"Lyco… honey. I am sorry, but…" Poduria's words trailed off as the sound of a thud echoed through the ruined hallways they traversed. Lyco, walking ahead, his head filled with complex emotions, was contemplating the decision he had made earlier. His reverie broke when he heard Poduria collapse behind him.
"Poduria… love, are you alright?" Lyco turned quickly and rushed toward her, his heart filled with dread. Turning Poduria's shivering form over, he saw her bones beginning to protrude through her slowly fading plumpness. He rested her head in his lap, his gaze trembling as he fought back tears of sadness and helplessness at his wife's slowly deteriorating condition.
The dimly lit hallway amplified the darkness, sinking into Poduria's eyes. With dried lips, she replied in ragged gasps, vibrations and faint grumbling accentuating her words.
"…I… I am sorry, honey, for troubling you like this. But this pain, this hunger, is becoming unbearable for me."
"Don't apologize, my love." Lyco closed his glistening eyes, embracing Poduria's sweat-drenched temple. His voice, filled with pain, carried the weight of his efforts to instill hope in both his wife and himself.
"Don't… please, I understand. I am hungry as well. Just wait a bit more. I am sure we will find some food. Just wait a bit longer." His words, though strained, were laced with a desperate determination to keep her spirits up.
"Su... sure, my love." A weak smile appeared on Poduria's dried-up face as she replied. Raising her brows in an attempt to lessen her husband's worries with a jest, she continued, "I guess raiding was not for me after all, huh? I... I don't know how you all are... so..."
"Try not to talk, Poduria. Save your energy. C'mon, hop on my back." Lyco offered, shushing her trailing words. He helped her sit up before offering his back to her.
"A... are you sure? I might be too h—"
"Come on, Poduria. You know I can handle you, anytime. I love you, my love." Lyco's loving words and uplifting humble smile cut through her concern, eliciting a genuine smile in return. Poduria moved ahead and carefully climbed onto Lyco's back. Holding a tinge of strain in his voice, Lyco slowly rose to his feet, making balance after almost stumbling down. He looked back at Poduria with a humble gaze once more before she nestled onto his back.
As Lyco began moving forward, his feet echoed in the empty hallways, the broken mirrors reflecting their obscured reflections. The air began to lighten up a bit as Lyco's eyes scanned the surroundings for any hint of something edible. Poduria's eyes, however, stayed fixed on her husband, gazing at him with loving contemplation, though a pang of sadness was evident in her eyes.
"Love…" Poduria's straining voice echoed through the silent search, calling Lyco's attention. He continued walking, carrying his wife, and turned his head with a smile. "Yes, honey?"
Poduria's eyes moved ahead, her voice tinged with the melancholy of nostalgia. "Do you remember when we first met?"
Lyco's eyes never left their goal, relentlessly searching, while he tried to reply, his tone attempting not to convey his desperation. "Y-yeah, I sure do. You… you were so…"
"Timid?" Poduria interrupted, helping her husband find the words. This made Lyco pause in his search as he began replying with his heart this time. "Yeah… If I had known you before, I would have said you were eluding me."
"Well, that's how girls ask for help." Poduria replied, resting her head on Lyco's back.
"That's true. But you know, I was glad you did that. It was one of the things that made me fall in love with you." Lyco replied, keeping his gaze down, a humble smile gracing his previously troubled face.
Sensing her husband's lifting spirits, though pain still twisted within her guts, Poduria struggled through it, holding a smile. She tightened her shivering body and continued, "For me, it was the sudden shift in your behavior. You know, how you first held a stern expression, walking down the road, looking around at shops, and when we stumbled into each other, our eyes met. You looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth, like you'd seen a ghost. Tell me, was I looking so bad?"
"No!!" Lyco raised his gaze, retorting playfully to Poduria's teasing. Trying to explain his reaction in words, he continued, "It was just… before meeting you, I never thought I would ever fall in love. And the feelings, the emotions that awoke after seeing your beautiful brown eyes, your filling figure, it was all mystical."
