Fate of Yggdrasil Chapter 6A Chapter by Angelo KingstonFate of Yggdrasil Chapter 6 Part
1 “Fate!
I need you up front!” “Gotcha’!”
The work day wasn’t off to a great start.
“Is Reggie not on the counter today?” “Nope,
not today. He’s out sick, so it’s just the two of us. I’ll finish stocking the
back room, but you’re way faster on the register than I am.” Despite doing the job for 8 years, my old
boss had never learned how to work the register. “Hey, look alive!
Someone’s coming in.” “Welcome
to SoftFix, best local computer repair around. How can I help you?” With a winning smile I conversed with an elderly
woman as she laid her laptop down on the counter. It was a simple issue, the
screen wouldn’t reorient, which I helped her with in less than a few minutes. The
elderly woman was very thankful, but when she asked for the prince, I waved it.
SoftFix was a small computer store that I’d worked at for a while, hoping to
save up enough for a car. “Wally, is there any word on the shipment that’s
coming later?” “Not
yet. They said they’d call before showing up, so just be prepared.” Wally, my manager was a nice guy. People
loved just coming into the store, dropping off their machines and chatting with
him. The myriad of old machines littering the racks didn’t perturb people,
since scrappers and other computer repairers would stop in to purchase them,
making it so the place never felt too crowded at the end of a long week.
Softfix was one of the best places I’d ever worked. The 80’s synth that Wally
would play in the background almost all day had gotten me accustomed to
listening to it when I was home or studying. Everything about the job spoke to
it’s informal and relaxed atmosphere. “Fate, I’ll be right back. I’m going
to grab somethings from my truck.” “Alright!”
Wally walked away, leaving me at
attention, waiting for more customers. The front door to the store swung open
and in, to my surprise, walked Gabby. “Gabby!?” “Yo!”
She smiled, her lovely face lighting up
the otherwise gray room. “Busy?” “No…why?
What’s up?” I averted my eyes a bit as
she poked around the shop nonchalantly. She wore a skirt that showed off her thigh-highs
and I didn’t want to stare…okay, I wanted to stare, but not get caught staring.
Dressed in winterwear, everything about her screamed ‘cute’. If I was ever able
to get my eyes off her, maybe I’d have been able to actually focus on other
things when she was around. She pulled out her laptop and placed
it on the counter. “It’s been bluescreening a lot.” “Oh,
is that all? Yeah, no problem. Give me a few minutes.” I went to work checking all the files on the machine to see if I could
isolate the issue. Out of the corner of my vision I
noticed she kept darting her eyes back and forth to me. “I
see…you’re not hiding the scar anymore.” “Oh…well…everyone’s
seen it at this point, plus wearing scarves and turtle necks all the time is silly.” “Makes
sense. Hey, I’ll be right back, give me a minute?” Gabby quickly walked out of the store, like something had just burst
into flames. That was strange, but I just continued to work on her machine. I
began setting up some recovery software when the sound of her reentering the
shop drew my attention. “That
was quick. What did you leave for any-” Anesha.
She stood in the doorway with a smirk on her face, looking at me with those deep
brownish red eyes. She must’ve found the fear on my face funny, as her grin
turned to a toothy, wide smile. As Anesha sashayed her way towards me, her hips
swaying like a pendulum and platform boots hitting the floor, all other sounds
and sights faded into the background. She stopped at the desk, flashed a smile
again while tilting her head and looked me right in the eyes. “…Y…” I couldn’t get a word out. Why did such a
pretty face have to be worn by such a demon? Anesha sighed. “Calm
yourself. My oh my, you are truly an easy person to read. Though, that makes it
so fun to upset you.” Giggling like the heartless
monster she was, Anesha then eyed the laptop, Gabby’s computer. “Hmm…?
Another computer?” “Y-yeah…it’s
not mine though. Um…can I ask a question?” “You
just did.” An almost baffled gasp exiting
my mouth. I couldn’t tell if Anesha had just made a joke or was being
intentionally obtuse. “You may as well ask another….” “Oh…right.
Why are you here? I haven’t seen you in four days.” “Four
days? I must’ve slept far longer than I had intended. That would explain why I
am famished.” “You’re…hungry?
Wait! You slept for four days straight!?” “Yes,
and yes. The reason I came to you actually concerns my hunger, but I had to
wait for that girl to leave.” “Gabby?
