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A Failed Experiment

by Joshua C Lape

Chapters

Escape from Hell- Act I, Pt. I: Leaving the world behind


This story is dedicated to Sarah Kentrup

She lost her life in a car crash at the age of two

May she rest in peace

Escape from Hell- Act I, Pt. II: A new friend


Whack!

My head jerked to the left as the blow hit. I spat blood from my mouth, adding to the delicious red liquid already coating most of the floor and walls of my cell. With a smirk, I asked the "scientist" standing over me, "You almost done with the light stuff? I ain't even gettin' damp off this shit."

Oooohhhhhh, did that make him angry. Well, angrier than he was. Breathing hard, he poised to swing the bat once more, shouting at me, "Shut it you disgusting whore!" Ah, the good old insults. Whore, filth, freak, slut, garbage, useless, all of those and more. They really need some new-

Whack!

Some new ones. I wonder how long he's gonna be doing this for? I already heard they finally decided to get rid of me today, seeing as my screams stopped coming to satisfy them. Oh boo hoo, the little girl won't cry after so many years of maiming, wah wah. Seriously, can't they just kill me already?

Suddenly, the man before me grabbed me by my hair and dragged me from my room saying, "C'mon freak, Jeriah wants another few hours with you before we dump you. He says two months without his little pet is too long." Oh Doctor Jeriah, that disgusting pile of human waste. For the last seventeen years he's been pulling me into his room and screwing me until I pass out. Don't think I like it though, getting raped almost a thousand times just takes away some of the trauma when talking about it. Oh look, there's his door, time for some fun...


"Bahahahahaha-haha.... Aha- O-oh God- hahahahahahahahaha." Sweet Lord almighty that was too funny. Apparently they forgot to inform Jeriah that I was dying today, thus making me act "very disobedient" as they put it, and one of the experiments in the past year gave me razor sharp, near indestructible teeth that can cut through almost anything! Guess what I did when he tried to stick his dick in my mouth? Chomp chomp motherfucker. You shoulda' seen his face when I spit the shredded thing right back at him. Aahhh, too good. Oh whoops, looks like they're beating me again, I didn't even notice.

The guy in charge of my beatings was pretty pissed by the sound of it, "Stop fucking laughing you abomination! Jesus Christ, let's just kill her already!"

One of his lackeys ran off saying, "Y-yes sir." He returned a second or two later with a gun in his hands, "Here you go sir."

"Thank you." He and I said simultaneously. A bit perturbed by my apparent want to be shot, he just put the gun to my temple and asked, "Any last words?"

I smiled at him, "Just two; Fuck you!" Then, in a flash and a bang, everything turned dark.


"Well this makes no sense..." Lemme tell you, getting killed then waking up in some weird, pitch black void place is an odd experience. "I'm guessing that I'm dead but, what the hell is this place?"

"Welcome, young human." I spun around to see the source of the otherworldly, demonic voice. Man was it strange. He wore this big, black cloak, carried a huge scythe, and had his facial features shrouded in shadows. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a piece of weird looking paper, which he read:

"Sarah Akinson, twenty years old, pale skin, white hair and red eyes due to albinism, suffers from insanity, paranoia, a masochistic nature brought on by torture, severe hatred for those in the medical field and... Humans in general, too?" He glanced down at me for a second at the seemingly odd fact, "Victim of aforementioned torture as well as multiple cases of rape, experimentation, dismemberment of the right arm, accumulated close to five thousand individual scars over the time of all these, died from a gunshot to the only weakened area of the skull, apparently designed as a fail safe if your death was needed... You are a very strange case indeed, young lady."

"Well fuck you too tall, dark and gruesome!" I know yelling at Death is a bad idea, but I don't need him telling me what's wrong with me!

He glance, I guess lazily, at me and continued reading, "Let's see, increased natural abilities due to experiments done, including strength, speed, agility, reaction timing, eyesight, and a few other things." He paused and rubbed his chin, "Hmmm, you could prove useful to me."

I swear to God i almost choked at that statement. Useful? I could actually be useful for once? After all those years of being considered a useless wast of time, I could actually be worth something to someone!? "W-what do you mean?"

His form distorted and turned into a human male with slicked black hair and a sunken in face, "I could resurrect you into a new world, one where you wouldn't have to go through any of that again, and give you a fresh start. All you would need to do is serve as my agent; a Wraith."

Barely containing my excitement, I asked, "Alright, okay, yeah, anything as long as I can be useful to you!"

He smiled and chuckled somewhat wryly, "Hmmph, alright. Although you must know a few things about being a Wraith. You will not be able to sustain yourself on food and drink, only the souls of those you kill. You will also have strange powers that only you yourself will wield, meaning you will have to discover them yourself." Then, without warning, a large, multicolored gate appeared before us. He waved his hand causing it to open and send a wave of blinding light over us. I felt a hand press against my back as I was thrown into the open gate, but not before he told me, "Oh, I almsot forgot to mention, the transformation is quite painful." And then I fell.

Painful.... Yeah right. The worst feeling I got from it was a slight ache all over my body. I guess the resistance to pain from years of torture is a blessing (and a curse, seeing as I'm a masochist, but whatever). The next thing, after the immense pain, was knowledge of the world and it's history. Apparently there were humans here before, and apparently they did something that warranted genocide. Meh. What? The paper said I hate humans. Oh look at that, I'm passing out.


Waking up, I noticed two things. One, I was in a clearing in a lightly wooded area somewhere in... Equestria, it was called. Two, I was wearing more than the absolutely nothing I had on before. Getting up from the ground, which caused my body to release several cracks and pops as my joints moved, I looked over my surroundings. Yep, just a clearing in the woods with a stream nearby. Deciding to find out what I looked like, I walked to the stream and peered at my reflection, which honestly shocked me a bit.

(AN: Closest I could get to what I wanted. Also, replace the helmet with a black, leather stetson and turn the hair white and make it go down to the knees and you get the full picture)

"Good Lord I look absolutely terrifying. Wait a minute... Holy shit my arm's back!" I pulled up the sleeve of my.. What's it called? Trench coat, I think. Anyway, I pulled the right sleeve up to see a completely skeletal arm, which was odd because the sleeve hung over it like it would if there was an arm there, instead of just sagging down. I put the sleeve back down and shrugged, deciding not to question it. "Alright now, what should I do...?"

"AAAhhhhhhhhh! Somepony, help!" Whelp, that answers that! I turned to the right and sprinted in the direction I hear the voice coming from. After a few seconds, I burst from the trees and bushes to see a.... Mare, I think the word was, surrounded by three wolves. It seemed that my comment about my outfit being terrifying was true, because she screamed even louder when she saw me.

I twisted my head to look at her and glared through my mask, "Ah shut up will ya? I'm here to help." As I said this, one of the wolves thought it would be the absolute best idea to charge me! It wasn't. It leaped into the air and opened it's jaws wide to bite me, but before it could, I brought my left fist down on top of it's head and slammed it into the ground. There was a sickening crack as it smacked into the forest floor, accompanied by a pained yelp which died out almost as soon as it came. "S'what I thought."

The two smaller wolves backed away, while the larger one, presumably the Alpha or Beta, began to circle me slowly. I wondered how to deal with all three and still keep the mare from getting injured when I heard a voice, Death's voice, whiper in my head, 'Did you happen to notice the symbols etched into your right arm?' I shook my head, which seemed to actually confuse the animal circling me, 'Well, I suppose just knowing of the symbols isn't too important. Anyway, your right arm is also your Wraith Weapon. Just hold it straight out to your side and say "Wraith Claw, activate" and it will do the rest.'

I nodded and let out a breath, then held my arm out and did as instructed, "Wraith Claw, activate." What happened next was pretty damn cool. Veins burst from my shoulder and out of my coat, before going right back in the sleeve just a few inches below where hey came out. The sleeve then seemed to dissolve and reveal my skeletal arm, which had turned black and had tiny little spikes here and there. The biggest change was my hand, which now sported six inch long claws instead of fingers. "Sweeeet."

The mare looked about ready to piss herself, and the wolves began to look unsure about attacking. One of the wolves, the smallest, panicked and lunged at me. Big mistake. Before it even got two feet off the ground, I ran in front of it and swung my claws upward, splitting its face open and spraying blood all over me. I then caught the body in mid fall and brought the neck to my mouth, which I tore open with my teeth, after lowering my mask, and drank its blood from. Sweet, sweet blood. It would seem that somewhere along the line of my stay with A.N.G.E.L., I developed a taste for it. Really delicious stuff, I'd say.

After I dropped the corpse, I face the other two wolves that remained. Or rather, the one that remained. It would seem the other small one pussied out and ran, leaving me with the leader. "Hey doggy," I licked the blood from my claws, "how about you play dead?" To my surprise, it actually backed down. I remembered, from the many times I was put up against animals to test my fighting capabilities, how a wolf acts when it submits itself to a stronger animal. It would seem this one recognized me as such, because that's what it did. "Well great, now I'm the leader of a pack of wolves, er, one wolf..." I deactivated my claws, which caused my sleeve to return, and bent down to pat the wolf on the head. It flinched at first, but slowly leaned into my hand as I petted it. "I have a pet wolf now... Cool I guess. At least there are no scientists forcing me to kill this one, even after it gave up."

It was then that I heard a thump to my left, and I looked over to see that the mare had passed out from shock. I walked over to her and tried to wake her up, but she was out cold "God Dammit, now I gotta get her back to the nearest town or city or whatever." I lifted her up, which made me notice she had a gash in her side, "Scratch that, the nearest... Ugh, hospital..." I growled the last word with such contempt that both the wolf and the mare instinctively shuddered in fear.

Speaking of the mare, I'll describe her. She has gray coat, with a darker gray, almost black, unkempt mane and tail. Her... I think I heard them called Cutie Marks in that history lesson. Her Cutie Mark was what looked like a lump of hot coal. Oh yeah, and she's a unicorn, I guess that's important to mention.

After walking for a bit, we made our way out of the woods, and I spotted a town not too far away. "Okay, so, a tall, blood covered member of a race of creatures that were slaughtered a long time ago, and equally blood covered and very large wolf, and a pony that has a claw mark on it that is unmistakeably from a wolf... This should go well!" I said the last bit with a smile under my mask, as I made my way towards the town.




Escape from Hell- Act I, Pt. III: Trouble in the big city

Well the trip into town, which the sign along the way said was called "Baltimare", was relatively uneventful. The only thing that actually happened was the mare waking up, but she passed out again after realizing I was carrying her. Ungrateful little... Ugh, whatever. I had to run the whole way, seeing as the mare was bleeding rather heavily. I wouldn't have a problem with a gash like that, hell I probably woulda gotten off on it, but the average person-er pony, is more... Fragile, I guess you could say. Not looking forward to the hospital though.

As I neared the edge of the city, I realized I had no clue about the location of a hospital, if there even was one. I slowed down as I entered the city limits, looking around for a pony to ask for directions. Spotting a mare walking along the sidewalk, I jogged over and tapped her shoulder, "Excuse me, could you point me in the direction of the nearest... Ugh, hospital?"

She turned around, keeping her eyes closed as she answered, "Certainly... Head down this road then... Uh... What?" That's when she opened her eyes. "I, uh, um...."

Rolling my eyes, I snapped at her, "Look lass, I got a bleeding mare here that needs medical attention, now! So, just tell me where the hospital is, and I'll be on my way!"

She flinched a but, startled by my yelling, "Uh right, right. Um, just head down this road, take the second right, then keep walking until you see a large, white building with a red cross on it. Can't miss it."

I nodded, "Thank you. C'mon pooch, to the hospital!" It seems she didn't see my wolf friend at first, because I heard a startled scream seconds after I took off down the street. Oh well, not my problem. I reached the hospital pretty quickly, only a minute and a half jog, and I burst through the doors and ran to the front desk, past the frightened ponies in the waiting area. The place smells like medicine and shit. And it's sterile white. Fucking everywhere. God I hate hospitals. Ugh, can't think of that now, gotta get this mare help.

Walking up to the nurse at the desk, I slammed my hand down on the counter to get her attention, "S'cuse me, but I got an injured mare here, and she needs medical attention. She got attacked by a wolf."

Looking at me with slight fear, she said, well shouted really, "D-doctor Stable, I need you out here. Now, please!" A Doctor, God I hate that word, wanna kill him, came out from a door to my right, took one look at the mare, then called for a few nurses to help carry her away.

I nodded, "Thank you, I might not burn this place down now." I looked at the nurse to see a fearful scowl on her face, "Oi, I said I wouldn't, didn't I?" Not bothering to listen to her response, if she would even offer one, I walked back to the waiting area and leaned against a wall. Sighing, I pulled my hat off and ran a hand through my still grimy and unkempt hair, then pulled my mask down, drawing gasps from the surrounding ponies. Apparently they aren't used to blood red, almost glowing eyes, razor sharp teeth stained with blood, and almost a hundred scars covering ones face. Tough luck, asshole horse things.

"E-excuse me..." I blinked and looked down, seeing a stallion trying to get my attention.

"Yeah?"

He shuffled a bit, seemingly uncomfortable, "You, uh, wouldn't happen to know somepony named Dean Marcelo, would you?"

I raised an eyebrow and thought back to my days on Earth, cause that's where I vaguely remember the name from, "Dean Marcelo... Dean Marcelo... Hmm, I think I remember one of the guards at the facility mentioning that name before. Famous for some reason or another. Why?"

"Oh, it's just, a human by that name has apparently been staying in Ponyville, or something like that. I didn't hear much about him, just that he's been living with Princess Celestia's student or something. I just thought you might know him."

I shrugged, "Sorry, don't know the guy. Don't want to meet him too badly either, given how much I dislike humans. Don't ask why, either, you'd probably vomit your stomach out if I told ya."

He seemed slightly disturbed, and just walked off after muttering something like "sorry for bothering you, then". After that, I just stood around waiting, idly petting my wolf's head, laughing to myself as he growled at some of the ponies that came to close. I think I like this dog.

"Excuse me, uh, Ma'am? The are you brought in is waking up, would you like to see her?" I turned to my left to see the doctor from earlier.

"Yeah sure, just don't get to close to me. I have tendency to really fucking hate doctors. Lead the way." He nodded shakily, then lead me through the door he brought the mare through earlier. As we walked down the hallway, I noticed, with a smile, that he made sure to stay at least ten feet ahead of me, and kept looking back at me nervously. Fuckin' funny. After a ten minute walk, he stopped in front of a door marked 'Room 404'.

"Okay, the mare is in here. Once you two are ready to leave, just head to the front desk to sign her out." With that said, he galloped off, sweat trickling down his face.

"Ha, wuss." I kicked the door open and asked loudly, "Hey dog food, you alright?"

"EEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!" Ha.

"Oh would you calm the hell down? I just saved you from a pack of wolves, and all you've done is pass out, wake up, scream, pass out again, then wake up and scream again. It's getting kinda annoying."

She calmed down a bit, but was still apprehensive, "Wh-who are you? What are you?"

I smiled, putting all my teeth into it, which made her shudder, "Well, my name is Sarah Akinson, but you can call me Sarah. What am I? I guess I'm a human, but after all the shit A.N.G.E.L. did to me, that's not totally accurate. Well, I'm actually a Wraith, I guess, but that's not important right now." I pulled a chair over, which was surprisingly big enough to fit me, and flipped it around and sat down, crossing my arms over the back of it, "How are you felling?"

"H-how am I feeling?"

Rolling my eyes, I Elaborated, "You just got attacked by wolves. Are you feeling okay, did you lode too much blood? Are you gonna be fine enough to leave and go home?"

She blushed, embarrassed that she didn't get the simple question at first, "O-oh, um, I feel fine. I should be well enough to leave, but going home? Uh, that's sort of imposible en este momento..."

"I'm gonna guess you said it's impossible. How come?"

"W-well, my father, he uh... I don't really know if I should tell you this, we hardly even know each other...."

I was kinda concerned by now, as she started to tear up a bit. Sighing, I got up and walked to the bed she was in and sat down next to her. I put my good hand on her shoulder, causing her to flinch a bit, and said, "Look, maybe I can help. I've had my fair share of troubles in life, so I might be able to help you out with yours. Just tell me."

"A... Alright." She sighed sadly and looked down, "Well, my father he... He had worked for the Palominos, a Mafia family, back in Manehattan, he made tools and weapons for them to help support the family after Mom died. But a rival family, the Cola Blanca family, finally got the agallas to attack us. They... They got el Jefe before any of us even knew what was happening, and they didn't stop there. Any of us that tried to get away were caught, lined up, and shot in the necks with my padre's crossbows. Turns out that maldito bastardo had been working in secret for them the entire time. That didn't stop them from offing him though, no era más que un medio para un fin, I suppose. I only got away thanks to father warning me the night before el Jefe was killed, but he said he would hunt me down and bust my head open if I told la familia what was happening. I was... Afraid, so I ran all the way here, hoping to get away. The last thing I saw was my father getting stabbed to death by Cuchilla Herida, one of the Blanca's sicarios."

Well shit, that's rather depressing. Whelp, I know what I'm doing next. I gave... Actually I don't even know her name, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Uh, it's Ardiente Fragua, er, "Smoldering Forge" in traditional Equestrian."

I gave her a grin and patted her on the shoulder, "Well, Ardiente, get ready to go, we go some Cola Blanca's to slaughter."

She looked surprised by my sudden willingness to help. Well, that or my choice of wanting to take on the Mafia that killed her family, "W-what!? E-eso es aburdo! Usted estaría muerto!"

My grin became more manic, "Well, I have no idea what you just said, so I'm gonna take it as 'yes, let's go right now'!" I picked her up in my right arm and the wolf in the other, then jumped out the window in the room, "Hospitals are evil, so fuck paying. Now, off to Manehattan to kill some asshole ponies. This should be great!"




Escape from Hell- Act I, Pt. IV: A show of force

So.... Manehattan. I'd assume it was a play on words to Manhattan, from Earth. However, I have no idea what the fuck that is, aside from the name. Eh, looks nice, I guess. That is if you like crowded streets, dark back alleys and groups of ponies with white tails and suits walking around, other ponies shying away from them. I wonder why...

"So," I asked Ardiente, "anything we need to do before we go after the Blancas?"

"Well, we should probably drop by my old casa. Mi madre told me, before she passed, to head there and find mi herencia, my inheritance, from her should the familia get into a bad spot. This seems like a bad enough spot to go looking."

I nodded once and picked the two back up, "Tell me where it is, and we'll go."

"It is a small shack, actually, just outside of the city, near the entrance. One of the reasons I escaped so easily." With another nod, I was off. In a matter of minutes, we were outside the city, and I could easily spot the house with my keen eyesight. The only problem was the white tailed, suit wearing pony I saw circling the house. There were most likely more inside, too.

Hiding in some of the bushes, I set the giant wolf down next to me, hoping to see him in action. I leaned over and put my mouth to his ear, whispering to him, "Alright boy, I want you to take the bastard out when he's furthest from the house. Do it silently." I got a nod of confirmation, and watched as the wolf deftly maneuvered it's way to where the stallion was. After shadowing him for a scant thirty seconds, the beast saw it's opportunity and burst silently from the bushes, startling the pony.

He never got a chance to scream though, as the dog's jaws snapped over his muzzle, silencing him briefly before crushing his skull and killing him. I should probably mention the dog's size by now. He's a good three and a half to four feet tall, larger than most ponies by almost double, and could swallow a pony's head whole if it wanted to. My kinda dog. I'll call him Feral from now on just seems fitting to me.

As Feral stalked back to me, pony in his maw, I patted his head and smiled, "Good job Feral," He perked up at the new name, "now let's get any inside, then retrieve Ardiente's stuff." I turned to face the door and slowly pushed it open, revealing a small, two room shack, the other pony thankfully in the other room, looking through drawers and not paying a bit of attention to me. Good, cause I wanted to try something.

My genetic reworking by the dicks at A.N.G.E.L. left me much stronger and faster than the average human, the Wraith thing only increasing that. So I wanted to try something out. Holding my arm out, I summoned my claws, then firmly planted my feet to get ready. To make sure this worked, I shouted, "Hey asshole pony!" He whirled around, surprise clear on his face, the last expression he would wear.

You see, I developed a little technique to evade test fighters back at the facility. I would build up strength in my legs, then kick off the ground in a rapid fashion, my increased strength propelling me forward at blindingly fast speeds. What I did to the pony incorporated this move. To anyone outside, they would see a black blur, and hear stomping and slicing sounds. To me, I was jumping around the pony quickly, slashing at different spots on them.

I landed in a crouch, just past the pony, with my claws, now gleaming with fresh blood, held in front of my face. As a spur of the moment thing, I named my attack out loud:

"Tell Tale Heart."*

Right after I said this, thin red lines appeared where the pony's neck and legs attached to it's body. This was swiftly followed by the body falling apart, blood spewing from the cuts. God Damn love this claw. I wonder how it would feel to masturbate with it.... Getting sidetracked. Ardiente, who had picked her jaw up from the ground, moved swiftly over to the drawers the pony was searching through. Throwing them aside, she searched along the wall, finding a loose tile and discarding it. This revealed a hole in the wall, which she promptly put her horn in.

I giggled a bit, "Heh, kinky."

Either I was quiet enough, not that I gave enough of a shit to be so, or she wasn't paying attention to me, because she just sat there for a second, her horn glowing. After pulling her head back, there was a sound like rocks scraping together followed by a hidden panel in the wall opening up. "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute," she said as she entered the passage. Sure enough, she came out a minute later, only now she was wearing a three piece, black pinstripe suit and fedora. As she walked into the room, I saw two blacksmith's hammers float under her suit jacket and out of sight, followed by a small crossbow of sorts. "Alright, I got everything."

"Good. Question though... You ever killed anyone?" Her paled face and shrunken eyes gave me my answer, "Whelp, guess we're prowling the back alleys to look for some asshole pony for you to kill. Or not, I can't force you to do anything. I'll just kill em instead, if that's the case." Before she could argue, I picked her and Feral up then ran out the door, making my way into the city. Again.

Luckily, we landed in an alley after my jump. Even more luckily, I heard someone shout at me as soon as I did.

"Hey you, tall freak!" This should be good...

I turned to face a small group, five to be exact, of ponies in white suits. Blancas, triple lucky. Putting on my friendliest tone, I asked, "Who, me?"

"Yes you, who the hell else?"

"Uh alright, what did you lads need?"

He got real angry all the sudden, and shouted, "One of your human friends thought they could kill some of our boys! They were in the middle of collecting when this bastard comes right up outta nowhere and kills all but one of them! I thin he was mockin' us too, wearin' a white suit like that."

I put my hands up in defense, my bone arm freaking a few of them out, and said, "Look, I don't know who that was, or where he came from..." I frowned, "However I do know he's doing my job for me, and I won't stand for that."

"Wha-" The stallion at the head of the group didn't get enough time to speak as I cleaved hes head in half with my claws, his cranium falling to the ground with a wet smacking sound.

"Feral, let's do this." The wolf growled and jumped over the group, blocking off the remaining exit. One of the ponies, a unicorn, pulled out a crossbow in panic, shooting me in he stomach. He grinned triumphantly for a moment, but that was replaced by a pained grimace as I pulled the bolt out and threw it at his eye. Heheh, it popped. That's two down alrea- Oh, Feral just got one. Three down.

I sauntered up to one of the remaining two and deactivated my claws, watching gleefully as he thought I would spare him. Nope. Instead, I forced his mouth open and slowly shoved my right arm elbow-deep down his throat, choking him. That's not all though. I activated it again, but concentrated on the spikes that appeared on the bone, rather than the claws. To my joy, the spikes were effected instead, instantly growing to five inches each and impaling the stallion from the inside. Cool.

"Alright shitface," I said as I turned to the last pony, "I want to know some things." I picked him up and slammed him against the alley wall. "Firstly," I activated my claws again and trailed one down his torso, "I want to know where your family is based at, and where the boss is."

"I'm not telling you anythin- Ack!" I suddenly, too suddenly for him, stopped dragging my finger and stabbed him in the stomach. "S-still not- AH!" I twisted my claw, then stuck another inside with it. "Y-you won't get anything from me...." Annoyed, I held him up with my right arm, then pinched my index finger and thumb around one of his teeth.

"Tell me." I punctuated it with a tug, ripping his tooth out painfully.

"N-no.."

Rip. "Tell. Me."

"N....N-no..."

I clasped my hand around several teeth and pulled them out, "Fucking tell me, or I'll shove these in your eye and disembowel you with your dead friends horn!"

"Hah... Hah... Alright." his breath was heavy, and his words were slightly slurred by the blood and ripped up gums. "T-there's a mansion, on the other edge of the city. It's big, painted white, and has a large metal gate with the word Blanco witten in gold. The boss, as well as the rest, are there. I told you, so please..."

I put on a mock thoughtful expression, "Hmmmm.... I know I said or, but.... Ah to hell with it, in the eye." He tried to scream as I shoved a fistful of teeth into his eye, squishing the white and green orb in a gooey mess. I say he tried to  scream, because doing anything vocal is hard when a woman with razor sharp teeth is forcibly making out with you. Well ,I was mostly chewing his muzzle off, but whatever. Asshole deserved it.

After discarding the body, I picked up Ardiente and Feral, then jumped off. I decided to wait until night to attack, hide easier when I sneak inside.

Escape from Hell- Act I, Pt. V: A show of force pt. II

I sat, waiting in the shadowed rafters of the room, ready to pounce on the guards at the front door. Why did I want to kill them, even though I already got past, you may ask? Because murder, dumbasses. I readied my claw and was about to drop down on the two, a grin on my face. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Scowling, I slunk back and waited, watching one of the guards open it.

The door creaked open, "Who is it?"

"Hail Mary!"

In an instant, several transparent figures appeared on the other side of the door, all of them holding Thompson automatic rifles. Bullets sprayed forth from the guns, peppering the wall, door and the two guards. When the smoke cleared and the figures disappeared, a man stood in the front hall, and his voice rang out, "Oh, you know, a real fucking mobster!"

He was clad in a white suit and bearing a grin that made me almost jealous. Almost. Angered, I jumped down and landed before him with a heavy thud, kicking up dust and smashing one of the bodies. Standing up, I stared into the bastard's icy blue eyes and shouted, "What the fuck man!? You took my God damned kills, asshole!"

He gave me this grin that made me wanna punch his dick in, "Work faster then."

"Fuck you, asshole! I don't even know you! I didn't expect anyone else to be here, so I wanted to take the first ones a bit slow for a change." I pulled at my hair and screamed, "Gah!"

He stuck his hand out for me to shake, "Dean Marcelo, now you know. And next time? Don't play with your food."

Looking between his hand and his smile a few times, I shrugged and shook it, "Sarah Akinson, and how in the eleven hells did you know I was gonna eat them?"

Dean, and this I find weird, just quirked a fucking eyebrow and said, "I was just kidding, actually. You were really gonna eat them?"

I nodded and looked sadly at my lost meal, "Yeah, I haven't eaten anyone since I was on Earth, and even that was bits and pieces." I kicked one of the corpse's hooves dejectedly, "Now I'll have to find someone else to snack on..."

Again the guy just raised an eyebrow, albeit a bit higher this time, "Not exactly what I was expecting, but I'm okay with this."

"Really now!?" Now I was quite surprised by this. "Well, at least someone isn't freaking the fuck out. I told Ardiente," I pointed to her when I saw his confusion, "and she's been locked up since. I'm curious though. Why aren't you the least bit disgusted by my admittance of being, not only a cannibal, but also a consumer of other sentient beings as well."

He chuckled, "Well, as you heard, I was a mafioso in my time, a damn good one too. But I had an "in between job", you could say, that had me working with people like that, and worse. I'm just not phased anymore."

Laughing a bit myself, I jokingly asked, "What, did you work with A.N.G.E.L. or something?" I realized what that would mean for me if it was true, and spoke seriously, "I honestly hope not. The two outcomes from that would be me going into the fetal position to cry, or me trying to gut you. I cant ell from the look in your eyes that number two wouldn't work too well for me..."

His face screwed up in thought for a few seconds before he replied with probably the best thing I could hear from him, "The fuck is Angel? I... Might have heard of it? I stole money from so many places, I can't recall every last one."

I breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank God. Anyway, A.N.G.E.L. was a genetics research company, shut down due to illegal and inhumane tests and drugs. They began working is secret, and I was one of their attempts to make a super soldier to combat specific enemies. I don't know what those enemies were though, something about wolves or bats? Long story short, they all went crazy and made me their torture/sex slave for seventeen years. Got these babies though," I Pulled down my mask to reveal my teeth, which he gave a low whistle at, "Really help to chew bone."

He nodded, "Well ain't that a bitch. Never thought I'd see a human made wendigo," He shuddered, which threw me for a loop, "Hate those things. Now that I think of it.... Yeah, I did steal money from them one time, sent some mercs or something after me. Disappointing even when I was normal."

My eyes widened a bit, "Did they wear all white, have no discernible features form one another, and all talk at the same time?" He nodded, "Holy shit you fought the Nobodies!? Those guys were failures at reaching my level of genetic enhancement, but dude... They were still monstrous compared to a human! Jesus man..." I was curious as to what a wendigo was, and wanted to ask, but he cut me off.

His eyes suddenly began to glow blue, and he asked in a dangerous tone, "Now, before we move on, why don't you tell me why you're here?"

Not really disturbed by his light show (the Blighthorns [don't fucking ask, cause I won't tell, fuckers give me nightmares] at A.N.G.E.L. were way scarier when doing that) I answered honestly, "Ardiente's family was killed by the Blancas, the gang who owns this place. Apparently they're the ruling mafia in this city, or whatever. I was bored, wanted to kill shit, and she needed help, so I offered to kill them for her."

He looked at the still shocked mare, then back to me, then fell to the ground in a fit of laughter, "HAHAHA, OH MY GOD YOU SAID THAT WITH A STRAIGHT FACE! PPFFFFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"The hell's so funny?"

After struggling to regain his breath, he stood up and said, "These fuckers actually being considered Mafia! They got no class, no style, and they die faster than a Gameboy! They make Mafiosos like myself look bad! Well.... IT'S RAPE TIME BITCHES!" He walked over to the door to the next room and kicked it down, carrying a sword and semi-yelling, "Hey guys, how's your health plan? Apparently it's GREAT!"

My eyes widen for a fraction of a second before I shout, "Oh no you fucking don't!" I charged in, claw at the ready and Feral hot on my heels. When I got in, he had killed around ten of the several dozen ponies, probably wanting to just have fun right now and not wipe them out quickly. Nice. "Time to kill some asshole ponies," I yelled with a grin.

I spotted a group of around five or six unicorns off to the side, loading crossbows. Wanting to test out my new move some more, I gave a series of really strong kicks, strong enough to shatter the floorboards. I dashed around and in between them, cutting them wildly and without real care for detail like before. When I landed, I said the words, "Tell Tale Heart" and heard the satisfying sound of meaty chunks smacking into the floor.

"Nice move, not a bad name either!" I heard Dean shout from the other side of the room. It was then followed by, "Infernal Rapture" A blue and black beam of energy shot out from the floor after he connected a kick, launching a few ponies into the air. Hmmm, I wonder...

I faced a pony in front of me and concentrated on my good arm, not bothering that I was being stabbed. Suddenly, I felt a rush of pure energy surge into my left hand, and I took it as the sign to attack. Dropping low, I uppercut the pony in the jaw, and a blackish red beam appeared along with my fist, hurling them into the air. I then followed by kicking off the ground to place myself above them, planting my feet against the ceiling. I kicked off from the ceiling, swinging my claw into their stomach and slicing them open, then pulling them to the ground with a mighty slam. We were shortly accompanied by a light sprinkle of blood, at which point I named the attack, "Rain on a Grave."

"Damn, nice. Just come up with that?" Dean said from my left.

"Yeah," I replied, dodging a sword then slicing the throat of it's user, "Seemed an appropriate title, to me."

"I guess." We fought in silence for a few minutes. And by fought i meant kill all of them that came at us, just at a slow pace. After, I dunno, ten minutes of merciless beating, the room was clear of living thins, aside from Ardiente and Feral. The room got a nice, new coat of red paint, free of charge. Heh. We stood in the middle of the room, blood surrounding us on all side.

I looked left, right, and forward, seeing different ways to go. A door to the left, a long hallway to the right, and a stairway going up right in front of us. I glanced at my fellow Wraith and asked, "I take left, you take right, then we head upstairs?" He nodded silently, his grin threatening to split his face, much like mine, "Great. Feral, you guard this room in case anyone upstairs runs down." The wolf barked in  agreement, and the two of us split ways to our sides.

"KNOCK KNOCK MOTHERFUCKERS!" I kicked the door down and beheld the sight before me. Let me tell you, I was fucking pissed. Before me was a group of stallions, about twenty, all pleasing themselves on mares of various age, each one tied down, beaten, or crying. Some all three. Here was my thought process for the next ten minutes: Killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkill! Kiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllllllll..... I wouldn't remember the next move I came up with, or how I did it, for a while, but here's what happened.

My eyes were glowing a deep blood red, and I hissed out through gritted teeth. Then I don't rightly know what the hell happened to me. All I know is, I went completely and utterly calm, the one thing a psychopath should never be when in the room with you, else your fucked already. The stallions all seemed to realize this, as they began to back away, some even going as far as to use the mares as shields. Two of them tried to sneak out a back door, they never got the chance. I appeared behind them, my speed grossly outmatching theirs. I grabbed the one to my right and tore his spine out in one swift motion, letting his torn corpse hit the floor. The other one was gored with the spine before the first one touched ground.

Three stallions reached for weapons hidden under a table, useless. One sword was used in an attempt to cleave my arm off. Pathetic thing snapped in between my claws. I picked up the broken blade and shoved the pieces down it's wielder's throat, all the way to his stomach. I then kicked him in the abdomen for good measure, hearing a satisfying tearing sound as I did so. I got bored with the other two stabbing at me, so I simply gouged their eyes out and cut their throats.

Another ten went down in a spray of blood and gore as I used "Tell Tale Heart" on them, even stronger and faster than before. As I approached the remaining stallions, I chose to use raw strength on one, just to see how much damage I could do with a simple haymaker. The result? One stallion with his head spread over several areas, and another whose ribs were sticking out from his back, now hanging from the ceiling like a grotesquely beautiful chandelier via his friend's intestines. He was still dying at the time, by the way, the one with the removed intestines. Deserved to suffer.

I didn't bother with the mares as I went to work on the last stallion. I gave him a swift kick to the ribs that sent him into the main room, where Dean was waiting, seemingly bored. He perked up as the pony landed net to him, and he was about to bring his sword down, but I beat him to the punch. Or should I say pounce. That's what I did, was pounce on the fucker, then tear him apart i every way I could think of. His screams died out quickly, but I didn't stop until he was an unrecognizable pile of organs, muscle, bone, flesh, hair and fur. I then did something that made Ardiente vomit and pass out, and that Dean just raised an eyebrow at. I started shoveling fistfuls of bloody, mutilated meat into my mouth, relishing in the taste of sentient flesh. It does taste different from non-sentient meat, I assure you, but it's one of hose things you'd have to try to see.

Oh my God it was fucking amazing, even if he did taste slightly shitty. Around halfway through my meal, Dean asked, "Couldn't you have waited a bit, maybe let me have a swing at him."

"Mmf mf," I swallowed, "Shut up, I told you I hadn't eaten anything sentient in awhile. I get crazier than usual if I don't, and this guy and his friends pissed me off." I kept eating, then paused for second. Holding up a handful, I asked him, "One some?"

He held up a hand and shook his head, "No thanks, I prefer pork and beef, horse meat gives me gas."

I shrugged in response, "Suit yourself. I don't care where it comes from, as long as it's sentient." I took a few seconds to swallow more, "I'd love for another human to eat, as I never got to eat a full one before, but your the only human I know of that's here. We both know that wouldn't end well for me if I tried to eat you." He looked ready to say something, but I cut him off, "Say anything sexual and I'll masturbate with this guy's bones, right in front of you, covered in blood and eating the pony it came from. Then I'll use the resulting fluids as a seasoning."

Dean chuckled and held his hands up innocently, "Wouldn't dream of it," he said sarcastically. "I have a question though."

"Shoot."

"Since there all different colors, do they have different flavors?" Huh, that was a good question...

I thought it over, "Kinda... The last one I tasted was blue, and he did taste slightly of blueberries. This guy tastes like shit though, even though he's white... Depends, I guess."

"Weird." He put his hand to his chin in thought, then stated, "Alright, ya got me curious. Net mook we kill, I'm taking a bite."

"Alright," I grinned, "Tell me how they taste, too. I'd sample them myself, but eating someone harmed by another makes me feel sick for some reason. I tried it with one Feral killed, and I threw up. S'why I didn't eat the ones you killed at the door." I burped, "S'cuse me. Anyway, I commend you on the resolve to eat another sentient being, takes guts. In more ways than one." Giving a content sigh, I stood from the spot where the stallion had previously been, "Ready to go?"

"I dunno wether to be creeped out or excited, but yeah." He looked back to Ardiente, "What should we do about her?"

"Feral, stay here and guard the lightweight." I sighed heavily, "The worst you'll get is some chicken shits that might get away. If that's even possible with the two of us." I nodded to Dean and walked on, but stopped to ask one more question, "You're sure you're okay with eating a sentient life form?"

He shrugged, "They'll be dead, so it's hard to think of them as sentient beings anymore. Besides, these disgraces to the mob deserve to be chewed."

"Alright then. Personally I like them alive, at least I did with humans. I haven't been here long enough to do that o a pony. Ah, hold up," I used one of my recently sharpened fingernails on my left hand to pick at my teeth. Moments later, I spat out a blue/white glob of viscous fluid, "Dammit, the eyes always get caught in my fucking teeth. Anyway, I'd advise against telling friends you ate a pony, they might avoid you. Y'know, if you even care."

"Eh, they'd just piss and moan. About that human bit though, that'd depend on the situation. Other than that, what happens in Manehattan, stays in Manehattan."

I stared at him blankly, confused, "I don't recognize the saying, but I get the gist of it. And with humans it was a matter of boredom, hunger, and the fact that new recruits stood to close and didn't listen when told to protect every damn area of their body. I actually got my taste for blood when I tried to eat a guy's arm without my sharp teeth here, just got a mouthful of blood and some skin."

"Well," he said in an overly sarcastic manner, "Don't that just sound delicious?"

"Don't knock it till you try it."

He shook his head and sighed, "Let's move on. We're burning time we could be spending killing these assholes. Tell me Sarah, do you know what a Wraith is fully capable of?" I shook my head, honestly knowing very little about being a Wraith. "Well," he continued, "if my theory is correct, you'll get to see a restriction level."

I nodded, smiling, "Cool, though I don't know what that is. Elaborate?"

"Sure, it's when I take the biggest shit of my unlife!"

There was a silence, the only sound I heard was Ardiente whimpering in her sleep. Most likely from that horrible joke. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, "I don't know wether to smack you, or smack you. I'll just smack you." I smacked him on the back of the head, knocking his hat to the floor, while he just chuckled softly. "You're sense of humor is shit, but you're too God damn insane not to like. Fuck your likable violent demeanor. Fuck. it." I couldn't help but smile though, even though I tried to be aggravated.

He full on laughed this time, then gently place his hat back on his head. "Insanity puts thing into perspective, doesn't it? I can't help but be likable, it's in my nature. You're quite likable too, you know." He finished with a grin.

I smiled bemusedly, "That is something I never thought I'd hear. But, to the insane like ourselves, I would be rather likeable. Tell a not mad person what we've done and they'll probably hate us. They're loss I guess." I pulled my mask up, then placed my hat back on my head, s it had fallen off while I ate. "But like you said, let's get going."

"I agree with the first point, they'd absolutely despise us! I also agree on the second point." He activated his sword, "Now, let's go kill some shitty wannabes." His eyes began to glow blue again as he made for the stares.

"Right with you." I activated my claw as well, then made my eyes glow red like earlier. This seemed to be the one fucking thing that I did that actually got him slightly surprised. Even then, he only raised both eyebrows halfway. Hard to impress, amazing piece of shit.

Escape from Hell- Act I, Pt. VI: Capital city


The next room, after we got to the top of the steps, was rather big. Okay, really big. Big enough to hold around fifty of the asshole ponies we were killing. Fun fun fun!

Dean shouted, "FIFTY!? THAT'S REALLY ALL YOU CAN GIVE ME YOU DISGUSTING, PIECE OF SHIT WANNABES!?!?"

I responded with, "You're right, that's hardly very many."

"Arctic Dagger" he said frustratedly, an impatient frown on his face. A giant wave of ice burst from his sword and cut into a large chunk of the ponies, freezing, cutting, and killing about twenty of them in an instant.

"Damn," I said. "Impressive. But can you not kill all of them so fast? I want to have a little fun here."

He shrugged and sarcastically stated, "Sorry, but I want to teach the boss of this piss-poor "mafia" a lesson." I rolled my eyes at his remark, as he obviously didn't care for killing the goons. Rushing forward, I started slashing at the ponies around me, killing off around ten or so as I sprinted throughout the room. When I reached one pony at the opposite side of the room, I grabbed the crossbow from his magic, slammed it into his face, then shot him in the eye. The bolt exited from the back of his head and sprayed blood and brain across the face of the pony behind him. Said pony screamed and dropped his weapon, which I kicked strongly. The blade embedded itself in it's previous wielder's ass, causing him to scream louder.

"Shut up," I said as I picked him up by his mane. I then wrapped my fingers around his neck and pulled, separating his body from his head with a wet ripping sound. There were around ten left, Dean having killed off eight or so during my spree. I noticed a pony coming up to mt left, hoping to stab at me. I let him, of course. After the blade was securely suck in my arm, I spun around and delivered a kick to his jaw. This ended with his head flying up into the air and landing on another pony, who screamed just like the previous ones. It's fucking annoying, I tell you. I ran over and clawed his lungs out, just to shut his ass up. It worked well enough. By now, Dean had killed all but one of the remaining ponies, a dark green pegasus. With a swing of his sword, the pony was cleaved in two, spilling his guts all over the floor. Nice.

"Well," Dean said as he cut off a small piece of the pony's meat, "I said I'd try some." He put the slice of flesh in his mouth and chewed for a few seconds before swallowing, a thoughtful expression on his face. After a minute of silence, he stated curiously, "Tastes like horse meat, but actually has a bit of a watermelon-y after-taste to it. Huh, guess they do taste like they're colored."

I smiled, "Seriously? Man I love watermelon, I'll have to find some more ponies that color..."

He waved a hand dismissively, "Yeah yeah, let's just get to the boss already."

"Fine, fine," I agreed, "He's probably through that door, given how many we're guarding it." I pointed to two large, double doors at the end of the room.

"Finally," He grinned, "I can teach the bastard a lesson." He strode through to the doors and pushed them open, revealing an all white pony sitting at a desk, a dark grin on his muzzle.

"Ah," He began, "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Hmm, I feel like we've been here before. Have we been here before? Oh that's right, you're a cliche piece of shit, no wonder you're familiar." Dean said, a grin probably spreading across his face.

"Well," the boss continued, seemingly not paying attention to Dean, "it would seem you are not too competent, human."

"Oh," Dean asked, "and why is that?"

"Because, you walked right into my trap!" As soon as he said this, he pressed a button on his desk, causing a metal gate to fall over the door, blocking me from entering. This was followed by a crossbow dropping from a mechanism on the ceiling, which fired a rather large bolt into the floor in front of Dean.

"What's this?" Dean said as he bent slightly to inspect the bolt. I looked at it as well, and noticed a fuse attached to it.

"Well shit, it's explosive." I said nonchalantly, just as the bomb went off. The explosion kicked up a large cloud of dust and debris, covering the area where Dean stood. The boss, being the dumbass he is, just sat there laughing like an idiot as he thought Dean to be dead. I've know the guy for like, an hour, and even I know that wouldn't be enough.

"Wow," Oh look at that, I was right, "Right when I thought you couldn't get more cliche. You just had to pull the hidden explosive routine, didn't you? I am disappoint." The smoke cleared to reveal Dean, in all his snide glory!

Dean rushed forward, much to the boss's shock, grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the wall. "You know, there's one thing a mobster never does." He then smashed his fist into the wall, creating a hole his hand disappeared into.

"You want to know what that is?" He grins feraly. His arm came out, gripping a metal pole. "It's not betraying family." He jabbed the front end into the knee, creating a loud snap. With Deans hand gripped tightly around the Blanca's throat though, the stallion couldn't make a sound.

He leaned forward and I heard him whisper into the stallion's, "I want you to remember my name as you're tortured in the deepest pits of hell. DEAN. FUCKIN'. MARCELO." He jabbed the pole into the other knee, again creating a loud snap.

"Does it hurt?" Dean asked with Mock-sweetness. He then stabbed the pole into the stallions stomach. "DOES IT!?!" He shouted with an insane look in his eye. He backed up, and began to charge energy into his leg. He then rushed forward and lashed his leg out towards the stallions head. "INFERNAL RAPTURE!" The stallions head exploded into chunks of skull and grey matter.

"Tch, Piece of shit wannabe..." Dean deactivated his wraith blade and began to walk away. All of the sudden, he turned around completely, cold air visible around him.

"RRRRRAAAAAGGGHHH!!!!!!" He let loose a roar of pent up rage and created a giant fist of ice that completely smashed and squished what was left of the corpse, turning it into a gooey paste.

Dean gave a half insane, half satisfied smirk.

"How's that for overkill you sonofabitch..." The mobster growled.

I stood there in shock and awe as Dean easily cut the gate down with his weapon and stood before me. He snapped his fingers and asked, "Hey Sarah, you still with me?"

I slowly came out of my trance and turned to lock eyes with him. I then spoke in a half dazed voice, "I... I think I just came...."

He leaned back a bit, his body slightly glowing blue, "Um... Okay?"

I shook my head and turned around, "Uh, yeah, let's just.... Let's just go now..." I started walking through the large, blood and gore filled room again, still in a bit of a daze. Unfortunately, I was cut off from my wandering by... Something. A man of some sort arose from the ground in front of me, an angry scowl on his face. He was wearing a long, billowing black robe that obscured any physical features he might have, as well as two heavy plate gauntlets on his hands. He stretched his arm out to his side and a ball of shadow amassed in his palm. The ball condensed into a longsword, which he grasped tightly and held out in front of himself.

A voice, little more than a whisper, resounded in the back of my head. Most likely Dean's as well, because his eyes moved back and forth, looking for the source, "It seems you defeated my puppet... No matter, he was fool." There was a short pause, followed by the voice speaking once more, "I am Magnus Argentum, human ambassador."

Having been snapped completely out of my trance, I responded to the figure, "Aaaaaand, why the fuck should I care?"

"Because," He answered, "I can help you, young girl."

"Oh really? How so?"

"Look at the man behind you," He said. I did, not really getting the point, "Think about him, he was a criminal in his world. Men like him aren't the most trustworthy sort... How do you know he isn't planning to end you when you're no longer useful to him?"

Really? He's asking that? I already know I'm not that useful to him, he could've done this whole thing without me! Oh well, I'll play along anyway, "I don't know, now that you think about it..." I rubbed my chin in mock thought.

"Yes, that's right," He said as he leaned his head down to speak into my ear, "Why not end him now? Get rid of him before he can get rid of you..."

I heard Dean say, "Don't even think about it."

After putting on the most serious face I could, I looked Dean dead i the eyes and asked "So, Dean... What the hell is this guy, and how do I kill him?"

A grin spread over my... I don't know if this is the right word but.. Friend's face, as he activated his sword. "Easy," he said, "Like this." He was suddenly surrounded in blue fire, and I could feel his raw power increasing dramatically. "Move out of the way, please." I stepped aside, letting the cloaked thing be the only hing in his way. He rushed forward and slashed alongside the figure, stopping just behind him. Large icicle things followed behind him and slammed into the cloaked being, causing him to freeze in a large chunk of ice. Dean then followed this up with an upward slash along the side of the frozen enemy shattering it into countless pieces.All that remained of the being was a ball of dark energy, lying on the ground where the ice once was.

"Icicle Disaster"

"Well done." I whirled around to see Death standing behind us, "I honestly expected Sarah to fight him, or be swayed by him, but you did well."

"Soooooo, what's this?" Not really bothered by Death appearing, I picked the black ball up and turned it over in my hand.

"That," Dean answered, "Is a soul. But it's a Sentiment's soul, not like any regular ones you'll ind. Eat that, ad you'll gain dominance over whatever power it holds. By the looks of it, that would be shadows."

"Oooooooohhh, is that how you do those ice things then?"

He just grinned and said, "Mmmmmmmmmaybeh."

"Hmph, fine then asshole, don't tell me..." I looked at the soul for a few seconds before placing it in my mouth.... Oh my God was it amazing. I felt a surge of power, followed by a really, really, really fucking cold feeling. Seriously, I thought my body would freeze over.

"Damn.... That felt amazing..." Dean and I stood in silence, Death having left, until I asked, "I'm guessing that fire stuff was the restriction level thing you were talking about?"

He snapped his fingers in mock annoyance, "Dammit, you catch on fast." He gave a chuckle before continuing, "Anyway, yes it is. I guess I could tell you how to release the first level as a thanks for helping me kill all these wannabes."

"Oh, uh, alright. Thanks." I was a bit surprised by his willingness to actually tell me, so I payed attention.

"Repeat after me," He said, "Now releasing the first limiter."

"Now releasing the first limiter." I repeated. holy shit red fire out of fucking nowhere!

"Limiter one, removed." He finished.

"Limiter one, removed!" The fire burst outwards a bit before dispersing, leaving me feeling much more powerful than before. I held up my claw, which I subconsciously activated it seemed, and noticed some differences. The spikes along the bone were slightly longer and curved a bit, while the claws themselves curved slightly inwards and had elongated some. There were also little wisps of black smoke trailing off of my body.

I was feeling really excited at the moment, and almost started bouncing around in glee, but then I was overcome with the oddest sensation. I felt like I exploded, to put it simply. Well that and I could see from about ten or eleven different places all at once. I then noticed how hungry for meat I was, and looked around. Noticing a mostly whole corpse, all of my perspectives launched at it and started devouring it. When there was little more than bone left, my perspectives massed at the spot I started at, then reformed into my body.

I stumbled slightly and put a hand to my head, "W-what the fuck just happened?"

"Uh," was Dean's slightly confused response, "I think you just turned into a flock of ravens and ate that pony's body."

"Really?" I asked while facing him. When he nodded, I smirked and said, "Cool, I'll have to think of a name for that later."

"Alright then," he said, "I think now is as good a time as any to part ways. Let's get out of this house, and I'll leave once we're outside."

