The marker stones glowed beneath the gloomy sky and the portal had barely swirled into shape when Zaunder’s Counters came to a screeching halt besides the ravine’s windy exit.
“Okay, let’s go~!” Mako cheered with a wide grin as she leapt out of the wagon before the side could even fully finish opening. The shark girl’s bright attitude wasn’t dimmed even the slightest bit by the darkened sky ahead.
Amused, Felicia watched her from behind the counter. Mako had been in a good mood since she had woken up. The cat girl really didn’t know Mako well enough, but she felt safe to say that Mako was definitely even more excited than normal.
“Ngh, I could’ve done with a few more hours of sleep…” Key grumbled from under Threy’s hat. “Stupid morning people.”
Threy just snorted amused as he finished paying Felicia for a stock up on their items. They still hadn’t used any of the active damage items! And now there were better ones already available. Well, they had a lot still ahead of them and there would be more than enough chances for them to try them all out.
“Thank you for your patronage.” Felicia smiled back, cheerfully accepting the gold.
“See ya!” He waved back, ignoring the tired grumbling from Key.
Daniel was in a rather good mood, too. And it would be a lie to say that it had nothing to do with Mako’s own cheer. But then, it wasn’t very often that he could say that he had slept this well on some soft and plushy pillows. Or that he got to wake up with Tania grinning down at him without actively waking him up. And while he had gotten to enjoy her wonderful bosom pillows, she had clung to him and his hat throughout the night. It was a long standing dream of Tania finally turned real.
“I could have down without her drooling all over my hat, though.” He mused with a chuckle as he followed Mako to the zigzagging gap leading out of the ravine.
It had probably been for the best that the kids had still been fast asleep by the time they had moved out.
———
The dark clouds roiled above them at a seemingly glacial pace, flashes of lightning spreading through the darkness like a spiderweb. Thunder following moments later. A cold, wet wind blew against Threy and Mako as they stood before the gap. It had already been going towards later afternoon during the boss battle the day before but now the sudden cut from a bright blue sky shining warm with the morning sun to ominous storm clouds was impossible to overlook. Though anchored above the harbour, it didn’t stop the feeling that they would soon spread outwards and cover the entire sky above Meadow Beach.
Glancing at each other, Mako grinned wide as she took the lead again. The small shark girl moving quickly through the windy gap with Threy right behind her, his hat fluttering strong within the winds.
It didn’t rain yet but the occasional drop still hit their face, carried to them from the harbour proper. The walls of the gap were surprisingly smooth, the stone dark, porous and moist. Moss grew in certain spots, adding a musky smell to the air.
The walk through the gap wasn’t long, but its serpentine pathing and the uncomfortably cold wind made it feel much longer. But just before the final turn, a ladder of large metal spikes had been hammered into the stone. And nailed into the ground of the original way forward stood a wooden sign.
[CAUTION! Elite Cursed Skeletons on Lookout ahead! Signed: Raymond]
“Well, now I’m curious.” Mako’s eyes twinkled mischievous.
“I’ll wait here, then.” Threy replied with a sigh, knowing he wasn’t going to convince her otherwise. And it was probably for the best to have someone has backup.
“And I’ll be right back~!” She laughed, jumping over the sign before vanishing around the corner.
The sign had been barely left behind her when the atmosphere ahead began to feel heavy and oppressive, slowing her down a bit with actual caution. Carefully she scooted along the wall, peeking ahead again and again until finally she caught a glimpse at the harbour’s entrance.
A gate of bones kept vigil, a sickly yellow eye of blackened sclera bulging massive at the top. Even without the countless fangs and claws jutting out of the boney frame akin to a twisted maw, the skeletons prowling around it would have given her pause. Their forms trembled and flickered with weirdly shimmering shadows, as if they more ghosts than skeletons. The dark purple glow of their eyes felt sharp, as if just looking at them was actually cutting into her body.
“Okay, definitely not going this way.” Mako nodded rapidly before flitting back the way she came. Maybe they could have brute forced their way through using a fortune of Life Hearts… but that felt a bit like a waste to her.
———
“Yeah, definitely don’t deal with those Cursed Skeletons!” Key bopped her head in agreement after Mako had returned and given them the rundown on the situation. “They freaking powerful and impossible to hurt! But they’re also chained to whatever’s cursing them and are pretty slow… and dumb.”
““Ah.”” Understanding lit up in both Threy and Mako’s eyes and they looked at each other with heavy sighs, groaning exhausted. ““Stealth Section.””
“Yep, just make sure they can’t see you and you’re golden~!” Key agreed, completely missing their aggravation with what was clearly the harbour’s gimmick. Her explanation given, Key slipped back into Threy’s hat and out of the cold winds. She would take the cozy warmth in here, thank you very much!
“I guess Raymond made sure we had a better way into the harbour then…” Threy mused as he glanced along the makeshift ladder up the cliff’s gap. The spikes didn’t lead the entire way up and instead ended at a small alcove that stretched along the wall for a few metres before vanishing into what was likely a tunnel within the stone.
Well, there was no reason for them keep dawdling around.
