THE FAULT IN OUR WORLD

Assiah and Gehenna, two worlds close together, yet so distant. What do I mean when I say distant? The two worlds repel each other, hence the separation. Although the people living in both worlds have the same physiological resemblance, there are noticeable differences between them. 

The people of Assiah have fair skin and with hair colours ranging from black, blonde, brown and red hairs, while the people of Gehenna have dark to bronze skin colour and silver-white hair. Distinctive, right?

Enough with my yapping and blabbering! That's not what you are here to read. This is a story of forbidden love and passion between two people who were never meant to be in the first place. Forbidden love is beautiful, I know. But remember, the deadliest things come in the most attractive forms.

**WORLD OF ASSIAH- Capital City Listria**

"I see you're new on the job eh, young man?" A much older guy in a guard uniform asks a younger guy while taking a swig from his bottle.

"Yes sir! I recently got this job. It has always been a dream of mine to serve in the Listria corps" The young guy replied.

He had pitch black hair that he tied to a burn at the back, blue eyes and an oval face. He was what you would describe as handsome.

"Tch! Dream my ass!" The older guy spat out "Serving as a lowly guard out here is nothing to dream about! Others have the privilege of protecting the city and serving as personal guard to the king and here we are."

"Everyone has humble beginnings. I believe from here we'll climb the ladder to success." 

The older guy took a long look at the younger guy and shook his head.

"What's your name kid?" 

"I'm not a kid!" The young man replied defiantly "Call me Dustin."

"Dustin huh? Should I be honest with you?"

Dustin nodded and he continued.

"I've been at this particular post for close to thirty years of my life now. You are my replacement. I didn't get to climb the ladder of success." He took a full swig of his drink, "They realized that I'll probably croak anytime soon and decided to replace me."

"That's awful!"

Dustin was left speechless at this new information. He knew he performed badly at all the tests he was given, but he didn't know he would be subjected to this kind of low level treatment. They were basically the trash of the corps. All his dreams and excitement were dashed with this revelation. What the absolute fuck!? He thought.

The old timer stood up and dusted his butt. He looked around if anyone was observing them and since there was no one there, he pointed to Dustin.

"You stay vigilant; I'll be right back."

"Huh? I thought we weren't supposed to leave our posts until we were relieved. It was on the first page of the rule book."

"The rule book can go suck a loaded bag of dicks. I do whatever I want. Don't sleep on your duty young man. I'll be right back."

Dustin watched him as he staggered away, nearly falling flat on his face.

"What the fuck?"

Dustin let out a long sigh and sank into the ground. The corps didn't even have the decency to provide them seats to sit on. He cursed them inwardly. His two friends did exceptionally well in the tests and were chosen as royal guards, while he was cast to the gutters. 

As he was wallowing in his pathetic self-pity, his eyes caught something moving in the shadows. At first he wanted to ignore it because he wasn't in the mood, but it looked so glaringly suspicious, he had to find out what it was.

The suspicious figure was lurking in the dark, while doing what they presumed was hiding. Seriously, what the fuck are they doing hiding out in the open like this?

He crept quietly like a wild animal approaching its prey and when he was within striking distance, he lunged! Grabbing them by the hand and forcefully spinning them around. The figure was clad in a cloak, so their features were hidden.

"Who in the ever loving fuck are you and what are you doing lurking around like a creep?"

"Tch! Something smells like dusty queefs. I take it that's your breath?"

"What?"

Dustin said and smelt his breath, but in that one moment, he let his guard down and she struck. She punched him so hard in the gut that he almost saw stars. She turned to run away, but he quickly grabbed her cloak and give it a quick tug and it came off. What he saw in front of him left him utterly speechless.

"G-Geh-"

He stuttered.

"Huh? Is this anytime to be talking about my ass you weird pervert?"

"Shut up! I'm not talking about your ass! What the hell are you doing here? How is this even possible?"

What stood before him was a girl, around his age, with flowing silver-white hair and bronze skin. 

