How long has it been? How many centuries? How many of us are still sane? Did the project we toiled on so much didn't succeed? Was there a problem with the Grimoires? On the other hand, would it be a problem with the original Gestalt? Where are the supervisors?
All these questions crossed my mind as I walked through this sewer, my footsteps echoing down the long stone corridor as the dirty water ran beside me. Luckily, I cannot smell, which is an advantage of not having a body.
I saw others like me, hiding from the sunlight and using this grimy place as home. I try to talk to them occasionally, but their minds have long since degraded, muttering meaninglessly while glimpsing memories.
"I am… I am… AAAHHH!"
"Honey, where are you?"
"Why… Because I…"
"Mom… Mom is that you?"
Some huddled in corners, waiting for the end to come, others head-butted the walls in frustration, and then some went insane, using pipes, bricks, and other objects to attack everyone in their path.
I saw a group of them and hid in a crevice in the wall, waiting for them to disappear.
Sighing relieved, I walked until I reached a closed metal door and entered my room. An old metal bed stood in front of me, while a table with a chair stood to the left, with a pile of trinkets that I had stolen from the city on top.
Books, vases, toys, figurines, coins, keys, and more. It's amazing how their culture has developed since it wasn't planned by us at all. I wonder if it's an unforeseen result or intentionally done by someone.
What stood on the other side of the room caught the most attention, my new weapon that I stole from a blacksmith.
Sometimes, some of us escaped the sewers and troubled the town above. I found a group attacking an old blacksmith, so took one of his weapons and chased them away, but when I returned, the blacksmith had fled.
It was a great ax with a twisted red handle, engravings on the bottom, and a metallic spike on the tip. It had a strange design, two worn blades protruding from one side, an area of old and worn metal, one blade, another metal area, and then a larger blade.
It was moderately heavy in my hand and I swung it a few times, watching a dark aura cover its blades.
The inhabitants of this world called it magic. Hump! If they knew the truth behind it. The particle we've studied for decades reduced to simple magic.
I sat on my bed, lost in thought, or what little I could think. My mind got lighter with every passing day.
I relapsed, the result of centuries without a body. I'd say a year from now I'd be no different from the others who live here. Maybe I should throw the ax away so when they find me I'll be easy to kill.
Well, I guess that's it, I have nothing else to do, let's try to sleep, maybe tomorrow I'll wake up to find it was all a dream as if that will ever happen. I lay down and closed my eyes.
"Did you think you could rob us and get away with it?!"
Someone screaming and the sound of something being hit awakened me.
"AAAHHH!"
I jumped out of bed when I heard the pained scream.
"You must think you're very smart, don't you? You fucking thief!"
"AAAHHH!"
"Now give back what you stole!"
I approached the small rainwater drain hole on the wall of my room. Fortunately, the alley prevented sunlight from entering.
I saw three pairs of feet surrounding a young man lying on the ground. He must be about eighteen, had tanned skin, long black hair tied in a ponytail, and hugged something against his chest.
The feet kicked him repeatedly, drawing blood from his nose and mouth, one of his eyes swell and I heard a pop.
CRACK!
"AAAHHH!"
One of the kicks must have broken a rib. Normally, I wouldn't interfere, and my presence would only cause trouble, but the men didn't stop, they would kill the young man.
I sighed, maybe I can do something good before I turn into a monster. I grabbed the ax and slid through the hole, my body and weapon moving like water, and I reformed behind one of the men.
"I will repeat it one more time! Give it back… What?"
I put a hand on his shoulder, getting his attention, and he looked back with widened eyes and a terrified face.
I had a top view of him since I was taller than any human being, maintaining a larger and more stable shape, probably due to my rationality.
"Enough." I said politely, but my voice must have sounded like a distorted scream, it's not as if they could understand me.
"SHA… SHA… SHA…" The man stammered, backing away until hitting a wall.
"Hey, what's the matter?" The second man asked, turning to his friend and having the same expression as the first one upon seeing me.
