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HH 4- To See

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The following contains crude language and gore.

He began to feel again.

Beneath him, ice. Icarus was laying down, chest first, chin against the frigid floor, arms in an uncomfortable position. He sat up, shook his head.. and peered about. But all there was to see, was absolutely the opposite of such. Nothing. He wasn't sure how to process it. It wasn't black or gray or white, it was just a lot of nothingness.

He was blind.

"... stupid son of a fertilized bitch tricked me," he spat, but within the next moment, reached to his chest, touching, feeling.. and was almost horrified at the flawless texture beneath his fingers. No hole. No Void. No Box. Dread bubbled within him, and he reached around, seeking out the wall. As soon as he found it, he pulled himself up onto twiggy legs, head hanging low. "... how stupid could I have been. Stupid, stupid, stupid motherfuckin'.. didn't even keep his end of the bargain, either. Wasn't even worth it."

He spat again- there was a terrible taste in his mouth. He didn't recognize it. However, it fit nicely with the ringing in his ears and the pounding, terrible headache that came with it.

Savage began to feel his way along the wall, scuffling his bare feet, slapping away whatever vines reached to his touch. They never tried to strangle him, no, he was one of them.. but they were touchy-feely and he hated that.

Just like he hated everything else.

"Fuckin' treetrunk bastard, taking my shit.. well, y' can shove it up your ass, stumpy. Perfect place for a Void. Then you can fit all the dick in there that you want."

He stumbled, swore at nothing, and kept going. It was odd, being without the Void. He couldn't feel an inch of the negativity that the place held before. Couldn't drink the fear and anger, couldn't suckle the sweet flavor of despair. He supposed that was why Traumen wanted it.. it let you literally enjoy whatever someone was feeling.. or was it for the power?

"... hope someone hugs you, you fuckin' tree. Lemme call Greenpeace, set you up with a bunch of sodden hippies.."

Oh dear, it seems you are awake, my pet.

With a furious growl, Icarus pushed himself away from the wall, throwing aimless clawings to the air around him. "C'mere you fuckin' tulip. I'll pluck your petals before winter even arrives."

Now, now... behave.

Icarus screeched as an ice-cold pain shot down his spine, and he hit the floor without even the ability to brace himself. He stayed there, glaring, but stunned.

Much better.

It had taken the damned man these few moments to realize that the voice was emanating from within his own skull. It was different- he was used to being the disembodied voice, not some intruder.. ".. what d'ya want."

Why, don't you remember our deal, my little darling? You gifted me zhe vundrous Box.. and now, I vill gift you power.

"I fuckin' changed my mind. Just let me have my sight back, asshole, and I'll be happy as morning wood." He grunted.

Ah, Mr. Savage, your humor never fails you, does it? The voice was mocking. But I do intend to gift you sight. Oh, vhat sight you vill have...

Icarus sat up, tilting his head toward the ceiling. He couldn't see it, but he assumed a ceiling was there, considering ceilings were usually in the up direction. "I think you would have been a better genie, stickman. You would have loved to wear the tights and tassles." When there was no response, the invalid growled. "Oh is that it?" he snapped, "Just going to run off after a little bit of flirting? Such a fuckin' tease. C'mon!" He spat again- that taste had only gotten worse. He was beginning to recognize it, though.

But now was not the time for guessing games. He pushed himself to his feet a second time, grumbling about roots plunging something-or-other. Once Icarus found the wall, he began moving along again. He wondered if this meant that he wouldn't need to answer to the elevator monkey. Was he now under the Staypuft Demon? The spider-bitch, perhaps? Oh, he'd flip fuckin' tables if he was the bellhop's bitch..

..these wonderings, however, were the least of his issues in moments. His foot found a crack. He tripped, caught himself, but ended up swinging his face into the wall. He heard a snap as his nose broke (how many times had it happened in his entire life? eight times? fucking hell) and swore louder than ever before.

..but the pain wasn't simple, as it should have been. It started as a pick, then a throb, and began to spread over his head and under his chin, as if it were cutting him down the middle. He began to scream, hitting the floor again, mouth open. He vomited, once. The second time, it wasn't bile or blood that burst from his mouth.

It was a beak.

A white, bone-pale beak. The flesh began to tear at the corners of his mouth. His hair parted as horns thrust from his scalp. Something inside him began to grow, splitting him apart at the seams, snapping sinews and shrugging off flesh as if it were but a heavy coat.

One, two, three, four! slimy, feathery things exploded from the base of his spine, followed by a fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth! The thing dripped red, standing on stilted legs in the midst of gore and flesh. It stumbled, like a giraffe learning how to walk, mouth open wide, head sagging, fingerwings searching.

And then, it opened its eyes.

Eight eyes, one on each feathertail, opened their pinkish lids and rolled about, trying to make sense of what was what. The feathers twitched, began to move around. It was soon realized that anything could be seen- clear, crisp. Sight! Oh, precious sight. He'd missed it.

Icarus Savage remembered his lost sight. He was having trouble remembering anything else.

My pet.

The bone bird tilted its head.

My.. Beholder.

A little screech of reply.

Go look for zhe mortals. Find zhem. And enjoy zhem.

"Schreeeeeeik!"

It would be delighted to.




I am very proud of this piece.

It took a few hours, lots of patience, and some good music, but I managed it. And here it is for all to see. My followers on Tumblr got to see the WIPs and read the silly captions I gave each setup. XD

I hope you enjoy it. <3 I put a lot of effort into this, and a lot of thought into things, and if you'd like to know anything about it, please ask away. Please!

:star: Critiques enabled, but please- compare this to my other artwork, not the artwork of better artists. Thank you. :heart:

Icarus Savage -> Fleshmonger -> The Beholder (c) =qui-non-stultus
Teufel von Traumen (c) *13thSpiral
Image size
686x762px 388.29 KB
© 2011 - 2024 qui-non-stultus
Comments49
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let-the-inSANIty-in's avatar
this is, in a single word, amazing. love the story, love the picture. epic. :D