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 Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:30 pm
Taking the bag, the key, and the scissors from the yellow Goddess, Axel gave her a nod. He would gladly do it, so long as it helped him get closer to Ruin. He could taste it now, ruling side by side with the crimson Goddess and the others. He'd take her for himself, and then...
Well...that could come later. For now, he just had to obtain the Divinity.
Leaving the place and moving on to a new area, Axel was confronted with a choice of three doors. One felt like too nice, too ambient. The others felt better, more like something Ruin would go with. The pumpkin door was scorned, as was the reverse hook after much deliberation. He needed to do what Ruin would do - and Ruin would take the most sinister of the three.
With steeled nerves, the shadow opened the door with the tree insignia.
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:05 pm
Thump
Axel moved into the constricted hallway, sidling along at a tiptoed slug's pace, making sure not to lose his footing and trip, bringing unneeded and unpleasant pain, thanks to the sharp and stony edges that made up the walls of the path. A few times there was a wet sound, as though he'd stepped in a puddle.
Thump
The place had a faint smell to it, a metallic tang in the air. There was also humidity, and a constant pressure in the atmosphere. Another splash, and the smell of iron flooded his senses.
THUMP
Recoiling, Axel took a minute to steady himself. The shape he'd bumped into was vague at first, but made itself known as a box once his sight was restored. It was oddly shaped though, deformed in a grotesque way. Boxes...didn't usually have arms. He grabbed it, groping the forearm and pulling it towards him.
THUMP THUMP
A voice, pitched in a high femininity and boosted by pain, screeched an almost familiar name. What kind of name was that? It sounded like some completely different language. He tugged again, and the voice continued to scream out the name. It was incredibly irritating - that, and this woman was in his way. Ruin was all that mattered, now.
The scissors began to snap and click, his ears deafened to the sound of her screams. His eyes, blessed by Ruin's sight, we unfortunately unable to blind themselves. The woman was plumpish, with short black hair and dull green eyes. She had a small red mouth that had trickles of liquid running down it, and a torn blouse with a hole in the chest. More snipping, more clacking.
THU-
The last piece was cut away, and his hand gripped the heart as she screamed out that awful, wretched name for the final time. He went blind for a moment, caught in a memory of the woman handing him a wrapped up box. There was a cake with the number four on it, and there were many friends surrounding him.
Leaving the memory, he blinked. There was moisture on his face - had to be from cutting into the woman. The heart went into the bag, and he stepped through the box.
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:41 pm
The ground was getting softer, like walking from a road to mud. Eventually, the mud stopped, leaving a dark expanse in front of him. He heard what sounded like footsteps, shaky and sparse. Craning his neck to look behind him, there was nothing.
The dark expanse ended up being water - a still water path that he'd have to walk through. It was a good thing he didn't have those fancy clothes now, Axel supposed. The water was up to his calves, and he heard a similar sloshing sound. He turned his head again, finding nothing once more. "Must be an echo." He muttered to himself, pressing on.
A voice, like the one that had been screaming, was saying things. Asking for something? He could only hear it vaguely, trying to ignore anything that might distract him.
He was neck deep now, trying very hard to keep pressing on. He couldn't move, the path had become too deep. About to turn back, he was suddenly pushed under the water. The figure, the one he'd cut the heart out of, was pushing him down - deep into the water. Her green eyes had dulled to grey, and she demanded her heart back.
He tried to struggle, to fight the woman off, but she had him in an unfavorable position. He shook more, but it was useless. A memory flooded in - the woman and him? Yes. She and he were fighting over a club, and what should be done with it. She kept insisting that they should hire a new mixologist for special cocktails, while he argued that they were losing money on the property and that hiring someone new would put them more in the tank.
She shouted at him that he should never dare to speak to his mother that way. The memory faded, and Axel gasped. His mother? He...he killed his mother.
He stopped struggling.
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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:51 pm
His mother. His mother was trying to drown him - trying to impede his progress towards deity. All that mattered was the blessings, though. His mother was long dead, and now she was just this.. figment trying to block his way. Clenching his teeth and screwing up his brow, he yelled without making a noise and plunged the scissors deep into the previous crevice he'd made.
She shrieked again, thrashing and throwing herself away from him, disspearing with the scissors in her chest. He continued falling, choking from the water that he'd swallowed after yelling. Falling, falling, falling - and then he landed on his feet, coughing up the excess. The water had drained into some sort of void, leaving him with a door that was flooding light in. It was time to leave, to return the heart to the yellow goddess.
Pushing the door open with bated breath, he saw the woman out of the corner of his eye. Not his mother...not his mother.
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:54 pm
It was too bright.
Axel shielded his eyes with a hand as he opened them, slightly pained by the offending light producing tubes on the ceiling. He'd been enjoying his sleep, though he didn't even remember falling asleep. In fact, he didn't remember this room. The cold metal table that was giving him a sore back didn't bring to mind any memories, nor did the cramped white walls. Swinging a leg over the stainless steel, green eyes took in his surroundings. Nothing but the four walls, and a door.
Obviously, he needed to go to the door. There was nothing here, nothing that would help him in his quest of Deity. Ruin wouldn't have him just sit around, would she? Of course she wouldn't.
