Chapter 8: Floor Two
The Hallway of Luxuria
Gallows took a breath of dank air and stumbled up the last two stairs, cursing silently as he did so.
(Why does it have to be so DARK in these type of places? Do ghost just not like light or something..?)
Gallows' thoughts were interrupted by Roka's impatient cough followed by a stinging pain in his ear.
I swear, you have got to be the most….
"Hush for a minute." Whispered Gallows, stopping in mid-stride and listening intently for anything out of the ordinary. Roka snorted and took control of Gallows' hand to scratch his head. That was when Gallows realized that it was rather hot! For some reason, that struck him as odd.
(What's with the heat all of the sudden? I know that heat rises, but still, it shouldn't have gotten so hot in such a short amount of time. If anything, I would think it would be cooler, seeing that there is no light to produce heat… Roka, I have a feeling something is wrong and I….)
With a flash of insight, Gallows extended his arms to either side of him and started when his hand touched something soft and silky in mid-extension Slowly, he dropped his left hand to his side and brought his right hand up to grasp the pommel of the Zanzir. A wave of claustrophobia overtook him and he gripped the handle tightly, causing his knuckles to turn white.
"The hallway offers no tactical advantage to us. The walls, at best, are around 3 feet apart…" rasped Gallows, his voice ringing emptily in the darkness. Roka seemed to be thinking and Gallows found it best to leave him alone. With a sigh, he established a link with Rsalis and started to send an image of their situation. Rsalis silently acknowledged these tidbits of information and talked to Gallows in a whisper.
(It is quite true that our situation seems somewhat dire.. however, rest assured that there is no trap to hinder your progress. By the way, Roka seems to be a bit distant… I wonder why?)
Gallows grunted at this question and shifted his shoulders under the Zanzir's weight.
( I neither know, nor care… Why is this thing getting so damn HEAVY!?)
(It is because it has devoured a soul, therefore it weighs heavily upon you. It is the Zanzir's way of reminding you of your sin. The sin of slaying another being… )
(It's not like I had a CHOICE in the matter….)
(Well, at any rate, you need to come up with a strategy. Starting a fire in this hallway is a bad idea, we don't know if the material that is lining the wall is flammable or not.)
(… I was hoping that maybe YOU could help me out a little….)
(Gallows, I am not your keeper, come up with your own ideas….)
(Thanks….)
With that, Rsalis fell silent and Gallows could still feel Roka thinking. Grumbling his annoyance, Gallows reached out with his left hand and gingerly ran it across the material covering the walls.
"Satin…" mumbled Gallows, dropping his hand to his side once again. Things were getting odder by the moment and Gallows didn't know WHAT to think or do about any of it.
"Hey, the walls are made of satin! Do you think that this is the hallway of kinky?" snickered Gallows mischievously, forgetting for the moment that he was in the City of Phantoms. Roka cut himself away from his thoughts and scolded Gallows with a brief pain in the back of his head. Gallows' face fell into a frown as he closed his eyes and focused the pain away.
(Damn, I thought that my father would have a sense of humor or something…)
You thought wrong. Ready the Zanzir and start walking, we don't have all day…
Gallows rolled his eyes, unsheathed the Zanzir and started to walk slowly down the corridor.
(I can not swing the sword in a horizontal motion, if I did, the rebound would throw me off balance and whatever I was fighting would hold the advantage. However, if I were to swing in only a….)
The sound of females laughing snapped him out of his thoughts and he held the Zanzir in front of him, shifting his eyes back and forth cautiously. He didn't like the looks of this, namely because the temperature in the hallway dropped about twenty degrees.
(The spirits are awake.. This ought to be fun….)
A wave of disembodied voices flowed through the corridor and surrounded Gallows, enveloping him in their cryptic gibberish. He pulled the pommel of the Zanzir to his chest and let the flat of the blade rest against his forehead.
(I need to remain calm, I will not let fear get the better of me, I will not let fear get the…)
His thoughts were interupted by a cold hand on his shoulder. Gallows jumped, stifled the urge to cry out, and spun around as quickly as his leaden feet would allow.
He soon was looking into a woman's peaceful gray eyes. With a sigh, he lowered the sword down in front of him and looked at her with irritation.
"Didn't your mother ever teach that it's not nice to sneak up on people and scare the.. " The rest of his sentence was cut off by the woman's finger to his lips.
"Secret…:" whispered the woman, removing her finger from his lips and pointing to his right. Gallows followed her finger, noticing for the first time that this woman was producing her own light.
"Secret?" muttered Gallows, sheathing the Zanzir, looking behind him as he did so to ensure that the lady and himself were the only ones in the corridor. The lady nodded and walked to the right side of the corridor, pressing her hand against the satin walls.
