Rick landed the bike near an old mushroom tree, turning its wheels to normal as he put the kickstand out, getting up. He reached into the hollow middle, rummaging around…before pulling out the gray janitor outfit. He checked out the size.
"...Damn, kinda creepy they have my size on hand" He comments to himself, stripping off his tribal vest and putting it into the bike's pouch, before slipping the overalls through his shoes. He bounced up a few times and slid his arms through, zipping it up quickly. He pushed the pockets in of course. Now…he was Janitor Rick! Burger formed from his shadow, peeking at him…before breaking out in a laugh, pointing a clawed finger at him.
"HAHAH! Holy SHIT you look stupid! GAHAHAH!" Burgers ethereal eye dripped a black goo that dropped down his face and killed some of the grass it hit. Rick went low, eyes tracing as he delivered an uppercut that sent Burger up into the air a bit, his smokey tail stopping like a paddle ball cord.
"Oh no-GAH!" He shrieked,before slamming into the ground, groaning at Rick's feet. Rick cracked his knuckles.
"It's not nice to make fun of the janitor, Burger, we are the backbone of society"
"You're getting too into this," Burger comments, rubbing his face.
"Shut up, janitors don't have evil spirits around, near, or talking to them. Take a nap until this is done…please." Burger eyed him at 'please'. It sounded…desperate almost. Was it because Rick had been an orphan? Burger shrugged to himself.
"Fine" Burger comments, melting into a mound of darkness in Rick's shadow, his presence gone. Rick rubbed his face, groaning. Now the stressful part can begin. He reached into one of the bike's pouches, pulling out the fake documents, before clicking his keys. RE-RE his bike sounds off. He put the keys away, before walking with heavy foot falls to the front of the church entrance. It was a huge church, with a black roof, a bell obviously above the chapel area, but held up with roots, a sun bursting from a seed engraved on it. He knocked once, twice, thrice. A tall Elven woman looked past him a bit, before looking down.
"Oh, How may I be of assistance, sir?" He held up his papers.
"I'm uh, a new Janitor" Rick comments, trying to play it cool.
"Oh, I wasn't expecting one so soon. Davey had gotten food poisoning, our last janitor, and we haven't been able to find new ones. So glad the head Priestess sent us one!" She gently grabbed the papers, looking them over.
"Hmmmm…yes, indeed, it is the priestess's handwriting, and your official records. Ok!" she claps her hands together before handing him his papers.
"Some of the children made a mess in the dining hall, you know how children can be, loving food fights. Would you be able to clean that up for us?" She comments.
"Oh uh, sure, where's the janitor closet located?" he comments.
"Here, follow me" she put her hands together, turning to lead him. She wore surface-world Nun attire, however, sewn on the back was the symbol of the church of the sun-seed, a sun sprouting from a seed. Rick grumbled, before following. He walked in through the well lit halls, a mixture of vines sprouting from the walls and regular stone.
"Its ah, very Nature….e, in here" Rick comments
"Indeed, that is how our churches are, in order to be closer with the progenitor of life itself: The sun seed" She explains.
"Oh, ok, cool," Rick comments.
"Mother Teresa!" A small Elven girl ran up to her from around the corner, a stuffed bunny in one hand.
"Oh, what is the matter, Bonnie?" She knelt to the small girl. A small Orc boy followed behind…carrying a ripped foot. The girl had tears in her eyes.
"B-Billy wanted Matilda-" She held up the bunny toy, with a leg missing.
"-And he r-ripped her foot!" she comments, sobbing.
"I just wanted to hold her for a second!" Billy comments, tusks jutting out of his lips. Mother Teresa knelt down, touching the young Elfs cheeks.
"Ohhh, it's ok dearie, I will sew her leg back on….as for you Billy" She pointed at him.
"I told you to stop being so rough, you have more strength than most of the other children, their toys are fragile. As punishment, you will lead Mr…..?"
"Ah, Rick," he comments.
"Mr.Rick to the Janitor closet while I sew Matilda for Bonnie. Come along, Bonnie" she grabbed her hand gently, before grabbing the lost leg, leading her along. She turned, sticking her tongue out at Billy. Billy stuck his tongue out at her.
