You remained both silent and still for a long moment after the guild master had left, mentally attempting to discern the reason behind Anne's outburst, to better allow you to interact with her. If you were able to figure what triggered such volatile outbursts you knew that you would be able to avoid them better, that you would be able to interact with her more efficiently. You couldn't see any reason though, you had been nothing but logical, doing no more than following orders, inquiring about things, interacting as required. You couldn't see how this would have caused such problems.
You turned back towards the room that your creator currently resided within, looking at the form of the doctor, taking note of how his long black coat concealed most of his form. He was tall and thin, with sunken cheeks, he was a figure that looked half dead, fitting poorly with the image of one who sought to preserve life. This very realisation struck you in a way you couldn't explain, prompting you to step inside, to watch closer incase this man was sick, incase this man was some kind of plague bearer.
It was possible that this doctor, this figure was one who was sick himself, from the constant contact he had with others. It was also possible that he wasn't what he seemed. You couldn't afford to take that chance in relation to your creator, to allow an unknown factor such as this to work on repairing him without proper supervision.
You glanced at the sword on the desk as you stepped into the room, quickly establishing its position incase it was required, noting as you did so that it was a weapon of plain nature. It bore no decoration, no signifigant markings. It was a weapon thats very nature seemed unsettlingly plain due to its origins. It lacked any sense of substantial importance, and this itself told you that you should at least investigate it in full, test it when it was viable to do such a thing.
"If it wasn't for his nature, this man would be dead by now," muttered a light yet masculine voice, one that you realised belonged to the doctor.
"He'll be okay?" came Anne's voice as she questioned him, prompting you to turn your attention back to the pair, taking note of how Anne sat with the unconscious form of your creator, her hands in his as she looked up at the dark coated figure.
"He will recover in time, though for the time being it may be best to sedate him, allowing his recovery to speed along uninterrupted."
"How long will his recovery take?"
"That depends on his nature. Some such as himself heal no faster than a regular man, some heal in the blink of an eye," the doctor muttered as he retrieved a syringe and a small bottle from his bag, filling the syringe carefully with a clear fluid as he did so.
"How long will that keep him out for?"
"Long enough."
"Long enough to recover?" Anne tilted her head, looking briefly confused as the man leaned over, his oddly slender wrists visible briefly as his posture had his coat sleeves pulled up.
The doctor was silent for a long moment as he cleaned an area on your creators wrist, carefully administering the contents of the syringe. Once that was done he was fast to place a cloth to the affected area, stemming the small trickle of blood as he placed the syringe down, as he placed the bottle back into his bag and took out a second bottle.
"What's that?" Anne asked, nodding towards the second bottle as the figure carefully started to fill the syringe with its contents.
"This? Have you ever heard of the elixir of immortality?" the doctor asked, as he was met with a shrug from Anne. "Well, it's a mixture of things such as mercury, arsenic, jade. Quite potent stuff," he muttered as he tapped his finger against the syringe, watching the contents of it swirl.
"This'll help him recover faster, due to his nature?" Anne asked, as she lifted the hand she was holding up, pressing it to her cheek as she did so.
"Heavens no," the doctor started as he removed his coat carefully, exposing a thin, wirey body clad in a white shirt and plain brown trousers, a body that looked like it was suffering from a great deal of muscular atrophy. "It was discovered by chance, that this would affect the Enlightened, releasing their accursed forms from this world."
With that the doctor lunged for Anne, who was fast to grab his arms as she tried to kick him off her, though the doctor was clearly a lot stronger than he looked, as the syringe was steadily being pushed towards her struggling form. As you quickly crossed the distance between you and the doctor, you could see his mouth curl back in an impossible manner, exposing rows of blunt teeth as he licked his lips slowly.
Your hand grasped the arm that held the syringe as you attempted to prevent the figure from carrying out his planned course of action. You could feel strength beyond anything you could fathom as his hand continued to inch ever closer to Anne's body, betraying how he was delaying the inevitable intentionally, though you couldn't figure why he would wish to.
"Cease-"
You started, only for his free arm to swing back as the figure sent you sailing across the room, the small of your back slamming into the frame of the other bed as you landed on your behind. You struggled to your feet again as you started towards the figure.
