The Stitcher of Souls - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Mad tiny guys, mad talking birds and mad hearts

Aaanddd… I was still stuck at Guna Plaza.

With these six gigantic, beautiful, mad buildings around me, though not as truly mad as all that I had to witness before which had made my head turn red and had made incomprehensible words escape my mouth. Yeah, not one of my most charming moments.

Sigh, Quinn. Shut up and do something useful.

Right! Something useful.

So these six buildings. I walked a bit around the fountain, careful not to get to the part of the plaza where people were still walking in those strange rows and where the fireballs were still thrown from here and there. Nope, I wasn’t ready to mingle with these strange citizens yet.

Not that I ever will be – oh my god, won’t you look at that! How? Just how?

My jaw almost fell open by the sight of these three buildings. They were so simple but so special at the same time. They were kind of the same, I mean they all looked ancient they had the same kind of doors and like a pathway leading to those doors, lined with pillars, they were all tall and ooh – they looked like those mausoleums, from the Romans (yes, I do pay attention in class), only then from time when they did look pretty.

There was only one difference – their color: blue, red and black. And there was something with these colors. I had no idea what or how, but they were just so… there. So unmissably there. Even blind person would see them! (I think)

And now comes the weird part – were they each shone on by their own color?!

Through the streets twirling above them, a, well, divine sounds quite appropriate here, so a divine light shone on each of the buildings.

There was blue holy light for the, well, blue one which was called the… Indigo Institute of Intellectuals, pressed in the upper part of the building with gold – divine gold, hehe. Red for the red one which was called the Crimson Centrum of Civilians. Crimson? As in… Crimson Chin?! (Hehe, Fairly Odd Parents reference – whoop whoop) And black – wait, black? Yes black! – for the black one which was called… the Black Bar for Barbarians? Barbarians, huh – not my place to be.

But, no, there wasn’t any useful stuff here. So I teared my eyes of those divine buildings and started exploring the other half of the plaza.

There was some sort of Colosseum-like building which had its name beaming in neon light above it: the Theatre of Hearts. A gigantic library stuck out there, too, which, of course, was called the Giants’ Library. Perhaps I could find something useful there…

In the middle was this really big castle, which was like really white and there were like spades all over it. And it had towers shaped like a spade and a spade-formed entrance – it was big a spade! But it wasn’t as cool as the other stuff, though, so I didn’t look at it for too long.

Not that I was able to, when there were beeps and bells all around me and people walking around and – through me?! AGAIN?

I scurried back to the big cocoon, still cold as ever, and shook my head. Good. Good good good. Good good goooooooooooooooddddd.

I am completely naked under this coat. I need to find clothes. Then I need to go to that library. And then I’ll see what I can find. Ready? Go.

And there was the first problem. Where do I find these clothes? For free. Without stealing them. Scratch that – if stealing is what I must do, then I shall do it.

Someoneeeee! Help meeeee! Not that internally screaming would help meee!

Okay. Okaayyyy.

I died. There was a knife and it was doing strange things in my body and I stopped breathing. So I died and I shouldn’t be here, because I’m dead and dead people aren’t alive. So why was I alive? Why did I end up here? How did I end up here? Why is this place so mad? Why did that damned guy leave me? Why were there fireballs? Why were there divine buildings that looked like mausoleums? Why were all these buildings so big and abnormal? Why were these people walking so weird?

Why was I asking myself these random questions? I was making myself suspicious – hold it – when I was supposed to figure it out on my own, because I’m not weak or incapable – Hold. It. – but this place is too mad and were the people watching me, was I going to be followed and killed again and die for good – Quinn, hold it – and could I survive anyway?

QUINN. HOLD IT.

I started walking towards some building, like I knew what I was doing, like I knew this place, like I wasn’t naked and hadn’t just risen from the dead. I clenched my fists and looked forward as if that building was my destination. I didn’t bump into anyone, I waited when a dancing carriage flew by and ducked when some kid threw his fireball towards me. I froze when I heard the voice, saying: “I know you’re naked.” The tiny, squeaky voice started giggling and pulled my sleeve, pulling me down, while a male voice said through gritted teeth: “Get down here, you damned bird.”

Then her grip loosened and I immediately turned around to face the creepy – tiny guy with a bird in his hands? The guy was wearing a black suit with green patches on the shoulders. He also wore a big hat with his red, bushy hair underneath that basically surrounded his tiny chubby head and came down in a beard. He wore a warm smile and that red nose of his was pretty cute.

But that was only what he looked like – I still had to be careful. Pay attention, Quinn.

The bird in his clenched fist, squeaked ‘lemme go! Lemme go!’, but the guy didn’t do as much as blink at his desperate protests. Then he moved his hand to the inside of his jacket where he seemed to put the bird away. So this little guy had a bird who could talk and who knew that I was naked. Huh.

