A deep silence filled the room. Not one of the three people present dared to move. The only sound came from the creature's labored breaths.
No, not a creature. Her son, Matin. Her dearest Matin.
Marianne stood between him, and the young man aiming his weapon at his head. She had a lythment of her own but dared not raise it as that would surely encourage Dean to take his shot. Still, she wouldn't move. Not after everything she had sacrificed. She had come too far to lose it all now.
Matin was and always would be, a good boy. Since the day he was born, she cared for him and nurtured him, putting everything she had into raising him. He would be the one to bring glory to their house. Something she could never have done, simply because she had been born a woman. Yet she only ever needed to give him a small push here and there. Even from a very young age, Matin pushed himself to the absolute limit to meet her expectations. No, he often went far beyond them. His own expectations for himself far outpacing hers.
She wondered if it was because of his father's death. She wasn't sure as she had been wrestling with her own grief at the time, but ever since that day, he had never stopped working hard and had never once complained or stopped smiling. Once or twice she had even asked him to take time to rest, but he would simply smile at her and say he was fine.
And fine was what she believed he was. Perhaps it was simply in his nature to work relentlessly hard. It wasn't until the academy entrance exams that everything began to fall apart. It was then that Matin experienced failure for the first time.
Believing it best to keep him close, Marianne sent him to take examinations at the imperial capital's academy. The barrier to entry was high, given that the imperial family themselves enrolled their children there, but she was confident Matin was up to the challenge.
She should have noticed the issues sooner, but she had an entire province to run and rarely visited the academy. When she did, Matin would smile and tell her everything was alright. He was a little paler and thinner than usual, but she simply fed him better while she was there and dismissed it as typical exam stress. She would reward him with a holiday and an enormous feast when he passed, she had promised herself.
When Matin returned with a failing grade, Marianne was so shocked she could neither chastise nor console him. Matin wordlessly returned to his room, and the next day, his classmates who had passed the exam disappeared, as did some examiners. She became worried that Matin too might be attacked, but when she stayed up all night to look after him she witnessed a far more terrible truth.
A hideous creature staring at her. It was crouching in the bed Matin had been sleeping in just moments before.
"You are… mother of master, correct?"
Marianne's mouth flapped uselessly. What had happened to Matin? Was that him? Was he still alive? When she realised she couldn't speak, she gave a slight nod.
"Don't interfere. I… look after him… his mind. Normal… soon."
Unable to even move a muscle, she silently watched as the creature leapt through the window and into the night.
True to its word, Matin soon returned to his usual happy self and seemed to forget failing the entrance exams. It had only cost the lives of dozens of students and a handful of teachers, including the headmaster of the academy himself.
While trying to convince herself that it was some strange dream, she sent him to Mount Moore Academy for its entrance exam instead. However, once again Matin came under a lot of stress and his performance slipped. Soon after, the students began to go missing once again.
"Matin's causing a bit of a stir again, isn't he?"
One day, while walking the halls of Mount Moore and agonising over what to do to cover up her son's actions, she was confronted by a strange cloaked woman. Shaken by the woman's assertion that she knew of Matin's condition, she eagerly listened to her as she gave advice.
"You'll just have to take full control of his life, I suppose. Eliminate any form of hardship that comes his way by any means necessary. Just think of every other student as an enemy and remove them. Of course, that goes for anyone or anything that might stress him out. How long will you be able to keep it up, I wonder?" the woman chuckled.
However hard she tried, she could not get more information from the woman who disappeared into the shadows when Marianne called for the guards. She considered the woman's words and turned back towards the examiner's office.
The bribe had been expensive, but to her utter relief, Matin's condition improved as soon as he passed and the beast did not appear again.
She then knew what needed to be done. No matter what, her son needed to succeed. No longer simply for the good of the family but for the good of everyone around them too. She vowed to see him through life without ever having to experience any hardship. If she had to restrict his freedoms to do so, then so be it. For Matin, failure and loss were simply not an option.
She never could have anticipated just how difficult a vow that would be.
What a mess her plan had become. Now, at the end of it all, the only thing that mattered was her son's survival. Nothing else. And so, she stared defiantly down the barrel of Dean's weapon.
"Hey, this's got to be some sort of morbid joke, no?" Dean asked with a fragile smile and shakey voice.
His skin was pale, and his voice shook. She imagined herself looking quite the same. The state of the room was almost too much to handle. The stench made her want to vomit. She hadn't approved of Layota's meddling one bit recently, but nobody deserved such a grizzly end.
"You must believe me, Dean. I've known you since you were a child and cared for you as my Matin's dearest friend. Do you think I'd conjure such an outlandish lie as this?"
Even to her, this whole situation seemed almost unbelievable, and she had been dealing with it for the last four years. Her words seemed to be enough, and Dean hesitated a moment, briefly casting his look down on the creature who bared its teeth at him strangely. It almost looked like it was smiling at him.
