Driven To Insanity(Draft)

It has been seven days, according to Rueben's estimate, since they were on the run. They had ran across a number of Motherlings along the way, but with the wisps guiding them to safe places, they were able to survive.

It was good that they were able to get to one place to another safely without any injuries, but their suspicions against the wisps were growing.

But Rueben left them alone as they have always guided them to safe places and passages on the labyrinth. Currently, the two of them were in a room with a broken down bed.

It was a relatively safe room and somewhat clean. Well, it was cleaned up pretty well after Rueben fixed it. The bed was covered in Rueben's shirt and Gwynne's coat as the bedsheets were dirty and old looking.

Fungi might have already grown there, and Rueben's refuse to let Gwynne lie down there.

Everything was going well, well, not really. Gwynne was severely affected by the continuous meetings with the Motherlings.

Her nosebleeds were becoming increasingly frequent, and she always had migraines attacking her brain every single minute of the hour.

She had also said that every time she met the Motherlings, her brain gets scrambled and jumpled, earning her migrains and nosebleeds. This also gets even worse each time she met them.

It was increasingly worrying for Rueben. On one hand, he felt that they were nearing the end and he didn't want to take a baggage with him, on the other hand, he didn't want Gwynne to continue on and rest for a while to recover.

Gwynne stayed still, sleeping as Rueben stared at her. He was also warily listening to their surroundings and prepared to leave as soon as he heard a noise.

"..." Rueben stared at Gwynne as her chest suddenly rose, then blood started sipping from the edges of her lips.

"..." He frowned and gently raised her up and let the blood glow out from her mouth, then he put her back.

"...Rueben.." She softly whispered as she opened her eyes.

Then she sat up and wiped the blood off her lips and weakly looked at him. Rueben stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"It's okay."

"..."

It's my fault, anyway. He thought to himself.

Gwynne stared at him with her hands shaking silently. "Leave me here."

Rueben stared at her, "Im useless at this state. I don't want to be a burden."

He stared at her for a moment, then softly giggled. Rueben stood up and gave his arms a stretch before sitting down next to her.

"You're an idiot if you fend for yourself out there. Besides." His red crimson eyes stared at her as he pointed his finger to his head.

"I might really go insane if i stay alone."

"... You wouldn't." Gwynne softly shook her head and grabbed his hand, "You won't go insane. You're strong, you know that."

Sighing, "Physically, yes. I am strong. But even i have my own limits.

"..."

"Im tired, really. There were times that i prayed to just die already." Rueben held her hand.

"But i can still keep going. No. I have to keep going."

Gwynne stared at his eyes as the wisps went to her head.

"So i need you to keep going too." He gave her a stern yet gentle look, "We're getting out of here, together."

"..." Gwynne stared at his serious face before looking up, stayed still, before looking down and nodding her head.

"Yeah, okay. Together."

This earned her a smile from Rueben.

"Together."

The wisps studied the two of them for a moment before turning to each other before subtly nodding their head.

***

"This is your reward for killing him." The First Hunter, Klein Hielms stared at the woman in front of him wearing a crow mask.

Cheryl took off her mask and put it down on the table, smiling softly. She grabbed the object and rolled it up.

She turned her eyes up to look at the old man who was drinking wine before turning down to the paper and reading it silently.

After checking that nothing was wrong, she nodded her head.

Then she put the paper to her chest pocket and spoke, "Thank you."

Klein smiled, "Thank you."

Then he put down his glass and leaned forward, "Now, tell me."

Cheryl nodded her head and immediately spoke.

"Fic Humb joined an outsider organization that calls themselves "Sword Edge", i don't have any info what this organization is or what it does or where it is located but Fic Humb, as well as a few other individuals was somehow in contact with this organization."

"They went and kidnapped children from the slums, well, mostly children, but some are young adults and old people. These kidnapped people are then sold to "Sword Edge" in exchange for this thing."

Cheryl took out a small vial from her pocket and placed it on the table. Inside the vial was a greed liquid, though it was pale.

"Fic Humb and his partners call this thing, "Neutralizer". I experimented with one of their people, and after 2 days of examination, nothing happened. It was only after i tried to kill him that he suddenly turned into a fish like beast."

"I also investigated who are behind Fic Humb and his partners. Clues i found led to some lower titled Nobles and Merchants, i didn't probe any further, lest i poked a hornet's nest, and they go into hiding."

Klein nodded his head, then took the vial and swirled it around.

