As the chunks of rubble were cleared away, arm-sized piece by fist-sized piece, Lucian and Transient Cardinal’s view into the hallway beyond became more and more clear.
By the time close to half of the pile was shifted aside, the two were able to get a pretty solid picture of what awaited them just beyond.
Blazing, non-rusted sconces lined wood-panelled walls, fighting back the tide of sterile white light encroaching into the hallway, one that gently curved to the right. Amorphous, yellowish-orange puddles were punctured by streaks of inky shadows, a consequence of the various pieces of furniture strewn about with no clear rhyme or reason. Most eye-catching of all were the numerous floor to ceiling windows, made of transparent glass, giving the raven-haired man and white-haired waif an unhindered view of the world outside the Dormitories.
“What a damn sight.”
Don't get him wrong. What he was seeing? It was downright impressive. But it was also terrifying; akin to a slumbering beast that would awaken with the slightest misstep.
“Right? It's incredible, isn’t it.”
Unlike his mixed feelings on the matter, Transient Cardinal only expressed awe and amazement in the face of the sky-enveloping, slowly spinning, inky vortex of storm clouds.
CRACKA-CRACKA-CRACKATHOOM!
Just as his white-haired partner voiced her opinion, consecutive, back to back thunderclaps,, like a herd of horses freely galloping across the plains, boomed and rattled the glass panes; causing him to immediately clap his hands over his ears even as he tightly squeezed his eyes shut.
Numerous black spots danced behind his eyelids, a thoughtful gift from the brilliant snakes of lightning that had swum in the clouds moments before the thunderclaps.
Although he really wanted to keep his eyes shut, the raven-haired man forced them back open after a second; unwilling to risk getting ambushed, irregardless of his blurry vision and ringing ears.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for both impairments to subside and fade away – the gentle crackle of numerous flames returning in soothing concert.
Wiping away the remnant tears lingering in his eyes, Lucian's gaze flickered over to the left, seeing that Transient Cardinal was fine, before focusing back forward and sweeping over the hallway outside.
…
From what he could tell, nothing looked amiss.
While the experience had been a shocking one, he decided not to dwell on it and got back to work. With about half the job already done, he was sure it wouldn't be long before they could leave and start exploring the Dormitories proper – come what may.
----------------------------------------
Handle – El Knight.
Health: Slightly injured.
G. A. M. E.—#1.
Players Remaining/(158/201).
Time zipped by, and soon enough, Lucian and Transient Cardinal shifted every single piece of rubble aside.
Though lugging the rubble was a monotonous task, it was made far less of a one when two dedicated pairs of hands worked at it. Besides, some of the inherent tedium was alleviated whenever one or the other struck up a conversation; helping the veritable strangers build a nascent rapport.
At the very least, the stilted back and forth exchange made it clear that both of them were missing absolutely all of their personal memories while revealing each of them had an odd mixture of general and niche knowledge swimming about in the recesses of their minds.
During one of those brief instances of chatter, the white-haired waif had brought up a plan of action – one the raven-haired man agreed with wholeheartedly after a moment's worth of thought.
Instead of thoughtlessly shifting the rubble to an out of the way spot, they had piled them to either side of the doorless doorway; the pair of precariously balanced rocky mounds meant to serve as a nasty surprise if retreat ever became necessary somewhere down the line.
Lucian dusted off his hands as he looked over his work; several beads of sweat rolling from his forehead and tracing down his jaw from the extended period of hard labour.
While a large part of him was relieved that the way was finally clear, a non-zero bit was apprehensive about the unknown, yet inevitable dangers, waiting over the horizon.
He let the emotions stew for a moment before shoving it to the back of his mind; knowing there was nothing for it but to move forward.
Lucian spared one last, lingering look at the storm clouds obscuring the horizon before turning away and heading over to his end table. Unlike himself, Transient Cardinal was already way ahead; fur-lined white coat having been partially slipped on by the time he turned around.
