Hoshino Charoite furrowed his brow as a young girl approached him. She had black hair with a few streaks of green that made her hair stand out, but what caught his attention the most were the girl's pupils; they resembled those of a feline, to be more specific, a cat's.
The green eyes reminded him of his ex-best friend, Charlotte. He sighed, trying to keep his thoughts from wandering into the dark corners of his mind. It wouldn't be fair to compare the girl to someone no longer around.
Though Charoite didn't want to talk to a child, let alone have one pry into his affairs, he decided not to be rude and engaged with the girl, hoping she would lose interest quickly and leave.
"Hmm? Thanks, I don't think it's anything impressive," he said, glancing at her before returning his attention to his drawing. He only had a few more details to add before he could finish it.
"No, oh." She made a childish gesture of moving her index finger from side to side. "It's a very detailed drawing for just a bear with a hat and a microphone. Honestly, it's one of the most impressive drawings I've seen. How old are you?" Her green feline-like eyes looked at him with genuine curiosity.
Charoite furrowed his brow. "Isn't it customary to introduce yourself first before asking someone's name?" He raised an eyebrow, looking at the girl. As far as he knew, in Japan, one should introduce themselves before inquiring about someone else's name—well, that etiquette applied in many other countries, but the Japanese were particularly formal about it.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Shiranui Frill, and I've come to this camp to pursue my dreams." She gave him a childlike smile before briefly stopping her smile and looking at him with curiosity. "And do you want to be an artist too? I mean, you wouldn't have come to the camp otherwise," she said, intertwining her thumbs as she nervously moved them before relaxing, clenching her fists and smiling at him.
"Ehhh." To be honest, he didn't have a real reason to come to this camp other than curiosity. It was mostly because Charoite felt a little suffocated in his new father's apartment. So this trip served as a refreshing change for him, despite the hassle of interacting with others. "The truth is, my dream is to create my manga and sell it." Instead of responding truthfully and being straightforward, he decided to go with a half-truth and not answer the question, letting her draw her conclusions, or at least hoping that she would.
Then he shook his head. "Anyway, I'm Mi- Hoshino... Hoshino Charoite." Sweat trickled down his forehead as he nearly said the name of his former life. He had to be more careful, and fortunately, he didn't think the girl had noticed his slip. "I'm going to turn 2 in a few months," along with his twin siblings.
Their birthday was on April 1. Currently, it was the year 2015, so they were born in 2013. In two months, they would turn 2 years old. A fact that always seemed strange to him, as he came from the year 2030, many years in the future.
"Incredible. You're almost the same age as me and can draw at that level," Frill seemed excited, moving closer to get a better look at the drawing. "It's very lovely, but what does it mean?" She asked with curiosity.
Charoite was genuinely surprised that she was nearly the same age he was in this new life. He honestly didn't expect a girl her age to have such a dialect. It almost reminded him of Elizabeth. He wondered if Frill was as intelligent as Elizabeth was for her age. Frankly, he sometimes got chills from how quickly his former sister learned.
He won't deny that he was a bit envious... well, very envious, especially when she was William's favorite, and Clara showed her more affection than she did him. However, that didn't matter right now. He had to focus more on the present than the past.
"I don't know," Charoite told a lie as he shrugged. "I think I saw a bear on TV, and I found it interesting to imagine what a singing bear would be like." Then he looked at his drawing before smiling with nostalgia, remembering all those nights when that same animatronic bear tried to kill him while he was a security guard.
In the beginning, Charoite would have thought they were bad memories, but after hunting various evil spirits and the corrupt AGONY, which corrupted many objects, the missing children in the Fazbear Entertainment animatronics were child's play. The Scraps, Charoite handled them quite easily and without any problems in the simulator pizzeria. All those years of experience as the Anomaly helped him deal with them easily.
Unlike the cursed Eleanor. That damn AGONY-filled robot was a big problem, and its terrible intelligence was horrendous for someone not that smart. Of course, when it came to IQ for combat, he was an experienced veteran, but when it came to playing mind games, Charoite admits he wasn't the best.
