A Wanderer's Lies

Chapter 42: Section Z [2]

'H-He's a Ghoul!'

Isaac yelled inwardly, pausing in his steps as he stared at Zach's single blood lusted black and red eye.

However, he was able to regain his composure as he turned, quickly wiping the blood off the door handle and closing it shut. 

After all, he's faced a far more terrifying Ghoul twice before this.

Kicking off the ground, it wasn't long until Isaac appeared before Zach, tackling him as they both tumbled on the ground.

Oliver, finally free, crawled to the wall, pressing his back against it, trying his best to control his rapid breathing.

"Zach!"

Isaac yelled, pressing his forearm against Zach's throat and pinning him to the ground.

However, Isaac's words fell on deaf ears as Zach continued to growl like an animal, exposing his teeth and continuously jolting his head back and forth, trying to take a bite out of Isaac.

Before Isaac could finish, he failed to notice one of Zach's arms wiggle free.

As Zach pulled back his hand, it wasn't long until he cracked it across the side of Isaac's face.

-CRASH

'Crap, he's strong.'

Isaac thought as he was sent skidding across the dorm, crashing through the small coffee table as it shattered into countless pieces.

Meanwhile, outside the dorm, a girl with long black hair and hurried steps walked through the hallway.

"Oh no, I'm late. Ava's waiting for me…" Heather panicked as her fast-paced walking soon turned into jogging.

-CRASH

However, she paused as she heard a faint crashing noise coming from one of the rooms to her right, although she didn't know which one.

"Where did that come from? Am I hearing things?" She mumbled to herself, walking toward the doors and halting her breath to listen for any more sounds.

"Is something happening…"

Before she could finish, a pleasant 'Beep' could be heard coming from her wristwatch as her expression returned to that filled with anxiety.

"Oh no, I need to hurry!" Heather exclaimed, reading the text she'd gotten and sprinting away right before she reached the door labelled '62'.

As this happened, Isaac rose to his feet as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Zach similarly leapt to his feet, his eyes wide and an eerie grin showing on his face.

"I-Isaac, be careful! He's a Ghoul! I-I'll call a teacher!" Before Oliver could make the call as his hands shook, Isaac stopped him.

"No, don't! Not yet!" Isaac yelled without taking his eyes off Zach.

"Why?!"

"Think about it! If Zach was a Ghoul this whole time, there's a reason he kept it hidden."

'It all makes sense now. Why he has never had an appetite for food, his weakness to blood and his 'Rapid Regeneration'.'

The truth was that Isaac didn't have concrete proof of whether or not Zach was hiding the fact he was a Ghoul all this time.

For all he knew, Zach had an encounter with another Ghoul a few hours ago that caused this.

But Isaac doubted this.

He was confident in his judgement.

"I guess…but why does that matter?! If we don't do something, he'll kill us!" Oliver retorted, and as he did, Zach leapt from his position, shooting low toward Isaac like a bullet.

'Well, he's a Ghoul, right? And Ghouls eat human flesh.'

Rather than dodging, Isaac met Zach face-to-face, head-on.

Raising his forearm, Isaac shoved it into Zach's mouth, causing the both of them to drop to the ground with Isaac on top.

"Isaac!"

Following Oliver's yell, the sound of flesh being torn could be heard as blood splattered across the wood floorboard.

With a loud gulp, Zach's wild body started to calm down, soon coming to a stop as Isaac rolled off from on top of him, crawling away a few feet.

Wincing in pain, Isaac gritted his teeth as he stared at his forearm, a large chunk of flesh missing from it.

'I've been through worse pain, but this crap still hurts like hell!'

Despite this, Isaac could feel the pain subsiding as his wound healed at a visible rate.

"I'm s-sorry."

Sobbing could be heard in the quiet room as one could see tears streaming down Zach's face, his eye returning to normal.

Isaac stayed quiet as he watched, while Oliver was still slightly traumatised.

"I…I thought I could control it. But when I saw the blood, it's like something took over my body."

Rising to his feet, with a simple thought, a spherical glass filled with red liquid suddenly appeared in Isaac's hand from his storage bracelet.

Drinking it in a few gulps, Isaac put away the bottle and walked toward Zach.

"Here." Extending his hand, Zach stared for a few seconds, before reaching out and grabbing Isaac's hand.

"Your arm…" Zach noticed Isaac's healed arm as he sat up.

