"IT'S THE CURSE!"
"Lower your voice gran.. you'll wake up Sophy.."
"Hm.." I try to get comfortable in this wooden and creaky chair, listening to the elderly woman yell about some curse that's been apparently haunting this village since before the four Kingdoms were established. "And..? What kind of curse is it?"
"IT'S A CURSE!" She slams her palm on the table, shaking it slightly as the six of us are joined around it. "COUGH COUGH COUGH..!"
"..Are you alright? Heavens, mother.. you should be in bed by now.." A younger woman joins us, setting down a cup of water on the table and placing her hand onto the elder's shoulder. "..I apologize for any sudden rudeness from me, but.. I would like to know how long this will take?" She looks at the four of us with a kind of worried but exhausted expression. "N-Not that I mind having guests over, it's quite rare, but.."
"..Mommy." She suddenly stops talking after a low voice calls out from the room behind her.
"Hah.. see? Your yelling woke Sophy up." The same drunk man who spat alcohol at my face introduced himself as 'Blaike' earlier after apologizing for his hostility. He claimed living in this village will apparently sap away whatever kind of human compassion you may have, as well as any kind of empathy or will, whatever that may mean. "And try not to shake the table so much, I really don't want to go wood chopping in that damn forest again.. Give her another cup of water if she goes senile again.." Blaike rises from his seat and disappears into the room behind the younger woman, opening up a spot for her around the table.
"We're really sorry for barging in like this.." Alora breaks the brief silence, bowing slightly with a hesitant smile on her face. "We were sent fro-"
"From Luthran.." The younger woman speaks up with a sigh, placing her elbow on the creaky table before bringing her hand up to rub on her forehead in a manner that says she's most likely had this exact talk with others before us. "..I can see it in that cloak, you are of the Pale Inquisition, sent to this village for the same reasons."
"That's right." Grian clears his throat, before resuming. "I understand you may have dealt with this before, and I'm sorry the issues have gone unresolved for-"
"It's quite alright." The young woman interrupts him, still rubbing her forehead, eyes cast down at the table. "Please, there's just.. there is nothing to be sorry over." She stands up, turning away to the room behind her. "I only hope you children will be spared, this village has already claimed far too many." She walks off with a deep sigh.
"Y'nno I don't think that was a very polite thing to say." Mal yawns to herself, resting her head against her long sleeve covered hand against the table, looking like she's fighting to stay awake.
"Let's just set everything aside and cut to the chase. What is this curse? And just how many have passed through here?"
"..Yes, the curse.." The elder sets her cup of water down after taking a single large sip. "It be the curse of Agamemnon.. the.. COUGH COUGHHGH..!!"
"I've never heard that name before." Grian speaks his thoughts, looking at the elder as she begins to take another sip of her water. "Just who is this person?"
"And why is his name so childishly strange?" Alora also speaks her thoughts with a confused smile on her face.
"..The Founding King.." The elder speaks those words in a low whisper, setting her empty cup down. "..The one that led the Abyssal Crusades.. And the war with the giants against dragonkind.. and the one that carved the first steps for mankind to flourish thousands of years ago.."
"So, what, is he some kind of hero? ..Wait, thousands of years ago? So he's gone then, isn't he?"
"..His plague stayed behind..his.. CURSE! THE CURSE!" She slams on the table again, causing it to violently shake and scrape against the hardwood floor, as well as causing Alora to shriek in surprise.
"Again with this? What curse? What is this curse??" Grian straightens himself on his chair with a confused look on his rough face.
"Here." Mal sets down the cup of water after getting up to refill it before she sits back down next to Grian who is looking at the elderly woman like she has said the most nonsensical things he has ever heard.
"Haghh.." She sets the cup down with a Thud after drinking it all down in a single sip. "..Yes, the curse.." She looks over to me, digging her fading colorless eyes into mine. "..The void."
*THUD* ! *THUNK* !*THUD*
The four of us jolt up after what sounded like something getting knocked over from outside echoed across the thin wooden walls, causing us to look at each other.
"What was that?" Grian stands up, lowering his hand towards his hilted sword.
"It was probably just a squirrel, relaax." Mal assures him nonchalantly, resting her chin on her sleeved palm.
