La Cazadora, La Soldadera, y La Soñolienta Ciudad

[Proto Man]

Four months ago…

Because the concept of time in the Omniverse made about as much sense as an icicle in an oven, Mireya arrived in Darkshire nearly three weeks after the cessation of hostilities. There had been plenty of people sporting blackeyes, slings, and crutches who were more than willing to share with her stories about the heroic deeds of their peers. For her part, the half-night elf nodded along and listened, although she had sworn more than a few times when she found herself alone later that first evening in the town.

Still a Defender of Darkshire, she found herself politely asked to help out with the process of cleaning up the more damaged regions of the town. Her main duty in those next few days? Helping to ensure proper ‘disposal’ of the deceased, both the townsfolk and the attackers. From what she could gather, the old mayor had been some sort of necromancer, and the conclusion of his tenure had left the citizens sour on the notion of the black art. As a result, corpses were no longer buried by the city—they were set to the flame. That way, friend or foe alike couldn’t turn the dead against the citizens of Darkshire.

The whole place still stank of blood, shit, and rotting corpses. The frequent bonfires both in the town square and in areas around the town did their part to stymie the stench, but every time the fires went up, they blanketed the town in a light layer of ash and soot. That made it harder to breath and harder to see. Mireya heard more than a few people complain that the constant fires reminded them of Silent Hill.

She’d never heard of the place before, but her time as a makeshift citizen of Darkshire had filled her with more than a few stories about the former sister city of Darkshire. A prosperous ‘tourist town’ (when such things could have existed in the Pale Moors), Silent Hill had gone silent during the era of Diablo. After the Battle at the Black Gate, the town had resurfaced for a short while before vanishing behind a deep veil of fog.

With only a few transmissions coming out of the town, the place was some sort of city-sized boogeyman for people. Mireya wasn’t quite sure why the citizens of the Pale Moors needed to create more fucking boogeymen, but they had a whole city of ‘em. Tales of wailing souls and shuffling creatures that tried to lure people into the fog. Supposedly a one-way ride, apparently two people had emerged from the fog alive—Shang Tsung and Atelos. More than just escaping from Silent Hill, the story went that they had met the creator of the Omniverse after finding a passageway in the ruins of the city.

After their quest, the pair had played integral roles in the transfer of power, and Mireya was almost certain she had met them at one point during time with Blues. Either way, the two were both too busy dealing with the fallout of the attack, but the secondhand tales of their adventure had interested the half-night elf more than she thought they would.

After her fifth day in the town, Mireya returned to the barracks, where she had been provided a nice cot to sleep. With her Dataverse device in hand, she composed a short email to a friend close to hear heart.

Blues,

Hola, es Mireya. It’s been a long time, and I haven’t heard anything about you or the mouse.

I’m in Darkshire again – have you heard of the attack? They beat back the bad guys, but a lot of good people got hurt. I figured that something like this would be the frontline for you. I’m sure you’re somewhere, but if you have access to this account, you should get back to me. I’ve been working here, since I missed all the fighting (how was I supposed to know what should have been a three-day journey would wind up being three weeks?).

Anyway, I’ve heard a lot of people talk about some place called Silent Hill. Apparently, it was some town that used to thrive in this place. I feel like you probably would know more than me, since you’re always hooked into the Dataverse with that electronic head of yours. Anyway, I guess some of the people in charge here traveled there and wound up in the personal domain of the mastermind behind this place. Shang Tsung and Atelos – you remember those guys, right?

I really wanted to meet with them, but I get turned away. I guess I shouldn’t be offended, since they run the place.

I’m considering seeing if their story is true or not. I don’t know what it is, but I think it’s worthwhile to investigate. I feel like I’ve spent the better part of the last two years just passing time. The farm and the little village we have is doing well, but I feel like something’s missing.

So, I think I’m going to go see what there is to discover in this place. It can’t be any worse than the Black Gate.

Until we meet again.

Setting aside the device, Mireya rolled onto her side and drifted to sleep. As the dreams overtook her, she pondered what the future might hold for her.

***

Four months to day after her arrival in Darkshire, Mireya Vasquez found herself diving behind a dumpster as a hose-like burst of rancid, black bile struck its steel face and immediately started to corrode the thick material.

Leaning her head against the back of the dumpster, the half-night elf looked down and realized that an errant mass of the bile had struck her poleax and already chewed through half of the handle and head.

“Puñeta!”