YEAR 2050
The moon and stars are all the night sky is right now, aside of darkness. The night sky of Eshiyuu's world is the prettiest sky this world could have, having it provide the world with moonlight and starlight. A portion of the light shone down on a graveyard, just far southeast of Eshiyuu's kingdom. As most graveyards, bodies are beneath ground, their names engraved on the tombstones and crosses above them. But two bodies laid above ground. A boy and a girl, five year old twins. Both had hair as dark as the night sky, skin as light as the sun, eyes that shone like stars. Both wore black long sleeved shirts that had purple rims, dark purple pants, and black boots, also had purple rims. The boy had on a black scarf. The girl had a short black skirt over her pants.
The boy sat up, waking from his nap, groaning and rubbing his eyes. It was then he saw that he was not where he resided. He stood up, looking around with a worried look and teary eyes. He called out for his mother, but only silence answered back. Then he saw his older twin sister still napping on the ground beside him. He bent over and shook her shoulder. "Hana, wake up!" He said, but his sister still lay there asleep. He stood up straight, stepped back, and kicked her on the hip. She woke up, startled. "AHH!" She yelped, expecting danger, but her fear turned to annoyance when she realized it's just her brother. "William you idiot!" She stood up and kicked him hard on the leg angrily. "Ow ow ow!" He jumped on one leg, holding his other. She looked around her and asked, "Where are we?" William stopped jumping and said, "I have no idea." Hana sighed as William held her hand. "Well, c'mon. We should try to get home or something."
Fifteen minutes went by and they still wander through the graveyard. "Do you even know the way home, brother?" Hana asked irritably. William pouted, "What, do I look like a map to you?" Hana rolled her eyes and instead whined, "I'm hungryyyyyy." William's stomach couldn't help but growl upon that comment. He said, "Just relax, we'll find some food..." Then they continued walking, passing by tens of thousands of graves. After a while, his sister yelped. "AHHH! MY FOOT!" William looked back and saw that a hand that appeared to have come out of the ground has taken hold of her ankle. William kicked it and it let go. The hand starts to extend, and an undead corpse came out of the ground. The children screamed, and more corpses proceed to rise from the ground, the twins were terrified, and they ran as fast and as far as their legs could carry. They were growing exhausted from the heist that was the run from the zombie apocalypse, just when they found a large gate. They make it to the gate's front, and it was unlocked. They swiftly slide in and William removed his scarf to tie the gate tightly so it can't be opened. They ran from the gate as zombies watched.
They stopped at their tracks and panted out of exhaustion. Just then Hana looked up and realized that they're in front of a mansion. William soon saw as well and they walked to the front door. Hesitantly, William knocked at the door, but no one answered. Soon, it started to rain, really hard. "Ah..." Hana said as she felt droplets hit her hair. William covered his hair with his hands and looked to see if there's another way into the house. "There!" He said, pointing up to an open window that looks to be at the second floor. The twins ran over to under it. "So now what?! We can't get up there! We're too small and it's too high!" Hana exclaimed. William then notice some of the bricks of the wall are sticking out, so he started to rock-climb to his way. Hana nodded and followed. They both made it, collapsing on the floor as they went through the window. They are in a hall, with a staircase to their right, leading to the first floor. As in their left, it's just darkness. In front of them is a door. Hana turned the knob and saw a bedroom. They shivered from being so damp as they entered it. William grabbed blankets from the bed and uses them to cover his and his sister's shoulders. They exit the room and went downstairs.
The lights were on, revealing a giant porch with two door ways on either side, and also the front door. William and Hana went to the left doorway, and saw an incredible sight; a table lined up with food, delicious, tasty-looking food, from meals such as grilled chicken to fruit salad and snacks like cupcakes and bread were set up. They both gasped. "FOOOOOODDDD!!!" Hana said as they ran straight up to the table and started stuffing themselves. They were eating for several minutes, biting on the delicious warm meat, swallowing the extra sweet bread, devouring the fruits and vegetables, and drinking the juice that were in glasses. They both collapsed against the wall with contented sighs and bellies full. "So delicious..." William smiled.