He ventured a few awkward steps into the hallway, his legs for some reason having to regain their bearings. Rigor mortis? No, he had only been sleeping. Perhaps he'd been sleeping awkwardly, and now his feet were waking up later than the rest of his body.
THUD.
Axel whipped his head around, finding nothing. A few more steps were taken, his bearings regained. He could see an exit sign at the end of the seemingly infinite hallway, and he began to venture in that direction.
THUD.
Another glance, and he stopped dead. A torn, mutilated figure of a plump woman with rusted scissors in her hand. She began to move his way with obviously murderous intent.
Run, he told himself. Move.
He sprinted like an animal being chased, hand reaching for the door knob. No luck, it was locked. A key code was required, and he had little time to figure it out.
[Distance: 40/40]
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:56 pm
In a fit of desperation, Axel tried to open the door again. He rattled and rattled the door handle, kicked the door itself, and shoved it. Nothing was happening - the door was solid, the red letters screaming at him it seemed. Code required! Code required!
"L#@&! This is just like you, child. Fumbling around and making mistakes, as always. You're going to ruin this like you ruined your relationship with that sweet Maria girl, you know. L$*#! Don't you ignore me! You know, you're just as idiotic as your fa-393!"
What? Who? Axel shook his head, keeping an eye on those nasty scissors. He needed to find the code!
[Distance: 35/40]
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 2 4-sided dice:
3, 1
Total: 4 (2-8)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:01 pm
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:02 pm
Everything went dizzy as Axel continued to try and find his way out. He looked up, down, left, right, in corners, on the ceiling. There were no hints to be found, none at all! He panicked, started to pull on the door even harder.
It was Summer. He was in a pool, splashing at an older man with a smile. A plump woman was frowning at him, telling him that he should be doing his homework for the upcoming school year.
"Stop being so foolish, child! You never work hard enough!"
[Distance: 30/40]
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:07 pm
He tried to look again, trying to ignore the fact that the distorted woman was getting closer and closer to him. He couldn't keep failing - he couldn't fail Ruin! Not like this, he pleaded mentally, not like this! I can't go! I can't go!
Winter time, and the plump woman was holding a book. He was in bed, and she was speaking quietly to him - reading about a fierce but loving lion, a cruel witch, and four adventurous and sometimes bumbling children. She smiled, as did he. A kiss to the forehead, and the lamp was shut off.
"Coward! You can't even face me? Look at me, L7&^$#!"
[Distance: 25/40]
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:16 pm
She was getting close - too close. He wanted to scream, to kick out, to do something to make her get farther away. He pounded at the door, kicked the key pad, tried to rattle the knob once again.
Nothing.
"What about when you couldn't even mix a screwdriver right? How awful! You've never done a single thing right, have you boy? Everything failed because of you!"
[Distance: 20/40]
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:19 pm
His eyes darting around the room again, they finally caught a glimpse of something. To his left, a small piece of paper with a bit of code on it. A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, and so on. That...didn't help at all? There had to be a corresponding piece to the puzzle! He needed to keep looking.
He could almost hear the breath of the woman now. Too close, too close.
[Distance: 15/40]
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:23 pm
His eyes kept going back to the paper to his left. It wasn't helping! He needed something else, some other clue! He tried jabbing a few numbers out of desperation, but nothing happened. Keep looking, he mentally chanted, keep looking and ignore the heavy footsteps. Ignore the looming aura of murder. Ignore it all, and keep looking!
[Distance: 10/40]
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:24 pm
He slipped against the door, falling flat on his face. Everything went dizzy again as he groped around, desperately trying to grab hold of something, anything that might save him. He had to survive, he had to! Ruin and the other Goddesses wouldn't accept him as Deity if he didn't...
Late summer. He was a teenager, fresh into his Junior year of high school. It'd been a rough day of tests and boring lectures. He'd missed his bus, his car was currently being repaired thanks to some drunk hit and run, and he'd walked home in 100 degree weather. She ushered him in the house, making little tut tut noises and forcing him into a seat, pouring him lemonade and bringing out a bowl of icecream. "You're going to give yourself heat stroke!" She fussed, wiping at his face with a wet cloth.
"You're over working yourself again! Stop being so foolish!"
[Distance: 5/40]
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Carhop Cavalier rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:30 pm
It was over - he couldn't get to the outside in time. The blackened, mangled woman had grabbed his hair, paralyzing him. "Don't worry," She cooed, snipping the scissors menacingly. "It only hurts once."
THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUDTHUDHTHUDTHU-
snip.
His heart was gone, clutched in the figures hands. White hot lightning racked his body, his essence becoming molten pain. Then it stopped. He felt nothing, saw nothing. Everything was going now - everything was gone.
"I...mo...sor...."
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Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:40 pm
He took a sip, calming down and sinking in his chair. It all began to spin around, everything in a blur for a few seconds, before it all settled into a large room with books upon books upon books. The library - he knew this library. People started to materialize, passing in and out.
One girl in particular materialized, a mousy little thing with donkey slippers and curly, curly brunette hair. She was hefting at least fifty pounds of books by herself, determined to get them all translated for a woman she called "Cap'n." The way she got to work, diligently pouring over ancient words and using as many dictionaries as there were books on the table, all of them brought him something.
Respect. She may have been younger than him, smaller, more innocent and naive, but the girl was a hard worker. He smiled, wanting to reach out and pat her on the head - but it all vanished, just like that.
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