Foul Monster
It was around midnight, and the winds howled, the freezing rain fell, and the other noises that involved rain and wind occurred during the cold night.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
As the knocking on the door continued, Skeleton E looked at the white-haired girl. Fortunately, she was still sleeping.
Perhaps the heavy rain pitter-pattering and the fire crackling ambience masked the sound of whatever it was knocking at the door upon this previously fine night night. He felt incredibly thankful-and it went away as soon as another round of knocking came.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
This time, it was a bit louder. Whoever or whatever it was, they seem to be running short on time.
The skeleton man looked at the fire. Perhaps the fire's light had filtered past the curtain, lighting the surroundings outside.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥.
It was more hurried. More aggressive.
Skeleton E stood up as slowly and silently as a skeleton possibly could. Then, very slowly, he went to the curtains of the window. Raising both of his hands, he grabbed both curtains, and paused.
Then, he quickly opened them and looked to the right.
...there was nothing there.
Then, he looked forward, and just a few centimeters in front of him, through the thin glass wall-something staring back at him into his empty eye sockets.
A hooded figure. In the darkness, the skeleton man barely saw what was underneath the hood. Deformed and horrible was what the skeleton man thought.
And that was all the skeleton man saw before he immediately closed the curtains.
Taking his hands off the curtains, Skeleton E stared at them. He can almost feel it looking through the curtains-looking at him.
The skeleton man looked back over his left shoulder. The white-haired girl was still sleeping, her face towards the flickering and crackling warm hearth.
Next, he looked over his right shoulder, and his nonexistent eyes met with the empty eyes of a skeleton. Not just one, but multiple. Said skeletons were looking his way-past the curtain and perhaps towards this intruder.
𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩. 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙. 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙥. 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚
The 'feelings' reverberated inside the hollow ribcage and skull of the skeleton man. Perhaps his fellow bretheren remember her cries as they moved even while the poor girl slept.
The skeleton man nodded and looked at the door.
...
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
In the rain, among the ruins, one of the many standing door shook abruptly. Clicking sounds, and the sound of a metal piece falling off.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
Masked by the sound of rain, the door slowly opened inwards, and a dim orange light shined out from within.
𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘢𝘢𝘬𝘬𝘬...
As the door opened, parts of the lit room were revealed. Bits and pieces were revealed, such as the wooden chair and tables, but the majority of its vision was blocked by a gray-white skeleton standing at the doorway. The skeleton's shadow was cast outside in the rain and foreboding darkness.
Meanwhile, the skeleton's skull looked to be searching around it, until it stopped.
In the distance, a strange, tall cloaked figure stood yards away in the somewhat heavy rain. In his left hand was a long staff seemingly made of wood.
Standing in the rain, the figure looked to be nonplussed as it was only looking at the skeleton.
A brief pause, and the gray-white skeleton walked out from the door and onto the muddy, wet ground. As it did, the sounds of clacking footsteps came from behind it.
From behind the gray-white, four skeletons, of various differences and sizes, walked out. Within seconds, they all spread out in almost a half circle.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
With the exception of the rain, there was only silence as the five skeletons in unison looked at the cloaked figure, and it looked at them.
It slowly moved its head, vaguely looking at them one by one..
The skeleton with the large frame, the skeleton with the bent spine, the smaller skeleton, the skeleton with the long arms-the figure looked at all of them. One by one, the figure's searching red-eyes examined each one of them-all until he looked at the last remaining skeleton.
The skeleton who came out first was in front of the door-the wooden door that it had just closed. It seemed to have closed it as quietly as it could.
"Weeeeelcome..." the hooded figure rasped out. A strange foreign, heavy accent; a deep voice filled with gurgling noises and other incomprehensible nonsense.
That was what the skeleton man could infer from it.
"Join us, brothers and sistersssss. Join us… Leave the girl behind; she is a remnant, a tiny fragment of glass. Fragile, unreliable, and small… Even if you can piece all the fragments together-the entire picture, the cracks would still be there."
The hooded figure gestured with its hands, spreading them wide under the rain. It looked up to the dark skies, and it raised its hands further and further.
"It is no longer perfect, and it can never be perfect. Now the mana in the the world has all but died out, and only a few candles remain of it. The seven heroes have disappeared, the seven calamities have fallen, the sound of their trumpets fading..."
It shook its head. As it did so, it looked at every single skeleton once again, its red eyes looking into each empty skull.
"However, we should not fear, for they had left ussss with a new dawn; a new path that has never shown itsssself until now! Together, we shall walk towards a grand new beginning! A beginning, none had ever witnesssssssed before!"
