《Deleoria》


 01 Echo of the old world

    Among the destroyed buildings, under the gentle light of the sunset, two young women walked slowly, as if on a stroll. One directly along the road, or at least it was once such - only pieces of molten bricks and broken asphalt remained from it. Although she walked barefoot, she did not even look at her feet, somehow managing to avoid stumbling. The second one walked at a distance, not wanting to deal with the path that looked like it came out from someone''s sadistic imagination. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, she stopped, peering into something in the distance.


    ¡°Hey,¡± the first one called out to her in an unexpectedly deep voice.


    Whoever you asked, no one would call her an adult, so petite she looked. But this was not only unusual. She was Asian girl with dazzling white hair barely covered shoulders, and her only visible right eye was navy blue, while the left one was hidden behind a bandage, as dirty as her dress. Probably both were once white, but their current shade was like something between gray and brown.


    ¡°Karina!¡± she raised her voice only a little, but it still echoed.


    In Karina however, if anything was special, it was only that there was nothing special at all, in contrast to her companion. Medium height, although against white-haired she seemed pretty tall, a light-brown bob, gray eyes, T-shirt with sort of baggy pants and a sneakers - clothes clearly chosen out of comfort, without the slightest claim to beauty.


    ¡°Huh?¡± she replied lazily.


    ¡°We''re not walking in the park after all. What''s in there?¡±


    ¡°That cloud,¡± she pointed with a finger, ¡°Looks exactly like a whale copulating with a kitten.¡±


    The white-haired girl clicked her tongue.


    ¡°Suppress your instincts even more, then one day you¡¯ll definitely begin to see nonexistent stuff¡± she said in a displeased tone. ¡°It''s just a cloud. And it looks like a cloud. And in general its shape is round. Such beauty is everywhere, but she examines only clouds.¡±


    ¡°You have strange concept of beauty,¡± Karina replied and kicked a skull lying in the way, so it rolled away. ¡°Devastation and bones, almost sure human, everywhere.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not me, who turned most of the planet into this,¡± the girl said sarcastically. ¡°It¡¯s even not fair of you to ignore the consequences of your own actions.¡±


    ¡°Round and round,¡± she sighed, ¡°If I remembered at least something of what you ascribe to me, maybe it would make sense. Whatever. My legs are aching already - we wander all day, and see no one. Are you even sure the wizard is here? After all, this town doesn¡¯t look like as if anyone can live in it.¡±


    ¡°But all you need is to look around,¡± the other one sighed this time. ¡°We have already arrived.¡±


    Although Karina became uncomfortable from her absent-mindedness, she did not show it, instead began to intensively explore the surroundings.


    A building, bones, a building, a mountain of bones, another mountain of bones. And nothing instead of that.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to admit it, but I don¡¯t see him. Nowhere.¡±


    ¡°It would be strange if you seen,¡± the white-haired laughed, ¡°At least, you finally focused on why we are here.¡±


    Karina looked at her, tilted head doomily, but decided not to answer anything else, fairly judging that this will only waste much more time. So, having resigned herself, she just continued to walk, following the girl.


    When the sun had completely disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving behind only a reddish line in the sky, they finally stopped near a decent size of a pile of bones, enough to hide a small house under it. The girl immediately began to rake the bones with her hands, while Karina decided to just wait. Well, she wanted, but it would be strange if the second did not notice.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to join?¡± she asked. ¡°Only you complained that we spent all day here.¡±


    ¡°Somehow it is not very hygienic,¡± Karina answered, ¡°These are bones, it¡¯s not clear whose and where from. What if they¡¯re even contagious?¡±


    ¡°Oh, really, how could I not have thought about it,¡± she said, demonstratively plopping down on the ground and crossing her legs. ¡°Fine, let''s wait until these remains turn to dust on their own.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes you are unbearable,¡± Karina grimaced, but instead of engaging in an obviously senseless skirmish, she came up and carefully, almost with her fingertips, began to pull out the bones.


    White-haired girl, either out of naughtiness or for some other reason, remained sitting. As a result, Karina raked the pile herself. However, only about five minutes were a limit for her patience - not a trace of disgust remained, and she was already scooping out the bones to the full length of her arms.


    In the end, someone''s head appeared, and the two of them stretched out the body, which turned out to be a man of, who knows, how many years old, so emaciated that if it were not for the presence of hair, it might not have been noticed among the remains at all. Karina shuddered.


    ¡°Is he even alive?¡±


    ¡°Almost. The domain hasn¡¯t yet been destroyed, although it doesn¡¯t extend beyond the body.¡± the girl answered. ¡°But if it bothers you ¨C feel free to check his breathe.¡±


    She shuddered again.


    ¡°No thanks.¡±


    ¡°She herself wants to know, but she expects the answers would fall from the sky¡±, she gazed at Karina. ¡°Come in. We''ve really been here too long, it''ll be a shame if we''re late.¡±


    Karina, continuing to struggle unsuccessfully with disgust, sat down next to a man and carefully touched the forehead of a lying body, which vaguely resembled a human, with a finger. She closed her eyes and began to dive into the fluid darkness. After a few seconds, when she felt the hover, she tried to see something through the darkness, but it remained unchanged.


    ¡°Belyana,¡± she called in a muffled voice, as if heard through the water column. ¡°There''s nothing here.¡±


    ¡°Every time I¡¯m surprised how little patience you have, but how long do you able to tolerate anything, when you don¡¯t need to do it at all¡±, Belyana¡¯s voice answered in a monotonous sound right in her head, even when it was clear from the phrase itself, that her real tone was, at least, not neutral. ¡°You yourself saw that he was barely alive. Obviously, there is almost nothing left on the surface.¡±


    ¡°If everything is so obvious to you, maybe you want to dive instead of me?¡± she waited for an answer, preparing the most stinging arguments that only came to her mind, but there was only silence. And the feeling of annoyance that constantly, as soon as she actually can talk back, Belyana begins to simply ignore her.


    The darkness pressed more and more. The deeper she sank, the stronger the pain became, started from the eyes and eardrums, now spreading throughout the whole body. She began to feel what a little more, and she would simply be flattened into a meat ball. But as soon as she surrendered and was about to emerge, with a loud painful pop and a bright flash, the pressure disappeared so abruptly, that it even seemed to her for a moment as if she had exploded.


    The night sky, full of stars of all colors of the rainbow, was the first thing she saw while stood on it. Or not. Fragments of land of all sizes floated in space in random positions. On some of them, quite familiar flowers and trees grew, on some - an unimaginable something, which was also flowers, judging by the petals and leaves. But unlike plants, they marched and snapped jaws full of teeth, similar to those of a bear, either saying something silently, or frightening someone.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Karina shouted, listening to the echo and unnaturally twirling her head, like a locator, trying to find a direction from which it would not return.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The marching flowers stopped, turning towards the source of the sound, and immediately jumped in her direction. She hesitated, but quickly came to her senses, took a piece of land about a size of a small island, hovered nearby, as if it weighed nothing, and threw it into a kind of army. The island remained where it was, while Karina herself, with a completely unimaginable speed, was thrown to the opposite direction. She flew, however, only an instant, after which she fell to the ground of the planet that was in the way, leaving a giant crater with her landing.


    She shook herself off, put her hand to her eyes, shielding from the blinding blue light of an unknown star, and after found the hole in the sky through which she had arrived, peered into it attentively.


    ¡°4 minutes before the guard. They¡¯re fast and for some reason they strongly didn¡¯t like me, but there should be enough time,¡± she said.


    ¡°For some reason,¡± the monotony of Belyana''s voice in Karina''s head has not changed, ¡°After all, it¡¯s absolutely impossible that the savior of everyone and everything could annoy someone. Do you want me to build a monument to you? I can start right now. You just decide, from bones or bricks? There is a lot of any material here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to talk to you at all, sit there with yourself, entertain without me,¡± she answered irritably.


    ¡°Actually, you know, I¡¯ll do exactly what you suggested. Here, quite by accident, I appeared to have a camera, and two bodies of different sexes in an unconscious state.¡±


    ¡°Ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it,¡± like a mantra, Karina repeated to herself several times.


    After some of deep inhales and exhales, she finally looked around. An endless field of bright scarlet grass - not a bush, not a tree. Not the slightest hint that someone might be here. Resigned to the fact that her vision would not help her, she shifted her attention to hearing. The world lost its clarity, but she heard a quiet crying from afar. Although she could not determine the source, she simply went towards her shadow, in part because the local star was too blinding, in part because it coincided with the direction in which she flew in here. By the way, she already had some experience in these travels, so it was difficult to make a mistake here ¨C this kind of target was always on a straight line from the entrance, she just needed not to confuse the side. A few steps later, the world changed dramatically, turning into a town, not yet destroyed, and a child was sitting on the ground in front of her, crying loudly.


    ¡°What''s happened?¡± the best question she came with.


    The boy turned and looked at her with reddened from tears eyes. His face was full of cracks, like a crumbling statue, and through the holes where the skin was least left, she seen the city buildings, taking bizarre curving shapes.


    ¡°ImnobodytoyouyoudontneedmewhatisyourbusinessleavemealonegetoffIdontneedyou,¡± the boy said in a choking voice, not even trying to pause between words.


    ¡°That is not tr...¡± she began, but almost immediately was interrupted by a shout so loud, that even the earth trembled, as if it were not a voice, but explosion at least.


    ¡°Filth!¡±


    She immediately turned to face the source, which in same moment grabbed her with the hand large enough, to fit her entire head. Before her was a man, covered only with a loincloth, so handsome that she even caught her breath. The only thing that was strange about him is six wings, two of which he waved, soaring in the air. Admiring him, she realized too late that he actually squeezed her head ¨C it crunched, surprisingly, with a sound like a bursting watermelon.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± she jumped up with a scream. Only the timely evasion of Belyana saved her from an inevitable hit to the chin.


    ¡°And what exactly are you doing?¡± she asked accusingly.


    ¡°There ... This one ... With wings ...¡± she began to make excuses confusedly.


    Belyana looked at her inquiringly, and then cackled in a completely unpleasant way.


    ¡°You are so fortunate,¡± she replied to the puzzled Karina, when calmed down a little. ¡°First, the town destroyed by your little war. Then the magician, who clearly saw it and somehow miraculously survived. Then he also turned out to be the one who was able to adapt the image of an angel to his consciousness.¡±


    ¡°Angel ...¡± Karina said thoughtfully, completely ignoring Belyana''s obvious amusement over her. ¡°It explains. So, what to do with him?¡±


    ¡°Deaf ears as usual,¡± Belyana replied, rolling her eyes.¡± Image. Nothing has changed, we are dealing only with this body at last gasp. Less emotion, especially for something that has already extinct, more analysis, otherwise you just won''t come back one day. That''s all.¡±


    Karina really wanted to snap back, but still restrained herself, there was too little time. So without wasting more of it, she instantly dived back, using the path she had made for herself the first time.


    The angel did not gone anywhere, except that he was a little further away, standing near the child and was holding a flaming sword in his hand, which for some reason had slipped out of her sight the last time. He turned around, and uttering the words with the same thunderclaps, headed towards her.


    ¡°You do not belong here, abomination! Disappear!¡± he raised his sword, clearly intending to use it.


    ¡°Why am I an abomination exactly, what kind of shamelessness it is?¡± she shouted back. ¡°To judge random people without knowing them at all!¡±


    He looked her straight in the eyes, which caused feeling of a giant centipede to run down her spine, and screamed again, seemingly simply unable to speak normally.


    ¡°Doubting the will of the Lord is a sin! Punishment - obliteration!¡±


    He struck with sword, from which a wall of fire flew in her direction, extending from the earth to the very sky. One more swing, one more ¨C fire walls appeared for each.


    Acting on intuition rather, she stamped her foot on the ground - a crack formed in that, from which a geyser of bones gushed out, becoming a kind of shield.


    The first wall met a fountain. The bones protected Karina from the flames, but the hot shockwave still knocked her down. The second threw her away. For the third, she had already prepared a little, burying her feet in the ground - this at least, was enough to hold her in place. She began to pluck the grass and sculpt something out of it.


    After a few strokes, the six-winged monster, which did not looked so handsome to her anymore, apparently noticed that this way he would not be able to break through the bone barrier. He swung the sword down then sharply raised it up, and a pillar of fire went into the sky. The ground shook again from his scream, but Karina was too focused on her actions to understand a single word from him.


    The bone geyser, in turn, did not even weaken. Those bones that were not burned by the waves and fallen untouched to the ground, began to stir, gathering together and forming skeletons from themselves, which stood up and ran towards an angel.


    He completely ignored them while they grabbed him and each other. Skeleton after skeleton, they formed a whole bone web, which completely immobilized the angel before he realized their intentions and looked away from the sky.


    Clouds have begun to cover recently clear sky, shimmering with green and purple hues.


    Karina finally finished her seemingly pointless activity - she stood up, holding a knife with a bright scarlet blade in her hand.


    Drip. The first purple drop fell to the ground, leaving a smoking hole in it. Drip-drip.


    Karina screeched. One of the drops fell on her hand and immediately burned through her palm, which she, foolishly, held out. Some pitiful remnants of skin hung from the edges of the hole, turning into a substance that looked more like mucus. She bit her lip with all might, trying to suppress the pain with sheer willpower. There was no time left at all, she would not have a second chance - only on this thought, repeated over and over again, she rushed forward.


    The rain only intensified. There was even smoke coming from the gradually collapsing skeletons. The once strong web was already insufficient to fully hold the angel - he had enough freedom of movement to try to free himself.


    Karina ran, leaving a trail of slimeskin behind her. Her vision blurred from pain, she even begun to feel, like any moment her consciousness would fade. She screamed, but did not hear her own voice, only felt the drying throat, and the air passing through it.


    The angel completely freed his hand with the sword and swung, so that the next wave would turn now defenseless Karina into ash.


    She caught up with him. Her fail was almost unavoidable, but the flame stopped right near her head. The knife pierced his heart with the sound of gurgling lava, and the angel himself immediately spread into a thick brown slurry with a corresponding smell.


    Exhausted, she finally allowed herself to fall on a ground, gasping for air. She could not breathe normally, every attempt was painful and futile. The rain burned through almost everything that was possible in her body.


    Hearing a sob, Karina turned her head to its source, showing to child a burnt face, in whose empty eye sockets were visible parts of the skull and brain.


    ¡°Now you see? Even...¡± she began to speak, rather hissing, trying to pronounce sounds with melted cheeks and a palate dotted with holes, but the rest of the phrase was drowned out in a snapping hum.


    And not a second passed from the appearance of the sound before the flowers already surrounded her, and like the hungriest animals in the world, they began to tear her body apart, devouring it piece by piece. She no longer had the strength even to scream.


    She opened her eyes, probably for the first time being sincerely glad for the presence of Belyana, and burst into tears, burying herself in her shoulder, trying to wash everything away.


    Little a while, the half-dead man gave signs of life, wheezing, as if trying to say something, but apparently, even these muscles in him had time to atrophy so much that they stopped working normally. Belyana glanced at him, then gently touched Karina''s head, and quietly spoke.


    ¡°It¡¯s time. We''re still late, unfortunately.¡±


    It was already night when they left the town. Belyana was carrying a cart, not clear where she had found it, but in it lay a man already asleep, dumped there, as if not a human, but just a carcass of meat. Karina for her part, like a child, walked holding on to Belyana¡¯s dress. The pain had already been forgotten, no matter how amazing it was, and the tension subsided, but the fear, fear that she could be pulled back there, did not recede. And the fact that the source of that dilapidated world was right under her nose only made it worse. Perhaps someone could rightly notice that in the eyes of the wizard there was only guilt, when he tried with his last strength to say something. But truth is, his eyes were so sunken that he looked more like a cartoon villain, trying to make excuses, when he was just caught red-handed.


    ¡°So what do you think about it?¡± as if with a mockery, Belyana suddenly asked. ¡°Any discoveries, maybe some moral of a story?¡±


    ¡°Angels are freaks ...¡± she answered thoughtfully, not noticing any hint.


    Belyana laughed quietly.


    ¡°That is also true.¡±

 02 Magical girl Maria

    ¡°Enough to rustle already,¡± a little girl said in a whisper somewhere into the school desk.


    The teacher was telling something, every now and then, creaking on the blackboard with chalk, but Mary, sitting at the back desk, had much more pressing concerns. A hamster''s head appeared from a compartment in the table.


    ¡°Booooring,¡± the hamster quietly squeaked, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to go for a walk? You are missing all your childhood.¡±


    ¡°Mom says that if I don¡¯t study, I¡¯ll get knocked up at 15,¡± Mary whispered very seriously. ¡°A very important opinion of the person, of course, who turned the whole house into a church, but at least while I¡¯m here, she isn¡¯t doing my head in.


    ¡°Let¡¯s goooo, I can¡¯t anymooooore, how long tooooo?¡±


    ¡°Smirnova!¡± there was a stern cry of the teacher. ¡°What is the ¡®x¡¯ of the equation we just analyzed?¡±


    Mary did not even think to stand up, showing disdain with her whole appearance.


    ¡°The diameter of your ass, miss Faith!¡± under the collective laughter of the schoolers, she blurted out.


    Although the answer was correct, either because the number turned out to be too big, or the teacher simply got out of bed on the wrong side, but she literally turned red with rage, heading in the direction of Mary.


    ¡°Transform now!¡± the hamster yelled.


    Mary even did not have time to ask why - with black splashes splattered all around, the teacher''s skin cracked. Stretching it with his hands, as if pushing the curtains, a huge boar crawled out from inside. He stood on two legs ending in hooves. One was covered in bleeding ulcers, the other glittered as if it had been cast from steel. His purple scrotum was dragging right along the floor, which made it at least one and a half meters size, and in place of the belly there was another face that vaguely resembled a teacher.


    Grunting ferociously, he scanned the classroom with eyes that each seemed to live on their own - they moved out of sync, like a chameleon''s. He coughed, and his saliva, which stank of rotten meat, flew in all directions.


    The face on his stomach stirred, flowing like a balloon filled with water, and spat out through something resembled a mouth at Mary.


    The spit hit the backpack she was holding, leaving a smoldering hole in it.


    The boar, having stopped coughing, wiped its snout with a huge hand, and then hit a wall with it. Wall shattered, and with it the building trembled, threatening to collapse.


    The children, up to this point only with interest watching what was happening, screamed. But the tremors had subsided, and the building seemed to be solid enough that the loss of the wall was nothing to it.


    Great Oak, give me power!¡± Mary yelled, holding a brooch with an emerald tree in her hands.


    It lit up, and the girl herself with it. Her shoulder-length black hair fell to the floor, dyed a bright green. The school uniform has turned into a pale green Victorian-like dress, with a wide hem covered with multiple lines of gold ribbons and studded with pink flowers. Green eyeshadow, green lipstick, green nail polish, green boots. It seems that from her presence, everything turned green in general.


    ¡°This is the Emerald Warrior! We are saved! Hooray!¡± the delighted children shouted in an unnatural chorus.


    Mary stretched out her arms and pointed the brooch at the boar.


    ¡°Sakura beam!¡± a tornado of pink petals flew out of the brooch, which in fact, actually looked like a ray.


    The pig, letting out a drawn-out plaintive oink, evaporated.


    ¡°Thank you! You are so cool!¡± the children exclaimed in the same strange chorus.


    After a slightly drawn-out autograph session for her fans, which turned out to be the whole class, she finally headed home.


    Mary walked, and her green hair swept the ground. Their tips carved green sparks, scattering fireworks around the area, bewitching all bystanders.


    ¡°Mimi,¡± Mary turned to the hamster, stuck out her muzzle from the backpack, ¡°Do people turn into monsters?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! The monster was just pretending to be one.¡±


    ¡°And since the monster pretended to be her, then there must be a teacher somewhere?¡± - Mary rightly remarked. ¡°Maybe she¡¯s in trouble too?¡±


    ¡°And you think a lot today,¡± Mimi replied in surprise. ¡°Most likely, she just got sick, because it often happens.¡±


    This answer, surprisingly, was enough for Mary, but before she could relax, something flew past her, even whistling, blowing up the two-story building that stood right behind her.


    There was something in the middle of the street, with many folds of fat, layering on top of each other, like a stack of pancakes. On top of them lay a chest, dropping to almost the very ground, more like two garbage bags. Apparently, being not even able to walk, it crawled, sticking a full-length golden cross into the ground in front of it, pulling up to it with a short likeness of arms. A crowned uterus fluttered near the shoulder, and its wings were rapidly moving up and down ovaries. With a spread, the same multi-fold mouth, it gurgled and squelched something, apparently speaking in some unknown language.


    ¡°Hey, what''s this?!¡± Mary shouted. ¡°There were never two monsters in same day!¡±


    There was no answer - Mimi, being no less dumbfounded, frantically tried to calculate something on her miniature, alien-looking computer.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Mary would have been glad to do the same, but the slugpancake was not in the mood for friendliness. He began to hammer on the ground with a cross, and cracks spread in all directions from the violent blows on it.


    She looked at the brooch, which glowed a little fainter than before. Although had no other choice, she made the smartest decision after all.


    ¡°Sakura beam!¡± she pointed her weapon at the monster.


    The slugpancake simply opened his mouth, devouring everything he was generously gifted with. After that, he pulled out something from under the fold and threw it at Mary, hitting her directly.


    The hit was strong, although Mary somehow miraculously remained in place. She fell to her knees, holding on to her belly, and her stomach spewed with today''s lunch, judging by the tomato skins.


    Before she had time to catch her breath, there was a stamping sound from everywhere. She was surrounded by a crowd of barking bulldogs standing on two legs.


    ¡°These are the servants of the evil witch,¡± squeaked Mimi. ¡°We have no choice, there are too many of them, we will have to use the entire charge!¡±


    Mary raised her hand with a brooch, in which the emerald tree was already more like blue, but the dogs noticed this, so they pounced on her. One grabbed her, while the others began to beat her. They beat her so violently that dust rose from the ground, not even trying to hold back.


    The brooch flew out, rolling on the ground, and Mimi jumped after it.


    ¡°Mary, together!¡± she shouted, holding the emerald jewelry in her hands.