"..B-But that noise sounded too loud for a small squirrel to make.." Alora speaks up in a slightly shaky voice, looking out the drenched window and at the pitch darkness.
"Just drop it. If it was something to concern about, it would have already tried breaking in." Alora and Grian look at me, then at each other, before they eventually rest their postures against their chairs. "And what void? Is it a place? Thing?"
The old woman shakes her head slowly, in complete silence, not even answering my question.
*THUD* ! *THUD*
"Sounds like someone's breaking in!" Grian rises from his chair again after more loud noises echoed from the outside darkness.
"It's just the storm Grian, sit down."
"Hmmm.. Oh wow, this storm sure is picking up." Mal looks out the window as the wet drops impacting against the stained glass grow more intense.
"..The void." The four of us shift our attention to the elder as she resumes with her nonsensical tale. "..It came as fast as the Second Calamity.. And it struck the land as monumentally violently as Heaven's transgressor did upon her arrival.. Agamemnon was humanity's greatest fool.. as well as humanity's savior.. he was unlike anyone that carved their names in history.. Only, his name did not leave a mark in history, instead fading away in abyssal obscurity and into abysmal oblivion." She pauses, looking at the four of us as her expression darkens. "..The same can be said about Satan Lucifer.. Devilbringer of Humanity's Darkness.."
This is the first time I hear anything about that name.
If I follow everything this elder has told us so far, the book Gwyn and I saw at the Grand Archive has to be connected to that name.
Why Mira chose to try and guard its contents has me questioning a lot of things.
What I do know about is this Second Calamity she mentioned.
I remember the story my teacher told me about the chaotic disaster that swept throughout the world over 20 years ago.
About the grotesque abominations that massacred nearly all of life before getting suppressed by a supposed 'Godly Imperial'.
And yet, no names were ever mentioned.
Grian and Alora look at each other, like they're trying to gouge each other's reactions to see if they understood everything this old woman has told us thus far.
"..Satan, huh.." Mal finally looks up from her fidgeting sleeves, and for once she doesn't look sleepy after hearing that name.
"You look like you know something. You've heard that name, haven't you?" This 'Satan' must be connected to the Second Calamity. And I'm willing to bet it is also the center of attention in that book that was labeled as classified knowledge.
"..Well, I've heard stories, at least.." Mal shrugs it off, playing with her long sleeves again.
"Stories? What stories? From who?" How much does she know? And how?
Alora, Grian and me look at her, but she doesn't reply, only giving us a shrug with a poker face.
"This is all just mindless talk.." Grian sighs to himself, crossing his arms. "If this Egg a memnom guy faded into obscurity, then how do you even know about it? And what does he have to do with everyone going missing in this rust bucket of a village?"
"The mine." The elder speaks up in a sudden sharp tone. "For generations, everyone that has lived in this village were led to believe that a rich deposit of Adamant has existed just under this village since as back as the First Calamity.." She begins to shake her head, laughing to herself in a whisper. "..The fools.. they began to worship the one that has fed them such a lie.. The man that appeared from seemingly nowhere.. the one that would don a doll mask.. The one that was rumored to be a part of a long-gone group that harnessed the void.. They built a church in his name, in the hopes that their faith in the void would allow them to find the Adamant deep underground.. But no matter what was done, not a single soul resurfaced upon the expeditions.." She looks up at us, narrowing her eyes. "Mortals were never meant to worship something that isn't the Great Cathedral above the skies, and now a price has been set for everyone that sets foot in this Village to pay for the next thousand generations.."
"..Wh-what price?" Alora speaks up, shaking in her chair.
The Elder slowly rises from her chair, leaning over the table and gazing into Alora's eyes.
"..Your SOUL.."
*THUD* She suddenly falls against the table, coughing loudly to herself.
"..Eek..!!" Alora rises from her chair and backs away before hitting against someone behind her.
"..Haah.. Finished with your grotesque story? Let's get you to bed already.." Blaike gently grabs onto Alora's shoulder and moves her away from him before walking over to the Elder and helping her back toward the room behind him.
"..I can finally rest.." The Elder looks over her shoulder at us as she is getting dragged away. "..You are the sixth group of people I tell the truth to.. And I can finally rest.."
