Loudest Dungeon: Ch.4 - The Ritual

In the darkness something stirred. Many somethings, old dead things shrouded in rot and rust. Bones dripping with moldy viscera, the barest scraps of flesh marring the gleaming white underneath. Bone that moved without muscle, that walked bidden by a force more powerful than death to rouse them from the final rest.

The skeletons moved with purpose, clumsy as they were. There wasn’t a trace of individuality among them, each movement was ordained, overseen by a supreme will that guided and judged. The bones were mere vessels, conduits for a consciousness beyond the scope of any one-person and subject to an all-consuming hunger mysterious and terrible in its scope and methods.

“Are the preparations ready?”

“Yessssss... everything goes... according to plan.”

In the center of what could only be surmised as a large octagonal shaped room, its sides lined with dilapidated shelves of decaying books and paintings, sat a stone table illuminated by the red glow of four torches. On two sides of this altar stood two very different figures, one clad in black and gold robes with the golden mask of a skull obscuring his face, and the other a figure cloaked in a dull red burial shroud that covered every inch of skin; or, rather, something else entirely.

A scrawny Cultist looked the Necromancer Apprentice in what he assumed to be his eyes past the blank canvass of darkness beneath the raised hood. He held this gaze for precisely three seconds before thinking better of it and looked away, coughing into his fist.

“Good, then the ritual goes as planned. Despite our little hiccup!” The cultist snarled this last word, venom directed largely towards the necromancer. If the walking carcass cared or even noticed it gave no sign.

The child’s escape... unforeseen. Nothing... we could do. Your cultists... are HIS now. Be content... we found her... at all.”

The cultist snorted and crossed his arms as he glared down at the skeletons milling about below him. The creatures stank of decay, this whole wretched place reeked of it. He didn’t join the flesh cult because he wanted to waste his time underground in some forgotten castle, he wanted to pursue the darker arts, to revel in the pleasures of the flesh as his masters had promised. And he especially didn’t want to be talking to the decrepit fiend next to him. It made his skin crawl, and he had seen what worship had done to some of his more... devout acquaintances.

“Right, no thanks to that ghoulish minion of yours. The dumb beast mangled her!”

The hooded figure lightly shuffled in what the cultist could only assume was acquiescence. Or maybe he was just stretching his legs. Did he have legs?

“Yesssss. An... unfortunate side-effect. I can keep her alive... in a fashion... prolong her suffering. Such is in... my power. But... not for long.”

The cultist nodded his head and chuckled. “Well, we don’t exactly need her alive for much longer. Just long enough for the ritual.” The skull-clad man practically salivated as he imagined it, a live human sacrifice for the Darkness, surely such a thing would get him noticed. He was glad that the Collector had come a-calling when it did, taking out the competition like that. And how fortuitous that the necromancer didn’t notice (or care) whose plan this was, made things so much easier for him to slip in.

Something growled in the darkness, beyond the glow of the torches. The dull thuds of heavy footfall echoed in the underground. Despite himself, the cultist couldn’t help but take a step back when the Ghoul emerged from the gloom, its massive body illuminated by the torchlight. It cast a morbid glow about the monster’s gore-encrusted frame and the cultist choked back a gasp as it approached with its yellow eyes focused squarely on him. Drool poured out of the monster’s fanged maw as it reached a claw out for the cultist, but just as the man felt he should run the necromancer apprentice held out a bony hand (its skin so thin as to be translucent) and the creature immediately halted.

“Place the body.”

A low groan rumbled from the Ghoul’s throat, but the creature did as it was bidden. It held out its other hand and unceremoniously dropped a listless, tiny body onto the altar where it lay in a broken heap. The necromancer grunted and walked over to the tiny thing, pausing only slightly as it regarded her pained gasps. An involuntary shudder crawled unseen up its back. It was disgusting: its flesh, the way it breathed, the blood that trickled from its eye sockets and mouth. Disgusting! Still, the cultist said it had to be alive for his sacrifice, and though the necromancer’s power lay in the realm of death and thus couldn’t heal the damage it could stave off the inevitable for a short time.

A low chanting in a voice as cold and unrelenting as the grave filled the room as the necromancer waved its hands over the child’s prone body and a dark-green smoke seemed to emanate from its hands as it traced arcane symbols in the air above her. This continued for a solid minute and just when the cultist was beginning the think the damage had been too severe the tiny body suddenly lurched and gasped.

Lucy Loud sucked in a slow, ragged breath of air and wheezed in pain as her crushed lungs deflated. It hurt, everything hurt, existence was pain and though she had said it so many times for the first time Lucy genuinely wished for death to claim her. Anything to end the pain. Lucy felt something looming above her, running bony talons across her body as gentle as mommy’s bedtime kisses but not nearly as warm or loving. There was an undercurrent of malice to the motions, an unnatural feeling to it that made her hair stand on end and filled her with bone-chilling dread. Lucy tried to crawl away and immediately regretted it as a fresh spasm of pain sucked the air out of her in a strangled gasp as her vision swam. It wasn’t so much that something was broken as it was everything was broken, and she lay still has the necromancer above her redoubled its efforts.

The cultist grinned under his skull mask and rubbed his hands together. This was fantastic, she was still alive, and it wasn’t like they needed her intact. In fact, this was preferable, she couldn’t run away now. All they needed now was a few more ingredients which the others should be back with soon and then they’d be able to enact the ritual. Everything was going perfectly, surely his faith would be rewarded today.

The cultist walked around the altar (skirting around the Ghoul as it eyed him hungrily) and made his way over to the girl’s upturned face. She was a pretty thing, now that he got a good look at her. It was almost a shame she’d have to die. Still, the rewards he would soon receive would render any other Earthly pleasures a mere pittance in comparison. A cruel smile scrawled across his face as Lucy’s face turned over to him and her eyes grew wide, her mouth gaped in a near-silent wheezing scream.

He didn’t realize she was looking past him, up at the ceiling. A thousand eyes blinked back at her, silently regarding her, watching and waiting.

But most of all planning.
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“Hello darkness my old friend~”

“Luna, I swear to God!”

“What! It’s a good song!”

Leni sighed as her sisters argued behind her, pinching her forehead with her free hand as the other waved a torch in front of her. The respite its glow provided from the oppressive darkness was brief but comforting all the same, plus any guarded protection it offered from potential monsters and traps in the black was well-appreciated.

The same could not be said of Lori and Luna’s constant bickering. Sisters fought, Leni knew this, she herself had participated on more than a few occasions much to her shame and embarrassment. It was only natural, when you love someone and know them as well as sisters do then you know how to hurt them. You feel bad after of course, but Leni had learned that sometimes saying sorry doesn’t always make everything okay.

That’s what was happening now with Lori and Luna. The two sisters weren’t especially close, especially after Luna attended her first concert and ‘found herself’ as she put it and started annoying Lori with her music, but they were at least cordial with each other. Ever since they came to Great Pop-Pop’s town though? Been at each other’s heels 24/7 and it was driving her nuts!

Frankly it was part of the reason Leni had chosen the position as point man, if she was up front then she wouldn’t have to listen to the constant bickering. Well, she could still hear them, but at least she wouldn’t have to take any sides. That was the worst, when Luna said something mean and wanted Leni to back her up, or when Lori tried to deny it and needed someone to take her side and they just stared at her and it was all Leni could do to keep her head down and eyes shut and just keep walking like she didn’t hear them. It made her head hurt but made her chest hurt more and she wished the two would just make up already.

Of course, those weren’t the only reasons she stayed up front. That feeling she had earlier at the mouth of the abyss hadn’t abated. On the contrary, the further she descended the surer she was that somebody was waiting for her, calling out to her. A feeling in her gut, as prosaic as it sounded, that she was needed. That Lola had been found earlier in these very ruins sealed the deal in Leni’s mind, she was sure another one of her baby sisters was down here and she wasn’t stopping until they were back with her where they belonged.

Leni briefly paused and scrunched up her face in deep contemplation. What if it was Lincoln down here? She thought for a few seconds, blinked, and then her face set into an expression of grim resolution. She’d save him too! She’d save all of them!

Giving the all-pervading blackness around her the fiercest scowl she could muster Leni set off once again, leaving her dumbstruck sisters behind her. Luna and Lori shared a quick look of bewilderment before settling on confusion and irritation respectively. There was no real point in telling Leni she had just said all of that out loud, might as well let her have her fun and keep on marching.
'Besides, she isn’t wrong.' Lori thought to herself. 'There’s probably another one us down here. And if it’s Lincoln it’s not like we’d leave him behind. Assuming the skeletons hadn’t caught them yet.'

Lori’s eyes went wide, and she shook the thought from her head. She couldn’t think like that, it would kill her.

>Survival is a tenuous proposition in this sprawling tomb.

'And he’s not helping.'

“Who?”

Lori froze. Unthinking and unblinking she slowly turned her head over to Luna who had dropped all pretensions of this charade an was glaring at her with open suspicion. Lori, wide-eyed like a deer caught in a truck’s headlights, gulped as a crooked grin scrawled across her face.

“I-I don’t know what you’re-

“Cut the crap,” Luna snapped, and Lori flinched despite herself. “This is the second time I’ve heard you say something like this, talking to yourself like you’re having a conversation. I heard you say that out loud just now, don’t lie to me.” Luna took a step forward and Lori took one back as the sisters reached a stand-off; one of them angry and confused as fear mixed with concern and the other terrified out of her mind as her eyes tried to find something, anything other than her little sister’s face.

“Is there something you have to tell me Lori?” Luna asked. Lori whimpered when she heard her sister’s voice, pleading and desolate, knowing something was wrong but unsure how to deal with it. “You need to tell me, I won’t get mad. We can help you,” Luna said and suddenly in Lori’s eyes she was a little girl again, shy and demure and unsure of her place in the world.

Lori licked her dry lips and tried to say something but all that came out was a harsh croak. She couldn’t find the words to say anything, to talk would be to cast off the shell of authority she had spent years cultivating. To admit this would be to admit weakness and fear, to forsake the illusion of self-assurance and what little standing she still possessed as a role model, as someone the others needed to rely on. Lori told herself that this was why she had to lie; as the oldest sister she had to bear the brunt of this nightmare if it meant saving even one of her sisters. But she knew the truth, Lori knew if she said anything it would kill her.

