Garden Of The Abyss

Fields of cold white, stretching as far as the eye could see, it was the scenery he found himself staring at for the past seventeen years of his life.

As always, a shade of red overtook his nose as a breath of frost left his lips while staring out at the distant mountains, frosted over with the same white as everywhere else.

It's always felt like these mountains have kept us walled in here. As if constantly reminding us "This is where you'll spend your entire life".

"Sirius! Off day-dreaming again?"

Running past him and looking back was the girl he was with, trudging through the thick layers of snow that inhabited the trail.

"...I guess so."

Returning her frivolity with a small smile of his own, he began to move forward once more after shuffling the firewood on his back into place, moving one foot after another.

Everything I do is for them. If I tell them that, I can forget the pain of my dreams. If I say it's for my siblings, I won't hate this snow so much. I won't hate how suffocated I am in this remote environment. They can inherit my dreams bigger than myself, they can do it. I'll entrust it all to them

If it's for them, I'll be their strong, reliable big brother.

"Strong...Too strong...He lied...To me…"

Knocked back by an abrasive, quick bolt of lightning, Sloth's enormous body was sent tumbling through the trees outlining the barren field.

"What's that? Crying already?--I haven't even gotten serious yet!"

I know I'm unbearable sometimes. But, this is just me being the best me I can. I've always believed with all of my heart--if you want to be strong, you have to act like it. Be the strongest, say you're the strongest, yell it out until your throat is torn and bleeding, until the ears of all those around ache, he thought.

With a harsh plant of his boot into the abdomen of the compromised monster bearing the title of sin, Sirius held a smile fueled by the thrill of battle. Sloth attempted to retaliate with a thrust of its long tail, hitting nothing but air as the man moved at a speed incomprehensible to it.

"I...wasn't told...you'd be...this strong!..."

"Oh? Sounds like I've been underestimated."

Appearing directly in front of the beast's face, Sirius planted his open palm against its massive canvas, harshly pushing it back down against the soil with a thunderous impact.

It's not...just magic...his raw strength...is too great, thought Sloth.

Wreathing about in the soil as it, Sloth brought its large, unnatural body back up as it searched for its opponent. All across its gaze, Sirius vanished and reappeared in various spots; one moment, he was standing atop a tree branch, the next, he stood on a stone--then, he was directly in front of him.

"Boo."

Unleashing a strike of pure magical energy in such close proximity, the resulting explosion split Sloth's head apart.

"Augh...Rragh…"

The sight was too unsettling for Sirius to part his eyes; despite the creature having its head peeled and stretching in every direction, flesh, and skin dangling like peeled wallpaper, its flesh continued to wrivel, stitching his head back together slowly as it continued to groan out.

"You're disgusting. You fit right into this damned world, don't you?"

"Grahh...Pay...You'll...pay!.."

With its head reformed within moments of being nearly obliterated, Sloth parted its mouth, salivating as its anger rose tangibly as its pale-white skin blistered, veins stretching across its entirety.

"And who's going to collect that payment? You?"

Sirius was already behind Sloth before the beast could realize he even disappeared, sending directly into its thick, bulging spine a terrorizing shock that compromised its movements.

"Come on. I haven't even really used any spells yet. Don't tell me this is the power of one of the Beasts of Sin? How disappointing."

I should probably hurry up and finish it off. I'm not so worried about Lucas anymore if this thing isn't after him, but still...I need to be quick and stop playing, he thought.

"Disappointing?...Oh...Ah…"

A strange sensation arose from the creature's body, instructing Sirius' instincts to jump back as he witnessed a change overcoming the unsightly beast. It spread its arms out like an eagle, vibrating as its skin moved unnaturally as if something beneath was bubbling up.

"I...I was told I wouldn't have to do much….I've been saving it...for years…"

Pained groans left its maw, echoing as its voice distorted further, scraping at its own flesh and peeling it away as fountains of a black, thick substance oozed out like a fountain. Soon, it became covered in this dark substance, crawling over its torn apart flesh as if it were sentient.

