In a lively forest, A massive man with a child on top of his head and a woman walking by his side.
"So, Baldur? Do you guys call yourselves hunters? Or do you have another name?"
Jane asked as she looked at the man.
Baldur glanced upward at the sky, contemplating
"Well, Retnuh, opposite of hunter, it signifies our goals of reversing the effect of th... You know!"
Baldur answered with a low deep voice.
"Oh, I see. I would like to meet these anomalies one day."
Jane said before Baldur interrupted her with a laugh.
"Meet!!! Miss Jane…you must have never encountered an anomaly, have you by any chance, been living under a rock? Like Sure, normal people don't live to spread the tale much, but almost everyone has encountered them one way or another."
Baldur said, holding his stomach even Chucket above him held a laugh.
"Hmph, what was so bad about what I said? I am just curious! You don't have to have such an exaggerated reaction!"
Jane complained to the duo while feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry for that, Ma'am, but my Dad just means that people who run into anomalies—never come out the same!"
Chucker said, and his dad smiled in approval, "The boy is right. I've seen what they can do to a man! It's never appealing."
Baldur said with a down complexion.
"It's not pretty, I tell you. I've seen one try to dig out his heart with a knife… I had to give them a painful death as he had already carved out his skull!"
"-_-"
"Sorry, carved his, what? That makes me… want to see them even more!!!" Jane said with a menacing smile.
The father and son duo looked at her in shock. "What!?"
They uttered at the same time, looking dumbfounded.
"What? You can't tell me that doesn't make you sooo… curious!!!" Jane defended herself.
"Ma'am, are you by any chance wrong in the head" Chucker said, looking at Jane with an eyebrow raised.
"Why you!" Jane said, gritting her teeth while trying to grab the boy at the top of Baldur's head, only for Baldur to shift out of the way with a speed that didn't fit his size.
"I am perfectly normal," said Jane, giving up the attempt to grab the boy.
"Uh-huh! Oh, we are here…! Hmm, why does it look so —different?"
Baldur said as he stopped in front of a cabin, it was average-sized with the sound of animals moving around the nearby trees, but something seemed off about it.
"Dad, why are there glowing lights in the cabin? We didn't hang those!"
Chucker said in confusion as he pointed to the opening of the cabin, hung inside were rainbow-colored bulbs, strung about in a straight line.
They continuously moved along the direction of the wind gradually and eerily.
"Get down, son," Baldur said as he carried chucker down and unsheeted his battleax, glancing at the cottage with menacing intent and gripping his weapon even harder.
[Step!]
He steadily approached the cabin, reaching the door with caution with a vague aura spending him.
[Creak!]
The door sounded as it was pushed open.
"Rahhhhhh!" Baldur let out a brave scream as he entered inside.
[Bang!]
There were no lights, only an empty cabin, and a bear carpet on the ground with multiple animal skins on the wall, adorned with a table and chairs with only the fire on the fireplace, barely lightening it up.
"Weird, nothing seems to be here. I guess the days without rest might already be getting to us."
Baldur said, motioning for them to come in.
Jane and Chucker obliged and came right in, and Balder walked to a seat and paused. He looked at a doll-like figure on its armchair, and his eyes widened to extranormal proportions.
.
.
.
"No!"
He hurriedly turned his back and screamed, "Close that door, NOW!!!"
Chucker instantly reacted and closed it, before the door shut. A red eye flashed from the gap, looking at them with pure evil intent.
.
.
.
"ƨɒmɈƨiɿʜɔ γɿɿɘM!"
Chucker saw the anomaly from the edge of his eyes and heard the sound causing a feeling of nausea to overcome him until Jane nudged him, bringing him out of his stupor. She then looked at Baldur.
"What happened!?" Jane asked in curiosity at Baldur's sudden change of emotions over a few seconds.
"We have entered an anomalous latent!" Balder answered, trekking to a window quickly.
"An anomalous latent?" Jane said, confused by the new world.
"It's an anomaly's… playground. A world where an anomaly can induce any changes and be aware of everything and everyone in it. In this world, an anomaly is—godlike."
Baldur hurriedly said with nostalgia at his first days being a hunter as he pulled down the curtains to a window, and on the other side were vast lands of snow covering several miles.
"That doesn't sound safe!" Jane said, staring from the back of the man to see outside and seeing countless green-clothed short figures with pointed hats in the distance. Jane felt squishy just looking at them, feeling regret at her lost abilities.
"Of course, it's fucking…not!" Balder said in anger while hitting the walls, causing an intense force to spread and shaking the foundations of the cottage.
Debris fell to the ground, and Baldur trod to his seat and sat down while putting his battle ax next to it.
"Dad!"
Chucker called out.
"What?" Baldur said on his chair with his hand on his forehead as he thought of ways to pass this trial— and perhaps even kill the origin of it.
[Crackle! Crackle]
Chucker was attracted to the fireplace that seemed to move like a living entity making his heart race. "I should run out of the room. Dad will forgive me if I do that right… right? It's so white and amazing… isn't it—isn't it?"
