Run Boy Run
Mat and Yuri
Whatever force that pulled Yuri through the floor, seemed less kind about making sure that another floor was under him before letting his body drop. As though he sunk through the ceiling above and then gravity righted itself, sending him spiraling to the floor.
Where he was dropped was a long stone hallway with the occasional torch every couple of yards that did very little to light the corridor. It was patches of yellow among a sea of black. With something moving through one of those patches of blackness.
Yuri propped himself up on his elbows as his stomach churned, gagging slightly at the residual dizzyness. Pulling the ties holding his collar closed, Yuri freed his mouth to spit before he pulled himself to his feet. Grabbing his scythe as he stood Yuri strained his eyes out into the darkness. His face became grave as he took in his surroundings, and picked out a shape amongst the dark.
As he tracked it, Yuri let his sythe fall into a loose single handed grip. Tensing up he lashed out at the thing, the scythe cutting the air to the side of it to draw it's attention as his other hand shot out to seize it "Tag" was all he said, his voice a low growl.
Mat steadied himself as he felt that his position had moved again, having to hit his stomach to stop himself from puking.
"This game is not being very enjoyable..." Mat muttered, standing straight up and flexing before viewing his surroundings, or by the very least attempted to with all the darkness surrounding him.
"I wish I brought that bloody lantern," Mat muttered to himself, then tensed up as he heard something move. He was about to turn when he suddenly saw a scythe cut right in front of him.
"Wait, scythe-?" Mat wasn't able to finish as he was suddenly grabbed by a hand. The young hunter almost immediately attempted to stab the figure with his spear when he realized who it was.
"Hey wait...Yuri?" He said, identifying the hunter.
Wall, put it back up, he immediately thought.
"Hell I thought I recognized the scythe. Where the hell have you been?"Yuri was about to drive the figure to floor as his hand clsoed around it, just as a framiliar voice and face appeared to him. All at once he released his grip, and stepped back with a slight stumble, as his momentum tried to continue him forward. Blinking the tention Yuri had built up bled away as he strained his eyes ageinst the dark
"Let's see, slight favoring of one leg and oddly colored spear?" As he finished that last thought a grin broke out on his face, as he chuckeld slightly, pulling his scythe back to a resting position. "Oh my god, Mat? Where the hell have I been, well mainly fighting moving corpses and mashed together skeleton beasts, and being pulled through solid stone as if it was water." He shuddered at the last thought before continueing, "The better question is where the hell have you been, and where the hell are we now?"
As he spoke the cold feeling in his head washed his thoughts with a feeling of almost... regret that things hadent turned bloody?
"Oh shut it you, no one asked." Mat gave a small chuckle and set the bottom of his spear on the ground so he could lean on it.
"Oh you know, here and there. By the way, as you could probably tell, this isn't a simple necromancer we're dealing with, it's much worse. Then again having the news be 'it's much worse than we thought' is basically standard for hunters. That creature thingy running this...knows things, but he does really like games," Mat explained.
Yeah, playing real fun games. Dammit Emiliah where are you? He thought.
"I was with Emiliah, then a witch huntress girl, now you.""Been busy then" Yuri chuckled, the action sending a pang from the wound on his side, making him breath out slowly. "Still its good that you at least have some inkling of what the hell is going on, better than fireing arrows in the dark by far." Yuri thought for a moment "you said this thing like to play games? Any idea what kind of..." His voice trailed off as the recent memory of whatever grabbed him came into Yuri's mind, most notably what it had said to him.
Almost immedietly the hunter's eyes darted here and there, looking down the impossably long hall, at mat, back to the hall, to Mat's leg, all the while ice water seemed to replace his blood and his mouth went dry. "Any idea of what game the thing wants to play? beacuse if not I..I think I may have an idea, and you probably wont like it." Yuri finally finished.
Suddenly a cracking, splashing sound could be heard from one side of the hallway, slowly getting closer and closer to the two men. The light of one of the torches showed the floor vanishing into darkness below. The stones falling away piece by piece, with nearly a foot of them disappearing with every blink.
Mat made a small shrug.
