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year 5, quarter 3
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Prompto should have expected this, should have expected for them to be trapped in some sinister-looking mansion — "really?" he wailed, clearly not liking this — with probably a single end goal in mind: to turn them into whatever they turned the previous visitors into and they first started out by trapping them within these haunted walls.
There is nothing else for them to look forward to but forward itself.
With his weapon already drawn and secure in his hand, Prompto made his way towards the only other way out: a single closed door in front of them. Before he knew it, the door swung open violently, smacking loudly against the wall. The boy flinched, slapping his hand over his mouth to muffle his frightful yelp.
What would Iggy do? he asked himself, taking careful steps towards their only other exit in the room. Prompto took a peek inside, noting that the staircase led into a place filled with shadows. He switched on his torchlight attached to his vest, even he knew that it wouldn't be enough but some light was still better than nothing.
"We need more light," is all he says as soon as he turns to them, hoping that they do have brighter light sources than his own. "Any of you guys have some?"
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
The first thing Celes noticed was the smell. As soon as the door swung open, it wafted out to greet them in a noxious wave, and Celes nearly gagged where she stood. With a brief, doubting glance at Caius, Celes sighed. Unpleasant or not, they had a job to do. Though what that job was she still wasn’t entirely clear about.
”Thanks, Terra.” Celes steeled herself against the revulsion rising in her throat as she started forward. The air was worse inside. Stale and fetid and damp, Celes could taste the rot on her tongue even as she determinedly refused to breathe through her nose. A shaft of moonlight revealed the silhouette of a kitchen long abandoned. There was an old stove, a collection of dusted pots, and out on the counter….
”Oh.” Celes touched her mouth in disgust. The counter was laden with what might have once been food but now more accurately resembled a kind of chunky black slime. Whatever had happened here, it had happened suddenly and without warning.
There was a creak behind them and Celes jumped as the door slid shut. The moonlight faded to a mere sliver and then was lost, leaving them in abject darkness.
”Really?” The blonde boy -- Prompto -- said it before she could. Celes let out a slow breath. They should have expected this, really. Should have propped open the door to keep it from being blown about by the wind. Now they stuck in darkness as thick as the smell, and without a way to lessen either.
”We’ll just need to prop it open,” Celes started. ”It was probably just the-”
BOOM
”Eek!” Celes leaped back from the sudden and violent crash in front of them. Her heart was racing in the dark, her hands outstretched and threaded together for a spell. She waited, tense and ready, but nothing came. Nothing but…
Laughter. Celes shivered at the sound. Or was it breathing? Just the wind? Celes closed her eyes in the darkness and tried to steady herself. It was just the sounds of an old house creaking from its age. Nothing more. And yet, in that brief moment, she could have sworn she’d heard…
A wicked face painted in stark colors, twisted in cackling laughter.
There was a click and the room was lit in shadows. ”We need more light.” Prompto was standing across the room, peering at an open door leading to darkness. There was a small lamp attached to his chest, giving off a weak but helpful glow. ”Any of you guys have some?”
”I…” Celes took a steadying breath. There was nothing in the room with them. Just must, rot, and things long forgotten. ”Terra and I can use magic. She’s better with fire, but I know it.” With that said, she rethreaded her fingers, muttered the spell, and felt the awakenings of magicite in her blood. Ifrit, lend me your aid.
A small flame cradled in her palm. It wasn’t much more light than the boy’s lamp gave, but it was something at least and two sources of it were distinctly better than one. She glanced at Prompto before looking about the room again. To one side, there was a door that was caved in as though kicked with pieces of itself littering the floor. To the other was a gaping maw of darkness leading vaguely down. Prompto was lurking around that one.
”I suppose going down is as good a place to start as any.” Celes spoke without really believing it. There was something about that staircase that made her want to bolt in the other direction. ”If we’re here to investigate then we might as well check everywhere.”
She glanced to Caius and Terra, trying her best to hide the nerves that set her body alight like electricity. ”What do you think?”
The door didn't seem all that eager to open but it creaked and cracked and protested in it's own way all the way through. It seemed that Terra had managed to open the way for them after all. "Nicely done, Rydia" Caius would remark, continuing to tease his little green friend concerning their original misunderstanding just because it was funny to see her reactions.
As the group walked in though, it seemed the door had decided it would shut for real this time, slamming behind them and no doubt frightening some of their number. Caius, a bit paranoid, did dart his head behind him but kept an edge of calm when he realized it was just the door. Prompto started wailing as though they were trapped or something, and Caius would move to the door and pull.