"Well…Billy, lead the way," Rick comments. Billy looked up at him, freaking out at his scary demeanor.
"Uh wuh uh, Y-yes sir!" He quickly led him along. Soon enough, they made it to the janitor's closet. Rick opened it with the keys that The Boss supplied him, clicking it open and flicking a light switch. It had quite a bit of room, and various normal and magical cleaning products.
"Huh, ok, I got the jist, Billy-"
"?!" Rick turned to look down at him.
"Where's the dining hall?" Rick knelt down to be eye-to-eye with him. Billy swallowed.
"Uh, you got left…" he pointed a shaky arm to his right.
"Then, you go right, then you'll see a set of doors. That's the mess hall" Rick reached out a hand, making Billy wince…but Rick pet his head.
"Thanks sport, that helps a lot" Billy looked at Rick, who beamed with a smile. He wasn't scary at all! He blushed, the way children get when they're happy or they did something good. He nodded vigorously.
"MHM!" he beamed.
"Now run along, I got a mess to clean" Billy nodded, running off.
"....Fuck, how do I clean" he comments, grabbing a yellow bucket-roller, putting a mop in, grabbing some products he used to use to clean his old apartment/ the new one with Odette making most of the messes. He rolled it along, finding a bathroom on the way and filling up the bucket in there before putting it back on, rolling out. He pushed the double doors open, entering. It was a mess! There were tables uplifted all over the place, what hopefully was mashed potatoes, all over the place! He grumbled, before noticing a Nun in the corner, muttering loudly to herself….a heel shoe stuck in a sticky gray substance. SCHLORP! She pulled it out, taking a few steps back, falling onto a table…Odette's pointy nose visible as she groaned loudly.
"Mann, dette er kjipt" Odette comments, blowing a strand of hair that escaped her covered head.
"I knew that ass looked familiar" Peering down, much to her annoyance, was Rick.
"Oh fun, you're here, means Boss went with actually having you help." she comments, sitting back up.
"Yep, now you're gonna be stuck with me until this mission is over" he comments, arms crossed.
"What even caused this?"
"One of the Dwarven children made a mash-potato machine gun for food fights…it got ugly really fast" she comments. Rick grumbled.
"And you're in here beccccause??"
"I'm the 'Newest member of the Church so I should help with the messes to get experience.' Such bullshit, I've stepped in like 20 different substances that I don't even want to know the material of" Odette comments, gagging.
"Wellll, you can help me with the cleaning"
"Ew, no" she comments, arms crossed.
"If you don't help, I'm gonna tell your boss when he calls me after this that you decided to 'blow your cover'" Rick comments with a 'got you' grin.
"Ugh you're such an asshole…just grab me some spray, I'll soak the goo and Mash" She comments, caving.
"Yesss" Rick comments, pumping his fist into the air. So while Odette sprays a cleaning solvent, magic and non magic, on every piece of material from Mash to other stuff that she can find, Rick uses his shadow magic, sending everything to the shadow realm. Rick lifted up two tables with his arms, setting them back down with ease, while Odette put the seats back into place. Both wiped sweat from their heads, huffing.
"Man…manual labor is tiring" Rick comments.
"You're just tired because you're using magic and also because you're a pussy" Odette comments smugly.
"I'm going to stab you" Rick comments, sipping a beer. He heard the doors to the dining hall opening, tossing the beer can into Odette's face.
"PLBTH YOU-" she had to reorganize herself quickly, standing with her hands above her stomach as a tall Elven woman appeared, walking into the hall.
"Mmm, My my…this is rather nicely done" she remarks, two other nuns next to her, one a Satyr, another an Orc woman.
"Did you do this, Janitor….?"
"Rick," he comments.
"And not by myself, Sister Odette here" he gestures to Odette,
"Helped me with it, she did a very good job assisting me" Rick comments.
"Ah, I see and uh, what's that red mark on her cheek?" Rick eyed the beer-mark on Odette's cheek.
"She slipped and fell on one of the cans that removes uhh….unknown goo." Rick comments, coughing into his fist.
