They’re yapping to each other. That tiny woman and leather-wearing tween are at each other’s throats. Screaming at one another. Well, just the boy. Bells jingle from that doll-sized girl. The type you hear from the Christmas aisle.

They’re small, yet the way they express their discomfort and frustration at each other reflects that of a long-term relationship. Years beyond that little shit’s body should realistically contain. Their ‘marital’ problems shouldn’t be my business, even if it slightly intrigues me. 

Glimpsing over at Star, his eyes fixate on the ongoing arguing. I leave. I’m not interested in whatever that greaser has in mind. Let’s see what the interiors of this land-ship offer. 

I jog through the halls, scanning the area. Children scatter around. Half of them are half-assing their attempt at whatever they’re assigned to do. The other half are being little shits, pushing around their own ‘allies’. The interiors are held by nothing but glue and duct tape.

There is a constant. That being the eyes following me. I hear the whisperings and mumblings of these rodents as well. It’s ‘normal’ at this point for me. They know I’m an ugly bastard. However, I’m not used to the collective blunt honesty of children.

I hear comments. Words that aren’t real. Nicknames that I refuse to repeat. I stop when I’m ‘confronted’ by a kid, older than most of the ones from before. He looks up, with clothing that actually belongs to a reasonable human being rather than animal jammies. 

His mouth clenches that already-eaten lollipop. He tilts his cap upwards as he attempts to clear his throat. Puffing up his chest, he attempts to assert himself, “I don’t think you should be here.” My eyes narrow as I lean closer, flicking his stupid cap. “What are you gonna do about it?” I mockingly respond. 

“I’ve got plenty of kills under my belt,” the boy tries to stand his ground. “Could you speak up? I couldn’t hear you through that nasally voice you got. I sure hope you don’t choke on that stick you have,” I snark with my eyes widened in intensity. “I don’t appreciate being disrespected by an old hag.”

I flash my piece to get a reaction from him. He bites his own tongue. Both literally and figuratively. I walk past him as he stands there with his hand holding his mouth. I hear him muttering the word “bitch” as I leave. 

I walk for a few more minutes. Something tackles my legs, making me almost trip. “Oh, bwoy! Fwiend! Yes. Yes,” I hear a robotic voice from underneath. I see this thing under my legs.

A dog stitched together with a mix of golden retriever, german shepherd, and siberian husky. A literal Necromized mutt. A metal collar hugs the thing’s neck. If I had to guess, it’s there to give that thing a voice. A grating one.

“Ugh, get this mutt away from me,” I try to shoo this abomination away. “My Wame is Cola!” it laps between my legs as it continues speaking to me. The foul thing resumes its speech, “What’s your wame, miss? I like new fwiend!” “Stop talking!”

“What 's your wame?” it bruteforces through my pleas. “If I tell you my name, will you shut up?” I respond. “I wink so. What’s your wame, miss?” it speaks. “Sable. Just Sable” “I wike that name. It’s pwetty. Am I a pwetty dog, Sable?” Cola, the bastardized dog, asks. 

“Fuck no,” I assert. “Cussing! You cwan’t cuss in Mr. Pan’s ship,” the thing objects. “Yeah, why so?” “I-I-I-I-I-I-Mr. Pete’s scawy- Do you have bwall?” The mutt struggles to speak. I hate this thing.

Who would reanimate a dog and give it the ability to speak? Why would they give it a speech impediment? That last part pisses me off the most. It’s not funny. It’s not cute. It’s fucking stupid. Either way… I need a scientist to look over my condition.

“Is your creator in this ship? I need to meet them immediately,” I assert. “Yes! Wendy’s here! I cwan show you,” the abomination says as it runs off. I try my best to catch up with this four-legged beast. My legs… I can’t.

I stumble across my vampiric guardian, Star, which I guess is enough reason for the thing to stop. “Oh, hey, tall lady. Who’s your friend?” He asks, forgetting my name again. “I have a name, you know. It’s Sable,” I say with slight disdain. “My wame Cola,” the mutt speaks out of line. “Quiet, you,” I assert. “I did ask its name, though,” Star murmurs under his breath. 

