Seras little snippet thread

Hey, uh… You alright?" I looked up from the small puddle of blood I had been staring at. Watching as the plip plop of blood rippled it.

"Great." I groaned out, my voice came out in a croak. Then slowly my head fell forward and I was back to staring at the puddle of blood between my legs.

"Your nose is bleeding."

"Yeah."

A hand grabbed my arm gently, and tilted my head backwards.

"Here, keep your head back. That's it." I didn't know the guy. I think he was one of the upstairs renters?

Either way, he tilted my head back, and the quiet plop plop of blood dripping out of my nose stopped.

Everything hurt.

Strange symbols, and words filled my mind. Memories not my own. Actions that I had never performed, I'm sure I could confidently do them felt like it had been tattooed into my brain.

I was gently pulled to my feet and half carried back across the street to the Apartments.

"You get punched by them or something?" He asked me, but I was too confused to really be able to answer.

Eventually I was carried over to the little grilling area of the apartment. It was a cute little indented area with a few grills and some crappy concrete seating all around it.

I was settled in, and surrounded, but I pretty much just slumped into the chair staring up at the sky…

"That's not right." I mumbled and no one really responded until I pointed up.

Across the Night's Sky, it wasn't.

"What is it?" He asked looking up and then down.

"Look at the stars." I mumbled, and finally one of them gasped, started shaking and then ran away into their apartment..

Yeah I felt like that too.

"I don't get it?" A man asked. I looked up and met his eyes.

"We're surrounded by lights, and yet you can see every star… Also the moon is wrong." I told him, and that had everyone looking up.

Yep.

That wasn't the moon. Not ours anyways. The Moon was wrong. Different. The craters weren't right.

"What the hell is going on!?" A man suddenly yelled out, in anger at just how strange everything was.

I sat and just listened. Conversations going on all around me, but I couldn't really concentrate enough to take part.

My head hurt.

"-Cars don't run."

Ah, the cars don't work either. Great.

"No reception, calls don't go through."

I nodded at that. If the sky was different, maybe the satellites were gone too.

Also the world was just different. There were long stretches between the next apartment complex when it used to be just a few feet away.

But then why did we have power?

I tilted my head forward a bit. "How are the lights on?" I asked and everyone stilled and one of the men called out.

"I don't know! They aren't hooked up to anything!" He walked over to one of the lights drilled into the side of the apartment complex, but it wasn't anymore. It had been damaged months ago and never fixed. He grabbed it and just pulled it off, and then…

There weren't any wires or anything. The moment it was free of the building it turned off, and then he just put it back on, and it turned back on…

"Fuck physics." I decided because this shit simply no longer made sense.

With that I stood up, wobbled a bit but felt better and headed inside. I needed to wash my face now that my nose wasn't bleeding and I should probably eat?

Luna curled around my ankles as I entered and I without thinking, tried the kitchen sink…

And water came out?

I went back to the shower and that just didn't work…

"What the fuck?" I moaned, because a shower would have really helped me out here.

I washed my face in the kitchen sink and felt a lot better for it after, but honestly. I just had no idea what was going on.

The world had suddenly changed. Fundamentally. Was 1+1 still 2?

Or was it three now?

Was Gravity the same?

Lights turned on without electricity. Cars don't work. Floating messages giving me information. Skeletons walking under their own power.

Man. This sucked.

"Meow!" Luna called and I looked at her, as she made demands of me. Ah, her water was out. I refilled the little bowl, and because that got me moving I didn't sit back down.

I had… Magic? The way my brain was filled with Eldritch knowledge, I'm pretty sure I had magic…

Fuck I hope I didn't start growing eyeballs on the inside of my skull or some shit. Shaking off that idea I headed back outside.

The boys had been carried off by now. I wasn't sure what they were going to do, but at least they weren't just laying out on the concrete. But the bones of their killer was still there. I noticed the weapon was gone, but that was fine. I walked over and took a breath. A felt it. A twist of something my chest, a warmth echoing from my heart that ran cold as it flowed down my arm. Then bitterly cold, and even colder at my fingers as I pointed.

"RISE" I croaked out, and I shivered, because while I had meant to say that, it hadn't actually been that word that came out of my throat. The freezing cold flowed from my fingers at the word and suddenly the dark flames that had burned in the eyes of the Skeleton before re-lit. The bones cracked and splintered and the skull repaired itself.

And it stood up. I was a bit distracted with what I had just done so the screams of horror from the people around me were annoying, but not really properly registering.

Because it felt like I had just grown a third arm.

I shivered rubbing my arms at the cold feeling of touching something, without actually touching it.

"Go stand over there." I demanded and the Skeleton turned and walked a bit off the residence, not quite onto the street, but far enough away people would hopefully calm down.

The screams were still there, but slowly people calmed when it didn't attack me.

Yep. That was… Really uncomfortable.

But I had just Raised the Dead and had a fucking Skeleton under my command.

I looked at my little Character sheet thing.

[Victoria Steel]
[Level 1]

Skills: Necromancy (Novice): Level 1

I had a skill now.

