So, for your enjoyment, I finished both transformation scenes and put what I have so far together. Please enjoy it. :pika_smile:
[SIZE="4"]Paradise[/SIZE]
While on your way to collect forest mushrooms near your home of Tir Chonaill, you pass through the lumber yard. A worker reminds you not to stay out too late because, “Sightings of Fomors in the area are on the rise.â€
“Rubbish,†you tell yourself, “The best mushrooms grow only at night, in the midnight mist. Dawn’s light makes them shrivel away, and I need only the best mushrooms for Mother’s mushroom gratin, my favorite dinner. However, I am only a young student. What would I do if I did see a Fomor?â€
“I’d just have to rely on Ranald’s teachings.†- [SPOILER="Spoiler"]“I’d just have to rely on Ranald’s teachings.†You affirm to yourself, slamming your fist into your palm with a nod. Mindful of this, you find a stick and keep it with you for use as a weapon.
Dusk falls, and night soon follows, and you find yourself happily digging through the dirt to find healthy mushrooms growing, humming a song from your grandma all the while. You have so much fun, in fact, that you don’t notice a bear coming straight toward you! By the time you hear its growls, it’s already close enough to strike. The bear roars ferociously, then moves in for a smash attack, but you’re stunned in fear and can’t remember what you should do in a situation like this!
Just as the bear is about to make his attack, a young red furred Fomor interrupts him with a normal attack. With alarming mastery of the flow of combat, the young Fomor defeats the bear with surprising ease, while you are still lying on the ground in shock. Normal attack, counter; Defense, smash; Smash, normal attack; no matter how the bear tries to hit the fomor, it is responded to precisely and eloquently.
After the bear is finished, the Fomor turns to you and extends his hand. He looks like a smaller version of the Fomors that supposedly live in Fiodh Forest. Half-wolf fomors that are extremely territorial, and now one’s looking right at you with claws pointed at your heart!
You stand up and brandish your makeshift weapon. As if to reassure yourself, you taunt, “B--big deal. I could’ve...I could’ve done that too!†Without looking or thinking twice, you lunge forward and swing your stick as you yell, hitting the Fomor’s hand. He recoils in alarm and pain, then looks at you. After a second or two it turns and runs off.
“Fomors don’t cry...do they?†you ask yourself. “Whatever that thing was doing, I don’t have time. It’s getting away!†And so you give chase.
[SPOILER="Spoiler"]You chase after the Fomor through the forest, dodging tree limbs and stumps, jumping over rocks, and criss-crossing between trunks. Your efforts are valiant, but the fomor knows the area, and the sun has already long slipped under the horizon. Eventually, the Fomor gives you the slip, and you can’t even follow the sounds of its whimpers or sniffles. You make your way back to town fairly quickly, picking up the mushrooms on the way.
You father congratulates you on the way you handled the Fomor, but your mother seems almost sad. She doesn’t say anything as she uses the mushrooms you gathered in the meal. You happily eat the cheesiest, most mushroomiest mushroom gratin ever, and you fall asleep with a full belly and a smile.
The night doesn’t yield much sleep however, as you are taken by a dark dream, a dread nightmare.
A red glow and the sounds of conflict cause you to stand. You cough on smoke as you try to get out of your house. Looking down, you see portions of the village are burning. The portions closest to the forest.
No longer a boy, you have grown to maturity in your dream. You are alarmed when you see the men of the village doing battle with a small tribe of Fomors. A particularly large one, resembling the one you met in the forest with his red fur, sees you at the top of the hill. Enraged, he charges forward.
Grab something and do battle! -[SPOILER="Spoiler"]You find a sword that was lying in the hands of a soldier. He won’t be needing it anymore, so you liberate it from him. Brandishing your new weapon, you turn to the source of the loud roaring.
