AN.K;ORE

Frail and uncertain eyelids quivered in the tendril-engulfed chamber. Lyn's futuristic armor, linked to Alfaic, had completely vanished from a distance. Thus, this left Lyn completely bare. But much like Lyn's original characteristics, her body was undefined.

Hanging from the ceiling were puppets of victims. Lyn was one out of many mangled corpses attached to metal hooks, victim to the tendrils that gorged upon them for sustenance. Their bodies were stalactites dripping flesh and blood toward a gaping teethed maw shredding and chewing the falling food. As fresh meat, Lyn had the opportunity to watch as the unknown creature cleaned up the mess of previous captives.

White wriggling tendrils escaped from the walls, wrapping tightly around the corpses whose beating hearts were previously devoured. Lyn watched as the tendrils peeled apart the bodies from the hooks attached to their feet before tossing them into a pool of acid nestled near the unknown creature's central mouth. The bodies melted and decomposed instantaneously. The faceless and heartless victims were never identified.

Lyn, who continuously hung upside down, watched as the white tendrils brought fresh corpses from a large bin of deposited body parts. The tendrils hung them on the metal hooks by the feet before drilling their tendrils into their chest. The bodies churned in blood as the tendrils peeled apart their body's skin first, top to bottom. To expedite the process, more tendrils continuously aimed for the hearts, gorging on them endlessly.

Once their hearts were dug out, they were left to bleed and suffer the torture of being a puppet strung from chaos. But once it was Lyn's turn, the tendrils behaved much differently as they approached her face. Upon the first examination, Lyn believed she would meet the same fate as those before her. Yet instead of drilling through her heart, the tendrils quivered and hesitated to dig in. The slimy tendril wrapped itself around Lyn and transported her near the gaping maw whole.

The teethed maw breathed in and out slowly, exhaling a gust of fumes each time. Lyn gazed down at the maw with a straight face. Her body pulsated slowly. Chilled hands and feet signaled no sign of anxiety. And thus, this reaction ushered in a new fate for her.

Instead of being devoured, more tendrils surrounded her and crashed through a chipped-in wooden double door. The wrapped tendril transported her inside, where she was met with a mysterious blooming altar surrounded by small patches of multi-colored grass, layered weeds, and a white-petaled flower. The tendril set her down on her knees near an open spot where corpses of a similar design to Lyn's body kneeled and prayed toward the flowered altar.

Some of the altar's corpses were forcefully positioned in a manner that resembled them praying toward the altar. Their body's blood was metallic, thick, and resembled a color that differed greatly from scarlet red. Gray, dull, and congealed liquid had dried up from their arms and legs, pulled apart from the frustration of man. Lyn remained silent, turning her attention to the flowered altar where a closed wooden shrine lay in their wake.

And although she was alone, the company of those prayers left her in anticipation.

The squirming white tendrils soon reentered the altar, wrapping themselves around the wooden altar. Two tendrils opened the wooden shrine, revealing a carved symbol of a heart, no doubt chipped by hand and tool. The widened wooden shrine served as a massive backdrop for what would transpire soon after.

A loud and unexpected ding filled the altar with the chime of a bell. A large ivory wind-up key, one might find on an exquisitely wrapped ribbon doll, jutted from the side of the altar as the bell sounded the march. The tendril twisted the wind-up key three times before letting the contraption alone. The tendrils retracted from the altar and shut the wooden double doors, leaving Lyn and the other praying corpses to watch whatever would unfold.

The silhouette of a cloudy and foggy afternoon projected itself from behind Lyn onto the widened backdrop, illustrating an old-century picturesque design that created a setting from a forgotten and aged era. The rattling sound of the unknown device creating the image resembled a vintage movie projector, making slideshows of washed-out brown nature. Lyn was greeted with the setting of a flowery field with the spatial distribution of flora.

Suddenly, from the sides of the wooden altar, holes that were previously drilled in popped open. The quivering white tendrils hid behind a set of purple shawls that acted like curtains. A singular tendril popped from beneath the wooden theater, gripping upon a wooden puppet with the facial features of a hysterical man whose jaw was wide open. Red blood seeped through the carved parts of its gaping mouth, popped-out eyes, and stout nose. The tendril placed it specifically near the highlight of the Victorian-Esque setting; a tall tree stemming from the center of the screen.