Lori’s mouth opened, and a scream echoed in the darkness.

Two sets of brows knit together in confusion as Lori and Luna stared at each other before realization dawned on them both and they raced off down the dimly-lit halls past rows of smoldering torches and blackened doorways. Their destination wasn’t far off, a large room that might’ve been a dining room in ages past but was now devoid of furniture and guests, dominated by cobwebs and a thick layer of dust.

In the center of this room, the embers still burning brightly, lay a torch.

“Leni!” Lori screamed, and Luna’s trembling cry soon joined her as the two sisters called out for their lost sibling. Their calls echoed in the black as they whipped their heads around, eyes scanning every inch of the small room. Terror welled up in Lori’s breast, her heart beating a frantic pace as her chest tightened. Lori was acquainted with fear, in the last few days she had felt it more than she had ever prior in her entire life, but the terror was always fresh when the danger came; and now one of her own sisters had vanished in the span of a few seconds.

A sharp gasp to her right caught Lori’s attention and she spun around to see Luna holding her hands up to her mouth, a mouth split in a wide grin as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. Lori followed Luna’s gaze and was relieved to see Leni huddled up in one of the far corners of the room just beyond the glow of the torch, her knees up to her chest and her hands over her face. Lori began to walk towards her sister but only made it halfway when Leni’s face shot up and she stopped short.

A shiver ran down Lori’s spine when she saw her sister’s face, wide eyes brimming with tears, her mouth set in a grimace of absolute terror.

“LORI RUN!”

Lori had precisely five-and-a-half seconds to process Leni’s warning before a sudden weight on her back knocked the air out of her lungs and forced her to the ground. Dazed from the impact, Lori couldn’t muster the strength to knock loose the offending weight. Dimly, she could hear her sisters call out from her as whatever was on her back grabbed her left arm and hauled it up.

The searing pain shooting through her shoulder brought her around rather nicely. Howling in pain Lori swung her fist around and winced as her hand cracked against something hard but not at all metallic. Lori looked over her shoulder and screamed when she saw six red eyes staring back at her above a pair of mandibles embedded deeply in her shoulder.

Green ichor sprayed into Lori’s face as the giant spider’s head was split nearly in half by the force of Luna’s swing, her sword hacking through the arachnid’s exoskeleton. The creature immediately let go of Lori and screeched, turning around to fasten its appendages into this new foe even with its own brains (or whatever spiders have, Lori thought) leaking out. With a savage growl Luna kicked out and struck the loathsome beast in the abdomen with her boot, there was an unwholesome crunch as a leg was shattered and the thing went flying a good three feet where it landed on its back.

Lori chewed her lip as she struggled to her feet, fighting through the pain as she observed this new threat. The spider was enormous, at least the size of a large dog. Lori took it all in: its bulbous red/black abdomen, its legs scything through the air as it struggled to right itself, the mandibles pinching the air as it chittered. Lori grimaced as she looked at it, unlike her younger sister Leni Lori thought spiders were cute, but this creature could hardly be called a spider. Swollen to unnatural proportions by the corruption of the land, a clear symbol of all that was wrong with this world, hideous in every aspect.

The creature continued to chirp to itself as the legs weakly struggled. It didn’t have the energy to right itself, that it was still alive surprised Lori for a moment. Damn thing probably can’t even fell pain, she thought. Pain receptors or not, it was obvious the spider was dying, and slowly the legs stopped flailing and the arachnid stopped chirping. The legs folded in on themselves over the torso as a sort of rigor mortis set in and Lori sighed in relief.

>A trifling victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Lori snorted and looked back over to her little sister still huddled up in the corner. Leni had severe arachnophobia as it was, make the spiders the size of a retriever and there’s no telling how she was coping with it. Judging by the way she held onto herself and whispered as she rocked on her toes, not very well. Clutching at her bleeding shoulder Lori took three steps in Leni’s direction when a clammy hand wrapped tight around her arm. Lori looked over her shoulder and saw Luna reaching out to her, wide eyes focused squarely on the ceiling. Confused, Lori followed her sisters gaze and squinted into the darkness just out of range from the light of the torch still burning on the ground.

Lori quickly realized the spider had not been chittering to itself earlier.

Their descent was silent, their legs made no noise as they unfurled strands of web from their abdomens nor did they chirp to each other as the dying one had. Were they attempting to ambush the girls, or did they lack such methods of strategy and simply had no need to make noise? The question went unanswered, next to her Lori could see Luna unholster her pistol and point it up to the descending arachnids. There was a sound of thunder and a chunk of abdomen from one the spiders exploded in a torrent of green flesh and blue blood.

As their comrade fell to the ground with a meaty smack the other two hastened their descent, such was their speed that they had made it to the ground before Luna could reload her gun. They spared not a glance for their fallen comrade skittering about outside of sight, their focus was entirely on the formidable prey that had wandered into their nest.

Lori spared a quick glance and noticed that of the two left one was quite different from the other. It shared the same general body shape certainly, but where the other had a reddish-orange color like the first spider this one was green. A cluster of spines lined the side of its abdomen and instead of red mandibles it possessed long, green fangs. Lori noticed that when the neon-green drool dripping from the fangs hit the ground it sizzled; poison, she made a mental note to avoid it.

As it was the exhortation proved reasonable as the green spider reared back on its hind four legs and angled its fangs up and outwards. Lori had never considered herself an authority on arachnology, such fields would pertain more to Lana’s interests, but she’d seen enough videos on the internet to know this was bad and reacted accordingly by bringing her shield up. She couldn’t see what exactly happened next, but she felt the weight of something viscous and warm hitting her shield and more importantly heard the was it sizzled as the green liquid slid down the battered iron aegis and hit the stone at her feet.

'Right,' Lori thought to herself, eyeing the hissing arachnid as she shook the acidic venom off her shield. 'Don’t let that stuff get on you. Or in the eyes for that matter, that thing was literally aiming for my head!' She didn’t fancy the thought of that one bit and glared at the scuttling horror.

To her left Luna was currently facing a similar problem of an altogether different caliber. The red spider didn’t seem as dangerous as its venomous counterpart at first glance, the shearing mandibles and comparatively well-armored forelegs gave the impression of a more physically robust specimen, but it lacked the long-range capabilities of its companion. Luna snickered to herself and raised her gun, if the spider wanted to get in close range that was its business, but she wasn’t about to entertain the notion so long as she was armed.

Unfortunately for Luna the spider quite frankly didn’t give a damn for whatever notions of combat she was predisposed towards and made its stance quite clear by ducking low to the ground and angling its abdomen over its body, pointing the tapered tip towards the perplexed youth. Confusion quickly blossomed into horror as the spider began to vibrate and realization dawned a fraction too late as strands of webbing, no thicker but somehow much stronger than a normal spider’s webbing, shot out of the spider’s protruding hindquarters like a sprinkler, dousing Luna in a sticky and altogether unwholesome mess of cobwebs that covered her from chest to toes. That her head hadn’t been caught in the assault was a miracle on two fronts, for one it would’ve made breathing all but impossible, and furthermore it left her capable of crying out to her sister who spun around immediately.

But Lori had her own problems to deal with and a sudden searing pain in her arm brought her back to reality. Shrieking and swearing like a sailor Lori waved her arm around until she was sure the venom that had struck her was flung off and brought her arm up to inspect the damage. The acidic venom had eaten its way through the cloth just below the pauldron and her right forearm was completely red from where the venom had struck her, even as she looked at it she could see blisters bubbling up and marring her flesh. The pain was intense, the itching was worse; it was more than irritation, like an all-consuming need to scratch and tear at the blighted skin. Lori grit her teeth and sucked in a breath, trying her best to drown out the vile thoughts. It must’ve been the venom, whatever the blighted substance was it not only burned but provoked intense feelings of discomfort, enough to drive their prey to invoke self-harm just to find relief.

A disgusting tactic, but effective. Lori swallowed the pain and growled at the hissing arachnid, slamming her mace into her shield, catching the attention of not only her spider but the red one slowly advancing on her downed sister. Without skipping a beat Lori stalked over to Luna and stood over her, guarding her sibling with all the ferocity of a mother bear as she stared down the slowly approaching spiders. If the creatures were even capable of feeling fear they certainly didn’t show it, it must be that they were hard pressed enough for food down here that they were willing to brave such dangerous odds and attack well-armed prey. That or they were just murderous, considering everything else she’d seen so far Lori didn’t discount that.

As if sensing her distress at the situation the third spider that Luna had shot earlier skittered out from the darkness, crawling on three broken legs and bleeding neon-blue blood from the open hole in its deflated green abdomen. If the other spiders seemed crabby this one was downright irascible. Lori supposed having your guts blown out might have that effect on folks but most usually had the good sense to die afterwards, this guy didn’t get the memo.

Hissing like a broken boiler pipe the dog-sized arachnid shoved aside not only the other green spider who seemed content to hang back but also the web-spitting red one who chittered in what Lori thought to be surprise as the weakened creature rushed her with fangs bared. Lori had only just enough time to bring up her shield as the venom was shot at her face, but much to her dismay a scream caught her attention. Realization that Luna was still under her struck her like a ton of bricks and she looked down to see the venom that had rebounded from her shield had fallen on the teen and was eating its way through the webbing, and if Lori wasn’t quick enough the rest of her too.

The instinctual reflex to help her sibling clouded her senses and Lori bent over to try and wipe the acid off, and action she all too quickly realized was foolish when approximately 30Ib of spider slammed into her. Fueled by suicidal desperation the spider had decided to throw caution to the wind, if it couldn’t poison her from a safe distance then it would have to do it manually. A risky application, but the reward was too great to ignore and despite her larger size and weight Lori felt herself begin to topple as she backed up, her hands fiercely fending off the incensed arachnid. Lori knew that if she fell now it would all be over quickly, the others would swarm and that’d be that. A niggling worry in the back of her mind reminded her that Luna was in the same precarious position, but Lori was a little preoccupied with the giant spider trying to eat her face. Its weight was more than enough to almost bring her down, but her real concern was trying to fend off the rending venomous fangs as Lori poured every ounce of her strength into her arms.

