Chapter 420: Gray [#3]
It happened in the middle of the night.
Lucian was fast asleep when he felt a fucking headache break into his mind, destroying his mental barriers as a voice screamed at the top of his lungs in pure rage, fear, sadness, despair, and resignation... A voice he recognized. "NOOO!" He got up in a gasp, looking around in a few moments of deep seethed rage as his mind processed what just came over him. 'Fuck, a vision.' Was all that he could think of... He hated when he got random visions! 'But that voice... it sounded like that punk bully kid-' He stopped for a moment, deciding to test a small theory that he had in mind. He closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and started the ritual of summoning a ghost of someone you know- By praying in their name! "I now pray for thee, Maxwell Jägerman, show me thy spirit- Come forth, lost soul, for someone is praying for thee." He started to feel a presence grow around him- It was cold like the lands of death, gripping tight on his heart as a fearful, rageful, and regretful.
"S-someone prayed for me...?" A voice, a shy voice like that of a scared child, echoed within his room. Lucian opened his eyes, and there floating before him was the one and only Maxwell Jägerman- His chest had this large hole, he was wearing his school clothes alongside the Nighthawks jacket, and he had really fucked up eyes, but those were the standard for dead people and ghosts. "S-someone cared I was gone...?" His voice also sounded hopeful, almost like that of a person who saw the light at the end of the darkness, and it wasn't a train speeding up at them at sound breaking speeds- Lucian opened his hand and offered the ghost boy before him a hand, and Max hesitated: "It's okay..." Lucian felt sorry for the boy- Shit, he was too young to die like this. Lucian could also feel the corrupting presence of Wiggog Y'rath's rage that was slowly rotting away every single other emotion on the boy's mind and soul other than sadness, rage, and bone chilling anger. "I'm not gonna hurt you... The voices, they whisper a lot of hurtful things, don't they? They keep saying nobody would remember you, nobody would pray for you, and that you should just... Rage."
Understanding. That was what Lucian felt... he has been under the influence of the Lords in Black for so long that he easily understood what the ghost boy was going through. He could understand it because he also went through such ritual, the boy must've died at a Black Altar or a point of large importance to have been caught under the powers and influence of the Lords in Black like this, and if he doesn't cleanse the kid from the powers of the Lords in Black, he will become a Black Ghost, a rather vengeful being that wants nothing more than to enact revenge on their targets... And that, can be a broad term. "...Flictio...?" Max's eyes seemed to sink deeper into his skull before they widened, realization sinking into his heart and mind as his hands reached out to grip Lucian's shoulders, only to phase right through them. "You- you called me... You prayed for me..." He looked almost hopeful and happy for a moment, before suddenly he looked enraged, his hands holding Lucian's thrkat with a vice grip- Only for them to phase right through him and realization come upon his face as his attempt at murder. "H-holy shit- I'm sorry, fuck, I'm sorry please-" He started to break down, the stress of literally dying and having a thousand voices whisper in your ears your worst fears and insecurities, and have them all confirmed were a fucking nightmare.
"It's okay Max..." Lucian placed a hand on Max's forehead, concentration plastered against his face as he focused on momentarily removing the influence of the Lords in Black in the boy's mind. Like a black smoke, the rage and anger faded away and was blown back by his magical influence over the soul of Maxwell Jägerman, who looked relieved when the extreme anger started to overwhelm his senses. "There, this should help for a while at least... Now, tell me, what happened to you...?" He was a little worried about this- Maxwell Jägerman was alive the last time he saw him, and now he's here? Dead? "...is your body okay? Whoever did this to you didn't destroy it, right? If you want me to bring you back, I need to find your corpse-"
"Wait, you can bring me back?" Hope. Surprise. Sadness. Anger. Delight.
"-isn't that why you called for me?" Lucian looked at him weirdly. Since Max was literally dead, he had no use for pretending anymore, instead he used his Telekinesis to get off of the bed and float towards his desk under the shocked gaze of the ghost boy that was, coincidentally, also floating. "I don't normally go around and do free ressurections for anyone, but I do kinda wanna fuck up the Lords in Black and their little games, and you're also too young to have died a brutal death anyway... So, how did you die? I see the huge hole in your chest, so it must've been quite brutal." Nonchalantly, Lucian stretched out his hand towards the wall and telekinetically pulled a piece of clothing and floated a little, easily wearing it. He slept naked, sleeping without his underwear was very nice and freeing! "If your body's been destroyed, I'll need to either make another whole body from scratch, or use the scraps to make a mixture of compatible body parts from different deceased and make you into my Frankenstein's monster."
"...wasn't Frankenstein the monster?" Confusion. Enquiry. Curiosity. Embarrassment. Knowledge.
"Nah, Frankenstein was the doctor that made the monster- In this case, me." Lucian easily got on his short, wore a shirt, and placed a gray blank mask with a few black and white dots on his face before he pulled out two metallic prosthetic legs made out of various mechanical parts that all were wired to a few electrical pathways that be could control with his Telekinesis and body. "This will hurt." He sighed softly before sinking the pointy ends on his stump, making sure they connected to where his nerves were located, to emulate the sensation of having his legs back! Immediately after, he felt intense and unnatural pain from his long gone legs now replaced by metallic legs. "Fuck!" He cursed, feeling this electric shock go through his whole body, making his muscles tense. "-i really need to make an exoskeleton or something." He stretched his arms above his head and immediately his jacket clicked in place and a small dark mirror appeared on his chest pocket. "Camera ready- Now, you remember where you died or who killed you?"
