Lie Beneath Imaginary Worlds (Wild Arms 3, yaoi/yuri/het implications, R) 0/?
Title: Lie Beneath Imaginary Worlds
Author: Spinny Roses
Fandom: Wild Arms 3
Rating: R
Warnings: Disturbing weirdness, mental torture, yaoi, yuri, het implications
Spoilers: Whole game and "Pleading Groping Hands; Bleeding in the Sand"
Notes: Title and entire story is inspired by Delerium's "Nature's Kingdom."
Disclaimer: Don't own.
Prologue
The dreams have never stopped from that moment. Death, destruction... the complete decimation of the team. Blood stained hands. The knowledge that blood came from the dying teammates.
Every time the mind went into sleep mode, those dreams came. Awake, the memory of the dream was half there, leaving behind a nasty taste. The combination would set a lesser person off the edge, but this just made her skittish, unwilling to converse with the others. Unable to keep from having a brief flash of blood against her hands, pained blue eyes dimming, and wondering which was real.
But in the back of Maya's mind, there was an oily feeling, one of partially buried terror and languid amusement.
---
Earlier
"Come on." Maya turned from her group, watching the horizon. "We're close enough. Onward!"
"Milady, if I may..."
The blonde didn't turn around. "We can rest when we get to Deadwood. Come on! It's only another hour's walk. And you heard the people at the inn. Virginia's already started over here. We have to get it before her."
"But Sis..."
"We can't get the jewel if we're broke! So buck up and shut up."
Shady opened his mouth.
"Don't even, cat."
This exchange continued for another hour and a half. By the time Maya stumbled past the gates into Deadwood, she was more than ready to shoot her teammates. It was, all in all, a normal day.
That is, until the Schroedingers looked around Deadwood.
"Ugh..." Alfred put a hand to his mouth, turning slightly green. "This is disgusting."
"How... how did we not hear about it?" Maya whispered, stunned. Everyone looked like they had been dead weeks, months. They had heard the rumors about Deadwood a day ago! They had heard that one girl fitting Virginia Maxwell's description was heading out this way! There was no way that a rumor about a town this violently slaughtered would have been lost. No way.
"Milady, perhaps we should..."
"No," Maya said sharply, cutting Todd off. "We came all this way; we're going to look around. There's got to be something, a little gella, maybe some jewelry." She ignored the looks the others gave her and pointed towards the sky. "Forward, Schroedingers!"
Nothing happened.
"Um, Sis..."
"What is it, Alfred?" she asked, voice teeth-rottingly sweet.
"Well, um..." The boy scratched at his head, trying to come up with how to put it without annoying his big sister. "Isn't it kinda rude to do so?" Silence. Alfred fidgeted, knowing that was never good. "I mean, they're dead. Shouldn't we leave them with some respect?"
Maya turned around, but instead of instantly giving her brother a tongue lashing, she frowned. "Normally, I'd agree with you. But we're down to a few hundred gella. Look... we just have to get enough money to put us through until we can find treasure worth enough for Filgaia." She spread her arms wide. "Also, while we look for gella, we can try to figure out what happened here."
Todd pushed his glasses farther up his nose, recognizing his mistress's tone of voice. She was very close to telling them to just do it or suffer the consequences. With a sigh, he turned to a nearby corpse and poked it a little with his sheath.
Shady was already rifling through the pockets of one fallen man. "Don't think we're gonna find anything anyway. They look pretty picked over already." He looked up just in time to see a dark shadow cross Maya's face. "Still lookin'."
Maya took a deep breath, looking around. Not that she would tell anyone, but she did NOT want to touch any of the corpses. She had a strange and irrational fear that they weren't really dead and were just waiting for her to touch them so they could grab her. She wasn't really sure what would happen after that, but she didn't want to do it. Instead, she poked at one with her toe, head tilting. Nope, no money fell out, time to move on. No money, move on. No... wait, was this the sheriff? Poor guy. Bullets to the face and... Maya blinked, leaning in.
The blood was fresh. She reached out without thinking, then hesitated. With a shake of her head, she pulled the glove off the hand and reached back down. Her trembling fingers halted just above the blood. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make her hand go any lower. Something inside her screamed that this was wrong, don't touch. Run away. Far away. Don't touch! Don't touch!
Maya hadn't listened to that voice since she was seven. Her fingers were forced down, dipping into a pool of half-dried blood. Yes, he had been killed only a few hours before. The bullet wounds were almost familiar to her...
"Milady, we should consider lodging," Todd said from behind her. "The sun has gone down."
"Okay, okay," she grumbled, starting to pull her hand away. "Let's just..."
A dry, rotting hand gripped her wrist. The sheriff's eyes opened, brown covered by a thin film of grey, and he smiled up at her. Startled, Maya did the one thing she was ashamed of. She let out a high-pitched yelp and threw herself backwards. As a result, she landed firmly on her rump, but her wrist was free.
"Sis!" Alfred bent down next to her, worried. "What's wrong?"
"That fucking corpse grabbed me!" she screamed, rubbing her hand in the sand. "Ew! It grabbed me and that blood is still fresh and... and... augh!"
Alfred, Todd, and Shady exchanged looks, then blinked back down at Maya. "Um, Sis... it never moved," the boy said nervously. "You just screamed and fell."
"... I did not scream," Maya said stubbornly, looking at the body. "I was a little startled." She stood up, dusting herself off. "Let's go rest," she said, shoving her hand back into her glove.