There was a sound of thunder and the weight on Lori’s head had significantly decreased as the spider chittered softly, and its legs released their hold on the back of her head. With a grunt Lori threw what was left of the offending arachnid to the floor and was somewhat pleased to see the entirety of its abdomen had popped. She was only somewhat pleased because that meant she was currently drenched in giblets of green spider guts and thick blue blood that covered her entire upper body. Thank God her mouth as closed!
A triumphant cackle below her brought Lori’s attention to her semi-downed sister. It appeared that the venom she had brushed off onto Luna earlier had done its work, eating away at the webbing that covered her upper body. Thankfully whatever venom these spiders produced wasn’t strong enough to eat through both the web and Luna’s leather armor, and the young girl was free to pull out her gun. Luna’s laugh was uproarious in a way only the desperate and unhinged can truly appreciate, though it ended in an odd choking gurgle when she saw Lori’s face.

“C-c’mon sis,” Luna chuckled nervously, wincing when she saw Lori’s glare deepen. Worry turned to genuine fear as the older girl ran towards her and Luna struggled to rip off the webbing still stuck to her. “Jesus Christ sis I was just trying to-

Lori’s leather boot sailed just over Luna’s screaming face and collided with something heavy, blue goblets of liquid splashed Luna’s face and the younger girl sputtered. The red spider that had tried to make a meal out of the trapped teen sailed away from the force of Lori’s kick, screaming in a high-pitched whine and trailing blue blood in wide arcs through the air. The creature landed with a thud and squirmed, trying to right itself from off its back.

With one threat dealt with Lori brought up her shield and smirked as she felt the heavy slop of the spider’s venom strike the iron. She was getting better at that, if you asked her a few days ago what that meant she’d be worried but now she was more relieved. Also, the acid didn’t seem strong enough to damage metal only flesh and other thin coverings, so she had that at least.

With a snarl Lori banged her mace against her shield twice and marched towards the hissing green spider, who at the moment wasn’t feeling nearly as brave as its more suicidal brother and was skittering backwards on its eight legs. Lori’s approach was swift and without mercy, her face a mask of fury as she ran towards the spider and raised her mace up high above her head and screamed.

Her war cry was cut short with a gasp as Lori jerked forward and nearly fell over. Something had happened to her leg mid-stride, and Lori groaned when she turned around to see that her left foot was now encased in webbing. Lori gave the chittering “Webber” off in the corner of the room a withering glare before turning her attention back to the now ominously approaching “Spitter”. Perhaps there was some intelligence in whatever passed for a spider’s brain, perhaps it was capable of learning, of registering the fact that Lori was more than capable of blocking its attempts to envenom her from a distance with her shield. No, a more direct approach was necessary for such versatile prey, and a shiver ran down Lori’s spine as the spider scuttled towards her, its green fangs raised and poised to strike.

A high-pitched shriek pierced the air, a caterwaul of epic proportions enough to make both Lori and the spider flinch and stop dead. For the spider this prove a calamitous mistake as this put it directly in the path of one Leni Loud. Leni had acute arachnophobia, Leni also possessed powerful protective instincts, in the event that the one was currently infringing on the harmony of the other the effect was apparently pure, unrelenting rage. The result was spectacular as Leni, screeching like a banshee out of hell (all the more ironic considering her habit) fell upon the spider in a barrage of curses which must have hurt only marginally less than the savage clubbing that immediately followed. As the swearing teen worked the Spitter into a fine paste the Webber off in the corner had finally managed to right itself onto its feet and hissed, no doubt ready for action. With a wet smack Lori’s mace struck the arachnid in the abdomen and instantly pulverized its organs into mush.

Lori snorted to herself as she watched the last spider unceremoniously expire. ‘Well that was a bit anti-climactic,’ she thought to herself and huffed.

>A decisive pummelling!

‘Thanks, Great Pop-Pop.’

Lori tugged at her foot and groaned when she realized she was stuck. This webbing didn’t look thick but it sure was, she might as well be tied with a rope. Lori considered trying to rip it but then her fingers would just get stuck, and if she tried to kick she’d probably just break her ankle. Lori heard Luna trying to break out from her prison behind her and she turned her head towards Leni who was still trying to paint the room a nice aquamarine.

'Wait, of course!'

"Leni!"

“Die, die, die, die, die!”

“Leni?”

“DIE YOU UGLY, GROSS, STUPID SPIDER!”

“QUIT IT YOU LITTLE SPAZ!”

“Huh?”

Leni turned to Lori and the older girl flinched a little when she saw that Leni’s face and upper body was painted a nice neon-blue.

Lori cleared her throat and gestured over to the one green spider that wasn’t a smear on the ground. Leni looked over to it, seemed confused, then suddenly blinked and looked back over to Lori with a grin and a conspiratorial wink. Lori smiled and nodded, her heart swelling up with pride as Leni walked over to the dead spider. Everyone thought Leni was dumb, that she couldn’t learn, that she couldn’t function without people telling her what to do; but Lori never gave up on her little sister, she was there for her from the very beginning and she knew that with love and patience– why the hell is she holding up her cudgel?

“LENI STOP!” Lori and Luna’s cries echoed through the empty room and the second oldest Loud child halted dead in her tracks, her beating stick held high. She looked back at her exacerbated sisters, confusion clear on her face.

“I didn’t mean squish it! Bring it over here, we need the venom to melt these webs off!”

Leni blinked two more times before her face went red and she gave a sheepish giggle. After a quick sorry, about three minutes of psyching herself up, and another five to actually manage to drag the spider over with plenty of screaming breaks in between, Leni finally brought the corpse over to Lori who by this time had retracted the nice speech she had planned for Leni. It was a good one too, all about how proud she was of her for facing her fears and all that crud.

Lori snatched the corpse away from her younger sister and ripped a leg off, ignoring the squeak of disgust Leni made. She jabbed the spider leg into the abdomen and waited until she heard a tell-tale sizzle before pulling the appendage out and dragging the dripping limb down the webbing. The acidic venom did its job and the webbing fell away, a messy and somewhat dangerous application but it certainly beat trying to rip it off yourself. After melting off the last traces of web Lori looked over to her downed sister and gave the trapped teen a sardonic grin.

Luna gulped and gave her a nervous grin. “Just mind the hair, eh luv? Eh? Lori that’s not funny!”

“Oh, stop it I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Just watch the hair!”

“It’s not like you have much anyway.”

“YOU WOT M8!”

“There,” Lori chirped as the last strands of webbing were melted away. She double checked Luna to make sure no venom got on her skin and grinned as the grumbling girl sat up. Luna brushed herself off and reached for Lori’s arm to pull herself up, falling back with a gasp when Lori doubled over with a yelp.

Immediately Leni was at her sister’s side as the two fussed over their oldest sibling. The problem was immediately noticed and both Leni and Luna shrank back in disgust and worry when they saw what the venom had done to Lori’s arm. The skin looked like raw hamburger meat, red and puffy with some obvious scaring, it didn’t seem like the wound was getting any worse nor did the flesh look necrotic, it must’ve hurt like a bitch though and Lori sucked on her bottom lip as Leni gingerly took her arm. Leni flashed her big sister a weak grin and kissed the burn. With smooch administered Leni brought out her bible and opened it, a serene smile on her face as she looked down at the pages and began chanting.

“No.”

Leni’s recital was cut short with an unceremonious gag as Lori shook both her sisters off and stood up. Ignoring her younger sister’s confused glares, she walked over to the dead Webber in the corner and wrenched her mace out of its remains with a pulpy squelch. Holstering the gore-encrusted weapon to her side she marched to the center of the room and picked up the now dim torch lying on the ground. In the fading light she flashed her sisters what she thought was a reassuring smile and nodded.

“I’m fine Leni, I’ll literally bandage myself up when we get out of here. Let’s get going, we’ll save your magic trick for something worthwhile.”

Lori turned on her heels and slowly marched her way out of the room. Sharing one last glance with her sister Luna took after Lori, leaving Leni behind to ponder her sister’s words.

“But... aren't you worth it?”
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The Caretaker hummed a mirthful dirge as he skipped down the halls of the effervescent and not at all woebegone Ancestor’s manor, a symbol of opulence and self-indulgence if there ever was one, just mind the smell. He paused by a shattered stained-glass window and studied it for a few seconds before bursting out in a maniacal cackle that lasted well over a minute before that too suddenly stopped and he continued on his way.

Some think he might be crazy, well they’re wrong. He was mad.

Giggling at some unseen joke the Caretaker examined every inch of the halls. Rats the size of cats scurried out of his path, shards of glass littered the ground, and portraits of ancient men and women, their faces stern and unbecoming, glared down at him. The Caretaker frowned and rubbed his chin, perhaps things could do with a cleaning up around here. His smile suddenly grew, stretching the leathery, pale-yellow flesh so the skin threatened to tear as tears ran down his eyes.

Before he had no reason to clean, no reason to care, no reason to leave his damp, safe closet where the bad things can’t find him. Before he had the master, but that was so long ago now, and he was different then. The master was different too, then he changed, he became cruel and harsh, his experiments began to consume him. He can still hear the screams sometimes, echoing in his skull and throughout the halls at night. And then he opened the basement, then he began to dig, then he found-

Suddenly the Caretaker fell to floor, his skeletal frame thrashing and kicking as ragged screams tore from his throat. A great quantity of blood and foam frothed up from his mouth and joined the growing puddle of urine on the floor around him as he spasmed and moaned. His eyes rolled back in his head, but he could still see, he couldn’t stop, he would always see, he would never forget IT.

Just as quickly as they started the convulsions stopped and the Caretaker got to his feet and brushed the dust and piss from his tattered robes. If he was even aware of what happened he didn’t show it, and he continued on his merry path with the same repulsive rictus he was known for.

-what he found didn’t matter. All that matters now was that the manor was inhabited again. The family continues, the aristocracy has once again asserted itself, and the Caretaker had purpose again.