He was the kind of person who walked without a plan and formed it as he went. Maybe that's why many people he met called him reckless and impulsive, but up to this point, it's what had worked for Charoite.
Hoshino Charoite was going about his research, at least trying to understand what he was dealing with, but beyond how he'd stop the corrupted AGONY-infected object and burn it to ashes, he didn't have an elaborate plan like Henry's, or Sammy Emily's when they both stopped Eleanor. Or even Marilyn Schmidt's plan to deal with evil Rat and Cat ghosts.
"Oh. Well, at least it's quite cute," Shiranui Frill commented as she sat on Charoite's right side.
Charoite let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Sure, super cute. Just as adorable as a hungry hyena." Sarcasm dripped from his tone.
Shiranui Frill tilted her head in a very endearing way. "Hyena? What are hyenas, Hoshino-san?" She blinked, waiting for his response.
"Forget it. It's adult stuff." Charoite said, wanting to spare himself the headache of explaining what hyenas were. He'd have to answer more questions about why he compared a hungry hyena to Freddy Fazbear, and he'd rather avoid that.
"But you're younger than me," she pouted cutely before sighing without pressing the issue. Her parents and her sister had taught her about social etiquette and not prying too much into other people's business unless the other person was suffering, and she could help. Even then, she had to pick up on cues about whether someone wanted help or not. Easier said than done for a two-year-old like Shiranui Frill.
Hoshino Charoite wasn't fazed by Frill's pout. "It doesn't matter," he said with a tired sigh before turning the page and leaving it blank. He then looked at Frill. "What do you want me to draw? I can do anything you imagine." He tried to distract the little girl with what would essentially be a sweet.
Shiranui Frill's eyes lit up as if it were Christmas morning. "Hmm. Can you draw me? Wait, that might be too hard. So how about, um?" Charoite stopped her by grabbing Frill's forearm before she could finish.
Frill looked at Charoite with surprise before tilting her head, gazing at him curiously, those piercing purple eyes looking at him with cunning and rebellion.
"I said I can draw anything, kid. Drawing you won't be the hardest thing I've drawn." Charoite couldn't help but boast a little to a two-year-old, which might embarrass him later in life. But at the moment, he was focused on the challenge of drawing what this unknowing little girl had set for him.
"Alright," Frill nodded, giving Charoite an excited look. "So, do I have to do something? To help you draw me better?" she asked before he shook his head.
"No need. You can do whatever you want; just don't go too far so I can have a reference for the drawing. Do you have any idea of how you'd like the drawing to be?" He asked her, looking at her with genuine curiosity.
"Hmm. I want to be a great actress and make emotions feel emotions through my performances. You know? So maybe me practicing." She looked at him timidly, not knowing what she wanted Charoite to draw, other than that it was about her dream of acting.
He thought about what type of drawing would work, but because he hadn't seen many performances other than the few movies he'd seen in his former world (of which he didn't know if they existed in this new world, it would be a risk to draw something that might reference something that didn't exist but might exist later) and Charoite admits that he hasn't checked anything related to entertainment apart from the concerts given by his new mother, Hoshino Ai.
Charoite looked at Frill, and it didn't seem to him that she wanted to be an idol actress. So he had to make do with something old. A Disney play, perhaps? Yes... that could work. Charoite knew what role she could fit into.
Beauty and the Beast. (With Shiranui Frill being the human and He, Hoshino Charoite, the monster whom an innocent girl had the unfortunate chance to meet). But in this version, there was no romance, only tragedy for the beast.
Charoite let out a humorless snort. He shook his head before giving a self-deprecating smile. "Anyway, you don't have to sit with me, you know? If you want a good drawing, I'm going to need a few hours to finish."
Frill shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do right now." She then looked at where other children were engaging in their respective activities. "Practice starts in a few hours, so I can stay with you. I want to get to know you better."
Charoite glanced at Frill, with his brow furrowing for a moment before he sighed heavily. "Do whatever you want," he said, now focusing on the drawing he was making to please the girl.
