"So, from the top, don't leave anything behind, I swear you don't want to,"
[Mild Inflammation detected, a puzzle piece rids you of the pain equally increasing resistance in the wrist area and your whole being.]
"..."
"In the dark, as always."
"Hohoho, I don't think you were young man!"
"What, Oh...,"
"He's not even with us...,"
"I... I'm sure h... he had...,"
"You'll have to finish your sentence another day,"
She had it done really tight.
Park tried to subtly nudge free from his restraints trying to feel around the intensity with which his hands were bound with, at least the only worry he had currently. The soreness that he had prior was somewhat brushed away after the onset of that message that he had received earlier. His eyes looked around, fixing on the different ob... subjects in the room. From the feline behemoth to the towering stature of slightly trembling needles, from the spilled treats on the floor to the hole on the wall, gently oozing a dark sludge-like substance akin to an abscess let free and finally from the corner of his eye, the door to their room, weirdly hanging in place but bearing some new markings apart from its barely existent hinges. Giant footsteps etched deep into the wood in fine detail, as if it was slowly being crushed. Maybe, that was supposed to be them?
... or him?
"TALK!" It almost came out as a roar. They were both displeased but one greater than the other, he could tell whom.
"Okay, look, I'm really sorry for what happened to you...,"
"..."
"... and I didn't even know that it could turn out like this, even though I've accepted all these thingshappening from the first day, but it still wasn't okay for that to happen. But I promise you once we get out there, from building the best "home" you ever had...,"
"I'm sorry, getting out?"
"Yes, I can finally say it, that there was a higher up who wanted me to work outside, don't know where, said that 'they all look so happy',"
"?"
"Trust me, I'm as confused as you are, but she said that we would become stronger than we ever thought possible and the best part of it all, we would be getting paid...,"
"... enough to enter a dome."
"...,"
She could sense Gionne's disbelief, this was a big deal and even more than that, at the mention of the "dome" word, something struck in her, a foggy memory that she desperately tried to remember, the details were hazy. It was right there, just in front of her, if only she could...
"Madness...,"
They both spun around, the ruby shaded room bathing in pitch darkness.
"THEY'RE FALLING, THEY'RE FALLING, HELP ME...!"
Park's cries echoed to silence as their focus landed on something... no, someone else. Some considerable distance away from them, two pinholes stared at them. The voice sounded so familiar, but as devilish as this turn of events coincidentally decided to be, the voice teased her just as the "dome" keyword did, leaving her maddeningly racking her brain. As they focused on the two dots, the stark green staring into their soul split, birthing a new purple pair. This one came with a new tone that as likewise to the first, strained her poor brain even more.
"...That will be the only thing we shall provide to you, protector."
She should have spoken at this point, curiosity of a cat and all, but how could she? She felt around for her lips...
... but where were they? and so, she did the next best thing she could, with her now longer legs, she could sense a strenuous question coming, and down her heel fell on Gionne's neck.
What in the...!
He couldn't believe the two instances, one obviously outweighing the other and that would be, why would this newly morphed caramelized beauty knock his lights out. He fell into forced slumber faster than the pain racing through his entire being.
!
A hand wrapped in sickishly yellow bandages taunted her; instincts told her otherwise, but the feline nature superseded. With her smooth beautiful legs, she launched forth. Surely, the air must have rippled as she coursed past but no, her surroundings were quieter than a church mouse.
"With her right foot, her right heel...," Lily felt them within her grasp, finally she could quell her rage, even if it's by a bit. She could feel their necks, human-like and assumingly normal, warm to the touch too...
* Snap! *
... but her icy grip had other plans. She followed the two pairs as they slowly ascended, now looking over at them like she vaguely thought she did at that unfortunate moment, she didn't like it one bit.
And so did the air about her, an enmity of some kind was forming between them. She readied herself as the two diversely colored pairs now high in the pitch-black sky, loudly pinged to huge overbearing red and in an overpowering shout said,
"MADNESS!!!"
