Post by Melody & Hymn on Mar 19, 2017 21:34:05 GMT
It was that dream again, the same dream that had plagued Melody on a regular basis for as long as she could remember. A dream orchestrated by two minds struggling to control the same body and subsume the other completely to their will. Melody was locked in combat against a vile creature who looked like a nightmarish version of a pig, and was a hundred times more sinister than he appeared to be. All around the two of them, the environment was in chaos. Pieces of landscape floated upon the air itself as a swirling vortex of magic encompassed them on all sides. They were in a void, a void that reflected the chaos within themselves.
"You will submit!" declared the pig, and from his outstretched hoof, a bolt of energy lanced through the air towards Melody, intending to catch her in the chest. But Melody threw up an arm and fired her own blast of magic, the two attacks clashing together and forming into a beam struggle.
"You will not rampage this night, demon!" Melody cried back as their energy wavered back and forth between them. Had this been the real world, the physical world, the demon before her would have effortlessly crushed her in battle. But here in the dream world, physical strength meant nothing. Melody was as strong as she perceived herself to be, and this was a contest of willpower!
The beams they fired upon each other finally over loaded, and a burst of magic exploded from the center point, knocking both of the combatants backwards through the spiraling void, only for them to quickly catch themselves and resume their conflict. The battle would have been preposterous to onlookers. A small girl, not even a proper teenager yet, clashing against a massive demon as if she were his equal. More bolts of magic fired from them, resulting in more beam struggles and more explosions.
In the waking world, Melody tossed and turned in her bed, a fitful, restless sleep as the warrior monks of Konats stood guard around her, prepared to act should she exhibit loss of control. If that happened, though, they would need to be immediate and swift with their countermeasures. The demon inside her, the one that called itself 'Hymn', was far more powerful than Melody herself, once it managed to gain control.
"She's muttering in her sleep." said one of the monks, "she only does that when Hymn is particularly fierce." he added, causing the other two monks to grimace in concern. After a moment of contemplation, the three of them raised their hands over Melody and began to chant in an arcane tongue. Light enveloped their hands and began to flow into the little girl, who's restless movements began to gradually calm down.
Back in Melody's dream, the monks' power fed into her, strengthening her will. Her dream form began to glow with a clear, white light that the demonic pig seemed incapable of making physical contact with. The radiance continued to push him back, either out of fear or pain as he raised his arms and recoiled. With a final surge of magic, Melody released all the energy the monks had donated to her in a mighty wave from her hands. The light engulfed Hymn completely and she caught the shadowy sight of his body evaporating as he screamed in pain. When it was done, Melody was no longer glowing, but laying weakly on one of the floating platforms as she tried to regain her strength. But she knew the battle wasn't over; it would never be over, not so long as the two of them were together.
"You almost lost this one." Hymn's voice came from all around her, the destruction of his dream body allowing him to take omnipresent form until he could build a new one. "I wonder if you'll have the strength to fend me off the next time I come?" his tone was mocking, and carried the unmistakable twinge of a smirk behind his words. But the time for conversation was over and Melody watched as the dream world around her faded into blackness and her senses dimmed. Soon, she was no longer in the void, but in a quiet, dreamless sleep.
"She has won, this night." the second of the three monks said back in the waking world. Their hands were no longer glowing, and Melody was now sleeping peacefully in her bed. They lowered their hands and breathed a collective sigh of relieve before the third monk spoke.
"Yes, but only with our aid." he said, "She can not repel Hymn every night without consequences. Her mind and body are taxed from weeks of constant battle!" the others nodded in agreement. Melody had a strong will, far stronger than any child her age had a right to exhibit. Yet constant battle against a demon wore away her strength. Once in a while, Hymn would come out the victor, and would use Melody to unleash destruction upon the people of Konats.
Melody would be so weak during these periods that she could do nothing but let him run wild until she managed to regain her strength and put the leash around his neck once more. And it seemed that one such time was soon approaching, Melody would not be able to hold out much longer. Not without a considerable amount of support, at least. Hymn was going to take control again, and there was no telling how many lives would be lost before Melody was able to cage him!
Three days later...
It happened, Hymn was momentarily free of his prison within Melody and was rampaging through the village in the middle of the night. The flaming wreckage of the village provided enough light to see the great pig demon storming through the streets, crushing Konatsians on sight. Men, women, even children were slaughtered as his sights fell upon them. The warrior monks assigned to keep him in check were managing to slow him down as they blasted him with magic and binding rituals, but they were unable to completely stop his advances as he roared with fury. Cocking back an arm as if it held a live grenade, Hymn lobbed a fire ball from his hand that sailed towards one of the monks. They managed to nimbly dodge the attack, but upon hitting the ground, the fireball exploded and set another household ablaze.