Hearing Lyco's words, a streak of blush appeared on Poduria's paling face. Instantly becoming speechless from Lyco's praise, she exclaimed in a hoarse tone, "You mean I'm fat?!"
"No, no, no!" Lyco suddenly stopped, his heart racing at Poduria's tease. He tried to turn his head, his hasty words attempting to clarify his earlier ones to his pouting wife. "That's not what I meant! All I was saying is that you have a very plump… I mean, very… thick… no, that's not it. What I mean to say is—"
Poduria's pouting transformed into a filling laugh, her deep inhales punctuating every other word as she calmed him down. "Lyco… I… calm down, honey. I was just pulling your leg."
Her laugh, though initially confusing to Lyco, gave him a sense of relief. However, her confession elicited a streak of blush and contorting features as he tried to retort, his expression a mix of embarrassment and amusement.
"You… little… p—cough—aaahhhehhh—"
Lyco had just begun to lower Poduria to playfully punish her teasing, but a sudden cough and groan of pain pulled him back into urgency. Adjusting Poduria on his back, he resumed his pace with desperation in his eyes, trying to console her, "It's okay, honey, don't strain yourself… I… I…" His words trailed off, laced with helplessness. Quickening his pace, his eyes scanned every corner of their surroundings. All he could see were tattered carpets with debris and rot strewn across them, and faded wall paint adorned with broken and hollow portraits.
Poduria's ragged gasps lowered to sighs and deep breaths. Her gaze moistened again, seeing her husband's helpless desperation because of her own lack of endurance. She nestled her face into Lyco's back, inhaling his musk, trying to suppress her relentless pain. She spoke again in her rasping voice, "Dear…" Her call barely reached Lyco's ear, but his haste made him seem unresponsive. She spoke again, a tone higher than earlier, "Dear..!"
"Yes, Poduria?" Keeping his pace, his own breath heavy from the strain of her weight, Lyco managed to mumble a hasty response.
"What do you think about our future?" Poduria asked, keeping her eyes buried in Lyco's back.
"Huh?" Her sudden question slowed Lyco's pace. Confusion showed between his gasps as he replied, "Wh… what do you mean?"
"What else do you wanna do… after we get out of this place?" Poduria asked.
"We talked about this, didn't we? In our bedroom, before coming here?" Lyco replied, his eyes still searching through the rot and mud in their path.
"Yeah... I know. Besides all that home and babies stuff, anything else you have in mind? Like…"
Poduria slowly raised her gaze, her eyes meeting down with raising gaze of Lyco halfway as he asked back, "Yeah? Like what?"
A puff of color appeared on her flattening cheeks, and she averted her gaze. With a hesitant voice, she replied, "I don't know. A romantic getaway? A proper date? Apart from Emporium, we've never gone out for a love outing, have we?"
The blush traveled to Lyco's face from Poduria's. Lowering his gaze and looking ahead, Lyco pondered over her words for a moment, an air of puzzlement around them before he spoke, "You're right. We haven't, have we? Well, if that's the case, any place you have in mind? Anywhere special?"
The exchange of words about their future made them both forget a little about their pain. Finding the conversation soothing, Poduria's expression became playful as she replied in a pondering tone, still holding a rasp of pain in it, "I... I'm not sure. I mean, we could always go to the Holy Church or the Royal Gardens. Sorry, but I'm not very keen on this stuff. You're my first; I've never been on a normal outing with friends, let alone a date."
A little shy smile accentuated her words as she tightened her hold around Lyco's shoulders. Chuckling at her response, Lyco replied, holding a tease in his voice, "That's a bit depressing and funny at the same time. And you're my first as well, so we have the same level of experience in that regard. But... you know what? We'll go there."
"Go where?!" Poduria gasped.
A smile formed on Lyco's face, the desperation in his searching eyes replaced with nostalgia. Looking up at the ceiling adorned with broken chandeliers, he continued, "The Grand Library. It's very special to me. That's where we spent most of our childhood… me and Arian."
"Oh... really? Tell me what it's like," Poduria asked, sensing Lyco's emotions diving into sadness and quickly changing the topic.
