This job wasn’t like any other he had taken on. So many people just dead. Missing person turned up dead in their own home. Another on the next day. He had been hired by the gym leader to look into the disappearances. The lucky ones had made it out of town already. Those left were going mad.
He could tell there was an uneasiness blanketing the whole place. Pressure squeezed against his head, muddied his thoughts his first day there. Having his Rockruff, Minnie, out helped. She kept his head on straight most days now.
She was currently assisting him with a report of a man that had been missing for a couple days now. His neighbors said that he was a habitual gardener, but they had not seen him outside for two days now. He isn’t much older than Looker. He didn’t have any family to go visit either. Very out of the norm to not see him outside his home.
Looker approaches the address. A few knocks on the door go unanswered. Minnie whines. Time to shoulder open the door. An easy task for him now. The door swings open completely and he takes a step in to observe the condition of the home.
“Hello? Sorry about your door. I’m a detective. Your neighbors asked me to check on you.”
No answer. Time to investigate.
The interior of the home is a mess. A table pushed over. A vase broken. All the doors on the cabinets thrown open. Signs of a struggle... Minnie makes a long growl on the other side of the room. He looks to see what she found. The poor fellow is face down in the living room. He pulls on gloves to examine the fallen to see if he’s still with him. Leans down. Checks eyes, cloudy. Not breathing. No pulse. He’s gone.
He checks for injuries. No abrasions, bruising, nor bleeding on most of him. Only his hands are beaten up. Nothing under the nails. No assailant. He makes some notes in his journal and pulls his gloves off to make a phone call.
“It’s Looker. We have another one. Send the medical examiner.”
He pockets his phone. Minnie yips, looking back to the entrance to the house. There was someone approaching. Person or Pokemon... he did not know. None of the local enforcement was nearby enough to be here this quickly. The figure stepped through the door. A Heracross.
OK but it is *messed up* that Dracula was directing the ship via the Big Bad Wolf method while the poor captain’s body was left flopping around on the helm
“Sometimes what’s dead must be burned away to make room for new life. Sometimes you just have to step back and let the brittle bits ignite - but once those flames begin to dance their caustic dance, don’t you dare look the other way. Don’t close your eyes. Watch closely and let that image seer itself forever on your mind. Remember what it looked like in the midst of the soot, the smoke, and the haze. Remember, so you don’t repeat the same conditions that required such a blaze.”
-
I wanted to push myself with this one since I hadn’t drawn Achim in a while. So I thought to myself ‘why not create a particle system entirely in After Effects?’
[Warning: This contains mentions of suicide, death, blood and other sensitive topics.]
Pink rushed out from the ultimate singers stomach. She long passed from a blow to the head yet ended up slumped out of a glass window pane. Her killer made their escape knowing all yet screamed nothing.
Footsteps clammered to a halt in front of the dead student. Her flame red and orange highlighted hair was revenant.
A clack of the door's lock echoes. The door squeaked. The suited boy picked up the deceased body in a two arm carry before walking away. The deceased open eyes developed a red hue.
All was silent. The remaining class where out far away. Giving him as much time he needed from luck.
*
Patched up, embalmed and dressed, the suited boy put her in one of the compartments of a dead body freezer. He went and cleaned himself then the scene.
The suited boy heard a ruckus from the morgue. It's only been a few days since his manufactured unsolved case took effect. All that's left for him is finishing up preparations for Kido to be put to rest. He heard banging from inside the morgue.
Growing suspicions he slowed his steps; the banging had stopped. Creaking open the door he found Kido's body laying on the ground. Kido's hair was now gray with white highlights. Her skin was paler than snow.
The teen's eyes widened watching Kido move. This can't be! She was dead! Now she was alive again! Impossible!... Right?
The teen's awe and shock didn't waver. He was standing there. Watching his friend come back to the living. He opened the door to handle this new situation.
He picked up Kido gently placing her back on the panel for support.
"I'm going to get a few things." He went of to do so.
Kido sat where she was waiting. Her hearing had started to return. She remembered his voice to a T.
"I'm back," The boy announced putting the items down beside her, "Now hold still. Okay?"
Kido couldn't respond in usual ways. She kept herself stiffly still as an agreement. He took off adhesive, steel spiked contacts, cutting threads, removing needles. No pain shot through Kido's new form.
Kido sees him now. She tried to speak only for death rattling groans reached out. Her murky eyes looked right in his. Her purple lips curved up. She couldn't say his name or her questions.
His warm hands graced Kido's cold face. She rested a cheek in one of his hands.
Oops it has been a while since I posted anything...
I have a few things that are done or mostly done but life is extremely busy. On the plus side I'm writing more again so I might be able to post a bit more. I have a little excerpt for an OC of mine. (surprise surprise... I'm writing OC stuff again...) As always, I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading.
