“Curses of divine origin are the cause of many calamities in the world. The fourty years of winter for example, resulted from a cursed wish. Even the plague lands and their monsters resulted from an unholy union that repulsed the divine. Even the many towers that float above the sky was a punishment once. The divine have always spread their gifts and ire in equal measure. They all hold incredible tragedies that would be better left forgotten, and for a time they were expunged from history.

  That is until a few kings sought to harness these tragedies for their own gain.”

  -History of curses volume 1

  Rob

  He and Lodur were currently sneaking through rooms, finding anything of significant value to pilfer. Whatever was happening in the ball was working really well, it’s as if every servant abandoned their post to attend to the guests. There were scarcely any maids roaming around, which made their current tactic go off without a hitch.

  They were currently robbing any notebook, clothing, jewelry, or suspicious boxes to throw out of the window. They had several floating bandits carry sacks upon sacks of loot outside.

  He was smiling with greed from ear to ear.

  “This beats any gambling spree any day, hihihi.” He said gleefully as he stuffed pearls and necklaces in a sack.

  “I don’t know what gambling is, but I have to say Rob, the rush is getting to me. I’ve never felt this excited for something before.”

  They got out of the room after clearing the whole place out, only to move to the next one. They turned a corner before meeting face to face with a maid holding a sharp stick.

  She was just standing there, infront of two maids suspiciously holding a sack.

  In response, Rob and Lodur also froze in place. It was an awkward few seconds. They were wracking their heads for any ideas to escape their current predicament.

  Lodur gave a look to his partner that said ‘Hey Rob, what should we do? She might yell if we make any sudden moves’.

  Rob reciprocated with a look that said ‘We don’t have an option Lodur. I think we need to do the good night procedure on this gal’.

  Lodur’s eyes widened. ‘Not the good night procedure!’ He yelled with his eyes silently.

  Rob responded with a ‘I’m afraid we don’t have a choice bud’ look.

  They nonchalantly walked to the maids direction. Lodur hid his hands and began removing the rat corpse covering his hands. Rob readied a vial of sleeping sleeping poison and some needles. They flanked the maid before she could do anything and pounced on the maid.

  What followed was an intricate dance of Lodur binding the girl with meat and Rob placing poisoned needles in specific areas. It fell into such synchronicity that it could even be called beautiful had it not been done by two guys in maid dresses manifesting dead animals out of nowhere. It ended with a flourish and Lodur using a turtle to bonk the maid in the head.

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  The maid collapsed in a pile of meat and fur, still as stiff as aboard.

  “That was so cool!” Lodur was pumping his fist in joy.

  “Did you see that! I was like woosh and you were like wham! I never thought it work as well as it did.” Rob was positively elated at the scene,

  Amidst their jubilation, the collapsed maid started to seizure. Both of their backs turned as the maid had it’s limbs bent in unnatural angles despite being bound. Her skin was squirming as if carrion was crawling beneath it. Sounds of squelching and tearing flesh could be heard as the eyes of the woman popped like a grape under a boot.

  “Hey Rob do you hear something? It sounds like something wet and flopping.”

  Both of them felt something inhuman behind them. Slowly the two boys turned their heads in unison. What they saw was a frame of skin and bones puppeteered by countless maggots protruding from the maids eye sockets. The dead animals Lodur used to bind the woman started to stir. The dead beings started to come to life in a chaotic cacophony of animalistic sounds. It was a wriggling mass of bodies animated in writhing yellow and pink threads of worms and viscera.

  *BLERGHH*

  Lodur vomited his lunch at the grotesque scene. A mix of fear and disgust was palpable in the air. He wiped his mouth as both of the boys clattered their teeth in fear at the unnatural scene.

  “Lodur.....I think we need to run...”

  “...Right...”

  They sprang away from the maid, running to get as far away from the amalgam of flesh. The creature turned it’s head, and as if spurned by the motion of fleeing prey, the brains attached to it initiated chase. It began pulling at the ground using its many limbs to propel its mass forward. It swung itself, smashing paintings hung on the wall. Scraping off any paint out of the wall and reducing the wood beneath them to mere splinters.

  “Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck!”

  Rob was absolutely having the opposite of a great time he had just moments before. His mind was wracked with plans, all of which wouldn’t be applicable to the monster that was currently chasing them.

  They ran through a corner, passing a group of eerily silent maids.

  “Excuse me, passing through!” Rob said as he hoped they would slow down the chasing creature if only by a few paces.

  What they saw behind them defied all expectations.

  The creature opened a mouth made from a fissure from the flesh of its now liquefied flesh lined with serrated bone shards as teeth and snapped at the group of maids.

  “Holy shit it just ate them Rob! What the fuck is that!” Lodur was sweating buckets. His pits were dripping wet, his knees were weak, his arms were heavy as they were being chased by something that looks like spaghetti.

  Lodur knocked a nearby shelf of tiny figurines transforming a dozen of them into various moose. He pushed paintings, knocked tables, and threw vases into the creature making them into a cavalcade of animals in hopes of plugging the hall with enough bodies to halt the creature. Meters and meters of bone and flesh barred the advance of the creature giving both of them some breathing room.

  Rob dropped on the floor panting, while Lodur leaned on a nearby wall.

  “What..*huff* *huff* *huff* was that?!” Lodur asked as his tongue flapped like a dog.

  “Dunno, probably some noble thing. You never know what to expect what these depraved uppity rich folk are up to.” Rob said.

  Their brief rest was cut short when the creature stopped screaming.

  Suddenly the dead animals that formed the wall started twitching.

  “Eeep! Let’s get outta here Lodur!” Rob and Lodur started running away as they watched the wall twitch, not curious to see what was going to happen next.

  Knives

  “Oh she’s good at this.”

  Knives watched as her enemy left everyone speechless at the scene of the woman who wore perfect makeup. He recognized several luxury products and contouring techniques the lady used and he felt like he met his match. He felt a bit intimidated at seeing someone who could potentially one up him.

  He was currently doing breathing exercises outside the patio roof. It was time for him to finally make his great entrance. He knew he was going to outshine the city lord, though it might be a bit harder since she stunned them with her new look.

  It’s fine knives, you practiced for this. You even made a dance and song number, she’s not going to outshine you.

  He lit a match and launched a firework, the signal for his plans to commence.

  He and his goons smashed through the windows, attracting the attention of the hostess surrounded by nobles and wealthy merchants.

  His goons spread out and smashed colored smokebombs and shone flashing lamps. Number 2 began going crazy on the harp, accompanied by several of his bards just outside of the windows. Number 32, a kid, shook a sheet of metal to simulate the sounds of thunder.

  Knives raised his hands as he was floating in the air via flying ointment and rope. Above, he looked like a man with bat wings and horns.

  “OLIPAS M-M-MAKE SOME NOISE FOR THE FUTURE BANDIT KING, GIVE IT UP FOR KNIVES DAGGERSHADE”

  Flame erupted from from behind him via witch magic. He relished the eyes that rested upon him. He met with the eyes of the lady. She was absolutely flabbergasted at the intruder before her. Knives gave a smug grin as he somersaulted to the ground. He was absolutely elated to be the center of attention.

  “Olipas, your new king has arrived!”