Boris said, "So Sparrow, what's your life story?"
Sparrow said, "M-my life story?"
"Yes."
"Well… My whole life, I've been in love with someone named Serin. We knew each other since infancy. One day, though…we were separated from our family, our home, and each other by a…very powerful being. Eventually, we found each other again and went off to defeat the being. I…was separated from Serin before we could get to him, but she defeated him by herself. We were reunited exactly 10 weeks later with both each other and our families, but that only lasted 5 days. I was captured by…some group (I don't remember what they called themselves) and imprisoned in their world. In order to get out, I had to join them. When I was finally reunited with Serin a long time later, our old enemy was trying to reassemble his forces. Fortunately for us and the place we were in at the time, one of his former henchmen…convinced him to stop for good. When that happened, I thought that I would finally be able to be with Serin forever. And then…we met…Coranzinto's master…"
Sparrow shivered.
Boris said, "Coranzinto?"
"Er, did I just say his name?"
"Yes."
"…"
"What happened after you met his master?"
"Huh? Oh. When I saw Coran's master…I…I…I swear, I'd never been so scared in my life. He kidnapped Serin and I haven't seen or heard any trace of her since."
"I see. It must've been hard for you."
"You have no idea. I love Serin so much, I…I would do anything for her… I HAVE done almost everything for her..."
"What was the name of Coran's master?"
Sparrow gulped. "His name was…was…was…"
"Spit it out!"
"Karaoliphomio!"
The moment he said that, all of the animals in the cathedral became silent at stared at Sparrow. Chills went up Boris' spine, even though he knew he had never heard that name before…
Sparrow, noticing the stares, quietly said, "Looks like it's still forbidden to say his name…"
8's wolf said, "Why did you say that? You'll bring misfortune to everyone in this world."
"I'm sorry, Martin. I just…I…"
Suddenly, a large feather came out of nowhere and landed on Sparrow's nose. He grabbed the feather and took a careful look at it. From its structure, it appeared to be a down feather. It was purple and it was very clean and shiny. The shaft, at the connecting end, was a thin point.
Boris said, "What is that?"
Sparrow stared at the feather for several moments before saying, "I don't know…"
He then stuck the end of the feather between two scales behind his ears. It fit perfectly. Suddenly, Sparrow's ears perked up, as though he had heard something. He suddenly dashed towards the cathedral entrance, failing to notice Boris following him.
Insert story breaker here
Stacy sat in an alley between two crumbling buildings, panting. She hadn't bothered trying to go home; Gladdys would punish her for anything that came into her mind. Stacy cursed herself under her breath. If it wasn't for the fact that Stacy (along with Brutus and their mother) was a VERY fast healer and never got scars from anything, she could've used those scars as proof that Gladdys was abusing her (though Gladdys' punishments had gotten a lot harsher when she found out about Stacy's ability).
Stacy put a hand on her chest as she briefly got an uncomfortable feeling in the area. It had been happening ever since she had had that weird dream 7 days ago.
In the dream, a bizarre-looking, dog-sized creature (who, unbeknownst to Stacy, looked exactly like the one in 8's hallucination) with a tutu-like frill around its waist was gracefully dancing around her, sweeping its tail, head, and limbs in a beautiful and artistic way. Stacy had quickly gone from staring at it in confusion to staring at it in awe.
When the creature was done dancing, it apparently looked at her (it had no eyes) and, in a very child-like voice, said, "Did I dance good, mama?"
Stacy had immediately woken up afterwards. Over the course of that day, she developed strange symptoms; a sore throat, slight nausea, increased congestion, and extreme hunger. In fact, she had gotten so hungry, she tried multiple times to steal food (since Gladdys never gave her that much). Gladdys caught her every time and punished her with increasing harshness. Stacy didn't bother telling anyone as Gladdys had threatened her.
However, the day Stacy met the stitchpunks, more symptoms had appeared; shortness of breath, exhaustion, nosebleeds, and chest pains. Those symptoms had gotten progressively worse. Again, Stacy hadn't bothered to tell anyone. Gladdys would've stopped her and punished her if she tried (she knew this because she had actually tried once).
