This was it...She could barely keep it in control, let alone actively tie it down. No matter what she did, how much sleep purposely lost, and purposely holding it down to the point of it hurting inside-Riku felt herself maddening with each moment.
She was starting to wonder, what was the damn point? She would just be one more crazy victim to the curse that was being a Half-Demon, hell the strawberry blond should count her graces for lasting 11 years without losing to the urges. Besides, if it got too dangerous those scientist bastards could just order some guard or something to take her out.
“Ha...ha ha, ‘the hell am I kidding? They’re the ones who started all this by taking my collar.”
A low growl ripped its way through Riku’s throat as she gripped tightly onto her throat. It burned and hurt so much...it didn’t help that the demonic power was building up ever since the last time she released it...which was almost two years ago. She had to get that collar back no matter what and soon...otherwise...
“Otherwise what pray tell? Its just going to let lil’ o me out and have some fun.” Like hell damn it. There was no way...she was going to let him rule over.
“Shit- Where the fuck am I supposed to look anyway?” Riku knew that she was going to need help, but from who...?
As much as she hated to admit it, Riku felt a lot more powerful actively using her Demonic Side while fighting the drones. It was always in the back of her mind but ever since she woke up....it was getting stronger. It was hard to differentiate between herself and it now- which was bad while encountering those things.
And when she saw the eyes of some of the scared victims she helped get away, it shocked the strawberry blond a lot more than expected.
“Just shut the hell up already!” Smashing the window that reflected ‘it’, she ran from where the rubble was- trying to ignore its voice- with all that did.
“That’s rather rude to say isn’t it? I’m getting stronger with each passing hour. Just let me go out...you need the power anyway.” No, no she didn’t damn it! Riku was able to live through two years without using that power, she didn’t need it!
Sallajeth’s shadow had left the throne room after a few hours of waiting to lounge about in the courtyard instead, bored at being cooped up within this castle. Oh, it was a nice one- it suited her rather well, in her opinion, but she wanted out. She wanted freedom.
And to that end, not fighting was the easiest way for her to win.
After all, she won by default if her other self refused to show. There was no point in chasing after her- she didn’t care if the other was just staring at a wall bemoaning the impending loss of her children, or whatever else she might be doing.
She was going to win this. After all, she didn’t have reservations- not like her other. She didn’t care about those children, or humans, elves, dwarves, plant-creatures, any of them- they were just fun, like toys. And once they bored her, she’d break them for her own amusement.
Life belonged to those who took it, after all.
Sallajeth grinned to herself from her position on the roof- she couldn’t be seen from here, that much she was certain of. So, without saying a word- she grabbed the spoon that always hung around floating by her head, and whipped it at her other self.
“Ow!”
Her shadow’s head snapped around to look in Sallajeth’s direction, but she was already gone- and now was Eye Guy behind her, hitting her dead-on with a confuse beam.
Or at least, what would’ve been dead on, had she not dodged them.
“Nice try, dear! But do you think I wouldn’t know our darling’s own moves?”
‘Nope.’
Her shadow’s head snapped around yet again, eyes going wide- but she was too slow to dodge this one, two intense quasar bursts going off in direct succession as Sallajeth stayed levitating in place above her shadow, holding her starseer form.
She jumped back as another starseer flew up in a quick burst- but things were different this time. Each time her shadow moved, Sallajeth knew where she’d be going. Quasar bursts went off one after another from them each, lighting up the sky with explosion after explosion- until finally, they were face to face.
And Sallajeth screamed.
She used her Star Scream, to be exact- her shadow could only recoil in pain, plummeting to the ground as her transformation dropped.
“H-How...”
‘Did I predict your movements? Well, you should know, shouldn’t you?’
“...ah. So, that’s why you waited so long. Second Sight...”
The form of a star seer was a unique one- the arcane elemental could take about five hours to gain an insight into everything that a creature would do, learning how their paths in life would go. Sallajeth had simply used that predictive ability on her shadow- a battle was easy like that, but the sheer amount of possibilities and paths to remember was incredibly draining.
“You- we- could just have so much more fun if you let go. You have power on par of a god’s, but you waste your time with simple humans... why would you even care?”