A giant red fomor, with glowing yellow eyes towers over you. He roars so powerfully, it almost knocks you back. Though his face is hidden by shadow and smoke, you get the feeling this one is out for revenge. He rears back, lifting a gigantic clawed hand, and prepares to strike. And, even against impossible odds, you raise your sword and lunge at him.
Your battle with the beast rages on for several minutes, but the enemy never seems to tire or fatigue; which is much the opposite of you. Already, you are covered in scratches and bruises, tired and out of breath. By now, you can hardly lift your weapon, or even lift your heavy arms. The beast notices this and readies a powerful finishing strike.
With ease, he swipes you away, and you land on you back, losing your blade in the process. It gleams with the light of several fires, several meters away. Before you can even stand to retrieve it, the fomor charges at you while you’re defenseless.
Just at the last moment, a blinding light shines from behind the giant fomor. Soon, the fomor ignites with a silvery flame as the light grows more and more intense. Then, there is a loud explosion, and the fomor is no more.
Standing in his place is the silhouette of a woman with huge ebony wings, her hands clasp over her breast in prayer. The light almost seems to ring and sing with a heavenly tone as she speaks to you with a voice so comforting that you soon forget all the pain of battle.
“Warrior,†she calls, “Why are you resting? Your battle is not over yet.â€
Her voice echos through your head like ripples of divine euphoria, but you still do not understand her. The sound of her voice is subtly different from normal people. As if multiple different maidens are standing there and speaking in unison, though you only see one silhouette of black.
“Get up,†she says. “Take my hand.â€
She extends her hand to you, just barely out of reach. To reach her, you have to strain and force your broken, tattered body to rise. The pain of lifting your arm to grasp hers is intense, but it is suddenly dispelled once your hand touches hers.
“Your fight is not yet finished. There is still more to do, though you cannot do it on your own.†Her voice is comforting and reassuring beyond what you could imagine, “With my gift, you can lay waste to all our enemies. You can banish all my foes. Answer me this, warrior, do you accept my power? Will you fight for me; for paradise?â€
Basking in the divine light, you feel your fatigue vanishing, and your stamina being restored. The difficulty of breathing is now gone and you feel stronger, lighter.
You look into her eyes, “Goddess...I will fight for you.â€-
[SPOILER="Spoiler"]Suddenly, a gust of wind ripples outward from her, pushing you back, and light beams from her eyes as she gazes up ward. Her wings and arms stretch outward to the side as she floats inches off the ground, and her mouth no longer moves as she talks. It stays open as a heavenly voice fills the battle field.
“Hear me!â€
The light grows to blinding, nullifying the strength of the fomors, rendering them inert. Some become tired to exhaustion, and some literally become paralyzed by divine light. The palm that you had used to grasp hers begins to burn with purifying power. It burns and blackens as the goddess renders her gift unto you.
“With this power, you will fight! Destroy the fomors, All of them! Leave none alive!†Her voice is terrifying now, full of power and awe. “Do this, oh my warrior, and fulfil your pact with me! Only then will I open to you the gates of paradise. This is my promise! The promise of Morrighan!â€
At the recitation of her promise and her name, the light reverts and the ripple of wind reverses. Suddenly, she retracts herself from the world, and the divine light, the heavenly chorus, and everything that Morrighan brought with her presence vanishes in an instant.
The whole time, the burning on your palm has been growing more intense, and living metal, black as tar, begins to exude from the site where you were blessed with Morrighan’s Promise. The metal is cold to the touch as it writhes and grows, covering your arm. But at the same time, it burns with godly power.
The power grows more intense and it spreads across your body. The metal racks your muscles and bones with pain as it fuses with you, beginning with one arm, spreading across your chest to the other arm, then traveling below to envelope your legs. Finally, only your head is left to be consumed, and you experience true pain for the first time as even your mind is united with this entity.
You scream, but it only even sounds like a scream for a moment. The next moment, the liquid metal surges over your neck and down your throat, changing your resounding scream into something different, something like a roar of delight as some new being comes to life. Finally, your eyes are invaded by this cold-hot fluid, and the change is complete.
