Title: Comptina Daemonia

Fandom: Terraria

Rating: T

Summary: An exercise in perspective. You think nothing of the man who asks you for your name.

Warnings: Depictions of violence, mercy killing, use of second person narrative, character death, gratuitous use of Latin, gratuitous Biblical symbolism...

Words: ~1700 words

Other: This fic is my baby okay? I love it to bits, no matter how confusing it is. Finally posted here. :P

Disclaimer: I don't own Terraria.

Latin

comptina daemonia - Demon's Lullaby

ab initio - From the beginning

ad infinitum - Without an end; to infinity; without limit

Comptina Daemonia

An exercise in perspective.

You think nothing of the man who asks you for your name.

"Hello [name]," he says. "I am the Guide. And I..." Here, he pauses. Hesitation. When he speaks next, you notice that his voice is softer, a silky quality to it. "I will lead you on your journey." And in a voice so soft that you think you imagined it, he adds:

And you will end mine.

ab initio

Your name is Wyatt and you have lived many lives.

You are pretty little child, bright grey eyes and unruly golden locks of hair that caress your soft brown cheeks. A quiet child, you cling to your mother's hand when They come, warm smiles and cold eyes, deep soothing baritones which whisper sweet nothings into your mother's ear. A beckoning hand that holds exotic pets from strange lands ("It's a demon, boy, a demon. Won't you pet him?"), a flex and the hint of a blade hidden within the depths of a cloak. You hide behind your mother, eyes wide, holding tightly onto Dolly. And then, one day, it ends. What follows is the start of destruction, ad infinitum.

An offer: Be ours.

A whisper: You don't want to refuse.

A misunderstanding: We'll kill her.

An agreement: I hate you. But I'll do as you wish goes unspoken, because they already know.

A contract: The deal is done.

The pet-demon-contract creature takes flight, the pretty doll carefully tucked into its claws. Let's tell the story from the beginning... It whispers, a smile on its dead and decaying flesh.

secundus

"Nathaniel, help me out here!" she yells, wind whipping auburn hair into her eyes, and she takes a moment to angrily brush it out of her face. You take the moment to admire her beauty. She gives an indignant huff, annoyed at your delay, but despite her irritation, you can see the smile in her eyes. You pass the box over to her, and smile as she handles it with ease. "I can't believe we're finally moving in together," she says and smiles again. You know that she is not smiling at you. She is, but she is not. She stares beyond you, seeing something that you cannot see. You know at that moment, that she, just as you are, remembering the night of the massacre. There is a wistful tone in her voice when she speaks again and it speaks of longing and regret. Of missed opportunities. "We'll save the world. Together." The bitterest part of it all is that you know she is speaking to you, and yet she is not.

tertius

"Seth..." The desperate, begging tone is unlike that of your normally cheerful partner, who usually has an easy going smile on his face that eases people, calms them. "Please..." he asks. You can see his eyes staring into yours - begging you, please, please, free me. He is staring into your eyes, judging, begging, asking you free him. Your throat is parched and sweat trickles down your forehead and your hands feel so clammy and you're shaking, shaking in fear and anger and despair. You don't know what to do but you do, you do, you are only denying reality and prolonging the inevitable. Listlessly, you raise your hand and gently place it against his neck. He smiles at you, and whispers, "Thank you," and you can't take it anymore, you summon your mana to your hand and press down, and it cleaves straight through, your mana searing the flesh so that it doesn't bleed, it doesn't splatter. There is no blood, but the scent of burnt meat fills the air and you should leave before the demons - scavengers, every last one of them - come. The last thing you see before you turn to regurgitate what you are sure is everything you've eaten in the last few days is the tender smile on his face. You hope it's worth it.

?

He lives within a world of dreams - sometimes, he is digging through dirt and stone, searching and searching until he blacks out again. Sometimes, he is exploring a desolate wasteland. His world is filled with endless days which fade to black. Upon his next awakening, he returns, exploring the land, searching for more. He is tired, always tired. His shoulders and neck and back ache with a dull, lingering pain that shuffles around in the back of his mind. The Pain never affects him in direct ways - it prefers a subtler touch, closing his world until all that exists is the echoing, monotonous thumping of his heart, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum and the harsh, gasping breaths he lets loose, in and out, in and out as he climbs the rocky ridges that are scattered through the land. The Pain itches away in the corner of his mind as he travels, wearing away at the defences of the soul as howling winds did to the most steadfast of rocks. Worse than the Pain are the people - they look at him with scorn filled eyes, and close the shutters of their windows and hide from his gaze. He travels the land, and builds a castle for himself, but the people, the people who he was promised - a quiet whisper "Build a home and your subjects will come, I promise."- never come. Instead they stare at him, hatred in their eyes.

