Chapter 25 - Ruination of Perspective, Pt. 2
When the bending illumination tunnel stopped moving, both Sonic and Chiara saw they were in a different location. Instead of the dully lit hallway with numerous unknown creatures, they were in a space that had more light all around. Blinking and still feeling the shakes from what just happened, both felt a hand let go of them. Seeing Speed walk passed them, he immediately began looking around. Stopping several feet ahead of them, he just looked up and to his left.
"..." both the child and woman reacted with fright.
Slowly looking up, the chamber they were in was massive. Seemingly being in the middle of a lobby intersection in a mall, there was two floors. In the center was odd machinery with other different equipment. They had long been able to function with various components physically broken and flares of rust around them. The ceiling was open to what used to be a see-through floor. The glass panels had long been destroyed and the metal framing was what remained.
Hanging down from different points of the see-thru floor structure where barred cages. Inside each of them had a person who were in different states of mind and physical conditions. A few were asleep or unconscious, some were standing and holding onto the bars with emaciated hands. Their heads were down to hide what may be shame or depression. The rest were actively fidgeting, muttering nonsense, and trying to physically break free. The ones that attempted to break free caused creaks and squeaks when the cage began moving a little.
"HEY! LET ME OUT!" one yelled out loud. "I DID NOT DO ANYTHING!"
"WHEN I BREAK FREE, I'LL KILL ALL OF YA!" another shouted in frustration. The two voices echoed massively in the open space.
"..." Speed responded with looking back down. Surveying their surroundings, he looked at a towering machine that almost reached the ceiling near the broken glass section. Walking forward, one person immediately snatched at his arm and spun him around.
"Where the hell are you goin'?" Chiara whispered harshly while glaring at him.
"...to the 2nd floor..." he answered looking at her with a blank face. One of the prisoners began to shaking their cage hard. It made loud rattling and banging noises.
"So far this shit can is nothing but a rottin' freak show," she continued getting into his face. "Me and the sport are putting up with this hell you brought us in. What the fuck are you thinking?"
"..." the amputee responded with a slow blink of his normal eye. Lifting up his arm, he pointed behind them.
"...where we...came..." he began then pointed behind his head. "...1st level...leads to other...sisters."
"How many are there of those sickos?" she asked still not moving away from his face.
"...only...a trio..." the hedgehog answered normally. Pointing to his right at the left wall, there was large opening.
"...leads to...bottom cave...of mountain range..."
"...is...is that...where we..." Sonic spoke softly then swallowed the lump in his throat. Feeling scared and sick, he tried to tough it out.
"...are heading to?"
"...it is..." Speed spoke. Nodding, he turned to face the two. Pointing to his left, the right wall had a similar large passageway.
"...leads to...a basement underneath...an establishment in...Oatsial Harbor..."
"...a basement...a hidden one?" the female stoat asked a bit alarmed from the statement. "Which establishment is it in?"
"...ransacked...administration office...opposite end of...harbor..."
"The ransacked admin office," she muttered then looked off to the side. Pondering hard, something clicked in her mind. The child saw her face go from recognition to horror quickly. Watching her slowly turn her head back to him, his stoic expression never changed.
"...that's...no freakin' way..." Chiara whispered in distraught. "...no...that can't be...you're lying..."
"...deception..." Speed spoke boring at her eyes with unfazed focus. "...always has...different masks on..."
"No," she stated with her voice increasing a little. Shaking her head, she took a step back feeling her nerves starting to burn from the revelation.
"I've lived in that city. I know that city," the stoat continued and still backed up.
Thinking the amputee would tell her to stop moving or motion with his hands to be quiet, he did neither. Instead, he bored her down and hadn't blinked. Glancing at Sonic, he still looked scared and became more so from her actions. Knowing she should control herself, the one-armed hedgehog's words seemed to pierce through her thoughts. A snowball effect began in her mind to which memories began surfacing. Certain dealings that occurred came to mind.
