Fallen City

Rot

Key Four: Rot:

Despite the dryness around the city, the rot lives above everything else. Not the type with garbage and meat around. Not the type that leaves insects eating the remains afterwards. Not the type that too much water or heat can do. Not the type that chemicals produce.

This is a new kind of rot.

The monsters of the city created this rot from long ago. They didn't do it all at once. The rot had to take about years to create. All of that dirt, all of that waste. It piled up into the rot that is here today. How did they do this? There are ways to create rot. The monsters' favorite way is through corruption through sins. That's how they catch these angels and tear off their wings. Once the wings are torn off, the angels become one with the rot.

There is rot in the city and rot in the tower. But, which rot with worse? The angels in the city say that their rot is worse while the angels in the tower say that they have it worse. Either way, both ends aren't great at all. Allen is starting to see the rot on him as well. The rot is on his skin, hair, and wounds. His mistress wants to add more rot to him, however. She wants to dirty him up so much that he couldn't get himself clean ever again. Ripped off wings, bitter candy and vomit in his mouth, he's well on his way there.

He and the other angels can't stop this rot from spreading. They have been broken too many times over. Those that try to resist get shot back down again. Even after, some try to keep getting back up. They are desperate to cleanse themselves of the rot that the monsters and the city kept dumping on them. That is a noble cause if they stop the rot from coming in an endless wave. The angels also have to combat the smell and taste of this rot as well. Scrubbing it off doesn't help either. Some of the rot has hardened onto them with no hope of coming off.

Allen's own rot hasn't gotten to that stage yet. His rot is just standing to form all over him. It takes a long time for it to harden to the point that he can't wash it off. He wants to escape before that happens, but his mistress has him under a tight leash. She is even inviting new ways to give him hell. The look in her eye makes him nervous now. Used to be, she wouldn't even scare him at all. But now that she took his wings, he feels smaller compared to her. She knows he can't defend himself anymore.

Because of this, the rot is starting to eat at him. Just the way that Mistress Road wants it. Yet, the pace of the rot is not satisfying for her. He's not broken enough for her to begin her more "mature" games that she wants to play with him. The wait is building up the pleasure to be gained later. This has put her in a dilemma. On the one hand, she was wants to speed up her pet's rot. But if she does that, the games won't be as enjoying as she wants them to be. For now, she could just him lying there from day to day in pain. She reaches forward to touch his warm cheek. A gleeful sensation feels her as if she was planting more rot into Allen for an extra measure. He watches her with glazed over eyes. Those icy, grey fingertips only serve as a warning of what she plans to do with him once the sun goes down.

By dusk, the rot grows on Allen as he awakes to the smell of burning and hot wax touching the wounds on his back.