"Secret…" she snickered, patting the wall lovingly. Gallows blinked and reached out to touch the wall, his hand shaking a little as he did so. All of the sudden a feeling of alarm, emanating from Roka, surged through him and Gallows pulled his hand back just as a clawed human hand tore through the wall and grasped at his hand. With a snarl, Gallows pulled out the dagger from his belt and slashed at the hand. The beautiful specter cried out her discontent and stood in front of the claw, causing Gallows to stop in mid slash and look at her with confusion.
"SECRET!" she growled, balling her right hand into a fist and her left hand into a claw. Gallows sheathed the blade and looked at her with exasperation, trying to figure out what the hell she meant.
"That CLAW is your secret!?" exclaimed Gallows, pointing to the said claw, that was, at the moment, running its sharp fingers through the woman's long hair. The woman nodded and leaned back against the wall, partially sinking into it as she did so. Gallows stepped back a little and looked at the woman nervously. What was the connection between her and the claw?
Maionos… The wife of a hundred men….
Maionos had her hand on top of the claws and was tracing little designs on it with her finger, seemingly ignoring Gallows.
(Wife of a hundred men?)
As soon at that thought crossed his mind, the walls on either side of him started to shift and moan. Gallows' eyes widened and he looked around, reaching for his dagger once again.
" SEEEEECCCRREEEETTT!" screeched Maionos, letting go of the claw and rushing it Gallows with her hands outstretched. Gallows' survival instincts kicked in just about then and he started to run, very aware of the hands that were bursting out of the walls on either side of him.
" Secret, Secret, Secret…" muttered the insane woman, walking after him slowly. Gallows had long legs, which he was grateful for, but what he wasn't grateful for was his huge frame, he was finding it difficult to dodge the groping hands that were trying to pull him into the walls.
(Where is the door? Where is the door? There is light but no…) Gallows thoughts were interupted by a fist to the back of his head. The light blue luminescence in the room started to fade to black and Gallows felt himself sinking down to the ground.
(She's strong.. So strong… One hit…)
When Gallows came to he was lying on his back on a cold wooden floor that smelled of age and fire. Fire? With a moan, Gallows opened his eyes slowly and found himself looking up at a dimly lit ceiling that seemingly shifted every second with shadows.
(Shadow, shadow on the wall, perhaps you're not a shadow at all….)
Gallows closed his eyes once again and took in a deep breath.
We are in the wall….
Gallows' eyes snapped open at Roka's cold comment and he sat up into a sitting position, feeling, with a certain degree of relief, the cold metal of the Zanzir bashing him on the back. He slowly stood up, got dizzy, and sat back down with a thud.
He looked around again, deciding that it would be best if he just remained still and observe his creepy surroundings. The small room that he was in had walls that were covered with black cloth, and the torches, which were giving the room its light, flicked ominously in each corner
(It looks like the walls are alive.. )
Perhaps they are..
Gallows shivered and attempted to stand again, this time succeeding.
The first thing that caught Gallows' undivided attention, was the bed that sat against the middle of the far wall. His eyes remained fixated on the bed of bones for the longest time.
"The headboard is made of Kinasi's bones. Did you know that?" came a soft and familiar voice from behind him. Gallows, unsheathing the Zanzir as he did so, turned around and faced Maionos.
"You… you actually SLEEP on that?!" exclaimed Gallows stepping back and putting the Zanzir between Maionos and himself. Maionos, with a cruel smile and partially closed eyes, nodded her affirmation.
"It brings me closer to my husbands…" she giggled, pulling a strand of hair from her head and looking at with fascination.
"So, you're into some strange form of necrophilia..? That's sick, you really should be.." The rest of Gallows' sentence was cut off by a stinging slap across his face. He fell silent, rubbing his aching face with his free hand and tightening his grip on the Zanzir with the other.
"Shut up! What do you know, you disgusting PRIEST!? I loved them and I was a good wife to ALL of them! I just want to be closer to my husbands, is that so wrong?!" she screeched, tears streaming down her pale face soundlessly. Gallows lowered the Zanzir and dropped his free hand down to his side slowly. If there was a way to avoid a battle, he was going to find it.
"I can understand love… I can even understand wanting to be CLOSE to a deceased loved one.. but…" at this point, the young man shook his head slowly from side to side "I can't understand sleeping on a bed composed of all of your husbands bones.."
Maionos sighed with disgust and waved her slender hand at Gallows. Gallows looked at her hand as she did so, noting that her fingernails were bleeding and starting to peel back. He cringed, what was with these specters and having something terribly wrong with them?
"I don't expect you to understand, you have never been with a woman… and with your looks, that does not surprise me. But, I digress, you have no right to tell me what is right and what is wrong when you, yourself, are just as bad as I." She spat slowly and purposely, her voice both soft and sharp.
Gallows blinked, did she HAVE to bring him into all of this?
"I.. I feel bad that I am the way I am… but.. if I survive this, I'm going to change…" stuttered Gallows, straightening his back with pride and looking at Maionos with determination. Maionos laughed and walked past him, brushing his shoulder with her hand as she did so. She walked over to the wall with the bed against it and gave Gallows a wicked smile.