They disappear into the room as the young woman from before walks out, joining us at the table. "..And there you have it. A story on how this village's misfortune came to be.. At least, that is what she has believed in ever since escaping from whatever cult she had joined in her young days, haha.." She laughs to herself, like as if she is still having trouble believing in the words she just said.
"What cult?" I immediately shift my attention from the figure I thought I saw outside the window then back to her. "Can you tell me more about this cult?"
The four look at me in surprise like I just asked the question to something imbecilic.
Headmaster mentioned something about a cult, and if this and that are connected...
Well, I may be able to piece together some pieces.
The woman looks at me with exhaustion in her eyes, as if contemplating, before she rests her hands on the table, entwining them. "..In her.. Ahem.. early days.. My mother told me how she had joined a small group of people that were obsessed on finding a specific Glyph of power.. And in her attempts at getting me to leave this village.. She would always urge me to depart to the Luthran Kingdom before this...'Curse' eventually engulfed me and my daughter.. She was very convinced that once she had obtained the Glyph she had been searching for, she would use it to overthrow her Cult and use its power to destroy any traces of.. 'Void'.. and set this village free... But at the time, I was still pregnant with my late son, and traveling to the Luthran Kingdom wasn't something I was going to risk based on a story so... profoundly absurd.. And the catastrophic event that followed soon after.. I can't even begin to describe how.. morbidly horrified I was.. hiding in the cellar and praying to the Heavens for God's protection.. I can still recall the screams.. the crude noise of beasts feasting on the lives of the locals in this village.."
Alora and Grian stare at her in silence, as if speechless and clueless on what to even say.
"Hm.. Do you know anything about this 'Glyph'?" Mal and I look at her after we swapped a brief glance at one another.
"..The.." The woman entwines her fingers more firmly, looking over to us with an uneasy expression. "..Rune of Death.." There's a slight pause in the air, filling the dim room with the echoing sound of raindrops hitting against the window. "..I know it sounds silly.. But for a reason I have been unable to name.. the mention of such a thing.. It unnerves me, as if I can recall the dread I felt during the Second Calamity.."
"..Uhm.. Hero? Wh-where are you going..?!" Alora speaks up after I rose from my chair, pushing it back in towards the table as the five of them look up at me with surprise.
"I'm going into that mine." There's a lot of things I have to get to the bottom to.
And this task is in the way.
I have to hurry up and solve the mystery of this village so I can quench my many curiosities.
"I have to find someone from my platoon in there."
"Someone from your platoon?" Alora looks up at me, watching me as I grab onto my prototype sword resting against the wall.
"I remember a blonde girl that passed by here not long ago.. A shame she had to step into the mine.." The woman looks out the drenched window with a somber look.
"..Are you serious? This late?" Grian rises from his chair, looking at me with concern as he grips onto his chair with confusion. "Can't you at least wait until you've rested or something? We've traveled pretty far today, are you not somewhat tired?"
"You're gunna trip on a wet rock at this ratee.." Mal adds, toying with her long sleeves like always.
"And what do you mean you're going into that mine..?! We're all going with you.. as a unit! Aren't we..?" Alora also rises from her seat, clutching onto her chest.
"Hm.." I'm not sure how I feel about taking all of them with me.
It's not that they're useless, the opposite in fact.
But something feels off.
It's as if there's a thing in the back of my head urging me not to leave this house unguarded while I'm gone.
And I've noticed someone - or something hanging around outside, watching us.
"..Uh.." We all suddenly shift our attention over to Blaike as he leans against the doorway to the room behind him. "..Sorry for interrupting but.. Sophy says she wants to talk to you.." He rubs on the back of his head with a tired look. "..All of you."
Alora, Grian, Mal and I all look at each other, before we all walk around the table and step into the room behind him.
"..Hello." A nearly inaudible voice calls out from underneath the covers of the bed tucked on the back corner of the dim room illuminated by a single burning lamp. "..Is it true..?" The little girl peeks out from under the covers, watching the four of us step up to her as we look around the room. "..Will you really.. go into the mine to look for papa..?"
It's a fairly small room, with at least one single cross hanging on each of the four walls.
There's another bed on the right corner with the elder resting on it.
I've almost mistaken it for a corpse with the way it's just lying dead still.
"Yeah." I walk up to the side of the bed, before sitting down on the single wooden chair facing it.
