Stir Into Confusion

And so I rise to find myself alone in a strange place. I do not remember what has happened over the last... how many days have progressed. Where am I? And what is the deal with this headache? My head is killing me and I have no clue why. I try to rise and I lift my upper body vertically to a 90 degree angle, I get a sudden rush of dizziness overtaking me. My face falls into my palms before I continue trying to rise. Suddenly, my entire body just lifts up without warning. Ok, now this is definitely weird. I look down to realize that I am... well... flying. Kind of. I'm not actually moving but rather just rising vertically. As I rise, an urge to stretch overcomes me and as I do, my groan is a loud and shrill crow for lack of a better term. Frantically touching my face, I confirm that I still look normal the same, but I cannot speak. Now getting worried, I seek to escape from wherever I am by way of the Void. I attempt to harness the energy necessary to perform said feat, but nothing happens. I attempt to utilize my normal chant and command of "Shimmer Jun'Jo" in order to return to my lord's village, but again, nothing happens except that I still sound like a large bird. This is becoming annoying. No matter, I will simply reach out telepathically for my lord to find me. I close my eyes and attempt to open my mind only to find yet another failure awaiting me. What is going on with my powers?! Why can I not perform my own magic?! These powers are as natural to me as breathing. I must return in order to assist Jay'de. I don't even remember where she last was when I last saw my apprentice. I hope she is safe.

EXP: 331
TEXP #1 (250 EXP)

As I remain in a sort of suspended state in the air, an avian spirit enters the room to check on me and finds me awake and airborne. She seems rather shocked and pleased at the same time. I look at her and try to chant a defensive Void spell, only to be reminded yet again that I am without my powers. She lifts off of the ground as well and approaches me. She speaks to me without words in a manner that is both oddly familiar but very foreign. I feel a strange sense of empathy from her. It is a warm communication that is filled with peace and genuine tranquility coming from her very aura. She looks at me and smiles. Her "words" would present themselves as "I am glad that you are finally awake. We have been very worried about you since the Ritual was unsuccessful and when you fell into a deep silence and illness, we feared the worst. My brother never lost hope though. He knew that you would recover. You need to regain your energy. Are you still able to siphon some of my energy?"

EXP: 201

I hadn't the faintest clue, what she was talking about? I don't have any powers that steal the life force or energy from others. She looks at me and senses the doubt within me. She floats closer to me and places my palms on her shoulders and waits. Nothing happens and she looks at me curiously. She places her right index and middle fingers on my forehead and begins to glow faintly. Now this is rather weird. Suddenly energy starts to push thru me and the headache that I was feeling starts to subside a bit. She isn't able to fully repair whatever is causing me such discomfort, but she eases the pain enough for me to concentrate. I force out speech though it is clearly strained and barely over a whisper on the wind. "Thank you. Where am..." My words cease as I enter a coughing fit. She looks at me with a look of mild confusion before she looks at my eyes closely and smiles at me. "Oh it's you. Welcome home, Kautuka." When she calls me by this name, it is one of the first times ever that I have been called a name and actually felt like it was my name and not just some alias or code name that I worked under.

EXP: 227

Even stranger still is the fact I swear I have heard it before and answered to it. It was painful to strain my vocal chords in order to continue inquiring as to where "home" is for her, plus at the moment, I am a bit more concerned with the fact that I can fly but I cannot fly. Her empathic senses are incredible I will admit because she seems capable of feeling my strong emotions. She instructs, "Master Kautuka, you must first clear your thoughts and your worries. You are confused and that is when you must focus the most. You are one of us, so simply move. Flight is natural for an avian spirit. Just utilize your muscles as you would to walk. I try to move forward and when nothing happens, she fakes like she's going to attack me, which causes my body to tense up as I brace for the attack and a pair of feathery wings releases from my back. With a determined flex, my wings flap and move me forward. I do it again and smile as I begin to move around the room in the air. There we go. Now we've got something going here. I land on the ground next to her position as she is cleaning up the room after me. As I bend down to help her, my stomach growls rather loudly. She giggles as she had forgotten that I have been unconscious for some unbeknownst to me amount of time.

