Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep bee- *smack*"
"Stupid fucking alarm clock." I moaned. With a sigh, I raised myself up and sat on my bed. I looked at my calendar with bleary eyes. May 30th. The big day. I sighed again and stood up, using my body weight to stretch my legs. I grabbed my phone from its charging dock and used my TV app to tune in to the news.
"Good morning, America. Susanne Winters, reporting live from the UN Headquarters in New York. Today is a historic day across the globe: every member of the United Nations is here to formally sign the new Singularity Treaty! As we are speaking, delegates from all participating countries are lining up to place their signatures on the historic document." I slipped my phone into my pocket and started for the kitchen.
"Stay tuned as the time ticks by until signatures begin! We'll be right back after these words from our sponsors." Quickly, I tugged my phone back out and gestured to mute the TV, and then unceremoniously dropped back to its resting place in my pants.
"Even for live coverage you have to have commercials? Jesus..." By now I had entered the kitchen. The first thing I did was move to the coffee maker. I grabbed my Grounds Cup and set it in place, then moved to the cabinets to get a mug.
"Refrigerator?" I asked aloud. My mug found its way under my faucet in the customary silence.
"Yes, sir?"
"Take inventory. Key items: eggs; milk; frozen waffles."
"Processing. Checking storage..." Up goes the lid, out comes the water. Place mug on tray.
"Inventory complete. Analysis: eggs and milk are... Low. Frozen waffles is... High." Still having trouble with singular and plural nouns. Maybe calling customer service could help? But it'd be easier to just update the firmware... Ah- after my coffee.
"Refrigerator- create new grocery list. Add items "Milk" and "Eggs". Send to master phone."
"Processing..." Here comes that sweet, bitter, brown liquid.
"Done."
"Add "Bread", "Lunch Meat", "Cicken", and "Cereal"."
"Processing..." First sip... *sip* Fuck yes. Thank God for this.
"Done. List updated. Notification setting?"
"Alarm. Set time: "7:30 PM"."
"Processing... Done." Here comes another sip of that coffee.
"Rrring! Rrring!" Oh for fuck's sake...
Elsewhere in the multiverse, a crimson steak in an otherwise snow white world prepares to grow. Angered and frustrated, and beginning to lose patience with that which surrounds it. To it, the entire world is nothing more than an oversized insect needing to be crushed.
"Damn these ponies! Who do they think they are, crossing into my land and taking what's rightfully mine?!" An extremely displeased voice grumbled. A clawed fist slammed onto a table.
"And those buffalo! And those minotaur!" It muttered. A low growl could be heard only too clearly for the other in the collected assembly.
"They're all against me! All of them!" It roared. A moment of silence before a desperate voice attempted to console the first.
"Please, sire! All is not yet lost! Valkry may have found an object to aid your illustrious conquest's beginnings!" Another growl, this more intense than before.
"I have no time for worthless artifacts from ancient times, Valkry. Show me your trinkets and be on your way." Nervous shuffling could be heard.
"Yes, milord! But, please, don't be so quick to judge that which you haven't seen." The second voice paused, and muffled movement reverberated in the small space the voices occupied.
"You see, sire, Valkry has recently come into possession of an ancient book. A book which, if the rumor that surrounds it are true, may allow you victory in your conquest!"
"What good could a pile of paper do for a war?" The first asked, though clearly disinterested.
"My liege! King Stoneclaw! This is no ordinary book!" Here, a soft thump, and the fluttering of pages.
"If the knowledge contained in this book is real, Valkry may have the key to summoning... Him!" Small shuffles of clawed appendages whispered a change in the first's stance.
"This is The Tome?" The first asked in awe. "Yes, my King. Valkry has discovered The Tome of The Forbidden Summons!" A bit more shuffling, and the second was now closer to its master.
"You could have infinite power at your disposal, sire!" It whispered with glee. "He could grant you an infinite army! Elements of your own, with which you can battle your accursed nemesis! Or an invaluable weapon not even The Princes could stop!" The first pondered this quietly.
"Yes. If this book is real, I would be unstoppable! The world laid at my paws... None would dare challenge me!" A chuckle. A chuckle of a being gone mad at the possibility of power.
