Dungeon Mark

by Jumpyrope

Summary:

A man finds himself standing in front of the entrance of a terrible dungeon with no recollection of who he is. All he knows is that he must find a woman named Kujou Saya. So begins the waking nightmare.
Fear and Hunger/Death Mark crossover nobody asked for!
Tags will be updated along with new chapters posted.

Notes:

I wanted to wait on posting this until I had more chapters written since I'm so behind on so many other fics too, but I just got fired today from a job I was feeling really good about and so I need a little self indulgence.

If you are unfamiliar with the Fear and Hunger games, tread carefully as they contain basically every trigger warning under the sun.

Chapter 1

The man pauses as the dense fog around him begins to thin. He can see a large structure looming in the distance. The sight of it strikes fear into the man's heart, but his feet carry him towards it anyway. He's struggling to remember what it is, but he knows there's something important he must do here. Actually, the man is struggling to remember a great many things, he realizes. Most important of the things he cannot remember is his own identity.

Who... am I? the man wonders. He looks down at himself and besides the dirt and dust from travel, his clothes seem very fine quality. Am I wealthy? He asks himself. There is a big, lumpy bag over his shoulder that is much lower quality than his clothing, but it's stuffed with food supplies and torches.

The fog lifts more as the man nears the entrance of the dungeon. As it comes into clear view, he remembers his purpose for coming here.

I am looking for Kujou Saya. I need to save her. That's all he can remember, though. It's a frustrating feeling, not remembering something. Is he prone to bouts of amnesia? He wouldn't know; he can't remember anything past walking through that fog.

The man enters into a front courtyard area. The yawning entrance beckons him, but the man is distracted by a dead horse laying off to the side.

Poor thing, he thinks glumly. How did this happen? The corpse is minimally rotted, like the horse died a few days ago. It's not a good sign for the state of this place. Another, more obvious sign of danger is the lack of guards. Somehow the man can remember that this dungeon should be functional. It is meant to serve as a prison for the worst criminals. He would imagine such a place should have tight security.

That's why I need to find Saya. He remembers. She came to investigate rumored hauntings in the depths of the dungeons. Then the city lost contact with the officials here, and everyone they sent out to see what happened never returned.

The man isn't sure how or why he remembers all that but not something so simple as his own name, but at least he knows he has a goal. He's not thrilled about going into a place that nobody has returned from, but he feels a strange determination to go in anyway.

I need to find Saya. Is all he can think when he tries to rationalize going inside. The thought is strong enough to keep him from turning right around and leaving. Who the hell is Kujou Saya? he wonders. And why do I care what happens to her?

The man can't explain it, but his subconscious is resolute. He needs to find Saya.

The man decisively walks towards the gaping entrance, but pauses for a moment in the threshold. The hair on the back of his arms stands up and a shiver runs down his spine. Everything in his body is screaming at him don't go in there.

The man hears the howl of a wolf in the distance, but not distant enough. His heart hammers in his chest and he forces himself forwards. He ignores his every instinct telling him not to go inside. If wolves do come this way, they should be distracted by the horse. The man rationalizes.

Before he walks completely into the building, the man spots a torch laying on top of a box against the outside wall. Judging by the number of them in his bag, he assumes that he was expecting to need a lot of them when he was packing. One more won't hurt.

The barking and snarling of wolves grows even closer, but the man feels secure being a little ways away from the dead horse. There's no reason for wolves to come after his scrawny self when there's a big meal right there. Since he found a torch out here, the man wonders if there could be anything inside the barrels and crates lining the walls that he could use. He searches the crate he found the torch on top of and gathers a couple scraps of cloth from the bottom. It looks like enough cloth to wrap around a big enough stick to makeshift a torch if he needs to. It's also enough to wrap a wound, should it come to that.

The sound of barking enters the courtyard and three wolves appear from the fog. They run towards the horse, but instead of chowing down on it like the man expected, they bypass it entirely to come straight at him.

Time seems to slow as panic overtakes him. He can see a side door to his right that if he's quick enough, he can get in before the wolves tear him to pieces. There is a chance, however, that the door is locked. His other option is to run in the main entrance, but the door is wide open and he doesn't know how big the entrance hall will be. There might be no doors close enough to hide behind before the wolves reach him. His third option is to stand there and do nothing, which is hardly an option at all, really.

The man makes his decision and sprints towards the side door, silently begging it to be unlocked. He reaches the handle and pushes the door open, and for a brief moment he is flooded with relief. His relief is broken by the wolves at his heels, so he wastes no time with going inside and shutting the door. The wolves push at the door and the man struggles to close it. Somehow, he is able to shut the door. He leans against it for a moment, feeling it shake from the wolves clawing at it. The door stays strong and the man sinks to the ground with a sigh of exhaustion. He only just got here and he's nearly been eaten by wolves. He hopes that this will be the worst thing he experiences in this dungeon, but as he looks into the oppressive darkness before him, he has his doubts.

Thankful that he had the foresight to bring torches, the man lights one so he can navigate down the stairs into the darkness below. His torch light makes it marginally better, but he can still feel the cold dread of the dark encroaching on his little circle of light. His steps feel too loud as he walks down the narrow staircase. At the bottom is another door. The man feels like going through it would seal his doom, but he can't turn back.

The man opens the door into some sort of large room. He takes a few steps into the space and freezes as his torch illuminates a gruesome scene before him. Somehow, he immediately recognizes the ritual circle that appears to be drawn in blood, presumably from the dead body crumpled at the edge of it. In the circle is the symbol of The God of The Depths, an old god whose worshipers are few. The symbol looks like a backwards R.

The man feels sick, he doesn't know how he knows all that. It scares him and makes him want to run away, but he has to continue forward. He walks around the edge of the ritual circle, unwilling to step directly in it. He knows that it's probably not going to do anything if he does, but he also doesn't want to take chances that the circle is somehow active.

A figure appears around the corner of the wall in front of the man. At first he thought it was someone in a big hat, but as the creature comes into the light, he realizes that it is some sort of horrific flesh jellyfish floating in the air. It moves slowly, swaying in a relaxed manner. The man isn't sure if it's hostile, but he doesn't want to get close enough to find out.

The creature moves slowly, so the man is able to get past it by walking quickly. The room is pretty big, so he can keep it at a distance. There are some barrels in the back, presumably for wine. To the left is a stone door. Seeing it as the first potential exit to the room, the man goes to investigate it.

As soon as he places his hand on the surface, a voice echoes in the man's head.

"Come and find me... let the blood flow..."

No thank you. The man thinks in response and turns around to find a different door to investigate.

Keeping an eye on the jellyflesh, as he's decided to name it, the man walks past the wine barrels and down a hallway. He looks through an arch into a room and sees a massive pile of something in the darkness. He takes hold of the torch with his other hand to hold it steady as he can't seem to stop shaking. He holds the light out to see into the room and all he sees is a pale foot before a movement from down the hall catches his attention from the corner of his eye. It's another one of those things and it's floating lazily towards him. The hallway is narrow enough that he doesn't want to try and pass it. Deciding he doesn't need to know what the pile in that room is, the man turns to the right through a different arch.

He has to slap a hand over his mouth and nose as he turns and finds exactly what he was afraid of in the other room; a pile of decaying bodies. The smell of death permeated the area the moment he stepped in, but being so close to the source now has tears springing to his eyes.

So many bodies... he knows he can't remember anything, but he's sure he's never seen this many bodies before. He's only heard about it in news of a plague that tore its way through a village. There were too many bodies to bury them all individually, so they had to make a mass grave or dump them in the water. The man was glad his home is far away from all that.

The man realizes he just remembered his home. He doesn't know his name, but he knows that he lives in a mansion. He can see the grand staircase and the grandfather clock at the top. He'd be more happy about this revelation if he weren't standing next to a rotting pile of bodies.