Locked.
Well, it was no big deal. Worst case scenario he could break it down. Then as they moved, another door would violently move and slam, and Caius would jerk his head toward it, but didn't cry out as Celes did. Taking a deep breath, he kept thinking they might be under attack... But it was just doors.
"We'd best keep heading forward. It seems to be our only way" Caius would remark as the group would keep moving. Though the smell was nothing he was happy about, he'd been through worse. Then the room fell into darkness, and Prompto and Celes would lament needing more light. Caius would casually cast a fire spell as well, his palm emitting a fireball that he would keep lit over it to try and provide some light to the room. When they hit a crossroads, it came time to decide where to go next.
"I think..." Caius trailed off. "That this haunted house might be host to a few..."
Caius turned to the group with his face taking a terrifying shape, holding the flame in front of his face.
Chuckling a bit, Caius shook his head. "Nah, we're probably fine. Might as well try downstairs. The answers to these haunted house mysteries always seem to be downstairs."
Things only seemed to get better and better! The rotten foul smell that permeated the house made Terra want to throw up her hands and say 'Nope! I'm done! I'm out!' but the more she thought about it....the less fair it would seem to the others if she backed out because of a bad smell. Terra took to taking shallow breaths through her mouth finding that the taste of the air was only slightly better than the smell, it still made her want to gag and nope out. As soon as the darkness engulfed everyone, Terra with barely any effort calls upon her magic a bright ball of flame manifesting above the palm of her right hand. Father....light may your spirit light our path and conquer the darkness before us. Terra thought as she listened to the others talk.
Terra looked curiously at the device that seemed to emit light from no where, she couldn't sense Prompto using magic and yet he was producing light from one small spot on his chest....she would need to ask about that later. Terra started to examine their surroundings more closely in the light offered by her fire, She now understood why the home smelled so rancid, just the sight made her gag. "T-this is....s-sickening...W-who would leave this place in this state?" Terra says trying her best NOT to breath, this place gave her the creeps. even the thought of her time under the slave crown was more comforting to the young Esper than this place and that thought sent a chill down Terra's spine. The general atmosphere of the mansion coupled with the oppressive darkness seemed choking to Terra, the only comforts to her being the presence of Celes who was arguably her best friend and Caius who...still hadn't stopped calling her Rydia and not Rydia, it was beyond annoying but she knew that deep down he meant no harm in it.
Terra let out a yelp as the door to the basement once more slammed itself open as if trying to draw the groups attention, Something wanted them to go down there but Terra didn't think it was a good idea to follow the mansions will. Terra had just started to calm herself down taking a few breaths when Caius decided he wanted to stir the pot, trying to be funny talking about how the mansion was host to ghosts. Terra let out a startled squeak, Ghosts weren't real were they? Had she seen ghosts before? Terra turned to Celes latching onto her friends arm with vice like strength. "C-celes Ghosts aren't real are they? C-caius is just trying to scare us right?" Terra said seemingly begging Celes to agree with her fearing that the seasoned general would agree with Caius instead of her. Caius confirmed her deepest fear....they NEEDED to go downstairs, into the creepy basement. "O-okay.....b-but if there are any b-bugs I'm burning the place down!" Terra says still clinging to Celes for comfort.
Thus it was decided upon; they would venture into the depths of the basement. The cobwebs hung about as if they were the embodiment of the dense air itself as they walked down the flight of stairs, each creaking and craning as though about to snap in two at the next footfall. With the dim-light provided them by the use of the flashlight, and Fire spells, the foursome would see a cellar. Three of the four walls including the one they had just descended would be aligned with wine bottles. Upon further look they could, if they wished, see the caliber of such vintages, but the steps from the top of the stairs may stray them of such ventures.
Creak. The first stair sounds as if a high heel has descended upon it after the cellar door slams to a shut behind them. Creak. The first stair snaps and crumbles to the floor. Creak. The sound of a foot hits the second and so on and so forth until the phantom footsteps come to the basement landing. The stairs have been destroyed as if something three times their weight had stepped on them. The foursome are trapped down here.