"Ah,ok….Oh, where are my manners, I'm Mother Joan" she comments.
"Thank you, for being sent by the head of all churches, our past Janitor had a stomach issue I'm sure you heard, and couldn't come in anymore. Thank you for your assistance" she bowed to him, as did the other…and a delayed Odette did so as well.
"Oh shucks haha, it's nothing….Ah, do you need…any cleaning done elsewhere?" he comments. Mother Joan stood up, looking at him.
"Well, our bathrooms are a little bit filthy, maybe you can clean those next?" Rick nodded.
"Yes Ma'am-I mean, Mother Joan" Rick nodded, moving along with Odette, leaving the room, the Sister and Mother parting from the door to let them through.
"I will uh, Help Mr.Rick" Odette comments.
"But of course, you can show him which ones" She comments. As she watched them leave, her once closed eyes opened up, revealing green eyes with white, cross iris.
"You know what to do when the Janitor is done" she comments. The Sisters nodded to her, bowing.
"Yes Mother Joan" both comment, before leaving the room.
Rick and Odette finished by the time it was night, Rick gagging.
"Ugh, did you really have to take a DUMP when I was cleaning the ladies room? It smelled like Satan birthed….bullshit and pain" Rick comments, slapping at the air.
"Drittsekk vil du snakke stinkende?!- I mean, you smell worse than an Ogre's breath! Or Dragon shit!" she comments. He grabbed the collar of her Nun-suit, a vein on his head, eyebrow twitching.
"That was because I had food poisoning, if you bring that up again I'm gonna Dragon shit you-" Rick suddenly socked her in the face, making her take a few steps back.
"OW MOTHER FU-" she saw the knives embedded where she was standing seconds ago, looking up. A figure wearing a face-covering stuck to the wall, daggers in her, obviously a her with the cut pants to show hips, sticking to the ceiling with vines, before flipping and landing on her feet, delivering a strike to Rick. He dodged to the right, grabbing her arm and rolling backwards, making her fall with him and tossing her through the air as Rick rolled backwards. She rolled but landed right up on her feet, pulling out two large butcher knives. Odette ripped off the Nun outfit, wearing jeans with a belt and a tank top with a sports bra, but winced, gritting her teeth as a whip cut her arm, red blood dripping down. She glared, turning around, a much shorter opponent behind her, wearing a similar mask; A moon cracking open with a seed falling down. It was like a reverse, or rather was a reverse, to this church's symbol.
"Oh great I get the midget" Odette comments, getting low, fists drawn. Rick didn't sense Odette using her 'magic' to change.
"Od, what's up with you? You're not doing the thing-?" Rick began to comment.
"BLURGH!" he got socked in the face by the clever women. Then the meat-cleaver women swung them down in an X pattern. Rick ducked, barely dodging as his hair was cut, and followed with a left hook to her side, followed by a right elbow to the stomach, and then a standing headbutt, making her take a few steps back, grumbling and holding her face, falling to a knee.
"OH you mean my shifting-?" she dodged the blade whip, the whip cutting through the ground and making shards of stone-floor fly up.
"I can't do it in, well, Holy places!" She ducked, before running and leaping onto the wall, wall running, pony tail swaying before she leapt, spinning and heel-kicking the Shorter attacker in the shoulder, sending her spinning. Odette then kicked her with a spartan kick, sending her flying and rolling across the ground.
"How the fuck does that work?" Rick got punched in the face, making him step to the right, getting socked again.
"I dunno! It just doesn't!" Odette ran towards him to assist, tripping and yelling when the whip blade whipped around her calf, blood dripping. She fummed, rolling onto her back. She winced as she grabbed the whip with her hands, blood dripping, before pulling hard, the short attacker surprised, before Od curled up, putting her hands to the floor and arrow-kicking the women into the ceiling.
"G-Gah!" The short woman fell to the ground, thudding, knocked out. Odette huffed, kicking off the whip from around her leg. Rick was in a fist a cuffs brawl with his opponent, her weapons dropped. She noticed her ally down, and faked with a left hook before elbowing Rick in the face, knocking him down. She picked up her weapons, running over, kicking Odette in the head and sending her tumbling into a wall, her hair a mess with a gash in her head. She picked up the shorter women, before she tapped the ground with a blue seed, erupting blue smoke. When it cleared…..they were gone.
