“Is it just me,” an arachne questioned. “Or have they only been praying to vague titles such as Spirits of Eden or Gods of the Forests? I haven’t actually heard them speak a specific name of a deity in all our time here.”
“Me either,” a gremlin said with a raised eyebrow. “Are these bitches just praying to every god they can think of and hoping to get lucky? Who do they worship anyway? One god? Twelve? I tell you, they really are fucking idiots.”
“These little tree-humpers wouldn’t last a day out in the wastelands,” another agreed shaking her head. “I’ll admit, it’s gotten pretty crazy out there, but even I know there are no gods or spirits coming to help any of us. They never have, and they never will.”
“This isn’t the first groundquake I’ve been through,” an arachne boasted. “Granted, never had lava raining from the sky around me, but still, it’s not like this is the end of the world. Hell, if it was I’d probably be cheering.”
“Look at them shake,” a goblin snickered while hopping about. “So scared. So afraid. So stupid.”
“You were peeing yourself out there from this happening,” a gremlin laughed with a whack to the goblin’s head. “Don’t act so tough like those forest cunts always try to do.”
“Did not! Did not!” the goblin yelled flailing her arms at the monster. “You lie! You bitch! You lie!”
“You goblins are just as cowardly as the elves are,” an arachne sneered.
“At least the elves look tastier to eat,” another chuckled. “Not like horseshit as you goblins always do.”
The group of goblins unsheathed their daggers and started yelling at the spiders as they hopped about anxiously, with the gremlins laughing and holding their sides while the arachne purred in amusement while waving the enraged monsters to come at them. In front of the bickering monsters of The Sisterhood, paying no mind to those behind her as she hadn’t at all for the past five minutes, stood a witch whose patience for the frightened elves before her that cowered within their sanctuary was close to its end. Her hand clutched a staff at her side, its raven skull ornament on top bearing an ominous presence as she herself did, despite the colorful ribbons and gemstones hanging down from the bleached animal decoration. Her green gemstone focuser glowed softly in its mantle over her chest, her blue eyes having a similar haunting magical hue to them as they watched the elves from beneath her black witch’s hat that had skeletal hands holding onto the top. And her lips flinched in her scowl before she started walking forward in her black boots with her short violet skirt fluttering around her hips, with her dark cape flowing behind her while the other monsters of The Sisterhood halted as they saw her advance down the center aisle within the church.
“Alright, that’s enough!” Alice shouted, gaining the attention of all the elves who quickly turned to her apprehensively. “Are you done yet? Are you done wasting your time and breath with crying and whining for help that nobody is going to answer to?”
“We are not wasting our time!” the cleric shouted back. “We’re trying to save our people and our home! Look outside, you fool! The gods have-”
“What gods?” Alice demanded. “Who the fuck are you praying to? Who is going to come save you and your stupid forest? That bitch there, the one made of stone? Is she your messiah that you’re nauseatingly begging to come rescue you?”
“How dare you speak about Elywrnn the Divine like that!” another cleric scorned. “She was the emissary to the holy spirits that guarded our home, to the gods that bestowed bountiful crops and peaceful nights upon our people for generations, to the rulers of all-”
With a mighty scream Alice threw her staff through the air, sending it spiking through the head of the statue with its sharpened end where it cracked the marble with a loud crunch. All the elves gasped in shock before Alice waved her hands down at her sides, magical casting rings of violet and black light forming around her wrists as she slowly and strenuously lifted a hand up to clench the air with a snarl. The fractured head of the effigy shattered apart, an erratic split carved itself all the way down to the base, and the statue ruptured into debris which drew painful screams from the elves who stared in horror at the sight. The witch’s staff floated in the air and reoriented itself upright while the three clerics at the base of the destroyed monument broke down crying and holding their heads in anguish as the remains of the stature lay before them.
“Let’s get something clear here,” Alice said, waving her hand down and sending her staff down to impale the cleric in the middle through her shoulder down her side where it struck out through her rear. The elf cried out in agony as she clutched the relic and tried in vain to remove it, the others watching in fright as the woman was then lifted into the air by the levitating pole and brought high above the alter.
“The only gods you fucking elves should worship is The Sisterhood,” Alice scorned, slowly walking down the aisle while those in the benches quickly scooted away from her in fear. “The only ones who can guard you from anything are the new friends you have all around you. And the only ones who rule you are us. That should be painfully easy for you simpleminded whores to grasp seeing as we’re actually in front of you right now, we actually exist. I cannot fathom how you misguided creatures could remain so blissfully unaware of this fact even now when the truth is right in front of you.”
“Save us!” the wounded cleric shrieked while kicking her feet. “Elywrnn! Hovasteis! Malakka! Save us, I beg of you!”
“Okay,” an arachne simply said while she and her comrades watched the elf thrashing about with blood dropping from her feet. “We’re finally hearing some specific names from these people. Now we’re just missing context.”
The cleric screamed and struggled to free herself from the staff that held her up in the air, the woman fearfully looking from its raven skull ornament down to the witch who watched her with a chilling glare.
“The gods will not allow such sacrilege of my people!” the elf shouted at her. “They will not show you mercy for treating us like this! And you can’t spill fucking blood within the holy church, you goddamned monster!”
