Hello again after a long time everyone, I'm finally giving you all another fanfic, but also not really as it's not my usual one. You see, for anyone who doesn't know, There is this gaming company called Supermassive Games, over the years they've released a bunch of horror games that are choice based, basically interactive movies and depending on the choices you make in these games, all the characters you play as can either live or die by the end. Now, me myself, I am not a horror movie dude, have never watched Halloween, Friday the 13th, Saw, Scream, or just any other horror movie you can think of, but ironically I love all these games. They started with Until Dawn, a standalone title which is viewed as their best, another standalone title called The Quarry, and than there's the Dark Pictures Anthology, a planned series of shorter games. They just released the DPA's fourth game, The Devil in Me, last year and I watch a channel called The Butterfly Effect Podcast where they talked about a certain ending to that game, saying that if The Devil in Me were a book or a movie and they were making it, they'd choose that ending. I just thought about it recently and I decided to maybe start this as a new fanfic series, writing novelization versions of these games. It's something new to try and I've seen before people write novelization fanfics of movies and other stuff, starting with my favorite Supermassive Horror game, Dark Pictures Anthology's House of Ashes. It's that series' third game, but the DPA games are standalones to themselves and can be played in any order without any spoilers of previous DPA titles. Now, as I'm writing this story, you won't exactly get the full experience since this story is going to be linear and not choice based like the game itself since I'm going to be writing it to where we get my favorite ending of the game, but it will still be an enjoyable story and I hope I can do this game justice and maybe it can lead to me writing novelizations of the other games and hay, maybe this will be some readers' first exposure to Supermassive Horror games and you'll want to try them out for yourself and if so than it's a win-win because these are enjoyable games and coming from a guy who generally hates horror, that's gotta mean something.
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY HOUSE OF ASHES, ENJOY THE STORY FOR THOSE WHO READ AHEAD AND AS THE DPA SAYS DON'T PLAY OR I GUESS IN THIS CASE READ ALONE, BECAUSE IN THIS STORY ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!
"For they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind." Hosea 8:7
Akkad, 2231 BC
Two crows were perched in the branches of tree, cawing in the hot, searing sun. As a third crown flew by, the first crow flew off with it, soon followed by the second. One of the crows landed next to a human skull on the rocky desert ground. The crown swerved it's head around curiously before cawing and flying away from the skull. Meanwhile, within the Temple of God-King King Naram-Sin of Akkad, executions were happening.
For years, King Naram-Sin had been praying for answers on why the God Enlil had seemed to have turned against him, but no answers ever came. So, King Naram-Sin decided to take up arms against God and sacked Enlil's temple at the city of Nippur. However, due to the king's blasphemy, the Gods cursed him and his empire with war against a mountain tribe called the Gutians, a war that lead to a famine and plague which took just as many lives as the war. King Naram-Sin built this temple as a way to appease the Gods, but it didn't seem to work. So, now desperate to end the curse, the king resorted to human sacrifices, captured Gutians and even several of his own acolytes.
Four decapitated head, a scarab climbing on one of them, sat on an alter within the sacrificial chamber and a fifth head was about to join them. A Gutian man with his hands bound behind his back was thrown against the alter. Before he could recover, he was backhanded and lifted onto the alter. The Gutian man looked up in fear at the man who was about to kill him, General Balathu of King Naram-Sin's army. General Balathu had been tasked by his king to execute any and all Gutian prisoners to appease the Gods and that was exactly what he was going to do. The general took his dagger from his belt and raised it, ready to kill the Gutian.
"No! I don't want to die!" The Gutian pleaded for his life.
"Silence!" General Balathu demanded. "Your words are meaningless here. Your blood will pay the debt our King demands. Your sacrifice will lift his curse from our land."
General Balathu raised his dagger again and was about to bring it down on the Gutian until an Akkadian soldier came in, calling for him.
"What is it?" General Balathu asked the soldier.
"Forgive me, my lord. The King demands your urgent presence." the Akkadian soldier explained.
General Balathu nodded and sheathed his dagger as he looked back down at the Gutian.
"The Gods smile on you… for now" he told the Gutian, before looking towards the soldier. "Take this one back to his cell, I'll deal with him later."
"Your in luck, Gutian." the soldier said as he harshly grabbed onto the Gutian man.
"Luck?" General Balathu questioned the guard. "No, no luck for these dogs."
General Balathu exited the sacrificial chamber and made his way up to King Naram-Sin's throne room, followed by another fellow Akkadian soldier. When he came to the throne room's doors, the soldier looked to him.
"General, we should leave this place. The King, his madness threatens to swallow us all!" the soldier said. "This temple is cursed."
