Malum’s decapitated head fell to the ground with everyone watching. It ended up splattering all over like an overripe melon, with some of the mess getting on Meliora’s face.
Then, all was silent for a little while. It became so quiet, that it was almost stifling. Annette bent over the edge of the pillar, trying to get a better look.
“Is it over?” She could hear Shark quietly ask.
Malum continued to laugh at Annette’s apparent misfortune, beckoning the others to come closer to her.
“There’s no need to be shy, everyone!” She said to them. “I’m sure dear Annette is aching to hear your voices again!
Annette could only wait with intense dread as the group stepped forward to confront her.
It felt as if all Meliora could do for now was block all her sister’s attacks. Malum didn’t leave any openings whatsoever for her to get through.
One particular swing of her hunting knife was enough to knock Meliora to the ground. It took all she had to keep a hold of the blade she was carrying.
“Damn sis,” Malum said as she taunted her twin, “you’ve been getting rusty over all these years.”
(So in case you haven’t noticed I really like Nightwish-)
The next room was decorated in a similar way as the first, but in silver instead of gold. Annette tried not to let herself get distracted by it as she approached the second throne.
It broke her heart to see the stuffed body of her daughter sitting in front of her, almost to the point of breaking down again. She tried keeping her tears in, though, and approached her.
“Mommy loves you no matter what, Samira…” Annette then reached out to touch Samira’s face.
Once again, Sinbad was left alone in the cramped little cage that he’d been shoved into.
The Builder had gone off somewhere, presumably to cook the clone’s face that they had been munching on.
“Yeah, this is real accommodating…” Sinbad mumbled to himself.
By the time Sinbad came back to reality, he realized he was drenched in a copious amount of cold water.
Nearby, The Builder was laughing uproariously at his state. They just kept laughing as if seeing him all wet was the most hilarious thing in the world.
“Hope you don’t stink up the place with your wet dog smell, buddy!” Then The Builder went back to spraying him.
As soon as Annette was done explaining what was going to happen, everyone was stunned into a disturbed silence.
“Yeah so…That’s going to happen,” She added on in an effort to break the tension. There was still no proper reaction.
Then, gradually, Marc reached up to grab hold of his face. As he did so, a guttural throat sound was heard, before it crescendoed into an outright shriek.
The Twin and Horse-Face’s companion quietly watched from their hiding place. The former grit their teeth, while the latter gasped loudly.
“Those guys are…” The young man tried to say something, but failed. He stepped away from the hidden door, not wishing to be seen or heard.
He then turned to look at them. “Don’t tell me what you drew a while back was some kind of prophecy?”
Once Shark had heard enough kind and wonderful possible future events, he was finally calm enough to be lulled to sleep. Sinbad and Harwood now watched over him forlornly, wishing they could do more to help him through this nightmare.
When she deemed it best to come out of her hiding place, Annette did so while trying not to knock everything over. She shuddered at the very thought of what exactly that table was made of, but tried not to think about it.
“I still don’t know what the hell’s going on,” Sinbad murmured to Harwood, “and I’m not sure if I actually do want to know.”
Annette was on the verge of pissing herself, for standing before her now was her almost exact doppelganger.
“Tea time? It’ll be ever so much fun!” The other Annette shook the teapot at her again.
All that Annette could do was frantically shake her head. The doppelganger tried to appeal to her again.
The Racket-Rotter Chronicles 