She remembered happening to see a few when she wandered the city on her off time from the apartment complex. From watching from afar and observing, the exchanging of wet bags and people were peculiar at first. Thinking about the present and from what she has seen now, it gave her hard suspicions of what the dealings were. Blinking and having a flashback, those meetings even happened in the renting establishment she worked in. Thinking for years that low lives only wanted the 1st floor to be quick getaways, they always got ones that was closest to the abandoned office building a block away.
'...it...this cannibalism...dealings and trading...' she wondered in shocked fear. 'This...this has been going on...for years!?'
"HEY!" a prisoner screamed from above.
"...!?" Chiara jumped with fright from the sudden shrill. Turning around and looking up, there was one of the captives in its hanging cell reaching its scarred arm at her. The look on its face was that of a crazed addict. A face she has seen one too many times in the apartment complex.
"GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! DO IT! BEFORE THOSE BITCHES SHOWS UP!"
"ARE THEY LOST SOULS LIKE US?" another yelled then proceeded to rattle his cage. "FREE US! COME ON! RELEASE US FROM THIS HELL!"
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP! WE WILL ONLY GET TORTURED MORE BEING HERE!" a female barked. Her voice and manner sounded as if she was only half sane.
"YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP! I DON'T WANT TO ROT IN THIS HELL ANYMORE!"
"YOU WOULDN'T BE IF YOU DIDN'T TRY TO TAKE WHAT WASN'T YOURS YOU BASTARD!"
"All souls will suffer for their transgressions...neither the devil or god will free us from this damnation," one captive mumbled out loud. His suspended singular cage was to the left of the trio on the ground.
"We are all sinners...this is our penance...our path to salvation...to reach the land above the clouds."
"DAMN YOU SCREWBALL!" the first prisoner shouted in agitation. "SOW YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND STOP SAYING THAT LUNATIC BULLSHIT!"
"...what the hell..." the female stoat muttered in fear.
Backing up and feeling goosebumps all over, the hanging prisoners were all yelling at each other. Faces contorted with anger, fear, hate, agony, and delusion. The wave of screaming voices would hit the walls and bounce back. Echos of chorus sounds of chaos became the background. The volume from the vocalized version of being in Hell increased dramatically causing the boy and woman to back up. Taking one more step back, Chiara ran into a someone of her size. Feeling a gloved hand covering her mouth, the initial shock of it was not high from recognizing who it belonged to.
"...2nd floor...do not...speak...understand?" Speed threatened. Both she and the child nodded quickly.
Without hesitation or a second delay, the speed tunnel came. Both Chiara and Sonic felt a quick pull as light and the environment bended backwards. When the environment began to initiate moving forward in the tunnel, it immediately went away. Blinking and seeing they were somewhere else, the barbaric yelling was now below them. Feeling a hand let go of them, the two saw a cloaked silhouette lie prone on the floor. Watching him crawl slowly to the broken window floor framing, the other two mimicked him. Stopping at the edge next to him, they peered down below.
A piercing screech sounded somewhere down below. The pitch of it was higher than the avalanche of yelling and metal banging of the hanging cages. Instead of it being a short burst like a bird would do, the ear-cringing noise continued and got louder. Plugging their ears to soften the deafening roar, Speed was the only one that used his hand to cover his left eye. Remembering he told both of them to not speak, a voice boomed from below.
"SILENCE!" a woman's voice exploded from below. As if reacting to her voice, all the yelling and metal clanking went dead silent.
"You all heeded the call...how very goood," she continued. There was a small cooing in her voice that indicated she was of a bird breed. Listening to her walk forward, her footsteps were light. However, it seemed a few spikes were on the bottom of her shoes.
"So...whooo wants to lose their tongue first?" the female asked in a threatening voice.
"Sister Sars," a familiar sounding man stated loudly. It seemed to be the same person that first shouted at the trio when they first arrived in the 2-floor lobby. Instead of being angry, it was firm and calm.
