He arrived at the Ruins and stepped inside. A tingling sensation radiated through his body from where the book was stashed in his clothes.
He pulled the book out and looked at it. It radiated with a strange light and compelled him to open it. As he did so, a dizziness fell through his body, and he dropped the book. He bent to pick it up, but as he did, he slipped and fell towards the book.
Instead of catching himself, the ground seemed to get farther and farther away from him until he could no longer see it. He continued falling into the infinite, black void. He looked around to see that he had once again become a floating consciousness with no physical form.
The blackness around him receded, and he found himself floating in some kind of green liquid with bubbles surrounding him. A man in a white button-up coat approached from the other side of the glass, but it was hard to make him out through the liquid. The man seemed to look at him, write something down, and press a button.
Metallic sheets closed around the pod he was in, and his vision faded to a new scene.
A loud clank echoed, as if something large had been detached. He felt himself falling downwards as he regained consciousness.
Encased in metal, he realized he was no longer just a consciousness but inside the body of his past self—forced to watch through his own eyes.
The falling sensation intensified. He began to breathe heavily, clawing at the case surrounding him. The case had begun to heat up rapidly. The liquid burned his skin off, and his eyes went blind. He crackled with red energy in distress as he continued falling.
He screamed out, drowning in the liquid, but he could not die. His skin regenerated, and he was constantly choking, yet he remained conscious for what felt like an eternity.
The pod hit the ground. For a brief moment, relief washed over him—but it was short-lived. The red energy crackled out from him, reacting to the liquid, which superheated to a temperature so intense that his entire body was incinerated.
Pain.
He was nothing but pain.
His body regenerated instantly, only to be burned again. In a great explosion, he was eviscerated, only to reappear—clawing through landscapes, incinerating everything he touched.
His very existence had become a weapon of mass destruction.
He burned. He screamed for death. But it would not come.
Finally, after an indeterminable amount of time, he cooled enough to think. But he found himself in a massive pool of liquid magma stretching farther than he could see.
He burned.
He screamed.
He cried, wading through the ocean of lava. His thoughts hurt him. All he wanted was to escape the pain.
He collapsed many times, but he could not lose consciousness. The pain kept him awake.
Exhausted, in agony, and constantly on the verge of death, he waded and waded. Eventually, the magma cooled, and he began walking on solid stone. The air still burned his throat, but he could move a little faster now.
After an eternity, he arrived at a strange sight: a mass of pillars and small buildings, overgrown with vegetation and destroyed beyond recognition. Towers collapsed and leaned over. Small houses were completely molded and crumbled.
With nothing else to do, he finally collapsed from exhaustion.
After an incredibly long and well-deserved sleep, he awoke to a new sensation.
Hunger.
An incredible, inconceivable hunger.
When he woke up, he saw some kind of fruit growing from a vine draping down from one of the buildings. Instinctually, he bit into it.
The fruit burned his throat and made his eyes water, but compared to what he had just endured, he barely noticed.
There were only birds and bugs around the destroyed city, but he ate them greedily. Only when the incessant rumbling of his stomach ceased did he feel even the slightest relief.
He continued through the ruined city, finally exiting into a forested area.
As he ventured through the forest, he tripped on a vine and fell flat on his face.
"WHO'S THERE?!"
A man's voice rang through the woods.
Los looked curiously in the direction it had come from. He saw an old man wearing overalls, holding some kind of stick with metal on the top—pointing it at him.
The man lowered the object and said, "By God, a kid. Where'd you come from?"
Los somehow understood the language, but he didn't know how to talk. He shook his head.
The farmer scratched his head. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He thought for a moment, then said, "You can come with me. These woods are dangerous, and my wife stays home. We have food there."
Los nodded vigorously, and they headed to the man's home.
"I'm Kenneth, by the way. What do I call you?"
Los looked confused and shrugged.
Kenneth chuckled. "Well, you are a lost child, so maybe I'll look for your parents before naming you."
Los looked down and tried to speak, faintly croaking, "L-Los..."
