The Three Dragon Inn

Zogin stopped.

Soul glanced behind his shoulder at her when he realized that she had fallen behind. He knew that the action had been completely involuntary, and didn't blame her for doing so. Neither of them had good experiences in churches, but she had certainly suffered the most in them.

"Zogin," he quietly said, not wanting to draw attention to her.

Her eyes - which had glazed over as she recalled things that he had never come close to seeing - snapped back into focus. She briskly walked up to where the rest of the group was without addressing the reason why she had suddenly stopped.

"So what happens if one of those Reapers gets their hands on us?" she questioned.

But before anyone could reply, a candle light suddenly lit up. "You will all be ripped to shreds and your souls will be eaten by the reapers." A humped back elderly woman covered in tattered clothes walked up to the group. As the light of the candle illuminated her face, her right eye was as white as snow, by the looks of it, it was blind. Then a malicious grin surfaced on her wrinkly face.

"Well, well what do we have here." Holding the candle with her bony hands and long fingernails, she walked towards Zogin. She sniffed her and said, "Hmm. Young'uns nowadays are quite courageous. Delving this tavern with their measly body and abilities. You should know your limits."

Her curious expression suddenly turned into surprise as if she remembered something. "Very well. Hahahahaha." She blew on the candle. After, her body turned smokey and gone with wind.

Standing in the same place, everyone stared at each other. Feeling cold and fear. The appearance of the old woman made the tavern more mysterious and scary at the same time.

Finally, Zogin woke up from the shock, "S-Should we continue?"

"We've reached this far already. There is no going back." Soul strided deeper as of nothing just happened.

Though he had somehow acted like it hadn't affected him, Soul was completely terrified. He was horrible when it came to scary things, and the sudden appearance and disappearance of that woman certainly fell into that category.

"Soul," Zogin suddenly said as she caught up to him, "are you alright?"

He nodded. "Y-yeah."

She raised an eyebrow at his response.

"I am!" he protested.

"Soul, I can see and hear your armor shaking. You're far from alright."

He looked back at the part of the passageway they had just been in. "...That did scare me," he quietly admitted. "...Which is why I tried getting away from it so quickly..."

Zogin patted him reassuredly on the back before her attention back to Maggie. "So was that old woman telling the truth? Because I don’t have a single reason to trust her claims, especially after she pulled that disappearing act."

Maggie shakes her head. "No. She can't see under The Plane. I can tell. Though that woman was right, in a way. Reapers, if they get a hold on you, will literally consume you."

The group silently walked deeper and deeper the tavern. The surroundings air feels colder and much stronger than before.

Again, a candle light suddenly lit ahead of the dark passage. They could hear a sob of a little girl. She murmured something but they were still too far away. Her back at their direction.

Zogin and co. exchanged glances.

They followed the young girl's voice. Soul who was good at pretending to be brave decided to put his hand on the back of the little girl in an attempt to console her.

"And you actually don't believe this benevolent lady"

The young girl's head turned 360 degrees. With a span of a single second the old woman whom they thought was gone was right in front of them again. Surprise and shock can be seen in their eyes.

"The little girl had the face of the old woman!"-they thought.

She walked pass the tables and the urns in the tavern directly heading towards the shaking Soul.


"Wh-wh-wha-what do y-you want from m-m-me?" Soul, who was previously acting unafraid and impervious of the old woman's presence is now stammering and sweating heavily.

Her old wrinkled face showed great delight, showing how much fun she is having with the current turn of events.


Caressing the face of the young boy she said, "You have a wonderful name and you're quite young huh?" Her calloused hand landed on Soul's cheeks making him shiver with fear.


"Wh-why?" Soul had the sudden urge to take a piss.


"Hmm" the old woman's body was emitting a dark aura. It was terrifying. "Do you want to know how I have information about the Reapers?"


A creepy smile appeared on the old woman's face. She had the appearance of a devil. "You know, it takes one to know one" then with a blink of an eye everything turned black and blurry.

Spoiler

@Ailurophile, hi! Soul's actually something called an automaton, so he's not a human. He's all gears and metal. I actually listed some information about him in the first pages of the roleplay, so could you please check there? I don't really have a problem with anyone writing about my characters in their posts, but I would appreciate if they were more in character - if that makes sense!

So he can't sweat and can't use the bathroom. (He's also wearing armor that completely covers him, so it would be impossible to see his face if he could sweat.) She also wouldn't be able to touch his cheeks. (Soul's also in his early twenties, so he wouldn't sound like a young boy nor look like one.)

I hope all that makes sense, and I'm sorry to bother you.

With a single, swift motion, Zogin drew her gun out and pointed it at where she had heard the woman speak last. Everything had become dark, so sound was one of the few things that she could still rely on.

She had been taken by surprise last time. But this time was different - she had been expecting that the woman would show up again. "Get away from my partner," Zogin threatened her. "Or I won't hesitate to shoot you full of bullets."

There was a momentary flash of light in the passageway as Soul attempted to create a bolt of electricity. Unsurprisingly - since it had never been his strong suit - it failed. "And I'm not as weak as you think I am," Soul added from nearby. Zogin knew that his instincts had kicked in, replacing the fear that had consumed him only moments earlier.

Nothing here.

"...I have no clue in the slightest what I just witnessed, nor do I know of its significance. I'm just going to let you guys do what you need to do so I don't have to Cheat. Of course, I could always just come back later if you want, or I'll go on ahead," Sacred sighs, feeling useless at this point, but not really interested in the process at hand.