And it was all thanks to those adorable little creatures. What did people call them again? Ah yes! Children. Marvelous invention really, achieving immortality through genetics instead of the old fashion way via profane experimentation and human sacrifice. And what delightful little monstrosities they were, ripe young minds unaccustomed to horror and pain, they had yet to truly live, to taste existence. Not to worry though, the Caretaker was sure they were quick learners. The oldest was a bit of a pain and the boy with the scratchy voice had a terrible accent, but the second oldest was a treasure. He had made sure to return straight home and deposit her little present in an empty room and even went the extra mile of setting it up for habitation. It felt so good to be useful again, and he had a good feeling their little family was going to get bigger.

The Ancestor was always... prolific.

A sudden movement in the corner of his eyes caught the Caretaker’s attention and the guise of bumbling inefficiency faded in the blink of an eye, replaced by something feral and so much stronger than the old man’s bony frame belied. His mouth tore at the fringes and erupted into a maw of bristling fangs as he turned and snarled at his follower.

Lola Loud, outfitted in a tiny pink sleeping gown, looked up at him with wide eyes and a small frown.

“Hark, a vagrant!” The Caretaker cried out, already recovered from his episode. He peered down at the small child and tapped the side of his head. No, not a vagrant, the girls had brought this one back with them yesterday. He gasped and drew back as if he had stumbled upon a viper. “Are you a circus midget?” he hissed, backing up in case she had a pie on her.

Lola Loud said not a word, the only sound that could be heard from her were her slow, shallow breaths as she looked up at the Caretaker with unblinking eyes. Heavy, dark bags hung under her eyes and the usual makeup that adorned the child star’s face was missing, obviously the little beauty queen had seen better days.

The Caretaker fidgeted in place, his eyes looking every which way so long as it wasn’t down at the child. He wasn’t used to people staring at him, in fact most made it their sole mission in life to avoid ever setting eyes on him claiming he was repulsive in every sense of the word.

“Go away,” he stated quite bluntly, waving her off with one hand.

Lola didn’t move, nor did she take her eyes off him. The Caretaker whimpered under her unrelenting assault and slowly backed up until his back hit a wall. He moaned in horror as the child took two steps forward for each one he took back. As Lola approached the dejected lunatic sank to the ground and huddled up under his stained robes, wailing with wanton abandon.

“Lola?”

Lola slowly turned her head and looked at Lisa who herself wasn’t sure if she should be trying to help her sister or the Caretaker who seemed to have degenerated into hysterics. Eventually though, familial obligation won out over the chance to study this unique psychological phenomenon up close and with a sigh Lisa walked over to her older sister and took her hand, leading her away from the scene.

“Now Lola,” Lisa started, “you can’t jusht run off like that. I’m not shure if you’ve notished but we’re not exshactly home anymore. You need to shtay with me, okay?” Lisa looked up at her sibling and in spite of herself just the barest fragments of hope managed to creep into her voice at the end.

The outcome was as she predicted however. Lola said nothing, nor did she give any sign of having heard Lisa’s speech, her eyes unfocused and gazing off into the distance with that same wide-eyed look of vague horror that she had worn all day yesterday and today. It seemed though that one aspect had changed, since she had been pried off Luna when she had to leave for her mission the young girl had seemed to get over her clinginess. Lisa soon realized it was a curse in disguise when she looked up to see Lola had disappeared and she raced through the manor looking for her.

Lisa pushed her glasses up and straightened out the hem of plague doctor’s robes with a sigh. She should have known better, Lola wasn’t like her, despite her maturity for her age she was still a six-year-old and was not capable of handling the terrifying nature of their situation. Lisa shuddered as she imagined what it was like for her, down there in the Ruins, in the darkness for a whole day, surrounded by the dead and dying with not a soul to comfort or protect you.

Lisa stifled a whimper as she flashed a quick glance up to her sister. It would be a miracle if Lola ever came back to them.

Lisa led her sister through the winding halls of the dilapidated manor. As they meandered Lisa took stock of the broken windows, the cracked walls, basically every little thing wrong with the place and mentally calculated the approximate costs (both monetary and in man power) it would take to fix the place up. Quite frankly it was a dump, and though it was hopefully only temporary it would not behoove her or her siblings to inhabit such abysmal quarters.

And on the subject of cleaning, there was the Hamlet as well. As the, ahem, “Ladies” of the land it fell to them not only to ensure the prosperity of said property but also the well-being of those that dwelled there, and in return they were to receive taxes from the inhabitants for their services. The place was a hell-hole, a rat trap of poverty and disease. There was a sickness in this land and it had infected the people as well; hopelessness abounded, and the air was heavy with the stink of despair and rot. It had to be fixed, but that cost money, luckily it seemed that the dungeons the girls explored held great stores of wealth within them. Perhaps they could gather a group of townsfolk to pillage the Ruins and surrounding lands to fill their coffers, after they cleared out the skeletons, bandits and cultists of course.

Lisa couldn’t help but giggle as the situation seemed to catch up with her. She was taking this all rather well, though she wasn’t sure if that was a mark of maturity, denial, or insanity. Transporting to some another dimension, interacting with honest-to-God demonic cults and walking skeletons, she could’ve died yesterday! And yet, what a rush it was being out there in the field. Lisa had always taken a more practical approach to her scientific practices but there was certainly something to be said for a little fieldwork.

Lisa pushed her excitement down and focused on the larger issue at hand. The town had to be fixed, money had to be gathered but that was for the town. She didn’t know why exactly, oh sure she could rationalize it every which way why it was a good idea, but when it came down to it she didn’t know why. It was a simple fact, as simple as proteins being composed of the amino acids in a polypeptide chain that are linked by peptide bonds, the town had to be fixed, the land had to be cleansed. This place had to be repaired and mended. Maybe then they could go home.

Lisa dragged her listless sister into the library with a small frown on her face as she listed off a mental checklist. The physical one that had been given to them by the Caretaker had been… less than satisfactory. It had about three things written on it: 1. Go to the Ruins, 2. Fight the Necromancer’s Apprentice, and 3. Save the day! He had written it in what looked to be crayon, though where exactly he got it was beyond her. Such as it was the list was in obvious need of expansion, and luckily that’s where her talents came in handy. Strategy was a desideratum, if they had any chance of going home then she’d need to handle things.

Lisa cast a quick glance over to Lola and sighed in relief when she saw the older girl hadn’t wandered off this time. Her older sibling’s condition put a hamper on things, but only slightly. It wasn’t like she would be able to wander about the town on her own, she wouldn’t dare risk such a venture without adult supervision, so she couldn’t go around asking villagers what services and districts required immediate aid.

Lisa looked around the library and grinned. That’s, hopefully, where all this could come in handy. Yesterday the tomes proved fruitless when it came to any actual knowledge on their whereabouts and how they got here, but hopefully the shelves would hold other important matter. Deeds, family history, bills, names and businesses; with the right information she could start making headway on what needs to be fixed and what people she will need to meet. Repairing a settlement wasn’t as simple as going into a dungeon, taking some gold, and fixing up a house or two; if this was going to happen then she’d need to go about this with tact and savoir faire.

Lisa toddled over to a desk in the corner of the library covered in scrolls and books and papers as large as she was, pages decorated with elegant penmanship all in ink. Returning to her pile Lisa crawled up the chair, rubbed her little hands together with a crooked smile, flashed a glare over to Lola to make sure she hadn’t wandered off again, and settled into her chair.

Time to get to work.
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The din of battle pealed through the air, ringing the ears as blood hammered in the skull like a drumbeat in time to an ancient song of survival.

For Lori it was more than survival, it was life, and she reveled in it with a savage howl as she swung her mace in a wide arch, crushing the skull of the walking skeleton. Fragments of bone went flying and whatever unholy forces that kept the dead thing together were snuffed out as the skeleton collapsed in on itself, clattering to the floor in a broken pile as the ding from its rusted sword hit the stone.

Lori snarled at another skeleton that quickly took its fallen comrades place, but the dead paid her no mind as it raised its own sword above its head and brought it down with a heavy clang on Lori’s shield. The young woman’s muscles cried out in protest, but she pushed the pain down into her stomach and shoved back, throwing the skeleton off balance and back into another skeleton approaching from behind. The two crashed against each other and clattered to the ground in a pile of limbs and Lori took the precious few seconds afforded her to back up and catch her breath. The respite was brief, though one still lingered on the ground the skeleton soldier that had been pushed was already getting up to its feet and Lori shivered when its empty eye sockets focused on her.

A sudden movement in the corner of her eye caught Lori’s attention and she turned and jumped when the barrel of a pistol greeted her.

“Cover your ears luv!”

Lori followed Luna’s advice and did herself another favor by crouching down to the ground. It was times like these Lori was almost amused how different the sound of a gun is in real life compared to the movies. She was mostly annoyed though, and quite frankly wondered if covering her ears even helped because no matter how hard she pressed her head still rang whenever the damn thing went off. How the hell was Luna not deaf yet? As if her music wasn’t bad enough.

Shaking the spots out of her eyes Lori hauled herself up on quivering legs and hefted her mace over her shoulder. It didn’t take a genius to note that for all their uses guns were not the best weapon to take to a skeleton fight, probably because they couldn’t bleed to death. Still, at close range the pistol could deal adequate damage, but Lori made a quick mental note to tell Luna to start pulling her weight with the sword instead of hanging at the back.

Pieces of rib exploded out from the ‘wounded’ skeleton and it staggered from the sheer force of the impact. It wasn’t enough to kill though, and the unholy aberration quickly regained its footing and looked back up. The only thing it saw was Lori’s mace before the 3Ib spiked ball of iron crushed the skull into tiny splinters. On a role now, Lori continued her march until she stood above the other skeleton that had been knocked down earlier. The Bone Rabble lunged at her from its sitting position and got a face-full of shield for its trouble. Lori glared at the skeleton as it writhed on the ground and raised he shield up high above her head, held it there for a few seconds, and brought the sharpened end down onto the skeleton’s spine, neatly bisecting it. Now without a lower body the skeleton’s movement was greatly restricted and all it could do was flop about aimlessly as its arms tried to find purchase on the stone floor. Lori brought it out of its misery with a well-timed stomp of her boot and ground the bone to powder with a savage grin.

