As Marina arrived at the station, she expected a lot for when she arrived.
Perhaps her father would be waiting for her. Of course, this was a far off dream, but who said she couldn't hope? Maybe an assistant? Perhaps even an errand boy!
Or maybe, there would be people there, weary, haggard. There to warn them of the apocalypse and what they had already lost…
Naturally, the world wasn't so simple. It first had to crush her hopes and dreams, only to kill the rest of her enthusiasm.
For when they entered, it was as if the world had been flipped on its head.
A war had been waged on the train station.
The locomotive came to a stop, and each passenger stepped out, their stomachs churning at the sight that befell them.
Corpses laid strew about like a macabre art piece, left to sit in the hot sun for what looked like days on end.
Maggots, flies, and all sorts of critters took over what was left, crawling through the expanse of death like it was their natural habitat.
Meanwhile, on the station's schedule board were written the words 'Termina is Upon Us~~~!". All in big bold letters that made sure to highlight the smiling decapitated head right next to it.
Cruel, viscous.
Absolutely unnecessary.
But if she thought about it, then it meant Marina wasn't the only one to have thought that idea.
The church. They weren't that far off from here. They were the foremost experts on the supernatural. Those that were most in tune with the Old Gods and the destruction they were known for casting down.
They, who were closely tied to the Gods, should have seen something coming sooner.
There should have been measures to protect others, but there weren't any, right?
No, perhaps they were swarmed? If the same thing from Old Town was happening here, then that meant violence was the norm. It had replaced common sense, and turned brothers into enemies.
The church couldn't have come up with a solution, because by the time the first infected showed, it was already too late.
A little under a month.
That was how long it took the letter from her father to reach Marina.
In the smokescreen of the war, the people on the outside would have chalked this up as the mad ravings of a population gone mad. The effects of war on people.
But what they didn't see was the truth of the one's above, those who controlled with the power and impunity to act without consequence.
The Gods, the Kaiser…
They were connected to this… somehow.
"It's a crude cut," Abella snapped the girl from her thoughts, looking closely at the wound of the severed head. "I've seen something similar like it at a workshop I apprenticed at."
'Familiar with it? Hard to see how it could have been related to her profession.' Marina thought, scratching at her chin.
"I know it's a stretch. Hell, I'd see where you're coming from," The mechanic waved off, fishing from a cigarette from her pocket. "But I can't help but think that it looks like it came from a circular saw."
"A person from our batch, dumb son of a gun, was using a saw to make a fitting. He wasn't handling it right when the wood flung back. His hand was caught in the teeth, and looked like shredded salami when we eventually took it out."
Puffing smoke, the entire group listened with rapt attention. Finding anything to take the gruesome sight out of their minds.
Though, perhaps it was because the group found it hard to believe someone could make a portable saw in the first place.
A circular saw? Or perhaps it was the idea of a person lugging around any kind of saw in the first place.
"We should get moving," Marcoh stated, "We don't know if whoever did this is still out there."
He was right, with their large group, they'd be prime targets for whatever was out there.
But at the same time, their numbers may deter others from attacking them as well.
"R-Right, but what do we do from here?" The ever timid Tanaka asked. "We can not stay as a group forever. The others here have plans within the city."
In particular he glanced towards Abella and Marina understanding that their goals now differed with their entrance to the city.
"We could find a safe house," Abella looked doubtful in his own words, but held a stoic expression nevertheless. "Chances are slim we will find one that isn't sacked. But it's the best we've got to hope for. Once we are able to find one, we can split into pairs, never alone since I doubt the city will be any safer than Old Town."
On paper, it sounded like a reasonable plan. That was unless the others had goals similar to Marina. She would rather not have others hear what she had to say.
Although, glancing down at the nervous Olivia, the cultist could not help but think of those whod need the help.
'Perhaps she could pawn the girl off to someone else?' A small part of her whispered. The same part of her which bore the cruel visage of piest, dressed in the same robes and stole as their executioner just yesterday.
A side of her that was better left buried with her father.
As cruel as the lessons she had learned in the Vatican were, she had made sure to never repeat the same mistakes done to her onto others.
Or at least, try to not repeat them.
Tanaka and Olivia were the weakest links of their group. The latter was a mere salary man thrust into a dangerous situation without the skills to help himself. The former… well, it was easier to list what she did well in as opposed to what she lacked.
The Gods were truly cruel in her making. Crueler than most.
Producing a knife from her backpack, she made a choice to help where she could.
Marina knew she could not protect everyone at the same time. Not only because she couldnt be in multiple places at once, but also because she knew her selfishness would get the best of her.
Selfishness she felt was growing stronger the longer she stayed far from her goal.
Midnight.
She would only give herself until midnight. She would find a way to the church by then.
The voices inside her head would only give her that much.
"I think I have something that might help," Her voice echoed like a needle dropping in a quiet room. "But I don't think a lot of you are going to like it."