EXP: 259
TEXP #3 (5 posts)

She finishes folding the blanket that I had been resting under and lays it next to the pillow. My feet touch the ground and I'm a little wobbly in my footing. What the hell is going on now? I have been walking my entire life and now all of a sudden, I can fly, but not walk? I truly find that I simply do not understand what is happening to me. She helps support me as I move slowly. It is as if my legs are vastly weakened. Everything about me seems to be lost. I find myself unable to make sense of any of this. I can't even properly defend myself right now. To make matters even worse for me and my pride, I am forced to rely on this young avian spirit for aid in simply walking. I must look pathetic. She looks up at me and speaks out loud, "There were many who lost a great deal of their power. Even my powers were diminished a lot over the last week that you were trapped from us. Your powers will return anew and you will be stronger for it." While I have no clue who this young maiden is, I find myself entrusted to her and openly trusting what she is saying. I would inquire as to what exactly happened and she tells me that she does not know. "No one is sure. When the wings appeared in the sky higher than any of us could reach even with flight or teleportation, that is when so many of us found our powers being drained. We tried erecting barriers to try and prevent it, but this magic that was used is far superior to anything we can recall encountering."

EXP: 298
TEXP #1 (250+ exp)

Hmm... so it was magic that did this to us. But what sort of magic could wipe away other magic? This question starts to burn and eat away at me as I ponder upon it. "So that is why I can no longer access my home?" There is sadness in my voice. Even one who is not an empath could sense and feel the sorrow in my realization that a part of me is missing. It had taken me years to access it in the first place. She tells me that like her powers, my powers too will return in time. "You can heal already though. Currently, none of my powers are working. The Void was as natural to me as anything else. I do not understand why I cannot access it. It was like walking to me." She retorts quickly, "Yet you could not fly before and yet now you can. Perhaps, your powers are evolving, Master. Though it is also possible that the Void was not HIS affinity. Your mind... does it feel any stronger? Can you utilize it yet?" I close my eyes and try to reach out with my mind. I start to feel a slight tugging feeling similar to when a fisherman thinks he might have gotten a fish to take the bait. It's almost there, I can almost reach her mind. The strain begins to take its toll as I find myself getting dizzy for a moment. Damn it! I was so close. I could feel her thoughts like villagers welcoming one of their own home. What is holding me back?!

EXP: 273
TEXP #1 (250+ exp)

She tells me to relax once more. I try and listen, but my lost of power is truly bothering me. I had finally managed to truly start to understand my powers and the power of the Second Consciousness had started to leak into my own powers. Having come that far and now my powers were gone. I was weak yet again. He had told me that I was weak, too weak to understand what was happening. Did he somehow know that this was going to happen and if so, how? Better question is why did he not shield us or figure out a way to overcome it? So many questions! The more I discover, the more I realize that none of this seems to be right. My temper starts to boil as energy starts to flare up around me. It is still in a weakened state, but it is present nonetheless. The Empath tries to calm me down but she finds that she can actually hear my confusion. No words were being spoken from my lips, but she could hear me. It was jumbled and all over the place, but the emotion was clear... anger. She can not only feel thru her empathic senses but she can hear me struggle to maintain control over my emotions as I try to slow down and just calm myself. It would become more and more clear until suddenly, there is silence. I could hear her. I look at her with a look of surprise yet happiness. I focus to the point of strain as I try to communicate with her, "Can you hear me?" Groaning in pain, I fall over and she rushes to my side again, "Yes, Master. I can hear you. Rest for you now. You have done enough for the moment. You need time to rebuild your strength."

EXP: 316
TEXP: #3 (2 threads)

For once I actually decide to listen to her and just lay back down on the mat. Closing my eyes, I focus on my breathing. I was able to access the power, but now I need to figure out how to control it. This would take some training. I just need to take it easy and relax. If the Empath is correct, then all of my powers will return to me in due time. This realization or rather this acceptance brings a sense of calming peace to me for the moment. If I could sustain for a while then perhaps, I could rest or meditate. I feel wounded for some reason, but I am unsure why. Was I in a battle that I cannot recall? Or perhaps, this injury was caused when my powers were stripped from me. Since I was unconscious when the power stripping took place, I actually have no clue what could have caused it to be quite honest. All I know is that I need to make sense of this and fast. The acceptance begins to fade when I realize a very important fact... Battousai is not here, wherever here is and I need to return to my lord's side. He will need my skills in order to prepare for the next phase in Jun'Jo.

EXP: 222

The Empath gets a damp cloth and wipes my face gently. Once she is done, she lights some incenses to release soothing aromas into the air in order to aid in my requested relaxation and rest. It would not be long after the aromas mix in the room that I would begin to fade. Not in the sense of sleep really or in the way that it would feel when the second consciousness wished to take over control of the body, but this is almost as if I am being summoned somewhere. I am not sure where I am going tho. I close my eyes and just let go. Floating into my own subconscious, I find who I am looking for. The avatar of the second consciousness appears to me and nods slowly. He looks at me and since we are spiritually and physically intertwined now, another mystery as to how that seemed to happen, he can feel what I am feeling at the moment. He speaks, "You have questions I assume. I do not know what took away our powers. Nor do I know why you cannot access the Void, as it is a shared power that we both once possessed. Perhaps, our previous self is more different than our current self than we might have thought. You can manipulate raw mystical energy and your mind is starting to gain control. Slowly build upon that for now. Soon, your mind will be able to access our other powers."