    ¡°Sacred Oak, we appeal to you and your children,¡± Mary uttered the words, with breaking under every blow voice. Mimi however managed to adjust to scattered cries somehow, ¡°Help us in a moment of mortal danger, turn these lands into a blossoming forest!¡±


    From the trembling earth, with the music of the wooden squeaking, countless thin glowing branches stretched out, lifting the monsters into the air. They barked and whined, but nature itself was against them.


    Only Mary and the hamster remained on the ground in the end.


    ¡°We did it!¡± Mimi exclaimed happily, holding a completely blackened brooch in her hands.


    Mary did not answer, she just wiped her bruised eyebrow, the blood from which was trying to get into her eye, and slowly sat down, enduring the pain that every centimeter of her body gave.


    From a distance, the sound of trees falling was heard, approaching very quickly.


    When it was already very close, from behind the branches, a woman came out in a black mask covering the upper half of her face, and in a tattered black sheet instead of clothes. She surveyed the battlefield and, turning her gaze to Mary, bared her teeth, showing triangular sharp rows.


    ¡°It''s a witch! Ru...¡± Mimi''s scream was interrupted by the crunch of the woman stepping on her.


    She wiped her foot on the ground, smearing the hamster insides on it, and then slowly, bending around something, as if walking through a minefield, went to Mary.


    Not that she was very shocked - Mimi had been hit more than once, always resurrecting, so it did not bother her. The problem was, she could not move at all. Not the way it happens when the body is tired, and not the way it happens when she is afraid. More like exactly as if someone is holding her.


    Purple handprints appeared on her hands. She screamed, trying with all her might to escape, it even seemed that she almost succeeded, but it seemed to her - she did not move even a millimeter.


    The witch came very close. Her head split into two, dangling on slender necks, similar to snakes, each of them approached her ears, and they began to whisper at the same time.


    "When did you become popular? Why don''t they recognize you when you transform? When did you meet Mimi?" was distributed in one.


    "Where did you get your dress? What is it made of? Do monsters exist? Why is your hamster talking?" was heard in another.


    The questions went one after another, without stopping. If at first Mary parsed words, then later they merged into one continuous white noise. She did not know how long she sat like that, according to her feelings, time was slowing down and slowing down.


    She felled. It was as if she had fallen from a great height, and the white noise was replaced by a loud hum. Just for a second, but she saw the world differently.


    ¡°Uee,¡± Mary almost mumbled as she exhaled.


    Belyana, who was holding her, finally let go of her hands. She walked around, and approached close to her face, began to examine her eyes.


    ¡°Well,¡± she said displeased, having finished her inspection, ¡°You completely burned out her mind.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡± asked Karina, stained with someone''s blood. ¡°Is that all you care about?¡±


    The girl sat looking nowhere, and instead of clothes, she was wearing someone''s skin, turned inside out.


    Screams and crying were heard from everywhere. Somewhere it was horror, somewhere the pain of broken limbs under the collapsed buildings. Somewhere they were children, in whose eyes their families and friends suffered. Many tall shrubs around, sprouting through people in military uniform, branching out of limbs, ears, nostrils, mouth and eye sockets, stained with viscera and other bodily fluids. Someone even moaned, living out the last seconds or minutes, dreaming at these moments only of death.


    Next to Mary herself lay her mother. Rather, human minced meat. Who said that it was she? Not that she was here entirely, in reality her pieces were scattered around the area, in some places there were enough large fragments among them that she could be identified quite unambiguously.


    ¡°What else should worry me?¡± Belyana asked in surprise. ¡°These garlands?¡±


    ¡°These are not garlands, but people. Like you and me.¡±


    ¡°If someone, I will not point a finger, walked faster,¡± she said instructively, ¡®They all would be very fine.¡±


    ¡°Brrr, it¡¯s still better than letting her keep doing it. An eleven-year-old girl, she said, a religious family, she said,¡± Karina lamented.


    ¡°No, not better. Over the past year, have you seen at least one magician who, of his own free will, can arrange this?¡± she swept her hands around. ¡°Can you imagine how useful she could be? And now, this vegetable only good to scare fairies.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that destruction and massacres are middling measures of usefulness?¡±


    ¡°She could also heal, actually,¡± Belyana replied calmly.


    ¡°That''s not the point!¡± Karina flared up, but Belyana interrupted her even before she began her angry tirade.


    ¡°And what is? Is that for you this child is now a monster?¡± she pushed Mary with a dirty foot, which is why she, without the slightest resistance, fell, and a thin stream of her saliva flowed to the ground. ¡°And, in your opinion, this is a good result, right? Exactly what she deserved?¡±


    ¡°This again will not lead to anything,¡± Karina sighed, ¡°You just need to turn everything inside out so that I feel like shit.¡±


    ¡°Believe yourself what you want,¡± Belyana shrugged.


    ¡°And why every time this hell ... Why can''t we meet someone who would arrange candyfalls and honey showers?¡±


    ¡°Because nobody like this exist?¡±


    ¡°Mood killer.¡±


    They left Mary to lie down and went to her school. Arriving at the place, they found a dollhouse. One wall of the building simply did not exist, which created such an impression. All the people in it stood without moving.


    Inside the school, however, they found that each and everyone had been impaled on stakes made from their own spines. From the mixture of the smell of feces and blood, Karina vomited.


    ¡°Wow, so, after all, there are limits!¡± Belyana happily exclaimed for some reason.


    There was a shuffling, slightly wet sound. And one again.


    Muscles appeared from around the corner. Definitely human, but completely devoid of skin. He was crawling in their direction, but from the blank look it was already clear that he hardly even understood where he was.


    ¡°And here is the source of the girl¡¯s clothes,¡± Belyana commented. ¡°If I were you, I would finish this off.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Her only chance to survive is drooling at the street now,¡± she threw up her hands. ¡°Who, if not you?¡±


    Karina began to quarrel with Belyana, and it probably would have gone on for a long time, but the former teacher let out a last wheezing exhalation and fell face down into the crumpled tile.


    ¡°That''s all,¡± said the obvious Belyana. ¡°Now she will get you from the other world, boo! You only worried about that, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Dummy,¡± Karina answered sadly.

 03 Karina Holmes

    ¡°After you,¡± Belyana said, opening the door in the brick wall and bowing derisively.


    Behind it, the rising sun shifted to the center, the air became heavier, but Karina noticed only that all the passers-by turned into Asians.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Let''s just say your name is Shinaku today.¡±


    ¡°Mmm,¡± Karina murmured, not realizing right away. ¡°What? How did we get here?¡±


    ¡°We took a shortcut,¡± Belyana replied calmly.


    ¡°Five thousand miles? Past the sea? Are you kidding me?¡± Karina began to boil.


    ¡°Well, what do you expect to hear? That I just put you to sleep and brought you here to laugh at you?¡± she asked with a shrug. ¡°Nice idea, however.¡±


    ¡°How about the truth?¡±


    ¡°Even if I explain in detail how it works, what''s the use?¡± Belyana sighed. ¡°In the worst case, you¡¯ll just end up as Mary. Our thirst for knowledge is limitless, but also destructive, because we get to the bottom of the truth only in order to confirm the already established picture of the world. And when something contradicts it, we either ignore it, or go mad.¡±


    ¡°Enough, enough, enough, stop,¡± Karina waved her hands. ¡°Another pseudo-philosophical monologue, which begins with a veiled doubt in my mind, and ends with a direct statement that I am stupid - went through that already.¡±


    Belyana burst out laughing, even accidentally dropping the bag from her hands, which came into Karina''s field of vision just now, because it was clearly not there before.


    ¡°And where¡¯s it from?¡± Karina asked wearily.


    ¡°More likely what for,¡± Belyana, still laughing, lifted the bag and threw it to her.


    Karina looked into it and found two neatly folded school uniforms.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± she asked, rolling her eyes. ¡°Even if you are going to earn some money in a brothel - I¡¯m not going to participate in this.¡±


    ¡°You wish,¡± Belyana mocked. ¡°We need them for the same purpose for which they are intended.¡±


    ¡°Let''s say. And how do you suggest that I pretend to be a schoolgirl, in that case?¡± Karina pointed on her face with fingers. ¡°Not to mention age, doesn¡¯t it bother you that I don¡¯t really fit in?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t really need to. The entire city is the magician¡¯s domain.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything suspicious around,¡± she remarked incredulously.


    ¡°And who complained that hell after hell?¡± answered Belyana. ¡°Can¡¯t please you. Moreover, it is he who helps us, so we are not after him. I¡¯ve always liked bald monks - in most cases they¡¯re quite reasonable.¡±


    ¡°And why then the form?¡± Karina asked suspiciously.


    ¡°And here I¡¯ll just go back to the moment at which you interrupted me,¡± she threw up her hands. ¡°The picture of the world should not raise too many questions. And the teacher of you is like a porter of me.¡±


    On the way, visited a public toilet, they both changed their clothes, although Belyana in addition got rid of the bandage and supplemented her clothes with a black wig and brown lenses. She looked up at Karina, whose appearance was like she had come straight from a cheap porn movie, and burst out laughing again.


    ¡°And you are now expecting me to believe that this had at least some other purpose?¡± Karina asked accusingly.


    ¡°A moment ... Wait ... a second ...¡± gasping for air and trying to calm down, she answered, ¡°No, it''s impossible!¡±


    Belyana burst into laughter again, attracting the attention of casual passers-by, and Karina only looked, frowning, at her bent companion. Only after a couple of minutes, she finally calmed down, and they continued to walk.


    ¡°Okay, good things comes in small packages,¡± Belyana began. ¡°One schoolboy died yesterday. Well, that would be nothing, but he died, falling on the knife in his hand. Thrice.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± not understanding the essence, asked Karina. ¡°If there is no magic involved, what have we to do with it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the point,¡± answered Belyana. ¡°Magic is involved - causal relationships are broken. No one should have killed him, just as he shouldn¡¯t have died himself. At least in the near future. Yet this is not the work of magicians. The fact that the bald man retains a stable domain, being of sound mind, is an unequivocal guarantee that without his knowledge even the magic bacteria would not crawl through.


    ¡°Why is this confidence?¡± Karina was surprised. ¡°Maybe the wizard himself did it?¡±


    ¡°Well, actually, I just hear him,¡± she replied. ¡°This mantra everywhere, to be honest, even annoying already.¡±


    ¡°It''s easier to believe that you''ve finally let slip that you hear voices than that some bald wizard, if he is bald at all, is so nice that he can''t offend anyone. Everyone who was up to that time turned out to be completely insane.¡±


    ¡°But you''re a magician too,¡± giggled Belyana. ¡°What about you?¡±


    In the end, a two-story school building showed up, with students going through its doors. Even though it was late afternoon, everyone acted as if it was morning. Belyana walked along the corridors confidently and purposefully, while Karina followed, looking around, at the only vaguely familiar architecture.


    In the class itself, all the children have already gathered. Manko-chan and Chitsu-chan, who were sitting at the back desks, quietly discussed how to suck deeply without vomiting, and how to imitate swallowing sperm so that the man would not notice. Satsuno-chan, with an annoyed expression on her face, was wiping some writing from her desk. Kusogami-kun pretended to be writing with concentration, every now and then furtively glancing at Amane-chan, who was looking thoughtfully out the window. Koizaki-kun used alcohol wipes to clean his desk and chair, and Koumon-kun, sitting with his feet on the table, looked with disgust at Koizaki¡¯s swarming. One of the desks belonged to the dead Yagami-kun, while the other five, in a rather small room, were empty. These children were either sick, or the corpse on the school stairs was too strong an impression for them to come here the next day.


    ¡°As I understand it, asking why I know who they are - is as pointless as asking how we got here?¡± propping her cheek with hand, Karina clarified.


    ¡°Well, why?¡± Belyana answered playfully. ¡°You''re just studying with them for the third year!¡±


    Karina just growled in doom.


    ¡°Stand up!¡± Belyana told the whole class when the teacher entered, which made Karina''s face twisted only more. ¡°Bow!¡±


    Fifty minutes later, the first lesson, although it should have been the fourth, ended. Amane said something quietly to Satsuno, and she fled somewhere, clearly in a hurry. Kusogami and Koizaki were talking about something, laughing.


    ¡°I¡¯ll probably regret this question, but why are you the class monitor?¡± Karina asked Belyana.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she giggled, ¡°we just temporarily replaced two girls.¡±


    ¡°Finally!¡± Karina was pretending to be delighted with the islet of the explainable. ¡°Okay, illogicalities are illogicalities, but anyway, what are we doing here? I still don''t see the point in this game.¡±


    ¡°Elementary!¡± - clearly making fun, Belyana answered. ¡°One of those present is a murderer. And we need to find him. Rather, you.¡±


    ¡°What do you meant - me? How? And what are you planning to do?¡±


    ¡°Shioma-chan!¡± Manko called to Belyana, standing in the doorway.


    ¡°And I, my dear Watson, will have some fun!¡± she giggled again and went off somewhere with Manko and Chitsu.


    Karina sighed, which has become her most frequent reaction lately, and thought about how to solve the problem that had arisen in front of her out of nothing. She decided to start small, trying to learn something from the two, who were clearly not busy with anything.


    ¡°Fuck off to the hell,¡± the only thing that Koumon answered her greeting - her eyes even darkened with unexpected harshness.


    Reasoning that swearing wouldn''t help her anyway, she switched to Amane.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who could hate him,¡± she answered in a very sad voice. ¡°Gentle, kind, smart. Everyone loved him, really.¡±


    Amane sobbed faintly. Kusogami noticed this and quietly waved his hand to Karina. Koizaki returned to his seat, probably not to get in the way.


    ¡°Shinaku-chan,¡± he said in a responsible tone, ¡°You better not talk with her about Yagami-kun.¡±


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Why so?¡± not understanding, she asked.


    ¡°He was her boyfriend,¡± he said, hesitating a little. ¡°But it''s a secret.¡±


    ¡°Oooh,¡± Karina stretched out with understanding. ¡°But what''s your business in that?¡±


    He was embarrassed, but this time he did not answer, but started a fable about the mood in the team.


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± tired enough of Belyana''s fairy tales, Karina stopped him. ¡°Then, can you tell me something about Yagami-kun instead of her?¡±


    To her surprise, Kusogami''s story was slightly different. According to him, Yagami was a calculating bastard who didn¡¯t care about anything except his reputation, and he started dating Amane herself only because she was the most popular at school. At the same time, the relationship itself was also not healthy. He controlled who she talked to, how and when, forbade her almost everything that he thought was unworthy of his ideal companion. For every offense, and more often just according to his mood, he punished her with ghosting, while she running after him and apologizing, not even always realizing if she had done anything wrong. However, regarding the enemies - Yagami really was the life and soul of group, so Kusogami rated this probability as zero.


    There was a crash, followed by everyone¡¯s laughter. Turned around, Karina saw Satsuno next to Koumon''s desk - she quickly rose from the floor and, looking down, almost ran back to her desk.


    The second lesson began, although Belyana and two girls did not come back. The teacher did not care at all not only about the absence of the three students, but also about the ¡°class monitor¡±, so the lesson went on as usual.


    After it, Amane again said something to Satsuno, and she ran away. Karina wondered what it was, but Amane just looked at her, with an expression on her face that said not to poke her nose into other people''s affairs, and returned to melancholic admiring the window.


    After the third, Belyana, Manko and Chitsu returned, obviously tipsy, and Karina heard a slight smell of alcohol.


    ¡°Don''t you think that getting children to drink is already too much?¡± she asked accusingly.


    ¡°Not like I did it,¡± Belyana answered, looking at her with unhealthy shining eyes. ¡°Anyway, this is for investigation.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± said Karina with disbelief, ¡°And what have you investigated, let me ask?¡±


    ¡°That,¡± Belyana unexpectedly hiccupped, ¡°That they are not involved. They''ve been very busy all last week.¡±


    ¡°With what, exactly?¡±


    ¡°Earning some pocket money,¡± she replied as if it were a matter of course. ¡°How they able to.¡±


    ¡°I don''t even want to know the details, for some reason.¡±


    ¡°And rightly so. So let''s switch to what you have been doing all this time.¡±


    Karina spoke briefly about Koumon''s reaction and what the other boy had told her.


    ¡°So, doing nothing,¡± summed up Belyana. ¡°And how are you going to look for the one who killed Yagami?¡±


    ¡°Why do you focus on the fact that I should look for him?¡± Karina asked with displeasure.


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t sign up to do anything in your place,¡± Belyana answered in a rather cool tone.


    As they talked, Koumon poured something into Satsuno''s bag, since she was absent again. Everyone else smiled with restraint as they watched his prank.


    The fourth lesson began with Satsuno''s screeching, and the sound of a bag falling from her hands, the leaping laughter of the class, and a bunch of grasshoppers now jumping on the floor. Nobody betrayed Koumon, and the teacher seemed to never care about anything, so after five minutes, the insects were caught, and the lesson continued.


    During lunch, almost everyone fled. There are three left, not counting Belyana and Karina. Amane, who was probably just not hungry. Kusogami, with flushing cheeks, was trying to share his lunch with Amane. And Satsuno, who felt pretty much well in her corner. However, after a while, Amane approached Satsuno and began to speak in a raised voice that she was eating like a pig, with munching sound throughout the whole class, and that it would be nice if she disappear. She, did not willing to enter into a conflict, actually obeyed and took her lunchbox out of room with herself.


    About twenty minutes later, Koizaki returned with a broken nose. Although he replied that he had stumbled unsuccessfully, Kusogami ran up and talked to him quietly for the rest of the break.


    Everyone else returned near the start of next lesson. The knuckles on Koumon''s right hand were red, and Satsuno''s eyes were clearly puffy. Manko and Chitsu, it seems, somehow managed to get drunk even more, because they could no longer walk smoothly and could hardly pronounce the words.


    In the middle of the fifth lesson, the teacher finally decided to be involved in the life of the class.


    ¡°Koumon!¡± he exclaimed angrily.


    Koumon himself lay with his forehead on the desk just asleep, or so it seemed like. The teacher, completely tactlessly, sharply raised Koumon¡¯s head, which carefully chewed its own intestines, staining himself all over with something dark olive colored mixed with blood. On his lap lay a liver, already half eaten, and an ordinary pen, with which he somehow managed to pierce his stomach without emitting a squeak. But judging by the fact that all the internal organs were bare, he also helped himself with his hands.


    Kusogami and Koizaki ran up to the teacher to help carry Koumon away. He only resisted what prevented him from continuing his meal, so they simply dragged him across the floor, grabbing him by the shoulders. The lesson was temporarily interrupted.


    Manko and Chitsu were just having fun, saying in tangled tongues that it¡¯s just fine, everyone is already tired of him anyway.


    ¡°So what?¡± Belyana asked Karina. ¡°Shall we wait until there is only one left?¡±


    ¡°You never said!¡± she exclaimed involuntarily, but reined in herself when everyone turned, continuing quietly after. ¡°Although I could already get used to it. And how do you suggest that I deal with this? Strangle some Satsuno?¡±


    ¡°Why her?¡±


    ¡°Well, they threw insects into her bag. Isn''t that a reason?¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Beliana answered accusingly. ¡°Not everyone is destined to be detectives. She is not the one¡±


    ¡°As if you know who is,¡± Karina said almost through her teeth.


    ¡°Not so much choice here. But it''s up to you,¡± she threw up her hands.


    Karina thought about it. Looked consistently at everyone in the class, and, nevertheless, decided to stick to the original idea, going up to Satsuno.


    ¡°Satsuno-chan,¡± Karina turned loudly enough that the others heard it and looked in her direction, and Satsuno herself shuddered, looking up. ¡°Why did you kill him?¡±


    She jumped up and just ran out of the class, accidentally hitting Karina, leaving a wet trail of tears on her shoulder. Belyana only giggled, shaking her head disapprovingly.


    ¡°Well, so nice of you to make a child cry.¡±


    The last lesson began on schedule, to another surprise of Karina at how much everyone does not care about anything happening around. Only Satsuno was absent.


    When it ended, going to the toilet, Karina discovered Satsuno herself. On a loop, twisted from a rather thin rope, she, half-sitting, hung from the window, behind the closed frame of which the rope was hooked. Her face and palms were crimson, and all her hands were streaked, made already small pools of dark blood onto the floor.


    ¡°You killed her,¡± Belyana whispered in her ear, who had come from nowhere, giggling when Karina shuddered.


    ¡°Yah you.¡±


    They waited for the teachers, and then at a slow pace walked down the corridor. Karina tried to figure out who was to blame, and Belyana, well, was Belyana.


    ¡°What does Amane have to do with it?¡± she asked. ¡°Do you continue to choose at random? Even playing a "mafia" should be guided by at least something.¡±


    ¡°Well, look,¡± Karina answered, ¡°She was rude to Satsuno and, probably, constantly told her nasty things. Plus, the jerk on the boyfriend. And Koumon just pissed off everyone - anyone would have killed him if could go unpunished.¡±


    ¡°And on what did you base the conclusion that it was Satsuno then?¡± Belyana asked rightly. ¡°She had nothing to do with Yagami. What is the difference now?¡±


    ¡°Fair point.¡± Karina, having flared up at first, nevertheless admitted it. "Then only Kusogami and Koizaki remain?" Or the fact that your newly-made friends have nothing to do with this, nothing more than another stupid joke on me?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t, they don¡¯t,¡± she replied. ¡°Although, given how you draw conclusions, I suppose I¡¯ll do it instead of you. I''m already bored, and from the very beginning it was not fun at all. Kusogami is one.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What does he have to do with any of the three?¡±


    ¡°First, we''ll deal with him, everything else will be after,¡± Belyana stopped her, opening the door to their class.


    Manko and Chitsu, already completely losing all sense of where they were, simply kissed, shamelessly pawing each other. Koizaki had already fled somewhere, while Amane and Kusogami were gathering their bags.


    ¡°Kusogami-kun,¡± Belyana turned to him barely audibly.


    He turned around, goggled almost cartoonishly and trembled, pressing himself into the wall, hoping to fall into it.