Liz, the younger twin sister to Link, has been waiting for her brother to come back home. When he takes longer then they expected, Liz goes to look for her brother. She finds him.
Characters: Liz (Original Character,)Mentions of Link (Legend of Zelda)
General Tags: Grief, Crying, Angst, Determination, Pulling the Master Sword, Faries are Friends, WIP, (Excerpt From a Major Project)
Warnings: Death of Sibling, Finding a Body, Burns, (technically) Suicidal Thoughts,Semi-Grafic Depiction of Blood, Semi-Grafic Depiction of Burns
~~~
Liz came to a clearing, the fairy that had been leading the way flying off as the fog around them cleared. Her vision adjusted and she took in the sight around her. Dense forest and foliage, a stone platform with the Master Sword still in it’s pedestal, a temple of sorts with--
“LINK!” A scream ripped itself from her throat as her eyes landed on her brother. He had been pinned to the stony wall of the temple by his shoulder with a spear, blood had dripped down his front and down the wall, pooling at his feet. A lot of it looked dry…
Liz ran to her brother, frantic and desperate, digging blindly in her bag for her bottled fairy. She foregoes the search for a moment in favor of just getting him down. She places one hand flat against the wall under his arm that isn’t pinned and uses the other to rip the spear from the wall, using all the strength from her days on the ranch. It takes some time but it eventually comes free.
He falls onto her and she drops the spear in favor of catching him, gently lowering him to the ground, resting his head on her knees. She digs in her bag again for a fairy, trying to ignore how cold he was, how much dried blood there was, how likely it was that the fairies could do noth--
Liz pulled the cork on the bottle, “Please, please heal him. Help him please. He’s the hero. He’s my brother,” She begged the fairy with a shaking and cracking voice. The little fairy fluttered around his head for a minute gently settling on his forehead for a minute, no magic being used. Liz’s heart sank, “Please…” Tears started to form and she started to shake.
The fairy sensing her distress fluttered up to her and circled her, trying to find the source of her pain, not sure what to heal. In response Liz just leaned over her brother’s form and cradled his head, sobbing fully now. She rocked gently as she cried, a prayer in ancient Hylian spilling from her lips as she hiccuped and sobbed.
She stayed like that for a while, sobbing and repeating her prayer until her voice was raw and her tears were dry. She could hear the chime of the fairies again. There were more of them, as if the one she had asked for help had brought more. Wouldn’t surprise her, she and her brother always attracted fairies. Except for when it mattered it seemed.
Light caught her eye and Liz turned slightly. The Master Sword was sitting in its pedestal just a few steps away. ‘Link must have been ambushed, there would have been no other way that the sword would have been untouched.’ Liz thought bitterly. ‘The cowards must have pinned him there and left him for dead, it wasn’t even a truly fatal wound! He must have been there for days!’ A dry sob shook through her frame
Her eyes widened as something clicked in her head. ‘Hyrule is in more danger than ever. Without the hero… The kingdom will fall, and the rest of the world is likely to follow. I can’t have failed my brother like this can I?’ Liz closed her eyes and took a breath. An idea slowly taking form in her head. She planted a kiss on her brother’s forehead, laying him on the ground fully as she stood. ‘I’m his twin so the world will have to settle for second best.’
Liz stepped up to the Master Sword, stories of people being burned or struck down for trying to draw the sword without the Hero’s Spirit came to the front of her mind but she pushed them back. ‘Either I join my brother, or I fight for Hyrule. I refuse to be a bystander to a massacre!’
Liz wrapped her hands around the hilt of the blade. She would not back down. Not without ensuring Hyrules safety or seeing her brother again. So many lives were at stake and despite her pain she couldn’t stand idle and let others go through what she is experiencing.
Liz began to pull. The heat was barely noticeable at first but the sword didn’t give. ‘Please…’ She thought at nothing and no one in particular.
Wind started to pick up through the clearing, the fairies taking shelter in the trees and bushes. Her hands started to sting but she just gripped the hilt of the blade tighter. Liz ignored the steadily growing pain in her hands, pulling at the unmoving blade.
‘I will fight with or without this sword.’
Teeth grit together as the burning feeling became distracting. Liz almost let go of the hilt but just readjusted her grip and continued to pull, her hands sliding on the hilt slightly and her muscles screamed at her to stop. The wind in the clearing was beginning to shake branches of the trees and her hair was coming loose from its ponytail.
‘I can’t stand by and let that murderer continue to tear this kingdom apart!’
With a flash of blinding white-blue light Liz stumbled back and fell, her back hitting the stone behind her and a metallic sound rang out next to her. She blinked the spots in her vision away, the clearing coming back into view.