The metal was cold and wet but both Threy and Mako had quickly scaled the their way up, Threy coat still billowing when Mako landed at his side. His earlier guess had been corrected as the alcove lead into a winding tunnel that must have been carved a long time ago, the small bumps of slowly growing stalactites and stalagmites already visible. It was also a nice change of pace as there wasn’t as much wind blowing through the small tunnel... Mako grinned as she didn’t have to duck anymore in contrast to him.
Threy blinked as he took another glance at her. And her clothes. Her very summer beach themed clothes.
“How are you not cold…?” He sweatdropped in disbelief.
“Now you notice.” Mako snickered amused at his look. “Come on, you know I always loved to tell how Gao Mako regularly goes swimming in the arctic!”
“…huh, didn’t think that was actual lore.” Threy admitted honestly.
“Of course it’s lore! Everything I say is basically perfectly aligned with her…my…? Lore!” Mako puffed her chest out proudly. And then started to sweat under his enduring stare, resisting the urge to protest the many, weirder ideas she had thoughtlessly voiced aloud during her streams. If she didn’t acknowledge them they didn’t exist!
“Okay then.” Threy smiled, turning around without another word. His blazing eyes crackled and crinkled amused as he let Mako to wonder what exactly he meant by that herself.
Leaving that little tidbit behind, the tunnel began to slope upwards before finally leading out into the open. Lush green grass fluttered under strong winds before the exit as rain cascaded from the darkened clouds above. The rumble of thunder echoed in the distance.
Stepping out of the tunnel, Threy and Mako found themselves standing atop a small, grass ledge overlooking the gloom cast harbour. It was a cove unlike the one holding Zaunder’s Haven.
The cliff’s stone towered around the harbour like insurmountable walls. A thick crescent of land that held the central harbour town stood tall above the chaotic waves of water splashing against the dark stone cliff. Massive pillars of stone jutted out of the tumultuous waters, connected via wooden bridges to each other and the mainland. Various building dotted these stone towers. The outer most one impressed with a now twisted and macabre, bone-clad windmill, lightning striking into its peak to an undetermined rhythm.
Wooden structures along the side of these towers spoke of the fact that ships, primarily fishing boats and similar, docked often at their bases. But now only the tattered, rotten looking pirate ships crewed by rattling skeletons could be found swaying atop the chaotic waves.
“Well, I think we know our targets now.” Mako blinked as she stepped up to the ledge’s edge, Threy standing at her side.
Crackling and oozing with ominous glowing mist, a glow that strongly reminded Mako of the cursed skeletons, seven spires of bone and purple crystal pierced out from from the harbour. Some stood tall in the middle of the street, others had been haphazardly mounted onto the roofs of buildings. The last three dotted the stone towers rising from the ocean waters.
“Yeah, those do look very destructible.” Threy nodded in agreement, a grin growing on his lips. His blazing eye steamed from all the rain drops evaporating as soon as they came in contact with it.
Looking from side to side, ledges and elevations framed the entire rim of the stormy harbour cove. They offered a variety of potential entry points into the harbour town out of the sight of the cursed skeletons wandering through the streets. A wooden fence surrounded the entire town. Sadly, just hopping across the roofs wasn’t the solution here as those were also guarded by them. Or rather… the skeletons just stood there, watching. So, Double Jump abuse was sadly not really useful here at the moment.
One of the ominous spires was pretty close by, situated atop one of the large, flat buildings that likely acted as storage and maybe also for repairs at nets, smaller boats and more, near the harbour’s edge above the waves. The terrain leading from the ledge to this part of the town was rather open and even, stone, mud and only a scattered few patches of grass dotting it.
“Let’s take a look around first.” Threy mused, stroking his chin.
“Aye aye~!” Mako saluted with a grin, already speeding on ahead. Her form leaped along the cliff wall as a curtain of rain lashed across the harbour.
———
Of the four spires located within the town, only two were immediately accessible to the duo as the other two were located directly behind the harbour main entrance and within the town’s plaza. So, they had to pass by one the first two spires anyways. The only question left then was… were they going to split up or stay together?
“Two Player’s more fun.” Mako bopped her head without hesitation as they overlooked the harbour from the north-western edge of the cove.
“Yeh.” Threy chuckled in agreement.
The spire on this side of the town jutted out form between a number of taller, lopsided buildings built atop a single, elevated wooden platform that were visible through a few gaps within the wooden fence. There weren’t any skeletons immediately at he backside but occasionally the ominous glow of their eyes could be seen as they slowly passed by the windows.
“I think it’s about time we make some use of our extra gear…” Threy smiled, a trio of wooden sticks sliding out of his sleeves that he twirled between his fingers.
“I’ve been itching to try them out already~!” Mako grinned, holding three of her own between her fingers.
Tall grass rippled and swayed under the stormy winds below their current ledge. Leaping down the side, the duo slid along the steep, smooth stone and ducked into the uncomfortably wet green. The ground soft and wet from all the rain.