"So, you're Sophy?.. It's nice to meet you, I'm.." I look over at the nightstand next to the bed, then onto the many wooden knickknacks that looked like they were carved from wood.
They all resemble small bunnies. "..I'm Hero."
"..He..Her- COUGH COUGH COUGH..!" She breaks off into violent coughs, nearly knocking the wooden bunnies off the nightstand from the sheer force of the raspy coughs. "..Are you re-really a.. A Hero..? The one my.. Papa mentioned in the stories..?" She looks over to the drawing underneath a slightly bigger wooden carved bunny as the mother sits beside her, clutching onto her pale, small thin hand.
"..No, that's just my name." I lift up the wooden bunny, grabbing onto the drawing as Alora, Grian and Mal look from over my shoulder and down at it.
It's just what you would expect from a family drawing carved by a child.
A small stick figure in the center with pigtails,
holding onto a taller stick finger on the left,
and onto another stick figure with long hair on the right.
They're in the middle of four square-drawn buildings.
And I can clearly make out the drawing of the church on the right, as well as a slightly bigger church up in the sky.
But for some reason, the sky is painted in red.
And there's a drawing of a stick figure with a dolly mask peeking from the church's window.
There is also an upside-down star drawn in the center of the sun.
The church in the sky is split in two.
"..Papa said he loved my drawing very much.. I haven't seen him in.." Sophy pulls back her hand from her mother's tender grip, holding up a finger one by one, eventually digging her other hand from under the covers and repeating the gesture, now holding up all ten of her thin, bony fingers. "..In this many days...He hasn't come back from looking for my puppy in the mine.."
Her nails are abnormally long, as if they haven't been trimmed in months.
They are a slight gray color.
"To look for your puppy.." I repeat in a whisper, peeking over my shoulder and onto the three still looking down at the drawing, then onto Alora holding up her hand on her mouth, her eyes look slightly watery. "Your dad is the real Hero." I set the drawing down on her hand, standing up from the chair. "I'm going to go bring him back to you. Both him and your little friend." Before I can walk out of the room, my shoulder gets grabbed and I look back to see Grian looking at me with a straight face.
"You're not going alone." His grip grows firm as he looks at me, as if not leaving room for negotiation.
I look at him, then over to Alora sitting down on the wooden chair as she holds up wooden carved bunnies and giggling to herself with Sophy.
"You want us two to stay and guard the house.. riiight.." Mal says as she carefully sits down on the sleeping elder's bed, tucking up her stocking covered legs as she makes herself comfortable. "..Make it quick, can't promise I won't nap till tomorrow morning."
"..H-Huh..! You two are going?" Alora looks over to me and Grian with a nervous smile, clutching onto the slightly bigger wooden bunny against her chest. "..D-Do you really trust us to stay here a-and keep everyone safe..?"
"You'll be fine. There shouldn't be any beasts on a stormy night. Just keep the bandits out. I'm pretty sure I saw one outside earlier." Grian laughs to himself out loud, smiling over to her in a comforting tone, patting onto my shoulder.
"..Y-you're not funny..!" Alora pouts with red cheeks, hugging the wooden bunny tighter against her chest, before looking back over to Sophy and tucking the blanket over her. "..Just be.. be careful.."
"..Thank.. you.." I hear Sophy's voice echo from behind me, and I look over my shoulder then onto her mother smiling warmly and waving at me.
"Let's go, Grian." We both walk out of the room, then we look at Blaike leaning against the doorframe, giving us a single nod before he steps inside, closing the door behind him.
*FwOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOom...*
We step out into the night rain, already getting drenched in the cold as we step onto the wet mud.
"Do you think we'll even find anything?" Grian asks from behind me, trying to speak over the rain as it impacts loudly onto the darkened landscape.
"It's hard to say, but that's not what you're really worried about, right?" I already know he's curious if we'll even make it back out.
I can tell because even through this rain, I could hear the well masked unease in his voice.
It's something I also used to do a lot back when I was still studying machinery with my teacher.
"..I'm not sure." He replies, stepping over the mud behind me.
"Either way, I'll make sure we don't come out empty handed." There has to be something in there. And we're not leaving until I come out with Akane.
There's no other choice.
.
