The buildings that surround the street continue their pattern of a ruinous state, each house as aged and battle worn as the last, the dreary and oppressive atmosphere that permeates this place feels as throttling as the clasping of hands around my throat. The glowing orb that warms my heart keeps the smoogy haze of the dark at bay for the most part, I can't imagine trying to traverse this place without the orb to abate the dark. My fingers still skim at the glassy touch of the thing, something about the glass feeling of it being unnatural in its smoothness, the way that the golden magical wisps flows in and out of its glass feeling cage so freely is… strange, as is the rest of this place. What is this thing meant to be, and why does it remind me of Mabel so much? Surely it can't exactly be her, right? I know I'm rather sensitive to magic and everything, but she's not exactly a mage, right? She wouldn't have been able to cast a spell on me without, well, potentially disastrous effects.
The orb pushes itself out of hand and shoves itself into my face, stumbling backwards as it flares up with an angry, almost scolding golden sheen, the flickers of its tendrils behaving akin to a comforting flame as it brings me out of my thoughts. Wha? Why'd it do that?
"...you can read my thoughts, can't you?" I tentatively ask the aggravated orb, the light within it flickering as it bobs up and down. I squint my eyes as the orb floats towards my face, the light dimming ever so slightly thankfully as it nudges against my nose, an odd mixture of chill from the feeling of glass itself and the comforting warmth that fills my veins. It zips and zooms around my head, lapping around me for a few moments, my head swimming as I try to keep up with it before it settles on my shoulder. I raise an eyebrow as it remains still just above it, acting as if its a bird perched on my shoulder.
"What are you meant to be, anyways? Do you have any idea what I'm doing here?" I continue to pry at the mysterious orb, the brilliant flames inside dulls for a brief moment before returning to its regular intensity, the glass shuddering. I hum to myself as I purse my lips, shrugging soon after.
"Ah well, I shouldn't have really expected to hear much from you. Thank you though, whatever you may be, for getting me out of my uh, well… To call it a small rut would be downplaying it, bah, fuck, thank you." I finally manage to force out those words out of my mouth, an abashed feeling smile on my face as I rub at the back of my neck. The glow of the sphere flickers briefly before lapping around my head once again, the chiming of something similar to gentle sounding bells echoing in my ears as it rests upon my shoulder once more, a comforted feeling resting beside the awkwardness in my chest. Is, is this thing laughing at me? Then again, I'd do the same, stammering like a child to it. Come on Zeke, there's no reason to act like that, it's just a weird dream ball, thing, nothing too weird.
A short snicker escapes my lips as it curls upwards, looking away from the bobbing ball and to the road ahead, the clacking of my claws against the rock giving way to the pattering of a dirt road, though traces of cobblestone still linger alongside the edges, as if mashed together into a poor blend of the two. The buildings only grow higher in height, an almost towering and looming presence from the remains despite the impossibility of it, as if the houses are simply holding themselves up with the disregard of physics and gravity. My ears flatten against myself as I purse my lips again, the sharp incline of such high rise buildings feels off, uncomfortably so, was this place always so dark? It's as if a grayscale filter was placed over my bloody eyeballs, everything about this area puts me on edge.
The warmth of my bizarre companion encourages me though, relaxing my tense muscles as I release a stiff sigh, looking towards it with a side eye and a smile. I don't know what this thing's meant to be, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. The golden glow of it is definitely reminiscent of Mabel, though. Then again, the rest of this place seems so familiar, as it niggling at the back of my mind, a sense of deja vu brushes upon the ends of it. Perhaps this place is meant to be a mashup of my memories, even those I can't properly recall? It explains some of my feelings about this place, as well as it being, well, inside my mind. Bah, fuck this place anyways, regardless of what its intended purpose of existence may be. I'm here to save my friend, and I've a partner to help me through it, that's all that matters.
A chill rushes up my spine, twisting my head to look behind me, squinting as I glare into the darkness. Without the glow of the orb, the area without the light's been shrouded in shadow, an amorphous look melding any bit of it together. Something about the look of the abyss is both unnerving and alluring, an odd feeling stirring in my mind before I shake it away, focusing on the path ahead of me. I'm not going to fall for that, not again anyways. Just focus on the path ahead Zeke, focus on your objective, run through this place for the safety of Adrian.
