As Kai and Six run further away into the darkness Cinca merely watches from the balcony in amusement at the horde. Each one of them pushing and shoving each other trying to shove their hand into the wall. A small smile grows on her face as the small amount of blood dripped from her lips. She paused as she raised her sleeve to wipe her face. Her hand pausing at the shattered mask she wore before taking it off and turning it over. A hazy reflection could be seen and for once Cinca did not see the wrinkled horror she'd grown accustomed to.
No, she saw her own face perfectly elegant and extravagant. 'A trick, perhaps?' Cinca thought to herself. The lingering effects of the Void from her mind playing tricks. 'No, not possible.' She cast that possibility away as the reflection in her mask began to change. Looking closer she gazed deep within the shiny surface she noticed a horrid truth.
The woman inside the reflection began to deteriorate. The face peeling off and browning. Their beautiful eyes falling out of their sockets. The hairs on their head turning ashen and white. The Geisha almost dropped the mask out of shock. Only stopped by the sound of laughter in her head. The image changed once again revealing the multicolored eye of the Void.
"So, this is your plan? To wait idly by and let the Gorgers hopefully slaughter the two brats?"
The Geisha stood silent holding the mask in front of her.
"The Silent Treatment, eh? I guess that's fair considering you've proclaimed me as your enemy. Oh, the things we could have done together Cinca. You could have ruled this world for millennia and millennia more."
Cinca starts lifting the mask towards her face. An inferno of rage building up within her as the Void taunted her.
"You stupid little girl. You could have had it all. Power, the world, an endless flow of blood, and the death of the same stupid little boy who tormented you and showed the truth of the world."
The Void in the mask looked closer into The Geisha's eyes. What once was a beautiful scarlet red in her eyes now held flecks of a dying grey.
"You desire them still, don't you? Those days when you were a feral monster. The days you were cursed with Hunger. My dear, you are truly an extraordinary specimen of monster in this world. An alpha predator amongst all these prey creatures."
And at last, Cinca answered back, "Not that it matters to you Void, but yes. I miss the days when the only thing I drank was the boiling blood of my enemies and what I ate quickly severed the lives of those deserving or not. I assume you've been listening to my earlier conversation with them."
The Geisha gestured out to the horde of Gorgers still trying to push each other out of the way. All the while the splintering of wood could be heard.
"They are like me and I to them. I pity them in a way but I also envy them. They are held back as you once held me back or pushed me forward. I am no dog to be leashed. I am a wolf and a hunter. And as the leader of this massive pack, I deem it fit to reward them."
"Reward them how?"
Cinca smiled maliciously, "These feral beasts can have Six and… What was his name again? Doesn't matter too much, anyway those beasts will have those children and I shall relish their screams as they get torn apart. As for Mono…."
The Geisha's own stomach growled as she said his name. "I think I'll devour him myself. Merely killing him might not be the best idea. Don't get me wrong the broken necks of intruding children are amazing but."
Cinca curled her fingers as the blackened smoke floated around her hand.
"I remember receiving this power once I sank my teeth into the previous owner of the MAW. I wonder what would happen if I ate him too."
The Void's eye twitched as soon as she said that. A twitch that did not go unnoticed.
"Ah, You don't like that idea, do you? I wonder if it's because you never planned for me to obtain any other power than my own that you couldn't control. You don't seem to like it when things don't go according to plan."
The Void stays silent. Its form now starting to disappear in the reflection.
"I don't know what your plan is Void. Frankly, I don't care to hear it out nor did you deserve to know my own. But unlike you I will do everything I can to ensure the deaths of those kids."
The Void disappeared completely leaving the mask to its original state. For a split second Cinca thought about discarding the mask entirely letting it shatter on the floor. Then she remembered that the MAW is ruled by a person of tamed power and control. Pettiness needed to be beneath her after everything was over. She merely set the mask down on the banister and focused her power. The flesh within the MAW bending to her will and coming to her. A throne of flesh formed beneath her as she sat down. The flesh binding itself to her and suddenly she could see everything from everywhere. She became connected to the MAW itself. From where she was right now, she couldn't attack the kids directly. She would merely watch for now and attack when she could.
