FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Standing at the edge of the forest, Mary wept on her knees. The howling call of banshees swept the realm as she stared upon the lake beneath, a grand ocean of black water where she caught her reflection briefly. Herself as a child smiled back at her, her arms spreading wide as she stood up with a beckoning grin. She edged herself forwards to the brink of the cliff, and bowed her head.

Mary?!

A voice pulled her back.

MARY! MARY WAIT!

Staggering back she shook her head with fright and stumbled towards the woods as she saw the haunter.

Oh, thank the gods I found you!

"W-whit...whit do you want?"

I just...want to help you-

"H-how, how can you help me?!" She gasped clutching her chest. "Mah husband's oot there suffering, 'cause ah wuz stupid enough tae git trapped in thuh FUCKIN' WOODS!"

But you're free now, we can find him together-

"S-SO WHAT?!" Mary slumped on her knees. "H-he...he wuz...s-suffering fer so lang, after all those years I-i...an' ah wuz stupid enough tae get trapped, but I tried tae find him, and mah son, oh GOD James mah wee bairn!"

I know, I believe you.

Kirie smiled raising her hands.

That is why I am here, to help you.

"But why?!" she pounded the dirt. "Why do you care, who thuh fuck are you?!"

My name is Kirie.

She hovered closer with softening eyes.

I found both your rings and I sensed your presence, I came to help you.

"Issat it? R-really?" She wiped her tears. "Just...j-just found mah ring an' thought 'sure why not ahll gies it back'?"

Is that not enough?

"Naw. Naw it isnae. You tellin' me oot of aw thuh bastards in Hell, you just found mah rings an' come waltzin' up tae ME?!"

Yes! Y-yes.

The raptor slitted her eyes and her face turned to a sneer, walking towards the haunter who floated back when Mary dropped her voice to a monotone.

"You said mah son wasnae deid."

Y-yes.

"How do you ken that?"

Because...I am friends with him.

"...alrigh'."

She cracked her knuckles.

"Lessee how far you take this. If you can tell me, three things aboot mah son, that NO ONE else can possibly know but me an' Gerald...ahll believe you. But if you can't..."

She stepped closer with a piercing jade that burned with a furore she had seen once before.

"You are backin' thuh fuck away before mah fist goes through yer heid. Ah don't care whut fuckin' spirit you are, you try an' trick me wi' sum wee fairy shite-"

I am NOT a fairy-type how dare you-

"ONE, FUCKIN' WRANG MOVE AN' YOU'RE DONE!" Mary crossed her arms. "Now, go oan, prove yer his friend!"

Kirie paused for a moment, closing her eyes and clenching her hands as she scanned through the memories she had seen before, through the mind and dreams of James Campbell where she had walked once before.

He has...purple markings, all over his body.

"Mmmm, good start."

It was from an auto-immune disorder. I don't know its name, but his immune system was attacking his body and leaving scars as an infant.

"Mmmmm that's nae bad."

You had a project that would cure him, something that would feed medicine into his body to stave off the sickness...but you managed to go one step further and halt it completely, with your...infinite medical dispenser?

"Hmmmmm...alrigh'." She put hands on her chin with pensive nod. "That's good sae far, but you coulda read that up, coulda snuck intae mah office, found documents, yer a ghost you can go anyplace."

Well, yes but I never-

"That's one thing." She raised her finger. "One, that's two mair, come oan."

Alright...his middle name is Robert, which you had named after your brother.

"OH, well done!" Mary clapped with patronising smirk. "All it took wuz knowin' thuh TWO people in mah life named Robert."

No need to insult me!

The spectre huffed throwing her hands.

You're making this difficult.

"Well ahll count it since naebody alive would ken that, now, one last detail ye haftae telt me."

Deeper she went into her mind, scrambling for any small detail she recalled from the life of Mary's son. Then something clicked. A smile grew on her face.

Your husband sang to him. A song that he loved.

"Ohhh aye?" she crossed her arms. "Do you ken whit it is?"

Let's see...

Clearing her throat, Kirie began to sing. Mary's eyes widened, and from the moment she heard the first note, her lip started to quiver.

Come aloooooooong...til there is sunshine shining when we find the silver lining, come aloooooong. Sing a soooooooong...when today becomes tomorrow, weather fine, joy or sorrow, sing a sooooong.

"Is it wroooooooong?"

Mary sang back with trembling tears.

"To put all mah hopes together an' wish fer something better, is it wrooooooong? To belooooong...to face the future with another who means more than any other is to beloooooong."

Kirie smiled as they closed the distance and their voices united.

"We'll paint the grey clouds, with pretty rainboooow huuuuues, and we'll brush the gloom away, and save it for a rainyyyy daaaaaaay! Rainy daaaaaaay OHHH todaaaaaay!"

They looked together towards the mountains.

"If troubles cast a shadow, and shadows make the sun afraiiiiid to staaaaaay...why it's okaaaay...cause there'll be sunshine shining and we'll find a silver lining, another daaaaaaay. Tomorrow is another daaaaay...how I hope you'll always staaaaaay...tomorrow is another daaaaay..."

Stepping back Mary took a deep breath and pinched her snout. A smile returned to her face with her cheeks shining wet.

"Alright...you...I believe you."

The phantom bowed with a humble grin.

Your husband is far better a singer than me.

"H-he...he wuz, ah mean is...hah, dinnae ken how to talk aboot bein' deid."

You will get used to it. Do you believe me then, that your son is safe and well?

"If you...ken, aboot him that much then aye, cuz...no one, no one kens aboot that song, not even Charlie an' Gerald telts him everything!"

I am sorry Mary. I did not mean to upset you.

"Naw, naw it's...fine," she wiped her eyes and sniffed deep, "it's just...ah dinnae ken whit tae think."

Then let's start again. My name is Kirie.

She offered her hand as she took it in turn.

"I'm uh...Mary. Fuck this is weird."

What is, being friends with a ghost?

"Ah didnae say you were mah friend, ah meant...just all of this." Mary swept her arm across the expanse. "Ah didnae ken whit tae expect, maybe gates of gold with angels playin' harps, yanno, Christian Heaven?"

There is a place beyond which is paradise, a perfect place of pure harmony where you and Gerald can find peace. But first we must find him, after that I will take you there.

"Alrigh'...so, is this Hell?" She pointed at the mountains. "Is this, wuz mah father right aboot this?"

No, the Farplane is much more complex than any one belief.

The haunter put a hand on her shoulder.

But I would rather not overwhelm you so, let's take this slowly.

"Aye. Aye, let's just find Gerald. Then ah can face all this."

You have the ring to guide you. Where you go I shall follow, and do my best to keep you safe.

"You never telt me why...ah mean, ya did but it's just awfy convenient."

Do you want the truth?

She clasped her hands with a solemn look.

I owe a debt to your son. His life is well and good, but I wanted to do something more...when I heard you and Gerald were cast separate into the depths of the nether, I thought to myself 'yes...this is perfect. If I can reunite his parents, then one day, when he is old and grey, many years from now...he can finally meet his family again'.

Mary gasped with a hand to her heart.

"Is...th-that's it? You just...you want tae make mah son happy when he meets us?"

Yes. I've seen what happens to families who are separated in the afterlife...to be forever alone-

"I understand." She nodded. "Th-thank you. Alrigh', let's go."

The ring pointed far to the west, where they saw a desert beyond the black water lake as they scouted their surroundings briefly.

"Well the ring telts me it's o'er that way, but that water looks bad-"

The water is part of the Abyss, do not go near or you will be lost forever.

"Wait, hauld oan, can ah no' just fly?!"

Can you?

Kirie looked at her intrigued.

"Ah mean, you can."

Yes because I am a haunter, but you are not.

"Whit, ah thought every ghost could fly!"

