Where... where am I? My head hurts so much.
I touched my forehead, and I don't feel skin. Are these bandages? Oh... I remember now.
The little girl who slammed her skull into my forehead, causing severe hemorrhaging.
"I'm sorry..." The little girl was sat next to my bed, head staring straight down. I tilted the girls head up and stared the crying little girl in the eyes.
"It's alright. You're just a child."
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'Hans... what is this?' Neo was holding the 'book' that Merlin had given him.
'I believe Merlin called it... hentai? Regardless of the books content, the artwork is incredibly impressive. The way that the story progresses is quite ludicrous.' The usually stoic hans gave his explanation as to what he thought of the book.
'I see...' at that point, Neo left the room to search for the minx.
'Maybe i should've played ignorant.' Hans could only sigh and continue reading the book. There was a reason to his reading, one that he did have valid reason for.
Quite simply, Hans lacks any sexual experience. He did not know sex positions, he did not know pacing, he knew that he knows nothing.
Hentai was an odd solution but it gave him some insight to sex.
There was just one small issue that he could see with this idea.
His height made certain sex positions like a leg over the shoulder impossible due to Neo's height. But...
Merlins earlier spell to disguise him could work, if he could just... alter it so that it didn't change his appearance, only his height. He didn't know much of the inner workings of magecraft, but he thought at least that, was possible.
He'd find a way.
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Neo had been confused about the woman. Hans... wasn't from this world? Not only that, but Merlin was some legendary magic user from his world?
The brother gods were real?
The ice cream coloured criminal was completely baffled by the information.
However, there was one part of Hans arrival that still confused her. An old man that he spoke about just as he was going to die.
Who was he? Neopolitan already had somewhat of an inkling to what the old man did to save her boyfriend. Considering that she could hear two heartbeats when resting her head on his chest, she could guess.
But... who's heart was it?
That was a question that she couldn't answer.
But... Merlin might be able to. That... and she needed to have a talk with the woman.
Neo stumbled upon her just as Merlin was consuming nightmares, the energies sinking into the succubi's hand.
"Oh, hello Neo. What brings you to me~?" The woman adorned her seductive grin like always.
As neo couldn't speak, she had to be inventive. Such as used her semblance to create words in the air.
'What do you know about his second heart?' The woman giggled, as if amused by the question.
"I don't know enough to tell you for sure, I only have suspicions."
'Bullshit.'
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Time to get my prosthetic.
After neo left, I deduced that now was a good time to head to shade academy. The distance between Merlin and I wasn't as much an issue as I thought. She's able to sustain herself through alternative means it would seem.
Now that Neo wasn't at risk, I can go retrieve this 'sword of destruction' from shade academy.
Imagine my surprise when I smelled blood on the school grounds. There was a heavy scent of blood and as I made my way through, I noticed more and more bodies.
Do I make more shadow soldiers? No... despicable. I will not shackle unwilling participants to be my soldiers. Only my enemy's and those who want it.
The halls were spilled with young blood, my only comfort was that their faces were not of horror, more of surprise. Judging from the injuries alone, this is the work of an experienced assassin.
I see broken necks, slit jugulars', and bullet holes through the back of their heads.
I couldn't discern the assassins scent in all these corpses, however, I could smell the boy from yesterday.
Mercury Black.
He must be responsible for this, after a long walk, I came across the headmasters office. Pushing open the already open door and ducking through the doorframe, I entered into an uncomfortably tidy room.
'Could the headmaster be cooperating with Mercury? Former student? That can wait.' As I stepped in further, I noticed that my footsteps sounded off... as if...
The floor was hollow.
I stomped through the stone floor, plummeting myself down a large elevator shaft. It was cleanly made, smooth walls.
My legs shattering upon the impact of the fall was only a minor setback, they healed quickly anyways.
I tore open the elevator I landed on, climbing in and looking through the doorframe. What... what was I looking at?
A black void was all that encompassed this space. Stepping forward, the void made no reactions, so, it seems that someone without the God of Darkness' powers would be unable to navigate this place.
Or someone with a shadow based semblance.
I bent the shadows to make steps under myself, each one, I felt as if I was walking into the unkown... there's something ahead.
Something... something that I couldn't tell... what exactly was...
I reached as far forward as my grasp of shadow could, pulling back the curtain of mystery to see... a door? Nothing strange about a plain door in this black void... nothing at all...
Opening the door revealed a blast of cold, leading into a frozen city. This place looked familiar... oh... I remember now.
This... is Russia. The familiar sight of red snow with the soviet corpses strewn about the tiny villages.
Back when I was still patriotic about Germany... back before the Major's Machinations.