"'Kay." We walked downstairs in silence, and found that Ardiente had woken up by now.

"No estoy hecho para este tipo de mierda..." I heard her mutter.

"What's that mean?" I asked.

After staring at me for a few seconds, she bluntly stated, "I am not cut out for this type of shit..."

"Ooooooohhh, explicit violence and murder not your thing?"

"No," she said, "but tearing someone apart and eating them? Not something I'd thought I'd see."

I was about to respond, but Dean cut me off, "Wait wait wait, did  I just hear you right? Did a pony actually just say someone instead of somepony?"

"Um, si?" She said confusedly, "When translated, the word is someone... Why?"

He shook his head, "Never mind, it's not important." We exited the building in silence, not finding anything to talk about.

When we we're standing on the doorstep, I turned to Dean and held my hand out for him to shake. "Well," I said, "it was interesting meeting you. And thanks for not killing me when we first met."

He shook my hand with a grin, "Nice meeting you too. And no problem, I wouldn't kill such a pretty face for no reason."

I growled at his remark, "Are you trying to piss me off? I don't know if you've noticed, but I am not pretty. In any sense of the word."

Dean just gave a laugh, "Sure, sure. Listen, if you ever need help, don't hesitate to give me a call." He started to walk away, but stopped and looked at me once more, "Oh, and don't sell yourself short, you really are a beautiful gal." He then suddenly vanished, making this annoying "WOOBWOOBWOOBWOOBWOOB" sound or whatever.

I noticed my body was glowing red, much like his was when I made that comment earlier. "Dammit...." I looked down to see Ardiente staring at me with a neutral expression.

She then averted her eyes and said in a barely audible voice, "Well, he's not wrong..."

I gave a loud, heavy sigh, my body glowing even brighter than before, "Dammit...."

Escape from Hell- Act I, Pt. VII: Meeting with royalty


"And you're sure you don't mind sticking with me?" I asked. Ardiente and I had taken a few days of rest, and were currently outside Manehattan, planning our next move. I wasn't too sure she would stay around, given how she reacted to my massacre at the Blanca headquarters.

"Si, I am sure. Just... don't rip a pony apart in front of me, and I'll be fine. The killing I can deal with." Her voice was slightly uneasy, but I assumed that to be memories of what I did to that one pony. That was fun.

"Well alright. If I have to eat one, I'll just cut them apart, then slice their meat in a way that it isn't recognizable as pony parts. That work?" She nodded in response. That's good.

Hmm, I guess I should mention what I did in the past few days. I got myself clean, for one. Twenty damn years of dirt, grime, filth, blood, semen, and my own fluids built up on me. Why Death didn't fix that when I was sent here is beyond me. I'm going with him just being a massive dick. I also freaked the shit out of Ardiente by showing her my scars. Last I counted, I was up to three thousand seven hundred and fifty eight. Yes, I counted. Yes that is an exact number. No, I didn't have anything better to do. I was locked in a God damned cell eighty percent of the time, what else could I do?

Moving on, Ardiente and I searched through the Blanca household. Found around thee hundred thousand bits. Apparently that's a lot of money. I say that because Ardiente told me so. She's my only source of current information, so I listen to her. ANYWAY!

"Okay so we're going to Canterlot, right? Big... Castle-y thingy on that mountain over there?"

"Si."

"Anything actually fun to do there, or are we just going for the hell of it?"

"A little of both."

"Ah." There was a short pause as she and I walked down the road, about two miles out of Manehattan by this point. What, too fast? Well, not my fault I can cover miles in few seconds sometimes, blame the guys at A.N.G.E.L. for doing it to me. As it was taking for fucking ever to walk, I picked Ardiente and Feral up and jumped my way there. Fucking fast as hell. Got there in a minute. Boom bitch, speed.

"Halt!" Fuck you!

"Fuck you!" Oh hey, I actually said it.

The pony who said it, a white, earth pony stallion wearing gold armor and carrying a spear, scowled at me. Fuck you again! I'll fucking swear if I God damned want to, shit headed asshole pony.

I sighed, "Alright, what?"

"Who are you?" He asked. "There's only one of you humans I know about, and you certainly don't look like him."

I shrugged, which was hard to do carrying a pony and an over-sized wolf, "Well I'm new here just got here a few days ago. Can we go in now, or am I not a allowed?" I set the two in my arms on the ground as I waited for an answer. He frowned again, but nodded and stepped out of the way. Pulling my mask down, I gave him a smile of appreciation, which only served to freak him out. Ha.

Walking the streets was kinda interesting, got a lot of fucking stares from ponies. At least I cleaned the blood and gore off, that would be weird for them to see, I bet. As we were walking, I got an idea of what I wanted to spend those bits on.

"Hey Ardiente," I began, "Know anywhere I can get some sort of large traveling bag or something?"

She smirked a bit, "Better, actually. Follow me, my father and I used to buy from a store here, they sell bags and chests with spacial enlargement spells on them." No idea what the fuck that is, but it sounds cool.

Turns out it was cool. The bag's some type of purse, but the spell on it let's you fit nearly anything into it. Only thing is, it still weighs as much. Eh, not a problem for me. Even got it in a dark brown to match my outfit. Speaking of which...

I opened the door to the clothing store place, which Ardiente told me was reliable. Apparently the mare that owns it made Ardient's mother's suit, on the day she ordered it too. Pretty damn fast.

A bell rang overhead, signaling the pale-ish yellow coated mare behind the counter to look up. She wasn't exactly shocked by my appearance, I guess, but she still stiffened up a bit.

"Excuse me," I said as politely as I could, "I was wondering if you could make a few outfits for me. As you can see, this one isn't the most... Unintimidating to some ponies." Is that even a word? I don't think so, but it kinda works.

The mare brightened up at this, and walked around the counter to stand in front of me, "Of course! Having seen that Dean fellow walking around, I've been wanting to make some human clothes. I just didn't know how to approach him, really, I've heard some rather.... Odd things about his personality."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, sounds right. Maybe. I dunno, only met him once. Hell of a guy, though. If he weren't a man I'd all over that....."

"..."

"Uh, I mean, you didn't hear that."

"Hear what?"

"Exactly. Now, clothes, can you make me some?"

She smiled, "Sure, just remove all of what you have on so I can take measurements." Oh she will not be so cheerful for long...

"Alright," I looked over to Ardiente for a brief second, "just don't faint or throw up or anything."

The mare looked confused, "Why would I do that?"

"Because," I began to explain while removing my hat and bandana mask thing, "As you can see on just my face, I have a lot of scars." I took off my coat, gloves, and body armor/vest thing, revealing my almost patchwork body. I guess I'll go a bit in-depth about the scars and shit. My left arm is... Quite messed up. Along with hundreds of crisscrossing scars from beatings and torture, I also have two deep, jagged chunks took from my upper arm, one right over the other. Got those from the... Blighthorns. No, no, don't think about them...

Anyway, there's also a nice patch of flesh that was taken off my upper arm, just below my shoulder, and was covered up by a welded and bolted on fucking metal plate. That happened before I became almost impassive to pain, too. Beyond that, all over my torso and back, lies the bulk of my scars. Seriously, I have over two thousand collected there in total. Also had my left nipple torn off, but that was honestly kind of arousing. Female doctor that did it too, so I won't complain. Other than that, my stomach has another patch of metal plate repaired patches of flesh. Again, it was a female doctor, and it was kind of arousing, so no real problem with me.

Next I removed my pants, boots and socks, placing them with the rest of my clothes. My legs, well, they didn't get off as bad as the rest of me. Just a bunch of scars, and a small patch of flesh with a metal plate on each one, no big deal really. Well my right foot is actually prosthetic, but I was born with that, and the A.N.G.E.L. guys actually did give me a new one. Connected to my nerves too, isn't that neat? One of the things they developed before they got shutdown, but it was too expensive to mass-produce or some shit. Huh, just realized Death never gave me underwear. No that it really mattered, given what happened to me down there.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the best part. One of the doctors decided he would see what would happen if he soldered steel clamps to my vagina. Think about that. Steel clamps. Soldered. To. My. Vagina. No I am not making it up, it really happened. Basically destroyed any possible sex in the future, be it with male or female. Fucking asshole doctor.

"So," I said to the stock-still pony clothes maker person, "clothes?"

"U-uh. Right, right, let's just... Begin, I guess."

I quirked, heh I love that word, an eyebrow, "What, not gonna freak out or faint?"

"Well," she began, "I've seen scars on veteran guards and the occasional gryphon that comes in. You're basically a combination of all of them. Times a hundred."

Shrugging, I followed her to a back room where she would measure me, "Don't get distracted by them, I'd hate for you to poke me with anything sharp and end up staining your floor."

The mare laughed a bit, "Dear, even if I were to stab you with a needle, I don't think you'd bleed enough from just that."

"... I wasn't talking about blood."

"Ha!"

I looked around, confused, "Was that Dean...?"

Well damn, she does make clothes fast, and she makes them pretty well too. I stood in front of a tall mirror in the shop, looking over my new outfit. It consisted of a black tank-top, a pair of baggy, gray jeans, a studded, black leather belt, a silver chain to hang from my pocket, a black bandana with a white Celtic cross on the front to replace the skull one, and a fingerless, black leather glove that ran half way up my left forearm and as belted in place. Pretty neat. I had to wear my boots and hat though, because the mare didn't make those.

Along with my Wraith outfit, I had a few other sets of clothes tucked away in my bag, which was slung over my shoulder. The other sets included some formal attire, and some other casual outfits. Pretty good all in all, only about three thousand bits, but none of my shirts could be made for my right arm. I don't know what Death did to the clothes he gave me, but there was apparently no spell that would allow me to use my claws without permanently vaporizing the sleeve. That and the sleeve would hang limply over the bone, unlike my Wraith clothes.

After leaving, we stood on the side of the street and looked around, hoping to find something fun. A thought occurred to me as I looked in the window of one of the less extravagant stores. Seeing something that caught my eye, I went in, telling Ardiente to wait outside. After some talking, well threatening, I made my purchase and walked back out.

"What did you buy?" My companion asked me.

"These." I said as I pulled a pack from my bag, the label on it reading "Marelboro".

"Cigarettes, really?" Ardiente asked, unamused.

"Well sorry," I put one in my mouth and lit it with the lighter I just bought, "but before they all went crazy back home, I would peddle some off the guards and doctors. Got addicted, sorta. Doesn't matter now anyway they won't affect me." I finished with a shrug and blew a puff of smoke into the air, much to the disgust of some "upper class" ponies. "Bite me." I snapped at them as they walked away.

"So then," Ardiente said, "what now?"

"Well-" I began, only to be cut off by a voice behind me.

"Excuse me... Er... Ma'am?" I turned to see another pony in gold armor. This one was a pegasus.

"Yes?"

He handed me a scroll, some sort of gold seal on it, and said, "The Princess was interested in meeting you, she requests your presence in the castle in an hour. Try not to be late." With that he flew off, not letting me get a word in.

"Alright then..."  I opened the scroll to read it, something about an invitation yadda yadda yadda. "Well, guess we got something to do."

Escape from Hell- Act I, Pt. VIII: Three's company


I got a fucking lot of stares as I made my way to the castle. Probably because my scars on my left arm and my skeleton one were completely visible thanks to my tank top. I think someone actually fainted. Bitch. Walking through the crowded streets was pretty easy, given that everyone moved right the fuck away from me as I got close. Ha, pansies.

Before I knew it, we were outside the castle, and two guards crossed spears in front of me, blocking entry. Sighing, I held up the scroll and showed it to them, having read on it that I would need to present the invitation to be let in. After reading over the piece of paper one of the guards motioned for me to follow him. Walking through the castle was boring, just a bunch of stone walls, paintings glorifying some horse lady, and banners. Also sculptures and vases, but those were kinda stupid and pointless to have. Oh look, door.

"The Princess is right through here," the guard stated, "I suggest you be on your best behavior."

Waving my hand, I pushed the door open and said, "If I had a dick, this is where I'd tell you to blow me." He scowled and walked off silently, while Ardiente, Feral and me went into the room. At a table, sitting on a cushion, was the white horse lady from the paintings. I think the history lesson thing said her name was Princess Cunt or something. She was calmly drinking a cup of tea, her eyes idly drifting over to us. They then widened a bit as she saw both my right arm, and Feral.

"You're, what, Princess something-or-other-that-begins-with 'C'? What was it, Princess Cunt?" I asked. Ardiente looked at me horror, while Cunt nearly spat her tea out. "What?"

"I am Princess Celestia." Cunt said.

Looking up in mock thought, I replied with, "Eehhh, I like Cunt better. So, what did you want to talk about, Cunt?"

She gave a heavy sigh and motioned for me to sit across from her, "Please, sit." When I did, she poured me a cup of tea and passed it over, "I just wanted to get to know you a little. I heard there was another human walking around Canterlot, and having some free time, I figured I would greet you. Though I didn't expect you to be so... Rude."

"Eh, can't help it, brought up around destructive, violent, literally insane bastards who did nothing but act like assholes. Major ones." I drank the still scalding hot tea in one gulp, then took a bite out of the cup due to sheer boredom. It seemed Cunt wasn't suspecting that, nor my sharp teeth, as she regarded my mouth closely. Very closely. "If you want to make out, you just have to ask."

Cunt reeled back, not expecting that comment. "Excuse my... Invasiveness, but I did not think humans could have teeth like yours."

I shrugged, "They don't. Got these from an experiment. Painful one, no anesthesia or anything. Came like, ten fucking times in the first hour, kinda faded in and out of consciousness due to the pleasure afterwards." Aahhh was that a good one, best experiment ever. Don't think Cunt liked it though, given the disgusted look on her face.

"I- What?"

"Oh yeah. You see, I was a test subject at an underground medical facility. Treated me like absolute shit. Anyway, tons of experiments, brutal ones, no numbing stuff, violent treatment, torture, rape, you know, all that stuff?"

Cunt's disgusted look deepened, and she scrunched her eyebrows in concern, "What exactly... Happened to you Miss... What is your name?"

"Sarah. And what happened was...

"... So then I bit his dick off, which was followed by his colleagues beating me, then shooting me in the head and killing me."

Ardiente, Cunt, and another pony who came in some time ago named Luna, were looking pretty horrified. I think anyway. Luna seemed more surprised and concerned than the other two. Dunno why.

"That- that really happened? To you?" Cunt asked me.

"Yep." I took my clothes off and showed them my scars, which they noticeably cringed at. Mostly my vagina though, which is unsurprising given that they're mares. Putting my clothes back on, I pulled a cigarette from my pack and lit it. "So yeah, that's my life. Rape, torture, experiments, monsters made in labs, and psychotic bastards who didn't give a damn about their humanity. Fun fun fun." I finished sarcastically.

"And those chemicals, they...?"

"Yep."

"But, were you-"

"Nope. Really, Cunt, it's like we didn't just go over this." I smiled at Cunt's small frown, and at Luna and Ardiente's failed attempts at trying to hold in their snickers. They were shocked or mad at first, but then they just started laughing at me calling her Cunt. I don't even know why I call her Cunt, I just like to.

"So then," Luna asked, "what have you been doing so far?"

"Well," I smiled, and Ardiente shivered as I assume memories came back, "I saved Ardiente from wolves, took the alpha, Feral there, as my pet, then went to Manehattan. Proceeded to slaughter a bunch of asshole ponies with Dean... Oh yeah, Dean is-"

"I know who Dean is," Cunt interrupted, "and what do you mean "slaughtering"?"

"Oh, you know, killing. Bunch of "mafia" assholes that killed Ardiente's family. We took them, and this thing called a Sentiment, down. Good times. Got to eat too."

Luna looked at me quizzically, "What do you mean you got to eat?"

"Well I-"

Ardiente waved her hooves, "No, please, don't-"

"-tore a stallion apart and ate every last bit of him. Except for his dick. Don't go near those anymore."

I think Cunt wanted to see if staring at me can kill me. Didn't work, obviously, but it was pretty amusing.

"You ate," she angrily began, "one of my ponies?"

"Yup. Watcha gonna do about it, Cunt?" I don't think she could do anything about it. She just sat there, glaring at me and huffing. "S'what I thought." Ardiente, having seen it before, didn't react as badly. Luna didn't seem as angry, just very disgusted at the prospect. "Sorry, but I don't really care how nasty it may seem to you, I have to do it."

"That's just... You... Just leave." Cunt isn't happy, apparently.

I shrugged, "Fine, I was invited, so it isn't like I wanted to come here. See ya Cunt, bye Luna. C'mon Feral, Ardiente, let's go." And so we left.

On my way out the gates, I turned around, cupped my hands over my mouth and shouted:

"CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNT!"

Ardiente stared at me, an annoyed look on her face, "Just... Why?"

"Cus she's a cunt."

Escape from Hell- Act II, Pt. I: Waters churning

Well that was rather fun, got to call the ruler of this place a giant cunt without any repercussions. Don't think she was too happy about it though, given how much she glared at me when I said it. Like I give a shit. It had been an hour since then, and we were walking through the the less crowded alleys and streets. What to do....

"Sarah."

"HOLY JESUS WHAT THE FUCK!" I wheeled around and found myself face to face (not really, he's pretty tall compared to me) with Death.

He raised an eyebrow with a slightly amused look on his face, then said, "I needed to speak with you about something."

"Hah hah...What?" I asked, trying to catch my breath as I rested an arm on a nearby wall for support.

"Firstly, I am sending two other Wraiths to meet with you, named Micheal and James. They are both men, and were humans in life. Try not to beat them too badly."

I frowned, but motioned for him to continue.

"Next, is this." He stepped out of the way to reveal... Oh my God that is abso-fucking-lutely adorable. Standing behind him was a young girl, maybe eleven or twelve years old, with orange-ish hair, dark green eyes, and long, pointed ears. She wore a deep purple robe with black around the edges, a rather large leather belt, and a hooded cloak with the same color scheme as the robe. Clutched in her hands was a small handle with symbols carved into it, similar to the ones on my right arm.

The other one was... Not so adorable. A tall man, probably eight feet tall, stood next to the girl. His hair was long, going probably three fourths the way down his back, and was severely graying, alongside his beard and mustache that looked to be eating the bottom half of his fucking face. He had a deep blue eye with a yellowish... Whatever the whites of your eyes are called. Anyway, on his head he wore large, round glasses, and a black top hat with a black sash tied around it. He had on black dress pants and shoes, a black leather belt with a silver buckle, a black suit vest and tie over a light gray shirt, a long black cloak, which had the sleeves lying limply on his sides, and was held up by a silver chain going over his chest. In his hands, which were covered by black gloves, was a sleek black cane with a silver top. The oddest thing about him, however, was his right eye. Around the eye was a black, downwards facing pentagram, the points of the star going outside the circle and arching inward to form hearts. In between each arm of the star was a small skeletal hand which seemed to be reaching towards the center. The eye itself was the strangest bit. Instead of the being the same color as his other eye, it was completely white, save for three small dots that formed a triangle, and somewhat resembled a skull's eyes and nose.

Death had disappeared, not telling me a GOD DAMNED THING, about either of the two. Frustrating piece of total fuck!

"Uuhhhh, hi." I am a master of conversation starting.

The girl looked at me, her hood having covered her eyes, and said, "Um, hello..."

"Hiya!" The man said. Jesus he looks, like, sixty years old, minus the young voice and smooth skin. I guess it's the hair? I don't know, he just seems really really old somehow.

"So... I was heading out to a hotel Ardiente here suggested... Wanna come with me? Then we can tell each other about ourselves?" They nodded, the man smiling the entire time, and we left for this place called "The Silver Wing".

Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch. Pretty much the extent of the mare at the door's speech to me. God damn ass just glared and complained about my appearance. Shut up when I threatened to eat her head. Oh, and she didn't even try to argue getting Feral out, as he growled at her in a way that made even me shudder a bit.

We reached our room, which was the eighth door on the right on the third floor, and sat around the room in silence. Awkward silence. Very awkward silence. So awkward... SOMEBODY TALK GOD DAMMIT!

"So..." The tall man began, a smile still on his face (just noticed he has a light... Um... British, that's it. He has a light British accent), "My name is James Valentine, or Jav as most liked to call me. I'm sixty eight years old, a little over eight feet tall, I have three sons and two daughters, four grandsons and nine granddaughters, I'm what's known as, or really was know as, a Necromancer, I try to be happy and make others happy as much as I can, my favorite color is blue and I'm just spouting off random shit in the hopes of making this less awkward. What about you two?"

I held my hands up and motioned for him to slow down, "Whoa whoa whoa, two things big guy. One, what the hell is a Necromancer, and two, really? Sixty eight? You look like, barely older than me!"

"Well," he said, "Those two go hand in hand. A Necromancer is a human who uses the life force of others to extend their own. That's the short version anyway. That's why I look so young even though I'm pretty old. The hair is annoying though, genetics made me start turning gray pretty early."

"Uh-huh, cool. How about you?" I asked the girl. She seemed to have warmed up to us somewhat, as she was no longer trying to hide under her hood. I guess James had heard it already, because he got up and went to the bathroom before the girl could speak.

"Well, my name is Arlosia Nightwhisper, I'm twelve years old, I'm a blood elf from Azeroth, I was a Warlock when I was alive, I've been a Wraith for about a month, I use darkness just like you, my weapon is this," she held up her handle thing, "which is a wand, um... That's all I can think of. Nice to meet you."

"... On a scale of one to ten, how weird would it be if I hugged you right now?"

"Uh, what?" Too late, doin' it! I launched from my spot on the bed and wrapped my arms around her tightly.

"Don't ask why, I had an overwhelming urge to hug you, and I'll be damned if I don't do it."

She patted me on the back and said, "Uh, alright...?"

"Sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?"

She shook her head, "Not really, it was just... Unexpected." She then hugged me back, which was sort of awkward, but not too much. I decided to sit down again, with Arlosia sitting in my lap, and awaited James' return.

"By all that is unholy, that is adorable." I looked over to the bathroom door to see James, who had decided to shave. He mostly just cut off the hair on the sides of his jaw, leaving a rather long and sizable goatee. "Anyway," he continued, "I do not believe we have been introduced to your friend here?" He nodded his head towards Ardiente.

"Oh," the aforementioned (hey I can use big words too) pony blushed slightly, "My name is Ardiente Fragua, I'm traveling with Sarah nice to meet you."

James gave her a nod, "And you as well."

"So," I asked, "why are you guys even here? Why did Death send you to be with me?"

"Oh, you know," he responded, "help you deal with things you may or may not be able to handle, keep you from killing the two he sent to meet you, help Arlosia and i get used to the whole Wraith thing-"

He was cut off by someone next door shouting, "Why do I keep losing to things that lack thumbs!"

I walked over to the wall it came from and banged on it with my fist, shaking the wall and knocking a few paintings off it, "Hey! Shut the fuck up! We're trying to have a decent fucking conversation over here, you fuck!"

"Sorry!" The voice returned.

I responded with, "You fucking better be!" I didn't hear anything else form over there, the desired effect. I walked over to the bed and sat down again, Arlosia returning to her place on my lap.

She looked up to me curiously and asked, "What does 'fuck' mean?"

"Well," I answered, "It's a slang term for sex, as I've heard, and also works as a sentence enhancer. For example; you could say 'What was that?' Or you could enhance it by saying 'What the fuck was that?' Oh, and don't listen to anyone if they tell you you shouldn't be saying that, the morons need to loosen up a bit. I'll teach you some more 'sentence enhancers' later." She nodded, smiling, and I think I saw Ardiente... I dunno facehoof and sigh, shaking her head.

"So what are we going to do?" Arlosia asked.

After a few seconds of thought, I responded, "I say we just wait for those other two, let them find us." I got nods of agreement and we just lounged around, waiting.

Escape from Hell- Act II, Pt. II: Meeting again


I don’t know how long passed since we entered the hotel room, but it certainly felt like forever. Sort of. Changing back into my original clothes was about the only thing that happened besides random conversation. I think we slept through the night. Possibly, got so bored I don’t really remember. Anyway, we got bored of waiting and left the room early to get some breakfast.

        We reached the breakfast hall with minimal difficulty, seeing as everyone just backed away at the sight of Feral, and got in line to get our food. Which was also easy, because every one of these ponies is a pussy and backs away from giant wolves. I didn’t even bother looking at what everyone else got, I was too concentrated on the giant slab of meat I got from the rather nice Griffon at the counter. Got one for Feral too.

        As we sat down at a vacant table, I looked around to see all the ponies backed up against a wall, “God damn it are we that fucking intimidating?” I asked.

        “I would say so,” James said, “we have a wolf, a predator, with us, and a rather large one at that. He stands at almost twice the height of these ponies. Not to mention, the two of you are viciously eating two raw, bloody hunks of meat right in front of them.”

        “So?” I growled, “It’s not my problem they can’t handle it.”

        I felt a tug at my sleeve and looked to my left to see Arlosia staring up at me, “Um, Sarah, over there.” She pointed to the door we came in through, and I looked over.

        “Well...” I responded with a single, slow blink, “It seems that pony doesn’t exactly like Feral here, given the glare... God dammit it’s too early to kill someone.”

        Ardiente gave me an incredu... Incre... Incredilu... Amazed look, “Really? There is a time that exists where you think it’s too early to kill something? I’m speechless.”

        I faintly glowed red and gave her a pointed stare, “If you’re speechless then stop talking, please...” I looked over to the pony who was glaring at Feral, “Oi, lass, stop staring at him or I’ll have him bite your head off.” She tensed up slightly and took a step forward, “Try anything different and I’ll bite your head off.”

        She just switched her glare to me, “I happen to be a trained guard, remove the wolf from the building or I will use force.”

        I stared at her blankly, not sure how to respond to how stupid she sounded. Before I could, however, Ardiente pushed away from the table, a tired look on her face, then marched casually over to the mare.

        When she was at a good distance, she leaned in a bit and said monotonously, “I saw her kill three wolves slightly smaller than that one with practiced ease, I saw her kill around twenty mafiosos even easier, one of which she ripped apart and ate gleefully. I am warning you, you don’t want to use force. You will die.” She then returned to her seat, sat down heavily, then smacked her face into the table and began snoring.

        I gave a short laugh, “Ha.” That’s when I heard the mare speak to someone else, which turned out to be... A male wannabe version of me, what the fuck? I guess he’s one of the Wraiths Death mentioned and that has got to be the biggest ‘what the fuck’ face I’ve ever seen. Time to freak out the new guy~

        I gave him my biggest, toothiest grin, which was fresh with blood, and said happily with a wave of my right hand, “Hello~”

        He gave a slightly feeble wave back, “Um... Hi.”

        Dammit not enough freak out... Wait! I got it! I made my eye glow and tilted my head down, casting a shadow over my face from my hat, then activated my claws, “Nice to meet you...”

        He gave me a stare for a few minutes before throwing his arms up and shouting, “Why the fuck am I not surprised!” He then turned to the mare, “She’s the person I need to talk to, why don’t you go and grab something to eat.”

        The mare looked to him strangely, “But, what about the wolf!”

        The guy waved a hand, “Has it harmed anyone?” The mare shook her head, “Then it’s fine.”

        I decided I was tired of listening to their arguing and ran up behind the guy, which was probably not what the mare expected, given the way she jumped, “Would you two stop bickering?”

        The guy turned to face me and said, “We weren’t bickering. I just got her to stop bugging you about the wolf.”

        I raised an eyebrow, “If I wanted that done, half of her would be smeared on the wall, and the rest would be in my stomach.”

        He just glared at me, “Very funny. Can we talk now, or is everyone going to stare at us?”

        “Sure,” I told him, “would you rather talk here or somewhere else, to avoid the stares?”

        “I haven’t gotten food yet, so maybe the park? I might be able to find a couple squirrel souls.”

        I gave him a flat look before chuckling a bit darkly, “Heh, animal souls, really? Whatever, eat what you want I guess.” I started heading out the doors, Feral, James, Ardiente and Arlosia following me, “Oh, and for the record, I wasn’t trying to be funny. I was serious.” I didn’t even check to see if they followed us, as I honestly didn’t care too much.

        When we got outside I saw... Some guy with a pony on his shoulder. The fuck? No really, the fuck? How many God damned wraiths am I gonna meet today? I didn’t have much time to think, as the colt waved at me and said, “Hi!”

        Then the white haired asshole that followed me waved back and said, “Hello there.”

        Deciding to not be too rude (never too late to try), I waved my right hand and smiled... Not the best idea. I forgot about my claw being activated, and my teeth were still covered in blood, and my eyes were still glowing. Fuck. A solitary eye twitch came from the guy, while the colt just smiled and said, “Cool...” Thankfully.

        Deactivating my claw, I apologized, “Sorry, forgot about that... Nice to meet you, I guess.” I held my hand out, my LEFT hand, to shake. He nervously shook it, wuss. When Feral came out, I could've sworn I heard some odd *squee* sound from the trees.

        After a quick look at the trees, the other guy turned to us, looked at the colt and said, “Well that was odd.”

        The other other guy, the white haired asshole, asked him, “What did you see?”

        The other guy, the one who looked at the trees, replied with a shrug, “Just what you would expect in trees. Leaves, leaves, and more leaves.”

The other other guy, again the white haired asshole, glared at the trees and said, “Then explain why I saw something about my height move.”

The other guy, you know who dammit, just said, “I have no idea.”

The other other guy-

Suddenly, Arlosia pulled her hair and screamed, “Gah, dammit, WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?”

        The colt then climbed down from the other guy’s shoulder and said to her, “My name’s Chocolate, what’s yer name?”

“Arlosia, nice to meet you. Now get the hell out of my face.” The guy who was with the colt then glared at her when he began to cry, “What? What the hell do you want?”

He tapped his foot and glared harder at her, “Well for starters, I would like an apology to my friend here.”

Arlosia leaned to the side to look at Chocolate, “I’m sorry you can’t handle someone being slightly upset with you.”

After letting out a growl, he turned to the white haired guy and asked, “So what’s you’re name?”

He held out a hand, “The names Michael, a pleasure to meet you.” So that’s his name.

After shaking his hand, he said, “James.” Shit that’ll be confusing. James then turned to James (fuck) and asked, “And you?”

“James.”

James and James just stood there, staring at eachother, then James (blonde one) said, “ ...…Well this is awkward..... ”

Michael nodded, “Yep, we got a problem within a couple minutes of meeting. How wonderful.”

“Well,” James (the tall one) said, “you could just call me Jav, that’s what everyone back home called me, most of the time anyway. There are a lot of James’ in the world, for whatever reason.”

Michael spoke up next, “Ok then,” he pointed towards James, “You’re James” then he  pointed towards Jav, “and you are Jav. Now what about the pony that’s with you?”

Ardiente looked up at everyone tiredly, “I’m Ardiente Fragua, former member of the Polomino family mafia, friend of Sarah’s. I would say it’s a pleasure, but your friend threatened my friend, and I don’t like you so much because of that.” She then climbed up Feral’s back, curled up and fell asleep.

Michael blinked, “Okay...”

I pointed at him and his friend, “HA!”

After letting Chocolate back on his shoulder, James turned to the other mare, “And your name would be?” That is a good fucking question! I need her name, so I can add it to the list.

The mare in question blinked, then answered, “My name’s Flare Dancer, I chased you across town yesterday before Luna saved you.”

“Jesus Christ that’s actually kinda funny, I think I’ll laugh now.” Then I fell to the ground laughing, simple as that. I think James was glowing a color not far off from piss-yellow, and he might have said something, but I didn’t listen.

When I finally stopped laughing, I climbed to my feet and said, “Ah God dammit, why was that funny? Whatever, Flare? You are no longer on the list of people I wish to kill, eat, then masturbate with the bones. Now it’s only kill.”

While Flare and Michael looked really grossed out, Chocolate asked, “Mr. James, What’s Masturbating?”

James decided it would be fun to act like a goldfish. “I- uh, It’s... Uh... I’ll let your mom tell you.” Really don’t see the appeal, looks weird.

Smiling, I said, “S’where I stick a bone up my vagina.”

James looked at me and covered Chocolate’s ears, “Please don’t ruin his childhood. It would be the end of me.”

Shrugging, I told him, “You make it sound like I should care about you. Besides, what’s knowing a few bad words? Way worse can happen to a kid.”

 

Michael smiled at Chocolate, “Why don’t we go get some ice cream?”

… I dislike him now. Last time I heard that, I was raped seven times.

Chocolate yelled, “ICE CREAM!!!!” Good God... That honestly wasn’t that loud. I’ve had high explosives go off right next me, what did you expect?

While they talked some more, I was distracted by Arlosia tuggin on my coat, “Hey Sarah, what’s ice cream?”

After a few seconds of blank thought, I answered, “No fucking clue.” Truth is I did, but the kind I ate included several doses of drugs and chemicals that may or may not have been illegal. Or may have been lethal. Sometimes both. Tasted like absolute shit. Trust me, I was forced to eat that sometimes, I would know.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The ice cream place was rather boring. Realised that young ponies don’t like skull masks and glowing red eyes, go figure. New way to freak them out now. Anyway, I got chocolate ice cream, never had it before, probably don’t want it, possibly has drugs in it. Need to assess further.

        While everyone else ate, I stared warily at mine, “This thing full of drugs or something? Don’t want a repeat of last time. That was a bad time, many dead bodies and chloroform.”

        Michael asked me, “No... Why the fuck would you think that?”

        I stared at him, most likely with a mad look in my eyes, “A.N.G.E.L. Fucked up people, many drugs, many many drugs. Chemicals too. Lots of them. So many drugs...”

While Michael was lost in thought, James stared at me and said, “Wha-huh?” That even a word? Don’t think so.

I looked at him, “Oh yes, bad people, did a lot of things, bad things, very bad things, mostly to me, other people too. One girl, beaten and killed, right in front of me, they raped her body, not fun, made me clean up mess too. Still better than me, at least she died, I didn’t for a while, got a lot of stuff. Lots of stuff, so much stuff. Rape, torture, stuff like that, some stuff worse, some stuff better. Mostly worse stuff. Lots of worse stuff. Like skeleton, tore me open, put in metal, now it’s mostly metal, very strong, very painful, always hurts to walk around.” I didn’t know it, but I was crying, and had dropped to my knees and clutched my head, “Wasn’t fun, not fun at all, lots of bad things, bad people, bad memories, not fun. Not fun at all, not fun...” I blacked out after that.

----Jav’s PoV----

I didn’t regard what James and his friend had said, as I was too preoccupied with Sarah at the moment. I pointed my hand at her and said, “Suspension.” In an instant, the gravitational pull on her body weakened, and I lifted her off the ground.

James began to ask, as Michael fell to the ground twitching, “What should we do about-”

“Leave him.” Came the response of Arlosia, Ardiente, and myself.

For whatever reason, Arlosia looked back and yelled, “You’re a bad word!” Charming little girl. I’d love to indulge further on what I’ve learned about her, but Sarah must be returned to the hotel, she needs rest.




Escape from Hell- Act II, Pt. III: Greetings from the depths of the mind


---Jav’s PoV---

Though the walk back to the hotel was rather uneventful, we got quite the surprise when we tried to get back in. As I reached for the door handle, I heard footsteps rapidly coming from my right. Looking in that direction, I saw a man in a white coat running at me, some sort of wave-like blue blade in his hand. I saw his eyes drift to my own right one for a second, before they widened and he sped up in his charge. Wait, does he recognize... Oh this could be bad. Before I could react he was in front of me, his eyes glowing in rage, and he swung at me. I lurched back, barely managing to avoid his blade, and unfortunately lost concentration on keeping Sarah up. She hit the ground with a heavy thud, and slowly began to awake with a groan.

---Sarah’s PoV---


I woke up to find myself on the ground in a different spot than before, and I had a massive headache. Sitting up and clutching my head, I opened my eyes to see Jav and... Well fuck me it’s Dean. Why is he trying to kill Jav?

“I’m going to kill you like I did your colleague you corpse-fucking piece of shit!” Dean yelled with unbridled hatred.

Jav dodged another swing and glared at him, “I do not fuck corpses. A corpse and a zombie are two different things!” Dean’s eyes glowed brighter. “Besides, I don’t even know who you’re talking about, the only recent family death was- Wait a bloody minute, you killed Mary!?” Dean smirked viciously.

“Shotgun blast to the face. Felt awesome bro.”

“Alright, now I’m pissed.” He held his cane at a downward angle, “Claymore, activate.” The cane then turned into a large sword, it’s blade pitch black, which he held in both hands and prepared to strike.

“Compensating for somethin’ Necro-fag?” Dean taunted with his usual smirk.

James suddenly started yelling “Just what the heck is going on!?”

Jav cast an annoyed glance at him, “Shut up.” He then raised his sword above his head to strike and said, “Heavy Swing!”

When he brought his sword down, Dean quickly reacted by blocking the blade and pushing back. The ground shook as he blocked the blade with his, and he was having some trouble holding his ground, as his arms were trembling from the strain. He pushed back once more with all of his strength and launched a kick to Jav’s ribs.

Taking advantage of Jav’s broken defense, Dean began slashing away at his chest, sending blood splattering onto the ground with each strike. After a couple seconds of slashing, Dean jumped into the air and double kicked him in the chest and sent him flying a few feet.

After struggling to stay standing, Jav looked at Dean with hate in his eyes, “God damned brat...” Leveling his hand with Dean’s chest, he shouted, “Lock and Key!”

Dean’s limbs locked up and his eyes widened with anger. “Damn old man...”

With some strain, Jav ran up to Dean and placed his hand on his chest, “Death Siphon.” Dean flinched as a green glow surrounded Jav’s hand briefly, and the wounds on his chest stopped bleeding and healed slightly.

Just as the locking effect went away, Jav swung downwards again and yelled, “Heavy Swing!” Dean managed to dodge, but not before getting a good look at the shattered ground where he once stood, numerous large cracks spreading from the spot. Dean quickly kicked Jav away and jumped away onto a street post.

“Really now? I guess I’m done masterbating with my nipples and have to start beating your ass.” He said with a raised eyebrow and a glare. He jumped off of the rail and in mid-air swung his sword in a downward arc. “Arctic Dagger!” A familiar blade of Ice shot out and quickly trailed after Jav. It hit its mark as Dean landed and made even more cuts on his whole body then just his chest.

Clutching his chest, Jav looked at Dean in anger, “I don’t understand why Sarah spoke so highly of you last night, you are a rude, violent bastard, and if it weren’t for the fact that she likes you so much I would be tempted to tear you to pieces.”

Dean laughed. “Sounds like someone is a little butt-hurt. Let’s list off your failures so far.” He mocked as he held up a hand. “One: you’re piece of shit necromancer. Two: I’m Dean fuck-mothering Marcelo. Three: refer to number two asswipe. Besides that, did you honestly think a Knight of the Holy Lance would be beaten by a goddamn necromancer?” He taunted with a sneer.

“Okay,” he responded, “one: I don’t like being a necromancer all that much. Two: why should I care? I have no clue who you even are. And I couldn’t care less if you’re a Knight, you threatened me and by extension everyone with me, so I’ll fight you if I have too.”

Dean raised his hands in mock defense. “Watch out everyone we have badass over here!” He yelled before he turned serious. “Yeah, let’s get one thing straight. I didn’t threaten Sarah, I think she’s a good kid,” The fuck man I’m almost fucking twenty one years old, “so I don’t know why she’s traveling with someone like you. Don’t confuse me trying to kill you as me trying to kill the others.” He calmly told him.

Arlosia leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I think I remember how to open a hole to the Twisting Nether, maybe I can....”

“No,” I said, “just... just don’t.”

“Aw come on, why not? Guy’s a complete prick!”

I sighed and shook my head, finally out of whatever daze I was in from waking up, “I’ll try and reason with him.” I then silently walked over to Dean, who was still glaring at Jav, and tried my best to calm him down. By that I mean I kicked him the shin and yelled, “Would you fucking stop already!?”

Dean began hopping on one foot as he held his knee. “OW! What the fuck!?!” He swore in pain.

“I’m sorry, I guess I wasn’t clear enough in negotiation, let me try again.” I then kicked his other shin, hoping to get the point across. “Understand yet, or should I continue?”

Dean rose from the ground he fell on and glared at me, “Was that really fucking necessary?” He asked me angrily.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said sarcastically. I then pointed to Jav and glared at Dean, “Was that?”

Dean rolled his eyes, “I’ve fought that bag of cock’s relative, I’d have to say yes since she was one big psycho bitch with kleptomania of people and turning them into one big sack of fuck! I ain’t going to let him continue her work, not after all that work I put in to stopping it.”

I heard Jav yell from his place on the ground, “For your information, I don’t want to continue her work. I left the family ages ago! Hell, I’m glad you bloody killed her! Mostly.”

Dean shouted back, “I don’t give a beavers nipple! You’re a damn necromancer, and I don’t trust you, since your relative didn’t exactly help paint a good picture of them!”

Deciding on a good argument to his accusations, I slashed him lightly across the face with my sharpened fingernails, “Alright then, fuck off you criminal piece of shit.”

Dean stared with wide eyes before he narrowed them and made them glow. “The fuck did you just call me...?” He whispered with rage.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “but I don’t associate with mobsters, after how bad an image the Blancas painted for me. It’s obvious you’re no better than them.”

At that point, a stream of mist actually started to flow out of his eyes as he began giving off a ice blue aura. His rage was actually fucking tangible, holy shit.  As soon as it came though, it disappeared. The fire died, and so did the glowing of his eyes. He started to chuckle before it turned into a full laugh.

“What? What’s so funny?” I asked in confusion.

Dean shook his head as he smirked, “Clever girl. I see what you’re doing. Not exactly that subtle, are you?” He asked with humor.

I shrugged and smiled, “Got you to stop though, didn’t it?” He laughed again.

“Yeah, I guess it did.” he replied with his own smile before he turned serious. “Still, I don’t trust him. Like I said his relative didn’t help, but I won’t attack him.” He assured me.

I was about to respond, but footsteps and a metal clanging interrupted me. Jav walked over, wincing and using his sword to stay balanced, and said, “If it’s any consolation, I broke off from the family after I learned they were doing that. The only reason I didn’t kill her along with our mother and younger sister was because she had escaped beforehand.” Dean nodded in understanding and held up a finger.

“I still have to be careful though. One mistake. That’s all it’s going to take for me to gut you.” He responded with determination. But he shook his head. “But then again, I’m pretty fucking laid back, so It’ll have to depend on what happens, I guess.” He shrugged.

Jav opened his mouth to respond, but then a look of realization came over his face, “Oh God dammit...” He then reverted his sword back into a cane and lightly smacked Dean in the forehead, “I knew I heard your name somewhere. That werewolf who killed me thought I was my sister, for whatever reason, and only figured out you had killed her as I was already dying. No wonder I forgot your name.”

Dean winced. “Shit, my bad man.” He scratched the back of his neck.

Jav waved a hand, “Whatever, now I can go on without everyone accusing me of being a bloody monster every damn day.” He then gave a smirk to Dean, “Mostly, anyway.”

Dean gave a smirk in return, “I ain’t even mad.” He shrugged.

As I watched the two converse, I felt a weight on my back. Looking over my shoulder, I almost knocked heads with Arlosia, who had climbed up my back to get a look at Dean.

“So...” She began, “We aren’t sending him to the Nether then?”

Dean raised an eyebrow, “Now, it isn’t my style to threaten kids, so... Fucking really?” He then stared at Arlosia with exasperation, “A blood elf? Really?” He face palmed with a sigh, “Honestly, I’m not surprised anymore with the shit I’ve seen so far.”

She leaned back a bit and her face scrunched up, “Well screw you too.”

Dean then had a look realization and held up a hand in defense, “Shit, kid I didn’t mean that I hate ya,  I meant that I never thought I would see a blood elf. Ever. I mean like, never at all. I just... Never mind.” He sighed.

After a short pause, Arlosia held out her hand and said, “O..kay then. My name’s Arlosia Nightwhisper. Nice to meet you, I think?”

Dean smiled apologetically and took the hand and shook it, “Dean Marcelo. Nice to meet you too.” He introduced himself.

Feral walked up and sat next to me, and Ardiente looked up tiredly from his back, “Oh great, it’s you. The guy who killed everyone at the Blancas house and probably scarred me for life. Joy.” Dean eye twitched in annoyance.

“And here’s the mare with a “Mafia” history. Besides, fuckers deserved it.” He did air quotes, fucking air quotes.

“Firstly,” Ardiente replied, “I just wanted them gone, not completely brutalized in every way possible. Secondly, for someone who talked about respecting family, you sure don’t have any for other ones.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “Because you have yet to earn it! From I saw back at Manehatten, and now even, you’re acting like a lazy house cat rather than a mobster!” He retorted.

Giving him a level look, she suddenly used her magic to whip her compact crossbow out and fired a bolt straight into his leg.

Dean, having seen it coming with the look she gave him, he sliced the bolt in half and stared at her with a raised eyebrow, “Try a little harder noob.” He taunted with a smirk.

She gave him a tired smirk of her own, “Magic crossbow, gotta love it.” When he raised an eyebrow at her, she pointed to his other leg, “missed one.” She then rested her head and fell back to sleep, not waiting for a response.

Dean sighed as he took the bolt out of his thigh, “Well now I know what it does. She’s certainly never getting a lucky shot like that again.” He growled with annoyance.

I raised an eyebrow at him, “Given that she probably will never need to, I don’t see how that makes sense.”

Dean shrugged, “I don’t care, I still have a plan for when it happens. Always plan for the unexpected, even when there’s no chance of it happening. Learned that from the fucking Wendigo...” He muttered quietly.

“Alright...” I said. Hm, I feel like I’m forgetting something. “Oh that’s right, I’m supposed to be having a mental breakdown! How could I forget that. Anyone know where I can find someone that can be eaten without real consequence?” Dean then had this evil smirk, then started walking until he looked back at me.

“You want some food lassie? Let’s get some food...” He said with a sinister smirk on his face.

A little confused, I set Arlosia down next to Jav and followed him, “Where are we going?”

Dean chuckled with malice, “Oh, we’re going downtown. Where else can we find a hive of scum and villainy that won’t give you too much of a hassle if you kill them?” he asks me, expecting me to know the answer.

“A hospital?” I ask him.

“Goddammit Sarah...” He sighed and facepalmed.

“What? Doctors are fucking evil. I don’t trust any of them ,and no one else should either. Bunch of rapists and murderers.”

Dean raised an eyebrow, “What kind of fucked up hospital did you go to?” He exclaimed.

I scowled, “The kind where everyone is jacked up on mind altering drugs, rape is a passtime, and different ways of compelling subjects to commit suicide is good conversation.”

Dean looked thoughtful for a moment, and was muttering to himself, I was able to pick out one word. Croatoan.

“Oh, I almost forgot the best part! The only food his several different types of illegal and dangerous drugs. I heard jokes about hospital food being bad other places, but....”

Dean suddenly stood in front of me, peering at me closely. “What the fuck are you doing?” I ask him.

“Trying to figure out why the Croatoan virus isn’t affecting you right now...” He replied. His eyes narrowed before he backed away and shrugged. “Well, I doubt I’d find out here, so I’ll just drop it.” We then resumed walking.

As much as I wanted to ask about this ‘Croatoan’ stuff, I really needed to get something to eat, don’t need to go on a murdering spree in the middle of a crowded city.

Escape from Hell- Act II, Pt. IV: A warning for the future

---Downtown---

“AHHHH!!! This just smells like home!” Dean shouted with sadistic glee.

“Maybe to you,” I said, “mine smelled like sterilization fluids, shit, and semen.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “God, you are so negative. Can’t you just wake up and smell the damn coffee and be happy?”

After a short, blank stare, I asked, “The fuck is coffee?”

Dean did a sharp intake of air and spoke through gritted teeth, “Let’s just get the damn guy...” He groaned.

“Fine fine, let’s go.” I followed him silently, too distracted by my growing hunger to say anything.

We make it to an alleyway, and Dean stops just outside of it, his smirk growing wider and wider. He pulls out the hilt of wraith blade but doesn’t activate it and says, “Oh I’m going to enjoy every second of this...” He growled out. I peer inside the alley and spot a stallion hiding behind the dumpster, holding a knife in his teeth. Is this what we came here for?

I pointed to him and asked, “Is that him?”

Dean nodded and whispered, “Oh it gets better, and I think you’ll enjoy this even more than you normally would.”

“And why is that? I’d enjoy it no matter what at this point.”

“One word: rapist.”

“Ah.” I said, as I nodded calmly. I then stared into the alley and held my right arm up. “Two words,” I activated my claws and made my eyes glow red, “lunch time.”

--30 minutes later--

        I walked out of the alley, which was currently splattered with blood and small bits of meat, and wiped my hands on my pants, “That was nice.”

Dean sneered at the mess and said, “Brutta... you could at least clean yourself up.”

“Fuck your manners I’m dead!”

Dean groaned and facepalmed, “Fucking really...? Alright, just... just hold still.” He tells me. I felt the blood on me lift off and become solid, as does the blood on my pants, leaving myself clean.

“Oh, neat, now I don’t have to spend three hours scrubbing this thing clean. Thanks.” I walked over to him and gave him a pat on the back. With my right hand. Which nearly made him fall forward.

“Goddammit...” He muttered. He straightened himself out and moved towards where I ate the asshole pony. “Well, time to get to work I guess.” He cracked his neck as the atmosphere became colder and colder. As he worked, he began to whistle a tune I never heard, kind of nice I guess, and cleaned up all of the blood like he did for me. He turned around and weakly smiled. “Still pretty fucking tired...” he muttered quietly as he used the wall to hold himself up.

I stared at him curiously, “You alright man? You seem pretty worn out...”

Dean chuckled, weaker than before, and reassured me, “Yeah... I’m fine.”

“Okay then, let’s just walk back to the others then.” I turned around and started walking back, before I heard a thump behind me. Looking back, I saw Dean had collapsed to the ground, and was unconscious. Fuck uh..... “God dammit, now I gotta drag your ass back there.” I picked him up from the ground and draped him over my shoulder, beginning my trek back.

---Silver Wing---

        When I got back, Jav, Arlosia, Ardiente, and Feral had, I guess, went up to the room. I decided to head up as well and put Dean in bed to let him rest. When I reached the room, I found it empty, oddly enough. Shrugging, I dropped Dean into the bed and turned to leave. I stopped though, and turned to look at the bed where he was sleeping.

        “Eh, I was kinda tired anyway.” I then unceremoniously flopped myself onto the bed, landing right on top of Dean. He only gave a grunt in his sleep, which I didn’t really hear as I had already drifted off.

--The next day--

        I was woken up by screaming. It was Dean, who was yelling, “TOO CLOSE! TOO CLOSE!”

