Of Monsters and Magic

O

ObsidianDragon

Guest
Deep in the heart of a city known as Manta a party to celebrate a most rowdy holiday had started up.
It was Halloween.
It was also the citiy's favorite holiday. Rumors had always spread of magic and monsters and paranormal creatures roaming the outskirts of Manta, but hardly anyone believe them. Still, it was fun to dress up and pretend. Especially if that meant partying in the governor's mansion.
The governor was such a fine man to allow these hooligans of people to trash his home once a year, but what did he care really? He joined them.


Somewhere near a far wall was a man dressed from head to foot in an elegant black outfit with gold trim. His hair was long and silery blond in color, but when the light shifted it took on an eerie blue glow.
It could have been just part of a costume, however. That's what the other guests figured. And they commented on him frequently about it.
He would smile and accept their compliments while watching the party the entire time.
Stepping through the crowd, he decided to make his way to the kitchen for a drink of something. He was quiet thirsty and a little bit hungry. he just hoped all the other guests hadn't eaten everything in sight yet.
 
Nilo didnt like parties. He never had and his coworkers knew it. All the people, the alcohol, the noise... It bothered him. So why, he wondered, did his coworkers think it was a great idea to drag him to this party? He hugged one corner of the room, dressed in an impeccable black suit and red tie. His coworkers were drinking and making a ruckus not too far from him. Every time he tried to get away form them, one would spot his attempted escape and drag him back. He grumbled something incoherent to himself and tried to become one with the wall.
 
On his way to the kitchen, the man with the silver hair spotted this person trying to lose himself in the wallpaper and sidestepped over to him.
"Sir," he said in a voice almost TOO flowing and graceful to be considered human, "Are you not enjoying the party like the others here?"
He took another step towards the man with the same grace he had when speaking and was soon enough right next to the fellow, smiling slightly.
 
He glanced sideways at the man, assessing him for a moment. He turned to the man, finally spotting his escape. "Oh no, the party's great! Absolutely fantastic, exciting," he said with more than a little sarcasm. Then he continued seriously. "If I had it my way, I never would have come within a thousand feet of this place." He sent a smothering look over the room. "I hate parties."
 
The silver haired man chuckled and nodded to him in agreement.
He turned to face the room, grinning, "I do agree. I was off to the kitchen to avoid this mess. Would you care to join me?"
"Oh," he said, entirely forgetting, "My name is Ruda."
 
"I'd love to," he replied, relief flooding his voice.

Not far away, a different pair of guys were loitering next to the snack table. The taller of the two was about six foot plus change. He wore a full-length black velvet cape over an elaborate vampire costume. His long dull black hair was slicked back. He was helping himself to the food on the table. Beside him, a smaller boy who couldnt have been older than 16 tried to get him to take it easy on the food. The boy looked short compared to his companion, but he was actually about average in height, and scrawny. He had a shock of hair that seemed to glow every shade of red, yellow and orange, making his head look like it was on fire.
 
Ruda smiled at him and led him towards the kitchen where he began looking around for food or a drink of some sort.
"Well," he said with a sigh of disappointment, "It appears as though the other guests have eaten this place dry already. I don't trust the food they leave out on the snack tables. Too many grubby hands have touched it.."
He gazed at the gathering of a few others at the snack table and sneered a little at the thought.
"Oh it's not all THAT bad," a voice cut it.
Ruda turned to see himself staring into the eyes of a man a bit taller than he. This man had short, yellow blond hair and two huge, bright white angel wings on his back.
"Name's Bantha," the angel greeted.
"Nice costume," Ruda frowned.
"Thank you.." He looked over at Ruda's companion who had followed him into the kitchen, "A pleasure to meet you both. If you're hungry I promise the snack table isn't a death trap. I've eaten a it so I should know."
 
"If its all the same to you, I'd much rather eat at home. I know my food is safe to eat." He replied.

"Aw, c'mon, dont be that way buddy. Enjoy the party! The food's great." The tall guy with the red-headed friend waltzed in and clapped Nilo on the shoulder.

Nilo spun around, grumbling something about touching him under his breath. He leaned against a counter so he could see everyone in the room. He didnt know any of them, and he didnt trust any of them. That was half the problem of parties, he thought. He didnt know anyone. He never liked being around this many strangers at once, it made him very uncomfortable.
 
Bantha let out a loud chuckle and folded his arms across his chest as he leaned against a wall.
"Man," he breathed, "This is some party. Fun, right?"
Ruda hissed at him and stepped a bit closer to Nilo, trusting him more than the creepy angel winged guy.
"I don't like him," he muttered to Nilo.
 