In front of her was the empty pedestal where the Master Sword once stood. Fairies started to come out of the bushes and flutter back around her. She finally looked away from the empty pedestal when she felt a fairy land on her right hand. There were blistering burns on her palms and fingers, her hands shaking and bleeding. The warmth of magic spread across her hands and they healed in moments. Calluses and scars littering her hands.
In her left hand though, resting gently in her grip and against the stone was the very sword she just burned and bled for. The very sword that was supposed to be in her brother’s hands. She had drawn the Master Sword, despite not being The Hero.
Emotion crashed into her again. Pain, the most prominent, the loss of her twin still heavy on her heart and the thought of continuing this fight without him hurting in a way she never wanted to think about. Confusion, strong and disorienting, how was she supposed to help save Hyrule? She knew how to use a sword, yes, but she didn’t know where to begin with the fight against the Dark Wizard himself. A flash of fear crossed her mind, she could die, not just that, but she could fail. There was a goal now and she couldn’t give up.
Determination, Hope, and grief, were the ones that settled in her mind. Liz knew that she had to find a way to save Hyrule. She refused to give up without a fight. She had the Master Sword, she had a chance. Even if this chance belonged to her brother.
Down in her lab she was intrigued by the gentle knocks on her heavy oaken door. She shot a glance to her familiar; a bloated thing that oozed with each undulation of its lower segment. With a dutiful gurgle it slithered away. Awaiting its return she washed the viscera from her hands and dried them upon the thick burlap apron that guarded her front from any unfortunate spasms and releases. Her familiar returned empty-handed and motioned for her to follow. Her curiosity further peaked she obliged the detestable creature, being sure to not sully her boots in his maligned bile
The most curious thing awaited her on the other side of that door. A corpse. Standing and swaying with eyes white as pearls. The skin of this cadaver was free of any blemish. She reached out a hand and opened its maw. Tendons snapping and ligaments tearing at her inspection. All teeth perfectly white and uniform. She pushed a hand through the hair that still fell in strands and not clumps. A fine specimen to be sure; but this is not one she had conjured or sewn together. The creature moaned softly and tore at the flesh upon its chest. Peeling away layer after layer of waxy skin and glistening red muscle. Nestled inside the abdomen of this grisly ghoul was a small red bag where the heart had once pumped the life blood through it. With squelching and cracking of bones it reached inside the cavity and held out the bag for her to take. With an eyebrow raised she gingerly accepted the offering. The bag leaving the monsters grip it all at once felt the ravages of time and decayed away to ash. A gentle wind cleaned her doorstep as she closed the door and headed to her study.
Setting down in a leather bound chair she inspected the bag carefully. A golden drawstring held it shut. Pulling upon the rope the bag fell open and she held in her palm two objects. A vial that glowed with some arcane secret and wailed softly as she eyed it. The other a note sealed with corpse wax and an insignia she vaguely recognized. Cracking the seal she read the contents.
“Dearest Olivia,
For too long have I gazed upon this empty parchment searching in vain for the words for which to best describe to you the feelings I have held secret. Time and fortune do not favor the meek so I now call upon a muse to write in passing words that I can hope will capture your radiance if only in fraction. Your beauty is like that of a freshly buried corpse. Your auburn hair more entrancing than that of the most supple muscle. Your emerald eyes have captured my soul Olivia. In your hand will be a small part of that soul Olivia. I dare not sign my name to this letter in fear of tarnishing our friendship. But, if by some chance, you dane to know the foolish writer of this confession you need only break the vial upon the ground and I will be summoned to you in that instant. Please do not think of me any less for keeping my feelings secret nor my identity. If your feelings do not align with mine then I am comforted by the fact that our platonic relationship can stand. Olivia, greatest necromancer of any generation, I await your untimely summon.
Utterly Enraptured,
Secret Admirer.”
Olivia’s skin flushed and her heart pounded with each word. It was then she recalled the insignia's owner. Pensively her eyes fell on the soul-filled vial. A lump caught in her chest as her mind raced. She too had been afraid. She banished her familiar from the room and locked the door. Clutching the vial she cast it upon the ground as a thick smog filled the room. As it cleared a figure cloaked in purple robes and holding a gnarled scepter stood in the center of the study softly lit by the fireplace. Olivia rushed over and embraced the figure as a gentle laugh escaped the pair. Pushing back the hood Olivia looked deeply into her periwinkle eyes and brushed back a loose strand of midnight black hair.
“Happy anniversary Olivia.” The robe figure spoke.
“Happy anniversary Beatrice.” She responded as the light of the fire died away “Where did you even find that old thing?”
“Do you want me to explain time magic?”
“Only because it’s a special occasion.”
Beatrice’s eyes lit up and the two spent the rest of the evening in the warm glow of the embers.