"Do you mind repeating what you said once again, Ethan? As I don't think I quite heard you earlier," Maze asked nicely with a grin as she stood before Ethan.
"S...s-sure, however, with what little time we have left before the~" Ethan tried to say before he was grabbed by Maze and slammed onto the ground without a chance to retaliate.
Leading to him wincing in pain as one of the bones within his forearm broke in the process, due to a reckless and fairly honest mouth, which has landed him in more trouble than he can count.
Swoosh. Thud. Snap. Crack.
"Tsk, and they say girls are weak, and that I'm a disgrace to the Kurama name," Maze muttered with contempt as she dusted off her hands while scrutinizing Ethan.
Before suddenly kicking him in his stomach so that moving forward, he'd finally have some restraint and wouldn't say everything that came to mind without thinking it through.
'Hopefully, with this, he'd finally act like the heir of a prestigious lineage,' Maze thought as she gave Ethan one last glance and proceeded to walk to the cafeteria, as she didn't want to accidentally send one of the school prospects to the hospital out of anger on their big day.
"So how does it feel?" I asked as I squatted beside my injured friend and examined the damage, 'Man, truly she doesn't play around; I guess, we can only pray for the well-being of whoever marries that demon in the future.'
"Rin, you know it's rude to see a brother in pain and not offer assistance? Plus, why is it always me who gets punished or hurt, when I'm only stating the truth?"
"Sadly, while I'd love to tell you, my friend... unfortunately, it'd be better if you found the answer yourself one day," I said mysteriously with sarcasm as I stood up and signed before departing for breakfast as well.
"Hey! Where do you think you are going, Rin? Aren't you at least going to help a brother get to the clinic or even breakfast? Rin! Rin! RIIIIIN!"
'Sorry, Ethan, but one day we must all crawl our way to victory, even if it may be humiliating and beyond difficult. Plus, you will be fine even if you don't eat for one day,' Rin thought as he caught up with Maze and traveled with her to the cafeteria, while their friend suffered behind them in agony on the cold concrete floor.
"Sigh, why must it always be me in the end, who suffers in the end?" Ethan complained as he gave up and lay on the ground defeated, glancing at the morning sky as birds flew into the distance.
'Because you're weak, Ethan Davis!' A voice screamed from the depths of his Soul Palace as chains began to rattle in protest to whatever was trying to break free.
"Huh? Just what exactly is~" He muttered before a cluster of voices began to echo in his mind as various memories from his past resurfaced without stop.
However, unbeknownst to Rin, Maze, and even Ethan himself, the skies above Forbidden Blood began to darken out of nowhere as clouds turned from white to gray in seconds.
Yet, that was only the beginning, as after a few seconds the Sun started to take on a blood-like hue as various blinking eyes suddenly appeared in the firmament.
'STAND UP AND FIGHT BACK!'
'GIVE UP AND ALLOW THE DARKNESS TO CONSUME YOU!'
'MAKE YOUR FATHER PROUD AND BRING HONOR TO THE HOLLOW NAME!'
'STAND! FIGHT! STAND! FIGHT! STAND! FIGHT!'
'WEAK! WEAK! WEAK!'
"... finally, it stopped," muttered Ethan weakly as he tried to sit up, following the disappearance of the voices within his head.
Yet while his spirit was strong, his flesh was too weak to follow through with his command, so he just stopped and persevered, whatever little strength he had left as he lay on the ground.
Defeated but victorious, unaware of the faint greenish orbs of light that swirled around, creating a cocoon that wrapped around him with white sigils upon its surface.
"Lord, just what is going on?" Ethan wondered with curiosity as he closed his eyes briefly before swifly opening them in shock as the voices returned once again.
But this time in a language he could barely even understand or comprehend.
'!@#$%^&*()'
'!@#$%^&*('
'!@#$%^&*()'
'!@#$%^&*('
'!@#$%^&*'
"Stop! Stop! Stop! Someone please help me," Ethan shouted as tears cascaded down his face as he clutched his head and moved erratically on the ground.
However, no matter how much he screamed or yelled for help, the voices never stopped but only got louder and louder. As if his screams invigorated them... until it seemed, Ethan finally had enough, and with that, his awakening began.
"... I, JACK ETHAN HOLLOW DAVIS, AM NOT WEAK, NOR DO I RUN WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH! SO IF A FIGHT IS WHAT YOU WANT, THEN A FIGHT IS WHAT YOU'RE MOTHERFUCKING GOING TO GET!"
Crack. Crack. Crack.
He shouted, unaware of the crowd gathering around him or the cocoon that encased him, which was starting to break in reaction to his outburst. Along with the entity whose attention he just gained...
***
Meanwhile, within one of the realms of Multiverse Y...
On a secluded, dead planet, within a dilapidated tavern wherein only the tavern owner and a patron could be seen within this once fine establishment.
The king of Hell could be seen drinking Bourbon as he watched the holographic scene of a kid awaken after being mentally tortured for a few minutes.
"Hmm, it seems another child has earned his place on the hitlist of potentially dangerous insects that need to be exterminated," Lucifer muttered with a gleam of excitement in his eyes, 'Hopefully, you won't be another bug that squashed before I could savor you, Jack Ethan Hollow Davis.'