Falling Farther

Five

This is the legion of honor, if y'all don't know what it looks like. ^

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I walk down the foggy streets of San Francisco. A helpful map stood near the bus station and I was able to gather the directions I needed. The Legion of Honor was an art museum, and a pretty prestigious one at that, according to the pamphlet I grabbed at the station earlier.

So what could these people want? And why was it so important that I meet them there? These questions run through my mind as I walked up to the white marble steps of the museum. A large fountain stands at the center of the path to the entrance, and I can't help but consider how out of place I look here.

I haven't washed my hair in at least five days and my clothes still have some blood caked on them from my previous attack. So these people probably think I'm a serial killer looking for somewhere to hide the body.

I decide to lean against a pillar near the entrance and wait for someone to show up. I don't see a single person here not wearing at least some form of formal wear, which isn't helping with my image of a bloody, disheveled murderer. 

Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I see a brutish man cracking his knuckles and glancing around uneasily. For some reason that I can't quite place, the strange man puts me on edge, and I scan my surroundings for anyone who looks as out of place as I do. Suddenly, the man I had been watching for a few minutes makes eye contact with me, and I flinch as I see his red eyes gleam with bloodlust. This already seemed like a threatening situation, and it just got ten times worse. I back up into the garden and break into a run, but the man begins to follow me at a pace to match mine, and his head sprouts two long horns that look like devil horns. HIs shorts turn to a loincloth and his legs become furry, and soon I'm looking at a half-man, half-bull beast that definitely shouldn't exist. 

I start wondering what everyone else is seeing right now, or if they're seeing anything at all, because the people around me do not seem perturbed by a massive bull-man plowing across the impeccable green turf. 

My legs start to burn as I see the beast is gaining on me, and I duck behind the side of  the museum so that I don't draw unwanted attention to myself. I pull my sword out of its sheath - I had tucked it into my pants so that no one got suspicious - and the monster lets out a hiss of disapproval. 

I pull the sword in front of my chest defensively, attempting to show the thing that I would fight if it made me. "Listen, if you leave me alone, I swear I'll let you go and I won't hurt you," I say, feeling braver than I am. The beast grunts and takes its huge fist and pulls it across my sword in a futile attempt to swat it away. This leaves me with a thought; If this monster is as dumb as it seems, then this might be almost a fair fight, even though the thing is, oh, about two feet taller than me.

Yeah, I thought wrong, I think to myself as I parry a blow that undoubtedly have  knocked me to the ground. We do this for a good while, parrying each other's blows, until I manage to get in a sword strike on his stomach. The beast gives off an unearthly screech I didn't think possible and fights with renewed fury. It's all I can do to stay on my feet and unscathed, but a tourist's camera snap distracts the monster for a moment. 

A few seconds is all I need to deliver a lethal blow to the neck. The beast lets out a horrible yelp that - if possible - is even louder than the first. Its body crumbles to ashes and all that remains is one of its horns. I stuff this into my backpack and stick my sword back in its sheath. I finally glance up and see two people standing in front of the only exit to the courtyard;  a boy and girl, both looking about my age.

The girl opens her mouth to speak. "So. You're Gregor."