"He wants entertainment from us I suppose, I think-" Mat turned his head to the sound of cracking.
"Well this is as good as an example as any! Run you idiot run!" Without waiting for Yuri Mat began sprinting away from the falling stones.
There was no need to tell Yuri twice, as he turned on his heels and tore off down the hall. He tried to keep pace with Mat, a long string of curses following him "So is this what it meant by tag?" He yelled out to the dark.
Mat had begun to feel the weakness in his leg coming back to him and began slowing to where Yuri had caught up to him.
"Oh hell, this is super fun!" He yelled out as he kept running.
From below the the falling rocks, the shining tips of sharp metal stakes. Suddenly the rocks stopped falling and the room got very very quiet. From little further up ahead came a tiny, voice "N-no, s-stay a-aaa-away from me," Just out of the edge of the light sat a little girl and a tiny orange kitten. "Please... I don't want to die," she whispered.
Yuri slowed his pace as the sound of imminent falling and stabbing doom faded behind him. Silently he thanked whatever stars had alligned to give him at least some shred of luck this night. He was about to being asking Mat about what the hell jsut happened when the sound of the little girl crying reached his ears. Immedetily his head snapped twaords the sound, and he stopped.
"This just keeps getting weirder" he thought to himself as the girl whispered to, what he could only assume was himself and Mat.
Yuri debated what to do, coming up with two answers to the obvious question of who this girl was. Answer number 1, she was a trap, an illution to lure the hunters to a probably spiky doom (honeslty, The most probable one of the pair) and answer number 2, that she was a victim in all this, some child caught up in a deadly game.
Now, logic would dictate that the probability of the first option being correct would outweigh the second option. Logic would cry out to leave her behind and save your own hide. But Yuri wasnt one for listening to logic in a situation like this, as evedent by him holding up his hands and folding his scythe's blade away. "It's ok" he whispered back to the girl, keeping himself in a non threatening stance as he took a few slow steps twoards her "No one is going to hurt you."
"You can say that, but I can't," came another voice, and two girls, identical to the one on the floor with the kitten appeared from the shadows. One was grinning manically as she lead the other forward, holding her hair back, keeping the girls head tipped up towards the ceiling.
The girl had tears running down her face and seemed frightened beyond words. "Now dear hunter. I will tell you this. One of these two girls is real. One is a monster, the question is, who are you going to save?" Suddenly, the orange kitten behind held by the little girl started to twist and grow, until it was a monster all its own, now holding the girl the same way she once held him.
Mat looked between the two girls, then the demon cat and the girl that was probably a demon too.
"Well isn't this lovely?" Mat muttered, glancing over at Yuri.
"I don't think this is going to be much of a fair challenge judging by the last obstacles this guy threw at us." The hunter looked between the two girls again.
"OK, murder creepy demon cat or murder creepy demon girl? I'll just give you that one Yuri."Yuri was lost in a panicked thought, his eyes darting between the two girls and the demons that held them. He thought on the question posed, one was real the other fake, and he could only chose one. It was obvious what would happen if he chose wrong. As his face twisted into various expresstions he noted Mat's comment "This once I dont think thats the right answer.."
Mat glanced between the two again and sighed.
"Cat is more obvious demon target, girl is supposed to be innocent. Of course, that makes the girl way more dangerous and therefore probably has the real one. But wait maybe that's what we're supposed to think and the demon cat thingy has the real one. Or maybe..." Mat trailed off then shrugged his shoulders.
"Eh, screw it. Murder the innocent demon girl that isn't innocent at all!" With that Mat charged at the demon girl and stabbed right at her.
Yuri wanted to yell out at Mat, but somewhere in his mind he knew he was right. This was an unwinnable game, destened to be lost. "Screw it, I like that answer." Was all he whispered as he broke into an involentary grin as he sprung with Mat. His scythe unfolding as he swung it full force at the Cat demon's neck, the cold in his head cackleing away all the while.