Then, the hooded figure loudly cackled, its roars of laughter joining the sound of the rain and wind.
"Soooooo joinnnn me! Join ussss, on our journey-!"
A bony fist placed itself onto its face.
...
The moment Skeleton E bashed him in the face, the other skeletons jumped onto him and began kicking him.
In the rain, several figures were standing around a downtrodden cloaked figure, kicking and punching it.
The skeleton man tried to get it in the face, stomping and kicking it.
Even then, it didn't seem to care as it tried to crawl its way through the mud and water. Not even a groan or moan was heard under the rain and howling wind as it crawled and crawled, its hands reaching out to the wooden staff a few feet away, thrown out of its hands when it got punched.
However, even when it was being thrashed, the figure slowly made its way over.
In the end, the figure finally made it to the staff. It reached its hands for it, but the skeleton man kicked it away.
As the cloaked figure watched its wooden staff fly away, Skeleton B stood over it. It raised the rusted knife in its hands, and plunged itself right into the hooded figure's neck.
The figure suddenly spazzed out, its hands and legs suddenly twitching and moving, but the other skeletons held it down. While it was struggling, the small, bent skeleton abruptly twisted the knife in its flesh.
A disgusting crunching sound was heard. The figure froze.
The Skeleton B continued to twist its rusted knife into it, and after many muted sounds of crunching and cracking, the figure became still.
Quickly, as if running low on time, the small skeleton began sawing its head off-akin to simply cutting a piece of meat.
Within a few seconds, a small 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥 was heard as the hooded figure's head dropped onto the ground.
As it did, a white mist appeared, and they separated, heading towards the five skeletons in five separate streams. One noticeably bigger than the rest as it made its way to Skeleton B.
Skeleton E didn't care for that, as he saw the hood fall away from its face.
Amidst the roars of wind and the heavy pitter-pattering of rain, in the darkness, with the light barely filtering from the window, the skeleton man almost stepped back.
The face of the figure was terribly gruesome.
Wounds upon wounds; scars upon scars; layers upon layers of lines and rashes interweaved on its face, like a drawing or a sketch. Whatever flesh and skin there was, it was rotting off, and the blood once on its face dried to a dark crimson color.
That was only the foundation of its body.
The bottom half of the face of its was completely distorted; a rotten amalgamation of flesh, rotting and dying. Blood was dried to a dark crimson-black color, and the thin pieces of hair falling from the top of its head like gray straws of hay.
Its mouth-oh its mouth was disgusting. It was a large circular mouth, like some octopus, filled with some rows of sharp rotten-yellow teeth.
The top half of its face...there was nothing. What should be where a nose and a pair of eyes should be...there was nothing.
Just a blank slate with dried blood and scars or wounds...that was it. On the top of its head, only a few straggles of hay-like hair exist.
Skeleton E can only stare at this foul monster, even as his fellow bretheren began standing around it.
Even then, he continued to look at it. To burn the memory inside his empty skull.
Then, with a small kick with his foot, he flipped the head, putting it face down. After he did so, he looked at the staff he had kicked away previously.
In the mud and rain, the wooden staff laid across the ground. Skeleton E looked at it for a short moment before he walked up to it and picked it up.
The moment he grabbed it-something flashed in his head.
Then came a voice. Just like the feeling, it came from inside him. Unlike the feeling, it was terribly foreign and horrible, for it was unlike a gentle stream.
A raging river was more aptly suited for it.
'So, you are lost. Lost lamb, let this poor shepherd guide you-'
The rest of the voice was replaced with incomprehensible gargling and other nonsense.
It did not abate-instead the gargling intensified, and the skeleton man began to see strange things. A red circle filled with strange patterns, uncountable and innumerable amounts of strange monsters, the sky falling apart-
Skeleton E instantly dropped the staff onto the muddy ground with a splash. He pressed his hand onto his skull as he looked at the staff.
The gargling whispers did not relent nor stopped, even as the staff laid on the ground.
It was nothing like the 'feeling' the white haired girl gave off.
As the whispers grew more and more, the skeleton man stared at it. Then, he lifted his leg up, and stepped on it.
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
He lifted his leg again. Then, he brought it down.
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
And again.
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
And again.
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
Over and over, he stepped on the staff. The rain's pitter-pattering masked the noise of each terrible crack each time the skeleton man slammed his foot onto it.
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
Over and over, over and over.
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
Until finally, the skeleton man raised his bony feet as high as he could. He paused, as the whispers and pictures in his head grew more and more, and-
-he smashed it down onto the staff with such great strength.