"How-" Dean cut off as he laughed dryly. "How can you even explain this?" he asked incredulously.
"He's… this is my responsibility." Marianne replied. "A family matter that doesn't concern you. I will see to it that he returns to normal. Now, return to the others. There's still the risk of monsters approaching. They are attracted to-"
Dean laughed out loud, interrupting her.
"And let this thing come back and get the kids next time? I can't just let this go on the assumption that it's Matin."
Marianne nearly let her serene mask fall into panic as Dean readied to fire.
"And what if it is Matin? What then? Would you kill him, just like that?" Marianne shouted in a last-ditch effort to convince Dean not to shoot. "Would you shoot your best friend for the slight chance that it'll save everyone else?"
Dean hesitated, but only for a moment. He shook his head and his arms tensed. Hoping Matin would flee, Marianne prepared herself to jump into the line of fire.
"Master… he looks up…to…you."
The creature's level voice seemed to catch Dean off guard.
"What?" he asked, eyes narrowing.
"Ever since meeting in slums. You, his guiding light, looked up to. But I… I think different. Both you are the reason he like this. The reason he suffers!" it drawled in a low, growling voice.
Despite its slightly slurred words, the creature managed to convey its feelings towards them, leaving the two surprised.
"Nonsense! I only ever wanted him to be happy." Marianne said desperately. "I am his mother! He's my entire reason for living!"
Her own anger surprised her, and yet completely understood it. How dare this creature make such assumptions. She was the problem? She who spent every waking moment looking after his well-being? Without her there, he would have fallen into a hole of despair he could never hope to climb out of. He needed her.
A low, rumbling sound arose from the creature's chest, a sardonic laugh intended to mock her anger.
"His stress. For four years, no outlet. Built up and exploded out. Your doing, Marianne. Killed friends and… Sophia"
Marianne unconsciously shook her head as she took a step back.
"No, that was not my intent… how was I meant to know that Oscar's boy had complications? And that girl, she… she died by her own hands. T-the poison I gave both of them was non-lethal, merely something to prevent them from taking the exam."
"So, it was you. Maria was right."
Marianne looked over at Dean, who had whispered those words to himself. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he readied his weapon once more. Though this time Marianne wasn't sure if he was aiming at her or at Matin.
"You too, responsible. Dean." The creature said, turning its gaze towards Dean." Keep pulling master this way and that. Never listen to him. Selfishness!"
Dean raised an eyebrow at those words, and Marianne couldn't help a small feeling of grim satisfaction. While she did care for him, she herself was aware of the bad influence Dean had had on her son over the years. Of course, it took a toll on his mental health. That had to be just as relevant as her own actions. That, and whatever that fool Oscar was cooking up in the catacombs.
"For master's sake, both die!"
Everything happened at once. The creature that was her son leapt for Marianne, and Dean pulled the trigger on his lythment. Marianne didn't have time to do much but turn slightly towards her son. It was going to tackle her to the ground and rip out her throat.
Well, that was fine, too. If that's what he needs to forget all this and move on, then-
At the last moment, the creature whimpered slightly and dug its claws into the ground, coming to a complete stop before it could reach her. Doing so likely saved Matin's life as the ice shard flying from Dean's weapon flew directly between them, ruffling Marianne's hair as it went. Had the creature been a few centimeters closer to her, the shard would have taken it in the head.
The creature panted for a moment before twisting its body and leaping towards the doorway which led outside. Dean fired another shard, but it struck the wall above the creature as it fled through the door.
Not stopping to consider the dangers for a moment, Marianne ran out into the snowy night after her son. She had seen something just as it ran out. Red hair, sprouting from its usually bald head.
"Marianne, wait!"
She ignored Dean's calls and leapt out into the night. Her pace slowed as her feet sank into the deep snow. Her lythment acted as a light source, its glowing green gem illuminating the surrounding snow, giving it an eerie green glow. It was hardly enough to make sense of her surroundings. It was only a byproduct of the weapon's true function, but it was enough to illuminate the tracks which were heading around the building and towards the courtyard.
As she followed them, the tracks slowly grew less like a beast's and more human until eventually she came across her son, collapsed in the snow.
Tossing her weapon aside, she knelt beside him and shook his shoulder.
"Matin, Matin? Please wake up, dear!"
It wouldn't be long. Attracted by the creature Matin had become, the monsters of the forest would soon descend upon them. Even after all these years, she didn't know why such a thing happened, and it had resulted in far more deaths than Matin's creature itself had caused.
Thankfully, Matin did not take long to rouse. His eyes fluttered open, and he looked at her. He was alive and well. She could finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Mother, where-"
"There's no time for that. Can you stand?" Marianne asked.
The question was rather pointless as she forcibly yanked him to his feet. She heard the sound of a great number of creatures growling and running through the snow. Quickly taking her weapon into her hands, she kept Matin at her back as she fired, sending a blade of sharp condensed air out into the night.
