Alma's Dreams (are Default) [An Eldritch Thriller]

"You escaped my mind fruit much quicker than I thought you would. Bravo." Marie's voice cut through the frigid air like a blade piercing her skull. "Have I ever told you how they work? The mind fruit? My staff here has an inscription written in Aklo. One of the ancient religious languages passed onto us by Lady Macha. I had no doubt in my mind a former Sister of the scarlet cloth could escape the hallowed magic it imbues into my staff. One who easily embraces the madness rather than wars with it, like yourself. Something that could never be said of our enemies."

"Marie!" called Zulema. "Show yourself!"

"Why, I have been standing here the entire time, Zulie." Marie's voice came from behind Zulema, causing the glacial priestess to spin around clumsily and almost falling on her butt. "You're the one that's been hiding all this time. Attempting to avoid a righteous judgment."

The priestess who stood before Zulema was anything but the friend she knew and loved. This was the Scarlet Sister, clad in golden armor beneath a holy scapular of divine insanity. Her expression still an enigma behind her gilded mask. And this was no longer an illusion.

"Marie… It's really you this time." Zulema, in a momentary lapse of logic, almost reached toward her old Sister-in-arms. "You… don't seem to be in a position to be convinced of my devotion. You never were, were you?"

The Scarlet Sister pressed a hand to her chest. Her staff jingled at the slight movement. "I fought for you, Zulie. I really did. But I'm afraid these orders came down directly from Mother Fool. My hands are tied."

"You spoke with Mother Fool…?" Zula breathed a haughty chuckle, her eyes focusing at nothing in particular. "I suppose it really is over for me then, isn't it? I can't imagine that to have been a pleasant conversation. I've heard some terrifying stories about her."

"I'm afraid they're all true, Zulie." Marie reached up and removed her mask, revealing a beautifully familiar face that had almost made Zulema scream. Marie's eyes had been horrifically burned away. What remained were two empty sockets marred with scorch marks. "I was blinded by my belief in you, and so that blindness was burned away to reveal only the truth."

"Dear Goddess…! What have they done to you, Marie? This was my fault? I-I'm so sorry!"

"You couldn't have known, dear. Besides, it no longer matters. Don't you see, Zulie? This was a blessing. I am closer to our Lady than I ever have been before."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Zulema noticed the trembling in Marie's arms. Not from fear, but from something else.

The priestess placed the mask back on her face with rapt attention, the sockets of her eyes had gone wide and feverish. Her voice cracked into a near-sob. "This was not a punishment, but an ascension. I have been chosen specifically for this special task of excising the rot from our order."

Zulema gripped the icy handle forming in her hand as she materialized the double-bladed scythe from her mental battle earlier. "You know as well as I do that you can't beat me in a physical fight, Marie. The mind fruit failed and your thaumaturgy only works if I let you get close enough. And I have already made it clear that I refuse to just lay down and die."

"Oh?" Marie let out a sort of dry sounding giggle. "Aren't you the least bit curious about how the fruit ended up in your hand?"

"I—" Zula paused. Her mind raced back to the moment before she first caught sight of Marie. There was a strange moment in the forest when the wind picked up and had cut straight through the path in front of her. What was it that had almost sliced right through her? The wind picked up again, forcing the priestess to instinctively dodge whatever it was that rushed at her. Was Marie hiding some sort of artifact? But she hadn't moved at all. Zulema pushed past the Scarlet Sister and fled through the frozen forest back toward Derleth's base. Another burst of air struck the end of Zulema's weapon, cleanly slicing off one of its blades. The pressure had almost caused her to tumble forward. From behind, she could hear Marie's staff as she approached.

"Running away, Zulie? How uncharacteristically cowardly of you. Weren't you just boasting about being a better fighter than me?"

"You're not alone. Who else is with you?"

"Did you think I would come to fight you alone? I'm not the only one you abandoned, Zulie."

"What—?" Another rush of wind zoomed toward her. This time, Zulema spun her scythe in front of her, bracing for impact. The sudden collision hit much harder than she was expecting, sending the priestess sliding backwards through the snow. When the white powder blocking her vision had cleared, she attempted to choke something out but her voice had caught in her throat. "I-It can't be…"

What had struck Zulema hadn't simply been a weapon, but something akin to a creature. A malformed being that could barely be considered human. It crawled on all fours on unnaturally bent limbs that forced it to move like some sort of spider. A clawed weapon was tied to each hand, undoubtably the sharp object that had shattered one end of her scythe earlier. Its body was covered in torn black robes barely tied to the beast with the rough, twisted fibers of an old, thick rope. Numerous ragged, brown strands of hair ran down the front of its face, completely hiding its eyes from view. How the thing was able to move so precisely was anyone's guess.

Its jagged maw opened slowly and the chill air filled with the guttural grunts of a mindless beast. Animalistic growling that came out in a pitifully familiar voice.

"Lucy…?" The priestess brought a trembling hand to her lips. "What have they done to you…?"