Chapter 1
"I smell...agony, simply intoxicating..."
The screams of the dying fills the brim the of the infinite horizon of Midgloom City. The unfortunate lay still-motionless forevermore. The frantic attempts to save one another falls upon the useless as it's a ruthless world with no consequences. The disgusting acts of the pitiful have taken it's toll upon the world. As the weight was so stiffening it gave way to disaster as the land shook mercilessly in it's attempt to rid itself of the disease that is man. Her cries of anguish expels the travesty of idiocy that brought the trials of man to his knees. The city fell under the crimson tide that buckled under the frigid sky. The sirens of help fell upon deaf ears, forever silent, gone; in deep sea dark entombed.
The silhouette figure of a woman stands reborn from the reckoning. Her fire skin burns the already scorched earth. Her raven hair bellows in the sulfuric wind. Her eyes burn with the listless fury of Hell. Her voice is low, silken but full of red. She took a breath of poison. Her tongue was like a wick, her words a match with her voice like dynamite. She spoke in explosions. Her anger was felt throughout the existence of her realm. "I breathe once more!" With the burst of words from her being the crippled terrain fell back upon her knees. Her screams of terror ripped through the ground dividing the men from the pretentious. Faults rose within the highlands. It mattered not to fate whether wealth ruled your being. Least she didn't care. The woman walked through the wreckage of her disaster kicking over debris for even the tiniest bit of confectionery she could consume. "Hungry...so hungry..." as she shifted through the buildings and pushed aside the dead what little she did find wasn't enough to service. "This...this isn't food...I need food..." she felt a warm unfamiliar touch caress her shoulder. She quickly sat up and turned about.
He was a young boy with long brown hair, he was dressed in rags and bleeding from his mouth. He had a pleasant smile of remembrance and kindred spirits. He held up a small bit of moldy bread and a shriveled piece of flesh on a ruined paper plate. "You hungry?" She paused before reaching out to the plate. "... hungry, starving so hungry." "It isn't much nor is it really good but..." he frowned a half way smile. "After disasters nothing ever is." The strange horned woman looked silently at the child. She reached out her arm, fingers twitching. "Seriously. Take i-" she had her fingers wrapped tightly around his neck lifting him a foot off the ground. Her words were sharp as he bled more opening mourning wounds. "Who sent you; Two? Ten? Eight? Who sent you!" The boy gasped trying to take in as much air her hand would allow, "Who are you talk'n about? I'm just trying to help." Her eyes loosened and she released him. She crept down and picked up the food. "I-I am sorry..." "It's fine I suppose." He rubbed his neck looking down as she picked at the food. She stood up scratching the back of her head. "You're a odd one you know." She chuckled loosening up her fierce demeanor. "I am, how?" He sat down on a piece of destroyed drywall. "You're the first human I've met who didn't flee from me at a glance. " She picked up torn cloth and draped it around her body. "I'm Neasis, and you are?" "Logan." He smiled.
Chapter 2
"Funny, the first time we've met and you've choked me." "Yeah well get over it, and pass the chips." "Ugh pushy, pushy." "Then pass meh some chips!" It's been ten years since the day we met. Ten years since my revival; ten years of trying to track and destroy my brethren. Neasis looked to Logan. My human, my friend. Oh how I'd wished you'd exclude yourself from these unholy games. It isn't a place for mortals. Still thinking to herself she can only gaze into his soft green eyes. Oh how I wish we'd have never met, so that I wouldn't have become so attached to someone so ... weak. I guess it can't be helped-"Neasis, why are you staring at me?" Logan had his head cocked to the side with a blank 'meh?' expression plastered to his face. "I'm waiting for you to pass me the bag of chips!" She smacked him on the back of his head then leaned back against the blue beanbag chair he received as a house warming gift from his parents. Logan sat patting his head then scratched his ass turning to the kitchen. "Need anything else oh mighty lord of hell?" "Yeah a cola would be nice too." He sighed then walked into the kitchen dragging his socks across the shag tan brownish carpeting. Moments later he returned with the snacks and flopped onto the sofa just as his demon flipped through the TV channels profusely. "You pay all this money for HD cable and there's like literally nothing to watch." "Ney, you can't expect your favorite shows to be on twenty four seven." "I know it's just I'm bored!" She stretched back and yawned. "Bored, Nay you don't do anything." "I do, do things. You're just at work or with that girl when I'm doing my thing." "That girl...? Never mind... Ney what do you do?" "I told you; search and destroy." He paused. "Search and destroy?" "I've told you a thousand times. I'm on a search for my brethren so that I can destroy them." "Why?" "Cuz." "Cuz why?" "Cuz nunya" "Nunya?" "Nunya business foo that's cuz." "Ney you suck you know that." "Hey Logan." She smiled. "Yeah?" "This is the face of a bitch who gives no fucks. Like I just have a bunch of fucks in storage overseas and no one can have them cuz I'm not giving them out. I'm hoarding them." "Boo on you." He looked at his phone then stood up and stretched out his arms. "Welp, time for bed. See ya tomorrow morning." He walked down the hall to his room. "Night." She murmured while stuffing her face with junk.