"We've almost got him!" shouted one of the monks who was using both hands to fire a continuous wave of magical energy at Hymn's face, forcing the demon to shield himself with one arm and flail wildly with the other. Two more monks joined in, concentrating their magic on his chest and backside. True to the monk's words, the demon seemed to be getting weaker, which meant Melody was preparing to take control again. All they had to do was keep the pressure up and soon Hymn would be sealed away once more.
"Keep it up!" shouted the lead monk over the demon's roar of anger as Hymn's form began to shrink and distort as if it were made of fog. His roar, once mighty and forceful, became gradually more high pitched and faint as he continued to shrink and dissolve. After a few painstakingly tense seconds, the monks halted their assault and Hymn's regression was completed. No longer a giant demon, but now a little girl panting heavily from a violently intense battle within her own mind. She looked around at the flaming wreckage that surrounded her and the monks who were quickly rushing to gather her and slammed a fist into the dirt in frustration. Another settlement nearly decimated because she wasn't strong enough to control the creature bound within her. She could hear the screams of the wounded and the fearful even over the roaring flames.
"We need to leave." the head monk said, wrapping Melody in a cloak as they spirited her off into the night. The other monks remaining behind to put out the flames and see to the calming of the masses. They brought forth water from the well, dousing as much of the flames as possible and conducting evacuation procedures for any survivors they could find. With their aid, the hellish village was gradually reduced to some charred wreckage and shaken survivors.
"It happened again!" Melody shouted as the monk carried her in his arms, flying through the wilderness to keep the villagers from dispensing mob justice upon her. Thankfully, nobody knew that Melody and Hymn were in the same body, a secret which her guardians were keen on upholding. As far as anybody else knew, Hymn has infiltrated their village by unknown means and was banished by the warrior monks who kept watch on such creatures.
"You held out longer than most." the monk tried to comfort her, but Melody would not hear of it. It was her responsibility to keep Hymn contained and she failed to do so. Worse, this wasn't even the first time she nearly destroyed an entire settlement because of her weakness!
"I need more power!" she insisted, "you need to increase my training, or he's just going to break free again and another village will pay for it!" her grip on the monk's vestments tightened as he frustration became apparent. For a time, the monk said nothing, but finally sighed and nodded to her.
"Very well." he complied, "but for now, we must get you away from civilians." and with that, the two of them fell silent as they headed towards the direction of a shrine where they could see to the mending of the wards placed upon Melody's mind.
TOTAL WC = 1,613
"You will submit!" declared the pig, and from his outstretched hoof, a bolt of energy lanced through the air towards Melody, intending to catch her in the chest. But Melody threw up an arm and fired her own blast of magic, the two attacks clashing together and forming into a beam struggle.
"You will not rampage this night, demon!" Melody cried back as their energy wavered back and forth between them. Had this been the real world, the physical world, the demon before her would have effortlessly crushed her in battle. But here in the dream world, physical strength meant nothing. Melody was as strong as she perceived herself to be, and this was a contest of willpower!
The beams they fired upon each other finally over loaded, and a burst of magic exploded from the center point, knocking both of the combatants backwards through the spiraling void, only for them to quickly catch themselves and resume their conflict. The battle would have been preposterous to onlookers. A small girl, not even a proper teenager yet, clashing against a massive demon as if she were his equal. More bolts of magic fired from them, resulting in more beam struggles and more explosions.
In the waking world, Melody tossed and turned in her bed, a fitful, restless sleep as the warrior monks of Konats stood guard around her, prepared to act should she exhibit loss of control. If that happened, though, they would need to be immediate and swift with their countermeasures. The demon inside her, the one that called itself 'Hymn', was far more powerful than Melody herself, once it managed to gain control.
"She's muttering in her sleep." said one of the monks, "she only does that when Hymn is particularly fierce." he added, causing the other two monks to grimace in concern. After a moment of contemplation, the three of them raised their hands over Melody and began to chant in an arcane tongue. Light enveloped their hands and began to flow into the little girl, who's restless movements began to gradually calm down.
Back in Melody's dream, the monks' power fed into her, strengthening her will. Her dream form began to glow with a clear, white light that the demonic pig seemed incapable of making physical contact with. The radiance continued to push him back, either out of fear or pain as he raised his arms and recoiled. With a final surge of magic, Melody released all the energy the monks had donated to her in a mighty wave from her hands. The light engulfed Hymn completely and she caught the shadowy sight of his body evaporating as he screamed in pain. When it was done, Melody was no longer glowing, but laying weakly on one of the floating platforms as she tried to regain her strength. But she knew the battle wasn't over; it would never be over, not so long as the two of them were together.
