P/N let me know if there's any mistakes and I will try to fix them
PROLOGUE
CHANCE MEETING
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
first-time 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.