-Chapter 12- (The Old Kingdom - Riot of the Blood Kyo)
The morning came bearing sunlight and the songs of birds outside.
Fal turned his face upwards and strained to keep his eyes closed to the coming light from the window.
Plip. A cold liquid dripped on his face.
Fal's eyes shot open.
There on the ceiling was something dark... He could hardly see it, but Fal could see that it was a dark pool resembling blood.
Thinking this extremely odd, Fal's eyebrows knotted, and he turned towards Hana.
She was gone.
Instead, in her place was a rotting corpse, looking nothing like Hana at all.
Fal's heart pounded.
He sat up and clasped the handle of his sword, waiting for some sign of movement.
But there was nothing.
The black substance dripped off the ceiling on the corpse and the bed where Fal had lain, but nothing happened.
Fal unsheathed the Fandango and looked over the body.
It was a man, middle-aged, had little hair on his head, and reaked of death and decay.
Fal realized that it was safe to assume that it would not come back to life, so he kicked it off the bed.
It landed with a thump/crack on the floor.
...Where was Hana?
Fal stood up, hopping off the bed over the body.
"...You know, you shouldn't step over someone..." He heard a screeching voice from somewhere.
Fal froze. If it wasn't the laughing/crying of children or being asked questions, it was the undead that bothered him.
He turned towards the body.
"...Who are you?" Fal asked sternly.
"Me?" The corpse's teeth chattered in amusement.
It's eyes rolled open, revealing large black pupils that glared happily at Fal. A sort of happiness not everyone in the room took part in.
Fal swallowed. "...Yes."
The body stood dyslexicly, bones snapping back into place here and there.
Fal held his sword close to himself.
"...Why, my name is Cardonia!" The corpse's grey skin shuddered.
Sweat beaded upon Fal's forehead. "...What do you want?" He asked, unsure if he wanted the anwser.
"Let's see..." Cardonia's speech trailed somewhere, "Perhaps I'd like a new body and a plate of caviar to the general."
Fal opened his mouth to retort, but was cut silent by the talking corpse.
"Oh! Now I know! As obvious as this might sound," he licked his lips,"...how about your flesh? It's lovely slightly roasted caucasion tone is absolutely..."
The sound of sucking back saliva and dry swallowing aired from Cardoina's crumbling mouth.
"...Exquisite."
There was a horrid tone of ravenousness in his voice that made Fal very uncomfortable.
Taking all this talk of his skin as a hint, Fal proceeded to fling open the door and run outside the room.
What sight that greeted him then was completely unexpected.
He hit a railing that was about waist-high, causing him to slightly bend over it. He was then forced to face the scenery below.
A pool of blood, not merely a puddle of it displaced on the floor below, but the whole hall opened up into a small spring of it.
The red substance bubbled and spurt as minions of the undead stood around it, as if waiting for something to reveal itself from within. Sweat dripped from Fal's brow as he stared into the room preceeding the fencing he lay upon.
A scaly, pale hand tightly grasped the tendons of Fal's right arm, causing him to gasp in pain.
He then felt a cold body next to his.
SPLASH!!
The Fandango hit the surface of the pool of crimson beneath, causing the minority of souless creatures to groan in surprise and scatter slowly.
Fal was turned around by the being, meeting face-to-face with him.
The creature, Cardonia, began to brush his rotting lips along the super-sensitive skin of his throat.
"Oh, no you don't..." Fal muttered. He clasped Cardoina's deteriorating arm (which was holding his) and wretched it with all his might towards the banister.
It snapped in half due to it's state of decay, letting Fal free to run from Cardonia.
Cardonia stared in disbelief as he sprinted from his captivity, soon realizing that his hand was gone.
As Fal scrambled down stairs leading to the pool, he heard the angry screaming of the handless zombie signaling for the creatures below to attack.
Dodging scrapes and lunges by the other animated corpses, he scampered to the ruby water-side, and dunked his hand inside to retreive his blade.
Finding nothing but a strange sensation slowly crawling up his limb, Fal quickly pulled his hand out and continued to jump into the blood feet-first to look for his precious sword.
He looked up at the beings around the pool to regard their advances.
They did nothing.
They stood, staring at the hodgepodge man waist-deep in the scarlet liquid.
Fal slowly dipped in his arm, and picked the sword from the bottom of the basin, readying it in front of him.
"Haaa haaa haaaaaa!! You moron!"
Fal heard the distant voice of Cardonia.
"What? What is this about?" Fal shouted back.
"Do you fail to see what it is you are standing in?"
"Blood, it seems! But what is this about?"
"The blood you stand in," Cardonia began with a chuckle, " is the resting place of our lord, who is quite unforgiving to the likes of you!"
Fal sharply checked the red waters surrounding his waist.
"...I see no lord greater than mine. Cut your foolishness and tell me where Hana is!"
Cardonia let a terrifying cackle escape from his lungs.
"Hana? I wouldn't worry about her! I think the question is--"
"Shut-up and anwser me, you pile of flesh and bone!!"
All was silent.
Fal began to feel very unsafe, standing in the 'resting place of their lord'.
He held the Fandango tightly, ready to strike anything that moved.
More silence.
Fal's breathing became irratic.
"...W-where is this?" He asked Cardoina in particular.
"Oh? This?" The fly-ridden body questioned. "This is what you humans would consider the sub-terranian world beneath yours. Some would call it 'Hell', but many more know the difference. Hell is far more worse than we."
"How can I get back?"
"Hmm... I'm not sure. I've never been outside these walls!" This was followed by a rueful laugh.
Fal looked towards the reflective blade of the Fandango.