The wall behind Six and Kai shattered into fragments as the Gorgers pushed their way in. Both reinvigorated with energy as terror filled their hearts. Five Gorgers finally managed to squeeze their way in from the horde now madly on their tails. Only the lowered ceiling of the Nome hole keeping the Gorgers from pouncing upon the two of them. Kai was only a few inches ahead of Six as she looked forward. Constantly ducking and dodging the pipes and small gaps in the floor. Anything she could do to avoid being tripped up and devoured. The creaking of metal only showing that the Gorgers were not impeded. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her chest as she continued. Her legs begging her to stop but her mind urging her to move.
Kai was in a maddened state as well. Sweat rolled down his eyes stinging them forcing him to blink out the pain just so he could see. He looked behind him just to see how close death could be. Just to see a claw reaching for both.
"SIX SPLIT!"
Both dodging to other ends of the Nome tunnel as the hand reached forward trying to snatch them. At that moment, an opening showed up revealing another opening. Both Kai and Six slid under the crevice revealing they were in an old unused dining area of the Guest Quarter's. This one was right behind a Gorger's stable.
"You good Six?"
"No, I'm not ok Kai. I'm exhausted and I feel ready to drop dead at this point."
"That could be arranged."
Both jump at the voice that reverberated in their heads. Both scanned the room from where the sound could have come from. Then they both looked up. A fleshy tentacle fused to the ceiling spread across the ceiling and attached to the end of that tendril was an eyeball. Only it couldn't seem to decide between being a red or a multicolored one.
Kai began to say, "You? But I thought-"
"That I was banished from Cinca and that was just going to be the end of me? Foolish child I don't truly exist in your world boy. I don't exist in the world of the living or the physical, therefore I cannot die. Cinca may have cut ties with me but I'm still connected in this world through other means."
Kai drew his blade as it gleamed with energy and the eye somehow smirked in amusement. Six not completely understanding why exactly until she felt something. Quickly she rushed forward.
"DODGE!"
She shoved Kai to the floor just another spear pierced through the ceiling and into the floor where Kai was just standing. Quickly getting up Six looked through the hole to see the Geisha standing up with the shadows curling around her right hand. In an arc above the Geisha floated five objects. The shadows tempering them into more spears. She looked ready to throw but she also was hesitant. Keeping low to the floor Six looked back up at the eye on the ceiling trying to figure out the correlation.
"I did not tell her of your location worm. You clearly forgot that she is the MAW's head and the head has incredibly unique abilities. Any power used on the MAW other than her own she knows where and who was the one who used it. The flesh of the MAW has a different purpose however."
The eye finally settled on scarlet red signaling the Void's disappearance. The eye widened in recognition now fully in control.
"Ah perfect now I can see you. Which allows me to do this."
The flesh began to branch off in an unusual way this one curling around the original vein and growing another eye. Then a tumor like lump of flesh grew off the second strand before twisting and transforming into a small hand axe. With a swing and chop the flesh chopped off a sizable part of itself. Falling to the floor with a sickening thump, mutilation was not the point. Like a hose a torrent of blood fell from the ceiling pooling the floor covering the Six and Kai. Soaking them with blood and a bloodcurdling screech filled the massive hall. Both Kai and Six looked at each other with dread as the opening they entered through began to creak and crack under the pressure. Although both truly began to run when the wall next to them began to receive slash and stab marks.
"Hear that? I hear dinner bells. ~"
The wall exploded as more Gorgers burst through. Their drool dripping down their face slowly getting down on all fours as they slowly began to crowd the two of them. Both Kai and Six backed up slowly not seeing any means of escape.
Six looks down at her hand considering the use of her own powers. She eyed the prowling group as one of the Gorgers leading the pack slowly reached out to grab Six. Kai held out his scissor blade deciding if he were to die here, he would at least go out fighting. Some of the other Gorgers were lapping up some of the blood that pooled the floor. Cinca watched through the flesh with absolute glee. It was pure chaos in which both thought it was the end.
And then the whole room froze as everyone heard the small chittering of something high above them. The Gorger closest to Kai and Six looked up only for something to stab into its eye. It howled in pain as it yanked out intruding object from its. The object in question, which still had the eye attached, was a fork. Kai and Six both looked up very confused at what just happened only to see a Nome standing up at the top of a rafter. It chittered again looking at something behind it before a rope fell. Not wasting time Six quickly grabbed onto the rope with Kai following quickly behind.
