Story of the Dead Children 1

[Silent Wizard]

The Story of the Dead Children

Prologue

You have all probably seen this House in Elderine. It has No doors and no windows, none at all.

Well, in the olden Times when Elderine and Roumen were still alive That House was used by an Evil Being, This evil Being was called IchigoHollow. At night when all the children were sleeping it would search the streets of Elderine and Roumen and take children, one from each house until he had collected 13 children. The being would then return the house with no doors and no windows to lock the children away inside. Once all the children were there the evil being IchigoHollow sealed the House so they could not escape. As the years passed, many people heard the children screaming to be let out but there was no way in. The screams became fewer and fewer as time went on till all was quiet again.
It was when the house was quiet that it was most dangerous. It could be a few years or many before IchigoHollow would return to take another 13 children in horrific and unspeakable ways.

And even today, if you listen carefully, you can still hear them scream.

Written by BlackDragonEX, Doylen, Lady Loki, Freeze Machine, Laifun, Spirit, and Jennifer6262

Many years went by, Elderine and Roumen had passed on and most citizens forgot the horrors of that dark time when IchigoHollow haunted the once peaceful streets of Elderine. Parents stopped telling their children of the tragic happenings for fear of causing nightmares and insecurity. Children stopped avoiding the house and stopped crossing to the other side as they passed.

Oh, every now and then someone would mention it, but the horrors benefited from so many urban legends being passed around that for the most part the stories were discounted and just another urban legend, all but one child, the beautiful adventurous young Loki. Loki knew there was something about that house. Something sinister, she could never quite put her finger on it, but it was there. Oh, definitely there. She felt its presence every time she flew her hobby horse past that house with no doors and no windows. Loki felt it so strongly that she did cross to the other side of the street as she went past it.

She didn’t know what it was or why it was but she felt as if the house was watching her. But how, How can a house watch you? Could it be that walls have eyes?? Oh yes, those walls were watching like a cats slanted eyes. Sitting so still and waiting for its prey. She knew there was no logical explanation but she knew it was. She felt the cold pass through her bones like an arctic wind, cold, sharp, and heartless. She felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She felt a sense of foreboding. But even as she scurried past as fast as her hobby would fly her adventuresome spirit wondered what was actually in that house. That house in Elderine with no doors and no windows. But that house had eyes! Shuttered they may look, but they saw. And she knew; she knew as well as she knew Captain Shutain would refuse her the Gold Bug 3 reward, that one day she would know.

Well, Loki did get the Gold Bug 3 reward. And one day, many years later on her way to turn in her quest to Captain Shutain her daughter Spirit did the same. While on the way there she heard a Voice. "H...HH...H Help M...Me" She turned around, It was then she noticed that Elderine was practically empty. Spirit followed the voice and arrived at the House that sparked her curiosity whenever she saw it. "Hello?" She called out, there was no reply. "I must be hearing things" She muttered. And Spirit walked to the Captain to turn in the quest. The next morning spirit went to her Mother Loki. After having a sleepless night full of nightmares, she told her Mother what had happened.

Loki's eyes widened in Horror, "What’s wrong Mom? It was probably my Imagination anyway." Spirit Asked. "Well," Loki Started "I didn’t want to tell you this but, Children have started to Disappear again." Spirit stumbled back in Fright.

IchigoHollow.... Was Back.

In the darkness of the unlit room, the blood-red hair of IchigoHollow Glistened as he watched the child sleep, Ichigo’s Blue eyes glared at the boy, the floor started to disintegrate, or at least that’s what it looked like. The small child slowly sank into the floor, when he woke up he would be in a gloomy dark house surrounded by the rotting corpses of those there before him. It seems that after many uneventful years this child would be the first of many to be sent there. Then one by one, they would die.

