I feel the world crying.
Pain and suffering riding on the Everflow. Something that should have ever been possible. The cry was not human, or even of the living for that matter, yet it resonated in my mind and soul as if it were my own.
A pound of flesh torn away. Like a child whose hand was ripped off by a suddenly crazed animal. There was betrayal, pain, and fear. So much fear.
The same cry that a beaten dog let when, despite having begun to trust others again received yet another beating.
How could I have not noticed it before? The thought of it was alien, burgeoning in the naivety of my mind. From my underestimating of the locals, of my misunderstanding of how deep everything ran. From the pettiness to the vainness; the disconnection from the the world to the utter and sheer cruelty.
I see now, the reason why I felt but only one source since my arrival. How foolish and naive I was. Even as the shadows of my would-be aggressor get smaller during their descent. I realize how much hurt and pain are but but afterthought in this world. There is no place for peace, for understanding, for growth outside of predetermined pathways.
I thought I knew what I wanted to do here when Lu Huan was about to lose herself. Yet I was blind to the true nature of this world. Almost as if someone had sculpted their very sick and greedy will into it all.
One of the three aggressors clasps their hand on my skull as he pushes me to the floor to pin me. Another looks around sword raised with an unknown yet familiar energy to the man Lu Huan had been facing on stage. His energy felt as if it was brandished, eager to cut, and… Had a thirst for blood. Whereas the old man felt as if it was calm and collected, sharp. Far sharper than anything, but sheathed.
My eyes go the the main culprit. A woman, with black hair as was the norm in this region. Yet it was the manic grin that could be only considered an affront to any sane or well-meaning individual that made things click. She had a paper strip in the midst of burning, the flames mere moments from igniting the ink of the symbols. “Seals”, Lu Huan said. Yet this is not the type for academic inquiries as the cry intensifies.
I throw one last look at the woman I have come to care about. Who made my head as much of a mess as she helped sort it out. The shock and pain in her eyes and face echo with mine.
Then, with a wail of pain. We are gone. I feel sick as we are moved by blind and furious force through the material plane. The agony of the world lost on all but me, feeling the Everflow recoil from all but me. Something which catches the eyes of the woman responsible for this.
Before I could react though, I felt something being slipped around my neck. Cold and hard, metallic; utterly disgusting.
< There, she shouldn’t be able to do her sordid techniques. Get her to a—> The man who had pinned me to the floor says before a wet squelch silences him.
Disgusting as the collar may be: interfering with my body’s reserve of ink. The tear of the Everflow displaced around us is freely available for the taking. For me that is.
The human body isn’t made for sudden changes in pressure or temperature from the inside. Even less so when a vengeful painter makes use of both.
The world was not only providing me with the broken section of the Everflow, but with its fathomless, almost childlike terror. And so I took it, despite my mind and body screaming at me not to, directing it at the woman.
Flaying the flesh off of her bones. Different from a hunter’s precise movement with a knife when skinning his slain prey. Her flesh had rippled with prejudice and power, her skin swelling in chunks and patches. Turning red from the stress before inevitably yielding to the gas created by the flash boiling of her blood and flesh. To the will inhabiting the hemorrhaging Ink of the Everflow.
I only had to nudge it, letting the fear I felt earlier drop into it. Coloring the overabundance of available Ink into a black miasma, thick and opaque. Giving it a path and a target.
And like that, the woman was gone. A layer of organic grim and steaming blood is now spread around on the once unsullied, carved rock.
Alarm bells rang in their head, jumping back from the now-freed skeleton as it crumpled into dust. The remnant of biomantic miasma started gathering at a seemingly random spot where the body once was. Only for a soul-deep screech of horror and panic to rattle all of us, therefore followed by the sound of shattered glass that etched itself in our minds.
Panic was written all over their face and body language. The one with the sword aimed it at me, the tip of the blade pressed at my throat, breaking my skin as I felt myself bleed.
< What did you do?!> The voice was deranged, grief and fury intertwined with bewilderment.
< STOP!> The other man pulled him back by the collar of his robe as bloodshot eyes glared at me, tears welling in them.
