Hecate [IC]

[Aix]

Alas when the sun first peaked above the horizon, and its light hit her through the slits amidst the trees knocking her from her trance, Hecate felt like she had woken from a bad dream. Nightmares did not bother her once the sun was up, they never did, not when she was a child, and definitely not now. She would forget about them minutes after she woke, pushing away her fear as an irrational thing of the night, but this was not a dream which she could escape or forget about. Very real, and very substantial, the undeniable evidence of the night before lay strewn across the forest floor.

 

In the morning sun, they resembled little of the monsters of the night before. They looked to be naught but ordinary men and women, yet in their prime. They could not have been much older than Hecate was, though so long as they survived, they would be in their prime indefinitely - they had centuries, if not an eternity, of youth to look forwards to. But Hecate knew what the future held was not as pleasant as it sounded, and few Fausts really lived that long. They would go mad, or lose control, and the slightest slip could lead to disaster.

 

 

They were beginning to stir. Just as the dawn had done to her, the warm light of the sun woke them in the chilly morning air. The first to wake was a rat-like man with greasy brown hair. Indeed, Hecate recalled he had taken on the form of a rat demon the night before. He asked her a question, but soon turned away as if uninterested to play with rats. Then, a screech broke the air, coming from a white-haired woman, who stood up in fright as she took in the scene. The third of them, a young man with a long mane of gold hair, sat up and merely looked around in confusion before addressing Hecate. She supposed she would have some explaining to do.

 

Dead? No, they were not dead. One of the women who woke seemed to freak out slightly at the notion, and asked her questions in rapid succession. Who are you? How did we get here? You know something don't you?

 

Hecate sighed, feeling a stab of annoyance, but she calmed herself and realized the woman's reaction was natural. However, she could not contain herself further when another cry destroyed the quiet morning, and brought Hecate a headache in her weariness. "Shut up you piss-haired shit!" she cried as she stood up. She regretted it almost immediately, as her back ached tremendously from her terrible posture. Her bad mood now fully triggered, she scowled and continued to yell. "All of you wake up, because I'll only explain this once!" Her voice was still hoarse, but she carried on. "It would seem that the lot of you had the good sense to sell your soul to me," she said. "And your good choices have fortunately, gotten you out of a particularly painful death at the stake. On the other hand, as you may begin to remember now, you've turned into a bunch of monsters.

 

"Monsters. Whatever worthless lives you've lead before no longer matter now," said Hecate. "Because from now on, you'll be following me. I hold your souls, remember? And if not for me, you'd be rampaging in the countryside by now, slaughtering your countrymen until you meet an unfortunate death at the end of a Witch Hunter's spear. Because you're monsters."

 

She realized that was not a particularly good explanation, but she was too tired to think straight.

 

"Monsters... the lot of you. You're a monster now, understand?"

[The Warden]

"Monsters... the lot of you. You're a monster now, understand?"

 

Gaecy snorted at how hard Hecate was trying to be intimidating. It's like when a child puts on daddy's jacket and pretends to be him. And then Gaecy would have murdered that child for being tedious. "So?" he declared loudly. "All those things you've said, I was pretty much that for the vast majority of my fucking life. I'm actually still pretty pissed off that you dragged me away from murdering those dumb cunts back at the fucking castle. I have absolutely no fucking problem with following you around if I get to kill as much as I did last night" he replied, clearly unphased by Hecate's little revelation.

[Tesability Black]

"Shut up you piss-haired $hit!"

Being so close to the sudden outburst startled the man awake from his sudden passout spell, his heart racing slightly as he tried to regather his wits. Shaking his head slightly, he managed to get himself into a sitting position, grabbing his hair with one of his unusually-warm hands and slightly pressing against his skull to try and alleviate his pounding headache.

"All of you wake up, because I'll only explain this once!" He stopped moving upon hearing the voice and how close it was, the heat emitted from his body negated what cold wind was around just enough to prevent him from noticing yet that he was completely exposed to the world. He turned his head and saw, for the first time with his human eyes, the very reason he was out of that cage. He wasn't sure about the others, but he could remember most of what had happened, but the memories felt...disconnected...as if it wasn't him that created them. He still felt somewhat disconnected, as if this thought wasn't affecting him as much as it should be. "It would seem that the lot of you had the good sense to sell your soul to me," she said. "And your good choices have fortunately, gotten you out of a particularly painful death at the stake."