"Valkry... How soon might we be ready to use this artifact to our advantage?"
"Time will tell, sire. The book will need to be read. Ingredients must be collected... Tests must be performed." It muttered. Soft clinks of metal and claw on stone was heard.
"Anything you deem necessary is yours to do. And I shall see to it all your wares are fully stocked."
"You are kind to your subjects, milord! A thousand thank-yous!" A steady series of clicks for a moment, then a pause.
"And, Valkry?"
"Yes, sire?"
"This will work, or I may just find myself in need of another Royal Mage. I do so hate disappointments, you know."
"Understood sire!" As the Crimson King walked away, the mage paled and prattled nervously under his breath.
"The King requires The Summons, yes... We'll need Sage and Rosemary... Cinnamon? Well, I suppose it only makes sense with Him... Wolfsbane, yes... Poison Oak... A pinch of salt... A hint of sugar... And... A sacrifice? Well, that complicates things for us, doesn't it?"
(June 10th)
"Riiiinng! Riiinng!" My hand moved to my phone and grasped it, bringing it to my head as I yawned.
"Hello?" I asked groggily.
"Hey, Marcus! Wake up real quick, man!" I groaned and sat up.
"What the hell do you want, Jamie? It's only 7."
"That treaty thing is making some people's bank accounts go out of whack, and mine's one of em. Spot me a hundred?" I sighed.
"Jesus, man. Why couldn't this have waited until 10?"
"Because I have to take Toll Road 15 to work, remember? I gotta head out by 8, so come over before then."
"Alright, then." I said before hanging up.
"Dick." I stood near my bed for a minute, waiting to wake up a bit before I did anything.
"You know I'm not a fucking morning person!" I growled at my phone in substitute of Jamie's face. Whatever. I steeped through my house, again using my phone to check on the news like every other day. As I arrived in my kitchen, I heard the morning news come on.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm Joseph Pasternag, here to tell you what's going on throughout the country today. Our top story this morning is that the new Singularity Treaty may not be all it was cracked up to be. It appears that, in the process of converting preexisting currencies to their new projected Credit value, banks have come across an error in their systems. All across the country, banks of both major and minor standing are reporting an error input for as much as 35 to 40 percent of all accounts. The Chairman of the FDIC has yet to make an official statement on these affairs. More on this story as it develops. In the mean time, let's go over to our weather forecast for today."
The clicks of claws on stone sounded, echoing softly throughout the expanse of a castle on a cold and barren mountainside. Accompanied by the rustle of cotton, and the various clinks of a traditional suit of armor, the sound moved from room to room at a moderate pace. A rustle of feathers, and the heavy sound of air displaced by wings before a thump and a sigh.
"Someone fetch me my Mage!" An irked voice shouted. Another voice shouted a "Yes sir!" before marching off to retrieve the Court's Royal Mage.
"Damn these ponies." The first voice muttered. "They continue to be a thorn in my side!" A minute or two of idle silence before the second voice returned with a third.
"Your majesty! Presenting, Thy Royal Court Mage!"
"Valkry." The first said, both in acknowledgement and question.
"Yes, sire? You wished to see Valkry?"
"Indeed. As I'm sure you recall, I have given you unrestricted access to anything which might be required in order to understand your recent acquisition. As it stands, I have yet to recieve an official report."
"Yes sire! My humblest apologies, my liege!"
"Yes, yes. Enough of this bumbling. What have you to report on your findings?"
"It is as Valkry has suspected, my liege! The book is in riddles, but Valkry has fooled it! Yes! All of its secrets have been laid out before Valkry, and he knows now what he must do to perform the book's ritual!"
"Excellent!"
"Yes! But, Valkry has found that the Tome is not exactly as he would have hoped."
"Oh, wonderful... What else do we need to realize our goal?"
"It is not merely ingredients that hinders Valkry's progress. Valkry has found that the are other installments that accompany the Tome which diverge the needed information to create any desire. But, fear not my King! The book allows for the creation of a creature only known of in legends!"
"I see. And, pray tell, what exactly is this creature?"
"It is the Venier, sire!"
"Venier?! My Gods!"
"Yes sire. But the ceremony dictates only the creation of the Venier's form. A sacrifice must be made or found to fill it with soul and give it true life, or we would only create a hollow shell."
