The air was heavy with summer heat. No one in the constant was able to do much during this season. Many would pass out from the heat alone, others only working during dusk or night when it was cooler. This day, Maxwell; the magician and former ruler, was under one of the many trees growing nearby that had yet to be cut down. He had been in the shade since morning and had no intention of leaving it. He was already far too warm for his liking. Being nothing more than skin and bone only added to the suffering.
Though, while he sat there, eyes closed. Something moved along the shadows, accompanied by the sound of rattling chains.
While at first it wasn’t enough to catch his attention. The closer whatever monstrosity it was got, the ear splittingly louder the chains sounded. Eventually Maxwell opened his eyes and forced himself to sit up straighter. Feeling exhausted from the heat alone, he looked around in a slight daze before he took note of how some of the shadows bent and twisted.
It appeared as if what it may have been was slowly stalking forward. Larger than most of the basic creatures that roamed the constant. Yet the rattling of the chains that herald its arrival rang out in the magician’s head. Every link of metal hitting against one another in a violent song. Then the creature leaned forward. Upon closer inspection, the chains that rang out were tangled around its form. Of which was violently glitching in and out of his vision. As if his mind was being pulled between sanity and insanity. The creature straightened up as much as it could have. Then, it let out a long, slow growl. It was a sound that was normally deep from the throat of any living animal. But for this being to make such a noise, nearly brought the magician pause. Then within a moment's notice, it turned all its focus onto him.
While its body was an uncollected mass of shadows and chains. its eyes were glittering like the orange gems the survivors would find from time to time. Behind such bright eyes, hid a rage enough to kill a man, or several. It opened the dark void of its mouth, showing off dark teeth that were covered in some sort of substance. But seeing the substance fall from the drooling maw, one thing was clear. It was nightmare fuel.
This thing before the magician, staring him down as if he was a simple rabbit. Must have been a nightmare creature, but something about the way it swayed from side to side made him question that possibility.
“Who.. are you?” The words left Maxwell much softer than he would have liked.
“Y̵̖͊õ̶͚ů̸͎ ̴̖̔d̴͉̈́o̸͉͝ ̸̱͒ṋ̸͐ó̴̻t̷̥̎.̴͇̆.̶̮͗.̵̣̅ ̴̮͐r̸̾͜e̷̫̍c̸͙̎o̴̠͋g̴͛ͅn̸͎͝i̴̱͘z̷̭̉ȩ̶͘ ̵̺̀m̸̰̾ẽ̷̖ ̷̩͐m̷͎͐ŷ̸͙ ̸̱́k̴͎̈i̷̳̐ṋ̴͊g̴̢̾?̴̗̕ ̸̭̓I̶͖̕ţ̸̍'̶̺̐ŝ̴͙ ̵̡̈a̵̱̕ḽ̶͝ṁ̷̦ò̴̤s̷̮̔t̷͇̅ ̵͇̀á̸͖ ̴̪͝ś̶̤h̴̺̉a̵̺̕m̴͇̀e̷͚͘.̷̟̂ ̷̛ͅI̸͕͋ ̵̧̈́ḥ̴͝â̶̖v̵̺͝ȩ̶̀ ̸̼̽s̷̲͑e̸̻̚ṟ̴̍v̵̱̽e̵͍̋d̵̰̆ ̵̦͌b̴̭̕e̷̩͒ś̷͖i̶͈͋d̴̜͌e̸̬̎ ̶̖͐y̴̙̾o̸̰͋ũ̶̢ ̵̛͙f̶̠͠a̷̫̿i̸͉̋t̴̥͘ȟ̵̥f̵̼͗ú̸̡l̷̦͝l̷͙̓y̵̛͈.̴̪̕.̴̼̒.̶͎͐ ̷͓́î̴͎n̶̲͊ ̷̱͘t̵͉͝h̶̦͑e̶͚̚ ̶͓̄ô̶̱l̵̨̓d̶̙̈ ̷̛͖d̷̟͐a̶̰͑y̸̘͠s̷̭̔.̸̩̀” The screeching voice it possessed made the magician quickly cover his ears. Hissing in pain from the sheer volume. Then it paused, lowering its head to meet the man’s own.
“My…king?” It spoke again. This time whatever had laced it’s voice was gone in almost an instant. But still, the magician had to stop the ringing in his ears.
Once he pushed past that pain, he looked up to the beast. Now that it spoke without the distortion, and shrill cries of many voices masquerading as one. Slowly, he tilted his head. It was vaguely familiar. The way it held itself and spoke to him without hesitation, even how it addressed him. But his memory was foggy.
“Who are you?” He repeated, this time with more bite and the creature seemed to become amused, closing its mouth and cleaning off the nightmare fuel.
“It’s a shame you do not recognize the very being that gave you the power you so squander. In some hopeless favor to the very souls you trapped here.” It growled in return, moving back to adjust the chains hanging off its shoulders.
“The being.. That…” Maxwell echoed before it clicked.
“Ares.” He muttered, slowly bringing himself to his feet and taking up his cane.
The nightmare creature stood a good foot above him, but yet did not move to strike or make itself appear bigger.
“That is correct my king. You have been away for so long. I was almost worried you had forgotten me.” It hissed sarcastically.
“Why.. are you coming to me now? You have a new master.” Maxwell huffed, looking away into the darkness for a moment. As if he would catch sight of Charlie herself.
“That.. is the problem my king. She has no use for us. She pushed us away… like puppets with broken strings.” It growled, taking one of the chains into its clawed hand before tearing it off its own form.
Nightmare fuel gushed from the injury but quickly came to a stop as the nightmare creature; Ares willed it to.
“And you expect me to have use for you and the others?” Maxwell scoffed, shaking his head.
“You are looking in quite the wrong place Ares.” He added and Ares tilted its head.
“The wrong place? But you are our king. Demeter adores you, Atlas shifted the world as you saw fit, Chaos reveled in watching the mortals squirm under your heel. Aeolus was more than amused with how simple they were and Oceanus-” Maxwell cut it off.
“Enough. I am no longer king, therefore you have no need to seek me out.” Then Ares grabbed him by the chin. It's hold tight enough to break something.
“You do not seem to understand me. We are begging you. She is not fit to rule. She is reckless, She is more concerned about watching than doing anything. You hunted, you had rules to the game, You made it fun. She has taken all that you made and stained it with such foul control that it has driven us to beg.” It growled into his face. Baring its dark stained teeth once more. For a moment, Maxwell felt himself at the mercy of the shadow and its power. That was until a voice broke through.
“Maxwell! Come on ya old magician. Warly cooked us all something! Get over here!” It could have been Winona, but he was too delirious to care.
Ares hissed, letting the magician go before giving him a once over.
“Do not make us push the matter further.” It growled, before retreating into the darkest corners of the constant.
Rubbing his jaw, Maxwell shifted his weight, staring at where he last saw the being. Then slowly made his way to camp. He wished the marks from its hold hadn't been left behind. Yet when he was surrounded with the others, many of them asked where it had come from. He simply brushed it off as something else. That he was alright and the heat may have been making them see things. All the while silently cursing Ares and its tendency for violence.
