Everything was different.
The wind did not blow. The grass and leaves did not sway. The forest did not smell of the bright flowers that bloomed at that time of the year. Instead, there was a stench adrift in the air, strong enough to change the color of the foliage from a radiant green to a moldy yellow. The night sky was brightly lit even though tonight was the night of a new moon. The forest was deserted and the source of all these anomalies seemed to be a strange phenomenon in the sky - a pitch black disk engulfed in radiant, swirling vapors, all of them a shade of purple.
Looking at the eerily enchanting light a thought crossed Varus' mind. It seemed strangely familiar. He observed the anomaly a little more, in an attempt to recollect what it reminded him of. As he walked towards it, stepping forth nimbly and quietly, he studied the abnormality and the effect it was having on the forest around it. The stench grew stronger the closer he approached the disk in the sky. Having known the forest all his life, he knew that there was a clearing right below the disk. Carefully he made towards the field ahead all the while bewildered at the familiarity he felt.
With each step Varus heard sounds unlike that of any animals native to the forest and the realization that he knew the disk grew stronger. He was certain now, that he had encountered such a thing before. An air of uneasiness washed over him as Pallas, too, began to stir within.
The intensity of Pallas' agitation was tied to how close he stood to the disk in the sky. Approaching the clearing, he took a few moments to calm himself and the other within. He closed his eyes in hopes that Pallas would communicate using its primitive language of disjointed imagery and so it did. In his mind, Pallas showed him bloody things in various stages of being consumed. It showed him blood splattered all around along with organs of creatures he had never seen. Then he saw himself standing above the gory mess, with tendrils of corruption emerging from his body, reaching for the blood and half-eaten parts along with what seemed to be a whisper that could be interpreted as "hunger."
He opened his eyes, partly from disgust of what Pallas sought to show him, but mostly from the horror of having seen himself assimilating dead bodies. Disturbed, he instinctively looked at his hands and feet. The corruption appeared normal, but there was something not quite right about it. He traced a finger on the side of his hand to feel for anything unusual only to remember that his sense of touch had long been distorted as was his humanity. What was once flesh and skin was now a viscous black mass with a life of its own. The coarseness of the soil, the wetness of water, the warmth of another being could never be felt by Varus, the man. Everything he touched, it touched and thus what he felt was also rendered into pictures of how Pallas felt – if indeed it was capable of such a thing. Right now, he sensed that Pallas wanted something rather eagerly, but beyond that he could not tell what its intention was.
Pallas had never before concerned itself with the sustenance of Varus' human half and yet it 'hungered' and probably expected Varus to feed. This was the first time such a thing had happened. It was most unexpected. But he decided to worry about Pallas later and turned his attention once again to the disk in the sky.
Standing behind some bushes at the edge of the clearing he stared at the disk, half expecting to discern some truth about its nature. From his current position it was clear that the disk was not really a disk, it was more a hole in the sky. Though it was dark there still shone through it many little lights, much like stars, although they belonged to no known constellation. It was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. Directly below the hole he saw the silhouette of a heap of things barely recognizable due to the odd purple light. All had turned quiet. The stench was also noticeably stronger at this distance, so much so that he felt his nostrils burn. He decided to investigate further and moved into the clearing.
As soon as he had set foot into the clearing he felt Pallas' stirring grow stronger. "Stop it," he whispered, trying to prevent it from distracting him. But the other would not relent. Slowly, Varus' hands and legs started to throb. It was the coat of corruption moving on his skin, twitching, swirling like oil, sending waves of pain into his body. Still he persisted, more cautiously than before. A few yards away from the heap, where the stench seemed almost to erode what remained of Varus' ability to smell, he felt the pain heighten. His attempt to remain quiet were being undone as he had started to gasp. Unable to walk properly, he fell to his hands and knees. The ground was somehow drenched in a warm liquid but Varus couldn't focus. Things had turned bad rather suddenly. Trying to keep his voice down and his eyes open, he caught glimpse of the corruption starting to erupt into little tendrils from his hands and feet, making their way towards the heap. It was then that he understood what the pile was – carcasses – and the wetness of the ground was due to blood. It was Pallas' vision turned into reality.
Alarmed at what he believed would happen next, Varus gathered what strength he had left to move away. He managed to stand on his feet somewhat awkwardly, panting like he had just run uphill, attracting, in the process, an otherworldly being whose pile of carcasses it was that Varus had come upon.
Despite Varus' attempts at moving back into the forest, the corruption would not recede into his body and it kept moving towards the pile. His gasping grew ever louder and the creature he was yet unaware of kept watching him. Tired of resisting Pallas and bearing the pain it brought him, he fell to the ground still struggling to breathe. He wanted to rest for a few moments before beginning again and lay motionless on the bloody earth. He was still a little wary about closing his eyes, lest Pallas should renew its nightmarish speech. For the time being, he decided to concentrate on nothing but his breathing.