The man notices something about the bodies. While it's uncomfortable that they are all nude, he thinks it makes sense to perhaps burn clothes separately if they have remnants of the plague on them. But the state of the bodies makes him feel like it wasn't a plague that killed these people. Plagues don't chop off limbs or leave gashes through skin to let the guts spill out. These wounds were caused by violence. Furthermore, this hardly seems like a good place for a mass grave. It's really more like... storage.

The bodies are still relatively fresh, too. They've been decaying for a while, but it's not like they're especially well preserved. He can't imagine these bodies are more than a week or two old. His heart sinks.

Would I even be able to tell if Saya was in here? The man tries not to entertain that thought further.

On the other side of the room, past the bodies, the jellyflesh from the hall has entered through the other archway. It floats towards him, so slowly that the man isn't concerned about it anymore. Whatever put all these bodies here can't be these creatures. It's more likely that they're scavengers attracted by the corpses. He still doesn't want to get close to one.

The man walks back into the hall and jolts to the side as the other jellyflesh from the other room is right there at the corner of the arch. It's close enough that it's reaching out its tentacles towards him. He quickly gets out of its range and proceeds down the hall further.

He passes by a jail cell with steel bars, but he doesn't even bother to try that door. It just looks like there's more bodies in there anyway.

Around the corner where the hall bends, the man nearly slips on some plant growth. He manages to catch his footing, but the little slip sent his heart into overdrive. If that's all it takes to panic him, how is he going to go further in this place? He sincerely doubts that anything good awaits him beyond the doorway at the end of the hall. A lone skeleton sits to the side of the door. After the pile of bodies, seeing a simple skeleton without any rotting flesh or gore on it is a relief. He decides not to worry about why it's here or how long it's been here. He's ready to get out of this horrible smelling room so he goes through the doorway without hesitation.

The next room brings with it the smell of dirt. It's not like the stench of decay that spread throughout the previous area has gone away, but it's just lighter now that the bodies aren't right next to him.

The room appears to be a sort of graveyard. The mounds of dirt marked with names look like they've been dug recently. There's one that is still a hole, not very deep, either.

The man scans each marker to see if any are marked for Saya, but there are none. He's not sure if that means she's still alive or that she's dead somewhere else, rotting out in the open. Unburied, unnamed, unremembered.

What name would go on my grave? The man wonders glumly as he heads further into the room. His torch decides now is the best time to go out, causing the man to curse quietly as he tries to pull out another one. He stops as he sees a hulking figure in the darkness beyond some sarcophagi. It could just be a very large person, but after the jellyflesh things, the man isn't taking any chances. He quickly ducks behind a sarcophagus as the figure starts walking his direction.

In the dark, the man can only understand what he's seeing so much. The creature appears to be a big, hulking guard wearing heavy armor. At first it seems the guard has three legs, but the man has to cover his mouth to keep from gasping when he realizes what that "leg" really is. That part has armor, too. It's massive, even bigger than the man's thigh. Granted, his legs are rather thin, but that is still far too large for that particular body part to be. He hopes that this creature has similarly sized females of whatever species it is. The thought of that fitting in a human... the man chokes down some vomit that started to rise.

He knows he needs to get past it, but he feels like he's shaking too much to walk. If that thing gets a hold of him, he'll be lucky if he's only beaten to death. Thankfully, the creature continues patrolling and doesn't notice as the man crawls from behind one sarcophagus to another until he's out of the room.

Away from that thing, the man is able to pull himself together enough to stand. He seems to be in some sort of storage room, but every shelf and barrel he searches seems to have already been emptied of anything useful. He heads into the next room where there is more light coming from sconces hanging from the ceiling. Thanks to the flickering fires, he can see something massive, even bigger than the thing in the grave room, walking back and forth through the wide halls.

The man darts across a hallway to get into the doorway on the other side while the beast's back is turned. The room appears to be empty, but there is a burned up campfire in the middle of the floor. Sitting on top of it is a lit torch, seemingly dropped there. The man walks over and picks it up. Raising the torch illuminates the room better.

There is a large statue of a woman and a bird against the back wall. There is a chest that is open to the left and a bed against the wall to the right. The man freezes as he could swear he saw something move under the bed. The man keeps his eyes on the bed as he steps towards the chest to see what is in it. There is a small pile of silver coins at the bottom.

The man checks his bag to see if he brought money with him, but he can't find any. He's not sure why he would need coins, but perhaps paying someone might come in handy. He could also use them as distractions to throw down opposite hallways to get past creatures. He picks them up and counts seven as he puts them away.

In the midst of his counting, the man takes his eyes off the bed. That moment, something begins to emerge from the darkness. The man startles and throws one of the coins at it without thinking. It hits the thing in the head.

"...Ow." The thing says, and the man realizes that it's just a normal looking person. A guy, perhaps a bit younger than himself, in an oversized jacket. His eyes look tired and shifty, but sane.

"Oh- oh no, I'm sorry, I thought you were-"

"A monster?" the man from under the bed cuts him off. "And you think one silver coin would deter one of those things?"

"...I have six more..." The man grumbles in self defence. The man from under the bed snorts out a small laugh and shakes his head.

"You're sane, I gather? Even if you're not too bright." The rude man dusts himself off and crosses his arms.

"I'm sane and plenty smart, thank you. I'm just not used to being scared by creeps hiding under beds."

"And I'm not used to hiding under beds, but with the things out there, it's better to be safe than sorry. If you were one of those guards, I'd be fucked."

The man with the torch cringes at the other's wording. He knows it's a figure of speech, but thinking about it being literal makes his stomach churn.

"Anyway, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Mashita Satoru. And you are?" The man from under the bed, Mashita, looks expectantly at the other.

"I'm, uh..." the man frantically tries to remember his name, but continues to come up blank. The only thing he can remember is that he probably lived in a mansion. Before Mashita can get too suspicious about his lack of answer, the man blurts out a name.

"Yashiki Kazuo."

"Well, Yashiki, I'd say it's nice to meet you but let's be real, there's nothing nice about any of this."

"Finding someone who is alive and not trying to kill me is pretty nice, though." Yashiki counters. Mashita scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"Hardly. What are you doing here, anyway? You don't look like someone who belongs in a dungeon."

"I'm looking for someone. Kujou Saya. Do you know her?" Yashiki asks. Mashita shakes his head.

"Nope. Doesn't ring a bell."

"What about you? Why are you here?" Yashiki directs the question back. Mashita glances to the side before responding.

"I'm looking for someone." He says, but does not elaborate.

The two stand in silence for a long minute. Neither are sure what to say or what to do. Eventually, Mashita clears his throat.

"Well, I need to continue forward. I assume you also need to keep going to find this Saya chick." He says, walking towards the door. "There's safety in numbers, right? We might as well walk together if we're both going the same way."

"That sounds like a good idea." Yashiki agrees, following the other to the door. "Maybe we'll be lucky and the people we're looking for will be in the same place."

"Maybe." Mashita says, but he doesn't sound at all confident about it.

Out in the large hallways once again, the pair watch the hulking, golden figure patrol around the area from the shadows. It seems too big to fit into the sides of the halls where beams and arches support the ceiling. Yashiki points this out to Mashita in a whisper and Mashita responds with a silent nod. They stay close to the walls and out of sight.

There looks to be a room on the opposite side of the + shaped hallway, with another door leading somewhere unknown around the bend. Carefully watching the Golden Guard, as Yashiki has decided to call it, the two sneak past the exit to the side of the hall with the other room. In the middle of the floor outside of the entryway is some sort of creature. Yashiki startles upon seeing it, but Mashita clicks his tongue in annoyance.

"Calm down. Look, it's dead already." The man gestures to the bug-like corpse.