A ghoul appeared from the darkness, but it had already been severed in two. It managed one more step before its torso fell to the ground.
"Go left, we can reach the round tower if we follow the path to the cathedral. Go!"
Matin spoke a few words of brief confusion, but she couldn't lend him an ear. More creatures were about to swarm them, and it was all she could do to fire into the mass as she backed away. Thankfully, she had a rough idea of where they were despite the darkness. Eventually, they came to a large stone wall with stained glass windows set within pointed arches. The cathedral was big enough that it was difficult to miss unless you were going in the complete opposite direction.
With a wall at their backs, Marianne could defend herself and Matin more easily. Ghouls, goatmen, and wood wraiths all did their utmost to reach them, but Marianne continued to fire her weapon, covering the snow with their blood. The rush of the moment was getting to her, and she smiled manically.
"I'll send all you bastards to hell before I allow you to lay a hand on my son! Oh, you wish for some too, do you? Here!"
She was laughing loudly now. Had she gone mad? Well, given the situation, it would not be all that surprising.
Then something charged at her from the side just as she was dismembering an unfortunate goatman, knocking the weapon from her hand. That should have been her end, but she grabbed the head of the attacking ghoul and began punching it repeatedly. It's flesh and bones, much more fragile than she expected, caved in from the blows.
"You think you've won just because you disarmed me?" She laughed. As the creature recoiled, she pulled a hidden knife from her boot and shoved it into one of its eye sockets. It went down, never to move again.
"Mother, from the front!" Matin screamed.
Marianne rose to her feet and took the goatman's charge head on. The wind was driven out of her, but she managed to sidestep slightly and trip the creature over her left foot.
"Mother, here!"
She quickly turned to Matin who had managed to pick up her gun. Catching it when he tossed it to her, she shoved it into the creature's wide-open mouth. She could have sworn she saw fear in those eyes and allowed herself to feel some satisfaction just before she pulled the trigger, causing its entire head exploded it blood and gore.
"Go, go!" She screamed to Matin as they continued their flight towards the round tower.
The darkness surrounding the green glow of the lythment was almost impenetrable, but Marianne could tell that those menacing creatures surrounded them. The sound of their growls, shrieks, and scuttling steps filled the snowy darkness, turning the grounds of the monastery into a facsimile of the void itself. Here, the Goddess couldn't help her or Matin anymore. That was oddly comforting in a way. Everything was in her hands now. She preferred the more hands-on approach.
"Mother, is this? Is this my fault?" Matin asked as she continued to shoot into the darkness, her shoulder scraping the cathedral's wall.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Marianne shouted through gritted teeth. "You need not feel responsible for…"
At that moment, a charging goatman exploded from the darkness, cutting her off. She attempted to kick the thing's head away, but before she could level her weapon, it slammed her in the gut with its massive arms. She was forced backward, her head colliding with the stone wall behind her. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her abdominal area. Looking down, she could see that the creature's horns had rent her stomach.
Everything seemed to slow down. She knew that she was still kicking and shooting, killing all that approached her, but it hardly registered in her mind.
Matin couldn't have attracted this many by himself. Was this Oscar's doing? To what end did he bring all these things here? The timing couldn't be worse.
Oscar had told her his reason for coming had to do with the source of the lyth stones. Surprisingly, and against all she knew about him as a person, he had disappeared underground to meddle in his experiments and research, giving her plenty of space to do what needed to be done for Matin's sake. It was known to her that the source of the lyth stones attracted these creatures, but never had it done so with such frequency. Matin's creature also seemed to attract them, though with a much smaller range. It had never attracted more than two or three at a time.
Matin was fending off a ghoul with nothing but his hands and feet. Kicking and punching, using the thing's weight against it, he managed to push it away long enough for her to send its head flying with the condensed air from her weapon. She had thought him well. She smiled as she continued massacring the monsters, her senses slowly recovering from the shock.
"Are you alright, Mother?" Matin asked, once he had a moment to spare.
"Never better, dear!" she called out.
Finally, another building came into view not far from the cathedral's walls. It was the round tower they had abandoned a few days prior. It was too small for the crowd they had back then. But for her and Matin it would be enough.
There was but a single problem. The garden where the tower sat was swarming with monsters. Climbing up the rope ladder would require her to let go of her weapon for a moment, and those creatures were unlikely to wait for them to climb.
"We head towards the tower. Dear, you go first and don't stop climbing, you hear me?"
Matin looked at her for a moment, evidently thinking of a way to protest. However, she gave him a stern look, one she reserved only for times when she needed him to follow her orders to the letter. It worked, and Matin swallowed whatever he was going to say and nodded.
Standing in front of the mass of bodies between them and safety, Marianne smiled.
"Who else wants to taste death?"
Feeling a sense of enjoyment she never would have expected, Marianne charged forward into the darkness, firing off shots with reckless abandon, her son following closely behind.