QUINN – NO JOKES!

But –

Shut up. Focus!

The guy kept smiling at me. “Don’t mind her, girl. She simply doesn’t know how to act appropriately.”

His smile suddenly faded and he drew closer. When he had made sure that no one was looking, he waved at me to lean in. I did, carefully.

“Well, you know,” he said, “if you’re planning to go the theatre, you can’t just walk in there wearing only a coat. And,” he looked around him again and continued on an even softer tone, “I’ve seen you with him, so I feel obliged to help you. Don’t worry – I won’t tell anyone. We just need to go through the back door where you can get to the dressing rooms.”

I didn’t have the chance to say something, because he was already pulling through the rows of people to theatre which was the building I seemed to be headed to.

Play along, but run away when it gets dangerous. Get out once you have the clothes. Don’t speak unless asked and don’t show any kind of emotion. You understand? Yes.

We quickly disappeared into a dark alleyway where the sun didn’t seem to shine. In fact, we were turning corners under a very dark sky. Soon we reached an alley where the wall across us climbed up in the sky where a color bomb had exploded into the letters T, H, E, A. The wall of the Theatre of… I couldn’t remember. Doesn’t matter. Don’t think about it. Just go.

The guy seemed to know exactly where he was headed and pulled me even further into the maze of alleyways.

Then we reached a lit part of the alley. Heart-formed lights were placed on the wall across us and a dark red carpet was laid out before us and turned around the corner. We ended up before a heart-formed entrance, carved out of a brick wall. The guy let go of my hand and looked at me with his vicious yellow eyes. It seemed as though his face had grown darker and his chubby face slimmer and pointier. His nose had grown longer and crooked. His hands had turned into claws.

And his voice sounded gruff as he said, “Go on, then.”

I did as he said.

Play along, get the clothes and get out.

Past the entrance, was an extremely red hallway. Dark red walls and red heart-formed lights on them. The red carpet went on here and led to another heart-formed door.

The dark version of the tiny guy, appeared next to me and pointed at the door.

Play along, get the clothes and get out.

Play along, get the clothes and get out.

Play along, get the clothes and get out.

I took a quick breath and walked towards it.

My mind quieted down and was empty, hidden behind a fog.

I didn’t hear my footsteps, breath or feel the presence of the dark tiny guy lurking behind me.

I just saw the door coming closer and closer.

I saw my hand reaching the doorknob –

It turned –

The door creaked and opened –

Hands flashed out –

Quickly, madly, roughly they reached –

Pulled me in –

I screamed –

Hands around my body, my face –

My mouth –

Silence.

That's the end of chapter 3 of The Stitcher of Souls... 

See you on the next page!

[PIC ORIGIN: http://neolucky.deviantart.com/art/Yewon-Till-the-Sky-Falls-Down-113195231 , made by Neolucky]

The Stitcher of Souls - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Unearthly City

“This is Unearthly City. But, I suppose you didn’t know that either.”

He really didn’t buy my act, though it was half-true. Because no, angry hot guy with sexy messy hair, I truly didn’t know that we were in “Unearthly City” and I found it a rather misleading name, because I was pretty sure there was nothing unearthly about it. Were there any stores with faces who could talk and would groan happily because the people who entered it were filling its belly? Were there mermaids and hot fairy guys with pointy ears and long hair which make them a little less pretty? Was the city a chaos of colour and optical illusions?

No, no, and well… Maybe. Although I’m not sure if you could call it optical illusions.

Because, okay – fine! This city does have its unearthly things. O, who am I kidding – this city was the very definition of unearthly!

We were on a road where people immediately jumped away to fall into another road that went up – UP! Up to some other streets above us – ABOVE US! Above us there were people walking on those streets where they seemed to have adjusted their height as to not hit the people below them.

Like I was looking at a miniature city above me and next to me – it was true madness here!

And it didn’t stop there! No! There were doors – or was I supposed to call them latches? – right above me and suddenly a guy grew bigger in the miniature city and basically stepped on the door. I could see his bushy, curly blonde hair and the sunlight that shone on his head, which seemed to grow smaller as he reached for the doorknob underneath and walked inside normally.

I realized that it was the same sunlight that shone on my own head, and on the stern guy in front of me and the other people on this street.

MADNESS. TRUE MADNESS.

Other than the streets leading up and down and twisting and turning around us and the doors above us, the streets themselves were insane too.

MAAAADDNNNNEEESSSSSSSSSSS.

I held on to the guy as tightly as possible as to make sure that all those things here wouldn’t kill me.

Because there were fireballs. Waterballs. Earthballs. Kids throwing the balls. Kids stamping on the air to make the pavement shoot up in the air as a part of a game.