Both of them sat mostly in silence, with Charoite drawing and Shiranui curiously watching how the pencil moved across the paper. Although she did ask some things about Charoite's personal life, to which he responded in a low voice.
"Wow. So you have two siblings, and you're triplets. Incredible, I have a sister. She's one of the best sisters in the world and even a great actress," Frill told Charoite, moving her legs and showing excitement in the conversation they were having.
"Yes. I'm happy for you," Charoite muttered without caring much about what the girl was telling him. "My brothers are more attached to my mother, so I haven't had many moments with them," he commented, making conversation to avoid seeming disinterested.
"Oh, I see," Frill nodded cutely. "My dad and my sister are closer, and my mum is more attached to me. But they always tell us they love us the same. And that's what matters."
Charoite gave her a discreet, dirty look. He couldn't help feeling a little envious of the bond and how happy she was. He shook his head, mentally scolding himself for feeling this way towards a child. Self-hatred wasn't far behind, but he tried not to show it outwardly.
"Yes. My mother loves us all equally," Charoite commented on what he thought about his new mother's words. Ai made sure to tell him that he was just as important as his brothers, although she'd never said she loved him.
He wasn't sure how his new father viewed him, but he noticed clear favoritism towards him. Whether it was because he had spent more time with him or for some other reason, he didn't know. Unlike his mother, who tried to spend as much time with him as possible when she visited their apartment.
Anyway, Charoite was apathetic and had no expectations about his parents. It was better not to expect anything and avoid disappointment than to expect something and be disappointed again. Like when he was Michael Afton, his parents, William and Clara, were very loving in the first few months. Well, especially Clara. William was more of an awkward caregiver as if he thought he could break Charoite easily. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't help but notice the irony of his thoughts.
Not that it mattered at the moment. All that mattered to Charoite was that his new family didn't turn into a ridiculous parody of his old family. And making William pay for his crimes. He thought about suicide, but that would be insensitive of him to his new mother and new brothers. It would cause them pain, just as Clara had done to him.
Charoite sighed. It wasn't worth thinking too far into the future. For now, he would focus on the present. Overthinking was giving him a headache. Neither of them said anything and they settled into a comfortable silence, one drawing, the other watching as he drew. Forging a bond that neither of them would expect later on in the future.
Jump ahead in time — The night of the following day.
Charoite woke up with a start. His heart pounding as the aftermath of Bite 83 repeated in his young mind. Charoite winced and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He looked around at the other children sleeping in their respective tents.
Charoite sighed and got up carefully, exiting his tent without making a sound. He did so without making the slightest noise; his years of experience in stealth helped greatly. Hiding from people and living in the shadows was proving very useful in his new life for sneaking around.
Once he left his tent, he looked up at the starry sky as the moon rose in the night, illuminating the forest with its beauty. Charoite rubbed his hands together due to the cold that was setting in at night to warm them. He looked at his trembling hands, remnants of the dream's effects, and clenched them several times before putting them in his pockets to stave off the chill.
Before Charoite walked away from the tents completely, he looked around and sighed with relief when he noticed no one was outside their respective tents. So that was a good thing. He'd have some peace after the recent commotion in the camp to improve his artistic skills.
He still remembered the embarrassment of performing while helping Frill and the other children in the little play they were rehearsing. The practice wasn't for someone to watch but for them to learn to work together, as acting and cooperation went hand in hand. Unfortunately, not everyone was as talented as Shiranui Frill, so they had to redo several scenes because some kids stumbled over their own words. Specifically, the two-year-olds.
Oh, and another thing Charoite noticed was that he was the youngest child. But some of the caregivers hardly believed it because of the maturity he showed. He even heard a male caregiver say it was creepy, and he had something to say to that same caregiver.
Screw you. If you didn't want to take care of kids, you should've found another job. Charoite smiled, remembering the times he had managed to scare that guy. He wasn't mean. No, sir. Charoite wasn't and if anything said otherwise, they were wrong and liars.
How could they even think that the kindest and holiest soul that was Hoshino Charoite could give adults a headache? He sighed at his childish thoughts before shaking his head and wiping the smile that had involuntarily spread across his face.