I took a breath and let it out.

"Anyone got that sword thing it was carrying earlier?" I called out, and suddenly I was swarmed.

"What just happened? Why did it get back up?"

"Are you okay?"

"Was that you!?"

I flinched at all the questions and rubbed my head. I still had a headache, and I didn't really like talking to people normally. So I raised my hands and people eventually quieted.

"Listen. I have no idea what's going on any more than you do. I'm just… Trying things. I think more of the Skeletons are going to come out of the graveyard tomorrow. If you touch the fence it shows a timer. So I'm just… Trying not to die." I answered honestly and people looked even more terrified than before.

I rubbed my head. Watching as some people slowly edged around the Skeleton, and approached the fence to touch it.

"You okay?" I looked up seeing the same guy that had helped me out earlier.

"I'm… Alive?"

"Yeah." He chuckled, but then he started to look me over. Before I could get self conscious I realized he wasn't checking me out. "You aren't tired… Like the rest of us. That weight and stuff. It's not bothering you."

"No." I agreed, having noticed it in every person. Hunched shoulders, and almost stomping steps. "The Light… When I touched it I got a notification from the little… Screen thing. I'm level 1, and the weight basically disappeared. I feel normal… Ish. Stronger than I was at least."

He nodded. "It makes you stronger?"

"Yeah."
"Then we need more. Especially if more of those things are coming out… What?" He started asking while pointing at the Skeleton that was just standing there.

"When I killed the second one. There was a book… It gave me a skill, now I can raise them myself. I think… I think I'm going to fight." I muttered. This whole thing scared me. I was hurting, and confused, but survival took priority, and I'd just seen three strong Mexican boys cut to pieces by one Skeleton.

I had to do something instead of just crying myself to sleep in my bed while hugging Luna.

I didn't notice that he left too distracted by my thoughts until he came back holding a familiar weapon.

"Here."

"Oh… Thanks." I muttered, taking it and walking over to the Skeleton. It looked to me, more at my will than on its own and I offered the blade. "Take this."

A moment later it took the blade and seemed capable of using it.

"What, what are you doing?" A voice called out, and I looked over to see the nice Grandmother across the way. Looking at me, and the Skeleton with a look of horror.

"I…"

"You shouldn't be doing this! This is the work of the Devil! Those, those things killed my Mijo! Look around you!" She yelled out and everyone focused on her as she screamed. "This is devilry! The Rapture has taken us!" She screamed out, crying and I winced.

Yeeeeah. I really didn't want to touch on that one. If this was the Rapture and everything was different because the Christian Bible was right, then that meant we were the ones left behind.

Pretty sure bet on my hand to be fair. I'm not religious, so I'd definitely be left behind, but I get the feeling she was.

I was so taken aback at her words that I almost didn't say anything. It would be better if I didn't. I should just ignore her, go do my own thing. I didn't need this.

But… I had just killed a monster. I had taken a sword and killed things and dammit if it didn't bring some catharsis to my shitty life.

So fuck it.

"No." I growled out, but I looked away from the old woman. I didn't want to be angry at her. But I was going to tell the people here exactly what I was going to do!

"I don't know what the hell is happening! I don't know why everything is going crazy, but I'll tell you what I'm not going to do! I'm not going to run into my apartment and hide and pretend people didn't just die! That monsters aren't right across the street!" I roared, pointing.

People backed away from me, and my yelling, which was fair. I was holding a sword.

But I wasn't trying to scare people. I took a breath. "I'm going into that Graveyard if I can. I'm going to try and find out what is going on. So far killing the Skeletons gave off the little white lights, and that made me stronger! The little message thing said it leveled me up. And I'm not tired like you all are! So I'm going to go fucking do something! This is my life! I won't be a passive fucking participant!"

I roared the last bit, letting out the emotional feelings of how shitty everything was in one shout and then I stood there panting and just. Let it out in a sigh. I stood up and nodded at them all, turning around I marched to the Graveyard.

Now… Now I had to figure out… Can I go into the Graveyard? I walked down the way, my Skeleton following me, and some of the people from the complex following at a distant pace.

The gate was a massive hulking gothic thing. Ornate and protected by two large gargoyles on each side.

I took a breath and reached to touch the gate, and I got another little notification!

[Graveyard of the Endless Tide. Difficulty: Impossible]
[Enter?]

"Yes." The gate made a noise of ancient iron on iron and it slowly swung open.

This was stupid. Why was I doing this? I looked to my side where a Skeleton stood.

Right. Because nothing made sense, and I wanted to find out more, and also not die to the next Skeleton I faced.

I stepped in, and instantly shivered. It felt like I just walked through cold water. A faint light rippled out at my entrance, and everyone outside looked scared, but when nothing happened I relaxed. That had almost looked like a forcefield, or something.

"Okay. I'll… Try this out." I told the people that hadn't followed me inside, and turned around. The Graveyard had a light fog over it, and between the completely disjointed arrangement of Gravestones it lent the place a really eldritch feel. My hand grabbed my sword tightly as I marched to the first Skeleton I could see that was on its own.

