Enigmatic Fantasies - The Last Game

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            He took one final deep breath as the scent of blood, dirt, and steel invaded his senses. It was a comfortably familiar smell, and the same was true of the roar of the bloodthirsty crowd. Part of him would almost miss these sensations, almost. But he had better things to do than be wistful. Today was the day, his last time entering these games. He had spilled so much blood, seen so many horrors, and survived injuries he never thought possible, and all of that would finally come to a blissful end.

            He had done his time. Ten grueling years had come and gone. In hindsight, the time seemed to fly by, but if he had said that to his past self, he’d probably lose his remaining teeth. But enough hypotheticals. It was time for the main event, himself vs...well, “The Main Event.” He’d never actually seen the event with his own eyes before. Prisoners weren’t allowed to, it was supposed to be a surprise. They didn’t even know whether those lucky few who made it this far actually succeeded and were set free. Who could say? He certainly couldn’t.

            He clutched his weapon eagerly as he checked every crease and buckle on his armor one last time. Everything was in place, nothing was amiss, there would be no chances taken, only victory. He grinned, excited at the prospect of the games for the first time. Maybe he was setting himself up for disappointment. He didn’t even know what he was getting into this time, but honestly, he didn’t care. Today was the day he’d finally be free, one way or another…

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When you come to the final step, it almost seems too easy, too effortless. So much stress and heartache to reach this point and now it'll all be over, because one way or another it has too end right now. And maybe, you just don't know how to feel about that.

Author's Note: I had an image in mind for "The Main Event" but embarrassingly, I couldn't find the original and frankly it's best left to the imagination.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.

Night of One Hundred Horrors - Didn't...

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            They shouldn’t have come back to this place, but what choice did they have? Most people knew better than to wander the woods at night, but they were never the smartest trio. That’s how they found this place, they weren’t sure what to call it. A decrepit house? Ruins? An unearthly place? Whatever this was, they definitely shouldn’t have stolen from it, and now they were dangerously close to paying the price.

            “We shouldn’t be back here, we should leave, we should run,” Jay insisted. His favorite jersey was ripped, and his pants fared no better. He was sweating bullets and breathing heavily.

            “We don’t have a choice, Jay,” Stacy put her foot down. She threw off her prized yellow jacket, realizing it wasn’t worth salvaging. It fell apart at the seams when it hit the ground. “We can’t go home, and I’m sure as hell not spending the rest of my life running.”

            “How do we even know this is going to fix things?” Mary asked as she kicked off her shredded shoes. It was honestly better to go barefoot at this point than pretend they were doing anything to protect her feet.

            “We don’t, that’s my problem,” Jay snapped. “The next town’s only an hour hike away. We can get a taxi or something and ride away.”

            “And then what? I told you I’m not running anymore, and what if this follows us wherever we go? Do you want that on your conscience too?” Stacy pointed out. “No, I don’t know if this will fix anything, but I’m at least going to try. Gary won’t even get the luxury of a choice now.”

            “That was his own damn fault,” Jay argued.

            “No, it wasn’t!” Mary screamed. “He didn’t even want to be here. You two were the ones who pushed us to be here.”

            “You’re the one who took the stupid thing!” Jay got in her face.

            “I didn’t…” Mary stumbled over her words.

            “Enough fighting,” Stacy shut them both up. “We don’t have time to get at each other’s throats. Let’s try to fix this, and if that fails, then fight till the end of the world for all I care.” The other two looked at her in silence before nodding and continuing on their way. They were so very close, maybe this horrible thing would be over soon.

            Stacy took the lead as they marched into a familiar part of the wood, right at the edge of that place. That place where this all started. It didn’t look any different than before. However, the mildly creepy vibe they got from before had evolved into a malevolent aura that seeped into every inch of the surroundings. Not only were they unwelcome and considered intruders, but they were enemies of whatever force or entity resided here. Wishfully, they thought it might be their imagination or nerves from this stressful day, but after seeing what happened to Gary, they knew better than to be wishful.

            “It wasn’t far in, right? You found it right through that door-ish thing, right?” Stacy asked.

            “Yeah, and I have it right here,” Mary patted a small bag at her side.

            “Shit,” Jay’s eyes went wide as dinner plates. “Stacy, move it—!” He didn’t even have time to finish his sentence. Stacy already felt its presence and began to scream. In a snap decision, Jay grabbed Mary and threw her forward. The small girl tumbled across the ground. She intended to look back to see what was happening, but thought better of it and crawled forward as fast as she could.

            “Right ahead, right ahead,” Mary pulled herself through the not-door and stopped to catch her breath. That thing she took belonged to this room. If Stacy was right, she could drop the thing right where she found it, and this whole nightmare would be over.

            “Too close…” Jay stumbled into the room after her. He was even worse off than before and simply collapsed onto the wall.

            “Jay! Where’s Stacy?” Mary asked in a panic.

            “She’s gone, Mary…” Jay managed to let out before going limp.

            “Oh God, oh God,” Mary scrambled to her feet, a sickening feeling in her stomach, and her head going light. Her hands shook as she held the bag containing the thing. That pedestal or shelf she took it from was no more than a foot in front of her, but it was taking all her willpower not to burst into tears and collapse into a hysterical fit.