"Ugh….ow" Rick comments, getting up. He picked up Odette's Nun suit, and then lifted HER up.
"AH HEY-!" She starts to complain, before he glares up at her.
"Your hurt, your legs fucked up, your not going to be walking easily, so shut up, and I'll take us to the apartment" He commented with a snap. That ACTUALLY shut up Odette, who bobbed along as Rick walked. Thankfully, no one came out to see what the ruckus was about. He set Odette on the bike, before revving it loudly, shooting off. As they left, Mother Joan watched from the shadows, her eyes glowing as she watched them glow….with another pair next to hers.
"OW BITCH!" Odette shouted, kicking Rick in the face, who didn't move much, as he wrapped Odette's hurt leg squeezing the wrappings tight with the healing balm.
"Stop whining, this is how I was taught to treat bad wounds." he rubbed his cheek, before wrapping her hands up in the same material, balm going on her hands first as he rubbed it in. She winced.
"Yeah, I wouldn't have expected a brute like you to know medical treatment" she comments with a cocky grin, but ever so slightly changing it to a sincere look.
"....But thank you, I do appreciate it" Rick tilted his head.
"Wow, the mighty Odette thanking me? Never knew you knew how to say thank you haha…I'm just kidding" he remarks, finishing up wrapping her hand up. Od clenched her hand a few times, looking at it from top to bottom.
"...Thank you, it feels fine now" Od comments. RIck nodded to her.
"Anytime, it's not that big of a deal anyways, I used to patch myself up all the time" He comments.
"Oh? You don't seem like the type of guy to be in constant fighting. I mean yeah, my boss told me you are an officer of another city, but that's about it." Rick rubbed the back of his neck in response to that, looking at her, memories of him with bloody knuckles, standing over a man who's upper jaw was smashed in, teeth piled onto the ground, twitching. Ricks wrapped fists dripped, a knife in his back, as he stomped the man's brain all over the illegal-fighting pit.
Rick blinked the memory away, shaking his head.
"Let's just say…it's stuff I had to do as a young adult to survive" He comments, looking away. Odette tilted her head in confusion but shrugged.
"So…what was up with those two women? They seemed to know what they were doing, but they seemed like cultists." Old comments, changing the subject. Rick looked at her, pulling out his flask and taking a sip. Gluggluglug. He pulled it away.
"Well….It seems very suspicious that they happened to be the obvious reverse of the Church of the sun seed; Maybe the church of the Moonlight seed? Or some shit like that" he took another swig, Odette snatching it suddenly and spilling some of it on him, taking a swig of HIS flask. He grumbled in annoyance. She held a finger up, before stopping and handing it back…empty. He grumbled.
"One thing I noticed was, the women with the hip-slits? She had green skin….like an Orc. One of the sisters at the church is an Orc" Od comments, arms crossed, putting her feet on Rick. He shoved them off but she put them right back on, making him give a defeated sigh.
"So, that means maybe they were sen't by someone in the church to deal with us? Seems a bit strange they could figure out we aren't really a janitor or a nun" He comments.
"Yeah but here's the thing; you used Dark magic to clean up that mess right?"
"Yeah but it's not Dark, it's Shadow Magic, which is neither good nor evil, so it shouldn't be detectable" Odette rubbed her chin, pointing a finger at him.
"Well, you don't think…maybe Mother Joan has a special power do you?"
"That….actually doesn't sound stupid. Maybe her eyes?"
"Yeah they're always closed, I've never once seen them open while I faked being a Nun" Od comments. Rick rubbed his chin, scratching his head.
"Agh, I just had an idea" He comments.
"You can think that much?" She comments. He glared at her, before grabbing her hurt leg.
"OW ASSHOLE OK SORRY!" he let go, making her bend forward and rub her leg.