"There are intruders here in Sanctum. We all saw them then they ran away. They did not have any chains."
"Are you lying to me you cattle?" Sars questioned with no hint of amusement or anger. "Your penance will only lengthen from saying falsehoods."
"I'm not. I'm speaking truth. Ask the others."
"Very well...who's tongue can tout the same lie?" she asked while glancing up.
"..." the other prisoners answered with staying silent. Staring at the woman through their imprisonment, their mouths remained closed.
"Silence of the lambs," another woman's voice echoed in the room.
Hearing that it came from the opposite side of where the birdwoman was, there was a clear enough view to see her. Dressed in a similar white outfit that Malaria had, her black silhouette became clearer the closer she got. Hearing no footsteps as she approached, it was a black female fox breed. Having more a grin on her face, it did not look friendly at all. Her haunting glowing blue eyes was unsettling to two out of the three people on the 2nd floor.
"YOU BUNCH OF COWARDS! WE ALL SAW THE THREE DOWN BELOW!" he yelled looking at the other prisoners. None of them returned his gaze and stared at something else. About to pound his cage, something impacted hard making the containment unit jiggle and knot the hanging chain it was attached to.
"You...seem quick to use your tongue..." Sars stated and leaned forward. "Do you know what happens to gossipers in our Sanctum?"
"I AM NOT LYING!" the man shouted at her.
Attempting to punch the woman's face, she pulled her head back quickly. Whiplashing forward, her beak snatched the prisoner's wrist. Pulling his arm through the bars with much strength, she let go of her hold on the cage. Dropping down without letting go, the man slammed on to the cell's floor. With no effort by the birdwoman, his arm snapped at the elbow.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed loudly in pain.
'...freakin'...god damn...' Chiara thought covering her mouth. Staring in both fear and wonder, she cringed hard from the state of the man's broken arm dangling from his cage.
'...those...those are just monsters...' Sonic said in his mind. To counter act the fear and disgust from what he was witnessing, he clenched his teeth on his tongue. The pain from that helped dampen the feeling of losing control of his bowels and stomach.
"This is the path," Sars began to say. Landing from the high drop distance between the bottom of the containments to the floor, she looked up.
"To set you back...the suffering will show you the way."
"MY ARM! YOU BROKE MY FUCKING ARM! YOU CRAZY BITCH!" the man shouted in agony.
Attempting to pull his arm back in, something viciously bit the limb. Feeling sharp teeth sink in and pierce through his skin, he saw the other sister had chomped viciously at the elbow. Yelling out in suffering, the fox woman ripped half his arm off after crunching through the bone. Blood poured out of the stump as snot and tears came out of the prisoner's nose and eyes. Letting go of the cage and dropping down to the ground, she bitterly spit out crimson and flesh from her mouth.
"Foul soul...bitterness seeps through your meat and flesh," she mentioned. With her face spotted with red, she threw the ripped off arm on the cold ground. Looking up, small trickles of blood were coming down from the suspending confinement unit. The vocalness of the man grew less and less to which he was slurring and mumbling.
"Thank you for setting the man on the right path Sister Polio," the bird woman spoke in a clam tone.
"Of course Sister Sars. I must profess that I need to cleanse myself after being splashed with such tainted crimson."
"Please do sister. I pray that it will not spread and begin to lead you astray from our faith."
"Sisters," a familiar voiced called. Seeing the two black feathered and furred women turn around to the passageway on a far wall, there was another blacked skin female. With distinct large pointed ears and yellow eyes, Malaria walked to them. Her approaching presense caused the other prisoners to crouch in their cells or lie down to hide.
"Has the lost soul revert back to enlightenment? Or is it returning to the land of creation?"
"We were unable to get him to see the light. Even assisting him did not bear any fruit to repent. Salvation is for naught on this lost soul," Sars mentioned then gestured to Polio. "Even Sister Polio's efforts did not aid. She stated the life flowing through his veins was damned."
