Post by acclue lockheart on Feb 29, 2008 23:48:54 GMT -5
Chapter III: The Prophecy Aligned
I found it easy to keep Hoshi's secret to myself, at least through the next few days.
I had virtually given up on everything at that point. I hadn't eaten in days, or even moved at that. I just wasn't able to live with myself.
"So you forfeit your life?" I was too far into my mind, I could hear the shadow again.
"What do you want?" I muttered "Can't you just let me rot in peace?"
"Your purpose on this plane is not yet done."
"Could've fooled me."
"What about your allies?"
"Ami hates me... Hoshi must hate me after I found out about her... The others don't even care..."
"... You are blind. Do you not realize the consequences of your death?"
"Everyone is happier?"
"No... I will have no use foryou anymore. And I will have to find another Fox Demon..."
There was a long pause. I started to form the black chamber I saw in my dreams. "You wouldn't..."
"I must."
I breathed heavily. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of that "You... You bastard. Leave my sister out of this."
"If you are dead, you are useless to me, but alive, you are a much more useful commodity. Though that one is a stronger form, you are too valuable to me to kill off for another..."
It knew of my compassion for my friends and family, regardless of how I thought they felt for me. I knew then that I would not escape my mortality without dooming my sister. She wasn't even aware of my afflicion yet, and it would be hers.
"And I don't believe that that one has the mental freedom of stopping me against the ones you call 'friends'.
It went too far.
I pulled my chain to its limit and barked out "Damn you! Why! Why are you doing this to me! All I want to do is die and you won't even give me that!"
"I do it... to survive."
"Screw you!" I struck my claws into the collar right around my neck. I struggled trying to pull the thick metal apart.
"You cannot break the ties that hold you. This is inevitable."
"Shut up!" I sat down to try to save energy for my hands "Come on! Come on!" I struggled all the way to lying on the ground.
"You struggle futily on from the brink of death for a cause you don't understand and-"
"I said shut the hell up!" I felt the metal buckle under my claws, a crack appearing straight down the center.
“What?! No!” it was the first time I had ever heard the shadow in a state of genuine surprise. The chain that bound me broke apart as the collar literally shattered to my feet. I relaxed every strained muscle in the proverbial body of my mind. Was it over?
An unbearable force struck my head for an instant and I screamed out in pain. It felt as if a sword had found itself straight between my eyes. Writhing on the ground, I tore into my forehead with my claws to stop the pain.
Everything went blank. The ground was gone. The metal was gone. I couldn't even tell if I was there myself.
I was suddenly exhausted, but the sharp torture had disappeared. My deep breath was the only thing to be heard. A scene appeared before me. It was me... me in my possessed form anyway. I seemed to float in the air.
Standing over me on a single pillar in the center of the dream was a full-grown human... or a demon, I couldn't tell. It was speaking to me, but no words came out of its mouth. Before too long, I rose higher and the form over me pulled its arms apart down toward me, as if holding a bow. It released and the burning I had felt just moments ago felt as if it were nothing.
I couldn't watch anymore, the paralyzing agony that had just struck me was worse than anything I had endured through my whole story thus far. It was as if something was trying to tear me apart from the inside, but my body refused to give into death. I was stuck in an inescapable torment in my heart. My breathing slowed to a halt.
Was this death?
-----
“NO!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, writhing beneath my blanket to try and disperse the pain. I sat straight up with a jolt. I felt weak, like I had just been in a fight. It was scary. But the pain was gone. The dream was over... But that wasn't a dream...
I closed my eyes to concentrate for a moment. I felt my head. It was burning hot behind a cold sweat.
“Acclue?” Ami's voice mumbled. She sat up from her bed across the cave's floor “Are you finally awake? 'Bout time you moron.”
“I'm sorry.” I looked down to the ground.
“It's fine.” she said. We sat in the darkness for a long time without a word. “Acclue?”
“Hmm?”
“I gotta show you something...” Ami smiled “It's really important, but... you might want to get something to eat first... It's been a few days...”
“I'm fine for a while longer.” I sighed. What could be so important as to help me back into the real world? The dream ran through my head endlessly, was it some kind of message? I shook my head. It could wait for a few hours until everyone was up.
Ami helped me to my feet and I nearly fell on my weakened legs. It took me no more than a few minutes to coordinate myself again, and we left our cave.
It was still dark outside, but barely. The sun was just under the horizon, and the moon was long down, leaving a near-black void of a few minutes in our valley.
Ami practically carried me to the closed end of the village, at the river's front. She gestured to a small wooden item in a patch of fresh dirt “Look.”
I stared at the thing for the longest time, reading the text across it over and over. A grave marker in my mother's name.
“Your friends helped make it. We thought it might help you feel better to know that she's at peace...” I looked over to her and saw that she was staring at the plaque too, tears in her eyes. I had never seen Ami cry before... not for anything.
I looked back again. And I smiled. Not at my mother's death... but at how wrong I was. It didn't matter what I had done, my friends still loved me. Nothing would ever change that. All our lives, our fates, were now intertwined. And we would need to see each other through to the end...