“I fucking hate this place,” I say, trying to steer the conversation. “It’s an absolute dump. Did you find L’Arc yet?” I continue. “No, I was-” “Then get to it,” I interrupt him to get him on track. “Don’t you want to head in-” “Not yet, I’ve got other shit to handle,” I respond. “Alright, I’ll keep looking,” he says before we agree to split. 

I follow the mutt till we stop at a room. In front of me are tables topped with glass objects, books, and computers. Papers litter the wooden floor, as well as a few yellow safety lines. A chalkboard occupies a spot with writings that combine sets of numbers and letters. The most important part of it is a blob with sharp teeth, circled with crossed-out questions.

A tween-aged girl in a lab coat and glasses stops me before I proceed, “Stay behind the yellow line!” I notice a lack of girls in this station, so I’m a bit taken aback by this kid’s appearance. She occupies herself with picking up papers from the floor. As she looks up at me, her face lights up. “Oh-! Ignore what I’ve said, miss. I thought you were one of them,” the four-eyes says. 

“One of whom?” I respond. “Fwiend! Fwiend!” The wild abomination interrupts us. “Shut the fuck up!” I yell over. “Hey, miss. Don’t be mean to my dog. I mean, you two are like kin,” the child says. “No, we’re not 'like kin’. Also, did you give this thing a speech impediment? That’s kinda fucked up.”

The tiny nerd adjusts her glasses as she answers, “I didn’t give her a speech impediment. She’s just like that.” She quickly looks me up and down as she continues, “What’s your story, miss erh–?” “Sable” “Sable! My name is Wendy. I wanna know more about you. Like, I need to know!” The girl expresses curiosity. The type that walks a fine line between a child’s pure wonder and a scientist’s greed for knowledge.

I pause to myself. Am I really going to tell this child my full story? If she created that… thing. Then perhaps that qualifies her as a decent enough scientist. Her stupid pair of eyes pleads with me for that information. 

“Shit, kid. You really gonna keep staring at me?” I snark. She instinctively turns to the side. Averting her gaze, she pleads once more, “My apologies, Miss Sable. Your scars and stitches are masterfully done compared to, well, Cola.” She continues, “I’ve never seen a full-grown person reanimated. Like, what notes should I take from your creator?” I snarl, “Don’t take shit from Catherine’s notes. She’s a devil playing God.”

Wendy brushes her hair back, “Ah! How insensitive of me – Ahaha – I’m sorry, Miss Sable.” Her hands hide her face as she continues, “Like- I was just curious. Look-.” “Are you fucking okay, kid?” “No, haha!” she nervously laughs. I pity this little shit. It’s making me feel slightly bad.

“Ugh, fine. If you want to know, I’ll give you a short bit about myself,” I offer in pity. The kid’s face lights up a bit as she readjusts her glasses, “Ohhh- I’m so grateful, Miss Sable!” Her determined eyes light up the room as the mutt runs around in response. “As you can tell, I’m a Necromized. A reanimated creation comprising several stitched-together corpses.” I begin.

I begin. The child studies my words. “My creator is Catherine Faust. A monster in her own right. I don’t know the exact method she used to ignite my life, but all I know is that I’m created with a dark purpose.” I continue. Wendy’s eyes intensify. Fixating on my being. “One that I refuse to fulfill.” I finish.

The girl claps her hands together, raising them above her head, “Just– One question. Please!” I hesitate but accept, “Fine, just one.” “Do you have, like, memories past your birth? Like, do you remember who you were before this? Or are you, like, born with nothing like a baby?” “One question!” “Sorry, Miss Sable. I’m just a curious scientist!” The girl responds nervously. 

“Well, if I had to explain it. There was nothing before I was born,” I explain.  

“I remember my first steps into this world. I remember my first words. I remember my first emotion. Catherine made sure of that,” I explain. Wendy watches in amazement. I pause before continuing, “I showed up here looking for some help on my situation.”

“What kind of situation?” Wendy asks. “If you get something from doing check-ups on me, then I’ll explain,” I answer. “And make sure these are ethical!” I add. “Uh, sure, lemme run some tests. 

The young scientist runs me through a couple of scans. She throws everything at me in terms of check-ups. And as promised, they’re nothing torturous. But they sure are boring as hell. 

