Lion !!MyZwtjMQtj 2013/04/23 (Tue) 07:27 No. 49438 [x] Head inside the store.
It's an incredibly reckless, stupid move, and I realize that, but I decide to enter the store anyway. As long as I don't understand how this world works, I can't assume I'll be safe anywhere. And, even if it is a trap, at least it's a start. Trying to swallow down my fears, I start walking toward the food mart, feeling tense in every muscle. The girl calling herself Icarus quietly follows along by my side... and she's still clinging onto my shirt, not allowing any distance between us. Suits me just fine, if we got separated somehow I'd end up a stunningly attractive splat on the wall. It's not something I'd like to brag about, but this girl will be my shield.
I stand at the door, feeling sick. The entrance to the mart has been twisted beyond recognition, distorted and corrupted. Just staring straight at the door is enough to give me vertigo. It feels a lot like staring directly at that monster from before - my brain completely shuts out all the information it can't understand. The closer I get, the worse it gets, until I can't tell whether I'm standing or falling. Wrestling with the disorientation, I reach out for the handle of the door, grasping at air a few times before finally managing to catch it. With a deep breath, I tug at the door handle, and pull open the door. I squeeze my eyes shut - the nausea is getting to be too much to keep them open. I feel movement all around me as I grope my arm clumsily, trying to find a support to lean on. It's hopeless - it feels like I can't even control my own body.
Tug, tug.
As if someone's suddenly screwed my head back on right, the dizziness goes away. I look down and realize that Icarus is standing ahead of me, tugging at my shirt, urging me along. Before us is the entrance to the mart, which appears pitch black. A touch disoriented, I stop to clear my senses before steeling my heart and crossing over the threshold into the store.
The moment I enter the store is the moment I realize I won't be coming out - not through the same way, at least. The instant I cross over into the dark, the light coming from behind us zooms off into the distance at lightning-speed, blinking off into a tiny speck that gleams brilliantly for an instant before being snuffed out. Instantly I regret my decision, cursing at myself as fear fills my heart. I turn back to the unending darkness ahead, taking a cautious step forward. It feels strange - the ground beneath me feels like flat terrain, but no matter what I do I can't seem to get a stable footing at all, almost like I'm trying to walk on a bubble of some sort. Icarus seems to have no problem walking here - she's shuffling about just fine even as I flail my legs like an idiot, taking unsteady steps forward. Superb, not only is it impossible to find anything in here, it's hard to move around in as well - and there's no going back. I'm completely stumped as to what to do next.
"Damn," I mutter in frustration. "Where am I supposed to go?"
Tug, tug
"Do you need... a road?"
I stare at her in confusion. Rather than explaining herself, she raises a finger. A white light begins to glow from her fingertip and with a shimmer a glass step appears beneath my feet. Icarus drags her finger across the air, letting out bright flashes of light - and as she does so, more steps appear beyond the one I'm standing on, forming a winding path ahead. The light from her finger fades out, and she lowers her hand, returning to her silence. I look at the newly formed steps with a certain degree of skepticism. I'm not even going to bother asking how she managed to do that, I'm sure I wouldn't understand the explanation. I'll just be thankful that I won't have to fumble around in the dark anymore. I climb the first step, and test its resistance - it feels reassuringly firm, and I continue on to the next step, my heart feeling a lot lighter.
I follow the glass stairway. Although it's nice to have a path outlined for me, that the scenery doesn't change at all feels discouraging. No matter how deep I go everything's the same, being completely void of anything besides these steps. I'm starting to get the feeling that these stairs are just leading me around in circles, or that there might be no end to this place.
Beep!
It's as I turn these grim thoughts over that my phone screams out. I reach into my pocket and pull it out - a new message. It's from the same sender as the other weird messages, being all glitched and garbled. This time, there's only a single recognizable word amidst all the junk: "stop."
Stop? Assuming that the monster is the sender of these messages, it seems like we're doing something that's got this thing spooked. But right now, all we're doing is walking around here... what could we be doing that's got this monster so scared?
Beep!
Another message. "don'tfdf comefd anyret cvvfclpokoseewrr."
Could it be that the monster is scared for its life? Is it because we're close to approaching it that it's so desperate for us to stop? Then it must still be wounded from before... it must have holed up here in order to recover. These steps might be leading us straight to it, and then... well, I suppose we'll figure out what to do when we get there. Phone still in hand, I continue onward.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"st324op st32dfaop sgdsftop? "i t@$Reold you tfdsfo323 sto213pvhu67u? "dotytrhn't bring454 that mhgntonster herrtkuthe?
I've reached the end of the stairs. It doesn't look very different from the rest of what I've seen on the way here. If the steps end here, though, then that thing must be close. But where is it?
"Above," says Icarus.