        I opened my eyes to stare at him briefly, then closed them and mumbled, “Shut the fuck up, I’m sleeping...”

“Why the hell are you on top of me!?!” He yells.

“Well,” I answer tiredly, “I was sleepy, this is the only bed for whatever reason, and I didn’t feel like sleeping on the floor.”

“Get the fuck off of me then!” he exclaimed with annoyance and possibly embarrassment.

“God, fine, stop your complaining.” I, as slowly and lethargically as possible, slinked off of him, much to his annoyance. “Happy?”

He started glowing like when I made that comment back when he brutalized that blanca,  except this time it was brighter than last time.

“Much better, thank you...” He muttered. He pulled on his tie to loosen it a bit and pushed the brim of his hat down to hide his face.

“Okay, really,” I shouted, “what is with the God damn glowing!? Seriously, what is it!?”

“W-well...” He drifted off.

I leaned in a bit closer, “Hmm? Didn’t catch that.”

“I-it means...” he drifted off again.

“Yes?”

“IT MEANS BLUSHING DAMMIT!” he shouted.

I lurched back, slightly embarrassed now. I also noticed my body was glowing as well. “Oh.”

“Yeah...” He glowed brighter.

I was about to respond, when a polite cough from the doorway cut me off. We looked over to see Jav, Arlosia, and Ardiente standing there, varying degrees of ‘what the fuck’ on their faces.

I smiled nervously, “Uh... Hey guys... How much of that did you see?”

Ardiente shuddered a bit, “Too much.” Dean tried to hide his face under the shadows of his hat.

“Well, um...” I looked to Dean for assistance, “Help me out here!”

Dean quietly stepped forward, when suddenly he pointed at me and said, “It was all her.” He then looked away and didn’t say anything else, his glow increasing in brightness.

I looked at him, shaking my fist, “FUCK YOU!”

Arlosia looked up at me curiously, “But why would you want to-”

“Not what I meant!” My body was practically radiating by now, casting a red glow fucking everywhere. “For fuck’s sake, I was just tired and didn’t want to sleep on the damn floor. That’s it! Happy?”

Jav raised an eyebrow and smirked, “You’re being very defensive about this. Any reason?”

Dean and I simultaneously whipped our heads around to glare at him, “Shut it!”

“Anyway,” I said, hoping to stop this, “where were you guys yesterday?”

Jav’s eyes wandered off to the side, “Oh, around...” After my glare intensified, he held up his hands, “Fine, fine... We were going to go to the castle and see about meeting the princesses, but apparently I look like a pedophile and was thrown out. Bloody assholes. Arlosia being there didn’t help either.”

“It’s not that far from the truth...” Dean muttered quietly.

Jav glared at him, “I heard that.”

“Good.”

I stepped between them and held my arms up, “Simmer down, we don’t want another fight.”

“Relax, it’s just a joke.” Dean waved his hand nonchalantly.

I stared at him coldly, “Yes, because making jokes about child rapists in front of me is so sincere and kind hearted of you. Fucking dick.” Dean shrugged, and sighed.

“Fine fine, no more pedo jokes.” Dean rolled his eyes.

“I will string you up by your dick. YOUR DICK!”

Dean stared blankly at me before he shrugged, “Heard worse.”

“Extremity doesn’t matter all the time. As long as they die, it’s fine in the end.”

This time he was glaring, “Calm the fuck down. I said I would stop, and I fed you so quit your bitchin’.”

I gave him a level stare, “Last person that said that shoved his COCK UP MY ASS!”

Dean threw his arms in the air, “Jesus there is just no mute button on you is there! I said I would stop! Fucking enough!”

I nodded, “Okay.” I paused for a second before looking at him again, “Oh, and for the record?” I pressed my finger against a small, round bulge in my neck, and a click was heard. I then mouthed wordlessly, ‘There is one.’

“PRAISE THE LORD SHE DOES!”

I clicked it again, “I control it though, so only I decide when I shut up.”

“FUCK!”

I laughed at him for a second before remembering something. I walked over to the wall and banged my hand on it, “Hey white haired fuck, you in there!? Wanna come join us in here!?”

Dean looked at me and asked, “Who are you talking to?”

“Oh just some guy named Michael, a Wraith I met yesterday. He’s not so bad, but his friend Flare is a bitch, wanted to use force to remove Feral from the building.” I started banging on the wall over and over again, trying to get his attention, “C’mon man, get in here!”

        “Yeah come on man, we need more people!” Dean shouted.

        I was not expecting his response to be as follows, “NO GOD DAMN IT! I WILL NOT JOIN YOUR DEMONIC ORGY SARAH!”

        …

        …

        …

        “What the fucking FUCK!?” I stormed out the door and went over to his, kicked it open and glared at him. “What the hell do you think we’re doing in there!?”

        He blinked, “You mean that you weren’t getting fucked?”

        I stared at him in bewilderment, before shouting, “NO! What in the possible FUCK made you think that!?”

        “All I heard were some very sexual words.”

        I gave him a blank look, “I am one of the most vulgar people I know, and none of that sounded sexual to me! How fucking sick minded are you!?”

        “I can’t rightly help it when I hear the words ‘cock up my ass’ coming from your room.”

        “I was talking about RAPE!”

        

        He stood up, “Well I only heard the things you yelled. I didn’t know you were talking about rape.”

        “You know what? Whatever.” I turned to leave, before staring back at Flare, who had just finished vomiting, “Back on the fucking LIST, pony bitch!” I then left, slamming the (remainder) of the door. I then threw the door open again, “You coming or what?”

        He answered, “Yeah. By the way who’s next door?”

        Walking over to my room, I told him, “Everyone from yesterday, as well as a friend of mine.” I opened the door and walked in, waiting for him to follow.

        I stared at Michael, who was looking at Dean wide eyed. Poking him in the head (making him bleed a bit thanks to my fingernails) I asked, “You alright lad?”

        He answered, still staring at Dean, “I think so... I can’t be sure yet.”

        Rolling my eyes, I hit him on the side of the head with my knuckles, “You got the hots for him or something? You’re locking up just looking at him.”

        He looked at me in disgust, “FUCK NO! Do you even know who the hell that is!?”

        I stared up in thought, “Not really. Only heard his name once or twice around the facility. I know his name, and that he’s good at what he does, that’s about it.”

        He practically shouted at me, “He’s one of the most famous mobsters in the entire United States!”

        After staring at him in silence, I asked, “The hell is the United States?”

        He facepalmed and said, “The country on which you stood.”

        “Sorry if I didn’t know that,” I responded, “A.N.G.E.L. didn’t exactly let me out much. Or let me learn anything.”

        He looked at Dean before holding out a hand. “Okay then. I can’t fucking believe I’m doing this. Nice to meet you, I’m Michael.”

Dean stared at the hand looking bored at the hand before shaking it half heartedly, “and look at all the fucks I don’t give.”

Michael threw his hands up and yelled, “They’re just falling from the sky!”

Dean raised an eyebrow before smirking, “Oh we’ll get along just fine.”

I stared at them blankly, before putting a cigarette in my mouth and lighting it, mumbling loud enough for them to hear, “Jesus, just met and they’re flirting already...”

Dean looked in my direction, “Jealous?”

Without looking at him, I retorted, “With how you were lighting up? Maybe I am...”

Dean scoffed, “You caught me by surprise, besides, wasn’t it you who was on top?”

I shrugged, “Wanted to see what it was like to take charge for once.”

He laughed, “Well then, my body is yours when you want it.” he did a mock bow as he took his hat off.

Without taking my eyes off him, I shrugged my trench coat off and dropped my vest, “If you really want... This.” I gestured to my scarred body.

He shrugged before sighing sadly, “I’ve seen worse.”

“Why am I not surprised?” I put my clothes back on, “Whatever, not like I’d do that anyway. I’d probably break down and cry before you got within a good three feet of me.”

        Dean sighed again, “ I hope you can get past that one day.”

        I gave him a sidelong look, “The day I get over my fear of dicks, after having one shoved in me against my will over nine hundred times, is the day the God damned world ends.” Dean’s eyes darkened at the mention of rape, but go back to their original brightness.

“I see. I hope you realize that you never have to worry about that again.”

I laughed, “Next fucker to try that gets his dick torn off and shoved down his throat.”

Dean smirked viciously, “I would start by breaking his legs. Then peel the dick like a bannana, and then put different pieces in various openings, ears, mouth, ass, it wouldn’t matter.”

I gave a low whistle, “I like your style. That would take too long for my liking though, I’d rather spend as little time around them as possible, even if they’re dead.”

Dean laughed evilly, “Oh I’m very quick when it comes to torture. I’ve had to give a little extra tender love and care to the rapists and serial killers of the world, and enjoyed every second of it.

        I chuckled, “Jeez, you’re starting to sound... Like...” I scowled as an unwanted thought came up, “Her.” Oh dear God I did not need to think of her at a time like this, and by that I mean any fucking time. I still fucking hate them for creating that... That thing.

Dean raised an eyebrow, “Who?”

        I shuddered involuntarily, “Ugh, the most horrible thing A.N.G.E.L. ever made. She’s about ten times worse than me, and with even looser morals.”

“Oh boy, a meaner Sarah, like I don’t need to deal with you enough as it is.” Dean facepalmed.

        I shook my head fiercely, “That thing is not just a meaner me. I have seen that freak eat people’s heads off in a few bites, then spit them into other’s faces to blind them, just so she could bite their stomachs out and play in their guts.”

“Fun.” Dean deadpanned.

“She was eight years old when she did that. Well, technically one year old, but that’s when not factoring in all the, er, stuff, before hand.” I looked around nervously, trying to avoid saying anything about where exactly she came from.

“Well, she’s not around, right?” Dean asked.

I fidgeted in place and looked around even quicker, “Ehehe, yeah, sure, not around, let’s go with that. Totally, she’s gone, nope, no more of her, that’s for sure.” Jesus Christ I am fucking terrible at lying...

“Sarah, you can’t lie for shit.” He deadpanned and stared at me.

“Okay... Well... Maybe she’s... Kindasortamyalternatepersonalitybroughtonbythenumerousdrugstheypumpedintome!” I smiled sheepishly. “Remember when I said I go crazy if I don’t eat anyone? Well... Uuuuuhhh, yeah.”

“Let me guess, she manifests herself when your body goes through some sort of phase.” Dean deadpanned.

That... Is so far from the truth but I don’t want to go into detail. “Yes. Yes she does.”

He stared at me for a moment before nodding, “Alright. If that’s what happens, then be careful.” Oh sweet lord we are boned if this happens.

I nodded quickly, “Uh-huh, careful. Definitely, I do not want her taking over again.”

“Anyway we can prevent it from happening?” he asked curiously.

“Eat people.”

“Well shit, ponies will have to do.” He sighs. He sounds like he’s heard of this before.

“Yup, and there is no possible way they won’t do, I’m sure of it.” Fucking hell I probably have about a month.

Dean then glared at me, “A little too agreeable, aren’t you? What are you hiding?”

I laughed nervously, “Definitely not the fact that I’m not too sure I can keep her dow-” I clamped my hands over my mouth.

Dean sighed, “Dammit Sarah...”

“Hey!” I yelled, “It’s not my fault, I didn’t make the thing. You can thank those fuck off researchers and doctors for that.”

“Did I say you created it?” He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

I looked around nervously, “Nope, no you didn’t, sorry for thinking you did. Didn’t mean to blame you, no, not at all.”

Dean lessened his glare, “Sarah, why are you so nervous? I’m trying to help you...”

“Nervous?” I asked, “Whose nervous? I’m not nervous. Nope, not at all, totally calm. No sir, no nervousness here, hehe...”

“Sarah, I know you’re hiding something... but I won’t press you if you don’t want to tell me. Just promise me something.”

“WHAT!?” I took a breath, “I mean... What is that?”

“Promise me you’ll find me if it gets too bad. I want to help you, I really do.”

        “That... Yeah, okay, I’ll just find you when it gets really bad, that way the bitch has a better chance to fucking EAT you!”

Dean chuckled. He FUCKING chuckled, but he flinched slightly,  “You seem to doubt me.”

I jabbed a finger in his face, “And you seem to doubt her. I have seen recordings of her doing things even I find disgusting and cruel, and that was fucking YEARS ago.”

Dean’s glare returned, “Tell me then, have you ever seen a mutilated baby? I mean just no limbs at all, just a torso? Now multiply that by a thousand, and add the variable of different other corpses with other wounds. I’ve seen some shit you wouldn’t believe, I’ve seen some shit that would make your recordings seem tame. Don’t talk to me about sick, I’ve seen sick, and I’ve done some sick shit.” His glare lessened. “Promise me... please...” He was pleading this time.

I stood silent for a moment, thinking it over. I finally caved in, and nodded, “Alright... Alright, I will...” That’s when I heard it. A very faint voice at the back of my mind:

“Sounds delicious, his life...”

My entire body froze, and my eyes widened, “Oh shit... Oh shit oh shit oh SHIT...”

“What’s wrong?”

“I... I honestly don’t know. I shouldn’t be able to hear her, It’s impossible. No, oh God no, nonononononononono...” I fell back against the wall and clutched my head, “Why can’t she just leave me alone? I didn’t mean to create her, I didn’t...” I paused for a few seconds before looking right into Dean’s eyes, “Why?”

He kneeled down to eye level, “Sarah, you’ll be alright.”

“No.” I... No she said. “She won’t.” Her voice was much like mine, but deeper and full of anger. “And don’t give her false hopes that she will...”

“Oh shut the fuck up! You may be a part of her, but If I have to, I’ll find a way to kick you out of that thick skull! And trust me,” He then grabs me, “I always find a way.” His eyes began to leak mist, showing just how much anger he was feeling.

“Fine. Try.” My mouth stretched open in a wide grin, almost tearing my cheeks, and my voice became more playful, “I’ll be waiting~”

Dean snarled, “I wouldn’t be so excited bitch. When I see you, I’ll have to beat you senseless...”

“Oh, you’re so angry, Dean~” My smile faded, “I apologize but I’m going to have to go now. But before I do,” I raised my right arm and activated my claw, “A parting gift.” I swung my arm inward and rammed my middle claw into my mouth, pinning my head to the wall. “Bye~”

“YOU BITCH!” He grabbed my arm and pulled out my claw.

“What in the fuck!” I spat out a massive mouthful of blood, “Jesus Christ what the hell just happened!?”

“Your fucking bitch of an alter ego, that’s what!” Dean exclaimed as he looked me over.

“God dammit,” I felt the back of my head, where a hole now sat, “Every time. Every time she comes out, she does something like this.”

“Dammit...” He sighed as he used his ice to freeze the hole in my head shut.

“Yeah... Fucking bitch, she is. Where do you think a third of these scars came from?”

“Wow, she must have did a number on you if you’re talking like Yoda...” he said with concern.

“The fuck is a yoda... Nevermind. What did she say? Anything at all?”

“About me giving you false hopes... I never lie. I don’t plan on letting this bitch take control of you. You can count on that.” He looked at me with determination.

“I don’t know why,” I said, “but trying to kill of what is, pretty much, a good chunk of me, sounds like a really bad idea.”

He shook his head, “That’s not what I meant. There’s plenty of ways to keep her from getting out. I just have to find the right way. If anything, it won’t hurt you at all.” He assures me.

“I swear to God, if you get those chemicals and shit somehow, I will personally see to it that you die. Painfully.”

Dean glared, “Stop assuming that I’m trying to hurt you. I wouldn’t give a drug addict their fix, even if they begged. If I gave you more of the Croatoan, it would only make it worse.”

“Okay, I’m assuming the worst because I had to a majority of the time I was alive, it’s a habit. Plus, I was there at the facility because I was incredibly resistant to the stuff flooding the place, and it actually did keep her down. I only don’t want it because it holds literally every bad memory I have.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re resistant to it. Matter of fact, I’m pretty sure that’s what spawned that piece of shit. I know some guys back on earth that have dealt with this, I just need to ask Death if he’ll let me contact them.” Dean told me.

“Well, you’re right about it spawning her, mostly, I helped in that regard too. And the last thing I want is someone who's dealt with this before, cause as far as I know, that stuff was only cycled through the facility I was in. That means the only people who’ve dealt with it worked there at some point.”

Dean sighed, “You actually think It’s science that created the Croatoan?”

“I didn’t even know it’s name until yesterday when you mentioned it! Plus, they never told me anything about it, so how would I know?”

Dean raised his hands in defense, “You’re right, you’re right, sorry. Like I said, the Croatoan isn’t man made. It’s supernatural.”

“... Okay.” I’ll pretend to know what that means to avoid lengthy explanations.

“Anyway, If I can get Death to let me contact them, then I should be able to find a solution.”

“Cool. I think. I’m not too trusting that it’ll work, but anything is better than nothing. Thank you.” I got to my feet and took a few steps forward, only to fall flat on my face and pass out. Dammit.

Escape from Hell- Act II, Pt. V: A town called Ponyville


Nightmare

I stood outside a blood splattered, thick steel door. To my left and right, white sterilized hallways stretched on endlessly. This place felt... Familiar to me. I didn’t know what was behind that door, and I certainly didn’t want to find out. That door gave me a strange, unnerving feeling that made me want to bolt from there. I wanted to run, but I was rooted to the spot. I wanted to run, but my body didn’t listen. I wanted to run, but my arm reached out to grab the handle of the door. I wanted to run, but my hand slid the door open. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

The door opened fully with a heavy clunking sound. Inside was a dark room, not a single detail showing itself. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. From somewhere in the room, I heard a horrible giggling. It sounded like a small girl, laughing innocently, like she did something bad and got away with it. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. The lights suddenly came on, bathing the room in a bright glow. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

“Oohhhh, how nice of you to join me~!” The voice was... Disturbing. My vision was impaired by the sudden light, and I could only hear the speaker. She spoke in a young girl’s voice, but it was distorted and off key. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. “I was wondering when you’d come by for a visit, it’s been soooo long since we last got together~”

I was oblivious to the voice’s claims, I didn’t know who she was. I finally got to look at the speaker when my eyes finally adjusted to the light. Standing in the middle of the room was a grotesque and monstrous sight. A girl stood alone, wearing nothing but a blood stained apron made from skin and flesh, still dripping with freshly spilled blood. In her hand was a meat cleaver, coated with blood as well. She stared at me with hollow red eyes, her hair blocking the rest of her face. Her hair was long, matted and tangled, dyed red from dried blood. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

The most disturbing thing was the scene around her. All around her feet were piles of mutilated flesh and organs. Among them I saw the most anguishing thing I had ever witnessed. I saw the corpses of those I cared about; Arlosia, Ardiente, Dean, Jav, James, Michael, Feral, the princesses, multiple other humans I didn’t recognize, and even six ponies I couldn’t place names to. The pieces of their bodies were strewn amongst the piles of meat, no real recognizable parts were there except their clothes, or maybe a face, twisted in an expression of fear and pain. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

“Oh, what’s the matter Sarah~?” The woman cooed, “Why do you look so scared~?” She moved forward, stepping through the piles of meat until she was a few feet from me. She moved her head, her hair falling apart to completely reveal her face. Her mouth was a horror in itself. Her cheeks were split open, revealing a maw of large, jagged metal teeth, fresh blood dripping from them. “Why the fear!?” She suddenly screamed in my face, “Don’t you fucking remember me!? HUH!?” I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

She suddenly calmed, and began speaking happily again, “Did you forget~?” She placed her hand on my cheek gently, “I can understand~ I can forgive you~ After all, we were separated for some time~” Her fingers traced a long scar along the side of my face, then to another on the opposite side. I had almost forgotten about those scars. They held bad memories, worse than any other A.N.G.E.L. gave me. They were from-

“The Hunger~” The woman firmly grabbed my chin and pulled my face up to hers, “I’m so happy you remember now~!” I was trembling, my face most likely stricken with fear. She noticed, “What’s wrong~?” She planted a brief kiss on my lips, “Aren’t you happy to see me~? We can finally be together again~!” Another kiss, followed by even more, until she finally forced her tongue into my mouth. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

She pulled back after a minute and licked her lips, “Mmm, you taste just as good as I remember~” She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and placed her hand on the back of my head, “Oh, you and I are going to have such fun again~ I can’t wait~!” I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

“Well, time to say goodbye Sarah~” She opened her mouth wide, “I’ll see you soon though~” her head shot forward, and I was enveloped in a cold, uncaring darkness. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t.

------------------------

        I woke with a sart, sweat pouring down my face. Looking around, I noticed I had been placed in the room’s bed. I suppose that was Dean who did that, given that no one else was there. I guessed that maybe an hour or two had passed, given by the light outside. I sat in silence for a few minutes, when the door opened and Jav, Arlosia, Ardiente, and Feral walked in.

        I stared at them tiredly, “Uh... Hey guys.”

        Ardiente looked at me with concern before walking over and putting a hoof on my shoulder, “Are you alright?”

        I opened my mouth to respond, only to close it again. I shook my head a few times, “I don’t think so, no. I should be fine enough to do stuff though. Walk around or something like that.” I got up and stretched a bit, metallic clangs echoing through the room. “You know what? Let’s do that. Let’s walk around.”

        I left the room before anyone could say anything else, and went down to the front door. Leaving the hotel, I looked around to see if there was anywhere to go. There wasn’t, really. Picking a random direction, I began walking, barely noticing the rest of them following me.

After a while of aimless walking, I heard a familiar voice yell, “LOOK IT’S A BIG WOLF!” Before I knew it, some woman I didn’t know was hugging Feral, and that guy James was a distance away, looking disoriented.

I blinked a few times before looking at the woman, “Who the fuck are you!?” I shouted.

        I heard James shout, “Sorry Sarah! She really loves wolves! Could you make sure she gets back to the Hummingbird Inn?”

I looked at her for a few seconds, thinking it over, then I yelled back, “Can I fuck her?”

I think his eye twitched, “THAT’S MY SISTER DAMN IT!!”

“AND!?”

“She’s not gay!”

I looked at her again, then back to James, “I can fix that!”

I heard a loud clap as James facepalmed, and he said something along the lines of, “No, just no!”

I smirked to myself, “Can’t hear you, so I’ll assume you said yes!” At that point, James walked away.

“HE’S SO FLUFFY!” I jumped a bit at the woman’s shout, and looked down at her as she practically strangled Feral.

I grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her off, “Would you fucking stop that already? Jesus Christ, I don’t even know you and you’re just about choking Feral here!”

She turned towards me and looked somewhat taken aback “But, but fluffy...”

“Great,” I sighed, “he dumped me with the ‘special’ one.”

        Her demeanor snapped from sad to frustrated in a nanosecond. “What, did you just call me?” She let go of Feral and came within inches of my face. “I am NOT some special person! That is one of the biggest wolves I’ve ever seen and I was going to hug it if it killed me.”

        Feral killing her isn’t what she should be worried about. I pushed her back and pointed at Feral, “If you love him so much then fuck him and be done with it, I want to find something to do, and standing here is stopping me from doing that.”

        She blinked and looked at Feral. “Uh... I like wolves, but not to THAT degree.” She paused and smacked her forehead. “Oh, where are my manners. My name’s Amy.”

        “Sarah, not so much a pleasure to meet you.” I stuck my right hand out to shake. She took it and paused when she came in contact with my hand.

        Amy stared at my hand and blinked. “Is your hand... Nothing but bone?”

“Well,” I said, “I’d say it looks and feels more like metal, but yes.”

Her eye started twitching rapidly. “That is not possible. No, no I reject this! Skeletons can not move without muscles! JUST, NO!”

Jesus, what the hell is her problem? A thought then came to me. I pulled my mask down and opened my mouth, showing off my teeth, “What the hell is your problem?”

Amy’s jaw dropped “Just... What!?” She looked like she was about to explode... It was kind of amusing. Her cheeks were puffing out and it looked like her head was a tomato. It didn’t last long though as she let out a sigh and rubbed her temples.

I felt something climb up my back, and looked over my shoulder to see Arlosia. She got up to my shoulder and looked at Amy with concern, “You alright?”

Amy’s eye twitched again as she pointed at Arlosia. “The Fuck... Is that?”

“I’m a blood elf, why?” Arlosia asked.

Amy started screaming at the top of her lungs. “ELVES DO NOT EXIST! THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE! NO!! NO NONONONONO!!!!!”

I looked back at Arlosia, who looked like she was about to cry. My face screwed up in anger, and I grabbed Amy without even looking at her. “Apologize right now, or so help me I will beat you unconscious, wait for you to come to, then repeat step one. Then repeat step two. Then one, then two, then one, then two, then one again for good measure.”

Amy let out a frustrated huff. “No!”

I spun my head around and got right in her face, baring my teeth and making my eyes glow blood red, “Now.”

She glared back before sighing. “Fine.” She looked past me and straight at Arlosia. “I’m... Sorry.”

I let go of her and nodded, “Good. Now, what to do next... Jav, you got any ideas?”

He was... Glaring at Amy for whatever reason, gripping his cane tightly. “Oh I can think of one or two things, yes.”

Amy glared at him in return. “Necromancer.”

He nodded, “I am. And I’ll have you know something. I have had horrible experiences with your pitiful race, and I’m not too keen on meeting another one. Give me a reason to, and I will kill you where you stand, got it?”

Amy growled. “Same goes for you corpse fucker.”

In an instant, Jav had wrapped a hand around her throat and lifted her into the air, “Don’t push me, girl, I am not a happy man when it comes to your people.” He then roughly threw her to the ground.

Amy let out an animalistic growl, “Whatever, all I care about anymore is finding that Ivory coat wearing bastard and ripping him to pieces...”

“Who, Dean?” I asked.

She stopped moving altogether, hell she wasn’t breathing until she whipped around to face me. “WHERE IS HE!”

Anger issues, Jesus. I shrugged, “I don’t know, haven’t seen him for about two hours.”

Amy screamed into the sky. “FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCKK!”

“Is that why you’re looking for him?” I asked.

“After what he did, he’ll be lucky if he can still breathe if I see him again.”

I couldn’t help it, I fell to the ground laughing. She actually was going to try and kill him!? Is she fucking mental?

She was panting and growling as she fumed for a couple minutes. Eventually she started to calm down. “Maybe, I need to let it go...”

“L-let what go?” I was still laughing, but it was dying down somewhat.

Amy glared at me and growled showing her teeth. The canines were noticeably sharper. “The bastard broke my heart damn it.”

“Is that all?” I laughed bitterly this time.

“Is that all?...” Her eyes started glowing silver, “IS THAT ALL!?!? HE MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD!! HE MADE ME HAPPY!! AND Then he... He... Took it all back...” She fell to her knees and was starting to cry.

I crouched down at stared straight at her, “You want to know something?” She looked up at me sadly. I scowled, “I would love to feel like that, I would trade all of my life to feel the way you do right now.”

Her eyes widened before she slowly stood. “I-I’m sorry. It’s just... so frustrating! Everything was going so smoothly and he just... ended it.”

I stood as well, still scowling. Then, before she could react, I smacked her across the face. “Boo-fucking-hoo, you’re life is so horrible. You fell in love with someone and then got dropped by them, that’s so devastating.” I put as much sarcasm into it as I could.

She started to scowl back. “It is when they’re your first lover ever.” She stopped and gave a sad smile. “But you’re right. I really do need to get over it.” She smiled devilishly. “Still going to kick his ass the next time I see him.”

My God I do not like this woman at all. Too fucking emotional, and they jump around so damn much. I frowned at her, “You are very unlikable, you know that?”

She smiled and gave a hollow chuckle. “I’ve been told.”

“I’m not surprised.”

Amy laughed and looked down at me. “By the way, do you know where my brother James is? I don’t see him anywhere.”

I shrugged, “Not a fucking clue.”

Amy sighed and looked at Arlosia. “I know I said sorry, but you still kinda freak me out.”

Arlosia frowned, “I will send you to the Twisting Nether and laugh as you are torn apart by abysmal horrors you never knew existed.”

Amy leaned back and put her hand up in defence. “And now it’s for a different reason.”

“So,” Arlosia said, “First it was racism, now it’s because I’m angry at you for being racist.”

“No, it’s just that I like my body in one piece.”

“Oh you’ll still be in one piece, that’s the fun part about it.”

Amy gulped and smiled awkwardly. “Oh, that’s... Nice... SO SARAH! You want to go somewhere?”

I shrugged, “Sure I guess.”

She grabbed my arm and started pulling. “Great! Let’s get going then, shall we?” It took her a few seconds to look back and realize I wasn’t moving at all, “Uh... are we going or not?”

I pulled my arm back and motioned for the rest to follow, “Alright, let’s go.”

Escape from Hell- Act II, Pt. VI: Black wings

“I’m so fucking bored... You guys know anything we could do?” I asked as I sat on the hotel room bed. It had been about three days since we met that Amy person, and we had run out of things to do. We went to introduce Jav and Arlosia to the princesses, which went over pretty well. Cunt was polite to them, but I could see her glaring at me when she thought I wasn’t looking. Fucking cunt.

Luna was nice though. She seemed really fascinated by Arlosia’s and my power over darkness. I guess it’s cause she’s the princess of the night or whatever. She’s not bad to talk to, though it’s hard to understand her sometimes with that old way of speaking. Going to meet them was really the extent of what we did though.

Other than that, fucking NOTHING. Really boring if you ask me.

Actually, I feel I should mention something else. The other day, Ardiente asked me out on a date. I was confused as hell when she did, because I had no clue as to what the hell a date even was. After much questioning, and blushing on Ardiente’s part, I found out that a date is when you and someone you love, or are attracted to, go out and do stuff. It’s pretty much what people in a romantic relationship do. And I got asked on one. Weird.

I accepted, after a lot of confused thoughts as to why she asked me out. I don’t want to go into what happened, let’s just say it ended well. Really well. Really, really well...

…

…

If you don’t get what I mean, the two of us fucked each other. Hard. First time I ever had sex with someone willingly and who wasn’t a man. It was awesome. It was complicated with my metal death trap of a vagina, but we managed to make it work. Somehow. Was still pretty amazing.

Is that wrong though, having sex after knowing each other for not even three weeks? Ardiente said it was strange for people to do that, but... I don’t really know for sure, I have literally no romantic experience. Oh well, she seemed happy enough, and I definately am. I mean come on, someone who actually might really love me! That’s fucking awesome!

Well, okay, I have friends now, but I never actually had someone who loved me. Come to think of it, I haven’t exactly been that nice to them. Or anybody, really. I would but... It’s kind of hard to, I mean I was practically brought up on hate and violence. I’m not exactly ready to just trust and be kind to everyone. Ardiente and Arlosia yeah, maybe Jav and Dean, but not everyone I meet. Hell, I wasn’t even that nice to Dean, I accused him of having the idea of using that Croatoan shit, even when he most likely wouldn’t have thought of it.

Oh well, I’ll just have to work past that. It’ll be tough as all hell, but I think I can manage. I hope so, anyway... Okay yeah, this will be difficult as shit.

I stopped thinking as I felt Ardiente, who had dressed herself in her mother’s suit again, press up against my side with her head. “You alright Sarah?” She asked.

I looked at her blankly for a second before smiling and putting a hand on her head, “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking.” I stood up and stretched, causing my bones to emit metallic clangs. When I was done I asked, “So, any idea what we could do? I am fucking bored as hell right now.”

“Well,” Ardiente said, “as I was trying to say for the past ten minutes while you stared off into space...” I glowed a bit in embarrassment, “Why don’t we go to Ponyville? It’s the next town after Canterlot, and I believe that’s where our lovely friend Dean is living.”

“Hmm...” I thought it over. For one, we needed a change in scenery. Two, Ponyville, though the name was fucking stupid, sounded kinda interesting. Three, we might see Dean again, he’s a real treat to be around. “Alright then, I guess we’re going to Ponyville!”

Everyone agreed, and we got ready to leave. Since the place wasn’t a hospital, I actually payed the place what we owed. Which included damages from me and Ardiente’s... Rough night before (several noise complaints as well, but we didn’t have to pay for those).

When we got out into the street, I asked, “Okay, so which way to Ponyville?” Ardiente pointed in the direction of the city’s front entrance. “Alright, Arlosia get on my shoulder,” she did and I picked up Feral and Ardiente, “I’m carrying you two... Jav, can you keep up?”

“I believe I can, yes.” He said with a smile. I nodded and jumped off, landing a good distance away. A few more and we were outside the city.

I stopped a few dozen feet from the city entrance and said, “Okay guys, we’re running to Ponyville, shouldn’t take us too long. Let’s go!” With that I ran, Jav following not too far behind me. As we were running, I decided to ask Ardiente something, “So Ardiente...”

“Si, Sarah?”

I looked down at her as I spoke, “Why exactly did you become interested in me? Romantically, I mean. I may not have the most experience, but even I think that’s a bit quick to decide you want to be with someone.”

She blushed a bit and looked away. After a second of thinking, I assume, she turned back to me and said, “Well, you saved me from those wolves, even if you did keep one with you. You also offered to help me, even though you didn’t even know me, then actually followed up on that promise. I guess that’s why.”

Huh. Wasn’t expecting that. Because of that, I didn’t really have a response, so I just kept on towards Ponyville in silence.

“-so then I bit the fucker’s dick off- Holy shit, is that a fucking Library!? By God it is!” I had just been telling my group of friends the story of what I did to Jeriah for the hour we had been in Ponyville, when I spotted the best sight I had seen in days, a Library.

I left the rest of the group behind me, slightly disgusted looks on their faces (pussies), and I ran up to the door, throwing it open shouting, “Anybody got any books here? I need a fucking book, right now!”

A purple unicorn looked at me in surprise, “Ahh! Don’t do th-” She looked at me with growing horror before shouting, “Who are you!?”

“I would apologize, but I need a book, now. I haven’t gotten to read a decent fucking novel in the past twelve years, so I’m a bit fucking excited!” I’m pretty sure my eye was twitching, but I honestly didn’t care. I mean... Fucking books, people!

“Any preferences?”

“Hmm...” I actually hadn’t thought of that. “Give me a moment.” I sat down heavily, shaking the ground a bit as I put my hand to my chin in thought. “Got any... Romantic books? I fucking love those.”

She grinned, “Upstairs, third shelf on the right.”

“Thank you!” I ran past her and hopped up the stairs to see... Some tall guy sitting in a chair, quoting Edgar Allen Poe to a mutant lizard thing.

“- And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor. Shall be lifted, nevermore!”

Two things. One, I now know what to name that raven thing I did back in Manehattan. Two, “Holy fuck I love that poem!”

The guy looked at me and grinned, “Same here... Along with The Masque of the Red Death.”

“Oh, yeah, I fucking love that one! Haven’t read it in a while though. Actually, I haven’t read anything in awhile.”

He grinned as one of the chairs glowed green and got closer to me, along with a book floating in the air. “Then pull up a chair and relax a while.”

I... Should probably question how that happened, but book! I sat down and grabbed the book happily. Then I looked at the cover and tossed it against a wall, “Not what I meant by Romantic, purple pony lady!” I shouted down the stairs. Fucking romance novels.

“Oh, sorry! It’s the fifth shelf then!”

“Okay, thank you!” I walked over to the shelf and picked a book out. Something called Daring Do and the quest for something or other. I got about a page in and set it down, “Dammit, not enough blood. Just some arrogant bitch collecting shit, I guess. Fuck that!” By that point, my small group of friends had joined us.

“Is that a blood elf!?” I looked over to where the voice came from, and a tall... Light purple thing slowly faded into view.

“What the fuck are you? Who the fuck are you? Where the fuck did you even come from?” I asked.

“Oh,” She rubbed the back of her neck, “Name’s Lorne.”

“Okay then... Now what’s this about Arlosia?”

I swear the guy turned as pale as me, “What...?”

I raised an eyebrow at him, “Well, she asked if Arlosia was a blood elf, so I asked her why she wanted to know. Why?”

“Nothing! And if ye want to know, she’s a night elf.”

I was about to say something, but Arlosia cut me off, “Hold on a second... Aren’t you that guy that completely screwed up everything on Azeroth?”

He leaned back, “Eheheh, about that...”

There was a silence, broken by Arlosia shouting, “You are! You’re the bastard that built the Sunwell, Alexander Harris or whatever!”

He raised a finger, “Technically, I provided the water.”

“I’ll kill you, you-” I put a hand on Arlosia and held her back as she shouted, her voice slightly warped, “LEt mE Go! I’lL KilL hiM!”

“Drem!”

Arlosia’s eyes glowed purple, “DoN’t fUcKINg ThiNk ThaT’ll StoP mE FRom WaNtiNG To MuRdEr yOu!” She swung an arm, an a wave of dark purple energy flew at the guy and tore part of his shirt up, revealing this weird mark thing.

Jesus Christ what the fuck is wrong with her!?

He pressed his hand on her head, “Keep calm and go to sleep.” Her eyes stopped glowing, and she instantly slumped over and fell asleep.

I lifted her up off the ground and turned to the guy, Alexander I think she called him, “What the hell was that!?”

“Demonic magic... Powerful, too. She needs to keep herself under control or she could have thrown us into the Twisting Nether.”

I looked at Arlosia uneasily, “Yeah... She did tell me that she kind of... What was it? “Summoned an incredibly powerful demon that killed her and her family, as well as overloaded her with an overwhelming amount of demonic energy.” I think that’s what it was.”

He stared at her, “Impressive.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Accidentally killing her family is impressive?”

He waved his hands defensively, “Oh nonononono. Summoning a high level demon without a runic circle.”

“Oh, she said that she did use one,” I said, “but she may have been pushed to use a bit too much power, or something like that. Father was “overbearing” she said, and wanted her to do it perfectly the first time.”

“Damn...”

“Hold on a second...” I heard from Jav, “Are you a Mage?”

Alexander looked at him before his eyes widened, “Aye... And you’re a Valentine.”

I heard a slapping sound, most likely Jav facepalming before saying, “Just bloody brilliant, another person who recognizes me! Are you going to try and kill me before I can explain anything as well, or do I actually get a chance?”

"I’m not going to attack, I did work with Necromancers. Plus I’ve been attacked before I could explain anything.”

        “Huh... I never expected to hear a Mage say that they’ve worked with Necromancers before.” Jav said.

        “Ye work for the Lich King and it’s basicly expected.”

        I looked at Jav to see an exasperated expression on his face as he said, “The... Lich King...? My God, really? I can see why Arlosia said that about you now.”

        “Hey! I did nothing with my own hands, I merely pushed the ball of fate...”

        I lifted a hand and said, “Alright, enough of that. I’m just... I don’t know, gonna go find a hotel or something to put Arlosia down.” I turned to Alexander and held out my free hand, “Nice meeting you, but we gotta leave for a bit.”

        He grabbed it and shook, somehow managing to lift my arm, “Same lass... Nice skeleton arm by the way.”

        “Thanks... I think.” I decided then was a good time to leave, and that’s what I did. I left. Nothing else. No more demon children, no... Whatever the hell Alexander is (I know he’s human but he is just... weird as fuck), that’s all. I left.

        Standing outside the library, I started walking in a random direction, not really sure where to go. I wanted to find a hotel or something to put Arlosia down for a bit but I had no fucking clue about the layout of the town. Great.

        “Yo.”

        I turned around to where the voice came from and saw... The single most normal looking human I have met so far. A white t-shirt, jeans, five o'clock shadow... Yeah, looks normal. Looks.

        I put my free hand up and waved slightly, “Hello.”

        He smiled, “Death told me about you. Sarah, right?”

        I nodded, “Yep. You are?”

        He stuck his hand out for me to shake, “Jay. Nice to meet you.”

        Shaking his outstretched hand, I said, “Nice to meet you too. Well, trying, anyway.”

        Jay smiled, “You’re doing great. I understand it’s been a bit... difficult. But don’t worry. I’ll help ya anyway I can.”

        Don’t be a bitch, don’t be a bitch, don’t be bitch, don’t be a fucking bitch god dammit! 

I gave a slightly strained smile, “Thanks for the offer.”

Jay laughed, “You must be really trying, I can see how hard you're trying.”

“Is it that obvious?” I asked.

He laughed again, “Just a little. Don’t worry, it’ll come to ya on how to handle being social.”

“Hopefully. She sure isn’t helping though.”

Jay stared at me before sighing, “I see. The croatoan is nasty business, good to see it didn’t kill you.”

I shrugged, “Inadvertently it did. But really, I have no idea why it didn’t. It just sort of... Made this thing in my head instead.”

Jay nodded, “I see. Well,” He looked at the others, “and who might these guys be?”

“That’s Jav, that’s Ardiente, and this is Arlosia. Say ‘hi’ guys.”

Jav did a slight bow, “Hello, nice to meet you.”

Ardiente waved a hoof, “Hola.”

I looked down at Arlosia and sighed, “And Arlosia is currently out cold. She says hello.”

Jay looked at each of them and said, “Necromancer,” He looked at Jav then to Ardiente, “Archer,” he looked at an unconscious Arlosia, “Warlock. Huh, what a strange group.”

I looked at him in slight surprise, “Wow, got them all in one. So... Are you gonna attack Jav like Dean did, or are we good?”

Jay shook his head, “I worked with some Necromancer in Norrath. Decent folk, a bit on the Edgar Allen Poe side, but decent.” He smiled at Jav, “I’ll only have a problem if you decide to hurt others.”

Jav shook his head, “I don’t plan on it. Hell, I killed Necromancers for hurting innocents.”

Jay nodded, “Good. You seem like a decent guy. I’d hate to have to kill you.”

Jav smirked, “And I’d hate to be killed. Again.”

Jay shook his head, “You weren’t told yet were you?”

Jav raised an eyebrow, “Told what?”

Jay looked grimly at all of us, “You die again, that’s it. No more. You fade away permanently.”

Huh... Well then. Slightly disheartening to hear.

I looked at Jav to see him raise an eyebrow, “Glad to know, but that still doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to die again. I don’t want to die again even more now, actually.”

Jay gave a thumbs up as he smiled, “Good to see I gave you some motivation to not hurt others unneededly!”

While Jav just rolled his eyes, I looked at Jay, confused, “We weren’t going to do that anyway. Why would we need motivation to do something we were already going to do?”

Jay then looked at me, “Do you of all people really need to ask?”

I held up a hand and began to speak, but stopped right away. I tried to think of some sort of retort, but all I ended up saying was, “Fuck well... Got me there.”

Jay chuckled, “Anyway, you need a place to stay right?”

“Er, yes, actually.” I looked down at Arlosia, “Or at least somewhere for her to rest.”

He nodded, “Right. Well, just follow me, I know a good place.”

Don’t you dare make a fucking rape analogy brain, I’m trying to be nice.

I nodded, “Alright, lead the way.”

Jay nodded and took us in a random direction, “Alright. Well, what brings you guys to Ponyville?”

“I was bored,” I said, “and this was the closest town. Also, I remembered hearing that Dean lives here, and wanted to see if we might run into him again. Guess not, but I might stick around for a bit.”

Jay nodded, “I see. Well, Dean isn’t in town right now he’s...” He paused for a bit, “Well, he’s on an assignment from Death again.”

“Huh. Oh well.” That’s when I realized, “Now that I think about it, the only time I ever did anything for Death was that Sentiment in Manehattan, and he never actually told me about that. Not to mention, Dean killed it.”

Jay laughed, “Once you fight one sentiment, you’ve fought them all. It’s round two that gets ya.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Round two?”

Jay laughed harder, “Oh yeah, you’ll get to fight your sentiment a second time. He’s even more powerful than when he or she was sentiment, since he or she’s mind is clearer.”

“Well, technically I’ll be fighting it my first time, since Dean did everything. But it being more powerful? Don’t know how to feel about that.”

Jay shrugged, “Well, depends on how old the sentiment is. Did it say what it was?”

“No, I don’t think so. It gave it’s name, Magnus Argentum, but that’s it.”

Jay blanked before patting my shoulder, “Nice knowing ya!”

I looked at him worriedly, “What? Why?”

“He’s the old ambassador for the old human kingdom. He’s a thousand something years old. The older the sentiment, the higher the power.”

“Oh, well.... Shit.”

Jay laughed, “Don’t worry, just try to understand what he asks. Most of these fights have a condition.”

“Okay then, I’ll do that.” I thought about what to say when I realized I hd no idea where we were going, “So where're we going anyway?”

Jay suddenly stopped in front of a large building, “Right here.” On the billboard, it said  “Home keeps rooms and boarding.”

I stared at the building before turning to Jay, “I’m going to beat myself to the punch on this and go ahead and tell you that I still have no idea where it is you brought me.”

Jay sighed as he facepalmed, “The hotel, you nincompoop.”

“Oohhh. Well, it’s hardly my fault I don’t know things that are apparently common knowledge.”

He rolled his eyes, “Whatever, just tell the mare at the counter I sent you in, she’ll give you a free room. If you want to know, I did her a favor and now she owes me.”

“Okay. Thank you for showing me how to get here.” I held my hand out for him to shake.

He grasped it and smiled, “Not a problem. Like I said, give me a call if you need any help. I’ll do my best to try.”

“Alright then. See you around, I guess.”

He walked away and waved, “See ya.”

Well, that was... Strange. I decided not to think on it and just went into the building, realizing that I was actually very tired, and wanted to sleep. Really fucking bad.

Maybe tomorrow will be fun?

Escape from Hell- Act II, Pt. VII: Birthday

I apologize for what happened last night. Anyway...

Want to know the weirdest thing to wake up to? Well, after a night of sex where afterwards you are laying in bed naked and covered in various fluids, it’s rather odd to wake up to a woman you’ve never met sitting in chair across the room, reading a newspaper. Really odd actually.

I stared at her silently before asking, “Uh... Who are you and how did you get here?”

There was a pause before she moved the newspaper down to look at me, letting me get a good look at her. She had long, bluish-gray hair, blue eyes, and she wore a white tank top with baggy, gray jeans. The biggest surprise though, were the large, black wings on her back, which were spread out to avoid being pressed up against the chair.

She looked at me silently before speaking, “I’m sorry if I am disrupting anything. My name is Sira Molante. I was sent here by Death to accompany you.”

Huh, another Wraith? After I just got Jav and Arlosia? Weird, I wonder why?

I shook my head and got up from the bed, careful not to wake Ardiente. “I’m gonna go take a shower, I’ll be out in a minute.” Sira nodded and went back to reading her paper, while I stepped into the shower.

As I let the hot water wash over me, I thought over my current situation. I had the responsibility of three Wraiths, one of them a child, one much older than me, and the other probably older than me as well. Not to mention Ardiente as well.

This whole thing is just strange. I don’t even know why Death sent those three here. I’m rude, I’m violent, I’m not exactly mentally stable, I’m irresponsible. I mean yeah, I’m trying to fix all that, but I’m a long way away. There’s also her as well, she’s not making things easy.

I shook my head, not really sure what to think right now. Finishing up in the shower, I stepped out and dried myself off. As I left the bathroom, towel over my shoulders, I headed to my bag to get a set of clothes to wear, humming and singing my favorite song to myself.

“I feel so good I feel so numb yeah!”

What? I get the urge to sing every now and then. I’m not the best at it, but i’m decent and... What the hell is with the music coming from nowhere, and why can’t I stop myself from singing?

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

        Seriously, what the fuck? Actually, you know what? Screw it, going with it! This is actually fun.

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

I quickly threw on some clothes as I sang, putting on a black long sleeve shirt, blue jeans, a dark red scarf and my boots.

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

        I jumped up onto the bed, almost throwing Ardiente off it in the process, then hopped off it and onto the ground, stomping my foot in time with the music.

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

        I kicked the door open as I sang, then made my way into Jav and Arlosia’s room, both of which were awake, and very surprised.

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

        Well what do you know, Jav knows the song too! After staring at me with wide eyes for a few seconds he grinned happily and joined in. Fucking awesome.

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

        Ardiente, Arlosia, and Sira seemed kind of confused by what we were doing, which kind of made sense. Besides, we were at the last part anyway.

[THESE LYRICS HAVE BEEN CENSORED FOR REASONS. I APOLOGIZE]

When we finished, Jav and I shared a high-five, which was kind of awkward as he had to bend over for me to reach his hand. That’s when I noticed something different about him.

“Holy hell, you look different.” I said to him.

He was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves torn off, with various designs along the edges and the word NECROSIS written in green and going down the front of it, bracketed by red bars going up and across. He also wore black jeans with a red, swirling pattern on one leg, and a red linear pattern on the other. He also had on a black hat with NECROSIS on the front in green, and a pair of black gloves that went halfway up his forearms.

That wasn’t all though. There were also tattoos. Holy fuck, the tattoos. The entirety of his arms and legs, as well as some of his chest going up his neck, were covered in tattoos of various designs. Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

While I was busy taking in his appearance, he did a twirl and grinned, “Like it? This was my old band outfit from when I played drums for NECROSIS. It was a band I formed with some of my old friends a while back. The tattoos I’ve always had since then, I just kept them covered most of the time.”

“Where...” I started, “Where did you even get this? I don’t remember you ever going out to get clothes made for you.”

He laughed, “Actually, in my first year as a Wraith, I’ve been one for about two years now I should mention, I was sent back to Earth for a mission. While I was there, I picked this up as a souvenir, as well as something for me to keep as a memory of my life.”

“Huh, well... That’s actually pretty cool looking.” I stared for another second before I remembered Sira. “Oh yeah,” I said while gesturing to her, “this is Sira Molante. Death sent her to be with us.”

Jav nodded, “A pleasure to meet you, Sira. I am James Aeries Valentine, or Jav as everyone else calls me.”

Arlosia, who I guessed had calmed down by now, waved and smiled, “I’m Arlosia Nightwhisper, nice to meet you!”

Sira looked between the two before inclining her head, “Nice to meet you as well, as you heard, I am Sira Molante.”

Now that I think about it...

I glanced at her wings before asking, “What exactly are you? I didn’t think humans could have wings.”

She turned to me and tilted her head to the side, “I assume we are from different Earths then. My kind, called Angels after the beings talked about in Christian belief, make up a majority of the population of my world. We are, simply, humans with wings. Though we can control the weather, and some of us know forms of holy magic, myself included.”

I felt my eye twitch when she mentioned the word “Angel” but I didn’t say anything. Obviously not the Angel I’m familiar with, so no point is snapping at her.

Smiling sheepishly, I picked up Ardiente, “Oh yeah, because I keep forgetting to introduce her, this is Ardiente Fragua.”

“Hola, Sira.” She said as she waved a hoof.

“Hello.”

Setting her down again, I made my way outside the room, gesturing for them to follow, “Come on guys, I feel like taking a walk through town.”

The five of us (wow five? There’s quite a few of us now) walked through town, looking for something to do. I had stopped by my room on the way out and picked up a few packs of cigarettes and my lighter, and I was currently smoking my way through my sixth or seventh one. Fuck you I don’t have a problem. Besides, I’m dead, it won’t kill me.