Couldn’t you just ‘make’ her leave. You know, with magic.” “I
did, in fact, use magic. It took longer than I thought. Do you know that girl
well?” I nodded. “She’s got a decent
amount of resistance to magic.” “Really?” “Some
people have resistance to magic, but low resistance to pure mana. Enough of
this! Assist me in finding food.” “I’m
at work right now…c-can it wait?” “No.”
She crossed her arms and began tapping
her boot on the ground. “O-okay,
just give me a second. Uh…can you turn off your force field thingy? I have to
tell my boss.” “The
ward? Fine, but hurry.” She waved her
hand and walked out of the store. I could see Anesha step onto her broom handle
and float up out of sight. The street in front of our store wasn’t being
heavily trafficked that morning, most likely because of Anesha covering the
whole area in a ‘ward’, so no one saw her as she flew away. “Fate,
sorry about that. I lost track of time.” Wally
came back looking flustered. “I was on the phone with my wife.” “Don’t
worry about it. Hey, can I take a short break?” I cracked a smile, attempting to look relaxed. “Well, I say short,
but it’s more of a lunch…” “Hey
Fate, I’m back!” Gabby gleefully returned
to the store. “How’s the laptop coming?” “Oh…”
Wally smirked. “I see how it is…yeah,
yeah, yeah. Go ahead, Fate.” “I
think you’re misunderstanding, but I don’t have time to explain.” I closed the laptop and handed it back to Gabby
while tossing my store apron on the counter. “I’ll…uh…see you later.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t spend more time
with her, since leaving Anesha waiting seemed like an awful idea. “Okay…call
me! I have stuff we need to talk about!” I
heard Gabby yell to me as I ran from the shop. Part
2 From a few minutes of looking for
Anesha, it hit me. (How am I supposed to find her?) The witch was nowhere to be seen and I had
no idea how to make contact. (Maybe if I go somewhere with very few
people…?) That was the only idea I had. I
walked into one of the many empty alleyways around the city, making a trash can
lid became my seat while I waited, hoping she’d show up. At the same time, a
message from Chester came through on my phone. [Salutations
my fellow occult explorer! How is your shoulder? Have you healed from the
grievous wound you have incurred?] I
hadn’t made the connection until then, but his over the top mannerisms reminded
me of Anesha a bit. [I’m
fine. My shoulder’s fine.] A simple
reply. (My shoulder has almost totally healed up in just 4 days. There’s
still a scar, but it’s fine for the most part.) Just when I thought that, I moved my arm and heard a pop, which hurt
like hell, making me double over in pain. “Are
you an imbecile?” That dismissive insult
could’ve only come from one place. “No…I
just thought it wasn’t…that bad…” Anesha
had appeared out of nowhere, but by then I was getting used to it. “What do
you want to eat?” “My
word! You’ll retrieve me food and bring it to the location I specify? How sweet
of you. I’d pet your head, if not for the odd sheen of your hair.” “It’s
naturally like this. What food do you want?” “You
will decide in my stead. I am not used to the food from here, so I will expect
something of good quality and substance.” (A
hotdog then…I’m broke, so a hotdog.) “Alright, I’ll be back.” Trailing off down the street, I searched for
a hotdog cart. (What is my life anymore?) Finally, a cart came into view. A few people stood ahead of me in line,
so I was back to waiting. Just as I placed my order, I felt a tap on the
shoulder. When I turned it was a less than joyous reunion with Gabby’s
ex-boyfriend, Ken. “Geh!” My
unintended, yet natural reaction to seeing that muscle bound moron was to try
and not throw up in my mouth. “Fate…got
a sec to talk?” I wanted to say ‘no’. “What
is it…?” I really wanted to make him go
away. “Just
come on…it’ll only take a second.” I
wanted to tell him to f**k off. To tell him to wander into traffic. Tell him to
go and choke on that douchey red hat of his. “Fine…”
I agreed, wanting to avoid any conflict
and out of morbid curiosity. We walked toward a park that sat adjacent to the
food truck, the entire time I clutched the inside of my jacket pockets, ever
cautious of what laid in store for me. I’d never been fond of Ken and with what
happened before, I grew to despise him. It made no sense to me how a person
like him could be such a jerk. He had so much, things that others would die
for, things that I would die for. His
huge frame was perfect for an athlete. He was tall, and muscular; the best wide
receiver, for one of the state’s best football teams, dressed like he had money
and hung out with the coolest people around. It wasn’t a surprise why Gabby
liked him though, I laughed to myself. I was happy Gabby had broken up with
him. He wasn’t good for her, violent, short fuse and everyone knew he was
cheating on her. I thought that until we reached the
park and saw Gabby sitting on a bench waiting for us. She gave a very
half-hearted smile and waved as bile built up in my throat. “Hey…” (You’ve
got to be f*****g kidding me!) Run. Just
leave and get away from the whole situation, that was what I wanted to do, but
my cowardice stopped me. “What is it? What is…this?” I had a guess. “Ken…!”