She gestures pointed towards her hands, how they caressed the knife with familiarity. Suggesting a lot without saying much.
The group seemed conflicted. Words failing them as they all looked at Marina like she had grown a second head.
Olivia most of all. A cold sneer on her face.
For such a friendly girl, she had such a distaste for the otherworldly.
"Whether or not you trust me is fine," The cultist shrugged. "But I can at least attest to the effectiveness of what I am about to do."
Of course, it was mostly theoretical. It barely worked on mice without mutating them severely.
But perhaps humans would be different? The matrix stability and divergent otherwordly influence would increase on a bigger canvas. On top of that, humans tended to be more tolerant to mutation, good and bad.
At the end of the day, they might grew an eye or two, but with the higher chance they would get out of here alive.
And that was better than nothing.
"In order to prove that it isn't dangerous, I will perform the operation on myself!"
"Marina, you don't have to-!"Abella warned.
But Marina would cut her off. "I have to do it!" The cultist made her stand, with all the certainty of someone on a mission.
Marina steeled herself for what was to come.
Survival, not strength or more spells.
To embody the indomitable human spirit. To innovate, run from the darkness.
The ascended one, Of Fear and Hunger.
Her knife came to life, carving slashes into her side.
The others seemed perplexed, but moved without hesitating.
Marcoh and Abella tried to get the knife out of Marina's hand.
But it was Olivia who stopped them.
The symbol….
It looked like an M, with lines in the middle. However, it was something that tingles at the back of her reptile brain.
The symbol was not normal.
Nor was the way her flesh knit itself back together once it was completed.
No blood spilled, not even a drop.
The only evidence that anything had been done to the girl's body were the lines that remained. The symbol, glowing with a dim floressence.
Fear and Hunger, an entity born from the depths of depravity and sloth in the Dark Age of Humanity.
It represented an era of change, of forward growth. It brought upon an age of innovation in its wake, pushing the dark, and granting enlightenment.
An age that was now reaching its eclipse too early.
The Kaiser had twisted the entity's message. Yes, the Kaiser did push for humanity's innovation. But it came at the cost of the rest of the world.
War. It was the natural conclusion of gluttony and the fear of the unknown.
The Kaiser had twisted what should have been a beacon for change into one of destruction.
She would show the rest of the world what it meant to hope again, even if it was only for herself.
"So, does anyone else want a neat little tattoo?" She asked, twirling the knife. "It's not very pretty looking, but out there, it's better than nothing."
"What- What did you do to yourself!?" Olivia asked, no, demanded, checking the spot where the cultist had slid the knife. "Are you okay? Okay in the head?"
For a moment, Marina had been offended.
Who was the girl to judge her decisions?
But then, she looked at it from their perspective.
She took a knife to herself and expected everyone else to be okay when she asked for them to do the same.
Yikes! It was starting to sound like she really was the crazy one.
Marina put her hands up, "For the record, not a witch," She clarified. "The Vatican is a certified scientific body. This carving would have been my thesis, which I have already peer reviewed with my professions."
They would not get away with putting down her work… "Although, the project was only in the animal testing phase. It was only deemed plausible on a theoretical basis. But by all accounts, it was guaranteed to work on humans with a ninety percent certainty, and a five percent margin of error."
"Ninety? And ninety-four on a good day?" Olivia was rattled by her words. Though, she seemed to understand the bullshit that Marin was spouting.
It seemed she was more scientifically minded… "And what of the four percent, huh? What would have happened if all that testing was for naught because you decided to rush whatever this was."
A funny expression placed itself over Marina's lips, one that seemed to cause Olivia to blush up slightly. "Then, I would have turned into a rat-person! But that would have been over the course of a few decades. Long after this festival finishes."
"Frankly, it gives us a fighting chance, and is a much better alternative to death."
The botanist pondered on her words, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What does it do?"
Her expression screamed dejected, the same kind people gave to particularly special children.
Though, Marina had no doubt she was special.
Specially gifted in the dark arts, that was.
I Graduated at sixteen. Doctorate at seventeen. She had been on her way to propose an art that would change the way people performed rituals to begin with.
The world would have showered her in praise.
And it would finally give mom and dad the middle finger she always wished to give them.
Alas, the festival had taken that away from her.
Confirming her hypothesis, at the cost of her sanity.
Though, it probably would have ended the same way had the festival not come.
It only accelerated it.
"Fine, I give," Olivia sighed, pushing her wheelchair next to Marina. "Do what needs to be done. I know you all have been giving me those looks ever since we got to the station.
The botanist relented, her facade crumbling as the bitter truth of reality won out.
This was necessary.
This was the way forward.
Marina would help. One way or another…
But then again, if Leno- Samarie could change her body…
Did that mean she could also fix Olivia's ailment?
Surely, a full body alteration was harder to do than a broken vertebrae, and muscle atrophy, right?