As we strolled down the street, I spotted that tall kid, Alexander I think, from yesterday. I shouted after him, “Hey Alexander!”

He stopped and waved, “Hello!”

I walked up to him and smiled, “Nice to see you, I think- And Arlosia please try not to kill him.”

She pouted and put her weapon away, “Fine.”

I nodded, “Anyway, since you’re the first person I’ve seen today, allow me to introduce you to Sira. Sira?”

Sira walked forward and did a slight bow, “Nice to meet you, I am Sira Molante.”

He smiled, “Same here.”

“Anyway,” I said, “you know anything to do around here? I’m kind of bored out of my fucking mind.”

He shrugged, “Asides from the occasional mission from death or monster every other week... Not much. Wait,” He looked around, “Did ye meet a pink pony yet?”

I shook my head, “No, why?”

He paled, “How much do ye like parties?”

I blinked, “I hardly even know what a ‘party’ is.”

“Oh... Think walking into a dark room and having people yell surprise after turning on the lights.”

“That would most likely end in murder.” I said simply.

“Well then!” He clapped his hands, “Ye’re going to hate Pinkie.”

“Uuhhh, who’s Pinkie?”

“The pink pony... She’s pink with a pink mane and blue eyes. She can also break physics at a whim....”

“Uh-huh.” I said, “Well... Let’s hope she doesn’t try to throw a party, because I might end up killing her. And everyone else in the room.”

He frowned, “Well telling her to not throw a party is like asking Death to stop working for a month.”

“I’m pretty sure living is more important than throwing a random stranger a party.”

He stared at me blankly, “That’s her life...” He turned to Ardiente, “Her cutie mark depicts three balloons, meaning she throws parties.”

“Oh boy.” Ardiente facehooved, “You probably don’t know, Sarah, but a pony’s cutie mark basically represents their calling. Hers would be parties. Her life is literally throwing parties.”

I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression before slowly bringing my palm to my face, “That is absolutely stupid.” I then turned to Alexan... I’m just gonna call him Alex, it’s shorter. I turned to Alex and said, “Any chance she could be convinced not to throw me one? I have no problem with criminals, but I’m not about to kill an innocent person. Especially just because I’m fucking paranoid and incredibly jumpy.”

He frowned, “Maybe... But supposedly the last time she didn’t have a party she went insane.”

“I’m sure she’d handle insanity better than being fucking dead.” I said flatly.

He nodded, “Yeah... Well then we have to pin her down and explain why that’s a bad idea.” He started walking before looking at me again. “Oh, and the ponies here are really sensitive. Half of them faint at the sight of a wolf.”

Oh. Whoops. I kind of forgot Feral is walking around with us 24/7. Well, sucks for the ponies then, not my fault they can’t handle a wolf walking around.

I shrugged, “All the more reason not to throw the party. If they can’t handle seeing a wolf, they definitely won’t be able to handle me killing several ponies while screaming my damn head off.”

“True... Come on then!” He started walking towards the center of town.

I followed him, “Where are we going?”

“The strangest house ever made.”

“... And that would be?”

“Ever read Hansel and Gretel?”

I nodded, “Yes, why?”

“She lives in a gingerbread house.”

“... What?”

“I’m serious... A gingerbread house. With a cupcake on top.”

I stopped and stared at him blankly, “That.... That sounds fucking stupid.”

“Oh trust me,” He stopped and pointed at the building, “It’s real.”

I looked at where he pointing and my God, he wasn’t lying. It was, quite literally, a fucking gingerbread house. What the fuck.

Leaning against the doorway was Jay, smiling as he waved at us, “Yo.”

I didn’t respond, as the sight of the gingerbread house was still punching me in the damn frontal lobe, and Jav, Ardiente, and Arlosia just nodded. Sira, on the other hand, actually introduced herself.

She bowed slightly and said, “A pleasure to meet you, I am Sira Molante.”

He looked over her wings and whistled, “Wow, nice set ya got there.”

She nodded and gave a small smile, “Thank you. What is your name?”

He stuck his hand out as he grinned, “Jay Jolek, nice to meet ya Sira.”

Sira shook his hand, “Even though I already said it, a pleasure to meet you.”

He scratched the back of his head as he laughed, “Pleasure’s all mine!”

“Well, it’s nice to know you’re getting along,” I said as I finally got over the fucking gingerbread house, “but what are we even doing here again?”

Alex frowned, “Convincing Pinkie to not throw ye a party.”

I nodded, “Oh yeah, that’s right.” I looked between him and Jay, “You two obviously know her, so do you guys have any ideas on how to go about that?”

Jay shrugged, “It’s best to go along with it in my experience. As for Alex’s experience, he didn’t really mind, did you?”

“Eh.” He shrugged, “Seems good.”

I winced, “Yes, well, I wouldn’t mind completely, but there’s a chance she might do what Alex said. And I have this knee jerk reaction when people jump out from dark rooms and scream things, and it usually involves me screaming in fear and killing whoever did it. I’d rather not risk that, if that’s alright with you.”

Jay sighed, “If it helps, I’ll tell Pinkie to tone it down.”

“Okay... I guess that might help, but if it does come to surprises, knock me out or something. I don’t really want to kill or eat an innocent person.”

Jay nodded, “Right.” He then turned to Sira, “So, where you from?”

“Earth.” She said, “most likely a different one from yours.”

He chuckled, “Let me guess. Magic.”

She nodded, “Mostly right. Magic storms, they’re sort of tearing the world apart.”

He looked at the wings, “And I take it you’re in some sort of position to find the cause?”

Sira shrugged, “I would hope. The world may be on the verge of a dimensional collapse if one isn’t found soon.”

Jay nodded, “I see. How’s ‘bout this. When we get the chance, I’ll do my best to help ya out and try to find the cause of the storms you mentioned. Just point me in a direction and I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you, but we do know where they came from, at least. Several hundred years ago, a curse was put on the world by a sorcerer. He’s locked himself inside several multi-dimensional pocketing spells, and thus the spell cannot be lifted, as only he knows the counterspell. Subsequently, the dimensional pockets may collapse soon and cause the catastrophe I previously mentioned.”

Jay cursed under his breath, “Fucking coward, hiding from his damn crimes... Believe me when I say, I’ll try to pull in a favor from Death and track the bastard down. He’ll get what’s coming to him as soon as he reverses his curse.”

Sira looked worried for a second, “I do not know what you are capable of, so I advise you to be careful. He ruled as a tyrant for a few thousand years before laying the curse on the world, and only fled to avoid the storms and let them tear the world apart around him. He has enough power to keep all of the storms active and add power to them, as well as keep up twelve, complex dimensional pockets for several hundred years. He is only coming out soon because he doesn’t know if the world is in wastes yet, and wishes to see.”

Jay paused as he was thinking. He then looked at her, “I probably shouldn’t... But I may as well give some sort of insurance. I promise you, If I do end up fighting this “Sorcerer”, I’ll try to be careful. I will beat him, you have my word on that.”

She was silent for a moment before nodding with a smile, “Thank you, you are actually the first person I have met who has actually wanted to do something against him. Almost everyone back home has given up hope.”

Jay smiled as he shook his head, “If one gives up hope, you may as well roll over and die. I refuse to let someone walk all over people without paying for it.”

Sira’s smile dropped for a second, “I suppose I should not mention the mass suicides after that comment but... Too late now I suppose.”

Jay pinched the bridge of his nose, “Jesus Christ... Now I have even more incentive to help you and your people. Someone needs to give them hope, and I can’t do it by myself. I’ll be counting on you to back me up.”

“I would be honored.” She said with a smile and a bow.

Jay nervously scratched the back of his neck, “Hey hey, no bowing. No need to do that.”

Sira tilted her head to the side, “That is how we greet and thank one another, is that not how it is done on your Earth?”

He shook his head, “No, it’s usually done for Monarchs, which was done away with because it gave too much power to one man. There are some cultures that have that form of bowing as you mentioned, but more often than not it’s not needed.”

“Hm, we simply use it as a sign of respect for each other. It mostly started as a way to make everyone feel better, though the exact meaning has been lost and has changed over the years.”

Jay laughed, “How about I teach you about my earth and you teach me about yours?”

She thought it over before nodding, “Sure, I would like that.”

Jay smiled, “It’s a date then.”

“Is there some sort of underlying meaning to this, Jay?”

Jay shook his head, still grinning, “Depends. That’s entirely up to you.”

Sira paused for a second before chuckling, “Alright then. When do you wish to discuss this? Now, or sometime in the future?”

He looks at the rest of us, grinning as he shrugged, “Sorry guys. Talk to ya later.” He turned back to Sira, “How does now sound?”

“Okay.” Sira turned to the rest of us, “I apologize, but I must leave for now. I will see you all later.”

They both began to walk away, Jay talking, “So, you want to hear some of the history of my country, or do you want to start us off?”

[Sira’s POV]

I thought it over before replying, “I would like to hear about yours first. There is not much to say about mine, just storms and high death rates.”

Jay shook his head as he frowned, “Don’t sell yourself too short. If there’s nothing you wish to tell me about your world, just tell me about yourself and I’ll do the same.”

“There is nothing I wish to hide about my world, it is just not very... Exciting or uplifting.”

Jay thought for a moment then responded, “Then tell me about yourself.”

I nodded, “Well, I was born in a Childrens Hospital in Lansing, Michigan... Do you know where that is, or is your Earth that much different?”

Jay actually looked surprised, “That’s... actually the same as my world.”

“Ah. Well, I grew up in the city, lived out a normal life like everyone else, then joined the Centurion IV Weather team when I was eighteen. They were one of the most successful and well known force in the Weather Keepers Association. We were sort of strained, however, as most of the Northern continent had been wasted by storms. Oddly enough, the Great Lakes area was one of the safest places. Eighty percent of North America was practically rubble by that point.”

Jay shook his head as he sighed, “Shit... Well, I guess I may as well go next. What do you wish to know?”

“Hmm... I’d like to know about your world, first. Are there any magic users there?”

He nodded, “Yeah, but they’re fairly dangerous. They’re closely monitored by a supernatural order that keeps an eye on the various creatures of supernatural origin.”

“What is this order called?”

“They’re called the Knights of the Holy Lance. Interesting thought though, the previous leader of the order is here in this world.”

I stopped in my tracks, “Did you say the Knights of the Holy Lance?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, why?”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, unfolded it and showed him the image on it, “Does their mark look like this?”

He nodded, looking cautious.

“It would seem our worlds are very similar. This mark is one of the few things known about that sorcerer, he wore it across his back.”

Jay’s eyes widened, “And you think that Dean is the guy you’re looking for, don’t you.”

I shook my head, “No, I know he isn’t the sorcerer. Dean was the last leader of the Knights, if I remember correctly. The sorcerer was his successor, and made an example of Dean when he turned evil. His “remains” are still magically preserved and put on display in front of the dimensional pockets. A warning, he says.”

He stopped, “I don’t know of anyone in the order that would turn on Dean like that... Are you sure there’s no clue as to who this sorcerer is?”

I let out a sigh, “I don’t know if I should say this, but yes, there is a clue.”

He suddenly grabbed my shoulders, he looked like he was pleading, “Then you gotta tell me... Dean needs to know about this!”

“There is a... Rumor, about the sorcerer’s name.” I said, “But you might not want to hear it.”

“Just tell me...”

I sighed heavily, “His name is Anthony. Anthony Marcelo.”

Jay’s eyes widened as he staggered back, “Anthony...?”

“Did... Did the Dean of your Earth not have a child?”

His eyes widened even further, “No... that was his fathers name... He had a son in your earth?”

I nodded, “Yes, at least that’s what the rumors are.”

        He shook his head, “They’re more than likely true... all rumors have a grain of truth in them.”

        “I suppose.” I paused as I thought of what to say. “How... How do you think the Dean you know will react to this?”

        He shook his head grimly, “Not well, I can tell you that much...”

        “That doesn’t bode well. I wish we could confirm if his son is the sorcerer before telling him, but I don’t see any way we could know.”

        Jay was silent until he spoke, “I remember from one of my contacts in the order that Dean’s father used to keep a journal. If your worlds Dean is anything like his father, he probably does too. Though where it would be, I have no idea.”

        I hesitated before saying, “Probably gone. The order was completely eradicated in the first years of the sorcerer’s reign. There is literally nothing left other than the small pieces of Dean put on display in front of the dimensional pockets.”

        He cursed under his breath, “Then I have no idea on how to proceed.” He sighed, “It’s going to be hard telling him, I’ll tell you that much.”

        “Hm, well... We should probably wait until he returns to tell him. Do you know when that will be?”

        He thought for moment, “Two days from now I believe.”

        “Then we still have time to think on how to inform him of this. I just hope he is not too angry.”

        Jay chuckled sardonically, “He’ll be angry no matter what we say. He’ll also be extremely... sad, I guess is the word I’m looking for.”

        I nodded, “I would imagine.”

        Jay sighed, “Some date huh?”

        I shrugged, “Not the worst I’ve been on. At least you’re still alive.”

        Jay laughed, “Geez, it went that bad before?”

        “Yes, one of his wings got caught in a strong gust of wind. It was snapped off, and he plummeted to his death.”

        He winced, “Ouch... Sounds painful.”

        I nodded, wincing slightly as well, “The tendons and muscles in our shoulders are rather sensitive to pain. Having one torn off is about the equivalent of being stabbed in the genitals with a white hot pike, only multiplied by ten. Or so I’ve been told.”

        “Even more ouch.” He nervously laughed, but paused. He then poked my wing, “Huh, feels soft even.”

        I glowed with a gold light and tried to stop him, “No, wait-” It was too late. My wings sprung open, one of them catching him in the chin. “Uh... Oops.”

        He laughed, “Not the hardest I’ve been smacked, but ow. I take it they’re also sensitive to the touch?”

        “Er, yes.... This is awkward. I don’t know if you realize why this is awkward, but it is.”

        He rubbed the back of his neck, “I think I have an idea. Sorry if I offended you.”

        “Oh no, not offended, just...” I looked around before leaning in and whispering, “It’s awkward getting a stiffy in public.”

        He glowed a dull brown before laughing, “Shit, it’s like that? I know the feeling then.”

        I nodded and cleared my throat, “Yes, well, this has been... Fun, but I think I’m going to go meet up with Sarah again.”

        Jay nodded, “Alright then.” he stopped before saying, “Do... do you want to do this again sometime?”

        I thought it over before nodding, “Sure, I would like to.”

        He nodded and smiled, “Great. Umm... god it’s been awhile since I’ve done this.”

        “Right, then I’ll just spare you the trouble.” I gave my wings a few good flaps and started to fly off, “See you around!” With that, I flew off in the opposite direction, most likely where Sarah and the rest were.

        “-So then I ate him.” If you wanted to know, I was telling Alex and Jav about the exciting adventure that was the Blanca house in Manehattan. Fun times, fun times.

        Alex blinked before rubbing the bridge of his nose, “Okay then.”

        Jav frowned, “That’s... Disturbing.”

        Arlosia had passed out, not really surprising, and Ardiente had already been there, so she didn’t have much to say. Well, except for...

        Ardiente grinned at me, “You should tell him about the time you ate me.”

        Alex raised an eyebrow before leaning back, “Umm... Wat?”

        I wanted to say ‘something I’m never describing again’, but I settled on, “Me and her having sex.”

        Alex blinked, “Oh... That’s normal.”

I smirked, “Not the way we did it.”

“So? I’ve done a lot of weird things.”

“I’m not going to ask, because I probably would regret it.” I said, “And besides, with these,” I showed my sharpened fingernails, my claws, and my teeth, “and the fact that we’re both women, things can get... Interesting.”

Alex nodded, “Ah... I understand.”

“Yeah. But anyway,” I sniffed the air a few times, “Sira should be back right about...” Said person landed right next to me, “Now. Hello again.”

She nodded, “Hello.”

Alex smirked, “Hello lass.”

Sira tilted her head to the side, “‘Lass’ is usually used to refer to someone younger than the one speaking. I can easily tell that you are much younger than I am.”

Alex looked surprised for a second before holding up his hands, “Sorry... Force of habit.”

“I was not offended,” she said “just... Confused.”

“Oh...” Alex smiled, “Well I’m sorry for being confusing.”

Sira shook her head, “It’s fine, I have met stranger people.”

Alex raised an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“I would rather not go into it.”

“Fine with me.” Alex leaned back and pulled out a small book.

“What’s that?” I asked.

Alex smiled as he read it, “A spellbook slash journal.”

I paused, “... Would you believe I have no idea what that even is?”

Alex nodded, “Not many do.”

I was surprised by that, “Huh, for some reason “journal” seemed like it would be a common thing. Nevermind then.”

Alex looked at me, “.... Oh. I thought ye meant the spellbook, my bad.”

“What? Oh, yeah, that too actually.”

“The spellbook is very rare, while nearly everyone has a journal.”

I stared at him blankly, “I still don’t know what that is.”

Alex closed the book, “A spellbook contains multiple formulas and diagrams for magic spells, while a journal is used to write down the events of a persons day.”

“Huh, cool. I guess.”

Alex frowned, “I mainly use it to keep myself occupied.”

I raised an eyebrow, “You do that to pass the time?”

“It can get boring sometimes, either that or I’m just weird and enjoy casting spells.”

“Maybe it’s both?”

He shrugged, “Maybe. Random, but fun fact, I have a gender reversal spell.”

“And... Why would I want to know that?”

He shrugged again, “It’s a random fact, I just say it for fun.”

“Alright then,” I said, “just make sure never to use it around me. I’d be liable to tear my own genitals off.”

He raised his hands, “I learned my lesson yesterday.”

“What happened yesterday?”

“Something I promised not to say.” He smirked, “Lets just say that James was surprised.”

“Oh come on, now you gotta tell me.”

        Alex blinked, “He suffered from hysterical paroxysm.”

        I blinked, letting what he just said sink in. “Oh good God... That’s hilarious and disgusting at the same time.”

        He leaned back, “Oh god ye know what that is.” He held up a hand, “It happened via massage.”

        “Okay, so that’s the “how”. What about the “where”?” I asked with a grin.

        Alex smirked again, “His back... I don’t even know how he did it, but he did.”

        “Actually,” I said, “almost everyone has a set of particularly sensitive nerves on their back, and applying too much pressure in the correct area can lead to an orgasm. It happens more often in women, as males do tend to have a slightly more developed muscular structure, which would lessen the effect.”

        Alex blinked, “Well... The more ye know.” He raised a hand. “But he passed out and his sister came in, lets just say he was incredibly embarrassed.”

        “Sister, sister... That was Amy, right?”

        He nodded, “Who was a guy at the time...” He frowned, “The spell also affected me as well, so... Yeah.”

        “Huh, interesting.” I looked up and noticed that the sun was actually starting to fucking set. Jesus Christ, how long were we out? I turned back to Alex and said, “I think I’m gonna head back to the hotel, it’s getting late.”

        Alex nodded, “Okay, night.” He vanished in a flash.

        “Weird...” I shook my head and started on the way to the hotel, my group of friends following me. When we got there, we just went to our rooms and went to bed. Didn’t think we were all that tired.

        Oh well, guess we get to see what tomorrow will offer.

Escape from Hell- Final Act, Pt. I: Facing the monster

It’s been three days since we met Sira, all of which I spent inside, doing fucking nothing (okay it was spent fucking with my artificial foot, fucking with Ardiente, and just plain fucking Ardiente, but still). But wait, guess what? Today’s my birthday!

...

...

Yeah, I have no idea why that’s so important to people. When you’re alive, it’s just another year closer to death. When you’re dead, it doesn’t fucking matter much because, well, let’s face it; you’re fucking dead. When you’re a Wraith, you’re practically immortal, so what does it matter.

Short answer? I don’t know. Long answer? I don’t fucking know. So I would’ve turned twenty one if I was still alive, who cares? Just would’ve been more of the old rape and torture. Hooray.

Oh well, might as try and enjoy it, I’ve never gotten the chance to do that before.

I got out of bed kind of late, showered, and got dressed. Seeing as most of my other clothes needed to be cleaned, and I wasn’t going to go around naked all day, I was forced to put on something I really didn’t want to buy, but the clothes lady insisted so I did.

A dress. I am telling you right now, I had no want, need, or intention on buying it, but the damn mare who made it was so fucking insistent that I had to. It was a simple thing, a two inch strap over each shoulder, and the whole thing went down to my shins. My boots didn’t exactly flatter it, and I had no other shoes, so barefoot today everybody!

I had decided to let everyone else sleep in while I went into town around noon. Well, Feral came with me, and he even let me catch a ride on his back. Fucking awesome wolf right there.

As he walked into town, myself lying on his back while staring at the sky... Okay, yeah, turns out having darkness powers really makes it hurt when looking anywhere near the sun. Maybe that’s why I dislike Celestia so much. Fucking ow.

Anyway, Feral waked into town, myself lying on his back, not fucking staring at the sky, wondering what to do.

“Hey, there’s the birthday girl.” Dean’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

I looked up from where I was laying and saw him, “Oh, hey Dean, I- Wait, how’d you know it’s my birthday?”

He shrugged, smiling, “Death.”

“Ah, makes sense I guess.” I got up from Feral’s back and stretched “Did he tell you how old I would be turning?”

He shook his head, looking confused, “Seventeen, right?”

I just about fell right on my ass in surprise. Seventeen? Seventeen? Do I really look that young? I shook my head, “You honestly think I’m seventeen years old?”

His head tilted, “Aren’t you?”

“No...” I scratched my head in confusion before continuing, “I’m twenty one.”

He froze, eyes wide, “Wha...” He shook his head, “I mean, What? You’re so... well, small.”

Oh... Well, I think I actually know why he thinks that. “If I remember correctly, they coated my skeleton in metal when I was around... Fifteen or sixteen, I think, so I guess my body sort of stopped growing.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Coated in metal...? What? What do you mean?”

I stared at him blankly before realization hit me, “Oh yeah, I don’t think I told many people about that one, actually. Well, one of the experiments the researchers at A.N.G.E.L. performed had to do with increasing bone strength, and with that whole “Croatoan” stuff messing with them, they went with coating my entire skeleton in some really strong metal.” I activated my claws and used one to cut a finger open to show him, “See? All metal and shit.”

His eyes hardened as he stared at the metal finger, “More reasons... Oh I’m going to enjoy this...”

I raised an eyebrow, “Enjoy... What?”

“I remember you mentioning an organization that performed this shit on you. I asked Death about it, and he told me the name. Here’s your birthday gift,” He then produced a bloody dripping large bag and threw it at me, making me catch it, “The heads of every scientist of the organization.”

Holy shit what the fuck! I opened it, and sure enough, some recognizable, yet very bloody heads looked up at me. I picked up the one on top.

“Well fuck me, it’s Jeriah!”

Dean smiled, “Squealed like a pig when I stuck him with a pipe.”

I would respond to that but HAHAHA I have been waiting too long to do this. I dropped the head to the ground, then proceeded to stomp it into a paste. I then picked up a wad of it and threw it a good few hundred feet yelling, “FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING RAPIST! BURN IN HELL!”

“I also told Louis to put him in the rape pits in hell. He’s now getting penetrated in every orifice on his body. Along with every other researcher. Happy birthday Sarah.”

I pumped both fists into the air, “BEST FUCKING BIRTHDAY EVER!” I then wrapped Dean in a hug, “THANK YOU!”

Dean patted my head laughing, “No problem Sarah.”

“Oh, yeah, you just completely fucking destroyed the bane of my existence! No big deal.” I cannot describe how happy I am. Nothing can ruin this.

Dean looked around, “You know, I’m glad we’re in a random area that isn’t populated, it would be awkward to explain this.”

“Don’t care. Besides, Jay apparently gave someone a “wingboner”, I think it was called, in the middle of town, so this would hardly be bad.”

Dean raised an eyebrow, “Wingboner?”

“Yeah, people with wings get them when they're aroused or something like that. Makes their wings spring out and go all stiff.”

He then turned stiff, “Oh dear lord I didn’t...”

I raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t what?”

He shook his head, “Never mind, don’t worry about it.”

“Well...” We all turned to look at... Oh hey it’s James. And who’s the girl with the pink hair?  “Someone seems happy.” He turned to Dean. “She’s here by the way. Said she wanted to talk to you.”

Dean’s eyes widened as he turned away, “Welp, I’ve gotta go, so see ya!”

“Uh, I’m still holding on, and I don’t really feel like letting go at the moment.” I said.

Dean groaned as he lifted me groaning a bit from the weight, “Fine, be that way.” He then jumped onto the tallest building and sat, “At least I’ll have time to hide.”

“Who are you even hiding from?”

Dean sighed, “My ex.”

“Oohhh... What does “ex” mean in that context?”

He stared at me blankly, “Seriously? Ugh... It means my former girlfriend.”

“Oi, I was raised in a medical facility with no outside connections, sorry if I don’t know many common phrases.” I love sarcasm, it’s fun.

He poked me in the sides, “Hey, no sarcasm from you, shorty.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll totally cut down on the sarcasm.”

“Smartarse.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Dean laughed, “Whatever birthday girl.”

I laughed as well, “But really, who is it you’re running from? I might’ve met them already.”

“Amy Hindenburg.”

I frowned, “Oh Jesus, the “heartbreak is the worst thing in existence” girl.”

“Hey, I resent that!”

I turned around and saw Amy, “Don’t fucking care.” I then looked back at Dean, “Amy’s here.”

“Oh fuck me...” Dean groaned.

“This your latest catch Dean?”

My head shot back to Amy, “I’ll fucking kill ya, ya fucking dog fucking... Fuck!”

She ignored me and looked at Dean. “We need to talk.”

Dean sighed, “I’m a bit tied up here.” He looked to me, “Could you let me go now?”

I let go, “Sure, but you might have to hold me back to stop me from hitting her in the fucking face. I’m trying to be nicer, but she just plain pisses me off.”

Dean sighed, “Fine, fine... looks like she’s staying Amy. You have the floor now.”

She stared at the ground and started scraping her foot in a circle. She looked up at Dean “I... I’m sorry.”

She makes all that fucking trouble-

Dean’s eyes widened, “Say again?”

She glared at the ground to avoid his gaze before yelling at Dean with tears in her eyes. “I SAID I’M SORRY! I’VE BEEN A STUPID FUCKING IDIOT AND IT TOOK ME THIS LONG TO FUCKING REALIZE IT! HAPPY!”

On the outside, I was silent. On the inside, however, this was happening: OH PRAISE THE FUCKING LORD SHE FINALLY FUCKING GETS IT! YOU ARE FUCKING STUPIDER THAN I AM, AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE U.S. IS! WHICH IS APPARENTLY FUCKING NORMAL TO KNOW!

Amy trembled with her fist clenched. “I-If it wasn’t for Sarah and Alex... I would still be hunting down your ass.”

I resisted the urge to shout: YOU DON’T FUCKING SAY!?

Dean sighed in annoyance, “That’s it. I’m fucking done.” He then glared at her, “I’ve blamed myself the entire time, hating myself for getting close to anyone because they might get hurt for being anywhere near me. I’ve had to run myself ragged, trying to make the world we live in a better place for not only monsters, but humans to live in as well! I’ve harbored the hate of most of the civilized and supernatural world, AND I’M FUCKING DONE!” He shouted as his eyes began glowing, “Tell me, why do you feel the fucking need to try and kill me?”

“I don’t know... I was so ANGRY with you. I thought we had something, and then you just ended it! I... I... “ She fell to her knees and trembled. “I lost control... The one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t let happen... and I just... freaked out! I felt so much rage... I... I...”

My face was completely calm, masking the large amount of GOOD FUCKING GOD ALMIGHTY I WAS TORTURED AND RAPED FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS AND I DON’T WHINE THIS MUCH! that I was currently feeling.

Amy grew a pair of wolf ears and a tail, tears started falling from under her bangs. “I’m so sorry... It was all my fault... I’m so sorry....”

Dean relaxed as he walked over to her and hugged her, sighing, “It’s... fine. I’m still angry, but I’m happy that you’ve finally gotten over it. I’m also sorry for not better explaining why I broke up with you.”

If I were him, her head would be on the fucking moon right now.

She broke down and started sobbing on his shoulder. Her ears folded back and she continued to cry. After about a minute or two she finally stopped. “Th-thank you....”

Dean chuckled and scratched her ear, “No problem.” Amy’s tail started wagging as he scratched, causing her eyes to roll slightly into the back of her head.

“... What the fuck? No, really, what the fuck?” I stared at them with a slightly disgusted look, “That’s just... Weird. Please don’t do it in front of me.”

Dean rolled his eyes, “Coming from you, that’s not that much of an insult.”

Amy continued to wag her tail... Don’t think she heard me.

I walked right up to her and shouted, “If you are done being masturbated via ear, I would like to leave!”

She snapped out of her trance and started glowing silver. “Oh... uuuuuh. You didn’t see anything!”

“Oh yeah, and I’m telling your brother too.” I then thought that over and grinned, “Well, you two will have that in common now! You both got off on physical contact in a completely non-sexual place via another man!”

She glared at me with her eyes flashing yellow. “IF YOU TELL HIM A SINGLE DETAIL ABOUT THIS I WILL GUT YOU!”

“Already got a girlfriend, plus I don’t really like you. Sorry.”

Dean sighed, “Amy, enough. Sarah, just... don’t.”

Amy looked over at him in shock before huffing and turning away. “Just... Make her promise not to tell him about...” She motioned to her ears and tail, “This.”

Dean facepalmed, “Honestly, I don’t see why you haven’t told him yet, but fine.” He let her go and walked over to me, “I’m asking you as a friend, just... don’t tell James about her ears and tail. That’s all I’m asking.”

I shrugged, “I wasn’t going to anyway. I have no idea what they are, just figured they were a genetic mutation of some form.”

Amy stared at me with one of her eyes twitching. “Just... what?”

I raised an eyebrow at her, “What? I grew up in a genetics facility. Every extremity to the human body might be a mutation. If it’s not, it’s not.”

Dean stared at me blankly, “Alright then. There, problem solved.”

Amy shrugged before hiding her ears and tail. “I’ll take what I can get... I need to find James and make sure he doesn’t blow something up.”

Dean laughed, “Odds are that he has enough common sense to do something like that.”

I walked over to the edge of the building and looked down, then back at Amy while asking, “He’s down there, right?”

Amy looked at me in confusion. “Uh, yeah. Why?”

“Oh, no reason,” I said, “just the fact that a bag full of severed heads is also down there, as well as a head that I sort of stomped into paste. Oh, and Feral, and I kind of forgot to feed him lately.”

“QUIT BITING MY LEG!! TAKE THE HEAD! TAKE IT!!”

“Aaaaand there’s my call.” I jumped off the building, hitting the ground with a heavy thud, and ran over to where I saw James, who was currently waving a head in front of Feral, who was biting his leg. Guess that should’ve been obvious, given what he shouted, but I felt the need to say it.

He turned to me and started to yell more. “CALL OFF THE MUTT! CALL OFF THE MUTT!!!”

He’s a four and a half foot tall wolf, not a mutt.

I shook my head and ran over, “Get off him Feral!” I grabbed the wolf around the waist and pulled him off. “Bad wolf.” I then turned to James, “You alright?”

He started to get up when a girl with pink hair ran up. “OH MY GOSH! Are you alright!?”

He turned to her. “Don’t worry Meg. I’m fine.” He stood and winced as he leaned on his good leg. “I’ve had worse. Man that wolf has some bite to it’s bark.”

“What did you expect from a wolf bigger than most people?” I asked.

“I expected him to go for my throat. That’s what happened last time...”

I shrugged, “Sucks to be you.”

He laughed of all things. “Well when you’re as unlucky as I am that’s kind of a given.”

I was curious, so I asked, “What’s the most unlucky thing to have happened to you?”

He stopped laughing and stared at me for a while. His normally joyful smile slowly dropped to a serious frown. “Losing both my parents.”

I wanted to say GOOD FUCKING GOD DOES YOUR FAMILY EVEN KNOW WHAT BAD LUCK IS but I bit that comment back. Instead, I said, “Well, better than torture and rape for most of your life. At least you have a reason to be sad or angry, one that isn’t fucking relationship issues.”

He chuckled as he smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, I guess you gotta point there.”

And he just laughed about torture and rape! Ladies and gentlemen, my new... Fourteenth least favorite person!

I gave him a strained grin, “Hehe, yeah, I do don’t I? I really fucking do...”

He stared at me for a second before his face paled. “Oh... shit you weren’t joking. Fuck me, I’m sorry.”

“Oh no,” I said as I leaned in with a smile, “it’s perfectly fine. It’s not like the scars and the missing arm were any hints. An honest fucking mistake, I’m sure.”

He looked around nervously between me and Feral. “I honestly thought that you got those from training him... I’ve seen some other trainers and they had twice as many scars.”

I HAVE ABOUT FOUR THOUSAND OF THE FUCKING THINGS, WHAT PERSON HAS THAT MANY, DUMBASS!?

“Think about it,” I said, “I can’t have been in Equestria for that long, and Feral is an Equestrian breed of wolf. Even if the scars were from that, they would still be healing.” I felt the corners of my mouth starting to split as my smile grew wider.

He stared at me in fear before going deadpan. “God, I’m an idiot.”

The pink haired girl started to pull him by the sleeve away from me. “I-I’m sorry but we need to go. Right James? You still need to pick something up from the library?”

Before James could respond, I appeared right in front of them, my cheeks split halfway and my teeth showing... And the fucking split personality is back. Fuck me.

“Oh don’t go~” she said, “I wanted to talk some more~” My eyes started to glow blood red.

James fell to the ground as he stared right into my eyes. “No.... no.. no...nonono!” The girl tried to help him up but he kept sliding himself back. “S-stay away from me! Y-you’re just a figment of my imagination! That’s all!”

The girl started to back away slowly. “J-James?”

I bent down, trying to fucking stop her, but she kept control. She got within centimeters of his face and said, “I’m very real, James~ Very, very real~”

His eyes shrank to pinpricks as he screamed. He flipped over and started to crawl away as fast as he could until he stumbled and fell to the ground.

I appeared on top of him, holding him down with my foot. Bending down, I opened my mouth to take a bite of his face before jerking back, holding my head in my hands. “J-James... No, you aren’t getting your body back, Sarah~! James, you need t- I said NO~! To listen to m-me. You have a g-gun, right?”

He looked at me in fear and confusion before fumbling with his gun. The entire time the girl was watching in fear.

“That thing-” I was interrupted by my claw flying up to punch me across the face, “t-that thing can turn into d-different weapons. R-right?” He shakily nodded. “G-good, You won’t stop me~! I’ll kill y- got a sh-shotgun?”

He nodded and looked at his gun. “S-scatter shot.” The cobalt gun morphed into a double barrel sawn-off.

I nodded, then grabbed the gun with both hands and pointed it at my forehead, “S-shoot me- NO! Shoot me in the head... The trauma s-should rattle her enough to- to let me get control b-back.”

James stared at me in shock. “W-wah?”

“I- I have a f-fucking titanium skull!” I shouted impatiently, “I’ll fucking l-live. Shoot!”

He flinched and pulled the trigger.

Escape from Hell- Final Act, Pt. II: Equivalent exchange

I woke up to find myself in.... A FUCKING HOSPITAL! REALLY!?

I sat up in my small excuse for a bed and groaned, “I’m too fucking tired to destroy anything...” I looked around with... Oddly limited vision and saw James sitting on a bed next to mine, “Oh, uh... Hello, James.”

Instead of responding he continued to stare at the window.

“Uh, look,” I said, “sorry about that, I uh... Kind of have this completely psychotic split personality that can... Take over if I’m not careful.”

He continued staring before saying something. “Those eyes...”

“Uh, eyes?” I asked curiously.

His body slowly started to shake. “Those eyes... those blood red eyes...”

“I... Still don’t understand. What are you talking about?”

He started trembling enough to fall over onto his side. “They were just like HIS!”

“Whose?”

He started rocking himself in the bed. “But that’s impossible... It was just a dream.... He can’t be real...”

I was starting to get really confused and frustrated, “Who can’t be real?”

He jumped and started looking around the room. “GAH!” He was panting heavily and stopped looking around when he saw me. “Sarah what’s going- What happened?”

Okay seriously, what the fuck is wrong with him? Ugh, nevermind that.

I shook my head, “What, you don’t remember? My split personality took over, you shot me in the head, and... I can’t see out of my left eye. Huh, I just realized that. Hold on a second.” I lifted my hand to my left eye to find my head was wrapped in bandages, particularly over the eye itself, “Well that’s weird.”

He blinked in confusion as he stared at me. “Split personality? You mean you didn’t see...” He shuddered involuntarily. “That... thing?”

“What thing?” Seriously, can’t he just fucking tell me? Jesus Christ...

“Well... at first I thought it was just some stress induced dream from dying and becoming a wraith. I was certain it was after A... uh... I had some help with stress relief.”

“Okay,” I said, “two things. One; I also had a dream, it included my split personality. Probably pissed myself in my sleep, I don’t remember. Two, I know what happened. Fucking funny as shit.”

He looked at me with wide eyes as he started glowing. “I’m going to kill Alex...”

After a good laugh, I calmed down and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t judge you. That’s actually kind of cute in an odd, creepy way.”

He leaned away slightly. “I’ll... Take your word for it.”

I shrugged, “Eh, just my opinion. Now...” I reached up and started undoing the bandages on my head, “I want to fucking see out of both eyes, so I’m taking this off.”

As I took off the bandage I heard the door open. “Are they awake? Oh, They are an- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR EYE!?”

I turned and sort of... Half-saw Amy standing in the doorway. Why the fuck can’t I see through my left eye yet? I took the bandages off...

“What do you mean?” I reached up to rub my eye, thinking there might’ve been something on or in it. When I started to rub it I found... Nothing. An empty. Fucking. Socket. “What the fuck happened to my eye?”

The pink haired girl from earlier walked in behind Amy and started to glow softly. “Um, well you had James... er, shoot you, and it may have moved over to the side... slightly....”

“I lost my eye, didn’t I?” She wordlessly nodded. “Well then... Fuck, can’t do anything about that I guess.”

James was staring at me in shock. “I SHOT YOU!?”

I nodded slowly, “Like I didn’t just tell you... Yes, I told you to shoot me to traumatize me a bit and let me get control of my body back. Thank you for that. Cost me a fucking eye though...”

James started to grab the side of his head and looked forward at the wall. “But... I don’t remember any of that.”

“Well you were kind of panicking like all fuck... Maybe that’s why?”

He shook his head and looked back at us. “Y-yeah... I must have been, hallucinating or something...”

I AM NOT A FUCKING HALLUCINATION, Jesus Christ I have to bite back a lot of comments when around these people.

I shrugged, “No fucking clue.”

He took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “All I know, is that it wasn’t you standing there at the time... but... someone else... Or at least that’s what it looked like to me.”

I feel another comment... Wait for it... SPLIT. FUCKING. PERSONALITY. OF COURSE IT WASN’T ME DIPSHIT. There it is.

I got up from my bed and started to leave, “Well, that can be figured out later. I don’t feel like spending another birthday in a fucking hospital. I’m leaving, you guys coming with?”

The pink haired girl, I gotta ask what her name is, started helping James up. “I’ll help get James. Amy, could you tell the receptionist?”

She shrugged and left the room. “Alright, I’ll be right back.” She stopped at the door and looked back. “And this should help with the eye thing. Don’t know if it’ll work though.” She tossed me a small soul as she left.

I looked it over for a second before shrugging and eating it. Guess what? Nothing! Oh well, worth a try.

“Okay, so before anything else, I need to go find Dean and talk to him. He wanted me to warn him anytime that bitch of an alter ego took over. Know where he might be?”

James put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment. “He’s probably in the library... I’ll go with you. My suit’s still there.”

I nodded and started to leave, “Let’s go then. And if he’s not there, I’ll just smell him out. I was around him long enough to differentiate his scent by now.”

James nodded and looked over to the pink haired girl. “Okay Meg, let’s follow Sarah and grab my suit.”

I was halfway out the door when I looked back at the window, seeing it was large enough for a better exit.

With a smile, I walked over to the two and grabbed them both, lifting them pretty easily, “I hate hospitals, sooner out the better. Through the window!”

The pink haired one, I think James called her Meg, stared at me in shock. “W-what!?”

“Too late, fuckin’ doing it!” I ran forward and crashed through the window, then fell about forty feet to the ground. “And now we’re out.”

Amy ran out of the building and looked at us. “What the hell!?”

James pointed at me. “She did it.”

I raised an eyebrow, “What? It was faster and less possibly-murder-filled than walking through the hospital.”

She just stared at us before facepalming. “Whatever... James, I’ll just meet you and Megan at Sugarcube corner.”

James waved as she left. “Alright.”

“Alright, well, I’m tired of walking around so,” I picked the two up again, “I’m running us to the Library! Any complaints before we head off?”

A slightly glowing pair of wraiths looked up at me. “Uh... Could you not put us in such a tight grip? It’s getting a bit... awkward down here.”

“Oh? How so?” Looking down I could see they were face to face, almost kissing. “Oh, well... It’s either that, or you’re near my waist, and I never wear underwear. And keep in mind this is a dress, so it’ll be moving around quite a bit.”

James started glowing even brighter. “Uh... nevermind this is alright, right Meg?” She nodded furiously, accidentally hitting James in the head. “T-that’s two for two. Let’s get to the library!”

“Okay!” With that I took off, going fast and far enough to get about halfway there in a minute, “Not going too fast am I?” I looked down again to see James cringing as Megan was screaming in his ear. “Oh, well it doesn’t matter.” I stopped suddenly, right in front of the Library, “Because we’re here!”

Megan stopped screaming and was hugging onto an unsteady James as they tried to get their footing. “P-p-please d-don’t do th-that again...”

“No promises. Now...” I walked forward and threw the Library door open, “Hey Dean, if you’re here, that hungry bitch personality came back again! Also, I may or may not have a left eye anymore!”

Alex’s voice came from behind the door, “And I appear to have suddenly turned two dimensional.”

James called from the ground as he fell over with Megan on top of him. “Hey Alex.”

“Five seconds.” He mumbled, “Paper Doll Man.” He literally, and I shit you not, slipped through the crack in the door. Ignoring the hinges.

I stared... Half stared at him with a blank expression before simply saying, “That’s physically impossible. You’re physically impossible.”

James started getting up as Megan was staring at Alex in shock. “He’s Alex. Nothing wrong here. Have you seen my suit? It’s in a black box.”

Alex wobbled a bit as he blew into his thumb, causing his body to fill out again. He looked at James, “Nope... Well actually, I think Dean might know. But he’s off doing something or other.”

James sighed and sagged forward. “Oooooooof course.”

Guess. Fucking. What. Another comment to bite back: FOR FUCKS SAKE YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT A FUCKING SUIT!? I LOST MY FUCKING EYE AND I BARELY EVEN REACTED! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT “BAD” FUCKING IS!?

Alex looked at Megan before bowing, “Hello madam.”

Megan started glowing softly and shuffled her foot. “Oh, um... Hello.”

Alex looked at her for a second before tilting his head, “Huh... Pink hair? Fits ye quite well.”

Megan glowed slightly brighter and started trying to hide behind James. “Um... Thank you... I get it from my mom...”

I interrupted their conversation in the most polite way, “OI, COCKFACES! What is more urgent, the pink fucking hair, or my psychotic episode and complete loss of an eye!?”

James pointed at me. “She has a point.” He turned back to Megan. “No offence.”

        Alex blinked, “Ye lost an eye? Oh... Yeah ye did. Damn.”

“I would think the fact that I shouted it, and that it is pretty fucking obvious that it’s not there would have tipped you off. But, I forgot, pink fucking hair is more astonishing!”

Megan shrunk behind James. “S-sorry...”

Alex sighed, “Ye got nothing to be sorry for lass, Sarah’s just not use to human contact and is dealing with multiple psychological issues that can drive anyone of us insane if we suddenly got them.” He shrugged, “Plus her skeleton about ninety percent titanium nickel alloy which is the hardest metal known to man an-” He blinked a couple times. “Oh fuck me I did it again.”

My eye twitched as I glared at him and held up a finger, “First off, don’t fucking talk about me like I’m not right fucking in front of you. Second, I got over the fucking human interaction problem at the fucking facility, I just don’t have much outside knowledge. Third, I have one psychological issue that is screaming at me to murder every single fucking thing I see, including you, you stupid piece of fuck!”

He shrunk back, “Sorry, sorry!”

I punched the wall next to me to vent some frustration, resulting in a rather large hole. After taking a few deep breaths, I spat at him, “I don’t fucking care right now. Do you know where Dean is, or not?”

“He said he’s in the park....”

I turned around and stormed out of the house, “Thank you.” I didn’t wait for any sort of response as I made my way away from the Library and out of their sight. I wasn’t actually sure where the park was, so I just sniffed him out. I found him, along with another slightly familiar scent... Michael I think.

Running there, I got to the park in a minute or two, and saw a rather strange sight. Dean, carrying some woman, Michael, and this guy in this black robe thing. Don’t care who those two I don’t know are, I need to tell Dean.

“Oi! Dean, Michael... Whoever the fuck you two are!” I shouted.

I noticed the woman staring at my scars with shock, and maybe disgust but I don’t know for sure. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but I am fucking stressed right now so I shouted, “Quit fucking staring, I’m not in the Goddamn fucking mood to have someone I don’t fucking know, staring at me like I’m on fucking display!” Okay, maybe the loss of an eye is getting to me more than I thought.

I nodded to Michael as the woman leaned back after my small rant, “Hey Michael, nice seeing you again. Well it would be, but I can only halfway fucking see you right now.”

He looked at me, “Ah. Good to see you to..... What happened exactly?”

“Had to fucking make James shoot me in the fucking head. Went off course and took my fucking eye out. Gone for fucking good! Just fucking great!” Swearing is stress relieving for me.

I then turned to Dean, “I need to fucking talk to you. Like, right fucking now. I don’t care if anyone of these fuckers hears it, but it’s really fucking important.”

He raised an eyebrow at me, “Alright then...” He then looked at the girl in his arms, “Sorry Beth, we’ll “Chat” later.” Guess her name’s Beth, great to fucking know!

Beth pouted, “Fine....” Then pulled him close and whispered... Something, I have no clue what though. After the two said some shit to each other, again I have no idea what, she... Bit his fucking neck. I am not sure what’s going on, but I don’t want to fucking know.

I was getting impatient and started to pull on my hair as I growled, “You promised to fucking help me the next fucking time this fucking happened Dean! I need fucking help, right fucking now! I’m going fucking insane and I need fucking help, I don’t exactly feel like letting her out another fucking time!”

Dean looked at me with narrowed eyes, “When, why, and how?” He then walked over to me, “And did anyone get hurt?”

I took a few quick breaths to try and calm myself, “Three fucking hours ago, probably because James laughed when he thought I was fucking joking about torture and rape, and how? Just like every other fucking time, she boots me out of my own fucking mind! And hurt? I think only I got hurt, James had to shoot me in the head to cause some trauma and give me enough time to get control back,” I pulled my left eyelid down to reveal the empty socket, “that’s about the extent of injury though.”

Dean sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “Damn it all... Alright, I actually did find one solution, but you may not like it.”

My eye widened, “What? What is it? I’ll do just about fucking anything right now, I just want her out of my fucking head!”

Dean looked at me grimly, “In order for me to fully cure you of your other self, I have to enter into your mind.”

“... Okay, why wouldn’t I like that idea? It doesn’t seem too bad just going into my mind.”

He shook his head, “It’s not that simple. We have to have the same brain waves in order for me to enter. And the only way to do that,” He pulled out a syringe, “I have to inject myself with the Croatoan.”

“Uh.... Not to sound rude or anything, but that is completely your choice, I have no say in that, and I frankly don’t give a fuck right now. I am on my last strand of fucking sanity, and I really don’t fucking care. Again, not to sound rude.”

Dean sighed, “Alright. I have a basement in my house that has the right things we need. I have the proper items for me to enter your mind.”

“You’ll need some backup, I’ll tell you that much.” We turned around and saw the man that was with Dean earlier, “I doubt something like a little mindfucker can beat the both of us.” He smiles. He was wearing all black, and had slicked back black hair.

Dean smirked, “No shit. Good to have you here Johnny.”

I twitched a bit and put a hand to my head, “Yeah, nice to meet you, nice to have you, sorry if I don’t act nicer, I’ve pretty much lost my mind twice in the past four hours.”

Johnny shrugged, “I know the feeling.”

“I’d ask, but I’m getting a bit impatient. Any chance we could do this like, right fucking now?” I asked Dean in desperation.

He nodded, “Yeah, I’ve been waiting for something like this, and thankfully I already spent the day creating the runes for me to get in your head. I’ll need Johnny to inject himself with some of the Croatoan as well if he wants to jump in, so lets go. The quicker the better.” He said as he turned and walked towards a random direction.

I followed behind quickly, twitching every now and then, “Please, please tell me we’ll get there soon. I swear it’s like she’s trying to claw my fucking brain out.”

We stopped in front a large manor, it was absolutely huge, “Here we are.” Dean said as he opened the door, it was even bigger on the inside, “Home sweet home.”

I was starting to scratch at the side of my head while hunching over slightly, my body jerking randomly while I spoke rapidly, “Okay, okay, we’re here, good, great actually, where to?”

“Basement.” Dean replied as he moved towards a door that was under a stairwell and opened it, “Everything we need is down here.” He then descended down the staircase inside.

I followed him while my head moved from side to side, not really looking for anything, just trying to occupy myself, “This isn’t gonna be dangerous is it? I want her gone, yeah, but I don’t want to die. Or you to die. Or him to die even though we just met. Or for her to get out. Or for me to die, or you, or him, or-” I punched myself across the jaw, “-this isn’t fun. I thought my first birthday outside the facility would be fun. Instead there was yelling, insults, losing my mind, losing my eye, now losing my mind again. Not fun.”

Dean placed a hand on my shoulder, “Well, think of this as another gift. You’ll finally be sane... somewhat.”

I stopped twitching and looked at him sadly, “I honestly think I lost that privilege a while ago...”

Dean smiled, “Then I’ll just have to get that privilege back then.”

You know what? Too stressed to bite back comments now, “I would love to see that fucking happen, if it were possible.”

Dean kept his smile, “Try to have a little faith why don’t ya’?”

“Faith is a pretty new thing to me...”

“Then try it out, you’ll like it.” He replied as we finally made it to the bottom. On the floor were circles with symbols drawn in chalk, “Here we are... Ready?” Dean turned to me.

I wasted no time shouting, “YES!”

Dean deadpanned, “We’re in a basement that bounces sound all over the place, no need to shout.”