Quickly they moved through the grass before finally reaching a gap in the fence, peeking around the corner to make sure that there wasn’t a skeleton patrol nearby now of all times. It was all clear and with Threy’s coat billowing behind them, they slipped into the harbour town.
And immediately realised a problem.
“Yeah, I can’t fit through.” Threy nodded slowly as he stared at the space beneath the platform. And what could be called an alley between the buildings but was honestly more of a narrow gap. He looked back at Mako and wondered how the freaking hell she somehow managed to fit however, despite the upgrade to her chest cushions.
“Uhm, maybe we can find a way around…?” Mako offered, looking up from beneath the platform where she had easily squeezed herself under. It was still cold and moist here but thanks to the elevation and size of the platform, not much rain water had managed to actually reach here.
“Nah, I’ll just take care of another spire.” He sighed, rubbing his neck as he glanced around.
From the looks of it, the spire was located at the centre of these platformed buildings - why they were platformed was honestly a mystery to him - and the only way in really was either squeeze through the gaps, climb onto the roofs or just walk in through the front door. And those last two options were just a bad idea right now.
“Muh, fine… I guess we’ll have to split up after all.” Mako pouted, puffing up her cheek.
“Heh, you got this!” Threy grinned, giving her a thumbs up.
“Of course I’ve got this!” She squawked in mock indignation before smirking back. “But I’m counting this as the annoying stuff I need to do!”
—Mako POV—
Mako heard Threy’s footsteps growing faint as she shuffled around, wiggling herself deeper under the wooden platform. It was a tight squeeze and the wooden poles supporting the structure turned the entire section into a maze of narrow gaps and sharp turns. Even if Threy had managed to fit under, his height would’ve likely made some of them nearly impossible.
“And it’s still freaking uncomfortable to me, too…” Mako grumbled to herself, eyes narrowing as she reached the first of probably many ends of this maze. Not a dead end, though, since a trapdoor opened up above her.
“Ooh, I can already feel the frustration setting in.” She groaned as the gimmick of this Spire immediately became clear to her. Freaking hell! A maze plus stealth?! Oh, she was going to look for ways to cheese this shit so hard!
Cautiously, Mako pushed against the trapdoor and peeked through the gap. A breath of relief escaped her as she realised it opened up beneath something. Maybe a bed? No, more likely some kind of oversized cupboard or table. Slowly she squeezed herself into the cold, wooden gap and took stock of her surroundings.
The space beneath had clearly been made to look smaller from the outside as the side gaps had wooden boards elongate and cover more than a third of the actual space available. Connected to metal hinges, those boards could be pushed outwards but not inwards.
Why did a harbour town need something like this for their buildings? Mako sweatdropped. But not that she was going to complain about that. Glancing out through the remaining gap, she did her best to keep her breathing low and quiet. Because moving slowly passed her hiding place through this long hallway she saw the ominous shimmering bones of a cursed skeleton.
Slowly, ever so slowly it moved…
“And of course its freaking boring as well…!” Mako complained quietly to herself as she stared deadpan at the deliberately slowly and stumbling steps of the skeleton. Now this was just intentionally made to torture her impatience!
What felt like an hour later, but could’ve just as easily been only ten seconds or an entire day, Mako was finally sure that the skeleton was far enough away and she quickly pulled herself out from under the cupboard.
The hallway she found herself in was long, a multitude of doors line its side and at both ends stairs lead upwards on each side, and the only real hiding place available was the one she had just left. Oh, she could squeeze under it again but not quickly or easily with how those hinges had been fitted.
Nervously, Mako swallowed as she kept ears cocked and slowly sneaked forwards. The doors looked interesting but it was probably for the best to see if she couldn’t just get to that spire earlier by going a floor up.
Every sound she made appeared deafening to her, the thunder outside now no longer background noise but a moment where she wasn’t sure if it had covered up an important warning of a nearing skeleton.
This was why she hated horror and stealth based games! An overly theatric sob escaped her as she hurried as quickly yet quietly as she could towards the rightmost stairs in relation to her hiding place. She twitched as the wooden floors creaked beneath her feet and came to clumsy halt at the side of the stairs.
Cautiously, Mako pushed herself against the side of the right wall. Glancing up the stairs on the other side, no skeleton to see, and then peeked up the stairs on her own side. A breath of pure relief blew past her lips as no skeleton startled her there either. Not wanting to stay in the open of this hallway for even a single second longer, she flitted around the corner and up the very rightmost stairs.
The stairs made a sharp turn and too relieved that she hadn’t run into any skeletons, Mako made the turn without a second thought.
“KRRRRHHH!!!”
“EEEEEK!!!” Mako cried out in startled terror as she ran right into the gloom writhing form of a cursed skeleton. Wide eyed and terrified she stared at it, frozen in shock, and its freezing, deadly grasp wrapped around her before she could do anything more.
Skull rattling and wheezing, it stared into her very being as she was trapped within its embrace. Eyes of death cut into her own. A chilling, unearthly frost spread through her flesh and bones like a fissure of icy spiderwebs reaching her slowing heart…
…and then everything went dark.
