OU - Shards of Crom - Halloween Town

Halloween Town: the epicenter for all things related to its namesake. Ghosts and goblins. Werewolves and vampires. Witches and zombies. Skeletons, lake monsters, the Boogeyman and every other creepy crawly you can think of reside within this spine-chilling world. However, despite its eerie appearance and residents, the town can be quite endearing with their good-humored and peculiar pranks. But…that was before the famed Pumpkin King became corrupted by a shard from the Eye of Crom. Things that were scary enough to frighten small children are now so macabre that even the darkest of monsters will cringe away in fear. Everyone managed to put with it for a while until Jack began bringing humans to Halloween Town to torture with his nightmarish ways. He cackled in unrestrained glee when he watched the light vanish from their eyes as they died from whatever anguish they endured; he really gave a new meaning to the phrase 'scared to death'. Most nights, the town would be filled with pained wails and sobbing gasps resonating from Jack's twisted abode. All effort to stop their skeleton friend was in vain when he diverted his torments on to them after he ran out of humans to 'play' with. Even Sally, his love, could not quell his temper.

When he started talking about spreading his 'fun' to other holiday realms…Jack's reign as the Nightmare King had to end.

This is where our intrepid heroine comes in.

~*~*~

The iron gates of the cemetery groan as Alix pushed them open. She managed to slink through without getting her outfit ruined. Her form for this world had her wearing a very sultry maid's outfit, reminiscent of a former feather-duster from her homeworld, with her body an unhealthy shade of white and covered in strategically-placed stitches; her face had a long stitching across her forehead and from the corners of her lips that ended under her ears. Instead of stockings, she wore spider-web fishnets that were slightly ripped. Gone were her comfy boots, which were replaced with a pair of black incredibly uncomfortable Mary-Jane flats. Her long silver hair was left down and slicked back with a black-laced headband holding back the strands. Even one of her eyes changed from being light blue to a dark gold. And to top off her world form, there were two nut-bolts protruding out from her neck that ached every time she talked or swallowed; plus the skin around the metal pieces itched like crazy.

Alix observed the vast cemetery before her. Rows upon rows of tombstones stretched across the dark lands and up an oddly curled hill with the occasional mausoleum placed between them. Sprigs of wolfs-bane and witch hazel covered the stones in a leafy embrace, covering the names the graves bore. She also noticed that several tombs had pumpkins placed in front of them, terrifying faces carved into the gourds. The musky smell of earth and death wafted up the Nobody's nostrils, making her hold back a gag.

Mon dieu, this is foul.

Her heels made squelching sounds when she walked down the muddy pathway. The full moon was reached its highest point in the night sky, bathing the consecrated grounds in an ethereal glow. Hollow branches of bare trees shook in the chilled wind, casting winding shadows along the paths. The deeper she walked, the more chilled the air got; in fact, the air shimmered for a brief second before disappearing. A rolling fog swept over the cemetery, making it impossible to see one thing in front of the other. Alix looked around for a distinguishing marks or an exit.

"I could have sworn that it was around here. Did I walk right past—Aahh!"

THUD!

Tripping over an upturned root, the Artisans tumbled forward and face-planted in a recently dug grave with an open coffin.

"Ow…that was not fun."

Before she could sit up, the coffin's lid slammed shut with her still inside. Panic rose up inside petite maiden as she rolled on to her back and pounded at the lid, trying to get it open.

"Merde! Open, goddamn it! Open!" she screamed. "Hey! Is there anyone out there?"

With her loud screaming, Alix barely missed the sounds of shoveling and dirt raining down on the lacquered wood. Panic levels increased.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no!"

She kicked and clawed and screamed her lungs out, but with no avail. She tried summoning her glaive or something else, except her fear overtook her senses. Tears welled up in her mismatched eyes as her thoughts drifted back to a memory long buried from time. During her childhood days as a Somebody, Alix had fallen down a ravine and into a hole, becoming trapped. It took until sundown for her father and the other servants to find and rescue her; however, the fear was already imprinted within her mind.

I can't die! Not like this! Not ever!

