Ok, I like this chapter a lot more than my last one. Anduril, Chaos was busy learning new tricks on getting Vincent to do what he wanted last chapter, so that's why he wasn't there. I hope all of you enjoy this new chapter.
Disclaimer: I only own the sunken castle. Nothing else yet.
The sunken castle. It was the oldest and the most beautiful structure around, until the door was opened. Out of the door they came. No warning, no way to survive, no way to stop them. No one inside the castle survived. This was the story everyone knew. Young boys would play a game, seeing who would get closest before getting too scared and running. This is where they were going. And where Vincent didn't want to go.
'Come on Vincent, where is your sense of adventure?' Hellmasker was obviously enjoying the fact that Vincent was doing something that wasn't "strategic" or "well thought out".
'Why did I agree to go in the first place?' Vincent was also wondering why he was doing something rash.
'Because I made you.' This new voice belonged to Chaos who, like Vincent, usually tuned out the others. He was much more successful at this than Vincent, however, simply because the other three knew that to mess with Chaos meant death. Or at least a lot of pain.
'How?' Vincent asked accusingly. He didn't like the prospect of one of his demon's being able to take over his thoughts at will.
'I'll explain later.' Chaos seemed pleased with his new discovery.
"Awright, now that we're at this damn castle where is that damn robot we were told about?" Barret wasn't to keen on going in now that he saw the castle, but he was still going if for no other reason than he was bored.
As if on cue, a stuffed cat riding a stuffed giant moogle. "Here I am!" The cat said, talking into a megaphone it was holding.
"WHAT!" Barret was furious. He had been expecting a fighting robot, not a stuffed animal!
"Is there something wrong?" It asked, looking at Barret.
"Somethin' wrong! Of course there's somethin' wrong! We're about to go into the most cursed place in the whole damn kingdom and I learn that a stuffed animal is goin' with us and you ask if there's somethin' wrong?" Barret pointed his gun at the robot as he said this.
"H-h-hey! If you kill me, then the king will have you banished! Besides, I'm just here to send back reports to the king." Cait Sith seemed to like the prospect of going into the castle about as much as Barret did.
"Can we get going yet? I'm growing impatient." Vincent didn't show it, but was surprised that he had just said that. The surprise quickly died when he heard cruel laughter in his head.
"I agree. Let's get this over with as soon as possible." Everyone looked at Seto and nodded. Apparently he had just become the leader.
When they got to where they were going to enter, Vincent couldn't help but compare the castle to an iceberg. The only visible part of it was the top of a tower, just barely sticking out of the hard dirt. Looking at the tower, you would never guess that underneath was a castle at least a half-mile wide. This was where the great catastrophe had occurred. This was where, almost 150 years ago, the creatures had come and caused the earth to split open and swallow most of this castle. This was where they were going to find the past of the kingdom they lived in.
They got to the window that was the only entrance or exit of the whole castle. The iron bars that had been put on the window to keep kids from going inside seemed to be still intact. Vincent was beginning to wonder if this was just a small town's attempt to get attention when he saw the gouge marks.
"Look." He said, pointing to the marks.
"$&" Barret answered.
It was no exaggeration that they were an inch deep. It was more like one and a half inches. There were four, all looking like they were made in the same swipe.
"Well, I guess we have to go find out what made these." Seto was hiding it well, but Vincent could tell that he was terrified.
"Awright, stand back everyone!" Barret yelled as he switched out his gun for a chain saw. After a few moments of loud noises and bright sparks, they were in. Cait Sith turned on an electric lamp he had, but it didn't give off much light.
Vincent's eyes adjusted immediately to the darkness, a side affect of having the demons in him. He looked around and noticed that the room they were in was circular, with a rotting door at the other end of the room. He took the lead, and walked to the door to see what was on the other side. The others saw what he was doing, and moved over to get ready in case there was a creature on the other side.
Vincent looked at Barret, who nodded, then he threw open the door. The two immediately pointed their guns into the darkness. Though nothing attacked, they had the strange sensation something was watching them.
Vincent once again took the lead, stepping down into the darkness. The air seemed heavy, like it was trying to press them down into the very stone they were walking on. The darkness seemed impenetrable, like it was a living creature that did not want them to pass. The stone was old, and crumbling, more so than it should have been.
As they descended the steps, Vincent could feel the demons anxiously waiting for a fight. They began to influence his emotions, and he found himself looking forward to a fight with whatever it was out there.
When they finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, they came out into a large, dark, damp room. Their footsteps sounded as loud as hammers striking stone, their breath as loud as the gusts of wind that blow through the mountains. The hairs on the back of Vincent's neck began to rise, giving him the feeling that, once again, they were not alone.
They kept creeping along, trying to make as little sound as possible in what Vincent supposed had to be the ballroom. He was just stepping past a broken chair when suddenly CRASH! Vincent wheeled around only to find that Barret had tripped over another chair that Vincent had avoided.
"Barret! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Cait Sith cried, coming out from behind Seto.
"You ain't got no heart to attack! Besides, if it weren't for you and your giant feet I wouldn't have tripped over that chair!" Barret retorted, getting back to his feet.
"Yelling at each other won't solve a thing. If we can't get along then we'll never survive. Now let's keep going." Seto was mad about something, but it was probably the fact the he too had been scared by it.
The four of them made it through the rest of the room without incident, and trying to ignore how loud their feet sounded. Next they came to a very tall hallway. It had beautiful columns climbing the sides, though they were given a creepy quality in the dim light. Vincent stayed just ahead of Cait Sith's lamplight, not needing it to see in the dark. It also hampered his night vision, so he avoided looking at it whenever possible.
As they were walking down the hall, Vincent became aware of a slight shuffling noise. He looked around, but couldn't see anything that would have caused it.
"I heard it too." Seto whispered as he came even with Vincent.
"What do you think it is?" Vincent replied quietly, not wanting whatever it was to hear him.
'I'll bet it's related to Galian Beast.' Hellmasker's voice answered in Vincent's head.
"I'm not sure. I doubt it's a creature, though. I believe they do not like light." Seto hid his nervousness well.
'No, I'll bet it's your mom Hellmasker.' Galian Beast snickered.
"I hope it's not what I think it is." Vincent replied just as quietly as before.
Seto moved back to the rear so that he could make sure nothing was following them. Vincent returned to searching, sincerely hoping that it wasn't Hellmasker's mom. He was just about to ask Chaos to take over his eyes and look when he saw something move. As he saw it, the darkness seemed to press harder on him. His senses heightened and he could hear each of his companion's breaths as though they were gusts from a tornado. He could feel the staleness of the air more keenly than before. The only thing that was lessened was his sight. Everything seemed to be getting darker. He heard the thing jump at him. He drew his gun hoping he delivered a fatal blow to this thing before it killed him.
The others heard the shot and ran ahead to see what had happened. There, lying in front of them, was the former king of the castle.
Ok, I'll sic Vincent on you if you don't review this time. I'll update as soon as I can. But it is your job to tell me how bad I am doing. So review!