The World Slows Down

The world slows down as I open my eyes, a profound sense of loss beating deep within my heart, for some reason my hands and feet are sluggish as I sit upright. I have no idea what it is, but for some reason it's a heavy feeling in my heart, something must have happened.

I quickly slip out of my clothes and hobble into the restroom, which has barely any space for me to take a step forward or backwards. I sit on a stool, hoisting my foot on another stool as I wash myself with water and pig lard. Sure I'll smell like pig lard but, it's better than smelling like shit like the rest of the monkeys here.

I watch myself in the mirror, my orange yellow hair framing my white face, my blue grey eyes staring sharply back at my, and of course, my pointed reddening ears. I almost started playing with myself but I stopped, I can't waste any time, I have to go.

By eight in the morning, I walked into the cantina down stairs, bearing through the pain as I sit down after taking some food. The food is sugar water and some hard bread, barely worthy of being called food, but at least it's sweet and cold. Though my teeth chatter every time the root touches the cold water, or when my teeth bites through hard bread, even though I already dipped it in.

After eating I quickly head out, I walk a few streets until the palace is in my view, wearing a maid's outfit, my ears folded to look a bit more human, but without a doubt this is good enough for me.

I enter through the front entrance and beeline it straight to the side entrance, where I blend in with the others maids, tonight there's going to be a party for King Martin, and this is where the thing I have to get is, at the underground library.

I start walking, and walking and walking, across the marble floors of the west wing, the food is on these warm plates, basically a plate and another plate, then a metal compartment under or in between them is filled with hot water, keeping the food warm while the maids take the trek from the kitchen to the central ball room. Rich people have been attending balls since the beginning of time.

As I enter the large hall, the floor turns to red carpet, and the cool air is certainly refreshing for most of the sweaty workers walking around me as we lay the plates on the tables. Everybody smells like trash.

I look to the front of the hall and see the King seated on the throne, next to him is his wife, and his grandson and heir, Prince Gilbert. After the food is settled, the guests start feasting, like fat pigs, some scarfing the meat like they're sipping soup, drinking the soup like their breathing in air, smelling the aroma through their skin, the chandelier made of thousands of ornate glass shards making their skin shine like chicken breast dipped in oil, or lips glistening in masquerade.

I need to find the back entrance of the hall and exit from there, and so I walk through the entire place, looking for things that look out of place. And in one candleholder placed to the east of all the tables, there I spot it, what looks like a handle that opens some sort of small contraption. Without anyone noticing, I open the thing and the key slips into my hands under the water dispenser for the finger bowls.

Without looking around more I circle the hall the other way around and make my way to the south entrance, slipping past the guards there and walking down the spire of stairs that leads to the basement.

My eyes are heavy with tears as I walk faster and faster, the pain in my aching legs feeling numb as I make my way down, my steps echoing loud through the place, but it's quiet, with all the guards preoccupied with the King, and with this place just being useless scrolls anyway.

As I make it down there it's a messy cellar, a big messy cellar, the corners have cobwebs growing on them, and some old swords are strewn about, cluttering the floors. The scrolls and books are just put on the shelves, without any order in them, this place has been frozen in time.

I make my way to the one large scroll as tall as a person in the middle of the place. I wonder what my ancestor has left for me… My nimble fingers removing the bindings and unfurling the scroll.

I bite my own lip, letting the blood drop to the center of the scribblings, making the entire array glow, a soft blue glow illuminating my surroundings, and the contours of my face, my long shadow being cast behind me…

I drop the bag of mirth, and my shadow disappears, alongside my reflection in the copper mirrors hanging on the walls of the old crypt. As I open my mouth, my fang has bitten deep into my lips, and the blood wouldn't stop flowing alongside my tears, I feel my heart warming up, the cold lifelessness of life is slowly being erased as this moment as I saw an ethereal form exit from the gem summoned from the scroll.

"Ancestor?"

I try to reach my hand towards him, but my hands pass through him like he's an illusion. An illusion!? I'm going to kill myself…

My heart skips a beat as I hear a sound behind me, wind billowing, my hair turns upturned as an explosion of mana erupts behind me, the pores of my skin burning as it takes a drink of the particles snapping towards me.

War, war is a terrible thing, and as an observer of countless conflicts my first instinct is-

"Wall!" A stone wall quickly rises from the ground blocking the spirited blades of wind that harmlessly bounces off the rock formation.

I quickly strap the massive scroll on my back and open my lips as I face the castle wall with shelves of scrolls on it. Without a second thought I blow a line of fire towards the wall, melting a passage through, the intense heat burning through all the records these people have, but it is none of my concern as I jump out the hole. How far has humanity fallen.

Immediately the freezing water nearly gave me shock as it hits my skin, I swim desperately, through the river the clothes on my back gripping my chest tightly as the scroll thankfully made of sheepskin lags behind due to the water current.

Behind me shouting can be heard as the soldiers are probably aiming at me, but I'm sure those pigs would think I'd died on the river than pursue, the Oster river is after all the heart of Panacea.

After a lap and the current helping me I managed to get washed into one of the slower moving Shteros, parts of the river flanked by residential housing, making the water stagnate, and least to say this shit's nasty.

I smell like shit. Nature usually takes my breath away but this time I had to hold my breath. I swim towards whatever I can latch on, there's no stairs that can take me up to street level, and I can see chunks of shit floating close to my face.

I swim to the wall, and with the power of disgust I jab my finger into the gabs between stones, and with no regards to my nails I jab it in until I can get good grip and climb up, even with bloody fingers I need to escape this dump.

The shit makes everything slippery, and I even lose footing, extreme pain jolting me as my nail twists and snaps on the pressure but after fifteen minutes of pushing myself little by little I finally manage to get over the moat and I tumble 3 meters into someone's yard.

Two little dogs approach me, and thankfully they didn't star barking. Probably because my human smell is being masked. I grab the scroll and lug it with me towards the house, with the lights opened.

The grass is stained as I walk, like a marsh monster I approach the back door.

The slide door wouldn't budge so I smashed the lock and pushed it aside. The house is dark but I enter anyway, straight to the bathroom.

But as I kick the door open I see a naked man sitting on the toilet reading the newspaper staring back at me…