"How... How will you find this sacrifice?" The third have a quick laugh.
"Through a stroke of genius, sire! Yes! Valkry had pondered this for many an hour before he thought of the prefect solution!" Soft sounds of cloth rustling in the otherwise silent hall. At last, a different movement could be heard. A book found its way into the claws of the third voice.
"Valkry thought first of selecting a civilian. Then a soldier. He even considered selecting a sacrifice from another country. But these would not help His Majesty, should the ritual fail. Eventually, Valkry's eyes fell on this book, and all was made clear!" The flipping of pages could be heard among the indiscernable muttering generated by the third's madness.
"Valkry can select an inactive soul from its temporary plane in this world, sir! A ghost, if you will."
"Yes... And, you are absolutely certain this will go according to plan?"
"Valkry will make sure everything goes according to plan."
""Very well then. Make your preparations, Mage. Dismissed."
(June 20th)
It isn't even a month yet, and everything's already going to shit. The banks can't get that stupid glitch to work, and everybody's getting their panties in a bunch about it. Some people have gone on protests over it, believe it or not. And, not only that, but nobody's even been reimbursed yet! How do they expect everything to be all hunkey-dorey if they refuse to do even the smallest bit of damage control?! They could at least give everybody a free toaster or something! Damn! It's at the point, now, that I hear rumors flying around about how it's the terrorists and stupid bullshit like that. This whole thing has just turned into a giant shitstorm.
(July 10th)
The phone rang with is usual veryunwelcome cry.
"What?" I asked bluntly.
"That's rude! You don't even bother to say hello, much less introduce yourself?" I sighed.
"Now is not the time for your bullshit, Terry! In case you've been living under a fucking rock for the past two months, the world's gone to shit!"
"I will have you know that I am perfectly aware of the situation! But that's not the point! While you've been sitting on your ass all day perfecting your card tricks, I've been devising a way to get the three of us out of this shitstorm before it hits! And I'm really close!" I groaned and chanced a look through my blinds.
Still a bit of anarchy on the streets. People marching down the street, holding signs and chanting meaningless phrases. Couple of idiots desperate for hope is what they are.
"Okay. Assuming we could get out without starting a riot, what would we do?"
"Well... First things first, we'd need a place to lay low until things cooled off. Some of Jamie's family have a house in a rinky-dink town in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere. We can make due in my hunting cabin if all else fails."
"Jamie has family out of town?"
"Yeah. Distantly related or whatever. It's his aunt or some shit."
"Cool. How long before this crap blows over?"
"Uhhh... A month or two should do it."
"Cool. And nobody's backed down yet, right? We're still on it right now?"
"Huh? Oh yeah! I remember why I was calling! Where the Hell are you? Jamie's got his van loaded up, and we're waiting on you!"
"I'm at my apartment right now. Be there in ten." I hung upand headed out the door. If all went well, I'd be out of here before shit really went south. With that, I left my building for what would be the last time. I took it upon myself to look back up at the nine story pile of steel and concrete to try to etch its image into my memory. Hard to believe I spent so much effort into keeping a tiny little space in something so damn big as my own. But, whatever
I turned back to the street, immediately taking note of some of the less fortunate from this whole Credits fiasco. I hurried along as one of them tried to rile up something.
"Hey buddy, spare some Credits? Cause, you know, you're in on it?" His question literally cause me to facepalm. I slowly turned to look incredulously at him.
"Really? I'm "in on it"?" He nodded.
"Wow... Okay, dude. Where do I begin? First, I don't like rich people or upper-class fucks as much as you. Second of all, in case you couldn't tell, I'm no paper pusher. I'm a magician for fuck's sake."
"Sure you are. And I'm David Copperfield's long-lost son." I signed with an irritated breath.
"I don't have time for your bullshit. Alright?" He stepped closer, shoving his grubby face into mine.
"Too bad, magic boy. I don't like your attitude. And I think you should at least say you're sorry." He took another step and shoved me.
"Okay. This is just getting way too violent. I'm gonna leave now and just pretend this never happened." I took maybe three or four steps before I heard a click. I stopped.