Lori could hear Luna rushing behind her and snapped her head to the right where she saw Lei currently engaged with her own problem as a Bone Soldier stalked towards her while a Bone Arbalist hung towards the back, loading another bolt into its enormous crossbow. In three seconds Lori analyzed the scenario, weighed the risks, and lunged out towards the Arbalist just as the skeletal soldier notched a bolt and pulled back the string, its weapon aimed right at her younger sister. Lori had just enough time throw up her shield as the bolt was released, but unfortunately for her she was a second too late as the bolt caught the edge of her shield and spun off into the darkness. Caught on ill-footing the force of the impact spun Lori off her feet and she crashed to the ground and lay groaning on her back, dazed from the fall. Though she couldn’t see them she could hear the tell-tale clanging of metal as two swords struck and Luna scream out in fear and anger as she tried to drive off the Bone Soldier. She could also dimly make out Leni screaming, and it slowly dawned on her that she was screaming her name. Lori grunted and made to get up when a shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see a grinning skull wearing a tin brodie helmet leering down at her.

The Bone Arbalist raised up its crossbow and Lori gasped when she saw the bayonet affixed to the cocking stirrup pointing straight down at her. With a grunt Lori slammed her shoulder into the ground and twisted her body just as the bayonet’s point came down, no easy feat when outfitted in an iron cuirass, and she could feel the jagged point of the rusted weapon plunge into the ground where her head was just scant seconds ago. There was sense of grim satisfaction when she heard the rusted bayonet snap as it hit the stone and she kicked out, wincing as her shin struck the skeleton’s bony thigh. As the undead creature hit the ground Lori began to haul herself up, a monumentous effort under her armor especially when compared to the lighter skeleton. Lori squared off against the skeleton as the two repositioned themselves, spitting a ball of bloody phlegm to the ground after wiping her busted lip. The skeleton notched another bolt and she tightened her grip on her shield, keeping herself between the deadly weapon and her more lightly armored sisters.

On Luna’s side the battle had taken a less than satisfactory turn as she traded blows with the Bone Soldier. Though she most certainly seemed to possess a greater skill with a blade than one her age and lack of training should (an almost instinctual knowledge really, not that she had the time to assess the situation at hand) this alone would not carry her against the mindless, and more importantly tireless, automaton that stood before her. A lack of skill on her part was another factor to consider, while the skeleton moved slowly there was nothing chaotic about how it fought, each move was precise and calculated in the same way a machine would; conversely Luna pitched her blows with wild abandon, desperate to hit any vital points and to end the battle as quickly as possible without getting hurt.

It was almost like watching two children on the playground fight with sticks. Really dumb children.

“Leni!” Luna cried, parrying the skeletal swordsman’s strike with her own sword. The shock of the blow sent a tremor up her arm and she grunted with pain. Luna forced the sword away and looked over her shoulder back to her older sister and screamed out again. “Leni! Your book, use that book!” The distraction lasted only a second, but Luna’s vision blurred as the side of her head erupted in pain as the skeleton used that one second to rear back and slam a bony fist into her temple. Luna groaned and slumped to the floor, her sword clattering on the stone. Though her vision swam she could faintly make out the Bone Soldier looming over her, its own sword raised high above its head.

“HEY!”

The skeleton had just enough time to turn and see Leni rear her holy book over her shoulder before she swung the thick tome right at its head. The leather-bound bible smacked into skull with a heavy thud and the head went sailing off into the blackness beyond the torchlight. For a few seconds the skeleton stood there, then began to frantically pat the empty air where its head used to be, then shrugged and fell apart.

Leni narrowed her eyes and nodded sagely before running over to her sister and hauling the poor girl to her feet.

“Are you alright Luna,” the worried teen asked her sister. Luna slowly nodded, rubbing the side of her head. She checked her palm and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t see any blood.

“Think so luv,” the rocker replied, then gave Leni a crooked grin. “Really threw the book at him didn’t ya?”

“Totes did!” Leni chirped back with a grin and the two girls started chuckling.

A ragged howl broke them out of their revelry and the two of them turned around and stared as Lori rushed the Bone Arbalist and struck it with her shield, tossing the skeleton to the ground. She stomped over to its prone form and smashed in its ribcage with a boot before swinging her mace down into the dead thing’s skull, ending its pathetic facsimile of life. Lori looked back and examined her handiwork for a few seconds, then swung her mace again. And again. And again. Then Leni and Luna had to pry her away from the battered carcass and move her off down the halls, but not before Leni grabbed the torch she had hung up on the wall when the fight started.

The trio continued on in this fashion for a short while until Leni noticed Lori scratching at her arm when she thought her sisters weren’t watching and made them take a break. Luna wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of setting up camp in a dungeon but after looking at Lori’s arm, with some added encouragement from her rumbling belly) acquiesced and a fire was quickly set from gathered debris. After a quick meal of meat, cheese, and bread procured from the Caretaker before setting off that morning Leni grabbed Lori’s arm and ignoring the older teen’s protests began to bandage it up.

“I wish you would’ve let me heal you earlier,” Leni huffed, slathering her sisters arm with medical ointments, “I can only do my magic trick when a fight’s still going on.”

Lori winced as her sister applied the cream and glared down at her. “And I told you to save it. We don’t know if you need a cool-down or if that magic has like a three-strikes rule or something. Besides, I’m fine.”

“Oh yeah,” Luna chimed in after swallowing her makeshift sandwich. “You were just chewing the skin off yer arm there luv, picture of health that is. Just let Leni do her thing mate, she’s a Black Magic Woman who’s got the right stuff!”

The two younger girls giggled at that and Lori sank into her seat with a grumble. She looked down at her arm and grimaced. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, the itching was getting worse after that fight with the skeletons, so much so that she didn’t even realize that she had been chewing off her skin until Leni screamed when she saw the blood on her face. Whatever that venom was it was hellish, and Lori hoped she wouldn’t have to deal with anymore of those awful creatures.

Leni hummed to herself as she applied wrapped bandages around Lori’s arm and soon enough the urge to itch had dissipated, though Lori was still quite grumpy that she had been proven wrong yet again and made no attempt to hide. Leni took it in stride with a wide grin and even went so far as to give the make-shift cast a kiss when she was finished pressing it. Lori grumbled and raised up her arm as if to inspect it. She gave Leni a quick side-glance and muttered a, “Thank you,” before standing up and stretching. She picked up her mace and noted with no small sense of dissatisfaction that while it no longer hurt to hold the heavy weapon the cast (and whatever damage the venom had done to her) and made her swing just a fraction slower than it was. It was barely noticeable, but some part in the back of Lori’s head hissed at her that even a second’s delay could mean the difference between life and death and she steeled her resolve for whatever lay ahead.

Just as Lori opened her mouth to give what she no doubt though to be a rousing speech she was cut off by Luna who stood to her feet and with her head cocked walked off down the hallway they set up their little camp. She grabbed a torch and lit it in the fire then slowly walked a little ways off down the hall, as cautious and light-footed as a cat, then leaned down to examine something. Lori was just about to call her back over when Luna jumped to her feet with a shriek. She turned to flee but Lori and Leni were already there with weapons raised. Lori peered over Luna’s shoulder and felt hot bile rise in her throat at what she saw.

It was a maggot. An enormous maggot, literally as big as her head. It’s bulbous, pale body had been crushed, a putrid pussy liquid leaked from it and stained the floor around it. Lori raised a hand to her mouth to try and stem the tide of nausea boiling in her throat and glanced around her. In the dark she could make out more of them, pitiful little carcasses gleaming white in the dim light of the Ruins. They were hideous, this whole place was hideous. Giant spiders, walking dead things, and now maggots? As if this place didn’t reek of death enough already.

Ignoring Luna’s gags Lori moved over to the closest maggot and nudged it over with a foot. The body was stiff but not entirely so, the fattest parts of it still jiggled and a wretched smell wafted off it as more of its thick milky insides squirted out. The maggot hadn’t been dead for long, maybe for the better part of a day, but what had happened to them? Lori was torn from her thought by a loud gasp and she whipped around to see Leni kneeling to the ground. Lori and Luna shared a confused look and slowly walked over to their sister. Lori reached out to grab Leni’s shoulder, but the younger teen shook her off and stood up, slowly turning around to show them what she had clenched tightly in her shaking fists.

A scrap of black fabric along with a single torn black-and-white legging, both marred in blood.

“Lucy,” Lori whispered, but the noise sounded faint to her, as if from a great distance. Her vision blurred, and her face felt hot.

“Oh God,” Luna moaned and buried her face in her hands, her whole-body trembling in fear and sadness and more than a hint of anger.

Leni stood there like a statue, solemn and distant. Slowly her fists clenched so tight the knuckles grew white and she felt something hot running down her chin, too far gone to realize she was biting her bottom lip hard enough to bleed. Leni felt something then that she didn’t fully understand but knew enough of to make a comparison. Leni had felt frustration before, for all her cheerfulness and good-natured personality she had felt anger and the memory of Luna’s little comments the day before ran through her head. But this was more than that, this ran deeper and hotter all the way to her stomach enough to make her heart ache and her lungs cry out.

For that one instant Leni felt white-hot rage, and then the world melted away.

Lori and Luna jumped back as Leni voiced her grief and screamed. It was a piping cacophony that pierced the ears and rang around in the skull until your head was throbbing and your knees shook from the sheer power of it. Despite their grief the two teens were taken aback by the sheer volume of Leni’s cry, and then when they got over that the look on her face set them straight. Leni’s beautiful features lay twisted, polluted from grief and rage and transformed into something altogether sinister in every aspect. With a bestial snarl Leni turned on her heels and rushed off down the halls, leaving Luna and Lori struck dumb by the whole spectacle.