"What killed it...?" Yashiki wonders out loud. Mashita shrugs.

"My guess would be on big goldy over there." He gestures to the golden guard.

Yashiki continues to stare at the dead creature. There is something extremely unsettling about it. It looks kind of like a face. Mashita leaves him to his staring and enters the room. Yashiki follows after him quickly, only to be stopped in the threshold by an injured man with a crossbow.

"Stop right there!" The man yells. His eyes are wild with fear, but he still seems somewhat sane. Sane enough to not shoot them on sight, at least.

"Don't worry, we're normal people." Mashita says, not reacting to having a weapon pointed at him at all.

"Oh, yes, I suppose if you weren't, you'd already be attacking me." The man lowers his weapon slightly, then raises it again. "But don't get any ideas! I'm still prepared to defend myself!"

"Relax, neither of us want a fight, either." Mashita speaks for them both.

"Good." The man's eyes dart between the two intruders a couple times before he relaxes and sits back on the ground. He gingerly sets his leg out in front of him as he does so, but clearly tries to hide how it hurts him.

"You're injured-" Yashiki says, taking a step forward. He freezes as that crossbow is pointed at him again.

"So you noticed, huh? Don't think that makes me an easy mark. I am a knight of the glorious kingdom of Rondon, I will not be taken out easily."

"I wasn't thinking that at all! I just- are you okay? Do you need anything?" Yashiki shakes his head, eager to clear the misunderstanding between them. Both the man on the floor and Mashita look at him with a bewildered expression.

"No I'm- well, actually, if you have any alcohol on you..." the man says, looking between the two of them hopefully. Mashita shakes his head as Yashiki searches his bag.

"No, just water. Sorry." Yashiki says, shoulders drooping.

"I won't turn down some water, if you're offering." The knight says. Yashiki starts to pull his waterskin from his bag but Mashita stops him with a hand on his arm.

"What if you need that for yourself later? We don't know if you'll be able to refill it when it's empty." Mashita whispers, mouth so close to Yashiki's ear that his breath tickles him. Yashiki frowns and looks down at his waterskin. The knight on the floor is still looking at him expectantly, but Mashita makes a good point. Eventually, Yashiki shakes his head and looks at Mashita.

"Even so, I can't just leave someone to suffer with nothing." He responds. Mashita just clicks his tongue and steps away, putting his hands up.

"Fine, but if you're dying of thirst later, don't ask for any of my water."

Yashiki sighs at his new companion's selfishness and hands his waterskin over to the knight.

"Don't worry, I'll try not to take too much." The knight says. He lifts the opening to his mouth and drinks down a couple gulps of water before handing it back. "Thank you. I am in your debt."

"Not at all. I'm just happy to help." Yashiki smiles.

"What are you doing down here anyway?" Mashita asks.

"I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Ser Seymour. I'm here with fellow knights for a mission, but we got separated. I fear my companions may be..." The man shakes his head. "In any case, my main goal right now is to reunite with the crown Prince, Buckman. I would like to find the others, as well. If possible."

"Unlikely." Mashita comments. Yashiki shoots him a dirty look.

"Do you know anything about what's going on here?" Yashiki asks, happy to move the conversation along before Mashita pisses the guy with a crossbow off.

"Not a clue. It's something foul and unholy, that's for certain. I heard rumors of these dungeons being cursed, about monsters roaming the halls. I didn't realize they weren't just rumors." Ser Seymour answers. "My recommendation for you is to get the hell out of here, if you even can."

"I can't just leave. I'm here looking for someone. Kujou Saya. Do you know her, by any chance?" Yashiki asks.

"I'm afraid I don't. If she's here, you may be too late already. This is no place for a woman." Ser Seymour pauses. "It's not much of a place for a man, either."

Yashiki looks down at the floor, wondering if the man's words are true. Is he too late?

"Hey, don't get depressed on me now. You'll never find her, alive or dead, if you just mope about it." Mashita puts his hand on Yashiki's shoulder. His words are cold but Yashiki lifts his head and nods.

"You're right. I shouldn't let doubt get a hold of me."

"That's better." Mashita gives Yashiki a little smirk. It looks snarky, but Yashiki gets the feeling it's supposed to be genuine.

"Hey, Ser Seymour," Mashita turns to look back at the man on the floor, "you've been here for a while, yeah?" Ser Seymour nods. "Do you have any tips for survival down here?"

"Tips for survival...? I suppose I may have learned a thing or two." The man thinks for a moment, then gestures out the doorway. "Did you see that thing out there? I managed to slay it, but not before it got my leg. If you ever see one of those, be very careful. The bugger spits acid."

"Acid?" Yashiki repeats quietly, looking back at the dead thing on the floor outside. He returns his attention back to Ser Seymour as he continues talking.

"If you can, I recommend you avoid fighting at all costs. If you have no choice, then you need to be careful about it. These creatures I've seen are tough. You won't take them down easily. When you can, go for the head. It's hard to get them when they're moving around, so try taking out their legs first. You have to be strategic or you won't make it very far."

"Noted." Mashita responds.

"But really, my recommendation is that you get out if you still can. Whatever you came here for, ask yourself; is it worth it?"

The question Ser Seymour poses is a good one. Yashiki contemplates his options. He doesn't even know who Saya is, why should he risk his life for her? But no matter how he tries to look at it logically, something within him urges him that he must save Saya. He looks at Mashita to see him also furrowing his eyebrows in thought. Could he be having doubts about his reason for coming here too?

Whatever he was thinking about, Mashita shakes it off after a moment. "I've made my decision. I'm not turning back right when I get here."

"Yeah." Yashiki agrees.

"Very well. But before you leave, you should take a look around here. There's weapons and armor that still seem to be in decent condition. I haven't examined anything closely, but there is probably something you can use." See Seymour gestures to the tables and stands of weapons and equipment. "Going further in without a weapon is suicide. You should avoid fighting, but you don't want to find yourself unarmed and cornered."

"Thanks. We'll have a look around, then." Yashiki says and begins to walk towards the back of the room. He decides to start with the armor racks. He can't really remember, but he doesn't think he's been in very many fights before. The idea of holding a weapon makes him nervous.

Most of the armor is badly dented or rusting, unfortunately. He does manage to find a single leather vest that seems to be in okay condition. He looks it over, and while it's a little too big for him, it's better than nothing.

"Find something?" Mashita asks as he walks over. He appears to have already found a sword and scabbard that he's buckled around his hips.

"Only this," Yashiki replies and buckles up the vest over his clothes.

"Good work. You didn't find anything else?" Mashita steps closer and Yashiki makes space for him to look around himself. "Wow, yeah. Everything over here is shit. How long has this place been inactive? It shouldn't have rusted this much in just a few weeks."

"I don't know..." Yashiki responds and moves to the weapons table. He starts looking at the different tools of death and feels sweat drip down his forehead. Tentatively he picks up a sword that he thinks is average size, but it's so heavy he has trouble lifting it.

"Hey, I think this one is more your size." Mashita pushes a far thinner sword towards Yashiki. Yashiki takes it and sighs when it isn't as much of a pain to simply hold. He's still unsure how he's going to swing it around.

"You've never handled a weapon in your life, have you?" Mashita teases.

"I guess not."

The uncertain response has Mashita narrowing his eyes in suspicion. How could you not be sure of something like that?

Yashiki steps away from the other two people in the room and gives the sword a couple swishes through the air. He feels his wrist ache from the way he's holding it. Mashita shakes off his suspicion in favor of coming over to show this fool of a man how it's done.

"You're holding it wrong, first of all. Grip it like this." Mashita takes Yashiki's hand and wraps it around the handle correctly. Yashiki slashes the air again, being careful to point away from Mashita lest his clumsiness cause an accident.