I twitched again, “If you haven’t noticed, I am losing. My damn. Mind.”

Dean sighed, “Right, right. You ready Johnny?” He asked the other man, who nodded, “Alright then... Welp, let’s get down to business.” He said as he grabbed a cup filled with a liquid, “I always hated this stuff...” Dean sighed as he drank it. He then began to glow a silvery color, “Blech...” Dean groaned as he handed the cup to Johnny, who downed it in one gulp and gagged.

Dean then produced another syringe and handed it to Johnny, “Here you go, ready?” He nodded and they both injected themselves with the Croatoan. I noticed them tense as the liquid drained into them.

They looked at each other and nodded, and all of the sudden the silver glow floated off of them and moved towards me. Their bodies collapsed, and the glows gained outlines of their bodies. They then passed into me, and I could feel two other presences in my mind.

‘Wow... it’s kind of empty in here...’ Dean’s voice said in my head.

‘Oh, here, let me change that for you!’ I thought, imagining the facility, the first place that popped into my head. ‘Fucking prick.’

‘Nyeh... Already been here, still don’t like it. Alright, now to find your piece of shit other self and end this bullshit. Let’s try this way Johnny.’

‘Got it.’

‘Uh, you might want to try the level two holding areas, that’s where I was kept, and where I remember seeing her in my nightmare.’ I thought.

‘Huh, saves us some time. Alright then, Allons-y!’ Dean’s voice said as footsteps were heard.

‘Did you happen to memorize the layout of the facility when you were there?’ I asked.

‘Thankfully, yes. All we need is to find the... Ah! There it is!’ I heard footsteps on a stairwell, ‘Level two. Alright, now to find... Well maybe that ominous black spot of tendrils and fuck is a clue.’

‘You don’t say?’ Johnny’s voice said sarcastically as I heard weapons ignite, ‘Let’s be quick here, I hate this place already...’

‘Try living in it for seventeen years.’ I thought to him. ‘Fucking horrible place.’

‘I’ll pass. I already had to live through the fucking inquisition, I don’t need another example.’ He said as they made their way to what I guessed was my room.

‘Jesus how old are you?’

‘Old enough.’ He replied as their footsteps stopped, ‘Alright then... Time to fuck with the fucked.’ He sighed as they kicked the door open.

‘... Hello~, how nice of you to join me~’ I heard her say.

‘Shut the fuck up and take your goddamned medicine ya’ cunt!’ Dean exclaimed as I heard a loud crash.

‘Oh~, and I just got done arranging the corpses too~ Did you have to knock them down~?'

‘What part of “Shut the fuck up” did you not understand? Or are you too stupid to understand words?’ Johnny’s voice snarked as a loud explosion rocked inside my skull.

‘Oh you’re so rough~ Can’t you lighten up a bit~?’

‘We will when you’re finally in a fucking six foot deep ditch! Arctic Dagger!’

‘Agh!’ She shouted in pain, ‘Was that necessary? All you did was anger me...’

‘You talk too much. Mayan Rush!’

‘... Alright, that’s enough playing around from me.’ I heard several roars erupt from inside my mind, ‘Gluttony’s Feast!’

‘Bitch please. Restriction level 1, released! Arctic Dungeon!’

‘Hehehe~ Not done~ Get up you lousy beasts!’ There were several roars again, ‘They aren’t going down that easily~’

‘Kind of figured, you lousy cunt. Hail Mary!’ Loud gunshots filled my head.

‘Mayan Rush!’ explosions then filled my head as well.

'And just what do you hope to accomplish with this!?' She screamed, ‘She has only known you for not even a day, you have no reason to kill me!’ She sounded desperate, for once.

‘God you are such a whiny little bitch, aren’t you?’ Johnny sighed, ‘Do I honestly need a reason to help someone? You’re really more stupid than I thought.’

‘SILENCE!’ She shouted at him, ‘I was speaking to Dean. I was born from the negative emotions, the hate and anger Sarah was fed as a child! I could feel those same emotions coming from you when you first met her! You contemplated killing her, I could feel it! Why the change, why the sudden care for her worthless existence!?’

‘Because fuck you that’s why.’ Dean’s sarcasm could be practically felt, ‘But if you really want to know, it’s because I fucking can. I felt guilty for even thinking of it, and wanted to repay her somehow. Not only that, but she deserved a lot better than what she had received as a child! I’ll do everything in my power to make sure her life as a Wraith is better than her life alive! I’LL BE DAMNED IF YOU FUCK IT UP FOR HER!’

‘... I don’t think you realize how badly you might ruin her if you destroy me, Dean.’ She said, sounding oddly sad.

‘Enlighten us then.’ Dean said, sounding fairly annoyed.

‘Do you even know what I am? How I was created?’

‘Did I not just say enlighten us? Geez, fucking moron...’ Dean said under his breath.

‘Tell me, Sarah...’ She said, ‘Does the name Mary mean anything to you?’

I was surprised she actually addressed me, not threatening to kill me, and hesitated to answer, ‘No...’

She was silent before I heard a small sob, ‘Of course not... I wouldn’t expect you to, but it was worth a try...’

‘I think I see now...’ Johnny said suddenly. ‘That name is connected to you, isn’t it?’

‘Connected to me? Connected to me!? It is me!’ She shouted, sobbing heavily, ‘It is me, it was me, I don’t even know what I am! Who I am, anything!’

Dean sighed, ‘Regardless... I have to do what I need to do. Forgive me then, Mary.’ I heard the sound of something impaling flesh.

‘Sarah... I’m sorry. All this time, I blamed you for creating me, I took out my anger on you, wanted to kill you...’ She paused, and when she spoke again her voice was weak, ‘I was no one’s fault. I was a mistake. Nothing more. I shouldn’t have done to you what I did, but... I had so much anger and hate making my being, and you were the only outlet. You won’t forgive me, I know you won’t but,’ She drew one last breath, ‘I’m sorry, I truly am...’ With that, her presence faded away from my mind.

    Silver auras then rushed out of me and back into Dean’s and Johnny’s bodies. They made a gasp of air as they both rose from the ground. Dean was the first to speak, “There... it’s done.” He said in between breaths.

        I stared ahead blankly before saying, “Yeah... Yeah, it-”

null


        “-is...” I looked around to see I was in a completely different place, “What the hell?”

        Death suddenly appeared in front of me, “We need to discuss something.”

        “Uh... Okay, what is it?”

   Death then gestured for me to follow him, and I did so as a portal appeared, and as we walked into it, a giant city appeared, with many people walking about, “Welcome to Purgatory. My home, and base for retired wraiths. Here we house souls that are trying to earn their way to paradise, or they end up in Hell. It is also a place where we house...” He turned to me, “incomplete souls.”

I nodded, understanding the basis of it, “Alright... What am I here for?”

“There is someone here that has very close connections to you. Someone you’ve known for a long time, but did not realize it.” We stopped in front of a giant office building, “Her name is Mary. You know her as the Hunger.”

“That’s... Yeah, she mentioned the name Mary before, but why?” I asked.

“Mary’s soul had a missing piece. I’ve spent awhile trying to look for it, but when you died, I had found it. It was resting inside your mind, and when you experienced all of the horrible things inside the facility, that small bit absorbed it all and twisted it into the hunger. Your alternate personality. But, it was really Mary taking you over.”

“A-alright, I... guess that makes sense.” I then asked confusedly, “But how did she get in my mind anyway?”

“Well...” We stopped in a grand office, on the wall, was a giant and deadly looking scythe. Probably his, “She was your siamese twin.”

I stared at him blankly, “I, uh, I have no idea what that actually is. Sorry.”

He sighed, “She was your sister that was connected to your body. Her left foot was connected to your right foot, and they had to remove her, effectively saving you, but killing her. You were fortunate enough to come out of the uterus head first, so you were the one that lived. Mary, however, was the one who had to be killed.” He then pressed a button on his desk, “I need you in here.”

Moments later, the strangest thing I had ever seen happen, happened. A woman who looked almost exactly like me, except without the scars, still with both arms and eyes, and a left missing foot, walked into the room. Other than the things I just mentioned, she did look exactly like me. Same height, same eye color, same hair color and length (which is down to my shins if I haven’t told you yet), she had the same physical appearance as me, and even the almost non-existent breasts as well.

She stared at the floor the entire time, only glancing at me once or twice until she finally said, “Hello, Sarah...”

I stared at her in shock before slowly turning to Death to ask, “I-is this...?”

He nodded, “Say hello your sister Sarah.”

I looked back at her and slowly stepped forward, causing her to flinch back a bit. Stopping, I just asked her, “You really are my sister?”

She nodded, “Y-yes, I am...”

Without warning, I launched forward and wrapped my arms around her, tears forming in my eyes, “I- I didn’t even realize... I just...”

She tensed when I first grabbed her, probably thinking I would hurt her, but slowly returned the embrace, not saying anything.

After I don’t know how long, we seperated and I turned to Death, “So... What now?”

He smiled, “If you wish, she can go with you to Equestria. Besides,” His smile slightly widened, “Don’t you have to thank Dean for inadvertently reuniting you with your sister?”

I nodded, “Yeah, I do.” I smiled and wrapped an arm around Mary, “Can we go back now, please? I want everyone to meet my not-really-so new sister.”

Death gained this sort of fatherly look, “Yes, please. Get out of my hair and take her with you. You both need a vacation.” He snapped his fingers and a portal to Deans basement appeared, “Go on you two. Go be siblings somewhere less depressing.”

I grinned, and Mary smiled as well as the two of us nodded and stepped through the portal.

______________________________________________________________________________

The two of us stepped out of the portal, right behind Dean and Johnny.

“And she just up and disappeared. Great, now what?” Dean sighed as he scratched the back of his head.

“Well, we could always just say we cocked up and she died.” Johnny shrugged. Dean then smacked him on the back of his head.

“The hell Johnny?” Dean sighed.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, which is odd because I would normally result to swearing, yelling, and threats. Oh well. With another, bigger laugh I said, “You could just turn around, that’d probably be easier.”

They both turned around, both of them screaming like little girls, “AHHH!” Dean jumped into the air and Johnny caught him.

I doubled over laughing, while Mary stood next to me, holding in her laughter. Putting a hand on my knee for support, I managed to say, “Jesus fucking Christ, I wasn’t expecting that from you two!”

Both of them glowed as Johnny dropped Dean on his ass, Dean quickly getting up, “Shut the hell up!” He exclaimed, the glow not subsiding.

I managed to get my laughter under control and leaned against the wall, “Oh God, that was too funny. I think Death put that portal there just for that.”

“DEATH YOU FUCKING TROLL!” Dean shouted to the heavens. He paused when he saw Mary, and had his sword hilt in his hand, “Sarah... who is she?” He said as his eyes narrowed.

I waved both of my hands and stood in front of Mary, “Woah woah, hold on. Dean, this is my twin sister Mary. Mary, this is Dean. Please try not to kill her before I can explain.”

Dean looked incredibly surprised, but looked at Mary, then back to me before grinning, “Why not? Alright Johnny, you can dissolve the Knives hovering over their heads.”

“Alright, just making sure.”

I stared at him blankly, “Fucking paranoid...” I shook my head, “Anyway, the short version is that she died at birth, part of her soul stayed with me, that turned into my split personality, which kept her stuck in purgatory, and now that the personality is gone, she could come back, as a Wraith I think. If you want, I can go into detail later.”

Dean waved it off smiling, “Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll take your word for it.” He looked at Mary and smiled widely and stuck his hand out, “Name’s Dean Marcelo. Nice to meet ya’!”

She stared at his hand for a second before slowly reaching out to shake it, “N-nice to meet you as well...” I just realized that her voice is deeper than mine. Weird, but kind of obvious given how my other personality spoke.

He then gestured to Johnny, “And this is Johnny. Don’t let his harshness fool ya, he’s a big softie on the inside, especially for kids.” Johnny responded by beating Dean with his fist on the back of his head.

“Shut up you moron...” Johnny sighed, but glowed a light purple.

Mary looked at Dean, confused, “I... Don’t see why him being a softie for kids matters. Technically I’m twenty one, so...”

Dean laughed, “He’s actually six hundred years old, so we’re kind of kids compared to him!” Johnny beat him over the head again.

“Why do you have to explain my damn business!?” Johnny exclaimed as Dean laughed harder.

“Um, you look... Good? For your age?” Mary offered.

Johnny sighed as Dean nursed the bumps on his head, “Thanks I guess. Being possessed by an old god gives you some benefits I guess.” Johnny shuddered, “Being flirted by anything that has a snatch is not one of them...” He sighed.

Mary glowed red and didn’t say anything, while I just said, “Alright, so, can we just leave now? I kind of want to spend my, sorry our birthday doing something that isn’t mentally fucking me in all directions.”

“Giggity.” Both Dean and Johnny said instantly. They froze and sighed, “Damn it...”

“O... kay then,” I said, “what should we do? We probably got a few hours of daylight left.”

Dean smiled and went upstairs, “Follow me you two.”

I looked after him with a raised eyebrow, but shrugged and followed, Mary right behind me. “Where are we going?”

Dean turned back and grinned, “A little surprise for the both of you. Well, it was meant for Sarah, but the thing is pretty damn large, so...” He trailed off as we walked into the dining room. On the table, was a large cake, “Figured the first birthday outside of the facility could be a little traditional so I got you a chocolate cake.” I was about to respond but Dean cut me off, “And no Sarah, it’s not laced with all kinds of fuck. You can enjoy it without worrying.” Dean laughed, “Besides, it wouldn’t affect you now that you’re a wraith.”

“You know,” I said, “Jeriah told me the same thing one time... I won’t go into how that turned out. But I think I’ll trust you on this.”

Dean froze as he looked fairly angry, “I would snap at you for comparing me to that piece of shit... but it’s both of your birthdays. So I’ll let it slide...”

“Well excuse me for comparing things people say to the only person who ever really spoke to me...” I said as I rolled my eyes in slight annoyance.

Dean did the same, “Eat the damn cake. I spent at least fifty bits on it.”

“God, fine, I’ll eat the fucking cake. Jesus Christ, you have to complain about every other damn thing I say?”

“NAGNAGNAGNAGNAGNAG-” Dean was cut off by Johnny punching him in the gut, sending him to the ground.

“Enough already...” Johnny growled as he got a big knife and cut the cake into pieces and handed both Mary and I a piece, “Here, you get the bigger pieces.”

Dean groaned, “You’re so cruel Johnny...”

“And you’re an immature twit.” Johnny said, not missing a beat as he cut another piece for himself.

Dean got up, despite sighing, and opened a drawer and grabbed some forks, “Here you go.” He handed us both one and to Johnny.

I poked at the piece of cake for a second before shrugging, “Ah what the hell?” I took a bite and smiled, “Not bad. Much better than seventy-kinds-of-drug surprise.”

Dean’s only response was a grunt as he ate the cake, still sore about Johnny punching him in the gut.

Johnny laughed, not really saying anything.

As I ate, I realized something, and decided to share, “You know guys, I just noticed something...”

Dean groaned, “Oh god... moral of the day.” Dean sighed as he sat down.

I shook my head, “Not that. I just realized that Mary is completely naked, and no one has said a thing about it. Strange.”

Both Dean and Johnny froze as their eyes widened. They looked at each other, both glowing their respective colors. They both then ran out of the room, “WELL I’LL BE RIGHT BACK JUST NEED TO GET A FUCKING COAT AND SHIT!” Dean shouted as he ran up stairs.

While they were gone, a noise sounding like a bundle of clothes hitting a floor came from behind us. Looking back, a pile of clothes sat there with a note on top saying:

Sorry, I forgot to give these to you before you left

-Death.

I shouted, “NEVERMIND, DEATH SENT SOME!”

“DEATH YOU FUCKING TROOOOOOLLLL!!!!” I think the glass windows shook from that roar.

After getting dressed, I realized that the clothes she got were strikingly similar to the ones I got on my first day here. Well, the same leather trench coat and the same skull bandana. Instead of a stetson hat, she got one of those hats that officers in the military wear (yes I know what those are), instead of padded fingerless gloves she got black leather ones, instead of a padded vest she got a black shirt with a red pentagram on the front, and instead of black, fucking crazily designed jeans like me, she got black and white, horizontally striped ones. On top of that, she got a black belt and a pair of black boots.

I gave a low whistle, “Cool, kinda looks like mine. Any idea what your weapon is though, seeing as you’re a Wraith?”

To answer my question, a small flash appeared in front of Mary. Out of it came two small, silver rings with red gems set in them.

She looked them over before slipping them onto her ring fingers, “What are they for?” She asked. To answer that, another flash left behind another note that said:

Just say; Wraith Weapons, activate.

                                -Death

“Well... That explains it, I guess. Go on.” I said to her.

She looked at me with slight worry before taking a breath and saying, “Wraith Weapons, activate.” In a flash, two black gripped, red barreled, ethereal looking, sawn-off double barreled shotguns appeared in her hands.

I blinked, “Well then... Cool weapons.” I paused, “Actually, scratch that, fucking awesome weapons.”

She smiled and rubbed the back of her head, the best she could with a shotgun in her hand and a hat on that is, “Thanks.”

Dean came into the dining room and sighed as he saw Mary, “Another one...? How original...”

I shrugged, “Death gave it to her, blame him.”

Dean slammed his head into the counter and groaned, “I do... I fucking do...”

Johnny came in as well, “That’s the way she wants to dress, quit complaining.” He scolded Dean, who groaned in response.

“Right, thank you.” I nodded to him. “Now, you guys know anything else we could do? I’m kinda really fucking full of energy for some reason, and I need something to do.”

Dean shrugged, “I gave you my gifts, so I don’t have any idea what to do next. However, Alex did send me something as a housewarming gift... Wonder what it is?” Dean asked himself as he went into another room and came back with a box. It was small, so nothing big could be in it.

Dean looked at it with confusion, “Well, may as well see what it is...” He undid the ribbon, and opened the top. Dean reached into it, and picked up a small stone, “The hell is this...?” A bright light then engulfed the room, blinding everyone.

I covered my eye... Gonna have to get used to that. Anyway, I covered my eye, and when I moved my arm after the light wore off I saw...... “What in the fuck?”

It was... Dean, I think, and he... was now a she. She was wearing the same clothes as before, but the shirt could barely hold together as a large bust was nearly pouring out of the shirt. The pants were tight, showing her curves easily.

“Whoa... That was weird...” Dean’s voice even changed...

I stared at him... Her... It, with a blank look, while Mary just glowed red. After a few seconds I managed to get out, “I’ll say it again... What in the fuck?”

Mary put a hand to her nose as it started letting out blood, “Uh... Wow, that’s... Wow.” She said.

        Dean raised an eyebrow, “What?”

        I looked at Mary, then at Dean, then back and forth a few more times before shrugging, “She probably just got turned on or something. Not really surprising, honestly.”

        “What do you mean?”

        “Congratulations,” I said, “you are now the proud owner of two whole X chromosomes.”

        Dean looked down, and saw his breasts, and surprisingly, smiled pervertedly, “Yes....”

I raised an eyebrow, “What?”

Dean looked at me, “Give me two hours, I’ll be right back.” Dean then ran up the stairs, but then a small explosion could be heard, “FUCK! JUST MISSED MY CHANCE!” Dean now sounded like a man again, and he came back as one.

“Well, at least you didn’t start, then turn back halfway through. Probably would’ve hurt.” I said while shuddering at the thought.

Dean sighed as he fixed his shirt, “Yeah, true. Oh well, I’ve got nothing. Well, I’ve got to let Beth and her friends know to get here, so see ya Sarah. Nice to meet you Mary.” He said as he left the house.

“Bye!” I shouted after him. I then turned to Mary, “So... You have no clue about this place, so I guess I’m leading you around. Follow me!” As we walked around, Mary took time to see the town. After a good ten minutes, I saw, “James! Amy! ... I forgot your name! I got someone I want you all to meet!”

James looked over and did a double take. “Oh, god THERE’S TWO OF THEM!”

Amy smacked him across the back of the head so hard he faceplanted into the ground. “Stop being such an ass. I don’t care if she slightly traumatized you, you’re being rude.”

“Besides,” I said as I walked over to them, “she’s my sister. So there are not two of me, just me and my twin.”

The other girl looked at James and sighed. “This place is getting so weird... I wish I was back home...”

“Yep, well, you’re fucking dead now. Too late.” I said.

She sighed as she looked down. “I know... but I still miss my family.”

Amy put a hand on her shoulder. “You get used to it... I was elated and somewhat hurt when I found out James became a wraith.”

I nodded, “And I never had family until now, and she had died already without me knowing it, so it wasn’t too sad for me. You’ll get over it.”

She smiled a little and leaned down to pick up James. “Thanks.”

“Anyway, yeah, this is my sister Mary.” I gestured to her, “She was trapped in purgatory while a bit of her soul stayed with me and turned into that split personality of mine that almost made me kill you, James. Say hello.”

Mary waved a hand somewhat shyly, “Hello...”

Megan smiled and walked up to Mary. “Um... Hi, my name’s Megan. It’s nice to meet you.”

Mary shuffled her feet and moved back a bit, “Um, yeah, nice to meet you...”

James was staring at her for a moment before blinking. “Oh... so that’s what happened. I wasn’t really sure with all the bits and pieces I kept getting. That and the state of slight trauma and shock wasn’t helping any.”

AT LEAST YOU STILL HAVE TWO FUCKING EYES! Oh hey, I almost forgot to do that. Good thing I remembered.

I shrugged, “Sucks. Anyway, you guys know where Michael is, if you’ve seen him? There was a woman with him that I wanted to apologize to, I kind of snapped at her. Not totally my fault, I was kind of losing my mind, but I’m trying to be nicer to people, so I feel I should say something.”

All three of them shook their heads. James was the only one to actually talk. “Nope.”

“Damn. Well, I might as well sniff Michael out, that would probably work.” I started walking away with Mary, “See you around!”

Amy and James waved while Megan made a small bow. “Bye!”

“Um... Goodbye...”

I started walking in the direction of the Library, if I remember correctly, sniffing the air every now and then to make sure I knew where to go. After a few minutes of walking, I reached the town center, where I saw Dean, Johnny, Michael, that one girl, and a short person. Huh.

I smiled deviously as I saw Deans back, and ran forward and jumped, “HEY DEAN GUESS WHAT?” I shouted just before hitting him and wrapping my arms around him, “Nice seeing you again.”

“Ohhh....” Dean groaned as he seemed incredibly dazed.

The girl I didn’t know the name of cleared her throat, “Ahem...”

I tilted my head and asked, “What?”

Johnny looked at me and chuckled, “I think you just knocked a few screws loose.”

I raised an eyebrow, “How could I...?” My face lit up in realization, and I knocked a fist against my chest, letting out a dull metallic bang, “Oh yeah, metal skeleton. I forgot that I weigh like six hundred pounds. Sorry.”

“UUUUUUUUGHHHHHH....” Dean groaned even louder.

I hopped off his back, “You lifted me just fine earlier, don’t know how this is any different.”

“YOU JUMPED ON MY BACK WHEN I DIDN’T EVEN EXPECT IT!!!” Dean shouted as he got up and grunted in pain, “Oh my back...”

I laughed and patted him on the back, maybe a little too hard, “You’ll be fine.”

“Oh god why...”

The girl I still didn’t know sighed, “Hello....”

Oh yeah...

I smiled apologetically, “Oh, uh... Hi...”

“Hi...” She waved a little.

I rubbed the back of my head, “Yeah uh... Sorry about snapping at you earlier today. I was kind of... Completely out of my fucking mind.”

“Yeah I heard you talk about it.”

Suddenly, the short one walked up and poked my skeleton arm gently, “Coooooool!”

I looked down at her with a raised eyebrow, “Thanks... Cost me an arm and... Well not a leg but a foot I guess.”

“Oh... Still cool!”

I looked away uncomfortably, “Right... Anyway, I guess I should introduce Mary to you guys. MARY!”

Michael blinked a couple times as Mary came into view, and he fell on the ground before rolling away, “I CAN’T I CAN’T I CAN’T I CAN’T I CAN’T I CAN’T I CAN’T!!!!!”

The girl blinked as Michael rolled away before turning to Mary, “Sorry about him.”

“Dumbass...” Dean muttered in pain.

The short one giggled, “Heh... He’s funny.”

Mary stared after Michael with a slightly horrified expression, “If that’s who I think it is...”

The girl, who I should really learn the name of, blinked, “He’s just being stupid right now.”

“Right,” Mary said, “anyway... Nice to meet all of you, I’m Sarah’s sister, Mary Akinson.”

        She nodded, “I’m Beth Jades, a pleasure.”

        

        Oaky her name’s Beth then. Nice to know who she is. Now who’s the short one?

        Said short one hopped in front of her, “Hi! I’m Paige, Paige Beckett!”

        Well that answers that.

Mary looked down at her for a second before turning to me, “Isn’t there some sort of magic using twelve year old living with you too?”

Oh yeah, I need to bring her back and introduce her to everyone. The hotels getting crowded though, maybe we should get a house or something?

I nodded in response to Mary’s question, “Yeah, Arlosia... Speaking of which, we should head back sometime soon and introduce you.” I then turned to Dean, “But first, I’d like to thank you properly for what you’ve done for me.”

Dean stood up and straight and raised an eyebrow, “Uh, okay...”

I walked up to him and said, “Lean down a bit, you’re like a foot taller than me.”

Dean did so.

Taking a deep breath I said, “Alright, only time I am ever going to do this.” I leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then wrapped my arms around him, “Thank you so much, you have no idea how happy I am for what you did, Dean.”

Dean laughed as he returned the hug and patted me on the back, “No problem Sarah. Nice seeing that you’re getting better.”

“I give it a week before I start treating everything like shit. I’m just in a good mood right now.” I said with a laugh.

Dean laughed as he let go and walked away. He turned back to me though, “Like I said in Manehattan. I’m always ready to help when I’m needed.” With that, he walked away again. “You guys coming or what?”

I remembered the other thig he told me at the time and said after him, “Oh yeah, and you were right about that whole ‘me being beautiful’ thing you said. Ardiente agreed anyway.”

Dean froze as he turned to look at Beth, total fear on his face.

She grinned, “Care to explain...?”

Dean nervously laughed, “I-that was a little joke I made! Come on Beth, a joke!”

        Wait what? Fucking asshole, really?

I frowned at him, “So wait, you think I’m ugly then? Asshole...”

“DAMN IT THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!” Dean exclaimed, he then shouted in frustration, “I CAN’T WIN IN THIS!”

Beth giggled, “You just called her beautiful Dean, not like you slept with her or anything.”

I was about to respond, but a chunk of ice from Dean froze my lips together.  He just nodded. FUCKING DOUCHEBAG!

“Mmf, mm-” I punched myself in the jaw, breaking the ice. “Ow, prick. I was just going to say that that’s true, we haven’t. Besides, I could never sleep with a man, I’d probably break down and kill them or something.”

Paige looked between us all, “So... I know this has nothing to do with what’s going on, but I saw a house made of gingerbread I’m going to eat.” She started walking away, “I’ll be back!”

Dean ran after her, “No wait Paige!”

She turned, “Yes? Why are you keeping me from the gingerbread house of amazing?”

Dean laughed, “It’s not really gingerbread, it’s just designed to look that way.”

She blinked, “Oh... Well it’s a bakery so, yeah!” She turned.

Dean quickly picked her up and put her on his shoulder as he sighed, “Yes Paige, it’s a bakery. Look, I have some cake at home. It’s chocolate.”

Oh yeah, just give my fucking birthday cake to other people! So fucking nice Dean, so fucking nice!

Paige grinned, “Caaaaaaaaaaaaaake.” She drooled a little.

Dean laughed, “Yes. Cake. Come on Beth, Let’s go to the house of cake.”

Beth grinned, “Alright,” She then looked at me and Mary. “See you later.”

I just nodded to them, and Mary and I left.

(OST)

Mary and I walked along the road, the sun slowly setting on the horizon as we made our way to the hotel. It was silent outside, neither of us saying anything, and not many ponies were out at the time.

The silence was broken, however, by Mary who said, “I had a lot of fun today.” She said with a smile, “I got to finally leave purgatory, I got to be with you for the first time, I got to meet some new people, though some were kind of strange... It was fun though.”

I laughed, “Yeah, they are a bunch of strange people, but we can be put in that group too. I’m glad to have met all of them. There were some rough spots, and I wasn’t exactly the nicest person to them, but they are pretty awesome.”

“I can’t wait to meet the rest of your friends.” She told me, “From what I heard from Death in purgatory, they’re pretty fun and interesting to be with.”

I gave a loud laugh, “No kidding! We got me, a  failed experiment, Jav the Necromancer, Arlosia the twelve year old Blood Elf warlock, Sira the Angel, Ardiente the mafia pony, Feral the giant wolf, and now you too! I can’t wait to see what other odd people we attract, cause I have a feeling this isn’t the last of them.”

She gave a nod, “Yeah...” She then turned solemn, “I’m kind of worried though...”

I moved up next to her and put an arm around her, “What’s wrong?” I asked with concern.

“Well...” She looked at me with tears in her eyes, “I just have this feeling that you don’t actually want me here.” I was about to say something, but she cut me off, “I know you don’t, I know that you’re happy for me to be here, but it;s just this... Feeling that I have. Deep down somewhere, I can’t help but feel that you hate me for what your split personality did, that you blame me for it. I just-”

I cut her off by wrapping her in a tight hug, “Don’t say that. Please, don’t fucking say that.” I smiled at her, “I don’t blame you, honestly I don’t, and I never will. It was a small portion of your soul and a lot of Croatoan and hate, not you.” I then gave a large grin, “Don’t ever think otherwise either, sis.”

She was silent for a moment before smiling and returning the hug, “Thanks...”

I patted her on the back a few times, then we separated and I said, “No problem, I don’t want you feeling down on your first day here. Now let’s go, I want to introduce you to everyone as soon as possible.”

The rest of the walk back was silent and uneventful, and when we reached the hotel, I went up to my room’s door and knocked on it, waiting for Ardiente to open it.

“Who is it?” I heard Jav say from the other side.

I raised an eyebrow, “It’s me, Sarah. Can you let me in? I have someone I want you to meet.” I heard a few hushed voices, followed by the lock clicking and the door opening.

Jav poked his head out, looked at me, then nodded and opened the door revealing... What the hell?

They had turned the entire room into a damn pillow and mattress fortress. Seriously, they had different pillows, mattresses, and the furniture covered with sheets, separating the room into sections and making it into a large pillow fort.

“I see you guys were busy while I was gone...” I said as I walked into the room. Sira, Jav, Arlosia, Ardiente and Feral (who I guess walked back after my episode) were sitting in different areas around the room. Ardiente was sitting on the bed, Sira was cleaning her wings or something, Feral was sleeping, and after he hadwalked away from the door I noticed that Jav ,and Arlosia, were...

“How are you guys on the ceiling?” I asked. I’m not fucking lying either. Jav was sitting cross-legged on the ceiling with Arlosia draping her arms over his left shoulder as they read a book titled...

“Disturbed Stories From the Journals of the Black Jackal Parade of Broken Minds and Merry Mad Men

Book II:

Spells, Hexes, Charms, and Other Forms of Magic, Magecraft, Wizardry, and Witchcraft:

Vol. III:

The Unholy Arts:

Necromancy, Demonology, and how the Damned and Delirious can Use Them to Reanimate and Resurrect the Fallen”

        Jesus that’s a long title.

In answer to my question, Jav looked down at me, “Gravity Manipulation is my power, so I can do this.”

“Ah.” I shook my head and gently pulled Mary out from behind me, “Anyway, I have someone to introduce you all to.”

They all got up, or down, from their places and came forward. Arlosia looked at MAry and asked, “Why does she look so much like you?”

I smiled and wrapped an arm around Mary’s shoulders, “Well that’s because she’s my twin sister. Everyone, meet Mary.”

They stared at me silently for a few seconds, before Ardiente spoke up, “How is that... You never mentioned you even had a sister.”

“Well,” I began, “that’s a long story...”

I finished the story about how Mary came to be in about twenty minutes. It would have been shorter, but I had to stop every once in a while to comfort Mary, as some of the stuff didn’t exactly bring up good memories for her, obviously.

“So anyways, that’s all there is to it.” I said.

Everyone was silent, not sure how to respond to that. I’m not surprised, there aren’t many ways to react to something like that.

“That... That really happened?” Sira asked.

I nodded, “Yeah, it did.” I then looked at Mary, who was curled up next to me, asleep by now, “I think we should all get some rest, we can talk more tomorrow.” They all nodded and left the room, Ardiente staying behind seeing as she slept in my room with me.

“I have to ask, Sarah...” She paused, “What happened to your eye?”

I picked Mary up and set her on the bed, making sure to remove her coat, shoes, and hat, then turned to Ardiente and said, “Well, the personality I just told you about took over and James, you should remember him, was the subject of her attack. I had to convince him to shoot my head and cause some trauma to give me time to get my body back. It went slightly off course and took my eye out, unfortunately.”

“Oh, that’s... That’s horrible.” She looked away, then back to me, “There’s no way to fix it?”

I shrugged, “Possibly, but I don’t exactly know if it’ll work or not.” I then mumbled to myself “Nerve connectors for feeling things, yes, but sensory organs like eyes are hard to make...”

“What was that?” She asked me.

I waved a hand, “Nothing important, just thinking of ways to fix my eye, if there are any.”

“Right. Let’s just go to bed then.” She said as she climbed into bed, not seeming bothered by Mary being there. I just shrugged and settled myself between Ardiente and Mary, nearly falling asleep as soon as I layed down. Jesus, I really never know how tired I am, do I?

As I drifted off to sleep, I managed to say to Ardiente, “Oh yeah *yawn* I forgot to mention something...”

“What’s that?” She asked.

“Today was my birthday, I turned twenty one years old...”

Right before I fell asleep, I managed to hear her say, “Oh, that’s nice.... Wait, what!?” I was out right afterwards.

Escape from Hell- Final Act, Pt. IV: An end to the beginning...

... The coming of Seven


What happened between us waking up and now I don’t want to go into, it was boring as shit. Just walking around, some talking to people at the Town Hall, and now... Well, this.

“That’s certainly a big house...” Ardiente said from right next to me. “How could it have been so cheap?”

“Well,” I told her, “apparently it’s “haunted” and no one wants to buy it. So, they lowered the price hoping to sell it.”

“You don’t think it could be a Sentiment, do you?” Jav asked me.

I shrugged, “Could be. If so, then Mary and Sira have a chance at getting a power. We’ll never find out if we stay out here though, so let’s head in.”

I guess I should describe the house a bit. It was a few good stories tall with maybe three floors in total, not counting a possible basement. The whole thing was stone and wood on the outside, not giving it much in the way of appearance. The strange thing was the condition of the house. It was nearly in perfect shape, no broken windows, no rotted wood, no apparent problems. Despite me being told that no one had been near the house in ten years, it looked like someone had come by all the time to fix it up.

Entering through the front door, I saw that the inside was in just as great shape as the outside. Furniture, walls, decorations, everything was perfect preserved, even after the ten years of abandonment.

“Jesus, this place looks pretty great for being untouched for so long,” Jav said.

I nodded in agreement, “Yeah, kinda strange if you ask me.”

We walked through the house in silence, looking through all of the rooms it had. There were at least fifteen fucking bedrooms, including a master bedroom on the third floor, and two bathrooms per floor. All of the rooms were furnished, kept in great condition, and had working electricity and running water.

The basement was pretty big, much bigger than the house itself. The walls went back at least ten more feet compared to where they stopped on the above floors. It was split into four areas; a room for washing clothes, a storage area, a large main room, and an entertainment area.

After we were done, we stopped in the living room and sat around on the couches and chairs. Looking around at the big house once more, I asked out loud, “Why in the fuck is this house like this? It’s huge and in great condition, but no one has offered to but it? It was only, what, twenty thousand? I remember you telling me that that’s not too high of a price for a house, Ardiente, so what the hell?”

“Well, you did say that you were told the price was knocked down because ponies thought it was haunted.” Ardiente said.

I threw my arms into the air, “That doesn’t seem like much of a fucking reason! What could possibly be haunting this place that would make people not want to buy it!?”

My answer wasn’t from anyone, but instead came as a blood red sword swinging in an arc right in front of me, hitting me in the forehead. A large clanging sound rang through the room as it impacted and bounced off my skull, but not before leaving a cut in my skin.

I looked up to see... I guess it is a Sentiment then.

It was a human man that stood at about six feet and wore black dress pants and a red dress shirt. In his hands he held a sword, it’s blade dripping with blood that disappeared after falling a few inches off the blade.

I blinked, “Well, I guess that’s what was haunting this place. Huh, guess you were right Jav- WHOAH!” I rolled to the side as the Sentiment swung it’s blade again. I stopped and stood, glaring at it as I activated my claw.

“I was wanting to try this since I did it in Manehattan, and now I actually have a name for it... Restriction level one, released.” Dark red energy burst from my body as my claws elongated and curved inward. I glared at the Sentiment once more before saying, “Nevermore.”

My body experienced the sensation of splitting into a dozen shadow ravens. It’s a very odd feeling, I can tell you that. I could see from every single one of their eyes at the same time, and all of them were staring at one thing; the Sentiment.

They rushed forward and swarmed him, tearing at bits of his body and scratching away at him. He stumbled back and swung his sword wildly trying to hit all of the ravens. After a minute or two, he roared in anger.

“Blood Harvest!”

He swung his sword upwards, and several blades made of blood shot up along side it, striking the ravens all at once. They screeched and flew back to where I stood before, and formed back into my body.

I didn’t have much time to react before he launched himself at me, swinging his weapon and screaming in anger. I worked to block his strikes, taking advantage of his wild and uncoordinated fighting style. He was pretty strong though, pushing me back with every swing.

He was pushing me up against a wall, and I was seconds away from being struck when the weirdest thing happened. I looked behind the Sentiment and saw a decently large shadow being cast by the staircase across the room. Next thing I know, I was pushed back into the shadow cast by the wall I was up against, and I found myself on the opposite side of the room, dropping out of the shadow cast by the staircase.

Everyone else seemed pretty fucking surprised, but the Sentiment just turned and kept on swinging at me, pushing me back again.

Jesus this guys is getting annoying... How do I beat him? I thought to myself.

Try releasing your second restriction. I heard Death say in my mind.

Second... Oh, I guess that makes sense when you think about it. Thank you, Death. I thought. He didn’t respond, probably so he didn’t interrupt my fight.

“Now releasing the second restriction.” I kicked the Sentiment back and reered my claw back to strike, “Restriction level two, released!” I felt a huge surge of power as I swung my arm down. The Sentiment raised his sword to block, but I hit too hard for him to handle.

“Agh!” He screamed as his sword’s edged was pressed into his chest, backed by the strength of my swing. I wasn’t done though.

“When Shadows Reign!” I shouted. I built up shadow energy in my arm, which was still pressing his sword to his chest, then pulled it back. A large wave of darkness came from my arm and cut through his sword, followed several more that cut through him.

His arms, which tried to reach up and grab me, dropped limply to the floor, and he slowly faded away. Left behind was a small, blood red soul, which I picked up in my left hand and looked over.

“Whoah, Sarah... Look at your right arm.” I heard Arlosia say.

Raising an eyebrow, I looked from the soul to m arm, and I was pretty surprised by what I saw. Instead of five, individual claws, my hand had turned into a single, large, scythe-like blade. Looking closer, I noticed the blade itself wasn’t actually black, like I thought the claws were. Instead, it was a very, very dark red color, so dark it actually looked black. It gave off a faint red glow along the edges, and even with how dark it was, didn’t exactly appear solid. What’s the word.... Ethereal, right? Yeah, that. It looked ethereal.

I shook my head and looked at everyone, “Never mind the arm. Who should get the soul? Both Sira and Mary don’t have a power yet.”

I looked at Mary who didn’t say anything, that at Sira who shook her head and said, “No, I think Mary should have it. She is your sister, and it was just recently her birthday. Not to mention, after everything she went through, I believe she deserves it.”

I nodded and smiled, “Right then. Here you go Mary.” I tossed her the soul and she caught it. After looking it over for a second she put it into her mouth and... Is that the face I made when I ate the one Dean got for me? Jesus Christ. It felt good, but I didn’t think I looked like I’d just came for the first time... Actually, she probably just did. Kind of weird given the fact that she’s my sister.

Mary opened her eyes after her little... Experience, and glowed brightly as she saw all of us looking at her. “Um... Sorry...” She said meekly.

Ardiente just stared at her with wide eyes while Jav waved a hand and said, “It’s... Fine, I just... Didn’t realize that I probably did that too when I got my power...”

Sira leaned back a bit and rubbed her upper arm with her left hand, “I don’t think I want a power if I’m going to do that in front of others...”

Arlosia raised an eyebrow at all of us, “Why did that happen? That didn’t happen when I got my power.”

OH THANK GOD I DID NOT NEED TO THINK ABOUT HER DOING THAT, I thought. I think everyone else did too given their sighs of relief.

I was about to say something, but a slow clapping from behind me cut me off. I turned around to see... Oh good God what the fuck is that?

“... I commend.... Your.... Fighting spirit... Young... Sarah Akinson...” A low, raspy, mechanical voice said to me. It took me a second for me to realize it came from the monstrosity in front of me. The monstrosity I’m talking about was this large, hunched over thing. It was covered head to... Whatever it has as an end, in cloth, scrap metal, machinery, wood, chains, leather, pelts, and a whole other slew of things. It’s body wasn’t actually showing anywhere, as it was covered by all the things I mentioned, but it did have a distinct head, and arms.

It’s head, which was covered in a metal, grated mask, swiveled to look at the remains of the sword that was still left behind by the Sentiment. It picked them up, looked over the broken pieces, then placed them in the massive pile of scrap it carried on it’s body.

When it spoke again, I caught slow, ragged breaths between words, “I... Greet you... Young Akinson.... And I am.... Impressed by.... Your defeating of my.... Sentiment servant....”

I blinked and slowly got into a defensive stance between it and everyone else, “Who are you? What are you?” I asked it.

“I am.... Amháin a bheidh i seilbh....” It said. “I am a.... Member of the... Airíoch... We are.... The curators.... Those who keep.... Those who.... Collect.... Those who hold...”

I tensed up. The thing didn’t strike me as good, and I wasn’t sure it I should trust it, “What do you want, Amháin, was it?”

It paused, before it fixed it’s glowing blue eyes on me, “I have come... To offer a... Premonition...”

I raised an eyebrow, “Which is?”

“Six... Have gathered...” It rasped, “Then Seven will come.... And bring with it.... A new emotion.... Unknown by Six...”

It continued after a short pause, “Two will... Fall... And One will.... Despair.... Though heavy their emotion... They shall.... Reunite in fire...”

“And Eight...” It said, “Will bring both reunion... And love with them... To both One... And to Four...” I stopped and coughed into a metal plated hand, “Several more... Down the line... A definite number is lost... And their importance... Unneeded.... But know that.... Your fate is sealed....”

“What do you-” I was interrupted.

“You were... Chosen.... You are... Required.... We are in need....” It choked and coughed before it went on, “.... I cannot disclose.... That information... But know that.... When Eight comes into light.... The path ahead will... Be clear.... And intentions will be.... Explained...”

“Wait, what do you mean? By any of this?” I asked it, no longer in a defensive pose. I was confused and clueless about what it wanted.

“I must.... Leave now... I apologize....” I looked at me, and I swear I saw sadness in it’s eyes, “.... Please.... Forgive me.... But I cannot... Explain further.... Goodbye....” And before I could say anything, it just started to fade away into nothing. Within seconds, the area where it stood was completely empty.

I stared at the empty space silently before asking, “Does... Does anyone understand what just happened?” All I got for an answer was silence.

A few hours later we had gotten our rooms picked out and everything we needed set up, set up. Ardiente and I got the master bedroom, while Arlosia and Mary chose rooms on the top floor, and Jav and Sira on the second floor.

Arlosia and had planned to go into town, as she was interested in meeting Paige after I mentioned her. We were just about to leave, when an unrecognizable voice, with a German accent of all things, spoke from the living room.

“Excuse me, but could I speak to a, uh... Sarah Akinson, was it?”

I stopped and turned around with a sigh, making my way to the living room. In there, I saw another fucking person I didn’t know. She was woman, both older and taller than me, with shoulder length blonde hair, and blue eyes. She wore a black, three piece suit and tie, a white dress shirt, black dress shoes, black gloves, a black, tight fitting trench coat, and a black fedora. Jesus Christ she looks like a stereotypical mobster from the thirties.... Yes I actually know about some things, shut the fuck up.

I raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “Alright... Who are you?”

She smiled and said, “Ich bin Alexandra Eisenberg. Guten tag.”

God dammit people I don’t know other fucking languages, stop using them.

“Yeah, nice to meet you, I guess. Let me guess, Death sent you here to accompany our already large group of people?” I asked.

She nodded, “Ja. I have been a Wraith for slightly longer than your friend James, or Jav or whatever he likes to be called, so he sent me here to keep an eye on everything.”

I sighed, “Great, well, you might as well come with us then. We’re headed into town to find someone. Come on.” She nodded, and her, Arlosia, and myself left out the door and into town.

Thankfully, the house wasn’t that far out, just a short walk and you’re practically in the town center. Speaking of which, here we are! And... Oh hey, it’s Michael, looking almost directly at the fucking sun... How fucking stupid is he?

I stared at him for a second before shrugging and shouting, “Hey Michael!”

He looked over at me and waved, “Hey Sarah!” He glanced at Alexandra, “Who’s the new girl?”

I was about to respond, but she cut me off, “The “new girl” is Alexandra Eisenberg, and I’ve been a Wraith for about five years, kid.”

Michael raised his hands and said, “I meant it like you had just arrived, not like you just became a wraith.”

Alexandra stared at him with narrowed eyes before asking, “What is your name? I feel like I’ve met you before...”

Michael blinked, “Michael Fritz.”

Alexandra’s eyes widened, “Are you related to Nathan Fritz at all?”

“How do you know my dad?” Michael asked suspiciously.

Alexandra’s eyes widened, and she suddenly started to laugh, “W-what? Your father? Oh Lord... Did he not tell you about his connections to us?”

He shook his head, “No. My father always kept things from me.”

Laughing even harder, she said, “You’d think practically being a member of the German Mafia would be something to tell your children!”

“What!?” He twitched. “What? I don’t even... Fuck my unlife.”

“And,” she continued, “and now... that makes you an honorary member, according to family rules. Glückwünsche, Michael Fritz, und willkommen in der Familie.”

Stop with the foreign languages already!

Michael sighed, “Tài bàngle.”

Seriously, fucking stop!

Alexandra blinked before smirking, “Не пытайтесь ввести в заблуждение меня, мальчик, это не будет работать.”

I swear to God I will kill you all!

Michael blinked and smiled, “فهمت. ومعوجة السر؟"

For fucks sake enough!

She tilted her head to the side, “Hversu mörg tungumál þú veist í raun?”

HOW MANY OF THESE GODDAMN LANGUAGES DO YOU FUCKERS KNOW!?

Michael shrugged, “שלוש.ואנחנו צריכים להפסיק במקרה שרה מתרגזת.”

MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOULS, CAUSE I SURE FUCKING WON’T!

Alexandra pouted, “Por kjo nuk është e bukur...”

I swear to God. I swear to fucking God. NO ONE WILL FIND YOUR BODIES.

He sighed, “Ja, og Sarah kan drepe oss i løpet av sekunder.”

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Smiling, Alexandra said, “Ίσως, αλλά έχω μια καλύτερη ευκαιρία.”

I was fed up with them, so I shouted, "Licuit, licuit vos volo facere stupri lingua cacas? Peius 'adicies ad illud, faxo mea conlationem! Suus' solum lingua scio praeter Anglorum, sic utar stupri Latine! Quam operor vos stupri similis eam!?"

Michael blinked, “Paenitet.”

“YOU’D FUCKING BETTER BE!” I shouted.

Michael motioned to the library, “Well, I’m going to go and find Alex so I can remember what happened yesterday.”

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, then said, “Right. Before you go, do you know where Paige is? Arlosia wanted to meet her.”

He shrugged, “She went with Dean yesterday, I think she’ll be here soon though...”

Michael and I blinked as a bunch of leaves came from an alley and reformed themselves into Paige, “Oh cool! So this is the commons area.” She looked at me and waved, “Hello!”

“Uhh... I’m not going to question how the hell that just happened, because I just got my sanity back and I want to keep it. And hi.” I said.

Paige looked at Arlosia and grinned, “Oooh, who’s that?” She then looked at Alexandra, “And who’s that? I’m Paige!”

“This is Arlosia, and that is Alexandra.” I said while gesturing to them.

Alexandra just nodded while Arlosia waved a hand, “Hi.”

Paige blinked, “Oh wow! You look so cute!”

Arlosia glowed purple and looked away, “Uh, thanks?”

Paige smiled, “You’re welcome.”

“So...” Arlosia began kind of awkwardly, “You use magic to?”

Paige nodded, “Yep! Thurgatury and Pyromancy the most, but I can cast some Conjuration and Necromancy.”

Arlosia looked at her in surprise, “Wait, what?”

She grinned, “Yeah... I can summon a ghoul, maybe a banshee if I concentrate.”

“Huh... I tried demonology, a type of conjuration, but that just ended up killing me. I stick to destruction now.”

Paige grimaced, “Ooh... I had to wait five minutes before the comet I was on crashed into a planet.” What the fuck...

Arlosia’s response was pretty similar, “What the fuck...” Okay so it was the same.

Paige blinked, “What? My legs were trapped under unmelting ice.” She grimaced, “I don’t like remembering that.”

“Again I say: what the fuck...”

Paige waved her hands, “Anyways! What spells can you do?”

Arlosia shook her head and said, “Oh... Uh... Well, I can do this.” She pointed her hand at a nearby garbage can and said, “Demon’s Roar.” A dark purple symbol thing appeared on it, and a ball of purple energy flew from her hand and hit the symbol. The garbage can was then sent thirty or some feet into the air due to the resulting explosion. What the fuck.

Paige clapped her hands, “Cool! Do you want to see what I can do?”

“Uhh, sure.”

Paige grabbed her cutlass and looked at us, “You might want to stand back a bit.”

“Alright then...” I took a step back, followed by Arlosia and Alexandra.

She took a deep breath and started drawing a symbol of what looked like a flame in the air before piercing it with her cutlass. “Phoenix!” The ground began to rumble and my eyes widened when a giant bird made of fire burst outwards, spreading it’s wings over the town. The bird looked at us before raising it’s head to the air and cawing, shaking the nearby windows and causing a jet of fire to launch itself into the air.