The second tendril brought out another wooden puppet, but this time, it was unlike anything Lyn had ever witnessed before. Instead of having a grotesque appearance, the wooden marionette was instead covered in a lime-green traditional dress with ruffled edges from chest to toe. The marionette was well-maintained, cleaned, and drew parallel to an exquisitely dressed female doll. Before she had known it, Lyn drew her attention toward the marionette doll, enthralled by its beauty compared to its disgusting counterpart.

"there once was a man who loved a woman and no matter what he did she would never give her attention to him"

A monotone vocalization of the setting and characters upon the picturesque tree played from behind. The garbled and warped nature of the unknown machine that created this voice was somewhat human, despite having a robotic vibrato.

Lyn's eyebrows drooped as the sensation of pain returned to her system.

She examined her bare body: arms, legs, toes, shoulders, and hands, but she could not find any acid.

"the man would give her gifts and offer his undying love but she never looked toward him"

Lyn witnessed the tendril twisting the female marionette away from the grotesque wooden puppet, and the setting changed from a widened view of the tree to a zoomed-in version of the tree's bark. The tendril imitated the wooden puppet chipping a heart on the tree as it twisted and turned. It traveled through the wooden backdrop to craft what Lyn saw as a version of a heart.

"so he made a gift that no one would ever forget a heart that could love undyingly"

The setting changed once again to the widened field, and another white tendril appeared with a rusty lug nut placed in its center. The female marionette traveled back to the screen, approaching the grotesque puppet. The lug nut dropped on the marionette's slim and well-carved hand, but it had fallen toward the altar where the white flower remained. Lyn examined the lug nut carefully, not reacting to its descent whatsoever.

But the lug nut was one out of hundreds nestled in front of the white flower.

"but no matter what he did he could never obtain her approval or love because he was a monster he was a monster he was a monster he was a monster"

The garbled voice eventually corrupted itself and deepened in tone, repeating the same line. The female marionette then appeared in the center of the stage in front of the tree, and the tendril holding it began to twitch uncontrollably. After a few seconds of examination, the female marionette's head popped off and flung itself across the altar, collapsing on another set of marionette heads splattered in blood.

Lyn turned her head back to the theater, witnessing the grotesque doll slam against the headless marionette like a baby play-fighting with its toys.

"no one would ever love him again but he searched and searched and searched and searched for eternity until until until until"

The word "until" repeated itself until the projector failed to work beyond repair. The vintage projector was turned off. The wind-up key ceased all movement, clicking itself to end the twist. The white tendril carrying the female marionette slammed against the wooden backdrop, pulverizing the perfection of its dress and well-defined craftsmanship. In the end, it was nothing but wooden pieces.

Despite this, the grotesque wooden puppet remained center stage.

Something was wrong. Lyn's pain only grew further and further as she examined her body parts repeatedly. There were no visible wounds. No gashes, no scratches, not a trace of hurt. She searched endlessly for her wound. But she could not find it.

Lyn's eyebrows curved downward. Her lips puckered and quivered, and her cheeks sunk inward. She watched the endless bundles of lug nuts in front of the white flower, followed by the hundred heads of the female marionette all meticulously designed for naught. She then observed the wooden carving of the heart, blinking rapidly. She gazed back at her body and rubbed her arms.

But she could not find it.

The praying victims suddenly rotated themselves left and right from an automated machine underneath their knees. Multiple garbled voice boxes played in succession, cheering and clapping.

"encore encore encore"

Lyn stopped moving. She closed her eyes and reached her gentle hands toward the grotesque wooden puppet that the tendril held carefully. Before she realized it, she followed the exact movements and behavior of the praying victims beside her. Something erupting inside her heart controlled and influenced her movements, but she was completely oblivious to the fact of what it was.

But she offered herself.