She gave him a stern look. “Dude…I’m
sorry!” I didn’t want to hear that. “Oh…?” “Come
on, Ken. Seriously apologize! You’re lucky Fate didn’t press charges on your
a*s.” “Yeah,
dude. I’m legit, super sorry. I’ve been really stressed at home and works been
crazy, so I just sort a lost my s**t, ya’ know?” “…I
guess…” (What am I doing!? Why am I listening to him bullshit!?) “He’s
bad with words. Fate, I know we haven’t talked much since then, but I wanted to
say sorry too. You got dragged into that because of me. I let our problems get
too public.” “We’re
working through it now though, bae.” “…!”
I almost shouted in pure disgust. (Working
through it?! Are you f*****g joking?! Gabby, you can’t be f*****g serious?!) I just stayed quiet, looking away. “Fate,
you’re a very important friend to me. I don’t want mine and Ken’s relationship
to mess that up. Could you please…try and get along? At least just be civil?” “Hey,
I’m down if he is.” “…”
(How the hell can you say this s**t to me? You piece of s**t! You worthless
a*****e, you were going to hit her! You don’t deserve her! Gabby…why…why on
earth would you ever go back to this creep!? What’s wrong with you!?) My gaze remained off to the side. I wanted
to say ‘no’. I wanted to tell them to f**k off. I wanted…to wander into traffic
when I saw Gabby’s amber colored eyes pleading with me. “…Ok…whatever…” “Thank
you, Fate.” “…He
didn’t really seem to be into it…but whatever…” “I…!”
That feeling came back; the same feeling,
I felt with the Tallman. My body felt like it’d been lit on fire. I clasped my chest
and backed away. (What…? Again?) “Fate,
what’s wrong?” “You
okay, bro?” Their words were muffled under the
sound of blood rushing through my veins. “I…I’ve got to
go.” Even though I was dizzy, I sprinted
off, leaving them both in the park. My head was pounding, and my body was way
too hot. (Is this…just because I got angry?) I kept running for a few minutes until it calmed down. It felt so bad,
my body and my pride. I collapsed on a bench and laid there for a minute
looking up at the cloudy sky. “…This sucks…” Part
3 “How
long has it been…? I ask that sarcastically, of course. 24 minutes!” Anesha barked from atop her broomstick as
she floated in the alleyway. “I’m
sorry…” I placed the bag of food down
that I’d bought. “Here…I’m sorry…” I
wasn’t in the mood to get punished by her, so I just walked to a near by
grocery store and got a bunch of food to make her happy, nearly emptying out my
wallet in the process. “Hm…you’re
uncharacteristically well behaved. I must question as to the reason, but that
can wait until another time.” She waved
her hand and a round stone slab rose from the ground, hovering in front of Anesha.
I placed all the food on the slab, as she began to inspect the items her
expression soured. “All of these are…junk. Honestly, this explains your physique
if this is how you eat as well. Why are you sitting there like that?” The witch referred to me sitting on the
dirty ground, curled up and thinking. “I’m
thinking…” I wanted to just give up on life
at that point. (Gabby…why? You’re smarter than this. You know if he was
going to do it once, he’ll probably do it again. He’ll cheat on you, again!
He’ll threaten to beat you, again! He’ll lie, again! Damnit!) “Damnit!” “I’ve
no idea as to what happened to you to cause this sudden outburst or your new
attitude but control yourself…or I will.” In
her most intimidating voice, Anesha spoke down to me. She sighed and pushed all
the food I’d bought off the slab. “Hey!
I paid good money for those!” “Excuse
me?” She said, head tilted back as if she
were looking at a bug. “I-I
mean…” “Enough.