            Then she felt it, it was not far behind. It had already taken Gary and Stacy. Jay was on his last legs if he was lucky, and she’d be next. The adrenaline kicking in, she reached into her bag and grabbed the thing. She tried to pull it out, but the only thing she could see herself doing right now was throwing up.

            “I brought it back, I brought it back, please stop, no more,” Mary pleaded. She felt it again, it was right on top of her, or at least it felt that way. She pulled out the thing, it looked almost like a doll, but not quite. That’s what drew her in initially, that idle curiosity that got them in this mess. “Please, spare us, we don’t want to die,” she reached to put it on the not-pedestal.

            Another feeling went up her back, it was like a message, or more likely a warning. At first, she felt a brief calm amid the horror, but then that malicious feeling returned in a new, twisted form. It didn’t want to kill her, not anymore at least. However, that didn’t make her feel any better. In fact, it scared her even more. The realization hit like a ton of bricks as she broke out into tears, it didn’t want to kill her, it didn’t want to kill her, it didn’t want to kill her…

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When you make mistakes and errors, even out of ignorance, it is best to rectify them as soon as possible instead of running away. 

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.

Maid in Fantasy - Water, Water, Never Again

Story Hub: [link] 

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            Caenia hated water. Well, that was a gross simplification of the real problem, but the long and short of it was that she really hated everything about water. It wasn’t always like that. The beach used to be her favorite place in the world. But now, as the maid looked out the window of one of the royal family’s many coastal mansions, she couldn’t help but grimace at the stormy weather and the waves down below. It made Caenia think of “her,” and thinking of her made all those bitter, disgusting emotions swell.

            “How long can one girl take in the bathroom?” Caenia tried to get her mind back on work. The second princess, whose name still wasn’t worth mentioning (“seriously, who names their kid that?”), was currently locked in the bathroom. Not sick or anything, just a regular trip to the bathroom that had taken over 40 minutes. Normally, the maid would start thinking there was a problem, but she could still hear her ward moving around in there, so thankfully, the princess hadn’t managed to flush herself down the toilet (that’d be more of a Princess Irene move). Unfortunately, with so little to do and no concerns to distract her, Caenia’s mind would wander back to the window, to the storm outside, and the ocean so close by. And then, she’d think of “her,” and this whole cycle would start anew.

            Caenia turned towards the princess’s vanity and caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the mirror. She had certainly cleaned herself up since those not-so-distant days of self-exile on the streets of the old city. Her hair was well-kept and brushed, her clothes were neat and ironed, her posture was perfect, and she even started using a little makeup again. But a small part of her old self still gnawed at her, telling her she could do so much better, that she’s so much more beautiful than this.

            That small part of her missed taking pride in her appearance as well as her strength, but now all that mattered to her was the latter. What good was all that beauty for after dealing with Irene? What was the point in prettying herself up for people who didn’t actually care? Well, she did relish all those perks she got for buddying up with all the high nobles. Lord did she miss those fancy baths, they made her feel as fresh as a newborn baby. But that circled back to caring about her appearance, which she only did for the people who didn’t actually care about her. And again, baths meant water, and water meant “her.”

            With the mirror doing no favors for her sour mood, Caenia turned back towards the window, back to looking at the rain, back to looking at the ocean, back to looking at “her.” She clenched her fist, trying to control her anger. When it came to “her,” it wasn’t like dealing with other nobles. Ze was just an adrenaline junky, Herme was nothing more than an absent-minded professor, Aré was full of herself, and Aphros was a moron. And oh, how Caenia hated Aphros. It almost made her laugh when she heard Serena complain about the blonde idiot. Serena thinks she hates Aphros, but she had no idea what it truly meant to hate someone. The best part was that Aphros was so much of a moron that you could insult her to her face, and she would refuse to comment.

            The problem with Aphros was that she was always plotting something stupid in the background, so even though she’s a moron, you could never let your guard down around her lest you get roped into something ridiculous. But unlike Aphros, when it came to “her,” all bets were off. She wasn’t looking for thrills, she wasn’t an airhead, she wasn’t blinded by her pride, nor was she stupid. She was perfect. And not “perfect” like how the Queen was, no, the Queen scared the hell out of Caenia. The Queen was the kind of person who read you like a book with a single glance, then pretended like she didn’t know the first thing about you. But “her,” she could figure you out quickly, too, but she took her time to really understand you before making any moves. She always knew the right thing to say, she was always two steps ahead of you, she was unflappable, and she was perfection. And once upon a time, Caenia wanted to be just like her.

            “So why?” Caenia clenched her hand harder until her nails dug so deeply into her palms that they started to bleed, “Why didn’t you help me?” That was the problem with “her,” she was just like the ocean. Beautiful, majestic, mysterious, and absolutely ruthless. And just like all the other nobles, when Caenia needed her most, she wasn’t there. Ze at least tried to help, Herme was oblivious, Aré thought it was beneath her to help, and Aphros had the nerve to scold the maid. But “her,” she didn’t even give an excuse at the time, because she wasn’t even there. And when Caenia reached out to her, desperate for help, she received no reply. Caenia wished she could declare her hatred for the woman, say all the same nasty things she’d say to the other nobles. But she couldn’t, because she was afraid of “her.” She couldn’t face her, she couldn’t mock her, she couldn’t even glare in her direction. But most of all, Caenia was scared to find out the real reason.     

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If you're afraid of the truth, you'll never be able to face reality, and if you can't face reality then don't look in the mirror.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.