The second man tapped the third one's shoulder, the one who realized the gravity of the situation.
"SHADE!" The third one screamed.
"Hump! It took long enough." I hit the first man's head's side, knocking him away; only stopping when hitting a wall at the alley's end.
The second one froze and I slammed my ax flat into his head, probably killing him as breaking bone echoed through the walls.
The third tried to run away but I inhumanly stretched my arm, grabbing his leg and pulling him towards me while he dragged his fingers, trying to hold on to something.
I held him upside down and kicked his face, leaving him unconscious before throwing him aside and approaching the seriously injured young man.
Broken bones, internal damage, and blood running from his mouth and nose. He stared at me with his fearful good eye, shaking in terror while trying to stand, but gave up upon failing and closed his eye.
Hm… What should I do? I could make some noise and catch someone's attention to help the young man, or I could walk away pretending that nothing happened. Alternatively…
I looked at my oil-dark hand covered in bright yellow lines and clawed fingers.
...I could get a body.
It would be beneficial for both of us, I would stabilize and the young man would live. I just hope he doesn't panic when he discovers it. I changed into my liquid form and crawled into his body, fixing the damage.
-XXXXXX-
I don't know how much time passed, I must have slept at some point, but "I" stood up when my vision returned.
It was the completely healed young man. It's strange, I have a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the world around me, with him as the central point.
"Hm… What happened? What happened to them?" He asked, looking confusedly at his unconscious or dead pursuers, and himself, searching for injuries.
"I don't feel any pain! How is this possible?!" One of his hands went towards his previously swollen eye.
"Nothing, and where did SHADE go? Was it a hallucination? It must have been, who else would have taken these guys down? But if it was SHADE, then why am I alive?"
He left the alley, but his foot bumped into something. Looking down, he saw the thing he had stolen, an object wrapped in a cloth.
"Know what?! The important thing is that I'm alive!" He ran out of the alley, hugging the object tightly through the white-tiled streets, dodging and pushing people aside.
I laughed a little at his joy. I would love to have that energy, to return to the time when nothing was wrong.
I enjoyed the landscape, the blue sea, its waves rising and falling with a calming beat, and the golden sand where children played. I wish I could feel the earth under my feet again.
Looking up, I saw the sun and almost cried upon standing in its presence without burning to death.
I focused on the city, seeing houses of varied sizes built with wood and white stone, men, women, and children walking the streets, stalls with merchants, sailors, and fishermen entering their ships, and blacksmiths working in their forges, including the one I had saved.
Seafront is what the locals call the place. A shame I can't approach and ask more about their culture. My workmates would have been impressed, but there was an ugly side like every society.
The streets got dirtier, the voice of the commerce lowered, the houses looked run down and the people were thinner and wore worn clothes. It wasn't total poverty, but I saw that they were less favored.
The young man ran until he reached a white stone house. Opening the old wooden door, he threw the object on top of a table and himself into a wooden chair, leaning back and sighing.
"That was close, I thought I would die from a moment."
"Well, you can thank me."
"Who said that?!" He jumped from the chair, but upon seeing no one, sat down again, covering his face while laughing.
"HAHAHA! I must be stressed from almost dying; a glass of water should calm me down." He approached the kitchen, took a pitcher, filled a glass, and drank.
"Believe me, the stress you feel now is nothing compared to what will come."
"PSH! "Who's there?!"" He spit the water upon hearing my voice and ran toward the table, picking up the object wrapped in cloth.
"It would not be a good idea to reveal myself."
"You better do this, I'm armed!" He removed the cloths from the object, revealing a gold-adorned short sword with a lion's face at the base.
"So, this is what you stole? A beautiful sword can be sold for a good price, probably enough for you to get out of here, no?"
"And?! You won't take that from me! If you want the gold this sword is worth, you'll have to take it from me!"
"Believe me, I could do that easily, but I'd rather not cause trouble."
"Seriously? So why don't you show up?"