Naturally, however, the two girls recovered quickly and raced after their sister. Luna called after her but as Lori suspected her pleas were either ignored or more likely didn’t register. Not that she could tell her that, for all the extra protection her armor and shield afforded her streamlined they were not and the heavy instruments weighed her down considerably. Not that she could afford to lose Luna though, after all the rockin’ teen had the torch.

‘Where the hell is she going,’ Lori thought bitterly. Her answer soon came to her when she took a quick glance to the ground. It didn’t register at first, and she wasn’t about to stop and look at it, but then she saw it again, and again. Dark splatters of some dried liquid. It had the color of rust in the ever-fading torch light and it wasn’t until she saw it three more times that she realized it was a blood trail. Skeletons don’t bleed, and they hadn’t fought any Cultists recently...

Lori pumped her legs and sped up as fast as she could. Her scowl deepened into a grimace of pure hate and she growled like an animal as her vision went red. She couldn’t save her baby sister, but she could damn well avenge her. And may whatever passes for God in this hell have mercy on the poor soul that did it, because Lori would have none to offer.
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The Cultist watched with baited breath as the Necromancer Apprentice composed the final preparations for the ritual. Anxiety and eagerness to commence the sacrifice gnawed at his core but he held himself back out fear and respect for the ancient practices at work here. That the Necromancer would kill him without a second’s hesitation should its vile arcane applications be interrupted didn’t fail to cross his mind.

Nevertheless, the Cultist couldn’t help but admire the efficiency with which the walking carcass went about its duties. When the Necromancer claimed its skill with preservation were sub-par the Cultist had cause for concern, but looking at her now the results were astonishing. Sure, the leg was twisted, and painful spasms raked through her body, and she profusely vomited blood and embalming fluid, but frankly it was by far an improvement to what the Ghoul had done to her. He watched the Necromancer anoint the body with profane toxicants as it uttered dark incantations in the stolen voices of the dead and trembled as something came over him. It was almost orgasmic really, desire so powerful as to become physical, an overarching need imposed on the very fabric of reality itself.

The hour was close at hand. The stars had aligned, the sacrifice had been properly prepared. The Cultist drew in, salivating over the hapless, listless prey laying on the slab.

“Is it time? I can feel it, it’s time.”

“Yessssss... it is... time.”

The atmosphere in the room changed. The rank odor of decay that permeated the very stone was drawn out and replaced with something a bit fresher. A sort of energy was in the air, even the dead seemed animated by it as they capered and stomped their bony feet to a rhythm. The red fire of the torches in the room smoldered out only to ignite once again with an unearthly, greenish glow. The Cultist breathed deep and let it out in a growl. He could practically taste the eldritch in the air, he could feel his inhibitions melt away. He cast a predatory glare down at his captive, his muse, his love, his sacrifice.

“Power,” the man whispered, and under his robes he gripped something metal and sharp. The Cultist pulled out his sacrificial knife and the secespita gleamed in the green witch-fires that surrounded the altar. The stomping of the skeletons reached a crescendo as the Cultist dramatically held his hands out and slowly brought them both up high above his head, the knife gripped tight in his to hands. He closed his eyes and paused as if waiting for an applause (there was none of course, skeletons can’t talk) and slowly opened his eyes, gazing down at the quivering wreck below him. Lucy’s eyes were gazing past the Cultist, past the ceiling, past everything here and now and in between.

The Cultist howled in wild abandon and brought the knife down.

A scream echoed in the altar room but one far louder and more terrible than the Cultist’s and at the last second the man flinched and in his startled haste tripped on his robes and fell to the floor. The Necromancer spared the downed Cultist not a second glance but glided over the altar and gazed off into the Darkness. Something was happening just beyond the torchlight, it could see, could feel the life in its domain. The skeletons, seemingly confused by the sudden change of tone in the room, were left defenseless as a young woman wearing the holy robes the Church’s Vestals waded through them, cracking skulls and limbs with studded cudgel. Her voice was hate, and her eyes were fire and she reaped a toll among the dead before the Necromancer was able to pour its energy into them and direct the Bone Rabble to their new target with a simple command.

“KILL HER!” The Necromancer screeched, and the skeletons turned towards the threat.

In the time it took for the horde to gather Leni had destroyed five of their number, leaving eleven of them left. Though the Necromancer’s expression went unseen under its hood there was a minute trace of humanity in the way it clenched its fists. Inwardly the Apprentice cursed that the rabble before it possessed no weapons other than clubs, shovels, and other meager instruments; the soldiers had been sent to guard the halls after all and were not necessary to fuel the ritual. Obviously, the guards proved useless. No matter, the dead had numbers on their side, as powerful as a Vestal might be even a Crusader would find these odds more than a match.
It was at this moment Luna and Lori burst into the room and joined their sister’s side, Lori hacking away at the dead with her mace while Luna chopped at arms and spines with her short-sword.

The Necromancer Apprentice bobbed its head twice, reached into its hood to presumably scratch its chin, and turned around.

“W-where are you going,” the Cultist shrieked at the Necromancer’s retreating figure, all former bravado thoroughly depleted. The Necromancer ignored the pathetic little gimp and glided off into the darkness without another word. However, just as it was about to leave the Cultist’s sight, hovering just at the edge of oblivion it stopped and raised a skeletal arm up beside its head. Bony fingers snapped once, loud and clear even above the violence in the room, and then the Necromancer dissipated into the black.

The ghoul that had been waiting in the corner patiently lurched to its feet. The Cultist squeaked as the massive predator made its way over to him, and for a second it lingered on him with its horrible eyes and gore-caked claws itching in anticipation, but it moved past him without incident. It moved past the altar, sparing the tiny body still curled on the slab not a second glance, and stood at the head of the raised platform overlooking the battle below it with an unreadable expression on its elongated face.

It opened its mouth so wide it could swallow a person whole and screamed.

It wasn’t a human’s scream, there was something there that was almost human but too much of it wasn’t. It was loud, and the echo of the small room only added to the cacophony as the noise multiplied and hung in the air. There was power in it, animalistic in its intensity as it heralded a hunger ferocious in its depth. There was hate too, and perhaps that’s what made it sound almost human.

For a few seconds the battle stopped as the Loud girls halted in their advance and stared up at the towering Ghoul. Its muscular, ape-like body well over 7 ft. tall, the dried blood that caked its limbs, the cavernous maw bristling with fangs, the luminous eyes that glowed like fiery lanterns as it stared down at the girls. It was a nightmare given flesh, a horrible twisted perversion of the human body and mind. Even the skeletons paused as the Ghoul made its presence. Granted this was because the power the Necromancer used to direct the unholy aberration came at the expense of their own guidance, but it made for a pretty cool effect all the same.

Of the undead horde only seven remained from the onslaught of the Louds, and the two at the back were instantly crushed as the Ghoul leapt from the dais and landed on them. A third and then fourth skeleton were summarily tossed aside as the Ghoul strode through the crowd and swung its enormous arms around, and then for good measure he crushed another skeleton as it reached out for the closest Loud and Luna reacted in kind by jamming the torch she was carrying into its face.

The Ghoul reeled back and howled again, a horrible bestial noise that made shivers run down the girl’s spines. Luna bore the brunt of the onslaught and she backed up on quivering legs, her hands clenched tightly over her ears as tears poured down her face. The Ghoul snarled and raised a massive paw above its head, claws stretched out and poised to strike.

There was a hollow crack as a skull collided with its head and splintered. The Ghoul blinked twice then snapped its head over to a very angry looking Lori, mace in hand and a headless skeleton at her feet.

“That’s right,” the young woman snapped at the towering predator. “Over here, pick on someone who can fight back!”

It was at that moment one of the skeletons still ‘alive’ from the assault decided to make its presence known in the obnoxious way possible as it tackled Lori. The force of the Bone Rabble’s impact nearly threw Lori off her feet and the young woman planted her feet into the ground and swung her mace up into the zombie’s ribs. The awkward angle of the swing didn’t carry enough force to knock the skeleton off her and an awkward struggle for the higher ground began as the skeleton tried to force her to the ground and Lori tried to keep its bony talons out of her eyes.

A low snort brought the two of them from their scuffle and both Lori and skeleton slowly turned their head to see the haggard face of the Ghoul looming over them. The creature snorted, stepped back, and swung an arm as thick as a Christmas Tree at them. Lori gagged, and her vision went white when the arm struck her side, and something crunched under her iron cuirass as both her and the skeleton were sent flying. The skeleton hit the ground first and clattered to the ground, its arms and legs splintering and detaching. Immediately Lori landed on top of it and crushed what was left under her armor.

The Ghoul paused for a moment and regarded the groaning lady it had sent flying, but ultimately decided to finish off the prey closest to it. It turned back to the fight and got a club to his face for his troubles.

In an uncharacteristic display of combat prowess Leni jumped back as soon as her club hit and began to sprint around the Ghoul. Whatever notion was running through her head payed off, the Ghoul was massive but relatively slow with its massive upper body and by the time it noticed its retaliatory claw swipe had missed Leni was already behind him, readying her club for another blow. Her studded club struck the Ghoul’s ankle with a crack and the creature flinched under the attack as Leni jumped back to avoid a backhand that would’ve knocked her head open.

Leni circled the growling creature, her ferocity at the start of the battle had been tempered with caution as she regarded the monster in front of her. The way it moved, the way it had crushed the skeletons before it so easily, the way it had just knocked Lori out so easily. Leni might’ve been slow, but she wasn’t an idiot and despite what others might’ve though of her she did possess some measure of survival instinct. Unfortunately for Leni her opponent was simply too far gone to appreciate such mundane things as tactics, nor was it capable of feeling wariness or fear.

With a roar the Ghoul raised its fist up and brought the heavy paw down where Leni had stood just seconds ago. Slow as it was when turning the Ghoul was deviously quick in short bursts and it was all Leni could do to stay out of its way as it slammed the ground again and again. It suddenly occurred to Leni that it was like an oversize game of whack-a-mole, and the thought made her giggle as she cracked the Ghoul in the temple with her club.

