In the darkness, Lucan slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the eerie dim glow of the room. He turned his head; his whole body ached; It felt even worse than when he had fallen from his cell room.
His breathing was shallow and quick, like he was barely breathing; he felt dizzy; something about the room was making him nauseous.
Shaking his head, he took a long, deep breath and muttered: "I'm okay… I'm still okay". He hadn't died or been turned into something strange like what had happened to the watchman, or maybe he had always been like that from the beginning?
He immediately discarded the thought, reeling in his thoughts, which were wandering unnecessarily. He needed to focus, understand what was happening to him. He squinted, having calmed himself somewhat.
The room was familiar, but the room he remembered and this one couldn't possibly be the same; this one seemed much larger, the corners stretched too far out, the ceiling was too high, the distance between the floors was too wide.
His gaze shifted as he caught sight of a massive withered tree with multicolored glowing leaves; below its branches was a small bed where he could see a figure, one he recognized quite well.
A small body with pale skin and crimson hair lay curled up on the bed in a fetal position; with every breath, the massive withered tree branches swayed slightly. He could even faintly hear the sound of the leaves rustling.
The room's walls and floor were littered with neon red vines wrapped around people's bodies like cocoons, leaving only their faces exposed as they lay with their eyes closed and sleeping peacefully, their breathing completely steady.
His breathing grew heavier as he lifted his gaze again at the tree branches, large translucent owl-like creatures with long necks and human-like faces perched on the trees, their backs hunched, fading in and out of sight as they surveyed the room with their hollow eyes.
Lucan gulped as his heart sank and a chill ran down his spine. He was just about to scream when he heard the voice of someone else beat him to it, a clear-cut, guttural scream filled with fear and confusion.
The man's neck snapped in the direction of the sound; Lucan, as well, had quickly turned his head to see just where the sound had come from. Someone had woken up from inside the cocoons.
The man thrashed his head wildly, the thorns from the neon vines digging into his skin "Let me go, PLEASE, I'm begging you… it wasn't my idea, I promise, I swear I'll never touch–". He suddenly groaned as he struggled.
One of the man owls left the tree, becoming larger and more solid the closer it drew to the cocoon, landing on the ground. The creature's body shifted. Its long neck retracted and its body gradually grew more humanoid; it now looked like a man resembling an owl and not the other way around.
It tilted its head from side to side, its hollow eyes inspecting the man before it as its mouth started to open "No, no, get away from me, please. I said I was sorry I… I…." His voice trailed off.
The man's body went limp, his eyes slowly closing as the neon vines crept up, now wrapping his head in their thorny embrace.
Lucan watched the entire thing with wide eyes, 'what the heck, what the fuck, what the hell?'
The man-owl briefly glanced at Lucan before straightening its neck and returning to the tree, returning to its state of observation, simply observing the people in their cocoons. 'Is it ignoring me?' he sighed in relief 'Thank God'
He turned his gaze to Polly, who was lying on the bed peacefully. A blood thought crossed his mind. Was she making an exception for him? It would be nice if that was the case; he adjusted and tugged at his restraints, moving his body slightly. 'Yeah, no chance'
He thought of trying to communicate with her but discarded the idea in favor of common sense; he wasn't trying to push his luck and see just how much fault tolerance this system of hers had. If he was lucky, they would ignore him; if he wasn't, then he would probably be lobotomized.
He remained still for an unknown period of time. Occasionally he would hear sounds, dull thuds and distant booms; however, the room didn't even so much as shake, at least it didn't look like it was shaking.
***
After what felt like an eternity, the sounds had stopped, and he felt his heart race. He couldn't believe he was actually worried about the Caped Crusader, but that was only natural; his survival of this event relied solely on the premise of whether or not he survived that confrontation.
This silence dragged on, only interrupted by a set of clumsy yet heavy footsteps that were gradually approaching the room. The man walked through the door, and Lucan's eyes widened; the man was dragging something, or in this case someone, behind him.
The unconscious Caped Crusader had been wrapped up in his grasp.
Lucan watched in horror as he dumped the caped crusader on the floor like a dead carcass. He stared at the tree for a few seconds before nodding and walking off to a certain vine-wrapped cocoon with no face.
The monstrous watchman stood in front of the red vined cocoon, spreading its arms wide and looking towards the ethereal leaves of the tree. His body slowly started to break down, fusing with the thorns and vine itself.
He had turned into particles.
'What the? What was that just now?' A figure slowly emerged: blonde hair, dressed in a white night dress, entered the room. It was the ghost from the paintings; the blonde specter looked at the Caped Crusader on the floor, her expression unreadable.
She flew towards the tree, ignoring the owl men, and moved directly towards the girl who slept beneath its branches, the blonde specter's hand brushing against the sleeping girl's face, her body gradually breaking into particles and fusing with Polly's body.
As the two merged, she began to change; her hair slowly became blonde like the wraiths'. However, unlike the wraiths' dusty blonde hair, where more like finely carved gems attached to her head, her pale skin emitted a dull glow, and her clothes started to flicker.
'What in the magical girl nonsense is this?'
Her eyes slowly opened; her irises became a spinning rainbow filled with colors that constantly mixed and overlapped. She stretched, the lights growing brighter like they were celebrating her wake.
She let out a breath, all the lights dimming back to their original eerie glow.