Charoite began to walk away and headed towards the place where he had been drawing before he first met Frill. He could see the log he had used as a base for peaceful drawing, the same place where Frill had caught him off guard while singing a song from his old world. Frill was so amazed that he could sing that she insisted on practicing singing with her.
Although Charoite would normally find playing pretend singing with a child a headache, he just couldn't resist Frill's puppy dog eyes. That, and she was very persistent when she wanted to be. She didn't take subtle hints to get lost and do what kids usually do.
Charoite pouted, feeling cheated and manipulated. Frankly, it was a bit embarrassing that he couldn't stay firm in his decision with Frill as he had with Elizabeth. Although now that he thought about it, maybe it was because he used to be a jerk and a fool. He shook his head before letting out a depressing sigh.
Charoite looked at the moon again while wondering how they were. A sudden itch accompanied by pain in his chest and stomach suddenly hit him, making him grimace in discomfort before he began to scratch his chest with some force while avoiding hurting himself in the process.
Another thing he hated about his new life was the nerve endings in his body, those painful sensations he experienced when he remembered his death, or something that made him think of the tragedies he had to endure as Michael Afton. They were very annoying in his new life. And even though the pain could never compare to being gutted and having his abdomen opened, they were very irritating. No matter how much he tried to ignore them, they only itched or hurt more. And frankly, he couldn't get used to the pain, no matter how many times he experienced it.
The only good thing about this stupid throbbing pain that flashed like a ghost trying to call for its sins was that Charoite had a high pain tolerance. So despite not being able to get used to the pain, he could definitely pretend externally that nothing was wrong and act normally. He was very good at pretending, or at least he became better at it than he had been as Michael Afton.
He shook his head as his nostalgia returned. He missed Evan and Elizabeth, and although they could be absolute brats and a big headache, especially Evan when he wouldn't stop crying, he loved them. He wondered how many times he had been a great hypocrite, wanting and wishing that Clara and William would tell him that they loved him. But he couldn't remember the last time he had told his brothers "I love you." The hatred and disgust for himself returned, wondering why he was the one who was reborn and not his siblings. He was sure they deserved this chance much more than he did.
Charoite snapped out of his melancholic thoughts when he felt something wet on his face. Surprised and bewildered, he touched the wet area of his face. Feeling something he was familiar with, he couldn't help but open his eyes wide.
Was he... crying? He frowned in annoyance, trying to wipe away the tears and make them stop. But the tears wouldn't stop falling, no matter how many times he tried to wipe away the annoying tears. The anger began to well up like a compressed ball about to burst into a furious sea. Charoite couldn't notice it, but due to the negative energy emanating from his AGONY, the forest's temperature began to plummet abruptly, and the crickets fell silent, leaving the forest in eerie quiet.
Why was he crying? Why wouldn't his stupid tear ducts stop tearing up his face? When was the last time he had cried unconsciously? He honestly couldn't remember, but he had thought he could never cry like this again, like a pathetic crybaby.
He was the Anomaly. Damn it, a tough person who faced death, again and again. So why was his stupid body betraying him again? Why couldn't he stop his tears? He remembered when he was still alive, recalling every distressing moment of his pathetic life after Evan's death, right up to the day of his death.
And while he initially found the name somewhat insulting, he later understood how perfectly it fit him. Because he truly was an anomaly among the supernatural. Something very surprising even among ghosts or cursed objects. As far as he knew, he was the only person (soul? thing?) who could possess his own body, turning it into a zombie or, to be more specific, an undead.
Turning him into what was essentially an Anomaly, as he was the only one who could disguise himself as human without causing too much suspicion or fear in society. Charoite could be said to be fortunate in that sense because it was the only thing that allowed him to infiltrate Fazbear Entertainment's restaurants. And thanks to that, he was lucky enough to find the illusory discs much later to camouflage himself much more easily when he needed to go to crowded places.
Although he didn't use the illusion discs much, they brought back bad memories of the nightmare animatronics. Charoite blinked when his tears ceased, to his relief, leaving only the silent rage that he felt growing and swelling inside.
