can the master of the gold watchers awaken and bring us another oneshot
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π»ππππππ: Gold watchers (Dark Deception) x reader
π¬ππππππ ππππ: *cracks knuckles* yeah, sure. This fandom is dead so like a deadbeat dad I return
You had barely escaped the other two trials unscathed. Staring into the strange face of a man depicted on the portal ahead, a sinking feeling overtook your gut. The chill crept into your clothes as you found yourself among a beautiful garden at night. A cold chill crept up your spine as you peered at the fountain ahead. Behind it stood a golden gate. Still woozy from your teleporting, you pushed ahead, walking around the tranquil water.
"Keep your eyes open love, the statues in this place are awfully lifelike."
Bierce's warning caused you to grimace. Passing the stairs, you walked past a giant gold statue of a man. You noted the empty eye sockets and the grin on its face. It saluted the way you had come, a sign stood before it.
"Beyond these gates, judgement awaits."
You pushed the gates open. A long path led ahead, messages written all over the walls. They warned you to 'never look away'.
Your heart was in your throat as you pushed the second gate open. A large field with differing paths laid ahead of you. Torches lit up your way to another statue. It was saluting you with the same grin.
"I wonder who does the landscaping here, very impressive."
You ignored Bierce's comment as you cautiously approached the statue. You looked up at it for a second, a strange feeling overtaking you. That sensation of feeling watched creeped you out. Deciding to quickly move on, you brushed past it. You could have sworn something heavy and cold brushed over your head, a muffled masculine chuckle accompanying it. You dashed forward with a shriek, whipping around to look at it. It was now facing you, still saluting. Every sense in you screamed at you to run back into that portal, back to Bierce and her snide remarks.
You pushed your way onto another gate surrounded by a thick hedge. You glanced back at the statue, it now having moved to face you correctly again, still in that same pose. Its gleeful expression made you weak in the knees.
'You paid no heed, now you shall bleed.'
With that eerie message hanging on the wall, you stepped into the maze. The gates slammed shut behind you as a maniacal laugh sounded through the air. You began to move, barely avoiding a spike trap.
"Watch your step, it's hard to run with a gaping hole in your foot!"
You clutched the tablet in your hands as you dashed past a corner. Immediately the sound of shuffling footsteps sounded all around you.
"In case you were wondering, yes those footsteps are getting louder!"
You whipped around to see one of those decadently dressed statues, legs crossed, pretending to think as it stared off into nothing. It was frozen as you kept your eyes upon it. As soon as you made it to another corner, you bolted again. It took you everything not to bash headfirst into a statue brandishing an axe.
You nearly stumbled over another trap, using your speeding ability to put distance between you and it. Deep, rich laughter filled the maze one one side, another direction cackling like a madman. You backed yourself into a corner, catching your breath. One of the statues groaned in your ear from behind, ice cold breath hitting your neck. You snapped around to see it towering over you, hands outstretched as if trying to grab you. You heard two separate footsteps approaching the way out. Two other statues were now closing in. One still held the axe, the other one standing still with its hands by its side. As soon as you had taken the eyes off of the statue behind you, you felt an ice cold hand placed on the back of your neck. In a split second reaction, you stunned them. You couldn't move, your neck held firm. Teleporting out of their grip, you ignored their pained stances.
"Would you look at that, I think they fancy you," Bierce's voice rang from the tablet as you heard the mocking noises from the statues all around you. You had counted four living ones, stood apart from the fake statues standing by some of the walls. Once you grabbed the final shard, you heard Bierce yell at you to get into the manor.
You tried to move, only to find yourself stuck. A gold watcher had knelt down slightly, clutching a fistful of your clothing. You couldn't free yourself, and the statue made no further moves as you stared at it. Out of desperation, you tore the piece off of your shirt or dress. You heard the statue snicker as you bolted out of the maze, towards the manor itself.
"Oh how nostalgic," Bierce sounded, her voice dreamy as you ascended the stairs. "I used to have a manor like this⦠much bigger of course."
You rolled your eyes, pushing the doors open.
'He who has the gold, makes the rules.'
You stood in a vast ballroom. The floor was shining, and there was gold adorning the ceiling and walls. The ring altar stood in front of your nose, locked of course. The manor was beautiful, but you barely noticed as you ran through the halls. Dodging swinging pendulums, you barely dodged an axe to the head, bolting in another direction. The statue you just escaped had two axes now, mouth open far wider than any human should be capable of.
Then again, that was no man. Not anymore.
You turned a corner to see one of the statues, greedily clutching the piece of fabric you tore off in its hand. It was strange, but you made no further note of it. You stumbled around, dodging the statues as the they got faster and faster all around you. They seemed very aware, trying to split off and surround you. You wondered what remained of their humanity. You dreaded ever ending up like them at all.
Their gleeful laughter haunted you as you tried to keep yourself out of their grasp. The Gold watcher with the axe seemed the most enthusiastic, followed by the one striking contemplative poses whenever you caught it. The statue with the scrap of fabric was also not letting up. You knew there was a fourth, but you always saw it slightly further behind on the maps.
The statues herded you into a room that looked like a lounging area. There were four doorways, but all four were blocked by one of them.
One stood idly with the scrap of your garment.
One pretended to be thinking.
One held its axe, grinning at you.
The last one had its hand up, as if waving at you. You couldn't look at all of them at the same time. As soon as you stared at one, the other crept closer. You pulled the tablet in front of your face to try and teleport, but a large, gold hand clasped around it when you were glancing at the one with the axe. You couldn't get it out of its hands. The other three statues, other than the one with the axe were now uncomfortably close to you. The tablet was taken from you, and a pair of ice cold hands covered your face. Tears began to form in the corners of your eyes as you heard the other statues move. You waited for the one with the axe to strike you, beheading you like Marie Antoinette.
You hadn't heard any of vocalizations other than snickering or grunting, so the husky voice caught you off guard.
You hadn't been able to hear it before, but there were slight differences in their voices. The one protesting had a smoother voice compared to the rough one of the other.
"Malak will never let us."
Your trembling hands came up to touch the gold hands covering your face. The statue holding you hostage hadn't spoken yet, but you were at least grateful it wasn't crushing your skull.
"What purpose do you have with this mortal?"
"I have not seen a face this precious in so longβ¦"
You felt the ice cold presence of the statue approaching you. There was a moment of silence before the statue behind you finally spoke.
You had no idea where the fourth one had gone, but it did not matter. It probably took off with your tablet for all you know, cutting you off from Bierce. You felt a pair of hands hook under your knees.
"Release her at once, Emory."
You felt the hands come off your face, and you were lifted into the air as another arm supported your shoulders. Your first instinct was to open your eyes. The smooth voice spoke, and you caught a hint of a West European accent.
"I would advise against that. You would not get far."
You felt the the statue carrying you, footsteps sounding behind the two of you.
"How will you intend to keep it, Cornelis?" It was the rough sounding voice you had heard earlier. "The peasant has served its purpose, allow me to behead it."
"You may behead the next one, Nicholas, I intend to keep this one for myself," The statue you assumed was Cornelis said.
"The gold alone has become tiring."