.
.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
*THUMP**THUMP* Two knocks impact against the door.
Rin looks up at sliver of light peeking out from under the doorway, then down at the two black spots that block out some of the light, most likely someone's feet.
"..Go away Yukki.. I told you I'm fine.."
*CrEeEeEeek..*
The hinge scrapes against the wooden doorframe as it is pushed open, revealing the tall figure that steps inside before closing the door behind them.
"Yukki? I have not seen her since earlier today." The woman walks over to Rin's bedside, flicking on the lamp, revealing her gaze obscured by a blindfold. "I see you remain unwell. A stark contrast to the last time I saw you. You were very.. Hm.. Active.. And very short." She crosses her arms, looking down as Rin sits up on the bed, hugging herself protectively against the chilly air barely entering from the closed windows.
"..It's just you. I don't even remember your name. You are always coming up with something more barbaric than the last.."
"Barbaric? Is that truly what you make of my titles? Ahem.. Well recently, I go by Kitsuki, I hope it is.. acceptable to you." Kitsuki pulls up a wooden chair by the window and sits, crossing her thigh strapped leg over the other. "..Barbaric." She whispers to herself, almost in disbelief at the thought of her many names sounding unsatisfactory to those she has met over the course of her long life.
"..Why are you here." Rin finally meets her gaze, though all she gets in return is a gaze still obscured by a blindfold. "..Who sent you? Listen.. I already told Headmaster and Yukki that I'm fi-"
"Alek Pavillion." Kitsuki interrupts sternly, folding her hands on her lap as she looks out the window and onto the raindrops rapidly leaving wet trails downwards. "Do you know this name?"
"..What?" Rin's expression widens in unbelief, as if she has heard something only a mad alchemist would utter. "..Pavillion?"
"You do, do you not? Well.. at the very least.. only the first part." Kitsuki crosses her arms, tapping her finger on her arm. "I had my own doubts when I first met him as he traveled to the abyssal hollow. But once I saw him wield a pitch-black sword with a size impossible to flaunt rapidly.. My belief was grounded."
"..Wait.. what do you..?" Rin's confused disbelief continues as she looks up at Kitsuki staring out into the rain.
"He is indeed the same black haired boy I saw standing next to your father ten years ago. The one he had been training for quite the while, it surprised even me to see him walking through the desolate wilderness all on his lonesome and still alive as well. It seems Lux taught him well. Perhaps that is what drew me to his presence.. Or perhaps.. It was his unusual presence that did, hm.."
"..Alek.. Pavillion? But.."
"It's true. Your father had taken in an orphaned child and bestowed him the title of Pavilion, thus granting him a spot in your family. Did you not know this?" Kitsuki stops tapping her finger against her arm, looking down at Rin in silence.
"..I.. I have rarely saw my father.. He had begun to disappear as if.. as if he had a second life to return to.. It had me questioning his love for me.."
"A second life.. Perhaps it is accurate to say that. But I did not expect him to keep it so scandalously inconspicuous.. He insisted no one could know he was raising an orphaned child he found in the ruins of the Alvara Kingdom. He was convinced a certain part of the child could draw the attention of the Heavens.. Yet he refused to tell me that much."
"..Alek knew.. father..?" Rin hugs herself even tighter, attempting to process the revelation that Alek may have been the last piece of family she had left. "..I.." Rin's eyes begin to overflow with tears, refusing to believe such a story, but succumbing in the end. "..If I had.. If I had been enough.. I-If only I was enough.. He would still be.."
"It is not wise to think that way." Kitsuki places her hand on Rin's lap over the covers, giving a light but firm grip. "Even I was unaware of the events that would unfold on that day. The unpredictable has always been something I strived to fight, yet no matter how much I hone in body or spirit, the solution always finds a way to slip away." Kitsuki pulls back, standing up from her chair and walking over to the drenched window. "There is only so much one can do to prevent unforeseeable calamites."
"..If I had just arrived quicker.. I-If I had just been stronger.. If.. Sniff.. If I had just kept my eyes on him on the day of the sword.." The sheets begin to soak in Rin's tears as they drip from her chin. "..If was just.. enough.."