—Threy POV—
Threy had taken a look at the side of the platform building on his way to the next spire - the one directly behind the main entrance - only to reaffirm that there was no way for him to get inside without immediately alerting all the cursed skeletons inside.
And so he turned towards the chaotically placed huts and other house-like structures that laid between him and his target. Built clearly without any coherent plan, they faced each other at random angles, were of differing height and sizes, which turned the way through into even more of a maze. There were even wooden walkways set between roofs. And of course cursed skeletons could be seen wandering along them.
“Brrr, just looking at them feels chilly…” Threy shivered as he glanced around a corner.
There were stairs leading up the sides buildings, open doors and of course the roofs themselves for him to move along. Some buildings even had porches that he could potentially hide under. This time he actually could squeeze under them.
He twirled one of the wooden sticks between his fingers again. It was a Stickfigure, perfect for distractions, but he didn’t really know how those worked or for how long. They really should’ve tested them much earlier. But hindsight was twenty twenty as the saying went.
Waiting for one of the skeletons to turn around the corner, Threy scurried towards one of the open buildings and dove under a table. The cloth fluttering before settling down to hide him again. And after a second he felt like he really should’ve gone for some other hiding spot because it was rather difficult to get a good look around from here.
“This is going to suck so much…” He groaned to himself, cautiously crawling out from under the cloth and into the kitchen.
The big problem was all the massive windows everywhere, there far too many angles for some to look inside. But that kinda open and friendly design was probably not the best when you got invaded by evil, cursed skeletons with weird, chilling eyes!
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Peeking out of the kitchen window behind the stove, Threy hurriedly ducked low as a trio of skeletons wandered along the rainy street. Their forms illuminated by another lightning strike before the following darkness cause them to seemingly disappear from sight.
His heart raced as he had felt their freezing gaze on him for a single moment. Ears perked, he sucked in his breath annoyed. The whipping winds and rushing rain drowned out nearly every other sound, only the irregular thunder of lightning strikes consistently triumphed over them.
“Better hope these work…” Threy muttered to himself, breathing slowly in and out, and then glanced across the streets again.
There was a skeleton coming from the right side, making him flinch at how close it was, but he was outside its field of view. For a moment he hesitated but then quickly threw the stick further into the street as he leaped outside and quickly squeezed himself under the porch right across.
“WAHOOO!!!” With a cheerful cry, the Stickfigure burst into action as it struck the ground and Threy sweatdropped as the comically exaggerated and cartoonish looking copy of himself did a surprisingly competent jig.
There was no way anyone could’ve mistaken that for the real thing but those cursed skeletons certainly didn’t have enough left in their skulls to come to the same conclusion. Rattling and wheezing more than five of them whirled towards the Stickfigure, moving at the pace of a brisk jog instead of the snail crawl of before.
Yeah, one could easily be outrun but already with just four, Threy could easily see someone get overwhelmed. At least now he had a better idea of how fast those things could actually move when they had to.
By now, the Stickfigure had already been tackled by three of the skeletons and after a second it exploded with a cheerful hoot of a trumpet and confetti. A sound that distorted within the wind and rain, turning more sad and depressing especially as the bright confetti was quickly pressed flat into the dirt.
But it had done its job, Threy noted as he glanced up at the roofs of the buildings. The roof of the building he had just fled was now empty as the skeleton had fallen flat on its face after rushing after the distraction. A simple staircase along the side of the building lead up to the roof.
Making sure that no other skeleton was nearby to ambush him, Threy rushed back out of his hiding place and towards the stairs. Pressing himself into the shadows, he climbed on top and gazed across the roofs ahead and the streets below. Already the skeletons had started to move away from the momentary distractions to return to whatever patrol they seemed to follow.
There was still a long way to go.
—Mako POV—
Gasping and panting terrified, Mako’s eyes shot wide open as the freezing darkness finally receded. The skeleton was gone. But she was also no longer on the stairs but back under the cupboard.
“Fucking hell…! That was horrifying!” She breathed hard, unbelieving how wonderful and warm her body felt despite the wood still being uncomfortably cold. The rapid beating of her heart was suddenly the most life-affirming sensation she could ever imagine, pumping warmth and motion back into her body that still remembered the chilling frost numbing her in body, mind and soul.
Yep, there was no doubt. She had just died to that freaking surprise skeleton and had respawned back at the last safe point.
Mako’s eyes narrowed and she looked out, around the hallway. No skeleton in sight. She could just go at it slowly again and try to sneak up again but no. Let’s see what those doors had to offer first. Her gaze fell back on her hands, clutching an unused stick.
“And I completely forgot about that…” She groaned to herself. Not that it would’ve really helped her in this case but perhaps it could’ve anyways!
Scrambling out from under the cupboard, she grasped the handle of the closest door across and with ease it swung open, into the hallway, before closing behind her again. The room she entered was large and the second door to the left also connected the room to the hallway. It was a messy study, dark wood shelves framed the walls while dozens of tables stood scattered throughout, papers and books haphazardly scattered atop. But more importantly, the feeling inside this room was warm.