Just before he walked over and took back the end table, the young woman's coat was properly in place while her pair of asymmetrical table legs—righthand one with a jagged end, lefthand with a more blunted knob—was back in her small hands.
As Lucian shouldered his end table, his gaze unavoidably flickered over to the closed One-way Door. “Do you think we should wait for the two inside or go on ahead?”
Transient Cardinal slightly skewed her head while humming thoughtfully, the initially hesitant undertone transforming and quickly becoming far firmer. “I don't think there's a need to wait. I'm not saying that I believe the emotionless voice 100%, but there must be a pretty good reason why it claimed only a pair was needed to overcome the trials ahead.”
“I guess you have a point.”
“Still…” Lucian trailed off, worried eyes flicking towards the closed one-way door. “I hope the people in there are alright.”
“We can only hope.” Transient Cardinal declared with finality and walked towards the open doorway, clearly having nothing else to say on the matter.
Instead of following her immediately, he slipped off one of his backpack’s shoulder straps and swung it forward until it hung in front of him before opening the snug compartment containing the three test tubes he sought. Plucking out one of the Toxic Essences and the sole Abyssal Vitreous before closing the compartment, the raven-haired man slipped the former into his hoodie's right pocket and the latter into the left.
Once done with all his last minute preparations, he jogged after Transient Cardinal; the young woman's pace far faster than he expected, having already nearly disappeared around the hallway's gentle bend during his brief distraction.
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As he closed the distance, Lucian took the time to take in all the sights and sounds. While the world outside was beset by an oppressive bank of heavy storm clouds, the hallway itself was inundated by the warm glow of firelight.
Under normal circumstances, the combination of aforementioned factors would have created an absolutely amazing ambience. Unfortunately for the raven-haired man, he wasn't able to kick back and relax given the eerie furnishings; something he noticed after catching up to his white-haired partner and falling in step with her.
Decorating the corridor were accoutrements one would expect in a dormitory.
From austere tables to plush chairs, and decorative vases to various kinds of landscape paintings, the area was thoroughly furnished – at least if you ignored the finer details of each piece.
Every armrest was carved into the shape of bare bones, while indistinct, dancing shadows had been burnt into otherwise clean porcelain.
In contrast, at a first glance, the tables had looked no different from normal.
Unfortunately, after examining it more closely, he spotted the tortured rictuses camouflaged into the grains of wood; a technique both impressive and terrifying in equal measure.
Things didn't end there, however.
Most unsettling of all were the landscape paintings. Where those back on Earth, at least amongst those Lucian could actually recall, would typically showcase grand expressions of nature’s majesty, the ones lining the walls depicted scenes he could only describe using a single word:
Hell.
In one, fiery skeletons crawling up from a glowing sanguine crack in the earth, and in another, a descending flock of carrion eaters, so dense it blocked out the sky, diving down on a war torn battlefield full of corpses and those barely clinging to life.
What's more: those two were some of the more moderate amongst the ones he could see.
Lucian wondered if he should bring up the unsettling furnishings but shelved the thought after a quick glance at Transient Cardinal; seeing her pale, delicate features scrunched up into a focused look.
The gradually rising level of ambient firelight from up ahead would have dissuaded him from doing so, anyway, even if the raven-haired man had chosen to disrupt his white-haired partner's state of focus.
Soon enough, the reason for said rising light levels was revealed; just as the hallway finally opened up into a large, open floor.
Lucian only briefly swept his eyes over the other three hallways placed equidistant from one another at the edges of the floor as his gaze was quickly pulled skywards, taking in the impressive chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling; lights and shadows dancing across the surface as a result of the innumerable, blazing candles.
In stark contrast with the impressive overhead fixture, the floor he exited out onto was completely bare. Its only standout aspect was the hollow, circular cut out smack-dab at the epicentre of the level, one ringed by fragile wooden bannisters that sported two person-sized gaps connecting to a pair of landings and steps spiralling up and leading down.
Though the raven-haired man barely took any time to survey the room, Transient Cardinal had already started walking off to explore it proper by the time he was done. Following in her lead, he immediately walked over to the bannisters, wanting to see what was above and below his floor.