"It's a very confidential place, first of all. No one except Preperenas and some chosen people from the Holy Church are allowed there. It harbors all the knowledge of Pompeii, Relic Castle, and raiding. It's hidden under the cover of a vegetable shop. The entrance isn't all that enchanting, but once you step inside, it's a whole different world. It was our world, hidden from the outside, soothing, calm, and beautiful. Arian and I used to spend our whole days there, reading, playing, learning all we could. Most of our childhood memories are held within the shelves of that place. It's really special to me."
"I bet it is," Poduria replied, feeling a soothing calm. She nestled her face back into Lyco's back and continued, "Then it's settled. Once we're out of here, we'll go to the Grand Library first, okay, Lyco?"
Burying her gaze into Lyco's back, his musk filling her with a gentle feeling, she waited for his reply. When none came and his pace halted abruptly, her humble smile turned to concern. She raised her head, gasping in puzzlement, "Lyco? What happened...?"
Her words trailed off when she saw the reason for Lyco's stopping. At a distance, breaking the irritating repetition of the hallway, now stood something new: giant wooden gates, some creaked open and others sealed shut, riddling the ruined hallway ahead. The sight filled them with a renewed hope. Without even letting Poduria down from his back, Lyco sprinted towards one of the gates in haste, almost making her stumble from his back.
His hopeful eyes fixed on the rotted wooden gate before him, Lyco carefully set Poduria down, his movements guided by desperation. With trembling hands, he pushed against the gate, every ounce of his strength dedicated to fulfilling Poduria's expectations.
The gate creaked open, echoing in the air with a promise of hope. But as the scene beyond the gate revealed itself, it shattered their fragile optimism. Lyco's eyes contorted with despair, a deep frown etching itself onto his face.
He rushed into what seemed like a kitchen in shambles, the sight before him a cruel reflection of their dire situation. Pots and pans lay scattered, broken and empty, their surfaces coated with the decay of ages. Rusting knives and withering utensils stabbed at Lyco's heart, each one a reminder of their growing desperation.
Desperate hands swept away thick cobwebs and layers of dust from cabinets embedded in the rotting walls. Frustration mounted as Lyco kicked open shelves littering the floor, hoping against hope to find something, anything, that could sustain them. But his efforts yielded only decay and disappointment. Even spices and powders, once vibrant with flavor, had surrendered to the relentless march of time.
"Why?! Why?! Why is there nothing?!" Lyco's voice echoed through the desolate kitchen, filled with anguish and disbelief. His fists clenched in futile rage as he struggled to comprehend their cruel luck.
"Lyco! Lyco, honey, calm down." Despite her own withering state and mounting frustration, Poduria rushed to her spiraling husband with concern etched on her face. She enveloped him in a half-embrace, guiding his gaze outside the desolate kitchen. With a flicker of hope in her eyes, she continued, "Look, there are other doors as well. I'm sure we will find something. Don't give up yet, honey. Please—cough—cough—"
Her words of reassurance were abruptly interrupted by a fit of coughing that escalated into a wrenching spasm, each breath more strained than the last.
Poduria began to falter on her feet, but Lyco swiftly caught her in his arms. Suppressing his own frustration, he gently lifted her back up, guiding her away from the oppressive atmosphere of the ruined kitchen they had entered.
First, second, third, then even fourth and fifth—each door they opened shattered another piece of their sanity. Each revealed a scene of desolation, crushing their hopes with relentless scenes of ruin. These were places that once supposed filled the stomachs of armies, now devoid of even a speck of spice, a leaf, or a crust of bread.
The empty pots and pans in the kitchen, the dust-filled jars and containers in the pantries—each sight twisted the knife of this unforgiving and nightmarish reality deeper into Lyco and Poduria's hearts.
Inside the crumbling structure, only the increasing groans and wrenches of pain from Poduria and Lyco's frustrated kicks and punches against the withered walls echoed through the dreadful air of what was supposed to be their sanctuary of food.
"Lyco, honey, look! Food." Poduria's sudden exclamation echoed within the kitchen behind the last door. Lyco's heart leaped with a surge of hope, but as he turned, his face contorted with dread, helplessness, and frustration.
