12:30 AM
Matthew, Demitri, Zayne and Lauren weaved around the crowds of criminals, taking extra caution in not getting noticed. Huddled together under stolen ragged cloaks, they moved down. Matthew was constantly on the look out for deals with Blood, and already he could see a multitude of them happening in broad daylight (or lack thereof). A fight broke out between a broker and one of his customers, the customer managed to steal a syringe full of what seemed to be Blood and injected it into himself immediately. What happened next was too fast for Matthew to have seen properly. All he did see was a flash of yellow, then a spray of blood and the dead corpse of the customer. The broker was completely unphased, like he expected this to happen, the only reaction he had was a head nod to a strange uniformed man beside him.
The uniformed men were few and spread out, but Matthew noticed that there was always one in the near vicinity of a Blood broker. The two must have had a connection.
"Those guys in the strange get up all wear the same stuff," Demitri whispered, face a deep, concentrated scowl. "They must be part of the same group."
Zayne, who was actually walking this time, huddled closer in to say: "take a look at the emblems on his chest. A shattered crown with horns growing from it. Isn't it the same thing that our Mom's and Dad's were talking about during their special talks?"
"Daddy said they were bad." Lauren frowned a smidge.
"Yeah, I overheard my Father talk about them, a newly formed cult with unknown origin. They call themselves Markos." Demitri coldly stared at the uniformed man. "Whatever, they're not what we're here for. We have to find the origin."
At times like these, Matthew was once again reminded of how special his friends were. Often times he forgot they were children of the Grand Bloodline due to the way they acted around each other, but the truth was that these kids would one day rule mage society completely and utterly. Afterall, no magic in the world was as potent and powerful as those from the Grand Bloodline, especially not the magic of a mere earth mage.
The road they traveled down spanned a kilometer in width, the matted down earth told wordless stories of the hundreds of slave prisoners that once walked up and down these spirals. Even after an hour of walking, they were nowhere near the bottom.
'I'm tired of this.' Matthew internally sighed. "Are we there yet?"
Demitri rolled his eyes. "Please don't start, otherwise Zayne will-"
"I'm bored~"
"-start complaining..." Groaning, Demitri halted, grabbing Zayne by the collar and Matthew and Lauren by the sleeves. "I should have done this from the beginning." Grabbing hold of all three, he jumped off the edge.
"WAIT, WHAT!? DEMITRI!!" Wind whistling rapidly in his ears, Matthew could only scream and curse.
Cloaks flapping in the wind, the small squadron of young children dropped down into a gaping abyss whose darkness could only be surpassed by humanity's.
. . .
1:35 AM
After five minutes of continuous screaming and falling, the group had finally began to approach something that could be called a bottom to the abyss. Sending his prayers and goodbyes to his mother and sister, Matthew closed his eyes and braced for impact...yet it never came. Instead, when he opened his eyes, Matthew saw that they had not splattered into a mushy red paste, they were floating just a few inches off the ground.
"You scream for a long time, maybe you could become a professional shouter." Zayne giggled
What was this creature in front of him? Entirely aloof and devoid of fear. Matthew guffawed, in awe at how leisurely Zayne was treating the situation. Heck, he wasn't the only one. Demitri quickly brushed himself off, continuing forward whilst Lauren was yet again unphased. At this point, Matthew was really wondering if the girl in front of him was an emotionless husk or a robot.
"Eyes up, gang, we've got enemies." Demitri's eyes glowed a radiant red, his index fingers emitting heat.
It was strange, Matthew had never actually seen any of the three fight before. He had only glimpsed at Zayne while Demitri and Lauren remained completely unknown. A faint memory tugged on Matthew. What was it that those two bickering boys mentioned during orientation day? 'Something about fire bullets.'
Two huge hunchbacks emerged from the shadows, holding large, crooked shovels.
"Lookit, Durr! We's got kiddies! Can we eats them this time? They soft and mushy and tender~" The left one drooled, excitedly stomping its feet.
The one on the right, Durr, smacked his brother on the head with his shovel. "We'z cant havez them! Master said so, Hurr! We'z don't wantz master to get angry."