That is a common misconception. Phantoms and wraiths can fly for example, as do orbs, but funnels, poltergeists and shadows do not.

"Ah thought poltergeists threw stuff aroond an' shit."

Yes but they do not FLY per se, they cause other things to fly as the central energy in a room, it would be like saying electricity can fly because it's in the air.

"Fuck's sake," Mary scoffed turning back, "you tellin' me there's sum kinda bracket system?!"

There are two things that define what ghost you shall be.

Kirie raised two fingers to demonstrate.

First, the means of your death. Everyone's spirit is different, the spirit being your core essence, the intangible qualities that make you who you are-

"Alrigh' alrigh', hauld oan." She put up her hand with a smack of her lip. "Ahm a neurologist, ah can telt ye that everything you are is a buncha signals firing aff in yer heid, just neurons an' synapses!"

You are literally dead and speaking to a ghost-types.

"Well..." she stared down at her own spirit, "mebbe this is sum form o' residual energy lahk ah dunno, mah neurons just firin' aff sum collective force intae the either that made an impression o' me?"

So now you exist as some form of intelligent energy?

"Aye, that soonds righ'!"

Good!

Kirie smiled leaning in.

Now you understand why every ghost is different, you're catching on much swifter than most.

"...huh." Mary grinned to herself. "Ah mean it doesnae explain how ahm still sapient, ah should be just repeating mahsel' if ah wuz just sum energy trace."

There will exist traces of you, in certain places where you roamed.

"So, you sayin' all that ghosthuntin' shite wuz real?"

Ghost...hunting?

The haunter blinked pulling back.

"Aye, people going intae hooses pestering wi' their infrared cameras, just pure shite."

Oh I can't tell you how close the spectral realm travels through your world or not, Mary. I'm simply telling you that every living being leaves behind a different ghost, some violent, some not, some that fly, some do not.

"So whit do ah dae?" she shrugged looking over the cliff. "Just...flap my arms an' think happy thoughts?"

Don't be absurd, we're not fairy types. Your powers in the afterlife you will have to discover yourself by finding the depths of your essence.

"Sooooo like, meditate or summat?"

What brought you power when you were alive? Did you have a ritual, something that energised you?

"Ah mean, ah did stretches in thuh mairn, or...well," she smirked slitting her eyes, "if ah wuz alone ah'd gie mahsel' sum wee private time."

Ohohhh?

Kirie's face widened leaning in with drooping tongue.

I wasn't thinking about THAT sort of energy release but don't let me stop you.

"Aye, you wanna help?"

Mary leaned harder with even greater grin as Kirie balked.

"That tongue of yers ken how tae release MY energy?"

U-UHH!

The haunter blushed turning crimson as Mary giggled.

"Heehehaha, ahm jus' messin' with ya!"

W-well, I-i-uh!

She rubbed the back of her collar causing the bell to jingle.

I-i-i was joking too, o-of course, hah, a-anyways whatever ritual you have I'll just give you some privacy-

"Nawwww you don't c'mere." She grabbed Kirie's hand but the haunter's body kept floating away. "Alrigh' well fuck you too ah guess ahll just dae this mahself."

I'm supporting you from afar!

Kirie snapped her hand back and lifted them high from 40 feet away.

Just do your thing, whatever that is!

"AHM NAE FUCKIN' TRIBBING!" she shouted back. "WHIT YOU THINK AH WUZ DAEIN'?!"

I just wanted to give you some privacy!

"YE HARDLY GAVE ME THAT BACK IN THUH FOREST!"

Just, do your thing I'll wait here!

Putting hands to her non-existent ears the haunter looked away as Mary snickered to herself.

"Still got it," she clicked her fingers, "ahhh alrigh' now lessee whit's a good ritual tae power me up."

Closing her eyes she went sifting through her memories, finding the lower points in her life when something would incense her, fire her up or rejuvenate her proper. Something tingled with a brief spark, a smile from her lips as she clapped her cheeks and sucked through her teeth with a running start, jogging on the spot with her eyes still closed as she spread her arms opened wide and felt the breeze when she fell forwards. For a second there was the sweep of gravity, the surge of the wind rising against her face as a small freedom lifted her being. Then she crunched into the dirt.

Are you alright?!

"....naw."

She pushed herself back up as Kirie floated back to her.

"Ah used tae dae this thing where ah would drop mahsel' oan thuh bed an' it would spring me up like PING, wuz a fun way tae start thuh mairn."

I see.

The haunter giggled as she shook her head.

Did you manage to feel anything?

"Naw, just thuh dirt."

Well I'm sure you will find your power soon but until then we should take the mountain path.

"Such a fuckin' hassle ah just wanna float over there, whit's thuh point o' bein' a ghost if ya cannae fuckin' float?!"

It is fine, don't worry. Now lead on.

She held up the ring and watched it glimmer out to the desert beyond, marching towards the crimson peaks that arced between the forest and the sands. With howling shrieks between the valleys, Mary kept trying to hop or drag her feet as if pretending to float, much to Kirie's confusion as she tried not to giggle. Their smiles faded when the cold ripped through their spirits, a vile roar of bitter frost that scattered snow from its peaks with a storm of scarlet, drifting down the slopes and descending upon the canyon that marked the entrance to the alps. Like the screams of a demon there came crimson petals, tearing against them like a thousand daggers as Kirie pushed ahead with unflinching grimace whilst Mary shivered with a frantic jog.

"F-f-FUCK that's cald!"

Don't think about it, your mind is associating the cold to this, if you ignore it you won't freeze.

"Th-that's thuh s-stupidest shite ah heard!"

Do you really think ghosts can get cold?

"A-aren't they always c-cald, freezin' up parts o' thuh hoose an' such?!"

Some transmit the cold, but not feel it.

She wagged her finger floating past.

Keep your mind sharp, the mountains of Raegn are not to be taken lightly.

"Wh-whit's thuh deal with this place?" Mary asked clenching her teeth thinking back to summer days.

Those consumed by fury reside in these caves. Vengeance, war, madness, whatever drove these violent beings they died at the utmost peak of their ferocity, their lust for blood left unfinished by their end.

"So whit, soldiers die here?!" Mary rubbed her arms trudging through the red snow.

Only those who were unsatisfied, but also brigands, thieves and murderers of every type. They trap themselves in an endless circle battling each other through the caverns.

"Th-this snaw must be oh-...o-oh, oxidised real bad, best naw tae breathe it in."

The wind picked up with the taste of metal on their tongues as Mary grinded her teeth, clenching her eyes to verdant slits with a hand in front of her head to push beyond the ruby mist as it powdered her head with crimson sleet. The mountain itself was a black obsidian filled with holes that went down into the depths, caverns of light where glimmering torches could be seen. Beyond she heard the rasping snarls of sleeping beasts, voices ephemeral as Kirie sighed with a nod.

The Furies are resting, that's good.

"Zat whit you call 'em?" Mary muttered keeping close.

They cannot be reasoned with, their minds are lost to the depths of brutality.

"So whit they're all just murderers then?"

Not all of them. Some simply lost themselves to the undying rage through a series of unfortunate events, in fact some here have never even drawn blood in their lives nor killed another beast.

"So it's just...those who just cannae fuckin' chill?"

Yes, exactly.

Kirie turned with a smile.

Hence why they are sent to the frozen valley.

"Ahhh...wait, who sent 'em here?"

I misspoke, perhaps sent is not the right word, rather they were summoned by the mountains.

"Ahh, so it's sum kinda anger beacon? ...hey, it's gettin' less cald!"

Good, you stopped thinking about it!

"Aye, ahm just thinkin' aboot thuh desert after this, kinda helps, ken?"

Very good, hopefully we can pass through without too much trouble.