Gently a breath stirs behind each of the four behind their left ear. "Mommy is gonna be so upset you're down here." The bottles on the walls burst spraying the wine about. The four hear a sound from the corner. A squeak. A snarl. Their illumination would identify a hoard of mice a total of twelve thick in the corner next to the only wall not adorned by wine racks. These aren't just rats though. Their eyes are wide eyed almost popping from the sockets. White blinded eyes would be what bulged from those sockets as blood pulsed in their veins. They sniff. They know blood is near. They lunge in their multitude. It's been so long since they've fed on flesh.
With every step they took, the stairs creak beneath them; it is a clear indication of the sheer lack of maintenance. It comes to no surprise to Prompto at all, considering that nobody knows what happened behind their disappearance. Naturally, when no one could explain anything, people feared the unknown so they stayed away. Prompto was pretty sure that it was the same case for this place.
There was a thought lingering in his mind: if a whole household of them could disappear so easily, what about just... four of them?
As soon as he heard a foreign voice speaking to him from behind, Prompto whirled around to face the source of it, only to find that there is a hoard of white-eyed rats headed in their direction and from their movements alone, Prompto could tell that they were thirsty for blood.
Since his gun was already brandished, he barely had time to tell the rest to shield their eyes before he fires a shot in the air, equipped with a special sort of bullet: one that emits light. It would provide a distraction for them, enough for everyone else to land a hit if they can.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Much to her displeasure, it seemed everyone agreed to search the basement. Caius certainly did at any rate and the other two didn’t protest. Caius lit a fire in his hand before pausing thoughtfully. ”I think. That this house might be host to a few…” He held the flame beneath his chin, casting his cheeks in underlit shadows. ”Ghooooosts!”
Celes gave him a look. A long, hard, incredulous look through half-lidded eyes. ”Really.” She eyed him humorlessly before Terra had attached herself to Celes’ arm and they both swayed unsteadily on the heels of their boots.
"C-celes! Ghosts aren't real, are they? C-caius is just trying to scare us, right?" Terra’s fingers dug into Celes’ arm so hard she swore she’d bruise the next day, and Celes could do nothing but shoot Caius the sharpest look she could manage while half-tackled and holding a handful of fire.
”Was that really necessary?” she spat at him, but he was already chuckling under his breath.
”Nah, we're probably fine. Might as well try downstairs. The answers to these haunted house mysteries always seem to be downstairs."
”See, Terra? It’s nothing,” Celes added as she continued to glare daggers at Caius. Terra still hadn’t let go of her arm.
”O-okay.....b-but if there are any b-bugs I'm burning the place down!" Terra’s voice was still quivering. Celes cast her a cautious look.
”Please don’t,” she said. ”We’re inside after all. I’d rather not die if I can help it.” Celes suppressed a sigh, and instead only cast an uncertain glance to Caius who she hoped would support her. This place was certainly packed with bugs from the walls to the floorboards to the cracks in the ceiling. If their survival depended on Terra staying clear of them then they were all doomed.
The blonde boy, Prompto, was already starting down the stairs and Celes supposed they should follow. She glanced at Terra warily before leading her after them. While Terra might feel more comfortable in the back, it was probably best that they stay in the middle so she wouldn’t be startled by anything from behind. She tried to keep her voice steady as they started carefully down groaning steps, listening to the sound of Prompto’s boots only a few paces before them.
”Actually, I think that Sabin said something about seeing ghosts once. I wouldn’t put much faith into it except that Cyan agreed and they both said that Shadow would have too if he ever bothered talking. Some kind of haunted train, I think? They said it was headed towards the afterlife…” Celes didn’t know why she was telling them this except that it helped to drown out the sounds of creaking wood. She didn’t know why, but it made her hair stand on end. Maybe it was getting colder? ”But even then, I doubt it would be anything to worry about,” she went on, stepping carefully as she went so as not to twist her ankle in the darkness. ”I mean, if Sabin could handle himself then that means they’re not immune to punching at least.”
Her feet found even ground and she stepped forward, looking around through the dim light. She couldn’t see far, but they appeared to be in some kind of wine cellar. Nothing particularly interesting, though Celes noted the frenzied legs of a spider ducking for cover behind a dusted bottle as their firelight reached it. No, it seemed they’d find nothing down here but bottles, dust, and insects, at least until-
CREAK
Celes jumped and spun around, expecting to see Caius at the stairs, but no. He was already standing beside her. She glanced between him and the stairs, already reaching for her sword. ”What was tha-?”