At once, both of the demons shifted so that both choices of little girls were being used as human body sheilds. The girls all looked at each other and on of the hostages mouthed something to the other one and was promptly slapped by the demon girl. "No, no, that is cheating," she hummed, but whether to the hunters or the the hostages, it was hard to tell. "No, no, dear hunters, you must pick, it is only fair,"
Yuri spun his blade, as to not hit the now human sheilds, bringing it back to his side. He was obviously displeased by this development "Fair?" he growled, but as the gears in his head turned he adoped a more diplomatic tone "That is quite easy for you to say when you have presented us no information, this is supposed to be a game right? Games, and even riddles to some extent require some give and take to remain 'fair'. Currently we are the only ones giving, so I would say we are owed some hint or some other such thing to keep it fair." Yuri cast a side glance "How does that sound Mat?"
Mat shrugged his shoulders.
"Look, this guy isn't nice with his games. If it were me I'd pick someone at random and go with it but probably not the best way to go I suppose."The little girl behind held by the catdemon suddenly opened her mouth. "It's me, It's me, I'm the monster just don't hurt my--" the catdemon covered the little girls mouth hard enough to leave claw size bloodmarks that bled freely from her face.
The demongirl scowled, yanking her hostage's hair in anger. "Fine," She growled. "I go bored of this game. You have thirty seconds to pick, or I kill both and the girl dies,"
Yuri caught his breath as his heart thudded, it was an impossible choice, even after what the one girl had yelled. He hands shook slightly as he quickly weighed the options
"This sint fair, why would it be fair? there is no..." he stopped mid thought "There is no monster is there? They are family arn't they? You gave us an impossible choice, so that no matter what we chose we lose." He affixed the demon girl with a stair "The only monster girl here is you. Your the monster, you and the cat. So for you and the girl your holding, your the monster, and for the cat and his captive. Well thats just fucking obvious isn't it?" His blade twitched as he felt more adrenalin pump into his system, and his body tensed up, ready to spring.
Mat glanced between all the members in the room, ending on Yuri as he ranted towards the demon girl thing. He himself was already prepared to attack and was just patiently waiting for Yuri to finish.
"OK OK," Mat said after Yuri finished.
"Look, I pick the girl the cat is holding hostage. That's my decision, can I claim my prize now demon girl?"The demongirl had looked as though she was about to throw a fit. Or a tempertantrum that Yuri was ruining her fun. However, she perked up when Mat spoke. "See, you know how to play by the rules," she said with a laughed. Instead of letting the Catdemon's girl go, she let go of her own. "Alright then, as soon as she is dead, I'll let the other one go," The girl in the catdemons hands started kicking crying and screaming to get out of its hold, while the other girl sat on the floor, looking rather stuned. "Besides, I'm not the real monster, I'm looking at them and you know it," she said, glaring at Mat and Yuri.
Yuri's face fell as the events infront of him transpired, all he could hear was the thumping of his heart, the rush of blood in his ears.
"This cant be right, were we wrong?" the thought as his heart beat sounded once
"there has to be a way? Right? There is always a way? THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY." he screamed in his mind as his heart beat a second time.
"Always a way..." Yuri wanted to belive this, he really really did, his ears burned with panic.
But they didnt burn long. Before a fourth beat whent by the heat was smothered by the cold that begain to fill his head, now without resistence. It whispered to him, it calmed his shaking, until finally Yuri slipped away into a dreamless sleep, his last thought was that "this is a way."
The scythe's head fell to the floor as Yuri rolled his shoulder's his head turning to the demon girl as she spoke. With her last statement a wide grin broke out on his face as Yuri begain to cackle, as if it was the funnest thing he ever heard. He listed for a moment and then flung himself at the cat, his body spining with the scythe into a wide swipe at the things legs, laughing the entire time.
Mat looked over at Yuri as he stopped and suddenly started laughing.
"Yuri?" He asked as the fellow hunter charged the demon girl while still laughing. At first Mat wanted to join in, but stopped himself. The demon cat would probably go in for the assist soon and he'd probably have to help out there.
Then Mat drew a long breath, closed his eyes, and thought for a moment. They were breaking the rules, and people running events never like rule breakers. To his knowledge there were other hunters trapped, other people to entertain him. Rule breakers would serve as an example.
