Noah sat in the stairway for a bit, his mind was racing, his heart felt as if it was in the ground as he processed his actions. Noah had never thought of himself as someone who could commit such cruelty, but something in him had changed.
He didn't know when it had, was it before his nightmare, after it, or even while living in this godforsaken city. All that he knew was that he felt something he had never felt before, or had he?
A desire? no, maybe a will or a command from deep within mind to survive.
Even if survival was a basic human instinct, to do something so inhuman, so vial, it didn't seem like something instincts alone could do.
He looked down at his trembling hand and wondered what else he was capable of, if pushed came to shove what atrocities could he really commit.
His very being started to tremble but he knew that he couldn't fall apart now. He could figure this out once away from any prying eyes. Noah focused on his breathing, forcing his mind to pull itself back together.
Using the wall to his side he stood up, he was able to make it about one or two steps up before he heard a voice behind him calling his name. He turned to see Gunlaug was approaching him.
Noah froze as time crawled to a halt. started to sweat as His hand balled into a fist, Gunlaug stopped next to him and patted Noah on the back.
In a slightly cheerful tone he started " thank you for getting me the names, Horus was at that for days"
he respond with a slightly shaky voice " a-anytime man"
Gunlaug then place his hand on Noah shoulder and squeezed a little "sir"
Noah flinched then corrected him self "sir"
"Oh, also" Gunlaug's voice went dark, his grip tightening around his shoulder. "Don't think about telling Leandro or anyone else in that group about what happen today"
Gunlaug turned Noah around so that he was face to face with him " and i'll know if you tell them so don't try and go behind your back. Got it"
Noah winced at the pain as Gunlaug fingers sank into his shoulder completely bypassing his armor. using Noah's shoulder as an anchor he slammed Noah into the wall. " Also don't kill what isn't yours. If I wanted them dead I would have killed them myself"
Noah then felt something metal touch his neck "so next time if I don't explicitly tell you to kill, YOU DON'T… you got that?"
Noah face showed a hint of annoyance, but it was hidden under his helmet 'How the fuck was is supposed to know that I literally just met you'
Gunlaug then reiterated "is that Clear, Noah"
Noah gaze found the floor "Yes sir"
"Good"
Gunlaug let go of his shoulder and backed away from him. Noah looked down to see that within Gunlaug's hand was a golden blade. As he stared at the blade he rubbed his neck checking if there were any cuts or nicks.
It was right about then that Noah had noticed that Gunlaug was also carrying something behind him. Slightly behind him a tendril jutted out of his golden armor. This tendril was wrapped around a body.
Noah's blood ran cold as he realized that the corpse that lay behind the king was one that he had personally killed. Its facial expression is still contorted in agonizing pain.
The blade that was in Gunlaug hand then deformed almost as if it was melting then retracted being absorbed into the armor he wore.
Gunlaug then turned away " follow me I have someone I want you to meet."
Noah with his hand shaking followed him, just wanting to leave as soon as possible, Noah followed Gunlaug through the hall of the giant castle.
Noah kept his vision away from the corpse that was behind Gunlaug. He wanted to ask why he had brought that thing with him, but decided against it, wanting to stay far away from any conversation that would bring up what he had done.
Noah eventually found himself in front of a large wooden door, not as large as the front gate but larger than the rest of the door found in the blight castle.
Gunlaug approached the door and knocked three times. He waited a second then opened the door himself.
As soon as the door opened Noah was hit with a peculiar scent. The scent wasn't akin to something like food nor was it a bad scent, it smelt Heavy? No, not heavy, more like humid. The humid feeling was also accompanied by a very earthy smell.
Being from Antarctica Noah had rarely experienced this smell, only ever experiencing one in a greenhouse located in the city center of Falcon Scott.
As the door opened fully Noah was met with plant life, layers upon layers of green lush plant life. Noah watched as Gunlaug walked into the room, he followed soon after.
As Noah admired the lush greenery he noticed how unnatural it looked. He had never seen this much plant life in his life and to see this much in a region of the dream realm that had practically none was odd. He then heard his name being called, his head spun around to see that gunlaug still facing away from him was trying to get his attention.
Noah answered "yes sir"
Gunlaug asked without turning around " do you know how you acquired that arm of yours?"
Noah flinch slightly " uhh no sir I don't, I killed that giants core then got it"
Gunlaug paused for a moment " interesting, and this isn't an ability that is linked to your aspect then right?"
" Not that I know of sir, but can I ask why you're so interested in it?"
Gunlaug turns slightly " well to gain what I'm assuming is an attribute from a Nightmare creature is not something I was aware could happen, so logically speaking if you could do it I could as well."
Noah started to sweat under his helmet, he knew he had been caught in a lie and respond slowly to give him time to think "I don't think that's possible"
Gunlaug stopped walking " O, and why is that?"
After a second of thought he responded "Well I think I was only able to get the attribute because it invaded my soul sea". This was technically true, from Noah's many months of experience in the dark city he had not met any other beast that could invade a soul seas, but still without his specific interaction the invader in his soul he wouldn't have acquired his new attribute.