“Huh, I really should’ve gone here first…” Mako sweatdropped awkwardly, carefully moving through the narrow gaps between the tables to not bring the stacks of books and papers tumbling down.
Candlelights flickered peacefully along the wall, somehow without becoming a fire hazard.
Bronze tools, like compasses, sextants, callipers and those weird thingies you used to draw circles with could be found scattered across every table. Wooden spheres hung from the ceiling in some weird constellation that made no sense to Mako. Maybe it wasn’t even a constellation and the make of this room had just some weird taste in decor.
Glancing at some of the papers, Tania immediately gave up on the idea of finding anything useful within them. She had barely managed to get through her Physics class thanks to Daniel! There was no way she would be able to even begin to understand anything from these weird notes and calculations! Some of them didn’t even look finished!
“Great, I’m gonna barf if this turns into a surprise Exam on weird and esoteric mumbo jumbo.” Mako grumbled under her breath. ARGs and that kinda puzzle stuff was cool and all… but absolutely not her thing!
Shaking her head, Mako continued on her way through the maze of tables. The path finally came to an end behind the centre most desk. It was larger and a row of drawers lined its the outers sides bordering the comfy armchair in between.
Tail curled around her, the shark girl sat down in the soft cushions and looked around the desk. It was kept much more orderly but an underlying chaos was still impossible to overlook. And laying prominently atop a yellowed note was a small monocle, bronze metal framing a glass of beautiful, shimmering amethyst that felt warm lively in contrast to the ominous purple that dominated the cursed skeletons.
Carefully she laid the monocle aside and glance at the writing beneath.
Whoever may read this, may these notes of mine be of more use to you than they had been to my own personage.
The accursed swarm of the undead have risen from the depths prior to our expectations. Though, mayhaps we should be grateful for their darkening gloom has yet to fully take shape.
As I write these words, I know that my time here is limited. I will be fleeing inlands alongside my family, leaving behind much of the research I had made in preparations of this evil. Should someone have been unlucky enough to find themselves trapped within the undead’s incursion but by chance stumbled across this room, so be informed that none evil can enter. A blessing of old has long been cast into the very foundation of this study.
Laid atop this note is an Nightmare Lens. Its uses are limited to only a few minutes, and may only be recharged within the light of the moon, but it should allow one to see the writhing evil of curses even through walls.
“Well, looks like I just found my cheese~” Mako’s lips widened into a grin, eyes twinkling with rising menace as the Abyss Waters rose above her palm. A glimmer of moonlight shimmering within them even now. Oh, she was so going to abuse this little artefact!
Thunder echoed in the distance.
—Threy POV—
Threy’s coat fluttered within the stormy winds as he leaped across the roofs, rain turning into steam within his blazing gaze.
The Stickfigures had turned out to be a bit overpowered in their usefulness. Which could entirely be linked to the fact that the cursed skeletons were dumb enough to leap down from the roof tops after all the noise they made. And it took them far too long to climb back up with that snail crawl to get in Threy’s way.
Silently he thanked each and every Stickfigure that had sacrificed itself with comedic jigs to free his way forwards. No matter how easy they made it for him, the sight of now over twenty cursed skeletons wandering the streets was still absolutely terrifying.
“I bet Mako’s got it much easier…” Threy muttered to himself.
Since the buildings were all of varying heights, the bridges connecting the buildings often only lead up against the side of the neighbouring house. The stairs then wrapped around it before leading back up to the actual roofs. And then he had to climb back down when the next building’s roof was too low. Apparently there was some kind of rule here that bridges had to be even. And double jumping risked running straight into a hidden skeleton.
“Was that some kind of compromise they had to make to get everything else built without rules??” Threy really wanted to scream at whoever had overlooked the construction of this town. It was an inane musing but with the cold weather and the horrifying skeletons below, he kinda needed something to centre himself. And the thought of screaming at someone because of dumb city planning was very amusing to him right now.
The spire was already much closer in reach than before and as he climbed onto the current roof top, he glanced back towards the platformed buildings through swaying curtain of rain. Their own spire was still gleaming menacingly, meaning Mako hadn’t managed to deal with whatever was in her way just yet.
“Let’s hope that this whole storm starts to clear up as we deal with those oversized toothpicks.” Threy mused and turned back around. Slowly, he sneaked around the corner and hurried across the next bridge, most of the buildings ahead were on lower build height.
He had only four more Stickfigures left over and he wanted to safe those for an emergency. There wasn’t any cursed skeleton currently obstructing his way, either.
Rushing across the remaining roof tops, he finally reached the end of this chaotic maze of buildings with only a single row of now standing between him and the ominous, glowing spire towering above them. They were of much more solid, timbre framed build and stood at least double the height of his current roof.
“But there are also no skeleton on top.” Threy smirked as he leaped across and with casual ease infinite jumped his way onto the roof of the nearest timbre framed building.
The roofs were of the more common triangle shape in contrast to the more flat tops from before. It was pretty clear that whoever had overseen this town had allowed anyone to just built in whatever style they wanted. But Threy couldn’t but feel tha these here had been among the first buildings of this harbour town.
