Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my OCs.

CHAPTER 9-Turn Me Loose

Chihowaido impatiently tapped a clawed hand on his armrest. Ever since he'd taken over his host's body, his demonic traits had been developing much faster. The wings had come first, shortly after taking over his host. They'd allowed him to lead the other Keepers on a wild goose chase through the mountains of Shiv as they searched for Charles and his host. Compassion; it was the one trait he hated the most about humans. They instinctively sought to protect other humans, especially ones with whom they shared ties of friendship.

Soon after he'd joined Lu Chao, his weak human fingernails had grown into powerful talons, much more to his liking. His ears had begun gradually shrinking until they disappeared completely, only leaving the auditory canal. His arms were now covered in a layer of fine feathers, a precursor to the pennaceous feathers he knew would soon follow. His transformation was far from complete, but Chihowaido was pleased with the progress. What he was less pleased with was the banging sound he could hear coming from his host's Soul Room. Frowning in irritation, Chihowaido closed his eyes and retreated to his own Soul Room.

When he awoke in the room, Chihowaido was surprised with what he saw. Before having taken over his host's body, his Soul Room was nothing but an empty void. However, now he was standing in what looked like a holy shrine. There was an altar at one end with a golden chalice on it. The ground was tiled in white and green ceramic. The green tiles were set in a Möbius strip that wound around the room. In the center of the room was a small fountain with an angelic figure in it. Its wings were spread and it held a vase in its hand from which flowed crystal-clear water.

Driven by a strange need, Chihowaido cupped his hands under the falling water and took a drink. He immediately felt a burning sensation running through his body, energizing every nerve. As the feeling faded, he felt refreshed and revitalized. Opening the door to his Soul Room, he stepped out into the corridor beyond and faced his host's door.

Three metal bars sealed the door. Despite this, someone was banging against the door, trying to get out. With a wave of Chihowaido's hand, the bars disappeared and the door flew open, Erik Morlock falling to the ground. His hair was disheveled; his clothes were wrinkled and bloodstained. His fingernails were worn to the skin and caked with dried blood, most probably from his attempts to escape. He lay on the ground, groaning in pain. As he looked up and saw the Keeper of White Mana standing before him, he recoiled in horror, backing into his Soul Room and slamming the door shut.

Chihowaido wrenched the door open and walked into the room. Darkness surrounded him on all sides. Straining his hearing, he could hear a whimper coming from one side of the room. Snapping his fingers, Chihowaido caused one of the extinguished torches to flare up, casting a pale flickering light around the room. He was shocked: the room was an absolute mess. Everything that had once been in the room was shattered and lay strewn about the room. Looking back at the door, he saw it was streaked with blood from his host's desperate attempts to open the door.

Advancing into the room, Chihowaido headed for the hunched form of his host. Erik was curled in the fetal position, his back to the Keeper. He was rocking back and forth, banging his head against the wall. As he heard Chihowaido's footsteps approaching, he shrieked, "Get away from me!"

"Pathetic," muttered Chihowaido "You really thought you could escape your destiny by pretending it didn't exist. Unfortunately for you, destiny has a way of coming back to bite you in the ass, which is exactly what happened."

"Why…?" moaned Erik.

"Why?" snorted Chihowaido, grabbing Erik by his collar and turning him around so they were face-to-face "Because, like it or not, you are the Keeper of White Mana. It is your duty to protect the Multiverse from any threat, and Chikuro is the biggest threat of all. Since you were inept for the part, I did what had to be done."

Dropping Erik to the ground, the Keeper of White Mana paced back and forth across the room, his hands clasped behind his back.

"You are young," he said "You are fortunate not to have experienced what I have; the horrors of war, the destruction ghells leave in their wake, the agony of betrayal…Events are unfolding that will cause history to repeat itself. Once again, the Multiverse will be shaken by the might of the Keepers."

"But…the prophecy…" said Erik "The Keepers were to return to rebuild, not destroy."

"The prophecy didn't take into account the treacherous nature of the ghell!" spat Chihowaido "Chikuro's host will be drawn to the same path as he was; the need for power will corrupt him. It is the nature of humans. Always you seek to elevate yourselves above others. For a ghell it is second nature; to attain power through any means, putting all other interests aside. Then there's the fact he shares his soul with Chikuro; no doubt his mind has further been corrupted by the black Keeper's."

"Fine then!" said Erik "Know what? You're so eager to stop him; I'll help! Just turn me loose."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," said Chihowaido "You see, upon my takeover, you subconsciously erected mental barriers to prevent my consciousness from overwhelming yours. If this hadn't happened, our two beings would have merged and you would have, in essence, disappeared. You have locked yourself into your mind and only you have the key."

"Wait a minute!" said Erik "You did this to me; you should have a way of undoing it!"

"You brought this upon yourself," said Chihowaido "It's up to you to get out of this mess."

"I did this?" yelled Erik "You fucking took over my body!"

"If you'd accepted me straight away," said Chihowaido "None of this would have happened."

"Why are you so freaking eager for me to accept you?" asked Erik "You have control of my body."

"Without both out souls, our power is incomplete "As I'm sure the other Keepers have told you, you cannot properly awake unless you accept me."

"You think I'd accept you now?" shouted Erik "You are the one responsible for this! I was actually beginning to accept my powers! I figured, what was the point of having these powers and not using them? I was even starting to enjoy this whole Keeper business! A few more weeks and I might have even considered accepting you, for crying out loud! Then you had to come along and ruin everything! You are supposed to represent the essence of white, but you're no better than a ghell!"