General Balathu looked at the soldier, knowing that there were those who felt that way. Balathu couldn't fault them for that, he himself felt the same sometimes, but he was not one to run and no matter how he felt, he had his orders. Good soldiers follow orders and to not follow them was not wise.
"I would rather die in this cursed house than perish to the plague and famine out there. We have our orders, captain." General Balathu explained before he and his companion entered the throne room.
The temple's throne room was massive, decorated with many pillars and statues. It was lit by dozens of braziers and a hole in ceiling that allowed sunlight to shine in, bathing the throne and God-King Naram-Sin with it's light. General Balathu made his was up to throne, climbing up the stairs that led to it. General Balathu, looked at his king, he was dressed in a very ornate, red robe with golden sleeves and green buttons, adorned with many patterns and he wore a large golden mask with a beard that covered his entire face, except for his brown eyes, which were staring down at a young, whimpering Gutian girl.
"The Moon God sent you to destroy my kingdom. I know it girl. I see everything." the God-King said calmly before his voice became more aggressive. "Look around you. Is this hall not payment enough for my mistakes? Do the gods not bask in it's glory?"
The girl didn't say anything and just kept whimpering. King Naram-Sin turned his attention to Balathu.
"The Gutians are coming, general. The Moon God sends an army to destroy us." King Naram-Sin explained.
"I shall muster our forces immediately." General Balathu assured his King.
"Good, and news from below?" The King asked.
"There are… hundreds of prisoners, my King. Their sacrifice will take time." General Balathu explained.
"Time is no longer in our hands." King Naram-Sin replied. "No matter. The blood of this army will nourish the sands. The sacrifice WILL be fulfilled."
King Naram-Sin than glanced back down at the Gutian girl and pointed at her.
"Starting with this one." King Naram-Sin proclaimed, which caused the girl to go into another fit of fearful whimpers.
General Balathu immediately grabbed the fearful girl, bringing his dagger to her throat, but before he could kill her, the king addressed him.
"Tell me, General. Does she remind you of anyone?" the King asked.
General Balathu was confused by what his King meant, there was nothing special about this girl, just another Gutian to be sacrificed.
"Do you not see a hint of your own daughter in her?" the King asked further.
General Balathu looked back down at the Gutian girl. She indeed looked like his daughter and looked to be about the same age as she would have been had she not died to the plague.
"What a tragedy this plague has been." The God-King said. "Kill her!"
General Balathu looked up at his king, than back down at the girl. He had been more than willing to kill her just a few moments ago, but now he was conflicted. General Balathu wondered why his king had mentioned his daughter, was this some sort of test and if so, why would he see the need to test him when the king knew of his hatred for the Gutians. Was this girl actually his daughter, that she hadn't died and was alive, but that couldn't be so, Balathu was there when she died and he had buried her himself. With that logic, General Balathu had no reason not to kill this Gutian girl, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to do so to this one like he had done many others.
"My King, would it not be wise to keep the girl alive?" General Balathu said in his reluctance. "She's an enemy scout. We could learn the Gutians' plans."
"No." The God-King denied. "Every drop of blood brings us closer to salvation. She must die."
General Balathu closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Very well, my King." General Balathu said.
General Balathu was about to slit the girl's throat, but she grabbed his arm and twisted it, grabbing his dagger from his hands. The girl attempted to stab the general, but he parried her strike with his leather bracer, do so with her next few strikes. When he grabbed onto her arm, General Balathu punched the girl to the ground and reclaimed his dagger. He looked back to the Gutian girl, who was trying to crawl away. General Balathu stepped forward and kicked her down the long stairs of the throne's dais. When fell to the bottom of the stairs she attempted to make a run for it.
"General."
General Balathu looked to see a soldier handing him a spear to kill the girl. He took it and raised it. The Gutian girl was nearly halfway across the throne room, but he could still get her from here. Another moment of hesitation came to him. General Balathu however shook those thoughts away and threw his spear, which pierced out through the girl's chest, who dropped dead.
King Naram-Sin clamped at General Balathu's masterful throw. General Balathu marched down the step and over to the girl's body, reclaiming his spear and cutting the girl's head off with his sword and throwing it all the way across the temple in front of The God-King. He should have felt pride for serving his king, but Balathu felt only shame and regret for what he had done. The Akkadians saw the Gutians as demons, but this girl was no demon, just was just a girl, nothing but girl, an innocent girl that he had just murdered. Without a word, he left the throne room to prepare the Akkadian forces with the upcoming battle with the Gutians and knew it would be a bloody one.