BOOM
Celes stiffened at the sudden explosion of sound above them. She couldn’t tell what the source was, but her sword was already in front of her, waiting for whatever had followed them down. There was another creak after it and then a second crash of traumatized and shattered wood. Celes backed away from the stairs, staying instinctively in front of Terra as she waited for the monstrous, looming thing to emerge from the darkness.
It never did. As the cellar finally faded to silence they were left with nothing but shadows and a staircase that, upon closer inspection, seemed to be completely collapsed. ”How…?” Celes stared at the ruined stairs -- their only course of retreat. ”What…?”
”Mommy is gonna be so upset you're down here."
The voice came from nowhere, a whisper on wind directly behind her. Celes spun around, eyes darting, fingers tense. What was that? Where-? Was someone there?
The bottles exploded. There was no cause for them. No obvious culprit. They all just exploded like short-fusing circuits in a dying mech. Celes heard herself cry out in alarm, felt her hands fly up in a flinch, heard the rushing of spilled wine onto the floor as it splashed about her boots. Then there came a snarl from the opposite corner.
What now? Celes honestly wasn’t expecting to see anything there. After everything that had already happened, what else would try to play tricks on her? But no. This at least she could see, and if she could see it, she could fight it. She felt her fingers steady as she turned towards the horde of writhing, bloodshot rats that was already rushing towards them.
This she could handle.
There was a pop as Prompto fired a gun into the air. A flare. It lit the room instantly, and suddenly Celes wondered what she’d been so afraid of. Without all the shadows and the darkness, there was only a bare wine cellar covered in grime, and only a multitude of rats rushing towards them. Celes let out a steadying breath as she brought her fingers together. ”Blizzara,” her spell came as a whisper. The air chilled, cracked, and then burst in a sudden freeze that jutted into the approaching wave of no doubt plague-ridden rodents. With her spell cast, Celes steadied her sword again, ready to take any that might reach her before suddenly freezing in realization.
They were in a confined space. Without escape. Surrounded by wood and loose alcohol.
”Don’t use fire!” she called to Terra. ”It might kill us all!”
"C-celes Ghosts aren't real are they? C-caius is just trying to scare us right?"
”Was that really necessary?”
”Nah, we're probably fine. Might as well try downstairs. The answers to these haunted house mysteries always seem to be downstairs."
”See, Terra? It’s nothing,”
”O-okay.....b-but if there are any b-bugs I'm burning the place down!"
”Please don’t. We’re inside after all. I’d rather not die if I can help it.”
"Wait, what" Came from Caius when Terra would threaten to burn the place down as his head darted toward Terra. Right, she could use fire magic... And seemed to specialize in as such too. And considering her personality… No he didn’t put it past her to stop caring if she killed them all. So when Celes started talking about ghosts right after she bitched at him for it…
”Actually, I think that Sabin said something about seeing ghosts once. I wouldn’t put much faith into it except that Cyan agreed and they both said that Shadow would have too if he ever bothered talking. Some kind of haunted train, I think? They said it was headed towards the afterlife…”
Caius just turned to glare at Celes long and hard as she went on and on. “Really” Caius responded. “Was that really necessary?” He parroted her earlier statement. If she was going to rail on him for scaring Terra -before- he knew about her likelihood to kill them all, Celes doing it -after- had absolutely no excuse. Especially as she had known Terra far longer. Sure he’d acted irrationally but she was just flat out trying to get them killed! The Glaive let out a sigh as they continued to move, the wood creaking leaving him uneasy but he steeled forth.
“You” He spoke then toward Prompto, having turned his attention to him instead hoping that without attention, Celes would cease her continuing to antagonize the green-haired death-bringer. “I recognize you, I just realized. You’re Prompto Argentum, aren’t you? Crownsguard and retainer to King Noctis?” He asked. “We worked together. I joined the Kingsglaive at the end of the Ten Years Of Darkness, when the King returned and stormed Insomnia. I was a hunter that came to Insomnia to keep the demons at bay. I was brought into the Kingsglaive by His Majesty and joined the assault on Insomnia. I suppose you’re what Aranea meant by looking for His Majesty’s retinue. We’ll have to discuss this further once we’re out of here. I don’t know if you’re up to speed, but the Chancellor has found his way into this world. The Dragoon and I have been trying to find His Majesty and his retinue in hopes of stopping him before he hurts anybody else” He added. He could admit to some relief upon finding Crownsguard Argentum… Though he looked… Different. But this was definitely Prompto. It had to be Prompto. But Aranea looked… Odd as well. This was the second person from his world that looked younger than they should be. With Aranea he capped it to good genetics. But twice? Now he was suspicious.
