Perspective: Tomas

The club was nice, the drinks were strong, and the ladies pretty. Tomas couldn’t ask for a better evening. Honestly, he could have, he had his eyes on one certain girl, but as she was surrounded by big burly types, he didn’t dare make a move, so he had to resort to easier prey.

Fin and him would have a nice night, he just knew it.

The two ladies they were chatting with were a little old for his tastes, but they were the prettiest around, big tits, nice asses, curvy hips, and oh gods their lips. They dressed in club chique, with revealing tops and tight jeans, exactly the kind of look he loved to see when he ruined them later on.

A small smile crept onto his face, despite his best efforts.

He could already tell they were piss drunk, the perfect moment would be soon, so he just had to be patient. The shorter one was already barely standing and the other one was dancing with seductive moves to the loud music.

Tomas wasn’t someone powerful or important, he was the average day student, small apartment, normal-ish major, average grades, normal life.

Even his looks weren’t too impressive, but he had charisma and he abused that as much as he could.

Normally he would go to the less… legal bars, the ones where you would find minors that snuck in by bribing or seducing the bouncers, where people had a more lax attitude towards the whole security idea.

But today Fin asked him to come here, as it was closer to home.

Fin was one mean motherfucker in Tomas eyes, had been together with his girlfriend for years, yet he fucked more girls than he could count. Although, as bad as it sounded, his girlfriend was in on it all and sometimes helped them, so whatever, who cared.

With his eyes on the short girl in front of him he waited until just the right moment, while still swaying to the music. It could have been better, but hey, music was music, and honestly he didn’t care too much about it either way.

However, strangely, the more he looked at the shorter girl the more he felt… off. It wasn’t really something tangible, but there was a certain… feel in the air. It was minute, so minute he had almost missed it, but something was off.

Eh, who cares, he thought to himself and started focusing on the shorter girl once more. They had told him their names earlier, but he didn’t give a fuck, they were meat to be fucked, why would he remember it. In his opinion women only existed to be fucked, so he usually forgot their names the moment they were spoken aloud.

He decided it was time, by now she was barely hanging on to her friend who started to make excuses to leave to give her friend some space, despite being pretty deep into the drinks herself. Just as he stepped forward to offer to bring them home, a tried and true method in this part of town from his own experiences, the strange feeling surged. Although, to say it surged may be wrong, it was still only a vague feeling, but he felt… uneasy.

“Yo, bro, wait”, he told Fin, although from Fin’s look he seemed to have noticed it.

Now alarmed he started to look around the club, trying to figure out where it came from, but he found nothing. Even a second look around didn’t reveal anything.

Then he saw something in his peripheral view and he turned, but by the time he had completed the motion it was already gone.

“Yo bro, what the fuck is this?”, Fin asked just loud enough for Tomas to hear.

“So you noticed it too?”, he asked his friend who nodded.

The surrounding people didn’t seem to notice anything. Well, nobody outside of a very few people, Tomas noted after a moment.

They didn’t have some kind of group that went around raping girls or trying to steal from others, but they did know the most notable people. And a few of them were here with them.

And they seemed uneasy as well.

A normal person would have missed it, they had learned to hide their mannerisms and emotions, but if you knew what to look for you could make it out.

And Tomas most definitely knew what to look for.

“It’s time to go. I don’t really know what’s going on, but something isn’t right here”, he said, deciding to leave, and grabbed Fin by his arm to drag him out.

Not so fast…

It wasn’t a voice, not really, it was more of a feeling, a certainty, and it made him stop.

Another shadow moved in his periphery but once more he couldn’t figure out what was going on.

By this point fear slowly clawed it’s ugly hands into his heart. Tomas, however, didn’t do afraid. He did angry and pissed. Whenever he felt afraid he would start getting angry and this time as well he wanted to lash out to something.

But he couldn’t. His body wasn’t following his orders.

A few of the ones who had noticed Tomas and Fin’s plight, a few of their fellow criminals, started to make their way over.

“Uh… What is going on?”, asked a big muscular guy that Tomas only knew by hearsay.

“No fucking clue mate”, another one said.

“On the off chance I sound insane, but do you have the funny feeling of being watched? Like something is crawling in the shadows and keeps an eye on me?”, the third and last new addition asked.

All four of the others nodded.

By this point it was clear that something definitely wasn’t right, as more and more shadows appeared in his peripheral vision.