"What the heck is going on Six?"
"I don't know but I'm not going to question it right now."
The Gorgers knocked out of their little stupor began advancing once again. The rope quickly jerked up once Kai and Six held onto it. Both shooting up into the air only for an extremely tall Gorger grabbed onto the rope trying to pull it back down.
"Kai your scissor blade, quickly!"
Kai unsheathed it handing it down to Six who quickly began slicing the hand. A scene that Cinca found very amusing.
"Are you really trying to hack that hand off with that weak little thing?"
Ignoring the Geisha Six planted her hand on the Gorger now using her power. Draining the life force of the Gorger Six kept an eye on the Geisha who readied another spear. Holding onto the rope Six ran along the wall making the rope sway enabling her to dodge the embedded spear in the wall. The Gorger let go of the rope slumping onto the floor the fresh smell of newer blood filling the nostrils of the other creatures.
As they were both pulled up Kai looked down to see the recently killed Gorger get picked up by all limbs and pulled. With a sickening tear and crack the monster was pulled apart, treated like a wishbone. His face turned green watching the Gorgers devour their fallen person.
"I'm never going to get used to this. Why exactly do they act like that?" Kai whispered.
"Because Hunger and Greed can make a person do terrible things. I know that more than most."
The rope carried the two of them. Kai quickly clambered up with Six following closely behind to see ten Nomes holding onto the rope. The interesting thing Six noticed was that these Nomes were armed with either a fork or knife along with a match on their backs. It was intimidating to be perfectly honest for Six. The one closest to them walked up to Six who actually knelt before her holding out an object to her. Picking it up she realized it was a makeshift dagger. A serrated piece of metal wrapped in cloth for her hand to wrap around. The Nome backs up a bit before chittering to the other Nomes before they scurried off into a nearby vent. It then turns around chittering at the two of them before turning back into the dark.
Six hummed before holstering the dagger around her hip and started jogging towards the vent too. But not before Kai grabbed her by the wrist.
"Are we really going to just trust these guys? For all we know we could be going into a trap because those things secretly work for the Geisha too."
"If the Geisha wanted us dead, she wouldn't have made the Nomes save us. That's the thing I've noticed about the Void and Cinca. The Void delays killing us because it has some grander scheme meanwhile the Geisha just directly attacks when she can. Going in the cramped space will be much better for us as the Gorgers-"
Right as she says that an extremely tall Gorger latches onto the rafter they were standing, pulling itself up with a bloodstained grin. Six at once bolts for the vent with a vigor so high she pulls Kai along with him.
"The Gorgers shouldn't be able to reach us in such a tiny area."
Increased Gorgers latched onto the wood frame as the two of them disappeared into darkness. Both could hear the Geisha scream of frustration before the entire MAW seemed to rumble around them. The two of them squinting in the dark as they tried to see where the Nomes had gone as they continued forward. Their source of light shifting as the Gorgers groped around trying to grab them. Something wet filled their ears as both felt around the walls. The wall next to them turning rough and squishy. They could hear the Geisha screaming indignantly but for what reason they couldn't understand why.
Six deciding to be a bit more daring crawled ahead faster in the hopes of an exit coming soon. The metal broke with a loud screech as another spear pierced through the wall. This one also cutting something as something sprayed in Kai's face smelling of copper.
"GAH!" Kai clutched his face trying to get the foreign substance out of his eyes.
The small shout out was enough to alert the Geisha for another spear penetrated the wall right behind him. Both Kai and Six quickly moved forward until they saw another small light up ahead. They moved even faster as they got out of the vent just to be splashed with water. Blinking out the water both of them looked around to see they were in another feeding area. This was made for the large groups of Guests back in the day. The lanterns lay on the floor unlit, the tables dusty and the plates browned with dirt. Two Nomes were holding a bucket while the other seven were helping each other using a larger bucket to lift the last Nome to the next story. Both Kai and Six couldn't help but admire their teamwork. However, one of the Nomes grabbed their attention trying to get them to crouch down. Neither of them understanding why until the Nome pointed out the open window giving a clear view of the room. Cinca was now armed with chain with a hooked spine attached at the end.