Polly looked around lazily, sitting up on her bed; her eyes landed on Lucan, who was still bound by the vines.
She smiled, or at least she tried to,
Her expression looked like it had been painted on, like a very well-drawn caricature of a human being. She wiggled her fingers and then stood up, walking off her bed. Small platforms of golden light formed beneath her feet as she drew closer; every light platform she passed scattered into small golden butterflies that gradually faded into nothingness.
She brought her face inches from his, her multicolored eyes staring into his soul "Polly?" She tilted her head to the side, examining him carefully. Gently extending her hand, she carefully brushed it against the side of his face, but then paused midway.
"Polly?" Lucan asked in confusion, frowning and turned her head to where the dark knight had originally lain; he was missing.
The room's lights gradually grew brighter, banishing all shadows from the enclosed space. The man and owls looked around frantically but couldn't find any trace of him either.
She stared at her bed for almost a whole minute before slowly bringing her palms close together. A small but terrifyingly bright golden light appeared between them. Pressing them closer still, the light gradually condensed into a small golden ball.
It floated at her fingertips as she pressed her palms together, extending them in the direction of the bed. A beam of light was fired out, slicing through the bed and setting it ablaze as the dark knight rolled out from underneath, tossing out his batarangs.
She stood still on a small golden platform appearing in front of her, causing them to bounce off it. The owl men reacted, diving off the illusory tree and straight at the Caped Crusader.
He dodged them, their large bodies colliding with each other and shattering. She let out a frustrated shriek. The tree swayed its luminescent leaves, falling and turning into owl-faced men in black suits with claws
"That might be some trouble", the dark knight exclaimed as they rushed at him.
***
Despite Lucan's expectations, the fight had lasted much longer than he had anticipated; yes,s the room now had several holes in the walls; some of the cocoons had even been knocked outside, but his side had remained largely intact.
If he were to make a bold guess, she was being careful of accidentally including him in her destructive rampage; however, it would seem that restriction was starting to loosen as he continued to anger her.
She waved her hand at the illusory tree, which began to become more vivid, its weight beginning to press down on the building, its roots extending through the building's floors, its immense trunk directly shattering the ceiling.
Lucan wasn't an architect or a structural engineer, but he was very sure the building wouldn't last very long under the weight of that tree.
Its roots wrapped around the building, seemingly the only reason the structure had any reason not to collapse.
One of the tree's roots moved, colliding with the Dark Knight and knocking him out of the building. Polly grinned, thin cracks spreading across her porcelain skin; she gathered the light between her palms, the thin hairline cracks only increasing.
She was using more power now.
If there was a benefit to her switch in combat style, it was that the vines binding him didn't feel as tight. Lucan tugged against the vines; they cracked like cheap China under him as he landed on the floor with a thud, the pain in his leg flaring up.
"Ah fuck, I forgot" he rolled on the ground in pain; whatever the dark knight had sprayed him with was already losing its effects, probably.
After calming down, he looked at the battle below. More cracks had started to appear on Polly's skin as she got visibly slower, no longer launching indiscriminate beams of light and instead summoning more man-owls.
Lucan turned back to the tree; it was getting more solid, looking more like an actual tree, an impossibly massive tree, with glowing leaves but real. The building started to shake under the tree's weight, but he noticed something strange.
Lucan's eyes widened as he grew pale" Uh oh". The tree's leaves had started to fly off, and its roots had started to become thinner. With its trunk beginning to flicker.
***
The snowfall has started, little white flakes of snow dropping from the sky; the ground around the orphanage had been reduced to rubble, dirt mixing in with the snow and fallen trees
The Dark Knight was breathing heavily, having shattered the head of one of the owl men constructs; it retreated back as another two took its place. They had switched tactics, likely a result of their creator's waning ability to make more or repair them before they were shattered.
"Getting tired?" Polly didn't respond; she simply raised her hand a trail of red leaves flew into her hand, turning into a glowing red sphere, a maniacal grin appearing on her face as the sphere grew larger and pulsed with power.
Polly had recalled all her shades; after over thirty minutes of this high-end exertion, she needed to cut her expenses. The large tree made spawning the owl men easier, but it was wasteful, seeing how easily and quickly they were being obliterated, which led her to a rather safe conclusion.
Delete the entire area.
This would ensure he would have no way to dodge or escape, unlike her previous downwards beam of light, and then she would return back to Lucan…she paused, turning her head to look at the building.
It was tilting to one side, and Lucan was already struggling not t to fall over. Panicking, she dismissed the large sphere, but in doing so also dismissed what was left of the tree, causing the entire building to come toppling down.
"Oh SHIT" Lucan's shout reached her ears as she rushed after him, moving her platform as fast as she could and diving into the collapsing structure herself and wrapping her arms around him.
The dark knight rushed in as well, but was much slower than Polly's platform, meeting the already collapsed building.
He began to dig through the rubble, his movements almost frantic, when a beam of light burst out from a certain section of the building as he rushed over. She was dazed, kneeling in front of Lucan's unconscious body with her face buried in her palms.
Sensing his presence she, looked up at the dark knight his shadow looming over her, then at the destruction she had caused and at Lucan who was lying on the ground, bleeding from his head, her eyes gradually growing unfocused "I…I'm sorry I didn't mean to, I—" just as she was about to continue her eyes closed, and she fell to the floor.
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.