"If I were you—" Before the mysterious voice could continue, Charoite's instincts kicked in. He jumped back and distanced himself from where the voice seemed to come from.
Charoite's eyes moved towards the voice, only to find... a girl? No. Something about her seemed different, not to mention she appeared as if she had suddenly materialized near his position. His muscles were tense, ready to move at the slightest sign of threat from this person or entity.
The sounds of the crows around her made a noise as several of them took flight and started circling the entire area around him. His purple eyes darted around, looking at each suspicious crow without lowering his guard towards the apparition in front of him.
His instincts hadn't alerted him to any hostility towards him, but despite that, he didn't let his guard down. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, waiting for any movement from her. And now that he noticed it, the distance between them didn't decrease much. He figured it was due to her short stature of nearly two years.
The girl laughed, impressed (a very unsettling smile in his opinion) at his movements, while raising an eyebrow. She stopped laughing, but her smile remained, and then she tilted her head to look at him with wide, clear, crystal-like eyes, the same shade as her hair, filled with deep curiosity and intrigue.
(Image)
"Your battle instincts are well-trained. Not even a second passed before you reacted and went on guard. I guess your title isn't one without deep meaning, huh?" She began to walk slowly. Charoite didn't say anything, and his lips remained tightly sealed, showing no signs of nervousness.
"To be honest, I thought that what the entity Consequences told me about you wasn't an exaggeration. You wouldn't disagree, would you, Anomaly?" She stopped abruptly and put her arms behind her back, looking at him with her ever-present smile.
Charoite furrowed his brow before relaxing his muscles a bit. He looked again at the crows, noting that there were a total of eight of them, before fixing his gaze on the girl who had appeared suddenly. The words of the person who had sent him to this new world were replaying in his mind.
"You are the entity Old Man warned me about. The Crow Girl," Charoite connected the dots. Frankly, he had expected something more like a fusion of a crow and a girl, or something that would make her stand out as a supernatural being. So seeing her as a girl who was probably his age or even younger was a surprise, but not an unpleasant one.
For once, she dropped the unsettlingly playful smile and looked at him with a furrowed brow seemingly a bit offended. "Excuse me, I'm much more than just a Crow Girl." Then, she smirked tauntingly. "Maybe you don't understand my importance since you were bawling your eyes out a few minutes ago."
Charoite frowned, almost about to retort and insult her. However, he bit his inner lip to avoid acting recklessly and angering an entity that could erase him from the face of the earth. Even if she couldn't do that, he wasn't going to take the risk of angering her. Instead, he said, "What do you want?" He retorted, before making an internal grimace at the strong tone of his voice.
If she noticed the condescending tone towards her, she said nothing. Instead, she walked over to sit on the log where Charoite had sat once. She gave him a mocking look and said, "I was just curious about you. I was planning to watch you for a longer time, but I noticed your energy spiraling out of control. So I interfered before your pitiful display caused you to lose control of your energy and result in something negative."
"I wasn't about to lose control. I had it perfectly under control, so your intervention was unnecessary." Charoite replied, annoyed, his eyebrows furrowing, matching his pursed lips.
"Wasn't it?" She asked rhetorically with a smile. "You know, I think what you just said is more to convince yourself than to convince me." She laughed when she saw Charoite's uncomfortable expression.
Charoite sighed and ran a hand over his face, exhaustion taking over his body. "I'm not sure how much you know about me, but I must assume you don't know too much, or else you'd know that I've only lost control once, and that was when I discovered the energy I possess. Despite that incident, which I never want to remember, I never lost control of my AGONY again." He looked her directly in the eyes.
Her taunting smile turned into a curious one, and he could see that her eyes showed intrigue. "AGONY, huh? That's what you call the evil energy inside you." She put a hand on her chin before looking at the radiant moon. "Interesting. Now I'm very curious about how your world works. So, I assume you know about your other energy that runs through your veins, right?" She glanced at Charoite from the corner of her eye.
