In Greek mythology Morpheus, Icelus, and Phantasus were gods of Sleep, sons
of Hypnos. Morpheus gave dreams of men, Icelus gave dreams of birds and
beasts, and Phantasus gave dreams of inanimate objects.
1 Prologue
Things aren't always what they seem. The warm sunshine on your back in the middle of the day can hide heartless predators just out of your view. Then again, a cold, frosty night in the middle of the full moon can often hide a hidden friend somewhere, watching… waiting… I don't know, that's just the way I look at it.
His name was Kamron, but the few humans he associated with knew him as Kurt. He was born to a young woman named Ravenah living in Japan in about the eighteenth century. This woman was very different than what you would consider a normal woman. She was an Oni. Oni is the Japanese word for ghost, or demon. Actually, she was a shape-shifter. You may not be familiar with the term, so I'll tell you in this story. Pay attention though, or you won't get the full depth of what it means to be Oni.
This story involves the true Oni of this world: dead gods, long since forgotten. Vampires, shape-shifters, witches, humans, and dreams. This is the story of Kamron.
2 Chapter 1: Beginnings
She ran through the forest of colorful autumn leaves. They would not catch her child like they caught the others. She feared for her baby more than her own life. She was always thought of as an outcast; her blue skin saw to that. She could have changed the color at will, but she did not enjoy hiding her true self from the rest of the world, even if they feared and hated her. Oni was a name she heard often, and few people talked to her or even let themselves be in the same room as her. She wasn't evil; she would never harm anyone, unless they tried to harm her baby. She ran farther and farther from the village, until a massive river separated her from the freedom she desired. The river on one side, the angry villagers on the other, she was running out of time.
'What should I do?' She thought to herself.
2.1 'Throw her in the river', replied the real Oni that tortured her so often. 'Do not worry, I will save your precious child and raise him for you. So go, join the humans.'
"Siete! Why do you try to humble me! I will never join their kind; they are worse than the Oni that they hunt!"
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the cold night wind, walking on the water in front of her. Unlike her pacifist's aura, this aura spoke of evil, but a strange type of kindness toward Ravenah and her child.
"Do it now," said the figure, "I can be your child's savior."
"Why do you mock the God I have learned about from the foreigners? Stop walking on the water!" spat the woman.
"Because these gods that they speak of do not exist."
"I refuse to believe that! But… I will spare my child's life; even though I fear of a fate worse than death for him." Anger and hatred were flowing through her veins now. She had to save her child at all costs. The figure on the water, Siete, disappeared, and the mob was getting closer. She knew what she needed to do.
She reached out her mind and grabbed images of friends, families, and associates of her pursuers, combining them all into a mental image of one person. Then she used the ability that everyone born under the same nightmare as she had. As she focused on her goal, she felt her body start to change. Her heartbeat sped up to normal human heartbeats, her blue, slightly scaled skin changed into the horrible soft epidermis of a human, she felt her face gradually widen and begin to wrinkle, yes, the golem was an old woman. She felt the slight burning sensation as her eyes changed from the usual yellow to a brilliant green. Her sleek body transformed into that of an old woman, frail and weak. Her head itched as her combed back blood-red hair turned gray and frizzy. Then she focused her power onto her clothes and watched as they changed from a perfectly clean, bright white dress laden with jewels to a saggy peasant's rags.
'I must save my baby,' she thought to herself. 'At any cost.'
Then, she threw the child into the river.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Runaway
He left after first period. He couldn't possibly stay. The man was there, at school, waiting for him. 'Why? Why does that demon insist on tormenting me?' he asked himself as he ran from the campus, going as fast as his feet could take him. He passed a car on the highway, and kept running. He brushed away his long blonde hair that fell down around his cold, green eyes. His pale skin was sweating in the summer sun. "What is wrong with me?" he shouted. This was it. He was going to go far away this time, and he would never come back.
He was finally in the next town. He would stop here to get food and then keep going. He combed his fingers through the braids of his dark black hair. His browned body glistened. He walked into the store, grabbed a coke and a bag of chips, and started to run for the door. It was a pain not to have any money.
"Hell no! You ain't shoplifting from my store," said the old, bald man at the counter, before pulling a gun from under the cash register somewhere, jumping over the counter, and pointing the .44 magnum at the boy's head.
'Crud,' he thought to himself. Still running toward the door and the man blocking his way, he leaped into the air, perfectly executing a roundhouse kick. As his heel met the man's temple, the boy's dark skin glimmered a bright blue, and his brown eyes flashed yellow.
The man fell to the ground, knocked out by the blow dealt to him by the strange youth. The boy ran off, changing once again into another personage.
'Well, at least I got some Doritos.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a week later, and his freckled skin was cold and red, as snow threatened to fall out of the sky onto his bright red hair. Oklahoma weather was weird. He'd have to go somewhere where the weather was consistent next time. The sun was hidden behind a sky of clouds. He was sitting on a school bench, watching people eat lunch. A dark shadow walked up behind him.
"Kamron, you can't keep running from me," said the thing. "I will be with you until you accept the truth."
"Damn it, Siete! Leave me the hell ALONE!" shrieked the boy, as he ran off, his hair becoming blood-red and his skin changing deep blue.
"Dumb kid," the man known as Siete exhaled. It had been a hard week for the boy. Siete had made sure of that, but he knew; the child had to know. 'I must find a way to tell him.' The dark man disappeared in a puff of brimstone.