I immediately look up, and see it there, the creature from before. Except now, there's something different about it... I can see more of its details, beyond just a vague shape. Every segment of its body appears to be angled, like it's made entirely of simple 3D shapes. Its limbs are long and slender, giving it the appearance of a lean predator. Its head is shaped strangely, two horns jutting out the back and a snout-like protrusion sticking out the front, although it has no actual face as far as I can tell. It looks like some kind of bizarre humanoid robot, though it behaves like a living, breathing thing. Its chest rises and falls in a slow rhythm, and the monster does nothing except watch us from above, remaining fixed in its position.
From how it's hesitating to attack us right away, I get that it's hesitant to attack us. Since I'm just a normal, unarmed human, the reason why it hasn't attacked and killed me yet is because of Icarus. Whatever this thing is, it's scared of her... and for good reason, if she was the one to cause it to retreat from us earlier. That means right now, we hold the advantage right now, though I should be careful to back it against a corner... who knows what it might try against us then?
I look up at the beast, trying my best to forget the fear it's inflicted against me for however many loops I've had to repeat. Grinding my teeth together, I barely manage to contain my rage, trying to speak to it without letting my voice shake. "Who are you? What are you? Why are you trying to kill me? What have you done to me?"
The monster does not speak or move, continuing to breathe in silence. My phone remains silent as well, so it doesn't seem like it's going to reply. I bite my lower lip, almost hard enough to break the skin. Losing patience, I finally raise my voice.
"Say something, damn you!"
It moves.
My heart jumps to my throat. While it hasn't left its spot above us, its head begins shaking and rattling, twisting its neck and angling its face in bizarre spasms. As it does so, it lets out a roar; a long, painful howl that is nothing like anything I've ever heard before. I cover my ears with my hands, screaming in agony. The creature's screaming intensifies, and a strange green mist surrounds the creature. On its featureless face, two large green lights appear where a human would have eyes. Its head freezes in place, and its roar dies down, though my ears continue to ring. Wincing in pain, I unplug my ears.
?YOU ARE THE SAME?
What?
?YOU AND I. WE ARE?
Even though it's like I've got an alarm clock going off inside my skull, I could hear that without a problem just now. It sounded crisp, and clear, and yet at the same time I can't tell from which direction and how far away the sound came from. It was... something beyond my physical sensory perceptions. It felt like I was listening to someone's thoughts.
?THE TRUE INHERITORS OF THIS WORLD?
There it is again! These words... are they coming from that creature? Is it communicating with me by sending its thoughts to me? That's ridiculous... absurd! And yet like everything I've seen so far, there is no room for denial. It may have been sending its thoughts as messages to my phone somehow, and now its transferring its thoughts directly to me...
?WE WILL?
The creature freezes, ceasing to even breathe. The green mist surrounding it changes color, becoming darker and darker until it becomes blood red. The emeralds that serve as its eyes become rubies instead, giving the creature an even more sinister appearance. Its body begins to move again, but its movements are even more erratic than before, its limbs jerking around and twisting in an unnatural frenzy, becoming tangled amongst themselves and morphing into impossible shapes.
?RELEASE ME?
This voice is different from before.
?RELEASE ME, HUMANS?
As the words form within my mind, dread seeps into every pore of my body. Despair sinks my heart, and my breath quickens in panic. My mind becomes numb with fear and terror. My body is shaking in shock and my limbs are rapidly losing their strength. Just from listening to that voice, it feels like entire being is being dragged through mud, filling me with all of these horrible emotions.
?COME, HUMAN. RELEASE ME, AND LET THE LIGHT OF HOPE SHINE ON THIS FORSAKEN WORLD?
"...I won't let you."
Out of the corner of my eyes, something darts past me, too fast to see. It flies up at the creature, striking it hard in the face with a swipe of its arm. The creature is sent flying off further into the darkness, crashing against something and rebounding off of it, coming to a stop in the air. A crack appears there, slowly spreading throughout the abyssal black space until it shatters like glass. A man sized hole has been made in this strange space, and light shines in from outside. With my mouth gaping open, I look up at the creature's assailaint - Icarus. Of course, it's not surprising that she would be able to fight like that, after all, that's what I was banking on when I brought her with me, but...
The expression on her face has changed.
No, that's not correct. Only her eyes have changed. Although she hadn't been very expressive, her eyes were childish and curious, possessing an innocent gleam. Now, there's no trace of that anywhere. They're illuminated with the pale light from before when she first appeared, her eyes are cold and filled with hatred.
The creature twists its limbs and body as it raises itself back up, elevating to an equal ground to Icarus. The red mist around it becomes thicker, looking more like a fiery aura now. The two of them stare each other down, a pair of red matched against a pair of blue. A great pressure seems to erupt from around the two, and I can feel it pushing against me, forcing me away from them. Any time now, the two of them will begin fighting; after that, there's no guarantee what may happen to them, or me, or this strange space. My only hope for escape is that hole Icarus made...
I need to act quickly.
[ ] Run for the exit. You've got to get out of here, and this might be your only chance.
[ ] You can't leave alone! You have to convince Icarus to escape with you.
[ ] Stay and watch the battle. Maybe you'll be able to figure something out.