Presently, as Stacy thought about how Gladdys had treated her all her life, she realized just how much she hated Gladdys. Stacy stood up, determined to go to Sam, the Intell doctor, and tell him what had been happening to her.
After only a few minutes, she was at the Scientist's house. When she got there, however, she stopped. The pain in her chest suddenly became far worse than it had ever been. Stacy could barely keep herself from screaming as she put her hand on her chest. Stacy gasped for air, feeling like she couldn't breathe.
The pain quickly became so intense, Stacy could barely stand up. Darkness appeared on the edges of her vision and Stacy was truly having difficulty breathing. Another wave of pain swept through her and she finally collapsed, maintaining enough control over herself to ensure that she fell onto her back.
Lying on her back, barely able to move or breathe and with no idea of what was happening, Stacy felt truly panicked and afraid. She briefly wondered if the pain she felt was as much as giving birth. Suddenly, it felt like something in her chest was moving…
A final wave of agony swept through her chest, and this time, it was more than enough to make her unleash a horrendous, banshee-like scream.
The pain lasted for only a few seconds. After that, it got very slightly better. Stacy gasped as she felt a strange pressure get off of her lungs. Stacy laid there for several moments, staring into the night sky, before lifting her head so she could see her chest. What she saw made her gasp in horror.
Stacy laid there for several minutes, staring in shock at the creature on her chest. The creature had no eyes and had a tutu-like frill around its waist (although it hardly looked like the creature in her dream). Finally, Stacy grabbed the creature in her right hand and tore it off her chest so that she could see what had happened.
When Stacy saw her chest, for the first time in her life, she felt truly glad that she had her ability. The creature, meanwhile, was nuzzling its head against Stacy's neck. As Stacy turned her head to look at the creature, she realized that it looked oddly cute. It made her think of 7 and her unborn baby…
Insert story breaker here
The night was silent and peaceful. After a while, there were some footsteps, but they didn't last long. She was glad that it was so peaceful. Peace allowed her to sleep well (not that it was hard for her to do so already). Where she was, it was warm and dark and safe. She loved it. Of course, it was the only thing she knew of. That, and the numerous voices she kept hearing. For a long time, it had been just two voices, but not that long ago, it had become many more. She wanted to see what the source of the voices was, especially the two she had heard for so long (though this desire was more instinctual; she didn't actually know what sight was; her only visual memory was of darkness).
Of course, she had no choice but to wait. She squirmed around a little before settling down and curling up tighter. She drifted off to sleep, her mind filled with the countless voices and sounds she had heard…
Insert story breaker here
7 groggily opened her eyes. She could hardly remember ever being so tired, even during the early stages of her pregnancy. She was so tired, she went back to sleep. After a while, though, she woke up again. It was very quiet. Almost too quiet. 7 grabbed her skull helmet and put it on. She found it slightly more difficult than usual to get up, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She also felt slightly "heavy", but that feeling had been present for the last month or so (and had gotten increasingly noticeable).
Upon entering the throne room, 7 could tell by the amount of light that it was at least mid-morning. She was astounded. She couldn't remember if she had ever slept so long.
Looking around, 7 saw 6 in his corner, drawing again.
6, sensing her but not looking at her, said, "You've been asleep for a while."
7 said, "Where are the others?"
"They went off to find 5, I think."
"Ah."
"…Stay here, 7. I don't think you should go out today…"
"I wasn't planning on doing so."
Suddenly, there was a loud crash that came from the storage area, immediately catching 7 and 6's attention. After several moments, 7 slowly walked toward the storage area, failing to notice that 6, who had gotten a side view of her, was now staring directly at her.
7 cautiously turned the corner to the small storage area. She immediately saw the cause of the crash; several metal objects had fallen to the ground. 7 was about to start cleaning it up when she noticed something move. Suddenly, four small red lights, all in a row, appeared in the near-darkness. 7, instantly realizing what it was, practically jumped back and let out a small scream, surprised that a machine had managed to get in their home without being noticed.
The eyes didn't move. In fact, the machine didn't make a sound. It just stared at her.
7, her eyes still somewhat used to the dark, could make out the general shape of the machine; a scorpion. 7 waited for it to move, or at least do something. It continued to just stare at her, showing no signs of hostility at all (although 7 was out of its immediate range).