Of course he had no clue that Prompto had no idea what Caius was talking about.
“But I do have to ask…” He trailed off, giving Prompto a puzzled look. “There are four of you, aren’t there? Where is His Majesty?”
Before Caius could question Prompto further though, the sound of wood snapping and crumbling could be heard and Caius would look behind him to see that they were now trapped down here. Or not?
"Don't worry about it" Caius would respond to it, holding up a hand as he'd gone completely back into all-business mode by now. "Prompto knows my abilities well enough to know I can likely ferry us back and forth out the door from here if I aim it right."
Caius knew the group needed comforting. He knew how important morale was, even if he'd scared them purposely for shiggles before. It had always been his intention to get them back on track and comfort them if need be... Caius didn't tend to leave a plan unfinished, after all.
"Mommy is gonna be so upset you're down here."
Caius stopped dead. That wasn't the voice of anyone here. The bottles on the walls would suddenly begin to burst, spraying the wine all about. The squeak, and then the snarl that accompanied it would awaken Caius' battling instincts. All caution went to the wind though, the second that he could see what was coming for them. He recognized what Prompto was firing when he shot it and knew to close his eyes just long enough. The Prompto he had known had used the same kind of weapon. He knew the timing. As soon as the proper time to open his eyes came though, Caius' eyes were completely different. They were stone cold, icy, unforgivingly freezing cold as Caius would point the blade at the mice, and opened fire. The shotgun-like blast would rocket toward the group of mice and Caius hoped to kill multiple as he reloaded, using some of his energy to fuel the blast as he would aim and fire again, over and over again.
This was not the cautious Caius, this was the Caius that would not stop firing until his enemies were dead. He could tell he was being hunted... He could tell that they were out for blood. And Caius' survival instincts were going to make sure that he was the one that survived this no matter what. His eyes showed absolute paranoia, as he fired recklessly, and yet precisely at the same time.
Prompto's flare went off. The room lit showing the startled faces of the four. A scream and a ghastly laugh . Darkness again. The white light of an ice spell lit the room once more. And then there were three.
The Blizzara spell had its intended affect: the rats froze into place at the spells touch. Almost as quickly as the spell came, the blasts of the guns shattered the rats to bits causing their chunks to spread across the floor. As the magic of the spell wore off, their blood began to pool with the wine on the floor. But where had the rats come from?
In the aftermath, a trapdoor lay open and inviting near the remaining three. A rope ladder leads into the dark. After the three climb into the dark pit, the ladder is thrown in after them as if someone had been standing in the cellar with them. The walls are a smooth stone and none The torches aligning the wall burst alive in flames. An altar lies in the middle of the room with a single inscription carved into it:
The key exists inside your head use the key to paint me red but be aware of what you spurn for what was taken shall be returned
The gunman felt the familiar chill of a Blizzard spell and soon, the rats were all frozen into place. Thankfully, his starshell had brought them enough time and light for Caius to fire his gun at them, killing them instantly. His shots also the wine barrels; wine spilt forth from them, mingling with the blood all over the ground. The smell of iron hit his nose immediately and he couldn't not help but wrinkle his nose in disgust.
"Normally, I'd say that we celebrate by eating something dead but," he paused for a moment, remembering those eye-white filled with madness. "We're not out of the woods yet."
The first part of the riddle that captured Prompto's attention was the mere mention of "paint me red". He took a look around to see whether there was any red paint but alas, there were none. He continued to read the rest of the riddle, possible answers already fluttering through his head like butterflies and once he was done, he gulped.
"Blood," he breathed out. There was such a thing as blood money — one life taken for another's whose life already had been taken; he had seen in those shows Noctis and him would watch whenever they decided it was a good day to procrastinate on their homework – "Horrendous homework," Prompto had remarked – and they'd have to pay back for the time lost by rushing their work later.
Back to the problem at hand.
He highly doubted that the three of them would want to use their own blood for this. He did not have a knife and he was not willing to use his gun just to shoot himself and render him useless. If they still had at least one rat with them, they could have used their blood already spilt instead of their own but the moment the ladder had been tossed in after them, Prompto knew there was no way out.
"Anyone got a knife?" he asked, turning to the other two. "I think... we need to offer our blood. Not all of us, just one of us."
