A being enters a realm of darkness, from which no light exists. This being swirls about, latching onto its head, finding itself confused. The void is encapsulating. The draw for stimulus is overbearing. This being, as a pulse runs through its veins, remembers who he is.
Yes, his name is Gregor. Older brother of Jen. Great Hero of a world that's not his own. He was asked by one of the King Servants, Jordaane was his name, that he and his comrades sit down, close their eyes, and meditate. Meditate amongst the trapped souls of thousands of monsters that extended within the stone shelves high above and around them.
In doing so, he promised them power.
"Simply give it time." Jordaane said, stroking his goatee ever so. "When one of these souls takes interest in you, they'll grant you access to their domain." The man shrugged at Gregor's inquiring glare, completely turning his back to them. "It may take a moment, however. These "creatures" are the prideful type, after all."
So, is that what this is?
Gregor cannot see anything. Not feel or taste or hear or sense any bit of what marks him as living at all. Such a surreal experience, floating like this. It's as if he were simply a mind, lost in eternity.
"Monster!" Gregor bellows. He's become tired of this nulling sensation already. "I know you are there! Show yourself!"
Utter silence passes...
Until a presence draws near him. "Human..." A voice like a falling mountain, rumbling everywhere all at once. Gregor tries to spin in the darkness to face where it comes from, but he finds no other semblance of this presence, other than the fact that it is near.
"Brawny and brutish. Like a troll."The voice inhales deep through the nose, thundering angrily. "But I smell fear on you, human. Fear is for the weak. Fear blunts the claws." The voice comes from right behind him, growling between sets of crooked teeth. "Fear is the folly of life."
Gregor grunts, not bothering to turn toward the voice."I do not fear you, monster." He declares.
"No, you do not." The voice reiterates. "You fear your own self. You cower from your own skin. What do you hope to achieve, human, in begging for a monster's power? When accepting such power will make you become that which terrifies you most?"
Gregor doesn't falter. Not for a moment. Even as the blood that will never wash away refuses to leave his hands, he grips them to fists, yelling angrily out into the darkness. "I would never dare beg!" He flares his eyebrows. "You came to me, monster! You sought me out! And what fuels you?! Desperation?! Did you invite me into this... forgettable place, just to point fingers and whine!?"
He bares his teeth. "Don't make me laugh!" The mysterious voice only falters. "Forgettable..." It becomes an enraged roar. "Forgettable!?"
With a blinding flash, the darkness is sapped away, drained from around Gregor in an instant. It's replaced by colors of green and gray and brown, overcasted by a nearly blinding light that makes Gregor squint. He's in a forest, densely packed with ensnaring bushes and towering pines. The smells of sap and pollen hang in the air, and the sounds of distant rumbling can be heard.
And it's drawing closer...
Gregor spins on his heels, facing what yawns open behind him, boring out of the ground like an ancient worm petrified with time. A massive cave, shielding its pitch-black insides from the blinding light above. Truly colossal; an entire semi-truck could fit right in without a hitch. It's foreboding, and it is where the incoming rumbling comes from. And with that rumbling comes the noise of claws against stone. The noise of shagging paws thumping over uneven terrain in an unhinged gallop. And the noise of a ragged beast's breath huffing and growling, if that beast was the size of a mountain.
And when the beast comes into the light at a dead sprint, galloping on all fours with frothing spit hanging from its slagging gums, a bear the size of a whale grinds to a halt just before Gregor, making the ground shake with every movement. Its head is twice the size he is.
"You, a mere human..." The bear's head, covered in bushy brown fur, lowers to Gregor's height, roaring a cacophonic roar with his thundering words. "Would dare call me forgettable?!"
Such a massive creature. Utterly bewildering in size. But Gregor doesn't flinch, even when the bear's broken front teeth jut out at him as it heaves in an unhinged manner. He won't allow himself to show fear. "You certainly look plain." Gregor goads, scowling up into the bear's manic eyes. "Is there a reason I need to remember you?"
The bear practically shakes. "I, am Duelhoff, Dire Bear of the Eastern Forest!" He roars, even as his rumbling voice echoes out of his throat. "I have endured ages of yore, and have feasted upon the bones of many of your "hero" kind before." Duelhoff takes another thumping step forward, head practically above Gregor now. They glare into one another's eyes.
"And I am Gregor, the Great Hero." Gregor states, as if it was as plain as day. "In search of a monster who thinks they can measure up to me." He crosses his arms, pressing his forehead against Duelhoff's. "And so far, I'm not impressed."
