[Mychtaverse] Prologue: The Fool

A horned beetle crawled over the ledges of his hand as Percy slowly turned it over. The beetle wandered around his palm before crawling towards his wrist. Its spiky legs sent itches and tickles as it ventured down his arm. Percy picked it up once it made its way up his shoulders, putting the beetle back at square one. 

It’s been a couple of days since Percy last descended into The Abyss. The sight of rotten corpses and the horrid stench of it plagued the memories of the passageways he had gone through. He hated thinking about it. Or anything that led him down here in the first place. None of that should matter. What matters now is that he now has a beetle friend he picked up on the way back from his newly started work as a janitor. And this beetle friend will absolutely not laugh at the fact that he was basically a catboy maid. It’s not his fault that a cleaning job was the only one he could find right now!

Percy’s ginger-black striped tail swished along as he dismissed the fact, returning his focus to the beetle who had crawled its way to his elbow. He started to wonder how this beetle even survived without any greenery to support it. It’s probably doomed like the rest of the people down here. He sighs. Percy doesn’t want to think about how he’ll die.

The door creaked open, revealing a head of fluffy white hair that bore a silver circlet and broken black horns. 

“I’m back,” Elnath greeted, shutting the door before placing a sachet of food on a round wooden table. 

“Welcome back,” Percy pushed himself out of the couch, bringing his beetle friend to take a look at the dinner they’ll have for tonight. To no one’s surprise, it was a loaf of stale grey bread. Percy grunted as he rolled his eyes.

“This was the freshest one I could find,” Elnath scolded, “The rest were crawling with bugs! Would you rather eat that?”

“Sheesh, don’t need to get so angry, I’m just reacting like anyone else would.” Before Percy’s hand could flip the bread around, Elnath smacked it away.

“Wash your hands first, idiot.” And so he put his beetle friend away on the table before heading to the bathroom to wash his hands. Elnath followed.

The two then gathered by the table to share their dinner, both staring uneasily before digging in. Percy had to crunch extra hard on the bread, his canine teeth ripping it apart. He tried to endure the bland taste that was rotting on his tongue. Elnath tore off pieces and ate them bit by bit. Percy could see their nose scrunch as they silently ate. Only the beetle seemed to be having fun, as it was crawling around the free space on the table surface.

An unsatisfying dinner later, the two started an idle conversation as they wiped the dusty cabinet with ragged cloths. Something about how Elnath saw this woman with split dyed hair, the left side a coffee brown, the right side a mossy green. Percy joked that they’d let plants grow on people’s heads nowadays. The both went on about a discussion on the wild appearances of those who reside in The Abyss. By the time they finished wiping every surface and corner, the clock on the wall showed half past eleven. Neither of them really wanted to sleep, but they had work to do tomorrow. Hence, they forced themselves onto the singular sheetless queen-sized mattress, cuddling each other to combat against the ice cold air. What felt like an hour of more idle conversations later, Percy fell asleep. 

✻✻✻

He huffed and shakily propped himself up from the dusty, rugged grounds. His vision pulsed in and out of clarity as he sought for his sister, who lay pressed beneath a fallen pillar, a broad stream of scarlet painting her face. An arm was bent and broken, twisted and snapped into a bloating purple. Another arm stretched forward, fingers clawed onto the dirt and twitching. Percy desperately held his tears and horror back, trying to heave the pillar off. He begged for her to stay alive. Enya’s eyes were barely opened, but it was looking into his.

“Percy,” She rasped.

“I’ll save you!” He cried.

“Save yourself.”

“NO! I’M NOT LEAVING YOU HERE TO DIE!”

He pushed and shoved to no avail for his arms were not strong enough for this. He fell to his knees, tears falling as he screamed, voice swallowed by the stampede beyond the circle of flames. 

“You are to evacuate at once!” He heard a voice call. A voice he didn’t wish to hear at all.

“Get away,” He croaked.