"You're waving it around like it's a flag. You're not going to be able to do any damage like that. Here, try holding it steady with both hands." Mashita pulls out his own sword, closer to the size of the one that Yashiki couldn't pick up, and demonstrates how to hold it more firmly. "See? Now you have more control over the way your blade moves."

Yashiki tries to swing it a couple more times and finds that it is easier to control with two hands.

"That isn't a two handed weapon. It's meant to be held with a shield in your other hand." Ser Seymour speaks up from the floor. Yashiki deflates a little, losing what small confidence he gained quickly. Mashita shoots the knight a dirty look.

"Hold it however you need to hold it." He says to Yashiki, but keeps his eyes on Ser Seymour. The knight shrugs and looks away.

"I'm just saying, his form is completely wrong."

"Then why don't you give him your crossbow?" Mashita suggests, getting startled looks from both Yashiki and Ser Seymour. "If you have such a problem with him being untrained in swordfighting, give him your crossbow."

"I-I don't even know how to use a crossbow!" Yashiki protests. "I'm fine with this sword, really! See?" He demonstrates a few more controlled swings and a couple stabbing motions.

"I'm not giving you this. That is out of the question." Ser Seymour takes hold of his crossbow tighter, looking ready to aim and fire it at the first sign of any violence.

"Then shut up." Mashita says and puts his sword back into its sheath. Ser Seymour grumbles an apology and looks away. "That's what I thought. Now, Yashiki, are you ready to go?"

"Not really." Yashiki looks out into the darkness of the hall. "But I guess there's not much choice, is there?"

"I'm afraid not," Mashita replies. He takes a couple steps out into the darkness to look down the hall. "That big thing is turned the other way. We should go now."

"Um, it was nice to meet you, Ser Seymour." Yashiki says as he heads for the exit with Mashita.

"Sure." The knight sighs. He looks so sad and alone, Yashiki doesn't want to leave him behind. But Mashita whispers at him urgently to hurry up and Yashiki knows there's no way he could come with them.

"If we see any of your comrades, we'll tell them you're here." Yashiki promises. Ser Seymour smiles just a little.

"Thank you."

"Yashiki, now." Mashita hisses, grabbing Yashiki's arm and pulling him away.

Yashiki sees why his companion is so agitated quickly. The giant golden guard has turned around and is slowly trudging in their direction. They were safe sticking close to the walls before, but around the corner are the lamps that illuminate the area. They'll have to pass them to get to the door at the end of the hall.

Mashita leads Yashiki slowly down the corridor, heading towards the golden guard. They have to pass him to get out, too. They stay pressed up against the wall closely hoping that its eyesight won't be good enough to see them. The creature stops in the middle of the + shape. The two men stop as well. Yashiki feels his heart beating. He wonders if it's so loud that the monster can hear it.

But then it turns and faces away, looking down the other corridor.

"This is our chance!" Mashita whispers and pulls Yashiki with him. They hurry to the end of the hall but are stopped by rubble blocking their path in the darkness. It forces them to go out into the light and hope the beast won't turn around. They pause, looking at the creature as it trudges away from them. Thanking the gods for the opportunity, they quietly go into the middle of the hallway. The temptation to run is strong, but their feet will make too much noise. They don't know how fast this thing is or what it's capable of doing.

They make it halfway to the door before they hear an angry grunt behind them, followed by loud clanging of metal armor in motion. Yashiki looks back to see the beast charging at them, but Mashita doesn't let him get distracted. He grabs Yashiki by the arm and pulls him the rest of the way to the door.

The beast is too large to fit through the doorway, and it cries out in frustration as they run into the room beyond the door. They get far out of the creature's reach from the doorway, panting heavily as they watch it try to get to them. Eventually it gives up and turns around to continue patrolling the halls. Yashiki slumps forward with his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He smiles over at Mashita, glad to have escaped that beast. Mashita grins back, equally thankful for their safe escape.

That horror is behind us, Yashiki thinks.

The two men recollect themselves and their smiles drop as they look around.

... but what horrors are to come?

Chapter 2

Summary:

The pair meet someone new and get an unpleasant taste of combat.

Notes:

First chapter, I lost my job. Second chapter, I just got my gallbladder removed. Now I'm in recovery from that and doing well without that particular pain organ. Cheers!

Hope you enjoy this chapter! Warning for descriptions of the fear and hunger guard enemies. There's a reason that their schlong is a targetable body part in the battle system. Or excuse me, their "stinger," as it is called in the game.

The room that Yashiki and Mashita find themselves in is dark to the point they struggle to see anything beyond what light the doorway allows in. Yashiki pulls out a torch and lights it. It seems to be a storage space of some sort. There are metal bars and a door at the other end of the room, blocking the way forward. Yashiki walks over and tries the metal door, but it's locked.

"Damn it!" Yashiki mutters. He turns around and looks back at the door they came in through. They narrowly escaped the golden guard, but if they can't move forward, they've only trapped themselves in this room.

"Do not tell me that we're cornered." Mashita groans, noticing the same predicament as Yashiki. Yashiki looks around the walls, hoping for another doorway or something to provide an exit.

"We're not cornered!" He announces cheerfully, walking over to the wall next to the bars. There is an opening there with stairs leading down.

"Oh, good," Mashita replies, walking over as well. They both peer into the darkness the stairs descend into. The light from the torch barely illuminates a few feet in front of them and further is nothing but darkness. "Well, you're the one with the light." Mashita smirks and gestures down the stairs. Yashiki frowns but takes the lead.

Each step feels like going further and further into hell. The torch light acts as a ring around them, keeping the darkness away. Yashiki fears that if the light went out, the darkness would close in on them and drown them like water.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs is a relief. As they enter the new area, the darkness is a little less oppressive than on the stairs. Yashiki breathes a sigh of relief, but immediately regrets it as he inhales the horrible scent of rusted metal and rotting blood. He pinches his nose and looks around the area they are in.

The floor is grated metal that echoes each step they take. Underneath the grating, Yashiki can't see anything. They are suspended above nothing with who knows how much space between them and the floor below. He shudders, but assures himself that the walkways are stable. He starts to lead the way down the hall to the left of the door, heading further into the echoing area. The floor becomes a bridge and Yashiki looks over the railing to see if he can see anything. He thinks he sees something move down in the darkness, but Mashita pulls him back.

"Don't lean on the railing like that. This place doesn't exactly look up to code." He frowns at the metal grating like it personally wronged him.

"You're right, sorry." Yashiki looks away in embarrassment at doing something so foolish. He didn't even realize he had gone from simply looking over the edge to leaning his weight against the railing to see further.

"Don't apologize to me, just be more careful." Mashita scolds. Yashiki nods sheepishly.

Wanting to leave that moment behind, Yashiki turns to look at the direction the bridge is going. There is an intersection, but Yashiki continues to go straight forward. The bridge leads to a wall, and in that wall, is a prison cell. Yashiki approaches warily, hand on the hilt of his sword just in case the prisoners are in cages for a good reason. He doesn't find anyone in the cell at first, but then he notices movement from the back corner where the torch light only just reaches. There is something back there, huddled against the wall. Yashiki moves the light closer to the bars, hoping to get a better look into the cell.

Sitting against the wall in the back of the cell is a normal looking man with dark hair and leather clothing. He squints and shields his eyes from the light of the torch.

"Are you... a person?" The man asks as his eyes slowly adjust. "Two people?" He adds as he notices Mashita step closer.

"Yes, we are two people. And you are also a person?" Yashiki responds, feeling silly to ask.

"Yeah, I'm a person." The man says. "Would you mind opening that door for me? As much as I'd love to be stuck in a smelly cage for the rest of my life, I don't actually."

"I'll see what I can do." Yashiki looks at the lock on the door. He tries to force it open, but of course it remains locked.

"How did you get locked in there?" Mashita asks as Yashiki continues to poke around the lock.

