unwanted nightmare (closed thread)
Loki smirked as he saw Hodur standing in the small field with his brother,Baldur. Everybody knew Baldur couldn’t be killed by anything. Well almost anything. Mistletoe was the only thing that would end the life of the God.After walking up behind the blind God he smiled and nudged a bow set into his hand.
“I’ve been told you need to practice your bow ans arrow techniques.” Loki told him as he stood behind him “There’s plenty of room to do it and I already have a target set up.”
Hodur knew he needed his practice and Loki was right. The field they were in had plenty of space. Loki turned Hodur towards his target and it wasn’t the one he had claimed he set up.
“Alright now get your arrow aimed up.” Loki whispered into his ear. Once Hodur had his arrow set up properly Loki waited. This wouldn’t work if Baldur was sitting down. The moment Baldur got to his feet Loki told Hodur to release the arrow. Once the arrow was released it took about 2 seconds for it to penetrate Baldur’s back near his heart. Loki let out a smirk as he watched Hodur’s twin brother fall to the ground dead. The God of Light was dead and by his brother’s hands.
Abby bolted up in bed and looked around. Her room was empty or at least she thought it was. After climbing out of bed Abby headed into the bathroom and washed her face with cold water. What the fuck was that dream she just had?! That was not normal. Why was she seeing that? Better yet why did it feel like she lived it? She was a simple Midgardian girl. There was absolutely no reason for her to be seeing that. She knew Hod blamed himself for what happened. Whatever the hell that dream was it made her hate Loki more then she already did and if for some reason they crossed paths it would not be pretty. After splashing her face with cold water a second time she left the bathroom and nearly jumped when she saw somebody in her bedroom. It looked like Hod but it wasn’t. It wasn’t a presence she ever felt before.
After high tailing it out of her bedroom she ran down the stairs then out the door into the cold night. She didn’t care about the no shoes part. She just wanted out of her house. It was going to be fun running through the pitch black forest when she had to keep looking over her shoulder. Even though she knew the main road to his farm she found it difficult to find tonight. She wasn’t sure where she was but she knew she had to be close. After walking for a bit she found herself face down on the ground thanks to a tree root that was sticking up. Abigail didn’t care anymore. Between the nightmare she just had, what she saw in her house and now getting all cut up from tripping over something stupid she felt tears roll down her cheeks. “If you want to destroy me,” She told herself as she wasn’t sure if the thing was in her house had followed her “then go ahead. I don’t care anymore.”
@hodur-frost
@abbessolute
The darkness was restless tonight. But then… The summer was never a safe month. One would assume with less power the darkness would just stay back. With less time it would enjoy what it had. But no… It envied. It was swayed by such dark thoughts that it grew into a sort of realm wide resentment against the light.
It was something that happened yearly to Hod. Not only did his blindness become the sort where he couldn’t even react to light. He had to look in the direction of people and hope his sunglasses would hide his unseeing eyes,. He was startlingly good at getting around normally but he became clumsy with even so little of what he had gone.
Even clumsier too because the darkness became loud. He couldn’t sleep… The feeling of the darkness surrounding him almost suffocating… He knew if he slept now then the nightmare he dreamt of would come back. The challenges against his authority. They knew without his winter power he would have to work solely with his darkness aspects.
So they take that chance to try to take and take from him. Wear him down with a lack of sleep. His bones ached and were weighed down from that lack. If he had enough energy left to fear, he would tremble at the idea of sleep. As it was… Even if he wanted to be afraid he had to hide it. To fear was to show weakness…
But still…. If he could avoid sleep he would… That is why he sipped at his coffee and temporarily turned off his senses. He was trying to ignore the dark just for a time. Rudy was making sure things did not go south and letting him have a moment to himself. A moment that only lasted so long because of his lack of control and the insistence of the dark to take more from him.
It was on his second cup that he heard something from Rudy. Hod tilted his head and, after finishing his cup of coffee, turned on his senses again. It took a moment to adjust to the return of the infection that he could not live without. The sickness, fear and nerves that were aggravated by his aspect.
“What Rudy? He asked the shadows, his voice irritated.
“Your girlfriend is in trouble.” He told him. “Someone or something is messing with her again. Ever think you should just be alone?” One of those phrases out of Rudy’s lips that held the insecurity he didn’t let Abby know. That he didn’t like to be reminded of.
