Chapter 2

The morning sun rose on another day, the events of yesterday a hazy memory in the mind of the now slowly awakening Lydia. But not for her new otherworldly companion...

She awoke as if it were any other day, a brief spark of memory flashed over yesterday's events, the meeting with the principal, her punishment for breaking the restriction rules. She grimaced at the memory, a week in solitary confinement in her dorm. It was almost expulsion from the academy, but the slaying of the...

"The Trolls!" Her memory suddenly snapped back as her mind became fully awake. The trolls she came across, the rock, the strange creature that... that she now shares a body with. Her senses came back to her then, more heightened than she remembered. She could feel the alien warmth within her, as if it was there within her blood. 'It probably is' she thought. She also felt surprisingly energetic this morning compared to how she usually felt. No early morning sadness or exhaustion, No hunger or thirst, or even a sense of dread for the day ahead.

Instead she felt energetic, warm, eager. She still felt a sense of hunger and thirst but much less than she does most mornings. Less stress, less trouble getting up. She stepped out of her bed and stretched, a surprising amount of cracks and pops sounded, each one followed by a satisfying sensation. She looked around her room as she did most mornings, noticing new details as she always did. One thing she noticed today, the room needed cleaning. There was dirt between the wooden boards, cobwebs on the ceiling, dust barely noticeable on the cobblestone walls. She didn't have any cleaning equipment in her room, but there should be a staff member around later to deliver food and schoolwork. She could ask then.

She walked over to the wooden work desk in her room, thankfully clear of any dust. She began getting ready for the day as always, part of her questioning if she should even bother getting out of her pyjamas since she wouldn't be going anywhere. She quickly changed her mind and instead just straightened out her pyjamas to be a little more presentable. She glanced by the mirror mounted on the wall just above her work desk.

And stifled a scream...

Her reflection wasn't hers, instead she stared into the eyeless face of what could easily be mistaken for a demon. It was pure black, the only colour coming from the glowing white cracks that covered its body resembling the pattern of tree bark or a jagged, chaotic spider web, seemingly emanating from the emerald shaped glow in its chest its teeth glowed with the same dim white light, same with the reflection's claws, sharp and serrated. The reflection didn't have eyes. Instead a sharp and jagged spiral shape took their place, it too glowing with the same white light.

The reflection wasn't hers, but it did copy her every move. As she moved her hands to poke and prod at her face, the reflection's clawed hands did the same. She opened her mouth and it did the same, revealing the back of its throat containing the same light, along with a long red tongue. Its jaws seemed to almost unhinge as its mouth opened, its teeth retracting slightly to let the tongue out. Her mind raced with hundreds of questions, but her voice only spoke one. "What is this!?"

The reflection's tongue retracted back into its mouth, and the newly familiar voice of the symbiote spoke out. "This... is us..."

its voice stopped the racing in her mind. She payed attention to the echo of what it said. The voice was deep, distorted, each syllable echoed. The two things that caught her attention most of all, was first that it didn't sound like the voice was coming from the mirror. It sounded like it was sounding out from her own mind. As if it were merely a thought. The second thing that caught her attention was that behind all the deep tone and distortion, behind the animalistic growl that accompanied its voice... was the faint traces and echoes of her own voice. It was in her head, speaking to her through her own mind.

"No need to be afraid Lydia." Its voice rang out again, the reflection seemed to smile. Her brain could barely comprehend the situation, so she uttered a single word. "Us?"

"Yes, us. This is what we look like as one." The reflection opened its arms, giving her a good view of it. "Now I have a very important question for you Lydia."

"what?" Her voice forced out through a brain that was slowly starting to calm down.

"How do you feel right now?" The reflection tilted its head. Lydia stopped to think, despite the horror story in the mirror, despite the frustration, stress, strain and anger she had forced herself to shoulder for years now... "I feel great!" She spoke her thoughts as she arrived at this revelation. The reflection smiled with its head still tilted in confusion.

"Glad to see you're enjoying my gift, but I must say that's not the answer I expected." Its voice remained monotone, but even then she could feel faint traces of primal emotion, namely contentment, but also strangely annoyance. Lydia raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I'd expected you to be rightfully frustrated at your current punishment for what we did to those raiders.

"you mean what you did." She retorted.

"without a host I'm little more than a living puddle, and your rage gave me such bountiful strength even just a fading flicker as you passed out. So no, I mean what we did to them." Its voice had faint traces of amusement as it justified her role in the slaughter of the raiders. She almost went to her knees at the thought of her killing anyone, she had been angry at the world for some time, bitter even she admitted. The occasional intrusive thought of lashing out at those who wrong her every day crossed her mind. But actually killing someone, killing an entire group. That was horrible to think about, and now that she'd actually played a part in it. The Symbiote was the only thing keeping her on her feet.

"Don't spare them any more thought than they deserve. They would've crushed us both without a second thought just for fun. There ain't a soul that's not better off without them." It comforted, traces of her own emotions in its voice. She took deep breaths to steady herself, the symbiote waited patiently for her to regain her composure.

"I guess..." she more exhaled than spoke.