"Is that... What I think it is?" I asked over my shoulder.
"Yeah, it is! So shut your mouth and fork over your cash already." I slowly turned around and, lo and behold, he now had a gun in one hand.
""Are you shitting me? Is this for real?" I couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"You're gonna rob a fucking magician?" I turned around and started walking.
"Stop right there, man!" I kept walking, pointedly ignoring him.
"You're bluffing." I called out casually. "Cold-blooded killers don't look like little bitches when they're holding guns." I laughed and took another step before hearing a loud pop.
A second later- if that- I felt a searing spear of pain shoot through my back and exit through my chest. I watched in amazement as pieces of skin and bone, and spatters of blood flew off into the distance. I fell onto my knees and pressed my hand into my chest, and immediately regretted it. My chest was on fire. But also cold. I just stared dumbly at the ground as blood stated to pool under me. It fell so freely. Like water.
I ended up laying on my side, taking small labored breaths as the bullet wound flared and burned. Every time my lungs expanded, I felt like the bullet was stabbing through me again. Amid the haze of pain, I could hear the guy that shot me distantly screaming something about "blanks only". Guess he didn't mean to really shoot me, then...
I've lost so much... Too much... I can barely breathe through this fire... There's a wetness all under me... And I'm feeling tired suddenly...
Pain... It burns... Stabbing... Coursing... Tearing... I can't... I don't... Think... Right... But... Tired... I... Can't... Feeling... Throbbing... Pain...
Floating... I'm just floating. Out in empty space. Total blackness. No light. No people. No buildings. No noise. Nothing. It's so surreal. I can't even feel gravity. But I do feel... Something. I don't know what. It's more like an urge to go towards something. I can't think what I'm supposed to look for, but I know it's important. It's like a little voice in my head saying I'll know when I find it.
So, I went. I kind of glided through the darkness, looking for something. Anything. Whatever I was drawn to. And I don't know how long I moved. It could have been a few hours, maybe a few minutes, perhaps even days. I don't know. I do know that, eventually, I saw a light.
My heart soared at the sight. I was finally on my way out of this place! I sent myself forward more, speeding along towards that little light.
"Hold on there, son." A smooth voice said. I immediately stopped and looked around. The voice was a soft and golden kind. It had a gentle undertone, but also a hint of something extra that made you want to cling to every word it said.
"What? Who said that?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"Well, I did, of course." It spoke so good, it was like witnessing the miracle of life after having a near-death experience. It felt so wonderful to hear it. It was like a guiding light of its own in this pitch black wasteland.
"Wait a second... I know you." I said with shock. And it was true. Such an amazing voice could only belong to one being. The most magical and beautiful voice on earth!
"Mr. Freeman?!"
"You got it." I couldn't help but shed a single tear at his absolutely heavenly vocalization.
"Mr. Freeman-"
"Ah, no need for formalities, Marcus. Refering to me as Morgan is more than fine." I nodded.
"Right. Well, Morgan?"
"Yes?"
"Uh... Where am I?"
"You are in a completely different plane of existence. You're dead, I'm sure you know."
"Yeah. I kinda got the clue after I got shot, and all that."
"Yes. And I'm sure you have your share of questions. But I'm not allowed to break the rules and tell you everything. I can't tell you much, really. All I can say, at this point, is that you have an urgent role to fulfill."
"Okay..." I felt a gentle force spinning me around in a one-eighty. Suddenly, I could see a bunch of other lights all over the place. Some were higher, some were lower. And they were all different brightnesses, too. From bright as a brand new LED to as dark as the dull flicker of an old broom closet.
"What are these lights?"
"These are other worlds. All varied in the strength of the light at their cores, and as different from each other as day is to night." Again, I felt a small force direct me to a dull and flickering light.
"This struggling light is Earth. All worlds in existence are born with a heart in their cores on a spiritual level. This heart is the collective sum of all of the good hearts in that world. Earth is soon to come to a close, at which point its light will go out, and its heart consumed by darkness. The only way to prevent that would be to spread a colossal number of good-hearted people across it." Morgan explained. I shed a few more tears.
"So what happens when a world is consumed?"