Mat slowly opened his eyes, knowing what to do. He stared down at the girl in front of him and said no words, just lifted up his spear and stabbed her in the head.
Elizabeth screamed, a girliish cry that probably ruined whatever reputation she had left.
What just happened! she thought, panicking as she fell through the floor of the attic. It had become a sort of smoke around her, and she had been able to fall through it. Now she landed, in a dark room, that was definitely not empty. She was on her back, and she was fully aware of the throbbing pain she felt in her shoulders. The first thing she did was look around for Andri, but he was nowhere to be found. Her gaze stopped when she saw Mat stabbing a llitte girl in the head. "Oh my god Mat what are you doing!" Liz screamed, ignoring the pain and scrambling to get up and rescue the girl. She had no chance, Mat had taken the sharp point of his spear and just stabbed her.
Elizabeth changed tactics, and rushed towards Mat instead. She did her best to push him away, avoiding the point of his now bloody spear. "What were you thinking!" She screamed, singling him out, and not taking the time to interpret the rest of the situation. Did all hunters turn out this way? Or was he a special traumatic case? Whatever the answer was, he still just stabbed a young unprotected child.
Mat looked over in confusion as he saw Elizabeth suddenly in the room too, but even with her there the girl was still dead with Mat's spear going right through her head. He made no resistance as the huntress pushed him away and almost fell to the ground before he stabilized himself with his bloody spear. Mat didn't really have any words to say about his action, and instead just looked over at Yuri.
"Yuri! It's over, we don't need to start a fight!" He called out to him.
The Demon girl let out a laugh, holding her sides. "I can't believe you did it, I mean, Master said that you'd do it. He is going to be so proud of me!" She let out a beaming grin, like this was the proudest moment of her life. Suddenly, she was lifted a few feet off the floor and Death appeared near her.
"Yes my pet, you did so well. I told you making them kill one of your sisters wouldn't hurt a bit," he gave the girl an almost loving pat on her head, like a man would give to a dog. "And dear Mat here,has turned out to be such a lovely toy. I am almost tempted to keep you here for me to play with....almost," with that, the pair vanished along with the catdemon.
The remaining girl launched herself towards the corpse of her sister. "
No.No.No. Char, no," she cradled her look alike in her lap, rocking her backwards and forwards. After a few moments she looked up at Mat. "You Monster! You killed my sister!"
Yuri's cackleing slowed as the cat demon vanished, his eye twitching as it lost track of the thing. Internally the monster screamed its inane rambleings as it found no target, nothing to unleash itself upon, nothing to keep Yuri suppressed and asleep. Even as Mat yelled it could feel it's influence fadeing, still it had enough to turn to the spear weilding hunter. As Yuri's eyes beheld the spectical before him, the monster felt a flare of plesure, perhaps it would still fight after all.
Outwardly Yuri's fading grin grew as he begain to advance to Mat, his scythe draggin on the ground. But the monster's grip had faded too much, so with every step Yuri's face changed. first his eyes darkened and hardened, losing that erratic spark. Next his grin shrunk, until all that remained was a scowl. As he drew into striking range, all that remained was Yuri, a tired, hurt and livid Yuri.
He picked his scythe's head off the ground and leaned on the shaft, the wound in his side seeping slightly as the excitement had slightly reopend it. He wanted to yell, to scream at Mat. But ultimetly he couldn't fault him to much, there was always a way right? It just so happened that this was the way this one played out. So he kept his distence and instead bent to comfort the remaining girl.
"Help me."Suddenly there was another voice in the room. A small distance away, lay a very weak Andri.
Elizabeth raised her hand as far as it would go, the pain on her shoulders making her clench her teeth. She was unsure if she would smack Mat, or just use the hand to rub her temples. However she had no time to decide, because a voice appeared just a few feet away. Tensing, Elizabeth's head snapped towards it. What she saw made her relax with relief, it was Andri. She tensed again though as she realized how weak he had sounded. With a glare in Mat's direction, she dropped her hand and rushed to Andri's side. Carefully easing down onto her knees, she examined Andri, worry creasing her face. "What happened to you Andri? Are you okay? Are they close?" She asked, bombarding him with questions. She tried to shield his eyes from the fallen child, but he had probably seen it by now. "I just got here, I'm glad I did. Mat probably would have stabbed you." Her eyes flashed briefly with anger, but it calmed as she focused back on Andri. "I thought you were dead, you can't just disappear on me, got it?"