It stopped and looked at Paige before slowly fading away into ashes.

        ... She had better hope she doesn’t use that shit on me, she would be nothing but dust in about three seconds...

Arlosia, after picking her jaw up from the ground, stared at Paige and said, “That... Was fucking awesome!”

Paige glowed a little, “Thanks.... I can teach you if you want.”

“Really!?”

Oh, great, my magic twelve year old is fascinated with his magic twelve year old... Why do I only see this ending in fire?

Paige nodded, “Yeah. I have an entire book filled with spells like that. We just need to see what school you belong to....”

Arlosia ran up to her and gripped her arms, “Holy crap I think I fucking love you!”

Paige glowed, “Um.... Thank you? Anyways! I think you might fit the bill for Storm magic. But by your attitude I’d say Fire.”

Oh sweet Jesus NO!

Arlosia tilted her head at Paige, “That’s how you classify magic users where you’re from? We do it a lot differently...”

“Yeah, it’s weird. But we have other names for them, There’s Theurgists, Pyromancers, Conjurors, Diviners, Thaumaturges, Necromancers, Sorcerers. And just recently we got the astral schools of Sun, Moon, and Star.”

“Huh. We classify them as Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature, Shadow, and Holy. Then they’re split into Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Necromancy, Enchantment, Transmutation, Evocation, and Illusion. Then there are fourteen subschools, Descriptors, Rune Magic, and Divine domains. It gets kind of complicated after a while.”

She blinked, “That does sound complicated... Our’s base off of each other, Fire and Storm combine into Life where as Storm and Ice combine into Necromancy. Then I belive Fire and Ice turn into Myth. Balance simply does it’s own thing by taking from every other school, then after that Sun boosts spells, Star boosts the wizard, and finally Moon transforms the wizard into something else.”

“Cool. Magic back home is-”

I interrupted her, “Okay, can we please not talk about complicated shit I don’t understand? You saw what happened with the languages, let’s not make it worse.”

Paige shuffled her feet, “Sorry....”

“It’s fine.” I said, “I think we should go now, you two, there was some stuff I actually wanted to get done, and we’re kind of wasting time here.”

Paige looked at Arlosia, “Aww... It was nice meeting you.” She hugged her, “I can teach you later.”

Arlosia glowed brightly, “Uh, right.... See you later then.”

She let go, “Later.”

I picked Arlosia up and started walking away, “See you guys later, then.”

As we left, Michael waved us off, “Later.”

As we walked away, I saw a pretty large shadow on the ground, and wanted to test out that thing I did when fighting the Sentiment. Looking over at a shadow across the street, I stepped into the one right in front of me. In an instant, I was dropped out of the other shadow, Arlosia alongside me.

“Well,” I said, “that’s pretty useful...”

        I think Michael might have said something, but I didn’t hear it.

As we walked away, Alexandra asked me, “An linguas peregrinas realiter defricatus urina vos off ne multo est?”

“Don’t you fucking start with me, I am slowly loosing my good mood right now.” I snapped at her.

She held her hands up, “Fine, fine, I will stop. So, where are we headed then?”

“Well,” I told her, “we may as well find everyone we can and introduce you. Given that you said you were part of the German Mafia, Dean might want to meet you.”

“Dean?” She asked, “Dean who?”

I smiled, “You’ll know soon enough.”

Arc I-II, Intermission I: Luis Vera

... For more is yet to come

We barely even walked for ten minutes before I heard:

“CROCODIIIIIIIILE!!!!”

Jesus Christ Dean is fucking loud as shit. I looked around to see that it had originated from... The fucking gingerbread house. Great.

I sighed and walked over to the building, but instead of using the door, I went over to a window and looked in. I saw Dean, Paige, Michael, and Beth standing in front of a table, and I got the best idea.

With a mischievous chuckle, I looked around and found a decent sized shadow. Putting my head in, I found myself on the underside of the table. I popped my head out from under the table, “HEY GUYS HOW’S IT GOING?”

“AAAAHHH!”

        Michael screamed and ended up holding Dean in his arms, sort of like with Johnny the other day, “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

        Paige grinned, “Hey Sarah!”

        I turned to her and smiled, “Oh hey, it’s like we didn’t just see you.”

        Beth blinked a few times, “How did you...?”

        I returned my head under the table, then dropped down from a shadow on the ceiling, “Don’t know how, but I can use shadows as transportation now. It’s fucking awesome.”

        Paige’s grin got bigger, “Cool.”

        “Put me down already...” Dean said, sounding annoyed. Michael did so, and he adjusted his tie and hat, “Damn it Sarah... Did you have to do that?”

        “Yep. Oh, hold on a second...” I jumped under the table, found Alexandra and Arlosia just outside, grabbed them, then jumped into the shadow again and dropped down from the ceiling, “Almost forgot these two.”

        Alexandra wobbled a bit as she regained her footing, “Bitte, tun Sie das nicht wieder...”

        I glared at her, “Quod si occidam te et facies... Great now you’ve got me doing it...”

        Michael looked at us, “No Latin or German. We already did this earlier.”

        Dean looked at Alexandra, “And who is this?”

        Alexandra glanced at him, then did a double take “Wait... Are you Dean Marcelo?”

        Dean raised an eyebrow, “Yeah...”

        She smiled and stuck her hand out, “Well, it’s great to finally get to meet you! Mein name ist Alexandra Eisenberg, zweite der Eisenberg Familie, der führende Deutsche Mafia.”

        I SWEAR TO GOD LADY!

        Dean laughed, “Shit, I haven’t done business with you guys in a long time. I remember seeing you when I was a kid!” He shook her hand happily.

        She chuckled, “Yes, I remember that. You used to be such a cute kid.”

        “Damn, I remember when I sponsored that tournament and you actually came and fucking visited to see it, that was a huge surprise.”

        Alexandra nodded, “That was an interesting thing you did with that tournament, I was quite impressed with it.”

        “It got me money, but it also helped whoever made it to the finals in getting an education.” Dean nodded, “Man, it’s been awhile since I’ve thought about anything from that part of my life...” He then paled, “Please don’t tell me you’ve heard about my dirty bomb incident...”

        Beth snickered a bit.

        Alexandra looked up in confusion, “Dirty bomb? I don’t see how that makes sense, radioactive explosive devices were the Russian’s specialty...”

        “Oh thank god...” Dean sighed in relief.

        “What?” Alexandra looked slightly angered, “Don’t tell me you actually lowered yourself to using those terrorist’s tactics?”

        “It’s nothing like that... Let’s just say I scarred a couple of cops for life for eating some bad cheese...” Dean grimaced.

        “I... Do not think I want to know. Anyway, how is your mother doing? Last time I saw her... Hell, I don’t even really remember anymore.”

        Dean froze, “I... I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since I died... Oh man...” Dean sighed as he got up and left the building.

        Beth blinked, “Hold on a minute...” She walked after him.

Michael watched them leave before looking at all of us, “Well... That was... Strange.”

I nodded, “Yep. Anyway, I just came here to introduce Alexandra and Dean, so now that that’s done...” I grabbed Alexandra and Arlosia, then jumped under the table, “See ya!”

        I decided to just take us back to the house instead, I had no more desire to go and do what I wanted to do before. God I love this shadow transportation thing though.

        I sat down on the couch and looked at Alexandra, who just stood there with nothing to do. I thought for a moment, then said, “If you’re gonna stay with us, you should probably go meet everyone.”

        “Alright.” She nodded, “I was actually interested in meeting your sister, Mary. Death mentioned her a few times, and I was curious about meeting her.”

        I pointed up the stairs lazily and said tiredly, “She’s upstairs, top floor. Arlosia, could you please show her the way there?” The blood elf nodded and showed her up the stairs. The minute they were out of sight and, hopefully, out of earshot, I sighed and stood up from the couch.

        I made my way down into the basement and into the entertainment room, where I sat on a small couch that was in their. Looking around, I spotted a cabinet, then got up and looked inside it. In it, I found a deck of playing cards, which I picked up and brought back to the couch with me.

        “Haven’t done this in... Ten years...” I took the card out, which were brand new, and shuffled them around for a few minutes. When I was done, I dealt two face-down cards to me, and two face-down cards to an empty spot across from me on the small table in front of the couch.

        I waited, and in a few seconds a transparent, formless, pitch-black figure that looked like a silhouette of me appeared across from me, sitting in mid air like it was on a chair. I nodded sadly to it, then looked down at my cards, turning the corners up to see a four of Hearts and an Ace of Diamonds.

        “So,” I said to the shadow as I burned a card, then put three face up on the table, “I haven’t seen you in a while. I thought you were gone, left after those nights with Jeriah stopped getting to me.”

        While the shadow sat motionless, I looked down at the three cards, an Ace of Clubs, an eight of Spades, and a three of Diamonds.

        I stared at the shadow as I burned another card, then dealt one face up, “Why is it you’re back? I have friends now, people who love me, a house, a lover, a sister, and I’m free of A.N.G.E.L.. So what is it you want?”

        It didn’t say anything as it looked at the newest card on the table, a Jack of Hearts.

        I burned another card, then lay another card, a two of Clubs, face up on the table, “Well? Are you going to tell me or not?” I was beginning to grow angry to it. “I don’t want you back, not after everything I have now, and there's nothing you can do to take it from me.”

        It didn’t say anything still, but instead slowly lifted it’s to cards up and stared at them. After a moment, it tossed the cards onto the table.

        I ignored them as I nearly shouted, “What do you want!?”

        It just looked at me, then down at the table. I followed it’s gaze to see it’s two cards, an Ace of Spades and an eight of Clubs, resting right on top of the Ace of Clubs and the eight of Spades. A dead man’s hand.

        Sweat trickled down my forehead as I stared at the cards with a frown. “What’s this for?” I gave a forced laugh, “I’m already dead, what’s this even supposed to mean?”

        It didn’t answer, it just shook it’s head and slowly faded away.

        I sat in the basement in silence, trying to understand what that was supposed to mean for me, but I couldn’t think of anything. I sat there for maybe an hour, that is until I heard Ardiente call for me.

        With a sigh I stood up and left the room, only stopping to give the cards one more look.

        Something bad’s going to happen soon. But to whom it happens to and how bad it is... I’m not sure if I want to know...


Arc I-II, Intermission II: Museum

“AY GUEY!”

I looked up from the game of poker we were playing and looked around, “What the hell was that?”

A large crash came from the roof, and a random guy just landed on the poker table, destroying it.

“Ughhh....” The guy groaned.

I looked up to see he just busted through four floors. Jesus Christ that had to hurt. I looked down and asked, “You alright lad?”

“S-si... Oh sweet Jesus my back...” The guy pulled a large hilt from his back, “This didn’t help...” The guy looked pretty young, about nineteen or twenty, with a small patch of  black hair on his chin. His long black hair was tied into a ponytail and his eyes were yellow. He wore a blue long-coat with two coat tails. He had the sleeves rolled up and the beginnings of a tattoo could be seen. Under the blue coat, was a black jacket and he wore white jeans alongside blue boots.

I turned to Ardiente, “Hey, he speaks the same language as you, now you can stop using around me and talk to him instead.” Seriously that shit gets annoying. I looked back down at the guy and held a hand out, “Need help standing up?”

“Gracias.” He smiled and took my hand.

I pulled him up, then tightened my grip and pulled him an inch away from my face. “Now,” I gave him my biggest, fakest grin, “who are you and why the hell did you just break my fucking house?”

His face went blank, “Que?” He looked up and he started to sweat, “ Mierda...”

“Well?” I tightened my grip even more, “Are you going to answer? And in English, please.”

“Death did it.” He quickly said.

I dropped my grin and let go of his hand and facepalmed, “I guess that should’ve been obvious... But you still didn’t tell me who you are.”

His face flashed with realization and he grinned, “Me llamo Luis Vera. You?”

Fucking foreign languages I swear to God I’ll- I stuck my hand out to shake, “Sarah Akinson.”

“Nice to meet you señorita.” He smiled.

Alexandra spoke up from behind him, “You might want to stop speaking Spanish kid, she threatened to kill some of us for speaking other languages around her.”

Luis’s smile quickly dropped, “Then don’t listen.”

I looked around him and glared at Alexandra, “No, I just get frustrated when people say things to or around me and I can’t understand them. Call me paranoid if you want, but if I have no idea what they say, I have no idea if it’s something bad about me.” I then looked at Luis, “As long as you try and keep it down a bit, I won’t care too much. I just hate not understanding it.”

“Bien. So... I take it you’ll want me to fix the holes...” He nervously laughed.

I looked up through the holes again, and noticed they were rather large, “Hm... Yeah, but I think the rest of us could help you. That would be a lot to make one person do.”

“¿Lo dice en serio?” He looked surprised for some reason.

“... I’m pretty sure that means... I don’t know, but we’re helping if that’s what you’re asking. Why wouldn’t we?” I asked.

He shook his head, “It’s not that, It’s just surprising. Whenever I mess up something, I’m usually stuck with all of the work.”

I raised an eyebrow at him,“Well, it’s not really your fault though, Death did it.”

Luis smiled, “Gee, thanks.”

I clapped him on the shoulder, “Right, lets go then. Ardiente, Jav, Alexandra, you get the stuff from the storage room. Luis, let’s get up on the roof so we can get that done first, I heard it’s scheduled to rain today.” I then shouted up the stairs, “Sira! Fly up to the roof, we’re fixing the hole in it if you didn’t see.”

Luis nodded, “Alright then boss!” He jumped up the holes, using the edges as a step to continue jumping.

“Oi, wait for me dammit!” I jumped up and grabbed onto the ledge of the hole in the roof, then hoisted myself up, “Your eager, aren’t you?”

“Nah, it’s just nice to get some help for once.” He grinned.

“Huh, alright then.” I then shouted down the hole, “Hurry the hell up!” I heard wings flapping behind me, and I turned to see Sira landing on the roof, “Hey Sira, this is Luis, say hi.”

Sira stared at him for a second before bowing, “Hello, I am Sira Molante, a pleasure.”

Luis smiled, and repeated the gesture, “Nice to meet you too!”

I was about to shout down again, but a large toolbox and a few stacks of wooden planks shot up and smacked me in the face. “Fucking asshole, Jav!”

“Sorry!” He shouted up at me. A moment later, he, Alexandra, and Ardiente were floated up as well. “Didn’t mean to do that.”

        I rubbed my nose, then pinched it and pulled it back into place, “Yeah, bet you didn’t. Anyway, you guys might as well introduce yourselves before we get started, I almost forgot about that.”

        Ardiente walked up to Luis and held a hoof out, “Encantado de conocerte, mi nombre es Ardiente Fragua.” God dammit woman...

        Luis grinned and shook her hoof, “Igualmente senorita.”

        Ardiente nodded and stepped out of the way as Alexandra walked up, “Freut mich junge, mein name ist Alexandra Eisenberg.”

        “Igualmente.” He nodded.

        Jav shuffled his feet, “Well... This is rather awkward, I just realized...”

        Luis stared at him with narrowed eyes and a smile, “Care to tell me why a necromancer is here? Let alone a Valentine?”

        I shrugged, “I would guess it’s because he died and Death let him be a Wraith.”

        Luis shook his head, “I didn’t ask that. I know Death let him become a Wraith, so I guess he’s not all that bad if he allowed it. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to be cautious around him.”

        

        Jav rolled his eyes, “Whatever, I would only be concerned if I actually planned anything bad that would set you off anyway. My name is James Valentine.”

        “I know what your name is. Your family is very infamous with the order.” Luis shrugged.

        Jav raised an eyebrow, “Infamous with the order? They’re dead, how does... Oh God don’t tell me you have people stalking my children and grandchildren now...”

        “We used to. We’ve seen that they live a relatively normal life, and backed off. However we did keep an eye on you, as to make sure you didn’t go off and go corpse hunting.” He explained.

        “Huh, I’m surprised you didn’t send anyone after me the night my wife died. I don’t think I’ve ever killed so many people.”

        Luis smiled, “We saw what they did. We backed off for that purpose only and allowed you a freebie... or two. Or three. Okay, a lot of freebies that night.”

        “Right, thanks for that then. I do not really brag that often, but don’t you think that, being werewolves, they would’ve known not to attack a member of the Valentine family? We were very infamous on their side too.”

        “I doubt that even ran through their minds. This probably did though, “Hey guys, you see that necromancer that is also a Valentine thus capable of killing every single one of us? Lets eat him and his wife.” That is only a guess though.” Luis laughed.

        Jav shrugged, “Wife and son, but you were close. They actually left me alone, strangely.”

        “You have Teach’s dad to thank for that.” Luis shrugged.

        “I don’t know who “Teach” is, or his father, but I guess I’m thankful.”

        Luis laughed, “Well, Teach is Dean! His dad, Anthony Marcelo, was the one who stopped the werewolves from continuously attacking your family with threat of “Turning each and every one of them into rugs for his living room floor and watching his own dog piss on it.””

        Jav looked at him in surprise, “Anthony Marcelo? I didn’t realize it was him who- Wait, Anthony is Dean’s father!? You mean to tell me that the man who killed my sister, then almost killed me, is the son of the man who saved my family almost forty years ago?”

        Luis flinched, “Well, It was a well known order and Teach isn’t exactly known for his great memory. That and his father didn’t tell him everything he did. But yeah, Anthony Marcelo is the father of Dean.”

        Jav scratched the side of his head in confusion, “Well I’ll be...”

        I threw my arms up and sighed as it started to rain heavily, “For fucks sake, now we can’t get any work done!”

        “He did it.” Luis and Jav pointed at each other.

        “I don’t fucking care who did it just... Hold on.” I picked up a large plank of wood, set it over the hole in the roof, then picked up a few nails from the box and tossed them to Jav. I then picked up two hammers and dropped them in between Jav and Luis, “You two both wasted our time, so you two both fix the hole.”

        “Lame...” Luis muttered but quickly picked up a hammer and got to work.

        “Alright, let’s get this over with.” Jav picked up the other hammer and started working as well.

        “Good.” I nodded, “Everyone else can go inside, I’m going to make sure they don’t bicker too much.” They all nodded and left, while I sat down in front of the hole, “So, Luis, how long have you even been a Wraith?”

        “About two years. I died by having a bad run in with a group of all female trolls during their time of the month. Not pretty...” Luis shuddered.

        “Huh,” I said, “I have no idea what trolls are, but I do know that that means you’ve been a Wraith for as long as Jav here. How is it you died Jav? I don’t think I actually heard.”

        

        He rolled his eyes, “A werewolf that, for some stupid reason, thought I was my older sister, the one Dean killed. He caught me in my sleep and killed me with... Something, I don’t even know what it was, but it hurt like all hell.”

        “Ah. Angel dust. Burns anything that uses unholy energy. Not a fun thing for necromancers.” Luis flinched, “But the question is, how the hell did a werewolf get a hold of any?” Luis looked thoughtful.

        Jav shrugged, “I don’t know, and I quite frankly don’t really care. I’ve enjoyed my time as a Wraith, much better than living alone with no visits from my children because they think my zombie fetish is “weird and creepy”. Ungrateful little snots...”

        Luis just stared at him as he put in the last nail, “Okay, say that line again. Zombie Fetish. Now, what’s wrong with that line?”

        “Oh shut up. It’s not as bad as you might think anyway, they were even fully willing to become one.”

        “No matter what you say, all I can picture is a hand shuffling around in a jar of mayonnaise making squishy noises.” Luis deadpanned.

        Jav gave him a deadpan look as well, “That’s just stupid. They looked human anyway, just pale, really cold, no bloodflow, and a few pieces of rotted flesh in some areas. Not that much different than I am, actually.”

        

        Luis shrugged, “Not like I can talk. I have a Nekomata fetish.”

        “... I don’t know what Nekomatas you are referring to, but the ones I met... Jesus Christ, beastiality much?”

        Luis coughed, “NO! What the fuck? No, I’m talking about the cat-girl ones!”

        Jav shuddered, “Oh thank God. I don’t really think I’ve met one like that, but I’m sure it’s better than what I’m picturing.”

        Luis sighed, and reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, “Here, this is what I meant.” He gave him the portrait that was in one of the folds.

        Jav looked at the picture and said, “Oh, well ,that’s not so bad then.”

        I leaned over to look at it as well, “That’s kinda hot actually.”

        Luis put it back in his wallet with a sigh, “Yeah, was going out with her for a while until I died. God, I hope she moved on...”

        “Yeah, sucks. Anyway, let’s head inside, I’m fucking soaked right now.” I stood up and motioned for them to follow, “This is gonna be annoying to dry off.”

        

“I know what to do, let’s get inside, otherwise this’ll be a waste.” Luis said.

“Alright then.” I grabbed the two and jumped off the roof, landing in front of the door. I set them down, opened the door, and we walked inside, “So what are you going to do?”

He then made a small fireball, “Should dry us off quickly.” He grinned.

I backed up and waved my hands, “Oh-hoho fuck no! Something else please, I’d rather not have any more mental breakdowns for at least another month.”

“Erm... okay?” The fire dissipated, changing into a ball of air, “Will this be alright?”

I nodded, “Yeah, yeah that should be good.”

“Alright then.” He then threw it at all of us, quickly drying our clothes, “There. It may be as effective as fire, but it does its job.”

I flinched, “Yes, well, better slightly damp than insane and possibly dead, right?”

Luis raised an eyebrow, “Right... Well, I know what I won’t use around you now.” He looked at Jav, “Anyway, want to continue the conversation elsewhere?”

Jav shrugged, “I guess.”

“So what are your abilities beyond Necromancy?”

Jav suddenly floated up off the ground and onto the ceiling, “Gravity control.”

Luis grinned, “Nice! I have some control over magic, but my real skill lies in this baby right here.” He shows the giant hilt to Jav.

Jav raised an eyebrow, “What type of sword is that?”

“This, is a Zweihander-”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.”

“What was that?” Luis asked.

I shrugged, “I have no idea. Someone keeps doing things like that, and I can never find out who.”

“Okay... Anyway! The Zweihander, while not as big as a claymore, can still have just as much power and weight if made correctly. Since this isn’t exactly your normal blade, it’s extremely light to handle. Being a swordmaster from the order, I’ve learned how to swing this as quickly as a longsword! But with this, I can swing it with one hand!” Luis said with a grin.

Jav twirled his cane in his hand, “Interesting. I got a claymore myself, which I’m pretty good at using. Thanks to my gravity control, I can swing this thing as fast as I want.”

Luis grinned, “You and I have to spar some time, get a good taste at what we can do.”

“That would be fun, we should find time to do that.”

Luis nodded, “Alright! What about tomorrow? Hey Sarah, what did they say about the weather tomorrow?”

I shrugged, “I don’t have a clue. I would go into to town to find out, if I were you.”

Luis stared at me blankly, then out the window, then back to me, “I’ll pass.”

“Suit yourself. I’m going upstairs.” I walked into the living room and grabbed Ardiente, then began to make my way to our room shouting, “If anyone needs me, we’ll be having sex!”

[Mary’s POV]

I stared up after Sarah with a deadpan look, “Did she really have to say that?”

The stranger looked at me, then up the stairs Sarah went, “Oh! Twins! Cool, I guess.” He said with surprise.

“Not if you found out how I was made.” I then asked, “Who are you anyway? I was asleep until about ten minutes ago.”

“I’m Luis Vera. Nice to meet you... uh, what’s your name?” Luis laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

“Mary Akinson. Nice to meet you as well.”

“Mary! Alright, nice to meet you Mary!” Luis said cheerfully.

“Right uh... I’ll be honest, I’m terrible with people. And conversations.” I said bluntly.

Luis nodded, “Alright. Not a problem, I tend to talk a lot anyway.” He chuckled.

I raised an eyebrow, “That’s... Sort of the problem I have with people, is if they talk too much. No offense to you, I just never talked to anyone in Purgatory.”

Luis looked surprised, “Oh! You’re the girl Death mentioned! Ah, I see. Sorry about how you ended up there.” He said sadly.

“Thanks. It’s fine though, I wish I could say. I still have nightmares that this is all just some dream or something, and I’ll wake up there again. Not exactly fun to go through.”

Luis sighed, “Kind of reverse for me, but I still enjoy being what I am now. I hope you get better over time.”

“So do I. Mostly because I think I’m starting to bother Sarah and Ardiente, because I keep sleeping with them every night and they can’t, well... You know.” I pointed upstairs, “That.”

 “Fuck each others brains out of their ears?” Luis said bluntly.

I glowed red, “Yeah, that.” I glowed even brighter, “I actually woke up one night with Ardiente sort of... Thinking I was Sarah. She refuses to talk about it.”

Luis snickered, “I can see the resemblance, that much is sure. Eh, don’t worry about it. I doubt you’re bothering them.”

I scratched the back of my head nervously, “They keep telling me that, but I keep thinking they're lying for my sake. It’s just something I can’t help but do though, but that doesn’t really matter right now.”

“Right, well, It was nice to meet you.” Luis smiled.

“Yeah, nice to meet you too. Anyway, I’m just gonna go talk to Alexandra, so... See you later I guess.” I turned around and walked back into the living room and sat on the couch.

Alexandra looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “What did you need to talk to me about?”

I shrugged and leaned into the couch, “Nothing, just needed an excuse to get away from having possibly another conversation about my sister’s sex life.”

“Ah, I see, that would be awkward.”

I nodded, “Yeah... Anyway, I’m just gonna take a nap, so wake me if anyone needs me.” I heard her agree just before I fell asleep.

Dear God I hope I don’t have another nightmare...

Arc I-II, Intermission III: Castle ruins

[Mary’s POV]


I jolted awake, another nightmare having come to me in my sleep. Thankfully, I don’t remember them after I wake up, and they don’t haunt me as much by now. Still though, if you looked at me, I’d be even paler than before, and I’d probably have an anxious look on my face.

I jumped when I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, and I turned to see Alexandra looking at me with concern, “Are you alright, Mary?”

I stared at her blankly for a few seconds before slowly nodding, “Yes, yes I’m fine. Just another nightmare is all. Nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, “Do you want to talk about it? That usually helps me.”

I shook my head, “No, I really am fine. They’re getting better, and I don’t even remember them by now.”

“Hm... Well, alright.” She smiled at me, “But if you do need someone to talk to, if Sarah is unavailable of course, I’ll be glad to help.”

I nodded, “Right, I will. Thank you.” There was a lull in conversation, which was broken by me. “So... Want to go do something?”

She looked up at the ceiling in thought and shrugged, “Sounds good, but I don’t know where to go at all.”

“Well...” I thought for a moment before sitting up straight and smiling, “How about the Canterlot Museum? I heard from Ardiente that it has some interesting stuff in it.”

She seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding with a smile, “That sounds interesting. Let’s head out.”

        I would go over how we spent the time getting there, but Sarah just grabbed us and ran there in a few minutes. Seriously, she just came downstairs, asked where we were going, then ran us right outside the place. That’s pretty cool in my opinion.

        Although, her saying “have fun on your date, you two” wasn’t really necessary. That got me glowing like a red lightbulb, while Alexandra just rolled her eyes with smirk and a faint glow.

        The museum was... Interesting, I guess you could say. It had some neat exhibits, mostly magic related ones though, which I didn’t really understand. There was one exhibit that caught my eye though, and Alexandra’s as well.

        In a glass case was a piece of old, dusty, worn out, torn paper. On it, the words “Wanted: Dead” were displayed under a faded, indistinguishable photograph. Below the wanted was a reward; 70,000,000 of some currency the symbol looking like a ‘B’ with line going through it and a few accent marks. Looking just above the photograph, I saw what I assumed to the remains of a name; ‘U’ a blank space, then ‘um’.

        I got curious, so I looked down at the plaque in front of the display. It read:

        “This is a wanted poster, found buried deep underground in the desert, in a form of ruins unrecognizable with any notable culture in known history. It is thought to be several hundred thousand to a million years in age, predating even the earliest of known civilizations by hundreds of thousands of years. Not much is known about who this poster was for, or what crimes they committed, but the estimated bounty shows it was something big. 700,000 0f what is assumed to be their version of bits, adjusted accordingly with inflation records, shows this criminal’s bounty to have been incredibly high. Adjusted, their modern equivalent bounty would be 700,000,000,000,000 bits, more than ten times the amount currently circulating the world today.

        Their name and face have been lost, and this is the only copy of this poster ever uncovered, having been preserved by an unknown power over the years. The subject of the poster has been named Uum (pronounced oom), as those are the only letters of their, presumed, name that remain. Alongside this fact we would like to point out; it is beyond strange that this was written in modern Equestrian, even though it is so old. We are unsure as to how this is possible, but there is nothing that suggests an answer to anything pertaining to this piece.”

        I leaned back from the plaque in surprise, many questions running through my mind. How old is this world? Who is this Uum? Just what did he or she even do?

        I was broken from my thoughts by Alexandra, who tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “Are you alright? you zoned out for a few minutes after reading that.”

        I nodded and reassured her, “I’m fine. I just wish there was more information on this person.”

She smiled and shook her head, “I will admit, it does sound interesting. If we find time, we should ask around. Maybe even Death, if he’s available. He might know.”

“Don’t bet on it.” I turned to see Death, in his human form, standing and staring at the poster with annoyance. He sighed and said, “I never understood who that person was. He never appeared to have existed, and his death never happened. Even to myself, he is an enigma.”

“Well... That’s disappointing news.” I said dejectedly.

Death waved a hand, “It would have been useless anyhow.”

        Curious about him being here, Alexandra asked, “Why are you here anyway? Do we have a mission?”

        He nodded, “Yes, as a matter of fact, you do. All of you.” He handed me a folder containing some papers and said, “Go and get Sarah, then head back and meet up with everyone at your house in Ponyville. Open this and read it, and you will all receive the information you need to carry out the mission.” With that, he disappeared.

I looked down at the folder, then at Alexandra who just shrugged. I did the same and said, “Let’s go then.”

Again, pointless to describe the travel because with Sarah it only took about three minutes.

We gathered everyone quickly, and stood around the kitchen table with the folder at the center. I opened it and pulled the papers out, spreading them out for everyone to see. Guess we'll find out what the mission from Death is....

 

Arc I-II, Intermission IV: Intervention

[Sarah’s POV]

Well shit, really? Really!? For fucks sake...

If you’re wondering what is pissing me off so much, we got an assignment from Death to work with Michael and some of his friends or some shit to go into some ruins and kill a sentiment or something. I don’t even know why that pisses me off. Maybe it’s mood swings. I think I might have been told I’m prone to those before. It would make sense, given how I act all the time.

Anyway, we were told to meet up with Michael and whoever he was bringing along and then head out to the ruins. Oh joy. And, if you’re wondering, me, Jav, Mary, and Sira were the ones who decided to go out with them.

Seeing as the walk into town is pretty damn short from the house, I saw Michael, Paige, and two other fucks I didn’t know. Yay, more fucking people to meet. No idea what they were talking about though, something about how they died or some shit like that.

One of the two I didn’t know said something, I didn’t really listen so I don’t know what it was, while Paige waved and said, “Hello!”

I waved back, “Yeah, hi. Don’t know you two people, hello to you too I guess. If any of you haven’t met these people,” I gestured behind me, “they’re Jav, Sira, and my sister Mary.”

The woman raised an eyebrow, “I’m Gwendolyn.” Nice to know I guess.

Paige waved again, “I’m Paige!”

The guy stared and said, “I’m Dr. Kondraki.”

I felt my eye twitch at that last one. “Did you say doctor...?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Yes.... Not a medical doctor mind you, just a title that The Foundation gave me.”

My eye started to twitch rapidly and I scowled, holding back my claw which I activated, “Must. Resist. Urge. To. KILL...”

He looked at me before blinking, “Hmm... 076-2 was scarier.”

Michael looked at him, “Dude... Don’t anger her any further.”

He looked at Michael, “I just told her my name and she freaked out when I said I was a doctor.... I’m being peaceful here.”

Mary stepped forward and pushed me back a bit, then looked at that Kondraki fucker and said, “She’s had some horrible experiences with Doctors. Really horrible.”

He looked at her tiredly, “Okay.... I won’t piss her off then.”

I glared at him as best as I could with one eye and growled, “Don’t even fucking come near me, or I will disembowel you with your own spinal cord...”

He glared back, “I’ve been eaten by a near immortal lizard monster and threw cat piss at a vampire. I’m trying to be nice but you’re really acting like a bitch right now, so calm. The fuck. Down.”

I snapped and shouted at him, “Calm? CALM!? I was tortured and raped for seventeen fucking years by fucks like you. I had my own body violently ripped open thousands of fucking times so that you assholes could do your sick experiments on me, and you want me to be fucking calm around you!? Not. Fucking. LIKELY!”

He just stood there calmly, “Alright then, you were tortured by doctors. Not me. I understand alright, I won’t bother you if that angers you. Just calm down and let’s just talk.”

“Stop telling me to be fucking calm. I am on the edge of another mental fucking breakdown, and you saying shit like that is only going to make it worse.”

He nodded, “Fine.”

I deactivated my claw, but still glared at him, “Now, you sick piece of fuck, tell me why I shouldn’t treat you like those sadistic monsters back at A.N.G.E.L.”

He blinked, “A.N.G.E.L.? That’s... That’s impossible. We raided their base and killed everyone.”

I spat at him, “Yeah, maybe the above ground complex. They had an entire underground network of laboratories and research stations. Obviously you didn’t think to look.”

He raised an eyebrow, “We did look, we found nothing. Nada. It was just the complex.”

“Then explain to me, just how they were kept running until a few days ago when Dean killed everyone in the fucking place. Explain to me how they kept their experiments running for all that fucking time, if you bastards killed them. Well, fucking explain!”

He blinked again, “I can’t... All I know is that a group went and raided the base, came back, was found infected with something, and killed.”

“And how long ago was this, exactly?”

He shrugged, “A week ago.”

I stared at him blankly, “The above ground facility was destroyed almost twenty years ago, and Dean just wiped the underground one clean a few days ago. What the fuck are you even talking about?”

“...” He blinked a few times. “I don’t know.”

That Gwendolyn person looked at the both of us, “Can we PLEASE just move on and get the supplies already!?”

I shrugged, but still glared at the doctor, “Fine. But if you come anywhere near me, I am not going to be held responsible for what I might do to you.”

He nodded, “Fine.”

Paige suddenly jumped off of Michael's shoulders and ran over to Jav. She looked up at him and said, “Woooow. You’re tall.”

He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, “I know... And you’re rather short.”

She blinked, “What’s with your eye?”

He scrunched his face up a little, “My family mark. I’m from a family of Necromancers, this is how we show it.”

Paige grinned, “Oh cool. I knew a couple Necromancers. They were actually quite nice.”

Jav looked at her in confusion, “Wait... What?”

She smiled, “I’ve met Necromancers before. Took a class on Necromancy and learned how to cast some spells.”

“...Wait what?”

She raised an eyebrow, “I took a Necromancy class. It was actually fun, I got to summon a couple ghouls.”

“Wait...” He said slowly, “So where you’re from... They actually teach Necromancy?”

She grinned, “Yeah! It’s a required class.”

Jav stood silently, then slowly raised his head to the sky and shouted happily, “You hear that Knights of the Holy Lance!? You can SUCK IT!”

Gwendolyn walked over and looked at him, “Hunters are here?”

He nodded, “A couple, yes. Why?”

She grimaced, “I don’t get along with them... Not since I was killed by one.”

He tilted his head to the side in confusion, “Killed by... You aren’t human, are you?”

She shook her head and her hair... Started moving on it’s own. “Yeah.... I’m a Gorgon.” What the fuck...

Jav’s eyes widened a bit, “Huh, never met one before.” He stuck his hand out, “James Valentine, nice to meet you.”

She grabbed his hand and shook it, “Gwendolyn Pietra. Nice to meet you as well.”

After pulling his hand back, Jav said in slight surprise, “That’s the first time I’ve met a non-human who didn’t freak out after hearing my last name. My family was rather infamous in the non-human underground.”

She smiled, “I ran away when I was twelve. I never really met anyone from the underground.”

“Ah, that explains it.”

Her smile got larger before she whacked a strand of her hair, “No... I’ll feed you guys later. Go down for now.”

Well fuck me she has snakes for hair. I stared at her hair blankly before saying, “That... is fucking strange as shit.”

She looked at me sadly, “Please don’t insult me... I get enough of that from other people.”

“Wasn’t trying to be insulting, just... Not something I’m used to seeing...”

She smiled, “Understandable... Very few people know about us.” She sighed a little, “Medusa was the one who gave us a bad name.”

I shrugged, “No idea who that even is.”

Michael spoke up, “One of three sisters cursed by the goddess of wisdom because they were hotter than her.”

Gwendolyn looked at him, “Spot on...”

I raised an eyebrow, “That sounds.... Incredibly stupid.”

She nodded, “It is... And if you want to know, Medusa was beheaded so a guy could save this girl he loved.” She grumbled, “Didn’t help she went insane.”

“Huh. Sucks.” I looked up and noticed we wasted a bit of time, judging by how much the sun moved. “We should probably get going, we wasted a bit of time talking.”

Michael looked up and blinked, “Crap... Come on, we need to get some lumber for firewood.”

I tensed up a bit, “Uh, heheh, did you say firewood?”

Michael blinked, “Uh... Yeah. Why?”

I gulped, “Uuhhh... No reason?”

He blinked a couple more times before shrugging, “Oookay...”

Paige grinned, “You know.... We don’t need firewood. I can just summon a couple light orbs to keep us warm.”

I quickly agreed, “Yeah, let’s do that! sounds much better that murder- I mean fire. Hehe-he...”

Michael looked at us both, “Sounds good...”

Gwendolyn looked at him, “I think we have everything.”

Michael looked in his pockets, “Let’s see... Yeah just about.”

“Okay,” I said, “then let’s go. The quicker we get this done, the better.”

He nodded, “Yeah... Wait... what are you guys doing?”

I raised an eyebrow at him, “Didn’t Death tell you? We’re working together to get rid of the Sentiments in the ruins.”

He blinked and shook my head, “He just said to go and deal with the problem.” He pulled out the piece of paper and opened it. “Plus he gave me a map.”

I looked at the map, “Cool, let’s go then.”

        Michael nodded and rolled the map up, “Alright... Shall we?”

        Kondraki nodded and made sure to walk the long way around me, “Yeah.”

        Gwendolyn smiled, “Of course.”

        Paige started hopping up and down, “Hooray! Adventure!”

        Sira tilted her head to the side, “I do not understand the enthusiasm, but I am ready to leave.”

        Mary nodded, “Hopefully this doesn’t take long...”

        Jav shrugged, “That would be nice.”

Michael sighed, “Then let’s go.” He turned on his heel and started walking off, doctor fuckstick following him.

I looked after them, then at Sira. “Hey Sira, would you be able to point the ruins out if you were flying overhead?”

“Yes, why?”

“Right...” I shouted after Michael, “We’ll meet you there, we’re going on ahead!”

He turned back and shouted, “Alright!”

I nodded, then picked up Mary, while Jav got ready to run and Sira took off into the air. She went off slightly ahead of us, then we ran/jumped after her, clearing the town in about a minute or two.

We landed outside the ruins in a few minutes, Sira having shown us the way as we ran. I don’t know how long we waited for everyone else, because we sort of wasted the time playing poker with a deck of cards I brought along.

I heard Michael’s voice, “Hey!”

I looked up from the poker game and waved to him, “Nice to see you finally showed up!”

He smirked, “Well at least we made it here... So... About ready?”

I stood up, along with everyone else, then nodded, “Been ready. Where do you think the Sentiment is?”

He shrugged, “It might be in an area with a lot of room. I’d say the courtyard or the meeting hall.”

I nodded, then walked up to the entrance of the castle, which were two large, wooden doors. I was about to push them open when Jav walked up and placed a hand on my shoulder, “Allow me.” He said with a smile. Then... Jesus fuck what?

He just walked up to them, grabbed their handles, then effortlessly pulled them out of the walls and hurled them about a hundred feet.

“There we go,” he said as he dusted his hands off, “now we can go inside.”

I was shook out of my slight daze when I heard Michael say, “What... The... Hell?”

Jav shrugged, “I have the strength from being a sixty eight year old Necromancer, the fact that Equestria’s gravity is half as strong as Earth’s, and the fact that my power cuts that in half again. I’m pretty bloody physically strong right now.”

Michael blinked, “Ah... I see.”

I shook my head and walked through the door, “Right then, let’s just find the Sentiment.”

Michael nodded, “Sure.” He walked forward and blinked when Paige flew over. “Really Paige? Really!?”

She stuck her tongue out, “Nyeh.”

“Anyway...” I looked around the large room, “Think there might be one in here?”

Michael shrugged, “I think so yeah...”

I was about to say something, but a large axe slamming into the wall next to me cut me off. I turned to see.... OH SWEET LORD OF MERCIFUL FUCK, NO!

The Sentiment was on fucking fire. Fire! I don’t even know what is there are so many fucking flames covering the God damned thing. Oh hey it’s all gold colored too, that’s pretty neat- OH SHIT WHAT AM I DOING!?

I dodged out of the way as it swung it’s axe at me again. I was almost hit with it, but Jav jumped over and blocked it with his sword. The things... I don’t know I guess it has eyes, glared at him, and it drew back and prepared to fight.

Jav got into a defensive stance and gripped his sword, “Restriction levels one and two, release!” An explosion of dark gray energy burst off of his body, and I noticed the area surrounding him, which I was in, felt a lot heavier.

He rushed at the Sentiment and lifted his sword up and said, “Heavy Swing!” When he swung downwards and the Sentiment blocked, it was pushed down to the ground, and the force of the blow shattered the tiles on the floor, as well as kicked up a small wave of dust.

As the Sentiment pushed him off, he quickly pointed a hand at it and said, “Lock and Key.” The Sentiment stopped moving completely, and Jav, still holding his hand out said, “Everything but the Kitchen Sink!”

Suddenly every, and I mean every, loose object in the room flung itself at the Sentiment at once. It stumbled and fell to the ground after a pretty large chunk of stone slammed into it’s... Head I think, and Jav quickly ran up and swung his sword down, “Pack a Punch!” When his sword connected with the Sentiments body, a massive blast wave came out from where he hit, shattering the thing’s axe, blowing it’s body apart and smashing the surrounding floor within about twenty feet.

All that was left of the Sentiment was a small, glowing, gold fireball of a soul.

Sweet Jesus that was fucking cool...

Jav stood up, his sword returned to a cane, and he picked the soul up and looked around at all of us, “So who get’s the soul then?”

Michael shrugged, “I don’t know... Draw straws?”

I was about to make a suggestion, but a familiar wheezing voice cut me off. “I... Apologize... But the soul... Is to go.... To the young..... Sira Molante....” Wait, isn’t that...

I turned around and, sure enough, that clusterfuck of a thing that we saw when Mary got her power walked out of a shadowed corner of the room. “Weren’t you... Bheidh i Seilbh, wasn’t it?” I asked.

He nodded, “I am.... Glad you.... Remember me.... Young Akinson...” He reached down and picked up the remains of the axe, then placed them into it’s pile of junk like it did with that one Sentiment’s sword. “I have..... Come to inform.... you that the..... Soul is destined to.... Become young Sira Molante’s.... And no one else's.....”

I shook my head, “I still have no idea what the fuck you even are, let alone why you’re here...”

He shook his head as well, “I cannot.... Tell you.... Unfortunately.... Too many.... Problems would.... Arise...” He... Walked(?) over and took the soul from Jav and tossed it to Sira, “Eat up..... Young Sira.... It is necessary that Fate would..... Give you that power....”

Sira looked between the soul and Bheidh i Seilbh, then shrugged and swallowed it. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly when you think about it, she didn’t really react to it at all.

After she did that, Bheidh i Seilbh turned to me and said, “We will not.... Meet again for some..... Time, young Akinson.... And my time here.... Grows to an end.... I am to leave now....”

“Al... right then,” I waved a hand in confusion, “bye.”

He bowed his head slightly, then slowly faded away like the last time I met him. As he did, I heard him say, “Time’s Ultimatum will.... Be reached soon..... Prepare in any way... You can......”

...

...

...

No idea what that means! And... Why the hell is Michael screaming his ass off about what his life is?

I saw him look at a piece of paper that appeared in front of him and he muttered something. He then sighed and said, “Alright then....” He hopped up, “Let’s keep looking.”

I nodded and stood up, “So... where to next?” Maybe I should ask Death about that guy, he might know what he is...

He sighed, “Let’s check the secondary court, then the meeting hall.”

I nodded and motioned for him to lead the way, “I have no idea where any of that is, so you lead us.”

He nodded and looked around, “Let’s see... We entered through the barbican, so....” He turned and smiled when he saw a door. Pointing at it he said, “There, through the great chambers.”

I stared at him blankly, “... I have no idea what the fuck you just said.”

He blinked, “Just follow me.” I shrugged and followed after him, Jav, Mary, and Sira following too.

After a series of doors and rooms that I couldn’t hope to identify, we made it to a door that, after opening Michael announced, “Welcome, to the secondary courtyard.”

I looked around and said, “Cool, you think the last Sentiment or Sentiments are in here? Because I kind of want to leave, this place is boring the fuck out of me.”

“Yeah, it’s here somewhe-” He began, but was cut off by... Himself really, when he dodged out of the way of a giant black arrow thing. The, I guess, Sentiment that fired it looked like a middle aged woman in black armor and... She just fired even more arrows. The fuck.

Gwendolyn pulled out a hilt, “Wraith blade, activate. Restrictions one and two, release!” Pinkish fire burst from her body and the light around her darkened somewhat.

She ran forward and slashed the things legs, “Low Blow!” The sentiment stumbled a bit before lashing out with more arrows. Gwendolyn jumped over them and landed on the other side before slashing her sword which released a few black and blue bolts of energy. “Bulloni di Twilight!”

        The sentiment smiled, I think, and a wall of arrows popped from the ground and blocked the attack. “Vector technique...” A symbol appeared around it, “Blackened Sky!” The seal glowed black as hundreds of arrows shot from it and appeared in the sky before crashing back down all around her.

Gwendolyn smiled. “Shroud of Twilight!” An orb of black and blue energy surrounded her, slowing down the arrows. She raised her sword up to the sky, causing walls of the same energy to appear around the sentiment. She then thrust her sword at one of the walls, “Twilight Waltz!” A beam of energy burst from the sword and started ricocheting off of the walls. The sentiment screamed as it faded away, leaving a black, somewhat grey, ball in it’s place.

Michael blinked and started clapping, “Wow....”

Gwendolyn reached down and grabbed the ball, “Heh... Who wants it?”

Paige started hopping up and down, waving her hands. “Oh oh! Me, me!”

Doctor fuck shrugged, “I can get the next one.”

Gwendolyn smiled and tossed the ball at Paige, “Eat up.”

Paige caught it and put it in her mouth, chewing it for a couple of seconds before swallowing, “It’s good. Kinda like cotton candy but, better.”

“Anyways.” Michael turned and pointed at another door, “There’s the meeting hall. Just one left.”

“Yay,” I said, “then we can finally leave.” Seriously, I’m starting to get a weird feeling about this place, and I have no idea why...

He walked forward and tried opening the door, only to have it stick. He then slammed his shoulder against it hoping to force it open, but winced in pain as it didn’t budge. “Fucking door’s stuck.” He stepped back and kicked near the lock on the door, causing it to fling open. “Problem solved.”

“Well that’s efficient.” I say.

He looked at me and smiled, “Kicking always works.”

I rolled my eye, “If that was the case I would’ve gotten out of several hundred experiments and other... Things back at the facility.”

He just frowned and walked into the previously opened door. Yeah you go ahead and not respond. NOT EVERYTHING IS ALL NICE AND EASY MORON!

I shook my head and walked in after him, seeing just a bunch of rotted wood and broken roof. SO FUCKING EXCITING.

“So you’ve come at last~.”

Michael and I turned to see a tall guy in torn red robes, standing at the front of the room. “The master told me people would come again...”

I have an overwhelming urge to kill this guy, and I have absolutely no idea why. I think it’s his voice, just sounds weird as shit.

“And who the fuck are you?” Michael asked as he readied... I didn’t even know his weapon was a hammer. Huh.

He smiled, “Proditore ad Auallonia....” Traitor to Avalon? “Do try to remember it.” He flicked his hands, and two daggers appeared in them. “For it will be the last you ever hear! Discordia cadit super te!” Discord falls upon you? What the fuck is with this guy?

He leaped forward and swiped at Michael, but he brought up his hammer just in time. His other hand swung at me, catching me in the side. Mother fucker...

Michael kicked him away and said, “Restriction level one, release!”

I growled out as well, “Restriction levels one and two, release!” I surged with power, and my claw changed into a single, large scythe-like blade.

Michael ran up to him, “Midnight Smash!” He swung his hammer, but the Sentiment blocked and stabbed him in the shoulder, then ripped the blade upwards.

Michael smashed his foot onto the ground, causing blocks of metal to hover in front of him. He grinned and punched his hand forward, causing the blocks to hit the Sentiment in the chest. “Titanium Toss!”

While the Sentiment was slightly staggered, I ran forward at it and shouted, “Nevermore!” My body burst apart into ravens, which swarmed the Sentiment and tore at him with their talons and beaks.

He growled as he slashed at the ravens, “Chaotic Artistry...” A giant symbol appeared under him. “Bentley’s Paradox!” The ravens were dragged to the ground, and they slowly fused back into my body, which was completely pinned down.

I struggled to move, but I was almost completely immobile against the floor. Let me tell you, years of having horrible shit done to you in this sort of position usually leads to panic.

I think Michael might have done something, because the next thing I know the force keeping me down is gone, and metal blocks are spinning around the Sentiment. I quickly scrambled to my feet and backed away slightly, staring at the Sentiment in panic.

That rapidly turned into anger.

I looked up at the night sky through the roof and held my blade upwards. With a shout I brought it down and struck the ground, “The Day is Done!”

Complete darkness covered the room, blocking out any last bit of light there might have been. I could see clearly though, and I saw that bastard Sentiment not far from me. My breathing got faster and heavier, and I glared at him before suddenly appearing right in front of him. Without questioning how I did that, I swung my blade down across his chest.

He spun his arms to try and hit me, but I was behind him before he could even react, slashing at his back repeatedly. When he tried to turn and hit me again, I just appeared on a different side to hit him.

I did this over and over for a good four or five minutes, just disappearing and reappearing around him and taking shots at him when he couldn’t even do anything about it. When I felt I had done enough, I raised my blade again and shouted, “When Shadows Reign!”

As the darkness left the room, and the torn up Sentiment across from me could see again, he saw several large blades of shadow just before they slammed into him full force.