"ANYWAYS, some people are able to be given special 'parts' to their bodies. Say you worship a deity or so forth enough, they'll give you new arms, legs, organs, or even items to give you strange traits. I wouldn't put it past her if her eyes were so magically weird, she HAS to keep her eyes closed or she'd be found out" Rick comments, snapping his fingers.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that" He nods. Odette rubbed her chin, muttering Norwegian to herself, before taking her feet off Rick and getting up.
"If that's the case, then her eyes must've seen your Shadow magic, since I doubt the head church would hire anyone who can use such dangerous-or unholy-magic" Odette went to their coffee-higle, tapping it's eye and making it squirm, before she picked black coffee. It screeched, before a tendril and a mouth opened up under her coffee cup, spewing coffee out. She slid it off, adding creme and sugar to it. She leaned on the counter, sipping it.
"So…how do we proceed?" Od comments.
"Well, The Boss said this happens once a month, the end of the month is tomorrow…I say we deal with it in one fell swoop." Rick comments, getting up.
"Wow, you actually said something I like" Odette states, agreeing.
"Let's cause hell" Rick comments.
"..But first I need a shower" he waved back at Od as he walked out, to their shower room. Odette noticed a vein on Rick's neck…he was angry…but about what? Rick closed the door behind him, standing in the large shower room for a bit, leaning on the counter…veins on his arms appeared, as he cracked the counter a bit. The lights flicked on and off as he looked at the mirror, tears dripping down his face, eyes appearing in the shadows, a mix of red and pink, with tears dripping down as well.
Odette snored on the couch, Soap operas on, when Rick left the washroom. He had black ick dripping from his eyes. He walked like a zombie, walking out to the front door…and closing it behind himself.
A Orc man held a knife against a woman's neck, cackling.
"My my, walking around at this time of night with such expensive jewelry? You're quite stupid. Maybe it'd help if I held it for you~" He put the dagger to her pearl-wearing neck, slicing the thread, holding his hand to catch the pearls as he caught them in his hand. As he stuffed them into his pocket, he heard footsteps. He turned, seeing…no one.
"Huh-GRK!" He gagged as claws pierced through his back, blood dripping down his mouth as he looked down. The women shrieked, the head of some shadow-being peering from behind, eyes red. The man was ripped in half, blood squirting everywhere. The attacker looked down at the woman as she fell on the ground, weeping. He opened his mouth, tongue lolling out, steam rising from his mouth as he snarled.
"P-Please sir! Spare me, please!-" she shrieked as he bit down, the night filled with bloodshed.
Odette grumbled awake, spit on her face. She sat up, wiping it off, blinking the blurry eyesight away. Rick was asleep on the floor…that was strange, he never slept on the floor? Not only that, they had TWO beds in the apartment. She poked his face with her foot a couple of times until he grabbed it.
"Oh good you're awake…what's up with you on the floor?" She comments, Rick grumbling and letting go. He got up, dusting his shirt off.
"Do you ever fucking vaccume jesus? There's hair everywhere" He comments, groaning.
"Well I'm not a fucking maid so NO I don't Vaccume" She crosses her arms. What was up his ass this morning?
"Whatever, we need to get ready for the plan" He comments, going and grabbing the overalls.
"What plan we didn't talk about a plan-" she comments.
"We need to find who is taking the Orphans tonight, before we have to wait an entire month again, at the cost of lives" Rick slipped into the overalls, zipping them up.
"Ok yeah but what's the plan?" she reiterates, going over and pulling up her Nun robes, sliding them on, having to hike up spanks.
"You are going to pretend to fall asleep reading a story to the orphans, and I'm going to hide in the shadows-even though I said I wouldn't use Burger- and see who takes them." Odette scratched her head.
"Sounds stupid but ok….your gonna give me a ride right?" She put her nun-hat on, Rick rolling his eyes.
"Yes" he grabbed his keys.
"Let's go"
As the day went on and night fell, Odette went into the bedroom of the Orphans, children going around, playing with dolls or jumping on beds.
"Settle down settle down" She comments, lifting up Billy, putting him in his bed, before turning and leading Bonnie gently to hers, tucking her in gently.
"Ok everyone, story time!" Odette clapped her hands together, going and grabbing a chair, sitting down. The children looked up at her.