A tree stump that had been watching in the distance sighed to itself. "Poor child. So much for Kamron to learn yet," it said, and fell silent.
1 Prologue
Things aren't always what they seem. The warm sunshine on your back in the middle of the day can hide heartless predators just out of your view. Then again, a cold, frosty night in the middle of the full moon can often hide a hidden friend somewhere, watching… waiting… I don't know, that's just the way I look at it.
His name was Kamron, but the few humans he associated with knew him as Kurt. He was born to a young woman named Ravenah living in Japan in about the eighteenth century. This woman was very different than what you would consider a normal woman. She was an Oni. Oni is the Japanese word for ghost, or demon. Actually, she was a shape-shifter. You may not be familiar with the term, so I'll tell you in this story. Pay attention though, or you won't get the full depth of what it means to be Oni.
This story involves the true Oni of this world: dead gods, long since forgotten. Vampires, shape-shifters, witches, humans, and dreams. This is the story of Kamron.
2 Chapter 1: Beginnings
She ran through the forest of colorful autumn leaves. They would not catch her child like they caught the others. She feared for her baby more than her own life. She was always thought of as an outcast; her blue skin saw to that. She could have changed the color at will, but she did not enjoy hiding her true self from the rest of the world, even if they feared and hated her. Oni was a name she heard often, and few people talked to her or even let themselves be in the same room as her. She wasn't evil; she would never harm anyone, unless they tried to harm her baby. She ran farther and farther from the village, until a massive river separated her from the freedom she desired. The river on one side, the angry villagers on the other, she was running out of time.
'What should I do?' She thought to herself.
2.1 'Throw her in the river', replied the real Oni that tortured her so often. 'Do not worry, I will save your precious child and raise him for you. So go, join the humans.'
"Siete! Why do you try to humble me! I will never join their kind; they are worse than the Oni that they hunt!"
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the cold night wind, walking on the water in front of her. Unlike her pacifist's aura, this aura spoke of evil, but a strange type of kindness toward Ravenah and her child.
"Do it now," said the figure, "I can be your child's savior."
"Why do you mock the God I have learned about from the foreigners? Stop walking on the water!" spat the woman.
"Because these gods that they speak of do not exist."
"I refuse to believe that! But… I will spare my child's life; even though I fear of a fate worse than death for him." Anger and hatred were flowing through her veins now. She had to save her child at all costs. The figure on the water, Siete, disappeared, and the mob was getting closer. She knew what she needed to do.
She reached out her mind and grabbed images of friends, families, and associates of her pursuers, combining them all into a mental image of one person. Then she used the ability that everyone born under the same nightmare as she had. As she focused on her goal, she felt her body start to change. Her heartbeat sped up to normal human heartbeats, her blue, slightly scaled skin changed into the horrible soft epidermis of a human, she felt her face gradually widen and begin to wrinkle, yes, the golem was an old woman. She felt the slight burning sensation as her eyes changed from the usual yellow to a brilliant green. Her sleek body transformed into that of an old woman, frail and weak. Her head itched as her combed back blood-red hair turned gray and frizzy. Then she focused her power onto her clothes and watched as they changed from a perfectly clean, bright white dress laden with jewels to a saggy peasant's rags.
'I must save my baby,' she thought to herself. 'At any cost.'
Then, she threw the child into the river.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Runaway
He left after first period. He couldn't possibly stay. The man was there, at school, waiting for him. 'Why? Why does that demon insist on tormenting me?' he asked himself as he ran from the campus, going as fast as his feet could take him. He passed a car on the highway, and kept running. He brushed away his long blonde hair that fell down around his cold, green eyes. His pale skin was sweating in the summer sun. "What is wrong with me?" he shouted. This was it. He was going to go far away this time, and he would never come back.
He was finally in the next town. He would stop here to get food and then keep going. He combed his fingers through the braids of his dark black hair. His browned body glistened. He walked into the store, grabbed a coke and a bag of chips, and started to run for the door. It was a pain not to have any money.
"Hell no! You ain't shoplifting from my store," said the old, bald man at the counter, before pulling a gun from under the cash register somewhere, jumping over the counter, and pointing the .44 magnum at the boy's head.
'Crud,' he thought to himself. Still running toward the door and the man blocking his way, he leaped into the air, perfectly executing a roundhouse kick. As his heel met the man's temple, the boy's dark skin glimmered a bright blue, and his brown eyes flashed yellow.
The man fell to the ground, knocked out by the blow dealt to him by the strange youth. The boy ran off, changing once again into another personage.
'Well, at least I got some Doritos.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a week later, and his freckled skin was cold and red, as snow threatened to fall out of the sky onto his bright red hair. Oklahoma weather was weird. He'd have to go somewhere where the weather was consistent next time. The sun was hidden behind a sky of clouds. He was sitting on a school bench, watching people eat lunch. A dark shadow walked up behind him.
"Kamron, you can't keep running from me," said the thing. "I will be with you until you accept the truth."
"Damn it, Siete! Leave me the hell ALONE!" shrieked the boy, as he ran off, his hair becoming blood-red and his skin changing deep blue.
"Dumb kid," the man known as Siete exhaled. It had been a hard week for the boy. Siete had made sure of that, but he knew; the child had to know. 'I must find a way to tell him.' The dark man disappeared in a puff of brimstone.
A tree stump that had been watching in the distance sighed to itself. "Poor child. So much for Kamron to learn yet," it said, and fell silent.