I’ll find better nourishment elsewhere. This swill…I’d not even feed it to an
animal.” “Should
I…come with you?” “Naturally…no.
Actually, go about your own business. I’ll come to get you soon enough.” Anesha discarded the bag of food into a nearby
trashcan, then floated upward into the sky until she was out of sight. I sat in
the alley for a few more minutes trying to contemplate my life and the
universe…as if I could ever be so deep, until I remembered that I was still on
the clock. “Shoot,
work!” I ran back to the store as quickly
as I could. When I arrived, Wally gave me a desperate look as many customers
crowded the counter. After joining him, we quickly diffused the situation. “What
was all of that about?” “A
bunch of people started flooding in, saying their machines were on the fritz
and asking if we could repair them.” Wally
sat back in his chair and sighed heavily. “I’ve only got a little bit of
experience working with cameras, but my specialty has always been desktops.” Surveying the counter, two cheap and one
very expensive looking camcorder, as well as a few laptops laid there. “Well…I
was late getting back here from lunch. How about I help you work through the
majority of these PCs and stay a little later to fix the cameras?” Reluctantly, I made that offer. I didn’t
want to stay late but wasn’t in the position to take advantage of Wally. “Really,
Fate? If that’s alright with you.” Wally and I worked through the
afternoon into the evening. He left about halfway through in order to bring
back food and we took a break to eat. Despite his obvious curiosity about the
scar on my neck, he never said anything. People came in and out in order to
retrieve their belongings, mentioning each time, to an eerie frequency, that
they were all working just fine until earlier in the day. I assumed it must
have had something to do with Anesha, as all the weird occurrences in my life to
that point had been. During the times Wally and I weren’t chatting, the store
would go silent with the exception of the ambient music, our fingers tapping
away at keyboards, and the AC blasting. My body was almost always hot back then
regardless of the weather, so it didn’t bother me at all. “Fate,
I’m heading out! Lock up when you’re done.” Wally
said as he walked out the front door and jogged to his car. The store was in a
good neighborhood, but with it being so late at night, he must’ve been spooked. “See
ya’!” I sat for the next twenty minutes
just messing around with a super high-grade camcorder. It wasn’t like anything
I’d had my hands on before. “We should see if we can find something like
this online for dirt cheap…” (Maybe…I can make a few adjustments and the guy
will think it was just totally busted from the start.) A devious thought, but I dropped it quickly. (I don’t want to ruin
the reputation of this place.) I took a
picture of the camera with my phone and sent it to the club. [Any way we
can get our hands on something like this online?] Demica quickly replied. [Sure,
you got 8,000$ going spare? I’ll place the order right now. I think I’ll get a
bunch of points for it.] [Lol!
Good to see you’re just as catty as ever.] My
reply was met with an image of a smug cat face. [Comrades!
A break through has been made!!!!] Chester
exclaimed in the chat, then continuously reposted the message until he was
flagged for spamming. [I’m
so happy I set up the Anti-Chester bot. ;^)] Demica reenabled Chester’s ability to talk. [Woman…this
is the last time your tricks will be tolerated! Now, returning to what I was
announcing before…our home page has showcased an enormous influx of views in
the last few days!] [Seriously!?]
Both Demica and I typed that at the exact
same time. [After
young scribe Perry had published the contents of our video online, our website
had many, many more visitors than expected!] […Could’ve
also had to do with the place burning down, you know? Apparently, they’re saying
it was due to some druggies burning it down when they were high.] [What?!]
I didn’t want to give away the truth, but
that was just too unbelievable. [The
most important thing is, we’re getting views! We need to strike while the iron
is hot! Tomorrow, we shall venture forth to the underpass!] Chester proclaimed as I laughed it off, but
then noticed how dark it’d gotten outside. I closed my phone and got back to
work. After another few minutes of work, I
finished repairing the camcorder. The picture quality displayed on the side
screen was astounding. It looked like I was filming with a studio camera. Every
small piece of equipment could be seen through the viewfinder. The dark store
looked as good on the camera, if not better than with my own eyes. I could see
the racks, the laptops, the white face staring at me from the side window of
the store… I wanted to put down the camera and
just run. Even though I didn’t openly react to it, I could tell it knew I saw
it. The face was just barely in my peripheral vision. A singular white
expression, with black holes for eyes and a mouth, that’s all I could make out.