Your new eyes glow, and your vision has changed. Color is diminished, leaving your spectrum of visible color grey washed. However, your focus is increased dramatically. You can see things more accurately even at longer distances. The pain is completely gone now, and even without moving, you can feel your new symbiotic muscles are more powerful by magnitudes.
A fomor that has broken free from the shock of the goddess charges at you and swings an axe. With a clanging sound, it stops on your neck as if you were wearing impenetrable armor. Acting on basal instinct alone, your metallic arm stabs the beast in the heart, crashing through bone with ease, and ripping the still beating organ from its chest.
“Remember your promise. Kill them all!†a voice commands from no location in particular. Rather, it seems to come from all directions at once.
With your new power, you tear through all the remaining dazed and confused fomors as if they were defenseless children.
When you wake, you examine your hand to make a surprising discovery.-
The skin there is sensitive, as if you had been burned, and directly in the center of your palm is an embedded shard of ebony black metal.
“Paradise...†you repeat to yourself.
You remove the shard, and a sharp pain is felt on your palm, but the wound heals right before your eyes, and the pain is soon gone. Just after that, your mother walks into her room with a worried look on her face. Although she tries to look excited, you can tell the expression is forced.
“Come on outside!†she covers the anxiety in her voice, “There’s someone special from the city...†Her voice trails off like she had a lot more to say, but couldn’t sort it all out.
When you go out to see what the commotion is about, you are not even able to find your way to the street with the concentration of bodies. With most of them being unwashed, the stench is close to being unbearable. The excitement of the event causes a miasma of the cloying odor of perspiration. Accompanying the death-smog is a deafening cacophony of burly voices mixed with softer ones, stemming the differing sources of men and women.
Eventually, you wade through dirt and sweat and body to catch a glimpse of the most important person you have ever seen in all your life. At least, that’s what this person would have you believe. His pristine clothes seemed to have been lovingly woven by dozens of toiling seamstresses. Embroidered with gold, festooned with ruffles, and bearing the insignia of the pontiff’s court, the clothes alone did wonders to set this person apart from the filthy townsfolk.
Aside from his clothes, his skin and hair are pristine and clean. His eyes are very soft, seeming like they’ve never endured many troubles, or had to work for himself for a day in his life, and you assume the condition of his hands are alike; untouched by hardship.
This man turns from atop his decorated steed and at once picks you out from the crowd. It makes it seem like you were the reason he had came all the way to Tir Chonaill. “Little man!†he calls out with a voice that lacks the power or push that his visage suggests he’d have, “Step forward at once!†The way he speaks, it seems like he’s clenching is lips close together because of the foppishness of the words. His tone is high pitched, like that of a young boy pretending to be older and more authoritative than he really is.
After an initial confusion, and a muttered insult from the steeded official, you and the crowd realize he was commanding at you. They immediately back away and one of them even pushes you so that you step forward.
“Stand up straight! Look Forward! Pay attention when I’m speaking to you! Speak up! Don’t Slouch!†The man rattled off with his crash course of etiquette quickly, without even waiting for you to comply with each command (though you did, of course.) “And finally...†The man pauses, smiles, and then surveys the crowd with a pleased grin, as if he was just taking a moment to be consciously satisfied with being superior to these people, “...step this way.†His voice deepens greatly, to the point of almost being at the level of a regular person’s normal voice, like he was trying to be mysterious, and he gestures with one arm to a closed carriage.
Upon entering, an ancient looking woman sits across from you. Her eyes are hidden by the shadow and the angle. At once, she commands you to show her your palm.
Show her the palm where you received the goddess’ promise.