There were sparkly trails of sprinkly and sparkly dust of butterflies – no, wait, tiny humans with wings – HOLY MOLY THOSE ARE PIXIES! Or fairies? I didn’t know – I didn’t care!

There were floating tents on the sky, almost in those other roads, no ladders climb on to get wide open tentflaps and no need for them anyway – people could just walk to inside of them, no floating and flying needed or a ladder.

There were women standing on balconies, who dried their clothing by throwing them away and smiling at hot guys – sadly no fairies, well, they don’t look like fairies anyway – while the wind which literally hummed carried them to the washing line. Yeah, because why do it the hard way like the losers from the place where I live, right?

…

WHAT WAS ALL OF THIS? THIS WAS MADNESS, TRUE MADNESS!

HOW – WHY – WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?!

“Sit still, would you? And please refrain from screaming in my back,” the guy on the horse grunted, but there was no need for him to tell me that, because just like in the animes my face had turned red, my eyes turned into spirals and my mouth half-open, while I was murmuring something incomprehensible.

Then my attention was drawn to clothes the people were wearing. They wore cloaks in different colours; blue, red and black.

But blue never walked with someone in red or black, nor did people in the other colours. In fact there were three rows of blue, red and black. And some had stains of the other two colours and were basically forced to walk in between the rows. Even those kids seemed to play in those rows, their fireballs not coming as far as the gap between the rows... Huh.

The road must be extremely big to be make it for both these people to walk in three rows and those kids to play in the same part as those roads. No wait there were three separate roads. No one big road. Three separate ones? One very big one? Uhm… Huh.

Maybe if I’d go just a bit higher, maybe then I’ll see… Nope, too high, too high. Let’s go back, let’s go back. Pretty cool that I can see so much from this point of view. Hey, look at those white threads above me... Huh.

WAIT, WHAT?

Then everything turned white.

As if we rode straight through a barrier, we ended up on a big plaza with six gigantic pointy buildings.

The guy on the horse didn’t seem to be amazed by all that craziness back there and honestly, I didn’t feel that amazed either. I mean, I remembered feeling amazed- because it was true madness, a really mad experience – but then it became, well, nothing, yeah, nothing. I don’t know, maybe… Maybe I’m just tired –

“As you can see,” his stern voice suddenly interrupted my hazy thinking and felt like a slap in my face, “we’ve reached Guna Plaza. I’ll find a place to drop you off safely and then you’re on your own.”

Talking about subtle, huh.

I let a small trembling “yes” escape my mouth.

Damn, very subtle, dude. He was right, though – I could not deny it. I was going to be on my own. I was going to have to figure it all out. On my own.

I started to shudder and became suddenly very aware of me being naked underneath this jacket. I felt being watched by the few people walking in three neat rows.

Oh damn it, I’m scared. I’m scared. So fucking scared. Damn it! I really am scared!

I breathed in and out. Oo… Kaayy…

I opened my eyes, clearing my mind.

Let’s do this. BAZAAM. Yup, I ruined the moment of heroic-ness.

The plaza was madness, too.

Heck, this whole city was.

Heck, this world, probably.

The guy took me to the biggest fountain I’ve ever seen. There he almost threw me off of his horse. The fountain stood in pool of foggy… water? Smoke? And was made out of a billion thin and really soft threads that – holy crap it was cold! My bare leg bumbed into the side of the pool, because of a certain someone, and if you could die of coldness, I’d be long dead by now. For second time.

But those threads were probably the most normal things I’ve seen around here, because they didn’t make any twist and turns, they didn’t go left and right and round me, no they just went all the way up and made an egg-like form, as if it were a big ass cocoon. Yeah, and I bet there’s a big ass butterfly in it, too.

“Stop being so clumsy,” the guy on the horse grunted with the same old frown on his face. “Or did you also forget that this is the Big Butterfly’s cocoon?”

I had to keep myself from dropping my mouth because – ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

First I get killed by some random Slenderman-wannabe, then I wake up naked in a forest, I get to this city of true madness – MADNESS – and now the angry guy who isn’t buying my shit is telling me that I should stop being so clumsy because there’s a fucking butterfly in the egg-like fountain behind me?

This was the moment where everybody would drop their shit, give ‘em a “nah-ah” and a snap of the fingers, ‘cause this was too much to handle.

But instead I just nodded slowly and took a few steps away from the cocoon.

He rode away on his horse and then I stood there on my own.

I gave myself a facepalm.

I’m so fucking stupid. Really, I had to make a billion jokes in my head about everything I saw instead of looking out for useful spots in this mad city. I had to be scared. I had to end up here.

Damn it, what am I doing? This self-pity wasn’t going to help me either! Jeez. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Fuck. 
How the hell was I supposed to do this?

[PIC ORIGIN: fineartamerica.com, made by MARY CLANAHAN]

The Stitcher of Souls - Chapter 1.2

Chapter 1: After Death - Part II

A gate. It opened.