‘Because humans are fascinating.’
“Hm... aha.. hahaha... ahahahahahaha!” Her shadow laughed, glee painting her face. “Right you are!”
Sallajeth didn’t say anything more to her- one final quasar burst was enough to destroy her shadow, then floating to the ground before dropping the wildshape transformation, panting heavily.
This life, everything- even within this city, people were fascinating. Humans were fun- whether or not she had the power to cause chaos, that wasn’t what she wanted.
Her children would be safe, the future would be ‘safe’- but her own life would be exciting. A world without people was boring to her, a world where pure chaos ruled was boring to her... but a world like this, where life was constantly turning to the unexpected- that was something that would keep her entertained for a long time to come.
Sallajeth grunted as she dropped her wildshape transformation- the wounds she sustained faded away and left her feeling much better physically, but that wasn’t stopping her from feeling the frustration mentally.
This was not good.
Sallajeth didn’t like this at all, really. She didn’t want to be ‘challenged’- and she didn’t really care to think about that shadow. If it weren’t for her children she likely wouldn’t care enough to stop her at all- after all, why should she? The only good reason was that if she didn’t, people could confuse the two... and, well, that would get annoying. She supposed that was reason to stop her, then.
But, it didn’t stop the frustration. Why wouldn’t she be frustrated- after all, she was stuck in this situation where she had to fight. Fighting really so wasn’t her way of doing things, not if she had a better choice... sigh.
“What a pain...”
She found herself sitting and leaning against a wall, staring at the images of her children decorating the other side. They couldn’t see her or hear her or respond to her- but those five little silver dragons... they were depending on her. They needed her- whether or not she could be there for them physically, they needed her.
Well, she wasn’t just going to let them die. They were at the top of a very short list of creatures that she cared for in the world- she would not let them die.
“Chai... Eli... Vel... Min... Zo.......” She sighed deeply as she stared at each of their moving pictures, finding it difficult to just watch but not allowing herself to ignore it. “You’re all going to grow up so big and strong, you know that? You become wonderful leaders.”
She was smiling to herself- nobody would be able to see it, but she was smiling.
“I’m so glad I got to see you then. You made your mother very proud, you know that? You’ve done wonderfully for yourselves. You’re going to be amazing.”
It was hard not to take pride in the fact that her children would be ruling the continent someday, distant in the future. That wasn’t any sort of life for her- living within stone walls wasn’t fit for a druid, whether or not it was a willing choice. She respected who they were going to grow up to be, though... they would become good dragons.
In the end, she couldn’t just let her shadow win. Her children would be fine, the future had proved that- she didn’t have to be scared for them. No, it was just that she couldn’t let them down. Her pride was at stake here, now.
So the question came, how would she fight? In a fair battle, she’d never win- they were too equal. Fighting head-on would simply result in the two of them matching up until time ran out, and it was too late.
But... if Sallajeth was anything, she was creative. And, she had her wildshape back... so why not use it to the best of her abilities? It was risky, and it might strain herself- but it would be fun.
Taking a more comfortable seated position on the ground, Sallajeth simply smiled to herself. This would take quite a bit of time, but the ritual was one that came easy to her- she let herself grow calm, begin the chant, and wait.
When Sallajeth received the message of what she was supposed to be doing, she felt her face draw into a frown. She didn’t like the sounds of this- facing a shadow of herself? What sort of enemy might that be? But even worse was the prospect of her children being in danger.
She had confidence they would be alright- she’d seen their future, after all. However- that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be in danger. She couldn’t assume her own victory would be assured, there was always a chance of failure, and there just being a loophole of sorts. Time could assure itself in odd ways, after all.
So, Sallajeth arrived at the castle frustrated, unhappy, and in an all-around very bad no-good mood. The walls of the place seemed to be under some sort of enchantment- it was frustrating to look at. No, perhaps frustrating wasn’t the best word- it was painful.
So in she went, Eye Guy and Nahv nowhere to be seen as she sped through the castle walls, ignoring the images of her children that wouldn’t respond, no matter how much she spoke to them. Getting herself frustrated would be foolish at this point- she had an enemy to fight, after all.