Cheryl stared at the vial and continued speaking, "After killing Fic Humb and his partners, i tried to go after the outsider that they traded the kidnapped people, but i was almost caught. That lone outsider, along with her people, are well versed in combat, much like a very well trained squad."

"Meaning these outsiders are not just bandits, but trained individuals from an unknown land." Klein muttered and put down the vial.

He fully sat down on the sofa, relaxing his whole body as he placed his hand in between his eyes.

"Goddamned this cursed world..." He muttered silently as Cheryl stared at him in silence, silently agreeing his words.

She turned her head to look out of the window, staring at the endless sea of clouds that blocked the sunlight, creating the gloomy atmosphere.

She let out a soft sigh and shook her head to the side.

There was nothing they could do to change this world, a world abandoned by its god. They can only try to protect everyone in Arkvem as much as they can.

"Blessed be to the Mother..." Cheryl hugged herself as she muttered a praise.

Klein stared at her as Cheryl prayed. Then he looked up and took out a large cigar from a cigar case. Cut off the tip part before lighting it up with the candle.

He then placed the cigar on his lips and let in a deep breath, in the process, making the cigar half.

Smoke soon filled the entire room as the candle was turned off. Crimson eyes appeared in the darkness, glowing even more after leveraging the light from the window.

***

"Then this would mean war."

Arshavin stiffened for a moment, then turned to the person sitting on the throne.

"... Excuse me, your highness..?"

The Crown turned its head to him and softly nodded her head.

"War."

Everyone in the throne room went silent. They tried to understand how the Crown managed to get into that conclusion.

Klein was in front of the whole council as he stiffened from the Crown's words.

He had reported what Cheryl had told him about the human trafficking, traitors, as well as the vial that turns people into monsters. He expected the other council members to talk to him, but unexpectedly, the Crown itself spoke after hearing him talk.

Arshavin softly bowed his head before turning to the doll beside the throne. The Crown leaned over the doll and softly whispered while covering his mouth.

"Prepare the divisions."

The doll only nodded its head before walking towards the window, opened it, and then threw itself out of the window. Even managing to close the window while going out.

Silence descended once more before someone let out a loud laugh.

Klein turned to The Lady to his right, sitting beside the window with a cake on her coffee table as she laughed while holding her stomach.

Arshavin softly sighed and watched as Klein stared at them blankly while the other council members sighed loudly and shook their heads.

"Arshavin."

The Crown raised its hand from its armrest, and Arshavin softly leaned towards him.

"Gather the Army, scour the entire streets of Arkvem as well as the underworld." The Crown then turned to Klein.

"Take the divisions that Sainta prepared and patrol the outskirts. You are given full command over them. If there is a chance in the future, do follow these outsiders to their home location and report back to me."

Arshavin and Klein stood attention before bowing their head down and solemnly said, "By your will."

Crown smiled and nodded its head before standing up with the help of the dolls.

"Council dismissed."

Everyone stood up from their seats except The Lady and bowed their heads.

"By your will."

***

Gwynne wiped the blood coming out of her nose as she frowned.

"This is rather annoying."

Rueben, slicing a piece of flesh from a beast, turned to her and nodded his head in agreement. Then he continued slicing the flesh before stabbing a long dagger on the center of the side.

The three wisps gathered on top of Gwynne's head as they watched the two humans, one cooking a beast's flesh, the other busy wiping the blood that was continuously flowing from her nose.

"Are you sure this is edible?" Gwynne wiped her nose before leaning forward.

Rueben grabbed some sticks and planks, taken from the floors and walls itself, as well as the ceiling, and tried to light a fire.

It took him a moment before an ember appeared and soon it turned into a strong fire.

"Yes. I even ate these raw before." He answered.

To which Gwynne stared at him, then turned to the flesh and grimaced in disgust.

"...Euhh."

She then pulled away and grabbed one of the wisps on her head.

"Are you sure we should eat these? I mean they were humans once, you know?"

Rueben placed the dagger atop of the fire and turned to her, "They are beasts now."

"..."

"And they have been trapped in this place, killed and revived infinitely. They are not human anymore."

Rueben said to her sternly.

Gwynne nodded her head while cursing inside her head in disgust.

-The moral justification is weird too, what the hell has this man been turned into? This little shit really turned batshit crazy...

The flesh was cooked, albeit roasted a little but they ate it nonetheless to regather their energy.

Though Gwynne couldn't help but retch everytime she placed the cooked flesh in her mouth. It also didn't help that the blood on her nose would drip down on the meat and turn itself into hot sauce without her permission.

Soon, the two humans and three wisps continued their exploration.