The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 33: Grimmore, the Twilight City, Part Two

"U-um... Y-yeah," Alice stammered quietly. Another Cultist, a zombie, jumped into the conversation.

"You'll love him, just as we do!" He claimed. He spoke surprisingly well for someone whose lips were rotted. "He often walks through Grimmore, talking to everyone! He won't even let us build a mansion for him!"

"H-he won't?" Pyrrha asked curiously. Rinys shook her head.

"Nope! We tried, but he got angry and blew it up. He told us he'd never be the type of master who lives a luxurious life when we don't have that; he'd rather live the same as we do!" Her smiled faltered, giving way to disgust. "Unlike the false Goddess, a woman named Salem... Oh, what I would do to give her to Lord Vao as a gift..."

Salem involuntarily shuddered in fright. She was not very popular here. But one thing stuck to their minds; the First Vao was being told differently by the Cult. They only knew him as a cannibalistic killing machine. But then again, he never had the confidence to develop much of an ego.

Sasha glanced ahead. She could see Ruby in the lead, her dolls following at her side. As they walked deeper into the heart of Grimmore, they could see something they wished they hadn't.

The corpses of priests hung from the trees, their skin blue from hanging all night. The guillotines were stained red, some dropping down onto the necks of gagged men and women. Some didn't even have Church robes. They were people who weren't in the Cult. Cultists of all ages and races were committing the grisly murders, even children, their parents praising them.

They felt sick. The kids looked away, not watching as the people were killed. Saril scooted away to retrieve a head, carrying it back. Verde looked like she was about to throw up. "... What are you carrying that for?" She asked quietly. Saril giggled, cradling the priest's head carefully in her arms.

"It's a gift for when we see Lord Vao... I hope he likes it. He's done a lot, even promising to give Yin back to me!"

Vao winced when the healer squeezed his hand a bit too hard, shooting a glare at him. "Oi. That bloody hurts," he grimaced.

"Wh... Why are you giving him some bloke's head?" Violet asked shakily, her voice uncharacteristically quiet compared to its usual, loud tone. Saril ran her fingers through the dead priest's hair, her sharp fingernails scratching at the scalp underneath.

"Lord Vao eats people, silly!" She snickered. "He needs to, or he'll get really scary. He told me he could eat normal food, but it couldn't make him feel full. The longest he went without eating anyone was... I think eleven days? He almost ate Milady. I never want to see him cry like that again, after he realized..."

"Cry?" Ozpin inquired. Saril nodded.

"Mm-hm! Lord Vao really does care about us! One time, he visited the inn and helped Harold clean! He wouldn't accept a drink, though. He doesn't like alcohol because it messes with his thoughts," Rinys replied.

So far, the Cultists had described someone who was the complete and polar opposite of the First Vao they knew and feared. They were describing a good leader. The First Vao was a murderer with a kill count higher than their ages put together, hell-bent on achieving... Whatever his goal was.

Deeper, past an iron gate. The adventurers trembled as they stared at the walls and the fences that surrounded yards to homes. Black veins snaked their way around the architecture like vines, pulsating quietly. The atmosphere grew darker, more off. The eldritch influence of the Blood was beginning to reveal itself as they neared the heart of the city, finally reaching a large, circular courtyard. It was the very center of Grimmore, and was filled to the brim with Cultists that eagerly waited.