The white tendril moved the grotesque puppet at a snail's pace toward Lyn's gentle, tender, and soft hands. Even though the puppet's blood-seeped face and mangled features could curse even the strongest humans of all time, Lyn's emotionless characteristics minded none of it. The more the tendril approached Lyn's open hands, the more it twitched and quivered.

Until at last, the puppet dropped into her hands. Lyn examined it carefully, fixating on its tenacity and bravery rather than its malformed exterior. She extended both of her hands outward when holding the puppet, and then embraced it on her chest.

The wind-up key popped out from the side of the theater, and the machines from underneath the praying victims opened up to reveal a bottomless abyss for them all to plunge in. All except Lyn, who held the puppet with emotionless affection.

The white tendril from the creature remained still as if it was watching all of Lyn's movements. Once it had finished, it slithered toward the theater's backdrop as one final voice played from the primordial voice recording.

"thank thank thank eternity it was an eternity it was you you"

The wooden door behind Lyn blasted open in an explosion of force as multiple tendrils surrounded the theater. They lined themselves up adjacent and parallel near the wooden carving of the heart on the wooden backdrop. They gently pressed against it, entering the individual splinters of the wood and opening it from the inside out.

Lyn glanced up from the grotesque doll and watched as a purple-hued beating heart pulsated speedily. The tendrils then moved away in an orderly fashion, and grandiose opera music began playing from the aged voice box in the back of the theater.

After taking a deep inhale, Lyn stood up and regained control of her senses. The pain was replaced with satisfaction and approval, even a sense from both parties. She slipped her left leg back and positioned her body so that her right flank was facing the backdrop. Another tendril from behind her ascended through the top of the altar with a jet-black contraption concealed within. It released the grip on the object, dropping it on top of Lyn's right palm.

Holding the textured grip of the contraption, Lyn adjusted her fingers to relax them on the trigger. After close examination, she realized it was the assault rifle that Lordran had given her earlier. She pointed it directly at the pulsating purple heart and aimed accurately at its center. Despite Lyn's excruciating tendency to destroy the heart, the tendrils refused to intercede. It had a deferred dream, and it was now time.

Lyn pulled the trigger and fired a single bullet into the center of the heart. Purple blood ruptured and gushed out, and the white tendrils flailed uncontrollably across the altar destroying everything set up. The tendrils slammed against the wooden backdrop, the vintage projector, the metal lug nuts, and the torn-apart pieces of the female marionette.

Countless debris buried the altar, crushing the purple gushing heart in slabs of rock. The melodic and harmonious opera singing ceased altogether, and Lyn widened her eyes as the growling of the teethed maw behind her began crying in agony.

But soon this voice was settled in silence. The tendrils retracted and retreated into the darkness, and the teethed gaping maw hardened and discolored itself. After several seconds passed, the creature's body dissolved and shattered like glass pieces.

Lyn's lips were sealed shut as she played back the agonizing cries of the creature. She closed her eyes for several seconds and curled her eyebrows once more before folding her assault rifle via the lock mechanism.

Her shallow breathing soon returned with composure and satisfaction as she lowered it to her side. The invisible wounds closed up.

And thus, ended an era of naught.

Yet before Lyn left the area, an unsatisfactory burden remained on her shoulders. There was only one way to alleviate it. She kneeled and dropped the rifle to her side. She gripped an unknown object behind her that she had been holding all along ever since she discovered it; the only source of life she could remember that intrigued her deep down.

But with a few modifications, things would be better. Lyn twisted and braided the top of the object with her finger. She tore off the aquatic teal and maroon features of the sea and buried them into the dirt mounds under her feet. She gripped the grotesque wooden puppet and carefully placed it in front of the white flower. She then positioned the unknown object she had modified next to the puppet, clasped her hands to give a final recognized prayer, and left the area with her rifle back in her possession.

The wooden contraption that held the theater together collapsed on top of the debris that crushed the pulsating heart, revealing a glimmering ray of sunshine lighting the white flower and the two objects underneath it. The mermaid doll, which was drastically modified to resemble a version of Lyn, rested and cuddled with the grotesque doll.

A white petal of the flower tore off as the wind from the upper floor swept it aside and onto the lower part of the puppet's eye. It slipped off, and gracefully nestled itself on its chest.