    ¡°Search him all,¡± she said to Karina. ¡°He must have a black notebook.¡±


    Having searched the entire briefcase and switched to him, she pulled the notebook out of his trouser leg, handing it over to Belyana. She flipped through it and nodded in confirmation.


    ¡°And we have nothing else to do here.¡±


    ¡°In terms of? Doesn''t he need to be handed over somewhere?¡± Karina was surprised. ¡°And anyway, why did he tremble?¡±


    ¡°Oh, this,¡± as if wondering whether to answer, she slowed down. ¡°I just showed him the perspective from which the whole field of vision is occupied by my names. All toys have their drawbacks, what can I tell.¡±


    While they were walking towards the exit from the building, Belyana told Karina about what her conclusions were based on.


    ¡°Well, let''s say Kusogami, in love with Amane, killed two birds with one stone, relieving her of constant stress, and himself from a competitor. Koumon beat his friend, for which he took revenge on him,¡± summed up Karina. ¡°And how is it better if there is no connection with Satsuno?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Belyana asked with feigned surprise. ¡°Didn''t I tell you that you killed her? Amazing bouts of ignorance in situations in which you are the last one who should have suffered from them. There will be no explanation.¡±


    As soon as they left the school, Belyana immediately took off her shoes and socks and put them in her bag.


    ¡°Okay, maybe I''ll figure it out,¡± Karina sighed, and then pointed to Belyana¡¯s bare feet. ¡°But at least, why is this?¡±


    ¡°Wow!¡± exclaimed satisfied Belyana, sat down and stroked the ground. ¡°I just want to always feel her. How polite of you to never ask before!¡±


    ¡°You''re just insane, aren''t you?¡± she asked doomily, receiving only another mad laugh in response.


    When she reached someone''s house on the road, Belyana stopped.


    ¡°Now, don''t look here,¡± she said, starting to pull the lens out of her left eye.


    Of course she did. Who wouldn¡¯t? Behind the lens was a completely normal reddish, depigmented eye, which isn''t such a surprise considering the hair color. However, Karina immediately fell with a twisted face, curled up in a bagel, and all her skin was covered with small pink drops.


    ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m talking to the wall,¡± sighed Belyana. ¡°Endure it now.¡±


    She, in a hurry, looked around the space, after which, under the sound of static discharges, pierced the air with her hand that had disappeared from this world to the elbow. Following, she immediately pulled out a humanoid creature, looked like a black-and-gray clown, dressed in leather clothes, wrapped in clinking chains, and she immediately closed her eye.


    Karina was finally able to breathe, gasping for air.


    ¡°What the hell is this?!¡± the clown yelled in a loud bass, not understanding what had happened.


    ¡°No, dear, what the hell is this?¡± Belyana asked, waving notebook in front of him.


    ¡°Notebook,¡± less surprised, he replied.


    ¡°Oh, really? I thought it was your mother. I asking, how did it get here? Isn¡¯t I¡¯m politely asked any of you not to get in the way?¡±


    ¡°And who the hell are you, to talk with me like that?!¡± the clown yelled in rage.


    Belyana massaged the bridge of her nose with two fingers, but apparently this did not help, so she grabbed him by the face and dragged him through the door of the house opposite which they were standing.


    ¡°Stupid Shinigami,¡± she said angrily, returning back a moment later, but now alone.


    ¡°Is that blood?¡± asked Karina, who came to herself a little, seeing how something very similar to it flowed down from Belyana.


    ¡°Nah,¡± she replied, undressing right in the middle of the street. ¡°Gods don''t bleed.¡±


    ¡°For some reason, today I don¡¯t want to know anything else,¡± Karina muttered wearily. ¡°However, the infinity of needles tearing the body to pieces kind of refreshing. With Satsuno case, at least. Should we leave the whole class of moral freaks as they are?


    ¡°And this is no longer our business,¡± Belyana replied with a shrug.


    Before going further, Karina, driven by curiosity, tried to look out the door, but it was locked. Giggling Belyana suggested pulling harder so that the sand would sprinkle, but Karina didn¡¯t. It was, after all, an ordinary apartment building.

 04 Not so heavy

    The sunshine was barely visible through the overcast sky. A light breeze fluttered Belyana''s thin dress, now pale blue colored, and her dirty bandage was replaced by an eye patch with a floral ornament. No birds could be heard, no rustling of leaves. They were not even visible - one and two-story buildings, arranged in a checkerboard pattern, occupied all the streets. Wherever you look, not a single green island was there.


    People, instead of walking, jumped on one leg. One of them caught up with Karina, but instead of jumping past, he stopped. He raised his hands up, clenched his hands into fists three times, let out an inarticulate yell and stared at her. Realizing that he would not get the same from her, with disgust on his face, he spat at her feet and only after that he jumped away. When this happened again, Karina decided to ask the first old woman she came across ¡°what, in fact, was the matter.¡±


    ¡°Youth are completely brazen,¡± she muttered under her breath and with a loud sound, collecting all the saliva and mucus from her throat into her mouth, spat in Karina¡¯s face.


    This time Belyana could not stand it anymore and laughed.


    ¡°And what''s so funny about it?¡± Karina asked, grimacing and wiping her cheek with a handkerchief.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Belyana replied, narrowing her eyes. ¡°Do you want to ask me why I''m narrow-eyed?¡±


    ¡°What does this have to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Well, you pester anyone if something seems strange to you.¡±


    ¡°They spit on me!¡± she exclaimed.


    ¡°And the bonobo would have tried to have sex with you,¡± Belyana answered.


    ¡°Nice try,¡± Karina said irritably. ¡°Monkeys are monkeys. They are dumb and can''t talk.¡±


    ¡°And who told you that?¡±


    The deafening ringing of a bell interrupted their conversation. People began to come out, or rather, jump out of the buildings doors, disappearing into the crowd. Karina and Belyana decided to join the flow, heading to the center of a small town.


    A fair number of people had already gathered in the round square. In the center, on a raised platform where one would have expected some kind of monument, sat someone tied to a chair. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was half open - if not for the loud ringing, you could hear him snoring lightly. From the very same platform stretched a lot of ropes, which turned out to be leashes with cats.


    The ringing has stopped. The last to come were the people in gray robes, lined up. Each of them, taking a cat, sat down on the ground. Someone stroked the cats, someone scratched behind the ears. One of these people went up to the pedestal - apparently, there was a ladder behind, which was not visible from this side. There was deathly silence.


    ¡°At this hour and this day,¡± he spoke loudly enough for his voice to be heard in any part of the square, ¡°We are gathered to mark the end of the old world and the beginning of a new one! Exactly one year ago, God died, and his army was defeated! And a new God has come to replace him!¡±


    He put his hand on the head of the man sleeping on the chair.


    ¡°And, although, our Lord left us because of our sins, he still guides us! He sees everything and hears everything! Let us cleanse ourselves so that he forgives us and returns to us!¡±


    ¡°Let''s cleansed!¡± the crowd yelled in unison.


    Hundreds of people in gray robes raised above their heads cats, completely unhappy with such treatment. To the accompaniment of rhythmic cries, they lowered the little animals to chest level, pulled out knives from their belts and cut open the squealing cats, from neck to crotch.


    ¡°What the fu¡­¡± the stunned Karina even began to speak out loud, but the clatter and screams completely swallowed her voice.


    People, pushing each other, rushed forward, falling to their knees and licking blood from the ground. Those who were in robes joined the feast, but they preferred to eat the insides of the cats.


    ¡°We won¡¯t get through,¡± Belyana said unhappily, looking with disgust at the raging crowd. ¡°Try it from here, we''re close enough.¡±


    Pale Karina, with her hand on her mouth, turned her back to the square and began to breathe deeply through her nose, probably trying to suppress nausea. Only this made it even worse - a distinct smell of blood was added to the mournful meow, muffled by the champing of people.


    "It''s impossible," she answered, trying to breathe and speak through her palms. ¡°I can''t take my mind off.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± Belyana answered with understanding, ¡°Plan ¡®B¡¯.¡±


    She cleared her throat softly before yelling at the top of her voice.


    ¡°People! Your moms are dirty sluts who spread their legs for cookies! How do you even live with congenital syphilis?!¡±


    Although it seemed unbelievable, the crowd turned away from their meal, and with faces full of hatred, roaring loudly, they galloped on one leg after Belyana, who was running away from the square with insane cackle.


    Only the dying cats remained, wheezing rather than meowing. Karina, trying not to look under her feet, went up upstairs to the pedestal. Estimated the height of the chair by eye, she realized that she would not reach it that way. Helping herself with her teeth, she loosened the strong knots of ropes, after which, puffing, she removed the wizard and laid him on the surface. She herself lay down next to him, because this time there would be no one to catch her - if she started to fall, a broken head would be provided. She closed her eyes and habitually touched the wizard''s forehead with her finger.


    A ticking sound broke the silence of the darkness. Karina saw a long glass corridor, in which many gears were spinning behind each wall. It ended with a large round crossroad, diverging into dozens of other paths, to which the puzzled Karina approached in turn. She listened, peered and even sniffed, but did not see any difference between them. So she did what any other adult would have done in her place.


    ¡°A crescent came out of the fog, he took a knife out of his gob,¡± at each word, pointing her finger at one of the passages, she began to read a rhyme, ¡°I will cut you, I will whale - either way, you must to play.¡±


    Although the counting rhyme was not even enough to cover even a quarter, Karina did not care about this - nodding to herself, she set off along the road chosen by chance.


    At the exit a village appeared, full of life and greenery. Children jumped on the rake, getting hit on the forehead with the hilt, laughing, repeating it over and over. There were grown-ups outside some houses, endlessly hammering nails into doorframes. Each hammered nail caused the previous one to pop out of the wood, resulting in people having to re-hammer the same nails. At other houses, people, with whole families, hung bizarre decorations. In the process, they uttered various spells, some fragments of which, reaching Karina, made it possible to understand that they were talking about protection from all sorts of disasters. Dogs and livestock walked in circles, looking piteously at their owners, when they came into their line of sight. Those whom the owners endowed with attention ran away to eat contentedly, and the rest, barely seeing this, began to make senseless circles with even greater frenzy.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    One old man, with deep, deep wrinkles, noticed Karina and went to her. Each step created his sand copy behind him, but only for a second, after which it crumbled, turning into a sandy path. In his hand he held a hammer, the same as that used by the local population. Approached, he explicitly invited her to join the others, holding out the hammer to her.


    ¡°No, tha¡­¡± she wanted to politely refuse, but everything around her immediately fell silent, and people and animals glared at her angrily. ¡°Seriously?¡±


    The old man shrugged his shoulders, and the world around Karina spun like a carousel. Before she even realized what had happened, her whole body began to shake rhythmically, as if she was inside a pan, on which someone was banging with a ladle. From the blows, between which not even a second passed, she seemed to explode from the inside. She tried to see or hear anything, but she couldn''t even distract herself from the vibrating thunder.


    The familiar face of the old man flickered across the blurred world, then immediately changed to the shaking of the impact again. Karina, making a bet on this, tried to bend as much as possible in one of the directions, not really understanding where they were in general in this space.


    ¡°Motherfucker!¡± the yelling old man began to blow hard on his fingers, on which he charged with a hammer.


    Karina, in the form of a nail with eyes, began to wriggle like a caterpillar, methodically twisting herself out of the plank. In the end, she succeeded, but instead of the ground, she fell into the sky.


    The flight did not last long, but she managed to regain her human form before landing on a cloud. Fearing a sudden fall back, she crawled from the bottom of the cloud to its top, only there rising to her full height.


    High-rise roads were thrown between the clouds. The transition from one floor to another was carried out on concrete stairs - people even went up and down them. In the distance, tall buildings were visible, looking like megacities in their aggregation.


    A huge garbage mountain was slowly crawling past Karina. Surprised, she began to examine it, going around it for a long time from one side, then from the other, but did not find anything strange, except for its movement.


    ¡°Cuckoo,¡± she turned to the last resort, calling out to the mountain itself.


    It stopped. An approaching rustle was heard, followed by the wizard''s head sticking out from under the mountain, with veins puffed out at the temples and forehead from the effort.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Mmm, why are you carrying this?¡± Karina asked, a little hesitant.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well, this garbage,¡± she pointed to the mountain with her hand.


    ¡°There is no garbage here!¡± suddenly yelled head, splashing saliva. ¡°Maybe you''re garbage?¡±


    Directly above Karina, in the air, another huge pile appeared, immediately collapsing on top of her. Under it weight, Karina was flattened on the hard surface of the cloud.


    ¡°But,¡± she lifted herself up on her hands to get enough air, ¡°What''s the point of that?¡± half of the mountain immediately disappeared, and Karina was able to sit down, albeit with difficulty. ¡°If this isn''t garbage, then what is it?¡±


    ¡°These are necessary things,¡± the wizard answered in surprise. ¡°They make me who I am.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t it heavy? Is it worth holding on to something that won''t even let you stand?¡± the rest of the mountain evaporated, completely freeing Karina. ¡°See? And nothing has changed in me because everything ¡®necessary¡¯ has disappeared.¡±


    ¡°Or maybe you''re just an ill-mannered bitch?¡± condemningly asked the head. ¡°You are discarding what whole generations of ancestors gave you.¡±


    ¡°My ancestors only gave me nine years of antipsychotics,¡± she replied calmly. ¡°Besides, think for yourself, what such an important could give you ancestors, in whose order of things was only to slaughter each other with whole nations?¡±


    ¡°Wisdom and knowledge!¡± exclaimed the wizard, rejecting to admit the obvious.


    ¡°This is what science gave us. And the victory over the fear that we experience when faced with the unknown,¡± Karina was drawn in to such an extent that she was already shamelessly lecturing the wizard. ¡°Of course, the ancestors passed on knowledge. Don''t touch this, respect that. Sometimes make a sacrifice to someone, in the hope that this will help to avoid encountering natural disasters. It is useful when you are a tribe of fifty people, and everything that you know about the world can be written down in the palm of your hand, but not more than that¡±


    "You are an ill-mannered bitch after all!" the head screamed again. ¡°Get out of here! Out!¡±


    Karina came closer, pulled out a random box and looked into it. Under the wizard''s frantic screams for her to put it back in place, she showed the box to him.


    ¡°Well, what''s in it?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Nothing¡­¡± the wizard answered in a defeatist tone.


    ¡°And what''s the point in those where there is even nothing?¡± Karina smiled softly. ¡°Get rid of them, you won''t lose anything at all.¡±


    Gritting his teeth, he nevertheless admitted that she was right. Now his mountain has shrunk by half.


    ¡°Its lighter, isn''t it? she asked, pulling out another box, under another doomed wail of the wizard. ¡°And what¡¯s here?¡±


    ¡°Do not pass objects through the door threshold,¡± as if he said something sane, he replied.


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Umm,¡± he hesitated.


    ¡°That''s what I''m talking about. Why do you need a bunch of incomprehensible stuff that you can¡¯t even explain yourself?¡±


    The mountain had shrunk noticeably, but was still imposing. Karina reached for the next box.


    ¡°All right, stop,¡± the mage said. ¡°I understand what you mean, that¡¯s enough.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, you will have to get rid of everything,¡± Karina replied coldly. ¡°Or you can wake up on your own, although I have no idea how¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    "Exactly," she replied, pulling out of the box a gentleman''s code, ten thousand pages thick, almost entirely consisting of contradictory theses. ¡°Will you read it yourself or with my help again?¡±


    And so it went on until the last box remained, around which the wizard curled up like a snake, refusing to let her in.


    ¡°Come on, how long have we been here already?¡± Karina asked with displeasure, trying to find at least some gap in the wizards''s perfect defense. ¡°Are you still refusing to accept, that there is nothing worth attention among them at all?¡±


    ¡°Leave! Shh! Ugh!¡± he waved his hands, cursed and bit her hands, when Karina tried to capture this fortress in one way or another.


    Quite tired, she just sat down, glaring at the mage.


    ¡°I can force you, you know?¡± she said with a sigh.


    ¡°Even if I die, I won''t give it!¡±


    ¡°Are you completely idiot?¡± Karina even raised her eyebrows. ¡°Fine, I promise I won''t call the content useless if you show it.¡±


    Lightning struck nearby, rippling through the cloud. A luminous lake appeared under Karina, ready at any moment to repay her with an eternity of pain, if the promise was broken.


    The wizard hesitated a little, but nevertheless agreed and opened the box.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Karina was furious, but the need to choose her words carefully kept her in line. ¡°You better answer, do you love them?¡±


    ¡°That''s why I''m protecting it!¡± exclaimed the offended mage.


    ¡°Will your feelings for your parents disappear if you are not obliged to love them?¡± she asked, glancing apprehensively at the lake, but it didn''t move. ¡°You either have feelings or you don''t. You can¡¯t command your heart.¡±


    Wizard thought.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably true,¡± he finally said.


    Karina had already taken a breath to yell at him, but the box in the mage''s hands began to crumble, so she only let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Was it worth such perseverance?¡± she asked rhetorically and emerged from his mind without waiting for an answer.


    Karina and the wizard opened their eyes at the same time. The mage, clearly disoriented, slowly sat up and looked around.


    ¡°Welcome home!¡± Belyana shouted as she climbed the stairs. Her lips were tightly compressed, and through her nose, every now and then, with gusts of air came out suppressed chuckles.


    The man did not understand where he was, so all Belyana''s clowning turned out to be fruitless. Karina caught something familiar, watching how Belyana makes fun of the mage, who looked with empty eyes first around, then at the source of the voice.


    ¡°Am I also that stupid?¡± she asked doomily.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Belyana answered, first surprised, and then laughing.


    The streets of the town they were leaving were now empty. Not a single soul, not a movement. Only a symphony of vomiting, at one moment from single building, at another from several at once, brightened up the silence, reminding that someone lives here.


    ¡°Still, why cats?¡± Karina asked sadly. ¡°Couldn¡¯t they have chosen something ugly?¡±


    ¡°No one is ugly,¡± answered Belyana. ¡°And cats ... Once there were ten times more of them here than people. Just bad luck of them,¡± she shrugged. ¡°The sad fate of those whom people considered valuable. A sacrifice is a sacrifice, because its loss must mean something to the one who brings it.¡±


    ¡°They should¡¯ve cut off their hands instead...¡±


    ¡°Sooner or later they would come to this anyway.¡±


    Karina just now noticed a few neat little holes in Belyana''s dress.


    ¡°By the way, what is it?¡± she asked, pointing her finger at her find. ¡°It didn¡¯t exist recently.¡±


    ¡°Unexpectedly, some of humans turned out to have a firearm,¡± Belyana answered imperturbably. ¡°It¡¯s even a pity in fact, but an extra reminder that I shouldn¡¯t get used to things.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±

 05 Who cares?

    The dim lights of candles snatched out of the darkness the wooden walls and the huge stove. On a table in the corner of the room, there were many clay and glass vessels, as well as several strange devices. The floorboards creaked under my steps. I very slowly carried a glass plate with two puddles of different colors, trying not to spill it, and put it on the table.


    I pulled one of the instruments towards me. Its wooden pipe looked directly at a clay stage covered with a mirror surface, and on its sides were two more small movable mirrors.


    I attached the plate on the pallet. With a miniature spoon, scooped up a transparent, viscous liquid from a glass vessel and dripped it into a small hole in a wooden tube. Then moved two candles closer, looked into the tube and, using mirrors, directed the light onto the pallet so that candles can illuminate the entire plate.


    The transparent puddle was all dotted with barely visible web-like lines. The thick dark yellow consisted of thick sticks that jerkily jumped away from the web, clustering as far as possible from it. In the place where the two liquids were in contact with each other, no visible traces of life were left.


    "I found it," I whispered softly, and then, laughing, I shouted, "I found it!"


    There was a knock at the door. Opening it, I saw one man right on the porch, and a dozen more standing at a distance. It was a cloudy night outside, so only torches lit them.


    "I found a cure!" I joyfully shared with them, expecting their happiness from the fact that the nightmare that has engulfed the whole world will finally end.


    The men whispered about something, after which they crossed themselves, and the one who stood in the aisle did the same. Immediately after that, he grabbed me, squeezing so hard that it was impossible to breathe. Everyone else immediately rushed to his aid, tying my legs and arms.


    ¡°Hey, wait,¡± by some miracle I managed to squeeze out. ¡°Listen!¡±


    "Enough of your devilry, witch," the man holding me said angrily.


    ¡°You hangs around with demons and desecrate the bodies of the dead,¡± the one who tied my legs said no less angrily. ¡°She herself cursed the village, but pretends like she cares!¡±


    ¡°Shut her up before she puts a spell on us,¡± said in horror the one who was binding my hands.


    Someone pushed a rag into my mouth. Sickening smell.


    Having finished with the limbs, they wrapped the body as well. Wrapped in a good faith - I could not move a finger. The one who knocked on the door picked me up and threw me into the hut, afraid even to accidentally step on the door threshold. The sound of a door slamming, the sound of nailing into the door. What are they doing? Are they really that crazy?


    I looked around. Even if I crawl to the window, I won''t be able to get through it - it''s too small. Is there another way out?


    The nailing stopped. There was a soft crackle. So it''s worse than I thought. Crawl like a caterpillar to the knife? Hell, I can''t even move a little.


    It''s already hot. Maybe at least one of them will feel sorry for me? There is no time and foolishness to hope for it. But I can''t do anything either. I don''t want to die, especially like this!


    Billions of knives pierced my feet. Mooing through the nose instead of screaming. Be patient! I''ve had worse.


    The rope with one of the knots finally burned, I felt that my legs were no longer tied. I tried to spread them apart, but they didn¡¯t obey. The acrid smoke corroded my eyes and nostrils. I tried to wriggle out to see why it wasn¡¯t working, but instead of legs I found charred meat, even slightly smoldering. What did I expect?


    A quiet whisper swept around. I listened in the hope that I would at least be able to lose myself in a hallucination.


    ¡°That''s not you. This is not your memory. It never happened to you, you were never here. Remember who you are and where you are before it''s too late,¡± repeated in an endless stream.


    I don¡¯t understand. What does it mean? Red eye. Huh? Directly in front of me, an eyeball hung in the air, with a loose nerve dangling. Familiar. At the same moment I noticed it, the world began to blur.