"I'm more surprised you aren't thinking of breaking this worthless punishment. They should be praising and rewarding us." Another trace of emotion, anger. "Sure you broke one rule. But they have ostracised you for more than enough time. Honestly this might be the only room in this place that isn't effectively a punishment of its own."

Lydia's thought conflicted, did she truly deserve this? "But I broke a rule that nearly got me killed, I broke another student's nose, as far as they're aware I massacred 5 trolls without cause." Lydia's eyes finally left the mirror. "Maybe I do deserve to be confined here." The Symbiote reflected the rage she felt yesterday, it did not like what it heard.

"that boy was a wretched, worthless little twig. Someone who tormented you, tormented Audrey. Just to feel better about himself for being weak." Its voice was still monotone, but the discreet inflections of fury in its voice gave it away. A rage she recognised all too well...

The reflection pressed against the mirror, spiral staring straight at her. "This place, this kingdom treats you unfairly. And in our mind the reasoning is distasteful, you restrain a dangerous power you neither understand nor control. You restrain a wrath, a hatred that is beyond justified. But yet they threaten execution for using the power you were born with. Punishing you with confinement for an action that saved who knows how many lives down the line, well that's all about to change."

Lydia contemplated each word the Symbiote uttered, her own rage returning, her own frustration at the injustice of it all. It was beyond unfair that she face all this without her committing any atrocities that would warrant such unfairness and prejudice towards her. Her blood boiled with a familiar frustration, but this time felt different. It felt the Symbiote latch onto the emotion, using it to fuel both its strength and her own. Responding to it.

"We are one Lydia. Anything you couldn't stand before I will be the crutch for. I will be the executioner that carries out your every sentence and you will be my body and soul while we will make everything right again. We are free to get as rowdy as we please, free to decide what will and won't be tolerated. This world is ours now Lydia, what is your desire?"

Lydia spent what felt like an eternity pondering everything it said. It was right, it spoke her every frustration so plainly. Everything it said was true, which made its offer all the more enticing. She sifted through a billion thoughts, millions of possibilities, millions of reasons to say yes or no... just as she made her decision. A knock sounded at the door...

in an instant she shot up, nearly leaving the ground. The reflection was gone, her own face now staring back at her. The familiar ruby eyes, pale skin and black hair. Only this time she looked healthier, more energised. She smiled before turning to open the door. It was Mary. Her short brown hair, blue eyes and more sharp features, still holding a semblance of elegance or grace. Mary was skilled woman, a trained warrior at heart. Her demeanour was typically cold and calculating, but Lydia knew better, she was a sweetheart under the surface. Her expression was softer than normal as the two locked eyes.

"Hello Lydia." Mary's voice rang out like ice on metal, but Lydia felt no chill or fear.

"Hey Mary, what a surprise!" Lydia maintained the same energy she had when she woke up this morning, much to the surprise of her friend.

"You sound a lot happier than normal. Guess what I've heard is true then." Mary adopted a small smile at that statement. "You did sneak out and let off a little steam." She stepped past Lydia and entered the room.

Lydia sighed as the Symbiote moved beneath her skin. It was skeptical of Mary, unsure whether she was friend or foe. "So you know about that..." Lydia closed her eyes, unsure if she wanted to face what comes next, her eyes snapped open at Mary's next words.

"Nice going Dame, who knew you had it in you." Mary's expression softened, a subtle mix of pride and confusion on her face. "How did you even pull that off?"

Lydia opened her mouth to try and offer an explanation, but the Symbiote cut her off. "Reach under the bed, trust me." Lydia did as instructed, Mary noted the slight hints of worry and nervousness in her friend's face. Lydia reached under the bed and the Symbiote began to move, escaping through the pores in her skin and taking the shape of a glistening silver coloured sword. She pulled her hand from under the bed and understood immediately what the Symbiote was doing, it had taken the same form yesterday after the trolls were... dealt with, it hid as this exact sword when the search party found her. It was protecting her alibi, protecting itself. She stared at the sword, Mary did too.

Mary stepped closer to the sword, examining it closely. Scrutinising every detail. Something was off, but she couldn't tell what. "Very nice." She played a smirk while reaching to pick it up, it was strangely light, almost as if it weren't even composed of metal. "So this is the weapon you used... I can't say this whole thing doesn't surprise me." She noticed a twitch in Lydia's expression, she didn't understand why her friend seemed so unsettled.

She played another smile, trying to ease her friend's mind. "I'm impressed, and don't worry I doubt anyone's mad at you."

"the school was." Lydia spoke out, barely loud enough to not be considered a whisper.

"The school has always been pissy when something isn't exactly how they like it. I wouldn't pay them any mind, so what punishment did they dish you anyways?"

"I'm confined to this room for a week." Mary's eyes rolled as she heard that, what a load of crap.

"I swear this place is only reputable because how rich it is." She pinched her nose in mild annoyance. She could tell from Lydia's expression that she agreed.

"In any case." Lydia spoke up. "This is looking to be a long week."

"You have my sympathies."

"Thanks Mary."

