Silence of the Senses

4

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The reek of ancient evil violated Astra’s nostrils. Her blade halted mid-strike. Her crimson eyes sharpened as they snapped towards the path leading to the quarantined dining hall. An oppressive darkness throbbed from that direction, like a monstrous heart awakening.

She glanced sideways. Theo, chest heaving, swung his blade again and again, each blow dissipating a tendril of mist that lashed out at him. Something had shifted. Astra started mentally rewinding the creature's appearances.

The first attack, channelled through Tiffany, instilled a primal need that seemed to consume the host's will. Uncontrollable, easily deflected. But the second iteration felt different. It was playful, a mischievous mist that danced just out of reach, shapeshifting with an almost taunting glee. Was it testing them? Was there a purpose to this frustrating game of evasion?

And now, a premature return? Fainter, weaker, but still a presence. Much like Theo himself, drained from yesterday's confrontation. Freezing a living darkness, even in mist form, demanded a significant mana reserve - a luxury Theo couldn't afford, especially not outdoors and after being completely depleted.

But why so… convenient? Did they truly win last night, or had they fallen prey to some elaborate mind game orchestrated by this entity? Or worse, an unseen puppeteer pulling the strings? Evil thrived on fear and destruction. Yet, this choice of battlefield – a windy open space negating his concentration and minimising potential harm – felt…

"Calculated," Astra growled, her eyes flashing with sudden realisation. “A distraction.”

Theo paused mid-strike, his brow furrowed. "Distraction? What do you mean?"

Astra's jaw clenched. While the recent food poisoning confirmed malice, this playful approach to combat felt... unusual, different. Maybe there were even two entities at work?

Meeting Theo's gaze, she barked a single command. "Handle this!"

Without further explanation, Astra sprinted towards the dining hall, the foulness intensifying with every step. Bursting through the double doors, she was met with an eerie silence. The remnants of the chaos last night – overturned tables, shattered plates – remained.

But the essence… gone.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Astra concentrated. There! A faint, putrid whiff, like the ghost of something long dead and rotten, clung to the air. It drew her towards the freezer room.

The room was empty, save for the drip-drip-drip of melting frost from the empty stainless steel shelves. Had someone deactivated the freezer? During the decontamination this morning?

Astra's eyes narrowed. Something felt impossibly wrong. Then, a glint on the frosted floor caught her eye. As she moved to investigate, the sound of footsteps crunching on shattered plates stopped her in her tracks.

She whipped around, hand instinctively tightening around her blade. But instead of a monstrous form, a black dog stood by the entrance, its tail wagging nonchalantly. A blatant violation of the school's strict no-pet policy.

Astra's initial surprise gave way to a bewildered curiosity. This creature, unlike the darkness-tainted mist she'd faced a moment ago, felt...ordinary.

"A Doberman?" Astra murmured, mostly to herself, as she stood in its path.

The dog, its coat as black as midnight, regarded her with intelligent eyes. A low growl rumbled from its throat, accompanied by a flash of pearly white teeth. Threat? Warning? It was hard to tell.

But then, in a move that defied expectations, the Doberman's pink tongue shot out. This wasn't a mindless swipe, but a deliberate, playful lick across the back of her hand.

Suddenly, Theo's voice cut through the bizarre moment. The Doberman, seizing the opportunity, bolted past them in a blur of black fur.

"Did you find anything?" Theo asked.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Astra shook her head, her gaze lingering on the retreating tail. "Nothing but a faint trace from the freezer. It wasn't there last night."

"The mist vanished on my end too," Theo noted. "Obliterated, perhaps?"

Astra's voice dropped. "Or simply retreated?"

Theo's brow furrowed, unease creeping into his eyes. Without waiting for a reply, Astra shouldered past him and stalked back towards the kitchen, her pulse quickened.

Reaching the freezer, she threw open the door with a clang. Gone was the strange pattern etched on the frosted floor. In its place, faint indentations marred the surface – gouges, not random, but following the path of the vanished pattern. A deliberate act of brute force.

Astra knelt, tracing the jagged lines with a fingertip. They were rough and uneven, as if carved by something sharp and heavy, yet strangely precise.

Then, her fingers brushed against something slick and wet. Blood. Human blood.

Astra's head snapped up to meet Theo's gaze. A cold understanding solidified in their eyes. Something terrible had happened here.

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Earlier

As Astra and Theo battled with Envy on the cricket ground, a hidden battle brewed. Eydis descended into the heart of the dining hall. Reaching the control panel, she deactivated the freezer system with a firm click. The familiar hum of cooling died, leaving an unsettling quiet in its wake.

