Thump-thump-thump
CRASH!
A sudden sound echoed from far beside him, blaring in his ears. Malodour assaulted his nose, and some flaring torches intensified the stench that much more. Arthur begrudgingly woke up. His body hurt all over, as if he had been run over by a truck.
Upon opening his eyes, his gaze first fell on the olive green face of a man donning lengthy clumped hair.
"God, this place smells like shit!" The green-faced man spoke, he seemed to be in a cold sweat while holding his breath. The man was staring behind his back at the staircase in anxious anticipation while leaning his arm on a wall.
"Vampires have a significantly delicate sense of smell, why would our forefathers build something like this?" He spoke once again.
What had Arthur heard?
"..Vampires?" He blurted out; before recognising himself.
His mind started to defog as he took forced breaths. Arthur noticed the green-faced man who stood before him promptly gape down at his form while clenching down on his fists.
Arthur then looked down at his torso. He was sprawled upright against a stone wall which was put up beside what seemed to be the bottom of a stairwell to some sort of labyrinth. One of his arms was slumped over his abdomen. His own nose length locks were shot up at different points, undeniably messy and heavy with dust and grime.
His pupils concentrated on the looming figure, who had started to reach toward him swiftly with one of his arms sought out forwards.
'...!'
His chest condensed.
It was the employee from before, it was that man.
Arthur hastily propped himself against the wall behind him and led himself upwards. He hesitated for a moment. He should have ran yet his body pained him.
Prior to his consciousness making a rational judgement - he leapt at the man and tackled him. Both the men toppled to the ground. The force of the impact fell upon the man's back as they spun across the floor.
"Gah!" The man promptly slammed his foot on the granite and they started to lose their pace, with Arthur landing on top of him.
The movement was unanticipated and eccentric, just as much as it was effective. Yet, Arthur's muscles had not fully recovered from the fatigue. He sought out the chance to repeatedly strike the man in the face - as a sort of 'Ground and Pound;' and leant up above him.
As he straightened his back however, sudden cramps fell upon him like thunder! Muscle spasms caused him to fall onto the ground and give away his advantage.
"You filthy knave!" The man coughed.
In a fit of wrecked composure, the man went to strike Arthur on his chin. Flinching before the sudden movements of his opposition's arm, Arthur pushed up on the ground and staggered backwards as a tremendous gust of wind grazed his mandible. He had narrowly evaded the attack!
Arthur unintentionally proceeded to bite down on his tongue, the pain which shot throughout his nervous system helped him regain his composure for a brief moment.
In front of him, the man shot up to his feet as well with deep irritation in his eyes, like a condescending glare.
Arthur subconsciously took a step backwards. With a drumming heart, he shot his neck towards the peculiar looking staircase he saw before.
Tap Tap Tap
Noises of footsteps reverberated down the near-empty halls of the place.
'Hah, Where the hell am I?'
A fine question, where was he even?
Before him, the walls on either side stretched forward endlessly - with around a ten foot gap in between. Torches adorned on mounts were hoisted on top of them. The walls themselves were made of countless grey rocks tightly packed in a grid. Bars of wooden boards were positioned over it in calculated gaps, like the steel frame often found on barrels; the planks were slightly askew and sometimes broken. Moss grew all over the rocks and ceiling, eventually making its way down onto the floor. The ground itself was gross, grey and dirty. The walls connected themselves over Arthur's head in an arch, like those of a bridge's overhangs - the entirety of his surroundings looked pale and dead.
Snap!
The man snapped his thumb and index together.
The sound made Arthur flinch, in regard to their past confrontation. Before he could comprehend what had happened, he found his legs sideways in the air. The man had struck him with a leg sweep, sending him tumbling to the ground.
As Arthur fell backwards, the man clutched his fist and hammered it downwards onto his nose. But with years of calisthenics and mountain climbing, he had developed amazing core control. Within a heartbeat, he twisted his waist on instinct and rolled down onto the floor. The fist flew beside Arthur within a miniscule margin once again. The man was incoherently fast.
As Arthur braced for his skull to hit the sediment, he found that his body had made contact with the ground first and his nape warped around the floor - as one would expect to a head dangling off of a bed or a cliff.
When he looked behind him, his eyes shot wide.
There had laid a hollow, around one and a half feet deep and stretching over two! The crater gradually grew deeper as it reached the center, where one forearm lay outstretched. The man's punch ended up connecting with the floor behind Arthur, cracking down to the rocky surface below.
'How could a man crumble stone with his bare fist!?'
Even when the man's punch had blown open a small chasm, he himself didn't seem to feel any pain.