"It is drained of all happiness and wonder it once held. Colors fade. Weather grows colder. Butterflies bust into flame. Puppies and kittens are born looking old and deformed, and many other horrors happen."
"That's terrible..."
"Indeed it is. But, although your world is beyond repair, you can prevent another world from being touched by the darkness." My perspective shifted again, and I saw a much brighter light. It wasn't the brightest I'd seen, but it was still visibly much brighter than Earth.
"What's this, then?" I asked.
"This is a much newer world than your own. Here, the goodness of inhabitants' hearts is collectively greater than what Earth had held. And, it is the final destination for your journey for now. But an incredible dark force is brewing there. It is your job to find this darkness and stop it." I nodded.
"Alright, then. But, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Uh... Why me? I thought I was a cynical bastard in life?" Morgan chuckled.
"We both know that was just a little show you put on. Besides that, I can see the light that comes from your heart, and it's completely pure. Not the brightest I've seen, but pure non the less. Now go on. You've got shit to do."
And with that, I began to feel the world drawing me in. Not one to question a God or whatever, I simply allows it to tug at me.
"One more thing! You'll be suspended for a bit while an appropriate form is created for you. In other words, you'll be a ghost for a bit."
"Got it, sir!" I looked back at the new world, wondering what would await me in that place. What wonders could I possibly behold? Believe me, it wasn't all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. I would be dragged down into a place I would never want to see anyone in. Not even my worst enemy deserved such a fate.
Author's Note
Morgan Freeman is obviously the best Guardian Soul in existence.
As I let myself get drawn closer to the light, I noticed it getting brighter. And the closer I got, the brighter it got. It kept growing and growing until I had to cover my eyes. And even then, it still felt like I was standing in a white room with a hundred floodlights beaming at my eyes. Then, suddenly, it faded. It was so quick, it was like someone had flipped a switch and turned it off light a light bulb.
I opened my eyes and gasped. I was standing at the base of a mountain in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere. There was nothing but dirt, dust, and rocks everywhere. But that's not why I gasped. No, I gasped because it was an absolute rainbow. Of purple. It was like everything was under a blacklight. And purple. It looked like the whole world was covered by some sort of glowie-glowie aura thing. Even me! Yes, As I looked over myself, I saw I was glowing like a purple Christmas tree. As I looked, I noticed that the aura crap actually fluctuated and grew and faded. Sometimes my skin color bled through the aura.
I looked around for some sort of clue as to what I was supposed to do. Unfortunately, I found nothing. Figuring nothing could go wrong, I went off in a random direction, wandering closer to the king of the Griffin Nation's castle, and sealing my fate as a not-so-good-guy.
In his castle overlooking Canterlot, Prince Solaris looked out on his Kingdom. All was well in Equestria, and had been for a while now. The pure white alicorn sighed as he observed his subjects' comings and goings.
All around him, a group of mares nuzzled up against him.
"What is it, Master?" A tan Earth mare asked.
"Do we not please our Prince?" A green Pegasus wondered. The alicorn ruler chuckled.
"No, ladies. My displeasure lies in other matters." He explained. He stood at his full height, towering above his brood mares.
"And, as such, it requires a discussion with my dear brother." Solaris' concubines whined in a harmonious quartet, and he couldn't help but chuckle again.
"Fret not, my little ponies. It will be finished soon enough, I'm sure. We can continue our romantic pursuits when I return." With that, he trotted off to his brother's chambers in hopes that they might converse. He made his way through the labyrinthine halls of the great castle, eventually appearing at the base of the only other spire in the castle which served as the co-rulers' personal chambers. Then it was a walk up the curving staircase, ending at a large set of double doors. And what magnificent doors they were. While Solaris had long since removed his original doors depicting his Cutie Mark amid fantastically detailed floral designs, Artemis had opted to retain his own. They were tall and imposing- centered on his crescent moon Cutie Mark- and delicately carved out by hoof and magic, subtly inlaid with silver and moonstone. It made quite the display on top of the broad, solid slabs of ebony.
"Artemis? May we speak together for a moment?" Solaris asked through the doors. A faint clopping of hooves on stone could be heard before the doors were enveloped in a magical sapphire glow and swung open, revealing the Ruler of the Night at his desk- which was equally as detailed as his doors. Artemis looked up and smiled at his sibling.