Nilo was sharing similar feelings as Ruda. Something about the man just... wasnt right, and it bothered him. He didnt even want to be in the same room as him. "Neither do I," Nilo muttered back.

The red-haired boy, Aiden, was standing awkwardly by the door while his companion, Thanos, snooped around the kitchen. "Oi, I know it's empty, you dont have to keep reminding me!" Thanos grumbled to the air beside him. He continued talking as if there were someone there, next to him that he was holding a conversation with.
 
Ruda grumbled then glanced at Nilo, "I'm not sure about you.. but I'm going outside to get away from this mess. You are more than welcome to join me."

In the kitchen, the angel, Bantha, was strolling around and having a pleasant time. He chuckled at this Thanos as he spoke to no one in particular and soon came over, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder, "And just who might you be speaking to?"
He laughed, "Heh heh. No, don't answer that.. but answer me this.. Do you find anything to be... strange about this party and its guests?"
 
Nilo nodded to Ruda, "Certainly, thank you."

Thanos glanced up from his inspection for food. "Oh hello." He straightened after he got a good look at him. Even for him, something was off about this guy and that was coming from someone who deals with the darker aspects of magic. "All parties are strange if you know where to look," he replied carefully. He slipped over to Aiden, pulling the timid boy close to him. "We should get going. Excuse us." Thanos pulled Aiden with him and followed Nilo and Ruda outside.
 
Bantha smiled and nodded, "Of course. Have fun and see you later."

Outside, Ruda began to inspect a statue over a fountain in the center of the manor's courtyard.
The statue was of a lovely mermaid singing to a gathering of fish.
Ruda glared at it. "Why do tales of these creatures always get mislead like this?" he asked to no one in particular. He was aware that Nilo was still nearby, however.
He sighed, "Mermaids do not sing to fish you know." He looked at Nilo and the others, nodding matter-of-factly.
 
Thanos smiled. "Normal people always feel the need to make everything different. If they dont like it, they change until they do."

Nilo looked back and forth between the two. "What are you two talking about? Its just a mermaid."
 
Ruda hissed again, "I simply don't like it. I highly doubt whomever carved this statue has even ever seen a mermaid."
"Maybe because mermaids don't exist?" Bantha asked, stepping out. He chuckled and strolled gracefully across the courtyard towards them.
"What do you want?" Ruda asked, annoyed.
"A friend."
"Then ask them," he said, pointing to Thanos and his apparent friend.
"Alright," Bantha smiled. He waved to Thanos and Aiden, "Hello, sirs."
 
Aiden finally piped up from his spot behind Thanos. "Who says mermaids dont exist?" He demanded, his voice soft and gentle, with an almost soothing quality to it. "They probably just stay in hiding so they dont have to deal with people like you."

Nilo eyed Ruda a bit longer. "What is going on?" He asked Ruda quietly.
 
Bantha chuckled a little, "Interesting. Humans believing mermaids to in fact be real."
Ruda smirked and looked at Nilo, "I believe what is going on is this man here with the wings is trying to coax a reaction or something. I can't imagine why."
He looked back at the building and frowned, "Is it just me or does... something seem a bit too.. quiet back in there?"
"The music stopped," Bantha smirked, "Party must be over."
 
Aiden opened his mouth to reply, but Thanos stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and narrowed his eyes at Bantha. The night seemed a lot emptier to him since all the spirits had disappeared. "Its too early for the party to be over. C'mon Aiden, we need to go see whats going on." Him and Aiden headed back into the house.

Nilo watched them depart. "You're right," he said to Ruda. "Something's not right." He followed the other pair inside.
 
Ruda nodded and followed after his new companion.
Bantha brought up the rear, cocking his head a little in confusion.

Once inside, Ruda hissed and plugged his nose. The guests all seemed to have vanished and to the man there appeared to be a foul smell in the air.
"Blood," he muttered, "I smell blood... Do you smell it?" He looked from one person to the other.
Bantha shrugged and shook his head, "Er, nope. Where'd the guests go I wonder?"
 
Aiden squeaked and covered his nose as well. He didnt like blood or death, or fighting for that matter and the smell horrified him.

Nilo stared at the mess in the main room, speechless. What had done something like this? And where were his coworkers?

Thanos knelt beside a particularly large pool of blood and let his hand hover just above it. His hand took on a very faint black glow, and for a moment, his eyes closed. Then the glow faded and he stood up. "Some of them wont make it through the night. They've lost too much blood." He looked hard at Bantha. "Did you have anything to do with this, because if you did, not even the Spirits can help you."
 
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