"Isn't it obvious?" The man in the cell scoffs. "I got grabbed by one of those malformed guards and-" he pauses, "and now I'm in here. Not too complicated to figure out."

"I think we need a key for this." Yashiki concludes after looking at the lock and determining he probably does not know how to pick locks.

"The guard that put me in here has one. He's probably still around the area. I think I've heard him stomping around on the metal." The man in the cage offers.

"How are we supposed to get the key from him?" Mashita asks out loud, putting a hand on his chin.

"It's hard to sneak around in here, that's for sure." The man says.

"We can't fight one of those things!" Yashiki exclaims quietly.

"I cut off one of his arms earlier, before he got me. I kicked his cleaver over the side of the bridge, so he shouldn't have a weapon. Just don't let him grab you and you'll be okay." The man explains. There is a pause and then he adds, quieter, "cut off the stinger first. Just in case."

"Stinger...?" Yashiki repeats. The man sighs.

"The penis."

Yashiki makes a startled noise and backs up a couple steps. He can't believe what he's hearing. They need to cut off its penis first? That's too much for him to handle. Even if the thing is a monster, cutting something that private is just cruel, isn't it?

"I'll handle the stinger, Yashiki. You go for the other arm." Mashita steps closer to Yashiki and looks him in the eyes. "Can you handle that?"

Yashiki thinks for a moment before nodding. Mashita nods once back.

"Good." He turns to the man in the cell again. "Anything else we should know?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Alright. Well, let's go get this over with, Yashiki." Mashita gestures for Yashiki to hand him the torch and follow. Yashiki gives him the torch without question. He looks back into the cell towards the man. Without the light right against the bars, it's impossible to see into the back of the cell anymore.

"We'll get you out soon," he promises.

"Good luck," the man replies.

Mashita leads the way back to the intersection in the bridge and turns to go further into the prisons. The echo of their footsteps feels like the loudest noise they've ever heard. Would they even be able to hear someone coming over their own clanging?

The pair come to another intersection, this one parting in three more directions; left, right, and forward. Before they can make their decision on which way to go, they hear a grunt from the darkness in front of them. A hulking figure lumbers its way into the torch light. True to the man's word, the creature has one arm and no weapon in hand. Yashiki remembers his job is to focus on the arm, but he still finds himself looking down.

He feels faint. The size of this thing's "stinger" is sickening. It's just like the guard he saw in the graveyard room before meeting Mashita, but this one doesn't have armor covering its parts. It is also fully illuminated by the torch in Mashita's hand. Yashiki can see in full detail the creature's penis. He feels like he could throw up.

"Focus, Yashiki!" Mashita shouts at him. It breaks Yashiki out of his head and he is able to redirect his attention to the creatures arm which is swinging in a fist towards them. Mashita ducks and swings his sword forwards. The creature bellows out a scream and stumbles backwards. In a spray of blood, part of its body thuds to the floor.

It's just. Sitting there. On the metal grate. Dripping blood from the severed part into the abyss below. Mashita kicks it and sends it falling over the side and out of view.

"Yashiki!" He yells again, looking even angrier. Yashiki shakes himself out of his stupor and refocuses on the creature's arm again. The amount of blood flooding from its crotch is distracting, but Yashiki is able to stay focused. The creature tries to grab Mashita, but he dodges backwards before the hand can close around his head. Yashiki takes the chance while it has its arm outstretched to swing his sword down on it. His blade slices cleanly into the monster's flesh, but he hits something and the arm stays attached as Yashiki pulls his blade back. He realizes he must have cut down to the bone. As morbid as that is, he's a little excited about it. He didn't think he'd be able to do damage like that.

Mashita takes a swing towards the same area and tears through more flesh. The creature swings wildly but misses both of them. They each slice into its arm again, and it appears the limb is holding on by nothing but a few muscles and tendons and the bone. Mashita brings down one more swing and the arm falls into the abyss.

"Yeah!" Yashiki cheers, but his celebration is too hasty. Without arms, the beast decides to charge directly at him like a bull. Before Yashiki can react, he's slammed into by the hulking beast and sent backwards several feet. He hits the railing hard and it creaks threateningly. The impact knocked the breath out of him, so there's little he can do besides try to get his lungs working again and watch as the monster prepares to charge at him again. He knows this railing won't hold from the impact and that the attack is going to send them both crashing through the metal and down into the darkness. Then Mashita wouldn't even be able to get the key off the guard's body.

The monster takes the first step forward into its run towards Yashiki, but Mashita is there to cut into its calf and nearly go entirely through it. The beast stumbles as the leg fails to support its weight and it falls to the floor. The bridge shakes and Yashiki feels the metal railing shift a little more from the impact. He pushes himself away from the railing and gets on his hands and knees, not trusting himself to stay steady on his feet. The monster thrashes on the floor, but without arms and only one working leg, it can't stand up. It's thrashing shakes the bridge a lot, though. Yashiki is glad to have gotten on the floor. He would have lost his balance on his feet and gone tumbling over the side, he's sure.

The thrashing stops. Yashiki looks up to see Mashita pull his sword back out of the creature's head. He's breathing heavy and a little bloodied, but they succeeded.

Yashiki gets to his feet to approach Mashita and the dead beast. Mashita starts searching for the key. When Yashiki gets close, Mashita stands up and glares at him.

"Did you not find the key?" Yashiki asks, thinking the anger is from that. Mashita laughs once without humor.

"What the fuck was that, Yashiki?" He yells.

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about! You froze up! If I weren't here, you would have gotten killed."

"I'm sorry..." Yashiki bows his head down in shame.

"No, no 'sorry!' You can't let that happen again! What were you even thinking?"

Yashiki thinks back to the battle. He remembers exactly what happened and why he froze up, but hesitates to admit it. The feeling of shame washes over him.

"I was distracted by its private parts." He says softly. This time when Mashita laughs, it's out of surprise.

"Seriously? How old are you? Have you never seen someone else's penis before?"

"I-I don't know! I can't remember. I just... it felt like I was panicking. Seeing that thing, it was terrifying. Those parts are supposed to be private! Why was it hanging out in the open like that? Why was it hard?!" Yashiki puts his hands on his head and tangles his fingers in his hair.

"It's fucked up, yeah, but I wouldn't call it 'terrifying.' It's just a body part."

"You don't understand-" Yashiki pleads.

"I don't understand. You really would have been fine if it was wearing pants? Why is it so different?" Mashita taps his foot against the metal impatiently.

"It just is. The monster is horrifying regardless but it having everything out on display like that... it's not right. It's not right."

Mashita heaves a deep sigh.

"Alright," he says, "I'll stop arguing. Just don't go letting this phobia of yours get in the way of surviving." Mashita sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "Anyway, let's go get that cell open." He holds up the key.

"You did find it!" Yashiki says in an accusatory tone.

"Never said I didn't." Mashita turns and walks back towards the cell with the man trapped inside. Yashiki sighs and follows him.

The man is waiting at the door when they return. Now that he's closer, Yashiki can see that the man has multiple bruises on every inch of visible skin. His eyes look red and worn out and there is dried blood on his face from what looks like a nose bleed he tried to wipe away.

"You both made it! That's great." The man grins at them through the bars. "Did you get the key?"

Instead of responding verbally, Mashita walks over and inserts the key into the lock and opens it with a click. The man pushes the cell door open steps out.

"Oh, it is good to be free!" he cheers. Then he looks at Yashiki and Mashita and gives them a half bow. "I am Cahara of the South, a mercenary at your service."

"I'm Yashiki, this is-"

"Mashita." Mashita cuts off Yashiki's introduction to introduce himself.

"Yashiki, Mashita." Cahara repeats, nodding. "This place is pretty dangerous, do you mind if I stick with you guys?"