“It isn’t safe here,” The voice grew closer. 

Percy heard the sound of armour clinking along the growing footsteps. A knight he’s grown to despise appeared next to him. A knight was once his brother. A knight who aligned himself with those murderers. He crouched down and offered a hand, but all Percy could glare at was the phoenix-like onyx brooch embedded in the centre of his chestplate. The knight’s hand waited, and Percy slapped it away. He could hear the knight sigh reverbing through his helmet. 

Their sister let out the barest of groans. Immediately, their heads snapped to her.

Enya forced a smile, eyes flickering between the two through a mild squint. Her lips parted briefly before she completely blanked out. Her fingers stopped twitching, and she was now pale beyond herself.

The flames crackled, and Percy’s final teardrop fell. He rubbed his dirty gloved hands against his nose, lamenting. 

“Why didn’t you come quicker?” Alcaeus doesn’t know she has a mychta.

“I had to assist other people,” The knight replied.

“And we came last? Your supposed family?” Percy clenched his fists.

“The others have families too, it is my duty to save them.”

“Just say you wanted sis dead and go!” He definitely knew.

Percy threw a punch into the knight’s chestplate, knocking him back as Percy lunged to pin him to the ground. He was about to throw a right quick hook before his hand was caught.
“Stop making this so hard,” The knight urged, “I need to bring you out.”

“Yeah, and bask in glory after you ‘saved someone’ from a ‘witch’!”

“It’s not about glory, it’s your life.”

“My life as what? An uncursed being? A sliver of manpower to the Noblesse? If you cared about life you would’ve arrived early!” He let out a choke in between a sob and laugh. “You would’ve stopped being a knight.”

“Percy, I—”

“SHUT UP!”

With a harsh kick to his sides, Alcaeus loosened his grip, allowing Percy to escape his grasp and land a punch to his head. The helmet absorbed the blow, but Percy could hear him hiss. He felt cold steel lock around his legs as he was flipped over, head hitting the rough ground. Alcaeus was about to knock him out with a punch to the jaw before a flash of green light blinded them both.

A mychta had appeared, floating briefly between the necks of the brothers before sticking itself against Percy’s leather belt. Immediately, heaved Alcaeus off, feeling his head grow fuzzy while his body surged with foreign energy. The reflection of flames on Alcaeus’ helmet had never been this clear. The storm in the background had never been so thunderous. He felt a part of himself creep out from his lower back, like an extra limb, like a tail. He clasped his nose from the iron-like smell of blood that amplified, realising that his fingers grew claws.

Shit. 

He couldn’t tell Alcaeus’ expression from behind the helmet, but all Percy knew was that he’s going to die. 

Percy sprang off the ground, backing himself up slowly as he looked for any means to escape. Flames were already surrounding them, and he didn’t want to turn to roast meat before other knights or Mychta Hunters came to execute him. It’s either waiting for flames to engulf him or Alcaeus to stab a sword through him. There’s no way out. Unless… Unless… He looked up the crushed remains of his house that provided gaps that maybe, his new claws could hang onto. But that would mean leaving his sister behind.

There was a storm of armour clinking and heavy footsteps approaching. Percy froze.

“Sir Viraktvon, is the situation clear?” A throaty voice called.

“Percy, listen to me,” Alcaeus hushed as he rose up, “Run.”

“What?”

“Just run.”

“You’re not gonna kill me?”

“It’s either me, or they will.” He pointed to the direction of the other knights. “Jump up the ruins.”

“Are you insane?” Percy grimaced at the ruins, yet his eyes were tracing his escape route. He was excellent at parkouring thanks to Elnath, so surely he could just… Leave her behind?

“No, you are, for thinking I won’t kill you,” Alcaeus drew his sword. “Run.”

“I’m not leaving without her—”

“Enya’s dead,” Alcaeus’ sword pointed towards him as he stepped forward. “Her ghost will choke you for not running before I slit your throat.”

