Chapter Text
Have you ever thought about what the abyss looks like? Maybe this is a dimension of the purest darkness and gloom, where nothing is visible and there is not a single sound, and where you just exist on the verge of life and death. Maybe it is a place with incredible images and structures, where creatures that do not look like earth's and that contradict all the laws of biology and physics roam. Amelia had once wondered this question up to one point. Until the Ancients, themselves invited her into their dimension. When this happened, she found herself in her office, but in a more worn-out version. It was a room with battered walls, cracks in them, and peeling wallpaper. Everything was pale and dull, faded. From the ceiling hung the office's half-broken lamps, which continued to glow dimly, sometimes fading and then coming back on. The floor also had many cracks, and the laminate was curved and damp as if this room had been flooded. The photographs, notes, and various other notes that hung on the walls were blank or smeared with something like ink, but of thicker and darker consistency. The windows were also broken and muddy as if they had not been washed for a long time, and there was only emptiness behind them. The desk itself, where Amelia usually worked in the real world, was broken on the floors, but it still stood straight with a pile of tattered documents on it. Soon, Ame noticed her office chair with its back to her. With a terrible creak, as if the chair leg hadn't been oiled in years, she turned to Amelia ... She's the same. It was a replica of Amelia Watson, with one small difference - she had black as if empty, eyes.
"You're finally here, Amelia Watson. We've been waiting for you for a long time," the fake Amelia said with a cheeky smile, looking into the eyes of the real one, which made her skin crawl.
"The Аncient Ones? What's happening? Where am I and why do you look like me?" Fortunately for her, the energy and aura of the Ancient God didn't affect her that much, thanks to Ina.
Grinning again, the Ancients, in the form of Ame, got up from their chair and slowly walked around the table, standing right in front of the real Amelia.
"This is Our dimension. In short, Our place takes on the appearance familiar to my interlocutor. If Miss Kiara were here, for example, my dimension would look like the room of her restaurant. As for my appearance, We take the image of our interlocutor, so that he does not go crazy from my true appearance. All for your safety, mortals" the ancients said with an impudent, malicious smile, with a clear emphasis on the last word, as they understood the helplessness and certain inferiority of mortals. After that, they began to walk slowly around the office, looking at the notes and photos on the walls.
"Or do you want to see some other form? Maybe..." In the blink of an eye, less than a hundredth of a second, they changed their appearance, and the realization of the new kind of Ancients made Ame's heart tremble. Ina stood in front of her, a replica, with the same relaxed, sweet smile. But if the real Ina's smile was comforting, this one was mocking Ame. Seeing Amelia's reaction, the Ancients chuckled and looked at the detective.
"Hmm ... We had an idea for better" And again a change of appearance and again Amelia had a shock. She was confronted by a human-like creature, but with no obvious signs of gender, that was slightly shorter than Amelia herself. She was dressed in a simple robe. Their features were smooth and neat, but their faces were thin and pale. Their eyes were the same color as Amelia's-heavenly light blue eyes. But apart from the normal human eyes, they had one eye right in the middle of their forehead that moved non-stop, looking in different directions, as if searching for something. The hair was shoulder-length, well, at least it should have been hair. At about half their height, they became tentacles that slowly wriggled and moved on their own. The "hair" had a transitional color: from the roots, they began with a dark purple color, almost black, at the transition to the tentacles they became an orange hue, and under the very tips of the tentacles they became bright yellow. The inner surface of the tentacles was a soft cream color, and their suckers glowed slightly purple. Seeing the full picture, Amelia's heart filled with longing and rage. Shock turned to anger, and her face twisted into a grimace of hatred.
And this reaction pleased the Ancients "That's the kind of Amelia we're used to seeing.”
".. how dare you assume such a form? "
"Have We touched a nerve? That's right, you wanted a child so much, but you didn't manage to fulfill your dream in any way... Poor things... Oh, well. If you calm down and listen to my request, we will reward you”
Amelia snorted and looked away. She didn't want to look at the creature that was a mixture of her image and Ina's. The image was like salt on her open wound, and she certainly didn't want to make it worse. "I wonder why I should listen to you and help you?” Ame finally found the strength to look at Ancients again. It wasn't their child, which they never could have, so Amelia was able to calm down. With a smile, the Ancients sat down again, and their faces took on a serious expression.
"Well, first of all, this request will primarily help your safety ... "
"It's like something is threatening us, " Ame interrupted, with a grin on her lips. She did not believe that anyone or anything could threaten them. After all, their group was quite strong. Chuckling at the impertinence, the Ancients continued.
"Threatening. Another ancient god for example"
"... what? "
"We will continue. Secondly, if everything works out, then I will grant you the opportunity to fulfill your noticeable desire with pleasure"
"This is impossible …”
"We are the ancient gods, my dear. We can do everything. But more on that later. Now we need to find out if you will help us? "
"... I agree. Say what you want, " Ancients broke into a cheeky smile. With a snap of her fingers, Amelia suddenly found herself sitting in a chair at the table, facing the Ancients.
"This is about Ina's safety. Of course, We can destroy anyone and anything, but not in this case. We may simply not have time. So we ask you to take on the responsibility of protecting Ninomae Ina'nis "
"Protection... from whom? What can threaten us?»
"Like We said, another ancient god. More precisely, a Hateful, or a God-who-hates. He has found a vessel for himself, and he knows where Ina is. He wants to destroy her and, as a result, destroy my connection to this world. "
"That is, we are in danger because of you ... Again... I have a sense of deja vu, " Ame muttered under her breath, which, of course, the Ancients ignored.