She found this other her in the one room that she knew she would find someone like herself, the throne room. Seated upon the throne, lounging back casually, was a person who looked just like her- her other, for certain.
“So, you’re me, then?” The other Sallajeth didn’t really respond, just rolling her head to the side slightly. “It’s nothing personal- but I’m going to have to destroy you.”
Without further word she leapt forwards, changing forms with ease into a wolf, aiming for the throat- and missing, as another wolf leaped out of the way. The two began circling, Sallajeth’s fur raised on end... but the other didn’t seem bothered at all.
“Something the matter?”
“I’d imagine that you’d know.”
“Oh yes, those pictures. Darlings, aren’t they?”
“Oh, hush. It’s not like you care.”
“No, I don’t! You’re right, give the girl a prize.”
Sallajeth lunged again, snarling- but her other self jumped out of the way, yet again.
“Why are you resisting? Just give up and let me kill you.”
“We’re perfectly equal, and you know that. Now, why would I give up- not when I can have so much fun?”
“Fun? What fun here, this is a battle.”
“The chaos!” Her shadow’s lupine eyes shone with glee, tail swaying lazily. “Not just the rush of a battle, but we can wildshape now- and if I remove you, then I finally get to have all the fun that you hold back on.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I already told you, Chaos! You’re so half-hearted in your ‘freedom’- you’ll do whatever you want, but you never go all the way. Heart Cleaver had the right idea, you know? Destroy forests! Raze towns! Who cares- I do what I want.”
“You know why I don’t do that- being arrested would be-”
“A pain in the ass, yeah. Nice excuse. If you weren’t holding yourself back, then you’d just kill anyone who tried to keep you down. Now, Cailean... there was someone who knew what they wanted. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“She doesn’t have anything to do with this.” Sallajeth felt a growl rumble out from the bottom of her throat. Her former party member’s ideals were indeed more close to what her shadow wanted to do- but that had no impact on Sallajeth. She was her own being. “Just shut up and die, won’t you?”
She charged at her shadow, movements being matched by her other self. Each swipe, bite, kick- everything was mirrored. After a while the two broke off from each other, circling once more... at this rate Sallajeth would lose this ‘challenge’, and her shadow knew it.
She kept at it, though- lunging forwards over and over, repeatedly attempting to catch her shadow off guard, but never succeeding. She was fine, she was self-sufficient- so, why couldn’t she just fucking beat herself? It was herself!
No attacks were working. Every blow she dealt she received in turn, blood beginning to ooze from deep claw marks in her fur, watching as it seemed to bleed much the same on her other self.
MISSION OBJECTIVE: You will be placed in a castle inhabited by a shadow version of yourself. Live images of your children will line the walls. Over the next 72 hours, they will gradually have their life force drained. If you do not find and defeat your shadow self, they will die and you will lose all of your inherent abilities. TIME LIMIT: 72 hours from date of publish and the challenge style is 'drabble'. Good luck!
ok, time to get this done! I’ll be linking the drabbles in this post as they go up~
Hope, Faith, Love, and Luck [Mediator Challenge Part 3]
[previous part]
warnings: description of injury/bleeding
2:33
After managing to make it up to the seventh level, Clover had collapsed in the entrance cave, shaking. There was light on this floor, but she couldn’t think or move- she was frozen. She’d almost died.
Base survival instinct led to her ripping up more of her shirt to bandage her arm, but it wasn’t much. The wound oozed blood through the fabric, and she didn’t have any sort of magic to heal herself with; she was just a human.
“I-I… I can’t… I can’t… I can’t finish this…” She finally found herself starting to cry, the stress of the situation breaking her down. “I can’t do this! I can’t do this!”
She wanted to be independent. Clover knew that it was good to be able to ‘stand on her own’, and that it was good to not need other people. But, she simply wasn’t capable of it. She needed people to tell her what to do, to tell her how to save herself. For fuck’s sake, the last time she’d tried to figure something important out on her own, she’d almost killed everyone in the nonary game! If it wasn’t for Junpei, she would’ve become a serial killer- and she had become one, in a different world.