With swift steps guided by desperation, Lyco moved to pull Poduria back, gently removing the dirt and rot from her hand that she was about to devour in her hallucinatory hunger. The distant yet painfully loud rumble of her stomach underscored the severity of their situation.
Tears threatened to spill from Lyco's eyes as he witnessed his wife's deteriorating condition. His lips quivered with pained words as he embraced Poduria from behind, his voice trembling, "No, love… I'm sorry, but that's not…"
Poduria's hunger had clouded her eyes, her desperation overriding the weakening rationality of her mind.
With a trembling hand, she had grabbed a handful of rot from one of the broken jars that had earlier frustrated Lyco. The sound and touch of her husband, his presence anchoring her in reality, snapped her back from the brink of delusion. Letting the rot slip from her fingers, Poduria's tightly shut eyes relaxed into a blank expression. Her voice, now barely a whisper, carried a hollow tone as she murmured, "Oh… oh… I'm sorry, honey. I thought I saw food. Heh."
Her feigned chuckle broke Lyco's heart even more. Clenching his fists, he gritted his teeth against the pain swelling within him. Moving before Poduria, he gently guided her onto his back once more. With heavy steps, he exited through the door, renewed dread and despair weighing on his shoulders like an unbearable burden.
The weight of despair and pain echoed in every step Lyco took down the hallway. His defeated gaze remained low, his heart heavy as he passed through one door after another, each leading to another corridor with more doors.
Clutching his pain close, Lyco peered through each gate, hoping against hope for a glimpse of salvation. But each time, his hopes dwindled further until he stopped bothering to divert from the straight path. Throughout this agonizing journey, Poduria remained mute and motionless on his back, her gaze vacant and distant.
Another imposing wooden door loomed ahead, drawing Lyco's weary attention. He raised his vacant gaze slowly, his breaths labored, his heart pounding in his chest.
As he approached, dizziness threatened to overwhelm him, blurring his vision. Lyco stumbled slightly with Poduria's weight, leaning heavily against the wall for support. His dry lips gasped for air, each breath a struggle. Carefully, he lowered Poduria's limp form to the ground, propping her against the wall before sinking down beside her.
Exhaustion washed over him like a tidal wave. Lyco lay on his back, his hazy gaze fixed on the ceiling above. The shattered crystal of a once-grand chandelier scattered dim reflections around them, casting a harsh light on the weariness etched into his features. Slowly, his gasping breaths softened, and he began to close his eyes, surrendering momentarily to the weight of their dire circumstances.
——-pthhhaackkkk——
"Food!!!!!"
Lyco's eyes snapped open, his breath heavy and labored. The sudden squishing and thudding noise pierced through his exhaustion, jolting him awake. Poduria's voice filled his weary gaze with concern as he sat up, staggering slightly. He rasped urgently to halt Poduria from diving into another hallucination.
"N..no! Poduria, that is not fo—-"
But Lyco's drooping gaze widened, his voice quivering with disbelief. His concern turned to shock when he saw the carcass of a creature before him.
Its bloated belly had burst open, its small arms and legs twisted and broken. Pale, rotting skin covered with its own blood, its head a grotesque mesh of features with a large, bumpy nose and lifeless green eyes, its size slightly larger than a mouse's. It lay beside Poduria's blood-stained boots.
Poduria's ravaged sounds of chewing and feral manner of eating smeared her blue attire with splatters of oil and meat juices. But the feral behavior of his wife seemed less alarming before the fact that she held a piece of food in her hand.
Noticing Lyco's gaze, Poduria abruptly halted her chewing. With bloated cheeks and a stained, greasy smile, she approached him, offering the half-chewed meat. Lyco's face showed less concern and more of a strange joy as he moved to take the food from her hand.
But suddenly, his eyes caught sight of another creature just like the one before, holding a piece of bread. It was scanning the carcass of its fallen companion.
The creature abruptly noticed Lyco and Poduria and made a bizarre dash away from them. Lyco and Poduria watched as it ran towards a gate ahead, where many more of these creatures appeared, each holding different types of food in their grasp. As the first creature reached them, they all hurried into the dimness of the passage ahead together.