Yashiki looks to Mashita, not wanting to answer for him. Mashita looks back at him, seemingly also not wanting to speak for Yashiki. He turns to Cahara again.

"Why did you come to this place?" He asks.

"Uh, I got a job to find somebody that's locked up in here." Cahara responds. "Why are you two here?"

"I'm looking for someone named Kujou Saya. Do you know her?" Yashiki asks.

"Sorry, doesn't ring any bells. What does she look like?"

"I... don't remember." Yashiki admits reluctantly.

"Seriously? How do you expect to find her when you don't even know what she looks like?" Mashita says. Yashiki shrugs sheepishly.

"What about you? What brings you down here?" Cahara asks Mashita. Mashita hesitates for a moment before responding.

"I'm also looking for someone." Is all he says.

"Anything about this person you'd like to share? Anything at all?" Cahara tries to prompt Mashita to say more, but he doesn't respond.

"Come on, Mashita. How are we supposed to help you look for them if we don't know anything about them?" Yashiki tries to convince Mashita to open up. His honest eyes seem to convince Mashita to give in.

"He's a man in his early 50's with short dark hair that is greying." Mashita concedes. It's a very small amount of information, but enough to satisfy the other twos' curiosity.

"We'll keep an eye out for him, too. As well as any women that could be your Saya." Cahara announces.

"We?" Mashita echoes, "I never said you could come with us."

Cahara's smile drops from his face and any lighthearted energy he had before seems to drain out of him. He tilts his head down sadly.

"Oh. In that case, good luck to you. Maybe we'll cross paths again, maybe not." Cahara turns and takes a step forward to walk away. Yashiki looks over at Mashita angrily, but finds the guy smirking.

"I'm kidding. You can come with us." Mashita calls out before Cahara can get more than a couple steps away. Yashiki notices he's limping slightly.

Cahara turns around and glares at Mashita but stops walking away.

"Thank you for letting me join you." He says, though his gratitude sounds bitter. Yashiki frowns in disapproval at Mashita, who ignores them both and takes the lead.

"Ah, sorry about him. He's... difficult." Yashiki whispers to Cahara as they follow behind Mashita.

"You can say that again." Cahara mutters back. Then he raises his voice for both of them. "How do you two even know each other, anyway?"

"We don't," Mashita replies. "We only just met today."

"Ah, I see." Is all that Cahara has to say about that. As they walk past the guard they killed, Cahara stops and takes a moment to stomp on it. Yashiki pulls Mashita by the clothes to get him to wait a moment before leaving them in the dark. Mashita is at first annoyed, but then when he sees Cahara stomping on the guard's corpse, he seems to get over it.

"Sorry," Cahara says when he's done, slightly out of breath from how hard he was stomping. "I needed that a moment."

"Are you alri-" Yashiki starts but is stopped by Cahara continuing to talk.

"Let's keep moving, I'll be right behind you."

"Okay..." Yashiki frowns but turns forward and walks behind Mashita. The prison walkways are so thin they have to form a line, one after another. They come back to the intersection where the guard first attacked them. Mashita pauses and thinks about which direction to go.

"To the left is another cell," Cahara informs them. "There's a cell to the right, too, but the lock on that one is too busted. There's no way it will open even with a key."

"To the left, then." Mashita decides and leads them in that direction. True to Cahara's word, there is a cell almost identical to the one Cahara was in, except this one has a bed in it.

"Man, how come I got stuck in the empty one?" Cahara grumbles his complaint from the back. Mashita ignores him and uses the key to open the cell door. There's nobody in there, but it isn't empty. There is a shiny coin on the floor. Yashiki can't figure out what it is for though. Being so shiny surrounded by such darkness and gore, the little coin makes him feel a sense of normalcy, like maybe everything could be okay.

Sitting on the bed is a cloth doll. Mashita shines the torch light on it and frowns. Cahara also looks at it with distrust.

"That thing is so creepy, what the hell is it doing here?" Cahara asks. Neither Mashita or Yashiki could begin to guess. Though despite his companions' apprehension, Yashiki steps forward and picks up the doll. It's certainly spooky looking, but it's really just a doll. He opens his bag and sticks it inside.

"You're not seriously taking that, are you?" Mashita asks. Yashiki closes his bag with it inside. "What do you even think we'll need that for?"

Yashiki shrugs. "It could be useful."

"How??"

Yashiki shrugs again.

Mashita shakes his head in disbelief and heads back to the intersection. Mashita takes them straight across to the cell Cahara said was busted. Again, true to his word, the door is warped in such a way that it won't open even with the lock unlocked. It doesn't look like there's anyone in there at least. The group goes back to the intersection to keep going forward.

The sound of flapping nearby catches Yashiki's attention. He figures it's just bats, but when it gets close enough to be visible, Yashiki lets out a horrified gasp. Mashita turns and points the torchlight towards the creature and takes a step back from it as it flaps closer. It looks like a little grey toddler with fleshy wings instead of arms and a misshapen head. It squints at them and makes a small grunt sound.

"I have no idea what these things are but they're annoying little buggers. Hold the light up for me." Cahara limps forwards and readies himself for attack with his sword in his hands. The creature gets close enough in range and Cahara slashes through one of its wings which sends it plummeting into the depths. "Don't let one bite you. Their teeth are nasty when you get a close enough look at them."

"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind." Yashiki replies. Mashita doesn't say anything but nods. Cahara smiles widely and nods back.

The platform leads past large statues that Yashiki can barely make out in the dark. They look like lizard people, but can't imagine that's really what they are. Why would an old prison have giant statues of lizard men? Mashita seems uninterested in them and continues forward without slowing. Yashiki then can't help but notice that Cahara's limp is slowing him down a lot.

"Hey, Mashita, maybe we should sit down." Yashiki suggests, looking back at Cahara. Cahara shoots him a glare in response.

"I'm fine. My leg got dislocated earlier when that guard got me. I guess it popped back in by the time he was done, because it doesn't look weird now or anything. It just hurts like a bitch. I can handle it though, so don't worry about me. I won't slow you down or hold you back, I promise."

"Are you sure? It looks like it hurts pretty bad," Yashiki tries but Cahara swiftly cuts him off.

"I said I'm fine!"

"Okay..." Yashiki relents but continues to look at Cahara with concern. The guy really doesn't look alright. But pressing the issue will only make him angrier and it's not worth starting a fight over.

The trio come upon a room. It seems like a storage room, full of crates of different sizes. Mashita cracks one open and finds it has some food in it. Most is rotten or rotting past the point of being safe for eating, but there is a meat pie near the top that looks alright.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but can I please have that? I'm so hungry. I've been in that cell for hours and this place, man-" Cahara starts, nearly begging, but Mashita shoves the meat pie at him before he can get too far into his spiel. Cahara takes it and immediately takes a bite.

"Fine you can have it, just stop whining."

"M'not whining," Cahara responds around a mouthful of food. Mashita scoffs and turns away to look in some other crates. He finds a bottle of ale, a few bits of dried meat, and two bottles of some sort of blue liquid.

"What is that?" Yashiki asks as Mashita tilts the bottle back and forth in the light of the torch.

"I think I've seen something like that before. It's supposed to heal you or something." Cahara speaks up. "There was an alchemist in a town I stayed in. He sold stuff like this for a high price. Said it cured all ails. I called horseshit but it actually fuckin' worked! It didn't cure everything, but there was a guy that got cut up real bad in an accident. He drank one of these and he was fine in just an hour."

"That sounds like horseshit," Mashita responds.

"That's what I thought too, but it really did work! It didn't close up his cuts or anything, but he was super pale from blood loss, delirious and nearly unconscious. After drinking this he was up and talking just fine like that." Cahara snaps his fingers. "Like I said, the cuts were all still there, but with some bandages, he healed up quick. If this is the same stuff, it's good shit."

