed in. The lone figure's bluish-silver hair and slim shoulders trembled in fear.
Sorrow had distorted its face, which was out of place on a monster and attractive
enough to leave a person breathless.
The monster—the "girl" was crying.
Why, why is everyone…?!
She was alone.
She was only a newborn, recently delivered from the Dungeon walls, but everything
she had encountered rejected her.
She had memories of her birth, of breaking out from the wall before falling to the floor.
Still unable to tell left from right, she wandered the Dungeon, trying to make sense of
her dim surroundings. While she was anxious at not knowing her location, she picked
up a familiar scent—one of her own kind. Her instincts drove her to follow it.
It led her to a different corner of the Dungeon, where a creature much larger than
herself stood. She approached it to ask:
"Where am I?"
The creature's response was a monstrous roar. After raising its voice in anger, the
monster slashed her with sharp claws.
Skin torn, she ran away without understanding why.
As confusion seized her body, the red blood seeping from her wounds and the firsttime sensation of pain inspired terror in the newborn.
Since then, she had been attacked again and again. The beings that shared her scent,
no matter their shape or size, threatened her life. There were no exceptions. She
fought desperately to hold back something that threatened to flow from her eyes as
her injuries continued to increase.
Rushing out from the depths of the Dungeon, the exhausted "girl" next encountered
creatures of a completely different species.
They were humans equipped with swords and bows.
Accompanying them were a fairylike male and female. The long-eared pair nestled
close together, protecting each other.
She approached them, unaware that her eyes betrayed her envy.
Not wanting to startle the newcomers, she hid her sharp claws from view and opened
her mouth to speak.
"Help me."
In an instant, a blade opened a new wound on her body.
The group appeared more confused and shaken than she, but most apparent was their
terror as they rejected her.
Faced with this new animosity, she fled once again. The men scattered as they swung
their swords, and the pale-faced women readied their bows with muffled shrieks.
Arrows streaked at her from behind as her tears finally spilled over.
Pain. Suffering. Sadness.
The scales on her back deflected the arrowheads but cracked with each impact. Her
torn, lacerated shoulders felt as if they were on fire. The world excluded, alienated,
and rejected her; it had branded her an outcast.
She questioned herself over and over. Why, why?
Cries of I'm scared, I'm so scared slipped from her mouth.
Her weeping did not stop.
What… am I…?!
No matter how many times she asked, the Dungeon, her mother, gave no answer.
She fled for some time, but in the end her pursuers appeared again. Astonished by her
beauty, they adopted unfamiliar expressions as they gruffly yelled, "Stop!"
The hunters, wetting their lips and gazing sadistically at her, had no reason to halt
their advance. The madness in their eyes as they stalked her was far uglier than
anything she had seen from her fellow monsters. She tried to escape on her two
slender legs, having already learned to fear everything.
The reason she was regarded as a beast lay in the latent power she used to shake off
her pursuers, dodge other monsters in the Dungeon that continued to attack her, and
race through the arborous path alone. The lonely echoing tap, tap, tap of two feet hung
in the air of the seemingly endless Dungeon.
Translucent tears spilled from her amber eyes again.
"Ahh!"
A downward slope.
She lost her footing like a child and tumbled heavily down the hill crisscrossed in tree
roots.
After falling to the very bottom, the "girl" noticed she had injured her leg. She couldn't
stand.
Distant monster howls and the footfalls of people prompted a shiver in her body. She
examined her surroundings before setting off, dragging her immobile leg along. Her
wounds had already clotted enough to stem the flow of blood, allowing her to hide her
trail. In one corner of the Dungeon, she found a single tree and an abundance of plants.
Using the leaves as a shelter, she hid within.
Her back pressed to the wall, she held her breath. Trembling, she squeezed her badly
injured body tightly with both arms and fought back against the endless waves of
terror.
Then she realized something was approaching.
Her breath caught again.
She could hear steps coming closer and closer with each passing moment. The
crescendo of footsteps made her recall the biting pain of a sword, almost as though
the memory itself radiated heat, paralyzing her with horror.
Her body shook uncontrollably.
Her cheeks still wet, another wave of fear crossed her face.
Looking up at the human figure drawing near, the girl hugged herself with all her
might.
Then.
The "girl's" tearful eyes looked up as the newcomer appeared.
"A monster… a vouivre?"
White hair and rubellite eyes.
In a dim corner of the Dungeon, she had a fateful meeting with one boy.