"Good evening, dearest brother. What do you wish to speak of?"
"Nothing good, I'm afraid." Solaris said with a frown. Artemis turned more towards his brother, perplexed.
"Oh dear... What is wrong?" The Sun God sighed.
"I sensed something today, brother. Something quite troubling. If what I felt was indeed what I think it is, we may be in troubled times again."
"Troubled times? Are you saying... Contentia has returned?!"
"I fear much worse than just her, brother. Not even she has influence over the souls of the dead."
"The disturbance was an interference in the Spirit Realm?! By my own beard!"
"Hellooo? Anyone home?" I called out to no one in particular as I wandered the halls of the castle. I had been there maybe five minutes, and I still didn't manage to find anything. Either this castle was too damn big, or nobody was home. Or so I thought. After a little more wandering, I heard a whisper. A really strange one too- it sounded like some foreign language, but I felt like I knew what it meant; it wanted me to follow it. Not entirely sure as to how or why, I let the voice guide through the twists and turns of the castle. Down hallways, through passages and walls, and up and down God knows how many flights of stairs.
My escapade came to an end at a big rough wooden door. The small whispering voice and insisting I go in. I took a moment to breathe and roll my shoulders in a bout of nervous energy before passing through the door. Suddenly I was in a large circular room. Candles flickered along the floor, arranged near the wall in a big ring. There were five stone altars situated around the room even distances from each other, each adorned with candles and small bowls. Red lines were drawn between them, creating a pentagon inside the ring of candles. A sixth and larger altar was in the middle of all of this. Placed on it were bowls full of things I didn't know and didn't care to learn of, outlining a pile of more random ingredients.
"What the flying purple fuck is this shit?!" I gasped. I heard a rush of air move somewhere.
"Oh, hell no! I've seen enough horror movies to know what happens next! I'm getting the fuck up out of here!" I turned and ran back to the door, firmly smacking into it as I tried to ghost the hell out. I wasn't deterred, however. Quickly, I ran at the curve of the wall. Unfortunately, it wouldn't let my ghostiness pass through it.
"Oh fuck! Mother of fuck! I'm trapped in here! I'm gonna die!"
Wait...
"No, wait. I can't die... I'm already dead! I'm a ghost! So what the hell is going on here? I can't leave..." I looked at the satanic-esque summoning circle thing again, taking note of the various piles of shit in the bowls. There wasn't anything too serious. In fact, it looked like an array of kitchen spices with a few random things thrown in. I stepped up to an altar and tried to guess what was on it.
"Hmm... Green plant. Another green plant. More green plant. Reddish/brownish stuff?" I dipped my finger in it out of curiosity, blinking as my finger displaced the powdery stuff around it. Somehow, just by touching it, I knew what it was.
"I love cinnamon..." I muttered as lifted my hand back out of the powdered cooking spice. I looked down at the floor, tracing the red lines. Definitely a pentagram thing. I walked over to the line closest to me and kneeled over to check it out. It wasn't a long liquid streak of blood after all. It actually looked like little diced up pieces of something that was red and solid at one point. The pieces were lined together carefully enough that there weren't any gaps between them to see the floor beneath.
"Whoever set this up has too much damn free time… And might also worship Satan." I commented.
At that moment, I heard the slow creaky swing of rusty hinges. I looked up, and saw that the door had opened, allowing what looked like a kinda cute little cartoony sort of creature in. It stood on four legs, with wings and a beak, and the body of a lion. It also had bird legs, and a bird head. I read about it before, but I can't remember for the life of me what it's called.
Its gaze swept across the room, passing over me of course. It stepped further into the room, allowing another in behind it. A comparison quickly revealed a big difference between the two. The first looked a little ragged and tired, with slight bags under its eyes, and a handful of wing feathers missing. He also looked like he had a bad case of molting going on. Must be spring.
"Valkry has done it, King Stoneclaw! The spirit believes it is in the cloudfield, where it is safe from getting strikes, but Valkry has fooled it!" The mangy one chuckled. He sounded like the crazy guy that you run into at Wal-Mart sometimes. You know, the one that's like "The aliens are coming! The government's in cahoots with 'em, and they're gonna melt our faces off and eat our brains!", and he wears that crappy tinfoil hat and hangs on to a towel like it's his life force or some shit? Yeah, that guy. The other one- King Stoneclaw, I guess- just nodded and looked around whatever torture pit we were all in.