"What type of story are you going to tell us sister Odette?" a young blue-skinned boy asked.
"Oh, uh, well…" Odette started to stammer. 'Shit shit shit what do I tell?....OH!.'
"Well, How about I tell you, about how Dwarves came to be?" A lot of the children made ooing faces.
"Everyone ready?" She clapped her hands together. All the children nodded.
"So….long ago, a viking tribe lived in Norway. They were powerful, able to handle assaults from Frost Giants, Dragons, and even Jormangs-uh, giant sea monsters. One day, the Chief's son wanted to explore the world, so he left with a group of warriors, a navigator, and so forth. While he was gone, Gods appeared before the village, stating praise upon the mortal men and women for dealing with beasts of such power and destruction. So they conversed for a long time. One day, the son returned! But when he saw the Queen of those gods 'attacking' his father, or rather embracing him, he tore his ax out from his belt and struck, wounding her. The gods, angered by such disrespect, and wounding not just any god, but their Queen. They cursed all the vikings, taking away their height, their strength, and their dignity. Now shrunken husks, they could not defend against attacks from Dragons or Giants, so they fled into the mountains, discovering a huge cavern from a cave, and as such, started to build. Many years later, Dwarves became a known race as the best blacksmiths in the world, with strong hands. This was due to a need to craft weapons, tools, and even armor that fit their new cursed form. No one knows if this is true or not, however, the banner of the Dwarves is said to have been redone many times, from its original design; a Viking beheading a Dragon." she finished her story, all the children with curious eyes staring at her. One rose his hand.
"H-How come Dwarves don't live in the cities?"
"Oh, well, they don't like to mingle with other races, it's actually forbidden-uh, I mean, they're not allowed to leave. Only the king or queen of the people can grant permission."
"Woooooow"
"Oooooo"
"Woooow, they had to make their own armor?"
"I wish I could make my own armor" All the children started to talk, Odette chuckled, clapping her hands.
"Ok ok, sleeping time. As I've heard when I started, you've had.....missing friends. SO, I will be sleeping in this chair tonight to watch you, so nothing bad will happen to any of you" Odette comments, getting up and moving her chair to a corner, turning it to watch them.
"Goodnight sister Odette" everyone stated.
"Goodnight children" She comments.
Rick mopped the outside of the hallway, before going to the Janitors closet, humming to himself. His shadow blinked with an eye, before it looked at him.
"Why are you so happy right now?"
"Hm? Oh, well, just….remembering a christmas day from the Orphanage I used to live at,well, WE used to live at" Rick comments.
"Oh right, that's why you've been so moody, this reminds you of the past eh?" Rick stopped moving, hand on the doorknob of the closet.
"...Yes" he let go of the knob, crushed. He walked back to the sleeping room, before Burger suddenly possessed him, making him slam into a shadowy corner, making the shadows ripple.
'Burger!' Rick says in his subconscious.
'Shush!' Burger states. Both of them looked, as a tall female figure walked into the hall, a moon mask on her face. She was holding an incense candle on a chain, swaying it left and right . She was saying some language he didn't know, the blueish-green mist floating down, before stopping in front of the door. The mist went under the door, Rick glaring. Two more figures flanked her; The two people he and Odette had fought! The woman cocked her head, the two opening the door, the mist having filled the whole room. After going in, the two women came out with four Orphans…and Odette! She was strung up on the big one's shoulder!
"Put the Cross on her neck" the tall one instructed, closing the door behind them.
'What the fuck is this? They're taking Odette too?' Rick thinks. The women left around the corner, Burger leaving Rick's body, Rick jumping out of the shadows.
"We follow" he comments to Burger, both slowly moving along. Rick followed the Women for about 5 minutes, before he peeked around the corner. The tall one looked at her two lackeys, before touching an old-stone wall. The tiles move left and right, up and down like a puzzle, before a pathway opens up. The tall one held her hands out, a blue orb appearing, the trio moving down some steps. As they stepped down steps, it started to close!
"?!" Rick ran around the corner, booking it. He leapt, rolling down the steps as it closed behind him.