"Hm. Yashiki, hold on to these." Mashita passes the two vials to Yashiki. "You've got more pockets in your bag."

Yashiki takes the vials and puts them in their own pocket for easy access. If they get hurt really badly, they'll need these to be easy to grab.

Further into the room, there is another chamber. In that chamber is a lever. Yashiki feels compelled to pull it, so he goes in and pulls it. There is the sound of metal and chains that seem like they are connected to something else in a different room.

"Yashiki! Don't go pulling random levers! You have no idea what that might have done!" Mashita notices Yashiki had wandered off and comes storming over to scold him.

"I think I needed to pull that lever. I think it opened up something for us." Yashiki tries to explain.

"Or you just opened something that should have stayed locked up!" Mashita argues back.

"Well, whatever it is, it's open now." Cahara interjects. "This lever ain't moving back." He demonstrates his inability to pull it as the lever seems to be stuck in the position it is in.

"Fuck. Just... Be more careful, Yashiki." Mashita huffs and turns around to go look through the room more. Yashiki looks at Cahara and Cahara shrugs.

Mashita yelps from the other room. The two rush into the darkness to find Mashita stumbling backwards from a hulking figure. Mashita's torch was dropped and is dwindling in light so Yashiki pulls a torch out of his bag and uses it to light the torch on the wall. With the room brightened, Yashiki can see what they're up against.

It's another one of those guards, only this one looks like the one from the cemetery. Its disproportionately large body is covered in metal armor and it is wielding a horrible weapon in each hand. One holds a mace that looks capable of crushing a skull with just a swing. The other is wielding a sword that could easily cut a man in half. Mashita is stumbling backwards and holding his shoulder. His arm is bleeding and he has a pained expression on his face.

"Fuck, it got the jump on me." Mashita grits out through his teeth. "I think it broke my fucking arm."

The armored guard bellows a noise that Yashiki can't decipher. Is it angry? Or is it happy to have victims? He can't tell, but whatever it's feeling, it intends to kill them.

"Go for its legs!" Cahara commands and steps forward. He swings out and cuts the creature's knee. Yashiki nods and follows suit with the other leg. The guard swings its mace in retaliation, but Yashiki and Cahara are able to duck away from it. They are not so lucky dodging its sword. Cahara cries out in pain as it cuts a deep gash in his shoulder. Yashiki is just thankful it didn't go all the way through his arm. It probably would have if Cahara wasn't so quick.

They swing at its legs again and it starts to stumble, appearing to lose its balance a bit. They are both able to dodge backwards before the creature swings at them again. Then, while the creature is recovering from swinging its mace, Cahara lunges forward and stabs his sword through the creature's neck. He pulls the blade back out and the guard stumbles and then falls to the ground, dead.

"We... we did it..." Yashiki comments as he stares at the body of the guard. It's disgusting to look at. The fact that its penis is so large that it has its own armor makes Yashiki feel sick.

Mashita groans in pain and snaps Yashiki out of his stupor. He rushes over and pulls out one of the blue vials.

"Here, looks like we'll get to see how well this works." Yashiki hands it over. Mashita hesitates before taking it and drinking it down quickly. He closes his eyes and groans again.

"Ugh, this better work. There's no way I can find him if my arm is too broken to use." Mashita grumbles, seemingly to himself.

Yashiki takes a moment to look over at Cahara who is wrapping his arm in bandages already. Yashiki holds out the second blue vial to him, but Cahara shakes his head.

"Save it. I'm not so bad off yet, I can still move my arm. It hurts but it's not the worst. Fucker cut me good but it didn't go too deep thankfully."

"Are you refusing because you know this stuff won't help?" Mashita narrows his eyes at Cahara distrustfully.

"No, I'm refusing because we might need it more later. How's your arm doing?" Cahara glares back at Mashita.

"It's fine. It's... it's actually fine." Mashita's distrust seems to evaporate as he removes his hand from his broken shoulder and moves his arm around. He winces with each movement but the important part is he can move it. "Guess you weren't lying."

"Tch, of course I wasn't." Cahara grumbles. "Anyway, let's get out of here. I don't want to stand around waiting for another of these guys to show up."

Yashiki nods and grabs the torch from the wall. There's no use in leaving it here. He offers it over to Mashita again for him to lead the way like before. He hesitates but ends up taking it. Together, the three of them leave the room.

They find a locked metal door set into what at first looks like another cell. However, a closer look in the cell shows that it contains stairs going down. Mashita tries to open it with the prison key, but it doesn't fit the lock.

"Damn, guess we're not going this way," Mashita says. They turn and head down the hall to what at first seems like another cell. It turns out to be another area like the one they were in before that leads back out into the chasm of the prison. On the bridge they find what looks like a giant crossbow.

"What is a ballista doing here? It can't be all that useful in a prison." Mashita examines the ballista and sees if it can move. It seems stuck facing forward, pointing across the bridge into the darkness. "I guess if you wanted to stop anyone from coming up this way, it could work."

"Let's not walk in front of it, just to be safe." Cahara suggests.

"It's not even loaded." Mashita points out.

"Just to be safe." Cahara repeats. Mashita huffs and shrugs his shoulders before leading the way across the bridge, pointedly not on the side where the ballista is pointing.

When they get to the other side of the bridge, they find another prison cell. The door on this one is already wide open. Inside the cell they can see the stone floor is stained with blood, fresh enough to still look red but old enough that it's not wet. Mashita steps cautiously into the room, looking around for any traps or creatures that might cause such a mess.

There is a table towards the back of the room and Yashiki spots something moving under it. Bloodied hands with jagged fingernails reach out first, followed by a head of black hair. Yashiki is reminded of the way he met Mashita. Maybe this is an injured person in need of help.

The person pulls themself further from under the table, dragging their body along the ground at a surprisingly quickening pace. The three back up a few steps as it comes towards them. It looks up at them and snarls. Seeing its eyes, Yashiki knows for sure that this is not simply an injured person. It's some sort of ghoul or undead thing.

The ghoul scrabbles along the floor towards them, gnashing its teeth and thrashing out with its claws. It's a frightening sight, but it seems unable to stand up. Mashita doesn't seem too concerned as it gets closer. When in reach, he swings his sword down on the creature's neck and severs its head completely from its body.

The body doesn't stop crawling towards them. Clawed hands grasp at Mashita's pants leg, threatening to tear through the fabric and into his skin. Yashiki steps forward and helps Mashita kick the body off before it can do too much damage. It still tries to grab at them, so Mashita swings his sword down on its arm, severing it at the elbow. He does the same to the other one when it reaches out for him. It writhes on the ground grotesquely before finally falling still. Mashita stomps on it for good measure, to make sure it's really dead.

"What... was that?" Mashita asks in a voice that sounds deceptively calm. Yashiki sees the way the other man's fist clenches tight at his side, the way he holds his body rigid to keep from shaking.

"Are you okay?" Yashiki asks, far more worried about him than about whatever that thing is. Or was.

"I'm fine, it barely scratched me. But what. The fuck." Mashita laughs in disbelief. "I've heard of chickens with their heads cut off running around, but this?"

"Thank the gods it's dead now. It scared the shit out of me, crawling out from under the table like that." Cahara breathes a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I'm surprised Yashiki didn't start throwing money at it." Mashita, seeming to have gotten a hold of himself already, smirks towards his companion.

"That's because that's what I was holding when you startled me!" Yashiki protests, face turning a little red. Mashita laughs.

"I feel like there's a story here..." Cahara says with interest. Mashita stops smiling and clicks his tongue.

"There's no story." He then walks off into the room further. There's an opening in the cell that leads to another room. With Mashita taking the light with him, Yashiki and Cahara follow behind. "What the heck is this about?"

