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| Face your Fears [O]; Open; | |
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| Topic Started: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:01 pm (630 Views) | |
| Shan Orison | Sun Sep 18, 2011 4:42 pm Post #46 |
 
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"Alright, Curiosity, this might be the most difficult thing you've ever done," Shan's second thoughts said. "You must focus. Focus on one thing and one thing only, and hold that single thought as long as you can, which needs to be more than a few seconds." "Don't patronize me," Curiosity said, taking Second Thoughts outstretched hand. "How long will we need to do this for this to work, anyway? Did you ever imagine we'd actually be working together?" "Focus, dammit!" Second Thoughts and Curiosity shut their eyes, focusing one thought to the Gestalt, praying He heard before it was too late. It would be easier if there were more of them here, but if Shan's two strongest thoughts couldn't get through, no one could. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shan yanked his Shadow to his knees, sword still pressed against his throat. Shan steeled himself, ready to finish this. A soft wave of feeling washed over him before he could draw the blade, however. It was weak but familiar, gently brushing away the tangled webbing that had ensnared him and reignited his anger. It was small the same way a mosquito in a dark room is small, whispering a feeling distilled into three words. This is wrong. Shan froze, letting time around him slow as his thoughts raced. This was wrong? He had the chance to finish everything evil and villainous about him and...No, this was wrong. His Shadow wasn't evil. It was simply what he felt he wasn't, but actually was. And this was the wrong route to deal with that aspect of himself. He thought of his first meetings with the characters inside his own psyche. This wasn't how he'd met them. He'd found out what they thought, how they saw the world. What they wanted. he didn't fight and conquer. That wasn't his nature. He recalled what his Shadow had said, reading between the lines. What did he really want? "You finally notice..." "You can hardly ignore me any longer..." "There's so much of yourself you utterly ignore..." How could he be so stupid? Shan dropped the sword, the act meaning far more in this place than reality. He knelt, and pulled his Shadow close. "I'm sorry," he said. "Aren't you going to finish this? Are you really that weak?" his Shadow snarled. "In that way, yes. I am. I'm weak in so many ways that you're strong. You're right about a lot, but you taking over wouldn't help. You're weak, too, in all the ways I'm strong." "Like hell I am!" His Shadow yelled, struggling to escape Shan's embrace. "We're alike, at least, in our refusal to see it. Except I'm used to being weak. It makes sense I'd see it first. And you don't want to take over. Not really." "What!?" "For so long, I've not just denied your influence, I've tried to act as if you didn't even exist. All that's done is hurt us." He felt his Shadow relax against him. "And at this time, in this place, I promise I won't do that any longer. I'm not going to turn evil, but I'm not going to turn away from my darker impulses. I have them, and you have your place with me, my Shadow." Shan closed his eyes as he felt his Shadow fall limp, melding with Shan's conscious. When he opened his eyes again, Shan knelt alone, but more whole than he'd even been. Now, he thought, grabbing the sword and standing, to other business. He brandished the sword in a random direction. "Come out!" he shouted to the alien presence itching against his thoughts. "I know you're there, so show yourself or leave, you perverted voyeur!" |
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| Blackwell | Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:03 am Post #47 |
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Cade’s eyebrows lifted as he removed the blade from the Shadow’s throat and instead embraced him. Listening to the man’s heartfelt speech made his heart sour, icing over the warmth he’d felt in trying to help. Their melding was something he wasn’t expecting would be a possibility. “Damn you, where’s the fun in this? Where, precisely, am I supposed to draw pleasure from your ‘tortured soul’?” He exited the space on the edge of both worlds, Mary in tow. The two entered the clearing, Mary looking alarmed by Shan’s brandishing of the blade. Cade released her hand, stepping closer and into the open, a child facing an armed man. “Fool, where would you be had I not stepped in?” He chose to neglect the truth that it was himself who had brought about this situation in the first place. “Curled on the ground, letting yourself be drowned by pity while your darker traits took the reins?” Cade hissed, baring his teeth, all perfect save for the two jagged canines, shortened and broken. “Watch where you’re swinging that. Innocent lives are balancing delicately on a razor edge, here. I’d not make any hasty movements.” As he spoke, mary stepped beside cade, placing a hand over his breast and moving in front of him, brandishing a bronze-colored rapier at Shan. |
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| Shan Orison | Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:29 am Post #48 |
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Shan lowered his blade. He wasn't expecting Mary, and he wasn't expecting a child to be the one who's power crawled against his mind. Well, the boy had asked some questions, maybe he wanted answers. "Where would I be without you? I'd be enjoying a peaceful walk through Norwood after a restful night enjoying the hospitality of some surprisingly kind bandits. Many people would still be alive, and things may not be perfect, but it would be a hell of an improvement on the current situation. "And your 'aid' here, I should add, almost resulted in me potentially destroying a good half of my mind. Not even my Shadow was that stupid, and if that was you empowering me earlier, you pushed me to the point where I would have done such a thing. It's a bit of a miracle I saw what I was doing in time." Shan squared his stance, staring past Mary to the boy beyond. "Now, then. Are you done now? Are you satisfied? Have you hurt those around you enough? Have you accomplished whatever sick goal you set out for? Release us, then, both Mary and I, and go, or else...or else...." Shan began to trail off, but a newly awakened side of him, long forced into dormancy, finished the promise. "Or else I'll show you what kind of a son of a witch I am." |