It was totally motionless, making me think at first, I was seeing things, but
it was definitely there. (What
do I do…? Is it another homunculus?) I eyed
the exit toward the back of the building, thinking about making an escape, but
as soon as I turned my head, I heard the front door’s bell ring. Before me, at the front of the store,
stood a short spindly creature in a frilly black dress. The monster was shorter
than Anesha, but far more unsettling to look at. It began to glide across the
floor, with what sounded like heels striking the ground with each step. Its boney
shoulders remained totally parallel as if the legs and upper body were separate
pieces. As the thing closed in on me, I could make its face out better. The
totally pale skin was stretched over its skull…or whatever laid beneath, pulled
up by a long grey ponytail. It looked like it was trying to smile, but the lack
of teeth and tiny black pupils made it look deranged. “H-Hi…Yyyyyou
thhhhhe maaann thhhaaat bburrn down m-my houssse, rightttt?” The distorted high pitch voice of a little
girl being garbled through the mouth of that monster made me shutter. The
creature then grabbed its throat and squeezed it tightly in between its two
fingers until a loud pop could be heard. “Ah…much better! You’re the man
that burned down my house, right?” “…No…I
didn’t burn it down. Not me exactly!” It
was clearly referring to the Rockwell estate. I don’t know why I even answered
the abomination. “That
place…was mine for years. Hundreds of years, gone in an instant! Do you know
how many, many experiments I lost?!” The
creature began wailing as It climbed atop the counter. “…”
Dumbstruck, I just stared at the twisted
visage of the diminutive monster before me. “…But
don’t worry…you’re worth a billion lowly homunculi! In you…it’s the seed of
Yggdrasil, isn’t it?” “What?!
How do you know about the seed?!” That
snapped me out of my daze. “It’s
true then?! I’ve only heard legends and read books propping it up as if it were
a myth!” The monster said before extending those
long razor-like fingers toward my throat. “Back off!” I shoved the thing off the counter, hearing
it land with a loud snap. Down on the ground, the creature laid with its back bent
at an impossible angle. It cut its eyes toward me and glared. “S-Sorry, I
didn’t mean to…” “Yyyyyou
neeeeddn’ttt wooorrry…!!” It fixed it’s
throat again, then stood up, snapping its spine back into place with a quick
jerking motion. I nearly barfed at the sound of the meaty crunch. “Just
give me the seed…” “No
way! This thing is inside me, I’d die!” “…Is
that what worries you? I can just remove it.” “…Wait!
You…can do that?” I was so taken aback by that proposition,
that the creature’s toothless smile didn’t bother me in the slightest. “Probably
not here, but those homunculi you saw before, they were my handywork. I made
each of them from scratch. Keeping you alive while I remove something in your
neck is simple. I could take your entire head off and reattach it and you’d be
totally fine.” “Take
it out! I-I mean the seed!” That little
monster…was about to become my unforeseen savior. Part
4 The little monster and I weaved in
and out of alleys through the backstreets of the city. Our aim was to avoid people
as we made our way to its ‘unspecified’ location. If not for my total desperation,
there would’ve been no way I’d have followed the twisted looking doll like
creature, but that small glimmer of hope about getting my life back was worth
it. The monster moved so weirdly; like a small girl, but gliding about
awkwardly, as if those pin legs extending out from underneath the gothic dress
were crab legs. “Umm…what
exactly are you?” I asked. “Me?
I’m a person who has lived way, way, way longer than I should have. My name’s
Mary, and don’t let the way I look fool you…I’m a very nice little girl who
just wants to have fun!” She turned to me
with what may have been meant to be a sweet smile, but just looked like a
sorrowful empty mask wrapped around a mannequin head. “Right…well,
I’m Fate Isley. Why do you want the seed?” “Immortality.” “Can
the seed do that?” “You
really don’t know anything, do you?” “…Not
really.” “The
seed can do almost anything! If someone who knows how to channel it, does so,
they can make almost any miracle happen.” “Where
did it come from?” “It
was made by man and witches so long ago that no proper records still exist,
just legends and myths. The old witches and warlocks took it and fled somewhere
far beyond the reach of man hundreds of years ago; around the time of Salem.” “…As
in the witch trials?” “Yes…when
I died for the first time…” “Died?” “We’re
here!” The Rockwell Estate…or what was
left of it. Barely even a building, but most of the backyard and lawn
sculptures were still intact. “Stand there…I’ll get what I need from the
shed.” Mary left me as she glided over to
the shed and began rifling through things. She returned with a large compound
of wax and what appeared to be bone fragments. “You mentioned before…that
it wasn’t you…that burned down my house, right?” “Huh?