The coffin's lid felt heavier and slightly bent from the massive amounts of dirt gathered above.

"Let me out! Let me out!" she painfully wheezed from the rapidly decreasing air. "LET. ME. OUT!"

Suddenly, all manners of shoveling stopped with the sound of digging replacing them. The lid began feeling lighter until the point of the shovel hit the wood. Alix softly heard a pair of feet walking along the coffin's length before disappearing completely. With trembling hands, the Nobody slowly pushed up on the lid and found it to be unlatched. Relived, she roughly pushed it away, not caring when it hit the adjacent dirt wall. Alix took shallow deep breaths, quickly rising to her feet and climbing out. Her body gave an eerie shudder, traveling down her spine. The slivery fog had suddenly disappeared from the cemetery.

"My god…can't believe…I was almost…" she gasped, barely forming a complete sentence.

It took her a while to calm down and regain her composure. Alix's brush with death rattled her a lot; nevertheless, she would not let it hinder her mission.

Jack…Jack probably did that. With the fog and the coffin. But…why did he dig me out? Or was it someone else?

The silver-haired Nobody looked around to catch a glimpse of whoever helped her, but she saw no one. Brushing off her clothes and straightening out her headband, Alix made a mad dash to the conveniently-out-in-the-open exit just a few yards away.

The road leading to Halloween Town was paved and cobbled in cracked stones. Wrought iron fences with crooked bars and spikes separate Alix from the dried grassy knolls. As she walked into the town square, surrounded by dilapidated houses with a fountain spewing green water in the center, she found no citizens in sight. No spook or specter around. All was quiet, though, still unbeknownst to her, the air shimmered again.

How odd. I thought that there would be at least one or two monsters wandering about. Is Jack's reign that horrible that they have to abandon their homes?

However, the silence soon vanished when low moans and groans resonated from the alleys beside her. Alix recognized the noises as the zombies, due to her previous experience with them from last year's Halloween debacle. Flexing a hand, she summoned her glaive and got into an attack position. Bumbling shadows first emerge from the haunted alleys until their owners reared their ugly heads. On the contrary, Alix got quite a shock at who the zombies resembled.

"Mon dieu…they're me."

The undead mob took form of the silver-haired Artisan, back when she first began living at the Underground. Most of them were missing limbs, eyes, organs as they hobbled toward a stunned Alix. Blood stained their chapped lips (or mouths since some were missing lips). Eyes and empty sockets zoned in on the girl before them, all movements ceasing. Alix kept her position, ready to attack when necessary but reluctant to harm 'herself'.

Are they waiting for something or for me to make the first move? Jeez, I can't believe I wore something like that… She shook her head. No, no! Now is not the time for a fashion crisis!

When the zombies didn't move for another five minutes, Alix figured that it was probably safe to maneuver around them, but fate had over plans. As the clock affixed to City Hall chimed at midnight, the undead horde snapped out of their stupor, snarls and howls, and lunged at the Nobody, their deformed maws wide to quickly devour her. Alix loudly cursed and swung her glaive at the nearest three, successfully lopping off their heads. Dark blood spurted and bubbled from the severed necks until the bodies collapsed to the pavement, still twitching. Twirling on her heels, the Artisan sliced off any limbs reaching for her. Although, with her concentrated on her front, she forgot about watching her back. Two Zombie-Alixs clasped their rotting fingers around the silver-haired girl's stitched arms. The duo pulled her down, ready to bite into her paled skin with sharp teeth.

"Shit! Let go!"

Two more pawed at her legs, their blunt fingernails digging in. Alix released a guttural scream when she felt four sets of teeth bite into her neck, shoulder, hip, and thigh. The other zombies who weren't attack her were crowded around the rest, groaning and shoving their doppelgangers away in order to get a piece of the Nobody too.

There's no way I'm letting a bunch of deformed copycats eat me!