    ***


    Under the starry sky, right on the ground, Karina was sitting on her knees, trembling and wet, muttering something under her breath, in a voice interrupted by the chatter of teeth. Belyana hugged her from behind and whispered something, practically leaning her lips against Karina¡¯s ear. Nearby were two large buckets of water.


    Karina slowly opened her eyes. Belyana, noticing this, immediately moved away, grabbed one of the buckets and turned it over her. She, very inhibited, turned to face Belyana, blinked slowly, after which she tried to be indignant, however, this also turned out very slowly.


    ¡°Aaare¡­ Youuu¡­ Aaa¡­ Duuumb?¡± she was about to say something else, but before she could open her mouth, she immediately fell down, just falling asleep.


    ¡°And who of us really dumb here?¡± only thing Belyana asked into the void.


    Karina met the dawn with a second bucket of water, carefully splashed by Belyana on her. She immediately jumped up, intending to fret and fume, but met only laughter.


    ¡°Let''s assume that now you''re all here,¡± said Belyana. ¡°What is the last thing you remember before an exciting trip to nowhere?¡±


    ¡°Holes from bullets ...¡± finally realizing where she was, Karina answered. ¡°And by the way, where are they?¡± she asked when noticed that they are no longer exist.


    ¡°Just minus a year,¡± she said thoughtfully. ¡°Still, you''re damn lucky. If you had sunk a little deeper - I would have been forced to leave you here.¡±


    ¡°Minus year?¡± she came to realize what she had heard. ¡°What was it anyway?¡±


    ¡°Just someone''s very curious nose decided to look where it shouldn''t,¡± Belyana answered sarcastically. ¡°I hope you had enough fun to never repeat this act.¡±


    ¡°Why would I even try to get inside your head?¡± Karina asked incredulously.


    ¡°Who knows? It would be easier to list the reasons not to do this, which obviously were not enough for you.¡±


    ¡°And yet, what was it?¡± Karina did not let up.


    ¡°A circus performance for uninvited guests,¡± Belyana answered. ¡°Or maybe a reminiscence, who can tell in this days?¡±


    ¡°And you still claim that you''re not crazy?¡±


    ¡°I never said that,¡± she giggled.


    It took them about half a day to get to their destination. The city met them with walls 30 meters high, no less.


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°The purpose of the visit and duration?¡± asked at the entrance a man in a cap, acting as a border guard.


    ¡°Tourism,¡± Belyana imperturbably lied. ¡°No more than a day.¡±


    ¡°Weapons, drugs?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No, nothing like that.¡±


    ¡°Come in,¡± the border guard replied.


    Metal detector frame. Full body x-ray machine. Disinfection chamber. New clothes, folded in an even pile - gray nondescript pajamas. Prick in the neck.


    "Ouch," Karina cried out. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Temporary document and tracking system,¡± the woman in the white medical coat replied as if it was normal. ¡°Without them, entry is prohibited. They will dissolve into blood an hour after you leave the city, don''t worry.¡±


    All the people on the streets wore the same pajamas. Tall buildings around, blocking the light of the sun, between which there are sometimes shops and cafes.


    Karina took a deep breath, already missing the gasoline stink of big cities, but she didn¡¯t feel anything. Soon the reason became obvious - there was not a single car in the city from which an exhaust pipe would stick out. And on every corner there was a road sign promising exorbitant fines for air pollution.


    ¡°Boring safety again?¡± Belyana asked sadly, rather from herself.


    ¡°Looks like it,¡± Karina almost confirmed, ¡°But not really. There are no cameras anywhere and collars seem to be only put on strangers. This blue mark is too noticeable, but passers-by don¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°Seems true,¡± Belyana confirmed. ¡°Amazing power of observation for a vegetable.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± not believing her ears, asked Karina.


    ¡°I say - it seems to be true. Cameras and collars are at least unforgettable.¡±


    Karina looked at her, but even if Belyana scoffed, this time she did not show it.


    ¡°Excuse me, please,¡± one of the passers-by addressed Karina, ¡°Is your companion bothering you?¡±


    ¡°I can hear it, by the way,¡± Belyana answered instead of her, but the man did not react to this in any way.


    ¡°Although it itches to say ¡®yes¡¯, but no,¡± Karina answered with a disapproving glance at Belyana. ¡°She''s always like that.¡±


    ¡°Forgive me if I offended you,¡± he said, bowing slightly to Belyana, after which he turned back to Karina. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Karina, indeed, looked rather pale.


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine what business it is for you,¡± she answered after thinking, ¡°But if you insist, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have a place with a good food.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry,¡± the passer-by reassured her. ¡°I just have a list of good deeds for every day. I know the place, let''s go!¡±


    Street changed street. Smooth paths, defibrillators every hundred meters. Each inscription on each wall is duplicated in braille. Here the blind old man is about to cross the street, and everyone who noticed him vyingly offers to help him. There, someone was tired of carrying a heavy bag, and already one of the passers-by fussed over to help him.


    Finally they came. Their escort fled before they could say anything to him.


    Inside was a feast of balance. Not too bright and not too dim light, not too loud and not too quiet classical music. There were not too many tables with people, but their number was enough not to feel uncomfortable. Even the design itself was, in its own way, a contract between tradition and innovation. Although, there were no prices on the menu, so Karina had to call the waiter.


    ¡°Excuse me, but where are the price tags?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you forgive me,¡± he answered in a tone, as if apologizing for a monstrous insult, not otherwise. ¡°This establishment is only for visitors living outside our city, so everything is free.¡±


    ¡°What is the connection?¡± rightly asked Karina.


    The waiter hesitated, but answered anyway.


    ¡°People from the outside come in different incomes,¡± he carefully chose his words, apparently trying not to upset anyone, ¡°And we can¡¯t identify it by appearance, so the owner decided that this was the best option.¡±


    Karina did not understand the logic behind it, but she placed the order anyway. Belyana limited herself to water.


    ¡°Why are we here?¡± Karina asked her.


    ¡°How is it, why? You are gluttonous, like a pig,¡± Belyana answered, pointing her finger at her.


    ¡°I mean,¡± she said displeasedly, ¡°Why are we in this city? Why not leave everything as it is? Who is bad for this?¡±


    ¡°And why did you even decide that what you see is good?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, because I still have something to compare with? So do you, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Think about it,¡± Belyana said, resting her cheek on her hand. ¡°Let''s take for example the owner of this establishment, who feeds everyone for free. Who will feed him?¡±


    ¡°Any of the people who will notice that he is starving?¡± Karina asked, not understanding what Belyana was leading to. ¡°Or anyone he asks about it?¡±


    ¡°And who will feed the next one? And the next one? And then continue the chain to a link that cannot help anyone. What will it do?¡±


    ¡°And who said that there would be such a link at all?¡± rightly said Karina.


    ¡°Although it is obvious that this is exactly what will happen, but still this is not the question,¡± Belyana sighed. ¡°The question is what will the one who cannot help in any way do. Finish your meal already, it''s even more boring than the safety slaves.¡±


    After finishing their meal, they went through many surveys from the staff on how much they liked it here and whether everything suited them. It was only after this protracted exchange of pleasantries that they were able to return to the street. Karina looked pleased, while Belyana clearly expressed her disgust at what she witnessed.


    ¡°You know, you could at least pretend,¡± Karina told her accusingly.


    ¡°Also I could have three boobs,¡± she grumbled. ¡°If you can''t benefit somehow from it, there¡¯s no reason to pretend. And if they want to be licked, then they are free to do it themselves.¡±


    After that, Belyana did not utter a word until they reached the building, surrounded by people with machine guns around the perimeter.


    ¡°Guys!¡± she called to them. ¡°We need to go inside, let us in!¡±


    ¡°Forgive me, please,¡± one of them replied as he ran up to her. ¡°This is a protected facility and no one is allowed here.¡±


    ¡°We really need it,¡± although her expression was plaintive, her eyes shone mischievously. ¡°If we don¡¯t get inside, we will be very sick, we won¡¯t be able to sleep, and I might even die!¡±


    The guard''s eyes flickered in shame. Several times he tried to say something, but immediately stopped.


    ¡°Fine, but just for a while, I''ll show you the way,¡± finally giving up, he sighed.


    ¡°See?¡± Belyana asked Karina. ¡°The most guarded object in this city is the passage yard. Get here at least someone with bad intentions, and it will end very sadly. And even a beacon will not help them until they vote as a whole community that getting rid of the pest is the lesser of the evils.


    ¡°You are a mood killer, after all,¡± Karina answered sadly.


    ¡°Excuse me, where is your destination?¡± the guard asked them as they approached the door.


    ¡°In the place to which you attached all this unhealthy structure,¡± Belyana answered.


    The corridors of the building were like a huge maze. It is not known how long ago they were built, but the concrete walls were already moldy. The passages turned, went up and down, sometimes forks. Without an escort, Belyana and Karina would definitely get lost.


    ¡°We arrived,¡± said the guard, stopping at the iron door. ¡°I''ll wait here for you.¡±


    The situation inside was rather unexpected. Carpets on the walls. Lots of cabinets with glass doors filled with all sorts of crystal tableware. Even though it was clear from the dust that the room had been abandoned for a long time, it still exuded some kind of nostalgic coziness. Right in the middle of the room stood a large pink crystal branching out into sharp spikes. Inside it was part of the dining table, on which there was even a plate with half-eaten dinner, and also a chair on which a smiling old woman was sitting.


    And here is an object lesson,¡± said Belyana.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°The compassionate old lady, having come to the conclusion that this is the best option, simply killed herself to ensure that her domain would remain here forever. And the most unpleasant thing is that this line of magicians was interrupted on it. Who knows if this one little god will ever reincarnate.¡±


    ¡°And what, it will truly remain?¡± the only thing that Karina paid attention to.


    ¡°Hobbyhorse, huh...¡± Belyana sadly answered. ¡°It will remain if no one touches a crystal. However, the fate of all who are under it influence is right before your eyes.¡±


    ¡°Is it possible, somehow, I don¡¯t know, to leave the domain and so that they don¡¯t end up like that?¡±


    Belyana defiantly twisted her fingers in her ears, as if they were blocked, and asked Karina to repeat.


    ¡°Maybe you yourself will stay here to run after each of them and dissuade them?¡± Belyana asked irritably. ¡°I don''t really care. If you want, stay. If you want, we''ll leave the crystal here. You want - all at once. One way or another, any of the decisions are yours. If you expect that I will also stay, so that you will not be bored in this swamp - you really shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°And why are you always so mean?¡± Karina asked sadly. ¡°I didn¡¯t even ask about this, but is there a third option.¡±


    ¡°For kindness - you can listen to folk tales. However, even they will surprise you unpleasantly - you are unlikely to have heard at least one that was not spoiled by hypocritical censorship,¡± Belyana answered. ¡°And I have already voiced the third option and so - get rid of the domain in any of the ways.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. And how to get rid of it?¡± she tapped the crystal with her hand, from which there was a specific iron ringing. ¡°What kind of crap is this?¡±


    ¡°Fire with fire. Although in this case your power is useless. I''ll just take it with me.¡±


    ¡°But you are also a wizard,¡± Karina was surprised. ¡°Why carry such a hulk?¡±


    ¡°Here everything is a little more complicated, but let¡¯s tell I''m not going to carry it.¡±


    Belyana took hold of the crystal with her hand, and there was a familiar electrical crackle. One movement of the hand on herself - and the old woman disappeared, and the dining table collapsed with a crash.


    ¡°Well, at least I¡¯ll ask now,¡± Karina said. ¡°What was it?¡±


    ¡°A shortcut,¡± Belyana''s gloomy expression was replaced by a chuckle.


    ¡°I see,¡± wrinkling her nose, she answered, after which she mumbled, ¡°As if I should have expected something else.¡±

 06 Purity of will

    ¡°Even from here it stinks of shit,¡± Karina said, grimacing at the breeze. ¡°Maybe just ditch it?¡±


    An overgrown road led to a rotten wooden palisade. The midday sunlight, even from afar, clearly picked out the offensive brown graffiti on the walls. On the road sign, instead of the name of the town, someone''s signature flaunted, clearly interrupting several previous ones.


    ¡°Wow,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°What have you done with my Karina? Do you think it will dissolve on its own?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± she hesitated. ¡°But the place is just ugly.¡±


    In the middle of the open gates, squatting, was a grubby, stocky, half-naked man. At first glance, it might seem that he was just tired, but in fact he defecated right on the road. Hearing footsteps, he raised his head to see the source of the sound.


    ¡°What the hell are you looking at, herring?¡± with a taunt, he asked. ¡°Have you never seen a person shitting? Get the fuck out of here.¡±


    ¡°You actually sat down in the aisle,¡± Karina answered, ignoring his tone. ¡°You don''t want to move?¡±


    ¡°What the fuck? Come here, whore!¡± he barked.


    He jumped up, straight with the remains of feces still falling off.


    Karina suddenly vomited. Trembling, and breathing deeply, she sank to the ground.


    There was a short howl, more like a cry from hell. A fox, no smaller than an elephant, jumped out from behind the town gates and simply bit off the rude man¡¯s head. His body, in convulsions, fell into its own excrement, spattering the earth with scarlet blood. With a loud sound, the beast swallowed his head.


    ¡°Frightened the girl,¡± the fox said, starting to transform into a human.


    She had turned into a tall, muscular woman, with bright orange, thick, knee-length hair. Naked. All her snow-white skin was covered in numerous scars, and in place of her right eye there was a disgusting scar in the shape of an anus rather than a star. The left eye was yellow, with a characteristic narrow animal pupil. Surprise showed on her face when she looked at Belyana.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡±


    Belyana ignored her, instead patting Karina on the head.


    ¡°Maybe I really shouldn¡¯t have dragged you here,¡± Belyana said to Karina. ¡°Do you feel better?¡±


    Still breathing heavily, Karina nodded and slowly stood up.


    ¡°There is a domain actually,¡± Belyana finally answered the woman. ¡°Much more interesting, what did you forget here?¡±


    ¡°Ahh,¡± she drawled with understanding, ¡°I thought maybe they found some mushrooms, but they didn¡¯t share with me. I¡¯m pretty sure people have always behaved this way.¡±


    Having sniffed comically, she walked around Karina from all sides, looking at her like a museum piece.


    ¡°Last time there was more heavenish look,¡± she finally said. ¡°New soap?¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t even understand what you mean,¡± Belyana giggled over the puzzled Karina.


    ¡°Oh, really? Sorry, sorry,¡± the woman answered feignedly, after which she turned back to Karina. ¡°In that case, you can call me Fox, nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°I''m Karina. And why a fox?¡±


    ¡°Wow, where is all ¡®I will burn everything down to the molecules until only the chosen ones remain¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I told you - Alpha died out a little,¡± Belyana answered her.


    ¡°Mmm ...¡± Fox mumbled. ¡°Well, because I''m half-human, half-fox. And anticipating moronic questions, it''s none of your business which parent fucked the animal.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even intend to ...¡± Karina answered dumbfounded. ¡°I''m talking about why not by name?¡±


    ¡°So that this one,¡± she pointed to Belyan, ¡°And didn¡¯t spoil you until now, ha! Oh well, because I¡¯m Beafoxpowdeterwisdetera.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Karina replied. ¡°Nice to meet you, Fox.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®didn¡¯t spoil until now¡¯?¡± Belyana asked in a feigned offended tone. ¡°Have you seen yourself in the mirror at all? You have a chicken butt instead of an eye!¡±


    ¡°Ouch.¡±


    And they moved into a town.


    Everything around the main road was covered in mud and trash. In some places only ashes remained from the houses, in some - on rotten wooden logs, from which most of the houses were built, either cut or gnawed holes were visible.


    The houses that looked most decent were hung with peculiar decorations. Somewhere they were heads strung on a rope, like bagels, somewhere they were simply cut off scalps nailed.


    There were no bystanders. Only occasionally curtains swayed in the windows, through which the inhabitants glanced at the street.


    ¡°And, apparently, this is the answer,¡± Belyana said with understanding. ¡°Aren''t you ashamed at all, to assert yourself at the expense of ordinary people?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t argue that it is a lot of fun here, but they always start themselves,¡± Fox answered.


    ¡°Yeah, especially the one in the aisle.¡±


    ¡°Who knows what he would have done with this sweet girl?¡± Fox pointed to Karina.


    ¡°How about - nothing?¡± Belyana knocked out from under her a shaky brick of justifications. ¡°With her power, she''s the last person to be threatened by anything.¡±


    ¡°Well, okaaay,¡± surrendered Fox. ¡°He just already shitted the whole town. At first I wanted to feed him his own feces - I even got a whole barrel, but then I got tired of it.¡±


    ¡°Did you see it?¡± Belyana turned to Karina. ¡°And after that you¡¯ll say that I treat people with disdain?¡±


    ¡°Both of you are terrible,¡± Karina sighed under their friendly laughter. ¡°It would be better to be alone than to listen to this all the time, but besides you, no one knows where and how to look for broken wizards.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of loneliness,¡± Belyana said and looked at Fox. ¡°Shoo! Why did you get involved?¡±


    ¡°Like hell,¡± she replied unhappily. ¡°Someone last time evaporated without paying.¡±


    ¡°And you decided that importunity would help the cause?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Fox laughed. ¡°You have to pay when you promise.¡±


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Belyana answered indifferently. ¡°Just do not turn into an animal - you stink in this form, like a dirty dog.¡±


    A bloody star appeared on Fox''s lip - in an attempt to ignore frank childishness, she bit her lip too hard with a fang.


    ¡°And get dressed,¡± Belyana added. - Doesn¡¯t matter with this garbage dump - it seems that no one cares here, but in other places, at least, they won¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Why not doggy style also?¡± quipped Fox. ¡°There were still not enough comments about decency from someone who wears clothes until they are rubbed into dust. At the same time, without washing them at all. The last time we met, you smelled like a corpse, I can¡¯t even imagine how Karina can stand it.¡±


    ¡°Ah, everything is very simple here,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°You''re the only one this stink was meant for. The harder you breathe - the less you talk.¡±


    The fox''s eye even twitched. However, there was no more sluggish throwing of barbs, because they came to the place. A tent was set up right on the street. At the entrance, closed for some reason by an iron hatch, a bearded man was sitting on a stool and dozing. Next to him, a sign stuck out of the ground, on which there were several large numbers, apparently the prices, and in small print, each number was signed for what exactly.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s here,¡± said the Fox, not particularly surprised, after which she barked at the man. ¡°Wake up dog!¡±


    ¡°What, who?¡± he jumped up, not understanding what was happening. ¡°What do you want, redhead?¡±


    ¡°Open the hatch,¡± she replied. ¡°Your small business has just been liquidated.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember that I closed it,¡± he answered irritably. ¡°Either pay or get lost.¡±


    ¡°Have you completely gone nuts already?¡± Fox asked, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°It seems you¡¯re the one who¡¯s already fucked up the edge,¡± he answered, getting up from the stool, and cracking his fingers in his hands.


    Fox sighed in annoyance. He approached her, determined to punish the troublemaker, but he turned out to be almost a head shorter, and against the background of Fox''s athletic physique, he looked more like a child. It was more like a lap-dog decided to mark a Rottweiler as its territory.


    He swung to hit her.


    There was a sound like a pop. The Fox shook off from her hand his body, which had lost the upper half. Almost as soon as it fell, a mushroom rain of blood began to fall, accompanied by wet slaps of torn pieces of innards.


    ¡°Further we go, worse it becomes,¡± Karina only commented, brushing a piece of a kidney from her shoulder. ¡°For some reason I''m not surprised at all.¡±


    ¡°But I made it clear to them all that they are dealing with a polyanitsa,¡± Fox sighed again and looked at Belyana. ¡°Well, it looks like you''re not fucking with me after all.¡±


    ¡°You said that like I even know how to lie!¡± Belyana exclaimed, pretending to be offended.


    Fox just looked at her, tilting her head to the side in disapproval.


    ¡°Polyanitsa?¡± Karina showed interest after all.


    ¡°Huh, a walking encyclopedia travels with you ...¡± Fox was surprised, and then laughed. ¡°Although, yep, no matter how hard you push her - she doesn¡¯t gush anything but shit, nothing new.


    Well, actually, I''m a witch. However, instead of cool magic, the sight of which people immediately shit in their pants - I only have unhealthy physical strength, which, however, also makes people shit in their pants. And besides that, even if I really want to, I can¡¯t create a domain, so I just called myself a proud word.¡±


    ¡°And what''s the point exactly?¡± Belyana asked. ¡°What has changed from this information, besides the fact that we stood and sniffed this garbage a little longer? Open that door already.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t tell anything, even if the Earth fell on the Sun,¡± Fox answered, rummaging through the pockets of the body lying on the ground.


    ¡°And even more so, what''s the point? As if someone could miss such an event.¡±


    ¡°Okay, here you caught me,¡± Fox answered annoyed, turning the key in the hatch.¡±


    From the open passage immediately smelled of a disgusting mixture of chlorine and sweat. In the semi-darkness, on the floor, a girl of about twenty was lying in a crouch. Her clothes were torn, bruises and scratches were visible here and there on her body, and there were already dried traces of blood on her thighs.


    ¡°In principle, I thought so,¡± Belyana commented on what she saw, after which she turned to Fox. ¡°You seem to know this place, how much did you spend here?¡±


    ¡°Your jokes sometimes go beyond all boundaries,¡± she answered with a sigh. ¡°I thought they were fucking a corpse here. It¡¯s awkward.¡±


    ¡°Yeeep,¡± Belyana drawled. ¡°As if one warrior of justice is not enough here. First of all, it was because of her that people gone ape.


    And why are you just hanging around?¡± she asked Karina. ¡°Get inside.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going, I¡¯m going,¡± Karina muttered. "Though I''ll probably regret it."


    Trying not to breathe, she repeated her ritual.


    She found herself in the middle of a world that seemed to be painted in pastel - delicate strokes of light-green grass and a hastily drawn sky, through which pink clouds slowly floated.


    There was a muffled clatter of hooves. Turning to its source, Karina found a unicorn, happily chewing on local grass. Every step he took created iridescent sparks, and around his horn butterflies circled in a small whirlwind.


