Rob
Pew Pew Pew
Through the Eyes of a Porcelain Mask
1210 Words
1210 Words
The world was a painting as white as snow as the blonde chairwoman closed her eyes, letting the inevitable feeling of death wash over her. All she could see, all she could remember was that mask, the white, creepy... yet oddly beautiful mask. Almost porcelain-like, it had made her feel all kinds of weird moments after she had looked at it.
Her vision had blurred right then and there, and now that death was imminent... she could not help but laugh uncontrollably at the beauty of it all. Death was really just the beginning of a new chapter, wasn’t it?
If she looked at it like that it just made so much more sense.
Well, it probably would’ve if she hadn’t been laughing out of sheer paranoia and insanity infused with fear for the monstrosity that lurked on her being. It screeched, it roared, it laughed, it didn’t feel much for letting anything stand in its way.
The cacophony of every single sound other than the hollow’s intertwining with the fear of death brought the young, inexperienced and barely spiritually aware human to a negative ecstasy. Her long, blond hair waved softly in front of her eyes and, though they were closed, she could see every single strand clear as day.
“Live,” a strange, yet oddly soothing voice called out to her from somewhere, anywhere... everywhere. Yet from nowhere at all.
“Live.” It called out to her again, but this time it was clearer. She reached out for it, reached away from the place she felt safe being at. Then came the pain. It was breaking her apart, she was screaming, shouting... then she went quiet again.
Her eyes shot open, and she could just barely make out the sight of that enormous, almost porcelain looking mask disintegrating into nothingness as a bolt of white and pink shot through the air.
“Live and fight another day.”
Out of nowhere, as her eyes began to get used to the world around her again, a young woman with beautiful blue eyes stepped towards her. At first it was just her eyes, but soon she could see more and more of this impressive and somewhat elusive looking young... girl.
Now that she took a better look at her, she was about the same age as her. Which, given the fact that she was twenty-three, didn’t really mean she was old at all. Right? Still, something about this girl, this woman, this... heroine brought her down to a simple feeling of awe.
That was right, she was awestruck. Awestruck, beyond awestruck really. How could someone who was clearly - clearly - younger than her by at least a year or two could’ve handled such a monstrosity by herself. With such ease, with such grace. At least, she thought it was with grace. Anyone who could produce such a beautiful beam of light, such a beam of hope... was obviously going to be some kind of saint, or maybe an angel.
Was she an angel? One that had descended from heaven to protect her? Perhaps she was her guardian angel!
Wait... the green-eyed, half-European thought to herself as her gaze met Rosa’s blue eyes. I’ve never once believed in a ‘god’, so why did I...
“Are you okay?” Rosa asked, her bright, blue eyes giving the young woman a warm feeling inside. It was as if all of her worries left her right then and there, as if none of her worries still existed within this crazy world.
“I... yes.” But, was she really? She had been attacked by... what, exactly? The more she thought about it, the less sense it made. She had been attacked, if you could call it that at this point in time, by something she had only heard about in either folklore or cartoons.
Or manga. Yes, definitely manga.
“Are you sure?” the German asked again, and for the first time since she had looked upon Rosa... Emily saw that what she was wearing made no sense whatsoever for an angel, or a saint... or whathaveyou.
She was wearing an impressive, and actually quite beautiful looking business suit. Was she like... some kind of agent, or something? No, that didn’t seem like it would make any sense whatsoever. Or would it?
She really didn’t know anymore.
“I... yes,” she said once more, but this time it sounded just that little bit more animated. “Who... who are you, and... what just... happened?”
“I don’t think you really want to know now, do you?”
“I... no, I suppose I don’t really.”
“What is your name?” the blonde quincy asked as she placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder.
“...Emily.”
“Emily, huh.” Though her voice sounded like she didn’t much care, her facial expression spoke an entirely different story. “That’s a really nice name.”
She was getting just a little bit weirded out by how... straight-faced this girl was speaking to her, as if she hadn’t been attacked by anything at all. Did that mean she was used to this kind of stuff happening on a regular basis, or did she just not care at all?
It would kind of make sense, since they didn’t really know each other at all - hell, she didn’t even know her name yet. Perhaps she should ask her name in return, since she had given hers first.
“I’d like to think it is, yes.” Her voice sounded rushed, perhaps a bit annoyed. “What is yours?”
“Rosa.” This time it didn’t sound flat at all. It sounded really animated, actually. “I think I can help you with... well, making sure you can at least defend yourself against these attacks, because...
“Trust me,” she continued, her face a deadpan, “once the first attack hits, you’ll start getting them a lot.”
She swallowed softly, her worst fears confirmed. “Then... then what do I need to do?”
Reaching into her pocket, Rosa took out a business card and handed it to Emily. “Contact me next thing tomorrow, and we’ll make an appointment. We can discuss this in more detail then, as I’m sure you’d want to get home as soon as is humanly possible.”
“I...”
“Just... trust me, okay? I know this is difficult and probably weirding you out as hell, but you’ll just have to trust me for now. I’ll explain everything tomorrow, but...”
A surge of incredible power coursed over Emily’s body, and she looked at Rosa.
“You need to go now.”
“I... but...”
“Emily, please.” Her voice carried an incredible weight behind them as a white-pinkish hand-crossbow appeared around her wrist, a beautiful lance-like arrow forming around it. “Just contact me next thing tomorrow, okay?”
With that, Rosa took a step forward and took a defensive stance.
“I... I will,” Emily responded as she began to walk away from the place she was standing at. “And... thanks.”
Smiling faintly Rosa nodded at the young woman and before long Emily had disappeared from her sight.
“Well then,” she spoke authoratively, “let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”
From out of nowhere another hollow appeared, and Rosa took aim.
“I can’t have you pass through here, you vile beast. Not after I’ve finally found another lost one. Not after I’ve finally found her...
“Meine Schwester.”