“Hoop…!” Threy sounded as he leaped across the roof’s peak, wind and rain whipping his cloak in all directions as thunder crashed in the distance, he finally was able to get a full view of this ominous spire.
Black steel weaved through the purple crystal like veins, the melding of metal and crystal spiking outwards in shapes similar to those found within snow crystals. They formed weird, chaotic platforms and gave the spire a strangely electric and technological feel. Like unnaturally formed Tesla coils. And yet not a single lightening strike strayed towards it.
Threy had been willing to let Key hide within his hat for duration of this adventure, he could definitely understand why she didn’t want to risk getting seen by these curse skeletons, but now he wanted to make sure. Make sure that he knew exactly how to destroy this spire in one shot.
“Ngh…! N-no! I don’t wanna go out there…!” Key flailed in light panic when he poked her in the side.
“I just need you to take a quick look and tell me: What’s the best way to utterly crush this spire?” Threy assured her, a small smile playing over his lips even through the dark gloom.
“…f-fine…” Key mumbled, shivering terrified, before slowly and cautiously poked out from under his hat. And a second later she had pulled herself back inside, her muffled voice calling out. “Just smash the root with all you’ve got!”
Threy nodded slowly, gazing down towards the spire’s base. A bulb of shimmering crystal with only thin lines of black metal woven through it. Barely any skeletons patrolled near it. A smirk played over his lips and his blazing eye flared to life.
“I think it’s time I take a page out of Mako’s book…” He mused, twirling his revolvers as his form gleamed with Skill Energy.
Threy stepped forwards and with his coat flaring outwards, he leaped down the roof towards the bulb. Shadows gathered within his coat, swallowing his two revolvers, and as pulse of darkness rippled across his form, countless canon openings locked onto the bulb before unleashing a hail of rapidly spinning, shadow writhing bullets and rockets that crashed into the crystal growth.
The spire didn’t so much as shatter is it promptly disintegrated, fissures racing up the structure akin to a Saint Rupert’s Drop. For a single instance the crystalline structure stood as but shattered dust… before blown apart into sparkling dust by the stormy winds that dissolved within the rain, leaving nothing behind but an empty indent in the ground.
—Mako POV—
Knowing where your enemies were wasn’t always immediately helpful, as Mako was quick to realise. Sure, she could now take a peek at the location of the over fifty - FIFTY!!! - Skeletons roaming throughout the halls whenever she wanted. But she still had to actually look behind herself and as slow as they moved, they still moved!
And some of them also didn’t move. Which meant that she had to find a way to distract them without getting caught.
“Now it moved from horror puzzling to just puzzling… wait, no. The horror’s just lessened.” Mako sighed quietly to herself as she cautiously snuck around the corner within the upper hallways.
Another weakness of the Nightmare Lens was that it didn’t actually show her what the rooms or hallways looked like where the cursed skeletons wandered and waited. And getting a good feeling for the field of depth was also rather difficult when you had only one eye’s point of view because that thing was a freaking monocle! And glancing through the tiny lens with both eyes was just painful and headache inducing.
But it had also allowed to her better orient herself as there was one constant that never moved. The spire itself. Its form pierced through the building like an oversized pin needle that someone had used the wrong side to stab. Because around the middle height of the platformed buildings had the spire’s bulb been embedded.
“Well, if that isn’t the weak point I’ve got to shatter.” Mako had grinned lightly to herself.
But that still left her with the problem of navigating this freaking maze of a building while dodging skeletons! The idea of just smashing through walls didn’t sit right with her, especially after reading the unknown author’s note. Even if this was just a very screwed up game, destroying people’s stuff all willy nilly didn’t sit right with her.
And so she continued onwards, slowly sneaking through hallways, crawling under beds, cupboards and shelves in search of trapdoors that lead back to the maze beneath the platform. And of course at least three bookshelves had turned out to be secret doorways.
“Why… do… they… have… oversized…! Statues?!” Mako panted in disbelief as this was now the third time that there had been one for her to push around. Naturally they were used to block the paths of skeletons who regarded these obstructions as absolutely immovable and just turned around without a single thought inside their empty skulls.
She had been tempted to use a Stickfigure as distraction a few times, but always the chance of just every skeleton immediately swarming her location kept her from doing so. She had no interest in risking getting send straight to the very beginning of this annoyingly frustrating maze!
But now… now finally, Mako had reached the very building housing the bulb!
It was startlingly empty compared to every other and the few skeletons that patrolled the hallways were easily passed by. One hallway even had a similar cupboard to the very first one that she had managed to quickly sneak under.
Glancing back to make sure that no skeleton was accidentally following her, Mako slowly walked up the stairs to reach the floor on level with the bulb. The moment she stepped out of the stairs, she understood why no skeleton had wandered up here. It was warm. The same blessing had been cast over this part of the building as the one over the study. But the bulb’s dark energies were slowly corroding this protection.
Entering the hallway, Mako’s attention was drawn towards the bust of a portly looking, warm and friendly smiling man with a round face, big nose and very large moustache. Small eyes beamed at her, their real life’s counterpart’s cheer perfectly captured within this masterpiece of a stone carving.