While the two were busy bickering, Demitri wasted no time. Two flashes of red illuminated the area like stars being born. The deformed brothers were set ablaze, gaping holes remained where their foreheads once were. Blowing the lingering flames from his fingers, Demitri signaled to continue forward. "Let's get moving, the place is somewhere here!"
Demitri, Zayne and Lauren stepped over the still burning charred corpses, not even batting an eye. It seemed like they were affected earlier by the horrors, but at times like this Matthew was reminded that they were inherently different. Of the separate worlds between him and them. Matthew didn't like being reminded that he was still just an earth mage, but being friends with Progenitors was a harsh reminder. He could have killed the deformed brothers, just not as coldly as they could. As soon as something was deemed to be a threat, it was met with ruthless lethality it seemed. 'As they were taught, I guess.'
They proceeded forward for around twenty more minutes, blindly fumbling in the black expanse until finally, like an apparition being born from the shadows, a house revealed itself.
It was a single story, unassuming wooden house of ancient design. Its windows were shattered and the wood used to create it was old and rotten, it was by all means inhospitable but in the abyss, it was the best place to live.
Matthew tensed upon seeing the house. No, that was wrong. Matthew had been tense the entire time they were travelling. Something felt wrong, like he was being watched. Matthew's instinct was supreme when it came to things like this, but when he told Demitri, Zayne and Lauren, they simply brushed off his suspicions. 'They wouldn't normally do that…'
An odious melody simmered in the back of his subconsciousness.
Matthew tried to listen in, but it was like a wall prevented him from going any further. His vision began to blur…Like lightning before thunder, danger flashed Matthew's mind as the melody reached its crescendo. He blinked.
"What's the matter, dear?"
Matthew's eyes shot wide open, scanning his surroundings frantically. He breathed heavily, afraid of…afraid of what? He felt a loving hand caress his hair.
"It's going to be alright, dear."
Ah, yes, Mother said it was going to be alright, so it had to be. That's right, Matthew had just woken up from his nap. He always got anxious when he woke up, but it was all okay if Mother was there with him. Suddenly, Matthew felt extremely drowsy. Mother soothed him with her lullaby, rubbing his back with her long, black fingers as he lay in her lap once again. Matthew yawned, his world slowing coming undone around him as he drifted off to sleep, glimpsing one look at Mother's face before he did. 'Mother has such beautiful fangs…'
. . .
Inside a dark, musty room, a large figure roamed about the shadows. Their horns protruded from atop their head like a twisted crown, their tail flicked about the room as if it had a life of its own. It wore a cloak that could barely hide its form with only one noticeable thing about it: over its neck was a pendant with the symbol of a shattered crown with horns growing out of it. It looked identical to the ones the Red Men wore, only this one had one thing that set it apart. Going through the crown, directly in the middle, was a sword.
As it mumbled to itself about something incoherent, a knock resounded from the door to its chamber. It spoke in a low baritone. "Enter."
A broad shouldered man entered the room, wearing a similar cloak with the crest of Markos on his chest. Before the shadowy figure could turn around, the man prostrated himself on the floor. "My apologies for the intrusion, Knight, we have intruders. The Mothers have captured them but the intruders have apparently killed Hurr and Durr."
"You waste my time with this useless prattle?" Merely the displeasure in its voice caused the walls to shake. "Do you value your pathetic life, human?"
The man, strong as he was, cowered in fear upon feeling the demon's disdain. "N-no, sir. My life has no meaning, to serve you is my purpose. I tell you this news because of who the intruders are."
"Oh?" The demon stood taller, its horns scraping against the ceiling. "And how are these humans so important?"
The man sweated. "They're children, sir."
The demon furrowed its ebony brow.
"Not just normal children, sir. Three of them appear to be direct line children of the True Bloods."
The horned figure tilted its head. "Three of them? You speak as if there are more. Out with it."
"It is as you say, sir, there is one more child among them. Do not waste your time with him, he's but a mere earth mage." The man scoffed. "What should we do with them?"
The demon turned his back to the man, returning to what he was doing before. Its tail grabbed a vial of red liquid that gleamed indigo. "Take the three True Bloods into the prisons with the others. The Mothers may do as they wish with the earth mage."