No, it wasn’t I swear! I couldn’t even if I wanted to!” I pleaded; hoping not to upset her in any way. “Really?
Then, who was it?” “That
b***h, Anesha.” “…Anesha…is-is
she a witch?” “Yeah.
She’s not here is she!?” Just thinking
about Anesha being within earshot of the smallest insult freaked me out. If
she’d heard me bad mouth her, I wasn’t sure what she’d do to me. “Not
unless she’s…invisible. So, you’re saying you can’t use magic yourself?” “No…I
can’t. Uh…why?” “…”
Mary raised her hand. “Oh…wax
puppets…breathe and bend at my will!” Her
voice echoed across the landscape. The leaves on the lawn sculptures began to
rustle. The inanimate creatures stood up, slowly beginning to circle us. Each
step shaking the ground as the sculptures uncoordinatedly stumbled closer. Three large, animal shaped grass beings
stood around us, towering over me. “Mary…are these things
going to help?” The deep and unnatural
wheezing from the creatures was concerning. “No…I
want to see something. Hold him down!” With sudden and incredible force, I
was pushed down onto the ground. It felt like I was being crushed by three
giant gorillas. “W-What’s going on! Mary, this doesn’t
feel right!” “I
thought…at first that you were some supremely powerful being. The instant I
laid eyes on you, I could feel the impossibly dense mana. I was afraid you were
aiming to wipe me out, which is why you got rid of my house, but you’re just
some rube! A Podunk fool who’s in over his head with no real power! When you
pushed me down before, I thought, there was no way I’d be able to fight you,
but you followed me all the way here, like a good little boy! Without any magic
to boot! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH! People now are so damned foolish!” “…What
are you planning on doing…?” “Like
I promised…I’ll remove the seed. You may die though…sorry!” The grass monstrosities made me kneel as
Mary drew closer and closer. I tried in vain to break the grasp those things
had on me. “Don’t worry, I brought this wax and these bones for a reason.
I’ll try to keep you alive. Your body has to have absorbed plenty of mana by
now, so I’m sure you’ll make an excellent homunculus!” (I’ve
got to get out of here! How are these things even holding me!?) Grips like steel, it felt like multiple hands,
a myriad of fingers were digging into my arms and shoulders. When I looked to
see if I could bite them or do anything to escape their grasp, beneath the
foliage I saw them, white hands, tons going all the way up the body of the
monsters masked by their leafy exterior. Bloodshot red eyes stared back at me;
all too human faces and teeth, so many teeth; within the shrubbery were
homunculi with huge distorted features seemingly crying out in pain. They were
beasts shaped humans, covered in leaves, dirt and grass, hidden away the entire
time we were at the Rockwell Estate and possibly for much longer. “…Anesha…ANESHA!!!”
I cried, hoping she wasn’t too far away! Mary jumped back, frantically looking
toward the sky. Nothing came. “…hehehehe….HAHAHAHAH!!” “Not
again…where are you when I need you…?” Out
of nowhere the hot, searing pain of a razor being quickly traced down across my
face was followed by blood dripping down my brow. “Ugh…AgGGH!” Mary slashed me with her knife-like fingers. “You
had me scared. Don’t do it agaaaaaaaggggiinn…” Again, she fixed her throat. “…Not
again…” It hit me. I was in the same
situation as before. Like then, I needed to break free, break free of those
monsters, of needing Anesha, of being helpless! “Get…off of me!” Whatever feeling I felt before with the
tallman, I tried to bring it back up in my head. “Huh?