"What? You haven't seen a beautiful girl before? I swear to God! Of all days for that drunk old fart not to be on duty, it had to be today!"

Dustin was still perplexed, but her statement got him.

"Wait! This isn't your first time coming here!? You've been coming here? Wait! How is this even possible in the first place? I thought it was prohibited."

"Tsk..."

She turned her face away. She could have run away instead of standing there to yap away with him, but he had her cloak and there was a 100% chance she would get caught without it. So she needed a way to get it back from him.

"Haa... Fine! You've got me. This isn't my first time coming to Assiah. You happy now? Can I get my cloak back?"

Dustin shook his head vigorously and she seriously thought it would fall off his neck.

"No! You don't understand. You shouldn't be here! I need to call this in. Maybe if I do, I'll get a promotion and get to climb the success ladder after all."

She sighed and got into fighting stance.

"You'll have to catch me first."

"Umm... Already did." He said pointing to a device on the ground.

"Wh-- Ahhhhhh!!!!" 

She got electrocuted and fell to her knees. Her consciousness fading away.

"You dirty little cu--"

She was out cold.

**An Hour Later**

She woke up to her hands and feet bound together.

"What in the slavery fuck is this!?"

She asked while writhing on the ground like a worm.

"Don't even bother, the more you struggle, the more you hurt yourself."

"Are you even a human being? How can you tie someone up like a sacrificial lamb?"

"I deemed you extremely dangerous."

"Because I socked you in the stomach?"

"Umm.. N-no..." Dustin said looking around nervously.

She sighed and stopped struggling.

"I just wanted to see the stars you know?"

"The stars? You guys don't have stars in Gehenna?"

"Shut up! Who doesn't have stars? We have stars over there too, but..." Her voice trailed off "... they're just, stats."

Dustin tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean, just stars?"

She groaned in frustration.

"Don't you know anything about astrology?"

"Honestly I don't give two fucks about it." He shrugged.

"Argh! You're infuriating! What I mean is that, there's no big dipper, no archer, no constellations. You know! The cool shit! We don't have any of that."

"Hmm... I see." Dustin said stroking his beardless chin, "So, that's why you sneak into Assiah. Just to see the stars. What a load of crap!"

"Huh! You don't believe me!? Are all men this dense here in Assiah?"

Dustin gritted his teeth and glared at her, then a smile spread across his face.

"Let's see if you'll still be this feisty once I present you to the king and he awards me the greatest honor of all time."

"Looks like you have your head so far up your ass." She snickered.

"Meaning?"

She wriggled her way into a sitting position.

"Seems to me like all you're looking for is validation. Have you ever thought of living a little?" She asked looking him direct in the eyes.

"What do you mean living a little? My whole life I've always wanted to be a soldier of the Listria corp."

She looked honestly puzzled.

"You've always wanted to man a shitty post your entire life?"

"What? No! I'm not supposed to be here. Just that things didn't turn out how I wanted them to go."

"Ah! And you think delivering me up to your king on a platter will help elevate your status. That's sad." She said shaking her head, "Do you even know what they'll do to me if I'm caught?"

"Don't know. Don't really care."

"You really are the scum of all scum."

He shrugged.

"Man's got to do what he got to do."

Dustin looked around and looked at his time. Where's that old fuck!? It's been over an hour! He thought.

"Ahem!" 

She cleared her throat and he looked at her, his eyes widening immediately.

"How the fuck did you get out of the binds?"

"You really suck at tying knots. Maybe I can give you a lesson or two?"

She said dangling the ropes in front of him. He quickly lunged at her, but she side stepped and he fell flat on his face.

"Ouch!" She said with mock pity "You know, you really should stop trying so hard. Try and live a little."

"But this is all I have." He said with a mouthful of sand.

She shook her head and looked away.

"Hearing you say that makes me feel sorry for you." She thought for a while "Why don't you come watch the stars with me?"

He got up immediately while spitting out sand from his mouth and cleaning his face with his hands.

"The atmosphere here must be really fucking your brains." He said as he spat out the remaining sand in his mouth, "Besides, even if I wanted to, I'm not supposed to leave my post."