That wasn't the only thing this had gotten him out of, he thought to himself as she continued talking. "On the other hand, as you may begin to remember now, you've turned into a bunch of monsters.

"You made this monster." He remembered that line clearly toward that one guard, even though it had been barked out, which made him wonder for a second how he could have done that. He suddenly found himself licking his teeth after the though, to which he found something out-of-place.

Four of his teeth, all of them inscisors, had grown slightly-longer and sharper, probably to puncture something with as well as the taste of blood that clearly wasn't his own. He's coughed up his own blood enough times to know that specific taste. While he could remember draining the guard of his blood right before the craven asshat died, he had no idea why his teeth were altered. It was strange, something to figure out another time.

"Monsters. Whatever worthless lives you've lead before no longer matter now," said Hecate. "Because from now on, you'll be following me. I hold your souls, remember? And if not for me, you'd be rampaging in the countryside by now, slaughtering your countrymen until you meet an unfortunate death at the end of a Witch Hunter's spear. Because you're monsters."

"Monsters... the lot of you. You're a monster now, understand?"

"Ma'am, it's hard to be phased by this kind of news when you're sentenced for execution for being a Faust," he said point-blankly as he tried to stand up, looking down toward his arms for a moment and finally realizing he was no longer wearing a shirt of any sort. Seeing this, he looked upon the rest of himself, realizing that the only thing on his person was his unique pendant. All of the scars that he had gained from being in that accursed prison, all the slashes and punctures and bruises he acquired were now in full view. If someone was to take a good look at his right leg, they would actually see that the lower half was not properly-straight, as if it had been broken at one point, then hastily-healed. "And what happened to my clothes?"

Whatever emotion he would have had in his voice sounded suppressed. Only a hint of surprise and confusion escaped when anyone else would have been in a full-blown panic by now. It was almost as if someone else was keeping him from losing his mind just yet...

[Maeriberii Haan]

"Monsters... the lot of you. You're a monster now, understand?"

 

Right.. No, that's not right!

 

I am not a monster!
 

I'm just...I

 

I don't know...

 

People said that I am a monster for all that I have done.

 

But, but...

 

-I only did what I was supposed to,

I did something good!

 

So why?

 

Why did they look at me with such fearful eyes?
Why did they speak about me with such distance?

 

It was as if they were looking at something inhuman…

 

but...I'm still human, am I?

 

 

Right?

 

....

 

I'm no longer human, no?

 

...

----

 

Watching the scene in front of her unfolding, no clear expression could be seen from Alisa's mask-like face. As Hecate frantically explained her and other's current predicament, she didn't seem to react at all physically.

 

She just stood there in silent, listening to her and the other's reaction to her statement. Letting no one else knowing what's inside her mind, what she actually felt about her fate, she instead decided to look around and see among the naked bunch of people to see if any of them could steal her attention. She noticed a girl in ragged clothing, among several young men, as the ones that she felt to be quite the most attractive out of the bunch. Still standing silently, she now shifted her attention away from Hecate for a while, and watched those people as she weighed her decision of whether she should try approaching them or not.

 

"If dying at the end of a spear is our eventual fate, I guess there's no reason not to enjoy the time that we have left in this world."

[Super Chaos Sonic]

The Lament

 

The sun began to rise upon those who had followed the voice of this "siren", as Ywain was awoken quickly by a shout.

 

"Shut up you piss-haired shit!"

 

He quickly sat up, seeing her...that "siren" that called to him. Not only this, he noticed he wasn't exactly clothed. But before he could try to scramble for something to cover himself up, as he preferred not to be exposed like this in front of a lady such as this, he heard her speak once more.

 

"All of you wake up, because I'll only explain this once! It would seem that the lot of you had the good sense to sell your soul to me, and your good choices have fortunately, gotten you out of a particularly painful death at the stake. On the other hand, as you may begin to remember now, you've turned into a bunch of monsters. Monsters. Whatever worthless lives you've lead before no longer matter now, because from now on, you'll be following me. I hold your souls, remember? And if not for me, you'd be rampaging in the countryside by now, slaughtering your countrymen until you meet an unfortunate death at the end of a Witch Hunter's spear. Because you're monsters.

 

"Monsters... the lot of you. You're a monster now, understand?"

