A Familiar Void

Chapter 35

The sound of scuttling insects all around her was almost deafening. From the walls, to the ceiling, to the ground underneath her, she heard nothing but the endless sound of the hundreds and thousands of little feet crawling around.

She kept walking, her eyes trying desperately to spot anything.

But it was pitch black, and all she could see was her own two feet walking on the ground.

The lack of sight, just made the scuttling louder and even more terrifying.

Despite that, she kept walking. In the absolute darkness, of wherever she was, she just kept moving one foot in front of the other.

As she did, she saw light. A faint glow in the distance.

She walked faster, she could hear the scuttling grow more and more restless. She broke out into a run as she could hear the ground, ceiling and the walls breaking as whatever was crawling inside them burst through. They were chasing her now, the sound of so many feet tapping against the earth just behind her.

But as she grew closer to the light, they slowed down until they finally drew back.

Her heart was pumping, she kept running and running.

Then she reached the source of the light.

A makeshift shelter, with just planks of wood keeping them safe from whatever element she was in. And there, she could see...

A small moth, with blue eyes.

It looked at her, and to her surprise.

It spoke.

[Scene]

Louise opened her eyes, her body jolted awake. Blinking, the young mage stared up at the ceiling of her room for a good couple of seconds, the sun was slowly raising up in the sky, the light shining through her window.

Slowly, the girl sat up on her bed. As she did, she spotted Bug standing at the edge of her bed, staring at her with its usual empty eye sockets.

She turned her head slightly, and saw that Sib was still on their bed, asleep. Turning back to Bug, she continued to look into those eye sockets.

She lifted a hand, and gently poked her Familiar in between their eye sockets, pushing it back slightly.

She smiled "Good morning Bug."

...

Her lips twitched, and the mage scratched her ear as she heard some sort of ringing inside it. It went away, and it left Louise sitting on her bed in silence, once more staring into her Familiar.

Some part of her wanted to just stay there and relax, not do anything for the rest of the day.

But unfortunately, the rest of the day needed to be tackled and she had class afterwards.

Both of her hands clapped her cheeks, shocking herself awake and accidentally waking up Sib as she saw it jump out bed the moment the sound reached them.

Shaking her head, Louise got out of bed and prepared to face the day.

[Scene]