"I am Guardian Unit Three-Seventy, Desist Or Be Destroyed."
The figures head slowly turned towards you, twisting until it held an impossible angle, until he was staring directly at you as that grin he held seemed to grow all the wider. "If you wish to protect the betrayer, then you shall share her fate," the figure stated as his free hand was whipped across Anne's face, before he cast her across the room, leaving her groaning as she held her face. "The cycle must be broken,"
As the figure advanced he seemed to become all the more gaunt, his eyes becoming entirely black as his teeth became needle like. The figure before you seemed to change with every step closer, batting you aside effortlessly as he slapped you aside, as he knocked out of the room before you could reach for the blade that sat upon the table. You slid down the wall as that stunning blow winded you, while the figure continued to advance slowly, speaking as he did so.
"We have waited an eternity for this moment, we shall be denied no longer. The thousand year cycle will be broken no more, and he will rise. It is a pity that you shall not live to see his ascension, that you, one faithful to him had to ultimately stand against him."
The figures words seemed to echo all about you as you tried to stand, as you sat there against the wall trembling, able to do little more than raise your arms weakly as you lashed out, determined to fight until the end. The end seemed closer than you had realised as the figure batted your hands aside effortlessly, as he jabbed the syringe into your neck and pressed down on it. You could feel a burning sensation as the contents of it were pumped into your body, as that toxic mixture rushed through you, causing you to shudder as you felt your body reacting to it, as you could feel every inch of your body quickly feel as if it was aflame.
Your vision started to blur as you looked up at that figure, as your breathing became laboured, your throat feeling swollen as your airways closed. The beating of your heart filled your ears, while parts of your body you were unaware even existed started to hurt, pain flooding your entire body. The figure stood, watching you as your attempts to move, to continue to fight it only seemed to trigger spasms as the figure stood, as the figure looked down at you while you met his gaze with impassive eyes.
You could feel the beating of your heart slow to a crawl, you could feel your lungs burning for air, you could feel your throat swollen, no longer permitting you to breathe. Darkness closed in all around you as you watched the figure turn away, starting back into the room, as you told yourself even now, even with your body failing you that you could not fail.
You could not allow yourself to fail your creator.
You could not...
That thought was the last thing on your mind as your vision faded away and darkness took you, leaving you feeling as if you were falling, as you had prior, when you had taken a gunshot to the head. Falling, ever onwards, ever faster, before you found yourself opening your eyes to that dome, to that place that had been split into three distinct regions.
You lay in the center of that dome, your gaze going this way and that as you took note of how each regions figure was kneeling before you, gazing down at your form. The burnished bronze figure of the guardian, the lady and one you had not seen prior. The figure you had not seen before was that of a hulking monstrosity, a muscular behemoth, a tainted creature of the night that looked down at you with intelligent eyes.
"All Signs Of Life Have Ceased," came the booming voice of the guardian.
"You're dead," the woman with your face sighed.
"Dead," whispered the thing that went bump in the night.
You tried to open your mouth to speak, and yet you found you couldn't, you could only look at these figures, you could only lay there and listen to what they had to say.
"Course Of Action?"
"There is none, we are doomed to die, doomed to perish as our mind dies with our body."
"Unacceptable."
"You think I don't believe that myself?" The woman yelled as she turned towards the figure of the guardian. "I have been trapped in here ever since that day I was made into... Into you, no longer able to see the light, no longer able to feel the wind, the rain, the sun on my skin!" she yelled her breathing becoming heavier with every passing moment.
"Inefficient."
"If I were able I would take you apart with these two hands, you have been the bane of my existance!" she hissed before turning towards you, her hand moving down to stroke your cheek briefly as she sighed, as you felt an inexplicable sense of warmth, of sorrow, of fear and longing. "It pains me to see that what I have become, to see the machine that has ruled my existance since its form was forced upon me. Monster as it may appear, the thing that's nature was infused upon me when I was made into one of the Enlightened is gentle and caring, unlike the true monster here," she huffed, staring at the guardian as she did so.