I rub at my face and gently slap at the sides of my head, attempting to bring the rest of my focus back to the current situation, the sudden change of glow by my partner bringing my attention to it.
"Huh? What's up, do you see something?" I ask as I turn to face it, stuffing my hands into my cloak pockets. Its flames flicker again as it brushes against my chest, the dimming glow of it bringing some heaviness in my heart.
"Are you worried about me?" I guess with the tilt of my head, the nudging of it once again answering that question. I smile softly as I push back against it with my cheek, the sudden happy flickering of it bringing joy in my heart.
"Hey, I'm gonna be okay now. I know I've said that a lot to myself, and to others, and I might not always believe it, but I'll do my best. I know I can handle myself in this case at least, so long as I have your company to guide my way around here. Your company is always welcome, uh, my dude. I don't know what your name is, and I don't wanna call you 'Mabel', that's a bit weird." I splurg out onto a small tangent as I speak to it, the chiming of bells in my ears once more as it rests on my shoulder instead of floating, the feel of glass hanging onto my clothes feels… strange, but I won't deny it's want. I purse my lips again and mentally slap at myself, fucking what? Why'd you bring up Mabel there? I guess it does remind me of her quite a bit, just from the feeling alone. At least it decided to laugh at me instead of genuinely questioning it, not that it could pry much anyways. For such a small ball of light, it's surprisingly expressive.
I look around the area once more, the prattling of myself distracting me from the changing area, the looming buildings replaced with the gloomy look of gnarled and sickly trees, the wood that its made of looks frail and malnourished, a shiver running up my spine as more of its ilk seems to spring alongside each other. How long have we been walking to end in this place to beginw ith? I know my mind wanders every so often, but this seems a bit much, perhaps time flows differently in a place like this? It makes sense, maybe? Who knows, dreams are confusing, as is this entire bloody situation. Still, going from a town area that seems awfully familiar to woods that seem familiar in turn, albeit corrupted and rendered to at least visually uninhabitable disturbs me in a way. It's a disgusting perversion of a type of place that I grew to , now I miss the genuinely beautiful look of woods, the lovely sounds that it brings along with the welcoming atmosphere of it. I took it for granted for a bit before I came here, that much I remember, and I won't let myself think the same again. God I fucking love the look of nature in the real world, the wild and freeness of it is attractive in its own way. Maybe I should get a house of my own in the woods, then? Would it be costly? How would it work to have to make a house in this world anyways?
The orb laps around my head again to get my attention, bringing me out of my rambling thoughts before floating ahead, my purposeful walking turning into a stiff jogging to keep up with it, shaking my head to remove those thoughts. Pfeh, thinking of making a home at time like this, in a place like this? Those are thoughts for another day, not now. It's running ahead for a reason, but what for?
A cold shiver runs up my spine as something inside my chest urges me onwards, pumping my legs faster and faster to chase after the floating orb that's guiding me through this place. I twist my head back as a gurgling, bubbling noise rattles my ears, an amorphous blob of dark oozing from just out of vision, like a constantly advancing wall of shadows.
Ah, we're running away from something, that makes sense. I tear my sight away from the mass and focus on running, forcing myself to ignore the burning muscles in my legs. It feels as if it's being weighed down by the rocks I once trod on, but I can't be caught here, I have to find Adrian. I don't think the darkness of this place would be very kind to my sudden friend here, either.
I push myself faster and faster, catching up with the zipping orb, pursing my lips together as a screeching noise echoes from behind us, twisting my neck to look back once more as a sense of looming dread builds in the back of my mind. The shadowy wall crumbles into dark wisps as the hazy look of dark claws takes its place instead, grasping from the dark and mauling at the dirt, kicking up the darkened dust. I purse my lips together and return to focusing ahead of myself, willing and forcing myself to stand side by side with the flaming orb, fears affirmed by the horrid sight. Nope, not fucking dealing with that at the moment, whatever the fuck that may be, I'm getting the fuck out of here.