It was quick, and not even her inhumane physique could catch up. The insane heatwave that hit her easily cancelled whatever force she was pooling in her legs. She had already sensed that turbulent energy incoming and tried to sidestep but the AOE attack had her finely grounded taking away any and every feeling that she had across her entire body. She could only stare in disbelief at the insurmountable mountain in front of her. The voice spoke once more,
"WITH HER RIGHT FOOT, HER RIGHT HEEL, SHALL SHE PREVENT THOSE UNWORTHY FROM PAIN WORSE THAN DEATH, FOR THAT IS THE DUTY OF THE FALLEN PROTECTOR!!"
She could feel her consciousness fading with each word that the enraged voice spoke,
"..."
...?
... It.... Stopped...? No, the enormously powerful entity had one more dehumanizing card up its sleeve and it had a wonderful way of doing it. Hovering over the two victims of today's massacre, were two mummified hands, rotten, gray and all bone, all the ghastly works of nature. Lily, slowly trying to recover could see that nasty, sharp, jagged nail tucking itself into the thumb, that "gun" was ready to fire at any given moment, beautifully tensed up, but prerequisites had to be met.
And so it began, from golden specks first came the layer of the spell, a three column by row inscription, shortly after followed by three circles encompassing the golden dictate and finally ending it all with the cherry on top, a pyramid symbol with a scarab in the midst of it. With yet another brain-itching deed finally done, the gun went off. She didn't know if it was because of the spell inscribed or because of whatever magic that had charmed her, but she felt the raging pain tearing her up from within as the cracked "hammer" crashed against her sending them off on their merry way.
Her eyes danced as fervent ringing bells as she flew towards the scarlet light...
* Gasp! *
They both took in a huge gulp of air, drenched in cold sweat. Rattled in their own ways, they checked to see if there was any change to them, something, anything...
In their frantic search, Gionne remembered something while he was "dreaming", so, he rolled up his right sleeve and there it lay, incomplete, it was precisely a half of some kind of insect,
"It looks like... a scarab?"
Lily felt a squirming on her right paw; she quickly peeped underfoot...
"I think they are waking up- Woah!"
"Oh...,"
... but it wasn't there. Whatever it was, it was moving. In and out on the other end. They both watched as the other half of the scarab animatedly appeared. Comically shaking dust off of its' shell, it settled itself atop Lily's paw.
"..."
"Coming in!"
Park was back in with the clunky piece of metal, he then set it down prompting the handle to resoundingly ring as it collapsed into the metal bucket's side, "You see something new every single day, though I have to admit it, this might be one of the coolest I have ever seen."
He motioned over to Ripha to help haul the buried carefully out of their light sandy casket.
"... you know given your size; you'll be able to move... please make sure to shake all of the sand off."
"..."
"Thank you...,"
Park went for a closer look at the special sand particles, he marveled at how, being fine as they are, they fell off the newly toned body completely such that as the body was in transit from one bed to another, it didn't shed any residue along the way. It was almost as if the granules had been commanded to do so.
"Cool... anyway... I... just need... to be careful here...,"
!
No! Please don't do this to me!
Park panicked as the granules, well-behaved earlier suddenly had a change of heart and decided to become more...
... mobile. Deftly trying to wrap the linen atop where Gionne/Lily lay, the golden particles squeezed through the opening in a burst voiding Park's effort and leaving him with sore arms as a plus,
"Ow," the giant mass of swirling sand dust, then hovered over the two momentarily before descending to pick up their fellow partners who graced the floor during a prior disturbance earlier. Now altogether finally, the swirling "alive" mass drilled through the injured wall, sucking up the goop that was leaking out earlier and with the last sandy drop sealing the hole fully restoring the broken wall to its former glory. A familiar insect was etched onto the "wound" neatly bandaging it up.
Ripha turned to Park who shot back a grin with a thumb up,
"School right!"