"Sheesh, this place is cold!" I grabbed the voice by the throat, revealing Mercury Black. How... he must've followed me. The only way he could've followed me is if I was distracted by the darkness enough to dull my senses.
Or, a semblance.
'It's time for answers.' Re-enacting what I did with the wendigo's, I created an arm of shadows.
Feels strange.
Pulling out one of the two machetes of the man once known as sundowner, I grazed his hip. His screams were strangled and I couldn't help but notice that the wound was far deeper than I had actually cut.
Ah, Besitz...
If I can create an arm of shadow, I can create words out of them. The letter's were wrote in the air, revealing my question.
'Who are you?' His eyes were filled with anger and arrogance.
"Your methods are inefficient, my disciple. There is no greater pain than torture of the soul. Use your shadows, prod, poke and cut at his soul. Then, he will talk."
I dislike torture. But I cannot deny its effectiveness. The shadows of my pseudo left hand started to encroach upon his being, sinking deeper, deeper, yet deeper still...
Until the shadows surrounded a ball known as the soul. Strange... so very strange.
I had never believed in such abstract concepts as God or the soul. Recently however, my entire world-view has been flipped upside down.
The soul is a strange sight, one would expect a ball to have no holes to be the soul.
Incorrect.
The only assumption I can make is that the soul is inherently incomplete. It doesn't matter either way, I'm not a philosopher like schopenhauer or Nietzsche.
I'm just...
"A soldier." My figment of my imagination spoke up, my interpretation of the major.
"An insufficient interpretation. You know zhat. The real major is var worse van anything you can imagine." Why... why do you exist in my head?
"Asking questions vhen you know ze answer is foolish, my dear captain. Those with trauma try to cope vith things like, imaginary friends..." You're no friend of mine.
"Indeed I am not. But you, know exactly vhy I am here." I started to tune him out, it was making me angry just listening to him.
Returning to my previous actions, I started using my shadows to do as I was advised. Slowly but surely, I was cutting a small chunk off of his soul, much like skin grafting but without anaesthesia.
Tears started to well in his eyes from the pain.
'Do you want to speak yet?' His nodded his head in fear and I removed my hand from his windpipe.
"M-my name... is Marcus black..." the boys name is Mercury, but claims himself to be Marcus. I don't know who that is.
"I was the most well-known assassin on remnant. I murdered anyone, so long as I was paid enough. I could steak semblances, and I used one of them to steal my sons body..." I slammed his head against the snow, I see.
I should've just killed him.
His son... might still...
I'll do it, or he'll die in the attempt.
This is delicate, if he survives, there may be severe consequences to not only his longevity, but general health.
Using the shadows like a scalpel, I cut through the thin outer layer of his soul, revealing a slightly brighter layer before I peeled away the outer most layer.
You'd expect it to be more complicated... and it very well could be as I have no idea what I'm doing.
But I'm making assumptions, that the soul of Marcus has taken in his son's, therefore, the outer layer is the soul of Marcus.
"Where... no... who... what? Who the fuck are you?!" Hm. I think I did it. But, I should stay cautious just in case he's only acting.
Better yet. My shadows bound him to the ground. Now, I can go search for the sword.
Since they were created by the god of light, I should use my shadows to survey the whole area and locate whatever repels the darkness.
The shadows quickly shot out from my feet, blackening everything that they touched, leaving a world of shadows only saved by a bastion of light. My boots trudged through the snow, it feels like I'm back in stalingrad.
My boots trudging through the blood red snow, impassive to all the gunfire, unable to be harmed by the gunfire.
But for once in my life, this battlefield was quiet. I could admire the snow as I walked. Snow... my favourite weather.
I still trudged on, now through the black world of shadow. Now, I stood on the border of the light.
My sightline was clear and I could see a campfire with a sword planted in it. A classic medieval longsword, Old and worn from the passage of time. So this... is the Relic of destruction.
I took hold of it with my pseudo left hand, the sword burst into energy, reforming itself around the basis of my pseudo arm, wrapping it in black fiber making a husk.
I could no longer move that arm.
Time will solve that issue... i assume.
The world began to crumble, it shook, it cracked and it started to break apart. Like a piece of bread. Seems theres only one solution.
Run.
I bolted straight back to the entrance, aura permeating every atom of my body. Quickly crouching as I ran to sweep up Mercury, grabbing him like luggage as I sprinted to the exit.
I lost my footing and saw... the ground had shattered under my foot.
I used too much strength!
Quickly, I froze the ground back together, desperately trying to buy myself even a second as the miniature world had almost fully collapsed, inches away from me.
Is...
Is this how it all ends?
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Fun stuff to write.
Honestly, I had the idea of this going greatly different.