Danny Phantom Fan Fiction ❯ Posthumous Legacies ❯ Saligiare ( Chapter 7 )

I'm getting far on this story. :grins:

 

Posthumous Legacies

---

We've got to keep this traffic
Flowing and accept a little sin

---

 

Chapter Seven: Saligiare

 

The dream is prominent in my mind, burning itself into my subconscious. I can see it so clearly.

 

I'm floating through the Ghost Zone, and I pause at one of the doors. It's large and made of steel or iron. There's a bar across a plate that holds a number: 6633. I hesitate as I push the door open, and suddenly I'm swallowed by darkness.

 

I can see him.

 

He looks dead, color drained from his already pale features. Chains clamp around his wrists and ankles and disappear into the black. I turn around.

 

The door is gone.

 

I pause before kneeling down beside him. He looks so forlorn, like a child who'd been abandoned. I touch his forehead, sweeping back a strand of hair. His eyes blink open and he's staring at me with green orbs, glowing in the ever-present dark.

 

“..Sam?” he whispers, his voice weak.

 

I nod and smile, wrapping my arms around him in an embrace.

 

I kiss him.

 

I wake up.

 

I hate my dreams.

 

---

 

“Gula,” Invidia waved absently at the beast behind him, “When was the last time you had a good meal?”

 

The creature grinned widely, showing his large, bone-grinding teeth and pounced on the nearest person, opening his mouth wide.

 

He was greeted with a good kick in the face.

 

Sam knocked him off the man and vaulted back, keeping herself steady. The thing stumbled back and glared at her before lunging. She put her foot up as a guard and winced as he bit around the toe of her boot.

 

He began to groan and cry, pushing her away. He held out his tongue, showing a red welt where the steel of her boot had hit.

 

Sam scrambled up, completely thrown off balance.

 

`What are these things?'

 

They had a ghostly aura, but it was completely different from the one she was used to. And what were they doing attacking like this? Most ghosts just haunted a few people, caused a bit of chaos, but nothing that couldn't be cleared up too easily.

 

She had no time to dwell on this as Invidia grabbed her, holding one of his arm blades to her throat.

 

“Hello there,” he hissed into her ear, “Are you the one we're looking for?”

 

Sam didn't answer. She pulled her legs up, jutting her elbow into his chest and pushing herself off him. Slowly she stood, her injuries from the past few days not completely healed. Her arm was starting to throb and she could feel one of her wounds start to open up again.

 

“Is it better if we introduce ourselves first?” he chuckled darkly. “I can imagine you've never quite met ghosts like us/”

 

Gula was still whimpering over his burnt tongue. He rolled over to the second ghost, kicking up rubble and dust.

 

“We are Invidia and Gula,” he gave a graceful bow, kicking up a foot to stop the rolling ball of flesh, “And we are two of seven. Now I ask again: are you or are you not the Reaper?”

 

Sam pulled out her scythe, ignoring her pain. “Yeah,” she smirked, “I'm the Reaper, and I'm seriously hoping the other five aren't around here somewhere.”

 

“They're not,” Invidia rushed forward, two more blades descending into his hands, “But I can promise you: we're handful enough.”

 

Sam wasn't about to doubt.

 

---

 

Grey perked her head up, turning over a part of the disassembled computer in her hand.

 

“Am I the only one who heard that?”

 

The building shook, and she and Tucker glanced around.

 

“I definitely heard that,” he said.

 

They heard a scream, or a few.

 

“Sam!” Grey gasped, jumping up. She stumbled over the computer parts and grabbed a blaster or two from the nearby shelf, throwing one to Tuck.

 

“Where are you going?” he called after her.

 

She ignored him. “Come on!”

 

`Master baddies on the prowl,' she thought anxiously, hearing him climb up after her, `And Sam's in no shape to hold up against something that sounds this bad.'

 

This was bad.

 

---

 

This was bad.

 

Sam felt the blades slice through her arms before she even saw them. Invidia leaned close into her face, his grin still there.

 

“I'm supposed to keep you alive,” he whispered, and she shivered. “But who says that I can keep Gula under control.”

 

Her attention immediately flew to the mass of fat running towards her, his tongue out like a dog.

 

“The scent of blood sends him wild.”

 

Invidia pushed her back, and she fell over, landing sharply on her back. She bit back a cry and closed her eyes.

 

“Now, now,” Gula leaned over her, and she felt his breath hot against her skin. “If I can't eat her, can I eat someone else?”

 

“Knock yourself out. I'll take care of the girl.”

 

“SAM!”

 

All three looked up.

 

Grey was standing there, stock-still, her eyes wide. Invidia smirked.

 

“So this is your little friend…?”

 

“Can I eat her?” Gula whined.

 

“No. I think I've got a better idea.”

 

With intense speed the ghost rushed forward, his form becoming transparent.

 

And then Grey crumpled to the ground.

 

Sam shot up, grabbing a blaster from her boot and firing point-range at the creature standing over her and running towards her fallen friend. She fell down beside her and tugged her arm.

 

Grey's eyes opened and she grinned.

 

“You are too easy.”

 

And then she noticed the blaster pointed at the back of her head.

 

Authoress Notes:

Jimmy the Gothic Egg: sacrificing quantity and quality for a good cliffie at any time.

Invidia (Envy): associated with the dog and the color green.

Gula (Glutton): associated with the pig and the color orange.

Two of seven. We'll meet the other five in a bit.

SALIGA is the mnemonic device used to remember the Latin names for the seven deadly sins, creating the verb saligiare (to commit a deadly sin.)

I'm taking Latin. What of it?