Asher's hazy pupils flashed with life, his consciousness returning to the real world.
"Hm?" He let out a confused whimper.
The only thing in his vision was a simple grove of black trees, reaching toward the sky. What about that little bird from earlier? And the chains?
The path into the forest was lit by a bright bonfire behind him.
'Must be the fireplace. I knew I couldn't have gone that far.'
Asher shivered, sighing with relief as he turned around-
His eyes locked onto the blazing flame of the birdcage lamp.
The joints in his body froze in place.
It wasn't a dream.
Asher's eyes trailed up the cage with slow, mournful dread. A harsh black claw clenched the cage's ring on top.
And the creature that held it...
His knees collapsed as the monster's true form came to light.
It was a feathery, bird-like beast, but with thousands of head-sized, inhuman eyes embedded on every inch of its ball shaped body. Each one emitted a sickly yellow glow as they all focused on his face.
Its oily beak slowly unhinged, and hundreds of teeth the size of Asher's hand highlighted the passage into the creature's twisted throat.
Next to the lantern carrying beast were two similar oddities.
One was the little bird that Asher saw through the window of his room. Its innocent appearance was marred by the unnatural, fluid shifting of the flesh on its red, oval stomach, as if it had a mind of its own.
The other was reminiscent of a tall, bipedal bird, nearly three meters tall. A pair of tattered 'wings' and 'legs' as well as a garishly thin neck were stretched out with grotesque fashion, attributing eldritch proportions to the otherwise ordinary looking, black feathered creature.
However, its head, instead of consisting of an avian skull and a bird's beak, consisted of a uniform white oval. Wrapped around where the eyes would be in an ordinary creature was a tattered white cloth, mimicking the function of a blindfold.
Clutched in one of its claws was the handle of a golden scale.
One side was shackled downward by tarnished, rusty chains, clanging together loudly as the unbalanced scale swayed gently in the air.
[The scale judges your fate… Your Justice statistic is being tested!]
Asher gaped dumbly at the sight in front of him. Even as the birdcage monster lumbered closer, positioning its open beak to each side of his face, Asher found himself unable to move an inch.
[The scales of justice process your sin…]
Through his dim peripherals, Asher saw the chains on the scale of justice in the other monster's claw constrict, forcing the scale to tilt massively to one side.
[Condition failed.]
A tingling sensation filled his extremities, piercing him with inexplicable dread.
Asher let out a pitiful cry for help, his limbs twitching but unresponsive.
Suddenly, he flinched.
An otherworldly voice began to whisper in his mind, a combination of humanoid murmurs and bird chirps.
The fragmented phrases were mostly incomprehensible except for a single word:
"Justice."
As the voice grinded into Asher's skull, a shadowy noose clamped onto his neck, pulling him up into the air.
Asher's face turned purple as his body was raised to the birdcage monster's beak. His desperately struggling hands phased through the noose's rope as it crushed his windpipe.
The small white bird sat on one of the platforms of the scale, observing the spectacle.
His legs kicked and floundered, slowly fading in intensity as his brain was starved of oxygen.
At that moment, a distant roar reached his ears, followed by a harsh ring of gunfire.
As his eyes began to roll to the back of his head, Asher caught a glimpse of hope in the sky.
The moon had turned into a single, bloodshot eye.
't-th...ank god…'
Asher let out the last air in his lungs in a sigh of relief, allowing his consciousness to float away.
…
Miles from where Asher slipped into unconsciousness, Little Red began her hunt.
Leaves and branches tore into the air as the woman shot a path through the forest with her shotgun. Trees swayed and buckled, the wind pressure from her frenzied dash stripping the bark from their trunks.
Little Red pulled the gun into her cloak, reloading another shot into it in an instant.
Using her blade, she once again showered the air with sparks, this time directed toward the sky.
She looked through her left eye, the moon.
"THERE…"
A few miles away, she could see the distinct, spherical mass of feathers, the form of the god of enchanting temptation.
Her eye trembled as she saw Asher hung beside it, the boy's face a grim shade of purple and pale. A midnight black noose was strangled around his neck, causing Asher to spasm unconsciously.
She snarled, a hint of desperation touching her voice.
Was she… trembling?
A shiver ran through her body, equal parts desperation and nervousness.
Little Red's mind raced as she devised a makeshift plan.
…
The three bird-like creatures stood in silence.
It was almost as if they were waiting for something.
The birdcage monster salivated as its teeth tightened around Asher's chest, yet it didn't clamp its beak down fully.
A few seconds passed, and the little white bird perched on the scales of justice finally let out a single chirp.
