My name is Dakota, and I was once an ordinary boy. Well, that changed when I woke up one morning cursed, cursed to never touch anyone ever again and kill them. I was no longer human, but Mutant. During my time locked away, for those five years, I accepted that, but it was still a curse.
Opening my eyes, I saw that the sky was a swirling maelstrom of red and black, the ground under my feet pulsating with an energy that was both chilling and strangely mesmerizing. Trying to walk was like moving through a thick sea of molasses. Every step was a battle, each breath a war I.
"Wanda!" I yelled as it soon started to rise, covering my face as I tried to swim upwards in it. I gasped, squaring my shoulders, forcing myself to stand tall despite the terror gnawing at my insides. "Help me!" I yelled for my friend, begging her to help me, save me as I did her all those years ago.
Her laugh echoed around me, a haunting melody that sent shivers down my spine. "Oh, Dakota." She said, her voice as if she purred. "You're trapped here. There's no escape."
She appeared before me, then floated closer, her scarlet cloak billowing behind her like a river of blood in the ethereal wind. Her fingers danced in the air, and I could feel the power emanating from her, a pulsating wave of energy that threatened to consume me.
"Why?" I demanded, my voice shaking. It was hard to keep my eyes on her, her power was so intense, so raw.
She shrugged, a cruel smile playing on her lips. "Why not? After all, every story needs a villain. And every villain needs a victim." She said, my eyes widened as she said that.
Her words, though spoken in jest, were laced with a truth that hit me like a punch to the gut. I was the victim in this story, the pawn in her wicked game. I clenched my fists, my heart pounding in my chest. "Wanda. Help me!" I called out as I reached for her, but she was out of my reach.
She laughed again, the sound echoing in the void around us. "Oh, Dakota." she said, shaking her head. "You don't get it. You're not worth saving." She said, laughing at me.
"Please, Wanda. I need you!" I said as I was almost under. As I said the words, I could feel something shifting. The sky darkened, the ground rumbled beneath. Wanda's smile faltered, her eyes narrowing.
I gasped for air as I sat up, finding that I was no longer in the prison cell. Grabbing my head, I remembered bits and pieces of my break out. "It wasn't a dream." I whispered as I got off the couch and walked around a somewhat familiar living room. Going down the hall, I opened one of the many doors and saw that it was the bathroom. Walking in, I moved over to the mirror, looking at myself. I wasn't my original self, I was older, taller, and my hair was wild.
"Good morning, terrifying fantasy world." I heard, with me looking at the door as I didn't expect to hear a child's voice. Looking back at myself, I saw a darker version of me, this one having a sickening grin, head tilted to the side completely and bright purple eyes.
I jumped back at the sight of it, with it vanishing. Hearing the bathroom door open, I looked at a girl as she walked backwards. "Knock first!" I said, scaring her as she went for a karate chop. I blocked it with a toothbrush, with me moving her hand away as she held it there. "Do you have any idea on how close to death you were?" I questioned as I crossed my arms.
"Sorry, Dakota." She said, where I raised an eyebrow at her as she knew my name. "I'm just gonna go now!" She said as she tried walking away, but I stopped her with the toothbrush.
"You know my name, but I don't know yours." I said, where she turned to face me. "Let's have proper introductions." I said as I now held the toothbrush with two fingers. "Hi, I'm Dakota." I said, where she did the same with the other end of the toothbrush.
"Names Luz, but you can call me Luz the Human!" She said as she waved her hand in the air, with me staring her down. "Or you can just call me Luz." She said as she rubbed her arm.
"I'll call you Lu, how about that?" I said, with her perking up.
"And I'll call you... Let's see... Kota?" She asked, where I shrugged my shoulders.
"I'll take it." I said as I slid past her and now was at the door. "Now, if you will excuse me, I will give you your privacy, Lu." I said as I exited the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
Walking down the hall, I made my way back to the living room. Taking the blanket, I wrapped myself around with it before going outside. As soon as I opened the door, the wind had hypnotized me. I stepped outside and felt the sun hit my face, feeling it's warmth after so long.
Taking in the air was nice. Fresh air. Dropping the blanket, I extended my arms as I took a deep breath. Looking forward, I saw a petrified tree. I remembered it, I touched it in my fight against Eda. Walking over to it, I placed a hand on it.
Getting an idea, I looked at my hand and watched as my fingernails extended. Placing the claws on the wood, I watched as they easily cut through like butter. Pulling my hand out, I looked at it and then back at the tree.