Finally freeing the arm grasping her weapon, Alix thrust the curved blade forward, hitting one of the zombies near her legs. She watched as the glass easily pierced through its skull, right down the middle. Blood sprayed from the incision, raining down upon its brethren and Alix. With the horde distracted by the red droplets, the silver-haired girl hurriedly dispatched the others. Arms, legs, and heads flew in the air as their hosts perished from a pissed-off Artisan. Once there were a significant amount of body parts littering the town square, a panting and wounded Alix dispelled her weapon for the time being so she could nurse her injuries. She hissed when she touched her still-bleeding neck.

"Merde, they dug in deep. I'm definitely going to hear about this from Vendox and Mary-Danx later," she sighed, remembering the lectures both Superiors gave her on taking better care of herself on missions.

Ripping off several scraps of cloth from the Zombie-Alixs' outfits, the stitched Nobody tightly wrapped them around the deep wounds to prevent her from passing out from blood loss. She took a few more to wipe the blood from her face and clothes.

"I hope I don't turn into a zombie after this…" she distastefully muttered, hobbling toward where Jack's home was located.

The Nightmare King's mansion was located upon the tallest hill, surrounded by brick walls and an iron gate. A crooked tower was the only thing alit in the darkness. It was if as he was expecting her like guiding a moth to a flame. Even with injuries, Alix still proceeded forward. Wooden double doors creaked open as she approached, beckoning the petite girl to enter. Stepping cautiously inside the building, the Nobody glanced around the sparse parlor. A grand spiral staircase took up most of the circular room with a cobweb-riddled chandelier hanging overhead. The front doors slammed behind her, restricting her exit.

Now…where are you?

"WELCOME! WELCOME, LITTLE GUEST!" a distorted cackle echoed in the room.

Alix seethed; she hated being called 'little'. "Jack! Come on out!"

The half-melted candles embedded in the chandelier prongs blazed to life and swirled up from the wicks in the form of bats. The fiery creatures screeched and raced toward the silver-haired girl. Trying not to get singed, Alix swung her glaive at them but they evaded her strikes.

"Pesky vermin!"

Jack's disembodied voice laughed again. "Batting them away won't help you~"

One of bats impacted against her injured leg, burning the cloth bandage and her bloodied skin. Alix bit back a scream and shaped her glaive into a shield to block the others. Once they hit the glass, the fiery creature disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hmm, it would seem that it will take more than that to scare you," Jack continued. "Let's take our game to the next level!"

The floor beneath her feet rumbled and crackled apart, revealing a bottomless hole shrouded in darkness. Alix didn't have time to grab on to anything before she plummeted into the shadows.

~*~*~

When she came to, Alix became aware she was lying down and that thick ropes held down her wrists and ankles, stretching her arms above her head and clasping her legs together. Cold metal is pressed against her exposed back, sending shivers down her spine. She let out a soft groan, her mismatched eyes fluttering open.

What the—

"Wakey wakey!"

The stitched Nobody's dazed expression turned sour as she glared up at the former Pumpkin King. Jack still retained most of his skeletal features and attire but they had been morphed into something resembled a devil. Jagged horns protruded from his skull, zigzagging outward. His normal blunt teeth were shaped into sharp fangs, with a forked tongue hiding behind the pearly rows. His bony fingers resembled talons. Usually empty eye sockets blazed a crimson red and were directed at the bound girl. And there, embedded in his forehead was the sought after shard.

"Welcome to my playroom, little maiden~" he grinned.

The room they occupied was octagonal and equipped with every torture devices ever crafted, like a medieval prison. Racks, chains, whips, iron maiden caskets, assorted knives, even a guillotine rested against the stone walls. Even in the dull light from several torches, the Nobody could see faint bloodstains splattered on the floor.

"What are you planning to do with me?" she spat, struggling against her bindings. Her glaive was tucked behind a large coffin.

Jack sadistically giggled. "A little bit of this and that. Things that would render the most hardened man to a simpering baby."

Alix defiantly glared. "I'm not as weak as you think, Skellington."

"Oh, I believe that. Instead of torturing you, I decided to play doctor! Won't that be fun~?"

Gold and blue eyes widened. Doctor?! He's going to cut me open?

Jack skipped to a wheeled cart and pushed toward the head of the table the Artisan was strapped to. A variety of surgical tools gleamed in the torch light, ready to slice into their next victim.