A shudder ran through the room, a vibration that seemed to come from the very bricks. Frost on the empty shelves liquefied in a rapid wave, defying physics. The droplets sizzled on the frosted floor, evaporating not into steam, but into a swirling violet mist. From the churning smoke, a chorus of whines erupted - a thousand empty bellies echoing a single, desperate plea.

"Hungry. So hungry."

Eydis’s lips curved to a sly grin as the dark freezer pulsed with flickering purple light as if Gluttony tried to consumed the empty air. How pathetic.

"Ah, Gluttony. Such a dramatic entrance, wouldn't you agree?"

The smoke writhed. "Who dares mock me? I am the Devourer! I will consume all!"

"The Devourer, is it now?" Eydis smirked. "Your vocabulary seems to have expanded."

The smoke pulsed in frustration. "ENOUGH! You will PAY for your insolence!"

"Angry, aren't we? Perhaps due to the… emptiness of your current situation. I must admit, the subzero treatment for your putrid essence was rather inventive, even for me."

A tendril lashed at her, but dissipated harmlessly inches from her violet energy shield. "It was YOUR doing? Was it you who interrupted my FEAST last night?"

"Indeed," Eydis purred. "Gluttony behaving gluttonously? Shocking. Perhaps, with a touch more restraint, causing minimal harm to my… associates, then I might have allowed you a taste of freedom for another night."

Gluttony snarled. "Freedom? Don't—"

Its response died in its throat as arcane syllables flowed from Eydis's lips. Her finger, imbued with telekinetic energy, carved an intricate sigil on the frosted floor.

"What is this?" Gluttony shrieked, the panic evident in its thrashing. "A binding sigil?"

Ignoring Gluttony, Eydis continued her silent chant. This wasn't just any sigil – it was a bespoke prison, a web of arcane glyphs and mathematical formulas designed for the entity alone. Now that it had manifested, the activation process had to be flawless. There was no room for error.

The sigil flared, its crimson light intensifying. Acting like a syphon, the magic circle devoured the Sin’s energy signature. A deep, grinding groan echoed through the metal walls, the sound of unseen gears straining to capture the rebellious Sin.

Unlike Envy, who reveled in the seductive thrill of the chosen prey, Gluttony was a bottomless pit. Its week of endless feeding had made it a formidable foe, now resisting the sigil's pull with a nightmarish strength.

Malevolent energy seethed, flooding the very air like sulfurous volcanic fumes. Envy’s essence might be subtle, elegant even, Eydis mused. But Gluttony... Gluttony reeked like a pack of drowned rats.

Eydis gritted her teeth, this would surely reach Astra, no matter how far they were. Not only did she have to contain Gluttony, but Astra's unexpected perceptiveness added a layer of urgency. She was running out of time.

The air grew thick with the smell of burning flesh as Gluttony’s smoke form coalesced into a monstrous, translucent membrane, a second skin laced with a network of churning red and purple veins. Gluttony wasn't just fighting the sigil – it was trying to consume Eydis herself, to devour her magic and add it to its own.

Eydis's golden eyes blazed with defiance. Her own arcane energy crackled around her, needles of violet light pricked the membrane. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her muscles screaming as she strained against the relentless pressure.

But she wouldn't yield. Her gaze focused on the glowing sigil beneath her feet, fighting to pull Gluttony under. Eydis pushed harder. Her dark magic collided with the membrane in a sizzling counterpoint, the room shuddering as the opposing forces met in a deadlock.

In that frozen moment, Eydis acted. Her free hand shot out, a violet dagger materialising in a flash of arcane light. She plunged the blade into the membrane, the flesh giving way with a grotesque squelch.

A wave of agony ripped through Gluttony's form, reflected in the pulsing green veins that bulged and throbbed beneath the translucent skin.

“Foolish mortal!” Gluttony roared, “you think your meagre weapon can harm me?” The flesh at the wound writhed, attempting to knit itself back together with a wet gurgle. "Let's end this game!"

An unnatural green luminescence leaked from the ruptured veins, followed by an acidic stench. It sizzled against Eydis's violet shield, leaving scorch marks on its surface. Gluttony, a relentless syphon, drained her magic with each agonising second, just as surely as it was consuming the air within its prison of flesh.

Gluttony’s form transformed. The translucent membrane pulsed once, twice, before morphing into a monstrous, muscular pouch. Light seeped from Eydis's vision as her prison thickened.

A chuckle escaped Eydis's lips, ragged and strained. "You Sins and your smothering affection," she rasped, her shield buckling under the relentless acid rain.

Empowered by Eydis's stolen magic, Gluttony unleashed a surge of strength. The stomach constricted around her with a bone-crushing squeeze, shattering Eydis's barrier before swallowing her whole.

“Delicious…”