Meanwhile, the Gutian man that General Balathu had nearly executed earlier was being thrown into a cell. The Gutian man tried to get back onto his feet, but the Akkadian soldier who threw him in just kicked him back to the ground. The soldier locked him in and began to leave, but stopped when he noticed something around the Gutian's neck as he got back up and stood in front of the cell's bars. Other than the animal skulls, the Gutian seemed to be wearing a cylinder on a string, a cylinder with something carved on it.
"Where did you steal that from, Gutian? Who did you murder to claim such a pretty thing?" the Akkadian soldier demanded.
"I'm no thief." the Gutian man said.
"Then you're unique among your kind." the Akkadian soldier scoffed. "Either that or a liar. No way your people made that. You can't even wash your own arses, much less use a chisel."
The Akkadian reached his hand through the bars and yanked the cylinder of the Gutian's neck.
"That belongs to me!" the Gutian angrily protested.
"In this house you have no rights." The Akkadian soldier said, talking down to the Gutian as he was a lesser being than himself. "All favor is owed to the sons of Naram-Sin."
"The Gutian army…" the Gutian began.
"Prehaps you're lucky, after all?" the Akkadian interrupted. "You get to hear your people scream as they fall before us.
The Gutian man had been mostly calm up until this ignorant Akkadian dared to steal his trinket and threaten his people.
"I'll kill you, Akkadian!" the Gutian man shouted furiously. "You will learn who we are. You're king tried to wipe us out, but we still stand! We still stand!"
"You Gutians are a stain on this world. A worthless pack of feral dogs, too stupid to survive another day." the Akkadian soldier sneered behind his helmet.
"You think so?" the Gutian man said.
The Gutian man reach his hands through the bars and slammed the Akkadian against the bars. He kicked out the soldiers left leg, making him fall on his knees, giving him the opportunity to throw his bound hands around the Akkadians neck and begin to strangle him. The Akkadian grabbed the dagger in his belt, cutting the Gutian's bonds, freeing himself, but the Gutian managed to grab his leg before he could run away. The Akkadian soldier tried to stab the Gutian, but the Gutian grabbed his wrist and slammed the Akkadian's arms against the bars, which caused him to drop his dagger. The Gutian grabbed the dagger and stabbed the Akkadian soldier up through the jaw, killing him.
With the Akkadian dead, the Gutian grabbed the key, freeing himself from his cell. The Gutian grabbed the dead soldier's sword and reclaimed his cylinder necklace.
"Looks like you were right. I am a thief." the Gutian said sarcastically before he ran to try and look for a way out of this cursed temple.
Later that day, the Akkadian army lead by General Balathu gathered in front of the temple, forming a shield wall and waiting for the Gutians. When the Gutian army arrived, a horn was blown to signal their arrival. As the two armies began to clash, the sun went black, covering the once bright day into a false night. The battle was long and bloody, so bloody and very loud that it caused the ground to rumble, both of which traveled deep beneath the earth. Unknown to both sides, these things caused something ancient and evil to awaken thousands of feet below them.
Eventually, this evil made it's way to the surface and it began to slaughter everyone in it's path, Akkadians and Gutians alike. General Balathu called a retreat and he and any remaining Akkadians began to retreat back into the Cursed Temple of Naram-Sin. General Balathu heard his men behind him continuing to get slaughtered as they neared the throne room doors. Balathu was the only one to make it into the throne room and he began to seal himself in, placing his spear into where a board would usually be put to keep the doors shut. As he did so, he noticed someone running towards him, he saw that it was the Gutian he was going to kill earlier in the sacrificial chamber and he had a sword in his hand.
"No! No, stop!" General Balathu tried to defuse.
The Gutian didn't listen however and continued towards him with the intent to kill him. Balathu pulled out his own sword and he and the Gutian traded a couple blows. The Gutian was able to disarm Balathu and went for the killing strike, but the general grabbed onto the sword's hilt and kicked the Gutian away, disarming him. The Gutian tried to charge at Balathu, but was thrown against the throne room doors, that was being banged on by some unknown, screeching horror. The Gutian scrambled away from the doors while Balathu tried to brace himself against them in an attempt to keep the screeching horrors out.
"Help me, Gutian!" General Balathu said to the Gutian.
Seeing no reason not to, the Gutian helped Balathu keep the door shut.
"What is out there? What have you Akkadians done to unleash such force?" the Gutian asked.
Balathu shook his head, not knowing what this horror was.
"We have been cursed." Balathu said, not knowing what else to say. "Our King has cursed us all. We thought you Gutians were the demons. We were wrong. My King sacked the temple at Nippur. He builds this temple to call for forgiveness, but the Gods don't listen."
"And now he too is silent." the Gutian said.
Balathu looked across the throne room to see Naram-Sin slumped against his throne, dead, meaning that the horror behind the doors had gotten to him.