He inhaled deeply and slowly, filling his lungs as much as he could before breathing out. The foul odor made it hard to do but he continued nonetheless. The quiet of the forest and the twinkle of purple lights amid the darkness seemed somehow soothing. He imagined if that was what peace felt like. Not the false peace that the rest of Ionia had put its faith into, but the lasting, enduring peace that Ionian ideals were made of. The kind of peace that could never be disturbed, never be lost. He was reminded of that all he had lost, his dreams, his promises and the beauty in life that was lost with them. Still, those memories made for pleasant dreams that he could relive every night.
Little by little Varus' eyes closed, as if he had been lulled to sleep. Pallas was quiet. There were no grim visions. Only the sound of his breath and the warmth of the ground remained. It was blissful and hypnotic. He had lost all sense of time and he wished for things to not change, until the sounds of his breath were not the only things he heard.
Faintly, but surely, Varus heard something shifting behind him. The pile of corpses moved and he felt ripples of blood move along his body, as if something was tiptoeing through it. Once again, the pain had surfaced and Varus found himself breathing harder. As he gasped for air he heard footsteps splashing, coming closer. The pain only grew in response. Composure had become hard to maintain as he felt the corruption stretch from his limbs and away from him, most likely towards whatever it was that approached him. Unwilling to let the corruption reach its target, Varus turned around as fast as he could and came face to face with a giant mass of a creature alien to this world.
Before him was a creature of no definite form or color, a massive, gelatinous blob that could potentially take on various shapes. Three red orbs shone through from what Varus assumed was the creature's head, most likely its eyes. Watching it closely, Varus prepared to defend himself should anything untoward happen. The creature shifted to reveal a giant orifice where Varus thought its stomach would be. The creature shifted again to adjust the several folds of gelatinous skin onto one side so as to open the orifice wide. Extending through it was a tongue of sorts that had several smaller tentacles and teeth growing on it. From the sheer size of the orifice and of the creature, Varus was certain that it could swallow him whole in one gulp.
On the verge of a panic, Varus tried to scoot away to no avail. The tendrils of corruption had already made contact with the creature, slowly wrapping around it. The creature was sluggish, as could be expected from something of that size, and in the time it took to move close enough to get hold of its prey Varus had fashioned his bow of corruption. He had forgotten about the pain and focused only on killing the creature before it could kill him. Driven by instinct, he fired several magical arrows at the creature. Soon enough the creature resembled a pin cushion, but it was as if it felt no pain and kept advancing in its slow, steady pace.
Varus tried to move away further and readied another hail of arrows to shoot at the creature. By then, however, the creature's tongue-like appendage had wrapped itself around one of Varus' legs, similar to how his tendrils of corruption had gone one circle around the girth of the creature. It had become impossible to get away and the creature tightened its grip around his leg. As it dragged Varus closer, the small toothed tentacles on its tongue dug deep into his skin, trying to suck the life blood out.
The pain was tremendous and Varus screamed in agony. The creature too had started to thrash about as what it had started to drain from Varus' body was not blood, but Pallas' corruption. Slowly, the creature's grip on Varus' leg started to loosen, but Pallas had ensured that the creature could not escape. Frantically it tried to break free of the tendrils of corruption that had been slowly wrapping around its body, while Varus took advantage of its confusion and shot a charged arrow right through its tongue and into its mouth. The blow was so powerful that the arrow had come out the other side, tearing a giant hold though the monster. Wailing even louder in its unearthly voice, it shook and squirmed but the end was near. Varus shot a few more arrows at it and offered it the mercy of death. At last, its gelatinous body slumped like a mound of wet clay poured over the earth and soon after, its remains melted into a colorless liquid. No trace of it was left behind.
Relieved, Varus fell back on to the ground, his eyes now staring blankly at the hole in the sky. Unmindful of the pain that lingered, he closed his eyes, hoping to understand why Pallas had done what it did. At first, it was as if Pallas did not wish to speak. But Varus wanted to know. "Tell me, damn you!" he insisted.
Closing his eyes again, Pallas presented to Varus a being that looked much like him along with several other beings kneeling before him, some of whom appeared human. But the most interesting aspect of the vision was that Varus and the others were connected. Apparently, the corruption on Varus' body had spread to them. "Power," Pallas whispered.
Varus was satisfied with the answer although still apprehensive of Pallas' intentions. Their association, though spread over years, was still far too brief compared to the sheer age of the corruption. It was very near unknowable and none, if any, who knew Pallas had ever shared their knowledge. Varus knew not what to expect from Pallas. Regardless, he was not disappointed, if not exactly happy, to be alive at the time. He could still accomplish what he had set out to do the day he decided to let Pallas in.
Exhausted from his encounter with that strange beast, it took him little more than seconds to fall asleep, never mind the stench and the blood on the ground. Laying still and staring at the beautiful purple lights dancing in the sky, he decided to rest for as long as needed.
A/N: I'm still figuring things out as I go. But this story is largely focused on the Ionians. I'm not even sure if I want any romantic pairings, although I will be exploring any romantic feelings the characters might experience towards each other with or without admission and/or interaction in a romantic context.
The main characters have been listed and I will explore Karma's character a lot. There is a lot of potential there, imo. The rest is up in the air at the moment.
Do review and comment if you like it. Thanks for your time.