“In honour of Sir Martin Valennia, who designed this building for both safety and to give the children of this town always something fun to do.” Mako read the small plaque beneath the bust. And then giggled amused at the tiny addition below. “And for being a ruddy cheat at cards!”
Turning away from this maze’s architect with a soft smile - for all it had been a pain in her ass, his secret pathways had probably been the only reason why she hadn’t had to deal with any skeletons directly - Mako made her way towards the last door standing between her and that thrice damned bulb.
Throwing it open, a small office covered in frost stretched out before her. The bulb stood at the very centre, an old desk partially poking out or maybe now only leaning against the horrid crystal.
“Just shatter!” Mako exclaimed with throbbing temples, her trident spinning with overwhelming power as she struck against the bulb with everything she got. It pierced through it, meeting barely any resistance, and a second later fissures rushed along the spire’s form.
And just like that, the spire scattered into dust. The rain pouring through the newly opened hole quickly washing it all away until only the hole within the floor and ceiling and the single half of an old desk still told about its existence.
—Threy POV—
As soon as the spire had shattered, a loud rumbling echoed through the air. Warm energy washed across the surrounding area and the cursed skeletons let out a horrid cry before disappearing like cold mist within a warm summer breeze.
Sadly, the warmths was quickly lost under the still icy rain and winds but when before it had felt oppressive and gloomy, there was now a more lighthearted feel to it. No longer was this storm ruled by only horror and darkness but also the great fun of going out to play during a refreshing summer rain.
“Still cold, though.” Threy mused, looking up at the still darkened sky of roiling, black clouds. The harsh winds had become stronger, if anything as well.
Shaking his head, he glanced around just to make sure that no skeleton was left over. But no, only the macabre gate of bones still remained within the previously overrun harbour entrance.
“Then to the next spire.” Threy grinned and hopped up the timbre framed building ahead. Six in total framed the street leading into the harbour, three on each side.
The view from here overlooked most of the town and its remaining three spires. Mako could take care of the one at the central plaza after she had finished up her own, so that left him with the one they had been closest to first. The spire rising out of the eastern warehouse and maintenance buildings.
This time there wasn’t some kind of maze of erratic buildings laying between him and the next spire. Instead the building were all of relatively coherent size and shape with flat roof tops. There weren’t any skeletons to see, either. Mostly likely they had fallen under the umbrella of the spire he had just smashed.
“So, things are getting easier as we clear them out.” Threy smiled, hopping forwards. And jumping off of the sides of buildings, he made full use of his Double Jump again.
It was a joy that didn’t last for long, however.
Skeletons roamed atop the roofs and within the streets again as he neared the eastern side of the town. Rattling and wheezing, their ghostly forms twitched at the sound of his jumps even through the stormy winds and Threy hurriedly dropped down, flitting behind the closest building.
“Okay… they definitely saw me…” He swallowed lightly as he glanced around the side and nearly flinched when one of the skeletons met his gaze straight on, quickly he looked away. A dull hatred smoulder beneath their empty glow but he didn’t feel any of the chilling frost.
Slowly a smile began to spread across his lips as he realised they couldn’t reach him.
“Well, time to test some thing out then~” Threy smirked, his eyes gleaming with malevolent mischief as he matched the cursed skeleton’s gaze unflinching. There were still a few items he hadn’t made us of just yet, after all.
And as a Bronze Dagger, Needle and Grenade dropped out of his sleeves and into his hands, the platformed buildings’ spire shattered to dust. Once again a rumble traveled across the harbour followed by harrowing sound as if something monstrous let out a shuddering moan.
—Mako POV—
“Brr… that was ominous…” Mako blinked as the rumbling sound faded out and she leaped out through the convenient entrance in the ceiling. She hoped it wouldn’t be too difficult to repair, though, and that the rain wouldn’t cause too much damage. Quietly she apologised to Sir Valennia for all the destruction and then landed atop the highest part of the platformed buildings.
Threy had already shattered his own spire from what she could see which meant he was going for the eastern most next.
“Main plaza for me, then~” She grinned, tail flicking animatedly behind her. A grin that only widened with satisfaction as she glanced through the Nightmare Lens again to get a better idea of how many cursed skeletons were left and where.
Less than half of the harbour town had any cursed skeletons left, only a vague circular section surrounding the plaza that weakly connected with the circle surrounding the eastern spire was left. It was likely that the spires had an amplifying effect, meaning that even a single missing spire greatly weakened the whole system.
“Hehe~ And soon not a single one will remain.” Mako rubbed her hands together with a evil little giggle and twirling her trident she leaped forwards, across the empty land of only mud and stone, before reaching the small huts nearing the plaza with a boost from her double jump.
Checking with the lens again, she landed atop the roofs and then quickly boosted across the roofs towards the plaza. Slowing down, she quietly slipped back down into the streets. The remaining skeletons had started to gather around the plaza’s spire bulb and with how open the space was, getting there unseen was practically impossible for all intents and purposes.
“I think now it’s time to put these Stickfigures to the test…” Mako mused, letting two of them spin between her fingers.
