Hidden Mysteries

Life and Death

AN: Warning for blood, eye injury stuff, and dead things
I know I posted a chapter yesterday, but I cranked this out so fast because I have genuinely been super excited for this one!! It's one of my favorites so far and I hope you all like it!!

The crypt was dark, cold and empty. The torches had long since gone out, small piles of ashes laying on the stone floor. There was absolutely no sound to be heard whatsoever, save for the ambience of the cave.

Suddenly a bright light filled the cave, every nook and cranny of the underground labyrinth becoming swallowed in blinding brightness as the ground began to shake throughout the sleeping town, just hard enough to knock things off shelves and tables, yet not enough to wake anyone who wasn't an extremely light sleeper.

Finally, the light and shaking died down, exploding into a large rift. A tall, slender figure with long, dark hair and horns stepped out, their cloak floating behind them as the rift shut behind them, bringing the room back into darkness.

But they didn't need light.

"Oh, ohoho, old Hatchwood! Does it feel good to be back!" Merripen cackled, the sound of their leather boots echoing through the empty crypt as they walked around. "It's been nearly thirteen years, but finally I managed to break out of that damned barrier. Didn't help that little Mrs. Flame banged me up pretty good..." The entity mumbled the last part under their breath as they reached out a claw-like hand towards the wall, watching their hand phase through. That wasn't all that surprising, at least not to them.

But what surprising was the absence of the pedestal.

"Well well welly well! Looks like someone beat me to the prize already!" Merripen pushed himself off the ground, floating up in the air. "Well, let's see if they made it out all in one piece!" He flew through the walls of the labyrinth, heading towards the exit and to the large cavity in the ground, known to only a certain group of people as the final resting place of a shadow sentry. Merripen floated down to the bottom, landing near the body of the sentry, noticing the shoe jabbed in its eye.

"Looks like they got away after all," Merripen noted, yanking the shoe from its eye, some blood splashing onto their boots as they did so. "Pretty shocking, really, I've seen sentries half this size rip people to pieces like scrap paper! But enough of that, let's see who took that precious, precious journal..."

He tosses the shoe into the air, a bright light surrounding it. Merripen snapped his fingers, the shoe disintegrating into shiny pieces, which scattered around as it formed a picture of the shadow sentry, biting into the leg of a very familiar young girl. The tall entity moved his hands outwards, zooming in closer to the three children.

"Well, I'll be. Like mother, like daughter, hmm?" Merripen chuckled, watching Fan and Balloon pull a shaken-looking Suitcase to her feet, blood dripping from the large bite on her leg. "Looks like that ol' prophecy of theirs has already kicked off with a bang. And they brought a friend too, from the looks of it...what was her name, again...?" They dug their heel on the ground, the image in front of them vanishing and being replaced with a vision of Test Tube, who was fast asleep in her bed, her long, bright green hair spilled out onto her pillow as she drooled on the sleeve of her pajamas. Little blurbs appeared in the air near the teenager's sleeping face, revealing everything to the demigod; her strengths, her greatest fears, even her darkest secrets.

"Ah, that's right! Test Tube. Such a strong, intelligent mind...but with the right pressures..." Merripen slammed their hand through the image, pieces of light flying everywhere before fading away into the darkness. The demigod laughed, a sound that brought chills to everyone that heard its sound. "It's only a matter of time. Especially if they go where I think they will." They stomped their foot on the ground, a glowing circle appearing beneath them.