Just then, they heard the front door creak. "Uh-oh...!" They whispered and slid into the tablecloth under the table. They could hear the clicking sound of the rain and footsteps of a single person. They were also humming to themselves, they sounded like a woman. She was humming till she saw her table filled with filthy dishes and no food. "Ah." She said, "burglars? Well, I'll make sure they pay." Her tone sounded sweet yet cold. Hana practically shivered as she heard the woman's voice. Just then, the table cloth was lifted and the woman's face was revealed. The children screamed and ran out, or at least attempted to, when the woman grabbed them by the back of their shirts. "So you kids are the ones who ate my food?" The woman smiled, it wasn't a sweet smile, though. This woman has orange eyes, long black hair that's yellow on the ends and tied to a ponytail, an orange scarf and a yellow dress, along with black boots. "And don't even lie to me, kids. Your mouths and clothes and hands are filthy." William and Hana shook in response, knew that they will be in trouble soon. "We're sorry." William said. The woman smiled sweetly. "Well, you're very polite. How lovely. But you'll have to repay me." She puts the both of them down. "Sorry, but who are you?" Hana asked. "Well, I'm pleased you asked, you can call me Spice or Majo-san."
The twins shook in fear, because they knew exactly what the Japanese word Majo means. "Y-y-you're a witch?" William asked. Spice only snickered at his reaction. "Why, yes. A witch of gluttony. I desire food, but you two have displeased me, because you ate my massive buffet." She smiles coldly at the twins. "But, I won't put a curse on you. At least not now. Heh, I would even grant you freedom. On one condition." The witch points at them. "Make me snacks!"
The twins looked at her then to the kitchen, William blurted out, "B-but we never made food before!" Spice grabbed him by the shirt and smirked, "Well, tough luck, kid. You want out, this is the price you'll have to pay, and your sister, too." She puts him down. "If your snacks are delicious, I'll let you go... If not... Well... We'll see." The witch said, "Well, I'll give you till snack time to prepare your foods. And don't even think about escaping, or you're automatically going to face the consequences." Hana remembered what snack time was as she learned from her mother.
"Your grandmother loved snack time. Every time the clock strikes three, she would always call out 'Oh, it's snack time!'"
"Is there any chance that your 'snack time' is three o'clock?" She asked. The witch smiled, "Why yes, girl. A friend of mine loved it and it's a tradition to Eshiyuians." Hana nodded, said, "I knew that." and rushed to the kitchen with her brother.
Within a few hours, the kitchen was filled with smoke and there were several filthy mixing bowls and whisks and spoons on the counter. Luckily, the twins were provided a cooking book from the witch. Before they had started, they asked her what snack she would want, and she points at a particular bread on the book and smiled and said, "I would want brioches. They take a long time to make, but still delicious." So that was what they decided to make. Soon, they heard bells tolling, as if the clock struck three. The witch entered the dining room, with a big smile on her face, and calling out, "Ara, oyatsu no jikan da wa! In Japanese, that means it's snack time, but your time is up." William and Hana abruptly stopped what they were doing and went to face the witch. She looked pleasingly at the table which is filled up with brioches on a plate with a side of jam. "Those looks delicious kids. Which of all is the ones you made?" William points out, "Uhm, the further half is mine." The witch chuckled, "Heheh. Well, I can't wait to try them and punish you if you did badly." She walked over, took one of William's, and bit on it. She had a look of pleasure on her face as she chewed on the delicious bread. She swallowed it then smiled sweetly, "That was delicious, you have satisfied the gluttony in me!" William smiled nervously and said, "Thanks, I guess?"
But then the witch said, "Well, to truly know you won't have punishment, I'll have to try your sister's, too." Hana gritted her teeth in anxiety, because she had taste-tested her brioches, and they weren't so good, but she stayed silent and let the witch eat one of her breads. A split second after she bit on Hana's brioche and nearly swallowed it, she spat it out to let it land on the floor next to her. "Oh dear, I have to clean my floors again." She said, then looked at Hana, who looked nervous and knew she messed up. The witch had a wide grin on her face. "Well, that was horrible. So that clears it up!" She points at the twins, "You will be punished!"
Hana hid behind her brother in fear, and William exclaimed, "What will you do to her?!" The witch smirked and looked at him in the eye, "Correction, what will I do to you?" His eyebrows rose up upon hearing that. "What... do you mean?" He asked, then the witch answered, "I will punish you both. In your way, boy, I will put a curse on you!" The twins shook in fear and backed away from the witch. Hana pulled her brother's arm, yells out, "RUN!" and they rushed for the exit. The front door was still locked, so they ran up the stairs. And to the room where they came in. They dive in through the window, only for them to land on the carpet of the dining room in front of the witch.
