There was an angel, he had long beautiful white hair and matching wings, and beside him sat an odd creature. Neither man nor animal but it sat on all fours with the face of a human, the body of a dog, and the legs of a spider. It was perhaps six feet long, and four feet tall. The monstrosity would scare even the bravest of men yet the beautiful angel didn't seem to mind.
He sat on pristine white cathedral stairs and to the right of him stood a massive clocktower, with a low-hanging bell. And to the left was an open field surrounded by dark metal gates. Or so the angel thought, but as he looked into the field even harder he soon realized it was that of a grave.
There was only one stone, there was writing there. Presumably a name but no matter how hard the angel tried to read the stone it would simply be scribbles. Ignoring the grave he turned his attention to the bell. He knew in his heart that it had struck an hour yet the clock didn't ring out.
Noticing his master's displeasure the dog, spider, and human hybrid crawled their way to the bell trying to push it, but no matter how hard the thing pushed the bell wouldn't budge and seemingly it was immovable. But then with one final heave, the creature was able to move the bell, it rang out only once with a thunderous clang, its noise even piercing the heavens that sat above the bright blue sky.
The angel jumped in surprise as the bell finally moved. He pat the creature in pleasure and made his way to the stone. His belief was correct, there was a name engraved on the stone that read;
Patrica Glendale.
***
When I came to there was only one thing I could truly make out. And that was the deep sea of red that flowed in front of me. My heart was pounding, threatening to leap out of my throat and run away. There was a barrel in front of me, nailed into the front of the oak barrel was a face, the face of my teacher. Her skin had been ripped from her head and been placed to taunt me. Attached to the sides of the barrel were two arms, one on the left and the other on the right, her legs were positioned to the front of the barrel facing me, making it seem as if she was simply sitting with her legs outstretched.
"Well Shiloh, do you like it? I know how much you hated that woman, and you always joked about how her stomach looked like a barrel. So, do you like the art?" Laurent asked me, obviously mocking my fear.
My breathing was obnoxiously fast, I was frozen, terrified, and insulted. Swallowing my pride I looked down at my own body noticing that I still had the fabricated sword gripped in my hand, and that sword was covered in blood.
"D-did I do this?" I asked dropping the blade, each clang squeezing my chest even tighter.
Laurent looked displeased as he dropped his smile. "No, even unconscious and under the effects of Manaspeak, you wouldn't do as much as even poke her. So I did the deed for you, but of course, I used your own blade to make the art truly come together." He explained.
Staring at what had happened to my teacher I could not win the fight against my body and allowed the bile to spew from my mouth, leaving it hot and sticky.
"Wait... what do you mean 'manaspeak'?" I asked wiping my mouth, his response having piqued my interest.
He sighed heavily as he crouched down to my level. "Come on Shiloh get a grip, Manaspeak, Speech infused with mana. I had Ren speak to you and you wouldn't lift your sword to her, so then I had to step in."
I took a small sigh of relief as I learned that I truly did not do anything to harm Madam Glendale, as much as I hated her I could never kill someone. Looking around I noticed that now it was only me and Laurent in the cellar.
"W-where did the other two go?" I asked, pushing myself off the ground. I had to use Laurents shoulder to catch myself as I felt my knees wobble and nearly give out on me.
I knew I should be afraid of Laurent, especially with everything he's done and the display in front of me, yet I could not feel a speck of the anger that had been directed to Luci and Ren when I touch Laurent, I had assumed it would make him furious.
In fact, he had been more or less nothing but decent to me, I suppose creepy as hell, and joked morbidly but he hadn't hurt me. Rather he had even brought Glendale as a gift to me. And when I looked at him it felt as if I were looking at a reflection of myself, yet warmer, and much more embracing. I wanted to fall asleep leaning onto Laurent, he had been so kind to bring the bitch I hated, yet I spat in his face.
'I had done something terrible, I need to apologize...' I thought. My eyes lost focus for a moment as I slapped myself.
"What the fuck are you trying to do to me?" I asked placing my eyes back on the God.
Laurent stood and began a hearty laugh. "Very good!" Laurent shouted clapping his hands as he continued to laugh.
"Shiloh, you and I are intrinsically intertwined. My thoughts are yours and your thoughts... well I suppose your thoughts are mine as well. That is how we Gods pass our will to our chosen."
My face scrunched up as I gripped the sword in my hand once more.
"Kneel," Laurent said, sending my knee crashing to the ground. However, this time for whatever reason I was able to fight off this wave of magic, pushing myself back up. I hopped up and began to charge to him.