“Sir Viraktvon?” The voice called again.

Percy bit the inner corner of his lips, feeling the surge of adrenaline sparkling inside him. He turned away, running towards the ruins and jumped. He grabbed onto a bar of wood, suspending himself in midair before throwing himself up higher. Brick by brick, he managed to reach the top, scurrying away the second he landed, escaping to the roofs of other buildings. He didn’t stop running and jumping from land to land until he took note of the streets below him. There was a hidden alleyway where he knew he could hide. 

Feeling the wind gushing through his messy hair and the weight of his scarlet scarf that fluttered behind him like a flag, Percy leapt down to a balcony. The alleyway below was hollow, as expected, so Percy could hide in that abandoned cubic building just half a kilometre away. Then he’d figure out where to go, where to survive, what to do. He’d be scavenging for food and living like a rat until his death. No, he’d be— A shadow sliced by.

Percy jumped back, only to recognise a familiar figure perched on the balcony’s rusty railings, white hair, silver circlet and broken horns peeking through their hood. 

“You’re crazy for escaping through the roofs,” Elnath rebuked.

“You’re crazy for giving me a fucking heart attack,” Percy argued.

They rolled their eyes. “No time, follow me.” 

Elnath zigzagged down the double-storeyed building, while Percy launched off the balcony and plunged into the ground, landing with perfect balance. He should do that again, when he’s not running for his life. 

The two of them rushed to a grey slate wall, entering into a large crack that fit them one at a time. Percy panted heavily as they entered the dark, cramped room. The hiding spot he was looking for.

“Now, where is it,” Elnath scrambled around to look for a lantern.

“There,” Percy pointed to the mouldy couch, leaning against a wall to catch his breath.

“Thanks.” Elnath proceeded to light the lantern and set it in the centre of the room.

The tiny room was now dimly lit, revealing the cobwebs that plagued the corners and dirt that stained the walls. Percy could swear that he could even see the shattered glass bottles under the wooden shelf that the lantern shouldn’t be able to show.

Elnath clasped their hands together and inhaled.

“So, not-so-congrats on getting a mychta.”

“Dude, I had to watch my sister die for this.”

“Yeaaaaah, never a good thing,” Elnath nervously chuckled, “Mychta hunt and all with the knights killing us on spot.” They vaguely gestured before dropping their hands. “Anyways.”

Elnath reached into their cape, producing a letter and presenting it to Percy. On the cover was elegant penmanship written in Raevan, To: The Starfell Fawn. 

“Why a letter now?” He took his arm off the wall and leaned into the letter to get a better view. “And how?” 

“Last messenger job before Imperos blew up again,” Elnath winced and shrugged, “But what’s important is that this is from Mercury.”

“Mercury?”

“Someone very important.”

“I don’t get who and what is important to the Crows sometimes,” Percy paused. “Many times.”

“Well, you got the code down, that’s important. Aaaaanywho.” 

Elnath tore the cover apart, passing the letter itself to Percy as they tore the remnants to shreds. They crumpled and bundled them up and set them to a corner of the room, where Elnath lit a match to burn it down. Percy recalled that this was so no one could track down Elnath’s codename. 

Returning to the letter, Percy read its content.

Dear Fawn, I sincerely hope this reaches you well. Know that this will be a great risk to us if the following content was ever leaked. The following segment was empty.

“Uhh, I don’t get why this Mercury would send us a letter with just two sentences.” 

“Come here,” Elnath gestured, the paper ball still burning.

Percy brushed his thumb against the empty space as he walked over. He swore that he felt something sticky somewhere. 

Elnath received the letter from him and held it slightly above the flames. Perfectly written Raevan bloomed on the page as they moved the letter around. Percy found this outlandish.

“Is this some mychta thing?”

“Nope, just plain lemon juice and science.” Elnath retracted the letter and stepped onto the dying flaming ball to kill its flame. They skimmed across the letter and Percy saw their eyes widen. Without even turning heads, Elnath passed the letter over to him. He read.

