Silence
Chapter 1: Silence

Original Date Published: 4/23/03
Current Date: 2/7/05

2 years. Ouchies. I really need to get a move on the story... It will be finished before the end of the year though. Right now I'm trying to keep it to two weeks, but it's obviously going over by a bit. There will prolly be 6 or 7 more chapters, and then it'll be done. :p

So, I didn't edit much. Got rid of the ellipses because there were too many and it detracted from the story by a lot. Changed some of the sentences so that they would sound better, make more sense, and have better syntax. The way the ideas flowed was exactly as I wanted it though, unlike later chapters(which will need a bit more revision) so that's pretty much it.


There is a silence in every one of us. There is a darkness, a muteness waiting to swallow us up. Emotions, they are just steps to that pit beyond. It is the abyss of eternity, of -

"SILENCE!" The word burst out of the Great Healer's mouth angrily. Instantly, the people hushed up.

The Great Healer scowled and looked at the charred post, which held the burnt form of a baby. Murderously he hissed, "Who brought forth this persecution?"

All of a sudden everyone's gaze fell away from the Great Healer, and deigned to look anywhere but on that fiery face. This only served to make the Great Healer, usually calm and kind, more enraged.

"WHO WOULD THINK THEMSELVES HIGH ENOUGH TO HURT AN INNOCENT BABY!"

Still no response came from the people, thoroughly terrified now. But then, one villager's gaze became transfixed on the person standing to the right of the charred post. And then another. And yet another. Soon the whole village was staring at the person. The elderly man with trussed white hair began to sweat, knowing that it was obvious who had tried to destroy the child.

The Great Healers powerful gaze turned to him.

The man made a last-ditch effor to appeal. "B-but, y-your honor, h-h-he c-c-could s-speak from birth! I-it was un- unnatural! He h-had to b-b-be a d-d-demon!"

"Enough." All of a sudden the Great Healer seemed weary. With, slow, plodding steps, he walked up the stairs and untied the blackened ropes, gently scooping up the baby. Silently he walked towards his house, and then paused at the entrance. "It is not my place to hurt, only to heal. The gods will condemn you as they see fit, Mayor." He disappeared into his quiet abode.

Outside, silence still reigned. Then shocked whispers began to run through the crowd.

"You mean, that wasn't a demon?"
"Would the mayor really do such a thing?"

Most of the people there had run to the spot when they had seen the bright orange fire burning at the base of Mount Aleph. The Mayor was there along with Kyle and Dora, with Kyle and Dora pleading for their child's life as the Mayor roughly lashed the baby to the post. Kyle had been ready to sock the Mayor in the face, stopped only by the fact that it was forbidden to harm another citizen of Vale.

The burning had already started by the time the villagers got there, so that when the Mayor told them he was burning a demon, they couldn't tell whether it really was a demon, or something else entirely. Such was the scene when the Great Healer came out, startled by all the people rushing past his house.

Kyle stared at the sanctuary into which his son had disappeared, then dropped to his knees to comfort the weeping Dora. Sorrowfully she whispered to him, "Our son."

He stroked her back, not caring about such a display of affection in the public, and murmured into her ear, "It'll be okay. Don't worry. Isaac's tougher than that. He's gifted. After all, the first thing he did when he was born was to say the word 'momma,' wasn't it?"

A smile lit her face at that cherished memory, until the clouds of worry darkened her face again. "But what if."

"Don't worry about what ifs," Kyle said firmly. "As long as Isaac lives, everything will be alright. And Isaac will live." Dora leaned against him, comforted for now. But inside them both, even the hope that Isaac would live had been distinguished, when they had seen the utterly burnt body that had not emitted a single sound through the entire ordeal.

As for the tiny child being talked about, currently he was wrapped in a dry towel, sleeping on the Great Healer's bed. The Great Healer had tried to heal as many of the burns as possible, but some of them were just too severe.

Sadly he looked at the softly breathing baby. "Ah, why are humans so cruel, little one? Why should they hurt what they do not understand, why should they try to destroy the gifted and beautiful? All I can ask of you is to take pity on them, for they do not understand the tranquility of peace, nor the beauty of innocence. Find some way to forgive them in your heart, and forget whatever you were thinking on this terrible day."


Serpents, slithering through the fire. Coming to consume him, coming to burn him. Skeletons jumping out in green flashes, a horrible orchestra of century-old rusting blades and crumbling bones. He was stuck in a deep pit of dank earth, with frosty ice spikes running along its walls. Lightning rained down from above, and the thunder boomed in terrible voices. Up above the wind howled and moaned, a horror Isaac could not escape from, with a towering circle of fire encompassing the area around him.

Rotting zombies that stank of feces stumbled along wandering paths, burning if they came into contact with the circle of fire. Harpies with sharp steel wings flapped through the air, screeching out glass-breaking cries. A three- headed Cerberus suddenly leaped out from the fire and snapped at him, grazing his soft forehead, then sprinted off again to its unknown destination.

Isaac whimpered at this sudden pain and curled up into as small of a ball as his already small form could allow. This was hell, and he was in it before he knew its meaning.

A great crashing noise that shook the ground caused Isaac to peek out from behind his minute knees. A large crevice opened up in the pit walls, and stomping through it was.

He. It was a towering monstrosity, its skin a leathery black. Sinews seemed ready to burst out of every part of its body, and pulsed disgustingly just under the skin. Spikes curved from every joint on it, with the two on its shoulder rising over its head and crossing with each other.