"I don't see the old fuck anywhere either."

She said looking around.

"Good point." He then thought for a while. "Alright fine, I'll watch the stars with you, but I'm handing you over to the king afterwards."

"If you can catch me first. Can I please get my cloak back? People will find out I'm not from here if I go around flashing my silver hair around."

Dustin looked at her for a few seconds and tossed her the cloak.

"I don't even know why I'm doing this. Are you sure you Gehenna folks don't have the power of compulsion or something?"

"Maybe I'm just too beautiful." She said flipping her hair. "Come on, I'll show you my favorite spot to watch the stars."

"Someone from Gehenna having a favorite spot in Assiah. I don't think anything will surprise me again from today."

She led the way and he followed. At first he asked himself what the fuck he was doing, but when she turned around and flashed that smile at him, his heart fluttered a little. He couldn't believe she was actually from the Gehenna he had read about. The picture books depicted them as monsters with silver hair, pointy teeth and horns. Whoever made those illustrations should be tied to a pole and lashed severely. He thought.

They evaded alot of watchful eyes and from her movements, you could tell that this wasn't her first time of doing this. He wondered how it was she hadn't been caught this entire time and he remembered that it was the old fuck manning the post and shook his head.

After what like forever, they came to what looked like a hill overlooking the entire city. In all his 16 years of living in Assiah, he didn't know such a place existed.

"Surprised huh? This is my best spot In all of Assiah and the best place to watch the stars."

Dustin looked up and his jaws almost dropped to the floor. The sight before him was more than beautiful. Calling it beautiful alone won't do it justice. He was petrified.

"W-Wow!"

He exclaimed and she smiled. She took the cloak off her head and the breeze blew on her face and hair. She really was beautiful.

"Seeing all these now, it feels as though I've been living in a prison."

He closed his eyes and stretched out his hands. His buns came undone and although his hair, not as long as hers, flowed in the wind as well. She couldn't help but notice his handsome features. She felt her cheeks turning red.

"How does one even move between worlds anyways? Up until today, I thought it was impossible." Dustin asked.

"It's not impossible. But it's very risky and deadly. There's a jump point between the two worlds and you can cross over from there."

"Risky and deadly? Why do you do it then if it's that life threatening?"

He asked with concern.

"What is this? Does the scum feel empathy?" She said in mock surprise.

"Tch..."

She smiled, seeing how her teasing always worked on him.

"All my life, I've been told what to do. Told the norms and how I'm expected to follow them. But that's not the kind of life I want to live. I want to live free. That's why moments like these are very special to me."

Dustin looked at her. He noticed how happy she was in this moment and couldn't help feeling happy for her. But there was a question tugging at the back of his mind.

"According to what I've read, our two worlds repel each other. How do you stay rooted here? Aren't you supposed to be yeeted back into your world if you try to cross over?"

She smiled mischievously and he almost got goose bumps all over his body. She raised her hands and showed him her wrist.

"This bangle keeps me tethered to your world. If it gets removed, I get forcefully yeeted back to my world."

"I wouldn't even want to imagine that."

"Trust me, you don't want to."

The both of them laughed over it and resumed staring at the sky. 

"What's your name?" Dustin asked.

"Huh...?" 

She asked, surprised at the sudden question.

"Are you deaf now? I asked what your name was."

Dustin asked almost in a exasperated tone.

"Historia... My name is Historia."

"That's a beautiful name. My name is Dustin."

"Huh? Dusting? No wonder something smelt like dusty queefs."

"Haa-haa... Very funny."

The continued staring at the stars for another hour. Everything was going fine, then all of a sudden.

"Historia watch out!"

Dustin pushed her out of the way quickly enough before a bolt of electricity stunned him and he fell to the ground.

"Dustin!"

Historia scream and tried running to him when ropes entwined themselves around her legs and she fell down.

When Dustin managed to open his eyes, he saw they were surrounded by the Listria protection squad. These were the soldiers tasked with keeping the city safe.