 

The young knight of the Vale stopped as he heard this. He looked at his hands, before slowly recalling the events that took place prior. They were even more vivid than they were when he took his slumber that night...and his response then was the same as now...but even more correct. "I-I've become...a monster...such as that of my father." These words escaped the young knight's mouth as he slowly lowered his hands, as they gripped the grassy terrain beneath him.

 

The monster...the inner demon he now possessed within him...was brought upon him by this woman. She made him even more like his father as a monster. However, he remembered that he chose not to kill the first guard he came across...though the others that struck at him he did not. Why was this? Ywain knew the answer...he was unarmed...and he was taught never to strike down anyone unarmed. His chivalrous actions of his knightly trainings remained through...this, of course, caused the young knight to speak up...

 

"I do not understand your reasoning for this, milady..." he began, as he looked at Hecate, before returning his gaze to the grassy terrain. "You have my gratitude for releasing me from the bonds I had found myself in. Unfortunately, I am afraid that if those within the Vale found out about this...I truly would be beheaded on the spot...being a witch or not. I prefer not to follow the life my father once led...which brought him to the place of that dungeon to die. No, I...with heavy regrets about going missing from the Knights of the Vale...will follow...if only to find a way to make use of this curse you have brought upon me..."

[Andx]

Painful memories began forcing their way into Kyra's mind as she heard Hecate's explanation of things. She saw bits and pieces of the previous night and how she had gotten into the forest. The transformation in particular horrified her as she began to recall. And the sight of so many men murdered. Men she had viciously slain with her own hands. She remembered bits of what it had felt like being in that state but with every memory that returned she felt to deny the truth of them more and more. Kyra fell to her knees clutching her head with both hands hoping to somehow make the images go away.

 

"No it's not true. It's not. I can't have done those things. I can't be a monster..." she muttered mostly to herself. She could feel the start of tears in her eyes as the she continued to try and make sense of what she'd be told. She had been falsely accused of witchcraft and desired to live to see the one she loved again. But now if what the woman said was true, she was actually guilty of witchcraft. This whole time she had clung to the truth of her innocence. But with that gone, what good was escaping one imprisonment?

 

"This isn't what I wanted," she began slightly more audibly though not really directed at anyone in particular. "That voice was the hope I'd begged for, it can't have turned out like this."

[Mugendramon]

"Well, I see." That was all Gregory could muster, before the pain in his gut forced him onto the ground and into fetal position. He tried to cover his mouth as he helplessly released the shining goo he had been spewing for the past few hours. His eyes were wide with shock for a moment, closing and tightening soon after. This went on for a while, finally subsiding and allowing the man to sit back up, hands always covering the right spot.

 

"I suppose... no, it's the only way," he shuddered, shifted his eyes in disbelief still; "that we could have possibly made it out in a group like this, with no serious wounds on any of us...

 

...but-" Another violent retch forced his hands in front of him, twisting his body in a sort of bow toward the woman; "That poses more questions than it answers." He raised his head, and with newly raised eyebrows he stared this person right in the eye.

 

"For instance," he raised one hand, balancing his weight on the other, and gestured across the grass directly below his mouth. There was nothing out of the ordinary to be seen. "What is this stuff coming out of me, and where is it going?"

 

Gregory could tell that with these many people speaking at once there would be no immidiate answer, and he was fine with that. He felt at ease, strangely enough; he had fixed a problem that was a complete dead end! He had had a little help from this person and for that he was impressed, but he was still safe from death and could live on to find that bastard.

 

So he could learn the rest from him.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Though at first decidedly upset that his hair had been compared to urine in color, Ignace could do little else but listen as the woman, their pied piper as it turned out, revealed what had become of them.  While many of the others might have claimed a lack of knowledge of what was being promised them, or some lack of knowledge of the night before as they had entered a dream-like state...he could not claim the same.  All it took was that single reminder that he had sold his soul in exchange for his life to bring it all rushing back to him at once.  Every moment from the time he agreed to the deal to the very moment when he had collapsed there in the campsite came back to him.  The memory not only of the vast difference between the way he had perceived the world, but also what he had done that night, made him sick to his stomach.
 