The Nome was carried up to the top and with care wandered into a windowsill. Shuffling could be heard up above as they wondered what was taking so long. Another makeshift rope was dropped and the Nome did a small jig from accomplishment. The rest of the Nomes along with Kai and Six watched in horror as that seemed to be enough sound for the Geisha to hear. The Nome was quickly pinned to the wall by the spiked chain but that wasn't enough for the Nome. The chain began to glow hot white before it erupted in blue flames. The Nome screeched out in pain as it burned. Small fragments of ash flew off its hat first followed by small scraps of the cloth it wore. The remaining Nomes panicked trying to get up to the next floor to aid their brother. The chain was retracted letting the Nome fall to the floor. It wandered over to the edge of the third floor before plummeting into the floor. The knife it was carrying fell to the ground white hot. Kai couldn't believe his eyes as he saw the cruelty on the poor undeserving Nome. Six just stood there motion and emotionless. Then her hands clenched with power as the blackened mist covered her entire body. On reflex she tries to retract it but not before the Geisha points the spike at Kai.
"And now I fix the Void's little mistake of keeping you alive."
'…Fuck it, she knows where we are.' With that Six uses her powers to grab the still white-hot knife and with her rage snatches the other utensils the Nomes were using. Sweeping her hands in a massive arc Six sends the utensils flying forward in a flurried rush. Cinca not expecting the storm of silverware puts up her arms prepared to block.
Completely unprepared for the intense heat of the knife as it digs into her hand cauterizing the wound to the point that the knife stays glued to her hand. Each of the utensils either stab into her or cut across her body. In the Geisha's own fury, she sends her shadows to fill the room. Enshrouding the room and with a maniacal laugh sends more of her Shades to attack them. Kai and Six stand back-to-back preparing to fight like they did earlier. A small chitter distracts them as they look up to the Nomes. Two of them grabbing their matches from their back and striking them on the floor. Two flames fly for Six and Kai to grab out of the air.
"You really think that will be enough? THEN HOW ABOUT THIS THIS!?"
Cinca laughed maniacally as she lobbed a sphere made of ichor into the room once again filling the room with blood. One by one the Gorgers scrambled into the room now seeing the flames in the darkness. Both Gorger and Shade charged towards the two of them ready to extinguish both flame and life. Kai hid behind Six as she spread her arms out again. Shades instead now panicked trying to fly away while the nearby Gorgers clutched their chests in pain as what little remained of their souls came out of their bodies and into Six. Cinca attempted to spear Six now unable to from the cover of the Gorgers dead bodies. More Gorgers screeched in the distance signifying their approach. Both Kai and Six drew their blades dragging it through the bellies of two Gorgers spilling their guts.
The way forward was more important than fighting their way through everything. Both quickly climbed up the rope following the Nomes as they continued ahead. Having to constantly dodge and weave as the chain stabbed through the wall over and over. Blind attempts to kill either Six or Kai.
Running down the hall Cinca has changed tactics once again as arrows now shoot through the wall instead. A hail of arrows shoots through the narrowly missing the two of them as they run. One of the arrows graze Six's arm slowly beginning to drip. Clutching her arm, she prevents the blood from falling to the floor. Looking behind them a Gorger has clambered up onto the next floor madly charging.
"Hurry!" Kai points ahead to another hatch in the wall. The Nomes have already scrambled inside. The Gorger crawls on all fours quickly gaining ground. Six slows her pace preparing her powers once again. With a snatch of the air Six grabs the pursuing Gorger lifting it in the air. It snaps its jaws madly trying to get out of this phantom grasp. Looking past the Gorger Six sees more of them quickly following suit. With a shove Six throws the Gorger towards the oncoming crowd. It barrels through the horde knocking them to their feet.
"There you are!" Cinca proclaims as an arrow pierces through the wall again. Catching Six by the hood of her cloak yanking her to the wall. Time seems to slow down as Six unclasps her hood letting her fall to the floor.
A second arrow shoots through the first wall hitting the cloak exactly where her heart would have been.
Six continues running forward now following Kai as the both slide through the hatch in the wall. Both look around to see they're in a bathroom with an extremely tiny toilet and a mirror with a small crack in the bottom. Six wasting no time goes over to grab a small tin on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Kai asked.
"For everything that has changed so far considering this place, I at least remember this." Six chucked the tin at the mirror watching as the fragments fall to the floor. She clambered onto the platform and began climbing up the metallic grid behind it.
