Prologue: Hellfire🔥🍷
(Warning for someone getting drunk, some violence and people dying)
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Not one cloud was blocking out the light of the moon, and yet no stars were visible above the town.
A young man walked out of a house. He took in a deep breath of the cold air and ran his hand through his curly hair.
He stood there, leaning over the stone fence, taking in the silence of the night.
"Juneeee, what are you doing out here?"
Another young man came out with a bottle of wine.
"You know I hate the smell of wine and sweat."
"Then why come to a party?"
June groaned at the question, shaking his head.
He stood next to him now.
"We haven't seen each other for a while now, Gale...I thought it would be different for once."
"Pffff. You're a fool for thinking that."
"Why? You all know what that stuff does to you, yet you still inhale it despite it making you feel like throwing up."
Gale gave him a confused look. He took a sip of the wine in the bottle.
"...Hm."
"...Anyways....how are you holding up?"
"Oh. Oh, June. Let me tell you, I have seen the most gorgeous woman in my life-"
"Pff. You mean your wife?"
"What? No. I think that woman just moved here too."
June looked at Gale very confused.
"Hold on, what are you saying?"
"I found another woman that I think is very attractive? Maybe I'll end up with her...."
The very idea of cheating is making Gale smile.
"You are drunk, Gale."
"So?? Everyone does it, you know?"
"You actually want to cheat on your wife?!" June straightens up and is now looking directly at Gale, feeling enraged. Gale just smiles while raising an eyebrow, he's still leaning over the stone fence.
"My wife doesn't have to know. And maybe if I play my cards right....I can have another wife."
Gale drinks from the wine again.
"You're kidding, right? You can't do this!"
Gale does a double-take. He stares at June now.
"Says who?"
June hesitates, he doesn't want to sound like an idiot.
"......I-I don't know?? It's just not right!"
June glances at the sky again, rubbing his eyes.
Gale follows his gaze, and catches on.
"....ah...you're getting weird, huh?"
"Excuse me?"
Gale stood up straight, to look him in the eyes. A small smirk was on his face. It threw June off.
"You're gonna point out what's "wrong" now? You're gonna tell me I can't have more than one woman? Or drink as much as I want? You think you're better than us all like those people who follow the stars?"
June was starting to feel irritated.
"I never said any of that."
Gale smiles even more.
"And yet you're not acting like how you used to."
"....."
"You would've supported me no matter what. Yet here you are....acting like you can control me...."
"I don't want to control anyone?? I just care alright!? Why should I support you getting drunk or sleeping around when it harms you!"
"It makes me happy. And it feels gooood." He drinks more of the wine, the bottle was starting to get empty.
June scoffs and shakes his head as he walks away from him. Gale follows him, both stop at a dirt path leading out of the town. He puts his hand on June's shoulder, leaning against him.
"You know what the people here would do to you right? You're a....weirdo in Goroma now...."
June glanced away, not wanting to admit that he's right.
"The lucky weirdos here can't even feel their limbs anymore from the fire, do you want that to be you? Or...do you wish to...."
"......." June winced, trying to block out memories of these people shrieking in pain.
Gale leaned very close to June's face.
".....You're lucky we're friends, June, otherwise I would snitch to Mister Belial about your weirdness."
Gale drank more of the wine in the bottle. June just silently glanced towards the dark sky. Gale looked back at him, his eyes unfocused.
"Just do me a favor, June. Mind your business, stop telling us what to do and stop being a hateful piece of sh-"
"Hello."
The two looked up towards a man wearing a cloak and holding a bouquet of Forget-Me-Nots. His face is barely visible and he towers over both of them. It threw June off.
"What do you want?" Gale asked in a rude tone. June frowned at his friend.
"I am looking for Mister Belial. He still lives here, right?"
"Yes, that's right." June nodded at the man, trying to be polite despite feeling very nervous.
"Areee...you rich?" Gale gestured the cloak he's wearing, it had very intricate details.
The man ignored the question, he turned to June.
"Does he still live near the plaza?"
"Yeah-?"
"DON'T IGNORE ME!"
June let out a sigh and rolled his eyes before turning to Gale.
"Gale you need to leave, you're drunk-"
Suddenly, Gale hit June with the bottle. Hard.
June yelled as he fell on the ground clutching the side of his head. The bottle broke, shards and the last drops of wine flew around them.
"Gale- why-" His eyes were wide and filled with tears from the pain, blood was going down his temple. June never thought that Gale would actually hurt him-
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"
Gale screams before he turns towards the man, who looks unfazed at what he just did to June. He holds the sharp broken bottle towards him, not even taking a step back.
"Giv- give me your cloak and whatever gold you carryy!"
June did not dare say anything, he looked at the blood on his glove. He doesn't want to draw attention to himself.
"......." The man glanced at June, still ignoring Gale. And June could swear he saw a bit of pity in his otherwise flat expression.
"I SAID-"
When Gale was about to stab the man with the broken bottle, he grabbed his arm with his free hand and crushed it in his grip. The sound of Gale's bones breaking and his screams filled the air.
"AAARGHHHH!!"
He then punched Gale in the face so hard he got knocked out. June backed away from them and didn't know what to do.