The closer Mary came to the mountains, the more she realised that the red snow wasn't resting on the peaks, rather swirling around them in a constant maelstrom of malice that wrought a thousand screams upon her ears, burning with frigid fury that almost threw her back as her foot slipped in the scarlet slush, stumbling with panic before Kirie reached out to grab her. Her fingers were warm like the summer breeze which oddly soothed the raptor as they kept trudging through the storm. The valley took a turn for the steep, scaling upwards at a sharp incline that forced Mary to dig her claws into the side of the cliff as she followed Kirie floating just ahead.

"N-NNNGH, awww FUCK THIS!"

Let me help!

From her hand she slipped free a set of binding ropes, wrapping them around Mary's body whilst tethering the other end to herself.

Always have a spotter when climbing.

"Hah, didnae think you did mountaineering!"

I don't.

Her smile beamed with the fondest innocence.

I'm just that well-versed in subjects.

Mary chuckled focusing on their ascent, as she skirted round the mountain in a slow winding spiral beneath the violent mistral swirling above their heads.

"S-SO, NNNGH, wanted tae ask ya summat!"

Yes?!

"Is...God real!? Or like, several of 'em?!"

Gods are certainly real, depends on which world you're asking!

"Whit, whit ya mean worlds?!"

I'll tell you when we're safe, just keep climbing!

"Ah need thuh distraction!" Mary shuddered with a gasp. "C-cald's comin' back again!"

Oh, well alright then!

She raised her voice above the storm which Mary found strange considering it transmitted to her mind directly.

There are many different worlds out there beyond your own, worlds far beyond your reach where many creatures exist!

"So like, places where aliens live?!"

Yes indeed!

Mary grabbed for a ledge and heaved herself against the shrieking blizzard.

In my world there live creatures called Pokemon, sapient beasts that live in harmony alongside humans, as allies in battle, industry and peace!

"Ah woulda thought, NNNNGH, ah'd be mair freaked tae hear aboot other worlds but seein' ahm already DEID N-NNNRAAGH!"

The raptor grabbed a higher ledge in a frantic jump as Kirie pulled the rope hard to help her reach.

"S'hard tae be...surprised...when yer in thuh...fuck ah dinnae ken whit you call this, afterlife!?"

The Farplane!

Kirie cried pointing upwards.

There's a cave up there, I will see if it's safe for us to hide in, don't move!

"Aww, an' ah wuz just thinkin' ah should practice mah krumping, but fine I'll nae move oan this fuckin' ice shelf in thuh middle of a FUCKIN' BLIZZARD!"

Just wait for me alright?!

Mary shook her head with a roll of her eyes as she struggled not to freeze, the roar of the alps tearing through her thoughts and bringing the cold back into her heart which shivered even harder, her lips trembling as she pushed back against the mountain slope to steady herself. Below was the valley she had walked, looking much longer than she recalled with a cliff much higher than she thought she climbed as she shook her head confused.

Mary!

The haunter cried out from above.

The cave is empty, come on we can rest inside!

"ALRIGH'!"

Clawing against the icy red, she scattered fragments under her feet as her tank top fluttered in the violent gale. Her struggle to fixate on warm images fought against her shivering limbs, her breaths however never showing in front of her face which somewhat frightened her as her fingers scraped and slid down the side of the slope. Kirie pulled up the rope to keep her dangling as she heaved with all her strength until the raptor recovered her grip, launching herself up with both arms onto the last ledge.

"HAAAH, a-aaah, FUCK!"

Are you alright?

"YEAH, f-fuckin' climbin' up a mountain ah almost fell aff of twice, yeah, nae fuckin' danger WHUDDA YOU THINK?!"

Mary gasped stumbling forwards into the cavern, a large dome-shaped roof naturally formed with the bitterest of red crystal gleaming above her head. Torches had been left to crackle with hissing vigour, scattering embers across the walls as a tunnel descended deeper into the mountain. Sitting beside the torches the raptor warmed herself up, or at least felt the illusion of warmth as her spirit expected.

"Christ, wonder how deep this place goes?"

I would rather not find out.

Kirie floated down beside her.

What was your world like?

"Eh?"

We were speaking before about other worlds, I was curious to ask.

"You dinnae ken it already?" Mary raised her brow. "Thought you knew mah son."

In his travels yes, but I never went to your world personally, only saw fragments from his dreams.

"So...wait," she turned herself towards her, "how d'you ken my son then?"

We met when I was travelling...I suppose I should explain this.

She straightened herself and closed her eyes.

You remember the experiment upon your son, the project?

"Aye," Mary nodded, "it wuz uh, a central processor in this helmet, we were gonnaput nanomachines intae yer body and they'd become a factory fer medicine if they sensed summat wuz wrang with ye, just infinite replication as much as ye needed."

Do you know what happened to the project after you died?

"N-naw."

Kirie bowed her head with a sigh.

Some people in your lab, I assume, I only know as much as James knew, they took your project abroad to find a sponsor and a military group discovered it.

"W-wait...whit, military?"

They took your project and converted it into making supersoldier programs, those who could replicate weapons out in the field of battle.

"...are you..." Mary clenched her teeth, "are you fuckin' shitting me right now cuz that's no' funny."

I am serious. The reason I know this, is because James was the first successful attempt of this project, when the group kidnapped him.

"WHAT?!" She stood up balling her fists. "Y-YOU...okay, ooookay, first you telt me sum FUCKIN' ARSEHOLE took mah project, mah medical dispenser tae fuckin' cure people, an' turned it tae make fuckin' GUNS?!"

Exactly.

"An' they took MAH SON?! MAH WEE BAIRN!?"

At the age of twenty-two.

"...FUCK!"

Mary grabbed her head and started pacing as she dragged her claws down her face.

"They...they took mah son, they just took him an' forced him tae shoot an' kill people?!"

They tried.

The haunter shook her head.

But he fought back, resisted and escaped their laboratory.

"GOOD, fuckin' hope he did, if ah git back taw mah world ahm huntin' every FUCKIN' BASTARD PRICK an' hauntin' thuh SHIT out of 'em 'til they kill themselves!"

With a snarling rasp Mary tightened her fists until they were pale, her neck shuddering with a throbbing vein that surprised Kirie for the aura she fumed in a strangely fond reminiscence. Once she calmed herself down the spectre continued.

The project caused a side-effect through their altered calculations. The reason I met your son, was that through the nanomachines he still has in his body, he has the power to teleport himself across different worlds beyond your own.

"...wait...huh?"

Her shadow passed over the wall as she walked back towards Kirie by the flames.

"He...but, tha-...teleport? Like just instan-"

Yes.

The haunter faded into purple smoke and reappeared right beside her.

This kind of teleport.

"GUH, f-fuck's sake dinnae do that!"

Sorry, hmhmhm, force of habit, but yes your son can do that too, not in the same world but across different ones.

"That's impossible...that...that shouldnae hauv happened wi' mah project it just cannae, that's-HOW?!"

I'm not a scientist, I'm just telling you what they managed to do!

"God..." Mary stepped back pressing against the wall, "so mah son is...is...he even back hame?"

No, he is far beyond your world and living peacefully elsewhere.

"Oh...oh thank god ahm sae happy to hear, so he's alright?"

Married with a steady job in a nice house with good friends.

"Town or city?"

Town.

"Hoo!" She wiped her brow with a deep sigh. "Yanno, ah worried aboot him bein' raised in a city, woulda wanted tae live somewhere smaller cuz London's too fuckin' big."

You did not like living there?

"Oh naw, naw thuh job ah took wuz great, ah loved being doon there, just worried aboot James in such a big place, it's so easy tae get lost, also in London naebody talks to each other, nobody kens their neighbour like back hame."

I understand.

"So un..." Mary sat back down beneath the torches, "whit...other stuff mah son's been up tae?"