"Come on Kai we're getting close now to her quarters. We do need to be careful though the last time I was here a chef was not far behind."
Kai now climbing up as well says, "The chefs? They're probably still knocked out in the kitchen, speaking of which, What's the plan to do with them?"
"What do you mean?" Six asked as she began walking along the pipes above.
"Just hear me out. You plan to take over the MAW, what then? We three have no idea how to cook-"
"Correction Mono knows how to cook. I know how to make things blow up in the kitchen but that's about it." She said as the two reentered one of the hallways between eating areas.
"Okay, MONO knows how to cook for the three of us. Mono can't be the only cook in the kitchen serving food to hundreds of kids. It might not be the smartest idea to just kill the chefs right off the bat." Kai finished as the two of them maneuvered their way to the floor.
Six walks over to the elevator calling it down, "Perhaps you're right."
The elevator opens with ding as the two of them trudge their way inside. Kai collapsing to the floor from exhaustion as Six leaned against the wall. Their lungs burning from the lungful of air they were inhaling to recuperate from their massive chase. Six placing a hand on her chest as the realization of how close she was to death came at full force. The elevator felt like it took forever to finally reach the top. The two of them straightened themselves as the ride up finally ended. The doors opened with another ding and the two of them walked out carefully. Six remembered this hallway all too well from the last time. It was the last time she feared the Guest. The horror, the rush the possibility of everything she worked for quickly swallowed up the Guests last time. She would be careful not to attract any attention.
But it seemed like fate had different plans as the ceiling was covered with more of those fleshy strands covered the ceiling with a scarlet eye stood on the wall.
"I don't know who's more foolish, the Void or you little girl. I know the MAW like the back of my hand. You should never have come here. This place will be your tomb!"
Arrows pelted through the walls stabbing into the tendrils on the ceiling. They could hear Cinca's small wince of pain albeit insignificant to her main goal. The room flooded with blood pooling the floor once again. They could hear the scratching and screaming of the Gorgers coming.
"We should really get moving now. I'm not sure how long the walls will keep them out." Kai said as he began running down the hall taking a sharp turn. Six quickly followed behind until four massive shadows gorged the wall behind her. The wall was furiously torn away from the foundation before the part was crushed and then pelted back into the hall where they ran. Small splinters cut into Kai and Six's arms and legs. Fueled by bloodlust the Gorgers quickly clambered inside seeing the two teens running away. A howl is heard and the hunt begins.
Kai hears the wood creaking behind him from the sheer weight of what's following but he doesn't dare look back. Horrific nostalgia clutches Six's heart as she does. The remaining Gorgers constantly push each other aside as they all crawl along the floor, walls, and ceilings. The many amount of bodies pushing the rooms to their limits as the monsters pursued. The halls rumbled as the Hunger pursued them with only a handful getting close. Those on the ceiling tried to land right on the top of them to devour the teens.
One of them landed to close to Six and she struck. Using her dagger, she slashes the creature in the eye distracting it a small bit. More of those strands squished in between the oncoming horde squirming past Six and Kai as they ran. Tendrils grabbed onto older pieces of furniture before lifting them into the air and throwing them at Kai and Six both ducking as the projectiles broke into many pieces hitting the floor. Shards of furniture pierced into the pursuing Gorgers but in such a way that no blood was spilt.
Another turn comes up ahead and Kai is not ready for the stairwell right below as he trips. He falls down the stairs almost collapsing in a heap if not for Six quickly grabbing him with her power as she floated down the stairs dodging another arrow as she descended. Setting Kai down gently the two of them barreled down past a bookshelf filled with an assortment of pottery. The shaking of the hallway causing it to wobble as they ran past.
Dashing past a corner a shelf falls scattering pottery on the floor with glass shards pelting the floor.
Kai and Six ran faster and faster as they see a hanging lantern show up in their vision. While the Gorgers slice themselves on the glass slowly trailing blood. An idea appears in Six's mind as she channels her abilities again. Small black tendrils of shadow latched onto the bloody fragments of glass. Six held her head down as more arrows pierced the walls again. The shards of glass cut through the hands of those clambering on the walls causing them to fall to the floor. Undeterred despite their stumps the Gorgers continued ignoring the glass hovered high up above them. Six now taking the lead looks back at Kai.