The man looked at him again. "Wassat?! Your name's Los? Strange name, but never mind. I'm sure you've been through some things out here."
He pointed forward at a clearing where a small cabin stood.
"We're here. Please behave for my wife's sake."
Los nodded, and the man smiled.
Inside the cabin, it was warm. The air quality in the forest was a vast improvement over the city.
"This is my wife, Amy. You can see why she wasn't out there with me."
Kenneth gestured toward a blonde-haired woman in a dress, noticeably pregnant.
She blushed and playfully slapped him with a cloth.
Los looked on in confusion.
The couple laughed at his reaction, then looked at each other and kissed.
Time Skip
It was a good couple of weeks with the family.
Los ate meals and hunted with Kenneth. Over dinner one night, they mentioned that it had been 100 years since "The Reset."
Los's future self had already determined that he was the Reset, but his past self had no idea.
He simply enjoyed each day—eating, hunting, sleeping, and doing it all again. He opened up more, conversing with the family as they taught him to speak.
However, it couldn't last.
One day, while hunting, a freak accident caused a bullet from Kenneth's gun to misfire, hitting Los in the back.
Kenneth rushed over and tried to cover the wound—but was jolted back by a surge of red energy.
The wound closed.
Kenneth gasped. His expression of worry faded—replaced by a mix of disgust and terror.
"Y-you... y-you are... No, it can't be... ABOMINATION!"
Los gasped and recoiled. "W-what?"
A large shadow fell over them.
They looked up to see a massive spacecraft hovering in orbit, blocking out the sky.
Kenneth turned and ran back to the cabin.
Los watched after him before looking back up at the ship. It sparkled... and fired something down at the forest.
Los regenerated and crawled out from a pile of debris.
He stood up and looked around.
"KENNETH! AMY!"
No answers.
Nothing indicating life.
He tensed so hard he popped a blood vessel.
The red energy crackled around him, almost as hot as it had been when he first landed on the planet.
He shot up toward the ship, becoming a formless mass of energy once again.
He watched from the side as the wave of destruction hit the ship—
And tore straight through it.
The ship fell to Earth, breaking apart.
Los landed far away from the wreckage.
A soft tck sounded behind him.
He turned.
A man in a white suit stood across from him.
"A rebellious one?" The man said. "Ah… my children do need discipline from time to time, I suppose."
Los gasped.
Still nothing more than an unthinking mass of destruction and rage, he rocketed toward the man.
But—
A single slash cut him in half.
Los was knocked back—but regenerated instantly.
He shot forward again, healing through the slashes.
But then—
A swift strike from the man.
Pure agony.
The blow caused more pain than all the suffering he had endured in the past 100 years.
Los was cut to nothingness.
Yet somehow—
He regenerated.
The man's eyes flickered with surprise.
He prepared to strike again.
But this time—
Los regenerated too fast.
A hand reached out—
And grabbed the man.
"Let go of me, boy."
The man's voice was calm. Unjustifiably calm.
Los screamed.
The entire area erupted into pure heat and destruction.
The man's skin began charring.
He pulled away—his arm was torn off.
He fell back.
"You worm! You will die for th—"
Los grabbed his head.
This time, he focused—a heat so concentrated that reality itself seemed to bend.
He became pure heat.
His own existence fused with the man's—a confused melding of beings.
But the heat continued burning.
Burning away everything.
Burning away their memories.
Until finally—
Los was nothing but a shell.
And the man's existence was erased.
Only his powers remained.
The heat faded.
Los found himself standing before an incomprehensible creature.
It reached out—what might be described as a hand—and touched Los on the forehead.
His vision went black.
A pulling sensation overtook him.
He was yanked back into his real body.
Los gasped.
The book slammed shut in front of him.
But he didn't notice.
He clutched his head in his hands—
And rocked back and forth.
"AGGGGHH!!!!!"
Well there it is, Los's backstory may be a little out of place in a Re: Zero fanfic but I thought I did a good job and I saw the opportunity. Next, we head back to Canon Re: Zero Fights and moment and we'll see how the story develops with knowledge of Los's true Nature.