Show her your other palm.[/SPOILER][/SPOILER]
Run away! - [/SPOILER][/SPOILER]
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“I’d have to abandon the mushrooms and run away.†-[SPOILER="Spoiler"]“I’d just have to leave the mushrooms and get back home. Mother won’t be sad if I just tell her what happened. Let’s just hope no Fomors show up.â€
Dusk falls, and night soon follows, and you find yourself happily digging through the dirt to find healthy mushrooms growing, humming a song from your grandma all the while. You have so much fun, in fact, that you don’t notice a bear coming straight toward you! By the time you hear its growls, it’s already close enough to strike. The bear roars ferociously, then moves in for a smash attack, but you’re stunned in fear and can’t remember what you should do in a situation like this!
Just as the bear is about to make his attack, a young Fomor interrupts him with a normal attack. With alarming mastery of the flow of combat, the young Fomor defeats the bear with surprising ease, while you are still lying on the ground in shock. Normal attack, counter; Defense, smash; Smash, normal attack; no matter how the bear tries to hit the fomor, it is responded to precisely and eloquently.
After the bear is finished, the Fomor turns to you and extends his hand. He looks like a smaller version of the Fomors that supposedly live in Fiodh Forest. Half-wolf fomors that are extremely territorial, and now one’s looking right at you with claws pointed at your heart!
You drop your basket of mushrooms and high-tail it home, crying all the way. When you get home, your mother comforts you and tells you “It’s okay.†There’s no special meal tonight, and you fall asleep hungry and afraid.
-THE END-[/SPOILER]
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“I’m not sure what I would do. Maybe I could learn more about them.†-[SPOILER="Spoiler"]“I’ve never seen a real Fomor. I wonder what kind I’ll find,†you wonder to yourself with a finger on your temple, looking upward with your head tilted, “If I do find one, I mean. It’s not like I’d go around looking for Fomors just to try and talk to them.†You shake the thought out of your head after almost tripping, then keep your eyes on the path until you reach the forest.
Dusk falls, and night soon follows, and you find yourself happily digging through the dirt to find healthy mushrooms growing, humming a song from your grandma all the while. You have so much fun, in fact, that you don’t notice a bear coming straight toward you! By the time you hear its growls, it’s already close enough to strike. The bear roars ferociously, then moves in for a smash attack, but you’re stunned in fear and can’t remember what you should do in a situation like this!
Just as the bear is about to make his attack, a young red furred Fomor interrupts him with a normal attack. With alarming mastery of the flow of combat, the young Fomor defeats the bear with surprising ease, while you are still lying on the ground in shock. Normal attack, counter; Defense, smash; Smash, normal attack; no matter how the bear tries to hit the fomor, it is responded to precisely and eloquently.
After the bear is finished, the Fomor turns to you and extends his hand. He looks like a smaller version of the Fomors that supposedly live in Fiodh Forest. Half-wolf fomors that are extremely territorial, but also extremely loyal to pack-mates. Your own curiosity gets the better of you. You reach out and take his hand, and he helps you up, then looks at your basket.
“Oh,†you mutter, “I guess I let them spill after all that commotion. That’s okay though, mushrooms are already dirty right?†You laugh heartily at your own joke, but your companion says nothing. Apparently he didn’t get it.
As you go to pick them up, the Fomor boy offers his help. The two of you gather the spilled mushrooms. When you’re done, he beckons for you to follow him, and then he runs off quickly. Wanting greatly to learn more about him, you give chase.
[SPOILER="Spoiler"]You chase after the Fomor through the forest, dodging tree limbs and stumps, jumping over rocks, and criss-crossing between trunks. Eventually, the Fomor guides you to a small grove. The small trees here were planted closely together, so that they made a wall for the small clearing contained within. After being led inside, you notice that this is a lot like your room at home. It’s the same size as your room, it has a bed the same size as your bed, it even has toys in the same area as yours. The only difference is that your room is a square and the Fomor’s room is round, that and the Fomor’s wood is still alive.