"Get Ready To Jump!"
She jumps and latches onto the lantern with Kai hanging onto her ankles.
"Why did I look down?"
Kai doesn't have much time to complain about long as Six lets go letting their momentum carry them over to the other side. Six quickly gets back up to her feet with the smoke curled around her fingers. Slowly she raises her hand high up above her. The Gorgers crawling closer and closer still completely oblivious of the glass cloud above them.
"You guys are hungry, right?" All the shards point downwards as the Gorgers ready to fall.
"TASTE THE PAIN!" Six slams her arm down towards the ground and the shards of glass rain down on the Gorgers. Some are shredded instantaneously into ground beef. Others are sliced up and the smell of fresh blood invigorates the surviving monsters. Bones are broken and insides are scooped out into razor sharp mouths. A stream of blood runs toward the edge making a miniature bloodfall. Screeches of pain could be heard only falling on deafened ears as both Kai and Six looked on with a smile of satisfaction.
"Wow that was incredibly savage Six. But incredibly worth the sight."
Six prepared to reply when something slammed into her by the neck. It closed around her body with a mechanical hiss. Looking up she saw Cinca glaring back down at the two of them before disconnecting her body from the flesh throne and disappearing. Kai quickly rushed to Six's side seeing the contraption that was thrown onto her body.
A mockery of the Ferryman's necklace bound itself around her neck. Six could feel her powers going dormant and the mist around her hands disappearing for now. With his own powers reaches out to grab Six's collar when the half-eaten skull of a Gorger is thrown right past them. Dread filling both as they saw one last Gorger. The tallest of all of them the alpha predator tilt its head curiously before its stomach rumbled.
Both Kai and Six slowly started to back up into the balcony's entrance. Tauntingly the Gorger walked towards them as if lavishing this moment. Its stomach still growling as it hopped to their side. The two of them enter a small room that while Kai had never seen before in his life but Six certainly did.
A small sausage lay in the middle of the room on the floor.
Six is caught off as the Gorger lunges from the wall to Six. It pounces on her pushing her into the floor no longer wanting to play the small game it was. Six is struggling to breath as the Gorger leans down to bite off her head.
"SIX!" Kai pulls out his scissor blade to slice the Gorger's fingers off only to be pushed away by the other monster's arm hitting the wall with a crack. Six watches as it feels like time slows down as the monster's mouth gets closer. To her right she looks back to the sausage laying on the floor. She finds ironic that now she's the victim on the floor. Then she sees something else.
No someone else.
Her vision is starting to fade but she sees someone's feet run towards her kicking the sausage out of the way. They jump and disappear from her view as her vision starts to darken. Then air begins to fill her lungs again as the pressure is released.
Kai holds his head as the pain from the impact slowly ebbs away. His vision blurry as he watches a small figure latch itself onto the monster face. Small trickles of red fly away from the monster and screams of frustration from the smaller of the two. Kai rubs his eyes as his vision clears. Both he and Six watch with awe in their eyes. Both watch as Mono is plunging his claws into the monster over and over again. The rage in Mono's eyes as he slashes the Gorger's face as it turns into a bloody mess. The Gorger tries to claw Mono off as he leaps back onto the floor. The Gorger clutching its face now a pulpy mess. Mono whistles and from a gap in the wall come in a group of Nomes carrying a knife.
Mono grabs the knife and with a yell plunges the knife into the Gorger's chest.
"YOU!" stab.
"WON'T" stab.
"DARE" stab.
"TAKE" stab.
"HER" stab.
"AWAY" stab.
"FROM" stab.
"ME!" And with one last heave pushes the knife all the way into the Gorger's chest.
The Gorger lets out one last wail as it falls to the floor. Twitching and squirming as life leaves its cold body. Mono takes a few breaths before turning back to the two of them with a small smile.
"It's, uh, it's a shame we couldn't have reunited under more pleasant terms."
Six is just standing there for a few moments. Joy filling her heart, tears flooding her face, and her soul quivering with glee. The fear that crept into her heart quickly blown away with him standing there. Mono's words from before ringing in her head.
'If you ever need hugs or really any kind of affection Six you can just come to me.'
Ignoring the gruesome scene before her she just starts running to Mono with her hands outreached. They were separated for far too long.