Until finally he could make out the shape of one. It looked humanoid, perhaps female, although he couldn’t be sure, and he could swear it had an inhumanely wide feral smile. The thing that stood out the most, however, was that it was armed with a scythe easily twice its size.

“Fuck, shit, oh fuck…”, one of the others said. His eyes were wide open by now and bloodshot. Tomas could swear he was shaking ever so slightly.

“What? Do you know anything?”, Fin asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

The strange feeling started to become ever so slightly overbearing, like an almost palpable pressure.

“Fucking phantoms…”, the one who swore earlier said, “Ghosts of the dead animated by their resentment for the living…”

“Bro, get your fucking shit together”, Tomas told him, either he was insane or the pressure was getting to him, “Ghosts aren’t real.”

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“For you they fucking aren’t! The magical is hidden amongst society, but they exist! I know because my old man was a ghosthunter before! I met some of those fuckers!”

“Ayo dude, are you alright? You didn’t drink too much, did you?”, Fin now cut in, his fear ignored for a moment in favour of scepticism, no doubt much to Fin’s delight. Tomas felt similarly.

“I’m telling you! We aren’t supposed to tell anyone, although I never put stock into all that secrecy bullshit.”

He is right, you know…

The same certainty as earlier settled over Tomas and by the expression from the others, them as well. More shadows dashed through his periphery, slowly eroding the scepticism and making room for more fear and uncertainty.

Then all the lights went out and the music stopped.

“Fear not, for the dark shall protect you”, a nondescript female voice said amongst the sudden screams of surprise by the people present.

To Tomas’ surprise it was easily understandable despite the still loud surroundings, and despite only being spoken at normal volume.

“It shall protect all the innocent and lay bare the sins of those who dare to sully others with their greed”, the voice continued and Tomas could almost physically feel the weight of his sins pressing down on his shoulders. At the same time his surroundings fell silent, the cries of surprise replaced by at best quiet murmurs.

Out of the darkness a single shadow emerged, eerily visible despite the pitchblack surroundings. It resembled the shadows from earlier, but now he could get a better feel for its looks.

He had been right to assume a female silhouette, although it did have a long tail, horns, wings in the shape of a cape that got lost in the darkness, and sharp claws. Not that it needed those as it held an elaborate dagger with a dark crimson blade.

Then another one appeared. Then another one, then the next. Slowly but surely the darkness filled with those terrifying shades until every last corner was occupied, each equipped with a different, although just as terrifying looking weapon.

At this point he was sure his heartbeat could be heard by everyone present, he wasn’t sure what was going on, if this was some kind of elaborate prank or maybe a weird theatre piece organised by the staff.

Although deep down he was sure this was real, as nonsensical as it sounded.

Just as he was sure he would be jumped something else happened and it took his breath away.

From the deep abyss of blackness emerged another form, this one huge, gigantic even, in the shape of an honest-to-god dragon.

At the same time the outline appeared, two gigantic purple eyes opened, displaying their draconic and ancient irises to the world, an otherworldly glow radiating pure malice from them, targeted directly at him he was sure.

And the worst part was the growl that followed, deep and ancient, filled with the resentment of the dead and the rage of all those he had raped, from the young girls just barely in their teens all the way to the older women he had targeted when he found the opportunity.

His legs gave out and he fell to his knees, belatedly realising he had pissed his pants from fear.

Tomas Langley, Fin Asburn, Theodore Cralt, Nemo Delate, and Colton Stock. You have committed grave sins and tonight will be the night of your reckoning.

A deep and dark voice echoed through the darkness, filled to the brim with malice and a cold burning rage.

Take solace in the last time you hear your names for after this the world will not remember you. Sinners do not deserve to live and to be remembered, for evil shall not be permitted as long as I exist.

The dragon stepped forward, somehow fitting into a room it should have no business fitting into, until it towered over them like an executioner.

All of you have deeply angered me, but one has gone much too far. You all shall serve as an example for the world to see, to know what happens to those who stir my wrath.

A sudden piercing pain shot through Tomas’ body from his abdomen and when he looked down he could see the blade of a scythe sticking out of it. Despite the dark he could clearly see his body, his blood slowly dripping from the wound.

In that moment of pain all his misdeeds were laid bare for everyone to see, it wasn’t something visible but he knew that he could hide nothing.