"This is my memoria to my late husbands." She said, ripping the material away from the wall with a hard pull. Gallows watched in silence, not knowing what else to do.
"THERE! " she said proudly, extending her arm to her side, presenting the soot-covered brick wall behind her. Gallows narrowed his eyes and took a couple of steps toward her, readying himself for anything.
"I don't see anything…" said Gallows, looking at the wall intently. Maionos gave him a nasty look and looked quickly toward the wall, her hair gracefully falling her movement.
"… Damn fire… Hrmph!" she turned back toward him, a cold look of fury on her face.
"Wh-What? I didn't do that!" exclaimed Gallows, raising the Zanzir slowly, his eyes locked on hers.
She closed her eyes and raised her arm, palm toward Gallows, and then dropped it quickly. The walls around them started to shake, causing Gallows to ready the Zanzir and loosen his muscles.
"There was a city, a city of dying dreams… " snarled the woman, floating into the air gracefully, looking down at Gallows as she ascended. The shaking stopped and everything was deathly silent.
"A city where shadows were once welcomed by the light… and…." A ripping sound from his left caused Gallows to look in that direction, leaving himself open to an attack from Maionos.
With a screech, she descended like a raven and clawed a chunk from his face. Gallows cringed and slashed at her as she ascended back toward the ceiling, nicking her foot.
"Gaghhhhh!" she screamed, holding her hand up once more. The room around him started to distort and shift, causing Gallows to lose his balance and fall to one knee.
" Behold the power of Fatalis Mōrēs!" she exclaimed fervently as she dropped her hand back down to her side. Above the bed, a huge skeletal fist burst through the wall, opened, and wrapped itself around Maionos protectively. Gallows stood up shakily, and held the sword with both hands, he was going to need all the strength that he could get. An aura of darkness formed around the hand and Maionos, causing Gallows to stumble back cautiously and steady himself for an attack.
The hand opened and five bolts of black lightning shot out of each finger of the skeleton's hand.
"DAMN!" growled Gallows, barely dodging a bolt that would have took off his head. Maionos laughed as the hand closed around her again.
(This has got to STOP!)
Gallows felt a strange energy well up within him, and for some reason, he did not feel the need to fight it.
A soft blue light surrounded him and the sword and then vanished, confusing him to a certain degree.
(What did that do?)
(Swing the sword in a cross and then in an "x" make sure to make it fluid, or else…)
"Die!' shouted Maionos as a ephemeral blaze flared around her and her skeletal companion.
Gallows swallowed hard and held the sword out in front of him.
"Why are we fighting, why do we have to.." the rest of his sentence was cut off by the scream of a fire ball being shot at him. Gallows dodged, narrowing his eyes as he straightened up.
" I have no desire to explain myself to someone like YOU! You would not understand the deep logic of my thoughts, you would not understand that…"
" You're completely insane? Actually, I understand that quite well…" snickered Gallows, holding the sword in front of him once again.
" FOOL! Prepare yourself for the end!" she shouted, as she materialized in front of the bone like cage with her hand held toward the ceiling. The floor rumbled and then gave birth to rotted hands and arms.
"Hm. Oh no you don't!" snarled Gallows, kicking a rotting hand from its wrist and across the room.
" You kicked Mal.." started Maionos, she stopped when she saw Gallows' eyes turn to ice and his smile burn with hatred.
"I no longer give a damn. This ends now." Said Gallows coldly, swinging the sword from left to right menacingly. Maionos looked at him and seeped back into the safety of her guard.
"That will not save you.." snickered Gallows, swing the sword up and down and then left to right in a graceful star like strike. The blue light that had surrounded him earlier, came back and then formed itself into the shape of the slash. Maionos screamed and started to chant in a language Gallows did not understand.
"Die.." Gallows said simply, sheathing the Zanzir and waving his right hand in a dismissive motion. The slash traveled toward Maionos quicker than the human eye could perceive. The only thing that Gallows saw was the result of the slash. The wall exploded, sending both Maionos AND the hand to the great outdoors. Gallows sighed and patted the Zanzir, looking for a way out as he did so.
There's an exit behind the western wall, you are going to have to pull the fabric off to access it..
Gallows nodded and walked toward the said wall, clenching and unclenching his fist as he did so.
The fabric ripped away easily and Gallows quickly found the exit, but, not before he read these words etched on the wall with blood.
Luxuria
There was a friendly, but naive King
who wed a very nasty Queen.
The King was loved, but
the Queen was feared.
Till one day strolling in his court,
an arrow pierced the kind King's heart.
He lost his life and
his lady love.
Gallows swallowed a lump in his throat as he walked through the exit and back into the dank hallway. That was one bedroom that he did NOT ever want to be in again.
A/N: Ahh, I love to torture this poor guy! Well then, that's floor two! I don't think you all want to hear my original concept, it's kind of… well.. FREAKY! Well, I'm going to start on Chapter 8.3 soon! I hope that you enjoy this new installment! Luxuria means Luxury or Lust.