Lyco and Poduria turned simultaneously, their vacant, wide gazes filling with joy. Poduria grinned at Lyco with cheeks still bulging from her hurried chewing, and he returned the smile. With renewed energy surging through their bodies, they stood up abruptly and dashed towards the gate.
Their tongues nearly lolling out, they eagerly sniffed the fragrances of different foods that suddenly permeated the air, guiding their movements as they crossed through the gate. The scents grew stronger with each step, urging them forward into the unknown passage ahead.
Lyco and Poduria burst through the door, chasing the creatures like ravenous predators, their steps echoing with a ferocious intensity.
The panicked creatures dropped pieces of food as they fled, and Lyco and Poduria swooped in, their hands guided by desperate hunger, stuffing their mouths with whatever they could grab. Yet, their insatiable hunger knew no bounds as they broke through another door. The creatures scurried ahead, and Lyco and Poduria's frenzied steps halted abruptly, the ferocity in their eyes morphing into astonishment.
Before them lay a spectacle that shimmered in their wide eyes. The grotesque creatures had climbed onto a massive wooden pillar, which, as their gaze rose, transformed into a colossal table draped in a pristine white cloth.
But it wasn't the cloth that captured their attention—it was the feast spread out above it. A luscious array of hot, fragrant, and tantalizing foods beckoned to them, their scents filling the air and overpowering the presence of the pale, grotesque creatures that scurried over the table. The grotesqueness of the creatures paled in comparison to the salvation spread out before their eyes.
Drool dripped from Poduria's lips onto the pristine floor, the light from a grand chandelier above reflecting the desperate hunger in her eyes. She turned to Lyco, exclaiming, "Love! Love! Love!" Her voice trembled with urgent need as she grabbed his collar, her hypnotized eyes locking onto his joyfully surprised gaze. She pleaded, "Please... please, I am so hungry, take me, take me there, Lyco!"
Her drool sprayed onto Lyco's face, her stained fingers greasing his collar. Lyco snapped to attention, nodding hastily.
Manipulating the ground beneath them, he raised a pillar that lifted them high onto the table where more of the creatures gorged themselves on the grandeur of the feast. The creatures stopped, their green eyes turning toward Lyco and Poduria. Tree bark-like limbs froze, chewed bites dropping from their hands and mouths. Hisses and growls filled the air, directed at the intruders. Some creatures crawled toward the edges of the giant plates, picking up massive table knives and spoons, brandishing them with ferocity.
But their growls were drowned out by Poduria's scream. Overcome by hunger and anger, she leapt onto the table, still too weak to use her wielding but undeterred by their threats.
Lyco watched in part horror and part shock as Poduria charged at the horde of creatures. She smashed her boot through the weak skull of the one holding a knife, screaming in a frenzied cry, "Get the fuck away from my food!" She kicked and punched through the horde, pushing and throwing them off the table. Their weak limbs shattered under the force of her feral, desperate fists.
In her frenzy, Poduria cleared a path, the once-threatening creatures now cowering or fleeing. The table was theirs, the feast within reach, their hunger driving them forward despite the grotesque obstacles they faced.
"LYCO!!!" Poduria's feral eyes locked onto the stunned Lyco. The chaos and brutality in the air halted as she, stained with the blood of the creatures who had fought back relentlessly, growled at him, "What the fuck are you waiting for?! Get them the fuck away from my food!"
Lyco's weak resolve shattered before the ferocity of his wife. Her command took control of his limbs, and he nodded, replying in a nervous quiver, "Y-yes, my love."
Jumping onto the table, Lyco manipulated the rock pillar behind him into small projectiles, hurling them at the horde of creatures. Some were stabbed, many were thrown off the table, and the rest retreated in fear. The table was cleared, leaving the food unguarded for Poduria, who flashed an eerie grin at Lyco before diving into a plate holding a savory brown piece of meat. She devoured it like a feral beast.