Oh there is FAR too much for me to tell you in one sitting.

"Well." She crossed her arms with grin. "Tell me whit ya can 'til ah catch mah breath."

On the other side of the mountain, two shadows stood staring up towards the peaks of Raegn. Both were wrapped in cloaks, one silver and thin, the other tall and black.

"Incredible, is it not?"

The grey shadow swept his sleeves with staff in hand.

"This land of wretched hatred, this grand vermillion atlas that holds the world aloft its burning shoulders."

"I don't think we're under the world," the black veil scratched his hood, "More like, beyond it."

"Yes but it's all so Faustian is it not? The grand plains of darkness that we must tread before we reach salvation by the warmth of Pangaea."

"You think she'll be trouble?"

"No, not really." The grey one turned tapping his cane. "But if our chief demands it then it must be done."

"Understood," the black shadow nodded looming his neck over him, "will you be alright by yourself?"

"Oh, do not fear for me."

A gust of wind suddenly furled from beneath his robe.

"My form in this realm has brought me to my true potential."

His body floated upwards, slowly but surely towards the mountain peak.

"Wait for me here, I shall return shortly."

The dark robe bowed with his sleeves clasped behind his back, watching his partner fade into a silver star in the howling mist of crimson hate. The rime pulled at his cloak, his eyes slitting beneath his hood as he tore through the blizzard towards a cave deeper set into the base of the mountain. A smile crept under his hood as he descended into the darkness, slinking along the walls as he felt the presence of lurking beasts. Above he thought he saw stalactites of shimmering red, until one of them started to move with the flapping of wings and a shuddering hiss before he slipped past through the spiralling tunnels.

His cane gently tapped the cavern floor with softened steps, holding his breath as he passed by another room filled with heaving bodies, the rasping shudders of the damned as bodies of rouge covered the place, some sleeping within nooks that had been carved into the walls as his feet lifted off the floor to creep past them. The room above he found through another twisting corridor, empty of all beasts with a tattered tapestry hanging along the length of the entire wall.

"Perfect," he smiled averting his eyes, "now just to bring them here."

Hearing the voices of women, he headed upwards through several more passages until he saw the flickering of torchlight and two shadows crossing the door.

I first met your son briefly in a small village beyond your home. A local musician spoke to me, telling me what had happened. I won't mince words, but your son made a terrible mistake.

"Whut'd he dae?" Mary asked.

He killed a villager, quite savagely, in retribution for the death of his girlfriend.

"Wh-whit? A-are you serious?!"

I wish it was not true but, yes, it was quite horrific.

"Oh christ...that's horrible, why didnae he jus' go to thuh police?"

He did not trust them, simply that. His life back in your world was entirely around criminals, those who had been abandoned by society and abused by authorities...including himself. After his murder in the village he became despondent, roaming between worlds trying to shake off his grief and increasing fury. Soon he had found his limit and for lack of a better phrase, he became 'feral' for the next two years in an ancient primal land.

"Christ..." Mary shook her head whilst clutching her knees, "when did you meet him proper?"

Much later.

She waved her hand with a shake of her head.

It is rather unfortunate that my first encounters with him were all at his lowest points, I would like to tell you rather the stories he has told me, or that which I have glanced from his dreams.

"Alrigh', that's fine," Mary looked relieved as she straightened herself, "so whit else he been up tae?"

After the village, he was briefly dragged into an escapade with two freelance detectives. Then he ended up in a futuristic city where he engaged in street racing, legal mind you. Then the breakdown where he was feral for two years, but he found a mate and protected her, even to the point of rescuing an entire tribe of prehistoric raptors from captivity.

"Wh-whit?! Prehistoric, like mah ancestors?"

I do not think they were YOUR ancestors specifically.

The spirit waved her hand.

This was another dimension after all.

"Righ'...so, whut else did he-wait."

She turned her head towards the depths.

"Is...s-someone there?"

The haunter readied herself with a ball of darkness fuming from her hand, shimmering black as she waited for the stranger to reveal itself. Instead they heard a voice, plaintive but dry with a Canadian accent.

"Mary...Mary..."

"...wh-whit?"

"Help me...h-help me Mary...it's burning me."

"G-gerald?! GERALD, are you there?!"

MARY WAIT!

The raptor dove in as she ran down the passage, hurrying after a grey phantom that raced just ahead.

"GERALD, G-GERALD WAIT!"

Keep your voice DOWN!

The spirit shrieked in her mind but Mary didn't stop, pounding her feet as she found a large empty room with no sign of the silver cloak.

"Gerald, Gerald! A-ah heard him, ah swear I did!"

Is your ring telling you he is near?

"OH, fuck yer right!" Checking her hand the ring glowed vaguely towards the west. "Nnnnaw. No ah dinnae think so, but ahm sure ah heard him, it wuz like...it wuz thuh same accent an' aw, wuz hard tae hear."

Let's get back to the fire and rethink our-

"Hey whit's that?"

She pointed up towards the fluttering tapestry, a pastiche of armoured stick figures moved through the motions of attacking a castle.

I...I do not know. What a fascinating find in such an odd place.

"Aye it...it...reminds me of summat..."

Her eyes grew wide as the figments started to move. Slowly the armour changed into polo shirts and black bottoms, the people becoming anthros or humans and the castle morphing with a constant overlay to stretch out to what looked like a school. Kirie however saw something different, the figures changing to that of humans as the castle turned to a house. A cottage in the forest.

Oh no. No, M-mary, Mary we have to go, we have to-HR-HRRRKH!

"Going somewhere?"

A sudden pressure forced her to the ground as a violent gust of wind drove into her back.

"The show's just about to start...it's not polite to walk out of the cinema before the film ends."

N-NNNGH, wh-who, who are you?!

"Someone making sure you don't interfere with our grand ascension. Now watch."

The wind grabbed her face and jerked her towards the tapestry.

"Look upon this splendour...and embrace its madness."

N-no, NO! MARY DON'T LOOK, DON'T LOOK AT IT!

Despite the efforts of her captor Kirie managed to tear her eyes away just before the house fully formed. But she saw something that frightened her, burning with a tempest forming in her heart as voices drifted through her memory.

"There's nothing we can do for her-"

"NO, I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HER!"

"Stop, STOP IT, you know we tried everything you have to move on!"

"SH-SHE'S MY BABY, I PROMISED I WOULD KEEP HER SAFE!"

"Get out of the way, I'm warning you!"

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

"SHE'S ALREADY GONE, JUST LET HER GO IN PEACE!"

" NOOOOOO!"

Red mist fell over her vision, the sounds of shattering glass and crumpled wood filled the air before she found herself stumbling out of the house on all fours.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S SUFFERING?!"

"I CARED MORE ABOUT HER THAN YOU EVER DID!"

"I CAN'T BRING HER BACK! NO ONE CAN! N-no one...can. I've accepted it...I'm sorry. You got two choices now. Either come back and move on...or leave."

With tears trembling in her vision, she turned and ran through the woods. Her chest started pounding with her sobbing screams as her feet trampled through the dirt.

"M-millie...I-i failed you...I'm sorry...m-my baby Millie I'm sorry...I'll make...I'll make him pay, I'll make them all pay!"

Staring upon the tapestry with eyes turning blank, Mary stood with her mouth slightly agape as the figures danced across the cloth with chattering babble, the castle become a school with a familiar emblem upon its front of a dragon and a sword beneath a well. She found herself in a corridor, the walls of the cavern filling with lockers set flush against white walls and a blue spackled floor underneath.

"MARY!" A hand grabbed her in passing. "C'MON WE'RE LATE!"

"Ehh?! Wh-whit's happenin'?"

"Ya deaf or whit, it's lunch-time c'mooon!"