It was perhaps a fortunate thing that he had already thrown up, and thus that the last remains of his meal from the night before could not be retched out onto the ground, but that didn't stop him from bending over and dry heaving at the ground for several minutes after everything had been decided.  He truly could not take this quite as well as those around him could, but eventually his body stopped trying to empty itself given that it had nothing left to empty.  All the same, even now he felt...stronger.  He felt like he was in better shape than he had been in the whole of his life, and for better or worse he was stuck in this situation with those people around him.  He sighed, collected his thoughts, and then took a moment to speak.
 
"What she says is true," he began in response to those few that didn't seem able to accept it, "I remember everything that happened last night quite clearly.  As far as clothing is concerned," he looked in the direction of the now standing naked young man and quickly averted his eyes.  The young blacksmith wasn't in much better condition concerning scars than he was, but those on his own body were mostly burns from sparks or the odd accident in the forge, "that is indeed a problem.  One we need to solve sooner rather than later."  With some difficulty he managed to stand, and thus exposed himself in much the same way as the other one who was standing.  Unfortunately for their mistress, he was facing her when he stood up and took the time to stretch out enough that he felt like he could walk without too much pain.
 
"I happen to have a solution for it, by the way," he finally stated after several long seconds of stretching.  Hecate was spared the look of his front in all of Titania's glory and the rest of the group got to see it now.  "For a good bit of time, I have been a blacksmith of significant renown here in The Vale.  As it happens, I made my residence in that town we recently escaped from.  As it happens, I lived towards the edge of town.  Less chance of burning the whole place down if an accident occurs in my smithy.  Anyways, it's not been more than a fortnight by my reckoning since I was put in there, and so it's likely that a good bit of supplies still remain in my home.  It might not be the best of ideas, returning to the place we spent the better part of last night breaking out of, but unless anyone can come up with a better way for us to clothe ourselves and gather up some food then it seems to be our only option."  He sighed as he finished speaking, not liking that he'd had to speak to a group of strangers while naked.  Thus it was that he quickly dropped back down to the ground where he'd been sitting earlier and covered himself while doing his best not to think about his exposed state.  Furthermore, he was very strongly hoping that someone else had a much less risky idea than going back into town...but he doubted they did.  If nothing else, he could at least collect [His Father's Hammer] if they ended up having to take that route.

[Aix]

Hecate stepped back and realized how suddenly these people had been shoved into this situation. A few of them seemed to handle this news just fine, they were people who were already very mentally unsound she suspected, but the rest of them wore their anguish clear in their eyes. Clearing her throat, she was about to speak again, but she was interrupted by the boy she had just called piss-haired earlier who took it upon himself to address the crowd. Somewhat glad for his stepping in, she leaned back against the tree in exhaustion.

 

The boy suggested they return to the town to procure some clothing and supplies. By all means, it may well be the best course of action for now. She stood straight again when the boy finished talking, collecting herself with those few moments of respite. Her tone this time was more properly authoritative with only the barest tremor of exhaustion. "We shall do that. None of us are in any state to go anywhere right now. The town isn't too far, they didn't chase us last night. I doubt they'd expect us to return right back, but we should suspect a patrol nonetheless." She paused in thought. Her nerves had soothed significantly now that day had come, and the exhaustion hit her with full force. "I don't think it will be well for all of us to go, it would be hard to move discreetly with a large group of... naked people," she said, slumping backwards. "You." She referred to the blacksmith, deciding not to call him piss-hair this time. "And you." She looked towards the rat-like man, creasing her eyebrows together. "You two go."

[Tesability Black]

Speaking of clothes...

 

He looked down upon himself and his naked form, a slight grimace falling upon his face after he did. He wasn't exactly all that well-endowed and now everyone here could see that. Closing his eyes and stretching his hands out slightly to either side of him, he began to whisper a rather-faint incantation that he was relatively sure no one around him would know what he was saying, even if they could hear him. Only one understandable word was in the entire incantation, the name of the Goddess, making it almost like a prayer.

 

He managed not to cry out in sudden pain as cloth and leather began to form around him, starting with dark-brown leather boots on his feet, which crawled up into  light-brown thick-cloth pants, then the simple white peasant's shirt around his chest underneath the pendant with the glowing ivory dove. After he finished...he fell forward, onto his hands and knees from the pain that threatened to overwhelm him, especially in his head.

 

"That...was way harder than it was supposed to be..."

 

(And...there's the obligatory attempt at Church Magic.)