Back on the astonishing front lawn of the palace. This is where visitors would be welcomed. It felt comforting just to look at, the winding bushes, intricate railing, the marble like wood stairs. Right at the centre of this ostentatious palace, stood a figure. Contrasting the area, he adorned the same garments of the forest folk – a silk like robe, this one with a hood covering its head and a shadow to mask its face. The robes had been died red with… telling by that stench, it was most likely fresh dried blood.
The figure removed the hood. Showing the fangs he spotted, and the pointy ears which he had rounded crudely with a knife. He had this sad grin – bordering on maniacal. Almost like he was nervous or… getting a little too excited.
"Hey! You! Over there! State your business at the palace!"
Said one of the guards as she approached. First the figure breathed in and then out, calming his nerves. This prompted the guard to stop and grab her sword.
"You know, I am an orphan. Still not sure whether they abandoned me or were killed. The caretakers never bothered to explain."
"What are you talking about?" she said as she took a stronger stance, he was giving her the creeps.
"You see some people are so unaware of their effect on those around them. The caretakers never told me the story, but for some reason they possessed a slight destain for me. I could tell they did not hate me, even they are not as so foolish as to force their grudges onto a child. With time their destain eventually vanished."
"Did you not hear me. I said state your business or I might have to use some force. You are disturbing the peace of the castle."
"Wait a minute, I'm getting to my point... As I was saying. The problem wasn't that they did not like me, the problem is that their destain for me imprinted on the other children. As impressionable as they were, they could not tell the difference between why I was despised and why I should be despised. Regardless they hated me all the same."
His grin turned forced as he looked down. "As such, when the grownups got over it, they children did not. I was no push over, so they never became physical with their unreasonable hatred. But they sure did do a splendid job of showing. At some point, I was even afraid to eat my food. Imagine, children who would put disgusting things in my food, I was almost sure one day they would go even further."
He touched his cloak, remembering their faces. "They even grew to hate me more, making my life a nightmare – they even cut off the tips of my ears. At times I'd hope they would actually just kill me, I loathed suicide. Since the caretakers had grown to not hate me as much, even though they could not explain it, they placed me in my own room – that was supposed to be until they could figure out what was wrong."
He reached into his pockets, making the guard pull her sword out.
"Stop it right there!"
"Hold on, it's just a piece of paper. My mind isn't all there you see, I had to write it down before I forget."
True to his words he pulled a paper with words and began reading to himself. He placed it back and finished his tale. His hands shook as he read it – trying to remain sane for a little while longer.
"Remember how I said they were rational, the caretakers I mean."
"Yes." – 'Why did I answer?'
"Well, they couldn't waste so much space on a single child, so they removed the other beds. Then they filled the room with the other things, toys, books, and clothes. Many more things which took unnecessary space elsewhere. I'm sure it was not their intention, but it fed to the other children's hatred of me hatred of me. Now I had around the clock access to toys. 'Why not them? Why is he getting special treatment?' they said. And besides it feeling like a storage shed I was happy. Not for the toys, but for the books.
They could keep their toys I was more fascinated with the stories. Eventually I had read most of them. They made me forget the nightmare that existed beyond those doors to my room. One day I found a certain book. How it got there is still beyond me. My best guess is that someone wanted to hide it here and maybe come back for it later. It had a dusty old cover, and this is why it was the last book I picked up.
If I had not finished all the others, I would have never. I'm guessing the owner was also hoping that no-one would pick it up – it was one creepy book. I couldn't explain it back then, but it had an unnatural presence, making me want to avoid it. But I, I was desperate and had already gone through all the other books dozens of times. But immediately when I opened the first page, the books cover changed. Till today, that pristine form, is still the most beautiful thing I have ever had the pleasure of looking at."
By now two more guards had come. They were just as reserved about the situation. They had to do something, but they could not just detain or force a person without sufficient reasoning. But the more he talked, the thinner he wore their patience.
"What is he doing?"
"I don't know. He just keeps telling me this story about his childhood. I don't think he's all there."
"I figured as much."
They still watched on as he spoke. "I was so enchanted by the actual cover; I actually forgot that I was alive. I forgot I was an orphan, that I was hated, that I no-one but stories. It was so ecstatic. But really, that was just a premature reaction, because what was inside was beyond words, beyond anything. I am still at a loss till today.
Suddenly, a large amount of information began draining into my mind. I was not reading, but it felt like I was? It also felt like I was writing the book as I read it? After a few pages my mind went blank and I died..."
"He really has lost it. Let's take him to the dungeon and ask the princess about it, he's too dangerous to be left to roam, especially now."
"I agree, but we can't be bothering the princess with such…"
He continued, "…I couldn't just leave without even reading all of it. I pushed and pushed, but death could not be overcome. But then once I started to fade, I suddenly paid attention to what was in the pages I had seen, it was hard but not impossible. What I had learned was simple, but it allowed me to stay alive.
My soul had started to fade, but what was left stabilised, and in this state, I kept reading. Every few pages took an inch of my soul away with it. Skip a few years later, and I had finally finished reading. But now I was going to fade away since nothing tethered me to the world anymore. The scraps of my soul left were barely a ferries size. I had remained as long as I had by my determination to finish, and now it was gone."
He looked down, and a solemn mood fell upon him and ever so slightly on the guards.
"I had read all of it, every last word, took me a few years, but I had. My soul was slowly disintegrating as I had nothing to hold it together. And I was okay with it. I never had anything to begin with.
Then something strange happened, my soul was steadily growing. The colour of my soul, however, was changing, no longer the pristine blue, it became deep tainted red. I was infested with madness. I didn't even struggle. I watched as the madness took me. I guess I was not enough to read the book, as such I was suffering the product of my greed.