From the tattered sleeve of the man, Arthur could see that no hint of the slender body he had seen before; the man's arm was broad with bulging veins. Arthur understood that a single strike connecting with his body could spell his demise.
Though up until now he had great fortune, as Arthur was able to dodge all incoming strikes thus far. He hoped that his streak would continue.
As he readied his gaze once, he found the man dislodge his fist from the debris and lunge towards him with terrific ferocity, to which Arthur wasn't able to dodge by moving out of the way. With lengthy nimble fingers, he pushed down on the clutch which held his waist bag and held it up towards the man's trajectory; he hoped to soften or halt the man's blow.
The second punch was no less vigorous than the first. As it hit the small bag, the pouch had been practically vaporized. All its insides along with Arthur's phone and wallet were snapped into tens of pieces which were hurled across the room.
The man pulled up his limb from where it had stopped and jerked his arm for a third punch in little time.
The footsteps heard from the staircase became inherently loud.
Arthur held his palms up in the air to the man's trajectory, attempting to cushion the hit, though he felt at the heat of the moment that this would not do much.
All of a sudden, a figure flew out of the stairwell feet first, making a brutal collision with the aggressor which blasted him away in a ferocious drop-kick.
Crack!
The sound of bones shattering rang all along the chamber, and the man was sent flying forward.
The figure systematically landed himself beside Arthur. His head bore silver hair with a light blue hue along with pallid fair skin, almost to match with his gorgeous curls. His body looked to be fatigued yet he himself brimmed with vitality as he looked to be glowing a slight radiance.
"You bastard! Have you had enough running yet?" The pretty-haired boy spoke with ragged breaths.
"KEKH!" Blood spat out in another puddle, dripping down the man's chin. He grabbed his jaw which had been dislocated and hung wide.
"AHHGH!" He screamed out in agony. Abruptly from his body, there started to shine a golden tint.
'..!' The pretty-haired boy noticed the fallen Arthur, before devoting his whole attention upon his state.
"Are you alright?" With a huff, he bent his knees an inch and reached out his arm.
Arthur somewhat hesitated before gently grabbing his palm and pulling himself into a sitting position upright. Before him, his eyes fell upon an unusual mallet fastened around the pretty-haired boy's belt.
The mallet was too eye-catching not to stare, as it gleamed a pleasant hue. It was the size and shape of a courtroom judge's gavel, yet its head was unusually large. It was colored in a deep-gold and grey checkered pattern, with faint lines separating the tones. Bold off-white streaks encompassed it. The handle was thick and a bit circlish. On the grip, very visibly, there lay a word engraved horizontally upon its body.
'Equanimity'
From the characters, the golden light shone even brighter.
It inspired awe and admiration, as it truly was a beautiful piece of artistic capability.
The pretty-haired boy followed Arthur's gaze down to the mallet, where after he gave a faint smile.
After tugging up Arthur to a standing state, he unholstered the mallet from his waist and twirled it around his palm, before throwing it upwards into the air and snatching the handle.
"It's pretty cool, yeah?"
Unexpectedly though, the pretty-haired boy wound up the mallet and smacked it against Arthur's side!
Hiss…
Arthur recoiled, of course, bracing himself for the pain. But surprisingly, Arthur barely felt a hit at his waist. Rather, his eyes opened with freshness and he fixed his posture. He felt stronger, rejuvenated - and even more than that! As if he spent a day at the spa. A golden tint emanated from his body as well, Arthur felt an amazing tug in his muscles.
"Do you feel better? Good, don't overexert yourself though. All the fatigue will crash back later."
"...This. This is amazing! How did you do it?"
The pretty-haired boy grinned ear-to-ear. He reached inside the jacket he was wearing and brought out a wrinkled packet. It looked to be a candy bar, with the packaging having cute designs and a red backdrop.
Arthur took what was given to him. Looking at the logo, he raised an eyebrow.
"A chocolate bar? It's… molten."
"It's not chocolate, it's an energy bar. For when you get tired later." The pretty-haired boy retorted as he beamed at Arthur.
For the first time since this morning, Arthur gave out a dry chuckle. Before his eyes landed on the man from before.
Arthur's heart sank once again, but the feeling was reduced quite a bit by whatever it was that the companion beside him had done.
The man was on his knees and palms, blood still dripping from his chin. He seemed to be in a daze, the golden hue continued to envelop him.
Hiss…
A continuous hissing emanated from the man's body. He coughed and screamed once again. As if writhing in agony; he fell down onto the ground. The man's already pale complexion grew even paler.
"Leave him be for a moment, don't touch him. We have to be quick, the effect won't last very long."