The sickened and decaying woods that surround either side of us gives way to a blank and seemingly endless void, the sudden entrance to a town appearing before us both, the gloom that rests atop it seems to be a regular in a place like this. A sign rests in front of the town's entrance, akin to a welcoming sign in a none to welcoming place, though its bare of any inscriptions in the pale wood. The buildings that line the street in front of us is as ruined as the other ones, a sadly familiar sight in this realm. The glowing orb stops dead in front of the decrepit housing, a happy little chime flowing in my brain battering away the looming dread that's built itself in there, washing away with the brush of the light, standing beside it as I stare into the advancing wall.
"So, uh, I get that you probably know what's going on, but are you sure this is safe?" I ask it with raised eyebrow, gaze switching between it and the enclosing… thing, a wall isn't made of dark shit with claws tearing at the ground beneath it, at least, walls that I know of. Fucking dream world, this place is a nightmare. It jingles and swirls around my head before resting on my shoulder, sparking brightly as it does so. A rising worry builds in my chest as I step from foot to foot, I've no reason to distrust this surprising friend so far, they've only cared and protected me from this place, but the nerves in my chest aren't easily sedated with chiming. My ears flatten as I look upwards at the approaching thing, looking at it like this, its less of a wall and more of a thing that disintegrates the area that it infects, raising impossibly high into the sky like a tidal wave of black. What the fuck is this thing thinking?
My body tenses as my teeth chatters, neck straining as I continue to look upwards into the great beyond, stepping backwards with a shiver. Oh fuck, why the fuck didn't we keep running? Surely there could've been some place to run to, right? Something as large as this would swallow me whole, it'd tramble the both of us into dust and leave us scattered around the floo-
The overwhelming looking wave suddenly halts in its charge, the darkness bubbling as its outstretched claw paws at the entrance of the town, its twitching of its stygian limb scraping and cutting at the dirt beneath it. It's overpowering monstrous size still holds just beyond the towns limit, but something seems to be preventing it from simply muscling its way into the town. The woods that we once walked in is probably consumed by the dark wave, not that I'd want to return to it anyways.
"So, I guess you kind of knew this was gonna happen?" I ask my glowing friend as I rest a hand on my hip, eyebrows still raised as I stare at it. The happy looking flickering that comes from it is a good enough answer, as is the swirling of its hovering body.
"I figured you were planning something, could do with less of a heart attack during it though." I say with a sigh, rubbing at the side of my head in an attempt to sooth the lingering strain. Its soft chimes fill my ears as it glows gently, rolling my shoulders as the tense sigh is replaced with one of happiness, the build up stress washing away with the tenderness of the magic that brushes over me. At least this magic doesn't feel like I'm being torn apart from the insides, it's a nice change that I'm fond of, and I fully believe it'll never be like this again. Fantastic, thanks you colossal fuck up of a body, I appreciate it so much.
My muttering's cut short by the chiming of my strange friend, circling around my head before floating in front of me, a small spectacle of light exuding from its glass body, an offshoot of its magical touch flickering and nudging against my nose as I huff, a small smile brushing on my face as its warmth lingers inside me.
"Right right, you can read my mind and shit, I do mentally trail off a bit I guess. I assume you can read my emotions too?" I prod at the ball with a soft tone in my voice as I stuff my hands into my pockets. It answers by bobbing up and down with the flickering of its light, another high spiriting chiming echoing in my ears.
"I kinda figured, I'd hope there's nothing wrong with prodding for information, stuck in a greyscale place that seems like an amalgamation of things I've seen before while being chased by a monstrous thing with the help of a floating orb of light seems like something that should be questioned after all." I say with a deadpan tone, staring at the floating orb with a raised eyebrow. It shrinks away for a brief moment, the light in its body flickering before zipping closer to my face, brushing against my cheek. A slanted smile forces itself on my face as its warmth skirts around me, reaching up with a hand and gently brushing my thumb against its glass cage. I uh, I sure hope that it takes that as a sign of affection.