EXP: 261
TEXP: #4 (5 posts)

Nodding to him, I accept his instruction. Things seemed quite different now. I ask him, "What happened at the Core? Why can't I remember anything after fighting there and getting hit in the back of the head by something? Why am I even alive?" The avatar looks at me and tells me to slow down. "Herein lies your difficulty. You are trying to recover and understand everything all at once. You cannot. You could not do it before and even now that you have awakened as Kautuka, the joint consciousness, you are whole, but far from complete. What happened at the Core is that you were forced to understand your limitations. From there, your powers started to grow because I stepped in when you were betrayed. For the first time, I actually felt all of what you felt. You do not recall b/c I blocked it out for you. Now tho, our memories are starting to meld together. The time will soon arrive when you will understand things that have escaped you for years. You will develop powers that you have not even dreamed of and when our symbiosis is complete, you will be a Champion of both our people here in Sunnveil as well as your lord and master. For now, just trust that I have taken care of things."

He looks at me and senses that I was not pleased with his answer at all. The piercing gaze of my eyes let's him know that we would not be leaving until he made things clear, I have no intentions of remaining this weak for long. Within an instant, he appears right in front of me. "We are like mirrors, Kautuka. You relied on the Void. Well now you see what the wind can do. The Void is quite useful, but it holds more limitations shall we say. Let me help you rest." He raises his hand and before I can protest or try to escape, a flick of his wrist towards me sends a twister of wind towards me that envelopes me and seems to transport me somewhere, but I know that I have not moved. I am still within my own mind. The wind fades away and I am... well here, but not here or not now. Are these his memories? I relax and just observe. He tells me that I need to process things a bit slower. Moving around unseen, I come to find my body laying on the ground wounded. I feel a sense of dread for a moment and for that same moment, I feel what it was like to have my powers once again. The dread fades but the feeling of power remains like a blanket of security. This all starts to feel so familiar to me. Suddenly, the dread returns in full force, but before I can do anything to stop it, I am transported back to the Core, but not as myself exactly, it is part of me and yet absent of me...

EXP: 524

The human aspect fades into the recesses of our shared form as the spirit aspect takes complete control. He was upset at the fact that the human's weakness was going to ruin everything. He had abandoned him and allowed him to suffer. He would not aid him for the human went against the spirit's wishes. The spirit wished to bring me forth quickly as it would make them whole finally. That was always the plan after all. Once the human falls upon grave need, the spirit would awaken and begin the melding process. The manipulation of the human is rather bothersome to be honest. While it is not my place to question Mother, I do not understand how or why she allowed this to happen. This devotion to this void demon is disgusting and undeserving. I can understand the spirit's frustration. I cannot help but wonder why she ever allowed me to be created so incomplete that I could not trigger the meld on my own. Such trifles that this form had to endure just seems so unnecessary. I suppose the only plausible reasoning would be to show that I am capable of both good and evil, of serving light or the dark. The only constant seems to be my necessity for final order. Even if my path must create or travel thru chaos, it must end in stability and order. The memory shows the spirit focusing himself to initiate the battle. He is ready to kill for sure. This should be most informative as I am forced to rebuild my powers from scratch. Perhaps, now I can witness any shortcomings and openings in my former fighting style.

I quickly realize what is happening. I asked to know what happened and since both consciousnesses are active within me, I can access both the human consciousness and the spirit. The meld is continuing. But how did this meld even trigger. Realizing that I would not receive that answer just yet, I block the thought out for now as I dive back into the memory of what happened at the Core. I need to have full understanding in order to advance from this. Slowly, my mind blocks out all distractions as I dive back into the second consciousness' memory...