But you know something. I was glad. I have been suffering the repercussions of my parents' treachery, but this time, this wrath I had incurred, this price for my curiosity, they steadily rising madness, had been incurred by me! No-one else. I don't think you guys get it. Imagine being in pain from fire you did not cause, and suddenly your being burned by your own flames. They were mine. And I was okay with that. I laughed so hard.
Even though I had been driven mad by the book, it had somehow kept me lucid. When I looked around, I realised I laid in the abandoned ruins of my room. The place had been long abandoned. They were gone, and as it turns out a hundred years had passed. They most likely died due to me opening the book and trying to keep myself alive, or they left the place after seeing the disturbing scene in the room. As such I could not be approached. But by the looks of this place. I had been reading for decades. Now all that I hated was gone and yet I remained…
This is why I wanted to tell my story at least once. Reading so much just made me want to tell a story of my own… (a wicked grin marred his face as he said) before I let the madness manifest within me a new soul."
Then the air became stale, followed by a massive explosion. The guards were hurled back, send flying by the gale winds. Once they had realised the impending danger, they focused and the wind around them parted as their armour grew branches that anchored them.
A gigantic sphere of red had materialised, and this was the soul of the being. This was a manifestation in action. Usually, all the manifestations today are descendants of those who did. Whilst true that people do often manifest once in a while, giving off such a spectacle as this. This was strange though. If its story was to be believed, it was born as one of the manifestations, as such this should be impossible, meaning he is mostly likely a mix breed, more human that actual forest folk.
The thing that makes manifestations serios is that one trains their soul, and once it has amassed enough power, the soul expands and consumes the body (flesh), then it crafts a new body from the soul itself, becoming the permanent form of this being, making them more suited for a single purpose.
Before the guards, was something beautiful – but they could not be more in danger. This was the rare and feared manifestations of monster. Forest folk can see souls, but during manifestations even normal people can see the soul due to its definite exertion on the world. But for forest folk they can see more, thus they have dubbed this event the scarlet moon (They knew not what a moon was but this they dreaded).
In the centre a maroon spec began to form, and it twitched as it took shape. It soon became a humanoid figure, no facial features. Then the soul began to shrink as it was being absorbed inside. Dust and splinters flew in all directions.
Once the view cleared, stood there in the same rugged robes, a featureless humanoid figure, clear and see through. Then it became bloodshot. Starts like the night sky formed inside it, floating inside. Looking at him was like gazing into the cosmos, the start however were in constant motion, moving around erratically. It was like a real meteor shower of stars, but more accurately it was the universe moving at an accelerated pace.
The blue then became red, making a cosmos in a red haze. His body began to have contours of muscles and facial features, then the surface became solid, the stars inside were no longer moving. Then it stopped. Like an incorrectly coloured child drawing of a man. All the lines were there, dictating were the mouth, the eyes, the nails, and everything was supposed to be – but only a universe of stars paused at a specific point floating in a bloodshot chasm.
Then steel-like ribs shot out of its body, making a hole in its centre, and within this cage was the same book of which he read – secured, right where its heart should be. Followed by strange letters inscribed themselves in black on its forehead.
The manifestation was complete.
He then raised is right arm forward, opened the palm, stretching every finger outward. An inaudible set of words left his mouth, the stars in him began to move, then suddenly, a chill befell them, two of the guards froze and shattered to snow. These were experienced veterans each almost at level 200. This much power was no joke.
The guard who had found this freak had not frozen though; she was a little stronger than that. She reached out her sword, slicing the air before her, then a similar cut appeared on the robes a metre away from her, but no scratch on the monster's surface.
"Nice try"
'It can still speak? A monster with intelligence this high – maybe I should have went with the others to the darkness, come to think of it nah…'
"I actually casted several thousands of spells, too bad about a hundred of them were casted on defence."
'Thousand…?'
She then stopped thinking about it and just kept swinging her sword. Then she was thrown back by a crushing invisible hand, before she landed a massive force came from above. Right then she knew she had to use her power; she was at a high enough level to anyway. She the became immaterial. Even to the force.
"I am Guard Elite Wailin. And I intend to stop you here."
She then did the same sword strike, [Distant Strike] her special skill. But this time the soul of the monster was cut.
"Not bad-"
It then recited a couple of spells, but nothing changed.
"What did you do?"
She didn't speak though, she had learned the power over form, but there was no need to tell a monster that. She was not very good at it though, but she had enough to make the consequences of her own actions permanent, but not much headway at making other things permanent though. This is the 'nature' of the power that all forest folk grow to learn.
Actually, they don't like the mountain folk because they use the same power just on non-living things like ore and minerals, whereas the forest folk use it on souls. These powers are even classified as different, one calling it soul form, and the other calling it formless. The power over form is the most well-known complex power. It allows one to interact with forms on a conceptional level. This is why forest folk can manipulate spirits, pixies, ferries, and most importantly souls.
She had actually changed the form of the soul of the monster into a form that is easier to cut than it is, and no amount of force could help. The bad news was that this was the extent of her use of it, and is supposed to be a death blow, and had never counted on anyone surviving. Since it was easy to counter if one is strong enough – dodge the slash.
She then made a few more slashes, but none hit, as the speed of the monster had increased. Then the monster stopped, the stars began to move. She tried dodging but she was immobile, somehow stuck in place. She tried to make her form one that could phase through this – but she didn't know what 'this' is.
A strange energy then came beaming at her, she tried changing its form, but nothing changed, she closed her eyes to embrace her death, when the blast went through her. Somehow, she had become intangible, but she didn't do it? But that was soon cleared.
"A monster somehow got this close to the palace, oh, the guards are thinner than usual… I guess this means I'll have to handle this myself…"
"You must be the Queen…"
'Would you look at that, it speaks…'