"How unfortunate," the bat woman responded and looked up. Seeing the bleeding hanging containment, she looked back at the fox woman. Staring at her, a thought went through her mind. Deciding if to tell her what happened earlier, she internally shook her head.
"...?" the female fox said. Blinking in confusion, something caused her to smell something. Sniffing the air a little, she slowly panned left and right.
"Sister Polio?" Malaria questioned first. She saw Sars open her beak to speak then closed it.
"...there is a new scent here..." she began. Turning her head and stopping, she stared at the bat woman. Walking closer, her nose was getting a stronger aroma. Halting in front of Malaria, she watched her companion smell her. Seeing the nose get closer to her mouth, the reynard pulled her head back.
"Did you feast on something?"
"..." she answered with a haunting stare. "Stiles...failed to do his task...punishment was made."
"Stiles?" Sars spoke with a mild look distaste. "Is he of use being your loyal servant?"
"He guards the entrance and guides lost souls through the Crawler Chambers."
"..." Polio responded with staring at her hard. Her tail began to sway a little.
"Sister Malaria...did you eat a devoted lost soul?" she spoke with unwavering eeriness.
"There was no feast. Only a propinquity."
"With who?"
"Vermilion Witness."
"...!?" the two sisters recoiled with surprise. Staring at her, Malaria did not move as she looked at them stoically.
"...the Vermilion Witness...did we not declare that his soul was found not in sanctuary, but outside of our utopia?" Sars asked carefully.
"...he has returned..." Malaria stated then crossed her arms over her chest. "...and he is inside with his own lost souls."
"...!?" Polio reacted with silent excitement. Clasping her hands together and closing her eyes, her tail wagged more. Muttering a silent prayer to herself, she failed to see the expressions on her faith siblings.
"..." Sars reacted with bewilderment. Staring at the fox woman, she saw tears beginning to come down her face. The action made her part her mouth.
"Sister Polio...are you alright?"
"I thought I told you to abandon your fervor for that soul," Malaria stated as plainly as possible.
"..." the bird woman blinked and glanced at the bat woman. Analyzing her stance and the tense face she had while gazing at Polio, it made her wonder.
'My interactions with that soul were...unremarkable...I don't remember his appearance well.'
'However...both of them seem to hold...an affinity towards him,' Sars pondered. A small remembrance came to her when she repeated Vermilion Witness multiple times in her head.
'If my visions are accurate to their fable...those two named that lost soul.'
"..." the fox woman responded with a deep inhale and exhale. Ungripping her hands together, she wiped her eyes.
"My apologizes Sister Malaria...I...was overwhelmed by visions that would not cease. I believe the blood from the tainted soul is affecting me. I must depart to the shrine to cleanse and profess my sinful visions."
"If that will set your mind at ease...then go bathe yourself and pray for forgiveness," the bat woman stated with a frown.
Without a second of delay, Polio got into a pounce position then jumped forward. Landing on the towering machinary underneath the window floor frame, she leaped upweard. Clearing several feet and latching onto a hanging cage, the action caused the prisoner inside to flinch and yelp. Jumping again, she cleared through a broken glass floor panel. Getting onto the second level, she mad dashed in a direction. While running, she failed to see the three bodies that lied prone nearby on the 2nd floor.
"..." the trio spoke while not moving. When Chiara and Sonic saw the fox woman clear through the broken slots, their muscles tensed up quicky. The zany look on her face with clenched teeth made her unnerving to look at. When she rushed away from their position and towards one of the walls, both slowly breathed out the air they were holding. Glancing at Speed, he had not moved and continued watching the two sisters that were below.
"Sister Malaria...what shrine is she visiting?" Sars asked wondering.
"The one Sister Polio made...after we declared the Vermilion Witness was no longer present in the Sanctum," she answered then dropped her hands to her sides.