Dear Fawn, 

I sincerely hope this reaches you well. Know that this will be a great risk to us if the following content was ever leaked.

Terrorist attacks have been frequenting, blooming left and right. I worry for your outpost and duty as a messenger, and a victim of the Noblesse. Although I myself cannot confirm the next attacks, I can provide a prediction. One by quarter past three in the afternoon tomorrow, Imperos. One by House Souire at eight o’ clock night in three days. It’s closest to what we can string up from the Abyss.

In addition about the Abyss, I believe you have heard from⊙ that if you ever meet any dead ends, you may always choose the narrowest escape again. Although, you must be warned again that once you go in, there’s hardly a way out. If in dire need, search for a blond man with red eyes standing by a broken shoplot at the western outskirts.

May the best be with you, and may you be able to deliver everything safely.

☿

“What’s the Abyss?” He asked.

“An underground city where many mychta users hide. It’s been exploding in population since the Anarchy Era began, but it’s still open to people who need to seek refuge.” 

Percy knitted his brows.

“I believe this message was meant to be for me, in case, you know, things go horribly wrong and suddenly a rifle is in front of my face. But guess it’s not just me, Zero or Seven that really needs to read this, but you too.” They glanced at the green mychta stationed on Percy’s belt. “So…”

“I’ll go.” Percy passed the letter back.

“What?” Elnath gripped onto the edges of the paper.

“I said I’ll go.”

“Mercury said you won’t be able to come back out.”

“I couldn’t care less about my parents but my sister fucking died. Do you think I’d think twice about this?”

“I haven’t talked in-depth about the Abyss yet.” Elnath looked down to focus on Mercury's handwriting. “You don’t know-”

“I know,” Percy snapped. “There’s dangers lying beyond and people are going to kill me,” He stomped closer, “Do you think I haven’t already heard it a million times?” 

“Okay, I get it. I’m sorry.” Elnath backed away. “But you’ll be going alone.”

“You’re not coming?” Percy grumbled, his reddened eyes drilling into Elnath’s lowered head.

“No,” they stuttered, “I need to go look for Zero and Seven, I can’t leave them.”

“Then what’s the point of showing me that letter?! So I could hope that I’d find some shitty hiding spot and live like a rat? Without friends?”

“It was by chance—”

“Excuses!” Percy stormed, kicking down the lantern and extinguishing its flames. “You’re lying to me!”

“Percy,” Elnath affirmed, clenching onto the letter, “I’m not lying. I have never, and will never, set you up so you could suffer. I have a family I care about too. Surely, you’d understand?”

“Yeah, so I don’t fucking matter to you,” Percy cocked his head.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“That’s exactly what you meant.”

“Can you stop being so close-minded for once?!”

“You sound like my brother!”

Their argument was getting louder, and even an abandoned alleyway could have invited knights to roam the place. Elnath looked at Percy with a stony face. He could feel them scream shut up. 

“Your brother’s comrades are much worse.”

“How would you-” Percy’s right ear twitched at the sound of distant footsteps. Suddenly, he was more than willing to stop quarrelling. Panic was kicking in again.

Elnath swiftly folded the letter and stored it in their cape as they walked towards the open crack. Percy followed behind, pressing himself against the half-demon to peer into the distance. Two armoured figures emerged from the fogging distance. They didn’t bare the onyx brooch however, and that calmed him down for the tiniest bit.

“Knights,” He whispered. “A couple.”

“You can see them?” Elnath hushed back.

“Through the fog, yeah.”

“Think they can see us?”

“Hope not?”

“Okay, let’s run then.”

“What?” Percy had barely even caught his breath.

Elnath let out a soft cough, and immediately pulled up their black cloth mask. 

“The fog is gonna kill us before they can.”