"A-ah, alrigh'?!"

Her head felt like it had been split in half, one side pulling back and the other pushing forth as she stared down at herself. A white polo shirt and black-bottomed pants, like every other shadow around her, some wearing skirts and some wearing jumpers but all the same colours of black, grey and white. She followed after the one that dragged her to the lunch hall, a wide open room with tables shaped like hexagons, a giant stage to one side with sapphire curtains dominating the hall with one side showing a kitchen beyond through a long-windowed slat. Students gathered with trays of meat and veg, Mary falling in line without even thinking as thick-armed chefs threw down faux-sausages, mashed potatoes, bowls of custard and a soft drink.

"Ugh ah hate sausage," her friend said sitting down beside her, "you wan' it?"

"Uh, aye, sure."

She took the meat and added to her plate, staring at the young teenage panda who wolfed down on her food whilst the sound of the lunch hall filled to a deafening crescendo.

"Whit class ya got next?"

"Chemistry," Mary said without thinking.

"Ohh yer favourite, gonnae make summat tae blow up thuh school?!"

"Wheesht!" she grabbed her hand. "Dinnae joke aboot that Cass!"

"Heehee, ah've got P.E next, thassa relief, cannae stand mair readin'."

"Auuuch, mah P.E's tomorrah, christ's sake, ah been trainin' up on mah fitba', got a sweet shot ah bin' wantin' tae try!"

"Ooooh lemme ken how it goes!"

The bell rang after their food was done, Mary heading up and along a double-set of cream-painted stairs to more halls of white and blue, the brief scent of chemicals through the air as windows framed across the lab of several sinks on desks.

"Good afternoon everyone," said a badger in a labcoat, "today we will be continuing on neutralisation, now...who can tell me what a base is?"

"OOH!" Mary raised her hand. "It's summat that reacts wi' an acid tae make salt an' water!"

"Correct, Thompson. Now, we can tell if the acid is strong if it fully dissociates in an aqueous solution, whilst weak acids do not. Does anyone know why this is?"

"Mmmyap!" A blonde retriever raised her hand showing a gorgeous ruby bracelet. "Because of the strength of the bonds, the stronger the bond the more energy goes to dissociating."

"Very good Liddell, now here's what we'll today." The teacher brought up jars of clear liquid. "This, is hydrochloric acid. It is VERY dangerous and will corrode your skin, as well as your clothes."

He felt the students visibly clench.

"What I want you to do, is from the ingredients you have on your desk, to neutralise this acid until it is perfectly harmless. I've teamed you all up with different partners because it's important you all learn to co-operate when working with dangerous chemicals."

Mary approached to get her sample, grimacing at the name Liddell next to hers but nowhere near as much as the seething look she felt from the retriever as they walked back to the desk with gloves and goggles.

"Alrigh', um, ah think sodium's a good start-"

"Just let me do this," she shoved her aside, "don't want to contaminate the sample with your scales."

"Whut?!" she snorted. "Zat s'posed tae mean?!"

"Are you deaf as well?" the dog poured some acid into a glass. "Just sit back and eat a goat or something."

"Ah didnae pick you, it's nae mah fault, ah dinnae like you either Mel!"

"Course you don't, cuz you're jealous." The dog smirked at her stirring the solution. "Now just stand over there, you smell like a fossil."

"WHIT is yer prablem?!" she stomped her foot.

"My problem is having to look at your face every day," her face scowled baring teeth, "seriously, if I fail an exam because I couldn't focus, it'll be your ugly face making me throw up!"

"Is there a problem?" the teacher stepped to them.

"She's no' lettin' me work!" Mary cried gesturing.

"Ms. Liddell. You are partners in a lab, please allow Ms. Thompson to work with you."

"...fine."

The canine snarled and poured more acid into a beaker which she dragged across the table to Mary. The badger walked away as she started adding sodium, working separately as a gentle babble filled the room of panicky hypotheses.

"Such a teacher's pet," Liddell scoffed looking over, "not even doing it right anyway."

"Shut yer face Balto."

"Pfft, not even the right kind of dog," Mel giggled patronising, "you're going to fail this class so I might as well let you, I didn't want you to embarrass yourself but if it gets your garbage face out of my sigh-"

"Ahm daein' it right, stop it!" she thumped her fist on the desk. "Ah hate you too, yer just some snobby bitch who thinks you get tae say whitever ye wan' cuz yer family's rich!"

"Um, yes?" She grinned leering at her with hands on her hips. "Bet that pisses you off, I told you you were jealous, you're just a petty little shitscale who the moment you drop out of this school, the only money you'll be smart enough to make is on your knees!"

"SHUT UP!"

She shoved the dog back as a gasp came from the group. Stumbling against the desk, her shining bracelet caught the edge of the table and snapped in half when her body jerked back to catch herself.

"Y-you...you..."

Liddell looked down with shock at her naked wrist.

"You...BITCH!"

"Shit, shit ahm sorry!" Mary put up her hands. "Ah didnae mean it, you were callin' me stuff-"

"S-sorry?! Ohohh you'll be sorry." She grabbed the flask from the desk. "THAT, was a Vermille original that cost MORE than your SHITSCALE FAMILY!"

"N-NO NOOOOAAAAAAIIIIGH!"

The moment Liddell splashed her face with the half-empty jar, Mary felt a deep gouging burn spread across her flesh. The rancid snarl of acid sizzling over her skin, popping the scales as she screamed frantically with eyes bulging as she clutched at her throat before the searing heat warned her back. She grabbed the sodium bicarbonate mix and doused herself quickly, smothering it over her neck as she felt the acid struggling to neutralise, forming a thick moulting scar that darkened across her throat amidst shivering sobs as she fell against the wall with the teacher quickly coming to her side.

"Oh my GOD!" the teacher came to her side. "LIDDELL WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"SHE-...sh-she broke my-"

"SOMEONE CALL THE NURSE! CLASS IS DELAYED, THOMPSON COME WITH ME!"

"_M-MUMMY, MUMMY, AAAAAAAAARGH! _"

Grabbing the badger's arm she was dragged down the halls as a blinding anguish consumed her. The pain made her struggle to speak, her screeching cry drawing the eyes of every classroom in passing who gasped at the burning steam around her neck, choking, suffocating with her sobs turning weaker. Memories blurred between halls and the white room, the bed where bandages dipped in solution covered her neck in a deep cooling sea. But the horror still burned in her mind, the crimson sky clouding her thoughts as she remembering her tightening throat, the smothering gas that threatened her lungs and the face of Liddell through it. She closed her eyes as the pain receded, only to find herself in the headmaster's office.

"I have spoken with the Liddell family concerning the incident."

"And?" a deep grizzled voice came beside her.

"Well, to put it bluntly, they are willing to offer a settlement to cover the damages."

"Settlement? Zat whut we call a bribe now?"

She looked up with a shiver to her father's face, a large turtle with a deep-scarred shell on his back, covered partially by a dark polo shirt as he raised himself from his seat and loomed over the pale-skinned human of coiffed brown hair in a middle-management suit.

"I understand you are upset," said the human, "you have every right to be and we will take actions against-"

"If yer word wuz as good as you said, she'd be aff tae juvie."

"Which is why the Liddell family are offering this settlement," he pushed an envelope across his desk, "as amenity for your daughter's incident which we would like not to be made public. The school of St. Martin's does not condone this sort of, behaviour-"

"BEHAVIOUR?! SHE SCARRED MAH WEE BAIRN!"

His fist slammed with a shudder through the rosewood desk, causing both daughter and headmaster to jump back in their seats as the walls of imperial green shuddered before the father leaned over the desk.

"Stop thinkin' aboot this as a business. When ah wuz in thuh navy, if sumbody scarred another crewmate, they'd be up fer a court martial."