"Oh," the bird woman spoke intrigued. "I don't believe she told me she made a shine. Is it a holy place to be rid of guilt?"
"...no...it is a place," Malaria began and scowled. "...of misplaced worship."
"...of...what faith?"
"Vermilion Witness!" the bat woman stated firmly. Her voiced echoed in the lobby area which caused the prisoners to stir. A few braved themselves to peer below between the spaces of their steel barred confinement.
"I know you are here...show yourself."
'He isn't actually going down there to-' Chiara thought and looked at him. Feeling a cloak get placed over her, Speed stood up. Given the limited illumination on the second level, the only thing that stood out from him was his cybernetic eye casting a faint red in front of him. Turning around and walking away, his image vibrated and vanished.
"Sister...I do not doubt your word...but he-" the bird woman began. Stopping, she felt a faint draft that made her tail feathers ruffle slightly.
"...Sister..." a raspy voice came from behind.
"...!?" she reacted with lurching forward. Pivoting 180 degrees to the left and about to grab her weapon, she saw in a glance that Malaria had not moved. However, her yellow eyes were staring to her right. Keeping a hand on her weapon and looking behind her, a gray hedgehog stood behind where she was. Seeing it being deformed from missing limbs, the crimson ring for an eye gave her a short flashback from a few years ago.
"...Sars...you look," Speed continued. Tilting his head to the right, he gave a stoic expression to her.
"...well..."
"Vermilion Witness," she spoke softly in mild shock. "...what deception is this?"
"...deception...you never sought...to identify...my characteristics."
"..." Sars reacted with remaining in an offensive stance. Glancing at her faith kin, she still had not move. Oddly, her yellow eyes were not glowing as if to show dominance or to threaten. Instead, she seemed to keep the space of where the two were.
"I am assuming you observed Sister Polio from above?" Malaria asked.
"...yes...with haste...is it to cleanse herself...from spillage?" he answered as his robotic eye moved by itself. Staring at both sisters with one eye on them each, the aspect seemed to make the bird woman slightly worried.
"...yes...she made a shrine...with her limitless fervor...when you escaped."
"...I see..." Speed stated with a slow blink. Moving his head back straight, he did not break his gaze at them.
"...do you...blame me for...her misplaced zeal?"
"..." the bat woman replied with a blink. Sighing through her nose, she spoke in a lesser tone.
"...no...that was her own doing..."
'...what...' Sars thought veering back a little from her change of tone. Blinking and slowly standing straight, she felt mildly confused and curious at the same time.
'...what is going on here? Even Sister Malaria is acting...with unfocused faith now.'
"What reason is for your arrival? Pilgrimage?" the bat woman asked after several seconds of them staring at each other.
"...it was...to avoid confrontation on...surface..." Speed began to say. Blinking with only one eye, he lifted his arm and pointed passed where Sars was standing. The two sisters glanced in the same direction then focused back on the amputee.
"...destination...is to the mountains...north east from city..."
"How far does this passage traverse?"
"...leads to...numerous cave tunnels...in one mountain."
"Is that how you escaped?" she questioned. Both saw him shake his head slowly.
"Did you use the path to surface?" Sars spoke. Both saw him move his head to nod.
Staring at each other, another awkward silence passed by between them. Hearing the soft sounds of movement from above, it was the people in the cages. All of them were staring at the amputee hedgehog. The aspect that a mutilated and short being caused both the cannibal tormentors to just stand there and not move was bewildering. So much so, the thought that he was their salvation out of the dungeon began to fester in their minds.
"Vermilion," the bird woman spoke. Seeing both of his eyes focused on her, the uneasiness she had was still there.
"If I recall correctly...you were of no tongue...did you receive a gift from a dream?"
"...a human facility...had collection of...both organ and limb...human and animal..."
"...stole one...had the machines...install it...still trying to...not sound old and lifeless."