"Because I don't want you screaming like a frightened child."
"GGGRRR! Who do you think I am? I don't know how you found my home, or how you know I stole this sword, but you better come out if you don't want to be cut to pieces!"
"Okay, then don't say I didn't warn you." I crawled from his body with a dark line linking us, stood behind him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"BOO!" I screamed in his ear.
"HOLLY SHIT!" He turned quickly, sword in hand, but his eyes strayed upward toward my face, having the expected reaction. In other words, he screamed like crazy.
"AAAHHH!" He threw the sword at me, but I leaned aside, letting the weapon embed itself in the wall.
"Calm down!" I tried to approach, however, he kept screaming.
"AAAHHH!"
"I just want to talk!"
"Stay away from me!" He threw a chair at me, but I leaned aside unnaturally, dodging it. It's not like I had any bones.
"This is getting annoying, I just want to talk!"
"And since when do SHADES talk? You will not steal my body!" He entered another room and locked the door behind him while I approached it and knocked lightly.
"Please let me in, I don't want to hurt you, but I need you to hear what I have to say."
"I will not fall for that, monster!" He shouted from the other side.
Monster? I looked at myself and saw my reflection in a window. Clenching my fists in irritation, I decided to end this.
"Enough! You will hear me, and it will be now!" I grabbed the door, my claws sinking into the old wood, and ripped it off its hinges.
Throwing it aside, I saw the young man on the floor, crawling away.
"HEL…"
I controlled his left arm, silencing him before he screamed more, and approached with part of my body returning into him through the line that connected us. In the end, only my torso stood outside, eye level with him.
"Listen to what I have to say, and listen well! I'll uncover your mouth, and you won't scream, do you understand?!"
The man nodded.
"Excellent."
I removed the from his mouth.
"HEL…"
Only to return it since trying to scream was the first thing he did.
"You are making my life difficult! Nevertheless, maybe it's partially my fault; I didn't present myself in the best light. My name is J... My name is J..."
What is my name? What was my name? Has it been that long? Come on! Think of a name!
"My name is Jekyll, and you? I will punch your face if you try to scream again." I removed my hand from his mouth and he whispered something.
"Could you repeat? I didn't understand."
I heard a murmur, but I still didn't understand.
"Come on! Say it louder!"
"Hyde! My name is Hyde!" He shouted without accepting my handshake.
"Well, Hyde, it's an honor to meet you, I know we didn't introduce ourselves in the best way. So how about we settle down and talk in the living room."
He nodded nervously and hurried from the room while I followed, noticing the quick glances at me. I shrugged, I can't help how I look.
I put the chairs thrown at me in place, stretched my arm, and removed the sword from the wall, placing it on top of the table, then I sat in a chair while Hyde sat in the other, his gaze shifting between the sword and me.
"Listen, if I wanted to harm you, I would have done it already." I sighed.
"And why should I believe in a SHADE?" Hyde asked.
"Because this SHADE is talking instead of killing you? And please don't call me a SHADE, that's offensive! I prefer the word G... Ges... Gestalt! Yes! This is the word! Gestalt!"
"Okay, so what does a SHA… Gestalt wants with me? I'm not that important."
"I need your help with something."
"HA! As if I would believe that! You're just waiting for the right moment to steal my body!"
"There is a problem with that."
"And what would it be?"
"I am already inside you." I cringed at how wrong that sounded.
"What?" He asked confused.
"Look at your legs."
"My legs?" He looked beneath the table and saw the dark line connecting us.
"What is that?!" He tried to move away from the line, but it stretched, following him, passing furniture as if it didn't exist.
"This is proof that we are connected, our bodies fused into one being."
"You mean I'm part SHADE now?!"
"Gestalt! And yes, you are. You don't need to thank me."
"And why should I thank you?! I'm a monster and it's all your fault!" He picked up the sword and pointed it at me.
"Calm down."
"Undo it now!"
"Let me explain."
"Now!"
"Okay, but don't forget you asked for it."