Mat was wanting to yell out to all of them, put a grin on, flip his spear, or something that would give a response. Instead, he just drew a long breath and stepped back using his spear as support. It hardly fazed him when Andri was suddenly there and Elizabeth ran over to help him.
The wall is down, they know who I am. Mat looked down and sat against the wall, putting his spear across his lap. He glanced at Andri and the living girl then looked down again. He supposed that it wouldn't be too hard to kill either of them should there be another twist in the thing's game, it wasn't like he could get much lower after what he just did.
Mat would've stabbed him? If it had been possible, Andri's face would just have become more pale than before. He didn't know what hat happened here, but Elizabeth's words about Mat weren't reassuring. He had seen the child, but he was saturated with own feelings already.
"I was buried alive, with worms speaking to me. And then...." Then there was silence. It took Andri quite a bunch of seconds to get talking again. Khan had actually not forbidden him to talk about what happened...
"I'm infested with one in my head." The way he looked like at the moment was indicating a few more words: 'Don't tell them, please!'
"OH, That was smart, idiot," Said Khan from inside. "Of all the hosts I could have picked, I had to pick the suicidal one. Grab her boob, or I bite your brain,"
Elizabeth looked down at Andri, her eyes full of concern. What in the world was Andri talking about? Worms? "Andri, once we get out of here, you can tell me all about it. As for the worm in your head, how do we take it out?" Elizabeth reached down, grabbing Andri's head and tilting it for further inspection. "It talks? What is it saying?" She asked, if it was anything like what she had seen, she knew that she had to take it out. She also had to keep Andri calm, but find a way to tell the others without him noticing.
Andri's face started to become distorted again. One could see tears running down his temples. Then he raised his left hand, staring at Liz.
"Sorry." he uttered, then accelerated his arm. The way he grabbed what Khan had demanded with his giant hand was quick and short lived, as he retracted his arm again immediately after having made contact. He was totally disgusted of himself.
"Come on, that was the most action you've ever got, I can see it in your mind. Try again, but slower," snapped the very happy Worm.
Of all the parasites I had to pick the most suicidal one. Do you know that the other hunters will most likely kill me after you have forced me to cross certain lines ? He wasn't sure if Khan could see what he was thinking, but better to assume that this damn worm could monitor everything... Already having accelerated his arm again while uttering another excuse towards Liz, he grabbed her again, this time holding on tightly. It felt like an ever increasing pain to him the longer he continued this...
The first time Andri touched her breast, Elizabeth had been quite shocked. He had only held his hand there for a moment, but she knew it was unlike Andri to do something so...irrational. Her mouth gaped, and she struggled to find the words to say, when he reached out and touched her breast for a second time. This time, he held his hand there, and ELizabeth's eyes danced with flames. "Andri, remove your hand, now." She said, making sure to enunciate her words very carefully. Without giving him a second to respond, her hand shot up and she grabbed him by the wrist. Forcefully, she removed his hand, placing it back into his lap. "You will never touch me in that way, ever again. If you try anything, I swear to whatever gods you worship that you won't have a hand."
He was dead. Dead again. Khan had betrayed him as he likely would continue to force him to do things that would very quickly ruin his entire life, if not making other people kill him outright. And he had the gut feeling that he was already scraping along this thin line. He squirmed and started to cry outright. So that was it... his hunter career most likely had ended before it really had started.
At that moment, Marcus dropped into the room, Falling onto the ground letting out a large grunt of pain, as he was right next to both Andri and Elizabeth. He groaned as he slowly pushed himself up. "What the hell?" He said as his eyes continued to adjust from the blinding light he had seen. "Where am I?" He said as he looked at the others...was...Andri feeling up Elizabeth? "....is going on here?" He said, adding to his more general question before focusing on what he saw now.