He let out a sound of frustration, refusing to answer him, before seeking with his dark awareness for Abby. He found her on the ground under a tree… Her words were worrying. He came to her side, leaning against the tree. “What is happening Abigail?” He asked her, not letting how dangerous it had been to travel to her be reflected in his voice. “What do you think is trying to destroy you?”
Although he kept his voice calm, it was too calm. There was an edge of that dark. Anger… Was not something he let himself feel. It brought him closer to losing himself. Closer to becoming an impulse driven being of the dark. But he still was a fairly human being and so he felt the strongest urge to want to destroy whatever it was that was harming what was his.
Abby had her arms wrapped around her herself and tried to focus on something. Anything. She tried to focus on one of the happy memories of her boyfriend but it wasn’t working. Whatever it was scared the hell out of her. When she finally felt his presence she opened her red eyes and turned in his general direction. Even though she was still scared from the dream and whatever the hell she saw in her bedroom Hod’s presence felt welcoming. It wasn’t what she had felt in the bedroom. After wiping her eyes and clearing her throat she finally spoke up.
“I saw you murder your twin.” She told him as she felt tears for again. “I didn’t just see it….I felt like I lived it then you were standing in my room but it wasn’t you. It looked like you though.”
He simply listened to the sounds of the crickets… Trying to enjoy the quiet, what humans would consider quiet, and cool night. His fine black hair traced his pale white throat as he looked up at the sky. His dark, unseeing eyes that lacked their normal sunglasses closed at her words.
He could not know if she knew the details of that. Of any of the cycles. But what Hod could know is there were few who had the details if she did see it from his perspective. “It might have been Rudy in your room…” He told her “He is the one who informed me you were in trouble.”
Hod needed a moment to plan how he was going to deal with this… For all he was the type to say the worst thing possible, at times, he was quite a kind dark god. And Abigail was quite precious to him. On the one hand, he wished to protect her. On the other hand, he didn’t want to be as bad as they were…
And for all he was trying to appear normal he was not. He was tired, he was cranky and the darkness ran in his veins as though it was his own blood. Still…. “What did you see?” He asked “I want to know whether it was truthful or whether it was a story with some truth. So I can track them down.”
“You were in a field with Baldur. I don’t know why but Loki convinced you that you needed practice with your archery. He aimed it up to where you shot Baldur through the back and into his heart.” She wiped the stray tears coming out of her eyes. “It felt like I was there and witnessed it. Why the hell did I even see that?”
Abby went to rub at her arms to get some heat into them. She wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting against the tree but she was cold.
Hod listened carefully to what she told him and there was a rustling of the darkness around him to reflect the anger in his heart at whatever it was who hurt his Abigail. “That was not how it went.” He had to admit to her. “It was face to face, a drunken game, which felled him.”
The myth was not wrong. The only thing it got wrong was intent. In some realities, and even some cycles, Loki was malicious. Most of the time he was certain that Loki was not. Otherwise he could not trust Loki. Not to shoot a arrow at his brother. Even if the brother had invulnerability. Even if he was lonely and wanted to be a part of the game.
“My guess from the amount of knowledge of the players in question….” Hod told her “Is a particular being of the dark as the culprit. I will punish her in due time.” The last part his malice crept into his voice. He was angry and if the being was the one who did it… she would regret her fun.
“Why the hell would they even show me that?!” She asked him as she tightened the hold around herself. If it was to terrify her it definitely did the job but she still didn’t know why she felt like she lived the damn thing. “And why the hell did I feel like I was there?”
“She…” Hod started, stressing a little too much then taking a deep breath to hold back his anger. “Muse is fond of an audience but she can’t help but twist what she shows to horror because she is imagination and inspiration in the world of darkness. As to why… She must have wanted to make an impression” By the last words his voice was calm again.
“I don’t want to go back home.” She told him with a sigh. Hell she didn’t even want to close her eyes right now. She also wanted to smack the hell out of whoever he was talking about. “Would it be okay if I slept on your couch again? I’d need to clean up first though.”
“It would be perfectly fine Abigail.” He told her, holding back his anger in favor of concern. “Shall we walk?” He offered his arm to her to lead her. He liked being able to guide her and know the route well enough to lead her to his home.
“Thank you and yes we can walk.” After pushing herself up from the ground she took his hand with a smile. She still felt like an idiot for tripping over a tree branch. After giving his hand a light squeeze she started to follow him back to his home.
“Remind me next time I run out of my house to grab shoes,” She let out a sigh. She felt like she couldn’t feel half of her body. “Or you know maybe a pair of pants instead of shorts.”