"My Ten gives me slight resistance to physical attacks. Well, that and paired with this potion from…I think they called the verse 'Fullmetal Alchemist'" Isaac lied.

Although, he did buy a few potions just in case a situation like this ever arose, and the name of the verse came as a description for the item when buying it.

Although, he'd preferred to use it at a more pressing time since they were quite expensive.

"So, whenever you have a craving and can't control yourself, come to me." Isaac smiled with a thumbs up.

If this were normal circumstances, Isaac knew he wouldn't be so sympathetic.

However, he couldn't help but relate to Zach.

The feeling of your Sanity feeling fragile, the thought of losing yourself being a constant worry… it was frightening.

That was one thing the Zobae Disease had taught him.

And if he were to ignore Zach when he himself was in the same predicament a few days ago, he'd be no better than Katlynn.

And that thought sickened him.

"Why are you…" Zach was confused. This wasn't at all the reaction he was expecting.

"But, I think you owe us an explanation."

Zach darted his eyes between Isaac and Oliver, who seemed to have calmed down.

It wasn't long until Zach wiped the blood and tears off his face, nodding.

***

After cleaning their dorm a little and Oliver swallowing a Senzu Bean, healing the wound on his forearm, they all sat on the floor as Zach began to speak.

"A few weeks ago, I was a normal teenager, going to school and chatting with friends. It wasn't until I started to have dreams and headaches about cannibals and men using peculiar weapons."

"Despite the dreams and headaches becoming more vivid and painful with time, I was able to endure it."

Zach paused as he looked down to the ground.

"But then I entered my Scenario, and my Quest was to last 6 months as a Ghoul."

"I awoke in a hospital with an eyepatch. I didn't know where I was, or whose body I was even in. But I was somewhat able to make sense of my situation, noticing I was in the world that resembled my dreams."

"It was because of my dreams, that I knew the name of the person whose body I was in."

Taking a deep breath, Zach continued.

"Ken Kenaki."

[Name: Zachary Bloom.]

[Inherited Character: Ken Kenaki (Revolver)]

[Verse: Tokyo Ghoul]

"What! You're a Revolver?!" Oliver yelled in surprise.

'A Revolver?' 

Isaac knew what a Revolver was, he just didn't think Zach would be one

As Zach nodded, he continued.

"I completed my Scenario with an S rank completion rate without anything major happening and I was forced to bring back a piece of Kenaki as a 'Reward'. Although, is more of a curse, if you ask me."

"I became a Ghoul with Kenaki's Kagune."

Any anxiety or worry Oliver was feeling had long disappeared as he let out a, "Wow." 

"But…it's when I had awakened from my scenario that everything…went to shit."

Zachary continued, clear that he was struggling.

"I was in a hospital, the doctors thinking I fell into a mysterious coma. And thinking back, they weren't technically wrong." Zach let out a forced chuckle.

"If it wasn't bad enough that I had an uncontrollable craving when I left, a man was waiting for me. He said his name was Hal Lordic."

'Silver?!'

"Hal Lordic?" Oliver muttered in surprise.

"He told me that he killed the Kenaki in his Timeline and that seeing me was like a second chance at one of the most pleasurable moments in his life."

"He…then told me to countdown from ten."

'...'

Isaac watched as he furrowed his eyebrows.

When Zach said those words, a straight face of uncaring…no, a complete stoic expression.

Isaac wasn't sure how to explain it.

'Like when soldiers from war come to terms with their PTSD, accepting it. Different from the soldiers who have panic attacks when they remember the past. Never mind, that's stupid. It doesn't even make sense.'

Isaac dismissed the thought.

"But before anything else could happen, a man with a goatee and suit saved me. He too was a Ghoul."

'Kevin… that was how he appeared in the trunk of Silver's car.'

Isaac widened his eyes upon realising.

"The man gave me a watch, telling me to run and that agents from Spawn would find me."

Zach stayed quiet.

"That's it? Is that how you ended up in spawn?" Oliver asked.

'No, there's more.'

It was obvious the story wasn't finished. There were still unanswered questions.

"The man was right. I was found by two men who brought me to Spawn. I told them everything about my scenario and my craving."

Zach tightened his hand into a fist.

"And so, they admitted me into the Academy, and sent me straight… to Section Z."

Silence enveloped the room as no one uttered a word.

'Section Z?'

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NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BA...wrong one.

NEXT TIME ON A WANDERER'S LIES: Section Z [3]

POWERSTONESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I wonder if I should make a discord.