Later
"Today you'll deliver packages and sell potions to that town over there, Bonesborough." Eda said as I finished putting my projects together. Turning to her, I looked bother her and Luz. "You'll have to be careful. I have rivals everywhere who'd love to take my business down and you along with it. You wanted a dangerous magical quest? Sister, you've got one." She said as I started walking over to her.
"Tricking Lu into doing your dirty work?" I asked as I crossed my arms.
"What? No! This is just the first step to her training. Also, what's with the wooden hands?" She asked as I showed them off, making a fist with them.
"Petrified wood, figured I would make a glove but I don't want to have my hand stuck in wood twenty four seven and get splinters." I said as I showed that I had made strings to connect my finger tips to the wooden fingers. "I'll get used to them, but it will allow me to do this!" I said as I reached forward and placed a wooden hand on Luz's head, rubbing it. "Without fear of killing anyone." I said, with Eda nodding.
"Right, well, you need clothes, and I might have something for you. Picked it up in the human realm last year. I liked it, but it's not my size, so you can have it." Eda said as she walked inside. "Come along!" She said, where I walked past Luz.
"I won't let you down, Miss Eda!" Luz called out as the door closed behind her.
"I hate to interrupt your power nap, but you have to go with her." Eda told King as we walked past him.
"What? But I just found the perfect spot. Why do I have to go?" King questioned, where I looked at him.
"You and I know she's either going to get lost or eaten, probably both." Eda said as she looked at him.
Looking at the window, we watched as Luz squishes her face against the window. "No, I won't!" She called out to us.
Eda closes the blinds with a spell. "And because you work for me, too, unless you want to start paying rent." She said as she crossed her arms. King throws a short tantrum before stomping out the door. "Be back by nightfall or risk mortal peril." Eda said as the door closed on him.
Later
My attire was a full set of gunmetal grey plate armor and a tattered black cape with red inlay and a high collar. "I look like I could be a blonde Dracula in human form." I said as I looked at Eda as she held her hands up like she was trying to take a picture.
"Nope, not working, let's try another!" She said, where I let out a sigh of annoyance and absorbed the armor into my body. "That's cool, what else can you do?" She asked, with me shrugging my shoulders.
"Honestly, I don't know. I just... do?" I said as she tossed some more clothes at me, where I started getting dressed. I now wore a black office shirt with a white vest on top of it, white pants, white shoes, a red tie, a white trench coat, and a fuzzy white cap. "I look like some kind of play boy." I said as I looked myself over.
"I know. If I was younger and could touch you, I would most definitely take you out to dinner." She said, with me absorbing it into my body. "And that doesn't take up space?" She asked, with me shrugging my shoulders. "Well alright, how about this!" She said as she tossed more clothes at me.
My new outfit is comprised mainly in a classic Victorian fashion. It includes a charcoal suit, leather riding boots, and an intricately knotted red cravat, covered by a full-length, red duster coat with a cape to it. On my head was a floppy brimmed red fedora. I also had gloves covering the wooden hands. "A red cowboy?" I said as I looked at Eda.
"I picked it up at a witch shop in the human realm that sold monster skins and the like." She said, with me knowing what it was.
"A Halloween store." I corrected with a sigh. "Anything else?" I asked, with Eda shaking her head. "Very well, then this will do." I said as I accepted this as my clothing.
"Great! Now I'm going to take my nap! I'm old, so if the kids need help with a witch or whatever, wake me. You still don't know your way around here, so don't go wandering around on your own, got it?" She said, with me nodding. "Good!" She said as she walked off, leaving me by myself.
Looking myself over, I couldn't help but think that I was about to become some Jack the Ripper guy. I needed something to do, and using my new found claws made me think that I could do other things as well. Being able to absorb life force, claws, maybe there was more to my mutant powers than I knew. I could go out and learn more about myself, or I could read up on monsters and demons to find out if I am similar to any of them and try out said abilities.
Later
"Hey Luz." I said as I heard her as she walked in while I was surrounded by a bunch of books on monsters and demons. I found that I was more closer to abilities of Vampires but needed to learn more, but they didn't have claws that extended.
"What are you doing?" She asked as I turned to another page in the book I was reading.
"Reading up on monsters and their abilities. I figured that if I can figure out which monster I closely resemble then I might be able to unlock more of my abilities. So far I found that I resemble a vampire, but at the same time I don't. So I might resemble others and figured that I would test out my theory." I said as I grabbed a book from earlier. "This is what I have found that I have in common with Vampires, each of the tags in it are something that I found out today, those are the blue ones. The red ones are what I've done, and the green are to be found at a later point in time. White means that I don't have it." I said where Luz opened the book.
