Sovereign Host: Legion -- Chp 3*

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

"I am Kennen Stormheart," he said. "Or was that a serious question?"

The yordle got a bit more guarded. He didn't remember much, but after realizing that he was in some kind of dream, there was another memory slowly trickling in. It was still vague, but more than enough. This was the mindscape. And some vulpine entity once tried to take him over from this space using trickery. He had also been stripped of all his memories that time. It wasn't much, but what little he recalled so far was vital. The fact that the other yordle claimed to have the same name as he was very alarming. As was the fact that there was even some other entity with him in this mindscape. What was strange to him... in all these memories he had regained so far, he remembers having brown fur, usually hidden under purple robes. Exactly as the opposing yordle. And he himself was looking differently. White, unpainted... blank. Like his mind at the beginning. It's not hard to change one's appearance in a dream. So, it's not far off to assume one can change the appearance of someone else as well. This might be a thought through ruse. Was he dealing with some demonic entity in disguise? Only waiting to get the jump on him? To steal his body? Demons arereally hard to deal with. Impossible to get a read on. They have a lot of weapons, including words. Formidable liars and orators. Even if he tried to blow his cover there is a good chance he would just talk his way out instead of attacking.

"O-oh..."

The albino sighed, arms hanging low as he looked gloomily.

"Here I was thinking I finally recalled my name... but as it turns out... I can't actually remember anything..."

"Nobody remembers "nothing"," said the masked yordle. "Even blanked by heavy fog, the land remains. One need only wait for the noonday sun or stiff wind to make clear the path."

The albino exhaled deeply, relaxing a bit. Might be nothing but paranoia after all. His words were soothing, reassuring. A calm presence. The albino looked back at the ninja.

"This... is obviously not the real world. Do you know where we are..?"

Encouraged, the yordle tried harder to remember, focusing on various aspects of what he could recall so far.

The masked one leaned forward. "In danger," he said. "And if you don't do something about it, neither of us is going to last much longer."

That sounded serious. And yet, he had no real clue on what was really going on. As he was focusing on these few revealed spots within his fogged memories, something peaked his attention. That evil mage 'he' fought... he remembers his white-furred face. The yordle's eyes go wide, hands quickly reaching up to his forehead, feeling for obsidian horns. There were none. He glances back and down, finding a short yordle tail where he expected to find a snake. Disturbingly alike. Apart from these missing features that is. That mage... was that him? In the back of his mind, another name surfaced.

"Veigar..." He whispers to himself. Was that his name? It couldn't be. That malicious expression on the mage's face. Was that really him? With that, the albino had reached the point. The cloud dispersed as rapidly as he began to remember now. He stared with wide eyes and blank expression of into space, information streaming in before he looked back at the ninja and got caught on one specific scene. The vivid memory of burning hate and fury as his aching body, commanded by the evil sorcerer, hit the ninja with clawed slash after slash, wielding magic beyond his comprehension, each following attack growing more severe. An inevitable onslaught, carving deeper and deeper into flesh before he was allowed to fall into a pool of his own blood. Asriel began to shake uncontrollably, his arms and legs feeling weaker than ever before. He looked away, burying his face as he curled up into a ball. Why..? The albino gritted his teeth, unable to fight back tears, warmly streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..."

He felt terrible. Horrible. He was deeply sorry for what he had done to the ninja. But what was even worse... it had been like ecstasy in that moment. That feeling of dominance, of absolute power. The shaking intensified to a shudder.

"...so sorry..."


[Given where and how deep Asriel is, I kinda picture that Kennen can actually see bits of these memories as Asriel remembers, just like Asriel had remembered bits from Kennen.]

The sigh of a cold breeze brought a chill over the mage; carrying with it a number of dead leaves that stretched between the two yordles.

"The time for apologies and grievances must wait," said Kennen. "You do not willingly serve Veigar, do you?"

Asriel could see his own breath now. The greenery of the scene had faded to browns and yellows. In the distance, mountains, too, had arisen, where once there had been none at all.

The yordle tried to hold it in, looking back up to the ninja with an expression of sombre disbelief. A lone "What?" was all he managed at first, the mere thought of there being anyone who would willingly serve this maniac confounding him. After a short pause he added, "No, of course not!" He felt offended by Kennen's mere assumption, but eventually realized that it must have certainly looked that way. Asriel's eyes then widened at another realization. That brown-furred ninja-yordle was Kennen Stormheart. One of the few yordles to gain the status of a hero. He had heard a number of stories about his idol, listened to them feverishly. Never had he expected to actually meet him... nor to nearly kill him. Another, stronger and colder shudder seized his body. He rubbed himself for some warmth. So even he could not defeat Veigar in combat.

"I tried to stop him..."

He really did. And eventually succeeded, if only barely. Kennen could have been dead by now, as would have been the old Asriel.

"...many times..."

His thoughts wandered to Beldyr and the day it began. Veigar was playing with him, 'fighting', before that purple-black miasma he consisted of seeped into him, trying to take not only his body, but mind and soul. It was supposed to be his rebirth. His reincarnation. And it certainly would had been, if it hadn't been for the serpentine demon to wrestle the dark sorcerer down. From them on, it had been quite a fight to fend off Veigar's influence. The albino's eyes focused on Kennen again, the pictures of the severely injured, beaten yordle coming back with a strong sense of guilt and concern.