Without another warning, a garish blade flashed from the darkness, slashing through the illusionary rope wrapped around Asher's neck and burying itself inside one of the birdcage monster's eyes.
The yellowish glow in the pierced eye dimmed.
A crack formed on the golden scale of justice. The chained scale's glossy sheen lost some of its glamor, and the creature clutching the scale's handle shuddered as the white cloth wrapped on its head developed a noticeable tear..
The god of enchantment swayed its birdcage lantern, its eyes locking onto a figure that appeared behind it.
"What, you guys won't fight me?" The crimson-hooded figure snarled, raising her gun. "Don't regret it."
A deafening ring from Little Red's gun blasted thousands of steel pellets into the birdcage monster's eyes, yet the creature did not budge.
Its shot out eyes flickered and dimmed, yet it did not even turn around.
Asher's body dropped to the floor, released from the noose's grasp..
Little Red reloaded her gun, preparing herself to dodge any unexpected attacks.
But none came. The birds stood still like a trio of statues, ignoring her completely.
A droning voice reached her mind.
"Take… the boy…"
The birdcage monster's remaining eyes stared down at her, indifferent to her attacks.
"You, haha! I never knew the gods were such weaklings!" Little Red prowled around the birdcage monster's body, taunting it.
"Don't… Get ahead… Of yourself…"
Little Red interrupted its words by grasping onto the handle of her blade, ripping it out of the creature's eye. Its other eyes stared at her with uncomfortable intensity, but that only made her laugh even harsher, more mocking.
"You can't do a single thing against me. Weak."
The woman turned away from them, confident in her strength. She knelt next to Asher, and a few pumps of her arm against his chest started his breathing again. The boy coughed out a small breath of blood, taking in a gulp of much needed air.
Little Red let out a sigh of relief, slinging Asher onto her back.
She turned around to face the three gods one final time, pointing her blade at them.
"Any more tricks, and I'll kill you all in a heartbeat."
Before she could turn to leave, the angelic white bird that was perched on the scales of justice pushed away from it, flapping onto the tip of the woman's outstretched blade.
It tilted its tiny head, its beady eyes staring into Little Red's.
The bird also spoke in her mind, yet with a more coherent, flat tone.
"Any more disrespect, and I'll take your arm off." It let out an amused chirp as it mimicked Little Red's words.
"Yeah?" Little Red peered down at the white blob on the tip of her weapon. Such a weak presence emanated from it, even weaker than the boy on her back.
She pressed her gun's barrel to the bird's cheek.
"How about now?"
"Of course." The bird lowered its beak, preening its feathers.
Little Red pulled the trigger.
*BOOM*
At point blank range, every single pellet of her gun aimed straight at the white bird's cheek.
Yet, the bird didn't move an inch, absorbing the shot with ease. The circle of red feathers on its stomach bubbled and churned, releasing a presence far more terrifying than Little Red could ever imagine.
She staggered backwards, fear reaching her eye for the first time in-
How could such a creature even exist? That… how much Fortitude was contained in such a small body?
One thousand… two thousand… four thousand… eight thousand…
'S-Sixteen… thous…and?'
For the first time in her life, the woman felt the strength in her body leave her. She backed away another step, trembling as the bird's stomach transformed into four spindrels of teeth and flesh.
"I gave you a chance, really."
As it spoke, Little Red's arm appeared in one of its tendrils.
A shot of pain tore through her body. She let out a whimpering growl, shifting to a lower stance.
'Couldn't even follow it…' Obviously, with over ten thousand fortitude, there was no way her eyes could follow its movements.
The bird's flesh closed, and her left arm disappeared into it as well.
"Don't misunderstand, we're the ones allowing you and that wolf to stay here. Go on now. I won't kill you." The little white bird tilted its head, staring at her once again with those beady eyes.
Little Red nodded her head with some difficulty, reminding herself of the boy on her back.
She fashioned a tourniquet from her cloak, cutting off the gushing blood that had already seeped the ground with crimson.
It seemed they were letting her go.
"Thank you." She looked back one last time. The birdcage monster's eyes blinked, all of them intact again. The scales of justice clinked soothingly, in pristine condition.
And it seemed that they were simply toying with her as well.
She let out a bark of laughter, turning away from them.
The tiny bird in the middle nodded its head, puffing up its feathers.
"Good luck. Don't tell anyone, but I prefer you much more than that wolf."
"Protect… boy… obtain… freedom…"
"Justice."
As the crimson-hooded figure faded into the trees, those three voices echoed behind her.