I cut our connection, separating our bodies. Hyde trembled and weakened immediately, dropping the sword as his legs gave up, falling to the ground while coughing blood.
I quickly returned to his body, healing his wounds before leaving and sitting down, the line connecting us again while he looked full of life now.
"What was that?" Hyde caught his breath and returned to his seat.
"This is what will happen if we get separated. Do you think it was a miracle that you survived that beating? It was me, I healed you and I am the one keeping you alive. If we part we will both die, though your death will come sooner than mine."
"Shit! Does that mean I'll be stuck with a SHADE for the rest of my life?"
"Gestalt! And no, that doesn't have to happen, but you'll have to help me."
"What?"
"Hyde, if you help me, we will both save all mankind."
"HAHAHA! A SHADE wanting to save humanity? You are crazy! SHADES only kill and destroy! I will not stand here and listen to your bullshit!" He stood up, wrapped the sword in cloth, and walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To sell this thing and get the hell out of this place!"
"I will go with you."
"No, you stay here!"
"You don't have a choice, where you go, I'll go too, except if you want to die."
Hyde grunted in irritation and slammed the door shut. Young people these days are always in a hurry. I changed shape and slid under it and back to Hyde's body.
"You're too hasty; you haven't heard what I have to say!"
"You are a SHADE, you can only lie!"
"Wow, that hurt!"
"I hope so!"
We walked through the poor area of Seafront, passing houses with clotheslines hanging from the windows, children playing with a small ball, and small shops and stalls here and there.
It wasn't that bad until we reached a specific street where people huddled in corners, covered from head to toe in fabric, some coughing, others scratching their bodies fervently, and others lying motionless on the ground.
Hyde walked this street towards his objective until one of these people stopped him.
"Would you have any alms to donate to this poor man?" The man lifted his head and I glimpsed his face covered in dark letter-like marks, he relapsed and wouldn't last long.
Hyde hesitated for a moment, looking around before taking a bronze coin from his pocket and handing it to the sick man.
"Thank you very much, sir!"
Hyde nodded and continued on his way. So he's not all bad.
"You know, I can help with that."
"What?"
"The disease that man has, curing this disease is part of my goal, but I need your help."
"You're lying; you're saying what I want to hear." Hyde stopped in front of a shop.
"What place is this?"
"That's where I'll get my ticket out of here."
He entered the building with a large wooden counter and shelves full of antiques. An old man stood behind the counter and smiled upon seeing Hyde.
"So, what did you bring me today?" The old man asked.
"Take a look at this." Hyde laid the sword on the counter, surprising the man who quickly analyzed the weapon.
"Seriously? Leaving this place is more important than curing the disease?"
"Black Scrawl is incurable and spreads more every day. I will move far away to a disease-free place with the sword's money."
"Hump! If it's money you want, I know where to get more." I caught his attention.
"How much?"
"Gold, more gold than you can carry. Will you listen if I show you where the gold is?"
"Let me hear what the old man has to say first. Hey old man! How much is the sword worth?"
"I would say, twenty gold coins."
"Only twenty?! I almost died for this thing! It must be worth more than that!" Hyde slammed his fists on the counter.
"Twenty and that is it, take it or leave it." The old man crossed his arms.
Frustrated, Hyde retrieved the sword and left the shop.
"That sword is worth a lot more, isn't it?"
"You can bet it is, the merchant I stole from was filthy rich, it certainly worth more!"
"Have you thought about my offer?"
"I accept, take me to the gold and I will hear what you have to say."
"You weren't genuine, there's a chance you won't do anything after getting the gold."
"And there's a chance you're lying to me."
"Fair."
We walked in silence for a few minutes.
"So, will you tell me where the gold is?"
"Will you help me?"
"FINE! I WILL HELP YOU!" Hyde screamed. Immediately, people in the street jumped at his outburst while he blushed in embarrassment and ran away.