The room is decorated unlike the other cells before. There's an ornate rug on the floor, a table and chair, and a bookshelf in the corner. It's far from cozy, but it feels a little more human for having a rug and some furniture. It's just as filthy as everywhere else has been, though. Mashita finds a tall torchlight and ignites it, lighting up the room better.

"Why don't we take a short break here?" Yashiki suggests. "Just for a minute or two." He adds. As much as he'd like to rest more than that, he feels the urge that they must keep moving forward. Something tells him that staying in one place for too long is a bad idea. That, and he doesn't know how much time he has left to find Saya. If she's not already dead, she might be soon. He doesn't want to be too slow after all it took to get here.

"Just for a minute." Mashita relents. He walks over to the wall and leans against it near the light. Then he pulls out a pipe and stuffs some tobacco in. He uses the torch to light the pipe and takes in a deep breath of smoke, holds it, and then lets it out slowly. Cahara eyes the pipe with interest, but Mashita gives him a stern look that says he has no intention of sharing. With a pout, Cahara moves to sit down on the chair at the desk, groaning as he relaxes into the seat.

"Man, sitting in that cell really killed my ass. Stone floors are unforgiving," he complains with his eyes closed.

Yashiki steps over to the desk to see a book sitting on it. He picks it up and flips through it. There are pages torn out , others too worn down to read properly. There is one entry he can make out, and he decides to read it aloud for the others.

"Captain Rudimer - 30th of April, 1590 -

It was a mistake to take this position in these dungeons. It's next to impossible to keep any kind of order among troops here. There are powers are play here, that we as mere mortals cannot fight against. I've come to accept the madness."

"What's this?" Cahara asks, leaning forward with interest. Mashita also watches Yashiki with curiosity in his gaze.

"It looks like a journal. Captain Rudimer's journal." Yashiki answers before continuing to read.

"A naked prisoner crucified on a sacrificial statue with his guts hanging out? Just another day in the dungeons.

More and more troops are committing suicide every day? More food for those left!

Orders to let some cultists do their wicked rituals here? Anything goes!

All the gore and macabre scenery has become trivial to me.

The High Priest demanded that we give them our prized prisoner, Le'garde of the Midnight Sun. I hesitated at first. After all his worth in propaganda alone cannot be underestimated. But those priests somehow convinced higher ups of their ways. Le'garde was transferred to the lower levels, below the mines. I have no idea what the purpose behind this is, nothing good can come out of it but orders are orders.

I feel bad for the poor man. It's obvious the kingdom of Rondon back-stabbed him, just because he was gaining influence at such a rapid rate. And now his story ends here, defiled in some unholy practices."

"Le'garde..." Cahara speaks up. "That's the man I'm looking for. So he's in the lower levels, then. Dammit, so much for being a quick in and out job."

"What does he mean by 'unholy practices'?" Yashiki wonders.

"You read what other shit he said was going on here. Maybe he got crucified." Mashita answers with a frown. He sounds calm enough but it's clear to Yashiki that the journal entry has him frustrated for some reason.

"I hope not! I only get paid if I bring him out alive." Cahara grumbles.

"He might still be alive. Don't give up hope yet!" Yashiki tries to offer the other a supportive smile. Cahara smiles back but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"If he's not dead, he might be soon. We should get going again. We've rested long enough." Mashita puffs on the last bit of his pipe and shoves it back into his bag. Cahara whines but stands up and gets ready to go again. Yashiki puts the journal in his bag. There's nothing else in it, but he feels like he should hold onto it. Maybe it'll be useful later. Maybe they'll find Captain Rudimer and be able to return it to him.

The three head back out into the jail. None of them feel well rested from that short break, but they all agree with what Mashita said. The people they're looking for are not safe here and the longer it takes them to find them, the more likely they are to be already dead.

They follow the grated floor to another set of stairs leading down. A terrible stench of rotting flesh and blood comes from the narrow staircase, but there is nowhere else to go. Steeling their nerves, they line up single file and head down the stairs. Mashita takes the lead with the torch, Yashiki in the middle, and Cahara following behind.

The stench only gets worse the further down they go. Yashiki pinches his nose and tries to breath as little as possible, but there's only so much he can do against the assault on his senses. When they finally reach the bottom of the stairs, they find out what the horrible smell is coming from.

The entire area they enter into is covered floor to ceiling in gore and blood. Bodies and body parts line the walls and entrails cover the floor. There is nowhere to step that isn't squishy with rotting meat.

Yashiki covers his mouth against a gag. Throwing up here will do him no good. But good gods, if he thought the basement area he came in through was terrible with the pile of bodies, this is an absolute nightmare. He has no idea how many people it would even take to make this much gore. It's a large, tunnel-like area and every inch of it is red.

Mashita turns to look at Yashiki, his eyes tired and expression asking why? Then his eyes widen and his expression turns into one of concern. He's no longer looking at Yashiki, instead behind him. Yashiki turns to look behind himself as well, but instead of Cahara, he sees nothing but the empty staircase.

"What? Where did Cahara go?" Yashiki wonders out loud. Mashita shakes his head in confusion, then pushes past Yashiki to go back up the stairs. They return to the prison but there's no sign of the mercenary anywhere.

"What happened to him? He was right behind me!" Yashiki cries out. He can't believe that he could lose someone so quickly. He's scared for Cahara. The poor guy is injured and now he's missing? What if something grabbed him? Yashiki looks to Mashita to see if he's as worried as himself, but Mashita is staring forward holding his chin with a thoughtful frown.

"Yashiki, check your bag for me." Mashita asks, looking up with anger in his eyes. Yashiki doesn't understand but does as he says.

"Okay, what am I looking for?" He asks.

"Is everything still in there?" Mashita probes. Yashiki gives him a confused glance before rifling through his things to account for everything.

"Yes, everything seems- wait, where's that blue vial? I'm sure I put it in this pocket!" Yashiki frantically searches all the other pockets, but there's no blue vial to be found. Furthermore, he can't find that shiny coin he picked up in the cell earlier either.

"Then it's as I thought..." Mashita sighs, disappointed to be right.

"What is?"

"Yashiki, that man... he's a thief." Mashita says with certainty. "I thought so, but didn't want to say anything. Damnit, I didn't think he'd be so crafty. That bastard..."

"Wait, so, Cahara stole from us and ran off?" Yashiki clarifies.

"Yes, it looks to be the case. Fuck, if only I'd have been paying more attention..."

"Well, as long as he didn't get grabbed by some monster... I hope he'll be alright on his own." Yashiki glances around.

Mashita gives Yashiki a bewildered look and shakes his head slowly.

"Are you an idiot? He stole valuable supplies from you. Why should you care if he's okay?"

"Why? Why shouldn't I? He's a person too. I can't be too mad at him for prioritizing himself. Can you?" Yashiki tilts his head at Mashita. He doesn't know this man, but he feels like Mashita is also the kind of person who prioritizes himself. He should understand Cahara's motives then.

"Yes, I can. Let's see if you're still so forgiving when you're badly wounded and you don't have that blue vial to pick you up off your feet?" Mashita snaps. Yashiki doesn't have a good response to that and just frowns. Mashita sighs and rubs his head. "Whatever, we're not going to waste time trying to find him. Let's just keep going."

The pair silently make their way back down into the blood pit, morale low. Even though Mashita is right, Yashiki still feels worried for Cahara. Being alone in a place like this can't be good. Even if Mashita can be a little frustrating and abrasive, Yashiki is glad to have him here.

Notes:

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment on what you think! I appreciate every single one.

In case anyone is wondering why Yashiki reacts to the guards Like That, it's because I've given Yashiki erotophobia in this. In fear and hunger, every character is given a phobia that causes debuffs against enemies that trigger that phobia. Mashita also has a phobia but it hasn't quite come up yet.