"A HUMAN!?" Sars shouted with astonishment and anger. So much so that her voice had an undertone of a crow's cawing. Immediately grabbing her weapon and bringing it out, it was a blood stained medieval looking mace.
"SUCH SLANDEROUS WORDS! YOU WILL REPENT FOR SPEAKING THOSE-"
"...Sister...Sars..." Speed whispered from behind.
"...!?" the bird woman reacted with freezing in place. Looking at the place he was standing at, a fading silhouette of him was seen before vanishing.
"...do not...entice...a deliverance of a martyr..." he continued in a soft voice.
'What...is this being?' Sars pondered feeling very tense. 'What transformation occurred for this soul to be given...power above the skies?"
"Sister Sars. Cease your deliverance of punishment," Malaria stated loud enough to get both of their attention. She saw that her fellow practitioner was not taking well from what was occurring and to what she stated.
"I must protest Sister Malaria! Why are you giving this forgotten soul allowance to roam in our Sanctum? He is not one of us! He did not declare oath and shed blood to the almighty!" she protested. Taking a step forward and pivoting to face behind her, the one arm man was standing straight while staring stoically at her.
"I stated to you earlier Sister Sars that Vermilion and I committed a kinship ritual."
"For what purpose Sister Malaria!? You of us 3 siblings would have never taken that rite with a wander being!"
"I EXECUTED IT TO INSTILL ORDER! I DID NOT FORESEEN HIM BEING VERLIMION WITNESS UNTIL AFTER THE RITUAL WAS COMPLETED!" Malaria barked back angrily.
"THOSE ONLY COMMIT TO A PROPINQUITY AMONGST FAITHFUL BROTHERHOOD AND SISTERHOOD OF THE SAME VISION! THAT LOST SOUL COULD NOT SPEAK! COULD NOT ARTICULATE WHAT IS THE DRIVER OF HIS BEING! HE ACTED LIKE THE COPIOUS AIMLESS MINDS THAT COME INTO SANCTUM! VERMILION WITNESS WAS ONLY AGREED UPON BASED ON THE EYE THAT WAS AFFLICTED BY THE DEVIL'S TOUCH!" Sars yelled in a combination of frustration, confusion, and anxiety. The aspect that female bat was behaving differently made her feel that something evil had seeped into their domain.
"...enough..." Malaria growled. Looking at her sister with grave, haunting eyes, she resisted the temptation to close her hands into fists.
"...I will pay for my mistake...my sin...with my own hands and mind," she continued then darted her eyes to Speed. About to snap at him, his robotic eye was looking out the left corner of its socket. His regular eye was glaring at her with his eyebrow slanted downward. It gave a two faced appearance which she never saw before. The new sight made her force herself to calm down.
"..." Sars reacted startled from the dramatic change she saw. Not only from her sister, but the amputee hedgehog in which both were showing emotions she never witnessed before. Feeling more unsettled from the dramatic changes, her eyes widened from seeing something on his face. The cybernetic organ was pulsating every couple of seconds. However it was the sight of red oozing from the same eye that made her hold her position and not move.
"...M...a...r...c...o..." a haunting female voice called. It came from above, through the broken window floor to the second level.
"GAH!" a second woman shouted in fright. Two sets of movements were heard in which one sounded lighter and with quick feet.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM YOU BITCH!?" the same person shouted with a combination of fear and anger. "IF I DIE HERE SPEED, I WILL FUCKING COME AFTER YOU BEYOND THE GRAVE!"
"Speed?" both Malaria and Sars spoke in confusion. Looking at the one arm man, he was baring his teeth at them. The same two expressions on his face remained. Along with the bleeding synthetic eye, his left hand was curled into a murderous fist. Hearing him exhale slowly, the raspiness in his voice was diminished a little.
"...P...o...l...i...o..." he spoke with what sounded like malice. His voice was loud enough to echo in the large chamber that they were in. As if what he said carried immense weight, everyone became silent on both floors.