The Creed's Emergence

Chapter Ten: Revenant

"We're back, dinner took a while. I brought something for Anika to eat if she's awake." Moon called out upon entering the dormitory. But he heard no one. All he heard was the wind and the faint sound of chatter from the Obscure dormitory. Nothing else,  He came over to Anika's door and knocked. There wasn't a response either. At least the door wasn't locked, so he carefully opened it.
He saw Thorn sitting upright, his pupils gone. He breathed softly. The Decrepit was fast asleep but hadn't laid down. Anika was still asleep as well. She had her hands clasped around Thorn's larger hand, and she looked quite peaceful. There was no sign of discomfort. Yet as she heard Moon's voice, she slowly woke up. She opened her eyes, letting out a tiny yawn.
"Mmmm... Moon? Back already?" She sat up, letting go of Thorn's hand. She rubbed her eyes, then leaned against Thorn. Thorn still didn't stir, he remained asleep.
"Mhm. Here, eat this. It's not much though." Moon came inside, then handed Anika a plate full of food. It was like the food back at home, yet different at the same time. The food was still warm too. It was a simple venison steak with some greens and brown rice.
"Thank you." Anika began to chow down on the food. It tasted amazing, as it was pure and not full of the chemicals she recalled. Back home, the cows, chickens, and other animals were injected with chemicals so their meat would be perfect. Often, the chemicals caused birth defects or made people deathly ill.
Moon nodded his head, then he looked over at Thorn.
"He's sleeping like a baby. Won't even wake up even if you're awake." He chuckled. But soon his expression changed. He weirdly looked towards the other dorms.
"Hey. Usually, Bramble would be wide awake and being loud. What's got him so quiet?"
"Not sure, I was asleep.."
"I'll ask Splinter... He should know." Moon headed off towards Splinter's room, knocking on the door, then heading inside.

Splinter was at his desk, writing. He looked up as Moon came in.
"Hm? Need something?"
"It's about Bramble, is he feeling alright? It's strange seeing that he's not messing around." Moon sat down on the edge of the bed, kicking his legs.
"Oh him? He just decided to sleep earlier, nothing else. We were just here the whole time and he got bored." Splinter set down his quill. He turned the chair around to face Moon.
"I see. Well, I'll check up on him just in case. I'm just a little worried." Moon stood back up again.
"He's fine, don't worry. I'm sure he'll be back to normal tomorrow."
However, Moon didn't listen. He had already left the room and was at Bramble's door. Splinter silently got up and snuck to the door. He watched Moon carefully but made sure that he wouldn't be seen.

Moon opened the door, only to see the Decrepit asleep. But he noticed something different about him. Something that was far too different to ignore; Bramble's body was flickering with red lightning.
"What the hell happened?" Moon quickly turned to Splinter. However, his demeanor rapidly changed. He spoke in a loud voice.
"Decrepit, come here immediately."
Thorn woke up and bolted over to Moon, Splinter only walked over.
"What the hell did you two do while we were gone. I want an honest answer." Moon's voice was harsh. He gave the two a cold look.
"Okay fine. We wanted to figure out why Wither was chained up, then we went to Justitiam and asked about it and our powers. But Bramble lost his mind and he dueled her, only to go completely nuts on her! He was... Different.." Splinter explained, now getting a little frustrated. He could recall the entire fight. Bramble was surely much different. It was only a dream though, there could be no way Bramble was so badly affected.
"Why didn't you tell me before?!" Moon clutched his head, groaning.
"Now he's... I don't know..." He added. As he looked back at the two Decrepit, he noticed that they had begun backing away. Moon raised a brow but assumed that the two were only giving up and going to ask for forgiveness. But their eyes weren't on him. They were looking behind him. Moon slowly turned around but tensed up. Bramble stood there, his eyes full of sheer insanity. He twitched as a black aura began to surround him.
"Surjemis.." The Decrepit hissed in a demonic voice.
"Surjemis..."
"Surjemis!" He had a sword in his hand and swung at Moon. The man barely had time to react. He slid back but was sliced in the chest. It wasn't a deep wound but it cut through most of his robes and flesh.
"Get the hell out of here! I'll handle him!" Moon screamed. Thorn grabbed Anika while she was still eating and made a dash for the exit. Splinter ran as well, along with Crow, who had fallen behind.