The man made sure the flowers were okay before looking out into the darkness of the night. June followed his gaze, and there he saw a few figures with two green glowing eyes approach the man. When they were close enough, they seemed to be normal guards.
"You know what to do. Start with this one," He gestured at the passed out Gale. "And then the people in this house." He pointed at it, and the guards nodded before dragging Gale away.
"Wh-what?"
The man turned to June, he slowly approached him while staring at him from above.
"I'm giving you a chance. Run away now and do not come back."
"......"
June, after processing what he said and thinking about everything, quickly got up and started to run away from the town, taking what he said to heart.
The man watched June until he was sure he was gone. He then grabbed a torch from the stone fence and held it out to a guard.
"Burn the edges of the town. We can't have anyone escape."
The guard smiled and took the torch from him.
With the flowers in his hands and two guards following him, he entered the town. When he did, the rest of the many guards who stayed behind started the fires, just as he told them.
He walked through the streets, with his gaze down on the ground. He tried to breathe slowly, as memories came back to him. It was almost as if he never left, nothing changed. It was all still so familiar.
After they reached the plaza, he looked at what seems to be a sort of fireplace. It was pretty big and- he stopped walking to make sure he was seeing correctly.
Where there should only be burned wood and ashes, seem to be remnants of bones too.
......
He didn't say anything and scratched his left arm before he slowly turned around to look at the guards.
"Start a fire here." He gestured at the fireplace. The guards nodded and looked for more wood.
He continued walking and took a right turn. He looked up at a house much bigger and grander than the ones around it. Holding the flowers tightly in one hand, he knocked on the front door.
After a while, a much older man opened the door. He seemed startled for a second when he had to look up at him.
"Mister Belial." He smiled while gripping the flowers in his hands. "It's been so long."
".....Uhh." The old man was confused.
His smile faded a bit. "Have you....forgotten me?"
Mister Belial straightened a little, and he frowned as he looked into his eyes and then at the rest of his face.
"Even though 30 years have passed, I still remember you very well."
When he said that first part, something klicked in Belial's mind. The old man straightened and looked upset.
".......You- wait...you survived that-"
"I did." His voice lost its friendly tone for a second. "But I turned my life around. You have greatly inspired me with the way you used to lead this town. So I came here to thank you." He holds out the bouquet of flowers for him to take.
"E-Excuse me?!" He completely ignores the gift for him.
"I rule over a kingdom now. It was hard at first, but thinking about you and your son and the way you both treated me-"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"
"....."
He stared at Belial. A smile was no longer there, yet he still held out the flowers for him to take.
"YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN A PLAGUE ON THIS EARTH!"
Belial ripped the flowers out of his hands and started to hit him with them, but he had no reaction. He just let it happen.
"I SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU BACK THEN BEFORE YOU DESTROYED MY TOWN!"
The old man threw the flowers onto the ground before attempting to strangle him.
However, that was when the two guards came, and a huge fire in the plaza was burning.
The guards grabbed Belial and started to drag him to the fire. But he struggled and continued to yell at him, not realizing that he would soon perish in the flames.
People were starting to come out of their houses to see what was going on, but no one helped the old man.
"YOU DESERVE HELL AFTER RUINING MY LIFE!"
He just stared the the old man who was shouting curses at him while trying to escape the guards. But he just slowly walked after them, completely unbothered.
Belial and the guards were now right in front of the fire, but while the heat was hurting the old man, the guards were unbothered.
He stood in front of them, but didn't approach.
"Mister Belial, did you ever notice that you ruined mine?"
There was no time for Mister Belial to respond, they threw him into the fire and the flames engulfed him.
People who came out of their houses to see what was going on were grabbed by guards too and were pulled towards the fire, one by one.
Some people tried to run and escape, but the edges of the town were on fire.
More guards walked up to him, awaiting orders.
"Take as many as you can. Burn it all down. Leave nothing behind."
The guards nodded before rushing after people trying to escape, laughing as they started to hunt.
He watched people trying to flee. They ran into and pushed each other out of the way, people who fell to the ground were left behind. No matter who they were, they all just thought about themselves.
.....
There was nothing left for him here. He can leave it all behind now.
The screams of the people who felt their flesh melting off rang loudly through the streets. He scratched his left arm as he walked away from it all, through the fire and into the darkness of the night.
This town will not be remembered.
And it might be for the best.
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Final Thoughts:
Wow, what a beginning huh? It's confusing, I know, but don't worry. We will visit Goroma again some other time and it'll all be explained.
What will happen to June? That is up to you. Maybe he'll find help at a nearby town that is so much better than Goroma. Maybe he'll start a new life, who knows. He can consider himself very lucky that he was spared by that man.
Idk if we'll ever see June again, at the moment him and Gale are characters that were created just for the prologue. But maybe there will be more to them in the future.
Anywaysss, I really hope you guys are intrigued and excited after reading the prologue. And I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think of the prologue, I love to read your comments! I also hope you don't mind me experimenting a bit with different drawing styles and colors. I've been inspired by the Spiderverse movies and other artists to try and be more experimental :3
Anyways, have a good day/night✨⭐️
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