“You have to understand,” the pathetic man went on. “I’m damned either way. I have to stay miles away from this thing.”
Pluto slipped their hand beneath the bandage across their eyes and pinched the bridge of their nose. Their suit jacket was unbuttoned, revealing bloodstains on the white shirt below, although it was more likely than not that the blood was their own. “Motherfucker,” they muttered. “Yeah, okay. I’ll take care of this one. Don’t comment on this, don’t do anything. You stay in your office until this is over. I don’t need you getting fucked over because of this. When you get fucked over-”
“‘I get fucked over,’” the mayor of Vendictia recited. “I know, I know.”
Sighing, Pluto walked out of the office. They had spent too many favors getting that eel elected, they didn’t need a scandal ruining his career now of all times. Fucking politics. Factory Overseers disassembling constructs. It’s like they try to make my life hard. Blood was beginning to stain the bandage wrapped around their head, as it always did when they felt they were not cut out for this world. They traced with anxious fingers the lines of stitches that ran all around their body, holding them together.
Stepping out onto the street, Pluto stopped suddenly. They did not turn to face the woman leaning against the wall of city hall, smoking. Pluto sighed and looked skywards. It was almost dawn. “That bad, huh?” they asked the woman.
They could just about feel her grin. “I know when I’m needed, Pluto” Kantra smiled with one of her mouths as the other let out a puff of smoke. Her seven eyes were locked onto Pluto. Even without facing her, the woman’s gaze made Pluto nervous. It made them feel seen in an uncomfortably knowing way.
Pluto turned towards the woman and leaned against the wall beside her. “Tell me, Kantra, how much worse is this than I realize?” Their matted black hair began to stick to the bandage.
Kantra’s grins got wider. “Oh, you have no idea. Big things are coming, Plu. I can’t make them all go away, but I can take care of this one for you.” She began to stalk away. “I’ll put it on your tab.”
“Wouldn’t be surprised if she orchestrates this shit just to hold it over me,” Pluto mumbled once Kantra was out of earshot. Standing upright, they began to trudge home. They weren’t built for all this political shit. Industry, union busting, economics. It didn’t sit well with Pluto, but they were out of options.
—
Pluto had to give Kantra points for originality, though. They sure weren’t expecting to see the Overseers nervously pacing around their drawing room the next day. Several of them had sigils resembling eyes carved into their foreheads. Pluto didn’t stop walking as they passed the group. “Let me know ahead of time next time you decide to fuck me over.” They closed the door on the mutilated Overseers.
In their office, if you could even call it that, more of a living room than anything, Dahlen was waiting. He had a stack of papers in his mechanical hands. “Hit me with it, Dahl,” Pluto groaned.
He laid the papers on their desk and adjusted the cuffs of his suit nervously. “It’s getting out of hand. She’s asking for ownership of every bar in Vendictia now. That’s our largest source of income.”
Swearing, Pluto put their head in their hands. Blood was already beginning to drip onto their desk. Seemed like they had to change that bandage every half hour nowadays. “Don’t have much of a choice, do we?” They uncapped a pen. “Something about dealing with the Devil, I guess.” Pluto signed away a meaty chunk of their capital.
The place their eyes used to be bled faster and faster the more they sat at that desk. Bandage completely red, blood dripping down their face to their collar, Pluto stumbled out of the… Office? Building? House. That’s the word. They lived there. Or did something close to it, at least.
Nearly collapsing onto the street, Pluto realized with a shock that it was midnight already. The light of the gelatinous moon felt warm on their face. Reaching into their coat with shaky hands, they pulled out a flask, slick with oil, and took a swig. Remembering to breathe, Pluto steadied themself, tracing with calmer hands the stitches along their arms. Seemed like they’d unravel any day now. They slumped against the outer wall of the building.
“If only all those politicians and industrialists could see you now,” an agonizingly familiar voice called.
Pluto let out a pained laugh. “Haven’t seen you around lately. Too busy to visit your favorite wretch?”
