User: Coraline Ize

Civ: Beldam

The user is able to stitch openings together through space. While a door would normally open to the place it’s connected to, the user is able to make it connect to somewhere completely different, allowing them to teleport or trap their enemies. This can be done with any opening. The user could connect a person’s mouth to a hole in the ground somewhere, making them unable to eat, as the food would instantly travel to the other opening. The user can also use this to spy on other places, looking through one opening and seeing through a different one. This ability does have a range depending on the user’s proficiency with the Civ, and the connected openings must be of similar sizes. Openings that are stitched together have thin threads of the same colour surrounding the opening.

Thomas shut his eyes as hard as he could. FUCK. Cyrille can see through my eyes now, what the fuck is going on? Thomas panicked as he created a phantom eye right in front of him, so he could still see where he was while he kept his eyes shut. And there are what? TWO of them? Thomas heard Cyrille shout something and saw Celine scatter with great speed towards a couch, slicing it into a thousand pieces with strands, before moving on to the next one. In response, Thomas grabbed the young girl and sprinted towards the door, now being able to see his surroundings. But as Thomas opened the door, he could see that it didn’t lead somewhere new at all. Instead, he found himself face-to-face with the imposing and well-dressed figure of Cyrille Krokodil.

Thomas was paralyzed with fear.

“Mommy,” the girl eventually said, breaking the silence as Thomas’s vision returned to him.

“I see you’ve met our little friend. Her Civ has been making quite a bit of trouble for us. We’ve been stuck in this maze for hours. And so have you, by the looks of it,” Celine said, appearing by her father’s side. He’d said nothing so far, staying quiet. Thomas thought for a moment that he caught a glimpse of Cyrille’s eyes. They were staring bullets into him, intense and brooding for the moment he could see them.

“W-what do you want with her?” Thomas shivered, holding the child’s hand tighter. She was drooping to one side, practically limp.

“None of us have been able to leave this place. Not as long as that little girl’s Civ is active,” Celine answered before licking her red lipstick. Cyrille was standing still. He stood like someone who was perfectly confident to speak but felt no need to. He was saving his words. His figure was still draped in shadows as well. “Give her to us, and we can all go home.”

“No.” Thomas took a step back. “QUICK! Use your Civ!” Thomas shouted as he tugged on the little girl’s arm. She stayed limp, just barely standing on her own two feet, and staring blankly into the distance.

“She can’t hear you, Thomas. Her mind is stuck in a loop, experiencing the same memories over and over again. She’s overdosed, and she’ll never wake up. Now, Thomas, my father here believes in second chances. I myself would like to kill you, but he tells me that he feels grateful for your role in his escape, and so as long as you hand over the child, then we can all go home.”

“You’re insane, Celine, if you think I’m going to hand over a child to you, especially after I heard you murdered a father of two and you both tried to kill me!” Thomas shouted, now turning to speak directly to Cyrille’s still figure. “Besides, I’ve seen your handiwork raising kids, and if your daughters are anything to go off of, it’s fucking sick!” Thomas shouted, now taking a defiant stance, prepared for a battle.

Thomas thought he heard Cyrille laugh a little bit.

“Don’t be a moron. You can’t fight all of us,” Celine answered, gritting her teeth in frustration.

“All?” Thomas whimpered.

“My sisters are here too. The kid has no use to you, and is driving away customers. She’s a danger. That’s something we can all agree on, right?”

“If there was a way to stop her from using her Civ while she was in the state, then you wouldn’t be so concerned with taking her from me. You’re going to kill her to deactivate her ability! AND I WON’T LET YOU DO THAT! No matter how much it endangers me! PHANTRANA!” Thomas shouted as energy filled his heels and launched him backwards through the doorway.

