-Michael-
Michael’s eyes trembled, still remaining locked onto the King as the Queen statue rushed toward him. ‘I’m gonna die!’ were the final thoughts chosen by him as his eyes remained wide open.
However, the Queen stopped just mere inches away from Michael, her face so close to his that he could feel the warmth emanating off of her body. Despite her being at the absolute border of his visual field, there was something about the Queen he noticed; that something sent a chill throughout his entire being.
Her eyes…
They weren’t her own. They didn’t look like the plastic, lifeless ones of before; no, they’d changed.
Just as the Jester stole John’s mouth, the Queen stole Susan’s eyes.
Michael could feel the urge to blink rising and he knew something had to be done if he wanted to survive. ‘Why isn’t she killing me?’ he thought. How she was within his kissing range reminded him of his first encounter with the Jester. When he blinked, the Jester was just as close as the Queen was then.
‘Come on! Think! Is it their own quirk like the King? What’s similar about the Queen and the Jester?’ Ever so slightly, Michael’s eyes widened and the answer hit him.
“The Queen and the Jester can’t attack us… They already took something.” Michael said aloud, breathlessly. Due to a mixture of fear and the absurdity of it all, he chuckled. “She’s right next to me and can’t attack.” Testing his theory, Michael kept his eyes locked on the King as he sidestepped down the steps toward Susan’s corpse, though his entire body was still quivering due to his anxiety. As he did so, the Queen statue was practically glued to him, following closely beside him, watching with Susan’s eyes. His theory was correct. She wasn't attacking him, she was merely a distraction for the remaining statues.
Without breaking eye contact with the King, he grabbed the book from Susan’s hands, which were still gripping it tightly. Once the book had been pried from her grasp, Michael took multiple steps backward until all four statues were in his field of view, freezing them in place.
Shit, kid…I think you did it!
Despite having weaseled his way out of this one, Michael’s heart was still thumping ferociously inside his chest. “Charlie! You can blink now!” He told the mage.
After barely holding out this long without blinking at their pursuers, Charlie exhaled and blinked ten times. Charlie then turned to Michael, who was cheesing with the book in his hand. Charlie couldn’t help but crack an awkward smile as they puffed a breath in disbelief. “Catch!” said Michael, throwing the book across the room, the perfect throw that landed right between Charlie’s hands.
Without a moment of hesitation, Charlie placed the book in its rightful place. Just as it clicked into place, the statues began releasing ghastly bellows, falling to their knees in agony with humanlike movements. Their screams sounded otherworldly, yet earthly at the same time. Slowly, their bodies began disintegrating, and by the time they were fully deconstructed, the only thing that remained were the body parts stolen from John and Susan; John’s jaw and Susan’s eyes.
The bookshelves then faded away and a fog door took their place. Both Michael and Charlie ran through the fog, and the moment they made it through, they fell to the ground to take a much-needed breather.
“I can’t believe we made it out alive.” Charlie spoke between harsh breaths, sitting on their knees whilst clutching their staff against their chest.
“Me neither…” Michael sat on the ground with his arms resting on his knees, taking deep breaths as his eyes scanned his new environment. This new area was unlike the previous locales, lacking the ice-like appearance and looking more like a wizard's lab. There were bookshelves, giving Michael immediate bad vibes having just come from the library of death, along with cauldrons, test tubes, and what appeared to be magical relics.
Directly in front of Michael, a familiar face was staring down at him curiously with his hands behind his back. It was a child who looked like Harut, but his clothes were different. Rather than wearing some patchwork shirt and pants, he wore a wizard’s cloak. The child only studied Michael for a few seconds before directing his attention toward Charlie.
“Yo! What’s up, Ms. Charlie?” said the boy, waving down at the mage with a smile.
‘What’s up?’
What’s up?
Both Michael and Mike found Harut’s way of speaking unlike him. Rather than sounding mysterious, creepy, and vague, he sounded as if he were trying to emulate modern-day English.
“Who’s your friend?” the boy asked Charlie, his eyes then finding Michael once again.
Michael, still assuming this was Harut playing dress up, tilted his head in puzzlement. “Uh… It’s me, Michael. Don’t tell me you’re so mad about losing your stuff that you’re pretending you don’t know me.”
The child rubbed his chin, staring at Michael as if he were analyzing him. “Nah, I don’t think we’ve met before…Oh! You met my twin, Harut. I’m Marut, the other merchant of Tartarus. I specialize mostly in magic items.”
