City of Sinners

Chapter 9

“Damn it,” it was the first thing that I muttered when I realized that my body has hit something hard. Like the ground.

With a grunt, I tried my best to stand up, pushing my body away from the ground since I fell front body first. My body was aching because of the fall that I had just suffered a few seconds ago. But I guess it was not as painful as how it was supposed to be because the adrenaline was still inside my chest. 

Damn it! We were almost eaten by the black angels, or killed by the bees! Somehow, we were able to manage entering the black portal for the first circle of hell. That multi-handed angel were almost able to grab my feet and prevent me from entering the portal. Glad it wasn’t able to do it. 

Now the problem that I am trying to solve is this question: where the hell am I? 

I looked up at the sky to check whether we’re still outside and can freely move. Who knows, maybe the portal does not actually lead us to that first circle of hell thing, but inside a cage. Then we’ll be exploited. Or be sold as a slave. Then we’ll be tortured. Or become a toy for pleasure. Or … damn it. I Was overthinking. 

Yep, the sky is still there. Though I wish I shouldn’t just looked at it. Because as I saw the mixing of the red and black clouds in the sky, it added fear in my non-ending panic on my chest. 

I heard someone grunting beside me. When I looked, I saw Valour squinting his eyes and trying to get up. I decided to help him. I gently guided him by holding his shoulders so that he could quickly rise up. 

“Where are we?” that was the first thing he had muttered, even though I know he was badly hurt. 

“I don’t know. All I know is that when we crossed that portal, everything turned black and nothing. Perhaps we blacked out while crossing the portal.”

“Did we?” He held his head once again as he squint his eyes. 

“Hey, what’s wrong, Valour?” I asked consciously. I noticed the blood flowing on his forehead as he continued grunting from pain. 

“I think I have hit my head first when we fell.”

I bit my lip. I can imagine what kind of pain he was experiencing right now. When falling, I know that at all cost, the head should be protected.

“Wh—What can I do?” I asked, bothered.

“No, I am fine,” he said.

Wrapped around his torso is a black belt bag. He scrambled on it, and grabbed a small cylindrical glass. That kind of bottled glass, if I remember it right, was a kind that can be found in a laboratory; when a scientist was trying to discover something, maybe a new form of chemical discovery, I can see that this small piece of glass was being used. 

“What is that?” I asked him. Inside the piece of glass is a green colored liquid which I found despicable. It was glowing in green. The liquid was almost clear and crystal. However, with the greenish colored that it has, and the glow that it resonated like an aura, I found it really peculiar. 

“Oh,” he muttered as he realized something. He grabbed another cylindrical glass from his belt bag—with the same green color of liquid—and offered it to me. “No one’s telling you about this? The loot system?” he asked. 

I gave him an exaggerated questioning look while raising my eyebrows. “We’re not on a video game,” I said. 

“I know. We’re not on that kind of video game because this is happening real. But one from the Owl member who apparently is a geek gamer, had said that the thing being left by sinners as it was killed has big resemblance to the loot or drop system in an RPG games. That’s why everyone had the consensus to use the term. Loot and loot system.” 

Then I remember what Gaston told me. “You mean that thing has came from the sinners? Like the food supply that we got?” Remembering that our food came from that same horrible creature I once saw, was still making me nauseous. I almost, always, wanted to puke but I dare not to. I know the importance of the food, and how it would help me gain energy to consume. Especially on this very tiring moment. 

“This liquid inside the vial is a liquid potion. And yes, just like the food we are eating, this was a drop from the Sinners,”

“Wh—What did you say?” I asked, shocked. “Did you just say healing potion?” 

Valour nodded. Just like always, his face looked sleepy and uninterested. 

“You’re not joking, do you?” 

Valour lazily rolled his eyes, and said, “just try it. You couldn’t joke when you’re inside a horrible, terrifying place.”

I saw him drinking it, and since I was curious about its effect, I did not hesitate to drink it as well.

I was expecting for more about this healing potion. I thought, just like in any fantasy or RPG games, when I drink this potion, my body would glow and would make me look like I was blessed by some magical creature. But it wasn’t. There were no glowing sparkles coming out of my body. 

However, I have felt how little by little, the pain in my body surging down. As if I drank a highly concentrated, highly effective pain killer. 

“Better?” he asked. 

I did not speak, because I know he will sense the childish excitement and fascination in my voice. Because damn, the sensation I felt on that healing potion was amazing! Instead, I just nodded at him. 

“We need to find where Gaston and the others was,” Valour said as he stood. 

I again nodded. “I just hope they are safe.” 

Now, since our worry to our physical pain was gone, we started to look at the surrounding. We observed it closely.

I wasn’t able to concretely observe the place because I was worried to Valour. However, earlier with my peripheral vision, I know where we are:

At a graveyard.

As I worry for Valour earlier, I caught a certain grave inscribed with letters and numbers in my peripheral vision. From that, I already got the gist that we’re on a graveyard. A cemetery. 

“This place is familiar,” Valour told me. 