A playful voice appeared in his mind that disgusted him, but he forgot about it forcefully and answered his father.
"That fire is moving weirdly!"
Chucker said, shakingly pointing to the fire that constantly changed in intensity, releasing a weird sound that Chucker vaguely heard as,
"-H!"
"O-"
.
.
.
"Ho"
Baldur instantly reacted and threw his weapon toward the fireplace.
[Boom!]
The fire went up to the ceiling, reaching nearby animal skins that hung from the walls.
The trio soon saw the vague figure of a dozen shimmering illusory lights with varying colors, hanging around the cabin.
Though each was dim alone, they stood together to form a symphony of brightness that dispelled the darkness, revealing the figure in the now multicolored flames.
"Ho Ho Ho!"
"Welcome guests to Sentras' world of candies and snow and gifts, HO HO HO!"
[Boom!]
The flames rose more, burning down the cottage in rainbow lights.
The figure said from the flames with a victory pose as it looked at them with unwavering bravado.
"I hope you find the scenery to your liking. We have everything you will ever need to see before you die…! It's perfect." The figure continued. Its voice seemed like an amalgamation of multiple voices, from young to old and male to female.
The sound made the trio feel disgusted and hate the figure for no reason except the– Unholiness.
Jane even felt a liquid fall from her ears and quickly cleaned it off and backed off into a corner to get out of the creatures range.
Her action indirectly made Chucker lose all hope while reducing his will. He clenched his hands as his face filled with despair with the voice in his mind making its appearance.
"You should have listened to me. I am you by the way, he he he!"
Baldur signed as he saw the action of the two but couldn't blame them as he would have done the same in—the past.
"But, why do you hide in this cabin? Do you look down on my home!? That you would rather hide in this shack!? My lord wouldn't like that 'it's a very naughty attitude,' he would say!"
The man said in confusion and an innocent expression as he dropped his hands.
Jane could bet all her money that the man threatened them with death. She even felt like she was no longer alive at the moment, similar to how she felt standing next to James.
"You have 10 minutes before my lord's troops come in here, kill you, take your head and place them on candle bars."
The figure's whole aura changed from playful to authoritative as 'it' gave the order before disappearing into a sea of flames.
"Arrogant bastard!!!" Baldur, with his mighty strength, threw a chair at the spot in unbridled rage.
[Bang!]
The chair collided, sending pieces of wooden particles up in the air.
He then walked to the spot and noticed Chucker glancing at the location with sweat dripping down his cheeks as his hands rapidly vibrated.
"Chucker!"
Baldur called out, but he didn't receive an answer.
"CHUCKER!!!"
Baldur screamed, this time bringing out his stupor.
"Fa-fat- yes, Father-"
Chucker answers only to be met with a backhand from Balder, causing him to fall to the ground.
Jane quickly went to pick him up and scrutinized Baldur with her eyes, wanting to know his answer.
"He's been taken over with fear! They almost got to him! It's more common than you think!"
Baldur then picked his weapon from the ground and wandered to the door.
"Father- what are you-" Chucker said with his cheeks now red.
"Taking the initiative… now be a good hunter and pick up your daggers from up there," Baldur said as he pointed to a burnt box at the top of a shelf.
"I- yes, Father!!!" Chucker said with newfound bravery running to the box and taking out blue-colored diggers.
"Good boy, now let's go! We have a celebration to crash. If we are dying here, this might as well be the best place-" said Baldur, with Jane interrupting mid-sentence.
"Wait, what about me?? Were you about to have me go outside like some damsel in distress? That is just sentencing me to an early death-" Jane complained, and Baldur waved his hands in frustration.
"Ok, ok…hmm, can you use a bow?" Baldur asked.
"Hmph, I can use any weapon, don't you know who I am!?" Said Jane with her head raised high.
"Under you, there's a bow and set of arrows," Baldur said with a nod pointing underneath Jane.
[Bang!]
Jane stomped the ground, breaking the plank and revealing the weapons as Baldur said. She picked them up and quickly wore them, collecting a dagger placed there and tucking it to her waist.
"That was impressive," Baldur said in appreciation as he kicked the door open.
[Boom!]
The door exploded into pieces, and Baldur passed with a confident expression looking like a Ravenous Viking, with the duo following from behind.
Heaps of snow filled the land, containing various festive structures, and colorful lights placed on the trees that lightened up the scenery.
Illusory distorted humanoid figures sauntered about with happy faces, returning to their starting point after a certain number of steps, forming a beautiful repetitive cycle.
Chucker felt like going to them and joining the 'happy' occasion, but the stinging pain on his cheeks made him sober up quickly.
Christmas light adorned the cabin at their back with Snowmen moving around it with despair on their faces as they cried out in pain.
"Here we are, you festive bastards!!!" Baldur screamed at the army in front of him with a manic smile. "ɘɈɒɿdɘlɘɔ ƨ'Ɉɘ⅃"
His eyes glowed red and his veins radiated a reddish-orange light.