They might as well be staring in to one another's soul, and the silence lasts longer than either of them would ever admit. Until, Duelhoff grinds his shattered teeth together, chuffing. "Why could it not have been you?" He demands. Gregor cocks an eyebrow, and the dire bear is the first to back down, turning about in his cave. He retreats at a wandering pace, and Gregor follows.
"Why couldn't a warrior like you been the one to slay me that day?" Darkness surrounds Gregor once more, but it is more dim than utter black. With each step deeper into this cave he goes, the further they get from the light, and the better his eyes adjust. "It wasn't a warrior that finished you off?" He asks.
Duelhoff growls, lumbering about. "No. It was a mere human child, who drove a spear into my heart beneath me. It hid in rubble while I destroyed its town. And like a coward, it killed me when I finally thought I was done."
"Can you blame them?" Gregor kicks a loose stone out of the way of his path. "The kid could never face you head on, especially alone."
Duelhoff gargles, and turns his massive head back at Gregor. "Living is about survival of the fittest!" He chuffs. "And that rat was not fit to finish me."
"So, you were robbed of your life, unfairly." Gregor surmises. Duelhoff doesn't answer. Gregor places a hand to his chin. "Then do you miss it? Do you wish to see the real world once more?"
Duelhoff glares at him, dripping saliva from his slagging gums. "I do." Gregor extends a hand. "Then you must have seen me as worthy of your company, did you not? To invite me to this realm? I have something you respect." He grins, and he doesn't let it fall, no matter how hollow it makes him feel.
I am this world's Great Hero. His mind sings to itself. My classmates look up to me. If I ever hope to live up to such expectations, I need all the power I can get.
And while he would never say it out loud, he'd rather gain the power of a monster familiar to him, than some freakish abomination unique to this world. "An oversized bear may not be too memorable," Gregor admits. "But a monster with a chip on his shoulder? Now, that's something worth fighting for."
"Human…" Duelhoff looks at him differently. "You are a strange one. You hide your fears, and you put up a front." Reluctantly, he lowers his head, and presses his snout against Gregor's hand. "But what a mighty front it is."
The two of them melt, crash into each other, and everything goes black.
…
When Gregor opens his eyes once more, he's staring up at the ceiling of the Inner Chamber, which stretches on high above them… He wasn't able to see the ceiling before. It was obscured by utter darkness. What's more, things smell different. Stronger. Riper. More apparent. He can smell everyone else in the room before he even looks around.
A green notification flashes in his face. A small group of text next to an image of two hearts sticking together.
You have successfully Soul-Sealed with Duelhoff: Lv 385. It reads.
385? Isn't that quite the number. Gregor did not expect anyone to answer his own thought, but Duelhoff's rumbling voice speaks brightly in his mind.
Yes. And I was proud of it. Then it would seem the Soul Sealing was a success. It feels strange to be in a body again.
…
…
…
Jordaane never told Gregor and his comrades just what it meant to obtain a monster's power. Getting a roommate in his head was not what he signed up for. I see. Duelhoff only laughs. Ha! As you humans would say: You didn't read the fine print. You're stuck with me now, Gregor. And to speak to me the way you did, when you are only level 50? Gregor works to standing, giving Jordaane's pleased face at his return a murderous glare.
Such a number makes us look weak. We must raise it before long.What, do I not get any of yours? Duelhoff chuffs. I sense your pathetic human friend over there will answer whatever inquiry you have. Ask him. I need to admire this new cave I find myself in now. And just like that, his presence disappears from Gregor's thoughts, retreating somewhere deep within Gregor's head…
Did Duelhoff just call him stupid?
"Ah, Great Hero!" Jordaane exclaims, gazing down at Gregor's chest. "You return triumphantly!" Gregor follows his gaze, and finds that a polished yellow gem has embedded itself in his chest, barely sticking out enough that it's noticeable. From within it, a small light swirls about, deflecting off the gem's inner walls like a caged bear. He picks at it, but it doesn't budge. It might as well be apart of him now.
Jordaane parades over, clapping his hands together. "Duelhoff, was it? The legendary Dire Bear from the Eastern Forest! What a mighty pair the two of you-" Jordaane is surprisingly light, as Gregor snatches him by the throat, and lifts him into the air with one hand. That, or Gregor has gotten stronger. Far stronger. "Ack!" Jordaane chokes, clutching onto Gregor's arm to relieve the pressure from his neck. The two guards at the entrance to the Inner Chamber raise their spears, and march on Gregor. But Jordaane placates them with an outstretched hand, smiling at Gregor even as beads of sweat roll down his face.