“Huh?” 

“Haven’t you came here yet?” 

“No, I did not. Yet. At least.” 

“I know this place. I come here very often,” he said, quickly scanning the whole surrounding.

And then something crossed in my mind. “Was this perhaps … the Sao Garde Memorial park?” 

Valour nodded. “I come here very often, to visit a past friend. That’s why I know the familiar place.”

“Then that means you know where the entrance and exit of this place?” I asked, excitement eating through me.

“Yeah.” 

“Then let’s go! We may be able to see Gaston outside, or better, we can now go back to our house. Everyone’s waiting for us, I’m sure.” 

Gaston looked at me. Looking directly on his eyes, I sensed something: hesitation. “I … I doubt that, Sitri,” he said. 

“What do you mean?” 

“You know the situation, right? The meteor, the Sinners, the Hell.” There are times that the glimmer on the eyes of Valour were changing. Though most of the time, his eyes all screams laziness and uninterested, sometimes he will surprise you with his genuine changing of expression. 

Like now. 

In his eyes, there was pain.

From that, I bit my lip. I can feel how my eyes turned moist. And then, I looked down on the ground. I tried my best to hold the tears that was warning to fall away from my eyes. I smiled. “But if we survived, there were at least, a small chance that the people we knew, the people in the house, Dad … were still alive. There was a chance, even thin, that they have survived that disaster.” 

I heard Valour sighing. “Alright,” then he tapped my shoulders. “There maybe a thin chance that they have survived. We’ll be able to see them soon.” 

Now he held my arm, and pulled me. Having that conversation, I somehow lose my energy to work myself. That is why, I just let him drag me. Sooner, I noticed that we’re now walking on the alley of graves. Because I was looking on the ground, I can see and read the names and the years of when they were born, and when they have died. Some of them were recently dead, some has long been staying in this field. The green grasses was swaying in the wild wind. But I could not enjoy the silence of this cemetery because of the red sky. Still, it was as if in the heaven, a huge fire has erupted, making the once blue sky turned red.

“Where are we going by the way, Valour?” I asked. 

“We’re going to the exit,” he said. “We need to find where the others are first, before making next moves.” 

“Right. I just hope Gaston and the Vultures were safe too.” 

We were probably at the centermost part of the cemetery when we started to hear something. A howling dog. Not far from us, we started hearing the howl. 

“What was that?” Valour asked. 

“A howl of a dog, probably.” I frantically searched the surrounding for the source of that sound. It was somehow near us, because the howl was loud, as if the dog was just beside us, but mysteriously, I could not find anything. The memorial park was a plain field of grasses and graves. It was clean and plain. It should be quite and peaceful but I could not sense the peace anymore. Seclude the fact that the surrounding is an aura of red, the peace were gone because the howl of the dog became terrifying. No, it was not just a single dog anymore. There erupted a lot of them. A lot of howling dogs. Sooner, the howl turned body-freezing growls. Just from listening, I know that there are too many of them. But, Valour and I could not see anything. My ears were hurting from their horrible, loud, growls and howls. The wind blew hard. The grasses rustled.

Then I heard a cracking sound right at my feet. With the alertness I pulled from my self, I quickly looked at it. 

I don’t know what had happened, but I know I screamed. Really hard. 

“Bullshit!” I jumped away as I scream and feel the terrifying panic. 

There was something … something that was holding my feet. An arm. A rotten, almost deformed arm was holding my feet. It had came from the grave near my feet, erupting from the still-green grasses. From that arm, huge white worms were wriggling disgustingly, making my feet be crawled by numbers of worms. 

Sooner, we heard another crack. Then another. After another. After another. 

The graves were breaking from it’s forms. Each graves, something on it was erupting. I and Valour were too flustered from the things that we are seeing. I could not even make my body move because of fear. 

 “Wh—What is happening?” again, still confused, I asked. I could literally say that I am starting to get dumb ever since I discovered myself stuck in this terrifying place. I know that those things that were erupting from the ground were rotten bodies of the deads. Those who were long taking their rests in this supposed to be peaceful place (but not anymore). But I felt like I have to confirm to other people of the thing that I was telling is correct. 

“The Sinners,” said Valour. “Prepare your jade knife.”

“Are we going to fight them?” I asked. 

“We have no choice, Sitri. That dead-alive bodies surrounding us would not hesitate to attack and kill us. That is why we need to fight back,” he said. 

He then twisted the ring on his finger. From the twist, the ring glowed. Until I have realized that he was now holding a silver sword. That same sword I have seen when he killed the first Sinner I have encountered. 

I then wield the twin jade knife as my weapon. Though afraid, I composed myself. I let my body feel the tension, and slowly, I controlled it. Slowly, I calmed myself. Until the clarity of my mind came back to me. I felt that my body will move and respond according to my will. Not on my fear. 

Now one of the Sinners decided to attack. It ran with a shrilling shriek from its throat. Judging from its almost rotten eyes, it would come for me. It would try to kill me. 

I smirked. “Try it, baby.”