Old

Kryta sat Salem down on what she deemed was the sign from some gift shop they had visited prior. As soon as she did that, she collapsed right beside her. She blinked once, twice, and one more time before she ultimately decided to close her eyes to nap for a bit as she regained her strength.

Salem, still very much awake, glanced over at her before changing her focus towards her leg. The once white piece of cloth was now a dark, crimson, red. Salem sighed and slouched back, she lost quite a lot of blood but hey, at least it seems to be coming to a halt-

No sooner than when she finished that thought, Salem retched and fell forward. She began feeling lightheaded and ill.

"Kryta?" Salem whispered, "Kryta" she said a bit louder, no response.

It made sense, Kryta was hit on the head, hard enough to knock her but not enough to kill her like the others….. It was possible there were other survivors beside them two, however that belief is very unlikely as Salem was conscious for the entire thing and not once did she hear anyone cry or stir. There were the elderly looking for novels, young adults studying for their future, children reading fairy tales. Salem winced and pushed the thought away, she just couldn't bear with the thought, it was enough to make her sick, sicker than she was already.

She shook her head in an attempt to clear her head as she turned her attention back to Kryta, she moved closer and reached out to hold the girl's hand. It was warm, much warmer compared to her. Salem got herself comfortable and laid down next to Kryta as she held her hand tighter.

Salem closed her eyes as she let herself fall for the charms of sleep and she dreamt of one very old story.

"In a world without Hue….." the young juvenile began,

"Is a world of Old!" the children sat around in the dark cold room,

"A very Old world is a world of Dust '' they listened very intently to the girl's tale she had to share.

"And so there was once a city, a city of gold, a city foreigners called 'Ea', Ea was quite rich in food and gold, living in time peace, the people of Ea lived in luxury. Those outside the city saw their magnificence and desperately wanted to enter, enter a place safe from harm. They were scared, desperate, and they said they were willing to do anything for the people of Ea as long as they had a place to call home. The people of Ea thought and thought and then with a kind smile, a smile full of a gentle warmth, they welcomed the people in.

The outsiders grateful for their hospitality had shared their boundless knowledge and talents. For years on end, Ea began to prosper, growing bigger and bigger, their rivers of gold expanding to the ends of time, more and more people joining the city of gold. Before long, the city of Ea was no more, instead of the city, there stood the world, the world the people called Ea. Their reign of glory however wouldn't last for much longer. As the people grew in population and power they forgot their ways of the past, they forgot the kindness the people of Ea showed them and so, they took and took from the nation.

For centuries they took, and for centuries they gave nothing in return. The skies and oceans of Ea finally had enough and with all their anger and wrath they created a monster, one very hungry monster. What they didn't anticipate was how hungry the beast was, and with that, the monster ate the sky and seas! The panicked people left on land ventured further in and into the deepest of grounds. It was too cold above and far too dry out. Underground with their technology, it was just right.

Eventually the monster gave away and fell into a deep slumber. The people slowly emerged from the ground. All that was around was a world of dust. Everything was dead, the soil was unfertile, ash polluted the skies, no sun insight, and very little water to spare. They were left with nothing, but humans were always such determined lil things in the face of such adversary, and from that they began rebuilding. The large population they grew into now dwindled to less thousands. They learned from their mistakes of the past, albet to late. The monster no sooner than later roared alive feeling the weight of their steps rising towards the surface, far but a monster of that size will cover it in no time.

And once again, for years they ran, and for they repented, nothing ever stopped the hunger of the beast. Then all of sudden something changed, something so small changed every little thing in existence. A savior of the people came to reality, a leader with hair of aqua and eyes the color of rubies. She had the pride of a lion, the strength of will, and a look that can kill. She gave the people a hope so strong, they strived to defeat the monster, no more will they cower and run in fear.

One thing she never mentioned to those who gave their all to her was that no matter what they did they never ever succeeded in the beast all because they were missing one essential thing, one she wasn't going to give up so easily.

And that's the end of it!" the girl finished.

The children around her groaned and whined as they asked her, "Why don't finish! You never do! It's always the same story but you just never finish!!!"

She grinned and laughed, "I don't know the ending, but wanna know who does?", the children listened intently, "SALEM!"

"SALEM!" Kryta whispered, mimicking a yell.

Salem jumped up, hurting her leg in the process, "What is it?"

"Shhh! Whisper"

Salem took her time to process her surroundings, for one, her leg seemingly stopped bleeding at first glance, two, it seems to be late in the evening, and three, Kryta was facing away from her and was crouching in front of some broken concrete and stared at something in the distance. Just woken up, she felt groggy and her eyesight was clouded.

If Salem had the energy, she would rolleyes, "What is it?" she whispered.

"I…." Kryta looked back at Salem with a look of distress, "I think it would be better if you looked yourself…"

Salem pulled herself over and peered over the rubble and that's when she saw what Kryta was so wary about.

Something big, something odd, something very old.

A monster from fairytales.