The two hastened out, taking advantage of the fog that is yet to chase up to them. They appeared like lumps of clouds that would tumble their way to them. Percy pulled up his scarf and tied it against his face. Elnath then started to dash along the sides of the buildings, Percy followed, forcing his legs to keep up with their pace. Luckily for them, they made it to the turn towards the rundown shoplots, losing sight of the knights.

The air was clear in this new district, but there were a small number of people scattered around. He had no idea what their business was, but Percy’s line of sight jumped from person to person, looking for the one the letter described. Not them, not them, not them either…  

There stood a man with blond hair and red eyes. He was casually leaning against a wall, a trinket fiddled in his left hand. Percy narrowed his eyes at what seemed to be horns on his head. That's the guy? He came to a halt.

The duo approached the man, realising that the wall he leaned on was off what had used to be a religious bookstore. No one really believed in a higher power or devoted themselves to them, unless they meant Aion Izvech, so Percy wondered why they’d even set it up in the first place. 

“Hey!” Percy called, hands sliding into his pockets.

“Hello,” Elnath added.

The blond man tilted his head over to the two, pocketing the trinket he was playing with earlier. "Oh? Hey there~" He beamed a grin at them, standing upright with his hand on his hip. “Need something?”

“You’re that guy Mercury mentioned,” Percy said as he stood between Elnath and the man, arms crossed. He felt them peek through his sides.

“...Yes, we do,” Elnath spoke, “My friend here is in need of a hideout,” They eyed Percy’s tiger ears and tail, “Uhm, conditions, as you see.”

"We need a hideout. You're not gonna risk your ass running around anymore."

"I still have work.”

"Wasn't that letter your last?”

"For today, yeah."

"Then you're done. Stop working."

“Ah, got it,” The man cut them off shortly. “Sadly, no time for lovers' quarrels right now, soooo... You better make your mind up quick."

Percy shot his gaze at the man, his tail starting to swish. “We’re going,” He affirmed, feeling his tail smack something.

“Ouch,” Elnath responded, earning a stifled chuckle from the blond. "Before I say yes, quick question. Crows can still send letters from below, right?"

"Mm? Yeah.” He replied. “Though you can only send a few here and there. Don't really want to get caught and all that." The man flickered his eyes in alarm and Percy noticed his shoulders tensing. Far in the distance were the same two figures that tailed them.

Crossing his arms, the man rushed, “Tch. We really don't have time to spare. Made up your mind yet?”

“...Let’s go,” Elnath decided.

“Aight. Follow along then." The man turned towards the abandoned shop's door, gesturing to them to follow close behind.

Percy nodded, following the blond, arms still crossed. He peeked behind his back to see Elnath avoiding his gaze as they wrapped hands around their arms. A pang of guilt shot him. It’s for the best, Percy convinced himself.

This was the beginning of their descent. The two followed the man into the shop’s backroom into a hidden passageway entrance below a hatch. Ignoring all the bad feelings he got, Percy traced down the ladder and into the dark, led down an eastward path.

“It’s dark,” Percy blurted. 

“Well yeah,” The blond raised a brow. “It's underground and all.”

Elnath scuttered to walls to pick up a torch. Percy noticed how the rare torches were scattered unevenly along their journey. Some segments were incredibly bright, while some barely showed a path. He let out a hum when the messenger returned to his side.

The blond guided them down dozens of twists and turns for what seemed to be ages. The stifling air grew colder the deeper they went. Percy suffered with the pungent stench of the deceased for his scarf could barely do anything against his heightened sense of smell. Elnath was just as discomforted but the man was unbothered. Echoes of droplets accompanied their every step.

“Soooo, what’s your name?” Percy asked.

"Oh yeah, forgot to introduce myself." The blond chuckled. "The name's Lyeon~"

"Ah. Name's Percy. So you're associated with this Mercury person, right?”

"Yeah. You guessed it. Got assigned to pick people up. What about your friend?"

Elnath perked up at the indirect mention of them.

"Penpals, I guess," They sputtered, “Wait, did you mean my name?"