There was a wet crunch as the weapon left an obvious dent in the monster’s skull, but the Ghoul didn’t even seem to feel the blow or the blood squirting out in a thin jet. The was a soft crack as the Ghoul unhinged its jaws and lunged forward at Leni who squeaked and held up her cudgel in front of her face. The Ghoul’s mouth snapped shut and its fangs became embedded in the soft wooden handle of the weapon. What then followed was a brief struggle of tug-a-war as Leni shouted at the troglodyte to let go and pulled on her weapon. The Ghoul eventually grew tired of the game and reared up onto his legs.

For a second Leni was dangling in mid-air, her fists still clenched tightly around the handle of her weapon, before all the air was knocked out of lungs as the Ghoul slugged her in the gut. Leni went flying and slammed into ground with a loud thud where she slowly got to her knees and began to wheeze. The pain was terrible, and Leni felt like she couldn’t breathe right. She leaned over and opened her mouth, balking as a trickle of blood came out.

There was a dull thump to her left and Leni looked over to see a wall pallid grey flesh. The Ghoul reached down and grabbed her neck, pinching the tiny organ with its thumb and forefinger. Its touch was strange, almost gentle compared to how it had acted earlier, like it was making sure its claws didn’t pierce her fragile skin.

Leni looked up at the Ghouls face and blanched when the monster’s crooked mouth turned upwards in a disgusting parody of a grin. This creature didn’t have much of anything human in it, but it did have just enough to know sadism and it reveled in the opportunity as its other arm grabbed onto Leni’s midsection and squeezed. Leni gagged, and the Ghoul quickly removed its fingers from her throat and grabbed onto her side again. Now with both hands clutching her sides it tightened its hold, mounting the pressure.

“Luna help!” Leni cried, punching the Ghoul in the head. She might as well have been striking a brick wall, without her cudgel she could do no damage. Frantic, she looked over at her sister and saw Luna standing there, hands over her face and shaking her head, her body trembling.

“L-LUNA!?” Leni cried again, then howled as the pressure increased. Terror took hold now and Leni thrashed in the monster’s grip, kicking and punching and even biting at its leathery hide. A disgusting chortle rumbled out of the Ghoul’s throat as it crushed the air out of Leni’s lungs. Leni opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out except more blood. She could feel something snap inside her and her eyes bugged out when the trickle became a stream. Leni reared her head back in a silent scream as her vision swam and slowly grew darker. She felt so cold.

There was a heavy, wet crunch and Leni fell to the ground as the Ghoul shrieked and spasmed under the heavy blow dealt to its ribcage. The monster spun around and lashed out with its talons but for all her armor and Lori had already jumped back just out of reach. She swung her mace again and clipped the monster’s mouth, her metal weapon broke several of its leftmost fangs and she felt its jaw snap under the force of her mace. Lori snarled and brought her mace around for another hit, scoring a blow on the other side of the jaw with similar results. The Ghoul dropped to its knees and gurgled through its broken maw, the flesh hanging off in ribbons while teeth cascaded onto the ground. Lori smirked and raised her mace high above her head, ready to bring it down on the broken animal.

The Ghoul shot its right arm out and Lori wailed as the monster’s bloody talons tore open the right side of her face.

>Mortality clarified in a single strike!

Lori spun from the force of the blow, reeling in pain as she dropped her shield to ground and reached up to try and stem the flow of blood. Lori moaned piteously as she reached around and realized her right eye socket was nothing more than a gaping hole. Her face met the stone floor with a crunch as the Ghoul planted its foot squarely on her back, rearing back its leg to kick her a good three times before it began to pummel her broken body like an ape.

The Ghoul reared its fist back for another blow there was a sudden blossoming of pain, distant and dull but there nonetheless, somewhere in its arm. Pausing, the creature looked down at the source and dimly realized that where its right hand was but a moment ago there was naught left but a bleeding stump. The Ghoul peered over its shoulder and was met with the barrel of a gun. There was a sound of thunder and the right side of the Ghoul’s face was shorn off in a shower of gore as the bullet grazed the side of the skull. The creature fell back with a groan and Luna was on him in an instant, hacking at its exposed stomach with her short sword.

Unseen and unknown during this confrontation was the Cultist, cowering away behind the sacrificial slab as his plans were dashed before his very eyes. He peeked out from behind the altar and blanched when he saw the lone swords-woman stabbing the Ghoul in its nethers. He ducked back to safety and chewed on his nails, wondering to himself just how he was going to get out of this situation. He peered out again and to his surprise noticed that one lone skeleton was left from the initial massacre. It was just standing there, watching the battle.

“Hey!”

The skeleton looked around for a few seconds until it noticed the scrawny Cultist leaning out from behind his hiding spot, glaring at it and motioning towards the enraged Ghoul that was now trying to swipe at both Luna and Lori who had managed to get back to her feet.
“Don’t just stand there,” the Cultist hissed, and pointed towards the fight. “Get in there!”

The skeleton turned back towards the fight and noted the Girl-at-Arms swinging her mace at the Ghoul’s ribs while the Highwaywoman sliced at the back of its right leg, severing the Achilles-tendon. The skeleton looked back over to the scowling Cultist, back to the fight, Cultist, fight...

The Cultist’s jaw dropped when the Bone Rabble dropped its club to the floor, threw its hands up, and walked out of the room through one of the many side-doors.

“Okay then,” the Cultist muttered, and cast another fearful glance back to the fight.

Whoever these girls where they fought like devils, the Girl-at-Arms had taken one hell of a beating, Hell it looked like her shield arm was dislocated, but she still fought with a berserker’s fury. The Highwaywoman was just as vicious but in a more controlled manner, dodging and weaving under the monster’s claws until she could get a swipe in; though for whatever reason her face was stretched into a grimace and her eyes flooded with tears. The Ghoul certainly wasn’t faring well, it’s brawny body was covered in hack-marks and bloody bruises, its jaw was broken so it couldn’t howl, it kept tripping over its useless right leg, it’s right arm had been cut off, and half of its damn face was missing! How the Hell was it still alive?!

The Cultist ducked back under cover and rapped his knuckles against his head. Alright, so the Vestal was probably dead, and the armored berserker with one eye was probably going to die too. But the Highwaywoman looked like she was probably going to make it. And on the off-chance the Ghoul survived then who was to stop it from killing him? As he pondered his myriad potential gruesome deaths a glint in the corner of his eye drew his attention and he crawled over to it on his hands and knees.

The sacrificial knife gleamed in the green light of the torches and the corners Cultist’s mouth drew up in a revolting leer.

Back in the fray Lori doubled over from an errant blow of the Ghoul’s stumped arm and retched her hastily eaten lunch onto the floor. Her entire body was sore, battered, broken, and a dull pain throbbed in her head as her vision swam. She spat bloody phlegm onto the ground and wiped her mouth before swinging her mace at the Ghoul, catching the groaning beast in the knee. Pain she could deal with, it meant she was alive after all. She didn’t have time to die.

Meanwhile Luna ducked under slashing talons and delivered her own in kind, her sword slashing at the monster’s exposed elbow, clipping the bone and shaving off muscle and tendon. Fighting this monster wasn’t like fighting bandits or skeletons. Like the bandits it was creature of flesh and blood, but like the skeletons it felt no pain and hadn’t the good sense to die though the floor ran a dark red from its rotten blood. Still, it seemed to be slowing from the blows to its knees and head, perhaps all that was needed now was to avoid the death blows and wait for it to bleed out.

Luna’s hubris caught up to her when the Ghoul grabbed a skeleton’s remains from off the ground and slung the carcass at her, catching the unawares girl in the stomach. Luna hit the stone with a grunt and was only able to shove off the pile of bones and leather before the Ghoul was upon her. It raised one leg up high and brought its clubbed foot down hard on Luna’s stomach. Something crunched under its heel and Luna vomited as she screamed. It reared up for another blow when Lori slammed into its side, nearly bowling the beast over though its caught itself at the last second. On an impulse of animalistic fury Lori punched it in the ribs and bit the Ghoul on its side but the damage was negligible, and the Ghoul retaliated by cracking her in the head with its elbow. Dazed and bloodied Lori slumped to the ground and trembled as the blow to her head wrought its toll and the Ghoul raised another leg up, this time aiming right at Lori’s head.

There was movement behind the Ghoul and it paused, and then something happened. The air had changed, the dank rot of foul sorcery that once hung in this unholy charnel had dissipated, replaced by something fresher, something angry and hot and vengeful. Something unknown came over the Ghoul then, something it had no knowledge or name for in its bestial brain and in fact hadn’t felt for some time, a time from before when it was small and weak. Those times were so long ago, why was it feeling it now? Why were these shadows in its mind suddenly growing?

The Ghoul turned around and a shiver ran down his spine, and suddenly it realized that it was feeling fear.

Leni stood before the monster, resplendent in form and awesome in her fury. Her skin was golden, a luminous aura shining like fire radiated from within her very body. The torches in the room were suddenly snuffed out and their green flames replaced by red infernos. Leni took two steps towards the monster, one hand holding her open bible and the other pointing straight at the cowering brute. Her serene face twisted into a sneer and fire emanated from her grit teeth.

“Cade in gehennam, enim tu graviter peccavisti.”

The Ghoul burst into flames and screamed through the broken mess of its jaw. Flailing its arms around the dying beast took three steps back and fell onto the ground where it writhed and groaned until it finally fell silent. The bonfire raged with all the intensity of Leni’s hate until that too finally dissipated and all that was left to suggest the Ghoul had ever even existed was a charred, deformed skeleton, just as gruesome in death as it had been in its parody of a life.

Leni’s face slowly began to relax as the sight, her fearsome visage becoming serene once again as the golden flames cascaded off her body and rolled across the floor, engulfing the prone forms of her sisters. The light washed over them, and their bodies glowed with the same luminescence as hers did until it finally faded away and all that was left was a sense of justice that hung in the air and drove away the inherent wrongness of this place.