The king responded with a curious voice" I was unaware Nightmare creatures could do that, I was also unaware that you killed the giant. Leandro told me he and his cohort had slain the beast" then with his voice laced with annoyance he continued" he's becoming an increasing inaccurate source of information"
Noah was confused by this, why would Leandro take credit for the kill. Maybe to curry favor… or maybe it was to protect Noah, but what would taking credit do to help him. Noah was baffled by this question, he didn't know what to think. All he knew was that the person who helped him survive his first day in this city may not be as virtuous as he had once believed.
As they arrived at the end of the garden, they made a slight turn to the left to reveal a small door
Gunlaug walked up to it and knocked, but unlike before the door opened to reveal a woman.
She was shorter than Noah and looked to be a little younger than him as well. As the woman opened the door she started to speak " look I already told you!" she stop half way when she realized that it wasn't the person she thought it was
"Oh shi-uhh sorry sir uh w-what can I do for you sir"
The room became tense as Gunlaug remained silent for a second longer than anyone reasonably should. He then turned to Noah " Noah this is Kido, one of my lieutenants"
Gunlaug turned to Kido" Kido this is Noah" Noah wave at Kido as Gunlaug continued" he one of our new interrogators, I would like for you to analyze one of his attributes for me"
Noah flinched at the notion, he didn't know he had been given a job already and the fact that this was his new job meant he'd… have to do it again.
Kido straightened her posture and gestured towards the room " yes sir I will do my best"
Gunlaug then turned and led and slightly panicked Noah into the room. The room which Noah had entered was nothing like the lush greenery he had just come from. It was full of different lab equipment which made the room have more of a scientific vibe.
As Kido stopped in the middle of the room, Gunlaug on the other hand made his way to the side and chose to stay silent for now.
Kido looked at Noah and asked " So what do you know about this attribute? and I'm guessing it has something to do with your physical body."
Noah put aside his feelings of dread and answered" well yeah it is, my right arm has turned black and kind of feels like charcoal. It also feels like char coal so you know that fun, but what we're really here for is the gas that is produced"
Noah then moved the wrapping on his arm slightly causing the gray gas to slowly emanate from the breach in the wrap." Now the gas is what we're interested in, you see we know that it causes excruciating pain but we don't know what type of damage it does to a body"
Kido slowly nodded her head as she spoke " ok… do you have like a body of something that you have killed or at least damaged with this gas"
Noah turned to Gunlaug who walked up and placed the body of one of the prisoner Noah had killed" This one was ended in the castle dungeons not to long ago so he is still fresh"
Noah watched as Kido examined the body, she then walked over to a small drawer, opening it she took out what seemed to be a small knife. She lined up the blade, but was stopped by Gunlaug" make sure not to damage the head I need it for something"
She gave him a look then nodded and turned back to the body. She made many cuts and lacerations on the torso, arms, legs, and neck deep enough to show bone and inner organs. However as soon as the first incision Noah hand stopped looking.
He didn't turn his head in fear of somehow angering Gunlaug but instead shut his eyes. The helmets obscured his face, so no one knew he wasn't looking.
After a while Kido looked at Noah "you got one strange attribute I'll tell you that"
Noah opened his eyes and looked directly at Kido to avoid any vision of the body " what do you mean?"
" Well this person died of organ failure or suffocation, but there is little damage to any other parts of the body other than surface level bruising. This led me to believe that the cause of death wasn't from an outside influence like being assaulted, but by something akin to natural causes. But you already told me you killed him, so my best guess is that your gas doesn't do any damage external or internal but instead causes large amounts of pain which leads to shock and then eventually to organ failure. Or he died to suffocation due to the inability to breath through the pain"
Kido then shrugged" but that my best guest, I can't be 100% sure about this without any modern equipment"
Noah questioned his voice showing hints of hope "How sure?"
She respond matter of fact tone "It's a solid 90% chance I'm right"
His hope died in his voice "Ah ok."
Kido leaned against the table and gave Noah a weird look then turned back to Gunlaug" anything else you need me to do sir?"
"No, that will be all I need," his head turned to Noah " from both of you"
He then slowly approached the dead corpse, reaching he took hold of the body's head then raised his other hand, his armored hand morphed into a sword and his arm came thundering down. In one clean sweep the body's head was cleaved from its torso.
Noah watched in horrified silence as Gunlaug loped off the head of an already dead person. As his eyes lingered on what remained of the man's neck, his world began to spin. Not wanting to show any weakness Noah lightly leaned on the closest count as an acidic taste began to build at the back of his mouth.
Gunlaug then turned around like it was another day at work and made his way towards the door. As he passed Noah he stopped and said with small hints of malice filled joy " I look forward to working with you Noah, come by in about a week I have another job for you" then exited the room.
As soon as the door closed Noah eyes darted to the nearest trash bin and he made a b-line towards hit. He threw off his helmet and held up his slightly long hair and threw up into the trash bin.
Upon emptying the contents of his stomach he saw a hand giving him a rag. He followed the arm to see that it was Kido.
"First time seeing that?"
