Shoot ran out of time to finish this one, oh well ig
Looming citadels cloaked themselves in fog. Towers, which seemed to be made of houses built atop houses, threatened to fall. All was grey, even the grass and the skies. One could tell just by looking that this once was a thriving metropolis, but now it was little more than a graveyard without tombstones.
Even in his time in the depths, he had never seen a civilisation so ruined.
"WHAT...HAPPENED HERE?"
Retinal responded, without tilting their head back to look.
"Aa fraud. A queenn. A bbeast."
The other Faldian companions murmured in agreement.
"Wwe usedd to numbber amongg thousannds..."
"Noww...therre's fewwer than fiftyy."
The fog twisted and turned in strange shapes. When he reached out to touch it, it recoiled, as if it were a living creature.
The eerie song of silence hung in the air.
"SO, WHERE'S THE QUEEN THING?"
Cath, who had been lurking at the back of the group, spoke up.
"The Matriarch sh0uld be, if I'm c0rrect, in the central Atrium. It sh0uld l00k like a massive web between s0me t0wers, and the r00m in the centre is her lair."
Retinal scoffed.
"Nnot anymorre. She's lefft, and shhe's a-wanderiing nnow."
"Y0u're saying we d0n't have a clue where she is?!"
"Indeeed."
The party carried on grimly through the dust-like fields, eventually stopping at a pile of long-fallen trees.
"Llet's restt here. We'lll needd all our ennergy for thhe fightt."
Nobody argued.
As they were resting, he asked Retinal if they knew why the fog had recoiled from him earlier.
"Thhe Martiarchh is the sourcce of the fogg. Sshe controlls it, aas much as posssible."
He gazed back into the fog. It was twisting and turning, as usual. He could make out some shapes...
Suddenly, it gathered into an arm-like shape and lunged towards him. He dodged back, but more arms sprouted. The Faldians began cursing in some strange language, and Reuno and Cath rushed to him and the three of them hurried away. Retinal shouted something at the Faldians, presumably an order, and sprinted over to the trio, as they ran towards the fell city. Reuno glanced at him, and pointed to his hands, yelling something. He looked down at his hands.
They were covered in some strange liquid ooze, grey but reflecting colours of the rainbow that weren't there. It pulsed, and was slowly multiplying. Panicked, he tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't budge.
Retinal came over to him and pulled out a pale knife, cutting away at the growth.
"Nnasty litttle tricck she pullled...no, don'tt loook backk. The ffog's stilll chasing uss. My people arre slowing it dowwn back therre."
"Hey, Gaster! Can y0u hear me n0w?"
"YES. WHAT...WAS THAT?"
"Ddoesn't mattter, just anotherr gimmick fromm her fogg."
As they were nearing the grey city, cracks in the infrastructure grew visible to them. Clearly, it had been abandoned for a long time.
The four of them dove behind a cracked wall in a tower's base to avoid the fog. Luckily, the tendrils and arms seemed blind without eyes, and they were safe...for now.