< Stop, I swear. Please stop. If you kill her right here, right now. We are dead. No matter where we go, they will catch us and punish us. Red task, remember? We all knew the danger involve—> The taller man was met with an elbow to the nose, breaking it in the process. Despite nearly falling on his butt, he didn’t let go of the other’s clothes.
< FUCK! You and I both know this bitch will beg for death before long. Look where we are, this is the Lord Grey alchemist’s headquarters. He may not be his twin, but if the rumors are correct. I don’t give her much time before she breaks.>
They left the room soon after a group of people had entered. Despite being armed to the teeth, the way they turned pale when seeing the state of the room brough a grin to my face. A grin that was soon swept away as I got dragged through some form of compound.
Rows upon rows of prison cells. Each of them was filled with living beings: from people of All ages. To beasts, both mundane and fantastical. With a rare, yet disturbingly numerous amount of spirits: the natural kind.
< Mommy…> I hear the voice of a little girl, arms red from inflammation, the remnant of broken, dull red scales growing back.
< Daddy… I am scarred… It hurts…> An emaciated boy cries in a corner, green feathers growing on bare discolored wings along his back.
The deeper I was dragged, the more horror I saw. As much as it sickens me to think that the children had it “easy”. The depth of cruelty that was done to the adults was magnitude worse: women with non-human traits were put in a row and raped, to be made pregnant again and again. The other women were in catatonic states, their skin covered with rashes, their pupils dilated and glazed over as they scratched at the puncture marks from the experimental drugs they were subjected to. Men were reduced to their torso and head, bound to contraptions to harvest their blood.
The stench of blood, feces, and urine burned my eyes and strangled my throat. The retch of the diseased in their midst was drowned in the wail and tears of the other. Undiluted wails of misery and hurt echo all around us.
I felt myself crushed under the rampant and directionless emotions of this place. Looking eyes with a redheaded woman bound at her hands and feet, her mouth gagged as tears no longer welled in her bloodshot eyes.
My own eyes felt hot as tears started to run down my face, my heart wrenching with sorrow and grief. My mind burning with rage and loathing at it all. But I am powerless as I am dragged away, the light behind her eyes dimming to a flicker.
We passed another doorway and the smell and noise disappeared. Yet that did little to the repressed and unlived emotions, as they were carried through by Everflow. But with the lack of sources, and so far underground: they had nowhere to go.
Suffering is no competition, yet the people in charge of this place had decided to make it so.
It took a while before they threw me inside a cell of my own. Deeper, much deeper underground than the place I have arrived. The only reason I knew I was underground was thanks to my connection with Capash: there is no nature anywhere but up.
< I do not know what you did when you arrived. But know that it will be brough up to the Grey Lord. Proper punishment will be administered for having slain one of our own.> One of the guards, or at least that’s what I think they are, an old and greying woman points at me. A sneer of cruel enjoyment on her lips.
She barks some orders to the men around here as they disperse. She looks back, her sneer, once small and barely hidden swells into a full-blown malevolent smile.
< Ho, how much fun I will have with you, little one. Drawing out of that pretty little head all the secrets you have.> She opens the cell as she takes a step in my direction.
If I felt like I was being crushed by what the flow carried before. Now at the depth of this infernal place: I am drawing. Too much terror, rage, grief, and loathing all around, packed together so tight. Overwhelming me like an avalanche of raw feelings pressing down on my Inkwell.
And just like Capash mentioned, I could feel myself drifting. Somewhere I am not meant to be.
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The woman is still speaking, making all sorts of efforts to make a show and get a reaction out of me. But I am already on the verge of going under.
< Why aren’t you afraid?> She asks, her hand twirling a sharp knife as she traces a line on my left cheek with it.
The pain flares momentarily, before dying down from the overwhelming emotional stimuli.
He had said before that the rebounds weren’t artificial. That, they opened a connection but had never mentioned to what. But I get it now.
So I reach out, willingly. And take it in. Embracing it all.
< Why am I not afraid?> I ask, my body soaking up the years. No, decades' worth of pent-up and unlived emotions. My voice changes ever so slightly as my body starts to bubble: new reboun—... Signifiers, of emotional origins, manifest on my body. The collar had cut me from my own reserve of Ink, but not to the Everflow itself.