"Well, well... What do we have here?" A man who looked like the squad leader spoke up. 

"I heard a little rat had been running around these parts, who knew it was a visitor from another world."

They all laughed as though they were used to handling these kinds of situations. As the squad leader was about to walk towards Historia, he stopped and looked at Dustin.

"Hmm? What's an outpost trash doing with an intruder? Maybe you have been leaking valuable secrets to the enemy. That's what I would say, but what valuable secret would trash like you know, you're basically posted out in the gutters."

They all almost keeled over while laughing their asses out.

"Leave him alone!" Historia screamed out to them while still lying on the ground.

"Huh? Are you trying to protect your boyfriend? Everyone look, the trash has a girlfriend."

They all laughed hysterically again.

The squad commander walked towards her and picked her up by the hair and smelt her in a creepy disgusting way. Dustin grit his teeth in rage.

"You know, you don't look too bad. Maybe I'll try and have my way with you, before delivering you to the king." 

The squad leader said while licking his tongue in a gross manner.

"Hey no fair! I want to have a go at her too. I've always wondered what Gehenna pussy tasted like!" A soldier said.

"Me too!"

"Must be pretty hot!"

"I know right!?"

Came different voices from the soldiers surrounding them. How he did it, he didn't know. How he found the strength to stand, was unknown to him. All he could remember was standing in front of the squad commander and punching him so hard across the face that he let go of Historia's hair and took two steps back. Dustin grabbed her and shielded her from him.

"Dustin...!"

"Stay behind me! I'll protect you!'

The squad leader glared intensely at Dustin. You could easily palpate the hate radiating from him.

"You stinking son of a she-goat whore!" The squad leader spat out with disgust. "I'm going to kill you in the most slow and painful manner."

He unsheathed a sword that was so shiny and sharp it could probably cut the atmosphere in half. Dustin brought out the small short sword at his waist and the squad leader looked at it and almost doubled over in laughter.

"What the fuck is that shrimpy little thing?"

"At least it's bigger than your dick!" Dustin mocked.

The smiled immediately vanished from the man's face and he lunged at Dustin who turned and smiled at Historia as everything went by in slow motion.

"I can't let them have you. I know I've only met you for a short time, but you're an amazing person, Historia and a beautiful one at that. I do hope we will meet again someday. But until then, I need you to stay alive."

He used his short sword to slash her bracelet and immediately a jump point opened where she was and dragged her forcefully into it as she watched him wide eyed.

**Gehenna- Capital City Umbisu**

"Dustin...No!"

She screamed as she kept twisting and tumbling inside the void. She thought the void would eventually rip her apart, but she just kept falling and tumbling until the jump point shat her out like a little poo right in the middle of no where. The red colour of the atmosphere told her she was back in Gehenna, but she didn't know where exactly.

Suddenly it was as though veils began to fall and by the time all was revealed, she found herself surrounded by Gehenna soldiers.

"Oh fuck me!"

She exclaimed and tried to run, but who was she kidding.

"Princess Historia, for the forbidden crime of interdimensional travel, you are under arrest and shall therefore be brought before the king and queen for judgement."

One of the soldiers declared.

"Well, you'll have to catch me fir..."

"Give it up princess," a voice said from the shadow behind her while cuffing her hands "you won't be getting out of this one that easily."

"How..."

Before she could say anything, she was dragged away and brought before the king and queen, who were her parents. Her father looked at her with pitiful eyes, but couldn't be lenient towards her because of his position as king, same as her mother the queen. They had found out about her interdimensional travels and warned her severally about it, but it all fell on deaf ears.

At the end of the trial, she was sentenced to twenty years in prison, never to be seen again.

**Assiah- Capital City Listria**

Dustin was sentenced to twenty years in prison for aiding a foreign invader escape. The squad leader wanted to kill him then and there, but it was against the rule to kill an offender without a trial, so he let him be, not without cutting one of his ears though.

During his trial, he confessed she was only there to watch the night sky and nothing more. Although they found his statement plausible, the people of Gehenna had no reason to invade them, so he was let off the hook with a lighter sentence.