"Do not afflict yourself with regret due to inconceivable collapse. Life will always find a way to considerably shift in ways we can't expect. Even in the face of unreckonable adversity, one must endure." Kitsuki slides the curtains over the window before walking back to the door, opening it then looking back over her shoulder. "Reality does not get any less taxing, you find a way to become someone that sustains in the face of hardship. It is how we get stronger." She steps out into the hall and closes the door behind her with a soft clck.
Rin continues looking down at her lap and onto the warm puddle of tears soaked into the blanket, before wiping her eyes and reaching for the dimly lit lamp.
*Click*
.
.
.
|==================|
"Carefully now.."
I slowly tiptoe around the large room while CAREFULLY looking at the accurate life-sized single statue of Lucifer right in front of me, just standing still on her marble podium, her hands clutched together in a rather sassy manner.
*THUD*
"..Ow..hey, the heck.."
I ended up hitting back against a pillar as a result of my attention all being focused on this one fricking statue.
You may be wondering why 99% of my eyesight is being allocated to this one sassy statue, and that's for a very cliche, generic reason.
"..Yeah, screw you statue.. L-Look at you..Y-Y-yer so ugly.."
If I look away, my neck gets snapped.
Punctured even.
Slashed if you so insist.
Impacted if you're so inclined.
"..I hate you.. and everything ABOUT you.." I don't know why this statue can only move the second I look away or HOW such phenomenon is a thing, or even allowed.
I've been killed by these things way more than any other hellish creature in this heaven forsaken place.
It's just that my weakness of having a short attention span gets the better of me, and the nano-second I look away to figure out what a distant sound was.. SNAP!
"..I am keeping my eye on YOU.. you FFFF-Fuck.."
Hol' up.
Am I mistaken that it just looked at me?
Nah statues can't move their limbs.
*THUD*
I reach back and can feel another hard surface, probably another pillar.
I almost ended up looking behind me,
but I shan't let that mistake happen thrice,
I'm better than that.
"How big is this DAMN room.." I raise up my red torch, only to feel my heart drop in ANGUISH.
"..O-Oh there's a lot of you.."
The torch's dim red light revealed three more statues of Lucifer tucked in their respective corners in front of me.
This is just astonishing.
It's like no matter what I do, or where in god damn I end up in this world,
I just can't escape this woman.
I continue backing away, keeping my gaze locked onto the four statues, before feeling myself hit back against a slightly less rough surface.
"..It's about time."
This slight cold metallic surface.
The surface that feels like it will give me splinters.
There's no mistaken it.
It's a door.
I reach into my pocket and pull out my trusty little friend that hasn't failed me for a second.
The nail.
"I'm just gonna.."
*THRMM-MM-MM-MM-MM*
"OH SHI-"
The sound of hard objects smoothly sliding against cobble echoes very loudly and I immediately look back at the statues after I FOOLISHLY peaked at the door to try and fiddle with the lock.
The four of them are now way past my personal space, literally standing so close that my chest is touching their thighs.
I'm pinned by four tall statues as if I'm the lucky protagonist for a... We've been over this; you get the idea.
I grip onto the nail and attempt to thrust it into the keyhole behind me, failing about 12 times as the sound of metal poking against metal rings in the room. "..Damn you nail.. Get in and stop being a bastar-"
*CLCK*
I eventually manage to pick the lock,
because I am amazing.
*SLAM!*
"..WOOOoOO!"
I slam the door behind me as I step into the room, cracking my neck after being forced to keep my head straight for about three hours.
"Well, Well, Well..."
I instantly jolt up after hearing another voice aside from mine after about... Six months?
"Who's there.." I call back, looking ahead into the pitch darkness in front of me.
The light from my red torch then spreads onto the two unlit torches on either side of the door behind me, eventually spreading across the many unlit torches across the walls, lighting them up in a dim red until a hanging figure in front of me gets revealed.
"If it isn't Satan's faaavorite little host.." The woman in front of me suspended in chains speaks up, gazing up at me as her ash-blonde hair falls across her face, looking at me with her dark-pink eyes.
She has long black wings protruding from her waist wrapped around herself, along with the heavy looking chains that wrap around the rest of her naked body.
"Yo what up."
"UFuFuFu.. You really do have the strangest greetings.." She smiles. Her hands are raised above her head, and there's chains wrapped around her wrists as she's hanging from the ceiling. "Your name? I do hope you remember after being trapped here for so long.."