He felt his head smack into the side of a couch before catching Coraline with a set of phantom hands. He quickly stood up and slammed the door shut with a second hand from about ten feet away, then looked around to find he was in the main room of the House of Memories, surrounded by the passed-out patrons. He had just shut the door to the broom closet he had retrieved his Chorus from. “All right, come on. We’re almost out of here, kid! Get excited!” Thomas looked down to see the same blank expression and slack head. “Please be excited? Forget it, once we get to the hospital, they’ll pump all that stuff out of you,” Thomas said as he turned and ran for the entrance.

When Celine emerged from the doorway. Thomas could see thread weaved into the lining of the doorway. “Breaking Point,” she whispered calmly, and suddenly, Thomas was ground to a halt, feeling what seemed like bullets instantly pierce through the sides of his body, pieces of his flesh dangling limply in the air. Thomas screamed and turned on his heels again, trying to look for a different doorway that might take him outside.

“Stop running, Thomas!” Celine shouted as Thomas tripped on another point stopped in time, now centred on his foot. He felt his toes snap as he face-planted, the child he had been protecting falling to the ground with a dull thud. Or she would have, had Thomas not grabbed her with a phantom hand before she could be ripped apart by Breaking Point.

“Kid, if you want to use your Civ, now would be a perfect time!” Thomas shouted as blood streamed down his face and he lay pinned on the ground surrounded by other motionless bodies.

“Beldam,” she said.

And Thomas heard Celine scream behind him.

Thomas scrambled to his feet and dragged Coraline to a nearby doorway between where the supply closet was and the exit, presumably the one that led to the bathroom, only looking back to see Celine gripping her eyes in agony as stomach acid poured out of her retinas, melting her face. Thomas Bashed the door open and flew inside to discover that he had entered a small train car, which had begun to move upwards as the doors shut.

Thomas Finn let out a sigh of relief as he leaned against the back wall and slumped down. Coraline was still catatonic, although right next to him and away from the Krokodils. “Heh . . . that was pretty good. Maybe you can control it, after all. I was worried you were just doing random actions from whatever memory you’ve been repeating, but I think you’re starting to snap out of it.” Thomas laughed and panted, before squirming in discomfort as he felt stomach acid leak out of his nose. “Ahhh . . . okay maybe not perfect control, but still! Once we get off this train and to the hospital, you’ll be fine.” Thomas smiled as the train car opened.

And he saw the basement of the House of Memories.

The silhouette of Cyrille Krokodil was standing tall over him. The train car was too small for him to maneuver around in, and Cyrille’s still figure was too large for him to get past. Thomas’s eyes were wide with fear. “Of course,” he whispered, defeated.

“You’ve shown potential, Thomas. For a time, I was proud to call you family. But you’ve fallen so far, my boy. What went wrong?” Cyrille’s voice was deep yet soft. He sounded genuinely concerned, even amicable towards Thomas, who he now had imprisoned—right where he wanted him.

“You know what went wrong Cyrille.”

“I suppose it was more of a rhetorical question. You seem to be scared. Why? For the child?” Cyrille asked, his face still obscured under his long hair. He was wearing a dapper and well-tailored suit, a black tuxedo from under which you could see his massive form, bulging out.

“Yes, actually.” Thomas shivered.

“Be not afraid for the girl, Thomas. For yourself, either. I heard you had an altercation with Celine. But I’ve told her that we don’t kill family here, and she’s understood.”

“I’m not part of your sick fucking family. Not anymore I’m not.”

“Maybe. But the chains of love are strong, Thomas. And so as long as you stay out of our business, we’ll stay out of yours. Understood?” Cyrille extended a large hand towards Thomas’s slumped-over figure. He could feel his ribs bleeding, his lungs aching, his sinuses burning. He was in no condition to fight.

But that didn’t stop him.

Thomas flew upwards with blinding speed, his right fist charged with phantom energy, ignoring the handshake and heading straight for Cyrille’s head. He could end it all right now.

Then, he was standing in the street, outside of the House of Memories. Alone in the darkness. He was standing, his fist raised at the precipice of his attack. But his attacker was gone. And so was the girl. Thomas lowered his hand and looked around, panting and panicked. And he realized he had more blood on his shirt than before.