When asked of why he accepted the letter, Eli Clark would always answer with a chuckle. "I am doing this for my friend Gertrude. I want to repay her kindness by giving her the money we will be winning." Most of the survivors accepted his sincere explanation. Well, Eli delivered it with such passion and fondness that it was impossible to categorize it as a lie.
Oh, how they should have known the signs of him lying…
"Where's Eli?" Naib, the mercenary, asked as the three met at the last undecoded cipher. Aesop has already started decoding. Norton stood to watch guard.
"Chased by the Ripper," the embalmer replied curtly. It was surprising that the said hunter was not following Naib in this game. Usually, when both are thrown into one game, it was Naib who usually dies first.
"It is really odd," Norton muttered, brows creased in concern. "For the last games or so, the hunters are always targeting Eli." The beeping of the accomplished cipher snapped the two as they headed to find their remaining companion.
"There," Naib whispered. "What do we do? It looks like Jack won't be living Eli anytime soon."
"We have to think of a plan," Norton murmured, scratching his chin. "Aesop, start creating Eli's copy. I do not think he will last long."
The embalmer nodded, preparing his coffin in a nearby wall.
"You could have been one of us, Seer," Jack stated, weapon close to Eli's right cheek.
"What are you talking about?" the said male demanded. He struggled with the bindings, the binding's thorns burying themselves into his robes. "Let me go!"
Jack clicked his tongue in irritation. He slammed his slender claws above the human's head, startling Eli in silence. "Stop acting as if you do not know, Seer. Hastur already told us of your real reason here."
This statement caught the three survivors' attention. They already knew the reason. Money. Eli was in it for the money.
"I do not know what you are talking about! I want to win for Gren~!" His mouth immediately closed once the falconer's glove was yanked off his bound hand. There was no ring; no gold band.
"Fiancé, Clark? Where's the ring?" When the male stayed quiet, Jack moved again to stand behind the seer. "You never had a fiancé to begin with. You just created that story to make them believe you. You took advantage of their human emotions."
"I did not!" Eli insisted.
"Is Eli Clark even your real name?"
"Ripper, that is enough. Just activate the chair and send me to the heavens."
"And why would I do that?" the hunter challenged, again, towering over Eli's petite form. "Xian Zhi, Eli Clark, the Seer, the Fortune Teller… Bah! Those names could not even come close."
"Jack."
"Master of Time. Lord of Shadows. Now, those are the titles that should have been blinking under your name. Better yet… Nightmare."
"Enough!" Aesop flinched back. This was the first time anyone actually heard the seer raise his voice. Sure, Eli would scream like a girl but never in anger.
"Three barriers." Jack removed the hood. "Three barriers to keep your abilities limited. This is not including the game's magic and Hastur's own." He laughed, voice actually shaking. "One on the owl, one on your own face, and one on the blindfold." He yanked off the mask then slashed the symbol on his face.
Eli yelped. Naib has already moved unconsciously, going for the save even if it costs him his life. Norton did the same. He threw one of his magnets at Jack before placing one near a wall. The embalmer followed the mercenary's footsteps.
"Eli, come on," Naib called out, ripping the thorns from their companion's body. "We have to get out of here."
A chuckle from Eli stopped both Naib and Aesop. "You should have left me," the seer announced.
The beeping started. This was the game's warning that something outside of the game's rules was triggered.
"Look out!" Norton yelled out when he noticed Jack appearing behind his two companions.
Before Jack could slash his targets, silhouettes appeared and shielded the two. More appeared, towering over the hunter's form before holding him still. Spikes of black energy pierced through jack as he screamed in agony. His arms were then spread, pulled painfully by those dark silhouettes.
Eli stood from the rocket chair, brushing past Aesop to stand before the screaming hunter. "Yes, I was not here for earthly riches nor to satisfy humanly emotions. The druids were cunning. They knew that nothing would break the manor's magic so they tricked me and imprisoned me here." A scoff was then heard before a manic smile graced Eli's face. Fangs protruded from his lips. "They even summoned a creature from the Cthulu mythos to make sure I stay here." He tightening his hold on the hunter. "And I will show you why even the gods have feared me."
Naib's eyes widened as Eli placed two fingers on Jack's forehead and spoke two alien words. The scream from the hunter intensified, drowning the beeping of the game.
The scream from Naib had snapped the seer. Eli, or what they presumed was Eli, turned his head to face the three. Both of his eyes were not of the bluest of galaxies but of the darkest of the abyss. Fear and dread materialized in wisps of black smoke. Whoever stood before them was the opposite of the Eli they knew. Those hollow eyes narrowed. He stepped towards the mercenary but was stunned when a pallet was smashed on his head.
The game started blurring, everything was glitching. Jack disappeared from the area; the three survivors didn't know if he was actually killed or hid himself.
"Let's go," Norton growled, grabbing unto the mercenary's hood while lifting Aesop on his shoulder. He turned to where the seer was, surprised that Eli closed his eyes and started chanting.
Three steps and they would enter salvation. Three baby steps and the game would be over. Three fucking steps and they would have been saved.
Tendrils shot through all directions, wrapping themselves painfully on the survivors.
"Eli," Aesop started.
"El," Naib gasped.
"Eli," Norton choked.
"Apologies," the said male muttered. Behind the seer, black tendrils bloomed and formed into snakes that resembled the legendary snake Uroboros. They let go of their tails and moved to wrap themselves around the survivors. The three screamed in agony as the black snakes opened their mouths and attacked.
When they got back to the manor, Jack was nowhere to be seen. The seat in which the hunter should have occupied has toppled on the side, black liquid suspiciously splashed on most of its parts. Aesop was the first to wake up. Eli's concerned face was what greeted his silver eyes. The embalmer yelped before pushing his body away from the monster.
"Don't come any closer!" Naib yelled out; machete pointed at the seer as he yanked Aesop behind him. Eli looked confused and somehow hurt.
"What… what happened in-game? A glitch occurred and I could not wake you all up. I was out of the game within five minutes.
The three looked up. True to the seer's words, Eli's profile had a large X on them. The three had somehow escaped.
Norton was the brave one. He tackled the lithe figure, wrestling with the seer until the blindfold was yanked out. Eli blinked, confused by the sudden aggressiveness of his friends. "Wha?"
"A dream?" Aesop squeaked out.
Eli's eyes, both of them, were the sapphire hue they knew. The wounds on his face were merely scraped. There was not a single red line on the mark under his eyes.
"A nightmare," Naib corrected.
"It felt real." That was Norton. He then yanked the gloves off and frowned. There was a gold band around Eli's ring finger.
Brooke hooted, flying to land on Naib's head before pecking the mercenary. Naib yelled out curses as he tried to get the own from attacking him. "Hey, I didn't do anything!" the Asian yelled out.
The tense atmosphere was quickly dissipated. Eli giggled as Norton sighed in exasperation. Aesop closed his eyes and smiled behind his mask.
It was merely a dream. Everything that happened was just a glitch.
As they moved out of the room to rejoin the others, the puncture wounds located around the three's necks disappeared without a trace.
The following games went without any trouble. It was later announced that Jack was banned from the game for the remainder of the month.
Author's Note: This is just to parse my dark side. Eli is the most mysterious person in the game. Also, I am blaming CrescentCapricorn from Ao3 for feeding me ideas. After this, I will be uploading Eli x Anyone just to parse my obsession.