"I'm glad you agreed, but we'll have to leave Seafront for that. You'd better take that sword, we'll encounter Gestalts on our way."
"I'm already regretting trusting you, and don't just call it a sword; call it by its name, Beastbain."
"You seem to have an interest in weapons."
"It's a hobby of mine, but enough talk, take me to the gold."
"If you insist, but better keep your end of the bargain."
"Same to you."
So we left Seafront, walking through green fields, seeing the occasional animals and Gestalt while I led Hyde to where the gold was.
-XXXXXX-
"What happened here?" Hyde asked.
"This is the result of a disaster that occurred millennia ago." I answered as we walked through the ruins of a modern 21st-century city.
We passed markets, office buildings, apartments, and much more, rusty cars rested in the streets while vegetation covered the infrastructure.
"And how do you know that?"
"I was there; I was a sci... a sci... I can't remember, my memory is not what it used to be."
"Then you must be quite old."
"More than you imagine."
We reached a large building with the letters on it faded, but still readable, Bank.
"We arrived."
"So this is where the gold is?"
"Yes, just enter and get it, but be careful of the ones you call SHADES."
"I know how to take care of myself."
We entered the bank and they arrived immediately, SHADES or Gestalts, call it what you want, their shapes distorted like humanoid smoke clouds. They charged with distorted screams, however, Hyde didn't act but shook afraid.
"Hyde! Don't just stand there!"
This snapped him out of his trance, and he swung his sword carelessly with a scream, cutting the first SHADE chest, and leaving a large bloody gash.
"How… how did I do that?" Hyde asked surprised.
"That would be thanks to me, not only did it heal you, but our fusion made us stronger. We are both superhuman now, so fight without worry."
My words encouraged him a little as the SHADE advanced again, swinging its arm, trying to hit his chest, but he crouched and slashed the SHADE's waist and chest again.
"HAHA! I did it!"
SLASH!
"How?" Hyde turned around, seeing a SHADE split in two on the ground.
"It was me." I left his body and reformed holding my ax.
"Do you have a weapon?"
"Yes, the Vile Axe, now focus on the fight, I won't be able to protect your back all the time."
A mad SHADE approached, raising both arms and trying to crush me.
"I am sorry." I moved away and raised my ax, slicing its arms off in a bloody spray, then decapitating it soon after, watching its body disappear in smoke.
Hyde fought another SHADE, slashing its shoulder, but the SHADE swung its arm while screaming in rage, hitting Hyde's chest and sending him rolling across the floor.
It tried to step on Hyde's head, but he rolled away and stood up, slashing the SHADE's leg and waist before it disappeared too.
Another SHADE jumped on top of a table and then towards me, but I swung my weapon like a bat, throwing it against a marble pillar and cutting off its head before it got up.
With it all over, I approached Hyde.
"Are you okay?"
Hyde glared at me with distrust but gave me a simple nod.
"So where is the gold?"
"There." I pointed to a vault door.
"Seriously? It will take years to open!"
"You are quick to jump to conclusions, approach the door, please."
"And now?" Hyde did as I said.
"Now I do my part." I returned to his body and controlled his arms.
"What are you doing?"
"Giving you a hand." I grabbed the edge of the vault's door and pulled it. It should be worn over time and easy to open with our strength.
Hyde looked at his arms, now dark and covered in yellow lines. Eventually, the vault door gave way and opened.
"How is this possible?" He asked surprised.
"This is what we can achieve if we work together, and as I promised, there's your gold."
His jaw dropped upon seeing the treasure in front of him, perfectly stacked gold bars, gleaming like the sun.
"What is all this gold doing here?"
"Money lost its value when the disaster struck. Gold is of no use when everyone is dying."
Hyde went silent before speaking again.
"You spoke the truth."
"Yes, now will you listen to me?"
"Yes, I will listen to any crazy shit you have to say." He smiled at the gold.
"Perfect! And Hyde?"
"Yes."
"Call me Jekyll."
"Fine, Jekyll."
END OF CHAPTER