    ¡°Such nonsense,¡± said Karina aloud. ¡°Horsy, horsy, where¡¯s your owner?¡±


    The frightened fairy-tale beast took off, galloping off wherever his eyes looked. Karina did not find anything better than to follow the rainbow trail after him. The pastel world was replaced by watercolor, and then it completely became like the drawings of small children, in which it was difficult to find at least some familiar image.


    Finally, the puzzled Karina stopped. She probably thought the direction was wrong.


    ¡°Hellooo!¡± she listened in the direction where the rainbow trails led, but the sound still did not return. ¡°Such. Non. Sense.¡±


    She stamped her foot on the ground, causing it to tremble. One more time, one more time, one more time. Sky and earth parted in half, a wide crack from which liquid blackness flowed. Karina, having warmed up, as if before a swim, jumped into it.


    In the next second, a huge toad eye was already looking at her. She backed away slowly, trying not to startle the amphibian. From a short distance, Karina managed to make out the growths on the skin of the toad - these were gems of various colors, because of which even the toad shimmered like a rainbow in the light.


    ¡°What the hell you looking at?¡± the monster asked lazily in a vibrating voice. ¡°Disappear somewhere, you interfere with admiring the sunset.¡±


    Karina automatically turned her head and saw, instead of the sun, swarming luminous larvae, which took the form of a circle. Instead of clouds, snails crawled across the brown sky.


    ¡°Your sunset is cree¨C¡± she didn¡¯t have time to finish, as the toad simply ate her.


    Karina fell on the bed. In the stomach of the toad, surprisingly, there was a small room, lit only by a working monitor. The light snatched garbage bags from the floor, and all sorts of candy wrappers, which no longer found a place in the bags. The mountain of dishes on the table was about to fall, but a little girl, sitting in an armchair and clapping on the keyboard, managed to coexist peacefully with this design. She giggled in a whisper.


    ¡°What''s there?¡± Karina asked.


    ¡°I wrote to the fat pig that she should eat less, and in the end other fat pigs came running to protect her,¡± at first the girl answered without a second thought, and then she got scared. ¡°Who is there?!¡±


    She flipped on a light switch that was on the wall next to the table and turned abruptly. Pus was slowly dripping from her eyes, and her face was covered with warts. Karina flinched in surprise.


    ¡°Why write nasty things to people?¡± asked, coming to her senses, Karina.


    ¡°Not nasty things, but the truth!¡± the girl frowned. ¡°If not me, then who? They live in their own fantasy world, they eat for three, and they justify themselves with any kind of heresy.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Karina asked sarcastically, in whose hands a large mirror appeared. ¡°What do you see here?¡±


    ¡°Myself and thin!¡± she answered fairly. ¡°What''s up? Maybe you will forbid me to talk at all - will we return to the Middle Ages?¡±


    The mirror shattered into glittering sparks.


    ¡°Well, then I''ll tell you straight out that you''re as ugly as a war. You even shouldn¡¯t show yourself to people with such a face.¡±


    ¡°Fuck yourself,¡± the girl replied. ¡°I have a boyfriend, when you can only dream to get one, because, unlike you, I''m just beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s at least hypocritical?¡± Karina asked with a sigh. ¡°You don¡¯t care for freedom, but for elementary impunity. The judge of all judges, while anyone but you are pieces of shit that should serve you. I know one such ideology - it has nothing to do with freedom. Who is stronger is righter, yeah.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m forcing someone to read, let alone react,¡± she answered irritably. ¡°I am free to speak, they are free not to listen.¡±


    ¡°I am free to beat you, you are free to endure,¡± Karina immediately retorted. ¡°Where is the difference?¡±


    With a crash of glass shards, the toad''s paw broke through the curtained window, grabbed Karina, and threw her out of his stomach.


    Having flown from a dozen meters, Karina landed on the ground squishing under her. Under her feet was a shiny pink soft surface, covered with thin red streaks.


    ¡°Maybe we can ta¨C¡± she didn¡¯t have time to finish, as the toad butted her with head at a breakneck speed.


    ¡°All the same dance,¡± she said to herself under her breath, flying in the air and seeing the toad chasing her, obviously going to butt forever.


    Karina slightly shook her hands, from which rainbow droplets fell. She managed to catch one of the droplets and, folding it between her fingers, she slowly stretched it until it turned into a kind of whistle.


    The toad prevented Karina from landing, hitting her with his forehead like a ball.


    Karina whistled almost like an ultrasound, which even hurt her ears.


    This only pissed off the toad more. Instead of catching up, he just jumped. In the blink of an eye, having overcome a small distance between him and the intruder, he was over Karina, in an unknown way pressed her with his paws and flew down like a bomb.


    They landed rather softly, but the satisfied toad that sat on Karina did not leave her any more chance to do anything.


    From all sides there was a clatter of hooves. An entire army of unicorns ran towards their landing site. Iridescent puffs of dust rose behind them, and the pink earth, which somehow allowed for clattering at all, turned into pastel grass behind them.


    The contented face of the toad was again replaced by furious. He angrily stomped on the ground, every now and then, hitting Karina, but he did not even think of moving anywhere.


    The brave unicorns charged at him, using their horns as the only weapon they had. Butterflies tried to suck out the toad''s eyes, but, unfortunately, their proboscis was not capable of this.


    The toad, with some kind of guttural cries, writhed, scattered enemies, grabbed with its tongue and devoured those it could reach, but the army only arrived and arrived. Eventually, strung on a thousand horns, after a few mournful sobs, he calmed down in death.


    ¡°Well, you had a face,¡± the first thing Fox said when Karina returned. ¡°If someone warned me that it will be so nauseating, I would at least take a paper bag with me, to put it on your head.¡±


    Karina looked inquiringly at Belyana.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I already say that not everything is worth knowing?¡± she giggled.


    ¡°Yah you. Am I supposed to take two of you now?¡±


    ¡°Why why,¡± mockingly replied Fox. ¡°You should actually thank me. Knowing her,¡± she pointed to Belyana, ¡°you always do everything, and she only scoffs and walks like a turkey, as if she had at least some relation to your work. Help for you, fun for me - kind of fair deal.¡±


    ¡°At least she finally confessed,¡± said Belyana. ¡°¡®Where is my money¡¯, yeeep. You just love beating people. And when they can''t answer, your tummy gets warmer too.¡±


    ¡°Miss Turkey is back in business, she will measure everyone with her snobbishness,¡± Fox answered only.


    The girl, who until that moment had shown no signs of life, began to sob. Karina, choosing between her and the unhealthy squabbling of two strange women, leaned towards the first option.


    ¡°What''s happened?¡± Karina asked her.


    ¡°Why do I even live?¡± sob, ¡°What''s the meaning?¡±


    ¡°Fuck your mother!¡± Fox exclaimed. ¡°You can do whatever and however you want. If you want, you can even declare war on some country and perfectly deal with it alone. You''re a goddamn witch! Just don''t be obsessed with anything.¡±


    ¡°Actually,¡± said Belyana, ¡°I agree with her on that.¡±


    ¡°How about,¡± Karina said angrily, ¡°That you both get the fuck out of here?¡±


    ¡°All right, all right,¡± Belyana capitulated, after which she turned to Fox. ¡°Treat me with some tea, will you? Called yourself a witch - arrange tea parties. She''s here for the long haul.¡±

 07 Well-deserved fairy tale

    Karina, Belyana and Fox walked along a barely noticeable path between tall trees and their steps crunched branches under their feet. From everywhere one could hear the muffled chirping of various birds, sometimes interrupted by the drawn-out singing of the cuckoo. There was no horizon visible beyond the mass of trees, and the sunlight barely made its way through the foliage.


    Fox cursed, catching her hem on some bush. She wore a black, thin sarafan without patterns, worn over a white shirt with loose sleeves. Being tied with a red belt at the waist, it even made her a little slimmer, but in compare of her companions, she still looked huge.


    ¡°A very strange choice of clothes, frankly speaking,¡± Belyana quipped.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re helping her?¡± Fox asked Karina.


    "Because I¡¯m in all the world is fairest and has beauty of the rarest?" Belyana interjected.


    ¡°This tale is about the state of the soul, and not about the face, by the way,¡± Fox answered her. ¡°If your thinking was material, you could solve the problem with an artificial blackbody.¡±


    ¡°You should tell this to your collection of other people''s fingers,¡± Belyana retorted. ¡°It would never have occurred to me to build a wall with cells in my house, each of which would contain severed parts of the body and to stick a piece of paper in each, justifying their contents.¡±


    Karina sighed wearily.


    ¡°I''m thinking about it myself. Probably because I feel guilty about what is going on all around.¡±


    ¡°She told you that,¡± Fox said. ¡°She would have introduced herself as your lost grandmother, if she could have any use out of it.¡±


    A naked man ran past them, obviously tucking his body up so that his cock pounded his thighs with loud slaps.


    ¡°I thought about this also, until you appeared, partially confirming her words,¡± Karina answered, pretending that nothing had happened.


    ¡°And that should have made you even more suspicious, because I know her, don¡¯t you think?¡± Fox asked, as if she hadn''t noticed anything either.


    ¡°Well done, girls,¡± said Belyana, ¡°But he really ran through.¡±


    ¡°A-a-ah ...¡± they drawled in unison.


    ¡°Well, where did he come from?¡± Fox rightly asked. ¡°The nearest signs of civilization are about fifty kilometers away.¡±


    ¡°A good question,¡± answered Belyana. ¡°I suggest we check it out. Will you smell the trail?¡±


    ¡°Shit,¡± Fox cursed, ¡°If you compare me with a dog again, I''ll bite off a piece of your ass so that you don''t forget the difference.¡±


    Belyana laughed.


    ¡°Still, I must admit that I missed it a little. But the question doesn¡¯t change - it¡¯s unlikely that he would have run a marathon so cheerfully. And of the three of us, only you can find where he came from.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Fox sighed. ¡°Instead of ¡®Foxy-sister, help the useless white-haired bitch¡¯ - no manners, just vomit coming out of your mouth. Whatever, let¡¯s go.


    ¡°Is it just me, or did your mouth just say the word ¡®manners¡¯?¡± Belyana asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. ¡°Shouldn''t your jaw be jammed?¡±


    ¡°Karina, tell me,¡± Fox turned to her, ¡°Isn''t she insolent as fuck?¡±


    ¡°Don''t drag me into this,¡± she replied irritably.


    ¡°I see,¡± Fox said. ¡°And does it help a lot, pretending to be a plant every time you smell something interesting?¡±


    Karina growled doomily, and Fox and Belyana laughed.


    Sometimes in place of trees were barely passable shrubs and vice versa. This was also surprising because there was not even a scratch on the runner. If Fox did not guarantee that the road was correct, one would think that they were mistaken. However, even Karina sometimes managed to notice a couple of prints of bare feet left in the ground.


    Fifteen minutes later, they finally stopped. There was nothing around but trees - no signs of civilization, not even any edges.


    ¡°I would say that up to here he jumped through the trees,¡± Fox explained, ¡°But nope. Complete bullshit, but it looks like he just appeared out of thin air.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Belyana said, reaching for her eye patch. Karina and Fox turned away sharply.


    ¡°Are you stupid?¡± Fox screamed in dismay. ¡°Can you at least warn?¡±


    ¡°What for? Both of you have reflexes just fine,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°That¡¯s done already.¡±


    She pulled the patch back on, and then sat down on the ground, looking thoughtful.


    ¡°Well, why are we sitting?¡± Fox asked after a minute.


    ¡°Quiet,¡± Belyana replied. ¡°I¡¯m thinking.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°With a special part of the body, sometimes called by people as ¡®head¡¯. A difficult concept for someone who has never met it, but you could already memorize it. You better go for a walk, look for a tree or branches.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°We need to make a door.¡±


    ¡°In the forest? Door?¡± Fox couldn''t believe her ears. ¡°Have you finally lost your mind?¡±


    ¡°Not now,¡± she replied coldly. ¡°I''m going after the runner for the time being - since he got out of there, it means he carries a key. I don''t even want to think where he put it.¡±


    ¡°To hell with it, with a tree, how do you propose to make a door out of it?¡±


    ¡°With this.¡± Belyana threw the ax, which stuck in the ground with the blade.


    ¡°Where does it come from?¡± Now the dazed Karina asked.


    ¡°Really, where is it from?¡± Fox repeated after her. ¡°It wouldn''t fit inside you!¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡± She giggled, already turning around in the opposite direction.


    A few hours later the door was ready. Well, how - a lot of crooked sticks, with two across, were rewound with handmade ropes. To two nearby trees, ropes were tied to a semblance of a frame on which this door rested. Notches were visible on the sidewall, indicating an attempt to make at least a semblance of hinges, but apparently, that was not crowned with success.


    Belyana, as if waiting for the right moment, appeared in the distance. A huge iron key dragged along the ground behind her.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Belyana asked when she came quite close.


    ¡°The door,¡± Fox answered sadly.


    Belyana had tears in her eyes from laughter. She even began to choke, clutching her stomach with her hand and dropping her burden.


    ¡°Awesome,¡± she said, wiping her tears. ¡°Actually, it will do. The idea is more important than the form.¡±


    Belyana picked up the key and went to the door. A suitable keyhole appeared right in the middle, into which Belyana inserted the key and turned it. Key exploded into sparks. She faked opening the door, then just dropped it on the ground. There was nothing to be seen in the frame but ripples, like the surface of water in the wind.


    ¡°Be my guest,¡± she said.


    Through the door, they found themselves in a huge cave, the dome of which was dotted with luminous crystals. Small brick houses stood on the ground.


    People by their behavior did not particularly stand out, living their lives. The only thing is - most of them wore acid-colored clothes. Many had a bandage on their heads, in which many feathers were inserted, sometimes even in several rows, as if they were competing with each other to fit more.


    ¡°I don''t get it,¡± Karina said. ¡°Again. Didn''t you yourself say that teleportation doesn''t exist?¡±


    Belyana just sighed.


    ¡°It''s not a teleportation. Roughly speaking, just natural paths. Well, usually natural - we are now in an isolated zone that shouldn¡¯t exist.¡±


    ¡°Wow!¡± Fox was surprised. ¡°And how much arrogance was when you told how you got rid of them on your own!¡±


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Not me,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t read books that no one allowed you to touch in a first place.¡±


    ¡°If I knew what I would see there, I would have simply burned this entire library right away.¡±


    ¡°What kind of library?¡± Karina asked.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s better for you not to know,¡± trembling Fox answered her. ¡°Not because I''m bitch, but because it''s just an abomination.¡±


    ¡°Never cared,¡± Karina said with feigned indifference, after which she turned to Belyana. ¡°Why the door then?¡±


    ¡°It was necessary to unlock something with a key,¡± Belyana shrugged. ¡°Well, if I dragged both of you through any of the passages without a door, someone would have to clean up the wet puddles.¡±


    A little boy ran up to them, with his face smeared with chocolate.


    ¡°Ladies, ladies, do you want to hear a rhyme?¡±


    ¡°Oh, go on,¡± Fox answered him.


    ¡°I''ll take mosquito from a camp,


    I''ll put inside his ass his head


    And I''ll sew him finest shirt,


    With a thread made from a turd.¡±


    ¡°Disgusting,¡± Karina gave her assessment. ¡°Do you know something normal?¡±


    The child howled, bursting into tears, and ran away somewhere.


    ¡°It wasn''t that bad,¡± Fox said. ¡°Certainly not enough to lead the child to tears.¡±


    ¡°I have nothing to do with it,¡± Karina shrugged. ¡°No patience is enough if you praise every nasty thing, in reason not to offend anyone.¡±


    Not too long after they had walked, an angry woman jumped out of a nearby house, with smeared face as if a three-year-old girl had reached the makeup bag for the first time. And she began to beat Karina in the face with a wet rag.


    ¡°You! Hellish! Whore!¡± with a blow with every cry. ¡°Give! Birth! First! Talk! After!¡±


    Under the wild laughter of Fox and Belyana, Karina nevertheless realized what was happening and began to dodge. In the meantime, she saw the crying child standing at a distance, realizing what the matter was.


    ¡°So if the rhyme isn¡¯t good at all, what can I do?¡± Jumping away from the next attack, she blurted out.


    The calmness on the woman''s face was not even close, but at least she stopped attacking.


    ¡°Come here,¡± she almost hissed through her teeth to the child, stroking his head as he approached. ¡°Come on, tell her the best one.¡±


    Still sobbing, the child began to tell.


    ¡°There a gaffer and crone lived


    They ate porridge with a milk.


    Out of nowhere man went mad -


    With a fist he punched crone''s head.


    But the crone could not stand it -


    With a poker she him hit.


    And he got a rough flight,


    Into trash can he arrived.


    And a rat lived in the can,


    She gave birth to ugly Dan.


    And Dan shouting: ¡®Hooray!


    Call a doctor right away!¡¯


    Doctor rides right on a bottle,


    Hit directly gaffer''s napper.


    Gaffer thought the war begun,


    Out of shit he made a gun,


    And with a cutlet he it loaded,


    On count of three the gun exploded.


    Gaffer covered in the shit,


    White coats took him off the street.¡±


    ¡°Also dis ...¡± Karina began to speak, but stopped, meeting the evil gaze of his mother. ¡°Not bad, I even liked it.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Immediately shone the child.


    ¡°Really, really,¡± Karina sighed sadly, looking first at the rag, then at the woman.


    With the same angry expression on her face, the mother took the cheerful child by the hand and left. Even if she did not want to let Karina get away with it so easily, she could not do anything. Further swearing could ruin her child''s mood again.


    ¡°It¡¯s funny after all,¡± said Fox. ¡°What do you not like?¡±


    ¡°This is an insult to poetry,¡± Karina answered her. ¡°Instead of normal poems, they are memorizing only trashy ones.¡±


    ¡°In the end you got infected with snobbery from her,¡± Fox answered accusingly. ¡°From your point of view - poetry itself offends speech, because it distorts the pronunciation, and sometimes the meaning for the sake of rhymes.¡±


    ¡°There is a more serious problem here,¡± Belyana interjected.¡± While I have never heard the first in any of the variations, the second is pretty much modern.¡±


    ¡°And where¡¯s a problem?¡± asked Fox.


    ¡°All these zones are hundreds and thousands of years old. The key generally got out, because it sensed us and really wanted to die. Otherwise, the local inhabitants couldn¡¯t have any connection with the outside world.¡±


    ¡°Are you seriously calling a piece of iron a suicidal?¡± Fox was surprised to hear the delirium.


    ¡°That person was the key entirely,¡± Belyana shrugged. ¡°Even if he didn''t fully realize it. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter, the town may be small, but it¡¯s better not to waste time. Let''s go look for answers. I don¡¯t have any.¡±


    ¡°Day of discoveries,¡± Fox quipped. ¡°The know-it-all finally admitted that she had always been just an arrogant.¡±


    ¡°Aren''t you glad that for once, your exorbitant talkativeness can be useful?¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°Enjoy it.¡±


    After spending a couple of hours interviewing the local population, they returned to the same place.


    ¡°Nothing interesting,¡± Karina reported. ¡°Except for a couple of exhibitionists who ran out of nowhere.¡±


    ¡°Well, I found something,¡± Fox said. ¡°They are going to temple once a week. Magical, they say. No one knows how it works, but they learning everything they¡¯re interested in there. I hope, of course, their common fashion doesn¡¯t take roots from there.¡±


    ¡°Not a lot,¡± answered Belyana. ¡°However, maybe it was necessary to start with the temple, since it¡¯s existing at all. Where else to look for an unnatural stuff?¡±


    Having reached the place, they fell into a long line of people. For a long time they stood in it, until, finally, they were at the entrance. The line led to an ordinary cave in a stone wall, even though it was covered with incomprehensible symbols around the hole.


    After standing there little more, they finally went inside. An ordinary room, of which there are many. There was a large double bed against the wall, and the room even had a window, although nothing could be seen through it but the rock.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Fox said loudly. ¡°Where is my stash?¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± there was a bass echo in the room. ¡°Pay first, ask later!¡±


    ¡°Where from did you say that?¡± Fox began to rummage around the room, looking under the bed and in the closets.


    ¡°Okay, stop, stop, stop, I''ll tell you for free!¡± The echo became confused and nervous.


    ¡°Nah, it''s too late,¡± Fox answered, with one brute force pushing back the secret door that divided the real room almost in two.


    Behind it was a sweaty little man, with piggy eyes, sitting on a small chair. He was dressed in a crimson jacket and crimson trousers. Behind him on the wall hung a human-length mirror. It itself was in a golden frame, inscribed with the same symbols that were at the entrance.


    ¡°Well, you found me, so what?¡± he asked irritably. ¡°All the same, I''m not doing anything bad, just living here, don''t bother anyone.¡±


    ¡°Why are you making excuses then?¡± asked Fox.


    Belyana all this time stood with a very thoughtful look, putting her finger to her lips. Sometimes she took it away, as if remembering something, about to say, but then returned it to its place, and again went into herself.


    ¡°Move away from the mirror,¡± she said at last.


    The man began to resent, but Fox simply moved him along with the chair, and Belyana went up to the wall.


    ¡°Looking-glass against the wall,


    Let me see the universe''s core.¡±


    Nothing happened, and the man just laughed.


    ¡°Another one read too much fair...¡± he suddenly stopped when Belyana only glanced at him.


    ¡°The window of gods that sleeps,


    The universe''s core let me see.


    As equal payment I gives -


    The one who avoided the Sea¡±


    Without uttering a rustle or a squeak, the man simply disappeared. His crimson suit collapsed to the floor, jingling with some trinkets that the owner once wore.


    The mirror showed no sign of life. Only Belyana''s eye, for a moment, was completely covered with blackness, as if someone had stolen all the light from it.


    ¡°This mirror,¡± she said at last, ¡°Is very old. I never thought it existed. It even developed its own will. I''m taking it.¡±


    ¡°And why should I care?¡± Fox asked reasonably.


    Two men with swords at the ready ran into the room. Surprisingly, the color palette of their armor was quite normal, even if the clothes were clearly not appropriate for the era.