You look around admiring and studying the things in the room for a time, just like Lassar makes you do at school often times. Dried plants and sticks tied together to form makeshift toys hang along the walls, as well as shiny stones and gems collected from the forest. Oddly shaped twigs and stones are also displayed.
In your studious perusal of the items strewn about on living shelves, you forgot that the Fomor was even there! You bump into him, which reminds you of his presence, then apologize profusely for being rude in his own room, but you get the feeling that he doesn’t understand what you’re saying or even that he feels like you did something rude.
In fact, he’s smiling as if he’s proud that you’re so interested in the belongings that he’s gathered. He goes to one end of the room and rummages through a makeshift chest to bring you a strange object. He hands it to you smiling, and puffs his chest with pride as if it’s his most valuable possession.
The thing is made of a very cold grey stone, but it feels light for its size. Portions of white mix with the grey, giving the impression of clouds. There is a round body, with a talisman inscribed on its face. The stone is cradled by straps of high-quality leather, which then attach to a length of polished wood, long and curved ergonomically, you guess this is a handle. After examining the glossy smooth surface which contrasts sharply with the inscribed talisman, the Fomor takes it back for an exhibition.
He looks at you as if to gauge whether or not you’re ready, then swings broadly with it. All of a sudden, the whole room fills with wind, causing everything on the wall to rattle and shake, you realize they were put there for the specifically purpose of making noise. The noise itself is like dry sticks that produce rattling tones similar to those from a xylophone. The sparse gems catch the light and fill the room with beautiful colors.
After several minutes of the sound and light show, the Fomor retracts his arm, and the wind stops. Amazed at this talisman, you immediately try to ask the Fomor if you two might be able to meet again like this. After a frustrating while, he eventually understands what you’re trying to say, and you form an agreement to meet in the forest when the moon is next full (since neither of you understand how to denote time to the other, using the moon was the only option.)
He then shows you a shortcut through the forest, which cuts several hours off your return trip, and you arrive home relatively on time. Your mother thanks you for getting the mushrooms, and proceeds to make some mushroom gratin.
During dinner, say nothing of your new found friend -
Mention that you had an encounter with a Fomor -[SPOILER="Spoiler"]Dinner opens with a prayer to the goddess. A humble thanks for the boon of another day with food on the table. The prayer goes on to ask for blessing in this time of war, to ask for sanctuary from danger and hatred, and it closes with a simple request.
“And we pray for the death and extermination of every Fomor, Amen.†Your father concludes.
“Amen.†Your mother responds after a moment of hesitation. As if she needed mental preparation to conclude the prayer.
After that display, you were not so sure that your family would be accepting of the friendship you’ve just stumbled upon. You try to ease the idea in a little at a time, “So, hypothetically speaking--â€
“Finish the prayer, son,†comes stern reminder from your father.
Your mother glances nervously between you and him, then nods sheepishly, “Listen to your father, darling.â€
With a sigh, you rush a quick Amen, then continue, and your parents begin eating. “As I was saying, would you think we could ever, you know...be friends with the fomors?â€
You mother drops her fork and your father chokes on his drink. “Are you kidding, boy? The Fomors need to drop dead. Each and every one of ‘em!†Your mother flinches at these words as they come from your father, like each one was a tiny tiny dagger being thrust into her heart. “We could never have peace.â€
Your mother’s eyes tell of sadness even as she nods in agreement.
“Why not?â€-[SPOILER="Spoiler"]Your father was just drinking, thinking his answer was sufficient, and he choked again. “W--what? Why not? Well...they’re fomors!â€
“So?â€
Your father looks stupefied and stares with a dumbfounded gaze as he stutters, trying to respond, “I--well...they...I mean--what I mean to say is...Oh honey, help me out.â€
Your mother smiles and says, “I’ll explain to you later, after dinner.†And the rest of the meal time passes without event.