As he was thrown into the prison, the only person he could think of was Historia. He remembered slicing off her bracelet and her being sucked into the jump point. But he wondered if he hadn't put her in danger. He shook his head.

"No, I have to focus on surviving here first. In this fucking shit hole."

His whole life was shit anyway. He came from nothing. He had lived with an abusive father and a drunk of a mother. Both who didn't give two fucks about him. That's why he tried so desperately to make a name for himself and even when he thought he had finally started to achieve his dream, it was shattered. The only beautiful thing that ever happened in his sad pathetic life was meeting Historia, although the circumstances of their meeting was a bit awkward. That's why he was determined to meet her again.

"Hey boy! Whatchu in here for so early?"

A voice snapped him back to reality. He looked at the prison cell opposite his and found the drunk old fuck inside.

"What the hell? What are you doing in here?"

Dustin asked with shock?

"I guess getting drunk and passing out in a ditch while neglecting your duty is a federal offence on its own. Who fucking knew?"

"How long are you in for?"

Dustin asked, curious.

"How long? Nah! I got the blocks."

"What!? The blocks? Just for negligence of duty? What the absolute fuck!?"

Dustin was in shock and couldn't believe his ears. But the old man waved it off.

"This was actually my fourth strike. I had it coming."

"But still...tch!"

Dustin grit his teeth in anger. What a fucked up world he lived in.

The next day, the old man was practically dragged out of his cell like a wet rag and he never came back.

Dustin felt so much sadness and coldness in his heart that he couldn't even manage to stomach the trash they gave them as food. As he laid down, he felt something in his pocket. He brought it out and found out it was the bracelet Historia wore that kept her tethered to Assiah. If it could keep her tethered to Assiah, maybe it could keep him too tethered to Gehenna. But he had no means of fixing it now. He dug a hole in the prison wall and hid it there. It'll have to stay put till he gained his freedom.

**20 Years Later**

"Stop them!"

The royal guard's screamed as miscreants made their way out of the royal treasury. They were almost surrounded and had no means of escape.

"You said this was a simple break in and break out mission. If I knew we were going to be in this situation, I wouldn't have come along!" 

One of the miscreants lamented.

"And all for what!? That stupid transmitter! You wouldn't even tell us what it is for anyway!" 

The second miscreant cried out.

"That's on a need to know basis. The terms of agreement was that you wouldn't ask questions. I've already paid you in full before we started the mission. Stop whining like little cunts and think of a way out!"

"A way out!? We're basically surrounded! There's no way out!" The last of the cried out.

There was a loud bang in the room where they were hiding.

"Come out! If you make us come in there, we'll massacre all four of you on the spot!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Any moment now, they'll break down the--"

The last bang came and the door was shattered as the guards flooded into the room. The commander of the royal guard's came in wearing a wicked grin on his face as he scanned the faces of the miscreants and his face fell on one person.

"Dustin!? It seems 20 Years of imprisonment wasn't enough to keep you out of trouble. Don't think you'll be getting out alive this time!"

"Gaston...?" 

Dustin called out in surprise. Gaston was one of his friends whom they took the test together to get into Listeria corp. In twenty years he had risen through the ranks and was now a squad commander.

"You must be surprised! At least some of us have talent. Unlike failures like you who don't make it very far in life."

Gaston mocked and Dustin gritted his teeth.

"What about Ali? What happened to him?" 

"Ah, Ali? He was the squad commander before me, then he mysteriously bit the dust."

"Mysteriously? You don't mean...?"

Dustin's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh none of that matters anymore. You're going to die here! All of you! Guards, massacre every single one of them."

The guards rushed in to carry out their orders. Just then Dustin took three step backwards and raised the transmitter they stole.

"I'm sorry guys."

"Huh...?"

"Eh?"

"What?"

Came the voices of the three men before a jump point tore through space and Dustin was sucked into it, leaving the three of them to their fate.