"Owfuckowtitsfuck-THUD!" He groaned as he hit a stone wall, grunting as he was upside down.
"Burger, night vision" he comments, His eyes flicking to red saurian eyes. He rightened himself up, dusting off his overalls. The place was old, with water leaking from old underground stone. There were indents in the walls though, and when he walked closer to look, he jumped a bit, surprised. The statue was of a crouched, hunched over Owl….man thing. It had sculpted flesh hanging from it's mouth.
"Eugh, gross," Rick comments, moving along. As he walked, he blinked, squinting at a light steadily growing brighter, blinking away the night vision, eyes becoming human. The blue orb was in a huge room, with the women around it. He stood against one of the gross walls, sliding along it. He peeked in. He went wide eyed. There was an arena-like pit, with…bones….piles and piles of bones, and they were all small….Children bones. The tall Women, along with the others, removed their masks, revealing…. Mother Joan! And not only that, the two sisters he met at the with Mother Joan were also with her. Rick snarled quietly.
"I should've known," he mutters to himself.
"Sisters, tonight…we offer sacrifices to the vessel of the Seed of the moon! Tonight, we offer these children to be reborn anew, in the image of the seed!"
"Rejoice, Rejoice!" both shout. The bundle of Orphans were wrapped in vines, put in the middle of the pit, sleeping still, while Odette was awake, swearing and grumbling.
"Damnit! Let me go now so I can KICK YOUR ASSESS!" Odette shouts.
"Such vulgar language, Sister Odette….or rather, Just Odette. We knew you weren't a true member of this church, but a faker, a zealot, trying to destroy our holy mission to purify the world" Joan states, hands raised. Odette went wide eyed as she heard chains scrapping on the stained-red stone, turning to an open, shadowed entrance. There was chattering of beak smacking on beak, before a twisting head of an owl appeared. Its head was huge, but it looked sick. Feathers were gone, revealing skin underneath, head twisting left and right awkwardly, before the rest of its form walked out. It had a loin cloth on, with sore patches all over its body with where feathers would be. It looked like it had been molting and just never grew feathers back. His arms had broken pieces of long feathers;Wings. He walked out fully, chains on his avian leg, hunched over. His arms had 3 fingers with extremely sharp claws.
"OHHHHSHIIIIIIIIT!" Odette comments, struggling. One of the children mumbled, blinking awake, looking at Odette, turning slightly to see the monster. He shrieked, afraid. The Owlman took a step back, before letting out a screech of his own, spit flying, bounding towards them at a high speed. A blur flew past the sisters, as The Owlman was socked in the face, sending him flying and crashing into a wall, cracking the stone as he thudded to the ground before getting up quickly. Rick stood in front of the group, smoke billowing from his mouth, his lips pulled back to reveal sharp teeth. A tail lashed behind him. Odette swallowed hard; He was angry.
"The Janitor! Sisters, kill him for intruding upon our holy ceremony!" The two sisters jumped down, the orc running at Rick. His eyes trailed as he turned, opening his mouth as he faded from where he stood, jaws around her neck, her eyes shaking, before he ripped out her throat, blood splattering the wall as she dropped her ax, gripping her throat, before she fell backwards, blood pooling. The Dwarf stopped, shaking in place from the fear. Rick walked up to her, steam escaping his mouth. He opened his mouth, breathing in. The Dwarfs cheeks bulged, before a wispy orb of her soul floated out, her body growing pale as she fell over, thudding, dead. Rick bit down on the soul, chewing it and ripping it to shreds. The Owlman chirped at him, before Rick grabbed his claws as he tried to hit him, scratching his chest, screeching and making feathers fly. The awake Orphan cried, afraid.
"Shh, shh, it's ok, just look away….he's here to help…I hope" Odette remarks. Rick and The Owlman went back and forth, the Owlman stomping Rick into a wall with its feet, Rick grabbing its leg as it flipped backwards, slamming it into the wall. Rick lurched forward, as a glowing arrow stuck in his shoulder. He turned his head, snarling. Mother Joan had struck him with an arrow.