"This is not the navy Mr. Thompson-"

"Naw..." he pulled back and took out a packet of cigarettes, "cuz if it were thuh wee bitch would be in custody by now."

"M-mr. Thompson do NOT insult our stude-will you please not smoke in here?!"

"Oh aye, so whut if ah dae?"

He flicked open his lighter and took a drag of his cig, much to the growing disgust of the headmaster and the increasing shame of his daughter. A long thick vapour filled the room as both of them coughed with a heaving snort from the father's nostrils.

"Are you gonnae take action, or you just gonna spout rules at me lahk thuh paltry wee basturt you are?"

"I will NOT!" He stood up with insulted snarl. "Ms. Liddell is a very promising student and I will not have her potential career be sullied by-"

"Ohhhh it's MISS Liddell now is it?" said the tortoise smacking his beak. "So whit, is her family payin' you or summat?"

"Get out. Both of you, get out."

"Not until you assure me that thuh wee cow's kicked oot before she harms sumbody else-"

"That is not your responsibility!"

"Neither's it yours you ball-less sac-"

"S-STOP IT!"

Mary shrieked grabbing his arm.

"S-stop...ah just wan' tae go hame."

"Mary, whit?"

"J-just, stop it...ah dinnae wan' tae cause trouble please da, let's just go."

"Listen to your daughter, Mr. Thompson." The human smiled with relief. "She is a bright and brilliant mind and understands that our school spirit is a terrible thing to waste."

"...hmph."

He stood up and took his leave without another word, taking Mary's arm and pulling her away with his lumbering shell and drifting smoke departing from the room. Her father said nothing as they roamed the empty halls, slowly making their way to the front entrance.

"Ahm sorry," Mary whimpered, "ah...sh-she started it, but ah dinnae wan' tae be-"

"Ah thought ah telt ye tae let me handle this."

He turned with a cold snarl.

"Ah had him oan thuh ropes, ah woulda gotten that bitch done fer whit she did, but you gave up."

"But ah wuz scared, whut if he had me expelled?!"

"Then we deal with it."

"You always dae this, you cannae just push people!"

"Thuh one who stops pushin' loses FIRST!"

He grabbed her shoulder hard as his eyes pierced through her soul.

"Your brother wouldnae have given up."

His fingers tightened with a painful squeeze.

"All ah wanted wuz tae have mah bairns grow up tae be fighters, tae never back doon when people are tryin' tae kick us doon."

"Da...p-please," she shivered with a heated sob, "ahm, ahm sorry, a-ah just, ah didnae-"

"Yer all ah have left Mary. Ah need you tae be a fighter."

"Wh-why?! Why do ah haftae?!"

"BECAUSE YER BROTHE DIDNAE!"

He clenched his jaw as hard as his fist.

"Yer brother...wuz meant tae be strong, tae stand up tae anythin', an' instead he's nae here. All ah have left is a coward fer a daughter-"

"I-it wuznae mah FAULT!"

"YOU WERE THERE AN' DID NOTHING!"

Her father shoved her down as he stared at his trembling hands.

"You...you did nothing. He didnae deserve to die like a fuckin' coward...like you, Mary."

He walked down the hall, leaving his daughter on the floor as she stared downwards with a choking sob. Her claws dug in deep, her heart wrenched in two as her face clenched hard in the silence of the school that slowly faded from her memory. Glass in the fog, a window through time as she stared at herself.

"Did you...d-did you wish I had died...instead of Robbie?"

Her lip trembled.

"Ah knew you were thinkin' that...you hated yerself fer thinkin' it, but you still thought it, da."

She turned to see his father's image fade into the mist.

"Of course ah couldnae have done anything, I wuz a fuckin' child, I was seven, but you still blamed me because it was easier to blame me than accept thuh truth. He just died, an' there wuz nothing anyone could've done."

Her younger self staggered onto her feet, clutching her scarred throat the same time her adult self did.

"You should've understood, mair than anyone seein' a death happen an' you cannae do a thing aboot it...but you didnae wan' tae. You were an auld impotent bastard who got discharged an' still tryin' tae justify yer existence...thinkin' you could spit in thuh face of God."

The hallway returned with young Mary walking forth, her eyes hardened as students stopped and turned.

"I used tae look back oan this an' thought who ah wuz really angry with. Wuz it you fer shuttin' me doon, wuz it Mel fer whut she did, wuz it me fer backin' doon? Naw. Naw it wuzn't any of those."

She saw Melanie Liddell down the hall.

"It wuz all three."

She dropped her bag and marched forwards.

"Ah hated you. Ah hated her, an' ah hated mahself."

Mary started running.

"I fucking, hated, everything."

"_YOU FUCKING WHOOOOOOOORE! _"

The world stopped the moment her fist went right through the dog's face, throwing her entire body behind it in one single crunch that broke her snout with a piercing shriek. Her eyes widened as she started to fall, but Mary grabbed her shirt with one hand before twisting her ear with the other and crushed her skull into the lockers. Students started screaming, one of Mel's friends tried to grab her but Mary slammed her elbow back and punched her eye out hard with a screeching sob. Melanie started howling, the raptor screamed even harder with eyes of primal fury as she slammed the canine's head into the wall over and over again. She started to see blood trickling down her, strawberry on vanilla as her sobbing cries turned weaker, the panic rising in students around her.

"WH-WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"JESUS SHE'S REALLY TEARING HER UP!"

"MARY, MARY STOP IT! STOP IT YOU'RE KILLING HER!"

"MARY THOMPSON!"

The voice of a teacher broke her briefly from her fury haze. She dragged the shuddering body of Liddell from the wall where crimson spittled down her neck, as she turned towards two faceless adults.

"YOU WAN' A SETTLEMENT FROM THIS, DO YA?!"

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?!"

"AHLL GIES YOU A FUCKIN' SETTLEMENT!"

She pushed the dog a few inches in front of her, stumbling with a whimpering gasp as mascara ran down her cheeks mixing with blood before Mary pulled back her foot, claws sticking out of her shoes as she kicked like a football straight between her legs. There was no scream, but they all felt the crunch, the golden retriever rolling her eyes upwards and falling unconscious to a crumple, much to the stuttering shock of the students around her, with one or two smiling from the back.

"Thompson."

A hand grabbed her shoulder.

"You...have made a great and terrible mistake."

"You wan' sum too?"

She slapped the hand off and turned with a bitter snarl.

"Or is mah da too fuckin' poor to PAY YOU BASTARDS AFF?!"

"No...I'm speaking of a great and terrible mistake."

The faceless adults suddenly burst with savage crimson, blood flensing across the walls as Mary grinded her teeth against the wretched beasts wearing fragments of old cloth, things that had once been but now were hollow flesh. Long-sickled arms with thick muscular spines that ended on skulls vaguely human, the school started to peel off its walls showing a filth-coated rust beneath.

"You should be thanking me."

The voice of Mel hissed behind her as the hollow skull of a canine grinned at her.

"The less I see of your shitscales, the better."

"You."

Mary tightened every nerve to the point of almost snapping.

"You _FUCKING CUNT! _"

Lunging at the husk she grabbed for its head once more but it suddenly swerved back, lashing her arm with its bladed scythe of a bloodied limb that Mary grabbed before it could retract. She twisted the elbow in a violent crack, snapping it over her knee before grabbing its throat and driving it into the scythe to gut itself through the neck. The other two came charging with shrieks of rage, Mary screaming back as her eyes burned with emerald gleam when she dodged the first slice for her head and slipped behind her attacker, wrapping her arm round its neck to crack its skull painfully askew and trip up its legs to slamdunk it into the ground. The third beast stabbed her in the chest, raking down her side as she roared from the wound to her spirit, before grabbing its head in a leaping kick and driving her knee into its chest and shoving her thumbs into its eyes which popped into fleshy water, screams of agony briefly escaping before it fell silent.