"Superhuman Strength: I found that I was able to break through stone, wood and even petrified wood with ease, need to test on metals." Luz said as I stopped reading and looked at her. "Huh, so that's why I found all of those broken trees and rocks on my way back." She said as she moved to the next page.
"Superhuman Speed and Reflexes: According to Eda, during my breakout, I moved so fast that I was a blur to her. I haven't been able to replicate this feat but I will one day." I said as I pointed at the page.
"Wait, you don't remember what happened during the breakout?" She asked, with me shrugging.
"Bits an pieces, I just remember hearing a pulsing voice and touching the wall. Of course I've heard said voice in my head for the past few years, but I believe that it's one of the people I was forced to absorb. If I had to guess it was that woman that took three days to off, that was a record. She had a lot of life force inside her." I said as I rubbed my head.
"Enhanced Endurance: I'm capable of taking a good bit of damage, and still living. Belos showed me this with how long he has been tormenting me." Luz said with a frown. "You were practically dead, so that makes sense." She said, with me nodding as I turned the page.
"Regeneration: Using the life force I've drained from others I can heal myself. Of course it's only temporary and as long as I'm draining. This goes to plants, animals, insects, and people. Doing this on non living things causes them to crumble away." I informed as I grabbed a rock I brought in and did just that, with it turning to dust.
"Dark Composition: According to Eda, I was able to use my already lost blood to cover the prison I was held in and turn it so dark that light could not get in. I remember this as it felt like I was everywhere and nowhere at once. A terrifying ability that uses up one's blood, which I am not going to use anytime soon." Luz said as she looked at me. I would prefer you not to do that here, that was scary. She said, with me nodding as I turned to another page.
"Immortality: It is unclear if I am immortal or not, with how much damage has been done to my body and repairing it in moments after absorbing life force. I'm not up to test this theory." I said, with Luz nodding her head.
"Hemokinesis: Cutting my hand earlier was the first test to controlling my blood. I was able to move it about and make shapes out of it. However it is unclear if I can do the same with others blood. Won't try it out any time soon." Luz said in horror.
"Soul Absorption: I still hear the voices in my head of the ones I absorbed. One in particular is the woman as she appears to be the main voice. She is an angry person. I said as I scratched my head. I think most of my anger comes from her." I said as I thought to myself.
"Wow, that's... something." Luz said as she stood up and walked away, where I went back to reading my books.
Later
"Finally! All that mean‐spirited laughter made me sleepy." King said as he jumped on the couch and laid down while I was reading up on succubus.
"What are you talking about." I said as I came to a stop after reading about how they absorb life force through sex, something similar to what I do but minus the sex. "Oh my god I'm going to die a virgin." I said out loud as it dawned on me.
Eda laughed at that. "Crony, wake up. You said that wizard was one of my clients?" Eda said as I put the book to the side, interested in this so called Wizard.
"Yes. Now go away." King said as he closed his eyes.
"I don't know him that well." Eda said as she sits on the couch with enough force to send King flying into the air. "And I don't trust this itch he's scratching in the human." She said, confusing me on what was going on.
"Less talky, more nappy." King said as he laid back down.
"What's going on?" I asked, with her turning to face me.
"Some Wizard guy told Luz that she is the chosen one or whatever nonsense she is going on about." Eda said as she rolled her eyes while rolling her wrist. "If you ask me it's just a bunch of nonsense. A scam artist trying to trick her." She said, with me standing up.
"Let me go talk to her. I'll set things straight." I said as I walked to where her room was.
Later
"Hey, Lu?" I called out as I pushed the door open, with me seeing that the window was open. "Where'd she go?" I said, annoyed.
"Hoot, hoot." A voice said before entering the window to show that it was Hooty. "If you want the answer that you seek, solve my riddle within a week—"
"I will set you on fire!" I said as I held my hand up and fire appeared in it. "If you don't tell me where she went!?" I yelled as I narrowed my eyes at Hooty.
"Okay, okay! She went into the forest towards Bonesborough. Sheesh!" Hooty said as he left, with me looking at my hand.
"Oh my god, I have fire powers!?" I said in excitement before running off to tell Eda. Once in the living room, I held my hand up to them. "I can make fire!?" I said, where they looked at me with wide eyes. "Also, Luz is gone, went into town or whatever." I said as I played with my fire hand.
