A Branded Criminal

Several days had passed after that adventurer had found me. The reason he had knocked me out was because he believed I was the one who killed my friends. The reason for this is because I was covered in human blood, now have the level to prove that I killed them all, had no injuries, and, according to the other adventurers that travelled into the cave to search it, there was no other monster besides the dead goblins. There were several paths in the cave that all led to the area where my party fought those goblins, and if the supposed monster had escaped through another path, the police officers and that adventurer would have seen it. The many paths in the cavern are the reason why I didn't run into any other adventurers.

With all the evidence stacked against me, a level close to one hundred, and no witnesses, I was put in prison. Since I don't have any magic I was put into a basic prison cell. It feels as if my entire world has just ended. All my friends are dead and I am now in prison for it, and there's no chance of me getting out. I begin recalling memories from the past as I just sit here in my dark and damp cell. I always told myself I wasn't unique in any way, but that's not true. There's one unique characteristic I have: cowardice. It's probably the biggest reason why people avoided me back in the day. I told myself I wasn't unique to avoid the fact that I'm a coward, but that was nothing but a lie.

In school, I noticed everything, but never pointed it out. Things from bullying, drug dealing, and even sexual harassment. But, I averted my eyes from it all and just minded my own business. It wasn't because I didn't want to stop these things, but because I was too afraid to; too afraid of getting hurt and too afraid of putting my own safety at risk. The real reason I wanted to go adventuring with those four wasn't because I wanted to change my looks, I wanted to change myself. I thought if I got the strength to stand up to anything and anyone, I would become braver. Who was I kidding though? I couldn't even handle a higher level goblin, much less a monstrous beast.

It's my own fault that I ended up like this. If I had just told my friends of my cowardice, they would've just left me out of their group and I wouldn't be in prison right now, or If I even had the slightest bit of real courage, I would've fought that thing to get revenge for my friends, even if it costed me my life. Death would be better than the situation I'm in right now. I wish I was different. I wish I had the guts to actually act on my thoughts. The person I am now honestly deserves to die for letting his friends die in vain. I'm coward, and I would do anything to change that. With all those thoughts running through my mind, I fall asleep on the cold ground, rather than the crappy bed prepared for me, since that's what I deserve.

Some time passes and I wake up. At least, I think I did. Everything around me is suddenly in black and white colors, and time seems to be frozen. I look in front of me and the monster that had killed all my friends is standing on the opposite end of my cell. It takes me a few moments to register the situation I'm in. I jump to my feet and scream, backing up and falling back against the wall behind me, scooting back as much as I can. The silhouette begins walking closer to me, mist forming around where its mouth should be as it breathes. "N-No... Please..." I tremble where I stand. "I don't wanna die!" I close my eyes tightly.

"I'm not going to kill you," says the deep voice of a man with a slight echo to it. I blink a few times, looking up and around the cell before looking back at the black silhouette. "What?" The voice growls, speaking directly into my mind.

"W-Wait, is that you speaking..?" I point at the black silhouette.

"Who else would be speaking to you right now?" The silhouette pure white eyes narrow at me.

I look around once again, the world around me still frozen in time. "Good point..." I then look back at it. "If you're not here to kill me, then what are you here for..?" I stare at it with suspicion.

"To...clear some things up." The silhouette chuckles.

"Clear some things up..?" I continue to stare at it, narrowing my eyes in confusion.

"You see, Romeo Saturn, I'm a part of you." It kneels down in front of me, gazing into my very soul. "I was created because you aren't happy with yourself. I was made from your depression, your will to die. In other words, you really did kill your friends."

My eyes widen a bit at the silhouette's confession. "No... No! That's not true! You're not me! Liar!" I refuse to believe its words, that I was the one who killed my only friends.

The silhouette suddenly grabs my wrist and pins my hands to the wall, a thin, jagged blade forming on its wrist. He stabs the blade into my palm and I yell out in pain, the silhouette quickly pulling it back out. I groan, glaring at it fearfully as it shows me its own palm, a white liquid leaking out of it in the same place my hand is bleeding. "I'm connected to you. I can't kill you because if you do then I die as well." It explains as its wound emits a black mist and closes up, my own healing the same way.

"Then...I really did. But I saw you..!" I exclaim, staring at the ground as I remember seeing this thing in the cave before running away.

"What you saw was yourself; your body possessed by me. You were going through the same dream sequence you are right now. You do remember that feeling you had before running away do you not?"

I remember feeling like I has blacked out again before running out of the cave quite clearly. "Yeah... I guess I did..."

"I'm here for more than just an explanation, Romeo."

"Then what do you want..?" I whisper, still processing everything I had been told.

"You want to be someone different, and I can grant you that wish." It kneels directly in front of me once more.

"How..?"

"Give yourself to me. Die and let me take over your body so you can be with your friends again in the afterlife. I can promise, you'll never be a coward again." It says sincerely, but I can sense the sinister intent in its voice.

"Hell no." I respond immediately.

"W-What? Why not?!" It howls in anger.

"Because you'll kill more people." Its eyes widen a bit as it hears my response. "I may be a coward, but I'm not an idiot. If you think I'm gonna let a creature like you take over my body and kill thousands of people just for the hell of it you're damn wrong!"

"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" The creature roars violently, its voice alone shaking me to my very core. "You think you understand me?! You could never understand what it's like to be feared just because of what you look like! You could never understand what it's like to kill everything you touch!" The being stands up straight and turns away.

An immense wave of guilt washes over me. I always followed the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover", but here I am, judging this beast simply because it terrifies me. "I'm sorry... I...I didn't know..." I frown.

The silhouette sighs. "No, I deserved it for saying something like that after killing your friends. I'm sorry."

"I'm the one who wanted to change myself and/or die." I sigh myself. "I know I'm a coward, but...I can't just stay in this place for the rest of my life."

The silhouette turns and looks down at me. "Then use my power to escape from here."

"I already told you that I'm not letting you take over my body." I growl.

"Not completely moron." It sighs. "I want to give you a chance to change yourself."

"Really?" I look up at it with a curious gaze.

"But if you can't, then you'll die and I'll take over." Despite the fact it has no mouth, I could feel it smirking down at me.

"Knew there had to be a catch..." I sigh looking up at it into its eyes. "You promise to let go after we're free?" The silhouette nods. Somehow, I feel like I can trust it, for now anyway. "Fine. Then let's go." I close my eyes, blacking out once more. Time resumes and alarms ring throughout the prison, a giant hole in the wall of the cell I was in before. With the help of the silhouette's power, I easily escape and get far away from the prison.