"Is… s-something the… m-matter? Great Hero?" He stammers out, traying and failing to swallow. Gregor only stares holes through him. "What is the meaning of this." His voice comes out far darker than he ever would have hoped. Jordaane can't nod, but he tries. "Of course! Of… c-course. I will tell you everything you want to know. So, please… If you would… b-be so kind…"
He mustn't kill. He can never take a human life. Never… He wonders, for a moment, just a mere second. He wonders what snapping a person's neck feels like.
"Gregor." A familiar boy's voice sounds out to his right, though the tone of his voice is slightly different. His "s" sounds are drawn out. "Jusst let it go." And who Gregor sees clap a cold hand on his shoulder, is Julian. And the first thing he notices, is that Julian's eyes are slit now, like a reptile's.
He drops Jordaane, who coughs and sputters at Gregor's feet. But he's not looking down at the King's Servant, who fails to correctly gather his bearings at first. He turns toward Julian, and Martha, who walk up to him.
They have changed.
Julian's pupils are slits, and one of his teeth sticks out from his lips, in the shape of a fang. He seems even more thin now, even though the muscles Gregor can see on him has become more pronounced. And, on his chest, is a blood red gem, with a small light slithering around inside it.
As for Martha, her shoulder-length hair has become bushier, as if she put some sort of product in it to keep it from flattening. She moves with far more calculated steps than before, and her eyes are off somehow. Something's different about them. They're beady and black now. On her chest, halfway beneath her bosom, is a deep green gem, with a light that hovers unmoving within it, as if it was perched on an unseen branch.
And the two of them have gotten shorter… no. Gregor has gotten taller. Taller and stronger, with heightened senses and an overwhelming sense of might.
"It'ss a sstrange feeling." Julian hisses. "But you get ussed to it quickly." Gregor can only gawk. "Julian, Martha. What did they do to you?" Julian shrugs, itching at the edges of where that red gem meets his flesh. The polished stones completely ripped through their shirts, as if they were projectiles that got embedded in their target. "Ssome big ssnake that lived in a volcano vissited me, ssaying he liked my sstyle."
The two boys land their eyes on Martha, who only averts her gaze, frowning. "A big bird with a lion's back half visited me." Julian does a double take. "Wait, you met a gryphon?!" Martha narrows her eyes, as if thinking back on a sour memory. "We didn't talk about anything important. She just wanted to ask what my favorite parts of the monsters I've slain were." Julian visibly cringes. "Grosss."
Gregor turns on Jordaane, who just got back up on his feet. The King's Servant shies away from Gregor's glare, but faces him regardless. Even as Gregor is nearly two heads taller than him now. "You have some explaining to do." Gregor growls, curling his paws… hands into fists. "Who set you up to this?"
Jordaane shrugs, trying a grin. "The king?" Gregor's raised fist makes him squeak. "It's the formality here, I assure you!" The man practically cowers, covering his red-capped head with his hands. "Go on." Gregor threatens. Jordaane reluctantly nods. "Whenever the Heroes begin to reach level fifty, we're directed to bring them to this chamber so they can partake in Soul Sealing with monsters of notable strength." Gregor looks up at the hundreds of uncut gems and glowing forms; there's too many of them to count. Jordaane continues. "It's what we've always done in the past. It's a tradition at this point."
Perhaps, Jordaane hoped that would placate them. Perhaps, he supposed his answer was adequate. But when he raises his eyes, Gregor has that same thought pass over his glassy eyes, which now reflect in the dark. What would it feel like, to snap Jordaane's neck with a single hand?
"The past!?" Gregor thunders, the roar of a beast echoing in the back of his throat. Jordaane yelps, completely dropping to the ground, shaking terribly. Gregor had the passing thought to stomp his head flat here and now, but a single voice rings out from the other side of the room; the two guards fix their postures and stand at attention, knocking the endcaps of their spears against the cobbled stone.
"That'll be quite enough, Great Hero."
Julian and Martha turn to look. Gregor stares up at the crystals and gems, not bothering to turn around. He knows that voice.
"My king…" He spits the word, glaring at his own hands. "What is the meaning of this?"
He's still human. He's still human… He's… Is he even human anymore?
The king sighs, speaking with a tired, yet accepting tone. "My dear boy, I suppose an explanation is in order."