Its head sported large flaps of leathery skin on each side of its head, with a slit of an ear situated just under the flaps. Ruby red eyes glittered from the two sockets on its dragon-like head, reflecting the fire that surrounded this entire abyss in its crystal inhumanity. Its nostrils were also like slits, pointing at each other to form a "v" shape. The upper teeth of its mouth overlapped the lower. Each tooth was curved in the shape of a wicked saber. The upper teeth were at least five times the size of Isaac, while the lower were still at least three times the size of the baby floating in the darkness. The mouth, partly open, stank of a rotting things, and a black-red tongue poked out of its mouth occasionally. Great droplets of blood dripped from its sturdy yet yellow teeth, and decaying bits on its gums dropped off constantly.

Its body was covered with a once white vest, now stained with blood. Even the unbreakable titanium under the white cloth had become tainted with blood, a sickening mixture of black and red. A skull was placed in the socket of its chest. Oily black tendrils poked out and retreat across the skull as tiny red rubies glittered out from its eye sockets. The skull's lower jaw was set so that the skull smiled, but it was a terrible smile, one that spoke of vice, misery, and insanity.

The rest of the demon's body was covered by monstrous spikes and diamond- like scales. A gargantuan tail protruded out of its rear end, rising up above the demon's head and spikes. The tail was split into four ends. There was a glistening bone spike tearing out of each end, each spike dripping a different kind of putrid poison.

Isaac felt himself being lifted up by a dark magic, and a horrible bellowing voice rang inside his head.

WHO ARE YOU?

/I am Isaac./

ARE YOU REALLY?

Tigers roared in agony, wolves howled in pain, all in his mind, all in his mind...

/I am... I-I-Isaa.../

A bright yellow light, emitted from the center of the tower, an embodiment of the earth's power. A fight between five, a battle for one. The power of earth roars its fury as the contestants fight.

/I am.../

A great two-headed dragon, rising up to meet him, ready to kill him. The winds howl and the stones shake, an ancient power in flux. An agonized cry, coming from someone he knows but hasn't met. A sword, whistling through the air.

/I.../

Blood, seeping through the age old cracks in the stone, milling around eddies and swirls of dust. Dead, they are, bloody carcasses ripped and mauled into obscured pieces. Red hair becomes an even fiercer red as it soaks up blood like a mop. Eyeballs roll in the sickening red as their blond-haired owner lays spread-eagled across the worn stones. Long blue hair whips around everywhere, their pure blue tendrils now drenched with blood. Her face still retains its pristine beauty, even as her open mouth spills blood everywhere. A seal is broken.

/I.../

A fight between two, a battle for one. He is the only person left standing. Black wings rip out of his back, black gauntlets infused with burning blades appear on his wrists. A brooch of cackling skulls attaches itself to him. His messy hair becomes mussed up even more as it whips around him, his eyes glowing an ice red. An aura of hell encircles him. It is a day of reckoning.

/Don't./

A great dragon falls, brought down by a hell blade. He falls to his knees, hands covered completely with the dark blood of the dragon. Misery and pain take over as he contemplates his once alive companions. Slowly, his glowing red eyes harden into completely iced blue ones. Suddenly, he gets up, cackling murderously. Insanely he stumbles away, a person who's mind has finally collapsed and given itself up to hell, a mind that has finally been torn into shreds of insanity by terrible tragedies.

/Know.../

The great demon smiled maliciously at this answer, and hissed sadistically at Isaac.

You are mine now, little one. You do not have a name. You do not know who you are. You are-

Silence.


Kyle and Dora watched anxiously as the Great Healer inspected Isaac for problems. As soon as the Great Healer straightened his back, he was bombarded by the couple with questions.

"Is there something wrong with him?"
"Will he be all right?"

The Healer smiled gently and reassured them, "There's nothing wrong with him. These burns may take a while to heal, but only the one on his back will be permanent."

The two relaxed visibly.

The Great Healer then frowned. "Unfortunately, Isaac will never speak again. There was something wrong with the element in his speech. A great disturbance had taken place there, one that I cannot heal, so that Isaac will be a mute for the rest of his life."

Dora almost seemed ready to have another breakdown, but instead just murmured to Kyle, "He'll never speak again. Our darling gifted child, he'll never say another word again."

Kyle just stood there stoically, then turned his head and muttered to Dora, "Hey, it's better than we hoped for."


He was lost. He was falling. He was trapped. Suddenly, a dark force took hold of him and yanked him out of the confines of his mind, only to leave him sitting before something he feared even more than his own darkness.

The demon was back again. Lava seeped from the imprints of its feet as it stretched out a hand and started raising him up, up, and up.

Before he left the fiery pit, the demon gave him one last message.

You are going back now, Silence. You have a task to complete. But remember this. Do not speak. Do not touch. Do not feel. A great tragedy shall befall you should you disobey. Or perhaps you should. Here the demon smiled. If you do-

You will be mine once again.


Um, yeah. Why couldn't be cooler and allow spacers the way I want them? Allow proper HTML? Allow proper asterisk-commentthingys! .:tears hair out:.
Garet:Calm down! .:looks worried:.
Kamui:Or I shall chop your head off! .:wields sword and stands in heroic position:.
Garet:.:sweatdrop:. Somehow, I don't think that will help...