Chapter I

= Dave: Leave the Debris =

Blood trickled down, pooling about the floor.

It was like a fucking swamp of blood, and you had made it.

You flick the crimson liquid off of your arm in disgust.

Dancing around death, it was as easy as baking worm-infested pie as you boogied to indie music.

You step away from the curled up corpse, raising your head and exhaling. There were other places to be. This one hadn't revealed any further information.

Familiar pain blossoms in your shoulder blades and you grit your teeth and ball your hands into fists. You fight past it, not letting the damned agony train go screeching on by with you as the passenger. You'd already went through this enough times to know how to deal with it. A breath, a closing of eyes, and it was gone.

You turn and walk away, your shoes splashing through the mess that you had created.

It was disgusting. But, that was how the circle of fucking life went. You'd be the shaded killer and the pack of hyenas would bow and shake, waiting to be ripped apart and left for dead.

'Dave!' Another familiarity echoes but, this time, it was resounding in your head. 'Dave, can you hear me?'

'Sup, Jade?'

As soon as your silent response reaches her, a flood of relief comes flowing through your connection like an overfull river. 'Oh, good! I thought – No, never mind. Um, we got trouble.'

You quirk a brow. 'We got winged monkeys on our tail?'

A quick flash of Jade's amusement patters down over your mental link. 'No, uh, Hephaestus' sleep was disturbed; he's waking up.'

'Oh goodie. Is a race to the great and almighty fire-breather, needed?'

'No, no, it's just…' An audible sigh flutters through your mind from her end. 'It – it's like there's something bothering him. … There's something wrong anyway. I can't exactly pinpoint what it is but, it disturbed him from his slumber.'

You side-step a pool of blood. 'Must be something related in some way to the Horrorterrors to have the grand wyrm rising from his sleep.'

'That's the thing – it isn't.'

'Oh?' You head over to the door, kicking it open and slipping through the gap just as the splintered wood comes crashing back against its hinges.

'It's like… a feeling, a weird one.'

'Weird as in: whoa, is that wall talking to me? Or, goddamn that egg has a weird face, it looks like Bob Marley.'

You can just picture her snorting and trying her best not to laugh. 'Noo, neither. It's – it's like – well, an uncomfortable vibe. That's all I can really describe it as. It's kinda hard, seeing as how I can't really put my finger on what it is properly.'

'Yo, I get it. So, what, you want me to keep an eye out for a weird egg-faced anomaly?'

'Uh, something like that.'

'Will do. Got shit to take care of so, ollie outin'.'

'Seeya later, cool-dude.'

You can feel the connection between you weaken, and then phase out altogether.

"Weird vibe, huh?" you mutter. "As if that will be easy to spot out from a mile off."

Well, she is a witch. Maybe she could just throw herself into a connection with you later, if you were to stumble across this weird factor. It… intrigued you but, not by much. There were other things you needed to take care of first.

Turning away from the house, you shove your hands into your pockets and begin the journey back across the empty field of blue grass. Afternoon was just rolling around, so there'd be plenty of time to just meander about before setting off on the long walk through midnight-estate. You preferred to travel by dark. The dawn and midday ruined any kind of surprise attack you might have in stock for those unaware.

Not that you were constantly in strife mode. It didn't really suit you. Bro was more for that. But, he wasn't here. You'd be goddamn taken by surprise if he did somehow magically turn up, like 'Yo, got stuck in ghostly traffic, they were taking up all the road' or something like that. You wouldn't put it past him.

A cold breeze is settling in, the distant shrieks alerting you to the possibility of encountering a group of things that weren't all that intelligent, yet were still in the clear for being totally annoying. They would take too much time up. You would rather steer clear of them. And so, you change course, leaving the blood-stained house with its short-stack of a garden far behind you, taking to the undergrowth, where crystallized trees and bushes reigned supreme instead.

Those stupid storks of air would never be able to reach you in such a green-filled environment, well, bluish green… Orangy yellow, whatever. There are lots of colours here, too many to bother pointing out in one sitting. You decide to relax a bit, striding over to casually sit down beneath the dimming shadow of a particularly large tree. You have to admit, their bark's a bit uncomfortable to lean against but, it's better than flopping down amongst extra uncomfortable crystallized grass. That always sucked.

You sigh, glancing up to the sky above. How long will it take before the sun decides it's had enough of dancing around in the sky? It needs to get its sleeping cap on and go the fuck to sleep already.

You rest your head against the trunk of the tree, shifting a little to try to get as comfortable as possible. It's nearly impossible considering that bits of the bark are already poking you in the back but, you soon find the most comfy position that you'll ever have the second chance of getting. So, you just stick with it.

As you rest, you retrieve your sword from its confines in your Xedallys. You wipe off the rest of the blood staining it with a rolled up sleeve, then streak that crimson liquid across the crystal ground. It wasn't like anyone really needed it now anyway.

You turn the sword over in your grasp, checking it for any signs of scratches, or wears-and-tears. The metal reflects your face back to you and, just for a moment, you catch the sight of something made of shadows staring back at you. You blink; it vanishes. "All aboard the crazy train," you murmur turning it over again. You captchalogue it soon after, tilting one corner of your lip downwards in thought.

What would be the best course of action from here on out? Travel around the shrieking air-balloons that circle above the typically traveled path now, or rest first? The former seemed more appealing. You doubt you'd be able to sleep through crunches of earth and leaves and the uncomfortable backrest you were currently leaning against.

Now, it was just a matter of waiting for the sun to set.