The thing that went bump in the night reached out, slowly brushing its fingers against your cheek as it took care to avoid injuring you with its talons, while sensations of fear, worry and sorrow filled you. "And so we must die," it whispered, drawing you closer to it, towards the woman that you knew was once you, as the two of them cradled you against them.
"So we must die..."
"Cease Operation."
You were afraid, you didn't want to die and yet your body was already gone, and your mind following. You could see the edges of the regions that defined who you were fading as darkness started to creep in from them, while the figures remained kneeling, the guardian staring impassively at your motionless form while the other two held you as comfortingly as they could.
"I was always afraid that this day would come, I feared that I would one day die. In seeking out a means to prevent it, it seems that I have in the end brought it ever closer," came the womans whispers as tears started to roll down her cheeks. "The promise of such security is alluring when you live in times such as these, when your life may be lost at any time, day or night, to the other people of the city or the things that go bump in the night," she paused, turning to the thing beside her. "No offence,"
The thing merely nodded, while you turned your attention between it and the guardian.
"I just wish... I wish I could have-" the woman started, only to freeze, looking up, your gaze following hers to a figure that had appeared. A figure that you knew well as your creator, a figure that you knew to be the source of the nature of the machine you were afflicted by. A figure that you felt mixed reverence and hatred towards. "You!" the woman hissed, as she clutched you all the tighter.
"Creator." came the guardians voice, while the behemoth that also held you seemed to cringe, as you felt abject terror coming from it, as it started to tremble.
"Monster," hissed the behemoth.
"You have every reason to hate me Joy for what I have done to you, for being the one that allowed mortal men to exploit your condition, to fend off that what goes bump in the night," came his words, powerful yet soft words that made the woman who you had once been falter. "I attempted to prevent-"
"I know what your goal was, but I just can't bring myself to believe that such a noble sacrifice was worth it." she huffed, holding you all the tighter as she did so. "Your moment of weakness caused me unimaginable agony, stole my life away from me, reduced me to nothing more than a mindless shell carrying out a set of tasks for men who sought only to protect their best interests," she snapped, while watching as Eurochkoles moved to kneel before you, brushing his fingers over your cheek as he did so.
"There have been many victims of my actions over the centuries, many that had to die so that all that should be, would be, victims who's names would be doomed to be forgotten, as collateral, as the price that civilisation had to pay for the great evils to be stopped," he paused, shaking his head slowly as he looked up at the woman, as he made eye contact with her. "History may forget them, but I do not. I do not forget all the people who paid the ultimate price because they believed in me. I honour their sacrifice, their belief that they would make the world a better place. My greatest mistake is the creation of the guardians, if nothing else, because those that paid the price did not do so willingly."
"You... Monster!"
"Call me what you wish for that mistake, wish me dead all you desire, but do not forget this. My mistakes are ones I seek to correct, my actions are ones that I accept the consequences of. This was the first time I felt so overwhelmingly guilty over my actions though, my guilt prompting me to take action to ensure I would forget. I cannot forget. I cannot forget ever, and so my only choice is to make right my mistake, to stop trying to run away from that what I created," he paused, looking down at you as he did so. "I have not given up on you Joy, I will find a way to fix what has been done to you, to put who you are in your own hands again."
"How can you do that? If you haven't noticed, I'm dead, thanks to you. My mind is slowly going, as all activity ceases."
"Just believe in me, please. Believe in me Joy, give me the chance to make things right," he whispered, turning briefly towards the behemoth, before his attention shifted towards the guardian. "Three-Seventy, commence assessment of your directives," he stated, turning towards the behemoth again as the guardian spoke.
"Commencing."
"You'll have a five minute window give or take, from the moment you open your eyes," he stated, while the behemoth gave him a look of confusion. "Please, don't give me that. I took you to be smarter than this. Have you forgotten what it is like to feel anger, to feel that burning rage, to be that mighty monster that is feared and hunted when you show your face in the world of humans?" he asked, tilting his head as his tone became mocking. "Come on fatty, you can do it, you can get angry can't you. No? What a pity, you're an incompetant blob of flesh, flabby and impotent, a joke of a Jötunn. The only thing about you that's big is your waistline, you're a stunted little whelp, a tiny terror, only you don't inspire terror. It's no wonder you're dead, if you can't fight back."