Arthur looked back up at the pretty-haired boy, really looked at him this time. The boy was nearly the same height as the unusually towering Arthur while being practically the same ashen complexion as him - both of the attributes being nonetheless far more monotone compared to the hunk of a man before them.
He was lean, as well as stunning in terms of looks and physique. The previously mentioned curling near-bluish silver hair warped around his sharp jawline. Arthur had never seen such a colour of hair before his eyes. There was little dust and dirt smeared across the pretty-haired boy's pointed nose, tight cheeks and all over his visible skin; making him seem truly like an actor performing on a set.
His eyes were light blue and profound, with a hint of playfulness. He also held somewhat lengthy nails. The boy was wearing nothing more than a stout jacket, below which lay a t-shirt along with a pair of jeans cuffed up at the calves and sandals on his feet.
"So, uh. Who are you?"
The pretty-haired boy glanced at Arthur after the question was thrown at him, "Lumi."
He answered in earnest. "My name's Lumi Strigoi."
Arthur stared at him in wonder.
"Lumi? That's unique." He smiled before he continued: "I'm Arthur. I don't have a last name though."
"Name's splendid, Arthur.. How did you get down here, by the way?"
"Hm." Arthur knitted his forehead up as he tried to recall the past of this morning.
"Let's see…"
"I'm from America. I came to visit this museum right after nine-pm, where I believe.. I found that man on the very last floor at the top." He said, glancing at the man hunched down in the hallway
"He wouldn't let go of my arm, so I went to hit him." Arthur contemplated for a moment, "I don't remember much after that, but I found myself waking up here with him standing over me"
"I see."
While Arthur spoke, Lumi brought out a tiny blade the size of a dagger from the aforementioned jacket. The sharp edges of it were weathered and chipped as it had been aged quite a lot.
Slice!
With the blade, Lumi trimmed off the front of his left-hand pointer finger right above the cephalic vein. From there, dark red blood gushed out. With his thumb, he traced along his finger and brought out more liquid from the wound, barely wincing from the pain he must have felt.
Arthur watched in disbelief whilst Lumi drew the red liquid from his hand. The amount of blood which poured out would have been able to fill around a third of a vial's worth of fluid. From what he could see, Lumi's hands bore cut marks from previous occasions. While the red liquid continued to drip a droplet at a time, Lumi shut his eyes and started murmuring a chant
Abruptly, he brought up his arms and slammed his palms straight together in front of his face with a crisp sound.
Clap!
As the noise dissipated, Lumi opened his eyes as his body shivered of something whimsical. The blade that he used to sever his skin which was suspended between his palms suddenly started quivering.
The blood which had dripped from Lumi's index finger stretched out and poured back upwards towards the dagger. It orbited around the blade and before enveloping itself over the entire body. It stretched and hardened as if a mold was around the blade. Soon enough, the dagger took the form of a traditional longsword with a beautiful crimson-red color to it.
He then proceeded to grab the handle of the sword with his left hand and bring it down to waist's height. With the mallet in his right, he bashed it against the edge of the crimson-red blade.
Hiss..
The sword began shining dimly with the same golden aura that had permeated the man still hunched over. "Arthur, I'll need your help. You're quick on your feet, yes? Help me restrict that villain."
Arthur hesitated for a brief moment, he had witnessed the inhuman strength of the man. But with his rejuvenated state and the vulnerable position that the man had found himself in, along with a magical companion supporting him, Arthur saw a little hope.
After pondering for a bit, "Alright!"
He decided on supporting Lumi in any way he could. Arthur pushed off his heel before he soared towards the man at full tilt. He had never dashed this quickly before, his body felt as light as a feather.
Before pursuing him, Lumi struck the blade of the sword with the mallet once more, then twice and then thrice; each consecutive hit making the blade shine brighter and more lustrous.
The man was laying near twenty paces ahead of Arthur and Lumi. With taunt pain he reared at the both of them.
"Grab his arms!" With a yell to Arthur, Lumi immediately followed him. He strode forward holding the gleaming blood-red blade firmly in one, and his gavel in the other.
Though, when he stepped with his left foot onto the ground, Lumi suddenly fell crashing forward onto the granite face first.
"ACK!"
BANG!
His chest met the floor directly. Lumi glanced backwards at his ankle, he found it had become blue and slightly twisted.
It had shattered earlier when he collided with the man's exceptionally tough body; which he'd failed to notice due to the pain-numbing abilities of his golden light. "Tsk, Fuck!"
Arthur halted for a petite moment to glance back at the fallen Lumi. In that instance, while still groaning from the pain, the man tilted his body and pulled his arm into his vest. During the rapid movement of his body, the glow which shone from the man's form brightened even further.