"Of course I do. What am I, an idiot?"
"..Then I presume it is valid to state you know who Alek is~?" She asks the stupidly obvious question as if she's mocking me.
"Why yes I know him, that person is me." So stupid. "Next question and make it hard this time please."
"I see you live to experience your life on hard mode, hm? You always were quite the capable one.. you agree with me, don't you?"
"Sometimes. But I have my limits." The kind of hard mode I don't roll with is something I call unfair hard mode.
Which pretty much explains what this place has been for the past six months.
"..I see. Then.. You must also know who the thirteenth host is, mmhm~?" I can see the outline of a smirk playing on her lips, as if she's got me right where she wants me.
"..Hol' up."
"UFuFuFuFu~"
"..No wait, I know this one.. Don't tell me don't tell me.."
"UFuFu~FuFuFu~"
"..Stop laughing at me. I got a funny face but I'm not about to let you trash on me like this."
"Hint~?"
"If I was a quitter you'd see me ask for a hint."
"Ooh~ Then, take your time, winner.."
"I give up. Give it."
"You."
"Me."
"That's right~"
"Huh."
"You!"
"You?"
"No.. You!"
"No u."
"Hm~?"
"GIVE ME THE HINT."
"The thirteenth host is you.."
"Nuh uh."
"Yuh huh~!"
"Liar."
"No u~!"
"Aight I'm out this piece."
"Wait just a second.."
"What in flim-flam do you want from me." I look back over my shoulder, holding onto the doorhandle as I get ready to head back out. "Out with it then."
"Has Lucifer really not told you anything?" She looks at me with a raised eyebrow, and an amused smile.
"If I say no will you keep it short."
"I promise~"
"Alright I'm listening." I turn away from the door and approach her, looking up at her as she's suspended by the long chain. "Keep it short. The word count in this chapter needs to stay in the six thousands to abide by the 6000 words rule."
"Has Lucifer ever told you she has had hosts before you?"
"She has?"
"That is right... During her first moments in the mortal plain after her banishment, she had already began to experiment with the Rune of Death, finding ways to condense her soul into the mark of death and implanting herself within mortals.. and you just happen to be the thirteenth and current host.. as well as the longest lasting host... and her favorite of course."
"Aww." I'm touched, but not really. I feel like a slave if anything.
"It is true she holds you in such close, affectionate regards... But would you believe me if I told you she merely treats you this way because she believes you are the closest to overthrow the heavens?"
"Well obviously. She's made that clear multiple times. I'm not that flatheaded."
"And.. you would believe me if I told you she is using you?"
"God DAMN it I knew it.." That B-word.
"Ufufu~ Do compose yourself.. That is merely a belief, nothing more."
"So I'm not her slave then!"
"Oh you poor thing.. A slave is exactly what you are, along with the many mortals that walk the mortal plain.."
"I'm killing myself."
"How cruel~"
"And what happened to her other hosts?"
"See.. that is where it gets interesting.. Her fifth host was a man named Rykard Relonia. He was a rather big name that was known within the Luthran Kingdom's first moments after getting fully constructed by the giants."
"Where's he at."
"Here in Limbo.. somewhere."
"Dang."
"Well... his will has long extinguished, leaving him as nothing but a rotten husk hanging by chains.. I am certain you have crossed him at least once during your travels in this unsavory place."
"Actually I've seen a lot of those."
"I am pleasantly surprised your will was strong enough to prevent you from rotting away... Most souls that get brought here rot away the moment they realize they must endure eternity in a timeless place as this."
"I'm hardcore."
"Yes, I can see that.. You've experienced six hundred thousand eight hundred thirty si-"
"Ok I get it, my KD is trash sooo what.."
"Hm?"
"Nothing forget it.. back to Lucifer's hosts."
"Yes.. Lucifer's fifth host was a rather talented noble born into the Relonia bloodline, known for their extraordinary control in sorceries. Perhaps that is what drew her in choosing him as her fifth host."
"And how'd it go?"
"Terribly! The moment the Rune of Death was implanted into his soul.. It burned away into fierce hellfire, polluting the forest next to the Luthran Kingdom in a corruption that turned their leaves red."