The Scorpion cocked its head to one side and motioned one of its claws at her. Realizing what the gesture meant, 7 looked down at herself…and almost instinctively put her hands on her stomach.
7's abdomen was now noticeably distended.
She stared at her stomach for a full minute before looking back at the Scorpion. It looked at her expectantly.
7 said, "I'm…not sure how to explain it to you…"
The Scorpion's eyes half-closed and it laid down, bored. 7 was very surprised that it hadn't even tried to attack her. It was so uncharacteristic of them.
Suddenly, 6 came running towards her, saying, "Hide!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the Scorpion. He seemed truly terrified.
Before 7 could say anything, she suddenly heard Gladdys' loud and grating voice saying, "Hello? Is that b**** 7 in here?"
Insert story breaker here
9 sighed. He and most of the others had been searching for 5 for hours with no luck whatsoever. In fact, for the last half-hour or so, he had been separated from the others. At this point, he was completely and utterly lost.
Armed with only his light staff, he felt rather defenseless. After all, if, say, the Owl Beast attacked him, he wouldn't exactly be able to do much about it.
He missed 7. She had been sleeping when he left and, upon seeing her distended abdomen, did not feel compelled to wake her up.
Suddenly, he heard somebody come up from behind him. He turned around…and what he saw rendered him speechless. It was Stacy, and she wasn't wearing a shirt.
Stacy said, "9! What are you doing here?"
9 said, "Uh…"
"You're looking for 5, aren't you?"
"Yes…"
"I just found out that Gladdys kidnapped him last night."
"…"
"…And she just kidnapped 7 and 6 and she's planning on sacrificing all three of them to the Fabrication Machine."
"…What?"
"Come on. I'll explain it on the way."
She grabbed 9, put him on her shoulder, and started running towards the factory.
9 said, "How do you know that's what she wants to do?"
Stacy said, "She said it. That woman is way too talkative for her own good."
"Why would she do that?"
"Gladdys has some really weird beliefs. She thinks that children should be seen and not heard and that pregnancy is shameful and disgusting. I've lived with her for years and I still don't understand her."
"Why are you not wearing a shirt?"
"I have just one shirt and I got it pretty badly torn last night."
"What happened?"
"…I'd rather not tell you."
It took them five minutes to get to the factory. Several Seekers were patrolling the area (which, needless to say, made 9 very nervous). About half of them noticed Stacy running at high speed towards the factory. They didn't raise the alarm.
Upon entering the factory through the main entrance, the first thing 9 noticed were the countless, bored-looking machines lying around. The first thing Stacy noticed was Gladdys, who was a mere ten feet away.
"Gladdys!"
Gladdys whirled around. She was holding 5, 6, and 7 in her hands. 5 and 7 were unconscious. Stacy's outcry also caught the attention of all the machines in the room, making 9 even more nervous.
Gladdys snorted, smirked, and slowly began to back away. Stacy went towards her at the same pace.
Stacy said, "Well, Gladdys, you've done some pretty immoral and stupid stuff in the past, but this takes the cake."
Gladdys, in her normal loud, nasal, and grating voice and tone, said, "Why are you not wearing a shirt? It's disgusting and degrading."
"The only shirt that you ever let me have, I accidentally tore it very badly last night and I didn't have time to get another."
As the distance between Stacy and the entrance increased, some of the machines started to move in front of the entrance, blocking off the only way out.
Gladdys said, "Careless as usual. I swear, I should –"
Stacy said, "Shut it, Gladdys. I'm tired of hearing your voice. I'm tired of everything about you. Your voice, your appearance, your personality, your manners, your lack of morals, your arrogance, your abuse of me, and you! My parents weren't the best, but compared to you, they were excellent. They never starved me, they never beat me, they never made me sleep somewhere cold, and…god, I miss them."
Gladdys sneered. "What makes you think that? I thought you hated them."
"More than once, I confused what they did to me with what you did to me. By the way, would you say that I look just like my mother, your fraternal twin sister?"
"…I will admit, you do look exactly like Karin…but that hardly matters."