And Liz was poofed out, but not until after Marcus saw it.
Mat looked over when he heard another voice in the room and looked over to see Marcus with Elizabeth gone.
"More games?" He asked, looking up at the ceiling.
"Aren't you bored by now?" Mat was certainly sick of the games at this point, but it seemed like they wouldn't end.
"What's next?" The hunter sighed and hit his head against the wall, contemplating what to do. His eyes finally settled on the living girl that Yuri was attempting to comfort.
Worth a shot. Mat slowly stood up and walked over to them with his spear as support, sitting down in front of the girl.
"I'm sorry about your sister, but it was both of you or one of you. I'm just trying to minimize the casualties," he explained, feeling like shit after saying it like that.
"Can you help these people at all? Who are you anyway?""M-My name is Abigail," She then pushed herself away from him as fast as she could. "And...And you killed Ash. Ashley is dead because of you! You killed her. Charlotte wouldn't have hurt us. Sh-she is just sick okay? She'll get better, that is why we are here. To make Charlotte better," She then fell into tears again, finding the nearest hunter away from Mat to hide behind, which happened to be Marcus.
Yuri was honestly suprised as the hallway suddenly became alive with people coming and going. He didnt know why he was suprised as he remembered his own trip through the floor with a shudder. Taking a deep breath he hauld himself to his feet, and took new stock of the room. There was Andri, who was in some semblence of distress, and Marcus who looked honestly as confused as could be expected.
Yuri watched as Mat tried to reconcile with the small girl, who promptly ran to hide behind Marcus. Yuri took a slow, deep breath "Good to see you again Marcus, always nice to see a friendly face. The same goes for you Andri" he said with a nod, and continued in an oddly calm way "Now that we are all together, perhaps we can come up with some semblence of a plan to find the son of a bitch who is playing us like game piees and drive a sharpened peice of metal into his crainium?"
Marcus was completely confused at what he was seeing, there was a dead girl, and another one who was freaking out rightly so. But before he could ask again what was going on the little girl ran behind him. He knelt down and said in a calming voice. "Heeey. You're safe now, I wont let anyone hurt you." He glared at Mat. What the hell was his problem?! HE KILLED THE LITTLE GIRL?!? That and broke Emiliah's fingers. Who the hell was he?
He then looked to Yuri and said, "Yeah, glad I caught up with you....somehow." looking around still confused at what was going on. "What happened to you? How did I get here? " He then stood up and glared at Mat. "More importantly what the hell is your problem mat. Breaking Emiliah's fingers?! Now killing a little girl?" He raised his sword while placing his other arm, shield and all behind him and holding the little girl next to him to protect her. "I think it's time for you to pay for your sins."
Mat's eyes widened at the little girl's response to his question.
Abigail, Ashley, Charlotte, he thought, repeating the names in his head.
"Abigail, Ashley, and Charlotte. Abigail, Ashley, and Charlotte," he repeated the three names over and over out loud now and beginning to shake. Mat turned his head upon hearing Marcus yelling at him about his actions, but couldn't concentrate until he saw the raised steel.
"Well shit," he muttered, getting up and holding his spear to steady himself. His eyes were on Marcus, but then shifted over to Abigail and the three names began running off his tongue again.
"Abigail, Ashley, Charlotte..." Finally Mat stilled himself and closed his eyes, then slowly opened them.
"Come on at me Marcus, let's see how you do. Yuri and Andri, watch the girl please and make sure she doesn't kill you." With that Mat held his spear in a defensive pose, ready for Marcus to come at him.
"Are you fucking kidding me." Yuri's responce was a mix of bewilderment and sheer lack of understanding, "You must be fucking kidding me." His eyes moved between the two hunters, only staying a moment on each one before he took a deep breath and moved his way between them. Turning to Marcus he rested his scythe on his sholder and held his hands up "Now before you two go killing eachother like a couple of dolts, les take a moment to catch eachother up, hows that?" Yuri attempted to grin to diffuse the situation a little bit more. "He did kill a little girl, im not going to lie to you. But it was eather that or both of them were going to die. They were being held hostage by a pair of demons, one of whome it seems was their sister as well. But they were working with the pupeteer of this grand marrionette show, and were making us choose between them..." Yuri paused "I lost... my cool for a moment, and Mat made the disition before I could screw up the 'game' we're being forced to play and bring worse consiquences down on all of us." Yuri looked Marcus streight in the eyes "Thats where we stand, and if your going to blame someone, blame the person who forced the hand."