Luna groaned, Lori coughed, then both suddenly jumped to their feet, a crazed gleam in their eyes as they hefted their weapons up and looked around ready to continue fighting. They saw the dead Ghoul first, looked to each other, then over to a frankly exhausted Leni who was looking like she was going to faint. Luna reacted first and rushed over to her sister, catching the poor teen in a hug before bestowing a flurry of kisses to her face with a hundred thank you’s and declarations of love as furnishing. Lori chuckled at the display, so happy to be alive that it only retroactively dawned on her that something was wrong. She suddenly reached up to feel her face and was relieved to feel that the scratches were gone, but something still felt off, felt empty. She then realized half of her vision was black, and she raised a finger to tentatively poke the empty hole in her skull where her right eye used to be.

Lori heard the shuffle of fabric on stone and turned to see a man standing above a small table in the forefront of the altar that stood in the center of the room. He was dressed in the typical robes of the Cultists they had already encountered in the Ruins. Lori held up her shield and called out to her sisters when she saw the man was holding a knife but then she noticed he wasn’t poised to throw it or rush at her, instead he was pointing it straight down.

It was then Lori noticed Lucy’s tiny body on the slab.

Lori screamed but the knife descended without a care, piercing Lucy’s fragile flesh, sending a torrent of red up into the air as the man reared back and laughed in triumph.

“Finally,” the Cultist cried out in sheer jubilation. “Power! It’s mine, all mine! All the power in the wor-

The crack of Luna’s gun cut him off and the Cultist fell back with a cry, clutching his bleeding shoulder. Lori was already climbing the altar as fast as her cumbersome armor allowed. She stood before Lucy’s body and choked out a gasp.

She looked so small, so broken. A knife was sticking out of her chest and a river of blood ran from the wound, staining her tattered black dress crimson. Lucy didn’t cry, didn’t scream, but she did breathe, it was a shallow, tiny whisper that didn’t even seem real, slowly getting quieter. Lori held out a trembling hand and stroked her baby sister’s pale cheek, so cold to the touch it burned. A gasp tore her from her reverie and she turned to see the Cultist sitting up.

“Not fair,” the man gasped in pain, holding onto his broken shoulder. “It should’ve been mine. I preformed the sacrifice, where’s my power. Where’s my…” He stopped himself short when a shadow fell over him, and the man squealed when he looked up and saw Death staring back at him. “No, w-wait-

Lori brought her mace down on the man’s head, the offending organ exploded in a shower of brain and skull. She brought it down again, this time on the man’s chest, shattering the ribcage and crushing the organs. Lori brought it down again, and again, and again, only dimly aware that she was roaring out every swear and slur she could think of as she pulped the monster in front of her until there was nothing left but crushed bones and a red smear. Only then did Lori stop, only then did it all really sink in.

She turned around and saw her sisters crowding around the altar. Leni had picked up Lucy’s twisted, little body and was cradling her baby sister with one hand while the other held her bible open. She was shouting out phrases in old dead languages, unsure whether they were even the right ones or if it wasn’t too late but unwilling or perhaps unable to let go. Luna stood off to the side, alternating between watching Leni work to planting her face in her open palms, openly sobbing and swearing in a choked voice.

Lori’s eyes fell on Lucy. Her eyes open but unseeing. Her chest rising but only slightly, shallow breaths faint as a whisper. One arm reached out, blindly snaking through the air as if to grasp something, then fell limp at her side.

Lori dropped her weapon and shield, covered her face with her hands, and doubled over until her head touched her knees.

And she screamed.
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Lucy Loud was neither here nor there, in or out, with or without. Substance was lacking, and time had no bearing, the body was but an imaginary figment dreamt up by something beyond control or contempt. She walked without moving, thought without experiencing, and most importantly existed only at the behest of something greater than her.

It was almost reassuring really, to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was in fact something greater than you. Something that could be considered truly almighty.

That this something was undeniably malevolent held little bearing.

>Shut Off The Light And Darkness Rushes In To Fill The Void.

Masculine, powerful, seductive.

>This Will Be An Easy War.

The undeniable voice of God.

>My Time. As Was Prophesied.

A shudder ran through Lucy’s soul and she ascended, gripped by a strength beyond mortal comprehension. She looked up to the stars and they looked down on her, a thousand gemstone eyes that judged relentlessly and gave nothing but took everything.

>Your Power Is In Darkness Lucy.

The Darkness pierced her porcelain skin and Lucy shuddered in orgasmic glee as she was filled to the brim with God’s hate.

>I Fixed Your Broken Body. You Live By My Will Only.

The Darkness wrapped around her and dragged her down. Choking her. Devouring her.

>NO MORE DREAMING.
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Lucy awoke from her nightmare slowly, gently, her pallid flesh caressed by the warm glow of a fire and her ears assaulted by the harsh caw of the raven sitting on the window sill. The corvid sat there for a moment, analyzed the stirring girl, then swiftly departed with another cry, almost a cackle really.

She was weak. Her body ached. Her right leg screamed in agony. But she was alive. Lucy Loud was alive and the thought made her so giddy she all but squealed in delight.

With a grunt Lucy shoved off the heavy covers and sat up straight. Yawning, Lucy glanced about the room and her eyes settled on the nightstand beside her bed. A nifty looking skull sat on it with a candle sticking out of the top. An odd, pungent fragrance emanated from the candle and it made her cough. Wiping her eyes Lucy admired the gothic nature of the room and delighted in the warmth of the fireplace, especially the way its glow accentuated the wait a minute...

Confusion gripped her as she stared at her unfamiliar surroundings, and it was quickly replaced by terror when she accounted for the differences. Her bed wasn’t this big, her room wasn’t this big, her room didn’t have a fireplace, her room had another person in it, a big sister to scare away the monsters under the bed before Lucy decided she would rather try and talk to them instead.

She regretted thinking like that now, she wished Lynn was here.

Lucy buried her face in her hands and whimpered as it all came rushing back to her and her worst fears were confirmed. It wasn’t a nightmare, it had all happened. Monsters were real, dead things that crawled under the Earth and snatched up little girls to stick twisted metal in their bodies while demons ripped off people’s heads and things with a thousand eyes stared back at you OH GOD THE EYES!

Lucy moaned and curled up only to cry out when a spasm of pain racked through her right leg. Whimpering Lucy gingerly peeled back the covers and stared down at the twisted limb. Her right leg looked wrong, there was a bulge in the calf, so slight as to almost be unnoticeable but there all the same. Her mind flashed back to the monster with glowing eyes, its iron grip, and Lucy moaned.

She was lame now, crippled by the cruel talons of a monster from her worst nightmares.

Lucy slowly uncurled from her position and tentatively placed her leg on top of the covers. There was an uncomfortable pressure on her chest and Lucy peered down her black nightgown as shuddered when she saw her chest covered in linen wrappings. She scratched her head in confusion but only winced more when her fingers brushed against yet more wrapping, strips of cloth wound tightly around her head. What had happened to her to necessitate such medical procedures. Probably what made her leg the way it was she fathomed, and focused on her leg if only to make sure she didn’t remember that awful monster’s face.

Mouth quivering, Lucy looked around the room again and it struck her that she was completely alone. No sisters, no Lincoln, no mom and dad. Where were they? Was she alone? Where was she? Terror gripped her heart and her breath once again quickened. Was this a trap? Was she still in Hell, was this all a trick, were they just keeping her here and saving her for some profane ritual?

Lucy resolved to not wait and find out, and with a speed tempered by caution she slowly descended off the Queen-sized bed onto the hard wood floors. When her off-set leg hit the ground it sent another spasm up her body and Lucy had to bite her hand to keep herself from crying out. She stood on it gingerly, keeping most of her weight on her good leg until the pain subsided or at least grew tolerable and then, hand still in her mouth, she took a step. It was rough goings, every step sent a fresh wave of pain through her body, and it was all she could do not to fall to the floor and wait for the inevitable. But Loud girls are anything but quitters, and resilience coupled with raw adrenaline surged Lucy’s little body forward.

It took several minutes to make a journey of seven ft. and she had fallen many times, but by the end of it Lucy had gained a rhythm of sorts by keeping most of her weight on her good leg and quickly limping with the other. The pain had lessened, and a small, distant part of Lucy was even hopeful that while she would never walk normally again she could at least still walk. Hobbling to the door, Lucy stood on the tips of her left foot’s toes to reach the doorknob and opened the mahogany door, wincing as the old wooden thing creaked.
Lucy slowly crept from her room, eyes furtively scanning both ends of what seemed to be a hallway lined with stained glass windows. A dull light filtered into the halls, though Lucy could see the sun was up past outside it seemed muted and the sky was grey.

There was a deep oppugnant nature about this place, repulsive and foreboding in design and purpose. Something terrible had happened here and it sent shivers down her back. Lucy hobbled out into the halls and wrung her hands together, desperately trying to ignore the thud of her lame foot as it hit the carpet. Making her way outside the room a part of Lucy realized she had no idea where she was going and could possibly make things worse for herself; a larger part drowned out that noise and reminded her that sitting in that room was just as likely to get her killed and at least she was doing something this way.

Lucy looked both way, picked a direction, and headed down the hallway. One foot at a time she limped down the carpeted wood floors, her head angled down so she could see the way she walked. It was a strange and awkward thing having to change to a different walking style than the one she’d used her entire life, but if this was how things had to be then the young girl would have to steel herself and adapt. Lucy Loud would not give up, she’d come so far, and she wasn’t quitting now. A powerful resolve had built up in her and she was determined to see things out to the end, to get back home to her sisters and brother.

The crash of shattered porcelain echoed in the halls and Lucy’s head shot up. What she saw made her gasp, and she reached up to brush the bangs from her eyes.

Leni Loud stood a few feet in front of her, a shattered plate of food at her feet and hands covering her mouth. Tears sprang from the older girl’s eyes and she slowly reached out towards Lucy, her mouth curving up into a smile.

Without a word Lucy hobbled forward, oblivious to the burning pain coursing through her leg, her eyes wide and shining as she reached out for her big sister. She made it about three steps before Leni rushed down the hall and scooped her up, already shushing the sobs she was choking out with declarations of love and vows of protection, telling her she was safe and that everything was alright because Leni was here now, and big sister was going to make everything okay now.

Lucy knew it was a lie, nothing was alright, she wasn’t going to be okay.

But for right now she was, and that was just fine.

{Chapter End}