When it is time to sleep, you ask your mother to explain the problem that was brought up before. “Why can’t we be friends with the fomors? How does that keep us from getting to Paradise?â€
Your mother laughs and taps you on the nose with her index finger, “You have a rare gift, my son. You love freely, without inhibition. Don’t let anyone deter you from what your heart says is right.â€
“But what about Paradise?â€
She sighs in a motherly way that almost says, “Oh my my, what do we have here?â€, then she turns your around and marches you to your room. As she closes the door, she whispers, “Follow your heart, and nothing can keep you from Paradise.â€
[SPOILER="Spoiler"]Paradise....Fomors....Goddess...
You toss and turn in your sleep, all this confusion and turmoil and conflict tearing at you and pulling you, threatening to split you up down the middle. Finally, a piercing voice cuts through the maelstrom and pacifies the forces, at least for the moment. The faintly familiar voice of someone who sounds like your mother (you can never be too sure with dreams) reminds you, “Follow your heart...â€
The storm that has been hounding you begins to calm, and you can finally make out your surroundings. Peace settles in, and you become sluggish with contentment. You lie down as the world around you becomes more and more clear. Just as you are ready to doze off in the cool shade of the forest, you hear the voice finish, “...and nothing can keep you from paradise.â€
“If you fall asleep here,†you hear a different voice, one more wispy and childlike, “you’ll never find what you’re looking for.â€
You open your eyes and see the fomor child from before. “And how do you know what I’m looking for?â€
“I don’t know. Hee hee. But unless you’re looking for a forest, it isn’t here!†The child breaks into a fit of laughter.
“Is Paradise,†you look around you as if you’ll find the answer among the branches, “...in the forest?â€
The fomor kid suddenly perks up, “Paradise?! I know where that place is! Follow me!â€
“What?! You know where to find Paradise? H--hey, wait up!†The fomor child had already ran off, heading toward a cave in the side of the mountain. As you follow it, the darkness of the cave sets in around you both, however you can still see the kid clearly, as if only he were illuminated by sunlight.
Eventually, after chasing after the fomor for some time, you see a house floating in the distance of the darkness. As you draw nearer and nearer, you realize that this house is yours. The door is open and your father and mother sit at the table, ready to eat. They welcome you with open arms as the fomor’s voice calls out, “There it is! Paradise! Paradise is right in front of you!â€
Your face lights up and you race towards your parents. However, you suddenly find you can only hear one set of feet. Saying, “Come on, silly! What are you waiting for? Paradise is so close!†you turn around, and are shocked by what you see.
Houses, fomor houses, all on fire, with families still inside. Men in liquid black armor that pours from their empty eye sockets and drips down their bodies hunt down those who flee and cut them down, and they continuously set more houses alight. To add to your horror, your red-furred friend friend is on his knees in front of a large beast of a man in the fluid armor. The fiend shrieks with a howl that belongs to more than just one tormented soul, and approaches your friend for the kill.
“My son, what are you waiting for?â€
“Come on over here, boy! Paradise!â€
“It’s so close, darling! Just turn around! Turn around and embrace it!â€
Your parents’ voices become more and more harried when they see the look on your face as you cry, “I can’t just leave him there! He’s my friend!â€
“LIES!†your mother’s voice sounds like the fiends now, as if multiple people speak for her at once, “Ungrateful child! Come here, and revel in the pleasures of Paradise! Paradise!â€
You look at your mother’s eyes, or at least her eye sockets, as her eyes are gone by now, as black liquid pours out from them, streaming down her face leaving trails of oily tears. Her face is warped into a twisted expression of indescribable rage and hatred. After just one glance at this doppelganger, you turn around and race to the aid of your friend, hoping it’s not too late.
With blank eyes, devoid of emotion, your friend cranes his head to stare straight through you to your soul, but he doesn’t move. He has already given into despair. The fiend raises his hand and the liquid flows and contorts. The sound of metal grinding against metal pierces your whole body, and it makes you feel like your spirit will shatter. The living metal snakes about and eventually forms the shape of a flailing morning star that hardens.
