"Arek, please!"
"Go back to your palace."
"He's my husband! You can't do that to him."
"Yeah, your husband's a murderer and a psychopath."
"Don't-don't say that!"
"He's killed all in his way and performed human experiments, creating freak after freak."
"That-that was just his circumstances, he couldn't help it-"
"Jiayi, do you really believe that? The man was batshit crazy, he created monsters. I would know, I am one."
"But he-he's the father of my child..." Instantly my eyes go to her belly. His seed? That disgusting prince put his seed into her. Ha! What a dumbass, does she really think she's a princess in a fairytale sleeping with the prince? But wait...should I kill it?
For a moment, my eyes hone on to her hardly protruding stomach. As if sensing my intention, she backs away in fear. I close my eyes.
If I do this what makes me any different from that bastard prince?...in the first place I'm no different though. ...Forget it, how about a lasting act of pity for a monster clinging to their last speck of humanity.
"Is that...miasma?" Arek blinks, coming out of the flashback as something catches his eyes. He's currently standing downstairs, below his company's building, and squinting up towards a faintly visible clump of purplish smog hovering above the nearby buildings. Initially, he'd thought the cloud was a testament to the far-reaching effects of pollution however, the purplish tint and oddly thick and specifically located concentration point towards something...magical.
As a general definition miasma is considered to be a highly unpleasant or unhealthy odor. However, miasma is also present in many stories, in folklore and popular culture, as an evil gas, attracting either demons or bad luck. Likely, there are multiple types of miasma: different gases that play different negative roles which are all clumped together under the sam name. However, this clump of gas is distinctly familiar to Arek. Bad luck miasma. And a thick clump at that...Holdup, bad luck miasma around tall buildings in a highly populated city? Shit!
Instantly, Arek charges into the building. Employees on the first floor glance at him in surprise but he disregards them, rushing towards-the elevator? Too slow, let's take the fire escape stairs.
Quickly opening the door, Arek sprints up the nearly twenty floors. If one were to look closely at his ascent, they'd see a puff of faintly visible darkness trailing behind Arek each step he takes. The darkness is like a little cloud of powder that rapidly dissipates into the air, appearing rather like...ink.
Within moments, Arek is at the door leading to the roof. Naturally, it's locked however, Arek is unfazed. Well, after a moment of contemplating the consequences of property damage then discarding it in favor of saving lives, he's unfazed. With a bang, he kicks the door open, then rushes onto the roof. The miasma is thick and very clear up there, covering half of the roof space.
So...what now? Arek pauses, contemplating. He came to the location of the bad luck, but where's the bad luck? And how to disperse it? A moment later, a large wooshing noise sounds from behind him. Whipping around, his eyes widen as he comes face to face with an airplane hurtling towards the building. Shiiiiiii-t!
Despite this internal monologue, he rushes towards the plane and leaps, immediately shooting tentacles out of his back. Four grab the edge of the building behind him and the other four grab the plane. Swinging his tentacles in opposite directions, Arek somehow manages to use the momentum to swing the airplane just past the building, narrowly missing it. Alright, now that it's past the miasma it should be okay. Arek drops back onto the rooftop, whilst sighing in relief and his tentacles, instinctively gray to camouflage with the building and plane, rapidly retreat back into his back.
"...Woah dude, that's some spiderman shit." Arek freezes. Then he slowly turns to see an open-mouthed fellow in a pair of jeans and ripped t-shirt looking to be somewhere in his late twenties or early thirties standing at the other edge of the building.
"...you, did you just see?" The man's wide-open mouth answers that. Arek slowly makes his way towards him, eyes narrow.
"Hey, hey man calm down. No harm done." The man replies, attempting to back away. His foot hits the edge of the building and for a moment he wavers however, Arek's tentacle darts forward, grabbing him in time.
Feeling the squishy sensation around his arm, the man looks down and blinks dazedly. "Wow, is this what I see before I go to heaven? Damn, the afterlife is hardcore..." Arek pauses, catching a keyword in his monologue.
"Heaven?"
"Uh yeah, that's what I'm here for anyway..."
Shit! Even suicide? It's this damn miasma again. How the heck do I get rid of it? Arek gnashes his teeth in irritation. Well, might as well deal with one problem at a time. He turns to the man.
"Goodnight." Just as the other opens his mouth to ask, Arek's well-muscled tentacle smacks him upside on the head, then brings his limp body down to rest on the rooftop. Then Arek looks up at the miasma again. There's no way I can just leave this above brother's company building...
"Oh will you look at what we have here, someone's ahead of us." A chipper-sounding female voice sounds from behind Arek, who still has one tentacle out. He freezes. Damn, I should have retracted it! ...Well, too late now. Thinking this, Arek slowly turns around.