No, boy…I’ll extract the seed and then…” “I
don’t care! F**k you! Let go of me!” I
tried to summon all my strength. The grass homunculi pushed me back down with
ease and Mary drove her sharp foot into my calf. “AGGGhh!” (Come on…come
on! Get angry, you idiot, not scared!) It
must have been anger that drew out the strength I had before, or so I thought. (Think
back to the Tallman, think back to talking with Anesha…think back to Gabby and
that s**t stain of a human boyfriend of hers!) I could feel it. My body started heating up and my blood began pumping
so strong I could feel it rushing through my veins. The cuts were becoming so
hot it hurt, like they were oozing magma down my face. “Wait…what
are you-” In a flash one of the grass
homunculi had burst into flames. The creature wailed in agony as it stumbled
away like a dancing, massive inferno. Mary turned, and I looked up to see my renewed
savior, the relentlessly, evil b***h, Anesha floating atop her broomstick,
looking disappointed. “…Oh
my, what piece of rubbish has been left in this garden? I could’ve sworn I’d
burned it all up.” As arrogant as always,
Anesha came towards the ground as Mary backed away, shaking like a leaf. “Raze,
earth beneath my feet!” The little
remaining grass beneath the sole of her boot ignited, scorching to leave only
ash. “Let’s see…little…what precisely are you?” “Back
away!” Mary howled at Anesha. “I’ll
kill him! I’m not afraid of you!” One of
the lawn beasts let go of my arm and slowly lumbered toward Anesha. “Crush
her!!” “…”
Anesha reached into her pocket and pulled
out a small trinket, a sword shaped keychain. She gripped it tightly and, in a
flash, transformed the item into a glowing white saber. She tilted her head and swung the blade,
cleaving the monster in two with a translucent crescent beam. “Wh…WHAT!?”
Mary screamed while Anesha let out a
bored yawn. “One
little monster left…and one big monster left…hmhmhm. Now, how shall I entertain
myself?” The all too common smug sneer
coming across Anesha’s face, regardless of where it was directed, infuriated me. “Yyyyyooouuu…”
Mary fell back down to the ground,
staring up in terror before Anesha. She tried to fix her throat again and again
while scurrying away. “Ttttttthhiiiiiiiiissssssss issss YY-yourrrr
fffaulllttt!” She reached for me with her
razorlike fingers and by that point, I’d had enough. “Get
away from me!” I pulled back so hard it
sent the lawn sculpture homunculi toppling over, sending pieces of earth flying
with its sheer weight. “Huh? How’d I?” When
I looked down at my hands, I noticed my skin was darkening, like I’d suddenly
gotten a tan. Steam bellowed off of me and more sweat poured down from me than
had in my entire life. (Just like that night…is this what Anesha meant when
she said the seed would protect me?) The enormous hand of the homunculus suddenly
flew toward me, but that time I was prepared. I dodged to the side and looked
the creature in its dead eyes. Broken bones dug out from inside the wax body of
the creature, tearing holes with blood and human organs seeping out. Each face underneath
all of its matted foliage prison screamed they’d given up on being alive, like
it was forced to not die. (This
poor thing…) With all the strength I
could muster, I pulled back and clenched my fist. (I can feel it. So much
power! My body feels so much stronger than I’ve ever felt before. I’ll put you
out of your misery.) With the strongest
punch I’d ever thrown in my life, I blasted the creature in its torn and nearly
destroy head. I expected to shatter the monster’s cracking skull, but I
destroyed its head, body and everything standing behind it! “What…?” It was as if a cannon had gone off.
The lawn, a nearby tree and the entirety of the homunculi’s body had been sent
flying. It felt like I was hitting an exercise ball, so light that I wasn’t
even sure that I’d connected at first, but then the feeling of my wrist
breaking crept into my mind. It didn’t matter though…I was so mesmerized with
how strong I’d hit that homunculus! The air shook, the earth quaked, and my
body shuttered under the weight of the punch I’d thrown! With a thud, what was
left of the monster hit the ground. I was out of breath and could feel it
badly then; my wrist wasn’t just broken but shattered. “AGGHHH!!
This hurts so bad!” I’d never felt
anything like that before. Excruciating pain, so bad I almost threw up. “F-F**k…ughh…”
Pathetically, I did throw up after all… “Oh
my…now this is an unexpected occurrence.” I’d
completely forgotten about Anesha. “You’ve gotten some control of the
seed’s power. And here I thought of you as no more than a caveman.” She laughed condescendingly. “Yeah…laugh
it up…” I could still feel it. Despite my
broken wrist, I could still feel the power welling up in my body. (Wait…this
is it. With this power…no matter how much magic this b***h has…if I hit her
with everything I’ve got, she’ll die…right? There’s no way she stronger than
that monster! Even the ground under me exploded, hell the ground under the
monster exploded along with most of the lawn behind it! I’ll kill her…I’ll kill
her right now!) “A-Anesha…my wrist is…broken! How do I…make the seed fix it?” “How?