God… there are two of them? Well, at least this one’s less creepy. Hey kid, tell him to stop staring at us so hard.
Michael ignored Mike and rose to his feet, extending his hand out to Charlie to help them up as well. As he pulled Charlie’s arm, Michael looked at Marut. “He didn’t mention you at all.”
Marut shrugged. “Of course, he didn’t. Mentioning the way cooler brother would be bad for business, you feel me?”
Michael stared at Marut with furrowed brows for a moment. ‘You feel me?’ he parrotted in his mind.
“...Why do you talk like that?” Michael asked, finding it strange just how different the two brothers spoke.
“Like what? Isn’t this how y’all talk on Earth? I’ve been studying American English dialects in my free time, along with some other languages. Do you speak Japanese any chance?”
“Do I look like I speak Japanese?” Michael quipped. “Hey, do you happen to sell Health Flasks?”
The instant Marut heard Michael talk business, his eyes lit up. Michael could almost see the kid’s irises turn into dollar signs. “Oh, you don’t have one? I have plenty. Free of charge, along with a Mana Flask just for you. Follow me.” Marut walked over toward a chest full of random nicknacks, grabbing random items and tossing them over his shoulder as if he were a cartoon character.
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Michael looked over at Charlie, who simply shrugged and threw up their arms while Marut practically fell inside the massive chest. “Found them!” he said. “But I’m sorta caught in a jam. Can one of you help a brother out?”
“Jesus Christ…” Michael whispered before grabbing Marut by the hood of his cloak and pulling him out of the chest.
Once Marut was back on his feet, he dusted off his clothes and handed Michael both a Health Flask and a Mana Flask. “Here you go! They’re both labeled!”
“Wow, how generous of you.” Michael took the flasks from the child’s hands, looking at both of them with skeptical eyes. They looked like those rectangular, steel liquor flasks from Earth. In fact, Michael could see where one of them used to say ‘Liquior’ before it was scratched off and replaced by ‘Health’ written in red marker.
“Well, pops always said a free gift is the first step to gaining a regular customer. Think of it as a free trial.” The last two words from Marut’s mouth only reminded Michael of the other twin.
Michael groaned, remembering the flimsy sword he got from Harut during his and Mike’s first ascent into Tartarus. “Your brother gave me a free trial once… It was actual garbage.”
Marut nodded. “That’s like him. Harut is a scammer. He takes garbage and tries to pass it off as if it’s actually worth something.”
As Marut spoke, Michael took one sip from the Health Flask. It tasted and smelled like fruit juice with a hint of alcohol. Michael wasn’t much of a drinker, so he would’ve preferred to have done without the bitterness of whatever residue was left inside the flask when it served its original purpose. Nonetheless, Michael instantly felt all his wounds heal and when he looked down at his watch, his Health Points were maxed out. “That hit the spot!” Michael burped obnoxiously. “You’re my favorite twin, Marut.”
Marut, with his arms folded across his chest, nodded with a smug grin. “I get that a lot.”
‘Now Mike and I can actually switch places without, you know, dying.’ Michael’s thoughts suddenly reminded him of something and a devious grin formed across his face…
“By the way, I forgot to mention this, but there’s another soul in my body. If I draw blood, the other soul may take control of the body. I heard from Harut that you can tell by the eye color. Mine are red and my buddy up here’s is yellow.”
Marut’s eyes lit up. “I’ve heard of this phenomenon before! Interesting… So, you’re Michael, right? Who’s the other guy.” Marut’s question only made Michael’s grin bigger. Finally, he was able to get back at Mike for what he did to him!
“His name is Mona Lott.” Michael's shit-eating grin had reached its maximum size the moment those words escaped his lips.
WHAT!? Mike didn’t even see where Michael was going with the conversation until he uttered this fake name. I'm going to beat the fuck out of you one day.
“I see… So it’s Mr. Michael and Mr. Mona Lott…” Marut spoke obliviously, just as his brother did.
Charlie snickered as Marut placed his hand on his chin, looking at Charlie and then at Michael with skeptical eyes. “Strange names.” he said. “Well, anyway. Would you like to see what I’m selling, dawg?”
Michael shook his head and cringed slightly. “Sure…”
Michael followed Marut over toward his shop, which was basically just a wooden table surrounded by random junk. So much for being different than his brother.
“Hey, what about all that cool stuff over there.” Michael pointed toward the fantastical weaponry on display around the room, prefering that over whatever it was that Marut was trying to swindle him with.