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| Blackwell | Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:58 am Post #49 |
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Cade’s gaze darkened, all features growing sullen. “Not a chance in hell I’m done.” The child stretched, limbs becoming an unlikely length, Eyes filling with darkness. Every feature became the darkest of shadow, save for two rings of piercing blue for eyes. “I’m quite entertained, really, by how easy you would now find it to surrender yourself. How strong would your qualms be against claiming a life?” Cade lifted a hand, shoulder level with Mary’s head, and wrapped a hand around her head, palming her brow. Blue light flashed beneath his hand, a wash of heat pulsating from the contact and the smell of burning flesh filling the air. Releasing the woman, Cade eyed the result before turning back to Shan. “You will leave tonight. But she remains mine. Marianne Breedlove is now marked, given and devoted to myself and my cause.” On the woman’s brow now sat a black mark, gouged in and crusted with blue. An eye with a line through the center. “Make your objections known, Shan. I have little time to discuss what trivialities you may feel an overwhelming need to burden my enjoyment with.” |
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| Shan Orison | Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:35 am Post #50 |
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Shan stood alone against the darkness. And then, he didn't. Strengthened by the closing chasm in his mind, he pulled himself together. All aspects of himself, originally banished to their own plane of dreams, filled the glade and the sky above. Around the boy and Mary stood scores of Shan's each carrying their own symbolic weaponry. There stood Chivalry in shining armor, Paranoia with a switchblade, Arcane Knowledge with a staff, Logic with a longbow, Criticism with a hammer, Cowardice with a white flag he was already waving. There was some momentary confusion as the two Curiosities worked out blending together again, then he stood with...well, it was curvy and spiky whatever it was. On his left hand side, Shan's Second thoughts took his place, a slight nod to the Gestalt as he drew his blade, and on Shan's left... He smiled at his Shadow, who nodded grimly to him. What had been witness was only a cessation of hostilities, a opening of peace talks. It would take years to fill the void between them, but at this time and in this place, they would work together, and with Shadow came the multitude that had been hidden within him. Shan could only place a few. There was a muscular version of himself flexing his arms he figured must be his machismo, a snarling, frothing Shan that was his Rage, and at the Shadow's side was... "What the...are you a girl?" Shan asked, the initial problem forgotten at the sight of a pretty, brown haired woman. "I'm your Anima. Your feminine side? Considering how girly you are, I'm surprised I was locked away with this lout," she said, elbowing Shadow. "Why brown hair?" "Your mother has brown hair. Didn't you think that it was possible you could have been born with it too if circumstances were right." "I guess that makes sense." "And you, a little over the top there earlier, don't you think? Could have toned it down a lot, saved a great deal of time." Shan's Shadow just sighed at the words. "Wow, she sounds like my second thoughts," Shan said. "You have no idea. Can we get back to this?" "Oh, right." Shan turned back to the boy, the Vampire. "I'm sorry, I guess in a way you have helped me a great deal, but the price for your help was too high, and I can't let you go unpunished." "As for me," Shan's Shadow said. "I just want to kick your ass." Normally, a crowd attacking a small group would be at a disadvantage as the combatants fought and shoved and got more in each others way than successfully attacked. This crowd, however, was under the direction of one mind. Which is why, weapons at the ready, only Shadow and Gestalt charged prepared to harm the vampire as much as they could in this dream. |
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| Blackwell | Tue Sep 20, 2011 3:11 am Post #51 |
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The rush of personas swept over Cade’s form, the shadows shattering not by force, but by sheer will. The lanky humanoid Cade had become broke into pieces, each floating away and dissipating into mist as it separated from its host, leaving behind the small boy, eyes wide open, shock evident as he fell to his knees, striking the gray earth below with a weighty crash. The boy lay motionless before twitching, a hand clawing at the dirt as his form faded, objections fading into echoes. Mary lifted her rapier, thrusting its tip toward the nearest form she saw; panic filling her eyes as he reflexively attempted to defend her new charge. As the boy disappeared from the bounds of the dream world, Mary fell to her, knees, clutching at her brow as the mark there lit up as if aflame. Mixed cried of pain and sorrow wracked her frame, shaking and wailing as she pounded at the dirt. “He’s gone… why?” She choked through the tears, looking up at Gestalt. * * * * From the tree line, wrapped in the sanctum of his magic that shrouded him from detection, Cade watched. Each step of the way he guided the figure he’d created in Shan’s dream world, keeping a wary eye on the development of Mary’s new mindset, provoking just the right level of emotion to build pathways that connected