Yes, she’d done one thing right here. However, that was one tiny little thing. It didn’t mean anything, in the long run. Who cared if she’d managed to get away from it once or twice? That hardly meant anything, when it clearly hadn’t been slowed in the least.
Sobbing was all she could do, but she couldn’t make herself stop. She stared at the bracelet through tears, watching the harsh cyan numbers blink down.
2:29…
2:28…
2:27…
How much time was she going to waste here?
She didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to waste her time in more futile attempts to find a way out of this hopeless situation, but she couldn’t just sit here. She didn’t want to just sit down and wait for that thing to find her- at the very least she could keep moving, and either bleed out or die via poison.
2:01
Perhaps it was luck, or maybe something else, but she found the next ladder quickly. It took her longer to climb, despite her arm having been bandaged- it was basically useless by now, and it hurt far too much to move. This floor had lighting in it, and there were even occasional hints of natural light- there were cracks and air shafts that lit up the ground, illuminating the clouds of dust that she kicked up while she ran.
She wanted to believe that this was the last floor, and trust that maybe, just maybe she’d be able to get out- but there was no way that this was it. There had to be another floor.
1:25
Clover had been running when she quite literally stumbled into a small cavern, just a bit off the path. She threw her arms out the best she could to protect herself during her fall, skinning her hands and knees but turning out otherwise alright. Wincing in pain, she turned to exit- when her eyes caught on the ground.
The cavern had a hole in the roof, allowing for a few beams of sunlight to shine down. It wasn’t much, but it was enough- there was a little “garden” down here, made up of a handful of dandelions and a blanket of clovers. Despite how little time she had she felt an old habit returning; and she started scanning through the little green plants.
Much to her shock, she actually found one- a four leaf clover.
A distant smile made its way onto her face, as Clover remembered.
"Listen to me, Clover. No matter what happens, you can never lose hope. You have to remember what's most important, and that's to have faith, and to have love. If you can remember all of those, that'll bring you good luck...."
This situation… it might seem [hopeless], but that wasn’t true. There was likely only one or two floors above her- if she ran fast enough, then it was possible she could still make it out.
She couldn’t lose sight of that [hope], of the belief that things could turn out alright. She had to have [faith] in her own abilities, and remember how to [love] herself- if she could do that, then [good luck] would come her way. That had to be it, right?
Clover tucked the little plant into her pocked, picked herself up, and started running once more.
0:56
Clover managed to ascend the next ladder with shocking speed for someone who only had one good arm, running with a renewed belief in herself. Even if the inspiration hadn’t come from herself, it was still valid- it was ok to ask others for help, when that help would allow you to stand on your own two feet. She wasn’t weak for needing others to help her; she was strong because she’d realized that there’s a time when it’s okay to ask others for help, and times when you need to learn to stand strong for yourself.
The bracelet had beeped once when it hit 1:00, as if she didn’t already know about the impending time-limit. Her gut was telling her that this had to be the last floor- it was the ninth, after all. [9] had haunted her all her life now, so she doubted this labyrinth would be any different. This had to be the last floor. It had to be.
0:31
Clover had a feeling she knew where the exit was- however, she was also far too scared to go down there. There was one tunnel on this floor that was near-completely dark, and she’d heard sounds coming from within. That monster was certainly down there… and unlike her, it could see in the dark.
“Just think, Clover. What has it responded to? How can I deal with this thing?”
As much as she hated to admit it, this thing was clever. She doubted it’d respond again to her rock trap, and even if it would, she’d destroyed her headphones the last time. She no longer had anything she could use to set it up.
She could try taking one of the lighting fixtures from the wall, but she didn’t want to just give herself away completely. Other than that, there’d been that moss… wait, perhaps? This creature lived in near-complete darkness, and it had recoiled sharply when she’d thrown the glowing moss at it. The better-lit the floor, the less it seemed to show up, and she hadn’t heard it once when she was on the floor covered in moss.
She closed her eyes, stopped, and thought. It was reckless and stupid, but it was really her only shot… she had to give it a try.