“You still don’t get it,” Alice argued with a shake of her head. Holding her hands up at the elf she clenched her fingers, causing the woman to suddenly scream in pain as she locked up with red marks appearing all over her skin. The elves watched in horror as Alice yanked one hand down, causing the floating cleric’s dress and also her skin to rip off her body and drop to the ground, coating the alter and her two sisters in blood while causing the children in the church to cry out in terror from the sight. The mutilated elf gave one last hoarse, tormented yell before she slowly fell limp, her body twitching a few times more while blood sprinkled down on the two shocked women below her.
“We’re your gods now,” Alice declared. She swung her other hand up, causing her staff to lift up out of the elf who promptly dropped to the ground with a splatter of blood, before the relic floated back down into the witch’s grasp. The crimson-soaked clerics covered their mouths while crying at the sight of their skinned sister before them, with the elves in the pews staring in shock at the body before turning to see Alice walking up towards the grieving ministers. They fearfully turned to her while dropping back onto their rears as she approached them, the witch’s cold, glowing blue eyes moving from one to the other before she faced the elves behind her.
“Do you all get it now? Do you understand this simple truth that I’m telling you? Your imaginary friends, or gods, whatever you want to call them, they’re not here! They’re not coming! The only ones you should be bowing to and begging to give you a better future is us!” Pausing for a moment she observed the elves silently watching her while holding their young close, all of them shaking in their seats as a loud tremor shook the building briefly amidst the witch’s echoing words in the hall.
“Fine,” Alice sighed. “Let me put this into words you morons can understand. Either you treat The Sisterhood as your new ‘gods’ and show us some proper respect, or we s
how you what real devils are capable of. How does that sound?”
Turning back to the blood-soaked clerics the witch raised an eyebrow in question, the two trembling elves turning their watery eyes from their skinned sister to the little monster as she awaited their answer.
“Will you bow to me?” Alice asked. “Or the rubble at your feet?”
The clerics slowly got up on their knees, hesitating as all eyes were on them now, and then bowed forward onto the ground with hands placed before them at the witch’s feet.
“Please… show us mercy,” one shakily forced out of her mouth.
“We beg of you. Save us,” the other wept. “Please… forgive us, my lady.”
“That’s more like it,” Alice cooed, gently petting the head of the elf who kept her eyes shut tight. “Now, get up, and lead your flock of frightened chickens out of this dusty old roost. It’s time we got moving. Everyone, follow your enlightened sisters and new friends to salvation. Come come, on your feet.”
The two women shakily stood up amidst the bloodied ground, heads remaining lowered as they averted their gazes from the smirking witch. Moving forward they ushered the rest of the elves to stand, the women and children reluctantly doing so as they all felt they weren’t in the presence of any divine gods but instead dreadful demons. Alice giggled while watching the clerics slowly walking down the aisle, passing elves who left their seats and followed after with heads hung low. As the crowd approached the monsters of The Sisterhood who were chuckling amongst themselves by the doors, one elven child stopped walking in the middle of the church, her green eyes distantly gazing down at the floor while her braided ponytail of fluffy blonde locks hung down against her tunic in front. The other elves halted and took notice of the young girl as she slowly turned to face Alice, the witch watching her with a curious smile and fingers lightly drumming along the staff she held at her side.
“No dilly dallying,” Alice said shaking her head. “Move along, child. Your goddess has spoken.”
“You’re not my goddess,” the girl stubbornly retorted. “I’ve prayed to the holy spirits all my life, the ones who blessed our land and our people, the ones who protected us from the likes of you. You’re nothing but a fucking demon.”
The elves gasped from her words while one woman quickly raced over and held onto her daughter, holding her close while fearfully shaking her head at the witch.
“Forgive her!” she pleaded. “She’s young, she doesn’t understand-”
“I do too understand!” the child screamed, thrashing free from her mother’s arms and stepping towards the witch who merely smirked at her words. “She’s nothing but a fucking murderer! The only offering we should give her is a load of horseshit!”
Alice giggled and shook her head in amusement at the young girl while the elves in back nervously watched in silence. With a heavy sigh the witch lifted her hand up, plucking the child off the ground with a magical force as the screaming girl was lifted into the air with kicking feet.
“Stupid girl,” Alice said as a violet and black casting ring formed around her outstretched hand. “You people just never learn, do you?”
The mother cried out in fright as she tried to grab her daughter, her efforts in vain as she was then brought down to her hands and knees with a magical casting base of violet and green light forming under her.
“No! Please don’t hurt her!” she screamed, watching in horror as her daughter was brought over in front of Alice and dropped to her knees before the witch. The child forced a brave expression, despite having tears clearly running down her cheeks, as Alice reached out and gently brushed her hair. The witch giggled and glanced over to the mother who was struggling to get up from her magical binds, then to the other elves who watched fearfully with the grunts of The Sisterhood, none of them daring to step forward in fear of what could happen to the young girl.
“Go ahead, child,” Alice urged with a cheery smile. “Beg your gods to come save you. Pray to them with all your might. Cry and cry some more if it will help. Go on. Do it.”