"..."
Lucian turned to look at the ghost boy, who looked almost... shy? No, he rather looked silent and focused on him, for some reason...? He shrugged, it wasn't his fault that Max was either distracted with something he was thinking of or whatever else that distracted him: "Max, you remember who killed you?"
"...no?" Meanwhile, Max who watched the legless boy suddenly float: '...butt.'
-Scene Cut-
"...who did this?" Holding his hand out, Lucian felt the ground beneath creak and crack under the pressure of his mind and soul- He could feel the gaze of the ghosts within the house, Max was very afraid of them, mostly because of their extremely malicious and aggressive behavior. They tortured him, psychologically and even spiritually as they made him feel extreme pain as he was being corrupted to become like them, Balck Ghosts. "Well, the one who did it was very harsh and very unprofessional, but at least you have most of your body parts..." Seriously! Just looking at the dismembered and broken poor body of the ghost floating alongside him for protection, Lucian could tell that whoever did this had done a very sloppy job, with a few blood marks even spread out from the ground as he could tell the bad work they did to erase the blood that dragged across the floor: "Let's see..." Lifting his hand and watched as the torso, the legs, the arms, and the head came floating up to him and stayed frozen mid-air for him to see: "Most..."
There was a clear lack of nipples.
"...can you do something about it?" Max was really nervous- He had just gotten out of this fucking place, and now he's here again! Well, when they left Lucian's home to search for his place of death, they went through the majority of Hatchetfield in under four hours as Lucian was using his ghostly body to act as a sonar to find his corpse. It took them about four long hours, the majority of those hours were spent by Lucian explaining to him what he was doing whatever he was doing, or him just explaining things to him... Apparently he had a lot of knowledge of the supernatural, unnatural, and the strange shit that happens around the world. "...where's my nipples? Where's my lower half...?" He counted the parts that were present there: Upper body, arms, shoulders, forearms, hands, fingers, head, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, tongue, abs, legs, feet, toes, and a huge hole on his chest where his heart no longer was. There were a few things lacking- His waist, his nipples, and he also had a hole on his stomach for some reason.
"An animal must've dragged your lower half away... That, or a Penis Goblin." Just by saying the name, Lucian shuttered- "Wait, what? Penis Goblin?" -he also heard the distressed and scared words that came out of the spirit boy's mouth: "Well, yeah... Those little disgusting things were created in combination by the works of Blinky and Nibbly, they wanted to make something that would both eat and bring misery to others, so they made this little humanoid thing that eats penises... They're nasty as shit, often eating the penis of living males that they capture with their poisonous saliva. They also eat human flesh, if that wasn't obvious-" Ducking his head without even needing to look behind him, Lucian lifted his hand and a thin metal blade flew off of his leg and into the chest and heart of this little grey naked hunanoid, completely lacking any genitals and completely covered in blood and gore: "-and I was right." Grunting with disgust, Lucian lifted his hand and a small spark of flames appeared, and a flick of his finger the entire flame was thrown towards the little dead being, who burned to ashes and dust. "Better burn it, else it'll give birth to more Penis Goblins..."
Max was, honestly, horrified- His fucking dick, the best thing about him, was eaten! How's he gonna fuck now!? 'Holy shit-' Immediately, an enormous rage started to boil within him, and he could almost feel his hands clench and his eyes bore towards the ashes as he broght them forward and- With a snap, the ashes scattered away, and the ground where they once stood was completely cracked and broken. "T-that's for my fucking dick, you bitch-"
"Ah, don't worry, I'm sure I can make one for you- About that would you want to costumize your body? I think you'd like a few tattoos-" Without any physical effort, a black trash bag lifted from his little fanny pack and he started to store the pieces of Maxwell Jägerman's corpse into the bag. While he was storing away Max's corpse pieces, Lucian was also analyzing the old Waylon Manor, feeling the deep influence of the Lords in Black, acutely aware of their eyes on him and Max as he worked- They could influence the world around him while he was here, which was why he was working quickly! He immediately started leaving the house, making sure to act as casual as possible, since if he shows weakness then they'll try to keep him inside the haunted fucking manor: "-It's great because you won't feel pain because you're dead. Maybe I could add a few little sparkly things here and there, make you taller and buffer are easy, might take a while to upgrade a few internal organs, but I guess I'll have to start making you a heart... Or, maybe, taking one for you."
