*pod* PROLOGUE *pod*

Humans. Beings with such a beautiful existence, yet many hate it. Some try to shorten it in various ways, but somehow some still fail. I will never understand how they find something so beautiful so meaningless. I can only watch them from afar. I hate it. I despise it. Something so beautiful was given to their forms. To beings who don’t even appreciate it. How horrible. I would kill to have such a thing given to me. Yet here I am. I exist as something humans would call an entity. A being not created by God or any powerful being, but something created purely by a human mind. I hate my own existence even more. I never got to decide my own fate. After all, my fate was not decided by me but by the human mind. To this day, I am not sure who made this world I now call home. Yet to that human, I am more than grateful.

My home is a colorful place. To me, it doesn’t seem like a dream. In my mind, it’s beautiful and perfect, yet to someone as fragile as a human, it may come off as... strange. Even so, as much as I’m grateful, my hatred for them burns. No matter how kind they were to give me a place to live in, I despise them to my core. Nobody can ever change my opinion of them. No one can look me in the eyes and tell me that humans are kind. They are horrible creatures with so many things given to them. Yet even then, they would rather lose it all to something as stupid as death.

*pod* CHAPTER ONE (August) *pod*

"Where... Am I?" I woke up. But not in bed, like you would expect. I woke up in a place I had never seen before. A place that I surely would never call home. I stood up and looked around the place where I woke up. There were a few houses that looked a little strange. They didn't look like regular houses... or so I think? I don’t know. I don't really know why or how I'm here. "I should go look around so I at least get to see if anyone is living here." So that's what I did. I slowly and cautiously started making my way to the small village that was in front of me. On my way there, I noticed weird creatures. They all seemed so emotionless and cold. Not a smile or anything you would expect humans to behave like. They were just... there. Existing. What was even weirder was how they looked. Apart from what this world looks like. They were black and white, basically uncolorful. "What the fuck am I doing here in the first place?" I asked myself before one of these creatures walked up to me and handed me a paper. I looked up at the creature. It didn't say a word. It just stood in front of me, with paper in its hands. "What is this place? And what are you?" I asked it. No reply. It just stared down at me with a look I would describe as VERY unpleasant. I inspected it from head down to its toes, before something caught my eye. It was a shiny metal badge with the word "The Ruler". "Is that your name? The Ruler?" I said, hoping for an answer this time. But again, no reply, I thought to myself before The Ruler smiled... It scared the shit out of me because the smile wasn't that cute and lively. It was wide, dark, and extremely creepy. I looked down, trying to avoid what I just witnessed. I saw the paper, still in its hand. On it, there were rules written for this place, I assume. So, I took the paper and walked away from that creepy thing. I looked back one more time, and it waved at me... "What the fuck was that..." Is all I could let out of my mouth.

The paper in my hands was basically rules. Why would a place like this have rules? I mean, the place itself looks so bright and joyful, except for those weird, creepy things... I started reading the given rules:

*modra*Do not upset the residents of any town,*modra*

*modra*Be respectful and kind,*modra*

*modra*Complete tasks to earn more days,*modra*

*modra*Never question the tasks,*modra*

*roza*NEVER RUN OUT OF DAYS.*roza*

And at the end of the paper, a sentence was written with big capital letters.

"BEFORE ANYTHING, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE HOUSE OF ALL KNOWLEDGE!" "House of knowledge? What is that, or where is it? This place doesn't make much sense.” I looked back at the village, where I was before, and where I got these rules. In the distance, I saw road signs. I walked up to them so I could read what was written on the signs. There were 3 signs. City of Stars and Knowledge, Garden of Music, Beach of the Known. "I knew there was more to this place!" So that's where I went. City of Stars and Knowledge.