[Third Person POV]

Sarah got up from the ground where she had fell and sat up. She tilted her head to the side curiously as she moved her head from side to side, unable to see out of her currently blinded right eye.

She sniffed the air once or twice then pointed her head in Michael’s direction, tilting her head to the side again in curiosity.

He blinked, “Sarah... You okay?”

She just stared at him silently, then smiled and walked over to him, taking a seat next to where he stood and looking up at him.

Michael looked out the door at Jav and asked, “Um... What’s going on?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, Mary walked into the room, took a look at Sarah, then sighed sadly and said, “A result of some of the things she went through in the facility. She began to rely on basic animal instinct to survive when doctors thought it would be “fun” to blind her for their amusement.” She walked over and patted Sarah on the head, who leaned into it and smiled. “It’s kind of sad, really.”

He looked at her and sighed, “Yeah.... That is sad.”

Mary looked over to Kondraki and said somewhat tiredly, “I know she was rather harsh to you, but this,” she gestured to her sister, “is one of the nicer things they put her through. I hope you can at least understand her hate for Doctors by now.”

He walked in carefully and nodded, “Yeah... The Foundation at least has a moral standing.”

Suddenly, Sarah tensed up, then shook her head furiously.

[Sarah’s POV]

I shook my head and opened my eye to see everyone staring at me, while Mary was... Petting my head. What the fuck.

I looked around before realizing what happened. “God dammit,” I facepalmed, “I went all animal again, didn’t I?”

Paige nodded, “Yeah.... You looked kinda adorable.”

I stopped moving, and I felt my eye twitch. I quickly stood up and walked over to the nearest wall and began to punch it into pieces. “Fuck-,” punch, “-ing,” punch, “stupid,” punch, “scientist,” punch, “assholes!” I reared my arm back and punched the remaining wall, sending it flying to God knows where.

“Done relieving stress?” I heard Michael ask.

I nodded and turned around, “Yep. Now if you’ll excuse me.” I promptly fell flat on my face and passed out.

Dedications

“The loneliest people can be the kindest. The saddest people sometimes smile the brightest. The most damaged people are filled with wisdom. All because they do not wish the pain they've endured on another soul.”

-Timothy Delvecc

I found myself in a place I hadn’t seen in... Jesus maybe ten years by now. It wasn’t a very interesting place to see, just a plain white room with a few beds and a couch, all white as well. Well.... one bed had been replaced. It was replaced with a coffin, symbolizing one of them had been destroyed completely.

On the other four beds, beside the one I “woke up” in, were sleeping figures. All of them looked like me, except for a few differences. One had pitch black hair tied in a ponytail, another had blood red hair that was disheveled, one had blonde hair, and the last had brunette hair with a few braids in it.

One bye one, they all woke up and sat up in their beds, looking around. When the black haired one looked at me, she frowned, and her dark gray eyes looked much more tired.

She sighed, “Sarah.... I didn’t really expect to see you here again.” She spoke tiredly and with a lot of sadness in her voice. That’s Tristi for you, always sounding depressed.

Tristi got up from her bed, and a black suit appeared around her body.. She walked over and sat next to me, then put an arm around my shoulders and sighed, “I honestly hoped never to see you here again.”

I nodded, “Me too. I really never wanted to come back.... I thought what happened with,” I looked over at the coffin, “her would’ve made it so this never happened again. Looks like I was dead fucking wrong.”

The red haired woman stood and walked over, red jeans and a red tank top appearing on her body. She glared down at me with hatred in her red eyes, “So what? You thought killing that hungry bitch would fix anything? If anything, it made it a lot. Fucking. Worse. ‘Cause now that she’s done kicking us down, we have a chance to return in full swing!” Fucking Ira, never knows when to just be fucking calm.

The blonde haired one stood up, and a yellow dress appeared on her body. She walked over and placed a hand on Ira’s shoulder, looking at her with concern in her gold eyes, “You really should calm down, Ira, it’s not healthy to act like that...” Cordia, always being nice to others. Even the ones that don’t fucking deserve it.

The brunette stood up last, and a brown dress shirt and dark brown dress pants and shoes appeared on her. She walked over and shook her head, looking at us with brown eyes through a pair of glasses, “Why must the lot of you disagree so often? We are all sisters of the mind, we should treat each other with equal feelings.” Tia always was the voice of reason when I used to come here so many years ago.

Ira shouted at her, “Shut up! She already killed one of us! So who’s to say she’s not going to do the same to all of us, huh!?”

Cordia looked at me worriedly, “You.... You wouldn’t do that, would you?”

 

I shook my head, “No, I wouldn’t. I hated her because of what she did to me. You guys hardly ever do anything, except for maybe you Ira, and I would feel bad for killing you all.”

Ira spat at me, “I’d like to see you hold up on that. I mean, look at Tristi! She’s made you want to kil-”

“Shut up, Ira.” I said coldly. “I don’t care about that. I even agreed with her, and I still kind of do. I don’t want any shit from you about that, you have nothing to do with that anyway.”

“Enough.” Tristi said, “We are not here to argue with each other, or make accusations. We need to talk to you, Sarah. We haven’t appeared in so long because we didn’t think we could ever help you. Now, though, you have a chance to change yourself. But if you keep acting the way you do, there is no chance you will ever be different.”

I looked at her with confusion, “What do you mean?”

Tia sighed, “You are horrible to others, plain and simple. You went through so much, and suffered all throughout life, yet instead of taking these as a reason to treat others well, keep others from suffering as you did, you instead choose to treat others harshly. Why must you do this? You have no reason to, yet you still do it.”

“How am I supposed to fucking act?” I ask her desperately. “I was treated like shit almost all of my life! That’s all I fucking know anymore!”

Ira grunted, “Why don’t you fucking take from that treatment and turn it around? You know how to treat others wrong and be treated wrong, so just do the fucking opposite! It’s not that fucking hard, moron!”

“Oh what do you fucking care!?” I shouted at her, “You only ever yelled and screamed at me, and put me down for everything!”

She pushed me down and got right in my face, screaming, “I’m trying to fucking help you, dumbass! Unless I fucking nail this shit into your fucking mind, you’re never gonna fucking get it! And besides, I’m your fucking anger! What else do you fucking expect from me!?”

I pressed myself down into the bed, eyes wide. Cordia came over and gently pulled Ira away, “Now Ira, please calm down a little. She’s obviously under stress, and pressure... Constantly.... So you should try and be nicer, at least somewhat.”

Ira glared at her for a second, then shrugged her hand off and sighed, “Fine, I’ll fucking try to be nicer, Jesus....”

Cordia smiled at her, then sat down on my other side and hugged me, “You really should try to be nicer though, Sarah. Your friends deserve it, they always treat you kindly, so you should return it. You know what it’s like to be treated badly, you know what it’s like to be put down, so you should make sure you don’t do the same to those around you....”

I sighed and looked her in the eyes to see that she was crying. I gave another, heavier sigh and hugged her back, “I know.... I know I should, but I just... It’s so hard to do...”

She gave me a pat on the back, “I know it is Sarah, but you have to try, at the very least.”

“Or you could just take care of every problem and end yourself.” Tristi muttered.

“Not helping.” Cordia and Tia said together.

Tristi shrugged, “The only thing I can say, sorry.”

“I know, just.... Keep it to yourself, please.” Cordia then turned to me again, “Do you understand though? You should at least try and treat your friends better, for their sake, and yours.”

I slowly began to nod and said, “Alright.... I’ll try....” It won’t be easy...

“I know it won’t,” Cordia said, “but it will be harder in the long run if you don’t try at all.”

“Okay, I understand....” I looked around at all of them, “So I guess I’ll be seeing you guys later?”

They all nodded silently and went back to their beds, their clothes disappearing as they went to sleep. I slowly laid down and fell asleep too, ready to get back to the real world.

Arc I-II, Intermission V: A quick resolution

As Sarah slept, a figure stood over her, just hours before she would wake up. The figure was a short man, wearing a black long coat, black gloves, black pants, black boots, sunglasses and a black cap. He had long brown hair, tied back in a ponytail, and a black beard.

He stared down at Sarah’s sleeping form silently, watching with sadness as she twisted and turned in her sleep, a look of discomfort on her face. He knew what was happening to her, he came to fix it.

He bent down and placed his head next to her’s, whispering to her as if she would hear, “Sarah.... I’m sorry about this, but it needs to be done.” He pressed one of his fingers against the back of her neck, leaving behind a small, glowing blue microchip, “This will stop the voices, it will stop those four from ever existing again.... But you will have to deal with them for an hour, it will create the illusion that they have taken over your body. I’m sorry, but if what is to happen happens, then Michael needs to know the extent of your damage, it is crucial to the future.”

He stood, casting one last look down at her before his body began to fade away into nothing, leaving behind an empty space. After this was done, Sarah began to stir in her sleep, only there was an abrupt change. In a flash almost like static, her hair turned blood red, her clothes were replaced with a red tank top and red jeans, and an image of a right arm faded into place over her skeletal one.

[Ira’s POV]

God fucking dammit why am I waking up again? We just got done talking to the damn bitch, why am I.... Oh shit fucking hell dammit what the fuck!? Why in the godfuckinghell am I in control!? How in the godfuckinghell am I in control!? For fucks sake....

I groaned as I sat up, brushing Sarah’s previously white but now blood red hair out of my eyes. I looked down and, sure fucking enough, her clothes had been swapped out with my red tank top and jeans. HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN WORK.

I stood up and stretched, then blinked as I realized I had an actual fucking right arm, not that bitch’s Wraith weapon thing. How the Hell does that fucking work!? HOW DOES ANYTHING WORK!?

I heard.... What was that fuckers name, Michael? Yeah, him. I heard him groan, “I wish I was still sleeping.”

That one bitch that was with him, Gwen or something, chuckled, “Well you’re not the only one.”

I grumbled to myself and walked into their sight, cracking some of my joints as I said tiredly, “God fucking dammit all to Hell, I am too fucking tired right now to even break anything....” I yawned and nodded to the two, “Mornin’ fucksticks.”

Michael sighed, “Morning.” Wow has this shit not even realized I’m not Sarah yet? Holy fuck he’s either blind or retarded.

I cracked my neck and said flatly, “Not going to question the completely different person who took Sarah’s place overnight? That’s fuckin’ solid friendship and care right there.”

“What?” He stood up and looked at me, then took a step back, “The fuck!?”

I rolled my eye, “Finally fuckin’ noticed dipshit? For fucks sake it’s only been a good solid few minutes of conversation and me standing here. Are you that fucking dense?”

“What a charming little bucket of fun you are. And to answer your question, I’m too fucking tired to deal with this.”

I grunted, “I am too. Short fuckin’ version.... Me and the rest of Sarah’s split personalities are back now that Mary’s soul was knocked out of the fuckin’ picture. I’m Ira, her rage and anger. Nice to meet your fucking undead ass.”

“Oh great... Anger and rage? I’m having fun already.”

I glared at him and snarled, “Don’t fuckin’ tempt me. Almost all of my being may be focused on Sarah herself, but I’m not fuckin’ against kicking your sorry ass if you piss me off. I’ve had a lot of anger building up inside me with no release thanks to that hungry bitch taking control, and I’d just fucking hate to let it out right here, on you.” I finished with as much sarcasm as I could muster right now.

He raised his hands, “Sorry. Sarah’s normally angry and I don’t exactly want to deal with a being representing all of her anger before having coffee.” He sighed. “Anyways... How long do you think it will be until Sarah gets back in control?”

I shrugged, “I’m actually leaving right now, I’m too fucking tired to deal with anything right now. Don’t think Sarah’s coming back just yet though. The other three want a bit of time outside, so they’ll be meeting you first before Sarah.”

I think he said, “Okay... And they represent?” But I was already too far out to answer. I slumped forward, and before I lost control I saw my hair flash blonde and my clothes be swapped with a yellow dress, sort of like T.V. static.

[Cordia’s POV]

I shook my head vigorously and looked around. So much dreary architecture, and the outside forest just looks dreadful!

I stopped looking around and stared at Michael with a smile, “Hi! I’m Cordia!” I waved.

He nodded, “A pleasure.” Ooh, he’s nice!

I said sheepishly, “I saw you had Ira to deal with first.... She can be kind of mean, I know....” I then smiled again, “But don’t worry, because I’m the opposite! I represent Sarah’s.... Whatever remaining kindness she shows anymore!” I hope she isn’t mad at me for saying that, but it’s true!

“Oh. It’s nice to know she’s not always angry.” He waved his hands, “No offence to her of course.”

I nodded, “Yeah, she’s mean a lot.... But that’s not really on purpose, she just doesn’t know how to act with kindness on a regular basis, thanks to her upbringing. We’re trying to help with that though, so don’t worry about it!”

“Ah... Well I take it that you’re going to fade soon so could you tell me who the others are?”

I perked up, “Oh, sure! There’s-” I froze and slumped over, briefly seeing my hair turn brunette and become braided in a few spots, while my dress was replaced by dark brown dress shoes, pants, and a shirt.

[Tia’s POV]

        I straightened myself out and removed my glasses from my shirt pocket and placed them on, then looked at Sarah’s friend Michael and nodded, “Good to meet you, Michael Fritz. I am Tia, Sarah’s knowledge.”

“A pleasure.”

I hummed to myself and said, “I will be honest with you, I do not care much for staying out too long. I do not derive as much enjoyment as the others, and I suspect your last visitor will not either.”

He sighed, “Understandable... Well, not really. It’s technically impossible for me to imagine being a separate personality on account that most believe they’re the real one. Leading to problems arising if one were to emerge.... No offence.”

I shook my head, “None taken. And I assure you, we know Sarah is the real and original being, we are all far too into our set personalities to be a whole being.” I paused and tensed up, “Speaking of which, our impromptu leader of us four personalities wishes to speak now. I will let her take over.”

I slumped over, and briefly say my hair turn solid black and tie itself in a ponytail, while my clothes were replaced with an all black suit and black dress shirt underneath.

[Tristi’s POV]

        I stood up straight and straightened out my tie, nodding to Michael, speaking in a tired and lower voice, “I would say “good day”, but I find nothing particularly good about it. I am Sarah’s most powerful personality.”

He nodded, “Nice to meet you. I must admit, you’re colleagues are rather interesting. And you would happen to represent?”

“I am Tristi, Sarah’s sadness and depression, and the emotion she displays more than any other.”

He sighed, “Huh... She seems fine most of the time. But then again, I don’t exactly know what she’s doing all of the time.”

I nodded, “Yes, she may appear fine, but she just hides her true feelings. And I would advise you not to spread the nature of her true feelings around, nor should you question her about them. She will come to terms with them in time.”

He nodded, “I won’t say a word.”

“Thank you.” I tensed up, “I will be returning control to Sarah in a minute, have a.... Bad day, Michael Fritz.”

I slumped forward, and briefly saw myself switch back to Sarah.

[Sarah’s POV]

I shook my head and stumbled back a bit, “Jesus Christ, warn me next time people....”

I heard Michael say, “Welcome back.... Um... Deal with them commonly?”

“No, not for the past... Almost ten years, I think...”

“Oh.... So... they’re, interesting I must admit.”

I grumbled, “One’s too cheerful, one’s an asshole, one’s a smartass, and the other tells me to kill myself on a regular basis.... Really interesting, yeah....”

“That’s what I mean. They’re basically so different from you that it makes it rather strange when I see you act cheerful.”

I stared at him blankly, “Do I really come off as such a downer that acting cheerful is strange to you? Well fuck.....”

He shook his head, “No. It’s strange seeing you not use dark humor every five minutes or yelling at people for what A.N.G.E.L. did.”

I sighed, “I don’t yell at people for what they did, I just use that as a reason for why I act the way I do. There’s a difference.”

He rolled his eyes, “Eh true, but whenever you use it as a reason you yell it out.”

“Well excuse me for getting heated an emotional over that shit. Do you expect me not to? That’s like shooting someone in the leg and telling them not to scream about it.”

He sighed, “Trust me I don’t judge you for getting emotional. Just... Do you have to yell every time? I understand that A.N.G.E.L. basically destroyed your life, but... Actually I’m not going to finish that, otherwise I’m going to piss you off.”

I gave him a level stare, “Exactly.” I then shrugged, “Besides, swearing and yelling are the only ways I can express myself without breaking and or killing things, so which would you rather have?”

“I would rather have you swear and yell then kill and maim everyone.”

“Same here, unless everyone deserved it.” I sighed and reached up to scrape out some dirt that collected in my eye socket while I slept, “Anyway, we should probably head back to town, I don’t really feel like staying in this shit hole anymore.”

He nodded slowly, “Yeah.... Let’s get the others up.”

While he went off to wake up the people he came with, I just went over to Sira, Jav, and Mary and picked all of them up, albeit a little stressfuly, then started to leave, “I’m heading back on my own, I feel like getting out of this place as soon as possible.” Seriously I’m getting a really fucking weird feeling from this place....

I heard Michael say from behind me, “Alright, see ya!”

I nodded and left through the door, then realized I didn’t know where the fuck I was going. I looked around blankly, then shrugged and jumped up through a hole in the roof, landing on the roof of the castle. I looked around at the surrounding area, got a good judge on which way I came from, then took off in that direction.

Okay, so I didn’t know where to go right away and had to wake Sira up midway so that she could help. Fuck you I know I have bad direction.

Anyway, landing back in town was kind of funny, because Mary had woken up halfway there and was clinging onto my for dear life, even though she’s dead already.... You know what I mean.

I sent Jav and Sira home, because they didn’t feel like accompanying me into town, while Mary just didn’t want to leave my side at all. I guess it was those nightmares again or something, she always gets a bit more clingy when she has them. I’m not complaining though, I like spending time with her, she is my sister after all.

Thinking back to those personalities of mine... maybe I should see if anyone could help me with those. I mean yeah, I don’t hate having them, even if two of them absolutely hate me, but I really don’t need them fucking with my head all the time. I think I’ll head to the library, maybe I can look up some psychology stuff there.

I nodded once to myself and motioned for Mary to follow, and the two of us made our way to the library. On the way there though, something weird happened. I felt a short spark on the back of my neck, followed by the strangest feeling ever. My mind just sort of... stopped. Not stopped working, just... stopped. Or at least the personalities stopped. I couldn’t feel anything of those four.

I mean, yeah I hadn’t seen those four personalities in years, but I still felt them in there, sleeping in my head. I just, I don’t know, I didn’t feel them anymore. They were just gone. Poof, disappeared. I can’t say I miss them, they were really mean to me a lot, and they made my head hurt a lot too, but now that I can’t feel them... I don’t know, I honestly don’t know at all. I mean... fuck, what the Hell is going on?

I don’t get it.

I don’t....

I mumbled, “I just.... I... that it’s.... I.... I.... Uh.... It....”

“Sarah... are you alright?” Mary’s voice snapped me out of... whatever that was. I shook my head and saw that she was looking at me with concern. I was about to answer, just tell a little bit of a lie and say “yes”, but.... I couldn’t say anything.

I just stared back at her with wide, terrified eyes, then started looking around the town at all of the ponies. All of them... so many of them... too many of them, everywhere, just... staring at me. Why? Why are they looking at me... why? Why? Why!?

I stumbled back, grabbing the sides of my head and staring at the ground in fear.

What’s going on, where am I?

What am I doing here, where is everyone?

Why is it so quiet in my head?

Where did the voices go?

I began to cry as I unknowingly started to ask the questions out loud, for everyone to hear.

Where are they, did they leave?

Was it because I ignored them for so long, is that it?

Where.... Where are they!?

“Where are they!?”

[Mary’s POV]

I stared at Sarah in worry as she shouted out a final question, then slumped over, unconscious. She was still mumbling in her state, but ultimately calmed down. I was worried though, as I’d never seen her do that before. Sure she’s had her breakdowns, but nothing on that level.

I stopped staring at her and looked around when I heard a few of the ponies whispering to each other, and it got me worried even more. I had no way of carrying her, heavy as she was, but I couldn’t just leave her there, so I was at a complete loss as to what I should do.

“Alright, everyone move along, nothing to see here!” I suddenly heard Jav shout from behind me, and I turned around to see him stepping over and around ponies to get to me, brushing them away as he did so.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him curiously, “Didn’t you stay behind at the house?”

“I’ll explain when we get back,” he said tiredly, “right now, let’s just get her home.” He pointed his hand at Sarah and said, “Suspension.” She was surrounded in a gray glow, and lifted off the ground. Jav started back towards the house, Sarah floating along beside him as he said to me, “Come along then, sooner we get back the sooner I can tell you. It’s rather important after all....”

I took one last look back at the gathered ponies, then sprinted to catch up with Jav and Sarah, slowing down to match their pace as we walked back. I wonder just what it is that was so important? I know it has to do with him being there to get Sarah, but it couldn’t have been that big... could it?

Arc I-II, Intermission VI: Beginning to change

Not long after Jav had brought Sarah home, he had placed her in bed, with Ardiente worriedly looking over her. Afterwards, the two of us had walked down to the dining room, where we both sat at the table, myself slightly on edge, and Jav with a very tired appearance.

“Well,” he said suddenly after a few minutes of silence, sitting forward and looking at me over his glasses, “I suppose I should go ahead and tell you what I was talking about earlier.”

“Alright...” I said, slowly nodding, “whenever you’re ready....”

“Right, one moment.” He took his cloak off from his shoulders, as well as his hat from his head, and walked to the living room, hanging the two on the coat rack in the corner. On his way back to the table, he removed his vest and tie as well, draping them over the back of the couch along the way.

He slumped back into his seat across from me, running a hand through his grayed hair as he did so, and he said, “Sorry, just had to loosen up a bit before I tell you all of this. hope you don’t mind.”

“It’s fine.” I rubbed the back of my neck, looking away from him, then back, “Like I said, whenever you’re ready.” I really need to work on my interaction skills, I’m horrible at talking to people. I sighed to myself, I guess twenty years avoiding others in Purgatory will do that.

“Might as well get it out of the way then....” He made a few nonsense gestures with his hands, and managed, “Well... simply put...” he sighed, “simply put, I was sent here by Death to watch Sarah and make sure she didn’t...” he made air quotes, ““lose it” I suppose would be the right wording.”

“O...kay? So you were sent here to watch after her?” In all honesty that didn’t seem so bad, so I asked him in confusion, “How is that particularly bad enough to keep secret?”

He waved his hand in response, “No no, it’s not that that’s the bad part, it’s....” He leaned back, arching his head back and covering his face with his hands, “Well, first off I kept the whole “watching” thing a secret because I didn’t feel the need to bother anyone with it. The bad part, however, is how utterly rubbish I did at the bloody job. I hardly ever did anything to help, just carried her around when she went unconscious, and that was only twice.”

“So you were anxious about telling me this... because you felt you did the job badly... and weren’t sure how I’d react...?”

“Yeah....”

“Oh....” That makes sense, I suppose.

“Honestly,” he said as he threw his hands up in exasperation, “I don’t even know why Death tasked me with it. I’ll just go ahead and guess it was because I was either the only one rightly available at short notice, or because I had done pretty efficiently on my past jobs, and he made a judgement based on that.” He shrugged, “Really though, all I’m good for in terms of Wraith work is hitting things really hard with a sword, and that usually works on the jobs I’m sent on. This one though... that would be a bad idea to try.”

“Yes, I suppose it would....” I’m worried about Sarah, really worried. She was talking about the voices being gone.... Could she have meant those four? What could have caused them to leave? I know they were repressed, but with the knowledge I have from being part of a personality, just their presence in her mind was enough to keep it occupied from all the issues it dealt with.

“Anyway,” Jav said as he leaned forward and asked, “any idea as to what might have happened to her? That was... completely unexpected, and didn’t really fit in with what I’d known about her, psychologically. She had traumas and mental scars, but nothing about those “voices” she mentioned, er....” He looked at me, the turned away awkwardly and said, “Aside from the uh, obvious, I guess.”

I shook my head, “It’s fine, Jav, you don’t have to worry about upsetting me by talking about it. But....” I scratched the back of my head, looking down in thought, “I guess you just hadn’t known about them, but she had four other personalities that she created as a way of escape while in the facility, before mine that is. They were sort of...” I made a few vague hand gestures, “personifications of her different emotions I guess, aside from the the odd one out, the one representing her knowledge.

“Of course...” I looked off to the side, “when my personality was created, the fact that it was another soul, and was affected by the Croatoan, it was able to elbow the others out and into  the back of her mind, forcibly repressing them for the entire time my personality was there. Since it was destroyed, or released, or whatever happened to it, the others had a chance to come back. I’d assume their coming back was recent, because Sarah never acted like they were there, or said anything about them.”

“Alright,” he slowly nodded, “but what’s that play in her previous breakdown? Was it the personalities resurfacing?”

I shrugged half-heartedly, “I don’t know, honestly, but I have a sort of guess, if you want to hear it....”

He shrugged, “Well I have nothing, so even speculation is more than what we already have to go off of, so shoot.”

“Well... from what I heard, she was starting to get scared over the “voices” being gone. I don’t really know what that mean exactly, but I’m willing to guess that, just as the personalities, or “voices” as she called them, returned, they were taken from her mind completely.”

“But how would that affect her so badly?” He asked, “Didn’t you say they were repressed for most of her life?”

“Repressed, not erased.” I shook my head, “I won’t lie, don’t really understand it, but I’m guessing the mere presence of those four in her head, even when repressed, were enough to keep her mind constantly occupied, and taken away from the rather... confused thoughts that her mind would likely create. Now, with my personality being removed, and them still being repressed, she was stable for the most part, a lot more than she had ever been since A.N.G.E.L., but then.... Like I said, I’m not entirely certain. They either came back and were erased, or were just erased from her mind, or she’s just having a small episode brought on by, well... you know.”

“Yeah....” He sighed, “Really, we have no idea what’s happening, and that’s just fucking great.”

I hung my head, sighing as well, “I know.... To make matters even worse, if it was the fact that her other personalities were erased, well.... How could that even happen? Sure years of psychological therapy could gradually reduce them, but such a sudden, unassisted change from five separate personalities to one? That would be nearly impossible, barring anything supernatural, and I’m sure she hasn’t had any recent encounters with supernatural, mind-altering... anything, recently.”

“Even greater,” Jav said tiredly, “because that just complicates things further. If it’s a psychotic episode? That’s hard enough to work with given the lack of expertise, and the possibly massive extent of the trauma. Suddenly erased personalities she’s had for years? Probably would cause the episode she’s having, and given what she said, it’s fairly likely to have happened, at least, but there is almost nothing we know that could have done that....”

He trailed off, and the two of us lapsed into silence, myself resting my arms on the table and my head in my arms, while Jav leaned back, staring up and leaving his arms hanging at his sides.

This went on for at least four or five minutes, when Death of all people suddenly appeared in the kitchen, in his human form, and sitting at the table with a frown on his face.

Seeing him, Jav leaned forward and put his arms on the table, sighing and saying, “Look, Death, I’m sorry, but I just can’t do this. I don’t know why you assigned this to me, but I just am not cut out for it, at all. I-”

Death interrupted him, raising a hand and saying, “I know, Jav, or at least I know now. I’ll admit that it was a bad choice to assign you to this mission, given where your specialties lie, but you were the only Wraith available. It’s not your fault, if anything, it’s mine.”

“Right....” Jav said dejectedly, leaning back again.

“That being said,” Death looked between us, “I have a new job, for the both of you. Well, not a job, technically speaking, just a small task.” I wonder what that could be?

Giving a bitter laugh, Jav asked, “As long as it’s not like the last one.”

“It’s not, trust me.” Death reached into his suit and removed a small handful of envelopes, saying as he set them on the table, “You probably didn't notice this, but Sarah awoke almost immediately after you set her in bed. I was worried, of course, and had decided to visit her as soon as she did, if only to make sure she was alright.”

“And the envelopes...?” I asked.

“She went about writing a few letters as soon as she woke up.” He paused, then said, “Well, really she asked Ardiente to write them for her. She doesn’t know how to write, it seems.”

“Oh....” I trailed off, then asked, “I suppose you want us to deliver the letters to whoever they’re for?”

Death nodded, “Yes, if you would.” He pulled the envelopes apart, handing two to me, and two to Jav. On mine were the names ‘Princess Celestia’, and ‘Michael’. Looking over, I saw the names ‘Dean’ on one, and ‘Beth’ on the other.

“Why to these four, specifically?” Jav asked, staring down at his envelopes.

Death shrugged, “I don’t know, she wouldn’t say. She just pressed them on me and asked... begged that I make sure they’re sent out. Normally I’m not one to do work for a Wraith, but she’s in a bad way right now, so I figured I should see to it that they’re delivered.”

“Ah....” Was all I really said. I honestly don’t know what to think of this. Really though, I’m just getting more and more worried.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Death said as he got up from his seat, making his way to the door, “there was something else Sarah needed to speak to me about, but only after I made sure the letters were sent. I will be returning to her for whatever it was she wanted to speak with me about, then I shall take my leave. Good day to you both.” He nodded to us once, then continued on his way. “Oh, and Mary....” He said, suddenly stopping, “Try to return as soon as possible. I think she needs her sister right now, just as much as she needs Ardiente.”

“Right...” I nodded, then waved and said, “Goodbye, Death, and... thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Mary.” He said, vanishing soon after.

The two of us stood in silence for a few minutes afterwards, not really knowing what to say. In the end, we just nodded silently to each other and parted ways, going off to deliver our respective letters.

As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. I: These are the days of our lives

I had debated taking the train to Canterlot, but the urgency of the situation, and having never gone farther than Ponyville, caused me to simply run all the way there. I was surprisingly fast, having made the distance in a few minutes time.

I didn’t bother slowing down to look at the city itself, nor did I bother with the guards at the gate. I know it wasn’t particularly kind of me, but I sort of just walked past them and into the castle, making my way to the thankfully easy to reach throne room.

When I got there, the Princess, Princess Celestia, stared down at me in surprise, while the guards moved towards me, frowning. Just before they reached me, however, Celestia called them off.

“It’s alright, guards.” She said, that seemingly being enough to stop them. She then said to me, “You aren’t Sarah, are you? You look so much like her, and even dress similarly, yet you lack the scars and the... well not so much “lack”, more along the lines of “have” a right arm.”

I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck nervously, “I’m her twin sister, Mary. It’s... hard to explain, and I’m rather pressed for time right now....” I trailed off, not knowing how to explain the situation.

She seemed to catch on, nodding with a soft smile, “It is alright, Mary. While I would like to speak with you, I am always wishing to meet the new Wraiths who seems to be appearing recently, I understand if you are busy. What do you need of me, however? I imagine you did not come all the way here simply to tell me we do not have time to speak to one another.”

“Right um....” I fumbled around, trying to find where I had placed the letter in my trench coat. Eventually, I found it in the coat’s inner pocket, and I held it up for her to see her name on the front. “I was asked to deliver this to you; it’s from Sarah.”

She seemed surprised at my statement, and a golden aura enveloped both her horn, and the letter. It floated over to her, and she broke the envelope’s seal, removing and unfolding the paper within, and reading it.

As she read,her expression became increasingly troubled, and after a few seconds, she finished. She looked up from the letter and said in a tone equally as put off as she appeared, “I must say... I was not expecting what I have just read.”

Is looked down at the floor, shuffling my feet uncomfortably, “I don’t really know what’s in the letter, I just delivered it.” I then looked up and asked worriedly, “Is it that bad? Is she okay?”

“I can’t tell from the letter, but... I would return to your sister as soon as possible. I know firsthand the result of not being there when your sister is breaking down, both mentally and emotionally, and...” She shuddered, closing her eyes and shaking her head as she did so. She then opened them and said, “Go, for your sisters sake, and possibly your own.”

I frowned, “I would but....” I pulled out the letter to Michael, “I still need to deliver this one, and I don’t really know where Michael is....”

A golden glow pulled the envelope from my hand, and Celestia said, “I will make sure it gets to him. Your sister will need you now, more than you need to deliver this personally. Do not worry, it will find it’s way to Michael’s hands.”

“Thank you....” She nodded once at my thanks, and I gave a quick, awkward bow before turning and running from the castle, back to the house. I would have argued, but I think I could trust her word.

Now I just hope that Jav delivers the other two letters to Dean and Beth.

Contents of the letter to Princess Celestia

Princess Celestia,

        I’m sure you don’t remember me, or perhaps you do, but my name is Ardiente Fragua. I’m writing this to tell you that the following is from the Wraith you had a particularly... unpleasant experience with, Sarah Akinson. She asked me to write this to you, on account that she does not know how to write. I will not be leaving out anything said by her, what you see is exactly what she said, or what I could make out from her, at least.

“Princess- what’s her name? Celestia? Princess Celestia, I’m having Ardiente write this because, well, I’m sorry. I just want to apologize for how I acted when we met, how I treated you and all that. I don’t even know why I acted like that, or why I’m acting the way I am right now, for that matter. I just had a breakdown after losing about half of my mind, and I just want to apologize and make things different. Not just between you and me, but I want to make tons of things different, better I hope. Look, I can’t get this all out right here, my mind’s too screwed up right now. Could I just visit in a week, maybe when my head is better, and talk to you? Please? I want to set things straight, make things different, and how me and you see each other is one of those things.”

Ardiente again. I’m not totally sure what’s wrong with her; she refuses to say until all of the letters are out and written. I don’t know how you'll take this, but try to give her a chance, at least. She seems so... broken right now, and she needs to pick up the pieces. Talking to you, I think, would help her do that, so please consider seeing her.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                        Sarah Akinson & Ardiente Fragua

Contents of the letter to Michael Fritz

Michael Fritz,

        This is Ardiente, your friend Sarah’s lover. She asked me to write this letter, and three others, on account of her being unable to write.

        “Michael, I don’t know if you care or not, hell given the way I act I doubt you do, but please listen. The day we left the ruins, I had a breakdown, a big one. Those four personalities of mine you met? I don’t know how they came back, or took control of my body and changed my appearance the way they did, but for whatever reason, they disappeared completely. They’re gone, and my mind can’t take it right now, I’m stressing the hell out.

        I know you’ve said before that I tend to yell about how bad my life is, but you have to understand, that’s all I know how to do. That’s all I’ve ever done, is yell and scream, the only difference is that now, it’s not in fear or in pain, it’s in anger and confusion. I don’t expect you to understand, but please just listen. I’m not screaming or yelling to try and get sympathy, or get attention, I’m just acting the way I have always been acting, acting the way I know how to act.

        Just know that right now, I’m not yelling to try and get sympathy or attention from you, I’m yelling for help. Please, I just need some fucking help....”

        This was the last letter I wrote from her, she just sort of... stopped speaking after that. As soon as you can, Michael, please talk to her. I don’t know how much help you can offer, or if she’ll even need it (as this could just be an “episode”), but at least talk to her. She’s been going on in the other letters about how she wants to set things straight with others, and get on better terms with them, that’s probably what she wants from you as well.

        I’d imagine the “yelling for help” part was on account of something you’ve said to her in the past, and she was just getting it out. I don’t know for sure, though, so either way, just talk to her. Please.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                        Sarah Akinson & Ardiente Fragua

As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. II: These are the things we must go through, day by day

“Well this is the place....” I sighed to myself, looking at the letter in my hand. “I guess I shouldn’t waste any time standing here.” With another sigh, I raised a hand and knocked on the door to Dean’s house, muttering, “I just hope to God he’s in....”

It wasn’t long until the door opened. Dean was the one who answered thankfully. He looked at me with slight surprise, but returned to a neutral expression, “Sup Jav? Need something?”

I held up the letter with his name on it, “Just delivering this.”

He grabbed the letter, and looked at it, then to me. “What’s this about? Not some weird ass version of a friendship report that Twilight likes to do, is it?”

I shook my head, “It’s from Sarah, actually.”

He looked at me once more with surprise, before looking at it. “Okay, add another thing to my list of unexpected happenings…” He turned to me, “How urgent? Obviously if you were sent, it has to have some sort of reasoning.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, “Urgent enough that the events causing it made Death agree that I’m fucking horrible at my job....”

He looked at me silently, before sighing, and patting my shoulder, “If it’s any sort of consolation, I think you’re a damn good… whatever you are. Just a few trip ups here and there, it happens.”

I looked down at him with a deadpanned stare, “My job was to keep Sarah from going completely psychotic.”

He stared at me for a moment. Then facepalmed, “Jesus Christ you are shit at your job.”

“I realized that, thank you for pointing it out.” I took my glasses off and rubbed my eyes, “Just... read the letter, please. I have another to deliver, however I may have to be the one who tells Ardiente your response.”

He nodded, and opened the letter on the spot. His eyes scanned the letter, and he sighed. He nodded, “I see. Alright, I’ll listen. But if I find out that shit went worse, I will find out. I want to help as much as I can. If it means I have stay away…” He shook his head, “Alright… Just…” He looked at me, “Just try to help her get out of this in as few pieces missing as possible, huh?”

“Quite frankly I don’t think I’m the one to deal with this; my previous record of my actual job here being evidence of that.” I shook my head, “Honestly, this is probably something only she could work out. Mary heard Sarah talking about what was causing her to break down, as she was breaking down, and even having previously been a part of her mind, she doesn’t know.” I shrugged, “I doubt anyone else would.”

Dean leaned against the door silently, before sighing once more. “Wait here.” He went into his house, and the sound of rummaging could be heard from inside. A few seconds later, he came back with a bottle. It was a bottle of beer. He held it out to me, “Here. It’s a nice thing to have to calm a guy down.”

“Can’t disagree there.” I took it and twisted the cap off, downing the contents in a second, “Thanks.”

He shrugged, and shook his head, “Don’t… don’t mention it. Look, I’m sorry for how much of a dick I was a while back… just, you can’t just forget the life you’ve lead so quickly, you know? I know it isn’t much of an excuse, but still, I want to apologize.”

I waved a hand, “It’s fine. I was more angry that I hadn’t been the one to kill my sister, to tell you the truth.”

He chuckled slightly, “Yeah… Though I have to tell you something.” He looked at me, “I remember somethin’ from when I did kill her. A… a journal I think.”

I scowled at the thought, “I honestly don’t want to see or know about a single thing from her, even mentioning her death causes me some anger because it forces me to talk about her.”

He shook his head, “No… I think it was important. It was talking about some sort of lord that she was serving…”

“I will tell you this right now,” I said darkly, “don’t bring it up with me. Tell it to someone else, I don’t want another damn thought about that thing anymore.”

He sighed and shook his head, “Fine…” He went back into the house and brought back two more beers. He handed me another, and sat down on a chair on the porch. He opened the beer and drank from it, thinking silently.

I was about to drink mine, when I remembered the letter. Just as I was about to tell him I had to leave, however, I heard Death speak up from behind me.

“Sorry to cut this short, Jav,” he said, “but you’re needed back at Sarah’s house. Something else has come up.”

“What’s happened?” I asked urgently.

“No time,” he said, “and don’t worry about the letter. I’ll find someone else to deliver it.”

I nodded once and set the beer down, saying to Dean as I left, “Sorry, we’ll have to save it for another time.”

“Who’s the letter to?”

“Beth.” Death said as I passed the letter to him. I didn’t hear what was said next, as I was already making my way back to the house. I could have sworn though, that as I passed by Death, I saw him carrying something large.

Beth? Why her? I looked at Death with confusion, “Why’s that?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. All I know is that Sarah had them written to Celestia, Michael, Beth, and you, Dean. She wouldn’t say what the letters contained, just that it was urgent that their recipients get them.”

“Alright, then what’s in the bag?”

He paused, then shrugged again. He pulled the bag out from under his arm and pulled down a zipper on the front. After it was opened, I saw that Sarah was inside, eyes closed as if she were sleeping.

I stared at it blankly. Very blankly. I don’t know what the fuck any more. “The fuck is this?” I asked him.

“Her vessel.” He said simply, “She had a request that something about it be “fixed”, as she put it.”

“... You know, this is about as peaceful that it will ever be with her in the vicinity, vessel or no.”

“Yes well,” he closed the bag and returned it under his arm, “things are much less peaceful at her home. It seems she is unaccustomed to a body whose mind isn’t as... unorganized as her own, and as a result, is having a slight episode.”

I sighed and facepalmed, “Godfuckingdammit…” I shook my head, “Alright… what do I need to do?”

He handed me the letter, “Simply deliver this to Beth, as soon as you can if possible. I doubt it’s anything too important, but I don’t know for sure, so treat it as if it were.”

I nodded as I tucked the letter into a pocket in my shirt, “Got it. Any idea where she is? I don’t know if she’s still on a mission with Michael or not.”

“She is. I would suggest waiting until they return, which should be soon I assume, given Sarah’s insistence that Michael receive her letter, and that he return to speak with her. When he returns, Beth will surely do so as well.”

I nodded, “Alright.” I looked at Death, “I have to ask you something though…”

“What would that be?”

“Who is the Destroyer?”

He froze, and stared at me with narrowed eyes, “Where did you hear that name?”

I shook my head, “It was a name that I’ve seen in some of the texts I look over. Everything I search up usually leads to a dead end, so I figured maybe you knew.”

“I don’t. Now do not bother me with pointless questions.” He snapped and disappeared.

….He’s hiding something. I can’t exactly try to figure out what… he’ll tear me in half if I went behind his back. I’ll hold off asking for now. I just have to wait for Beth to return.

Contents of the letter to Dean

Dean,

Well, Dean, I suppose I should mention this is a letter from Sarah, though she’s not the one writing it. I, Ardiente, am writing it in her place, as she can’t.

“Hey Dean, just thought I’d give you a bit of an update on my sanity. Mostly just letting you know that I had kind of a little breakdown in the middle of town, and I’m still working on trying to figure out what the flying fuck happened to cause it. Anyway, with that in mind, I’d like to just... ask that you kind of avoid me for a bit. I’m really only comfortable with Ardiente at the moment, Mary too I hope. Other than that, I’m under a whole hell of a lot of stress, and I don’t think it’d be a good idea if I talked to you.

You’re a good- hey Ardiente is friend the right word? Yeah, friend. And I’m grateful for the help you gave me, but I’m not in the best shape, so I’d just try and avoid contacting me for a week or so.”

Ardiente again. Quite honestly, I’d listen to her, even if it seems a bit harsh. I can tell she’s uncomforted by Death’s presence (she keeps looking at him, then at the window, and seems to contemplate jumping out to get away), and she looked ready to break down because of Alexandra just passing by the door.

If I were you, I’d just give her a week, at the least. However if she still seems off after that, I’ll just come by and let you know.

Sincerely,

Sarah Akinson & Ardiente Fragua

As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. III: We all experience things in life

Just as I returned from Canterlot, and I was heading to the door, Jav suddenly appeared alongside me, much to my surprise.

“What are you doing back so soon, Mary?” He asked me curiously.

“Oh, uh,” I fumbled with my words slightly, caught off guard by his return and question, “C-Celestia said I should be with Sarah right now, and that she would see to the letter being sent to Michael. W-what about you?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Well, Death came by Dean’s house after I had delivered his letter, and told me something had happened that needed my attention. He said he would find someone else to deliver Beth’s letter, so I came back.”

“Did something bad happen?” I asked frantically, “Is Sarah okay?”

He held up his hands and leaned back slightly, “I don’t know, he just said that something had happened, nothing else. Let’s just go upstairs and see what it is, shall we?”

I nodded, worried about Sarah, and I quickly moved to the stairs and ran up, Jav not far behind. In a few seconds we had reached the top, and walked down the hall to Sarah’s room, where I heard a faint muttering.

Even more worried than before, I pushed the door open, to see.... How is that....?

As I stared in shock at what I saw, Jav came in after me, asking, “Why’d you sto-” He cut himself off as he looked at the bed, where Sarah was laying. We were both, unsurprisingly, speechless at the sight.

There, laying in bed, looking down with her arms splayed out at her sides, was Sarah. Or, more specifically, it was Sarah without all of her scars and burns, and with a left eye looking at the bead with a dead stare. Even more shocking was that she no longer sported a silver coloured, skeletal right arm, but a flesh and blood one.

In all honesty... she looked more like me than she did herself. I know we’re twins, but her scars and missing parts set her apart, but now... with all of that gone... we’re more identical than ever.

“Ah, back so soon?”

Ardiente’s question snapped Jav and I out of our dazes, and we shook our heads, looking over to Ardiente with obviously questioning expressions.

“I imagine you are surprised by what Sarah looks like,” she sighed, “and believe me, I was too.”

“What... what happened?” I managed to ask.

“Well,” she said, “Sarah here asked Death if he could remove the metal around her skeleton-” Jav and I gasped at that, “-because she felt that it was “just more of A.N.G.E.L.”, and she wanted it gone. Don’t ask me what brought on the change in her wanting it gone, because she won’t even speak right now, and she didn’t tell me beforehand.”

“Ah,” Jav began, sounding less shocked than I probably would, “so I’m guessing this is a replacement vessel?”

“That’s what Death called it.” She nodded, “And before you ask, yes, this is the reason Death probably found the two of you and said something was wrong. Something must not have matched up to how her mind worked or something, because she screamed about how the vessel’s mind was “too quiet”, and now she’s...” she sighed and gestured to Sarah, who hadn’t moved, “well look. She hasn’t moved an inch since she calmed down a seconds ago, and she keeps muttering about someone, but I can’t make the name out.”

Quietly, still with a shocked expression, I made my way over to the bed and sat down on the edge, looking at Sarah with worry. She didn’t even respond to my presence, she just kept looking down, her mouth moving as she muttered something incoherent.

“I um...” Jav said uncomfortably, “I think I’ll just leave, I’m not needed here so... bye!” With that statement and a shaky grin, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

The room was silent after that, save for Sarah’s muttering, and after a few minutes, I decided to try and strike up a conversation with Ardiente, “So, Ardiente... how’d you know all that stuff about vessels anyway?” Thank God I can at least speak to her normally, otherwise this would be a lot more awkward.

She didn’t say anything for a while, and wondering why, I looked away from Sarah and at her. To my confusion, she was looking off to the side, with an expression somewhere between concerned and contemplative.

After a few moments of silently thinking, she said with a hesitant tone, “Well... that question’s hard to answer, Mary. I’d like to say that Death just informed me when he replaced her vessel earlier,  but... that wouldn’t really be the truth.”

Tilting my head to the side in curiosity, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“It’s...” she paused, then sighed, “it’s not important right now. We should be focusing on Sarah, and see if we can help her through this before anything else.”

“Oh....” I was a bit let down by that; I was honestly hoping to learn a bit more about her. I’ve known her since I became a Wraith, and she’s my sister’s lover too, but I hardly know anything about her.

Heck, I don’t think Sarah knows much more about Ardiente than I do. I immediately started glowing, thankfully not enough for Ardiente to notice, as I thought back to when Ardiente- half asleep -thought I was Sarah. Okay, Sarah knows more about her in another sense, but I don’t think she knows much about her as a person- er, pony, I guess.

“Anyway,” Ardiente’s voice, again, snapped me out of my daze, and I shook my frown off to listen, “I’ll gladly tell the both of you some other time, just not now. It’s not the biggest secret it’s just...” she sighed, “it’s just a bit complicated to explain.”

“Ah,” I nodded in understanding, “alright then.” I then turned to look back at Sarah, who was still muttering and looking down, though her expression had changed somewhat. Now, instead of a blank, dead stare, she seemed more angry than before, and her mouth was turned down in a frown as she muttered with a much darker tone.

“What is she even saying, do you think?” I asked Ardiente.

She shrugged in response, saying with a tired voice, “I don’t know. I’ve tried to listen, but I just can’t make out what she’s saying. I’d guess she’s just saying nonsense, but doing it in tandem with her actual thoughts- I’ve done it before -but I’ve made out one or two words, so I’m not sure.”

“Hm....” I sighed, resigning to the fact that we may not know what she was thinking, or saying. Not wanting to give up completely, however, I decided to lean in close, and see if I could decipher anything.

....

....

....

Nothing, nothing at all. I sighed once more, and started leaning away, when I stopped, having heard something I could make out. I wasn’t sure of the significance, but whatever meaning it held, it wasn’t one Sarah was fond of. She growled out the word, or name I suppose, with animosity I hadn’t heard since my canibal personality was in her head.

“Nathan....” Was all she said, then fell almost disturbingly silent.

As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. IV: Trials and tribulations that we all must go through

It had been about a day since Sarah's breakdown, and she was still up in her room, laying in bed in her replacement vessel that Death had given her. She had calmed down, thankfully, but she was still only talking with Ardiente and I, which I'm grateful for. Those fears of her hating me for that personality were still around I suppose.

Halfway through the day, after a rather nice conversation with Sarah and Ardiente about the three of us "going out and having fun" after the whole mess cleared up, Death had visited. He informed the three of us that Michael was returning to Ponyville after receiving the letter, which caused a rather odd reaction from Sarah.

She just sort of... stopped talking, and she just sat there with a frown on her face, muttering to herself and not responding to neither Ardiente or I. It was a bit strange, honestly. She had been having random mood swings every few minutes, thankfully none being anger when talking to Ardiente and I, but the change when Michael was brought up seemed... deliberate.

I didn't get any time to figure out why she suddenly started acting that way, as Death asked that I meet Michael at the train station and bring him to the house.

I stood on the platform at the train station, tapping my foot impatiently as I waited, while a few ponies exited the train, some giving me odd looks as they walked away.

Death had said Michael would be arriving by train, but I don’t see him getting off. Where is he? I thought to myself.

“Mary?” He walked over from the train car near the end of the station. “Hi.”

I sighed, “Good, you’re here. Follow me, quickly please,” I started walking away from the station, but stopped to add, “and hello to you, as well.” I then started walking again, picking up a fast pace.

He followed behind me, speaking up after a minute. “How’s Sarah right now?”

“Not happy, I can tell you that much. She was pretty frantic the other day, and most of today as well, but when Death dropped by and mentioned you were on the way here...” I shrugged, “she just sort of stopped talking, and seemed really irritated by something.”

“Oh... T-that doesn’t bode too well then...” He sighed deeply. “Hopefully I don’t make it worse...”

“I don’t know either,” I said as we turned a corner, setting us down the path to the house, “just try to avoid saying anything... harsh, I guess.”

“Yeah I’m gonna keep from saying anything harsh. She’s not really in a stable mindframe right now, so the less anger the better.....”

I said nothing as we approached the door, which I opened and the two of us stepped inside. When we got in, the first thing I noticed was Jav, lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs.

“Uh... Jav? I asked, “What happened?”

“I saw you two coming from the window,” he said in a muffled, strained voice, “and I told Sarah. As soon as I mentioned Michael, she somehow managed to throw me from her bed, out the door, down the hall, and down two flights of stairs, with a single punch. I’m guessing shadows were involved.”

“Ah....” Was all I said.

“And Michael?” Jav asked, looking up at Michael.

“Yes..?”