"Pfft. Yeah, I meant your name."

“It’s Elnath,” They paused, “Yeah, Elnath.”

"Elnath and Percy, huh?” Lyeon looked up at the sooty, stone-bricked ceiling. “Got it. Well, nice meeting you. Sorry about the abruptness from earlier. Kinda in a hurry because y'know. Might die.” He shrugged. “Guards here and there.”

“It’s fine.” Elnath deliberately walked faster upon seeing a corpse laid rotten against a wall. It was a huddled pile of bones attached with chunks of black crumpled flesh. Percy shot his gaze onto the back of Lyeon’s head upon noticing the maggots that wriggled through its eye sockets.

“Nice to meet you too.” Elnath replied. “By any chance are you the Sun symbol?”

“That was a Sun symbol?” Percy tilted his head, desperately focusing on the conversation to forget the corpse. “I thought it was a fucking tit.”

Lyeon failed to stifle a chuckle. “Yeah, that’s me. The Sun,” He turned his head to give Percy a wink. “But I chose it because it looks like a tit!”

Percy stared at Lyeon’s neck to make sure it wasn’t bent too much that it’d break. But still, he met Lyeon’s gaze and shared a laugh.

The three managed to withhold an upbeat conversation as they made their way to their target location, passing by decaying stone pillars and scurrying rats. At one point, Percy’s tiger ears were the main topic of conversation. Despite his verbal squabbles, Percy was more than glad to have the attention on something lighthearted. Afterwards, Lyeon mentioned that Elnath and him would be staying over in the middle ring under Mercury’s courtesy. 

 Eventually, the roads ahead grew cleaner as they approached the centre. The air was no less freezing but at least the lack of decay had lessened Percy’s agony. 

“And we’re here,” Lyeon spoke. 

A giant vault door loomed over them, a rectangular doorway and circular lock. Percy watched as Lyeon placed a hand onto an eye-like symbol engraved onto a protruding set of stones down the centre. The eye glowed green as the vault began to rotate, grumbling as it chimed each time the wheels clicked into certain formation, revealing other glowing foreign symbols at the same time. 

“So that’s what they mean ‘you can’t go out’.” Percy stared as the vault ring gleamed after its final rotation. He frowned. “Why lock us in?”

“Safety reasons,” Lyeon said, stepping back as the door parted open as it shook the ground. “It’s more so to lock pesky knights out. Don’t want them murdering our whole city.”

“Good point,” Percy replied as he was greeted by the sight of the Abyss.

The underground city was elevated into three tiers, the highest point being a grand central tower that stood highly above them all. If he wasn’t hallucinating, he could make out a winged figure perched on its peak, but it disappeared within a blink. It was a gothic scenery, with how cold lights were emitted from the city itself. No sunlight was there to provide any sense of time. What hung above them was a pitch black ceiling with no visible end. 

“Melancholic,” Elnath commented.

“Depressing,” Percy replied.

“A sight you’ll get used to,” Lyeon mentioned.

People stared at them blankly as Lyeon led Elnath and Percy down a narrow limestone path, clipped between crowded blocky apartments. Despite the amount of people inhibiting the first ring, the atmosphere was less than lively. The most action Percy saw was people whispering into each other’s ears.
“Keep close until we reach the second ring,” Lyeon warned as he took them up a passageway of stairs. “Way too many places to get lost at.”

✻✻✻

Percy remained tossing and turning in his sleep, discomforted by the thought of decay that spread over the people he loved. Enya cried blood, Andromeda’s ribs were torn open, Elnath's head split in half and even Alcaeus, who defied the pattern of beloved people, had his limbs rotted to black. The shadows of Lyeon, Calisto, Cybele and Achlys loomed over him as well. Percy shrank. What could claws do to corpses who chant “It’s your fault” over and over to him? He curled into himself, begging for the world around him to stop. 

Gradually, the walls of his nightmare turned white.