What the hell is going on? He thought.

The sight itself was straight out of a nightmare, more of the mysterious, dark substance being exiled from its bowels as it poured from its maw, sitting in a constantly forming puddle of the black bile.

"...If you think I'm going to sit around and let you power up, then you're mistaken!"

Bringing his hand over his shoulder, Sirius prepared to unleash a lethal snap of his fingers towards the beast--only stopping as Sloth fell to a statue-like halt of his movements. Its skin began to crack, splitting up before a gray, rocky tinge came over its entire body.

"...Just what am I looking at?"

Before he could do anything further, the statue-turned beast began to peel its new skin once more, the black liquid seeping through the cracks forming before the stone fell from its body. As the shed stone-hide fell to the ground below, it crumbled to ash.

The reveal of its metamorphosed body came into view, its once completely white skin now took on a shade of complete black, the outline of its sturdy bones pressing against its skin was softly illuminated by a crimson hue.

"Ah...Much better…"

The claws it previously held were gone, foregoing the beast-like hands, replaced by humanoid fists that seemed to possess extra joints, holding the same crimson glow on each exposed, spiral joint. Any residual fog was quickly sucked back through its pore, inhaling it like a long-winded breath, filling its lungs as it puffed its chest out.

"Sirius...Sirius...It's been a long time…"

"Huh?"

As the newly transformed Sloth turned to face the human, its unsettling face looked at him with a grin full of blackened teeth, crimson circles presenting the spots where its eyes should belong.

"Since...I've had...fun…Stimulate me...More..."

Without hesitation, Sloth was stuck with a ferocious comet of lightning directly to its dome. Planting the underside of his boot against its grossly squishy face, he packed his kick with a further surge of lightning, knocking the creature back a few meters.

However, it remained standing on its tail, its neck reared back from the force of the kick as steam and residual electricity flowed from the spot of impact.

"Ah...Not...bad…"

The moment he saw its smile turn to face him once more, the creature somehow was right in front of him with its enormous fist closing in towards his expression.

It's fast now!...Really fast! He thought.

Caught off-guard by the sudden increase in speed, the strike glanced by his head as he evaded it with his lightning-quick swiftness. It didn't stop with just the one thrust of its fast; slithering towards him as it towered above him with its jarring height, it continued with an array of strikes, hammering down against the soil as each hit sent a tremor through the forest.

Not just speed!--It's aggressive now. Is this really "Sloth"?! What happened to that uncaring attitude? He thought.

Vaulting over its arm with the length and width of a tree, he smoothly slid over it before countering with a swift kick to the beast's jaw, spinning around before launching onto his feet.

Brushing off the hit by shaking its head like a drenched dog, Sloth quickly resumed its storm of blows.

Intercepting the flurry of attacks from the newly awakened beast, Sirius sent out a group of flexible lightning bolts, extending from web space between his fingers. As the dynamic fits of purple lightning reached the form of the enormous creature, they wrapped around it tightly, squeezing its massive arms to its sides, completely compromising its movements.

"...I'm sure you won't mind being still for a minute, would you?!"

Sucking in air between his teeth, Sirius leaped into the air, dragging with him the rope of lightning that held the creature in temporary captivity, looping it over his head with strength that seemed to capture the surprise of Sloth. Each movement Sloth attempted to make to escape its bindings was met with a violent shock, surging throughout its entire body as its movements were sent haywire by the electric stimuli.

"Nice try, but these bindings are made for muscle-bound bastards like you!"

Like a meteor crashing down into the world, Sirius plummeted the black-hidded creature against the forest ground harshly, unleashing a geyser of dirt and dust. Wiping the sweat from his chin, Sirius witnessed the expected outcome of the assault.

"Augh...Pesky...chains…"

Sloth brought itself back up from within the cloud of dust, seeming to now ignore the retaliatory shock from its bindings.

It's not working anymore?--Is it adapting to it? Sirius thought.