"H-HOW?!" William said, standing up and backing away from her. She smiles devilishly and said, "Little boy, what do you think I'm called a witch for?" William backed away more while his sister stayed behind him. "You can't escape, and now you will face the consequences." She grabbed the children by the back of their shirts and lifted them up two feet from the ground. They tried to struggle their way off but it was no use. Soon, black flames burn up on the witch's hands, indicating that she's starting up the curse. "Now you, boy, you will starve for the rest of your days. No matter what you eat, your hunger and the gluttony in you will never be satisfied. However, if you eat your own sister, then you will die, ending your suffering and your starvation. And if you refuse to eat her, you will be hungry forever." Hana's eyes went wide. "What?! No! Don't eat me!" The witch smiled at her, "Well, it's your fault your snacks were terrible, even then, the both of you trespassed and ate my food without permission." William shouted, "You're a monster!" She just smirked, "Well, maybe I am, after all, I was the one who managed that apocalypse of the undead out there, after all. But not my fault you just woke up in my graveyard!" The twins stayed silent. "As a little perk, I'll banish you two to a forest. That way, if you ignore what I said of eating other stuff won't work, then you'll have all those fruits and plants to eat. Heheh, this is goodbye, huh? Despite the short time, I enjoyed your snacks, William. Well, goodbye!" Then everything went black.
The twins woke up in a forest. The moonlight shone down through the trees. They spent about ten days in the forest. Despite all the food they were able to gather, William still was hungry. As they travel through the forest, they still could not find their mother. Soon, one night, William was curled up in a blanket on the grass under a tree while his sister was out to get food. He was so hungry, his stomach and his head hurts so much that he could barely stand, and he knew that he wanted to end the suffering already. He then closed his eyes in pretend to sleep. Soon, Hana came back with a bag full of food. She laid down beside him to sleep. A few minutes later, William opened his eyes and looked at Hana, tempted. He took hold of her hand, and drew it closer to his mouth. Hana stirred from sleep and saw her brother looking at her hand. "What are you doing?" She asked exhaustingly. He then, with all the strength of his teeth and jaw, he bit and ripped off one of her fingers. Hana went fully awake and screamed in pain, and the screaming continues to echo in the forest as William continues to bite her fingers off. She yelled, "WILLIAM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?"
But he continued eating. He then ate half of her wrist, then half of her hand, then what remained of her hand and wrist. Blood stained his teeth as he continued, eating several parts of her arm, like an animal. He took a stick from nearby and plucked her eyes out, and she was screaming the entire time. He ate the eyes then bit off her right cheek, then her neck, making the screaming stop. He continued eating parts of her, including her hair and her arm. Everything went silent, he looked at his sister's half-eaten corpse, blood stained her clothes and what was left of her skin, with blood leaking out of her mouth and empty eye sockets. He licked the blood off his lips and teeth. Then he started to feel dizzy. His stomach no longer hurts, but his vision became blurrier. His breathing became tense. He looked down at his body, seeing his sister's blood all over him. "Hah... hah..." He panted. He then collapsed on the ground, and closed his eyes. He started to hear ringing sounds, making him feel more exhausted and the memories of what has happened to him before start to flow into his mind, and for a second, his life flashed before his eyes, before he has decided to weakly hum the lullaby his mother would sing to him every night, before finally slowly passing away.
It's the year 2055. The prince, who everyone thought was dead, struggled his way off the burnt rubble of the palace. He stood up and limped and ran through the forest, his body hurts so much. He collapsed on the grass. The next thing he knew, he woke up in an infirmary of another palace, it was Eshiyuu's. There was a woman who sat next to him. She has black hair, blue eyes, and wore a yellow and red gown. It was Erin Lucifen Sato, the queen of Eshiyuu. "Are you alright?" She asked. The prince groaned in pain. "N-no..." He said. "Wh-where's my mom and dad...?" Erin looked away. "Y-your mother is dead. And I don't know where your father is..." The prince started to cry softly and covers his face. The queen hugged him. "It's alright... It's alright... I'm sorry...
... Shadow Karchess Spade."