"Attack!" I demanded and my Skeleton charged forward. The other only reacted as it got close and suddenly charged back and the two clashed. Neither weapon was really effective. Both were blades and while they cracked bones as they struck there wasn't anything to cut. I waited until it was distracted and dropped my sword right onto its head, and it was surprisingly easy.

The skull caved in and then it was over.

I waited to see if anything was different but… It was just the same.The small white light was there. I reached out and touched it, instantly I hissed at the pain. The light flowed up my arm and then I jerked and shivered like something had run over my grave.

I checked my little menu and nodded.

[Victoria Steel]
[Level 2]

Skills: Necromancy (Novice) Level 1

Yep. I had leveled again. I felt… Good. Like I could breathe easier. Like I had energy and I wasn't as tired.

Then I looked at the second Skeleton… "Okay, let's try this again. RISE." I demanded pointing and then nearly folded as it felt like someone had knocked the air out of my lungs.

I don't know how long I was crumpled into a heap, but I could hear the shouting from the entrance of the graveyard and I looked up.

It took a minute, but they weren't shouting a warning, just wondering if I was okay.

Alright. Good to know. I think I had a limit on how many Skeletons I could control.

The second one was there. That cold foreign limb in my mind was connected but it felt like taking a punch from Mike Tyson when it connected.

I wasn't going to be able to do that again.

Rising up on shaky legs I looked at the two.

Skeleton 1 was looking a bit beat up, but Skeleton 2, was fresh… Could I heal them?

I sort of tested my knowledge of raising Skeletons, taking a moment to actually think about it, but just drew a blank.

Could I raise them if they break again? I shook it off, good question but something I'll have to learn on the go.

"Alright! Next one!" I demanded and the two Skeletons turned to charge after another lone Skeleton I could see walking in the fog.

I watched as the two Skeletons attacked, and this time it wasn't even a fight. The two working together smashed the poor one Skeleton into the ground and beat on him until it was dead.

I didn't even need to do anything! I walked over and touched the White Light and shivered as the burn ran up my arm.

Okay. Feeling a bit safer now, I started heading not to just kill the next Skeleton but towards the Castle-Mausoleum thing.

Two more Skeletons died before we reached there, and each time I grabbed the little white light. Slowly I got closer and closer, and as I did the fog grew denser, and I felt like everything became more and more oppressive.

Finally under my feet wasn't dirt and old dried crabgrass, but stone. More and more stone tiles started appearing, until I stepped up a step and then another stone step up towards a slight elevated area around the entrance.

I reached the top, two Skeletons with me and relaxed as I didn't see anything. I took a moment to look up and stare at the massive door that was twenty or more feet tall and loomed over me. I pressed on. Hesitating and pushing my hand against the door, it swung open without even an ounce of effort on silent hinges.

"Skeletons. You go first." I demanded quickly and the two walked in, and I watched the tiny light from their eye flames enter into the darkness.

Instantly lights appeared inside. Torches lit up with dark flame very similar to the Skeletons eyes, and then…

Oh.

A knight in dark armor stood in the path. Then suddenly behind its visors it lit up in the same dark greenish light.

It drew a heavy mace from its side and that was about when I got the feeling I was in serious danger.

I didn't even need to give an order to the Skeletons, the Knight started charging towards me, and they reacted.

For all of a second one of them attacked, blade shrieking off the dark plate before it was shattered. Killed? Un-animated? In a single blow. As the bones were simply crushed.

I turned and ran.

I knew I was going to die if I stood there.

What could I do? Run out of the Graveyard? I heard the crashing of steel on stone and ran harder.

Would it be able to get out? Was I dragging the monster straight towards all the people at the Apartments?

Those thoughts ran through my mind, but they didn't stop me from fleeing as fast as I could towards the gates.

Maybe if I got them shut, it wouldn't follow? The other Skeletons didn't seem to get out of the fence.

I ran harder and faster than I ever had in my life, but I could hear through the sound of my heart beating in my ears the thuds of steel boots hitting stone. And then hitting dirt.

I ran harder.

Everything I had. My sword was lost in the scramble. I had to run.

I saw the gate through the fog, and despite my breath getting heavy I ran harder.

Some of the people were still milling around outside. The one guy that had been nice to me, and some of the others, they all started reacting to my approach. I could see the horror in their eyes. The look of terror.

It only made me run harder.

"SHUT IT!" I screamed just before I made it to the gates and thankfully it was still open a tiny bit I burned right through. And turned.

The Knight slammed not into the gates, but that shield I had seen before and bounced back a ripple of color where it had struck spread out until it disappeared. Then it simply stopped.

But I could tell. He was glaring at me. A hatred directed at me, that was endless in its desire to kill me.

I was gasping for air, shaking and terrified when it finally turned around and simply marched back.

I watched it all the way until it disappeared into the Fog, and then waited even longer until I saw a faint form go into the Castle, and the massive doors closing once more.

I didn't react to the questions. I couldn't.

That… That had almost been the end.