The Eye of Rot

**The Eye of Rot** is an antagonist in Louse. It is a growth of Rot implanted into a human eyeball.

## History

The Eye of Rot was originally created as a gift by the Face of Rot, which was designed to enter a person's body and enter their right eye. This would allow communication between Rot and the pilgrim that received the gift.

When Null, the main protagonist of Louse, reached the Face, it offered them a gift. When they accepted it, the Face revealed that it heard them say that they wished to end Rot, proclaiming that such a thought was impossible as it was endless. As this happened, the gift melted into their hand, traveled up their arm, and eventually reached their right eye. They were then pulled down into the caverns of Rot by the rotted remains of the Old Friend.

After the head of the Old Friend melted into the floor of the cavern, the congealed into a single red mass of Rot in Null's vision, stating that their offering of the Old Friend had been accepted. Sensing that Null wished to speak, it told them to do so; Null asked why it was there, and Rot smiled, stating that it had always existed, and that it wishes to turn the surface into the skin for its body. The Blot then intervened, telling Null that removing Rot would allow them to survive. Meanwhile, Rot told them to remove the Blot and to remain unspoiled. Null chose to let the Blot take control, at which point it spread its branches across their left arm, and ripped out their right eye in one swift motion. Doing so created the Eye of Rot.

After the eye was removed, Null knelt down and grabbed it; however, it sprouted tendrils, latching onto the back of their hand. Soon after, the Love of Rot began to approach them. Null attempted to hide, but the Eye let out a loud squeal to give their position away, allowing the Love to find them. After speaking with the Love, Null chose to give in to its request to embrace Rot; as they began to descend, however, they were forced to relive their past by the Blot, and stood back up to reject Rot. The Love grew confused with Null's actions, and they used that confusion to pull out a nullification vial. The Eye attempted to dissuade them by pointing out that the Love was wearing a mask, and that they could miss; however, Null chose to throw a vial anyways, shattering it against the Love and nullifying it. They then approached its remains and grabbed a shard of its mitestone mask, while the Eye stared intently.

Once they picked up the shard, Null realized that they could use it to remove the Eye from their hand. The Blot encouraged this, saying that it could not read their thoughts, but the Eye warned that it read their facial expression and knew what they were trying to do. Null chose to attempt to remove it anyways, stabbing down with surging hatred, but the Eye leapt off of their hand at the last moment, causing them to stab their hand. It then gathered mass to become a large, towering figure. It stated that its spread is endless and that pilgrims like Null belong to it.

Approaching Null, the Eye said that it was once concerned with Null, as they were not like the others; however, they were barely able to defeat the Love. It then said that another Love grows at this very moment, and that it remains unaffected as they crumble. In response, Null pushed the Eye away, pulling out a nullification vial and the shard, before deciding to use the vial, crushing it against the Eye before it was able to attack.

As it began to dissolve, the Eye stated that it saw how many vials Null had, while saying that it would not be enough. It was then fully nullified, leaving nothing behind but Null's eye and a pile of dust.

Null resolved to crush the remaining eye; however, before they could, they were interrupted by Turmoil, who emerged from the darkness to ask if they could have it. After conversing with them, Null decided to give it to them. The eye currently remains with Turmoil.

The Eye of Rot is deceased.