EXP: 421

As my eyes open in full glowing glare, I vanish in an explosive discharge of spatial energy as I dash forward. Turning around, I look at the demonic being standing before me. I must admit that I honestly cannot believe my eyes as I look upon a VERY familiar visage. The glare of the avian pupils sharpens as spatial energy wraps around me into a force field. My hands draw spatial energy to them as it wraps around them like clawed gauntlets. The winds around me pick up violently as the other figure looks at me with a smile. "So it is finally awakened within you. Good, I have been waiting for this to happen, Dravec." He is met with silence. Suddenly, I vanish from sight. Reappearing right in front of him, I palm strike him in the chest knocking him back a few yards. Two orbs appear in each hand and are hurled at him. The first is blocked but the second one hits him in the right side hip. "Our name is not Dravec. You betrayed him and as such, you are our enemy for as long as you can survive. But know this, you will be destroyed without mercy of any sort." The demon looks at me and reaches into the Void. My image flickers backwards as I palm strike his hand as it emerges from the Void. Shaking my head, I look into his eyes. "Bare witness to MY power, demon." The glow of my eyes turns a deep blood red as tears of blood begin to stream down my cheeks as his body lifts into the air. I hold him there as the raw nature of my true essence begins to "leak" out of his mind and thru his body. His defenses break and if I had full access to the reserve of power that I now figure can only be done by union, I could end this, but I am fading fast. I hurl his body towards the corpse of the red coat and the cowardly traitor magus before stumbling. With a loud crow to the sky, I hear an echo before my body is lifted into the air and carried away. Looking up, I nod. "Thank you, Cinos. It is time to take him home. I must rest." The avian spirit carrying my body crows in obedience and continues out of the Core as quickly as possible. I knew that demon was not dead and for now, I would have to seal this memory off as one of mine and not share it. He cannot handle that right now. Not yet...

EXP: 442

At this very moment, all becomes clear. As I fade from the memory within my mind back to the meeting place between the Spirit Aspect and myself, we are joined by the Human Aspect. He had been allowed to witness the events of the Core as well. He is visible crushed by the betrayal and I look at him. The sixteen year old boy that wanted so desperately to make this demon happy as he thought that the demon was a father figure to him. Now that that piece of the puzzle has been made clear, I am able to clarify one of his own memories. The spirit aspect knew the truth all along, but lacking the power to manifest himself, he was trapped in silence. The human aspect looks at me and I tell him that the demon planned and carried out all of it. From the events of Latito, where we were placed to grow up safely, when he was led into the Void that brought him to the Dark Forests. The ploy to make him believe he was going to be sacrificed as a child. He is forced to see what was hidden from him all these years. He falls to the ground and places his hand down to keep himself supported. "Why? Why go thru all of that if it means nothing and it was all a lie?" I look at him and tell him plainly, "Me." He looks up at me with confusion filling his tearful eyes. The spirit aspect clarifies, "He wanted Kautuka. You unfortunately were just the means to acquire him. Kautuka, like all of his kind, are neutral. They have no true preference between good or evil, they are driven by their masters. If their master requires good, then they are so, and the same is true for the opposite. They are also immensely powerful and loyal when their symbiosis is complete. If he and his dark cohorts had such a weapon, they would spread a reign of terror and evil that is not just contained to the Core or the Dark Kingdom, but it would spread like a plague." Standing there, I find myself channeling both of their emotions.

The human aspect goes to speak, but he finds that he cannot. "I have brought you closure, but I no longer require you. I have enough of your essence to maintain what humanity I require. Your weakness endangered me and even you lingering feelings for this demon are a potential threat to me and for that, you are no longer needed." I look at the Spirit Aspect and he extends his hand out towards the human aspect. The human aspect lifts off of the ground clutches at his throat. In the far background of my mind there is orchestral music of some sorts that sounds like "Dun dun dun, dun da dun dun da dun!!" The human aspect bursts into spirit particles that are absorbed into my body. I turn to the Spirit Aspect and nod to him, "Thank you for that. Now, I need you to keep me focused so that I can extract my vengeance upon this demon who thought he would be able to manipulate me into serving darkness. Oh I will show him the truest darkness of the light. I must be strong enough to purge all who stand in the path of my fury and my wrath! Can you do this?" The Spirit Aspect kneels before me and nods, "Yes, Kautuka. I shall ensure that the Meld continues until I am no longer needed." Nodding to the Spirit Aspect, I close my eyes in order to drift out of my psychic realm and return.

It would only be a moment before my eyes open once more to the physical realm. I am floating in the air in a meditative position. The empath looks at me as I extend my body to stretch. Looking back at her, my eyes are more focused than ever before. Speaking to her, my words are direct "I will need to rely on you for a bit longer." She feels my aura flaring at its full power for a moment as she nods to me. If she can repair my energy connections, then that will expedite the demon's termination. I need to train a bit as well. "Please prepare food and drink. There is much that I must do."


EXP: 768

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