"Relax, I was joking. Wasn't exactly a good joke I guess, I found it funny at least. Don't worry about it little buddy, I'm fine, see?" I give it a bright grin as it floats away from me, resting my fists on my hips. It's delighted little chimes is music to my ears, chuckling lightly as it swirls around my head once more. I don't want the thing to feel genuinely bad for me, it reminds me too much of her to let that happen anyways.
A rumbling shakes the ground beneath me, stumbling left to right as I try to maintain balance, a small yelp escaping my throat as I look to my friend. It zips left to right in what I assume to be confusing, zipping past my head. I spare it a glance before looking to the wall of darkness, the being shuddering and convulsing as it folds in on itself, the ever expansive dark morphing itself into an orb of its own. A nebulous ball of onyx darkness awaits at the gateway to the town, hovering ever closer to it with a tentative creeping. I grit my teeth as I back away from it, standing beside my glowing friend, soft but hasty chiming brushing against my ears. Ah, fuck, that's not good is it?
The pitch black balls 'skin' bubbles and sinks within itself, the shade of black that its made of stands out from the dark void that stands behind itself, an elongated claw suddenly bursting from itself, flinging the sludge that forms itself outwards. The dark sludge splatters against something that flashes with a harsh radiance , a wall of crystalline light separating us from it, the remains of itself dissipating into wisps of nothingness. The dark claw that protrudes out from its body presses against the transparent…. Glass? It looks like glass, like what my bright friend's made of. The sound of a faint shrieking fills my ears, rising in its intensity as it presses against the glass, I whine and cover my ears, wincing as a shiver runs up my spine, the magical soothing tempering it at least somewhat.
I try to open my mouth to speak, but it remains glued shut, more limbs erupting from its base body and slamming itself against the wall, its shrieking reaching its peak as the cracks form within the wall, its integrity strained and stained. A high pitched chiming echoes in my ears as my friend zips away from me, stumbling over my own two feet as I chase after it, heart thundering in my chest as I force my legs to pump myself forward. Don't look back Zeke, don't look back, just pray that it's not gonna be an all consuming fucking void. God, I'll pray to whatever gods above if I have to!
A shattering noise rocks my senses and the ground beneath me as I stumble over my feet, a triumphant shrieking from the orb of darkness is a grave confirmation of the result of that mess. Wasn't that meant to be protecting us? How the fuck can it just randomly break through, what the fuck is this place?!
My legs burn from exertion as I gasp for air in my burning lungs, running past the ruined buildings with the light orb taking the lead, twisting my head around to look back. I feel my eyes widen as a constant stream of darkness follows our trail, two pairs of elongated claws mauling and dragging their constantly morphing body across the floor, the only bits of their bodies being their claws and the lashing tendrils that protrude from their backs. I turn back to face ahead and redouble my efforts. I don't give a fuck if my legs explode, I don't want any of this shit, I don't want to look at them any more than I need to.
The houses wizz and blur in a mix mash of grey as the pounding in my chest thunders in my ears, the grit of my teeth becoming a numbing pain as the golden orb suddenly jolts right. I scramble to change direction, a worried muttering from my own lips falling mute on my ears as I hurry after it. Walls surround us as we hurry down the alleyway.
I stop dead in my tracks as we delve deeper and deeper, my neck straining to look upwards to the grey high walls that loom above us as we reach an abrupt end to our possible escape, pursing my lips together as the orb of light jolts left to right, a rapid flickering of the blaze painting the walls with my shadow. It's a fucking dead end, of course there's a dead end in this stupid fucking mock of a town in this specific alleyway we're going down to avoid the fucking monsters. The once comforting warmth of its flames marred with an undeniable worry that I can feel emanate from it, stirring and mixing with my own as it sits in my chest. I twist my neck around and listen out for them, my ears twitching as the scraping of their claws echo throughout the alley way in this desolate area, the mental image of their ravenous and savage claws of darkness getting a hold of me, or of this orb.. It doesn't exactly fill me with confidence for a situation as bleak as this.