You could feel smoldering anger building, burning within the figure of the behemoth as it stood, as it lunged for Eurochkoles, only for him to step close, batting its arms aside as he leaned up, as he whispered in its ear.
"Open your eyes, it's your moment in the light."
Your eyes opened as the pain in your body welcomed you back to life, as your heart started to beat anew, as you felt the swelling of your throat restricting your breathing as you forced yourself to do so. You could hear that gasping, laboured breath fill your ears as you started to climb to your feet, as you felt the mindset you had been used to dissolve as a new one took dominance. Your lips curled back as a feral smile crossed them, as you pushed yourself away from the wall, as you pressed your hands to the floor and flipped yourself up to your feet. You could see the figure still stepping into the room, turning slowly towards you as a look of confusion crossed his face.
Yes, that face, a face that you wanted to remove so much at this moment.
You wanted to hear bones crack and see blood spill, you wanted to devour his flesh, to draw in the scent of his fear mingled with blood as his final breath escaped him. He frowned, clearly wondering how you were on your feet with the toxic substances that rushed through your body, with the fact that for all intents and purposes you should have been dead. The toxins that rushed through you were quite nasty, yet you could feel your body growing hotter, feverishly hot as you started to sweat, as your body started to expel them from your pores.
One hand raised as you pointed at the man, as you opened your mouth to speak, to tell him that for what he had done to you that you would kill him. That you would have killed him had he done nothing to you. You were not fussy, he was there, and you were hungry.
Hungry, hungry, hungry.
No words came from your mouth, nothing but a feral roar as you leapt forward, as your body crashed into his, as your form impacted with him as if you weighed ten times more than your body naturally did. Your hands gripped him, powerful hands, deadly hands. Hands that you planned to use to break his wretched form into little pieces with, hands that you would use to destroy him, to feed him to yourself as you devoured him. Hands that gripped him as you slammed his body into the wall on the far side of the room, a room that bore the scent of blood, of disinfectants, the scent of those two that lived here, the perfume of the woman, the oil of the mans inventions.
Hungry, hungry, hungry!
Screams came from the mans mouth, followed by gurgling as your teeth sank into the side of his throat, as you tore away a chunk of flesh and swallowed it eagerly. Blood sprayed over the wall while the figure thrashed, while one hand moved to slam against his chest, filling the air with the cracking of bones. The figures thrashing grew weaker, slowing as you struck it again and again, as you tore chunks of flesh out of it hungrily, as you devoured it while you assaulted it.
Blow after blow.
Mouthful after mouthful.
The figure was fast to cease movement, to cease breathing, to go limp and lifeless as your efforts filled your belly, as they brought an end to the life of this threat, as they left that partially devoured and shattered corpse laying there. It was only as you lost interest in that figure, as you dropped his bloody remains where you held them that you shifted your attention towards the other woman, towards Anne. She was staring at you in horror from where she lay on her side, her face pale as she trembled, as you started to draw in exaggerated breaths while stepping towards her.
You could also see him, you could see the source of all your pain laying there helpless, in a position that you knew you could lash out at him in. He wouldn't be able to stop you, he was sedated heavily, he was helpless.
Yet...
Yet, you couldn't do so, you couldn't bring yourself to attack him. You couldn't explain why, as you felt such burning hatred towards him, you felt anger, rage and yet...
You felt that when he had given his word that he would help you, that he would try to make right what he had done to you and countless others, that he was telling the truth, that for some reason you could actually believe in this man. You dropped down on your knees as you moved towards the bed, as you lay your head on his chest, as you let out a huff, as you felt the last of the pain relating to the poisoning of your body fading. Your moment in the light was short, you knew that it was only a matter of time before that moment came to an end, before the thing that had been burned into your mind took over once more. You pulled his one arm about you as you closed your eyes, as you left out a sigh, as you spent the remainder of your moment seeking comfort that you knew you wouldn't get to experience again for a long time.
As your eyes closed, a smile crossed your lips.
You were content.
End of Part Four
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Topic: They told me I could be anything... (Read 78980 times)