“Oh, those are my collectibles. Besides, you can’t afford those anyway.”
'Did this kid just call me broke...?'
“Alright man… How much for the…” Michael’s eyes darted around the store, seeing a plethora of ranged, melee, and magic weapons. Considering he and Mike had just received a new weapon, he didn’t find it necessary to buy a new one. ‘Well… If Mike is going to do the fighting, I guess it would be best to ask for his opinion.’
“Hey, Mona Lott. What should I buy? We only have thirty Hell Bucks.” Michael said aloud, trying his best to hold back his laughter.
Call me that again and I'll throw us both off of Tartarus...We should probably get rid of these rags we’re wearing.
“Yeah… I was thinking the same thing.” Michael nodded before pointing to some leather armor that was hanging behind the child. It looked light but also unable to protect their shared body from any serious attacks; however, it was better than nothing. “We’ll take that armor.”
“Good choice! That’ll be twenty-five Hell Bucks! Do you have a backpack by chance? There's no way you can fight while carrying your potions in your hands. I can throw one in for five more Hell Bucks. That’s a steal, by the way.”
"Buy it. It's a lifesaver." Charlie added.
Michael couldn't help but feel like he was being swindled in some way, but since Charlie said it was a good deal, he trusted them. “Sure, I'll take one of those too.”
Marut gestured toward a modern-day tablet on the table, which prompted Michael to place his smartwatch next to it. 'They have tap to pay in Hell? Weird.' The tablet chimed, “What the…” Michael whispered as his head slightly threw itself back upon seeing the next prompt.
Would you like to tip? Mike read out loud. You aren’t gonna tip this little shit, are you?
“Hell no.” Michael whispered, clicking the ‘no tip’ option without even hesitating.
“Cheapskate.” Marut whispered as he laid out Michael's new gear on the table.
Michael stood off to the side while putting on his new armor while Charlie browsed some of Marut's wares. Once Michael was fully suited up, he placed the backpack on his back, only for it to disappear instantly. “Hey! What gives! What happened to my backpack!?”
Marut started rummaging through a box of shoes as he spoke loudly enough for Michael to hear. “Your backpack has become one with your person. Simply will it, and whatever is in its storage will manifest into your hands. Go on. Try it.”
Michael was unconvinced at first; regardless, he thought of his Health Flask and it appeared in his hands instantaneously. “Woah…” he whispered. "So that's how it works..."
Meanwhile, Charlie paid for their new equipment; a pair of white boots, and even gave Marut a five Hell Buck tip.
Marut bowed politely to the mage. “Thank you, Ms. Charlie. You’re always so kind to me.”
Charlie rubbed their arm awkwardly. “You don’t have to call me miss…”
“Oh, would you prefer mister instead?”
“No, not really. Just Charlie is fine.”
“Hm… If you say so." Marut snapped his finger, remembering something important. "Oh, by the way. The next floor is the fifth floor! That means there is a very strong enemy waiting for you! Have fun!”
Michael was taken aback by how nonchalantly Marut spoke of the supposed very strong enemy. “Wait, how strong?” Michael asked.
“You’ll see. The shop is now closed. By now.” Marut waved his hand and vanished, along with all of his collectibles and wares. Michael and Charlie found themselves standing in a completely empty room; it was as if Marut was never even there. As always, there was a fog wall leading to the next floor, compelling both Michael and Charlie to step toward it.
“Well, I guess all we can do is trek onward.” Michael said with his hands on his hips.
“It seems so. Hopefully, it's just a really big guy and not some creepy statues...” Charlie shuddered just thinking about what was on the last floor.
Michael summoned his war hammer into his hand, admiring it for a moment. “Remember what I said about having another person in my head? Well, he’s the fighter out of the two of us, so… This is goodbye for now. I’ll still be here though. Warning, this guy is a total dick.”
Michael took the sharp end of the war hammer and slit his thumb, giving Mike control of the body.
-Mike-
Instantly, Charlie could see that Michael had completely changed, His eyes turned yellow, and his slouching posture transformed. “Ugh! Finally some action!” Mike cocked his head toward Charlie and said, “Name’s Mike by the way. Call me Mona Lott and I’ll kill you, got it?”
“Yes, sir.” Charlie uttered. ‘I like the other one better…’
“Good, now let’s go kick some ass!” Mike stepped through the fog first and Charlie followed right behind him. What lay behind the fog was but a mystery; however, if Marut’s word was anything to go by, it would be a formidable foe.