Despite the worry that brews in my chest for myself and my companion, there's a sense of determination that fuels my veins, humming to myself. We can't run any more, and I don't think we can force any of these walls down without being caught in the way, and I don't want to be stuck along with the debris. Can't take flight, I can't afford to freeze in this place regardless of how unnerving it may be, time to fight then. Gods I feel like my hearts going to push itself out of my chest, but I have to push through, I have to. My hands brush along my waist, a hiss forcing itself out of my throat as my hands find no purchase. Fucking fantastic, this is another time where I'd actually appreciate having a weapon on me.
"Hey glowing buddy, I don't suppose you have anything stuffed away that I can use to beat off these monsters, right?" I hiss to the orb as I stand alongside it, my tense jaw cracking as I force myself to ungrit my teeth, the echoes of their approach pricks at my senses, the hair on the back of my neck rising. I stare ahead at the only exit out of this trap, side eyeing the orb as it slows its worried and frenzied bobbing, the light inside it remaining still for a moment. A warmth fills my hand as it dims itself, looking down to it as the golden magic swirls around my hand, the both of them flashing a bright gold as I grip down on it, a familiar weight returning to my hands.
I hold the sword up to inspect it a bit closer, a soft half hearted snicker rising from my chest as I twist and turn the blade. The golden swirls that trail up and down the edge of the blade itself aside, it's a carbon fucking copy of my sword from the real world, I'd feel as if this was a joke of some kind if we were in any other position. There's an odd heat that radiates from the blade itself, a comforting one at least, reminiscent of the orb itself. I return my focus to the situation at hand as the harsh screeching of metal claws reaches its peak, the hungry pair of things emerging from the corner, hunched over on all fours with a shadowy look that quickly morphs into a more unnatural, but at least understandable shape.
Dark tendrils jut out from their back and spasm with unnatural and freakish movements as their oversized arms press into the ground, their fingers sticking upwards abnormally before levelling out straight, claws clacking against the ground as they make their approach. They level themselves close to the floor in a slow creeping manner, small and gaunt looking hind legs belying the potential strength behind it, the limbs all the more visible as they stand upright. Pure blank heads seem to stare into and through me despite their lack of eyes, their figure a bony and dead looking one, the way their rib cage seems to jut from their body is… the only way I can even bare to look at these unholy abominations is through a morbid curiosity that influences me. These things look like a disgusting mockery of human skin stretched out into an almost feral stance, a concoction of darkness bastardising the mixture of two legged and four legged life, what could create a thing like this? Better yet, how does something as strong as an all consuming beast become… whatever the fuck those are, perhaps its power was drained while trying to break through the barrier?
I hold my glowing and likely magic infused blade upwards, holding the hilt in the grasp of both my hands as my companion brightens itself, the monsters hissing in displeasure as the dark that encompasses them fades and washes away ever so slightly. Their dark and lifeless grey skin matches the look of the rest of this place, the two of them shuddering and twitching like monstrous animals they are as they fall back onto all fours, the unnatural twitching of their movements putting doesn't help with the nerves that spike in my body. My companion throws themselves into my pocket, nestling away within the hopefully safe confines of it, thankfully the light that radiates from it spills out of the concealing cloth.
My heart beat slowly begins to rise in my chest as the monsters of the dark approach, the two of them carefully and deliberately creeping closer even as their tendrils lash and jerk around, the hiss of their chattering forcing my ears to twitch. Are these things communicating? Why couldn't they just be mindless beasts, it'd make this fuckfest a lot easier to deal with. I take in slow and deep breaths and inch myself forward, keeping my back to the wall even as they approach. I mightn't be able to escape, but I best at least try to not be surrounded by these things. A shiver runs up my spine as the image of their claws raking my flesh flashes in my mind, for something that looks like stretched out skin, the marks they leave across the cobblestone as they crawl closer shows that it's capable.
I return my focus onto the enemies as my companion squirms in my pocket, the feeling of resolve steeling my shaky hands as I jab my tip towards them. I won't falter, not at the risk of myself once more, I don't want to see what happens if my life ends here, let alone my glowing buddy.