Readying my blade I launched a swift slash toward Laurent, he simply walked backwards as he nodded his head.
"Right arm down." He said, the sword now seemed to way a hundred pounds as my arm went limp, this only lasted a few seconds as I was able to put strength in my arm once more.
Delivering another slash his way, he stepped to the side evading the blade. If someone were to be watching us perhaps they would think this was a dance of sorts, and we were a couple practicing for an event, a soiree, or a ball.
With his nearly seven-foot build, Laurent was far too graceful than he should have been.
"Stop running!" I shouted gritting my teeth as I sent a rapier-like stab to Laurent, which once again he avoided by simply spinning, only enhancing the idea of this being a ball-like dance in my mind.
"Both legs down." He commanded, however, it now seemed futile as I felt a numbness in my knees for only a split second before recovering. Laurent now had a much wider grin on his face as he continued to evade me.
"Enough, stop." Right as I flashed a cheeky smile prepared for my body to not fall to his command I was swiftly betrayed. My body fell limp leaving only my neck and above access to movement.
Laurent walked over to me once again crouching to my line of sight. "Since you seem so ready to swing that sword around how about a little mission?"
{OBJECTIVE}
Using that sword claim the lives of three living beings.
[Reward]: 5 EXP.
I was certain my eyes could burn holes through Laurent the way my glare pieced him. I was beyond furious.
"You bastard!" I shouted regaining feeling in some of my limbs. He did not speak, instead, he stood above me glancing down, a look of total indifference on his face, it was as if he wasn't even there in the room with me.
Yet after almost half a minute both my body and Laurent had come to.
"I apologize..." He said fluttering his eyes a bit and shaking his head. "I had something to take care of." He finished turning to the door to the cellar.
I pushed myself up from the ground, using the barrel in front of me to be a support beam. "Don't you dare turn your back on me!" I let out through my teeth.
However despite my aggression Laurent kept walking, until he reached and opened the door, allowing a massive wave of light to flood the room.
Looking to the left and right of the door he stopped his movement. "Clean up this mess, and get him changed." He commanded promptly before disappearing.
Moments later both Ren and Luci appeared before me.
Upon entering the room the stench of death and blood rushed through their noses causing them both to have grisly reactions. Ren grabbed his stomach and leaned against a wall while letting out his breakfast on the stone floor.
Luci simply dropped to her knees covering her mouth. "R-ren, it's blasphemous to retch in the face of our Master's work, gaze upon its beauty..." Luci stated without an ounce of convection in her words. She obviously didn't believe what she was saying.
"Right..." Ren said pulling his hood back over his face. "I'll clean this up, you get him some new clothes." He said rolling up his cloak sleeves.
Luci nodded and helped me to my feet.
As she walked me out of the cellar I glanced up through the windows of the castle, the moon was out and shining in all its radiance.
"How?" I asked lightly. My arm was now slung over Luci's shoulder, even though Laurent had vanished and I had control of my limbs, it seemed his command over words was much more powerful as I felt as if each fiber of my being was sore beyond belief.
Taking notice of my gaze Luci smiled slightly as she answered. "You've been passed out all day, but don't worry like Master said earlier the others believe you have been out with a mage. And I suppose in a sense it's true, ha." She finished chuckling slightly.
Upon arriving at my room she laid me down handing me a glass of water that seemed to appear from nowhere.
"Either Ren or someone else will bring you some new clothes. You should take a bath while you're at it. You're covered in blood." Luci bowed before walking to the door. "Rest well, in the morning you must complete your mission." She said bowing once more before leaving. entirely.
I laid still for a moment, glancing at my reflection in the pristine glass. My whole body had gotten muscular, and some blemishes on my skin had disappeared as well.
The room I was staying in was fairly large, and with everything that had happened today, I didn't even get the chance to really explore.
The room was 30x25, and absurdly tall. It reminded me much of my childhood homes. Not that I had much of a childhood, to begin with.
There wasn't much in the room besides a large bed, a nightstand, and an arms rack. I suppose the room hadn't been occupied in a bit.
Arriving at the bathroom I saw that this room was massive as well. There was a walk-in roman styled tub, beautifully crafted statues of angels, and other peaceful wildlife, with the walls and floor all being made of either marble or quartz. Activating the water faucet with mana I allowed the streams of warm water to rush over me as I waited for the tub to fill.
Under the constant warmth of the shower and the gentle grazing of steam, I could not help but feel a bit nostalgic. Even if it meant thinking of her, I didn't mind. The water washed away my loneliness.
I could only think of one phrase I often heard my mother repeat to me.
"Who's my little boy?"