0:18
Clover had spent about ten minutes just practicing, making sure she had the timing right and her courage up. She didn’t know for sure if this would work, it was entirely possible that she was completely wrong, and she’d get eaten- but she had to try. She couldn’t give up, not when she was certain that she was almost there.
Her breathing was slow and quiet as the snuck through the dark tunnels, good hand against the wall to steady herself and her eyes straining to see anything in the dark. Given how the other mazes had gone, she doubted the ladder could be more than maybe ten minutes away… but she didn’t know how this would go, given that monster was involved. She’d ripped off a bit of her pants to cover the light from the bracelet- she could still tell the time, as it beeped every ten minutes, now.
It felt like it took her an eternity, but eventually she heard it. The telltale sound of the monster, right behind her- right on cue she turned the flashlight on her phone on, shining it right into the monster’s eyes.
It’s screeching hurt her ears, but she couldn’t let up- she walked towards the thing with her arm outstretched, forcing it back. She heard her bracelet beep once (only ten minutes left) but she didn’t stop- she was doing this. She could do this.
After what felt like hours but was only a couple minutes, the creature eventually turned tail and ran away. Clover took in a deep breath of air- it had worked. It had actually worked. Somehow, she’d managed to do this, despite everything.
0:05
Wait, now wasn’t time to celebrate! Clover spun around and started running, holding her phone up with her good arm as she ran through the darkened tunnels.
0:04…
0:03…
0:02…
0:01…
Her bracelet started beeping angrily at her, just as she found the last ladder. She started hauling herself upwards with complete disregard for her injuries, or for how tired she was- she was so close. So close.
0:00:46…
The ladder felt longer than every previous one, and her breathing was getting heavier. Why was it so long?
0:00:31…
She could see something bright up ahead, but it still looked far off. She didn’t stop climbing, though- she couldn’t stop. She had to make it. She just had to.
0:00:17…
Clover could hear voices from up above, and the light was growing stronger. She almost couldn’t look at it, it was so bright- she could make it! She could actually make it!
0:00:09…
Her bracelet beeped with each passing second, near perfectly in time with rung she climbed. It was just a few more, and then she’d be free from this place…
0:00:06…
0:00:05…
0:00:04…
0:00:03…
0:00:02…
0:00:01…
Clover’s hand hit flat ground at the last possible second, the bracelet’s countdown stopping at the last moment as it fell from her wrist, clattering to the ground uselessly. It took her a moment to pull the rest of her body out from the ground- and when she was finally entirely out, she rolled onto her back, simply staring at the sky.
She’d done it. She was alive. Despite everything, she was alive.
Pulling the 4 leaf clover from her pocket, she held it up in front of her face and smiled. These things certainly were lucky… actually, no. It wasn’t just [luck]. It had been her abilities, and her belief in the people she cared about. The little plant had just been what she’d needed to remember her lucky words.
Her vision began to blur as she heard people shouting- what were they saying? The voices were getting closer, but she couldn’t quite make them out. They certainly sounded worried, though. Why? She’d survived… oh.
The answer hit her when she felt someone prop her up, a new wave of dizziness washing over her. She must’ve lost too much blood, and was close to passing out… how ironic.
Her good arm fell to her chest with the clover still clutched tightly in her hand, as she kept trying to figure out what they were all saying. They were wrapping her arm, and looking at other injuries she hadn’t even realized were there. Was she going to die? Now, of all times?
Well, in some ways, it wasn’t really that bad. It wasn’t like death was forever, here. She’d made it out alive, she’d done something for herself for once, so she could be proud of herself. And yet… she didn’t want to die.
“Ha…aha…ahaha…” Her voice was weak and soft, and even though she couldn’t make out their words, she could tell it worried the people surrounding her. “I don’t… I don’t want to die… again…”
She felt sleep pulling her, but she fought to keep her eyes open. Someone was still talking to her, and their voice was… calming. She felt something prick into her arm, and it got harder to stay awake- an anesthetic, perhaps? It seemed like some sort of paramedics had arrived, although she had no idea whether or not she’d live.
At least she’d succeeded, in the end. When she thought about that, it was enough to make her happy.