Soon enough, he poked his head over the bannister and saw that there were eight in all – excluding his own.
Two lowers, one upper, and a mosaic-tiled ground foyer. Interestingly enough, a mezzanine balcony, about a third of the floors’ sizes, hugged the wall between each proper floor; multiple sets of lounging-type furniture present on the one right below him.
Seeing all he could, he retracted his head back and started off on a clockwise route along the wooden bannisters, intending to check out the two landings jutting out from the main floor and attached to the pair of winding steps.
Since Transient Cardinal had already made it to the opposite end of the floor, Lucian intentionally bypassed the first landing and was just about to reach the second when he caught sight of frantic movements from the corner of his eye. Immediately looking up, he beheld a statuesque woman, honey blonde hair spilling over the fifth floor’s railings as she poked her head and part of her torso over the banister; hands—one occupied, the other free—gesticulating wildly at something off to his side.
Time felt like it slowed down as he dissected her actions. Although it was crystal clear she wanted him to look at something, he was quite confused by what exactly she wanted him to see; considering all there was to his side was the fragile wooden bannisters and the multistorey drop just beyond.
Caution and curiosity warred for dominance in Lucian's mind – but only for a brief moment, the raven-haired man quickly spinning around to look in the direction that the honey blonde was gesticulating towards even as he jumped back several times in quick succession.
In a blur of motion almost too fast for him to catch, something serpentine coiled around the wooden railings before springing over the fragile banister; lunging at his head as if a shark scenting blood.
Before he could even think of intercepting it with a smash, Transient Cardinal suddenly dashed from behind him and right by his side and landed a pair of overhead chops, one almost instantly after the other, on the lunging creature, causing it to crash onto the ground and allowing him to actually see it properly for the first time.
While serpentine was a somewhat accurate descriptor, it was solely with regards to the creature’s evident mode of locomotion.
Reflected in his light brown orbs was a wriggling, fleshless spine attached to a bare grinning skull; every visible portion of bone looking like it had been dunked in liquid shadows.
On its own, that, in and of itself, would have been a horrifying enough sight – if not for the fact that two perfectly functioning eyeballs, each one looking right at home nestled in the skull’s sockets, were rolling about and clearly taking the world in.
Lucian felt a little bile rise up in his throat, but forcefully swallowed it back down. He wanted to—he really fucking wanted to—barf up all of his stomach’s contents, but forcibly quashed the physiological urge and sprinted over to the monstrosity. While the white-haired waif was doing a good job of pinning it down, he would prefer if it died as soon as possible.,
CRACK! CRACKCRACK!! CRACKCRACKCRACK!!!
Having knelt right next to the landed creature, the young woman was staking the writhing creature with rapid, alternating stabs, preventing it from slithering away while trying to smash the writhing creature into smithereens; the stillness of the air shattered by what sounded like a ferocious drumbeat as a result.
From the ferocity of her assault, he would have expected the creature to have died by now. However, it was clear that wasn't the case. As such, instead of engaging immediately, he slowed to a stop several steps away and quickly examined what the white-haired waif was doing to determine what was wrong.
Although an increasing number of hairline cracks ran along the spine's entire length, it didn’t seem to impede its movements in the slightest. Quickly raking his eyes over the entire creature’s length, he spotted its wildly rolling eyeballs and had a flash of inspiration – even if he nearly gagged.
Acting on aforementioned inspiration, Lucian crossed the remaining few steps while raising his end table above his head in a two-handed grip. Once he was close enough, he brought his arms down on the creature’s skull, specifically targeting its exposed, extremely squishable, eyeballs.
With a harsh crunch and paradoxically wet pops, a jagged crack ran right down the middle of its skull even as its eyes simultaneously collapsed inwards before bloody liquid exploded outwards; making it look as if the skull had been weeping bloody tears just before its death.
At that exact moment, the writhing creature came to a complete stop. It took an instant for Transient Cardinal to come to terms with the fact, however; the young woman landing two more strikes on the unmoving spine before she stopped as well.