Sneaking along the edge of the buildings, Mako surveyed the area around the plaza. Most of them were shops, inns and similar variety stores. Long since abandoned stands dotted the stone paved plaza itself, surrounding the small but tall clockwork tower at the centre. Only now it was dwarfed by the curse spire rising before it.
Slowly swaying and stumbling along, every part of the plaza was in some way, shape or form under the gaze of a cursed skeleton.
Glancing around to make sure there wasn’t any skeletons sneaking up on her from behind, Mako took a deep breath, readied a Stickfigure stick… and threw! It flew in a wide arc through the air, wobbling awkwardly as it spun more in height than distance before bouncing off the side of a roof and landed only around two metres away from where Mako had stood. But the shark girl had already been running in the other direction before she had even really finished throwing it. She had absolutely no confidence in her throwing abilities and wouldn’t have been surprised if it had somehow landed right in front of her.
And so, Mako never saw a cartoon version of her do a funny jig while alerting basically every skeleton nearby to its existence. Or the second and third one as she continued to throw them behind herself to make sure that as many skeletons were lured away as possible.
Diving into one of the alleys between the shops leading form the back towards the plaza, Mako hid behind a few crates to watch the plaza clear out. But she had no doubt that they would soon come back as soon as her distractions had been dealt with.
“Let’s go…” She whispered to herself and using up two Energy Drops, Mako burst across the currently empty plaza.
—Threy POV—
The outer edge of the third spire’s area of effect had turned into a slaughter, though unfazed by the needles embedded within their bodies and pinning them to ground, they still kept from moving around. Of course, the needles weren’t too durable and would easily shatter with some effort on the curse skeleton’s part. But… that would just be rushing to their doom as Threy had managed to find a rope within his concerningly deep pockets and fashioned it into a lasso. And had somehow found a fitting cowboy outfit as well.
As it turned out, staying within the spire’s empowering bubble was the only thing keeping these cursed skeletons from dispersing into mist. So, if they were pulled or pushed outside of it… say, for example, a concerning overuse of grenades sending them flying past this threshold or maybe they were pulled outside by someone using a lasso because they thought it was funny… then those skeletons did just that. A fact that fascinated and greatly amused Threy as he had quickly decimated the number of remaining cursed skeletons to less than a tenth of their initial numbers.
“There! Don’t let it get away…!” Key cheered him on with a wide grin, acting quite similar to a tracking hound as she pointed towards a cursed skeleton that had apparently managed to reach some kind of enlightenment towards the current situation and decided to book it.
“Get wrecked, you dumb cursed skeleton things!” She giggled brightly as Threy’s lasso caught it by the neck and while its skull was send flying out of the dome to disperse, the now headless skeleton managed to reach a new speed record for cursed skeletons as it vanished in the distance around the next turn.
And so the last skeleton met its doom at the Spire’s Edge Slaughter. Were they all gone? Or did those that remain simply realised the futility of their existence? A question without a definite answer.
“Well, I think it’s time to get that spire bulb crushed.” Threy mused as he returned the lasso to his pockets and slipped back into his military styled outfit.
“R-right, just call me if you need a G-guide…!” Key stuttered awkwardly, her previous excitement immediately melting away as she quickly flitted back under his hat.
“Sure, just stay safe.” Threy replied, holding back an amused chuckle.
For all that he was sure that he was safe, Threy still was cautious on his way forward. There was always the chance of a skeleton having hidden itself away. Especially now, after they had grown smart enough to run away. But in the end he reached the spire bulb without running into any further cursed skeletons.
And so, the third spire crumbled to dust accompanied by another worrying rumble and a hateful cry.
Only the plaza’s spire was left on solid land and quickly Threy made his way over there to hopefully meet up with Mako.
—Mako POV—
Her form shot across the plaza at high speeds, a swirling, spinning torpedo of abyssal waters that struck the bulb just as Threy landed atop one of the neighbouring roofs. The last remaining cursed skeletons of the main land had barely time enough to turn around before the spire shattered and their forms dispersed into mist.
The world shuddered and a guttural growl echoed across the ocean. Strong winds blew across the harbour as if a great beast was swiping across the land with claws of wind and rain. Thunder rolled loudly with every lightning bolt raining down upon the bone clad windmill.
“Phew, glad that worked…” Mako smiled in relief, wiping her forehead clean of rain water and sweat. She turned towards Threy with a wave as he hopped down from the roof, jogging over to join her.
“The first spire was absolutely horrible to deal with…” She greeted him with a deadpan stare, making him sweatdrop.
“Well, at least we only got those three out there to deal with? Probably also that windmill.” Threy replied sheepishly before giving her a grin. “And I’ve got an amazing way to deal with…!”
His words were drowned out by a deafening roar echoing from within the harbour town. Earth and stone could be heard breaking… and then something began to walk. The sound of hard steps with a disturbing, skittering echo made its way towards them.
“HIDE!!!” Key’s panicked and absolutely terrified scream echoed out from under Threy’s hat and the duo scrambled wide eyed to get out of the open plaza.