"If you won't tell me..." He whispered into the sword, "...Then maybe your lord will."
The morning came bearing sunlight and the songs of birds outside.
Fal turned his face upwards and strained to keep his eyes closed to the coming light from the window.
Plip. A cold liquid dripped on his face.
Fal's eyes shot open.
There on the ceiling was something dark... He could hardly see it, but Fal could see that it was a dark pool resembling blood.
Thinking this extremely odd, Fal's eyebrows knotted, and he turned towards Hana.
She was gone.
Instead, in her place was a rotting corpse, looking nothing like Hana at all.
Fal's heart pounded.
He sat up and clasped the handle of his sword, waiting for some sign of movement.
But there was nothing.
The black substance dripped off the ceiling on the corpse and the bed where Fal had lain, but nothing happened.
Fal unsheathed the Fandango and looked over the body.
It was a man, middle-aged, had little hair on his head, and reaked of death and decay.
Fal realized that it was safe to assume that it would not come back to life, so he kicked it off the bed.
It landed with a thump/crack on the floor.
...Where was Hana?
Fal stood up, hopping off the bed over the body.
"...You know, you shouldn't step over someone..." He heard a screeching voice from somewhere.
Fal froze. If it wasn't the laughing/crying of children or being asked questions, it was the undead that bothered him.
He turned towards the body.
"...Who are you?" Fal asked sternly.
"Me?" The corpse's teeth chattered in amusement.
It's eyes rolled open, revealing large black pupils that glared happily at Fal. A sort of happiness not everyone in the room took part in.
Fal swallowed. "...Yes."
The body stood dyslexicly, bones snapping back into place here and there.
Fal held his sword close to himself.
"...Why, my name is Cardonia!" The corpse's grey skin shuddered.
Sweat beaded upon Fal's forehead. "...What do you want?" He asked, unsure if he wanted the anwser.
"Let's see..." Cardonia's speech trailed somewhere, "Perhaps I'd like a new body and a plate of caviar to the general."
Fal opened his mouth to retort, but was cut silent by the talking corpse.
"Oh! Now I know! As obvious as this might sound," he licked his lips,"...how about your flesh? It's lovely slightly roasted caucasion tone is absolutely..."
The sound of sucking back saliva and dry swallowing aired from Cardoina's crumbling mouth.
"...Exquisite."
There was a horrid tone of ravenousness in his voice that made Fal very uncomfortable.
Taking all this talk of his skin as a hint, Fal proceeded to fling open the door and run outside the room.
What sight that greeted him then was completely unexpected.
He hit a railing that was about waist-high, causing him to slightly bend over it. He was then forced to face the scenery below.
A pool of blood, not merely a puddle of it displaced on the floor below, but the whole hall opened up into a small spring of it.
The red substance bubbled and spurt as minions of the undead stood around it, as if waiting for something to reveal itself from within. Sweat dripped from Fal's brow as he stared into the room preceeding the fencing he lay upon.
A scaly, pale hand tightly grasped the tendons of Fal's right arm, causing him to gasp in pain.
He then felt a cold body next to his.
SPLASH!!
The Fandango hit the surface of the pool of crimson beneath, causing the minority of souless creatures to groan in surprise and scatter slowly.
Fal was turned around by the being, meeting face-to-face with him.
The creature, Cardonia, began to brush his rotting lips along the super-sensitive skin of his throat.
"Oh, no you don't..." Fal muttered. He clasped Cardoina's deteriorating arm (which was holding his) and wretched it with all his might towards the banister.
It snapped in half due to it's state of decay, letting Fal free to run from Cardonia.
Cardonia stared in disbelief as he sprinted from his captivity, soon realizing that his hand was gone.
As Fal scrambled down stairs leading to the pool, he heard the angry screaming of the handless zombie signaling for the creatures below to attack.
Dodging scrapes and lunges by the other animated corpses, he scampered to the ruby water-side, and dunked his hand inside to retreive his blade.
Finding nothing but a strange sensation slowly crawling up his limb, Fal quickly pulled his hand out and continued to jump into the blood feet-first to look for his precious sword.
He looked up at the beings around the pool to regard their advances.
They did nothing.
They stood, staring at the hodgepodge man waist-deep in the scarlet liquid.
Fal slowly dipped in his arm, and picked the sword from the bottom of the basin, readying it in front of him.
"Haaa haaa haaaaaa!! You moron!"
Fal heard the distant voice of Cardonia.
"What? What is this about?" Fal shouted back.
"Do you fail to see what it is you are standing in?"
"Blood, it seems! But what is this about?"
"The blood you stand in," Cardonia began with a chuckle, " is the resting place of our lord, who is quite unforgiving to the likes of you!"
Fal sharply checked the red waters surrounding his waist.
"...I see no lord greater than mine. Cut your foolishness and tell me where Hana is!"
Cardonia let a terrifying cackle escape from his lungs.
"Hana? I wouldn't worry about her! I think the question is--"
"Shut-up and anwser me, you pile of flesh and bone!!"
All was silent.
Fal began to feel very unsafe, standing in the 'resting place of their lord'.
He held the Fandango tightly, ready to strike anything that moved.
More silence.
Fal's breathing became irratic.
"...W-where is this?" He asked Cardoina in particular.
"Oh? This?" The fly-ridden body questioned. "This is what you humans would consider the sub-terranian world beneath yours. Some would call it 'Hell', but many more know the difference. Hell is far more worse than we."
"How can I get back?"
"Hmm... I'm not sure. I've never been outside these walls!" This was followed by a rueful laugh.
Fal looked towards the reflective blade of the Fandango.
"If you won't tell me..." He whispered into the sword, "...Then maybe your lord will."