“Well, I can see that your creator did the Rubenstein method of hitting a corpse with electricity,”  Wendy says matter-of-factly. “However, there are strange particles in you that I can’t really read. Like, I don’t think any of this stuff belongs in the periodic table,” she grits her teeth slightly, trying to convey what she was reading. “Is this a hybrid method?” she asks with concern in her voice. 

I pause before answering, “Something like that, I’m sure.” I accidentally glance at one of the computer screens. I see that damned reflection. It stares at me with its stupid smirk, acting like it knows more. “Do you think I can-?” Beep! Something stops me from asking Wendy. A question that may solve my situation.

She rushes over to a computer, “Oh-! I’m sorry, Miss Sable. But I’ve got to take care of this first.” She continues as her eyes fixate on the screen, “It’s the Shadows. Could you, like, leave the room?” “Uh.” “I need this place protected, just in case. Please!” She explains.

This kid is very protective of whatever is going on here. I don’t even know what a Shadow is, but it sounds serious. “Sure…” I leave the room not to guard it but to look for L’Arc. She should be able to take care of herself. As I leave the room, the beast catches me with its pitiful eyes, “Where are you going, fwiend?”

“Prison,” I say dismissively. I run off, leaving the two behind. I hear chattering among children. Just a couple of bullshit being argued. I overhear two older children arguing over something. 

“I can’t take this shit! Pete told me I would get rewarded if I stayed with this squadron, but it’s been 2 months already,” one voice speaks. “Did you hear? He’s taking us, Seniors, to the back and executing us,” the other elaborates. “You serious?! Is that why I never heard back from Jimmy?” The previous voice continues.

“What are you listening to?” I hear another voice, pointing my gun at the source. I press my weapon against the head of the leather jacket boy from before. He lets out a smug smile, levitating above the floor with all that golden glitter following him. His body leans forward as he continues, “Heh, that might scare one of the small fries, but me?”

“I’m confident 50 years on Tink’s dust can last me oh well… 5, 6, 7, bullets. 7 max,” that little shit grins as if he’s asking me to pull the trigger. Fifty years!? What the fuck? I pull his body into a spin, keeping this roach occupied. I run for it. I’m looking for that prison. 

I don’t look back, but I hear some jingling followed up with even more arguing. Fortunately, I’m out of there. Not just that, but I see the entrance to the prison. It’s not exactly guarded. No one’s there, but I notice a spear lying on the ground.

I walk in. A bloody mess. Black and white splashes of whatever the hell I’m seeing. There are metal cages, but many of them are missing chunks and pieces of metal. Many doors creak from being already opened. I see that Captain Hook here, but he’s the only prisoner they have here. 

I glance over at my vampiric guardian, Star, standing there. Standing like he’s a dog caught pissing on the carpet. “So… What the fuck happened here?” I ask. “Ah… The shadow things. They killed the captain guy.” “So you didn’t get any information from L’Arc?” I further ask.

“Oh, that I got. Dr. West was last seen in Blackwater. “Then there isn’t anything to worry about,” I respond. “People died not too long ago, tall lady,” he comments. “Sable.” “Huh?” he turns to me with a confused look. “My name is Sable.” “Okay, Mable,” Star says, almost mocking me? I can’t tell with this guy.

He frustrates me. He struggles to remember my name. If he’s gonna stick with me, then he should have the decency to learn to get my name right. It shouldn’t be fucking hard to remember it.

“Are you okay?” The vampire asks me flatly. Before I can answer, the wild mutt bursts through. That damned beast greets us once more, but in its panicked state, “Help! Help! Fwiends!” “What the hell do you want?” I ask, getting tired of the shit going on.

“Erh, Wendy… The Neverborns are putting her in court!” “And why should I care?! We’re looking for a way out of this damn dump, not help a child out of her own mess.” I snap, interrupting this vile thing. “Pwease! Pwease! They’ll do bad things twuh her!” 

I get ready to yell at this thing before I stop and think about our short interaction. I look back at Star, who has been watching intently. His eyes slightly narrowed. I can’t read if he’s judging me or ready to leave this dump. “Fine! We’ll handle it,” I say out loud.

The mutt’s eyes light up as it runs out, “I’ll show fwiends!” I look back at the vampire. His eyes are the same as ever. “Do you know this Tendy girl?” He simply asks. I suppose he suspects I care about her enough to – Never mind. She’s just good for getting information. She’s a local, anyway. A local that I can trust.