The elven child whimpered while trembling on her knees, her body unable to stand or run away as a magical force constricted her in place. She shut her eyes and started murmuring to herself, desperately praying for anyone to come rescue her while the witch chuckled at her efforts. Alice waited while casually running her fingers along the girl’s fluffy ponytail before showing a sympathetic smile at her.
“Well? I’m waiting. Are they going to smite me anytime today? Are they having trouble hearing your pleas? Speak up, maybe you have to cry louder for them to notice.”
She then held her hand out towards the child’s face, the young girl staring in terror as the casting ring around her wrist glowed softly with a quiet wail. Slowly black light began to swirl around her hand, forming into a hazy fog that then turned into dark skulls that circled in place with ghostly howls. The child began crying loudly and shaking her head while her mother was doing the same, the bound woman watching as her daughter was forced to stare down the witch’s magical power.
“Let this be a lesson to you,” Alice warned, her eyes giving off a chilling glow. “The Sisterhood are your gods now. You will worship us from now on. You will serve us from now on. And you, child, will be held accountable for your sacrilege against your new rulers.”
“Please don’t kill her!” the mother cried out with all her might. “I’m begging you!”
“Oh, no,” Alice answered shaking her head. “I’m not going to kill her.”
Without pause the witch flung one of the ghostly skulls she conjured past the child’s head, the young girl screaming and looking back to see the magical attack streaking through the air with a haunting wail before striking her mother. The skull hit the shrieking woman, vanishing from sight while letting off distorted trails of dark light that crackled all over the elf’s body and into the air around her. With one last scream the woman dropped to the ground, her skin now pale while her face was frozen in contorted agony. Her hair gently fell to the floor after being turned gray, her body appearing withered and dry, and her eyes now milky white with no signs of life left in them.
“MOM!” the child yelled in horror, eyes locked onto the dried-up cadaver that moment’s ago was her living mother. Her chin was then grabbed by Alice, her gaze forced back to meet the witch’s while the sounds of her people screaming and crying behind her didn’t go unnoticed.
“I told you before,” Alice scorned. “Either you worship us as the gods who can save you, or you will fear us as the devils who will make you suffer. And choose carefully, otherwise it won’t be just you that you cast into that unforgiving hell with your foolish words. Now, what do you have to say to me, brat?”
The child sobbed with a teary-eyed look of despair, her snivels and whimpers only drawing a frustrated grunt from the witch who held the young girl’s chin in place. After a few deep breaths the little elf choked back her sobs, tried to compose herself, and then promptly spat in the witch’s face.
“Fuck you!” she screamed loudly. “You goddamned murderer! I’ll never worship you! Never ever ever!”
Alice growled as she slowly wiped the spit off her face, her eyes shifting to her palm as she saw the elf’s disrespect on it before turning back to the child with a stern glare. Holding her hand out in front of the girl’s face she watched the child crying and glaring back at her while the ghostly skulls slowly circled her wrist.
“Well then,” Alice solemnly reasoned. “I guess I’m going to have to be the devil now, aren’t I?”
“The gods will smite you,” the child growled. “You’ll see. They’re going to be pissed for all that you’ve done and they’re going to come for you!”
“I’m sure they will. Too bad you’ll be long dead before they ever arrive.”
The elves cried out in protest as they were held back by The Sisterhood, all of them watching in fright as Alice was about to execute the young girl in front of them. The child closed her eyes and voiced a silent prayer to
find her mother in the underworld while one of the dark skulls slowly moved forward with a ghostly howl. Before anyone could make a move a sudden crash was heard as the circular stein glass window above the entrance was destroyed by something quickly passing through. Two loud screaming girls barreled through the shards of glass over the surprised monsters below before slamming into the pews with a powerful smash. Broken wood from the benches flew about from the impact while sand was thrown everywhere in a cloud that quickly reached all throughout the church and out the open windows in an enveloping cloud. The elves and monsters coughed and tried swatting away the floating dust while Alice backed up as she recalled her magic, the witch holding both hands over her mouth and choking on sand while the elven child before her had dropped down to the ground for cover from the sudden commotion.
“What the hell was that?” a gremlin spat out, waving her hands around in front of her to clear the drifting haze. A goblin tried to say something back but wasn’t able to as she coughed and hacked repeatedly while dropping to the ground.
“I can’t breathe,” a young elf whined, burying herself in her mother’s tunic as the woman was struggling to draw a proper breath while holding her daughter close.
“Goddammit, I can’t see anything,” an arachne complained with a few heavy coughs. She blindly stumbled over to the doors and opened them with a loud clang, with herself and the other monsters quickly running outside for air and to clear their vision.
“What was that?” an elf wheezed while wiping her face.
“Ew, my mouth is all sandy,” an elven child whined as she quickly wiped her tongue. “I can’t get it off.”
“Can we just get the fuck out of here already?” a gremlin asked as she brushed dust out of her fur. “This whole place is going straight to hell.”
“What was that, mama?” a young child said while spitting a few times.
“I… I’m not sure,” her mother replied, wiping sand from her face and trying to see properly again.
Chronicles of Eden - Act XII Page 15