    ¡°Freeze! Remove your hands, and all of you slowly leave the temple,¡± they said to Belyana, who had already removed the mirror from the wall, and to Karina and Fox, who were just standing at a distance.


    ¡°This why,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°Sorry, guys, but I''m taking the toy from you. You played enough with it.¡±


    With a vile gurgling, the skin of the guards began peeling off in patches, exposing rotting, wormy meat.


    Immediately they took off from their seats to punish the troublemakers.


    As soon as they got close, Fox reflexively waved her hand, slamming them into the bed, causing it to fall apart with a crash.


    ¡°I don''t see a problem.¡± She turned to Belyana standing behind.


    ¡°You actually should,¡± she answered, looking at how the guards behind Fox rise.


    One of them overcame five meters in a jump, sinking his teeth into Fox''s hand.


    The face of the second from the blow just crumpled. His mouth began to stretch until it reached the size of the guard himself. Something came out from inside, repeating a human silhouette, only unpleasantly shimmering with some kind of glare.


    The snarling Fox waved her hand, on which the decaying monster dangled, with all her might.


    He flew into the silhouette, chopping off a piece of meat from her hand with his teeth. The exposed bone could be seen through the bleeding wound.


    The silhouette, under the body flying through it, fell apart into separate swarming parts. It turned out that this is a colony of thick toothy worms that quickly crawled towards Fox.


    The thrown corpse pierced several meters of rock. With a deafening roar, everything around trembled, and the ceiling began to crumble.


    Fox, clenching her teeth and squeezing a cry, rushed to the exit as fast as she can, and with her Belyana and Karina, trying not to get caught by the worms.


    As soon as they ran outside, the room collapsed completely.


    Karina squealed, coloring the whole space with a violin echo. Her left leg, calf-deep, was under a fallen boulder.


    Decaying crowds have already gathered around, glaring at the intruders. But they did not try to attack, they just stood there.


    ¡°It seems that they want you to return the mirror back,¡± Fox shouted over Karina¡¯s screech, lifting the stone with an exorbitant weight with her healthy hand.


    Only Karina had the opportunity - she pulled out the crushed part of her leg. Giggling, Fox congratulated Karina on her baptism of fire.


    ¡°Not an option,¡± answered Belyana. ¡°As you can see, it''s just dangerous to leave it here.¡±


    ¡°Maybe then you can deal with this undead army yourself? I actually should have grabbed the ax ...¡±


    ¡°And that''s why we have you here!¡±


    Fox only sighed, looking around at a couple of hundred corpses.


    ¡°Keep up,¡± she said to Belyana, grabbing the still groaning Karina, who was clearly unable to walk on her own.


    And they ran.


    The undead immediately rushed towards them, trying to tear them apart with their teeth and peeling hands.


    Each kick that Fox did shook the ground, and the monsters that fell under the distribution demolished a dozen others.


    Those who stood with difficulty kept their balance under the trembling of the earth, but growling, they attacked with all the malice that was in them. Those who were thrown back also attacked, quickly recovering, and disintegrating into worms if the damage turned out to be too serious.


    They seemed to be simply ignoring Belyana, although it was she who dragged the huge mirror.


    No matter how well Fox fought back on the run, every now and then they managed to reach her. The sarafan and shirt were already fairly torn off, and all the exposed parts of the body were slashed with lacerated bleeding wounds.


    There was a door through which the forest could be seen. With the second hand, tolerating a pain, Fox simply grabbed Belyana, and with two bodies at the ready, jumped a few meters forward into the passage.


    One of the monsters managed to jump after them, but he was only stretched into a long tape, gradually disintegrating into invisible particles, until he completely disappeared.


    The door fell off along with the frame. The forest landscape has changed - now they were in the middle of ruins, albeit surrounded by the forest. Brick remains of the buildings are so dilapidated that with great difficulty anyone could say that they once were houses at all.


    ¡°It¡¯s still a pity for the sarafan,¡± tired Fox exhaled, looking around her tattered body after she lowered Karina to the ground.


    Karina carefully touched the dangling semi-liquid ankle, wanting to examine it, but when her face crumpled from pain, she decided to wait with it.


    ¡°After all, someone¡¯s ass will be kicked,¡± Belyana said to nowhere, patting the glass with her hand. ¡°She didn¡¯t leave any toys here, riiight, yeeah.¡±

 08 Consciousness

    The moonlight reflected beautiful highlights from the Fox''s fur. Karina was sleeping on her back, hanging her cast leg, and Belyana was walking next to her, with a small bag in her hand and a long case behind her back, from which a pair of sticks peeped out.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking and I don¡¯t understand why the hell I¡¯m dragging her. Am I your donkey or what?¡± Fox asked in a creepy voice.


    ¡°Not my problem. Why don''t you complain to her instead of me?¡± asking, Belyana lifted the bag a little. ¡°Moreover, I didn¡¯t get a job as a porter. Do you want to drag your clothes in your teeth? Come on, open your mouth one more time, I''ll try to catch the fang.¡±


    Either because of a spoiled mood, or Belyana''s argument seemed convincing to her, but for the rest of the night she did not talk anymore.


    The rising sun woke Karina with its bright, eye-catching light. She carefully sat up and stretched sweetly.


    ¡°Your spine is awfully stiff,¡± she said. ¡°Everything hurts now.¡±


    ¡°You''re playing with fire,¡± Fox growled.


    ¡°Just kidding,¡± Karina scratched her behind a huge ear, like a kitten. ¡°I don''t know what I would do without you.¡±


    ¡°Learn that,¡± Fox said to Belyana. ¡°It''s called manners, not the bucket of shit you made up for yourself.¡±


    ¡°I never heard your thanks for the exciting adventures.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about a hole instead of an eye and the vast majority of my scars?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Belyana laughed. ¡°You''re still alive. And if it comes to that, you lost your eye because of your own greed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Fox muttered.


    A settlement appeared on the horizon. Black clouds hung directly above it, sparkling with electric discharges. The rest of the sky was clear.


    ¡°Somehow I don''t like it,¡± Belyana voiced everyone¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡°Never seen anything like this?¡± Fox clarified.


    ¡°Saw, but magicians shouldn¡¯t have enough power for such things,¡± she answered thoughtfully. ¡°At least not yet.¡±


    ¡°Somehow it¡¯s not relieving.¡±


    Coming very close, they stopped near the edge of the shadow from the clouds, and Belyana began to pace around, peering at everything that could be seen. A small village, with fairly modern houses made of reinforced concrete blocks, was reduced to ruins. The iron pins that were visible here and there were either broken off or wrapped almost in knots.


    ¡°Now I admit - never seen anything like this,¡± Belyana commented at last.


    Fox simply turned around and stomped in the opposite direction, along with Karina, still sitting on her back.


    ¡°Bad time for clowning,¡± Belyana said irritably.


    ¡°This is called - the instinct of self-preservation,¡± Fox calmly replied. ¡°Why jump into the volcano crater, if the outcome is obvious?¡±


    ¡°What if there are people there?¡± Karina asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t give a fuck,¡± Fox snapped. ¡°Get down, go yourself if you want - I¡¯m staying here.¡±


    ¡°The inscription in the photo album: ¡®The big and strong polyanitsa is trembling with fear¡¯,¡± Belyana laughed.


    ¡°Haha very funny. Won''t work. The smell of this place tells me to run the hell out of here, and advise you the same.¡±


    Belyana tilted her head in surprise as Karina jumped off Fox''s back with a groan.


    ¡°Okay, I''ll consider it. Catch,¡± she threw a bag to her, which Fox had caught with an already human hand.¡±


    Belyana removed the case from her back, pulled out the crutches and handed them to Karina. And then, the two of them crossed the border.


    A monstrous noise hit the eardrums with an explosion. The clouds disappeared, and the sky itself turned red. The noise consisted of many different tonal sounds. Like millions of people are screaming without stopping even for a second.


    An even louder sound drowned out the screams. As if someone had fallen on the piano, only the sound lasted a little longer. The wave was so strong that it was even felt physically - Karina staggered.


    A few seconds later, the sound repeated. Blood flowed from one ear of Karina. Belyana noticed this.


    ¡°I have to admit - Fox is right, she wouldn¡¯t endure this,¡± her voice sounded right in Karina''s head, not even blocking the screams. ¡°Let''s hurry.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why can I hear you?¡± Karina asked aloud, not even hearing herself, but Belyana replied anyway.


    ¡°No talking just jump. And how do you manage to pick up the time for questions...¡±


    All the buildings, reflecting the red light of the sky, shone with some kind of moisture. The walls pulsated slightly, giving the surrounding scenery a sickening hue. Everywhere one could clearly see the brown mummified corpses scattered through the streets and sticking out of the pins of houses.


    The longer they walked, the harder it became to bear the blows of the piano waves. Karina was already bleeding not only from both ears, but also from her nose.


    In the end, they came to a strange rough egg, at least half a meter in height, which turned out to be the source of the noise. Karina looked inquiringly at Belyana, and she, in confirmation, only nodded.


    At the touch, instead of slowly sinking, Karina was simply sucked in, as if through a vacuum cleaner.


    She found herself on a light liquid viscous surface, which was slowly sucking her in. The dark space around was illuminated by an infinite number of blue eyes blinking at random.


    ¡°Belyana?¡± she asked, starting to walk at least in some direction, so as not to drown in an incomprehensible substance.


    There was no answer. The longer she walked, the more liquid and viscous the floor became. As soon as she froze, the floor began to suck in even faster, leaving no options. Karina tried to emerge immediately, but suddenly realized that she did not even remember where. And how. And why. Eventually, the surface swallowed her up.


    What was her name? She walked through a labyrinth with damp walls, along which peristaltic waves ran from time to time. She touched one of the walls with her finger, and it lost a whole phalanx. Glancing at the stump with annoyance, Karina did not react in any way, but simply continued to walk forward.


    At some point, something was heard, and she went towards the source. The closer the source was, the more clearly heartrending cries were heard.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    It was coming from behind the wall. She just froze like an idol, and would have stood like that for eternity, if there had not appeared a semblance of a passage from which a thick slurry was flowing.


    Inside was a gigantic hall. All its walls, floor and ceiling were in constant swirling motion. Hundreds, maybe thousands of human-like bodies writhed in pain. From skin, to meat, to organs, along with bones, they slowly crumbled to dust and gathered back, in an endless cycle of decay.


    Through this cacophony, occasionally, the sounds of a piano could be heard, as if someone was trying to pick up a melody by ear. She searched for the source with her eyes, and nevertheless found in one of the corners an instrument assembled from the same screaming human carcasses. And behind it sat something amorphous, constantly changing, unable to hold any of the forms, but still managing to press the keys.


    She, staggering because of the sickly moving floor, approached the piano, but only frightened off the one who was sitting behind it. He jumped with great speed, and then flew up.


    The ceiling lifted, as if someone had just opened the lid on a dollhouse. Outside, wherever it was outside, there was only blackness, but at the same time, this blackness glowed, causing pain in the eyes. All the holes in Karina''s head lit up with a white flame, as well as her eyes, but she continued to look, burning from the inside.


    ¡°Found you,¡± a huge shadow shielded her from the black light. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±


    Karina fell to the floor. The voice that came out was familiar to her, but the memory simply eluded her.


    A small piece separated from the shadow, and climbed into Karina''s ear. She screamed and wanted to swear, but almost immediately her memory returned to her.


    ¡°What is this nonsense around? And I called you, actually.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Belyana was surprised. ¡°I started looking for you when you started to burn. And what do I find? There is a fool, drooling, allowed herself to be almost completely swallowed up, even without really leaving the entrance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all kind of strange here,¡± Karina tried to justify herself.


    ¡°Of course it is. It''s not a human. And you, instead of being more careful, I have no idea what you were doing.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by not a human?¡±


    ¡°Exactly the way it sounds. Humans don''t turn into eggs,¡± Belyana sighed. ¡°Talk less, work more. Break the door. Just don''t look at the ceiling anymore.¡±


    When Karina and Belyana''s shadow approached the center of the room, the floor turned into a door. The same semi-liquid as everything around, but at the same time strong enough to create a feeling of stone underfoot.


    ¡°And how to break it?¡±


    ¡°Same as usual. The principle never changed.¡±


    Sighing, Karina began to look around and listen, wincing at the volume. Noticing something, she went to one of the crouching bodies. It looked plaintively at her with disintegrating eyes, but Karina only tore out of it a bone that was peeling off the body with viscous threads of pinkish mucus. Then she went to the piano and plucked a string from it, to which she tied the bone.


    Returning to the center, she spun the bone like a sling, getting heavier with each turn, and then released it to the floor.


    With a rumble that even drowned out the screams, the door shattered into pieces, and Karina fell down. The shadow arbitrarily controlled her movement, obviously not obeying the laws of this world.


    The screams had already completely subsided, but the flight continued. Over time, the widely separated walls began to slightly luminesce with appearance is somewhat reminiscent of the entrails. Sometimes the semblance of letters shone through them. But still no surface.


    Belyana flew from wall to wall, it was not clear what she was doing. She simply ignored Karina''s questions, fully concentrating on her doings.


    Karina has long lost track of time, but still, finally, the surface was under her feet. She did not even notice it right away, because the sensation of falling had not gone away, and her legs did not feel anything either.


    Right in the center of the vast room stood a huge vertical stone plate, painted with the same inscriptions as the walls.


    Belyana loudly uttered some kind of speech in an unknown language, echoing everywhere. To the questioning expression on Karina''s face, she only replied that she had read it on the walls.


    The plate creaked open with two doors, revealing liquid blackness behind it. They went inside.


    There was another room, this time a small one. Through semidarkness it was possible to see that even it was built from meat carcasses, however, now inhuman. Nor were they like any other animal that had ever roamed the Earth. The room was moving almost imperceptibly and making a quiet sound, like measured breathing.


    ¡°Who you are?¡± a multi-layered voice asked, as if it were a choir speaking.


    ¡°It doesn''t matter,¡± answered Belyana. ¡°What are you?¡±


    The room vanished, replaced by darkness. An army of white shadows appeared in the empty space, in the form of human silhouettes, twisting in a huge spiral.


    ¡°We are all and all is I,¡± answered the voice. ¡°We are many, but we are all one.¡±


    ¡°And which one exactly are you?¡±


    They returned to the breathing room again. A translucent cloud looked at them with blue eyes.


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± the child''s voice replied.


    ¡°The music told me who I was,¡± a male voice replied.


    ¡°The music told me what to do,¡± the woman answered.


    ¡°I can''t hear it anymore,¡± the chorus replied again. ¡°Why can''t I hear it? I have always followed it, I have always repeated it.¡±


    ¡°Is there supposed to be a reason for that? Today it is, tomorrow it is not - such is life.¡±


    ¡°It is always there!¡± a monstrous scream, reflected from the walls, returned back, sticking into the ears with needles.


    ¡°But you don¡¯t hear it,¡± Belyana replied imperturbably. ¡°Even if it is, it is not for you. And who said that its importance is not exaggerated by you?¡±


    ¡°It is the very meaning!¡±


    ¡°You make it meaningful. Why are you making meaning out of what is no more?¡±


    ¡°What will be left of me if it doesn''t mean anything? I was born to be it, I was born to follow it. Why can''t I even remember it?¡±


    ¡°You are you. Music is music. Even if it was forced on you, it didn¡¯t become you. There is no music, but you are. What does it say?¡±


    ¡°I''m an abomination. I am filth. My existence is unacceptable! For this it left me, for this it stopped talking to me. I must die, I must disappear, but I''m scared. Where does this fear come from?¡±


    The cloud turned red, drawing in the surface of the walls. It built up matter and condensed until it turned into a little girl.


    ¡°You are aware of yourself. A consequence of life itself. Free will. The music took everything away from you, but now you are you. You are one, separated from the rest by those boundaries that you can raise yourself. You don''t owe anyone or anything. Even to yourself. You are also free to choose. Now tell me, do you want to die or get out of here?¡±


    The girl hesitated, as if embarrassed. And then she spoke in a whisper, looking around, afraid that someone might hear her.


    ¡°Get out.¡±


    In the same second, a bright flash of reality marked that they had returned. From the clouds that until now were the red sky, it began to rain. There were no more screams or waves. The mummies, however, clearly reminded them exactly where they were.


    The egg stirred. One at a time, it opened its four huge wings. Before them stood the same girl, only her entire naked body was covered with luminous blue eyes.


    ¡°Who would have thought that none of the six-winged freaks would come to this, but an ordinary soldier...¡± the thunderous stomping drowned out Belyana''s voice.


    Fox ran towards them. Her sarafan fluttered, and clouds of dust rose behind her. As soon as she got close enough, she simply jumped, intending to immediately finish the child.


    ¡°Stop!¡± shouted Belyana, but too late.


    The girl dodged two blows, but she had to catch the third.


    From the explosion, the earth took off like a wall.


    When the dirt and dust subsided, a very surprised face of the Fox appeared.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°Quite. She has free will.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you are just delusional? I myself saw how these motherfuckers pulled out people''s tongues with their bare hands simply because humans ¡®did not speak respectfully enough¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Just check it yourself,¡± Belyan shrugged.


    ¡°Sure I will,¡± she said incredulously, turning to a girl. ¡°God is a fucker.¡±


    ¡°Lady, are you stupid?¡± the girl asked in a thin voice. ¡°Your dad is a fucker, because he literally fucked any animal he met.¡±


    Fox even recoiled in surprise, and Belyana began to cackle wildly.


    ¡°You even managed to corrupt an angel,¡± she said displeasedly to Belyana. ¡°I give up. Nothing similar with these dolls, except that she looks like vomit.¡±


    ¡°For that matter, were you holding back?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Fox was surprised, having examined the winged child. ¡°Really, there isn¡¯t even a single scratch on her? Ugh, fuck, don''t blink those sick eyes.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Belyana turned to the girl. ¡°Although I recognize your freedom, your independent actions are too dangerous at the moment. Do you agree?¡±


    The girl looked around thoughtfully.


    ¡°I do,¡± she replied. ¡°Pretty obvious.¡±


    ¡°Then there will be no problems,¡± Belyana breathed a little with relief. ¡°Just stay with me for now.¡±


    She whispered something unintelligible, and the girl crumbled into blue cubes that flew away under Belyana''s dress.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even want to know,¡± Fox said, putting two fingers to her mouth, in imitation of vomiting.


    Belyana simply pulled up her dress, showing naked half of the body. A silver snake, studded with dimly glowing blue eyes, was wrapped around her thin left thigh, up to the knee.


    ¡°And what did you expect?¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Fox shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m still guessing because of the ax.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Belyana said, turning to Karina, whose face was covered in blisters from burns. ¡°You did everything right. If you had been careful, the end would have been much sadder.¡±


    Karina, who had been sitting on the ground in thought before, sighed and got up.


    ¡°It would be better if you climbed into such cloacas without me at all. Anyway I was useless.¡±


    ¡°But this is your power! I just parasitized it a little,¡± Belyana answered encouragingly. ¡°Better let¡¯s take care of your burns. We don''t want your face to end up like Fox''s eye.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± she was indignant.

 09.1 Buyan (1/2)

    The whole city was engulfed in weary sighs and groans. Here, from the window on the second floor of the house, a woman''s head with empty eyes protruded slightly, and in the shadow of the apartment one could see a male silhouette, located from behind. There, right in the middle of the street, four men lay in a pyramid, synchronously moving inside each other. Several young girls, whose inner thighs were still dripping with someone''s sperm, wandered down the street with indifferent expressions on their faces, looking for partners, but without finding anyone, they just began to be satisfied with each other. All people were emaciated to such an extent that every bone could be counted through their skin, no matter what part of the body it was on. However, sometimes there were those who could not survive exhaustion - more often they were lonely, but also there were couples in different poses that the worms were already eating. And none of the people made any distinctions either by sex or by age.


    ¡°Karina?¡± Fox turned to her, noticing an unhealthy blush on her face.


    She did not answer. Instead, she slowly sank to her knees, with hand slid over her pubis under her clothes, and simply obeyed to the town.


    ¡°We lost her,¡± Belyana commented, ¡°Even when I warned her¡­ Although it¡¯s no less interesting why you didn¡¯t get hooked.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I ...¡± Fox wanted to answer, but quickly came to her senses, noticing already unhealthy grinning on Belyana¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t. Just stop.¡±


    ¡°In the form of an animal or a human? With an animal or a human?¡± she laughed, under the doomed roar of Fox. ¡°Oh, it seems that the first run is done.¡±


    Karina, arching and throwing her head back, shuddered slightly. However, as soon as she stopped, she returned to her occupation again.


    Fox, grimacing a little, threw off a couple of sweat-drenched bodies from the nearest bench, which did not react in any way, and Fox with Belyana sat down on it.


    ¡°I suppose, until we get her out of here, she will never stop jerking off? And what to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much it¡¯s true. But, most likely, nothing,¡± Belyana answered. ¡°We also could just drag the magician out of here, but it''s useless because domain immediately hooked her.¡±


    ¡°Then maybe at least bring a couple of men to please her? It¡¯s a shame she is alone.¡±


    ¡°She will definitely never forget or forgive this ... Although, the more I think about it, the more I like this idea. Her panic attacks are sometimes really exhausting.¡±


    The sound of a horn rang through the area, still quiet, obviously coming from afar.


    Fox immediately took off, jumping up the wall of the building, clinging to the windows. Someone unlucky got kicked in the face, but still, didn¡¯t react to it in any way. After surveying the surroundings from the roof of a ten-story building, she simply jumped down, breaking the rather neat asphalt under her.