In a quaint little house not too far away a shocked and scared Spirit stared wide-eyed at Lady Loki. Words formed in her head but her mouth was unable to form them. Lady Loki had always had a deep sense of anxiety about that odd house down the way. She always feared there was more truth to the tales from long ago than most of the village would admit to. And she always feared the worst was yet to come. Knowing Spirit fully understood what Lady Loki herself feared she pulled young Spirit close and tried to reassure her that she would do everything in her powers to protect her young daughter. She did not realize how much she would eventually come to rely on Spirit in their time of crisis. For now all she could do was hug Spirit and hope her own fear was not so strong that it overwhelmed Spirit or their lives. But at the same time she knew that they would have to be very cautious as they traveled through the lands of Isya farming and fighting to provide their income and needs.

As the weeks passed rumors started spreading through Elderine. Rumors that Lady Loki and Spirit felt deep within their hearts were true, all too true. Many in the village would wave the villagers away when the subject came up. Many who shared the rumors were subjected to ridicule and had to endure many attempts to disgrace them. On several occasions Lady Loki and Spirit would try to intervene, but many times the crowds gathered were too large and they would simply slip away to the safety of their home. There was only so much they could do and becoming outcasts themselves would simply undermine any efforts they made to save the children, and knowing this they had no choice but to back away at times.




No one knew the very existence of Ichigo. Where he was from, what he was before. No one seems to know. Was he a rich NPC who was robbed and killed by kids and now seeking vengeance? Was he a dark WizMage who feeds on small kids for power? Or was he just bored and enjoys killing children. The streets were full and the town prosperous. Every now and then, you can hear women screaming they lost their kid, some wept for days, one even killed herself by Bashing her head with her late husband's Heaven's Hammer.

But one day, one day... a young boy came from the mists and everyone in town was so scared, they ran to their houses, closed their doors and windows, hoping he would not harm their little ones. He was all bruised and pale. Scurrying through the streets, he knocked on doors asking for some food, but to no avail. Everyone sealed their doors, all except for one, Father Freeze. He welcomed the young boy like as if he was his own, gave him a hot bath, some warm clothes and made him dinner. That little boy was known as Kid Woz. Father Freeze asked of his origins, how he ended up in Elderine and on what purpose was his intentions here.

He was from the Forest of Mists, and it is only now that Father realized Woz was a RUNNER, a runner from IchigoHollow. He had escaped from the grasp one night when he tried to kidnap him. IchigoHollow was the one that kidnapped the children and locking them in the house. “But how did you escape such a sly and cunning beast?” Father Freeze asked. Woz replied, “I can’t quite remember Father. I woke up shocked to see myself held on the waist by a huge beast, then all of a sudden my body shook and then I fell to the floor and when I looked up, the beast just froze and I could see orange and red stars on top of his head. I must’ve stunned him when I was so shocked. So I quickly ran through the forests and ended up in Elderine”. Father Freeze sat beside him and hugged him and said, “You are a brave boy Woz. For now, what I worry for is that foul beast’s next move.”

That foul beast’s next move did not take long, quickly now, as the days passed by, children began to disappear from the now seemingly deserted town of Elderine. IchigoHollow was truly back. History became legend, Legend to myth, and myth to reality.

Elderine grew weary and desperate time went by, with many shop owners deserting their mushrooms in fear of the horror that was to befall them and their precious children. Chief Guard Shutian had posted guards around the city led by Guard Nuss at each town gate and sent a messenger to Roumen to notify them of the dire situation.

Spirit, being the carefree and curious child as she was, continued her life in Elderine with the intent to put and end to this horror. Every morning, she would wake from her deep slumber in her Blue mushie house and wonder to that house on her hobbie. She would sit outside and peer at the walls to try catching a glimpse of what lurked inside. She would tread quietly around the house and whisper through its many crevices to the lost children that were trapped and silently screaming inside. Day by day, she went to check on the house and yet, nothing but the creaking sounds of the old house answered her whispers.

And then it all unfolded. Sprit was speeding back home from school where she was studying potion making one windy Wednesday night on her new black hobbie when she heard the voice again as she passed an empty alley by the Smith.

"Help me.. Please" the voice whispered to her in the wind.