"Even my daughter's death couldn't wake me to the truth. I've followed a fool into the abyss" General Balathu lamented, realizing all the mistakes he has made.
"Don't let his ruin become ours." the Gutian said, noticing.
As the unseen, screeching horrors beyond the doors continue to bang on them, the Gutian knew he and the Akkadian had to get out of this temple somehow if they did not wish to meet their end. He looked towards the Akkadian general, knowing that they had to make a temporary truce.
"This is your temple, what can we do?" the Gutian asked.
"There is a way out through the catacombs." Balathu stated.
"You think I should trust YOU?" the Gutian, unable to help being suspicious.
"You have no choice." Balathu shrugged before running from the door, grabbing his sword as he did.
The Gutian followed after Balathu to a door at the right wall of the throne room, grabbing a torch as they followed it's passage. They eventually came to a circular room that had a pit in the center of it.
"There is a way out through this tomb." Balathu informed.
"A tomb?" the Gutian questioned.
"Yes. For the builders. When they are done." Balathu stated.
Before the two unlikely companions could continue forward, there was a crash of metal and bones off to the right. They immediately flattened themselves against the wall and edged forward to see what caused the sound. Balathu saw that it had just been some pesky rat and he and the Gutian moved on. As he stepped forward, Balathu accidently kicked an Akkadian helmet and picked it up.
"All this death… for nothing. They died in vain, for a mad King." Balathu said, looking at the helmet. "We are cursed by our own actions."
"Why did your King rain the temple?" the Gutian asked.
"Same story that history has taught us. For gold. For glory." Balathu said.
The Gutian glanced over to a golden pillar that had writings and images on it, on one side of the room.
"For greed." he said.
The two walked to a set of doors on the opposite side of the room and opened them, revealing a hallway with statues of the demon Pazuzu and was dimly lit by torches. They drew their sword and began to enter, but the Gutian looked towards Balathu.
"You first." the Gutian said,
"We're safe down here." Balathu tried to reassure.
"You first!" the Gutian said again with more force.
Balathu stared at the Gutian, he obviously didn't trust and he couldn't blame him, but the Akkadian general knew that if they didn't learn to trust each other, it was only a matter of time before they both were killed by the creatures that had decimated the Akkadian and Gutian army. He noticed the cylinder on the necklace he was wearing and thought maybe talking about it and getting to know this Gutian would help to earn his trust.
"What is this that adorns you?" Balathu asked.
"The history of Gutian." the Gutian replied. "You Akkadians fought hard to destroy our people, but mark my words, our story has just begun. How, do we get out of here?"
"The enemy of my enemy…" Balathu said.
"Is a friend." the Gutian finished.
"We help each other." Balathu said, sheathing his sword and holding out his hand.
The Gutian was unsure, but saw wisdom in Balathu's words, they had to put aside their differences and trust each other if they wanted to survive this. He sheathed his sword and took his hand.
"There is always hope." the Gutian said. "I am Kurum."
"Balathu." Balathu introduced himself.
Balathu and Kurum made their way down the hall to the door that hopefully lead to safety. Balathu was about to push it open, but it was suddenly pushed open on it's own or so it seemed. A large, fore clawed hand with long finger slowly edged from behind the door, sending a chill a dread down both men's spines.
"Run!" Balathu advised.
Balathu and Kurum ran back down the hall to the tomb as the doors behind them were flung open by the creature. When they got back to the opposite door, Balathu tried to open it, but it somehow wouldn't budge.
"It's coming!" Kurum shouted behind him.
Balathu continued to try and push the door open, but it still wouldn't budge. Seeing the effort was futile and with the creature quickly closing in on them, Balathu drew his sword and stood by Kurum's side.
"There's no escape, our only hope is to stand together." the general stated.
"No!" Kurum protested, not feeling confident that they could kill this creature or demon or whatever it was. "If we both run-"
"Than we both die." Balathu stated. "Ready your sword."
Kurum nodded and stood ready. The creature had now entered the room and leaped over the pit and attacked both men, who tried to fight it off. Balathu tried to slash at the creature, but it slashed at him with it's own claws, leaving three bloody claw marks on his sword arm and knocked him against a pillar. Kurum tried to come to the rescue, waving his torch at the creature, which seemed to frighten it somewhat. Kurum tried to slash at it with his sword, but was clawed on the arm like Balathu, who had recovered and began to slash at the creature again, managing to stab it with the tip of his sword.
The creature in response, clawed at Balathu with his claw, the general tried to dodge it, but was unsuccessful and fell against the doors. The creature prowled over to Kurum and finished him off and then slowly approached Balathu, who grabbed a torch to try and defend himself, but it would do no good. The creature got close to the general's face and screeched, snuffing out his torch as he screamed.