Hod happily lead the way along once she took his arm. He enjoyed closeness to her and his darkness drained at being able to be close to her. He cuddled up to her, bringing her in first, smiling in sympathy at her comment of not thinking of grabbing shoes or pants.
“Most do not think of that…” He commented “Fortunately you are nearby.” He wished he could just bring them there through the darkness but it was summer.
“Do I need to worry about this happening again?” She asked him as they stepped over another tree branch. She didn’t know what to expect now. She didn’t want to experience anything like that again. “I don’t know if I can handle anything like that again.”
“I will threaten her and she will stop…” Hod told her “But others may, unfortunately, make their move. I will try to protect you. Fortunately few have muse’s impact in this world. Most aspects can’t put this much of themselves here.” Storyteller likely could but Hod doubted that would be a problem…. Who of the limited number who could be a problem would be is the question.
“What happens if she doesn’t stop?” She needed to know what could happen in the future or what she could do to prevent them. “And there are more of them? Please tell me it’s going to be easier to get rid of them or something. ”
“She’ll stop or I’ll eat her so she’ll stop.” Hod informed her grumpily, a testament to how upset he was that he even mentioned that possibility to someone not of the dark. “As for the others… Certain aspects are too big or too apathetic to come here. But those that can come will be difficult in their own way.”
An aspect did not need to be humanoid to fit through the portal… And to some degree that was a problem. Because humanoid aspects at least had some underlying reasoning that humans could understand. Inhuman aspects could be everything from forces of nature to beasts… And there was no guarentee they would think like beasts of the main worlds.
“Well that sounds…horribly gross.” Abby made a sour face at the thought of Hod eating the aspect thing. Was that considered cannibalism even though he was possibly eating a shadow? “What would happen if the other aspects started to harass me?”
“It is rather the opposite of that…” Hod informed her, sounding a little self conscious. “It is more about power than about taste though the power tastes good.” It was a rush to add the essence of something to your own. Every aspect and non aspect had a different flavor.
“If the others try I can eat them as well or get one of my friends of the aspects to.” He said, a little too calmly. “The goat eats anything. And poison’s brother Venom will enjoy the opportunity to fight. I am not completely alone.” He was just the one sane God that went to the World of Darkness and handled the beasts like a beastkeeper.
“Why does it not surprise me that the goats will eat anything?” She couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the thought of the goats running after the aspects that decided to harass her.
“Do just how many aspects are there and how many of them want to work against you?”
“Because regular goats do let alone scapegoats?” Hod commented a little amused at her amusement. “They do hold their own.” It was rather hard to catch a goat let alone scare a goat. They were not top predators, they were prey animals, but they could eat anything. They existed quite safely.
At her question on how many aspects, he shook his head. “There are as many aspects as there are things humans fear.” Hod stated bluntly. “I still find new ones in the world of darkness.”
“I’m now picturing all these goats chasing after dark shadows,” Abby found herself letting out another chuckle. The image in her head of these goats running around the field chasing away all these shadows. “Also, do I want to ask what other aspects you have found?”
“Odd companions but goats are quite close to the wild and don’t take shit.” He told her with a smile. “I am fond of them.” Though scape was quite a scary aspect. Whether he was in a good mood or not was dependent on your offering and hope. Sometimes he just got a kick at his head for his troubles.
When she asked what other aspects he had found, he smiled. “I could take you through the World of Darkness and introduce you to some of them.” He said easily. “Not Denial but I am friends with some. And you met my aspect before.”
“Wait you can take me through the realm of darkness?” She turned her at him. What he had said piqued her interest and now she had a bunch of questions. “How exactly would that work?”
“You travel through the darkness every time you travel you travel with me.” Hod told her with a grin. “All it would take is that I don’t take you out. It is a layer of the world. So it is not very difficult.” It could be a little bit difficult.
“Alright. Let’s do it.” She found herself a little to excited. This would definitely be an interesting experience but it could be fun. The key word there being Could Be. It only took one thing to turn anything into a disaster
Hod put his arm around her a little self consciously, nodding, before bringing her into the dark. It felt slightly colder and slightly heavier than the normal world. Everything seemed to be silhouetted in some way, although those were more solid and in more shades then it seemed like there should be.
They were in a forest, trees twisted like poisoned dandelions, the ground snaked by liquid for the moment before it went under the surface. “This is the twisted forest.” He told her “My territory in the World of Darkness. Though pretty much every part of the World is touched by my aspect.”