She could have sworn it had grabbed her...
Author: Spinny Roses
Fandom: Wild Arms 3
Rating: R
Warnings: Disturbing weirdness, mental torture, yaoi, yuri, het implications
Spoilers: Whole game and "Pleading Groping Hands; Bleeding in the Sand"
Notes: Title and entire story is inspired by Delerium's "Nature's Kingdom."
Disclaimer: Don't own.
Prologue
The dreams have never stopped from that moment. Death, destruction... the complete decimation of the team. Blood stained hands. The knowledge that blood came from the dying teammates.
Every time the mind went into sleep mode, those dreams came. Awake, the memory of the dream was half there, leaving behind a nasty taste. The combination would set a lesser person off the edge, but this just made her skittish, unwilling to converse with the others. Unable to keep from having a brief flash of blood against her hands, pained blue eyes dimming, and wondering which was real.
But in the back of Maya's mind, there was an oily feeling, one of partially buried terror and languid amusement.
---
Earlier
"Come on." Maya turned from her group, watching the horizon. "We're close enough. Onward!"
"Milady, if I may..."
The blonde didn't turn around. "We can rest when we get to Deadwood. Come on! It's only another hour's walk. And you heard the people at the inn. Virginia's already started over here. We have to get it before her."
"But Sis..."
"We can't get the jewel if we're broke! So buck up and shut up."
Shady opened his mouth.
"Don't even, cat."
This exchange continued for another hour and a half. By the time Maya stumbled past the gates into Deadwood, she was more than ready to shoot her teammates. It was, all in all, a normal day.
That is, until the Schroedingers looked around Deadwood.
"Ugh..." Alfred put a hand to his mouth, turning slightly green. "This is disgusting."
"How... how did we not hear about it?" Maya whispered, stunned. Everyone looked like they had been dead weeks, months. They had heard the rumors about Deadwood a day ago! They had heard that one girl fitting Virginia Maxwell's description was heading out this way! There was no way that a rumor about a town this violently slaughtered would have been lost. No way.
"Milady, perhaps we should..."
"No," Maya said sharply, cutting Todd off. "We came all this way; we're going to look around. There's got to be something, a little gella, maybe some jewelry." She ignored the looks the others gave her and pointed towards the sky. "Forward, Schroedingers!"
Nothing happened.
"Um, Sis..."
"What is it, Alfred?" she asked, voice teeth-rottingly sweet.
"Well, um..." The boy scratched at his head, trying to come up with how to put it without annoying his big sister. "Isn't it kinda rude to do so?" Silence. Alfred fidgeted, knowing that was never good. "I mean, they're dead. Shouldn't we leave them with some respect?"
Maya turned around, but instead of instantly giving her brother a tongue lashing, she frowned. "Normally, I'd agree with you. But we're down to a few hundred gella. Look... we just have to get enough money to put us through until we can find treasure worth enough for Filgaia." She spread her arms wide. "Also, while we look for gella, we can try to figure out what happened here."
Todd pushed his glasses farther up his nose, recognizing his mistress's tone of voice. She was very close to telling them to just do it or suffer the consequences. With a sigh, he turned to a nearby corpse and poked it a little with his sheath.
Shady was already rifling through the pockets of one fallen man. "Don't think we're gonna find anything anyway. They look pretty picked over already." He looked up just in time to see a dark shadow cross Maya's face. "Still lookin'."
Maya took a deep breath, looking around. Not that she would tell anyone, but she did NOT want to touch any of the corpses. She had a strange and irrational fear that they weren't really dead and were just waiting for her to touch them so they could grab her. She wasn't really sure what would happen after that, but she didn't want to do it. Instead, she poked at one with her toe, head tilting. Nope, no money fell out, time to move on. No money, move on. No... wait, was this the sheriff? Poor guy. Bullets to the face and... Maya blinked, leaning in.
The blood was fresh. She reached out without thinking, then hesitated. With a shake of her head, she pulled the glove off the hand and reached back down. Her trembling fingers halted just above the blood. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make her hand go any lower. Something inside her screamed that this was wrong, don't touch. Run away. Far away. Don't touch! Don't touch!
Maya hadn't listened to that voice since she was seven. Her fingers were forced down, dipping into a pool of half-dried blood. Yes, he had been killed only a few hours before. The bullet wounds were almost familiar to her...
"Milady, we should consider lodging," Todd said from behind her. "The sun has gone down."
"Okay, okay," she grumbled, starting to pull her hand away. "Let's just..."
A dry, rotting hand gripped her wrist. The sheriff's eyes opened, brown covered by a thin film of grey, and he smiled up at her. Startled, Maya did the one thing she was ashamed of. She let out a high-pitched yelp and threw herself backwards. As a result, she landed firmly on her rump, but her wrist was free.
"Sis!" Alfred bent down next to her, worried. "What's wrong?"
"That fucking corpse grabbed me!" she screamed, rubbing her hand in the sand. "Ew! It grabbed me and that blood is still fresh and... and... augh!"
Alfred, Todd, and Shady exchanged looks, then blinked back down at Maya. "Um, Sis... it never moved," the boy said nervously. "You just screamed and fell."
"... I did not scream," Maya said stubbornly, looking at the body. "I was a little startled." She stood up, dusting herself off. "Let's go rest," she said, shoving her hand back into her glove.
She could have sworn it had grabbed her...