Noah stared at the rag for a second then grabbed it and wiped his face "yeah". After wiping his face he stood up fully and asked with a voice full of confusion " why'd he do that?"
" It is a sort of example to other people. He kills them then shows their head to the populace, but he probably did it in here to show you what happen if you betray him" she then walked up to Noah and patted him on the shoulder " it pretty weird if you ask me, but it is very effective at keeping everyone in line"
Noah place his helmet back onto his head and gave Kido some serious side eye " and you like following this guy"
Kido responds quickly " hell no, he's an authoritarian that kills anyone who he thinks is out of line. But I'm on his good side and that comes with benefits" she then puts her arms out gesturing to the lab" for example I get this room and the giant garden in the other room all to myself. I hold a lot of power in this city as one of the king's lieutenants"
"Ssoo no one likes him then?"
"I wouldn't say that, I think Horus likes him because his a fucking psychopath, but the other lieutenants respect him for one reason or another"
He nodded his head"Ah ok" then he was puzzled" so why are you telling me these things?"
Noah saw kido think for a second " well you were kind of forced into this… and you seem like a good person so I thought I would help you out"
Noah stared at her for a second then turned to the door" well thank you for your help"
Kido smiled " come back anytime if you need help"
As soon as the door closed Kido's smile vanished and she turned back to her work.
Noah made his way though the halls of the giant castle, thinking back to his interaction with kido, he knew that the "you seem like a good person" excuse was a lie. I mean he could literally see her thinking of the excuse on the fly.
Even though she did offer to help at any time, Noah knew better than to take that as a genuine offer. He would keep the offer in mind, but it would be a last resort. He knew that if he ever asked for help he would have to pay her back ten fold.
Noah eventually made it to the exit and once more stepped back into the light. As his eye adjusted to the bright sun he saw Effie waiting near the exit. Once Effie saw Noah she flagged him down.
Noah approached Effie and she asked with a smile on her face " so how were the dingy castle halls?"
"Ohh you know dingy and castley"
Effie snicker a little at his response" what did ya do in their"
Noah shrugged" nothing much just had a meeting with Gemma and talked to the King"
She put her head on her waist and raised an eyebrow " so i'm assuming that you're a pathfinder now?"
"Yup"
"Which squad?"
Noah pointed at her "Yours"
The smile plaster on her face grew a little "alright! Sweet" she paused for a second then stuck out her fist and in a smug shit eating voice she continued "nice to meet you squad mate"
This got a small laugh out of Noah who proceeded to give Effie a fist bump.
After that they both made their way towards the gates of the inner city. They talked to the guards and were let out with a group of people. As they made it to the bottom of the stairs Noah asked Effie " So am I moving into your house or do I stay in my house?"
She shrugged" your choice… actually ask the other two. I'm fine with it and the others are probably ok with it, but you never know." As she talked Noah saw as her eyes wandered up the walls and as she finished speaking she clicked her tongue.
*tch* "more already"
Noah's eyes followed hers and he saw a gruesome sight. Upon the ramparts of the walls many pikes stood. Skewered on the pike where many heads, old and new. Two heads that skewered on the pikes were familiar to Noah, their faces seared into his mind not too long ago.
Noah looked over to Effie to see a face of almost indifference "does this happen often?"
"Eh every now and then. He is setting examples of those who try to overthrow him."
Trying to sound unfazed he ask" did you know them?"
She shrugged and pointed to one of the heads "kind of… if im not wrong that one's name was Theo"
They fell into an uncomfortable silence as they gazed at the bloody heads mounted on the pikes. Breaking the silence Noah told Effie "ok w-well i-ill ask them tomorrow."
She glanced back at Noah "Oh! Yeah, then I'll see you tomorrow then" she then walked away leaving Noah at the steps.
Noah stood there for a second then allowed his gaze to drift to his small house. He approached the door slowly and entered his house. As soon as he got it he started his routine. He started to summon all his weapons, placing them around his house.
He then started to unbuckle all the metal parts of his armor, setting them aside to summon them onto himself later if quick access is needed. In nothing but the comfortable messy cloth of his underarmor he sat down on his bed. He looked around his house for a second remembering all the months that this house had sheltered him for.
He felt a strange sort of melancholy at the fact that this might be the last time he sleeps in this home. It wasn't a nice home but it was his first place in this wretched city. Noah let out a heavy sigh then laid down on his bed letting his gaze drift toward the ceiling.
This room also reminded him of his first home, the small apartment in his home city falcon scott. It was such a happy memory, he could remember it like it was yesterday. As falcon scott floated into his mind everything related came with it, his friends, his family, his job, and the life that the spell had ripped away.
Anger started to simmer to the surface of his mind, but it was stopped cold by a realization. Noah was no longer the person he used to be. He raised his left hand and stared at it for a while.
So much had changed, the things he had seen, injuries that he had sustained, and experience that head had gained all changed him for the better, but he had also committed an unspeakable act with his own hands. Noah's mood darkened as he laid in his bed unmoving.
And turned to his side and faced the wall, curled into a ball he got comfortable. With unease flooding his mind he slowly drifted into unconsciousness and the long day finally came to an end.