A resounding smack echoed through the room. Erik fell to the ground, clutching his cheek in pain.

"Don't you ever," said the spirit, standing menacingly over him "Compare me to that offal!"

Something flared up inside Erik. He was at the end of his rope. His imprisonment had worn his patience to its limit and now his captor added injury to insult. Erik Morlock was not one to go down without a fight and he'd be dammed if this would be the first time.

Shakily getting to his feet, he glared hatefully at Chihowaido. Making as if he was about to turn away from the Keeper, he clenched his fists, turning back and striking out at Chihowaido with a solid right hook. The Keeper was caught unprepared and took the blow full on, reeling backwards. Erik didn't give him time to recover, tacking the spirit to the ground. Grabbing the spirit's head, he slammed his face into the stone floor, Chihowaido's beak taking most of the impact. Erik felt grim satisfaction as he heard the spirit's beak crack.

Dazed, the white Keeper lashed out blindly with his left hand, catching Erik in the shoulder. Erik cried out in pain as the talons dug into his skin, leaving four bloody gashes. Chihowaido elbowed him in the eye, knocking him off the spirit's back.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" said Chihowaido, getting up.

"Taking a stand!" yelled Erik "I'm not letting anyone control me, least of all you!"

"What do you hope to achieve by this?" asked Chihowaido "You have no chance to stand up to me. My consciousness is clearly stronger than yours, and you're still terrified of me. Both these elements work against you."

"What I hope to achieve?" asked Erik "You're right: I'm afraid of you. You took over my body, essentially raping me in the process. However, I can't keep hiding from my fear. To conquer it, I must face it head-on! I don't hope to win this fight, but I hope to show you that I'm not going to take this abuse lying down!"

"You come at me, expecting to lose?" said Chihowaido "I have to admire your courage; your sense of reason however, leaves a lot to be desired."

"Come on!" said Erik, charging at Chihowaido. He swung for the Keeper's head, but Chihowaido grabbed his arm, flipping Erik painfully onto his back.

"You're slow," said Chihowaido "I saw that coming a mile away."

Groaning, Erik got up. Charging at Chihowaido once again, he directed a punch at Chihowaido's face. As the Keeper grabbed his wrist, Erik brought his right foot up, kicking the spirit in the face. Chihowaido was sent flying into the wall behind him, landing heavily on the floor.

"If you really are me," said Erik "Then you should remember I trained in martial arts for a few years!"

"Don't get cocky," said Chihowaido, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he got up.

The two combatants circled each other, looking for an opening. Erik was on the defensive, ready to block an eventual attack. Finally, Chihowaido stepped forwards and swung out, aiming for Erik's temple. The Keeper managed to parry the blow, taking a jab at Chihowaido. The spirit dodged the punch, retorting with a kick to Erik's chest. Erik was able to catch Chihowaido's foot before contact and he pushed the Keeper away.

Chihowaido came back, jabbing at Erik, who managed to slip under the punches. Seeing his strategy had no effect, the spirit rushed Erik, forcing the Keeper back against the wall. Erik managed to sidestep a powerful punch, the spirit's fist connecting with the wall. Erik took advantage of Chihowaido's split-second of distraction to deliver a hook to the spirit's jaw. Chihowaido reeled back, clutching his bruised jaw.

"Just a scratch," he commented, casting a Healing Salve on himself "And don't think of using mana," he added, "In your current state, your mana is very limited, whereas I have a virtually limitless supply of it."

Erik approached Chihowaido, sweeping out with his foot in an attempt to trip the spirit, but Chihowaido saw the attack coming and jumped over it, kicking Erik in the face as he went up. It was Erik's turn to stumble backwards, blood tricking from his beak. Chihowaido's next punch sent him flying and he crashed into the floor.

Erik's entire body was in pain. He tried to get to his feet, but his muscles wouldn't obey him. He lay there, breathing heavily as Chihowaido approached.

"You've got guts," he said, "I'll grant you that. Now that this nonsense is over, I'll be off." The spirit turned away, heading for the door.

"Wait," he heard Erik say. Turning, he was amazed to see Erik standing "This isn't over," said Erik.

"You haven't had enough?" said Chihowaido, slightly confused. Why was he doing this to himself?

"I'll tell you when I've had enough!" roared Erik, charging at the Keeper. He unleashed a flying roundhouse kick at Chihowaido, but the spirit ducked, Erik crashing into the ground again. He somehow managed to pull himself up again.

"Enough!" said Chihowaido "If you continue, you risk severe damage to yourself."

"I told you," said Erik "I'm going to conquer my fear! I don't care how painful it is; I'm prepared to do it!"

"Stop," said Chihowaido casting Pacifism as Erik stumbled towards him. Erik fell to the ground, passing out from his efforts. Chihowaido cast a few more Healing Salves to repair the damage he'd done to his host before leaving the room, the metal bars reappearing on the door. As he re-entered his own Soul Room, Chihowaido reflected on what had happened.

"It seems," he muttered to himself "That my host is not as weak as I thought."

To be continued…

Author's Note: Yep, update, finally. Blame work, video games, or whatever else you want. I dread to think about what updates will be like when I get to university. Meh, I'll manage something.

Until next time…