"You almost lost this one." Hymn's voice came from all around her, the destruction of his dream body allowing him to take omnipresent form until he could build a new one. "I wonder if you'll have the strength to fend me off the next time I come?" his tone was mocking, and carried the unmistakable twinge of a smirk behind his words. But the time for conversation was over and Melody watched as the dream world around her faded into blackness and her senses dimmed. Soon, she was no longer in the void, but in a quiet, dreamless sleep.
"She has won, this night." the second of the three monks said back in the waking world. Their hands were no longer glowing, and Melody was now sleeping peacefully in her bed. They lowered their hands and breathed a collective sigh of relieve before the third monk spoke.
"Yes, but only with our aid." he said, "She can not repel Hymn every night without consequences. Her mind and body are taxed from weeks of constant battle!" the others nodded in agreement. Melody had a strong will, far stronger than any child her age had a right to exhibit. Yet constant battle against a demon wore away her strength. Once in a while, Hymn would come out the victor, and would use Melody to unleash destruction upon the people of Konats.
Melody would be so weak during these periods that she could do nothing but let him run wild until she managed to regain her strength and put the leash around his neck once more. And it seemed that one such time was soon approaching, Melody would not be able to hold out much longer. Not without a considerable amount of support, at least. Hymn was going to take control again, and there was no telling how many lives would be lost before Melody was able to cage him!
Three days later...
It happened, Hymn was momentarily free of his prison within Melody and was rampaging through the village in the middle of the night. The flaming wreckage of the village provided enough light to see the great pig demon storming through the streets, crushing Konatsians on sight. Men, women, even children were slaughtered as his sights fell upon them. The warrior monks assigned to keep him in check were managing to slow him down as they blasted him with magic and binding rituals, but they were unable to completely stop his advances as he roared with fury. Cocking back an arm as if it held a live grenade, Hymn lobbed a fire ball from his hand that sailed towards one of the monks. They managed to nimbly dodge the attack, but upon hitting the ground, the fireball exploded and set another household ablaze.
"We've almost got him!" shouted one of the monks who was using both hands to fire a continuous wave of magical energy at Hymn's face, forcing the demon to shield himself with one arm and flail wildly with the other. Two more monks joined in, concentrating their magic on his chest and backside. True to the monk's words, the demon seemed to be getting weaker, which meant Melody was preparing to take control again. All they had to do was keep the pressure up and soon Hymn would be sealed away once more.
"Keep it up!" shouted the lead monk over the demon's roar of anger as Hymn's form began to shrink and distort as if it were made of fog. His roar, once mighty and forceful, became gradually more high pitched and faint as he continued to shrink and dissolve. After a few painstakingly tense seconds, the monks halted their assault and Hymn's regression was completed. No longer a giant demon, but now a little girl panting heavily from a violently intense battle within her own mind. She looked around at the flaming wreckage that surrounded her and the monks who were quickly rushing to gather her and slammed a fist into the dirt in frustration. Another settlement nearly decimated because she wasn't strong enough to control the creature bound within her. She could hear the screams of the wounded and the fearful even over the roaring flames.
"We need to leave." the head monk said, wrapping Melody in a cloak as they spirited her off into the night. The other monks remaining behind to put out the flames and see to the calming of the masses. They brought forth water from the well, dousing as much of the flames as possible and conducting evacuation procedures for any survivors they could find. With their aid, the hellish village was gradually reduced to some charred wreckage and shaken survivors.
"It happened again!" Melody shouted as the monk carried her in his arms, flying through the wilderness to keep the villagers from dispensing mob justice upon her. Thankfully, nobody knew that Melody and Hymn were in the same body, a secret which her guardians were keen on upholding. As far as anybody else knew, Hymn has infiltrated their village by unknown means and was banished by the warrior monks who kept watch on such creatures.
"You held out longer than most." the monk tried to comfort her, but Melody would not hear of it. It was her responsibility to keep Hymn contained and she failed to do so. Worse, this wasn't even the first time she nearly destroyed an entire settlement because of her weakness!
"I need more power!" she insisted, "you need to increase my training, or he's just going to break free again and another village will pay for it!" her grip on the monk's vestments tightened as he frustration became apparent. For a time, the monk said nothing, but finally sighed and nodded to her.
"Very well." he complied, "but for now, we must get you away from civilians." and with that, the two of them fell silent as they headed towards the direction of a shrine where they could see to the mending of the wards placed upon Melody's mind.
TOTAL WC = 1,613