It came sooner to me than I would have thought...
I found it easy to keep Hoshi's secret to myself, at least through the next few days.
I had virtually given up on everything at that point. I hadn't eaten in days, or even moved at that. I just wasn't able to live with myself.
"So you forfeit your life?" I was too far into my mind, I could hear the shadow again.
"What do you want?" I muttered "Can't you just let me rot in peace?"
"Your purpose on this plane is not yet done."
"Could've fooled me."
"What about your allies?"
"Ami hates me... Hoshi must hate me after I found out about her... The others don't even care..."
"... You are blind. Do you not realize the consequences of your death?"
"Everyone is happier?"
"No... I will have no use foryou anymore. And I will have to find another Fox Demon..."
There was a long pause. I started to form the black chamber I saw in my dreams. "You wouldn't..."
"I must."
I breathed heavily. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of that "You... You bastard. Leave my sister out of this."
"If you are dead, you are useless to me, but alive, you are a much more useful commodity. Though that one is a stronger form, you are too valuable to me to kill off for another..."
It knew of my compassion for my friends and family, regardless of how I thought they felt for me. I knew then that I would not escape my mortality without dooming my sister. She wasn't even aware of my afflicion yet, and it would be hers.
"And I don't believe that that one has the mental freedom of stopping me against the ones you call 'friends'.
It went too far.
I pulled my chain to its limit and barked out "Damn you! Why! Why are you doing this to me! All I want to do is die and you won't even give me that!"
"I do it... to survive."
"Screw you!" I struck my claws into the collar right around my neck. I struggled trying to pull the thick metal apart.
"You cannot break the ties that hold you. This is inevitable."
"Shut up!" I sat down to try to save energy for my hands "Come on! Come on!" I struggled all the way to lying on the ground.
"You struggle futily on from the brink of death for a cause you don't understand and-"
"I said shut the hell up!" I felt the metal buckle under my claws, a crack appearing straight down the center.
“What?! No!” it was the first time I had ever heard the shadow in a state of genuine surprise. The chain that bound me broke apart as the collar literally shattered to my feet. I relaxed every strained muscle in the proverbial body of my mind. Was it over?
An unbearable force struck my head for an instant and I screamed out in pain. It felt as if a sword had found itself straight between my eyes. Writhing on the ground, I tore into my forehead with my claws to stop the pain.
Everything went blank. The ground was gone. The metal was gone. I couldn't even tell if I was there myself.
I was suddenly exhausted, but the sharp torture had disappeared. My deep breath was the only thing to be heard. A scene appeared before me. It was me... me in my possessed form anyway. I seemed to float in the air.
Standing over me on a single pillar in the center of the dream was a full-grown human... or a demon, I couldn't tell. It was speaking to me, but no words came out of its mouth. Before too long, I rose higher and the form over me pulled its arms apart down toward me, as if holding a bow. It released and the burning I had felt just moments ago felt as if it were nothing.
I couldn't watch anymore, the paralyzing agony that had just struck me was worse than anything I had endured through my whole story thus far. It was as if something was trying to tear me apart from the inside, but my body refused to give into death. I was stuck in an inescapable torment in my heart. My breathing slowed to a halt.
Was this death?
-----
“NO!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, writhing beneath my blanket to try and disperse the pain. I sat straight up with a jolt. I felt weak, like I had just been in a fight. It was scary. But the pain was gone. The dream was over... But that wasn't a dream...
I closed my eyes to concentrate for a moment. I felt my head. It was burning hot behind a cold sweat.
“Acclue?” Ami's voice mumbled. She sat up from her bed across the cave's floor “Are you finally awake? 'Bout time you moron.”
“I'm sorry.” I looked down to the ground.
“It's fine.” she said. We sat in the darkness for a long time without a word. “Acclue?”
“Hmm?”
“I gotta show you something...” Ami smiled “It's really important, but... you might want to get something to eat first... It's been a few days...”
“I'm fine for a while longer.” I sighed. What could be so important as to help me back into the real world? The dream ran through my head endlessly, was it some kind of message? I shook my head. It could wait for a few hours until everyone was up.
Ami helped me to my feet and I nearly fell on my weakened legs. It took me no more than a few minutes to coordinate myself again, and we left our cave.
It was still dark outside, but barely. The sun was just under the horizon, and the moon was long down, leaving a near-black void of a few minutes in our valley.
Ami practically carried me to the closed end of the village, at the river's front. She gestured to a small wooden item in a patch of fresh dirt “Look.”
I stared at the thing for the longest time, reading the text across it over and over. A grave marker in my mother's name.
“Your friends helped make it. We thought it might help you feel better to know that she's at peace...” I looked over to her and saw that she was staring at the plaque too, tears in her eyes. I had never seen Ami cry before... not for anything.
I looked back again. And I smiled. Not at my mother's death... but at how wrong I was. It didn't matter what I had done, my friends still loved me. Nothing would ever change that. All our lives, our fates, were now intertwined. And we would need to see each other through to the end...
It came sooner to me than I would have thought...
