Might As Well Be the Carnival of Lost Souls

This is completely the writing of my friend.

Glide kept Icarcti close, piggybacking the little bat through Siri's carnival, Ragnarokkr.

Ambree glanced around warily, Illyria already out of her scabbard. On the outside, the place screamed 'carnival', but inside, it was like something one would see on a drug trip through an abandoned amusement park in the Louisiana bayou; scarred alligators in tattered jester uniforms tended games - half-sunk in murky, dark green water - where youths were trapped, subjected to pain and humiliation for the entertainment of the patrons.

A familiar face was present in the carnival, standing near the door of a building a few yards away from the carnival games. Hóu, the monkey demigod.

Glide greeted the monkey with a nod. "You gonna let us in? We have business with Siri."

"Sure you do." Hóu muttered. "And I'm the frickin' pope."

Glide growled. "Let us in or die, man, it's your call."

"... Okay, seriously?" Hóu asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you- do you honestly think that threats will work on me?"

Glide shrugged. "It was worth a shot. What'll it take to get us in to see Siri?"

"Him." Hóu said, pointing toward Icarcti.

Glide didn't respond, simply kicking the monkey in the stomach, then the face when Hóu doubled over.

"Go on in..." Hóu wheezed.

Glide nodded, opening the door and entering, Ambree close behind.

 

...

 

Inside the building was a casino area, though even this was perverted in several ways, including youths trapped inside of transparent slot machines. Near the back of the building was a large stage, a Varixian boy dancing on it, some sort of strange tar covering most of his naked body. The small amount of his body that wasn't covered - the left side of his head - bore light gray fur. A single, diamond-shaped, dark green scale sat just above his eye.

Ambree followed Glide toward the stage. "I thought we were looking for Siri?"

"Who do you think that is?" Glide answered, raising his voice to call to Siri over the music. "Hey, C**k of Cthulhu!"

Siri immediately stopped dancing, solid black eyes focusing on Glide. "Spawn of Nyarlathotep." He greeted the older Varixian. "What the f**k do you want?"

"You." Glide replied. "You owe me a favor, remember? For that... unsavory business on Var, about a century ago?"

Siri smirked. "You still remember that, huh? Well, this brings us back to 'what do you want'."

"Nothing big." Glide shrugged. "Just your help with something. You notice an influx of demonic patrons lately?"

Siri dropped down to sit on the edge of the stage. "Yeah, actually. They've been pissing me off, abusing my boys. I'm about ready to pack the entire carnival up and move somewhere else."

"What are you, f****n' retarded?" Glide grinned. "This place is prime real estate for a dickhead like you to run an operation like this from. What if I told you that by helping us, you'd be getting rid of those abusive patrons, too?"

"I'd say 'count me in'." Siri responded, the tar coating his right paw extending into a set of wicked claws. "Shall we go?"

Glide nodded, turning and heading toward the door.

Ambree walked alongside Glide. "Why do you call each other those things?" She asked after a moment.

"Because that's what we see each other as." Glide said. "He sees me as the spawn of Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. I see him as a shard of Cthulhu. I just call him C**k of Cthulhu to piss him off, because of this little operation he runs."

"What do you mean, 'shard of Cthulhu'?" Ambree asked.

Glide shrugged. "It's easy to see. You happen to catch a glimpse of that shiny little scale on his head? Piece of Cthulhu."

Siri trailed along behind them, the tar coating his hindpaws leaving black footprints behind him.

 

...

 

Once the group was back outside, Siri took a brief moment to converse with Hóu. "I don't know when the hell I'll get back, but until I do, it's up to you to keep this place running smoothly."

Hóu nodded. "Got it, boss."

"Good." Siri said. "You f**k this up and you are so fired."

Hóu gave a smart salute, grinning. "Sir, yes, sir."

Siri rolled his eyes, heading toward the door Glide was standing near. "Come on, I don't have all day. Don't keep me waiting, open the f****n' door."

"Shut up!" Glide snapped. "Be f*****g patient, you little brat. You may be stronger than that douchebag monkey, but I could still twist your tail off and sodomize you with it, so don't think you can give me orders."

Siri blinked, taking a step backwards. "Sorry, not used to dealing with superiors anymore..."

"Just remember that you're dealing with a lot of 'em now." Glide muttered, opening the door. "As of right now, your skinny a*s is at the bottom of the proverbial ladder. You've even gotta listen to this gimp."

"Hey!" Ambree yelped.

"Well, actually, no." Glide said. "You've just gotta listen to me, Icarcti and the gods, but you don't get to mouth off to anybody. I hear you runnin' your f****n' mouth, I'm gonna yank out your eyes and your balls, shove your eyes in your nutsack, and stick your balls in your eye sockets."

"... Duly noted." Siri murmured.