Another energy? Charoite thought for a few seconds before realizing what she was referring to. "Are you talking about Remnant?" he asked curiously, wondering if she was talking about the remnants of souls that had been forcefully injected into his body.
"Remnant, huh?" She murmured to herself, making Charoite raise an eyebrow. Before he realized that she didn't know the name of that second energy inside his body. He thought she would know more about his life, but from her expressions and gestures, it didn't seem like it. She seemed more like someone trying to solve a mystery, and despite her advantages and the fact that she could use some tricks, she still couldn't figure everything out.
Despite what Charoite could gather about this entity, he didn't mention it. Instead, he decided to take a different approach. "Since you're the entity Old Man told me about, I can assume you have a way to stop William Afton once and for all."
She blinked before looking at me, and this time the girl wasn't smiling. She frowned with disapproval at the person Charoite had mentioned. Then she sighed and shook her head. "I've tried to use my powers to locate him, but unfortunately, I haven't been successful. It's as if he doesn't exist. Which is strange because no one can escape my domains. It makes me think that someone or something else is interfering with his location."
"Huh? You can't find him? Then why don't you use your entity powers? I mean, you just teleported in my direction. Can't you... I don't know, snap your fingers so that William can appear in a specific place so that you can easily locate him? Or teleport us to him?"
She frowned, clicking her tongue slightly. "Unfortunately, I can't teleport mortals, only guide them. And I don't know this being's location. So, I can't teleport to it or guide you to it." She said irritably, and Charoite could sense the frustration in her tone. So, he decided to tease her, as she had done to him earlier.
"Ha," Charoite let out a dramatic sigh before clicking his tongue in mock annoyance. "So, the only entity that could be of help turns out to be useless. What kind of guide are you when you can't guide your targets?" He taunted her.
The crows around them cawed indignantly, and the Crow Girl got up from where she was sitting, clearly upset, pointing at him with irritation.
"How dare you? You should be grateful that I can help you. Even God had to advance the birth of this vessel just so I could inhabit it and assist you with this stupid quest." Then she calmed down before looking at him with no grace. "Honestly, the audacity of mortals." She shook her head. "You'll see how useful I can be when I find this being. And now that I know about the energies that might be interfering, finding it won't be so difficult."
Charoite couldn't help but smile slightly at the human-like behavior of the entity. Sometimes, he was truly amazed at how entities could have more human-like behavior than even some animals disguised as humans he had met. Disgusting beings in Charoite's opinion. He could never understand why there were such cruel people.
Putting aside that strange thought from his mind, Charoite noticed something in her indignation. "Vessel?" The thought didn't please him. Had the entity taken over someone else's body for herself? Or was it something different?
She looked at Charoite with her piercing eyes before smiling. "Nothing important. This vessel didn't host any soul, so if I didn't inhabit it, it would be stillborn. The same situation applies to you three, the triplets." She gave him a mocking smile. "So, you don't have to lament and cry like a baby about the possibility of stealing someone else's happiness."
Charoite would have been annoyed by the mockery if it weren't for the relief of not having taken someone else's life. But that relief didn't last long when he realized the implication of the entity's words. "Wait. Does that apply to the triplets? Does that mean Ruby and Aqua are also reincarnated people?" He said incredulously but somewhat satisfied that his suspicions were correct.
The Crow Girl blinked. "Oops," she said, realizing that she had revealed something she hadn't planned to and even though it wasn't of great importance, she hadn't intended to admit her mistake, no matter how minor. "As I said, it's not important. Anyway, while I look for this disgusting being, I have something that could keep you occupied."
Hoshino Charoite raised an eyebrow at the obvious change of subject but let it go. He wasn't going to insist on something that was clearly a mistake on her part and simply stayed silent while taking advantage of her error for later. At that moment, he was intrigued by what she was going to tell him. "And what would that be?"
She smiled in that creepy way again, and instead of telling him, she began to approach him until she was in front of him. Charoite tensed but, not noticing any hostile or malicious movement, he stayed put and looked at her with curiosity.