"How DARE you! You unholy human, you will die for this transgression-?!" When she blinked, Rick was right in front of her, as he raised his claws, chopping her neck…her head flew in a clean chop, spraying blood as it landed onto the ground, eyes rolled back and mouth agape. Her body shook, before falling down.
"WAHHHHHHHHH!" Rick turned, seeing the Owlman having leapt on the pile, biting into a small child's arm. His eyes dilated more, as he roared, grabbing Joans body, swirling around and throwing it. The Owlman turned, flesh dangling, before the body slammed into him, sending him sliding across the ground. Rick jumped down, crawling on all four to the hurt child who sobbed. He grabbed their arm, making them shriek at his look. He opened his mouth, sticking his long tongue out, drool dripping down. It touched their arm, making them cry, as the spit…healed the lost flesh, albeit with a huge scar to mark the area. The child sniffled, as Rick patted their head with his clawed fingers. Then he leapt over them, slamming into a leaping Owlman, rolling around with him. Rick got on top of him, his tail lashing about. He grabbed The Owlmans arms, squeezing as he snapped them, before ripping the shredded bone and flesh clean off, making him screech in pain. Rick then opened his mouth, roaring, a purple flame surrounding them. Hands erupted from the flames, pushing and Dragging The Owlman. He screeched as he was pulled into the flames, vanishing. Rick stood up, the flames dying out, turning to the group, who were all awake. He walked over, raising an arm…and slicing the ropes. All the Children got up, Odette putting her hands behind her, backing up. Rick crawled on all four, sniffing her, before standing up, as Rick grunted, wincing as his inhuman shape returned to the normal Rick. He grunted, falling forward.
"Oh!-" Odette caught him. He was knocked out.
"Nuts," she comments. She turned to the children, all awake and afraid.
"Ok children…follow what I say" She laid Rick down.
It took a while, but she got all the children back up after tossing them up, then Rick and then herself. They were all inside now, with her organization handling the rest, friendly women used for children-events about to calm the children, the clean up crew and the satanism crew scanning the area with high-end Higgles. Rick grunted, getting patched up, his ribs bruised. Odette sat next to him, wearing a sports bra and jogging pants.
"Hey" she comments, scooching next to him.
"..Hey" he comments, looking away.
"You ok?" She comments again, stroking a hair strand out of her face.
"Yeah I guess….I mean…no, I scared those kids because I got angry, and one of them got hurt, and-" he sighed.
"I'm just glad none of them died," he comments. A well-worn Minotaur suddenly walked up, holding a phone.
"Hm? Who is it?" Odette comments.
"The boss, on speaker" he answers, one hand behind his back. Both adults leaned to the phone.
"Well well….good job to both of you, Odette, Mr.Rick" The Boss says in a polite tone.
"Well, it would've been better without that one kid getting hurt, and the others scared for life with me doing….'that'" Rick comments.
"Mm, yes, it is a shame, but they are all alive, and that's all that matters. From what the evidence team found, those three were from some cult, and had been doing this at several other churches and orphanages for years. I would've liked them alive, but good job either way Mr.Rick. As for another thing, though…the Women were sent to this church by the head of all the churches of The Sun Seed; Oberon, the king of the Forest Elves." The Boss states. Rick rubbed his face; This would not end well.
"But that's for another time; You two will rest for now" he comments. With that, the Minotaur clicked the phone shut, and left.
At the Elven city of Nar, Oberon slammed his fist against the roundtable, yellow-sun energy rising from his body in a rage.
"They KILLED Joan?!" He had veins on his rather human-colored neck, a pale white, almost albino.
"Settle down, Oberon" The Dark Elf Queen comments.
"I know what happened to your sister is terrible, but you must calm down. Will get our-YOUR revenge, soon enough. First, we must find the remaining artifacts" She states. Oberon snorted, but his magic energy faded, and he leaned back, grumbling.
"What's the next item we know of?" he questions, the others looking to the Queen, who smiled.
"Why, the Star slayer of course" The other Elves, even Oberon, looked surprised…before each and every one of them began to laugh. One of the most devastating weapons ever made….and they knew of its location! Perfection, for taking over the surface world, and destroying the humans!