Lucy was consumed by the void, unable to process what was occurring until she had fallen onto her face. Pushing herself up, the world that met her sight was monochrome. A pitch black covered the floor she sat on while a myriad of gray shades painted the sky, a blinding white hole piercing the girl’s eyes when she caught a glimpse of it.
“Elizabeth? Anyone?”
Fear escalated as cry carried throughout the hollow land. Trying to keep her cool, she inspected the area, realizing it mirrored the top of the tower. As she expected, stairs led to lower levels, but there was no sign of life.
Checking the dining room, kitchen, and bedroom, no friends were found. The second floor was empty, the first floor likewise. As she opened the doors to the world outside, there was no one waiting for her.
The fear that had built up was now overflowing, unable and unwilling to be concealed. In her state of panic, various anxious thoughts rained down while her voiced narrated them all simultaneously. Her mind blocked out the portal forming underneath her, but this time, instead of falling over onto the ground again, she was now plummeting toward a patch of land. Her thoughts pushed aside, all Lucy could do was brace herself as crashed into the cold, hard ground.
Thunder rumbled throughout the sky, yet not an iota of lightning to be seen. The sky was a tyrant, an unending bleak canvas, no clouds in sight. The earth below was flat and barren, the terrain mirroring the world above. The thunder was mere ambience compared to the cacophony of crackles that echoed through the hopeless plains, horrible cries from miserable creatures.
Waking from another bout of unconsciousness, the girl sat up to inspect her new surroundings. It took a second for Envy to realize she was in her sin form. Despite her best efforts, she could not return to her human form, but that thought was put on hold when a blast of noise barreled toward her.
Inching toward the sin were two bizarre beings of twisted shape. One was a portly grey mass that measured only two feet tall, yet on its shoulders sat an instrument twice the size of its body. Accompanying the walking didgeridoo was a stout beast of about four feet, slowly shambling along.
At first the demon tilted her head at the perplexing creatures in front of her; however, she recoiled in pain after the didgeridoo bellowed. When she turned her head back to the two beasts, the shambler had reached out with its arms, slashing at her with long, rusty nails. Envy had jumped back to avoid it, yet despite distancing herself well beyond its reach, the arms kept stretching forward.
Thinking fast, the girl summoned her spear and stabbed at one of the arms, causing both to retract. As she witnessed the instrument winding up for another attack, she lobbed the spear, penetrating its head and causing it to fall over. Resummoning her spear, she finished off its companion in the same manner.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Inspecting her attackers, she assumed the black beads on their heads were the eyes, but little else could be gauged about their anatomy. Even if she wanted to take them apart, Envy was alerted of her eminent danger as more monsters shouted in the distance. Without thinking, the sin picked a direction and began running.
Didgeridoos, shamblers, and new predators were strewn about the area, none seemed interested in her, but she wasn’t willing to take the chance. As she ran, Envy spotted a collection of buildings in the distance, picking up pace as the possibility of safety arose. Nothing else had stopped her on the way, until she passed the town’s gate.
On two spindly legs rested a metallic boulder with long necks stretching toward the girl, faces molded from the necks. Envy could count five heads stretching from the body, all making a plethora of noise ranging from agonized moaning to vile hissing. When the creature stepped forward, the sin instinctually tossed her spear at it, but the weapon bounced off harmlessly.
The creature groaned with its five heads, each taking a turn to utter a painful, metallic symphony. Even just breathing, the air that had passed through the beast’s lungs was torn asunder. Circling the abomination, Envy sprinted into the town, the beast vanishing despite pursuit at its top speed.
The dilapidated buildings that dotted the town were husks on the outside, lacking doors or windows. Checking inside revealed grimy floors, wooden chairs and tables strewn about, and the occasional collapsed ceiling. One house caught her attention, with paintings decorating the walls; however, the display sitting on the only easel was what drew the sin.
Seven orbs rested in the hands of seven devils. Using her friends as comparison, Envy could identify which were pride, wrath, and greed, the symbols in their orbs a mirror, fist, and coin respectively.
On the far left was a hulking figure, a turtle shell on its back with two giant stubs for arms, their size akin to her entire torso. Between Pride and Greed was a balloon like devil, its stomach wider than both the aforementioned sins. Between Wrath and Envy was a slender, dainty devil, having the wings of a bat but lacking horns like most of the sins. The sins that she could identify were notably different, such as Pride lacking the cloak that covered most of her body.
Exiting the building, Envy’s attention was stolen by an avian creature on the roof opposite, screeching violently. The head of the beast was that of a bellflower, except inside the petals were a myriad of teeth. The talons were replaced by pliers with which the best crushed the rock between its “toes”. Flapping its wings rapidly, it dived for Envy, the sin narrowly weaving out of the way.
As she faced her attacker, the offender had been preparing for another dive. It would not get such a chance, however, as the multi-headed boulder from earlier had gripped one of the talons with its mouth, dragging the unsuspecting victim to the ground before crushing the bird under its mountainous girth. Its new target eliminated, it turned toward Envy.
“Just leave me alone! I want to go home!”
The girl was shrouded in a bright light, her vision losing focus, her body growing numb, and her mind shutting down.