her to himself. “We all rejoice in our delusions, these dreams we build for ourselves, over the smallest of victories. Intriguing, how the mortal mind tends to overlook the smallest seeds of failure. Seeds of doubt and weakness, that seek the cracks in our delusion and slowly spread them wide, leaving the dreamer unaware and open to the dangers of the outsider.” As Mary wept, Cade lifted his hands, steepling his fingers and dipping them forward as if inserting them into a crack, spreading them and opening his arms. He saw the images in his mind, flashes of memory from within Shan, sneaking in at this emotionally overcharged moment and picking out memories of himself, the way he looks, the sound of his voice, his name, and the fate of Marianne Breedlove. Gripping the memories in an imaginary fist, he tore them from their roots, taking them with him as he departed Shan’s memories, withdrawing from the dream world. * * * * The shed was full of darkness. Night had fallen not long ago, the faint glow of the sun remained as a pink tinge in the clouds overhead as it left the world to the terrors of the night, a time for men and women to lock their doors and attempt to sleep away the darkness. Cadence awoke, eyes flicking open. With a grin he gripped Marianne by the armpits and hauled her through the shed door, leaving it open in his wake. Laughing on his way, he expanded his shroud of illusion to encompass the woman with him. |
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| Shan Orison | Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:32 pm Post #52 |
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Shan the Gestalt stared at the spot where the vampire once stood. "Stupid!" He shouted at himself. "Stupid! Stupid! This is a dream, one he's keeping us in! Of course he can escape!" Mary screamed in sorrow and pain at the vanishing of the vampire, asking why he was gone. Compassion rushed over and held her as she collapsed to the ground, holding her gently. "She's in pain," he said, concern on his face. "What can we do?" "We need to free her from this mark the vampire left. Arcane Knowledge, any ideas?" "What? Are you joking? You've hardly learned enough to even begin to approach the bloodsucker's level of magic!" "Cade," Shan's Curiousity spoke up. "What?" Gestalt asked. "His name's Cade, or Cadence Blackwell for long. I kinda got stuck with him and asked him things. Does that help?" "Not at the moment," Shan's Arcane Knowledge said. "It may eventually. I don't know. My best bet is to get her home. Our home. Mother or one of her friends might be advanced enough in mind magic to do-" "Everyone, we have a bigger issue," Compassion said. All the Shans turned to look, noticing in horror Mary's growing translucence. "She's fading..." "No, Mary! Mary!" Gestalt yelled, holding her by the shoulders. "Stay with us, Mary! We're going to help you. I'll save you, I promise!" "That's a big promise," Arcana said. "Are you certain you want to make it?" "Yes! Mary, stay here!" Mary seemed unable or unwilling to hear. She grew fainter and fainter until Gestalt and Compassion grasped empty air. "No..." Gestalt said, his arm falling limp. "I'm trapped in this dream world, and I couldn't save anyone except for myself. Heh, all hail the hero...." "Shan," his Second Thoughts said. "Cade's power is weakening." "So? What does that mean?" "Probably that he's withdrawing and...You can wake up." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shan's eyes opened to a broken roof sprinkled with stars. Evening had rushed into night, and Shan was alone. He sat up slowly, assembling everything that happened. A thought struck him. "Mary!" he shouted, rushing to the shed door. He threw it opened, rushed into the abandoned camp, and tried to decipher where they had gone...Wait...who? Mary, yes, something had happened to her and... Like dew searing in the rising dawn, Shan's memories of the dream dispersed into thin, gossamer threads, leaving only a hint of the past events behind. He promised to save Mary from...All he could recall was a dark figure, menacing in its methods and purpose. Had it been the one to attack the camp? And it did something to Boris. What was it? The tighter he clung and swiped at the threads, the more they evaded him. Only tattered fragments remained in his grasp. He felt lost and exhausted in every way. What now? He smelled the blood in the camp, and saw the body of one of the victims. There were more, he knew. Without another purpose, he set to work. He didn't have the strength to dig graves, and there wasn't enough fuel for a proper pyre, but he could at least lay out the dead for when...if...the other bandits returned. He managed to drag the ones he found into the camp center. The doctor, the young man, a few others, even Boris, whose wounds were unlike any of the others. His were made from a blade, and they disturbed Shan far more than the ripped throats of the others. If only he could recall why. He found some coins left behind in the panic to rest on their eyes, and enough cloth to at least shroud their faces. All old customs, probably with no real meaning. He did them anyway. By the time bandits began returning to the camp in cautious groups of two and three, Shan had fled into the forest, determined to get as far from that place as possible. He stopped at midday, mostly from being to fatigued to travel farther. If the bandits decided to chase after him, they could find him napping here. He flopped against a tree trunk, nestling into its roots. He shut his weary, drooping eyes... And awoke with a gasp at what he dreamed. You didn't think it would be easy to keep your word, did you? his Shadow laughed. Shan blinked. Oh, yes, he could now recall that with perfect clarity, his promise to accept his Shadow and no longer confine it to nothingness. He supposed there was no better place for that long work to be than in dreams, where no one but his own mind could be hurt. He shut his eyes again, slipping freely back into the terror that was himself. |
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4:53 PM May 22