The fiend swings his newly made weapon above his head and prepares to lay down the killing strike. As hard as you try get there in time, your body moves sluggishly. While you struggle to just put one foot in front of the other, the beast closes in, and gets ready to make his move. All the while, the screams of dying innocents and the scent of burning flesh and wood is always present. The closer the beast gets to your friend, the more he and the other black warriors shriek and wail in their ethereal lament. Finally, the fiend rears back to swing, when your mother’s voice echo’s in your head again.
“Follow your heart...â€
With one last shriek, the fiend swings forward, bringing the large ball of spikes downward.
“...And nothing can keep you from Paradise!â€
The morning star comes crashing down on a pair of arms that raise up at the last moment in defense.
Somehow, you made it to your friend’s side at the very last moment. The flail struck you in your forearms, which were crossed over your head,. However, you feel no pain. In the area that was attacks, a pure white metal had crystallized just over the surface of your skin and absorbed the blow. The pure substance was pleasantly cool to the touch, but made you feel warm with comfort. Fragments of the stuff materialized out of the air and slowly attached to the edges of the portions that were already attached to you, as if a suit of armor were growing from the area that you had been struck.
The fiend gave a sound that seemed like a chuckle, one been made by a demon, then it pulled the flail back, swinging it quickly in the opposite direction as before, and striking you again, this time from below. The singular, fluid motion happened quicker than you could react, and made direct contact with your chest, and the fiend broke into a fit of unstoppable giggling as you struggled to stand.
However, it was quickly shut up by the sight of you lowering your arms, revealing more of the silvery armor that this time formed over your heart. As the flail fell to the ground, some of the shards of armor fell along with it. These ones evaporated instantly. Some of the shards floated in place around the main congregation that was the formations of the breastplate. These slowly grew and the chest of the armor was steadily becoming apparent.
â€Sssssssssstop! Sssssssssstop thissssssss!†the beast hissed, “Relinquisssssh thisssss power thissssss inssssssstant!"
As it spoke, it swung the flail again, each time it came in contact with you, brilliantly pure armor would materialize at the site and defend you.
“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!†Each time the fiend spoke it made another blow, and one other portion of your body became enveloped. “SssssssssssssssSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTOP!â€
This time, you reached up and caught the flail as it swung on a path to directly intercept your face. By now, you had fully formed gauntlets that absorbed the full force of the attack. There are spots and patches of armor shards all over you, pauldrons and greaves and chestplates beginning to form as more of the armor crystallized. Through a malformed, incomplete visor, that only reached over one side of your face, you look into the eyes of the beast as the words from your mother repeat again in your head.
“Nothing...â€
You hurl the flail into the face of the black beast, where it knocks him back, staggering him.
“Nothing will keep you...â€
A sudden blue light emerges from your chest as you are lifted from the ground by a power surging inside you.
“...From Paradise!â€
The light grows to blinding, and fills you with calm despite the situation. The light accelerates the growth of the armor, which had been quite slow until now. All the gaps and holes in the armor are closed and sealed up as the armor grows around you. When the light fades, you are fully clad in shining mail as bright and beautiful as the black liquid is ugly. As you come back to the ground, you notice that you aren’t just suddenly armored. Your whole physical appearance has changed to that of a grown warrior. You find a weapon already in your hands and your foe rearing to strike again.
As the fiend swings, you lift your spear and cut the flail at the chains with a weapon made from the purity of your soul. The blackened chain stands no chance and the metal turns back to liquid, leaving your enemy with nothing more than a stub for a weapon. Discarding the useless handle, the fiend stares at you with his empty eye sockets and wails once more, and it lunges to attack with sickly claws at the ends of its bony fingers.
Before it even has a chance to come near, it is stabbed in the face, causing the whole formation to shudder and writhe, and finally, with a burst, convert back to liquid that puddles lifelessly on the ground. Some of the liquid splashed onto you, and you currently stand in a pool of it. Any of this oil-like metal that comes in contact with your armor boils in and instant, and evaporates, leaving you smoking with the vapors of your first victory.