May the world take note of my presence, the presence of the Living Nightmare. I am the Goddess of the Shadow Armory, the Judge of Sinners, the Blade of a Thousand Screams. Far too long have you been permitted to continue your worthless existence, an error I shall correct tonight.

His body was dying, he could feel it. Yet despite that he didn’t fall unconscious. While his body died his soul remained.

Suddenly screams erupted from around him and while his body didn’t move, his soul did.

The rest of the group he had been with was writhing in agony from a source he couldn’t see. His friend, a person whose name he had forgotten, was looking at him with pleading eyes, but there was nothing he could do.

Crime, as despicable as it is, will always survive. Theft, assassinations, fraud, murder. They shall always remain. But there is one thing I will not permit in any world as long as I am alive. And that is rape. Especially the rape of children. The five of you, rotten as you are, have all partaken in this most foul of crimes. Your bodies will die, but that will not be the end.

The last sentence was accompanied with an explosion of rage, the weight of authority so great that it escaped all description.

His soul, nameless as it was now, shivered, then screamed in silent agony as pain assaulted him, slowly, ever so slowly, eroding his existence.

Death will not take you, for you are not allowed to meet him. Peace will not come for you, for you are not allowed relief. You shall continue on as nothing but a husk, a broken soul left to be forgotten, unable to exist, yet bereft of the finality of destruction. You shall carry with you the agony of all those who you defiled, the rage of their close ones, and the pain of their bodily memories. This is my judgement.

The soul, now empty, was no longer a part of the world. All it knew was suffering, a lost life, and the sins it had once committed. Sins that would follow it for eternity, as eternity was its punishment.

Unable to think, move, or act it was nothing but a remnant of a man removed from the history of the world, a warning sign for all those who would follow.

Perspective: Vuthe

She looked on with satisfaction as the five souls slowly drifted off, unable to connect to reality. It was a lucky coincidence that she had found all of them at once, as her wrath was mainly focused on only one, but this worked even better as an example.

Slowly she calmed down. She could have dealt with them unseen and from the shadows, leaving the residents of the world none the wiser, but she had been far too enraged to do that. She had to set an example to not touch her family ever again, even if she had been calm enough not to reveal the direct connections between her divine title and the Savart family.

Once the souls had vanished she looked around the club still shrouded in darkness. The people present were calm, a side effect of her aura, innocent’s had to be protected after all. Even if she could detect more than a few people who had committed crime in their lives. Compared to the five rapists it was nothing worth her attention however, so she decided to drop the topic. She wasn’t here for them. Maybe she will be in the future.

The only thing she regretted was putting herself out there, but she couldn’t have enacted the punishment that she did without revealing her divine authority and with that her divine title.

Divine power was fickle, even more so than magic. Especially since she had overruled one of the fundamental agreements between divine beings: Never encroach on another divine being's influence. Especially a Celestial.

She had just denied Altis his final judgement by rendering the souls husks.

Once upon a time she had promised to never use another soul attack for she would feel it as much as the person she used it on. This, however, had not been an attack by her, but simply an effect of her divine power. She still hated herself for it, but it was bearable.

A small part of her knew she could have enacted a far less devastating punishment, she had done so before for the same crime after all, but she had been too enraged to calm herself down enough for rational thought.

Now she had removed five souls from the world, five opportunities for good in the next life, five beings that might have redeemed themselves in the future. She had gone as close as it was possible to get to commit the ultimate crime set down by the Celestials: The destruction of a Soul.

And it hurt. It hurt her deeply. She didn’t want to be evil, she strived to be just and good. But in that moment she simply couldn’t quench her rage, the anger within. Her own demons.

Let this be a lesson. Remember it well, mortals, or I shall come for you next!

With those parting words she vanished and let the club return to normal. Or as normal as it was possible to get after watching… that.

She had a lot of thinking to do. Once again she had let her demons overtake her, once again she had let herself out of the cage, once more she had done the one thing she had sworn to never do again.

Vuthe de Thal was evil. It was the heritage handed down from her draconic grandfather. She had fought her entire life to escape it. Yet once more it had stained her hands with even more blood, blood that could not be unspilled, blood that would haunt her for the rest of her undoubtedly very long life.

This was just one more reminder that she still had to find a way to get herself under control, that even the past three millennia weren’t enough to have her keep the calm head she so desperately wished for.

Hopefully one day she would manage. Although after today, she felt like she never would…