The next day she got up as she usually did around eleven in the afternoon. She took her coat and adorned her crucifix she stole from a church months back. She's been meaning to return it but became attached to it as it saved her life. She ran her finger over the dent that was left after her attempted assassination. She walked out the small apartment she'd been squatting in and took a moment to look around. Much of the lower districts were still in disrepair. The highlands where the ruling class lived was perfect and new. They have always been corrupt but after the disaster they're mean streak rose to unfathomable levels. Siphoning the clean water from the republic, truly a despicable act. What could she possibly do? To humans she wasn't even supposed to exist. However in the end she came to a plausible mute conclusion. She could care less about what happened to the humans. She wasn't a hero, nor a villain. One learned to not think so black a white about these situations. She was a spectrum of fury, an eternal flame that will never burn out.
"How long do you plan to follow me?" Her voice was playful and sarcastic. "That depends, how long do you plan on keeping up your guard?" "Indefinitely." A blurred shadow of a woman slinked over. To humans she'd appear as a regular woman but to Neasis she was an adversary. The woman had two twin horns protruding from her forehead. Her hair seemed to have been wet and pulled back showing her prominent widows peak. She had two tails that swayed back and forth. Above her breast was the tattoo '2'. "Deiin what do you want? Surly you're not here to fight." "Oh heavens no." "Then why are you here?" "Simple, I'm bored and quite frankly have nothing better to do than bother you." "Why me?" "You're here." She sighed as number two laughed as if she won some small battle. "I should tell you, while I'm here that ten has been more active than usual." "What why, we've haven't even entered the panicle of the game. " "No ones died thus far, the top players seemed to have just been trying to rock the competition by display of power." "Like the quake that woke me up years back." "Exactly." "Is everyone awake yet?" "Not that I know of, thirteen and four are still dormant." "Who recently woke?" "As far as I know nine did just last week." "Guess that explains the fire over in Newport." "She's been known to make flashy entrances you know that." "Her little entrance nearly killed hundreds of people!" "You say that as if you actually cared for human life." She rose an eyebrow. "Its not that, its just don't we need them for a food source?" "I suppose you make a valid point." "Of course I do, now I'm leaving. Bye." "Always quick to rush towards death. I'll bug you later Ney. Wait where are you headed?" "I need to have a little word with our dear friend Ixna."
Chapter 3
The industrial district of Newport. It was once housed to many big named factories; now its nothing more than a ghost of its former self. When Ixna woke up. Her fire must've lit the reserves of oil that was stored. She was always the flashy one, loved the thought of herself. Big entrances and all. Ixna, number nine. The Lord of Vanity. This area was her terf. I had no right to stroll on in to fight her. Adhering to what Deiin said, I'd probably get my ass killed before the game even started. Who dies at the first boss anyway?
"Oh, is that weak trash I smell?" "Don't know? Maybe you should stop smelling your upper lip." A blur fell from a steel structure. She walked up, dawned in a floral print yukata her fox ears and seven horns stuck our of her head. Behind her was nine ghostly tails whose fire matched the burning phantom limb she had for a left arm. "How's the arm? Remember Twelve doing quite the number on you before he smashed your head in." "Oh it's fabulous like the rest of me. How was the dirt nap? Seeing as you, and I quote 'died at the first boss'. " "Bull shit you all ambushed me!" "Oh Neasis. You can't blame others for your mistakes. Quite frankly its childish and unbecoming of a Lord." "Fuck you!" "Vulgar is no substitute for wit little girl. " "..." "Good now that you're sufficiently put in your place why did you come all the way here to bark obscenity at me?" "You have informants who's next to wake up?" "Ugh, you simply must let him go. This obsession is not healthy." "Ixna!" "What I'm just saying. It's not." "I didn't ask for your two cents, I asked a question." "Oh love, two? Who do you think I am, Deiin? Ha! But in all seriousness I don't really know. If I had to guess I'd have to say Reive." "Four? I thought he was already awake." "No, least I don't think he is. Anything else?" "What's this about Ten being more active than usual?" "Hmph Deiin should really keep her mouth shut. I swear you can't tell her anything without her blabbing her big mouth to everyone spilling all my tea. My tea is quite expensive I'll have you know." "So I heard. I take it you don't know more than she does." "Sorry love. I'm clueless in this matter." "Ah I see."