**Gehenna-Capital City Umbisu**

Historia was in the gardens tending to flowers. She was no longer the teenage girl rebellious girl. But she hadn't lost any of her beauty. The gentle breeze blew and her hair flowed with the wind as usual.

"Your highness, the king request you come inside and get ready. Your husband to be will soon be arriving." A palace maid announced from the entrance of the palace and Historia hissed.

"Tch... What fucking husband?" But she put up a smile and turned to the maid "I'll be there in a minute."

The maid turned back and walked inside while she resumed tending to the flowers. When she was done and started walking back inside, a suspicious cloaked figure caught her eyes among the bushes. She looked at the guards to see if they noticed anything, but they didn't.

"Inhaling all those flowers must have fucked my brain a little." 

She said and resumed walking, but she saw the movement in the bushes again.

"What the--"

She changed directions from the entrance and started walking towards the part of the bush where she saw the movement. Immediately she turned the corner, she didn't see anything.

"I must be pretty high on pollen right--"

Someone dragged her into the bush and covered her mouth before she could scream. The figure gently turned her around.

"I'm going to take my hands off your mouth, please don't scream."

She nodded, then she looked at the wrist covering her mouth and noticed the tethering bangle. Someone from Assiah? No way! No one has crossed over for twenty years now.

The figure took off his hood and revealed his face. She looked at him for quite a while before it dawned on her.

"Scum?"

"Ouch! Still can't believe you stuck with that name for twenty years."

Dustin said scratching his head nervously.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she threw herself on him, sobbing.

"I never thought I was going to see you again! I thought they killed you!"

She cried bitterly.

"I never thought I'd see you too either. I thought the jump point must have torn you to pieces."

She let go of him and took a few steps back, then noticed his ear.

"Oh Dustin! Your ear...!"

He rubbed the side of his ear that was sliced off.

"Oh this? I wear it like a badge of honor."

"How did you even find me?"

She asked curiously.

"Well, Historia isn't a common name and only the princess bears that name." Dustin said with a grin. "although I might have killed one or two persons to get that information."

"We can't stay here. If they notice I'm gone for too long, they'll come for me."

Historia said, expressing her worry.

"Then come with me. After twenty years, I'm not prepared to lose you again."

"Even if I come with you, where will we go? We'll be wanted in both your world and mine."

Dustin shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that we'll be together."

Historia nodded and he led her through a hidden passage he had used to infiltrate the palace.

He took her to a house far up the hill which he had secured. Don't ask about the occupants, even I don't want to know what happened to them.

"We can stay here as long as we want. No one will think to look for us here for the mean time."

"As long as I'm with you Dustin, I'm happy."

Historia said, and then their lips came together.

That night, he gave her another bracelet he made for her as a sign of his undying love and affection for her and then they made passionate love to each other.

The next morning a man lead a bunch of guards to the house in the hills where Dustin and Historia were.

"Are you sure the princess is here?"

The guard asked in a stern voice.

"I don't know about the princess, but I saw two suspicious people enter here and I haven't seen my friend who lives here for days."

The guard pushed him aside and knocked on the door.

"It's the palace guards, open up!"

No answer.

"Don't make me break down this door. Open up!"

No answer.

The guards went ahead to break down the door and began searching the house. One of the guards went into the room and after some seconds came out screaming.

"What's the matter with you! Why are you screaming like a little biatch!?"

The squad leader asked.

"I-It's the p-princess...s-she's..."

The squad leader pushed him out of the water and enter the room and his eyes widened at the sight before him.

The princess was lying in the arms of a man, they were both naked and covered with the sheets, but their skin was white, almost as though the blood had been drained from their body. They were both dead. On closer inspection, it is was found out that the man was from Assiah.

The palace guards were struck with grief. They didn't know how they were going to report this to the king and queen. But what had been done, had been done.

After the incident, the kingdom grieved the loss of their princess who was about to get married. 

It wasn't until later that they would find out that the cause of death was that Assiah and Gehenna blood don't mix well together. It creates a toxin which is poisonous to the blood, draining it of all it's haemoglobin, red blood cells and oxygen, hence giving the skin a pale white appearance.