There it was, that same voice. The childlike one that sobbed when it had been hurt, and now it came with a plea. One that was being repeated again and again. Worn down and tired, yet the plea still was made. It begged, again and again. Begged to rest. But those were only whispers, whispers of intent in something that should have been neutral.
Whisper that grew clearer as I embraced more.
So I let it flow.
All the rage. All the Loathing. All the Terror… All the grief.
I could feel my Inkwell changing. Broadening. My own affinities shifted to the sudden influx, mixing with something deep inside of me.
< The question should be: why aren’t YOU A????????F??????R???????????????????????A???????????????????????I??????????????????????D?????????????????????????>??????????????
Third Party’s PoV
< T-There! I saw something moving!> A frantic man yells as he points his finger to a dark corridor. The still air is heavy as the squad of The Termination branches of the Hao association is investigating the lowest reach of the Alchemical compound.
< Shut up. You need to calm down right the fuck now. We can’t afford to waste any more time for the Grey Lord.> The entire group was made of four Ki-gathering stage practitioners and one Core Stage captain.
The captain glared at the one who spoke out, noting him down as a wuss in his head. As someone he could rely on, should things go sideways.
< Come on, Hao Ren. No need to be so scared. I am sure it’s just some kind of mystical and nocturnal prey beast that got loose.>
< I can’t see shit in this darkness, and the light crystals we have aren’t that strong. So don’t go starting that shit on us.>
< Yeah, I am already uncomfortable like this.> The last man, Yan Yun, said as he turned around to face Hao Ren, poking his in the sternum. Wagging his index with the other that carried his light crystal.
< My heart is beating like a bitch right now! My heart is beating at a thousand Li per hour thinking some shit’s gonna pop out of nowhere. Some bitch's probably going to pop out of nowhere, and I am gonna get so fucking scared. Because why? Because my blood pressure is fucking high right now! And if my blood pressure is high, some bullshit is gonna pop out and make it even—> The man turns around to point his finger, only to see red eyes.
Not a pair, and not at face level either. But many, from the ceiling to the floor, and in between the bars of each cell.
The whole corridor behind them was covered with red eyes. Each glowing a baleful red light as the heterogeneously shaped black pupils glared at them.
< HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!>
< RUN!> The captain said, throwing the screaming Yan Yun behind him as the other picked up and started running.
< Fuck fuck fuck! Nocturnal prey MY FUCKING ASS!> The captain said as he closed the group from behind, picking up his man's light source along the way. His head was on a swivel as he kept looking back.
But no matter how hard and fast he ran, they were there. At the same distance, they had been before. Following in utter silence. Just at the edge of their light.
Then an idea struck him, as he threw his own light source behind.
The pale blue crystal soared through the air, only to make whatever was following them screech. The eyes closed and disappeared.
< Stop! It’s gone.> He yelled. His heart beating hard inside his chest. He didn’t want to admit it, but the way Yan Yun had felt was now happening to him.
But he was too far gone. He had kept running forward, alone. The terror deafened the world around him. He wanted to laugh and jeer at him. But they appeared again.
Just in front of him.
< FUUUC—> Yan Yun was barely able to turn around when a single, massive clawed hand grabbed his head.
*HMMMPH!* The huge digits wrapped over his head, allowing him only to see the fear-stricken face of his squadmates as it pulled him into the shadow. The eyes turned around with him, disappearing from their view.
The sound of their muted teammate resonated for a moment before they heard a *crunch*, followed by a deaf *thump* of a body falling.
They felt their stomachs loop around inside their body. Their spine ran cold as their whole body tightened up.
????????????????
Unknown PoV
‘You always are so damn lucky, aren’t you? Caught by those parasites. Tortured and raped for months. Abandoning the only person who genuinely cared for you. Only to be experimented upon by that sick bastard and let loose by a fleeting whim of pity?’
The same thought kept coming back, on and on. I looked out of my cell, sitting in the furthest part of it.