Andri had finally gotten on his feet again, though the way he put his feet in front of each other had nothing to do with the smooth movements he had demonstrated when entering this cathedral. It was pathetic. If pure hatred alone had been able to burn, he would have incinerated himself and Khan within seconds. He hated himself for not having resisted longer, and of course, he hated Khan. The huntress he had got to know just before likely was really pissed off of him now. And he couldn't explain a damn shit to her while Khan could start eating him alive from inside! He heard something about 'either that or both of them were going to die' and it pretty much reflected his own situation. But he just wasn't ready for that final step. There had to be another way to bail him out of this! There just had to be one! He approached Yuri and put his massive hand on his shoulder to get his attention. He whispered:
"Yuri ? I ask you to have a close watch on me. Please." That was all he said.
Marcus looked at Yuri and back at Mat, who was seeming like he had a mental break. He was ready for a fight, and he was sure he could take him. Andri seemed lost in his own thoughts and Yuri Before saying "What 'Game?' are you guys talking about? Do you know what's happening here?" As he never met the powerful demon that freaked Emiliah out, or did these things that obviously had messed with the others.
He looked down at Abigail again, promising again that she will be fine if she stayed next to him. He took his shield and loosed the leather strap on the inside, slipping it over his head and onto his back, to hang it there, as he was sure he would have to continue to hold Abigail's hand while they found a way out of here.
Abigail let out a little sob, holding on to Marcus from behind, burrying her face into the back of his shirt. "His name is C-Charon," Abigial's voice came out muffled because of how tightly she was holding on to Marcus. "H-He was Char's f-friend, but I didn't believe her...then another lady came and made him real. He likes games," she said, her whole body shaking with fear and saddness.
Mat gave a small sigh of relief when Yuri explained the situation to Marcus, resting back on his spear. "There's this...thing that is playing his game. We entertain him and we live, that was the explanation. He's much more than a necromancer, much much more," Mat explained, slowing stepping over to them, but then stopped when Abigail began to speak.
"Charon?" Mat repeated.
"Sounds familiar but I don't know anything about it, probably should've studied more." The hunter looked right at Abigail and crouched.
"But who are you? You and your sisters? Please, I need to know.""I-I'm J-just.... I don't want to talk to you," she said. "I hate you,"
Yuri breathed a short sigh of relief as everyone seemed to be calming down a small bit. He stepped to the side a bit so that Marcus and Mat could talk without having to talk around him, it was at that point he felt Andri touch his shoulder and whisper his request. Yuri couldn't help but raise his eybrow slightly at the odd request, but still he responded in the same hushed tone, picking up that the gient wanted to keep this under wraps for now. "Sure? I'll do my best." He promised still slightly confused "Anything I should be on the lookout for?" As he asked this he turned slightly so it looked like he was paying attention to Marcus and Mat, as to not draw suspicion to Andri or himself. Well that and he honestly wanted to know what was going on in both.
Marcus looked at Mat and Abigail as he tried to ask her a question. She didn't want to talk to him, very understandable. After she stopped, Marcus glanced at Mat then knelt down, placing himself between Mat and Abigail, so she would still feel protected standing behind Marcus, and know that Marcus was focusing on her. "Will you talk to me?" He said with a warm smile and soft voice. He pushed some strands of hair out of her face and rested one hand on her shoulder. "How did you get down here with your sisters Abigail? Where did you come from? So I can get you back home."