"Put that out and come with me!" Eda said as she grabbed Kings collar and dragged him out, where I followed.
Later
King was sniffing the ground as we walked down an alley. "This is where we met the scones. I mean, the wizard." King said as we came to a stop at a patched curtain. Eda pushes aside a patched curtain, with us seeing the inside. "It wasn't like this before." King said as we walked in.
The castle is now in complete ruin, with crumbling walls, no spire, and faded banners. One of the front doors is laying on the ground, and as we look, a chunk of wall falls from a pillar. "I don't like this." Eda said as I walked over to one of the only remaining doors and opened it.
Inside revealed a library. Tattered scrolls now litter the floor, shelves are broken, paintings are ripped, and chunks of debris are blocking the stairs. I stepped forward, onto a bundle of scrolls. Picking one up, I saw that it was illuminated with the glowing message of: "The chosen one". "I really don't like this." I added as Luz was a target to a scam.
Later
Now standing in a cat village, we saw that it was completely destroyed. Dark clouds hang in the sky and fog clouds hang in front of the houses. "Are you sure she came here?" Eda asked as I walked forward.
"Can't mistake her smell. Like lemons and young, naïve confidence." King said, with me stopping at the broken fountain. A cat wrapped in vines is laying in the lower basin. Kneeling, I picked it up.
"Hey! Wake up, you." Eda called out as she walked over, with me looking at her as she flicks the cat's head. "What have you done with Luz?" Eda said as she took it from me and starts to shake it. "What's your endgame?" She questioned, where I wanted to tell her that it was useless to question it.
"To find your pupil and still your wrath, look ahead and follow the path." It said before it dusted away.
"The cat man melted!" King said in shock.
"It's a trap. They want me to follow Luz." Eda said, making me grin.
"So, what do we do?" King asked as I followed the path.
"Easy. We follow the path." I said as I felt joy, immense joy building up inside. Not at the chance to do something fun, but to kill something. "Go on ahead, fly! I'm going to walk!" I said as I looked back at them with my grin.
"Creepy grin, but if you say so!" Eda said as she grabbed king and took off. I watched them vanish , laughing as I now ran to follow them.
Later
Reaching the clearing, I saw Luz standing before a disgusting creature and some puppets. "No. Joke's on you, 'cause Eda isn't stupid enough to fall for your trap!" Luz called out, with me looking up.
"Adegast!" Eda called out as she and King landed at the end of the walkway.
"Eda, I have you now!" Adegast said as two cat puppets erupt from the ground, one grabbing Eda and the other King. "That's right. You have me, but you don't have him!" Eda called out as I jumped down, almost levitating in front of her as I landed. The next second, the cat puppets were gone in a poof.
"I didn't have to be a part of this!" King cheered as I looked up at this so called Adegast, grinning.
"Who are you?" Adegast questioned as I removed my wooden hands and and walked forward, grinning even more.
"I am the one who is hiding under your bed." I said as the area around us became darker. "My teeth are ground sharp and my eyes are always glowing purple." I said as thousands of purple eyes opened up from the darkness. "I am the one who is hiding under your stairs." I said as a crimson aura started seeping off of me. "My fingers are like snakes and spiders are my hair!" I said as I extended my arms and grabbed Adegast, forcing him to look at me as snakes and spiders started crawling over him, where he started screaming. "I am the who when you call, "Who's there?" I am the shadow on the moon at night! Filling your dreams to the brim with fright!?" I yelled as his life force was absorbed into me, with me dropping his disgusting body with a laugh.
"Luz!" I heard, where the area went back to normal, and my laughter stopped.
"King, I'm sorry." Luz said, with me looking at them. "I should have listened to you and never trusted that wizard." Luz said as she hugged King, who fought against it and then gave up. "You were right. He isn't mystical or magical. He's just a big, slimy jerk." She said as she broke the hug.
"Well, that's the last time I take an outside referral." Eda said as she walked over to me. "I got the kid, head back to the house." She said as she placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Eda... sorry." I said as I looked at my hands. "I guess there are something's that I can't control anymore." I said, with her grabbing my wooden hands and making me look up at her with them.
"You have nothing to apologize for. Your mind may be broken, and your heart hurt, but that doesn't mean that you can't make the right decisions and follow your heart." Eda said, making me smile at her word. "Now run on home, I've got to talk to the kid!" She said as I took the wooden hands from her and put them on.
"Of course." I said as I turned around and walked away, knowing that everything was going to be okay.