"WHO ELSE WANTS TAE FUCK WI' ME?!" she bellowed down the halls of decay. "_YOU WAN' SUM O' THIS?! FUCKIN' FIGHT ME AN' AHLL KICK YER FUCKIN' HEID IN! _"

The hall suddenly roared with vile cacophony, a wall of flesh approaching as faces of beasts lunged upon her in the form of dogs, reptiles, humans and even aliens that Mary did not recognise. Brimming with anger she marched towards the other end of the corridor with heavy feet and shuddering fists, the mob slathering with rancid teeth and rasping tongues almost reflecting her own.

"Who in GOD'S FILTH-RIDDEN NAME are you?!"

"The bitch who's gonnae break yer FUCKIN' RIBS!" she snapped back.

"A PATHETIC excuse of a child who shits in her mother's milk!"

"Get the FUCK OUT MY FACE you cockbreathing BITCH!"

"GO FUCK YERSELF!" she shrieked. "_AHLL BEAT YOU TAE FUCK 'TIL YOUR DA'S IN A FUCKIN' COMA! _"

They lunged into a single clash, Mary's roar ripping through the air as she grabbed the first skull and slammed it hard into another beast's ribs, before snapping the neck back in a hard crack and tossing the body against a wall of broken lockers. Grabbing one of the dented doors she tore it free to swing it against a charging fist, blocking it sharp before another punch slammed through and broke it in half. Deflecting a third fist she drove the now-jagged half of the locker door into the creature's chest, shredding downwards like a sawblade before turning fast to slash sideways into another monster's face and send it crumpling to the ground.

One of the beasts kicked her back against the wall before shanking deep into her leg, her screech incensing them when she crushed its neck in both hands and slammed her knee into its crotch.

Another monster came swinging for her head as she threw the body in its path, the blade shanking into its fellow aggressor as Mary tackled the second beast and threw it down to the floor before she slammed her fists into its head, driving harder into the pointed skull as it bent with every hammering slam, until something kicked her from behind sending her bowling forwards. Stumbling back up she quickly dodged from a slashing cut to her waist leaving a thin trace of crimson in her shirt, before another of the furious horde made a flying kick that sent her through a broken pair of doors and into the lunch hall filled with crumbling tables.

"DAMNED WENCH!"

She staggered up beside a table as the creatures spread out towards her.

"A filthy heathen doesn't deserve to be BURIED!"

"Oh ahll bury you then." She grabbed something from the table. "Bury you in a FUCKIN' DITCH!"

The first one to try and leap at her she gutted with a blunt knife, piercing into its fleshy stomach and sawing through the mesentery as she felt cold blood drip down her claws and smother her arm with an icy grip that almost shocked her from her rage, if not for the eyes of her attacker piercing her skull with infectious bile.

"The FUCK are you looking at, shitscale?!"

"A dead fuckin PRICK!"

She pulled her blade out and immediately stabbed up through its neck, ripping the jawline in half and pulling its head down into the table to crunch through the rotting wood and quickly turned to the rest of the horde, one almost galloping as it kicked her straight in the gut and sent her rolling hard towards the wall, bruising her back and chest. She grabbed a broken chair to hurl at the stomping fiend causing it to trip over the crumpling furniture. Her knife had been lost, but she leapt for the fallen beast and climbed on top of it to punch the back of its head and slam it into the floor until it would stop.

"_FUCKIN' PISSWHORE! YOU FUCKIN' ARSEHOLE, HOW DO YA LIKE ME NOW EH?! HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?! _"

There was no response but a guttural hiss, the face crushed inwards so firm that bone splinters scattered around the head and only when its arms stopped twitching did she stop beating. The mob of savage fiends wrapped in skin, which Mary saw was not their own but as if someone had pulled a muscular network on skeletons too big to fit, came rushing all at once with their sickles shining in the light. She grabbed the side of a broken table and with not-enough strength she hurled at them to try and stop at least two from attacking. Bbut another three had dodged round and stabbed through both her shoulder and leg, her cry of pain resounding to a greater roar of fury as she grabbed the closest arm and stopped the scythe coming for her head, forcing it to sweep past her chest and plunge into another monster's ribs. They united in pushing her down, wretched teeth turning black with rotting blood that drooled from their crackling gums.

"Filthy savage."

"N-NNNRRRGH!"

"This infidel shall pay!"

"FUCK, AFF, AHLL SHOVE YER FUCKIN' COCK RIGH' DOON YER FUCKIN' NECK!"

"YOU DARE OPPRESS US, THEN YOU SHALL SUFFER WORSE!"

A sickle raised high above her head as Mary struggled harder, screaming with a rising shriek as the monsters knelt on her arms with the third ready to carve her head. Then a black shudder shot through the air, a ball of darkness that slammed into the skinwalker as ropes suddenly wrapped round the necks of the other two and wrenched them apart.

MARY!

In the haze of her mind she heard a familiar voice.

MARY I'M HERE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!

"WHERE THE FUCK YA BEEN?!" she shouted at Kirie who floated through the wall.

YOU ran off, I was trying to find you the past hour!

"Who the FUCK ARE YOU?!" shrieked the damned enraged.

None of your business, now let us leave quietly or else we make your afterlife VERY difficul-

"FUCK YOUR SHIT YOU FUCKING HALFBREED!"

They lunged at the two once again, Mary taking another chair and slamming it in the back of one beast whilst Kirie sent a spiral of ropes to latch onto one beast's arms and twist them backwards in a cracking snap, followed by its throat that she tethered to and savagely cracked with tightening cords to send it twitching to the floor. The raptor found another knife and went for the nearest beast, dodging between the blades and shanking its throat twice in a twisting crunch before snapping the handle against its vertebrae, grabbing the choking monster and using its scythe-arm to thrust into another's chest and slashed downwards with a scream.

"_RRRAAAAAAA AAAARRRGH! _"

She turned with the choking corpse in a waltz macabre, the bloodied sickle in her hand as the next fury-beast came slashing at her throat. The raptor ducked behind her shield as the carving scythe chopped through its head, before she shanked it in return and sawed through its bowels to render it in half. Then a much larger beast suddenly punched her through the wall behind her, her victim exploded from the impact in bloody chunks as she went flying through the mortar and crunching into a hard roll through a classroom. The wall came down in splintering rebar as she stumbled on her feet, covered in dust and groping for the desk with the smell of old chemicals draped bitter across the sides, the floor and even the windows spackled in toxic lime to show a world that did not exist, a wretched mist where shadows could be seen faintly beyond the mountains of madness.

"Insidious little maggot."

The giant form of a hulking stegosaur shoved the wall apart.

"I will render your homeland to ashes, for daring to turn against the light of Pangaea."

His footsteps shuddered through the room causing the taps to drip from every desk, the windows rumbling with its voice as it loomed above her at a good 9 feet with one single arm of a long piercing blade.

"Y-you...f-fucking think ah GIVE A SHIT?!"

Her heart tightened with a burning scar.

"_YOU THINK AHM SCARED OF A WALKIN' BRICK SHITHOUSE?! _"

"I care not for your fear." The sword-limb swung towards her. "Only your death shall please Janus whom you've DISGRACED!"

"_FUCK YER FUCKIN' CULT! _"

She jumped at the lurching beast who tried to swing at her face, Mary launching up from a desk to kick its head and shank her claws into its eye before it slammed its head hard into her chest causing her to fall, its giant foot kicking her hard to crack her skull against a table as the beast pulled back its vile blade which suddenly burst into flames, a sword of vengeance that scorched across the ceiling and plunged straight for her body. The raptor rolled fast to the side and stepped back in the middle of the lab, stale puddles of acid burning under her feet as she dodged the monstrous sword of crimson wroth that charred over the desks, scorching the air with a thickening cloud of smoke that wrapped round the beastly goliath.