"M-My name is Abigail Smart," she said slowly. "'M from Aurlian. 'M Pa was a farmer and it was just us girls," she let out another little sob. "Char...got...mind sick and...it made Pa...mean to her. So Ma sent us here so she could get better....Only....she didn't get better," She then froze up. "You ain't gunna make me go back to Pa? I don't wanna go back. Here is better than there and here is horrible. Char screamed ....all the time." she let out another choked sob. "I...I don't wanna be by myself," She wrapped her arms around Marcus, and the rest of what she had to say was drowned out by her sobs.
Mat made a slow nod to Abigail and looked away.
"Understood," he mumbled then stood back up and looked around them, analyzing over everything around them. The young hunter leaned on his spear and looked out towards the darkness. The three names surfaced to his head again and he repeated them over and over again.
"Abigail, Ashley, Charlotte..." Mat grimaced and looked towards the darkness.
"What's next Charon?"Yuri looked out into the darkness where Mat was yelling, not willing to be the one to intrude on Marcus's and Abigail's moment that they were having. As he watched Mat call out into the void, Yuri couldn't help but feel a small bit of satisfaction with at least now knowing their host's name. As for goading it, that Yuri wasnt so sure of, but he kept his distance and his mouth shut. Instead he shifted his weapon into a position that was better to carry or shift inro a fighting stance, no sense in getting cought flat-footed.
"D.... don't get yourself buried alive." Andri stuttered, then listened to the words Mat directed into the void. So, Charon was his name? He went a few steps away from the hunters, trying to make it appear as if he just wanted to move around a bit for relaxation. He whispered again:
"Khan? You had your favor. If you have any interest in your host being nice and friendly to you, you better start being cooperative! What do you know about Charon? Don't tell me you've just been waiting since forever next to this coffin for someone to be thrown into it! And we have to agree about the terms of our coexistence!""Charon?" said Khan, mulling the name over. "Charon...Charon... Hm..." He seemed to be huming as he thought it over. "Hm, I might have heard the name a time or two...but...how about a please in there? Charon isn't someone to be messed with and I don't give out this information lightly,"
Please ? This worm REALLY asked for a 'please'? Andri didn't know if he should think of this as unbelieveable or outrageous. However... he just required that information. Or no, they all required it.
"Please." If that worm was able to read his thoughts, he would find out that Andri wasn't pleased at all with having to say this.
"Really, is being genuine a trait lost to this generation...." the worm let out a sigh. "Fine, he is...well... Death if Death could be properly conceptualized by your tiny human brain. Which it can't," The worm seemed almost pompus. "And this is his home and all of your friends are going to die. But not, I won't let him kill you. Do you know how long I've been without human body? A long time, speaking of, it is about time we left."
"Well... my tiny human brain is now greatly enhanced by your presence, Khan. Listening to him telling him that all but him were going to die really wasn't improving his mood, but: Wouldn't just about every enemy tell you exactly that no matter what the chances really were like? Then Khan spoke again.
"Leave? What do you mean? Do you know this place?""Oh yes, this is
his place. Now, tell me hunter, where do you live and I hope you have a pretty new wife...and nope...nope you don't. It is alright, you have enough funds for a halfway dec....a whore, you have enough money for a whore. Well, hold on to your hat, we are going upstairs,"
A whore? That was what the demon worm wanted for not eating his brain and killing him from inside out?
"I'm already in debt for the horse that has carried me to this place. If this hunt won't be successful I won't have enough funds for pretty much anything. So, please... don't ruin it.""Well, that won't do...Say, that Marcus has money. Just kill him and take it and we can go home. Or I'll eat your brain,"
"To hell with my brain! Before I let you force me to kill innocent people I'm gonna find someone who's willing to drill into my head and get YOU out squeezed between a pair of pliers! And killing your host will send you back to where you came from! Tell me... how long have you waited for a new host ? I've already forgotten about it..." Andri turned his head. He had asked Yuri to have a close eye on him, so now he had to see where the other hunter was.
"You're no fun," snapped the worm.
"Good to hear." Andri replied in a very dry tone.
"You said something about going upstairs - I don't see any stairs here.""Hickory, Dickory Doc," came a voice from the walls.
"The mouse ran up the clock, the clock struck one, the mouse ran down," And with that, the floor vanished, dropping everyone down into what only could be described as a throne room for the dead.
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