By now, the two women were standing in the middle of the room, completely surrounded by machines. The women didn't notice, but 9 sure as heck did. He was especially terrified by the fact that the Cat Beast, the Owl Beast, and the Winged Beast were among the crowd. There were several other machines in the crowd that 9 had never seen before. Some of them looked like animals, some of them looked like a combination of animals, and some of them 9 had no idea what they were supposed to look like.
All of them were looking at Gladdys and Stacy with morbid interest.
Suddenly, Gladdys stopped. Stacy stopped as well. But it wasn't because they had noticed the machines.
Stacy said, "Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't…but that's not important now. Why are you here?"
Gladdys said, "To get rid of a disgusting and immodest b****."
Stacy's eyes widened, appalled. "I wouldn't exactly call 7 'modest', but she is a long way from being immodest! And when are you going to realize that, nowadays, most women who get pregnant technically aren't married? Oh wait, that's right. Never."
All of the machines looked at Stacy. Then at 7. Then back to Stacy. Then several of them began laughing (or at least it seemed like laughing), finally catching the attention of the two women.
Gladdys yelled, "Stop laughing! Laughing is –"
Stacy yelled, "Let them laugh, Gladdys. It's a lot less grating than your voice." Ironically, Stacy was right.
Upon realizing just how many machines were surrounding them, Stacy though, oh sh**, what did I just do?
The machines that weren't laughing either had their jaw hanging open (if they had one), attempted to show a humorous expression, or convinced themselves that Stacy wasn't being serious or was mistaken.
Gladdys said, "I hope you're proud of yourself for getting their attention, Stacy!"
Stacy said, "You think that I'M responsible for getting us into this? You're the one who came here in the first place!"
"You didn't have to follow me like a –"
"SHUT UP!"
All of the machines went silent.
"Gladdys, I came here because I wasn't about to let you sacrifice any of them, especially 7! And what on earth makes you think that you can just walk in here just because you want to?"
"They have no reason to kill me. I have three sacrifices for them."
"…You honestly think that that ALONE would incline them to spare you."
"Of course! Nobody is THAT ungrateful!"
9 and Stacy stared at her, appalled by her arrogance and stupidity. Several of the machines laughed at it.
When the machines had quieted down, Stacy said, "You…you…oh my god, you're so stupid."
Gladdys snorted.
Suddenly, an odd-sounding male voice from the crowd said, "Quite a rivalry, eh?"
The two women and the conscious stitchpunks turned towards the voice. Out of the crowd came a frighteningly humanoid machine, although the only part of it that was actually human was its jaw.
Stacy said, "What?"
The humanoid machine said, "It seems as though there is a significant rivalry between you two. It would be quite interesting to see how a fight to the death would turn out." It turned to the other machines. "Wouldn't you agree?" All of the machines nodded.
Stacy said, "You can TALK?"
The humanoid machine said, "Yes, I can talk. Anyway, what do you think about being able to have a fight to the death with that woman?"
Stacy looked at Gladdys. Gladdys looked extremely nervous. Stacy broke into a malicious grin.
Stacy slyly said, "I think rather highly of it."
Gladdys nervously said, "Um…if we're going to fight to the death, can we do it somewhere a little MORE dangerous?"
The humanoid machine said, "Of course. The stakes shall be this: if the half-naked girl wins, she and the ragdolls, unharmed, go free. If the loud woman wins, she goes free and we get the ragdolls."
Stacy, still smiling, said, "Deal."
Gladdys somewhat hesitantly nodded.
The humanoid machine said, "Very well. In the meantime, though, we shall hold into the ragdolls."
Suddenly, a wolf-like machine went up to Stacy, reared up, and grabbed 9 in its jaws. 9 didn't get a chance to see which machines took 5, 6, or 7.
The humanoid machine said, "Now, if you ladies will just follow me…" He then went off deeper into the factory, the women and several machines following.
9 had no idea why the machines had opted to do this instead of just taking them and killing them, but he didn't fully care. He just hoped that Stacy would win and that the machines would keep their word.
Author's note: Just so you all know, the first part of this chapter is more for the benefit of the people who have read my previous stories (AKA my parents). Please review, guys. If I don't get reviews, I don't feel like people appreciate my work.
On a note completely unrelated to anything in this story, I saw The Hunger Games this morning (4\29\12) and boy, was it a good movie.
Finally, I'm done with this chapter!