Three thick threads, blue, red and b;ack.

I walk on them. They pierce through me.

And we’re blinded by pulsing whiteness.

I sat on a tree trunk.

I was surrounded by massive trees.

I was in an open spot – it was green.

I was in a forest.

I felt the wind on my face.

I saw how it moved my bare feet, my bare legs.

I looked at my hands, bare too.

I looked at the rest of my body and realised it was naked.

I also realized that it wasn’t a body. It was a shell.

The wind blew again, but it didn’t reach me.

I sat on a tree trunk, but I didn’t feel anything underneath me.

I saw the forest, but it didn’t change me.

I even stood up, but felt no difference in height and experience.

Nothing.

This body was a shell.

This shell carried me, Quin.

I am Quinn. Nothing more, nothing less.

I am Quinn.

I walked and the sun beamed straight at me, but I felt no warmth and no changes when walking.

That is, until someone yelled.

“Hey you– What the hell?”

Someone sat on a horse, which someone put to a stop, but after seeing the shell someone was moving it away again, slowly.

I reached out.

“Wait!”

I ran straight at the guy on the horse, but stopped because what the hell indeed.

Where am I? How did I get here? What am I doing here? What is this place?

I looked down at my body and thought of the guy standing before me.

WHY THE HELL WAS I NAKED?!

It was just like the animes, really, jeez.

No – Quinn, no time for anime references.

First, hide behind that tree.

Okay, okay – good.

Now slowly, show your face to the probably extremely traumatized guy – I couldn’t really blame him – stop it, Quinn.

Now say something, yes, open up your mouth – WAIT! Don’t say anything – you might screw it up and get yourself in trouble.

Just, eh, ah – got it! Act all innocent and lost and scared.

Yup, perfect.

I stood there, my body hidden behind on of the biggest trees I’ve ever seen, and looked at the guy on a horse, who also wore a badass – Quinn! – cape, in a very innocent, lost and scared way.

He frowned at me, obviously not trusting the naked girl, but also not too sure if she’d really do any harm – well, she might- QUINN! – and after a while he opened his mouth to say something.

He sounded very stern and accusingly.

“What are you doing here, butt naked?”

Mr. Obvious, huh. QUINN! STICK TO YOUR ACT, DAMN IT!

I cowered under his stern and accusing tone and looked down.

“I-I… I don’t –” what do you say in these situations?

‘I don’t know’ sounds too easy, lying about that this is how I live, suspicious and lying about that I’ve raped and robbed, too obvious and can easily lead to my end, because why didn’t I look tackled and painful?

I didn’t have any info or knowledge that could help me out here.

Well, then the easy one – then I could at least sound like I’m speaking the truth, because I honestly didn’t know why I was here, butt naked.

“…I don’t know.”

He snorted and mumbled, “Of course you don’t.”

Yup, definitely too easy. Well, better stick to what I started.

Even though he was going to think I’m the typical helpless girl. Hallelujah – just like in the movies.

I bet he’s a prince, too.

Quit the sarcasm, Quinn, and make sure you don’t die.

Die.

Wow – I died.

I remembered then: I remembered the guy in the dark cloak and his knife – god, that cold knife that did terrible things to my flesh.

Holy shit – I died.

I died. The jokes about dead sounded pretty pathetic at that moment, because at the time I made those jokes it seemed like I could handle it, like it wasn’t a big of a deal, but…

The way I died –

The fact I’m here now –

I couldn’t help but cry.

I slumped against the tree and eventually fell with my knees on the ground.

And I couldn’t help but being utterly terrified and feeling truly innocent, lost and scared.

And helpless, o so helpless.

Ironically, I’d say afterwards.

I started to cry even louder, more desperately and I curled myself up in a ball. I forgot that there still was this guy on a horse with a cape watching me and that I had more important things to do than to cry, but I just let it all out.

Slowly the fear, the tension slipped off of me, just when I felt a heavy jacket fall on top of me.

I looked up to see the guy towering over me, his dark brown eyes staring down at me with a kind of sneer on his face, making him seem quite dark and evil, in that bad-boy-way. His dark, almost black in two earlike pieces, like the ears of a wolf, stood on his head in a well, sexy and messy way, perfectly adding up to his evil face. His olive arms were crossed over his chest and he looked away as soon as I looked up.

“Cover yourself with that jacket,” he said plainly and as I was about to say something, he walked away. “I’ll take you to the nearby city, but from there you’re on your own.”

I carefully put on the jacket, which was longer and warmer than expected, and stood up.

I wiped the tears off of my face and took a deep breath.

Then, I followed him to his horse.

Next up: Chapter 2 Unearthly City
See you on the next page!

[pic origin: http://konseptual.com/2014/04/noragami-review/]