"I can only reiterate that this had better be worth the effort you've put into it. After so long and with so little progress to show, I'm beginning to think that you've been pulling some shenanigan. And I will not take such disrespect lightly." He growled in a loud and "More Royal Than Thou" tone.
"Valkry would never perform such a heinous act, your Highness!"
"Yes... Well, get on with it, Valkry." Wait, Valkry refers to himself in the third person? That's some weird shit, dude.
"Yes, sire! Valkry lives to serve His Majesty in all efforts!" The gruff one said before moving to the Satanic-ish pentagram in the room's center.
"Bring in the samples, you dirty peasants!" King Douche Pickle shouted at the door. Moments later, a line of other creatures began to pour in, each carrying a pack of some kind wrapped cloth. None of the packs were identical either. Some were long and thin, others short and thick, and others were just plain weird-shaped. About eighty or so packs were set in the diagram in one big stack, with a big gallon of what I seriously hoped what cherry Kool-Aid set off to the side. All of the things that had brought something in left in order and closed the door behind them.
"And now, we begin with the blood of the innocent spread about our offering to The Dark One!" Valkry said happily.
I don't like where this is going. But apparently, what I like or don't like doesn't fucking matter here, because ol' Dr. Frankenstein just pulled out some Necronomicon looking book and started to read it out loud.
"Oh Great Spirit of Darkness and Evil, The Forbidden Summons has begun! I call upon your infinite villainy to grant me a wish, that I might please whom I serve!" Valkry announced in a commanding tone. He raised a foreleg and twisted his claws as they began to glow in a glittery field of dark purpley sparkles. The container of blood was highlighted in the same field and floated over the pile of packs before tipping over and pouring out its contents. Then the pile itself was covered in more of the aura before igniting into a giant burning hill.
"I offer to you the ingredients you require to create the manifestation of darkness and the soul to be bound to the vessel! Take what you wish from my offering, Dark One! Create the tool that will serve to carry out my master's will!"
No, no, no! No, no, no! Getting right the absolute shit out of here and hopping on a train to FucThatVille before some fucking Satan Demon jumps up and drags my ass down to Hell or whatever the fuck!
“Materialize, Sire! Be born again to perform heinous crimes and torturous acts! Become alive once more!”
Suddenly, the inferno of flesh and unholy ingredients shook. The towering flames burst outward, singeing the tips of Valkry’s feathers. My ghosty body locked up. My arms were bound to my sides, and legs felt like they’d hardened into steel. I was forced to watch the horror of the sacrificial materials melt themselves down into a giant pool of lumpy black goop, and screamed in revulsion as bones formed a pair of dog-like legs. The black liquid kept gathering and forming more bones, and before long a whole skeleton had formed.
It was more disturbing than any horror film or CreepyPasta. Its legs were like a dog, but there were only two, and they grew thicker the higher up they were. At the waist, a torso formed that grew out like a tree. The ribs were huge and thick, and the spine was one big curve from bottom to top. At the shoulders were two massive arms which ended with absolutely gigantic claws, both as big as what the chest was. Five fingers on each hand, with long thick claws. And, to top it off, the skull was long and thick. It was shaped like a dragon’s skull, but without the pronounced nose, and the jaw was smoother but thicker, and jutted out a bit more. The sockets for the eyes looked more recessed, too. This monster would cut through a car like rice paper, easily grab any human up to 400 pounds in one claw, jump at least the length of a soccer field, and chomp a log in half like it was a toothpick. It was also a big bitch. 11 feet tall, at least, from head to foot.
Then, a stabbing pain shot through my whole being as Valkry bound me to its bones. I could feel myself get sucked into the marrow of each bone, and it was like I was burning alive while getting stabbed in my everything.
The last thing I remember was the searing pain as flesh was mixed together from the black essence and bound itself to my feet.
Author's Note
Solaris: R63 Celestia
Artemis: R63 Luna
Contentia: R63 Discord