She continued to struggle. "Is this what you did to your friends?"

The warped skeleton only smirked. "I don't know how you know that, but of course. Sal—Everyone wanted me to stop. I didn't want to. It was too much fun! When they went into hiding, I had no one to play with…until you showed up. I know every face in Halloween Town except yours, little maiden, so I decided to give you a biiiiig welcome!"

The grave and the zombies were welcome gifts? Jeez… "What about the humans you brought here?"

"All dead. I went to get more…however the portal to the real world was locked. I tried breaking it but the damned thing wouldn't budge. Same thing happened with the holiday doors too. How curious, and I really wanted to play with everyone."

So someone already stopped his influence from spreading? Maybe his friends or someone else?

"But what was really curious is how you escaped your grave~" Jack crooned, picking up a long scalpel. "That doesn't matter anymore! Let's begin~"

Alix cursed him out in French, twisting her wrists until they were raw. A harsh slap across her face temporally stilled her actions as Jack readied to cut into her pale skin, starting at her neck. The Artisan gulped, feeling the sharp metal nick the stitches, cutting one away. She couldn't venture a guess at what would happen if they were removed and she didn't want to find out.

"Get off me!"

"Quiet! You're ruining my concentration!"

Before the scalpel could sever another stitch, a glint from above shot down and slashed the ropes holding Alix's wrists together. With her hands free, she quickly relinquished Jack of his scalpel and stabbed it in his bony shoulder. He howled and recoiled back, pawing at the blade. The Nobody sat up and untied her feet, vaulting off the table and dashing to her weapon. Once her glaive was in hand, she blocked an attack from the Nightmare King, who held a scythe formed from skeleton bones. The shard on his forehead darkly glowed, fueling its host strength with evil.

Alix's weapon rattled from the scythe's weight. "Jack, listen. You have to stop this. That shard…it's bad for you. It turned you into a monster."

He cocked his head to the side, bemused. "Me? A monster? I'm already a monster, little maiden~"

Enough with this 'little' crap! Time for a more direct approach. "Okay…more than a monster. Because of that, you driven away your friends…your love…and for what? The power of nightmares? Pathetic. I thought the Pumpkin King was better than that," she smirked. "All I see is a weakling hiding behind a tiny shard."

Jack darkly scowled, definitely pissed off by her comment. "Weakling? The Pumpkin King is NO WEAKLING! I'LL SHOW YOU!"

Throwing his scythe away, Jack ripped the still-implanted scalpel from his shoulder and then stabbed it into the shard. Rays of black light erupted upon impact while the skeleton man screamed in pain as he was purged of its evil power. The shard popped out and fell to the floor with a 'clink' with Jack following after. Dispelling her weapon, Alix grabbed hold of his shoulders and gently laid him down.

Jack's body returned to normal, horns and talons slowly vanishing. The red inside of his sockets shimmered away.

"Ooh…my head," he muttered, regaining his senses. "Wh-What? Where am I?" he then asked, looking around the room before settling on the silver-haired girl. "Who are you?"

Alix humbly smiled. "Just a nobody. Do you remember what happened?"

A sad frown adorned his face. "…Yes. I killed humans, hurt my friends…and Sally…tried to hurt you too, Miss. You came here with a purpose."

"Oui. I was sent to retrieve that shard at any cost, even if it meant destroying you to get it."

"Then take blasted thing! I don't want to anywhere near it!"

"Gladly." The Artisan picked up the shard and safely pocketed it. "Now…let's go find your friends."

As she helped the cured Pumpkin King to his feet, Alix turned her attention back to the table she was formerly bound to. She found a large butcher knife stuck in the metal, surrounded by the cut ropes. A glimmer of a past memory passed through her mind as she stared at the blade.

That sort of looks like—No, it couldn't be hers…right?

Unknown to the Nobody, a tall cloaked figure, with strands of long silver hair spilling out from under the hood, walked away from the mansion, a happy smile plastered on their lips.

With the Nightmare King's reign officially over, so was Alix's third mission.