The path to there was fucking long. And straight. Absolutely NO hills or bumps. Literally just straight. While walking to the House of All Knowledge, something crossed the road. It was tiny, with big googly eyes, small feet and hands and... "Where the fuck does its head start and body end?" It looked like a fat ball of cats' fur. I slowly approached the creature before it stopped in front of me and looked up at me. Before I could say or do anything, the small creature waved at me and said with a squirmy voice, "Helloo!!" My eyes widened, and my jaw slowly dropped. "YOU SPEAK?!" The little goblin-like creature nodded and stretched its small hand up to me. It was a flower. "It's for you, Mister!!" It said as it handed me the flower. I was a little confused before I started thinking to myself... should I take it...? Or should I just ignore it? I don’t know what intentions this place has... so I decided to take the flower. The little silly goober looked at me with a smile as it started jumping up and down. "Thank you, Mister! You are my best friend now!” It said as soon as I looked down and spared it some attention. "What...? I don't even know your name." "It's Aio, Mister! What is your name, Mister?" I hesitated at the question... Why don't I remember my name? Do I even have one? I don't know. Now that I think of it... What do I remember? While I was deeply in thought, wondering about my existence, the silly goofball Aio in front of me didn’t even seem to stop moving. He was jumping around, singing melodies and talking to himself. Does he have ADHD? Because I would NOT be surprised if he told me that he does have it. I shook my head and stopped overthinking everything. As soon as Aio saw me coming back to Earth, he clung to my leg and said, "Mister... You look like your name would be August! You're handsome, have dark features, and are tall! Awh... I wish I could be tall... Anyways! I'll call you August from this moment on!" I just stood there, completely confused. Aio clung to my leg even tighter and screamed at me to start moving to the location I was planning on going to. Now, walking isn't boring anymore. Aio was talking nonstop to the point where I wished it couldn't talk like that village creature. Give me a break.

Finally, I made it into the city. Well... we made it into the city. The city was big, and there were large buildings that looked like millions of companies. The skies were filled with stars and glitter. But the odd thing was, the city wasn't crowded. There were just a few of those creatures I saw everywhere. I looked back at the paper where the rules were written down. I checked the name of the building I was supposed to go to. House of All Knowledge. I looked around, searching for any signs or buildings where that would be written on. Meanwhile, Aio, being Aio, jumped up to the paper and snatched it from my hands. It started reading words and sentences, but very slowly. Just like a child who just learned how to read. As I reached down, trying to take the paper back, Aio lively said, "House of All Knowledge?! Follow me, Mister August!" So, I went after him. He was running through the city and me right after him until we came to the building. I stopped before it to catch my breath and calm down my heart from running. The building was huge and tall. It almost looked like a court. We made our way into the building. I was getting increasingly curious about what might meet me inside. I opened the door and Aio ran right inside while I slowly went after him. I walked through the hall until I came into the room that, again, looked like court. There was a creature sitting behind a table. This one was different. It was colorful, not like the others that were black and white. I took a step closer and saw the same metal badge that The Ruler had. But this one was named Comet. Now that I think of it, it kind of does look like a comet too. I slowly said, "Hello...? I was supposed to come here...?" Comet didn't say anything. I thought it was going to be like with others, no reply or a word. But right after I thought of that, Comet spoke. "Hello, human. Thank you for coming here, as we asked you to. It seems like you already know the rules. I'm Comet, nice to meet you. What is your name?" She asked. I froze at the question; I don't even know myself. After thinking, I hesitantly said, "I am August Miss". She just nodded and continued talking. "There are a few things that you still don't know. That’s why you had to come here, so I could tell you other things that really matter." She stopped talking for a second as she put a wristwatch on the table. She continued, "This watch is very important for you to stay safe and sound. On this watch, you will shortly see your visa. You might be asking yourself, what is your visa? Well, human, it's basically a reminder or timer of how many days you have before something very bad happens." She paused to sigh, and then she said, "That very bad thing doesn't need to happen, but that really just depends on you. All you need to do is basically just follow the rules you already are aware of." I nodded, listening to everything she said. Aio was silent for a change, listening too. "So, human. I suggest that you do everything you should; otherwise there will be consequences." I nodded again and hesitated before I asked her, "Can I ask what this world is? And those creatures everywhere? They don't seem human..." She looked down at the table and picked up the watch and handed it to me. "This world? Well, it is your home. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here, right? And as for the creatures here? They are called entities. That's all you must and should know. Now take this watch and go. Adventures are waiting for you. " She looked down at the watch she was holding out for me. I came closer and gently took it out of her hands. "See you soon, human. Do good, " She said before disappearing out of nowhere. "I am going crazy, I swear," I said before Aio jumped into the conversation I had with myself and said, "No, August! Don't think that! You're an amazing human being and my best friend!” I sighed and made my way out of the building while I observed the watch that was given to me. I sat on the stairs of the front side of the building and put the watch on my wrist. It didn't turn on. I tried pressing on it, and nothing. "Hm... That's weird. Shouldn’t this be the most important thing for me to do, whatever I am supposed to do?” I said. I waited a few minutes, ready to give up or throw it away, but then I heard a loud beeping sound. It was my watch finally turning on. On the little screen was a number 3 and after than new text that said days. "3 days? Till what?" I asked myself out loud. The next text said the first task. And another one was going to the Garden of Music. I said again, "First task is in the Garden of Music?... We'll see where that leads me to..."