"The heck was that man doing in that forest."
"Attending the church built by the Relonians. They were always the most loyal to the Grand Cathedral after all.."
"What about the first host?"
"Ah yes.. the first host was the most unique one.. The title of first host belonged to a follower of the Black Veil, a man named Alzeth."
"Pftt.. the heck is a Black Veil? Some kind of High School band?"
"..I am fascinated Lucifer has not told you a thing about the group that harnessed the Void.. Just how much is that woman hiding from you~?"
"I don't like your tone."
"I can share with you more.. if you set me free of course~ I have no doubt me and you will get along jus-- Where are you going? Do you not wish to understand what makes you as the thirteenth host so special?"
"To hell with that. I'll just ask Lucy- Ahem.. I'll ask her myself." I reach for the door on the opposite side of the room, taking one last look over my shoulder at this hanging woman.
"My.. She is quite stingy with that name.. Not even I am able to speak that word without getting a burning slap to the lips by her.."
"Get good."
"..How cruel... And I was beginning to think we were getting along just fine."
"We could.. If you can tell me where to find Lucifer."
"Ufufu~ I see.. Yes, you desire freedom above all else.. a simple desire shared by every soul that gets dragged here for as long as eternity.."
"Are you gonna tell me or do I have to leave you here."
"Lillith~"
"Uh.. what."
"The name is Lillith, I don't believe I've told you, have I?"
"Cool."
"I have known Lucifer for the longest.. In fact, more than Fellthoven and Mary.."
"..Uh."
"She goes by the Witch of Sorrow these days, does she not?"
"Hell if I know."
"When you find her.. tell her.. Lillith sent you.. Be a dear, would you?"
"Whatever sure why not. Also you still haven't told me how to find Lucifer."
"Set me free first~"
"No."
"Ufufufu~ Suffer more~" She just breaks into a small giggle and shakes her head in disbelief as she smiles at me condescendingly. "Limbo is forever changing and shifting. Each hall, each room.. It all follows an intricate and arbitrary pattern which is also following a pattern, along with another pattern, as well as another infinite pattern that is also changing... Without me, the dread halls will plunge you into a hollow husk~ It is only a matter of when.."
"this place is so ass."
"..I do have to agree with you on that notion..."
"Aight peace out." I reach for the door and step through it, closing it behind me.
There has to be a reason she's hanging by chains.
I'm not about to set her free and potentially piss Lucifer off just to have her sentence me to another six months of this shithole.
From the looks of it, I don't think Lucifer and this Lillith person get along very well.
Of all the questions I'm left with, something is still peeking from the back of my head.
If she was the one that sent me those text messages in the fabricated reality...
Then who is 'Mr. Spect'?
I grip onto my red torch and resume my walk down the blood-bricked walls, wondering to myself when I'll get back to reality.
If that is even a possibility.
.
.
.
[__________________________]
"...Thanks."
"There is no need to thank me. I merely spoke my thoughts, no less, nor more."
"I just.. I didn't know who else to turn to. She is always so stubborn to the end. If I hadn't turned to you.. the thought of what might have happened later on fills me with nerves."
"You were never one to be so troubled and distressed. I am very much used to seeing you bright and.. jumpy. When was the last time your mood has shifted to something this.. aflutter?"
"..Well there was the time I had a dragon duel with my sister.. She's still so psychopathic that one."
"Ahh I see. And about how long ago was that?"
"Pretty recent actually... She's also the one that killed Alek."
"..Truly?"
"Uh-huh.. I'm actually still on the lookout for her."
"Allow me to assist you."
"Not necessary.. This is a.. uh.. what's the word... A family matter.. Yeah.."
"Nonsense. If it is an adversary we share, a collaboration is much needed. Please, allow me to assist you. I do not take too kindly to those that murder a pupil in cold blood."
"..I'll think about it."
"Before we depart.. do allow me to ask.. What will become of this sister of yours when you locate her whereabouts?"
"A talk.. A family talk that is looong overdue."
"And you believe she will listen to the end?"
"Nnnope. But she doesn't have a choice."
"Well then, I do have hope you will consult back to me once you have decided. Until then."
The tall woman and the young girl in twin tails walk their separate paths out of the hallway, separating from the door to the ill student council president resting.