A Bloody Ritual

"Is he dead?” asked the immortal Ru, the only prisoner of the Crystal Tower.

"Yes, Dad, we tried to save Little Ru, but to no avail," said the Queen, appearing on the surface of one of the crystals.

Ru went crazy: "Oh no! This can't be happening! I can't create another pearl, and even if I could, it wouldn't be ready for the show. The Apocalypse will start before the next Ru is even ripe. Damn it! How am I supposed to get out of this fucked-up place? Tell me!"

The wires holding Ru trembled with his rising voice and sudden movements. The discordant music he produced resembled an electric guitar solo. It was so piercing that it caused some of the crystals to break.

"You will find a way, Dad," said the Queen.

"Yes, you will," Four Eyes supported his sister.

"What the hell are you talking about? How am I supposed to enter a kid who wetting the bed into a damn challenge? Are you insane?" Ru shouted, further intensifying the vibrations. Some of the crystals turned red in resistance to the sound waves.

"Why don't you ask her for help," the skeleton rat rider suddenly suggested.

While Ru ignored her, the other girls were paying full attention to her. Only the girl sitting on the bubble was oblivious to the situation. When she asked, "From whom?" the silence grew thicker.

The bubble girl spoke again, "What are you talking about, I don't understand."

Chubby Warrior stabbed her needle and burst the bubble. "Shut up, you idiot!"

"She is our only chance," the Queen said wearily.

"It might work. Risky, but it could work," Ru said, raising his head and looking at the star clusters beyond the crystals.

"What good would that do?" one of them asked, all eyes now on the bubble girl, who quickly nodded negatively like a wet dog. But the question belonged to Lollipopless.

"Our dad could get help from her," Skeleton Rat Driver said with a know-it-all attitude.

"But she," started Four Eyes, drawing everyone's attention to her own, then continued in a lower voice: "She's very dangerous."

"But only she can bring our new father back to life," said the Rider.

"She can bring him back to life, but then what?" remarked the Queen, hesitant to say more.

"Who is," the bubble girl asked.

"The witch," Four Eyes replied.

The bubble girl let out a joyous scream, jumping up and down on her bubble, "Hooray! I love witches!"

Four Eyes glanced sideways at her and said, "You're a moron."

Ru began to snap his fingers rhythmically. Then, twisting his neck, he turned to face them. "I don't care. Before doomsday strikes, I must infiltrate the Phantasmagoria Show. I have to absorb all that energy to free myself from this captivity. I don't care what happens to Little Ru. The only thing that matters is me."

"Are we unimportant?" asked Bubble, causing others to rush up to her to silence her.

"Of course you're important," Ru said with feigned affection, looking at them condescendingly. Then he looked at his reflection and adjusted his hair as if it needed fixing. "But not as important as me."

The faces of most of the girls were filled with sadness, but there was nothing they could do about it. What their father had said had always been true. Even the slightest acknowledgment from their father brought a sense of satisfaction to the girls. Despite their essence having turned dark, they owed their existence to him.

Finally, they obeyed their father's orders and made their way into the dusty tunnels of the ancient world to retrieve an object of the utmost danger.

The mysterious artifact was hidden in a forbidden dimension with an entrance but no exit, in a well in the garden of a forgotten temple that was supposed to be in that dimension. Ru's daughters embarked on a grueling sea voyage, riding on seagulls. At the end of this journey, they arrived at an ominous, desolate island of black rock known as the Miserable Isle.

The Miserable Isle was always bleeding, so much so that the blood flowing from its shores turned the sea red. Carnivorous flies were buzzing around, looking for flesh to gnaw on, corpses to make their home on. The girls had to sacrifice their seagulls to get past them. The birds squealed as they were attacked by swarms of monster flies. The flies tore holes in their bodies in seconds. The girls had to struggle with their consciences to ignore the dismemberment of the birds. Finally, they passed the flies and came to the sinister well in the center of Miserable Isle.

The daughters of Ru gathered around the well, at the bottom of which fell the shadow of the dimension; the murky waters reflected the perverse desires of their evil hearts. With cold determination, they prepared to perform the terrible ritual known as the "Blood Pact".

The girls chanted ancient incantations in unison, their delicate voices shaking the deserted island with a chilling melody. As they summoned dark forces beyond human perception, every word they spoke was filled with sounds that could only be described as evil.

"In shadows deep, whispers creep,

Through the night, the demons leap.

In moonlit dance, their secrets are kept,

Children beware, for they don't sleep."

As the ritual intensified, the girls made macabre offerings: a doll made from the skin of innocent babies strangled by their own mothers' hair.

At the Queen's command, thirteen girls stepped forward and sat on their knees. Then they closed their eyes. Then thirteen more girls came forward and stood behind those who were sitting.

"Offer and kill," the Queen said, sounding determined.

The girls obeyed her cold-bloodedly. They slit their own sisters' throats. Another group quickly poured their sisters' blood into seashells that served as bowls. The next group carried the blood-filled bowls. The last group bathed the doll in their sisters' blood and gave it life.