six

slowly, I followed her as she walked out of the bushes and into the road. I've thought I mistook pain or something in her but it really was there.

hr granny said that she was born to repent for hurting someone? was it why she was this way? I wondered. to be honest seeing how hurt and vulnerable she looked, my heart that had been dancing all day stopped dancing as I thought of what she may have done.

but I couldn't lift the spell I cast over this entire place that blocked their thoughts. I didn't want to. it was enough that at night I could read people elsewhere. not here.

her grandmother said... I remembered mine. her tired yet warm and loving eyes as she tended to me when the other kids refused to play with me because i... I was different.

she was always the strongest person. stronger than me who could do everything except healing his beloved. and I missed her. Terribly.

I always remembered her words as the only child of her seventh and youngest daughter. "if you already know what would happen, why don't you do what you don't do in the future?" she'll say with a glint in her eyes as I complained about hating that I already knew what was going to happen. so I didn't always have a chance to be surprised and feel happy or sad or anything. "you'll be surprised," she said.

I remembered everything she taught me more than the keeper taught me. or my parents, until... until...

I closed my eyes as the memory showed in my head. I brushed it off but the sadness of what transpired later drove me nuts.

was she feeling the same as I've always felt ever since I was twelve?

I felt her put on a smile and skip off while... dancing? I bet that she looked cute. but it hurt me to think of the pain that cute smile hid. but everyone had their own pain. it doesn't have to bother me. I told myself as I paused by the junction that on a left led to the dormitories of those of lower years. the first and second years. straight ahead was the Hostel, the three-floored building I slept in, a hostel for those ahead, third all the way to the fourth year. the fifth year had another building they didn't have to share rooms.

I shared rooms but my roommate was practically nonexistent. I mean I am probably nerdy, but he, he had his own level of nerdiness. his was extreme. he practically slept in between pages. maybe it was because of my presence. it knew how to drive people away. I am a guardian anyway. I am meant to be lonely.

I walked to my dormitory and opened the fire exit. I think it was. just as I did, something, like a strong current hit me. like I just walked into a gale. I blinked and... I knew this was going to happen. I opened my eyes somewhere. not school. just somewhere.

where I was, it was barren. used to be full of life but now, it wasn't. it was also cold. very very cold. and dark. yes dark. not that I couldn't see. I could see just fine. just not like I was getting used to using the frequency all humans used. all I saw were auras. and right where I was, the aura was not good. it wasn't bad either. it was worse. terrible. I don't get scared genuinely but this, this poked at my bones with frozen ice. and chilled me.

there was a hole on the ground. I felt it. a giant hole on the ground, definitely man-made, thanks to the excavating machinery I felt raging behind me. but that didn't betray the creator of the hole, what betrayed it was its regular shape. Oval. but there were no humans around.

that worried me. worse was the scent that clear was blood.

I walked to the upside-down megatonnes of steel and felt its warmth. considering that I was in Antarctica, and at the end of winter, it hasn't been long since whatever happened here happened. it probably was about fifteen if not five minutes more or less. i searched for the source of the scent with a sword made from bent ice but didn't find a pool of blood or a mutilated body. what I found was worse. half mutilated and nothing but what the fuck! what did men dig up this time?

a bundle of bones in freezing ice being consumed by hundreds, if not thousands of large worms. writhing, slimy moist huge worms. entwined and... ew! ew! ew! I wondered what did this. it's freaking fifteen degrees below zero and worms are....balls. there rolled off the dry bones in rolls and.... nope can't watch this. nope!

I froze the air around me and redirected all the cold to the disgusting rolls of worms and froze them all. if only I had the greek fire. or a spark of the eternal flame, I would burn this to the end of time.

I looked around and five more rolls and balls and were enough for me to be concerned and worried. and creeped out. what if it went for me. what if they crawled and walked got to me? would I be a ball of rotting flesh and worms and... nope! let's not think of that, please. I thought as I levitated above the ground.

was this Whiro? or was it Loviatar? or her son, the unnamed? I really hoped that it wasn't. but I knew, this certainly wasn't Apophis or Lamashtu. Pazuzu? damn. I looked around more to check if whatever was buried had left a trail on its trail, but didn't find anything, except the chilling eery aura all around.

chilled, I gave a silent sorry to the animals that lived on this edge of the world and sucked all the heat around and beamed it up. while reserving enough energy to warm me up. as the temperatures around dropped drastically. this summer was going to be colder unless I found what men let out of the ground and released upon the world.

I went back to the hole and... I looked up before I jumped in, not knowing if the information regarding what was locked under the earth was still intact. I just hoped that men didn't destroy the tablets of the scribblings on the walls. as I looked up, I cursed and said, "I hate this type of task, can you at least tell me what it is that I am going to do down there?"

but he didn't answer. nor did she, the mother earth. But who am I really working for? Kingu? the Guardian god who should never wake up from his slumber?

as I landed, I hit solid frozen granite and was met by nothing but total darkness. above my hand, I lit a fire, or bend energy above to make fire and I didn't have to look further before I knew, here, I was in the belly of the devil.

every form of motivation I had, evaded me. seeing the symbol, everything fell, and the only thing I could come up with was, "we fucked!"