Lyco, still in shock but driven by his own desperate hunger, sat beside her. He tried to ignore her lack of manners and humanity, picking up a giant pea. It was then that he realized the abnormal size of everything around them. The single pea was as large as his head. He looked around at the already eaten dishes, each piece of food and utensil enormous, as if made for a being larger than the sky itself.
Suddenly, his stomach grumbled with rising hunger. The air was filled only with the sounds of Poduria's feral eating. Lyco watched her with concern, her attire stained with blood from the earlier slaughter now covered in drooling gravy, oil, and sauce from every dish she clasped in her hands, chewing once or twice before gulping the huge bites.
Convincing himself with the same reason, "She is just too hungry," Lyco thought, before taking a bite of the giant pea himself.
Along with the chewing and clanging of plates, faint hisses and growls of the creatures lurking at the edges of the table still filled the air.
Lyco began eating from plate to plate, taking bits from each dish of the grand feast spread before them, a literal miracle in their harsh reality. Despite the satisfaction of his satiable hunger, an eerie unease lingered in his heart. He kept glancing back at Poduria, whose hands never stopped shoveling food into her mouth. Almost finishing the servings on each plate, Poduria wasted no time, conjuring up whatever water she could and pouring it straight into her mouth before moving on to the next plate.
"Babe, don't you think it's enough?" His tension getting the best of him, Lyco's hunger faded into concern. Guiding his feet, he interrupted Poduria's feasting, gently pulling her by the shoulder as he continued, "I mean, don't take it wrong, but, love, the food is not going anywhere..."
"What the hell are you talking about, Lyco?!" Poduria snapped, pushing Lyco into a tumble. Her eyes were enlarged, bloodshot with ferocity.
The color of her attire had changed from green to brown, grease, juice, and stains of sauce dripping from it. Specks of food stuck in her nails, and the whiteness of her teeth was riddled with unchewed pieces of food. She growled at the stunned Lyco, "Why are you wasting time?! Fill up your belly! Who knows when the fuck we'll get another feast like this! Don't look at me like that!!"
Poduria's feral demeanor sent shivers through Lyco. His gaze drowned in disbelief as he noticed her face—no longer gaunt, the bones were obscured by plumpness and even more fat around her face, pulling her eyelids down to her lips. Heavy layers of skin hung from her hands. Poduria's words had the opposite effect on Lyco.
As she turned back to gorge on more food, Lyco gritted his teeth. Rushing to his feet, he lunged at Poduria, extending his hand to grab her. His frustrated squint widened into sudden apprehension as he saw the rugged metal surface of a giant spoon, an inch away from his face.
——thhwaaackkk——thud——Lyco!!!!——thwackkkhh!!!——thud——
Only ominous thuds and the sound of strikes filled the air before Poduria's concerned call reached Lyco's ears. The giant utensil struck his face, blinding him with a painful, burning sensation all over his body and eyes. He was hurled away, colliding with a bowl of soup that spilled on him, amplifying his agony.
Lyco screamed, writhing and thrashing around, clawing at his eyes in sheer torment, every inch of his skin burning. His own screams faded into the background, drowned out by Poduria's even more agonized cries: "LYCO!!! HELP!!! IT HURTS!!! IT HURTS!!!!"
Gritting his teeth and clenching through the pain, veins bulging, Lyco forced his eyes open through the burning, each movement of his eyelids stabbing like bloody needles.
His pain dissipated into wide-eyed horror, his body surrendering to shock at the scene before him. A dark bruise spread across Poduria's face, her swollen lips and bloody nose darkened with agony. Her eyelids were contorted in a scream tearing through her broken jaw.
Her arm thrashed around, clawing at the table, her bloody nails scraping desperately toward Lyco. She was pinned in place by a giant knife stabbed into her back, her blood pooling beneath her writhing, screaming body.
A group of creatures surrounded her, each holding giant knives and spoons in their limbs. They grinned, their long, thick tongues lolling out and drooling over Poduria's body. Their menacing, mocking laughter filled Lyco with rage. Poduria screamed once again, "Honey!!! S..save me!!!!! S—-Aahhhhhh!!!! Aahhhhh!!!!"