    ¡°We are waiting someone?¡± Fox asked after stretching her ankle, since a not entirely successful landing happened. ¡°An army in gold chain mails is marching towards us, but I¡¯m pretty sure that no one has idiots without camouflage.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, funny,¡± answered Belyana. ¡°Grab her, we''ll stay at the open door.¡±


    ¡°Eww. Maybe you can wake her up somehow? A whole puddle has already flowed under her. Where does all this liquid come from...¡±


    ¡°Since when does this bother you?¡±


    ¡°As if someone would like to touch something so sticky...¡± Fox sighed, still throwing Karina on her shoulder, although she did not even think about stopping masturbating. ¡°She will also flood all my hair, do you have any idea how hard to wash it?¡±


    ¡°Don''t you think that a haircut to the knees is generally a bad idea for someone pretending to be an Amazon or whatever?¡±


    ¡°It''s called a handicap.¡±


    ¡°I''ll upset you, but a handicap is when you equalize the chances. And when you demonstrate to others that they are finished, despite the fact that you almost step on your own hair - this is narcissism.¡±


    ¡°She thought of it herself, she quipped about it herself,¡± Fox shrugged. ¡°The fact that it doesn¡¯t help anyone doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m assertive.¡±


    ¡°In general, you could have fun at nights with Karina, and not with hamsters or whoever you put into yourself, you know. Maybe in this case she wouldn¡¯t be hooked,¡± Belyana sneered, opening the door in the building. ¡°From the boys she shied away anyway.¡±


    ¡°You''re judging by yourself again?¡± Fox also stood at the door, occasionally looking around. ¡°No, actually it''s not fucked up enough for you. Sorry for overestimating.¡±


    After some time, a marching step became audible, and with it the muffled sounds of falling objects. Then, the fighters themselves appeared, simply chopping off the heads of everyone who got in their way with their swords.


    ¡°I see,¡± Belyana said. ¡°We''re leaving after all.¡±


    And they slammed the door behind them.


    There were shelves of books everywhere. Some were relatively new, some so old that some historian could sell his soul for them. In the near corner of the room, where there was a small coffee table and several armchairs, there were also ¡®trophies¡¯. As soon as Fox noticed them, she laughed wildly.


    ¡°You could at least ... Cover it ...¡± grabbing air between phrases, she said. ¡°She doesn''t like my shelves, huh. From this smiling hag, the blood in the veins freezes. You''re just fucking sick.¡±


    In addition to the directly pink crystal with an old woman inside, there was a mirror hanging on the wall, a black notebook was located on a separate pedestal, and there were many other items, the functions of which, if anyone knew, then only their owner.


    Belyana just shrugged.


    ¡°You¡¯ve completely lost the difference, poor thing. The old woman is dead, and the carriers of those pieces of bodies were pretty much alive, so some still remained.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, aha, yeah,¡± Fox snapped, putting the sleeping Karina on one of the chairs. ¡°You''re telling me this right in the middle of a collection of evidence that you could just kill the poor old woman, considering her cute, and then pretend that you found her by accident.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have read these books, after all,¡± Belyana shrugged her shoulders again. ¡°Although your attitude doesn¡¯t change anything, but delusions tend to build on other delusions, eventually creating entire universes. Needless to say, there is nothing true left in such universes?¡±


    ¡°But when I hear this,¡± Fox said calmly, ¡°You really terrify me. If I didn¡¯t know about your intentions, which were not even explained to me by you, I would definitely try to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Not all knowledge is the same,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°Karina thinks she''s doing one thing. You think she does something completely different. And which one of you is right? What if no one?¡±


    ¡°One thing I''m sure of is that you constantly taunt me to rip your head off to see if there''s anything human left in there. And so I won¡¯t do it on purpose.¡±


    ¡°As you wish,¡± Belyana laughed and went to the other door of the room, leaving Fox and the sleeping Karina alone.


    Sighing, Fox settled into one of the chairs, and began to wipe her clothes and hair with napkins. After some time, Karina stirred.


    ¡°Thanks for the lube shampoo,¡± Fox scoffed, noticing that she woke up.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she replied shyly.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re really suppressing yourself. I thought she was bullshitting as usual. Forget it, it''s fine - at least you don''t stink like someone''s dead...¡±


    A muffled scream came from the far door. Karina became curious and decided to check it out.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°In your place,¡± said Fox, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do this.¡±


    But who would listen? She limped over to the door, opened it slightly and peered inside.


    Naked Belyana hung in the middle of the room, tied by the hands with a rope. Her stomach was ripped open, the insides partially hanging over the edges of the wound, and another white-haired girl stood opposite her. One of her hands was in Belyana''s mouth, and the second, in a way, copulated right with Belyana¡¯s huge wound, making characteristic sounds. And apparently, she really enjoyed it.


    Karina closed the door.


    Seeing the whitened face of the returned ghost, Fox only laughed so hard that the bookshelves trembled.


    ¡°I warned you.¡±


    ¡°It just seemed to me,¡± Karina said quietly, rather to herself.


    ¡°Actually, you are very wrong,¡± said Fox, when she had already calmed down. ¡°You treat her like a human and you think she is, but she is definitely isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Who else is she?¡±


    ¡°And here I also have no idea. At the very least, she''s just plain fucked up, same as other one, actually.¡±


    In less than a couple of minutes, the door opened and three people came out. Two Belyanas in white dresses and some naked woman, about forty, on a dog leash. However, one of the copies had both eyes blue. Actually, the original Belyana held the leash, and in the other hand she had clean things, similar in style to Karina''s clothes.


    ¡°Well, you ruined the whole mood,¡± Belyana scolded Karina. ¡°Instead of just sleeping sweetly, you have to wander everywhere necessarily. Whatever, you still need to change clothes.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is that, anyway?¡± Fox was surprised to see the arrivals.


    ¡°This is Zemlyana, actually,¡± Belyana calmly replied.


    ¡°Yes, I know your fucking clone, or are you her clone, who cares,¡± Fox said irritably. ¡°I''m talking about the contents of the collar.¡±


    ¡°Ah, really, you haven¡¯t seen her yet - this is Maria. Mary, paw,¡± Mary held out her hand, in a characteristic gesture, but Fox ignored it.


    ¡°Wait,¡± suddenly alarmed Karina. ¡°That Mary?¡±


    ¡°Well, of course. It would be a shame to leave such good stuff on the road to wallow.¡±


    ¡°I mean, she''s older than me! This is nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t pay attention,¡± Belyana answered evasively. ¡°We spend so much time on the road that the internal clock is easily lost.¡±


    Fox looked at her accusingly, but Karina calmed down, although the answer did not fully suit her. However, who would argue? It is difficult to lose a sense of time in such a way as to lose thirty years.


    ¡°The show, of course, is fucking awesome,¡± Fox said, ¡°But just don¡¯t say that you just popped in here to fuck. What''s the matter?¡±


    ¡°Morevna,¡± Belyana answered with only one word.


    ¡°Oh shit,¡± Fox said doomily.


    ¡°What''s the problem?¡± Karina asked.


    ¡°Well, how can I tell you ... Do you remember the fairy tale?¡±


    ¡°The one where Koschei abducted her?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Fox replied thoughtfully. ¡°Rhetorical question: ¡®How can a skinny bastard kidnap a monster that can annihilate an entire army with her bare hands?¡¯ The answer is already in the question itself. This is bullshit.


    Once upon a time, one girl was tired of the atrocities of a necromancer, and she decided that it was time to put an end to him. To her displeasure (although I would argue with that), he turned out to be immortal. Did she even start looking for a way to kill him? Oh yes, she quickly discovered how to kill him, and where to find the needle. But since the girl was a little fucked up, instead she decided to go the hard way - she battled with him for several months, without sleep and rest, until he fell completely exhausted.


    Well, she hung him on the wall as a trophy for the guests to brag about. For a long time he hung, embittered even more than before.


    At some point, the girl gone too feminine herself, and married a village fool. But people don¡¯t change, she became bored, she went for new adventures. She told her hubby not to go into the basement, but fool is a fool. And he went in and gave Koschei water to drink.


    I don¡¯t even know where the nonsense about the grateful Koschei came from, he was always that fucker, but still it¡¯s not true. He killed the fool on the spot, sweetly rubbing his hands in anticipation of the suffering of the girl when she returns, and he rode away far, far away.


    The girl is returned. The girl suffered. Her love was real.


    And it all ended with the fact that she found Koschei, dismembered into small pieces and scattered them all over the world. Well, or so they say, the world may not have been all, but each inhabitant of her island had an ornament with a piece of the body. The funny thing is that his immortality played against him when he decided to piss off not someone, but her.


    In general, only one thing pleases - she is about as strong as me.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to upset you,¡± said Belyana, ¡°But that was before the magic returned to her, and especially before Zemlyana woke up.¡±


    ¡°So it means we fucked up,¡± was all Fox said. ¡°For some reason I don¡¯t want to play any role in this anymore.¡±


    ¡°Come on, it will be fun,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°Maybe I''ll ask the old woman to return your eye.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, like hell I believed you, there is still no dough.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, the old woman was the work, and you didn¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°I killed the fucking God!¡±


    ¡°Not so much in Alpha was from God,¡± Belyana shrugged. ¡°Moreover, the old woman gave you the power to do this.¡±


    ¡°How do you piss me off,¡± growled Fox. ¡°Although, I confess, it became much funnier.¡±


    ¡°If Zemlyana is the source of her powers,¡± Karina asked, ¡°Why can¡¯t she just take them away?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t deprive anyone or anything,¡± Belyana answered.


    ¡°There is nothing to take away,¡± added Zemlyana, in the same voice, but a little higher tone. ¡°The power comes from the people themselves. Another issue is that without help, they will never have access to it.¡±


    ¡°Most of modern magicians are weak for this very reason - too many generations have passed since their ancestors received this help,¡± Belyana continued for her. ¡°We can kill the magician, of course, but we are both against it, so let''s go the usual way.¡±


    ¡°Still, when you talk for each other, I¡¯m even more sick of you,¡± Fox finished on this.


    ***


    It was already night outside, and they were walking through the forest. Belyana and Zemlyana held hands, and in the other hand Belyana held a leash on which Mary trudged, whom no one bothered to dress. Karina tried to see the ground in the darkness, but still stumbled every now and then, and Fox entertained herself by counting these stumbles aloud.


    Finally, a small hut appeared in front of them. It was surrounded by a fence of human-like bones. Sticks protruded from the fence every meter or two, adorned with luminous little skulls on top.


    ¡°No, seriously?¡± Fox asked when she saw this. ¡°What the hell are we doing here?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to catch a storm,¡± Belyana answered.


    ¡°And even if we were, then why, if she has a secret path?¡± Zemlyana continued.


    ¡°I''ve never been here,¡± said Karina, ¡°But somehow this place looks familiar. What''s this?¡±


    ¡°You see?¡± Belyana asked Fox. ¡°She is already interested, and you are outraged here.


    Hut-hut, if I have to ask you again, I will turn you into firewood.¡±


    There was an offended creak, very similar to a deep sigh, after which the hut turned around its axis, showing the door.


    The door opened, and the hostess was already standing in the aisle. A young black-haired woman, with a slightly hawk nose, was wearing only a long shirt, and one of her legs was wrapped with an elastic bandage from the foot to the knee.


    ¡°Why are you, dear guests, do not coming in?¡± in a violin voice, with some strange hoarseness, she asked.


    ¡°Because your house stinks like a mortuary,¡± Fox scolded her. ¡°Who would?¡±


    The woman sniffed defiantly.


    ¡°I feel an unwashed dog walking around nearby, oh, my eyes have become bad, I can¡¯t see it,¡± she said without changing her tone.


    ¡°Yeah, who are you fucking, hag. Last time I saw one eye of you, and now you, for sure, have fattened the second one.¡±


    ¡°What a smart bitch. I can¡¯t hide anything from you.¡±


    Fox still could not stand it, and in a rage jumped towards her. The woman just caught Fox by the hand and twisted it behind her back.


    ¡°Come on, you know, ¡®Lady, forgive the asshole, I won''t do it again¡¯,¡± she said to Fox.


    ¡°You''d rather ... Fuck yourself ... With your crooked nose ... Into ass, than get it,¡± through her teeth, Fox answered.


    The laughing woman released her.


    ¡°I just missed you,¡± she justified herself somehow unconvincingly. ¡°So much time has passed, but here, you know, it¡¯s pretty lonely.¡±


    In the end, they still went inside. From the outside, the wooden house may have looked small, but inside it turned out to be a real mansion, and even a two-story one. Actually, the hostess took them to the second floor, where there was a rather cozy kitchen, with a small table in the middle. On the stove, something was boiling in a pot, and on the table itself were plates full of beautifully served food.


    Fox said in Karina''s ear that she should not eat anything here, even if she was hungry. Karina did not have time to ask why, as the woman turned to her.


    ¡°It''s the first time we see each other, right? I''m Yaga, and you?¡±


    ¡°Karina,¡± she answered, and then she realized why the house outside seemed familiar to her. ¡°Yaga? The one? Aren''t you supposed to be... Old?¡±


    ¡°At least someone from this company is decently brought up,¡± she giggled. ¡°It''s to scare the kids, and so, I can look like anything.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± sharply refuted her assertion Fox. ¡°What do you have in your pot, hag?¡±


    Without waiting for an answer, she simply opened the lid of the pot, and picked up the heavy contents with a ladle. With a shaved child''s head, already gray, water flowed down. The eye sockets were empty, and a tongue dangled from a toothless mouth.


    ¡°Who knows how much she ate them in order to throw off so many years,¡± Fox said to Karina. ¡°When I saw her, she was at least twice as old as she is now.¡±


    ¡°Why are you scaring the girl,¡± Yaga pretended to be offended. ¡°Directly this boy pissed on my fence. Why should I just let him go?¡±


    ¡°No, did you see it? She doesn¡¯t even understand in principle what is wrong in her logical chain,¡± and after that, Fox turned to Yaga herself. ¡°You do realize that this is the main reason why people even tried to erase your name from their memory, right?¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry,¡± she answered to Fox somehow sadly. ¡°If no jokes, then I understand everything perfectly. We are to blame for what we ended up with. I don¡¯t expect your understanding, but just let you know that right now I simply have no other choice. We looked for it and didn¡¯t find any.¡±


    Belyana and Zemlyana just nodded in unison when Fox looked at them.


    ¡°Disgusting,¡± she finally said. ¡°That''s why I hate you all. I don¡¯t give a fuck about your global problems, and you constantly drag me into them. The entire mood was ruined.¡±


    And she, very dissatisfied, plopped down at the dinner table.


    ¡°Since we are done with this circus,¡± said Belyana, ¡°Let¡¯s get down to business. We need a pass to Buyan.¡±


    ¡°What do I have to do with this?¡± Yaga asked.


    ¡°Mirror,¡± Zemlyana answered.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t even spit on the hand, and immediately to blackmail,¡± Yaga giggled. ¡°Okay, okay, I''ll open the door - it''s not worth it to rust further.¡±


    And Karina noticed a small table on which lay a gold coin, a handkerchief and a comb.


    ¡°Is that what I think?¡±


    ¡°Take it if you want,¡± Yaga shrugged. ¡°They''re useless anyway.¡±


    She did not need a second offer - having received permission, she immediately put them in her pocket.

 09.2 Buyan (2/2)

    They were rafting along a small cave river on a small ship, the oars of which were rowed by four pairs of bone hands. Candles were hung along the walls, which immediately lit up on their own, as soon as ship caught up with them.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s utterly secret,¡± Fox quipped, noticing the inscription ¡°Vasya was here¡± scratched on the wall.


    Belyana was sitting on Zemlyana''s knees, and they were kissing. Fox grimaced as she turned and saw this instead of an enthusiastic audience.


    ¡°Why not just fuck here?¡± she asked displeasedly. ¡°First of all, you look like fucking twins. It''s disgusting. Secondly, she,¡± Fox pointed to Zemlyana, ¡°In fact, the mother of everything. This is doubly disgusting. In all its aspects.¡±


    ¡°Grump,¡± Belyana only said. ¡°The face is young, but the behavior gives out age.¡±


    ¡°And how old?¡± without a second thought, Karina asked.


    Fox just coughed in embarrassment, causing Belyana to burst out laughing again.


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Karina muttered. ¡°What about food, by the way?¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Fox replied. ¡°It¡¯s not only all rotten, but also wormy. Even one bite dispels this illusion. You would vomit further than you could see.¡±


    Karina only trembled.


    Ship finally approached the exit from the cave, from which a bright light beat.


    ¡°Mary, shield,¡± said Belyana.


    A huge ball of transparent threads appeared around the ship, which would not even be noticeable if they did not refract light.


    As soon as they swam out of the tunnel, an ultrasonic scream was heard, and the shield burst into flames.


    ¡°Holy fuck!¡± Fox jumped up in surprise, ¡°What the hell is this?¡±


    ¡°What it looks like is what it is,¡± Belyana answered imperturbably. ¡°Firebird.¡±


    A huge animal hovered in the sky. Her golden wings and unimaginably beautiful tail, somewhat reminiscent of a peacock, blazed with flames, and the bird poured fire on their ship.


    ¡°Why the hell is she acting like a dragon?!¡± Fox shouted over the bird. ¡°She must eat apples and sing!¡±


    ¡°Who cares,¡± Belyana said indifferently. ¡°Mary, knock down the chicken.¡±


    In a second, hundreds of transparent threads wrapped around the mythical creature, and it simply burst, torn into particles. Bloody rain dripped from the shield like a glass dome.


    ¡°She is too noisy,¡± answered Belyana to bewildered glances. ¡°Besides, she is deathless anyway.¡±


    After a while, they sailed to the shore of a green island. In the midst of natural splendor, a huge golden palace towered, blinding the eyes with reflected sunlight.


    Fox and Karina went downstairs, but as soon as Fox turned to ask why the others were so slow, she immediately grimaced. The hands of Zemlyana and Belyana were already under each other''s dresses, and they were clearly in no hurry.


    ¡°And this is another reason why when they are together, it is generally impossible to deal with them,¡± Fox sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go, they¡¯ll catch up. I guess.¡±


    A neat tiled road led to the castle, along the edges of which stood wooden houses. The windows and doors in all were boarded up, and they themselves were rather dilapidated, clearly hinting that no one had lived here for a long time. Warriors in golden chain mail guarded both the road itself and the castle. However, as soon as Fox said that she and her friend wanted to enlist in the army, the soldiers stopped bothering them at all, and generally paying attention to them.


    The interior of the palace turned out to be somewhat more ascetic, consisting entirely of wood. After wandering back and forth, they reached the great hall. On a golden throne, with her muscular legs on the handle, reclining, a young woman was reading a weighty book. Her blond hair was braided into a very thick and long braid, hanging down to the floor, and her light-blue eyes even seemed to glow. She was wearing only a knee-length white shirt, trimmed around the edges with weaves of Asiatic dayflowers. Next to her was a tall stand on which sat a large falcon, looking at the guests with curiosity.


    ¡°Good morning, guests,¡± she said in a voice like a song, without even taking her eyes off the book. ¡°What for did you visit me?¡±


    ¡°We want to sign up for the troops,¡± Fox replied.


    ¡°Oh, are you, girls, oh, are you, beauties?¡± the melodiousness of her voice gave some special charm to the causticity. ¡°The wind whispered in my ear that the graceful Firebird had a different opinion.¡±


    Morevna turned the ring on her finger. Thirty-three huge twin warriors in shining armor appeared in the middle of the hall, holding heavy clubs in their hands. Without giving even a second to think, they immediately attacked the invaders.


    Fox took a deep breath. There was a loud bang, with which she simply disappeared from her place.


    Ragged holes appeared in the armor of the men, and they themselves, with an iron clang, fell dead to the floor.


    The wave of air was strong enough, but Karina still managed to stay on her feet, and Fox was already standing next to her again.


    Morevna sighed, slammed her book loudly, and stood up. No matter how impressive Fox seemed, against the two-meter Morevna even she looked small.


    ¡°Oh, Finist, sing a song to me


    About the scarlet rivers.


    The evil always must to be


    Obedient and shivers!¡±


    ¡°Grab fast!¡± Fox screamed.


    The bird flowed in streams into Morevna''s outstretched hand, turning into a sword almost the same size as Morevna herself. The blade had several serrations, and the hilt was adorned with silver feathers.


    Karina grabbed the back of Fox, who had already turned into an animal.


    Almost immediately, Morevna appeared right in front of them, and Fox vibrated, catching the sword in her mouth.


    With a wave of her head, she threw Morevna aside. She crashed into the wall with a whistle and a rumble.


    And Fox immediately rushed in the opposite direction, punching a passage for herself and Karina right through the walls.


    As soon as they jumped out, Morevna already appeared, with sawdust tangled in her hair.


    Karina pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and threw it on the ground.


    The ground was replaced by a huge uneven stone surface. Of course, there was no sense in this, how could Morevna be delayed?


    Then Karina threw a comb. Behind them, a whole forest of slimy tentacles appeared, immediately reaching out to Morevna, trying to grab and wrap her.


    With one swing of a huge sword, so fast, as if the weapon weighed nothing, Morevna cut down all this abomination at once, without even slowing down.


    Karina threw the coin last. A kilometer-long mountain grew out of the ground, consisting of moving, decomposing bodies, which, one after another, lingeringly begged for death.


    First, the sound of an explosion was heard, and then Morevna appeared directly above the mountain, flying over it in one jump.


    And her loud cry resounded across the sky.


    ¡°Mother Earth, hear my call,


    Leave no signs of heads at all!¡±


    ¡°Shit,¡± was all Fox managed to swear at.


    Morevna landed with the blade of her sword on the ground. The impact caused an earthquake, and a real forest of various kinds of steel cutting tools grew out of the ground, turning Fox and Karina into minced meat and bones instantly.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ***


    ¡°Oh, they already lost,¡± Belyana giggled.


    She walked like that, holding hands with Zemlyana, and Mary trudged behind with a yoke on which two buckets of water hung. The guards not only did not bother them, but even, for ten meters, went around in circles, as if bumping into an invisible wall.


    ¡°My love, don''t you think that you are too cruel?¡± Zemlyana asked a little displeased.


    ¡°You can see all my thoughts,¡± Belyana answered, bringing her companion¡¯s hand to her face and kissing it.


    ¡°But you also see that I do not approve of this,¡± she relented.


    Belyana was silent for a bit, only after that she answered.


    ¡°Sorry. I sometimes forget that faster isn''t always better. It even backfired once.¡±


    Zemlyana kissed her on the forehead.


    ¡°Don''t even think about it,¡± she said. ¡°I did what I did, it''s not your fault at all, and never was.¡±


    They came to the field of swords, where birds were already feasting with revelry. Zemlyana only lightly stamped her bare foot, and all the steel turned into earth, returning to its original state.