Are you an utter fool, or do you simply lack the ability to retain any
information that I’ve offered you to this point?” She started strolling over to me with that typical ‘holier than thou’,
s**t eating grin plastered on her f*****g face; that was exactly what I wanted. “I-it
hurts really bad! AGGHH, please, I’m begging you to just fix it! Please!” (C-Can
I really kill someone? I’ve only ever been in a few fights and never even won
one. No, I won’t kill her…just beat her halfway to death and force her to take
the seed out of me! After that, I’ll figure out what I want to do. I’ll get her
sent to jail, or whatever.) I was hunched
over on the ground clutching my arm, but I could see her boots closing in from
the top of my sight. “Little…closer…” “Hmph!
You honestly make me sick. Are you not a man? Do men not have the ability to
make children? I didn’t know they also had the ability to cry like them.” The turn around that I was about to get when
I shattered that jeering, bitchy attitude of Anesha’s was going to be worth the
pain of my wrist. “…Heh…”
I leapt to my feet and charged her. I
wasn’t any type of martial artist, but I knew if I went for her legs, I’d be
able to at least get her down on the ground and lay into her. “…Sky…?” I came in looking at Anesha’s legs, trying
to do a double leg take down, but for one reason or another I was looking up at
the sky. It was a pretty sight as a matter of fact, the twinkling stars
whizzing by. It was a weird feeling, but not nearly as weird as being slammed
into the ground and having my broken wrist twisted. “AGGHHHH!” “Now
pray tell, what were you trying to do?” Anesha
stood her boot on the side of my face, looking down with contempt. She gripped
my arm by the broken wrist and twisted sadistically. “Wait
wait wait! STOP!” My body felt like it
was cooling down as the pain intensified. All the power, the surge of energy
I’d felt, drained away slowly. “You
were aiming to attack me. Me! Have I not made it clear to you? I’m God to you,
fool!” She twisted harder and began to
bend my arm at the elbow. “Ok
ok ok ok! Stop, please! I’m sorry I’m sorry! I get it, okay!” The bending and turning of my arm were
insufferable. “You
get it? No, no I don’t believe you do. It’s clear to me how little punishment
you’ve received, how little rearing you’ve received! It’s clear to me that I
was far too lenient with you until now. When a pet, no, when something lower
than dirt attempts to raise a hand against God, it needs to be reminded of its
place! Stuck down.” Snap! She mercilessly
broke my arm. “UGGHHHAAAGGGh!
AGh! AGH!!!” It was the first time in my
life I’d felt something like that. A mind-numbing burn shot throughout my body.
She’d clearly broken it in a way to make it hurt as much as possible. “Ugh…” I couldn’t even speak, I was in so
much pain. Anesha raised her boot only to stomp it down again on the back of my
head as I clutched my broken arm. She must’ve enjoyed that position, to her it
must’ve been befitting of her status as a queen or goddess or whatever she
deemed herself. “…This is only the beginning.” “I’m…sorry…”
I barely squeaked out between pitiful
winces. “I
don’t care. You’re being punished.” She
removed her boot from the back of my head and backed away. I turned up to see
her lifting her hand and that horrifying purple glyph once again. “Stop…no,
I’m really sorry! I won’t ever do it again! I swear! I - please don’t!” With tears in my eyes and on the ground,
begging, the last word she said, totally cold and unfeeling, made my heart
drop. “No.”
She gripped the glyph as my body felt the
seizure come on. My skin felt like it was being scraped away, my blood began to
boil as my bones felt like they were being ground down. I lost the ability to
see as I gripped at the dirt on the ground. Then my sense of smell and taste
left me. It felt like my body’s senses were being shut off almost as if they
were computer processes. I could hear my own screaming begin to fade, I was
going deaf. My voice, I could hear myself begging for her to stop. It was loathsomely
pathetic. I hated hearing myself beg to anyone, especially that b***h. Finally,
my sense of touch disappeared as I floated into darkness. I could still feel
the pain of my body being torn apart, but I couldn’t move. All I knew was
suffering, mentally and physically, as I drifted away within nothingness. End of chapter 6 © 2021 Angelo Kingston |
StatsAuthorAngelo KingstonPhiladelphia, PAAboutI'd like to hear what people think as much as possible, so please feel free to comment. I will finish every single novel I start! more..Writing
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