“Oh, Pluto,” Galley’s grin was full of gears and wires. “You’re not my favorite.”
Pluto chuckled. “Seriously, though, where’ve you been? It’s been a mess without you.”
Galley laughed a little and began to walk off then. “I’ve been all over, Pluto! Your little city isn’t jack shit.” They stopped, and turned to face Pluto, a serious expression taking over their mechanical face. “The universe is bigger than you could ever know, Plu. Be careful you don’t get lost in it.”
By the time Pluto registered the words, their old associate was already gone, leaving behind more questions than answers, as seemed to be the Vendictia norm. Taking off the bandage entirely, Pluto let the wind race across their face. The air smelled of oil and coal. Cozy.
—
Pluto opened their eyes, skin devoid of stitches. They were lying atop a lighthouse. Above them was a starless sky, occupied wholly by the moon, massive and rigid in the heavens. Pluto watched as the moon gradually grew closer to the sun, until the former collided with the latter. The sun exploded into dozens of droplets, flying outwards from the impact, until they slowed to a stop, sprinkled like stars across the sky. Pluto watched as, one by one, the stars winked out, and the moon was alone once more. The moon gazed down on them then, and blinked.
—
As Pluto groggily regained consciousness, a song met their ears. The record was slightly warped and the sound came out grainy, but they could just make out the words.
And the walls of the gullet of the beast match the skin of the child’s face,
And the fallen begins to realize that they were born of this place.
Pluto sat upright suddenly, music fading from focus. Their arm lay detached on the sofa next to them, and they had to spend the next hour painstakingly sewing it back on. Halfway through, a cough escaped them, leaving the bathroom sink stained red. That was new. They washed the sink and their bloodstained hands alike, wiping their mouth and preparing for today’s migraine.
When Pluto left the house dressed down in a white collared shirt and slacks, it was already dark. They had to walk awkwardly to keep their foot from falling off. Entering the city’s downtown area, Pluto didn’t even glance at most of the posters and flyers covering every wall along the street. They’d already read them all before.
“The Earth opens up,” read one. “Don’t lose your footing.”
Another seemed to be an advertisement for some religious organization or something of the like. “Once we are all devoured, kneel before the one who has found their maker, lest we all go blind.”
—
Pushing through the doors of The Earthworm, Kantra’s new flagship bar, they knew the devil wouldn’t be far.
“Well?” Prodded a voice. “Did you?”
Pluto grimaced and sat across from the women in a booth dimly lit and largely unnoticed by the patrons of the Earthworm. “Did I what?”
Kantra let out a puff of smoke. “Get lost in it? The universe?”
Pluto could feel their stitches unwinding, blood leaking from their eye sockets. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did.”
The devil that the devil knew smiled with one of her mouths and let out another puff of smoke with the other. “Shame,” she said mockingly. “I was just beginning to get used to fucking you over.”
Holding their hands in front of their face, Pluto watched as one of their fingers fell off. “What’s happening to me, Kantra?”
Kantra’s smiles vanished, if only for a moment. “You’re dying, Pluto. Can’t you feel it? The world is falling apart around us, and you’re caught in the middle.” She tapped her cigarette on a small ashtray in the center of the table. “Poor thing, a child of earth in a world dominated by sea and sky. I won’t miss you, Plu.”
Pluto opened their mouth to respond, but never got the chance. Their head slowly rolled off their body and clattered onto the table. Kantra sighed and put out her cigarette.
That’s not, however, what Pluto saw. They were falling, faster than they could ever imagine. Around them was only an abyss, though they knew somewhere within it was the pit’s walls of dirt. They entered and exited consciousness several times, unable to form a single coherent thought. It felt as if they were falling for hours.
And the walls of the gullet of the beast match the skin of the child’s face,
And the fallen begins to realize that they were born of this place,
Don’t forget to kneel, little one,
And be not afraid,
This is not the first time you’ve come undone.