"Wait, you mean I can... costumize my new body?" Max's spirit floated right beside him, his sunken eyes still in that everlasting expression of horror, pain, and despair that he felt when he fell- he doesn't remember a lot about it, but the more he spends out here, the more he starts to remember... Hope suddenly filled his eyes as he thought about his lost member, life a passionate flame, it flared and he couldn't help but ask: "Like, my-"
"-dick size? Yes. So, which size you want? You want it to shoot lasers? Become a knife? You want it to become this mechanical tentacle able to pierce through rock? I can do a lot of things, but to keep you going, Imma need to make you alive again... And that'll take more than just lightning like that old Mary Shelley story." Nonchalantly as always, Lucian walked out of the building and watched in the horizon as the sun raised high, he sighed as he looked at those orange, pink, purple, and slightly green hues slowly being followed by the blue of the sky: "...Well, operation Frankenstein starts now... Need to make a good preservative capsule for your corpse- What do you think about mummification? Maybe I can extract all the moisture from your corpse and seal it in a fridge. Maybe I can make those tattoos we were talking about, something like Regeneration Runes, to keep you alive longer... Although you won't be technically alive, you'll be like Danny Phantom." Just thinking about the modifications he could make made him a little, just a tiny bit excited about the endless potential that biology, medicine, technology, alchemy and magic had when mixed up together.
"...Danny Phantom?" Max was a little confused by that reference- was that some kind of cartoon or something? He hasn't really watched a lot of cartoons growing up, his house was more of a physical household, where he had to work most of the summer and he'd be constantly punished for not doing well in school, which made him lose TV privileges... Then he grew up, and lost interest in cartoons, only caring about Football.
"Holy shit, when we get home, you'll watch the entirety of Danny Phantom while I make a storage for your fucking corpse!" Taking wobbly steps, they soon embarked in their journey back to the Flictio household, where Lucian's grandmother was still asleep but getting closer to waking up for it was about 5 in the morning. Lucian easily slipped into his home through his room's window, and then he went to the basement beneath the house- There, he started to repair the fridge, which was way too small to fit all his body parts. "Shit, guess I'll have to salt you for a while, until I get a larger fridge... Help me here, hold this." Giving the Max ghost his own beheaded head that still had some blood, Lucian started to use the blood itself to draw these intricate 3D looking drawings of various symbols that made his ghostly head start hurting. "-...and there!" With a last stroke of his bloodied finger, the runes flared up in energy and glowed bright red, fading away instantly. "I'll go get a fridge, the spell should make nobody besides me being able to enter the basement by giving them the creepy feeling that there's a monster down here."
"..." Depositing his beheaded head down on the fridge that was set on the ground wide open (It was having some parts replaced somehow, repaired, and then somehow upgraded?) and looked around- it was a small basement, full of boxes and dust, and nothing else. "...what's that?" Pointing at this large box full lf brightly colored cloth, Max began to pull them out, finding out them to be dresses and other things. "Oh, dresses... For the Honey Festival?" He has been there before, his mother- the thought of her brings pain to his non-existent heart, it pains him so much because she just- She- fucking left! She was fucking crowned Honey Queen, got in her head that she was the best bitch, and then dipped. Leaving him with his father, the bitter man that made him the way he is... "Fucking hate that fucking festival..."
"I also don't really like it-" While focusing on his work, twisting a few screws here, switching wire, pulling apart a few parts and pieces of the fridge, and making sure to stretch out the cables of his little invention that was giving 'Cold Air by H.P Lovecraft' vibes, Lucian said: "-the whole 'eating the winner' was never something I really liked, but hey! You win the Honey Queen crown, and Nibbly takes a bite at you, because he's always hungry." Shrugging, unaware that his words just made Max stop for a moment and freeze in place, he cursed: "Shit, need to use a nail for this-" He easily used his nail, twisting his fingers unnaturally to use them as tools to remove a few small screws that kept the main core of the machine away, a piece he was mending and repairing. "Also, I don't really like honey at all- bees are just, urgh."
"...what did you say?" Max couldn't help but whisper, disbelief and confusion seeping into his mind as he sought out an answer- He must've misheard it, right?
"That I hate bees? Well, their wax is useful in some spells-" Lucian was going to start a small rant about how he hated bees and other insects (seriously, his insects related deaths sucked the most) when he was pulled away by the collar on his neck and lifted a feet off of the air.
"No, before that-" Looking full at Lucian's face with eyes full of despair, Max couldn't help but shake him a little: "-about the festival- About the eating the winner part!" He could feel the whispers growing stronger, his mind slipping away as rage grew and blossomed in the tip of his tongue, burning with sulfur and salt.
"...oh... Max, the Honey Festival is a hoax made by the Church of the Starry Children. They created it specifically on the day that the dark forces of the world can walk amongst the earth easily- specifically, a single entity." Placing both hands on the side of Max's enraged eyes, Lucian started to pull away the rage and influence of the Lords in Black, the wrath of Wiggog Y'rath was a pain to deal with, but it's nothing new to him at all: "The crowned Honey Queen will be taken to the Witchwood Forest, whereupon she will sacrificed and eaten by the Everlasting Hunger, the Devourer of Worlds, Nibblenephim... Most of the times, she will be eaten alive."
Max couldn't deal with it. He let Lucian fall, and vanished, the whispers growing too loud.
He swears he could hear a hungry voice laughing maniacally.
-Author Note-
In case you don't recognize the fandom: Go watch the musical Nerdy Prudes Must Die, it's on youtube and its awesome.
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