Their chattering and hissing turns into yowling that sounds akin to metal screeching on metal, eyes squinting while I wince, ears twitching and splaying flat against my neck as the two monsters begin to bicker, what seems like a verbal power struggle occurring between them as they screech and squeal. What the fuck? Don't these things have a united goal? Why are they barking at one another? I don't expect things to make sense here, but is this a plan of theirs? A ploy to get me to drop my guard? I refocus my attention once more as I stare at them with an unwavering look, if there's one thing I can do, it's be a stubborn mother fucker.
The screeching reaches a peak as one of the monsters lunges forth, the skittering nose of claws against tone echoing throughout the alley as it scrabbles in the grey, the unnatural length of its arms reaching and stretching as it readies a swipe, the bones in its shoulders morphing and distorting as it rears itself back. Despite how hurried it seemed to be in range, the attack itself seems so slow, what's this things plan? Does it have a plan? And, well, if it's claw is the only dangerous part about it…
I step forth into the monster, my sword gleaming with a glow as I twist it in my hands, swinging the blade upwards into it, the trails of magic that encompases it flares up as the steel meets the monsters limb. The blade slices through its grey flesh and separates it from its body almost effortlessly, the howl of pain from the being echoes throughout the alleyway as it scampers away from me, dragging itself across the ground with its remaining arm back to its ally, a dark and thick liquid spilling out from its wound akin to blood, if it was more like sludge than anything else. The twitching limb that lays against the stone curls and uncurls its fist, cutting at its freakishly long forearm with its sharpened claws, wriggling and writhing as if barely managing to cling to life before finally laying limp, its grey skin turning a deep black as it begins to bloat and bubble, black sludge seeps from the forming cracks in its skin before it deflates, the rest of the limb turning into sludge as it soaks into the stone, dissipating entirely soon after.
I stare at the monster as it drags itself back to it's companion, the unintelligible screeching that presses against my ears like chalk on a blackboard seems… more gentle than normal, the more cautious of the two wrapping its elongated arms around the injured one, hissing gentle as they press against each other, a darker shade of grey falling upon the both.
I uh, I didn't think that'd work to be honest, or at least so easily. Does it have something to do with the light magic that's imbued in this dream made sword or something? I suppose I have to thank my friend for it, if it were this easy though, then I could've done with less running. It's one way to disarm a threat I suppose without killing them. A soft morbid chuckle forces itself out of my throat, heh, the monster was disarmed. Adrian probably would've found that funny.
I shuffle on my feet as the both of them remain in that position, a heavy and tense silence falling on the dead end alleyway. What am I meant to do here? Should I rush them, or is this just a ploy? Despite their monstrous look, they're intelligent enough to discuss between themselves, and they're caring enough for one to look after the other. What the fuck are these things, and why does it feel so familiar? Am I forgetting something again?
Tendrils of darkness wrap itself around the crouching pair, a black flame encircling around the both of them, my ears flattening against my head as it flares up with a ravenous hunger. Ahah, no, not fucking approaching that, go to fucking hell dammit. I let out a sigh as I press my back against the wall, fatigue washing over my body as I rub a hand against my face, my little friends pulse of light magic fighting against the lethargic feeling. Fuck, I don't think I can stay here much longer, the more that it tries to help me, the less it effective it becomes.
The harsh black flames die down eventually, a comparatively small dark blob resting in the place the monsters once laid, slowly rising and folding in and out of itself before standing upright. A thick shadow wraps around its neck like a blanket, falling around itself with a hefty and fleshy sounding 'whap', the black figure encompassed in darkness, the hood that rests upon its head covering all but its grey glowing grin, ever widening. It's arms fall limply by its sides, its right side morphed and contorted into a conjoined blade, the tip shining in the darkness as it jabs the tip of it towards me.
I bite the inside of my cheek as I ready myself, holding my sword upwards with a tightening grip. This is a fucking joke, isn't it? I didn't realise monsters had a sense of fucking humour.
I return it's cockly stare with a determined glare of my own, rolling my shoulders again as golden magic wisps flicker up my blade. I have to fight a fucking evil doppelganger of myself made of shadow, fucking hilarious.
Fine, fucking fine then, you want to do this shit then you pile of garbage nightmare? We'll do it then, always wanted to beat the shit out of myself.