‘ Six years of freedom. Six years living as a waitress in some random city, that all it amounted to. Fancy bitch dreaming of liberty and freedom. Couldn’t even save a child. Couldn’t even be happy that she had made it out. And now? Back to the start.’
I sigh. The thought of finding myself once again at the mercy of some stupid organization that didn’t care about anything scares the shit out of me. And yet, here it is.
I ran my fingers through my dirty black hair. ‘ At least there. I had managed to work up to some sort of status. And what good did that serve me? Painting a massive target on my back is all it did…’ She slaps her face, trying to keep her thoughts steady.
‘No. At least I got to meet her. I just hope that she is not suffering anymore. Alive or dead I don’t care, but she didn’t deserve all that pain.’
< IT BROKE OUT OF QUARANTINE! RETREAT TO THE NEXT LEVEL!> A voice broke me out of my musing. Being “lodged” so close to the farthest staircase. I usually don’t see many people, this place usually sees little traffic. At least when compared to that vile “show” they had up. Its sole purpose was to help break down the poor sods that just arrived. To give them a taste of what’s to come, but only so.
The guards that had arrived en masse earlier were grouping up at the door leading down.
< Prepare the Black Turtle formation while the Blockade is being built. We cannot afford to lose more ground to that—>
The ground shook with a mighty tremor as the light started to flicker. One by one, each of the middle-grade light crystals that dotted the ceiling went out. A low rumbling noise followed as small spheres of red light manifested themselves in the darkness. Their shape got progressively more and more refined as the red glow intensified.
‘Eyes! THOSE ARE EYE BALLS?!’
< S??????????????h??????????????u??????????s????????????????????h??????????????????????????,????????????? ?????t?????????????????????h???????????????????e??????????????????????r????????????????????e???????? ??????????????????????a???????????????r???????????????e?????????? ???????c?????????????????h????????????????????i???????????????????????l??????????????????d??????????????????????r?????e??????????????????n???????????????????????? ????????????????????h???????????????????e???????????r????????????e????????.?????????????????? ????????????????.>
The voice grated at her mind, her own mind and body catching up in an instant on what was going on.
Then, after a few silent minutes. She heard something. The sound of claws clicking on the stone floor. Of bare feet walking in puddles.
< C?????????u?????????????????????r????????????i???????????????o????????????????????????u???????????????s?????????????????????.?????????????????.????????????????????.???????????? ??????????????????Y????????????????????o?????????????????????u????????????????? ???????????????s???????????????????????????e?????????e???????????????????????????m?????????????? ??????????????t?????????o????????????????? ???????????????????h?????a??????????????????v????????????e?????????????? ??????????????????????????????s?????????????o??????????????????m?????????????????????e???????????????????t??????????????h???????????????????i??????n???????????????????????????g???????????????????? ????????????????b?????o????????????????????u??????????????????????n????????????????d?????????? ????????????????t?????????????????o??????????????????? ???????????????y??????????????????????????????o??????u??????????????????????????r???????????????????? ????????????????????s???????????????????????????o????????????????u???????????????????????l???????????????????????????>
The same voice from before spoke again. The eyes parted and made way for something tall and massive in front of her cell. But the darkness was obfuscating what.
The voice grew gentler. With a bit of… guilt?
< M?y? ?a?p?o?l?o?g?i?e?s?. I am still learning about it myself.> The voice, is now “normal”. Whatever normal even is. is reaching me only via my ears.
I was recoiling on myself, hugging my own knees to my chest. Fear beating in my heart and through my veins. But… The voice… No. The thing behind the voice had made an effort for me.
< W-what are y-you?> My body was shaking, and I could do little to stop it. Something about that thing was putting me through the wringer, drowning my entire body and mind with fear.
< Don’t you know it is impolite to ask that of someone, without presenting yourself first?> No matter where I am searching through my mind. It is as if I was supposed to be scared of that thing. My instinct screaming in my body and mind to not interact with it. To run. To even kill myself.
< Y-Yanmei.> ‘FUCK! I shouldn’t have said that name. I left it behind for a good reason.
< My greetings to you, Yanmei. I am this “ Hao association’s “ reckoning. And after that: this world’s. But you can call me Iulia.>