"All you have to do is protect Ninomae and hold out as long as possible against this God and his vessel. His receptacle is a girl with bright scarlet hair and eyes of the same color. So be careful” The Ancient Ones said, and at the same time, Ame began to feel as if she was being dragged somewhere. And she realized that she was returning to the real world.
"Stop! How can we defeat it?!
"You're a detective. You detectives are very good at dealing with the ancient gods, aren't you?" The Ancient Ones said, smiling again at last, but not with any impudence, but rather with a hopeful expression on their face.....
* Russia, somewhere in Siberia, unknown village*
Usually, nothing ever happens in the middle of nowhere. Cold winters, hot summers, taking care of the farm, quiet life in the fresh air and nature. But not this time. A special-purpose detachment was sent to one of the quite ordinary villages, at first glance. But when the squad arrived, some of them were sick to their stomachs at the sight and smell. There was blood everywhere. The snow was soaked with it, making it scarlet in color, but it continued to crunch mockingly underfoot. All the houses were destroyed, twisted, as if something huge had swept past this village, leaving nothing intact. The corpses of people and animals lay in the street in unnatural positions, and many of their remains decorated what was left of the houses, as if in mockery of the past holidays. The corpses were broken by an unknown force, so disfigured that it was difficult to distinguish their faces. But it was still possible to see their grimace of fear and despair, which froze at the moment of death. Some of the corpses were missing limbs, others had heads, and still, others had their bellies ripped open with entrails lying around them.
{Captain Alex report in, Alpha squad has arrived, do you hear?} One of the soldiers, who looked like a captain, contacted the base. He was already a battle-hardened veteran and had seen many things, but this was the first time he had seen such brutality, and perhaps he did not want to see it again.
{Roger that, the command is in touch. What do you see? What's going on?}
{In short, it's fucked up}
{Watch your expressions, Captain Alexi}
{Let's see what you say when you see the photo, over}
Captain Alexi frowned as he took pictures of the scene. The first image was of a man, about forty years old, who had been cut up along the sexes, with all the organs turned into mush. It looks like the man was pretty battered before his death, because of which his broken bones ground his organs. The second picture showed a girl hugging her children. It seems that the mother tried to protect her children to the last, but she did not succeed. Matera's spine and chest were torn out, and through the remaining hole, headless children could be seen. The third image showed a ruined house, with people of different genders and heights impaled on the beams with various missing body parts. And, worst of all, the pictures didn't stop. The captain himself, who was filming all this, almost threw up his breakfast but was able to restrain himself, walking slowly along the snow-covered road. And what was most disgusting - the crunch of this snow could easily be confused with the crunch of bones, which were also lying on the street, like toys that had been forgotten to remove from the road.
{Do you see the pictures? }
{Yes, we got the pictures. Continue your search of the area, over}
{Pfft. Easy to be brave when you sitting at your computer...} Alexi muttered in dissatisfaction, turning off the radio, for the time being, continuing to explore the area. Several variants of what had happened flashed through his mind at once ' Wild animal? No, they usually have one method of killing, and here it was like some monster was operating... Terrorists? This fucking village a hundred kilometers from the nearest big city, what did they want to achieve with such brutal methods of murder? A sect? Possible... but it's still weird...'
{Captain! Come here, we've found something, you need to see it!} One of the squad soldiers shouted as he waved to his captain from the doorway of the house... Well, at least the one that was home. The entire structure was destroyed as if by an explosion. He walked over to his partner and pointed to the hatch.
{This is the passage to the basement. And it looks like some kind of sectarian shit}
{Let's go see. We need to take a picture of it anyway} Alexi frowned again. It seemed that his suspicions were confirmed, and it was a sect. But in his memory, even the most inveterate sects could not do such a thing, simply because of the lack of tools for such types of murders. Turning on the flashlight, the Captain and his two companions went into the basement, weapons at the ready. As they went down, they began to look around. Bare, gray walls, tables with piles of papers, and shelves with dozens of books. Strange writing on the floor that was painted with something red and the captain knew what it was. But the worst part was in the back of the room. The steel cage had been ripped open, and the shackles were visible inside, also torn. On the floor of the cage was a mixture of various bodily fluids.
{It seems that the people here kept something very dangerous in their cage, which soon broke out and decided to take revenge. What was that just now?} Alexi asked aloud, walking over to the table with the notes. Occult writings in an incomprehensible language, diagrams of rituals, and drawings of an incomprehensible abomination consisting of flesh and bones. The sergeant's voice distracted the captain from his thoughts and studying the drawings.
{Captain, someone's hair is here}
{Collect them, we'll send them to the base. We need to at least find out what that thing was. You also need to collect all the documents from here and fill up the basement, so that random people do not come across. After that, we clear the area and leave here. If we see something or someone incomprehensible, we immediately open fire to kill. Is everything clear?}
{Yes sir!}
{Tell the others. I'll contact the command again in the meantime. I must say that we are finishing up and will be heading back soon}
After saying this, the captain came out of the basement and walked slightly away from the village. He just wanted to smoke. And he can contact the database after a puff of a cigarette, so he decides to smoke first. Opening his cigarette case, he took a cigarette and, with slightly trembling hands, took it in his mouth, after which he took out the matches.
{Damn job. Another year and retire to hell with this special squad. I'd rather stay at home with my wife than risk my life on such missions} Muttering his displeasure, the captain lit his cigar and took a long drag, then blew out a large cloud of tobacco smoke. When it dissipated slightly, a silhouette in the distance caught his attention. The only thing he could see before that silhouette disappeared was the bright red scarlet hair. Not understanding what had happened, the captain rubbed his eyes, but the silhouette itself was no longer on the horizon.
{To hell with it…} Taking a final drag on his cigar, the captain tossed it into the snow half-smoked, then headed back to his squad to finish the job and report back to base.