"The paklah has called me," the stego hissed, "heathens who have shunned the light of Pangaea, shall burn with the wretched mammals."

"You...even when ahm deid, you FUCKERS still cannae stop, whinging oan aboot fuckin' fire like sum caveman SHITE!"

"Then stand against the flames...and join the infidels."

"Oh...ahm ready tae burn." Her claws dragged through the velvet liquid. "You ever heard aboot firewater? HMM?!"

A smile drew across her lips as an idea sparked in her, the rage in her heart briefly quelling for a moment as her hands started to drip with a crackling heat.

"_You think you can just scare everyone with yer big showy flames like we're fuckin' children at sum folksy arsewipe dinner party EHH?! C'MON THEN! AHLL MAKE YA BURN FER THUH REST O' YER FUCKIN' DEATH! _"

"DIE BEFORE CXULUBCAAAAH!"

The monster charged towards her, shoving tables apart with its gargantuan form and crunching the hard wood with meaty thighs as it raised its burning sword high to rip through the ceiling and come tearing down on Mary's head. She reared her hand back in turn and felt a sudden equation form in her head, a glimmer in her eye as her arm swung out and splashed a hot burning liquid over the golem's face.

"A-AAAAARGH, AAAAAAAARRGH! MY, M-MY FACE!"

"YOU LIKE THAT DO YA?!" the raptor shrieked. "THINK FIRE'S HOT, WELL THIS WATER BURNS TOO!"

Stumbling back with a gasping shudder, the beast guarded its face with flaming sword hoping the fire would vapourise the acid water. But it only made things worse with a sizzling pop, rippling through the skin and soon forming a cloud of white that started eating at its skull.

"N-NO, WHY IS IT NOT WORKING, A-AAAARGH IT BURNS, IT BUUUUURNS!"

"FLUOROANTIMONIC ACID BITCH!" She grinned spreading her arms. "_Guess whit happens when ya put it near fire, IT GETS WORSE! _"

"NR-NRRRRAAARGH, AAAAAAARGH!"

Without hands to scratch at its face the stego-beast staggered back with blinding anguish, trying to gouge one of the sinks for water to spurt free but nothing came, its desperation growing as Mary drenched her hands in the thickening acid to almost be like glue, lashing across the monster's chest in a dual-strike that burned a deep blackening X into its souring flesh as it stumbled back into the grand hall.

"_IF YOU WANTED TAE BEG, IT'S TOO FUCKIN' LATE! _"

Jumping onto its face she slammed hard with fists full of acid, drenching the melting skull of the stegosaur whose cries began to fade when its throat fell apart like wet cardboard, the head folding in on itself much to the rasping shriek of its cohorts and Kirie's shocked expression. The colossus fell onto its back, its head but a puddle that she stomped in as she walked off its body staring down the remaining beasts.

"_First one tae fight me gets their FUCKIN' SKULL RIPPED AFF! Second one tae fight, ahll beat yer mother tae death with yer ain spine, fer makin' you exist, IN MAH FUCKIN' LIFE! _"

The absence of fear was their first mistake as the first one rushed her. Focusing her fist, the raptor tightened her stance and drove a solid punch straight through its head, cracking it clean off with a fast-melting liquid that devoured its throat in a burning smoulder before the second fiend was dealt with by Kirie who strangled it hard with her ropes and twisted its head like a bottle. The hall was soon silent, the curtains on the stage almost melting onto the warped and twisted floorboards as the phantom turned towards Mary, her eyes turning black as she snarled with a vile hiss.

M-mary? MARY!

" What?" Her teeth almost cracked as her voice dipped two octaves.

Mary...Mary calm down. You're not like those Furies, they are gone now, you can relax!

" How...can I relax...when those FUCKIN' CULT BASTARDS STILL FUCK WI' MEEE?!"

Wh-what, what do you mean?!

" HIM!" She pointed at the stego's corpse. " He...talked aboot that fuckin' Pangaeist SHITE, thuh same FUCKIN' GARBAGE THAT TOOK MAH HUSBAND!"

Alright! Alright.

Kirie raised her hands with a deep breath.

You can tell me everything...but first, you need to control yourself.

" They'll FUCKIN' PAY!"

And I will help you, but you NEED to focus. think! Will you be helping Gerald if you lose your mind in this place?! Think what the Furies once had been, you don't want to become them do you?!

"G-ger...Gerald." She gasped with bitter breath as she looked at her dripping hands. "I...I can't, i-it hurts...s-so much."

What hurts?

" Rage. Anger. F-fury...f-feels so good but mah heart it FUCKIN' HURTS!"

Then control it.

The haunter floated closer.

You are a scientist yes? Control it like you would a flame, not too bright to burn you out, but not too dim that no one else can see.

" B-bright...burning...I must...I must con trol myself."

She watched Mary's eyes turn back to clear green, her hands turning dry once again as the smell of acid faded from her body and the school slowly disappeared like the last seconds of a dream. The walls of the old cave in the mountain returned, as she stared upon the tapestry fluttering in the breeze.

"Whuh...where did...whut happened?"

The Furies.

Kirie drifted beside her.

This tapestry lured you inside your memories of deepest anger.

"Ah mean...fuck it kinda worked." She sat down on a nearby stone. "Hauvnae thought aboot that in years."

Are you alright?

"Aye just, gimme a minute." The raptor stared at the bodies of Furies laid around her. "Did ah really...just...fuckin' kill all them?"

Well, I helped.

The spectre grinned circling her head.

I'm just thankful you recovered your senses.

"Aye...it felt, it felt so real," said Mary rubbing her head, "fuck mah body feels like it's burning like a fever or summat."

The Furies seem to have left us, so we have time to rest before leaving. I think your display of dominance frightened them.

"Hah, dominance?!" She looked up at Kirie who smiled back. "Ah mean...guess ah wuz pretty frightenin' back when ah cunt-punted Liddell doon thuh hall."

I am sorry for not reaching you sooner, but I too had been lured by this mountain's tricks.

"Is fine...thanks, fer coming back, Kirie."

The phantom smiled and slipped down to her side, taking her hand in hers.

Well, at least one good thing came out of this.

She pointed at the dark stain pooled around her feet.

You managed to tap into your latent power.

"Whut, ya mean this?" Mary squirted some harmless water. "Ah wuznae thinkin' aboot it 'til now but...shit, did ah really just make fluoroantimonic acid oot o' mah hands?"

It appears so, I would not have taken you for a water-poison type!

"Soooo...issat, mah new superpower or summat?!"

Yes, strictly speaking!

Kirie squeezed her hand with a smile.

Most spirits find their new power, but yours is quite unusual as some sort of aquamancer.

"Hmmm...aquamancer?" She smiled wiggling her claws. "Or maybe an ACIDmancer?"

HAH, hahaha, never heard of that before but there's a first time for everything! You would make quite the salazzle back in my world.

"Well if ah can burn aff mair faces from these bastards then fine by me SO!" she slapped her knees. "Where we aff tae?"

The desert out west, once you've caught your breath.

"Hah, right...actually that's, nae a bad idea."

Closing her eyes Mary suddenly felt exhausted, letting her spirit recover as she stared down at the gouging marks and tearing rips that would have been fatal when she was alive. But in this land of death, she was uncertain what to feel, both vibrant with aura and yet sapped of all life, exhausted yet incensed as she eventually dragged herself back up the winding path to where the torches stood before she rested herself beneath their warmth. On the other side of the tapestry room, slinking in the dark, a grey hooded figure clenched his fist upon his cane with amber top, heading back through the depths to report to his friend.