    The frightened birds scattered, but Zemlyana sang a couple of rhyming lines in an unknown language. Not only birds, but also every other small animal gathered in a pile. And all of them, at the same time, vomited pieces of swallowed flesh.


    Mary placed buckets next to the minced meat, and Belyana began to sniff these buckets.


    ¡°We should have signed them after all,¡± she said, in the end. ¡°One stinks of rotten stuff, the other is just shit. And which one is dead, which is living one? Mary, cut open your finger.¡±


    Blood dripped from it, and Belyana lowered her hand into the first bucket that came across. The blood didn''t even mix with the water, it just disappeared. The wound unnaturally healed, tightening its edges with meat threads right before their eyes.


    ¡°Well, rotten is dead one. Time to collect the mosaic,¡± she said again to the indifferent Mary.


    And the transparent threads of her began to restore the stuffing piece by piece, collecting bodies from them.


    Belyana, in turn, drew water from a bucket with thick syringes, laying them out in a row on the ground. Suddenly, Zemlyana giggled. Surprised, Belyana turned, looked at the bodies, and found that they had their vaginas and mouths mixed up.


    ¡°Bad taste,¡± she said, after which she looked at Mary in surprise. ¡°Who would have thought that she didn¡¯t burn everything. I''ll take care of you when we get back. But now, fix it.¡±


    And Mary did not need to be asked twice. For several hours, Belyana and Zemlyana were busy carefully, trying not to spill even a drop, treating each line of the mutilated bodies with water. When they finished, Belyana simply dipped her fingers into the second bucket, spraying the lying ones on their faces.


    ¡°Pfu, pfe,¡± Fox cleared her throat. ¡°Why there is taste of dick?¡±


    Karina just slowly sat down, trying to remember where she was.


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Belyana shrugged, pretending not to have a clue. ¡°Don¡¯t put everything you see in such shape inside your mouth.¡±


    ¡°And anyway, what the fuck? It just wasn''t fair.¡±


    ¡°What''s more, now we''ll get back to her!¡± Belyana laughed.


    ¡°Are you crazy? Or do you mean to say that you have an eternal supply of water?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Belyana turned to Mary. ¡°Take the buckets back for now - we need to return everything that is left. A contract is a contract, but there is no need to anger the guard.¡±


    And Mary hoisted the buckets on the yoke, and went in the opposite direction.


    ¡°Anyway, we have already taken everything from her,¡± Belyana explained. ¡°However, Karina will finally have to learn how to dive from a distance.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Karina was surprised.


    ¡°There is not a single condition under which Morevna will be able to calm down. At best, Fox will not let her finish you off.¡±


    ¡°Encouragingly,¡± answered Karina.


    ¡°And ask me?¡± Fox asked irritable.


    ¡°Why ask you?¡± Belyana unexpectedly run her finger between Fox¡¯s legs and showed hand to her. ¡°It''s wet here, and your face is on fire.¡±


    ¡°You would have gone back there anyway,¡± Zemlyana said. ¡°Even if only death awaited you there.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Fox chuckled. ¡°That''s where you got me.¡±


    Karina eventually realized that there were no more clothes on her either, and somehow shivered. Belyana only sighed, trying on her dress under her eye, but realized that it would not fit in any way.


    ¡°You''ll have to endure that I suppose,¡± she shrugged. ¡°At least it''s warm outside.¡±


    When they reached the groaning mountain of bodies, Belyana giggled.


    ¡°Well, she has nasty toys after all. Where did you toss the coin? In the center or on the other side?¡±


    ¡°No idea. Fox ran too fast,¡± answered Karina.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a good idea to complain about it,¡± Fox muttered with displeasure. ¡°If we died in the palace - it would be end of the story. It is foreign, water would simply not work inside it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you decided to pretend that you knew about something for which there were no prerequisites?¡± Belyana sneered, and then added coldly. ¡°The reality is that you made a mistake, died yourself and took her with you.¡±


    ¡°And here you¡¯re right,¡± Fox answered calmly. ¡°My mistake was to rely on the fact that you know what you¡¯re doing, and not decided to fuck on the sea waves under the guise, and then pretend that you were doing something important.¡±


    They just rounded the mountain. When a golden wall with a hole appeared before their eyes, Mary, indifferent to everything, was already waiting for them there.


    ¡°Book! Look for it!¡± from the cry of Morevna, the walls trembled even outside.


    ¡°Did you snatched,¡± Fox was surprised, ¡°Even that?¡±


    ¡°Rather, we started with it,¡± said Belyana.


    ¡°And when she began to run around everywhere, leaving everything else, we took this everything too,¡± said Zemlyana.


    ¡°You?!¡± furious Morevna stared at them from the hole.


    ¡°Mary, shield Karina,¡± Belyana said instantly.


    The blast wave swept in all directions from the impact that Fox had stopped.


    ¡°We played enough, now dive in,¡± Belyana said quietly, but the sound of her voice could still be heard through the explosions.


    Blow after blow, their sounds were more like machine gun fire, so high was their speed and strength. It seemed as if the air around them even glowed.


    Morevna''s shirt, like the ribbons woven into the braid, simply decayed. Under the clothes, no matter how ridiculous it was, there was chain mail, the rings of which were red hot.


    Both of their hair flowed in rivers of fire, white and orange. Morevna''s beautiful face was distorted in a monstrous grimace of rage, while Fox''s face looked rather indecent - she was definitely in ecstatic pleasure.


    Under the dance of death of the warriors, patches of earth flew up every now and then. They themselves were either on the ground, or practically soared into the air, until someone''s explosive blow sent the enemy back.


    ¡°And how, in your opinion, to do it...¡± Karina whispered softly, rather under her breath.


    Zemlyana simply stepped over the barrier that protects from shock waves.


    ¡°Close your eyes,¡± she told her gently, putting her hands on Karina¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Do you feel your body?


    Feel with the pores.


    Hear every sound.


    Feel every scent.


    Perceive all feelings at once, let them merge into one.¡±


    Morevna suddenly changed her trajectory, jumping towards Karina. Fox immediately jumped after her, but could not have been in time in any way.


    ¡°Do you hear a quiet, quiet rumble?¡± Zemlyana slightly stamped her foot, and in front of them a giant wall grew right out of the ground, completely absorbing Morevna''s blow. ¡°Listen to it.


    Somewhere the rumble is weaker, somewhere stronger.


    Somewhere it is distorted.


    Furious and chaotic is Fox.


    Deaf and fading is Mary.


    Do you hear the one that sounds like the rustle of leaves, under which someone is crying? Let it take you with it.¡±


    Karina found herself in some kind of wooden room even before she realized that she had already dived. No noise, no rumble, no shaking ground.


    Firewood crackled softly in the oven. A pretty old woman was sitting in a rocking chair, knitting something. She did not care about the intruder - she did not even pay attention to her.


    ¡°What you are doing?¡± Karina asked.


    ¡°Sitting. Knitting,¡± the old woman answered without raising her eyes.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°What else to do?¡± now she, after all, looked. ¡°Everything else is meaningless, the world is done anyway.¡±


    ¡°But the world is in place, since we are talking?¡±


    ¡°Now in place, then not in place. You can''t save it anyway, what''s the difference?¡±


    ¡°Guard?¡±


    She did not even have time to react, as the old woman, with a piercing cry, turned into a huge toothy hole, and sucked Karina into herself.


    A huge pillar of light, surrounded by millions of winged soldiers in the middle of a field that was once a city of some kind.


    Warriors in golden chain mail attack, but angels come down from the air and seize them, tearing them in half with their bare hands like paper.


    Bursts of firearms that don''t even reach enemies.


    Soldiers running in panic, in the uniforms of all nations, meet their death either from acid rain, ending in vile puddles, or turn into ashes under the swing of fiery swords.


    White and orange flames fly all over the field, coping, however, much better than the rest, thinning out the ranks of the enemy, dotting the ground with winged corpses. But there are simply too many enemies.


    ¡°And what''s the point?¡± asked an old woman''s voice. ¡°My self-confidence, my past, consisting only of victories, told me that I couldn¡¯t lose. After all, I''ve always been the chosen one. And what did it lead to?¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t you win?¡± Karina asked uncertainly. ¡°It''s over.¡±


    ¡°Millions of soldiers died. Billions of others died. This is victory? This is just an ode to my insignificance.¡±


    Karina spun in the air, trying to find a way to land.


    Instead, space itself has changed. Black sky, gray earth. Karina saw the Earth swaying up and down in the sky.


    She sat down and abruptly jumped towards the bottom of the planet, immediately ending up there.


    Something humanoid was standing on a huge turtle. His eyes bulged from the effort, his ears bled, and his rectum protruded down at least a meter. The muscles of this creature bulged out as if they were about to burst.


    ¡°Aaand, one, aaand, one, aaand, one,¡± he repeated to himself, raising the planet like a barbell.


    ¡°It won''t help you get stronger,¡± Karina told him.


    With a bursting sound, blood also gushed from his eyeball, and he growled, but did not even think to stop.


    Karina sighed, and lightly flicked the monster''s forehead.


    The click, of course, was weak, but the monster was thrown very far.


    Karina began to tear off the top of the shell from the turtle, and turtle tried to bite back, twisting it long neck.


    The monster flew back, but Karina was already holding a huge plate in her hands.


    As soon as the monster came close enough, he immediately got hit on the head with a ribbed board.


    Karina did not wait for him to return again, and this time jumped after him, and so she continued to beat him until he got tired of punches.


    ¡°Okay, okay, I give up, I give up,¡± he growled in a deep voice. ¡°You are stronger, but that doesn''t change anything.¡±


    ¡°I''m not stronger,¡± she replied, ripping out the heart of the gaping monster with her bare hand. ¡°I''m just doing what needs to be done.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry, mother,¡± Karina immediately heard a melodious voice, as soon as she dived out.


    ¡°Everything is fine,¡± said Zemlyana, hugging the crying Morevna and stroking her head. ¡°We''ll find him someday.¡±


    ¡°By the way, until I forgot,¡± Belyana suddenly said.


    In her hands was a small leather pouch, which she untied and turned over. Gold bars rained down on the ground.


    ¡°Roughly a hundred.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± asked Fox.


    ¡°Nope,¡± Belyana laughed. ¡°How to carry it is not my problem.¡±


    After Zemlyana returned Morevna the book and the sword, and Belyana returned the same wallet, they all went back safely.


    Fox, with an extremely dissatisfied look, was carrying a cart behind her. Karina, every now and then, looked at her hand.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Belyana asked when she noticed this.


    ¡°Somehow it was too easy and fast, even boring,¡± Karina answered.


    ¡°Not really surprising. It was more like a little weakness of hers with big consequences, but it''s not typical for her at all.¡±


    ¡°Also, I think I have a broken finger.¡±


    ¡°What can I say,¡± Belyana answered in her usual tone, but looked at Karina very strangely. ¡°You are no stranger to plaster.¡±

 10 Sound of the Sea

    ¡°And what did you do with Mary?¡± asked Fox.


    ¡°Immediately accuses of something,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°Zemlyana is busy adapting her to the world, which is not surprising - the girl spent too long in this state.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about something else,¡± Karina said thoughtfully. ¡°Shouldn''t there be demons too, if there were so many angels?¡±


    ¡°I finished them all,¡± as if it was about something ordinary, Belyana answered. ¡°So they shouldn''t.¡±


    ¡°Yeeah,¡± Fox jumped into.


    ¡°What, ¡®yeah¡¯? One of them wanted to live, so all the others were fed to him. Are they dead? Dead.¡±


    ¡°Yeeah. No difference at all, exactly the same. Just think, somewhere a monster is still alive, who ate a hell knows how much evil spirits - everyday life, as it is.


    ¡°It''s totally harmless.¡±


    ¡°If my memory doesn¡¯t fail me, and it doesn¡¯t, you also claimed that Mary, as long as she has no consciousness, is also harmless. The one who blew up the mythical monster, as if scratching her ass.¡±


    ¡°But no,¡± Belyana laughed. ¡°I said that she can only scare fairies, which the Firebird, technically, was. If the same Morevna had punched the barrier, we would have had soup from Karina. So, given that in the end it was the Zemlyana who had to defend her, you lost again, so it¡¯s not up to you to argue what is safe and what is not.¡±


    Instead of answering, Fox whistled as she looked around the town they had come to. On each building, sometimes entire families, corpses hung in loops, obviously not very fresh. Karina blinked. The corpses disappeared, and with them some of the buildings, while the rest somehow subtly changed.


    ¡°Uh ...¡± Karina drawled and looked at Belyana. ¡°Whatever, you still wouldn¡¯t tell.¡±


    Belyana imperceptibly chuckled.


    The current streets were quite busy, however, the entire population moved in wheelchairs, since everyone was legless. Suddenly, someone unsuccessfully turned and fell out. The same thing, already deliberately, was repeated by absolutely everyone who saw it.


    ¡°Whoa,¡± Fox wondered. ¡°And if I piss on someone¡¯s face, all the others will also ask?¡±


    ¡°Take it and check it,¡± Belyana shrugged.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Karina shouted at them, not appreciating the joke, but did not have time to continue, as she found herself in the dark.


    A moment later, she saw in front of her a small tower with a door, standing in the middle of an endless field.


    ¡°Something new,¡± she said. ¡°Belyana?¡±


    But there was no answer, except that an annoying red line from heaven to earth appeared right in front of Karina''s face. Surprisingly, no matter how Karina turned her head, the line remained right in the center of her vision, not moving even a little, so she decided to just ignore it.


    She entered the door of the tower, and a huge assembly hall appeared before her eyes. In absolute silence, a little girl danced on the stage. At first glance, it might have seemed that she was also naked, but either an unfortunate choice, or such was the idea - in fact, she was wearing a flesh-colored gymnastic leotard. There was only one spectator in the hall - a shadow sat on the front row, more like a bowling pin than a human.


    The dance was not very long. As soon as the girl, with her last movement, bowed, the shadow disappeared, and the world was torn apart.


    Space had become a universe of mirrored shards, each reflecting something, but none of it seemed to exist or even be described. Only in the shard that Karina herself was standing on, there was something like a green sky with black clouds, so she just let it pull her inside.


    The sky really turned out to be green, and the ground was covered with bluish grass. A little further away stood a building very similar in its view to the Colosseum. However, behind its walls was only a round field, fenced with a simple rope fence.


    Here, Karina''s eyes were presented with an absolutely amazing performance.


    A fly flew into the elephant''s trunk a couple of times, flying out through the ass, from which animal¡¯s eyes rolled in pleasure. On the third time, it stuck its trunk into its anus, as soon as a fly flew into it, clearly illustrating an old anecdote.


    The bear and the hare were giggling after the bear hit the bandaged wolf on the head with two manholes.


    A contented fox was sitting at a kind of table, with a fork and a knife in its paws, chopping off a piece from a kolobok. Opposite, for company, a frog sat, croaking softly, and in the end, the fox handed a small piece to it, and it immediately grabbed piece with its tongue, somehow even managing to smile.


    At the sound of a gong, a wooden house crawled out of the ground, and the whole company of animals immediately rushed inside. A fly, then a frog, then a hare, a fox, a wolf. And on this, the place inside not only ended, but the house even crackled. The elephant somehow did not care at all about what was happening, it was just snoring, but the bear very carefully tried to climb in, although others tried to dissuade it with shouts and even swearing. In the end, the bear gave up and just climbed onto the roof. And the building, having sustained its weight for several seconds, eventually collapsed with a crash.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    There was a screeching laugh, more like a cough. It turned out that this sick show also had one viewer - the same shadow standing right by the fence.


    This world also exploded into fragments.


    The room she found herself in was made up of plumbing pipes, but the dim lighting made them look more like intestines intertwined, if only very thick. A shadow sat on the floor, and in the middle of the room a giant cockroach stood on two legs, importantly moving its thin antennae. The cockroach cleared its throat in a thin voice, about to speak, and Karina settled comfortably on the floor, not in a hurry anywhere.


    ¡°There was one beetle in the world. I must say, it was lucky with its parents too - they turned out to be wealthy and caring. The best teachers were engaged in its education, all its undertakings were supported, and the reasons for its mistakes were clearly explained to it, so that it never got upset, always realizing that everything was only in its hands - neither a higher power, nor whatever else, its life did not ruled.


    It grew and grew, and at some point, of course, grown up. It converted the accumulated knowledge and experience into its own business, which brings it a good income. However, it did not stop there, expanding its business further and further, covering almost the entire planet. Not that it wanted to make the world a better place, nor that it cared about this world - all that really interested it was its own well-being.


    At some point, its wealth became such that even if it threw money out of the window in bags for full days, they would not end until its death in extreme old age. And it thought: ¡®What am I doing? Do I live at all? Maybe I sho¨C¡±


    Yes, that''s when the thought broke off. Everything was in its hands, but not the moment when everything ends.¡± And with a bow of a cockroach, after the disappearance of the shadow, this room also crumbled.


    But before Karina had time to orient herself, a bright light blinded her. When her eyes adjusted a little, she found herself in a very strange place, furnished with no less strange huge furniture.


    ¡°Mama!¡± a deafening voice rang out, from which everything around vibrated, after which it was replaced by an approaching roar.


    Karina turned around, and a giant baby was already crawling towards her, quite to match the furniture.


    ¡°Play!¡± the source of the voice, oddly enough, was the child.


    ¡°Well, close your eyes,¡± said Karina, and added quietly under her breath, ¡°well, hell with it.¡±


    As soon as gullible child obeyed, she closed her eyes too, allowing the darkness to drag her even deeper.


    ¡°Well, fine,¡± said Karina, being in place. ¡°You dragged me into your very core. Not that it changes anything, but why?¡±


    In the middle of the dense nothingness, on countless threads, hung a transparent likeness of a ball covered with transparent hairs. In the middle sat a luminous human of indeterminate sex, with eyes that can best be described as absolute nothingness. They were not even black, in this sense, rather, space itself did not exist in their place - that is, their presence was somehow felt, but none of the methods allowed them to be seen.


    ¡°Loneliness ...¡± this silhouette did not have a mouth, so it was rather Karina''s brain itself that interpreted the flow of feelings with which they communicated. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°How should I know?¡± she rightly asked. ¡°You drew a whole crowd into your domain. I think this is the last thing you should feel.¡±


    ¡°There is not anyone. There is nothing. N snds. N vsn. Nflngs. Mptnss. Threads¨C¡±


    A black shadow appeared right in front of them, immediately piercing them, either with a hand, or with something that looked like it, in the stomach, interrupting this nonsense. The transparent ball burst like a soap bubble, and the luminous human crumbled into small sparkling beads, scattering in all possible directions.


    ¡°Well, this is something quite strange. If you hear me there, then I''m ou¨C¡±


    One bead suddenly hooked her, and she was immediately thrown into some kind of space, consisting of stretched ribbons, penetrating everything around, including her. She felt rather than saw how something began to unravel on ribbons her too, piece by piece, as if loosening clothes. This, however, seemed to her terribly pleasant, so that she did not even try to resist. But even before she was completely unraveled, a squeak broke the total silence. Karina listened.


    ¡°The last chance,¡± it turned out to be Belyana''s voice so far away that even in order to make out the meaning of the words, one had to select by ear the ones suitable for the length and tone. ¡°Grab the red thread.¡±


    Karina wanted to swear about the absence of such, even without having a face to do it, but after thinking for a second, she realized what was being said. And she touched the red line that had followed her from the beginning.


    It was not that much of a jerk - rather, a blow to the ground when falling from a skyscraper, or if the rocket from the ground did not accelerate, but immediately started at full speed. The line dragged her roughly and quickly through the tape universe, speeding up and speeding up.


    For a second, a black-and-white world flashed before Karina''s eyes and an unimaginably huge oak tree growing from somewhere out of the sky, dotting it with its endless roots, and hanging from it with crown and foliage. In another second, Karina was already standing next to Belyana and Fox, seeing her lying body, and the red ball in Belyana''s hands, from which the same thread was stretching. Finally, she opened the eyes of her own body.


    ¡°An amazing desire for death,¡± Belyana commented displeasedly.


    ¡°In terms of?¡± Karina was surprised. ¡°It was even nice.¡±


    ¡°Brr,¡± Belyana pretended to hug her shoulders, as if freezing. ¡°When the Sea dissolves you - it really is like an endless series of the best orgasms in your life. The only problem is that no one comes back from there.¡±


    ¡°Actually, it didn''t look like them either.¡±


    ¡°If it were, we wouldn¡¯t be talking anymore,¡± Belyana shrugged.


    ¡°By the way,¡± Karina said thoughtfully. ¡°Just now you clearly held a ball in your hands, but now it is gone. How is that?¡±


    ¡°Ugh fuck,¡± Fox snapped. ¡°Are you really carrying this crap with you?¡±


    ¡°Bad,¡± she answered to Karina. ¡°If you saw it, then you''re still late. It¡¯s even interesting which of the threads you lost ... But don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll find out someday. The loss of even a couple is recoverable.


    And you,¡± she said to Fox, ¡°Could show more respect for Yaga. She is, in fact, the core of human civilization.¡±


    ¡°I''m not so human to care about that,¡± she replied. ¡°And the question is not in her, but in the fact that almost everything she does is connected in one way or another with her cunt. Especially these threads. I wouldn''t even touch them with gloves on.¡±


    ¡°I''ll tell her so,¡± Belyana laughed. ¡°She''ll appreciate it. Even though I wonder how you found out.¡±


    ¡°All of you are just disgusting,¡± Fox finally sighed. ¡°It''s my curiosity. At some point, I wondered where she gets the raw materials for yarn, if she leaves the hut only in exceptional cases. Well, I saw.¡±


    ¡°And I always tell you that you know less - you sleep better.¡±


    ¡°Here I would still argue. When curiosity takes over, falling asleep is much more difficult than after discovering that it would be better if it remained just curiosity.¡±


    ¡°And you say, not so much a human,¡± Belyana giggled. ¡°It''s only a human trait - for the sake of curiosity even risk your own life, fully aware of the risk. Foxes are too careful for that.¡±