Briefly letting go of one of her table legs, she brushed several strands of dishevelled hair behind her ears before springing up from her kneeling position; a sheen of sweat shining on her brow while her cheeks were flushed a light pink.
“That… was impressive.” While what he said was a true reflection of what he felt, Lucian felt like smacking himself; slightly embarrassed by the lack of self-control on display right now.
The young woman ducked her head slightly while softly biting her bottom lip, the light pink dusting her cheeks growing a tad darker. “Thank you…?”
Before either could continue the conversation, however, a well-timed interruption came bouncing down from above.
“Oh my gosh! Are the two of you alright?!”
Where the white-haired waif's voice was clear with a melodic lilt, the honey blonde’s was more of a low purr; naturally husky, and undeniably—even alluringly—seductive.
Unlike the former’s wardrobe, which covered up most of her body below her neck, the latter’s attire was far more provocative; an off-the-shoulder crimson halterneck decorated with fluttering violet leaves scattered diagonally across the front and a skinny pair of dark purple bordering on black jeans that looked painted on.
With her buxom, statuesque physique, the mess of curls cascading over her shoulders and tumbling down her back like a veil of honey, and her vibrant green, almond eyes set in regal, aristocratic features…
Lucian wouldn’t have been surprised, not even in the slightest bit, if the new arrival had starred in many a teenage boy’s wet dream – especially with how her ample assets were bouncing and nearly popping out of her top as she ran down the stairs and up to himself and his white-haired partner.
…
Lucian was tempted to smack himself just for that thought; especially at such a time, of all times.
Meanwhile, even as the raven-haired man was dealing with his mini internal crisis, Transient Cardinal and the buxom beauty had been getting acquainted.
“We're both alright. Thank you for warning my partner earlier, but where’s yours?” Transient Cardinal asked calmly, a light of suspicion darkening her pale blue eyes ever so slightly.
The statuesque blonde wrinkled her nose, like she was reliving a recent, disgusting memory. “He didn't make it. By the time I found him, his heart had already been reduced to a lump of charcoal.”
The waif suspiciously assessed the beauty for a moment longer but failed to spot a lie. Immediately, an apologetic frown bloomed across her brow. “O-Oh … my condolences. I apologise for bringing it up.”
The honey blonde waved her free hand in a dismissive gesture. “It’s okay, no harm, no foul.”
Transient Cardinal coughed awkwardly, taking the brief moment to recompose herself, before restarting the conversation.
“Sorry again. Let’s start from the beginning, ‘kay? My handle, according to Knight over there, is Transient Cardinal. Just call me Cardinal, though. I’m not too comfortable sharing my name, so…” She ducked her head in silent embarrassment as she trailed off.
Hearing his handle, Lucian looked over to the two conversing women, finally brought out of his thoughts – just in time to catch the stranger's reply.
“I’d say it’s nice to meet you too, but given present circumstances.” She shrugged a single shoulder, as if asking ‘what can you do?’. “And sorry, but I have no idea what’s my handle. Thanks for telling me yours, though.”
Without any warning, she turned to face him, seeming to have noticed his attention. “Well, Mr. Knight? Any chance you could tell me mine?”
He bobbed his head without hesitation. “Sure thing. Like Cardinal said, handle’s El Knight, Knight for short, and I’ll just need to shake your hand, please.”
As he spoke, Lucian dropped his end table and stuck out his hand demonstratively, patiently waiting for her to reciprocate his gesture.
The honey blonde blinked, visibly taken aback, but gave her ascent with a soft murmur before grabbing his hand with a firm grip after a quick, uncertain look over at Transient Cardinal – a gesture the latter replied to with a gentle, reassuring nod.
Lucian triggered his Knowledge implant the instant her soft skin touched his far more calloused one; curious to see who, exactly, this new arrival was.
Handle – Gladiolus-wreathed Queen.
Health: Slightly injured.
G. A. M. E.—#1.
Players Remaining/(155/201).