And then, one day, a man comes up to him. He thinks nothing of the man who asks for his name.

"Hello [Jacob]," the man says. "I am the Guide. And I..." Here, Guide hesitates. His eyes narrow and when he speaks next, his voice is softer, an almost silky tone to it. "I will lead you on your journey."

The guide with the unruly blonde hair, which delicately falls onto soft brown cheeks, leads you down to the entrance of a tunnel - you haven't gone down before. Something has always kept you away, whispered into the depths of your mind that it was too dangerous, too dark too scary. That it was prohibited. The man - "Guide" tosses an apple, up and down, up and down and smirks when he sees your eyes following it. Up and down, up and down. He smiles and captures your eyes with a deep, mesmerising gaze, a promise of eternity, or perhaps oblivion. You would be gladly devoured by him, if only have a taste. A sweet surrender. You flush when his lips dart out to moisten his tongue in an almost snake like manner.

"Afraid?"

You numbly shake your head no. He laughs, and it is different to what you expect - loud and harsh and uncultured, unlike the rest of him. There are rough edges to it - bitter and ragged. The laugh of a man who lost his soul.

"Good," he says, before tossing to apple to you. It's bright and perfect, a startling shade of red. It's scent is tantalising, and you can image how sweet it would taste.

Just a bite of eternity.

Guide walks in.

You follow after him, taking a bite of the apple.

crunch

Six days. Six days of hard travel - digging through rock and stone, digging and digging until you feel that your arms will fall off. But it was alright. Around Guide, you feel at ease. The Pain no longer thrums in the back of your mind, thumping and thumping as it used to. For the first time since you came into existence, you feel at peace. No matter what sort of tiring work you do, no matter how mud-splattered you become, you feel at ease.

But even so.

There is a feeling you cannot place. (You are restless, and thrum with anxious energy. There is something that must be done.)

There is aching need within your soul. (You is approaching your destiny.)

Six days.

Six days of hard work, six days of travelling. And yet-

There is something that must be done.

The anticipation builds.

But-

On the seventh day they rest.

On the eighth day, they approach the bubbling lava. You are almost trembling with anticipation - from what, you do not understand.

Guide smiles. "This is where I leave you."

"Wait." Alarm is rising within you, as these words, they trigger something within you, and it rises within you, coiling tighter and tighter and breath? Respiration is hardly your biggest concern now.

"By the way-" he says, and a wave of emotions - angry-hurt-hate-scorn - floods over you, leaving you frozen.

"-my name is Wyatt." He steps forward and a doll plunges into the lava, from high above. His body turns to dust before it can even touch the liquids of Hel.

You do not notice, for the name 'Wyatt, Wyatt, wake up. It's mommy-' releases a wave of memories and emotions into your brain (you cannot take it, it is too much, far too much)Nathaniel I lov- Seth please save m- and a wave of horror washes through you as you understand that this is not all of it - you remember the first and the second and third and you have replaced the fourth and there will be a fifth, a fifth to complete the pentagram, a fifth to continue the cycle. With a cry, you roll into the lava, anything to douse these memories, even if it means fighting fire with fire, pain and with more pain.

You die in an instant.

There is a shuddering moment of blessedly cold relief and then you wake again, your body on the ash filled land of what you understand now is your fate, your hell. As a huge creature made of rotten flesh comes down on you, the last thing you hear before fainting are the words:

[Jacob] tried to escape.

Your name is Wyatt-Nathaniel-Seth-Jacob-[Name] and you have lived many lives. As the Voodoo doll drops into the lava, you wonder how many times you will have to repeat this never ending nightmare.

You hope that this is the last time.

(

You've mastered the art of lying to oneself, congratulations, this is the last. Believe it! It really is true.

...Not.

)

and it starts...

all

over

again

ad infinitum

Latin

comptina daemonia - Demon's Lullaby

ab initio - From the beginning

ad infinitum - Without an end; to infinity; without limit