"AAHHHHH!" With each motion of his arm, the man's forearm muscles contorted, veins bulged and burst out with blood. The reason for this sudden scene was most likely because of the golden light surrounding his body, encompassing him like a boiling sheen.
The same aureate hue that emanated from all three of their bodies seemed to have completely adverse effects on each of them!
Even in such a bloody scene, the man clutched the inside of his vest and took out a shabby stone that bore dark-blue engravings on it.
By then, Arthur had nearly caught up to him.
"Swipe the rune from his hand! Don't let him use it!" Lumi yelled at the top of his lung, his eyes fell upon a piece of debris fallen onto the floor.
'Ah!' While still laying on the ground himself, he grasped the rock and flung it high into the air. With the mallet, he smashed the stone as hard as he could.
From the impact, the piece of stone gained blaring speed and hurled towards the man. It was as if a golden streak of sunlight had passed beside Arthur. The rock crashed right into the wrist that held the strange stone.
"GRRAH!" The collision bent the man's wrist causing him to lose grip of the rock.
Right on cue, as instructed; Arthur leapt at the stone while being still a couple of feet away. Unfortunately, his palm grasped at pure air.
Unable to catch the rock, he slapped it away from the man's hand with the back of his fist.
The man's face became warped in pure irritation, unable to finish whatever he intended to do.
Arthur tumbled down onto the man. While he failed to acquire the stone, Arthur sought out to do the next best thing. He placed his knee on the man's neck, and shifted all of his body weight into his feet, hoping to incapacitate him.
Even weakened however, the man's strength far eclipsed Arthur's.
Arthur struggled to keep the man down, and he was eventually jabbed in his waist hard enough to fling him off the neck of his opponent. He was thrown crashing down to the side. However, the intense strain that the man exerted to get free was too much for his body to handle
"GRAGHH!" Many tendons of the man's body twisted around and some even burst open, spurting out blood all over the floor.
Even while yelling, he still showed unwavering determination all the same. The man continuously crawled towards the stone and grasped it between his thumb, index and middle finger.
In panic, Lumi pushed himself off the ground, using his forearms as coils he made use of the superhuman strength of the golden light. With immense pain upon his arms and feet, he hurled forward at superhuman speeds; with complete disregard for himself.
As he reached the man, he brought down his blade onto his arm. With extraordinary sharpness given to the gleaming edge by the immense golden glow, it sliced right through the man's bones and severed his wrist from the rest of his arm, whilst Lumi himself tumbled across the floor far away.
"AAHHHHH!" The man yelled out in a piercing scream while blood coughed out from his throat.
"Kasamaan…" Lumi whimpered to the man while he limped towards the stone.
The man named Kasamaan shuddered before he bit down on his lower lip and shut his eyes.
'...'
Snap!
With his remaining hand, Kasamaan snapped his thumb and index finger.
Lumi's eyes went wide in realization, "NO!"
The blood that had poured out from Kasamaan's severed wrist instantaneously blitzed across the floor and pooled itself below the shabby stone. With wet noises, it domed the rock, then flew straight into air, avoiding the hectic slashes of Lumi's sword.
From the concentration in Kasamaan's eyes, one could tell he was in complete control of the flow of his blood.
In an attempt to shake them off, some of the blood which was encircling the stone spread out and flew towards Lumi and Arthur with the will to blind their eyes.
Instinctively, Lumi blocked the large amount of blood with the flat part of his blade.
During the time wasted in doing so, Kasamaan had already clutched the stone tightly in his remaining arm.
While baring his teeth, Lumi pushed forward while twisting his limb over his head, he engraved the sharp sword straight through the remaining wrist of Kasamaan.
Arthur remained stiff during the whole ordeal. As the sound of torn, seared flesh filled the hallway, he could not hear a noise coming from either of the two men in front of him.
As soon as Arthur returned to his senses, he saw an immense-black void expanding from Kasamaan's palm. The black-void spared no time as it immediately engulfed everything it and its host was in contact with. It entrapped all visible light inside its perimeter, not letting even the faintest of dawn escape its maw.
The black-void spread from Kasamaan's palm all the way down to his feet, it climbed up the blade of the sword, pierced through Kasamaan and circulated throughout Lumi's complete skin and clothes.
The following second, the void started shrinking, and shrinking; instantaneously to nil. The men that had once been set in front of Arthur had vanished without a trace, yet the floor and walls around them were perfectly fine.
Arthur himself laid frozen for a moment, before the bright light that radiated from his body slowly dimmed down to nothingness as well.
His body began convulsing frighteningly as all the pain and fatigue he had experienced came crashing down without notice.
Arthur struggled to keep his eyes open, and eventually had become motionless, as he lay there, unconscious.