The other wraiths are on you in an instant, hounding you with reckless abandon. Yet one by one, they fall and pop into puddles of dark, soulless goop. Eventually, when the last of them is felled, you look around at all the corpses. Despite even all this, you failed to save anyone. Even your friend, for whom you summoned this incredible power, lies as another victim.
You rush to his lifeless body, cradling it and shaking him, hoping he’d wake up. When he doesn’t move, you pull his corpse in to your bosom and hold it tight, apologizing for not being able to save him, with tears forming beneath your visor. It was then, as you mourned, that the grotesque vision of your mother returned. Her shrill voice chastises you as she saunters closer with a gait that seems like she was dead and with rigor.
“Don’t you see? You should have ignored them. Don’t you know fomors have to die if we want to see Paradise? You fool. Look at all your hard work. In the end, you couldn’t stop it, and you couldn’t stop them from keeping you from Paradise.†She spits black tar at you, but it evaporates the moment it lands on your back.
You look at your friend’s body and remember what he said. You say without looking to the ghoul-phantom, “Paradise.....Paradise is right here, in front of me. And nothing can keep me from it.â€
The gem on the center of your chest plate shines with the same brilliance as before, filling the area with purifying energy that dispels the smog. The focus light shifts from the air to your own armor as you use your power on itself, causing the armor to crack.
“Wh--what are you doing?! Stop it! Stop that you little brat! They’re already dead, they can’t be saved!â€
The cracks grow, and eventually, your armor begins to splinter. Whole segments and shards turn to a glowing golden liquid that leap up and fly randomly to fomor corpses. Gauntlets, greaves, pauldrons; just as they arrived in segments, they depart in segments lighting formor bodies up as their wounds heal and their vitality is restored. One by one, the fomors are revived until only your friend lies left to be healed. The last piece of your armor, your chest piece, is consumed to restore his body, leaving you in the form of a boy once again.
The ghoul-phantom squeals in a macabre shriek of glee. “Fool! Who will protect you now?!†You try to stand to turn and face the threat, but you’ve been left with hardly any vitality to sustain you own body. “I told you they were dead didn’t I?! People can’t be brought back without a price! And you’ll pay yours with blood!â€
The tainted visage of your mother lunges at you with an out of character amount of speed and agility. Just as she closes in to rip your throat out, she lets out a blood curdling wail, and coughs up copious amounts of black tar, which you are now unprotected against. Looking down, you see a silver spear impaling the phantom, and as you trace the shaft of the weapon, you see the wielder’s hand. It’s covered in red fur.
It was then that you realize that you are not sitting up on your own. You don’t have the energy left for that. Without even realizing it, the two of you had switched roles, and now the fomor child was the one protecting you and holding you in his arms.
The ghoul, upon being impaled, was purified at once, and the whole thing shuddered up and then burst into black tar. Most of it splashes onto you and it now covers most of your body. As you cough it up, you can hear your mother’s voice.
“Remember what I told you.â€
Then you awake in a fit of coughing, and with an extreme fever. You try to stand, but almost immediately fall. The noise of your collapse stirs your mother, and she screams when she sees her baby laying in a heap on the floor, coughing up a black liquid.[/SPOILER][/SPOILER]
“Oh...really?â€-[SPOILER="Spoiler"]“Of course!†your father replies, “How else could we get to Paradise?â€
“Paradise?â€
Your father chuckles and shakes his head, “You’ll find out when you’re older. Just know that the fomors stand between us and Paradise.â€
Those words echo through your head as you sleep, and even as you wake the next day. In your curiosity, you go to the church to find out more about paradise, and after you learn the story, you refuse to associate with fomors any longer.
-The End-[/SPOILER][/SPOILER][/SPOILER][/SPOILER]