𝘊𝘙𝘈𝘊𝘒!
The wooden staff finally split in two, and the whispers and flashes of brief glimpses faded away like a dream.
All of a sudden, a hiss came from behind him.
So the skeleton man looked behind him, and he saw the monster on the floor exuding out a strange steam.
A black mist.
It hisses as it touches the air; screams in almost horribly agony..
It was revolting. It was a plague.
An illness.
A virus.
Just the sight of it...
The skeleton man turned his skull away, and he looked at his fellow bretheren. They simply stood around the hissing corpse.
They merely only stared at it with their empty eyes.
Then, the hissing began to fade. The black mist slowly faded away, and the monster's body was gone.
Only its ragged cloak remained, soaked in mud and rainwater.
Skeleton E looked at it for a moment. Then, he grabbed the two pieces of the staff. As he picked it up, he only heard silence.
The voices no longer whispered to him, and the images, one.
Bringing it over to the cloak, he knelt down. Placing the two pieces of wood along with the ragged cloak, with his skeleton hands, he dug his hands into the soft earth, loosened from the never-ending rain. Mud slipping through his bones, he held it over the cloak and sticks...and he dropped the mud onto it.
The sound of a squish and a splash of something heavy dropping onto water echoed amidst the rain.
As the mud fell onto it, other pieces of mud and rainwater splashed onto his ribcage and his other bones.
Skeleton E didn't stop.
Over and over, he dumped mud over it all until it was well underneath the mud and water.
The skeleton man simply stood up, and the rain washed the mud off his knees, hands, and other bones.
He looked around once more. It was just like how it was. The darkness, the falling rain, the howling winds, the ruins, trash, mud, overgrown grass...
It was all the same.
Then, the sound of something gargling erupted in the dead of night.
From the dark alleyways of the ruin, a hooded figure came into view from around the corner.
Drenched in rain and mud, the hooded figure raised its head, and the skeleton saw its wide, circular gaping mouth, gargling...and drooling.
Soon after, more gargling and incomprehensible noises came as another came out from behind it.
Then another.
And then another.
And then another.
Soon enough, five of the hooded figures formed a row. Gargling and groaning, muttering things that Skeleton E cannot understand.
The foul monsters slowly began approaching him,
Then footsteps came from behind Skeleton E as his fellow bretheren formed a row alongside him.
𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩. 𝙂𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙙. 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙥. 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚.
The skeleton man's shoulders sagged.
It was going to be a tough night.
...
It was morning; a tad bit brighter then night.
Of course the rain never disappears, only becoming less freezing and less raging. Along with the howling wind. It was only a breeze in comparison to what it was during the night.
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨-!
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨-
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨-!
𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨-!
The white-haired girl opened her eyes...and saw the dwindling flames of the hearth. Rolling her head upwards from the side of the pillow, she saw an unfamiliar dark, wooden ceiling. Around her, the entire room was a shade of gray, for the dimmest of light barely filtering through the curtains.
As she looked around, she saw that everything was still, as if time had frozen.
Or it were, if it weren't for the strangely annoying muted hodgepodge of sounds.
In her cloak, the girl stretched and rubbed her eyes. Sitting up, the blanket fell off from her as she stretched again.
Then, she looked around the room.
She was alone; none of the skeletons were there. Like a dream, they were gone. Only chairs, tables, and what other miscellaneous items existed previously were still there.
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨-
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨-!
Once again, muted hodgepodge sounds of the rain's pitter-pattering and strange clashing and clanging resounded throughout the still house.
Along with the sounds of gurgling noises and screams.
Curiosity bubbled in her. Wobbly, the girl pushed herself off the floor.
Slowly, she sneakily tried to make her way to the door. Step by step, stumbling and disoriented, the wooden floorboards creaked every step she made.
Soon, the girl found herself in front of the door. Looking up, the white-haired girl saw the bolt was missing from its lock.
She tilted her head, but she still reached for the doorknob with her right hand.
Then, she paused.
The inhuman screaming and gurgling noise intensified outside. The girl's right hand shook.
Closing her eyes, she pressed her left hand against her chest. Her heart beat wildly, she took a deep breath.
Then another.
And then another.
At last, the girl opened her eyes once more.
And all was well.
With her right hand, she reached for the doorknob. Grabbing it, she twisted it, and the door slowly opened inward.
Pulling the door to the side, her eyes opened to a whole new world.
In the rain, the young white-haired girl watched as five skeletons were in an all-out-brawl against five strangers in a cloak just like hers.