"This," she said as she pulled something from behind her back. Charoite blinked as he saw her produce a newspaper seemingly out of thin air and hand it to him.
Intrigued, Charoite took the newspaper with his small hands and looked at what was in front of him. It was a toy factory, a very famous toy factory, it seemed, one that even had an orphanage and helped many children. "Poppy Playtime?" Charoite didn't understand what she was trying to tell him, but anxiety began gnawing at his stomach. Something was very wrong.
She disturbingly tilted her head before raising her hand and showing him two of her fingers. "Two words. Anomaly." She fell silent for a moment before dropping a bombshell that hit Charoite hard. "Human experimentation."
"!!!"
Charoite's eyes widened. To say that he was surprised would be an understatement; he was flabbergasted. His eyes scanned the newspaper in his hand, looking at the toy factory before his gaze landed on the orphanage. He immediately connected the dots.
His stomach churned violently. The itching and pain returned across his abdomen. Charoite felt nauseated and had the urge to vomit, but he restrained himself.
"But for what purpose?" Charoite whispered more to himself than as a question. He tried to find a logical explanation for why someone would do something so inhumane. He hadn't felt so disgusted in a long time, not since he found out what Eleanor had done to Sarah. The first time was when he discovered that William had cruelly and sadistically murdered all those children, all for the stupid goal of achieving immortality.
Wait... immortality? Could that be what they're after?"
As if to answer his doubts and concerns, the Crow Girl handed him a folder while taking the newspaper back and making it disappear.
What Charoite read horrified him as much as it filled him with rage. His AGONY began to scream from within him with unbridled anger, craving blood for the damn creatures that committed such an inhumane act.
Charoite's hands clenched tightly on the folder as he read what they were doing with human experiments. "Where are they?" Charoite said with an eerily calm tone as he looked at her with emotionless eyes.
With a snap of her fingers, the folder in his hands disappeared. She frowned. "I can't tell you as you are now. You couldn't do anything other than become one of them, something I can't allow because of the energies you possess." She let out a dramatic sigh. "And even if I could, where's the fun in that?" She gave him a scornful smile.
Charoite glared at her, advancing threateningly. She remained unfazed and smiled even more mockingly. "There's nothing fun about this."
"Maybe not for you," she said. "Honestly, humans play with forces they don't understand, and playing with them can cost them dearly." The girl's eyes pierced him, making Charoite uncomfortable. He could feel his AGONY agreeing with her. "Anyway, there's nothing you could do to save those children. And karma is about to catch up with all those stupid humans playing with forces beyond their understanding."
Charoite gritted his teeth, feeling a sense of helplessness and disgust. "If you haven't told me this to save the probably dead children, as your words implied, then why are you telling me?"
She smiled creepily, her eyes shining brightly in the darkness as she looked at him with intrigue. "They're not dead, at least not all of them and not entirely. I guess that's something you're used to, and I'm very curious about what you'll do with this information."
Charoite narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"Will you let them rot in that factory, or will you help them?" She chuckled slightly. The crows started to swirl around her. "I'll be watching, Afton," she said before the crows briefly obscured her from view.
Charoite grimaced at his old name, one he preferred to forget. When the crows began to disperse again, he noticed that the spot where the Crow Girl had stood a moment ago was empty.
He gripped the bridge of his nose before releasing a frustrated sigh. Looking at the spot where she had been moments ago. Damn, that girl was incredibly creepy, and it had been a while since someone had gotten on his nerves like that.
Charoite looked at the sky, feeling utterly defeated. As if fucking William wasn't enough. It seemed there was another lunatic trying to achieve immortality, and it had ended the same way as William, in disaster.
Michael Afton was not destined for a normal life, huh? Even in his new life as Hoshino Charoite, he could already feel the migraines this crap would cause him in the future, along with all the problems that came with it. Charoite sighed, feeling incredibly fatigued.
"I guess another nap wouldn't hurt right now," he mumbled to himself. With nothing more to add, he headed back to his tent to try and get some sleep.
He could only hope that he wouldn't have another night of insomnia because of what he had just learned.