“You’re possibly very fucked.” Jav then slammed his head back to the ground, and didn’t move afterwards.

“Oh dear....” Michael sighed and took a deep breath. “Alright...”

I am not in a state of mind to be doing this, I am so far from being a state of mind to be doing this I might as well be on the fucking sun. God dammit why am I doing this?

“Ardiente, why did you let me do this?” I asked said pony.

“Because you told me- no begged me to.”

I slammed my head back against the headboard of the bed, “Fuck I need to stop asking people to do things when I’m out of my mind.”

“You probably should,” she said, “but I doubt it’d be easy.”

I sighed, “Yeah....”

“Um.... Sarah?”

And I think I just dented the headboard by hitting it too hard. Fuck. Great, now I have to go through with this. Fuck again.

“Come in.” Ardiente said.

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT WOMAN, AT LEAST LET ME PREPARE!

He opened the door and slowly stepped inside. “Hi Ardiente, Sarah.”

“Goodbye Michael, Sarah.” Ardiente said, getting up from her spot on the bed and leaving.

F.U.C.K. FUCK!

I just stared at him silently, occasionally taking out my frustration on the comforter. Fuck that comforter, fuck it to hell. Wait- getting off track.

“Fuck.” Fuck why did I say that?

“Um... Okay?”

“Wait, no, not what I meant to say.” I grabbed my head, clenching my eyes shut as I thought of what the fuck to say. “What I mean to say was... uh.... Oh!” I  suddenly perked up, smiling as I realized what it was I wanted to say, “Yeah that’s it. Michael, I very much fucking dislike you.”

“Uh.... You really don’t fucking like me?” He shifted a little. “Um... That what you meant?”

“Yep!” Why the fuck am I smiling? This isn’t a situation to smile in. Stop being so God damned happy!

“Can I know why? Or if you don’t want to say why the message still conveys.”

“Uh....” Fuck now I have to think agai- wait! No, I remember that at least. “It’s because you’ve pretty much just disregarded any actual mental problems I have, like that time you said I just shout at people for what happened to me. Nice one by the way, it’s not like I had a reason to anyway.”

“I wasn’t disregarding them.... I-I was simply a bit overwhelmed.... You normally don’t hear about the sort of things you went through...”

I stared past him blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, “Want to know my earliest... well one of my only memories?”

“I... Sure. I wouldn’t mind...”

“You will, trust me.” I coughed, “Anyway, my earliest memory actually starts with me just sitting in my nice, clean room back at the facility, with not a single thought of anything bad going on. Next thing I know, Jeriah walks in- do you know Jeriah?” I asked him.

“No... I don’t.”

I shook my head, “Not really important. He was the head of the facility, and the man I grew up with for three years. I saw him as my father pretty much. But then, when he comes in the room, I run up to him expecting a hug that I got every day beforehand. Then he just sticks a needle in my neck, and the next thing I know five years have passed, my right arm is torn off and scarred over, my left shoulder is covered in burn scars, and that same man is raping me on a lab table.”

“I-Oh god.” He looked away. “I- Oh my god....”

“I only have two other memories besides those.” I said lowly, “Aside from the month leading up to me dying, and the four I have from my time in the facility, everything else is just blank. Except for one thing, that is, and it kind of goes into why I dislike you so much right now.” I turned my head to look him in the eye as best as I could, “Want to know what it is?”

“O-okay...” He nodded a little.

“Just two things.” I held up a finger, “One is the definite thought, ‘this is the reason all of this happened to me.’” I held up another finger, “Two... two is just a memory of a nametag I saw only once, on one of the workers there. Want to know what it said?”

He nodded shakily.

“Nathan Fritz.” I spat out the name.

“.... Oh god.”

“Tell me,” I said calmly, “do you know anything about it?”

“I-I... I know that name. Yeah.”

“Really?” Honestly I was a bit surprised. I know there are at least many people with the same last name that aren’t related or don’t know each other, so I wasn’t really expecting him to know. “How do you know it?”

“We’re.... We’re related.”

.... “Did you ever know about what he did to me?”

“No.... He never spoke of anything relating to A.N.G.E.L.”

I sighed heavily, suddenly feeling really worn out. I honestly would go on questioning Michael, but I’m honestly too tired now. I don’t even know why, but I’m just... exhausted.

“Leave.” I said tiredly, “Please.”

“I-” He slumped a little and nodded. “Fine. Goodbye Sarah.” He opened the door and looked back at me. “I’m sorry....” He left and closed the door.

“God dammit....” I sighed and layed back in bed, staring up at the ceiling in thought.

As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. V: When someone wants to test us, when someone tries our patience

“So, Sarah, how does it feel?”

“Hm....” I thought hard on Death’s question. It had been a few days since he had dropped me in that fucking replacement vessel, something I never want to have to do again. I had gotten my body back just a few minutes ago, and honestly... it felt strange. Almost six hundred pounds of metal was removed from my skeleton, it’s hard to adjust to that kind of shit.

“This is...” I said slowly, looking over myself, “different. Really fucking weird I guess you could say.”

“I would hope so,” he scoffed, “you just went from over six hundred pounds to about seventy and a half. Not to mention the other change that was made.”

I stopped looking over my body and stared at him, “Other change? What do you mean?”

“Well,” he sighed, “when I brought your body back to Purgatory, I left it with a team of experts who could remove the skeletal frame in a much more... sensible and precise manner than I could.”

He paused after that, so I said, “Alright.... But what does that have to do with this “other change”?”

“To put it simply... they took notice of the particular....” He made a few gestures with his hands, “Damage done to your genetalia.” Oh.

“And uh... the change?” I asked hesitantly, “Actually, do I even want to know?”

“I could just tell you to go see for yourself....” He muttered, then shook his head and said, “Look, the other change made, put simply, is that the damage done to your genetalia was pretty much repaired, or at least as much as they could fix it. You don’t have your virginity back, but any damage done is pretty much not there anymore, including the steel clamps.”

“I’ll... be honest Death....” I scratched the back of my head, “I’m grateful, but... that was so far from what I’d expected that I don’t even know how to respond....”

“I understand,” he said, shaking his head, “it’s a strange thing to hear, after all.” He sighed, then asked, “But aside from that, how are you feeling? I know you didn’t have the best time in your replacement vessel, so you should at least be mentally well in your own body, but adjusting to the physical difference is another story.”

“I don’t know, honestly....” I slowly got up from the bed, gripping onto the headboard to steady myself, as I could pretty much feel myself falling over if I didn’t. “It’s a bit hard-” I was stopped from falling onto my face by Mary, who ran over and caught me. “Thanks....”

She smiled weakly, “No problem....” She then straightened me, letting go and saying, “Wow, you are a lot lighter than before, I’m not surprised you’re having trouble standing.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “this is going to be complicated. Really complicated.”

“I suppose” Death suddenly said with a dry laugh, “that I should tell you to really hold onto something then, because the next bit of information may knock you off of your feet.”

I tightened my grip on the headboard to steady myself, then looked at him and raised an eyebrow and asked, “And what would that be?”

“To keep it short; a man calling himself Ultimatum somehow contacted me- I would like to add that he is a Wraith, one I have no knowledge of ever creating.” Well that’s certainly weird, “But anyway, he contacted me with information that “would be crucial to Sarah Akinson’s recovery”, as he put it. I don’t know what he meant by that, but I can certainly agree that this information would be important to you.”

“O...kay? What’s the information?” I don’t know why, but I felt really... odd about the whole conversation, like... I don’t know. I felt like it wasn’t something I’d like to hear.

“Do you remember those... abominations, is the only way to put it, that A.N.G.E.L. made, the Nobodies?”

I was right, it wasn’t something I wanted to hear. Still though, I nodded and answered warily, “Yeah, I remember them. Why?”

He said nothing and stepped to the side, revealing the wall behind him. From nowhere though, a portal, like the one I had walked through with Mary when she came back, appeared on the wall. It was there for a few seconds, when suddenly it started to move around, then out... stepp...ed.....

“Oh Jesus....” I breathed out. I felt myself trembling, and I let go of the headboard and fell back, sitting on the bed as Mary, Ardiente and I just stared wide-eyed at who came out of the portal.

Standing there was... me. Well, kind of me, I guess. I mean, she looked like me, exactly like me, just... she had both of her eyes and arms, and she wasn’t covered head to toe in scars, so pretty much like Mary I guess, but... I knew she was me.

Death mentioned the Nobodies, and she looks exactly like me, so she must be a Nobody, there’s no other explanation. But... but once the clones were born, they were hyper-aged and turned into Nobodies as soon as they were old enough, how.... Did she escape? She’s not attacking me, and the facility... Dean killed everyone there, so she couldn’t be a Nobody sent to kill me, besides, her body isn’t a fucking mess like the Nobodies.

“I... what... Death, what the fuck is going on?” I asked, still trying to figure out how the fuck a Nobody was standing in front of me.

“This,” he said, putting a hand on the Nobody’s shoulder, making her flinch, “is a Nobody that escaped the facility, after the dehumanization process, I might add.”

“After the- but she has all of her skin, and teeth and eyes and... everything! How could she have gone through the process and still look like... well... me?” I shook my head, “You know, without the-”

“Scars and damage done by A.N.G.E.L., I know,” Death finished, holding up a hand to silence me. I did, and he went on, sighing, “Well, like I said, a man named Ultimatum tipped me off about her, and when I found her, she was a mess like the Nobodies at the facility, but she could still think for herself. That’s how you escaped, right?” He looked down at her as he asked the question.

She slowly nodded, looking away from all of us, “Y-yes, that’s right....” Holy shit she even fucking sounds like me. “I-I saw what they were doing to the others before they brought me in for the p-process, and I got scared. S-so, they knocked me out with... something, but I woke up about halfway through and... I don’t know how, but I managed to escape. I-I don’t really remember any of it though....”

“That’s fine.” Death said, giving her a pat on the shoulder, which she didn’t flinch at this time. “Whatever the case, I found her a few miles away from the facility, where she had taken shelter in a cave within the surrounding forest-”

“I was there for a year....” She mumbled, a sad expression on her face.

Death nodded and continued, “She was almost completely covered in scarring and marred flesh when I found her, part of the process as you should remember,” I nodded silently, “and so I brought her to Purgatory with me and gave her an offer. She could go to my “experts” that were working on your vessel, and request that they heal the damage as best they could, which as you can see, worked out pretty well.”

“Um....” The Nobody got our attention, then pulled the sleeves of her black shirt up to her elbow, showing that her shoulders still had numerous scars all over them.

“... Mostly well.” Death sighed, “Either way, she’s been fixed up, and she’s not under the control of A.N.G.E.L., so only one thing remains....”

“And... that is?” I asked. I’m pretty sure I know where this is going though.

“Seeing as she is a clone of you, Sarah, and she would have no other place to go without causing issues, and Purgatory isn’t a place for the still-living, there’s really only one place she can stay.” He looked to the Nobody, then at me and said, “She’s agreed to it, and now we just need to know... if she can stay with you or not.”

I was right, I knew where that was going. Jesus Christ.

“God dammit....” I sighed, having just woken up from... passing out I guess. I didn’t think that would happen. I mean, the Nobody was a big shock, and what Death said was even bigger but... Jesus I didn’t think I’d pass out from it.

I sighed again, opening my eyes to blurrily see someone standing over me. I rubbed my eyes, and I could just make out a blurry, white shape. “Mary?” I asked. She shook her head, “The Nobody?” She nodded. “Ah.”

I sighed and layed back, letting my arms fall to my sides. “How long was I out anyway?”

“Um... about an hour. Why?”

“No reason....” I stared up at her, my vision a bit clearer, and said, “Anyway... I can’t really move since I’m not really used to losing six hundred pounds, so....” I shrugged, “I guess I’m stuck here. You’re welcome to leave if you want.”

“Well, uh...” she shuffled a bit uncomfortably, “Death told me to try and get to know you more, since I’m going to be staying here....”

“Ah, well- wait. He just left you here, without me actually having any word in?”

“Um, n-no? I-if you want me to leave, I can- I mean... if you don’t want me here, I can just go back to Purgatory, I guess, uh....”

I sighed. Well shit, I think I upset her. Fuck. I didn’t mean I didn’t want her here, I was just pissed that Death didn’t actually let me say yes, he just left her here.

I weakly reached up and put a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch and stop talking, “Look...” I said tiredly, “it’s not like I don’t want you here, you’re my clone for Christ's sake, I’m just frustrated that Death left you here without actually confirming that I’d be okay with it.”

She nodded slowly, “O-okay....”

I gave her a pat on the shoulder, then let my arm drop to the bed, “Still though... this is going to be weird. Really weird. I am literally going to be living with a clone of myself. I just....” I sighed and looked up at her, “How are we supposed to get to know each other anyway? We’re both the same person technically, and we both know what happened at A.N.G.E.L., which I’m sure we both would rather forget,” she nodded at that, “so really, there’s nothing else, unless you want to-” I paused to yawn, “want to hear about what’s happened here in Equestria.”

She shrugged, rubbing one of her shoulders and looking away, “I-I guess, as long as it’s not too bad....” I raised an eyebrow, at which she hastily said, “W-well, I’m a bit... squeamish, you could say. All that stuff that happened at... you know... I can’t handle some things too well.”

“Ah... maybe I shouldn’t tell you most of it, then.” I yawned again, “Man... I am tired.... You said I was out for an hour?” She nodded, to which I stared blankly at the ceiling and said, “Jesus I am just prone to being tired sometimes. At least-” I yawned, “at least this time I realize it....”

“Um... do you want me to leave you alone, so you can sleep?” She asked. Hm... We really need to figure out a name for her. “Nobody” just sounds insulting, and I can’t just call her Sarah, that’d be fucking confusing. Ah, that can wait.

In response to her question, I just shook my head, “Nah I’m good. We need to get used to each other if you’re going to live here, so stay. Actually,” I patted the empty space next to me, “why don’t you lay down and sleep a little? I’d imagine you’re a bit tired, what with everything that apparently happened.”

She looked at the spot on the bed, then looked away and mumbled, “I am... kind of tired, but I don’t know-”

“Just lie down already,” I said tiredly, rolling my eye, “sleep’s good for you. Besides, we’re both the same person, more or less, so it isn’t weird or anything.”

Reluctantly, she did lie down, but not before looking between me, the bed, the door, the ceiling, the wall, and just about every other damn thing in the room. Jesus, is it really that awkward? I mean, I know it’s a weird situation and all, trust me I fucking know, but Jesus Christ....

“Anyway...” I sighed, “let’s just get a few hours of rest, then we can sort everything out, and get you settled in.” And what do you know, she’s already asleep, not even seconds after lying down. I chuckled at that, “Heh, she really is my clone....”

No long after, I fell asleep as well, for once not having any weird fucking dreams or thoughts.

As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. VI: I don't know why this world keep turning, round and round

“What the fuck....?”

I was just confused, plain and simple. I’d opened my eyes a minute ago, and found myself in this big, empty... room? I couldn’t tell, honestly. It was completely black all around, and I couldn’t see any walls, or a ceiling, hell not even a floor. I was pretty much just standing on nothing.

“....”

I froze and stared ahead. I could have sworn I just heard... something. I had no idea what it was, but I definitely heard it.

“....”

I felt my eye twitch slightly at the sound. Whatever the fuck it was, it wasn’t nice.

“....”

“What the fuck is....” I stopped mid sentence as I felt myself walking forward. “What the fuck am I doing?” Trying as hard as I could, I couldn’t stop myself, and I just kept walking through the empty, black space.

“....”

There it is again, what the fuck is it? I jumped slightly, still walking, as I was startled having heard my thoughts echo around me, even though I didn’t say them out loud. “What the fuck is going on?”

“...!”

I closed my eyes and grabbed the sides of my head, “Gah, what the fuck!?” The sound, which I still couldn’t identify, was a lot fucking louder, and it felt like my eardrums were.... “What the... fuck...?” I stared down at my hands, having pulled them away, finding them drenched in blood. Frantically reaching at my ears, I felt that they were covered in the stuff as well.

What the fuck is this!?

“Ah, what the fuck!?” I closed my eyes and grasped my head again, as my thought echoed through the space again, only this time it sounded both incredibly loud, and really muted and distorted as well, sounding much deeper than before.

I opened my eyes and looked down, as I felt myself walking even faster. Sure enough, I was walking at least twice as fast as before, and I could see that large bloodstains were leaking down from my head to my body, covering my clothes in blood, and leaving a trail behind me.

“...!”

“God dammit, what the fuck is that!?” I shouted, pretty much almost crushing my head with how I hard I was trying to block my ears from the sound.

-Crack-

I opened my eye just slightly and looked to where the sound came from, and what I saw made me open my eye fully, staring at what had just happened. A large “piece” of whatever the fuck the space was made of had a line of red cracks going through it, and it started to fall apart.

-Crack-

More cracks appeared all over the place, quickly appearing and spreading across the space. That’s when I noticed that they weren’t just spreading everywhere, they were spreading to the space in front of me, and I could see that I was approaching them fast.

-Crack-

I stared in horror at a larger piece that fell away. Behind the black... wall that made up the space, was a giant swirling mass of black and red, that started to come into the space as more and more pieces fell off of the wall.

“What the f- aah!” I grabbed my head and started screaming as I ran forward. A strange, evil sounding screech just started up from fucking nowhere, and it felt like someone was stabbing the insides of my ears with hundreds of needles.

“...!”

The unidentifiable sound was even louder now, and mixed with the screeching it sounded like an audible version of what Hell probably sounds like.

“Gah... what the f- ah!” I cringed and arched forward a bit as the black and red stuff from outside reached me. As soon as it touched me, the scars on my body, wherever it touched, suddenly split open, and blood started pouring out of them. The worst part was that I could actually feel it.

Then, the stuff touched my left eye socket, and I screamed in pain as I could feel blood start to gush out of it and fall down my face, followed by several other scars opening around it.

“F-fuck- ah...!” I screamed again, this time in pain and fear, as the stuff touched the burn scar on my right cheek, and I felt it light up. It didn’t light up in pain, though, it actually caught fire, I could feel it burning my face.

“...!” I couldn’t even make any words as the stuff hit the huge burn scars on my back and left shoulder, as well as the numerous other scars I had on my body. Somehow I was still running, though I realized I had passed the “wall” long ago, and I was just running through an endless cloud of the black and red stuff.

“...!” Every last one of my scars was open and bleeding, and any burn scars I had were on fire, and the stuff surrounding me just made them hurt even more. I couldn’t tell if I was crying, or just bleeding from my eyes, but it was probably both by this point.

“....”

Without warning, everything stopped. I stopped running and stood still, the black and red stuff disappeared, the bleeding stopped though the scars were still open, the fires went away, and I was left in complete blackness again.

“....”

I heard the noise again, and I walked forward against my will. I then looked down at the floor, still without control of my body, and I saw something sitting there. On top of a probably foot-tall wood podium was a small, white wooden box. The box was stained with fresh blood, as was the podium, and the entire thing was bound in large, rusted chains and padlocks, which were covered in blood too.

“...!”

For whatever reason, I started to reach for the chains. I don’t know why, but I could tell that wasn’t what I should do, that something bad would happen if I did anything to them, but I still had no control over my body.

“....”

What...? I didn’t flinch at that thought, as it didn’t echo like last time, thankfully. But aside from that, I could have sworn I heard something that time. It sounded like a voice, but I couldn’t make out what it said.

“...!”

Again, I heard it, but I still couldn’t make it out. It was just loud enough, now, for me to tell it was a voice, but quiet enough that I couldn’t make out what it said.

My hand was just inches from the chains when a loud, maniacal voice screamed from the box, “DO IT!”

“Don’t!” I was suddenly pulled back from the box at the shout, and instantly everything around me changed, and my open wounds closed.

Looking around, having fallen on my ass, I saw that the blackness of the space was gone, and instead was replaced by white. I looked down, and instead of the small, chain wrapped podium and box, there was a table and two chairs in front of me.

I heard a male voice say, “Here, let me help you up.” A black gloved hand appeared in front of my face, attached to a black sleeved arm. I blinked, then grabbed the hand, and I was swiftly pulled to my feet.

“Thanks....” I said, looking from the hand, up the arm, and to the person it belonged to. It was a man, with tanned, dirty skin and a brunette beard and long hair of the same color. He was wearing a black hat, sunglasses, and a black coat, pretty much covering everything except his nose.

“No problem.” He let go of my hand and walked over to the far side of the table, sitting in the chair and motioning to the one in front of me, “Pleases, sit. We’ve got one or two things to talk about.”

“Al... right.” I sat down, staring at him cautiously. For whatever reason, I got a really weird feeling from the guy, like I should know him or something.

“Long story short,” he said, getting my attention, “this is a dream.”

“Uh....” I stared at him blankly, “I’m actually not surprised.”

“Hm,” he chuckled, “I knew you wouldn’t be. But, more seriously, I’m not part of the dream. I’m real, more or less.”

“Uh....” I gave him another blank stare, “Okay, now I’m surprised.”

He laughed again, “I knew you’d be surprised about that, though.” He shrugged, “It’s not that hard to explain though. It’s just a few runes placed on your head, connected to ones on my physical body’s head, linking our minds together.” He sighed, “I can’t really get into the details of how that works, honestly, I’m not good with that sort of thing, I just applied the runes and hit the “on” button, as it were.”

“Oh... kay.... I’ll just take your word for it.” I frowned and stared at him and asked, “So... what is it we need to talk about? Who are you, anyway?” I should probably be more confused and questioning what’s going on, but I’m dead, in a world that doesn’t make sense, I’m in love with a sentient pony, and I’m currently in bed next to my own clone. I really don’t think I have a right to question things anymore.

“My name,” he said with a nod, “is Ultimatum. I’m sure Death told you about me?”

My eyes widened in surprise, “Wait, you’re that Ultimatum guy, the one that found the Nobody!? I-”

“Aon Duine.”

“I- what?” I stared at him, confused.

“Aon Duine, her name’s Aon Duine.” He said, sounding slightly upset.

“Um... how’d you know that? Or, how come she didn’t tell us?” I asked.

He shrugged again, “She probably just forgot to tell you.”

“I... okay, but where’d she even get that name from? I didn’t think they named the clones back... there.”

He waved a hand, “Forget it, it’s not that important. What is important has to do with that box you saw earlier, and it’s what I wanted to talk about.”

I stared at him, scratching the side of my head in confusion, but I nodded, “Alright, go on, I guess. I’m listening.”

“I can’t divulge too much about it, unfortunately,” he sighed heavily, “but I can say this; do not, under any circumstances, think of, or consider anything regarding what that box is, what it’s there for, or what’s inside it. It will only end badly for you.”

Well that should be easy enough. I mean, I could tell that box was something bad, and I wasn’t exactly wanting to open it. Actually.... “How do I do that?”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Well...” I looked around the white space, “I didn’t exactly know about it before, but it was still there, and I couldn’t exactly control myself at all, until you came in.”

“That’s actually pretty easy,” he said, catching my full attention, “because now that you know it’s here, you can block it from your mind. It was simply presenting itself to you for the first time, and because of that, it had total control over what happened; Hell, it will every time it appears. But, now that you know it exists, just don’t think about it before you sleep, or if you ever end up like this again, where you’re able to think clearly in a dream.”

“Can... can I even do that?” I honestly don’t think I have the mental control or capacity for that sort of thing.

He smiled, reaching over the table to give me a pat on the shoulder, “Don’t worry, it’s a lot easier than you think. I had to do something a bit similar... well okay, it was a totally different situation, but I had to block a few thoughts nonetheless. Trust me, it’s pretty easy to do.”

I stared at him for a few seconds, considering what he said. I wasn’t sure if I could really trust him, Hell I’d only just met the guy! But... he did find the clone, and brought her to Death to make sure she was safe, and he stopped that... whatever the hell that box was..... Yeah, I think I can trust him on this, at least. I mean- wait. Holy shit, I think that’s the first time I actually fucking thought of something rationally. Jesus Christ that’s weird.

I nodded, “Alright, I guess I can do that, if it’s easy like you said.”

He grinned in response, “Good on ya.” He gave my shoulder a few more, oddly reassuring pats, then leaned back and stood from his chair, stretching and saying, “Well, I think it’s time I get out of here. I should let you get your rest; plus I’m needed back at my workplace. We, and by we I mean “I”, have a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it.”

“Alright....” I stood up as well, and stuck out my hand, “It was nice meeting you, I guess, and thanks for the help.”

He smiled softly and grasped my hand, giving it a firm shake, “Nice to meet you too, and no problem.” Still holding onto my hand, he started to fade away, right before my eyes, “I’ll see you sometime later, Sarah. Goodbye.”

“Bye....” Just as I said that, he faded completely, and I let my arm fall to my side. “Well then,” I said, rocking on my feet and swinging my arms back and forth, “should I wake up or-”

        “Oh.” I found myself staring up at the ceiling, in my bed. Apparently it wasn’t my choice to wake up after that. I yawned, “Well that was weird.”

Looking around the room, I noticed it had gotten dark outside, as the window was open, giving me a clear view of the night. I just stared out the window for a few minutes, not really thinking anything, when a whimper from beside me, on the bed, caught my attention.

“What the...?” Looking down to my side, I saw that the Nobody... Aon Duine was her name, was curled up beside me, and seemed to be crying in her sleep. Guess I’m not the only one having a bad dream....

I sighed, staring down at her, then layed back down next to her, pulling the blanket up and wrapping it, and my arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to me, her head pressed up under my chin.

I yawned again, chuckling slightly, “Huh... reminds me a bit of when Mary first came back....”

With that thought in mind, and with... Aon Duine lying next to me, no longer whimpering, I slowly fell asleep again, hoping for no more nightmares.

As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. VII: But I wish it would stop, and let me off right now

A loose anthology of the day’s events of Sarah’s company

[Minutes after Sarah and Aon Duine fell asleep]

“So....” Mary said, shuffling her feet, “What should we do now, Ardiente?”

I sighed, closing the door to Sarah and I’s room, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I have to make a stop at the library. It should still be open, I hope; it’s still light out.”

“Oh... I was hoping we could talk a bit more....” she said dejectedly, not really hiding the fact that she’d prefer that I stay. She’s still getting used to being around, I suppose, and since Sarah’s the only other person she can talk to openly... well, she’s unavailable, so I suppose it makes sense that she’d want to talk to me.

I shook my head and smiled up at her, “Don’t worry, I won’t be gone for long. Besides, when I do get back, we’ll have quite a lot to talk about.” I made my way past her and to the stairs, while she followed close behind.

“Um... can I ask what it is we’ll talk about?” She asked nervously, causing me to chuckle. She really loves her conversations, doesn’t she?

When we reached the ground floor, I looked back at her and answered, “I’m going to find as much on Manehattan’s history as I can at that library, and hope whatever is there can help me explain a bit about my past- I did promise to tell you, after all.”

“Ooh....” she said, nodding in understanding. Then, however, she got a confused expression, and she asked, “But wait... how would history books about Manehattan help explain your past?”

I laughed as I put on my jacket- it’s starting to get cold, after all -and answered, “More than you know, Mary.” She looked like she was about to ask another question, but I cut her off as I opened the front door, “Don’t worry, Mary, you’ll get an explanation when I get back- Sarah will too, when she wakes up -but for now, though, I need to head out. I don’t know how long the library is open, so I need to get there as soon as I can.”

“Oh, uh, alright,” she said, waving a hand, “I’ll see you when you get back.”

I nodded and waved a hoof, “See you when I get back, Mary.” I then stepped through the door, closing it behind me via magic. I paused for a second to look around at my surroundings- a habit I picked up from my family constantly being under fire from the Blancas -then chuckled to myself and started walking. There’s not much to worry about here, I’d imagine. This town seems a lot nicer, and the Blancas’ didn’t reach this far, so I don’t have to worry about them.

I didn’t waste any time and quickly set off down the short path from the house, to Ponyville, which was a very short trip indeed. Within about a minute I was already in the outskirts of the town, and not much longer took me closer to the town center.

“Now, if I remember correctly,” I mumbled to myself as I passed the houses, “I just take a right up here and- yep, there’s that gingerbread house, now I know I’m close. What’s that place called again? Sugarcube Corner?”

On passing the building I, unfortunately, didn’t see any sign to verify if that was true or not, however the name seemed correct, so I just shrugged and continued on. I did know, however, that taking a right at the building would lead me to the library.

“And sure enough, there it is.” I said to myself with a small smile. Right there, on the the right side of the road and sticking out amongst the small homes was the large tree that made the library. Seriously though, I thought with a chuckle, who ever thought of building a library inside a tree?

Shaking my head, though not losing my smile, I walked forward to the door and raised a hoof to knock. I stopped myself, however, and simply opened the door to step in; it was a public library, if I recalled correctly, so there was no reason to knock.

“Is anyone in?” I called out to the seemingly empty building. I sure hope someone is here, otherwise I’ll have to wait a day to explain everything....

“Hello?”

I turned to see a purple, unicorn mare looking down at me. I nodded and said, “Hello. I was wondering if I could check out a few books, if you have them?”

She smiled. “Of course! What are you looking for?”

I looked around at the shelves for a second, then asked, “Do you have any books detailing the history of Manehattan? More specifically, it’s founders?”

She blinked and nodded a little. “I believe so....” She turned and started looking at some of the books under some stairs. “Ah! Here.” She grabbed some in her magic and moved them over to me.

I took them with my own magic and opened one, flipping through it to look over some of the pages. Sighing at what I read, I floated the books back to her, “Sorry, I suppose I should have been more clear. I need books detailing the actual history of Manehattan.”

“Oh. That’s all I have, really. I need to ask for some more books from Canterlot.”

I sighed again, sitting down and rubbing my temples with my hooves. Great, now I’m definitely going to have to wait.... I shook my head and stood up again, asking the mare, “Well, I’ll have to return another time then. Thank you anyway, miss....?”

“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”

I held out a hoof, “Ardiente Palomino Fragua.”

She shook it. “Nice to meet you Ardiente.”

I nodded and pulled my hoof back, then asked, “So, any idea when you may get any books on my family.” May as well be blunt with it now. She’s an Element of Harmony, so I imagine she’d at least have some idea.

She blinked and nodded. “I’d have to ask the princess for a copy. I’d have to explain that you know about the actual history.”

“Right,” I sighed, “mother never took me to any meetings she had with the princess, so she’s never really talked to me before.” I shook my head and told her, “Just tell her I’m Quemada’s daughter, and if she needs anything else, just forward a letter to Farmaine Manor, here in Ponyville. I’ll send any legal documents or identification papers back if she needs them.”

She nodded. “Alright. Farmaine Manor, got it.”

“Alright then....” I looked around at the shelves again, and asked, “Might as well get something to read to pass the time, while I’m here. Got any suggestions?”

"Well... There should be some new Daring Do books near the back, but only if you're into the genre."

I put a hoof to my chin in thought, would anyone back at the house like that? I know for sure that Sarah wouldn’t. Hm.... I shook my head and asked, “No, but do you have any spell books?”

She nodded. "Yes I do. They should be over by the ladder, last I’ve seen."

I nodded and walked over to the ladder, looking at the books on the surrounding shelves. Scanning over them with my eyes, I couldn’t see anything that interested me, nor would interest anyone back at the house. Well half of them can’t even use magic; only Jav, Arlosia and I can, to my knowledge.

Shaking my head again, I walked back to the mare and said, “Well, I can’t find anything, and I doubt I will, no matter how much I look. I suppose I’ll just take my leave now.” I stuck my hoof out to shake, “It was nice meeting you, Ms. Sparkle. Please, get back to me if the books arrive, by letter if possible.”

She shook my hoof and smiled, "Of course, it was a pleasure meeting you as well Ms. Fragua."

Smiling as well, I pulled my hoof back and left, closing the door behind me. Immediately, I dropped my smile and sighed, muttering to myself, “Damn it’s hard to be polite to people....”

[Back at the house]

“So....”

I twiddled my thumbs, rocking back and forth slightly in my seat, looking at that girl Sira. Seriously, a very strange girl, almost shows no emotions, and talks in really flat, bland tone. It’s really off putting....

She looked up at me from her newspaper- still don’t know where she got that -and stared at me with a bored look, “Miss Alexandra, for the tenth time now, I cannot have a conversation if you wish to start one with no real topic.”

Sighing, I let myself fall back into my chair, “Alright, alright, I won’t try it again. But I’m just bored, alright? Death’s put us all on temporary leave since Sarah’s getting herself put back together, and I have no idea what to do!” I threw my hands up into the air, “This is the only thing I can think of, but you’re not being very good about it.”

“I apologize,” she said, “but the results of my “emotionlessness” make it rather difficult to start, hold, or become invested in conversations.”

That’s obvious.... I sighed again, and asked, “How does that even happen, anyway? The emotionlessness, I mean.”

Offhandedly, while turning a page and reading through her newspaper, she answered, “Through a very long, arduous indoctrination process, utilizing several psychoactive drugs and stimulants, pushed to specific points in ones brain. The stimulation of said points increases the influence of commands given by the one injecting the drugs, while also limiting the use of free thinking and independent choice.”

Uh.... What? I just stared at her blankly, while she continued to read. “I’m uh... I’m not going to question that....”

“It’s best you don’t.” She turned the page again, and kept reading.

Down in the basement, both Jav and Arlosia sat against the wall outside the storage room. The door was slightly bent outward, and a scorch mark was visible from under the doorway, and the two were covered in scorch marks, scrapes, and slightly singed clothing and hair.

“Well... hah....” Jav breathed out heavily, “let’s never try that particular combination of spells again. Ever.” He looked down at the blood elf and asked, “Agreed?”

After getting her own heavy breathing under control, she nodded and answered, “Agreed....”

“Now,” he sighed, standing up and dusting his clothes off, “I say we just leave that room alone for a bit, let everything settle, and in the meantime, let’s clean ourselves up a bit. I’ll take the second floor shower, you can have the top.”

She nodded and stood as well, “Right....”

[Twenty minutes later]

I stepped out of the shower, a towel wrapped around my waist, and stopped to look in the mirror. Ah damn, I think I’ll have to shave again, sometime soon.

I scratched at my already thickening beard and sighed, muttering, “You’d think being dead would stop this sort of thing, but no....”

I kept staring at myself in the mirror, for whatever reason, until the sound of the door opening brought me out of my self-induced trance. Turning, I saw Mary step in the room, then immediately back out and shout, “S-sorry, I-I thought it was empty!”

I waved a hand and sighed, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I was just getting ready to head back to my room anyway.” She moved back from the door, and I stepped through it and into the hall, closing it behind me.

I had started to walk down the hall, when I heard Mary gasp and ask, “W-what is that, on your back?” What is she- oh shit.

Freezing, I slowly turned to look back at her and asked, “You uh... you can see that huh?” She nodded, to which I cursed internally, Dammit, and here I thought all those tattoos I got would cover it up.

Sighing, I turned back to her with a frown, “Look, I won’t be too angry if you do, but please don’t tell anyone about what you just saw. It’s a little... complicated, and not something I like to talk about.”

“Um... alright... but what is that?” She looked away, “I-if you don’t mind saying it, anyway.”

Sighing again, I reached back and ran a hand over the scarred over lumps just under my shoulders, then over the cross and word carved down the middle of my spine. I scowled internally as the memories came back, and I quickly pushed them to the back of my mind.

“Some other time.” I said to her.

“Oh, alright then.” Still looking away, she quickly moved into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

“God dammit....” I muttered to myself, then made my way to my room. Things can never be simple, can they?

As the World Turns- Act I, Pt. VIII: Every single day the world keeps turning, keeps turning

“You know, you have to start walking again sometime, Sarah.”

I groaned and just fell forward on my face. That was the third time in a day Ardiente told me that- and I know it’s true dammit, I just don’t feel like it.

“I know you just got your body back yesterday, but still, you need to get back on your feet again.” She sighed, “Death said you should be back to normal by now, that is if you were bothering to try walking, but it’ll take even longer if you just lie around all day.”

“Yeah.... Just give me a few hours.” I sat up and finally responded, getting a sigh from Ardiente and Aon Duine.

Speaking of Aon Duine, she just kinda stuck around my room since she woke up- not that I have a problem with it, it’s nice to have her around, if a only a little bit weird, too. I mean, she’s a clone of me, that’s fucking weird no matter how you look at it.

“Fine.” I heard Ardiente say annoy...ed...ly, if that’s a word.

“Tomorrow, though,” she continued, “you’re walking, whether you feel like it or not. I, for the time being, am going to bed.” I forgot, we kind of slept until sundown. Oops.

She walked over gave me a kiss on the cheek, “Good night.”

I couldn't return it before she left, leaving me and Aon Duine alone in the room.

After a few seconds of silence I pointed at the door, and turned to my clone and asked, “Do you think she’s mad at me for being lazy?”

She stared at me for a few seconds with kind of a weird look on her face, like a cross between “how should I know” and “why are you asking me”. At least, it looked like that.

Finally, she shrugged and said, “I... don’t know...? I’ve never really been around people before now, I don’t even know how to interpret human actions as emotion, let alone a... pony, or whatever her kind is.”

I looked at her blankly, then threw my hands up and fell over again, this time backwards, groaning, “Ugh... you even have more common sense, and a... better way of... talking... speaking... something... a better vocabulary than me I guess!” I looked up at her and asked, “Am I just really stupid, or is everyone else really smart?”

“Um... what?” She asked, looking a bit concerned.

“I don’t fucking know....” I sighed, “I just recently started to realize that I’m a complete idiot about almost everything.” I frowned, staring up at the ceiling, “I mean, a conversation with someone that may-or-may-not have been a fucking dream was the first time I ever even thought about anything rationally....”

“Uh... realizing your own intellectual shortcomings is the first step to fixing them...?” She offered weakly.

“....” I stared silently at the ceiling, “You speaking even more like a smart person doesn’t help.”

“Er, sorry...” she mumbled, “didn’t mean to offend....”

Pulling myself up, I sighed, “It’s.. it’s fine, I’m just frustrated as hell right now.” I threw my hands up in the air, “I mean, I’m struggling to walk seeing as I just lost about six hundred pounds of metal from my body, I just found out I have a clone from the facility that survived-” I quickly paused and glanced at her, “no offence, it’s just weird to think anything from there survived, especially someone that’s basically me.”

“Uh, none taken....” She said.

I nodded and continued my rant, “Not only that, but I also learned your name from a dream- it’s Aon Duine right?” She nodded, looking a bit shocked, “Yeah, so I guess that random guy in my head was real!” I slammed my forehead into the foot of the bed, “Not only that, but my... lover, I guess is the right word, and my sister are basically punishing me by sleeping in a different room until I start walking again!” I looked back at Aon Duine again, “No offense. I like your company, but it hurts a bit that they’re avoiding me because I can’t walk!”

I panted heavily, which I now realize is completely fucking unnecessary since I’m dead, but I’m too used to doing it to care.

“I just wish this shit would be over with, and things can go back to... “normal”, I guess.....” I mumbled.

“It would seem you’re having a rough time, Sarah.”

Huh, who said that? And why’d it come from my window?

I turned around and looked at the now open window- speaking of which, if I weren’t dead and numb to most things, I’d probably be cold. It’s like, late November, and I’m pretty sure that, even though I’m pretty damn stupid about most things, I know late November is supposed to be cold.

Wait shit, I got sidetracked. What was I doing?

“Sarah? Are th- are you alright?” Huh? Oh, right! Pony in window- Luna! That’s her name. Princess Celestia’s sister or, er, something like that.

I shook my head violently and blinked, “Yeah, yeah I’m... well, as fine as I can be, anyway. Why’d you ask?”

“Because,” she said as she stepped in through the window, “you spent a good minute and a half staring at me after I gained your attention.”

“Oohhh... well, I’m just a bit out of it is all.” I scratched the side of my head and shrugged, “I’m trying to get used to walking without a metal-coated skeleton, after having a weird dream that I’m pretty sure was real, which also happened after probably one of the biggest contradictions of my life happened,” I paused and looked at Aon Duine, “again, no offense-”

“Again, none taken....” She mumbled.

“-which happened after my soul was pulled out and put into a body that made me freak the fuck out on a level I’m not used to and- hey, yeah, maybe I’m not so okay.” I fell back on my ass and grabbed my head, “Too much is going on right now, my head can’t keep up....”

There was a bit of a loooong fucking pause, after which Luna finally said, “You seem... stressed, to put it lightly.”

“Really?” I said sarcastically, “I couldn’t tell.”

“I... apologize, that was a rather inconsiderate statement, after that short tirade of yours.” She started to bow her head, “I-”

“Gah, no!” I groaned, “Just- it’s fine, alright?” I fell over on my side and muttered, “It's true anyway, I’m stressed as Hell right now....”

“Well...” Luna asked, “would you like to talk about it?”

I sat there for a few seconds before sitting up and shrugging, “Fine... not in here though, I’m starting to go stir crazy in here.” She started to walk to the door, but I stopped her, “Not anywhere else in the house either; everyone else is asleep. I already feel like shit for bothering everyone because I can’t walk,” I admitted, “I’d rather not add to that by waking them up because I fell down the fucking stairs of something.”

“How about the roof?” Luna asked after a pause.

... Huh?

“The... roof?” I asked, clearly very fucking confused. Seriously who talks on a roof?

        I blew out a puff of smoke and flicked the ashes from the end of my cigarette, sighing. Turns out the roof is actually not a bad place to talk. It’s quiet, peaceful, there’s not a big chance some fucker will come and interrupt, and it gives you a nice view of the night sky.

I’m gonna guess that last fact was why Luna wanted to talk here. Yeah, turns out she’s the “Princess of the night” or something.

Speaking of Luna though, I pretty much told her everything that’d happened, which took almost a fucking hour to do. I even kept things as short as I could and it took that long, did that much shit really happen? Jesus....

“So, if I am correct,” Luna said, interrupting my thoughts, “this right here...” she gestured to Aon Duine, who had come with us, “is your clone... from the facility you told us about when we first met...?”

I nodded, taking another drag from the cigarette, “Yep. Trust me, it’s fucking up my mind to, because I thought all of the clones there were either too mutilated or dead to get out. No-” I started to apologize to Aon Duine, but she cut me off.

“I know,” she said, sighing, “you don’t have to apologize. I realize this is a rather... strange situation; it is for me as well. I’m talking to the woman who I was cloned from, after all.”

“Yeah....” I sighed- which seemed to be the only thing I’d done the past few days -and laid back on the roof.

“It looks nice out tonight.” I said after a few minutes of silence.

“It does....” Aon Duine said, then shivered, “It’s starting to get cold though.”

 “Really?” I raised an eyebrow, “It doesn’t seem that cold to me.”

“I would imagine being dead would have something to do with that.” Luna said, “Well, that and your... uh... unique aversion to pain that you’ve acquired over the course of your life....”

I stared blankly up at the sky and flicked the remains of my cigarette away. Finally, I said, “You know, if it weren’t for the fact that scientists talk smart- and pretty much everyone else too, compared to me -I probably would not have understood that last part.”

“I’m... sure that you’re smarter than that, Sarah.” Luna said with... concern, I guess?

I shrugged, “Probably, but the the last week was filled with mental breakdowns and shit like that, so I’m not really thinking straight.” I frowned and added, “Well, I never really thought straight, but I’m thinking less straight now, I guess.”

“Well... I suppose....” She trailed off, and we kinda just stopped talking. That is until another voice broke the silence. A very calm, monotone, creepy as fuck voice.

“It would seem you and I are having similar problems, Sarah.” Sira said from my left. I looked over, kind of surprised at her sudden appearance.

“How long have you been there?” I asked.

“Since before you arrived up here.” She shrugged and stared up at the sky, “I’ve come here every night since my arrival; I don’t sleep that often.”

Actually paying attention for once, I noticed she had dark, heavy bags under her eyes, and she looked just... worn out and tired as Hell.

“Why do you not sleep, miss...?” Luna asked her.

Sira looked over at her, making Luna noticeably shiver, and said, “My name is Sira Molante. I do not sleep to...” her wings twitched slightly, “to avoid the nightmares that I have.”

“Nightmares?” Aon Duine asked.

“Yes,” Sira nodded, “ever since my childhood I’ve been plagued by severe nightmares every night that I sleep. They’re... disturbing, to say the least. I’d rather not talk about them, as they’re enough to keep me awake for almost two weeks at a time.”

“Is... is that healthy?” No Luna, probably not.

“It’s not,” Sira replied, “but it keeps me as sane as I can be.”

“Right....” I sighed, and reached into my pocket, offering a cigarette, “Want one? They calm me down.” I mean yeah, she’s completely emotionless all the time, but it’s obvious she’s stressed about... something.

She stared at it then shrugged, scooting closer so that she could grab one. She put it in her mouth, and I reached for my lighter, but stopped when I saw what she was doing. I immediately felt like smacking myself in the forehead as I remembered that she had a god damn fire Sentiment power.

A small black flame lit on her finger, which she used to light the cigarette. She blew out a mouthful of smoke and sighed.

“I didn’t expect that to help,” she said, “it’s rather hard to calm myself, even with the... obvious lack of emotion.”

I scratched the back of my head before lighting another cigarette for myself. I offered one to Luna and Aon Duine, but they declined.

“Sorry it doesn’t help, I guess.” Good God I fucking suck at conversations; that’s the best I could come up with? I suck at being nice, for that matter.

Sira paused and stared at me for a second, then tilted her head to the side and said, “You know... that’s one of the few times someone’s apologized to me, aside from Death anyway. It’s... unexpected, especially given your past.”

“Trust me, I’m surprised too.” I then blinked and asked, “Wait... how’d you know about my past?”

“Death told me.” She said simply, “I would assume just to show me that I wasn’t alone in what I suffered through before I died. Really that’s probably why I was assigned to you in the first place.”

Well that’s just... confusing. She went through something similar to me? Shit... I’d really hoped no one went through something like that, but....

“I can see the confusion in your eyes,” she said, cutting off my thoughts, “and no, it wasn’t identical. What I experienced was much less compared to what you had gone through, but we lived under similar fears and circumstances.”

“What... what happened to you?” I asked, but quickly added, “If you don’t mind telling me, anyway.” I know firsthand that it is not fun talking about that shit. I may talk about it pretty easily, but it still hurts when I have to remember it.

She stayed silent for a moment, then said, “Because you are giving me the option, I will withhold that information for now. I may have nearly all of my emotions shut away, but the nausea and fear of reliving those events is still too strong at the moment. I only just died, after all, and what I suffered lasted until my death.”

I nodded, tossing away the rest of my cigarette, “That’s fine... I understand where you’re coming from, even if I just blurt out what happened to me on without thinking about it. Most of the time, anyway.”

“Thank you,” she said, looking straight ahead, “it’s kind of you to give me the freedom of choice, when so few ever have.”

I silently scoffed, thinking ‘Yeah, “kind” is definitely a word to describe me.’ I pulled my knees up to my chest and folded my arms over them, resting my chin on my forearms. ‘I got a long fucking way to go before I can consider myself “nice”.’

“Are you alright, Sarah?” Aon Duine asked, “You seem kind of... well, you were already stressed but... um....”

I shrugged, “Honestly? I’m not alright. At all. In about a month I got a bunch of Wraiths dropped on me- after becoming one myself -I found out I have a sister, and then got that sister back after she was dead for all my life, I snapped at Michael for something that probably isn’t even relevant to him, I found that not only was one of my clones alive, she’s right here too, and to top it all off, I realized something last night. Something I’m completely unsure of, and it’s making me even more stressed than I was before.”

“Would this happen to relate to that dream you had last night?” Luna asked suddenly.

I froze and turned to her with slight shock, “Uh... yeah... how’d you know about that?”

She rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, “I... may have the ability to view and enter the dreams of those within Equestria. I witnessed your and tried to enter, realizing how large of a strain it was placing on your mind, but I was blocked by... something. I only caught a glimpse of that “Ultimatum” character that you encountered, but I could not hear what you said to each other.”

“Hm, well....” I sighed, “I’m really just realizing that I freely and casually admitted that I love Ardiente. While I’m not really against loving her I’m just... confused. I’ve never really loved anyone before and it’s just... weird being able to say it so easily about someone.”

“Do you love her?” Sira asked. Seriously, she’s not the one I was expecting to say anything; even she said that she’s emotionless.

Without thinking, I answered almost immediately, “Yes, I do.”

She shrugged, “Then there’s no problem.”

“Well I know that,” I huffed, “I just feel weird about... love in general. No one really ever loved me before, and I never loved anyone as far as I can remember, so it’s just different, is all.”

She gave me a pat on the back and sighed, “You’ll get past it.”

“Right....” I trailed off and stared into the sky, before I remembered something. I turned to Luna and asked, “So... what did you come here for anyway? I mean, I’m glad that you came and all but... you’re a Princess and all that. A Princess of the night specifically. And it’s night. Aren’t you busy or... something?”

She stared at me for a second, clearly confused, before she seemed to realize something. Blushing slightly, her horn lit up with a blue light, and she levitated a small package from a bag at her side- which I had completely not noticed -and she floated it over to me. I took it and stared back at her, confused.

“I had almost forgotten,” she said, embarrassed, “but I was supposed to send these to you, to be given to your friend Ardiente. She requested a few books from the Canterlot archives, and after hearing where they were going, I took the opportunity to come talk to you.”

I looked down at the package, then up at her, nodding, “Thanks... I’ll make sure she gets them.”

“Thank you.” She bowed her head slightly, “I must be off now; as you asked, I am rather busy, and I must return to work.”

“Alright,” I returned the bow, “I’ll... see you around then.”

She smiled and turned, about to leave, but paused for a second. She turned back and grinned sheepishly.

“Apologies, but I almost forgot something else....” Her horn glowed again, and a small, folded piece of paper was removed from one of her bags. She handed it to me with her magic saying, “It’s an invitation to my niece’s wedding; it’s in five days, and it’s a rather large event being held in Canterlot.”

I stared at it for a few seconds and shrugged, “I don’t know if I’ll make it but... I’ll consider it.”

She smiled, “I hope to see you there.”

With that she kicked off from the roof and flew off, back in the direction I guessed Canterlot was in. The three of us kind of just sat there in silence afterwards.

“So...” I asked, “you guys just want to stay out here for a little bit?”

Sira shrugged, “Alright.”

Aon Duine did the same, “I don’t really mind....”

“Alright, we’ll do that.” I laid down on the roof, and the two eventually did the same on either side of me.

After maybe... an hour of us staring up at the sky in silence, I spoke up.

“This is nice.” Was all I said.

“Yeah....” Aon Duine sighed.

“I suppose.” Sira said.

And that’s... really all that happened for probably the next few hours or so, until the sun started to rise.

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A Failed Experiment

Mature Rated Fiction

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