"How are you doing? Are... are you alright..?"

The ninja gave a sidelong glanced at sheet of hoarfrost growing up his arm.

"...I've been better," he said. "If you weren't here, though, I would be dead. As it is, we're both dying. Sharing my body, I can focus on keeping us alive - but that means I'm going to have to trust you to get us someplace safe."

From what Kennen had told him and how things are looking, the ninja had no choice but to trust him. And Asriel did want to help him. He really did. But something made him feel queasy. He had left his body, or rather 'escaped' it, before, taking control over the body of a purplish moogle. During that entire time, there had been not a single memory from Mog that he had recalled. This time, however, he had recalled a fair share of memories that were not his own, 'remembering' Kennen's name, and even thinking that it was his own, before his actual name. And that one sentence, stuck from the moment he woke up here, ever-present, gnawing at the back of his mind: I mustn't go back. He was not quite sure what to make of it right now, but he knew he had messed up real big-time.

By now, Asriel had gotten used to sharing his body. But sharing the body of someone else, especially this way, like a parasite, felt horrible. Wrong. Right now, he was to Kennen, what the demon had been to him at the beginning. To double the irony, the ninja is asking him to get them someplace safe when that is all he had been looking for this entire year of misfortune, and seemingly found it within Kennen's body.

"I promise to do my best. We can get through this together."

Asriel noticed the growing hoarfrost on the ninja, the sense of guilt and concern intensifying.

"I'm sorry... I really am so terribly sorry..."

The albino hesitantly approached Kennen with open arms, offering a warm embrace, though keeping distance to not force it on the ninja if he didn't want to.

When Asriel began making his way forward, the cold began sinking into him. His right ankle went numb, then his left arm. The wind was a beast howling in his ears, whose frostbite gnawed and burned cold beneath the albino's fur. With his one good arm, he reached out to Kennen. Both yordles were shrouded in ice, all save for their faces and the sovereign host's outstretched finger tips. Asriel's vision blurred - his breath caught in his throat. Just another inch!

...

A violent gasp filled aching lungs as rain pounded the earth into mud. Mud that caked under fingernails and exposed flesh. Everything hurt, especially near the ribcage. The taste of blood drowned out all else, but gave focus, something to center the mind. With their one good arm, the figure pushed themselves up from the muck, only to look down at the puddle they'd been languishing in. And there, they fell upon the reflection of a masked yordle, bedecked in purple from head to toe.

The already dulled rain grew quieter, almost completely vanishing into the far distance, his gaze fixated, captivated, by the bright electric blue eyes that stared back. A sudden flash of white before pictures so vivid. Memories of people and places he had never seen or been to. And yet they were so familiar. So familiar, that the mere thought of not remembering their names or the time spent caused his heart to ache. He screwed up his eyes and shook his aching head before opening them again.

No.

Emerging from recollection, the cold splatter of rain returned to its original intensity. Loud and heavy. As was his unsteady breath. Shakingly, he raised their numbed, left arm to their face, finding the yordle in the puddle to do the same. Yet, this was not his reflection. Nor were these his memories. He knew. But still. It was disconcerting. Blurring his sense of self. For how long would he be able to differentiate? The yordle closed his weary eyes, regulating his breathing and taking in their surroundings with senses other than sight.

...

The land, wounded, more spiritually than physically, seemed to be mourning. Yet it was assuring to have the steady earth beneath them to stand and move forward on. The rain from above, to wash away pain and bring life. The wind around, carrying whispered secrets and leading the way. When the yordle opened his eyes again, his gaze fell upon soaked fabric. He lowered his gaze to meet the vibrant blue eyes of their reflection.

"Let's do this, Kennen;" he whispered with a weak smile before forcing himself onto shaking feet. It seemed difficult at first, but especially after the first few steps, the pain moved from the legs into the background, making it a lot more bearable. With every step getting steadier, they walked towards the familiar fabric. It was Asriel's traveling clothes. Soaked and probably even dirtier than before. They must have lost it in the battle. Since Veigar had basically forced the albino to wear his attire, it hadn't seen much use. The fact that it was such a familiar garb gave it incredible value in their current situation. Something to anchor himself with. Something to remember himself. Asriel looked down to where he had bitten Kennen with the snake tail to escape Veigar's grasp. The fact that he was still in Kennen's body without the demonic tail connected was a terrible omen.

"Please... hang on..."

Despite how hard Asriel had fought for his survival up until now, he never would want to drown out others for his own existence, especially not Kennen. A heroic character like Kennen simply has to prevail. The stories he heard and read, the hero always wins. Rather would he himself cease...

Asriel picked up the soaked clothes and took a thorough look around, hoping for any signs from Vyke or his original body. Not that there was much left to be found with that heavy rain, the yordle eventually made his way, looking for shelter or a place that could possibly hold supplies. Food, bandages, anything. They need safety and time.

(Oi... can you hear me..?)

Used to being able to communicate with the demons he had shared his body with, Asriel tried to reach out to the ninja.

[Roll Composure + Empathy, with a +4 from circumstance, but a -2 from injuries.]

[10,7,6,1,8,1 -> 10 ->7]

Concentration proved difficult in such a weakened state, yet the mage persevered, and reached out to the soul of the ninja he now inhabited. Perhaps it was cruel jest, then, that none save their shared heartbeat answered, strong though it was.