"in any case, I mainly called round just to get the full picture on everything. I have to get going now." Her cold demeanour was back, Lydia's expression showed a flicker of both relief and disappointment, Mary noticed.

"Could you do me one last favour?"

"Sure Wassup?"

"Could you ask someone to bring around some cleaning supplies? I think i could get a little spring cleaning going." Mary grew surprised at that, she was used to Lydia being exhausted, often overwhelmed by stress and frustration. She smiled at the change but a hint of unease stirred within her.

"Sure I'll ask someone now." She walked away as Lydia waved, once Mary heard the door close she released a breath she didn't know she was holding. Conflicting questions made themselves known. What happened in the woods yesterday? Where did Lydia get that sword, and when? What made her seem so lively all of a sudden? How was she able to take down trolls when even higher ranking magic users struggled against them? And most importantly of all.

What was happening to her friend..?

Sure enough a short while later, a janitor showed up and handed Lydia a set of simple cleaning equipment. Including a mop, bucket, broom, cloths, soap and a duster. She immediately rolled up her sleeves with the same energy she carried all day and got to work. The Symbiote had been strangely silent since it seeped back into her skin, she didn't know why but she also had a strange sense that she should leave it be.

The cleaning process took hours, even with her strange supply of energy she was starting to feel the burn by the end. She had meticulously tended to every spot in the room until it was immaculate. It was therapeutic, but a surprisingly effective workout. She also learned just how difficult it was to remove dust and dirt from between floorboards and cobblestone walls.

She slumped into her bed and looked out the window, it would be sundown soon. How long had she been cleaning? The day had gone by so quickly... even during the time she stopped for lunch when the staff finally brought it to her, she hadn't thought that much of the day had passed.

The Symbiote still hasn't said a word. Lydia didn't know how to feel about that. One the one hand its voice felt strange in her head, sounded strange, the creature as a whole felt unnatural. Wrong. On the other hand she did appreciate it saving her life, giving her the credit, providing an alibi, offering what it did... she made up her mind. "Hey uh... buddy? You still there?"

"Yes." It responded bluntly, its monotone voice echoed in her thoughts.

"You sure? You've been awfully quiet."

"We both have, and you seemed deep in thought. I believed it best not to disturb." Lydia's eyes slightly widened, then narrowed at its response. It was right, she hadn't even realised how little sound either of them had made since Mary's visit. The only sounds coming from the cleaning and the breeze moving the tree branches outside.

"Oh! Right, sorry. I didn't even realise."

"It's fine. Happens with everything alive."

"You've had these kinds of... what would you call us?" Lydia raised an eyebrow as she asked.

"There's a few words even in your language. But I prefer host."

"Okay... so you've had other hosts before?"

"None as complex as you. But yes, and even they sometimes got lost in thought."

"I see..."

"in any case. You should sleep, I've been delaying your fatigue for a while but even still your mind and body both need rest. Even I can't help that." As soon as the Symbiote brought the matter to attention, she felt drained. No longer full of energy like she had been all day, had the creature taken it away, did it make her tired? She didn't have the energy to think on that anymore. She got into bed properly, the symbiote releasing tendrils from her shoulders to pull the covers over her before retracting back through her skin. A yawn and a few minutes later she was fast asleep.

Audrey was bored out of her skull.

she had spent most of the day in classes or in bed, she was still sore from Gabriel's little stunt. But there were things that helped ease the stress.

For exam seeing Gabriel get humiliated by Lydia. Every time she thought about it she couldn't help but snicker. The best part was that everyone saw it, so any small amount of recognition he had was taken away by the least likely person. But at the same time... something about that worried her.

Lydia had always been the fateful type. The type to keep a straight face, to control her emotions, to measure every action given both of their... less than fortunate standing. With Audrey having no magic at all and Lydia being lawfully bound to never use hers, they were weak links everywhere they went. Audrey never bothered with restraint, but Lydia did. And she admired her friend for that. Hence the reason Audrey likened her to a knight, and subsequently gave her the nickname "Dame"

That's why what she saw, and much more so heard didn't sit right with her. Her friend lashing out at someone, however deserving. She saw that and as proud as she was she was also worried. And what's worse the rumours apparently going around that she ignored the restrictions and stormed into the woods. And even worse the rumours that she'd had a run in with the trolls that were responsible for such restrictions. Mary had gone to speak with her earlier, but she'd been rather quiet ever since. And despite her normally icy demeanour Audrey could tell she felt the same unease.

The signs of Lydia's draining energy were evident for a long time, even since the 3 met years prior. Her decreasingly energetic movements, her growing irritability, she went longer without speaking by the day. There were times where Audrey could swear her friend's eye-bags were growing, no matter how well Lydia kept them hidden. She also grew slightly thinner in recent months. What bothered Audrey most was her friend's rapidly increasing desperate rituals, the breathing rituals she hyper fixated on, the solitary walks through the woods, the ever increasing amount of sleep she'd fall into between classes. Her friend was hurting more than anyone would be able to pry out of her, and Audrey didn't know what to do. That sickened her to the core.

Audrey needed fresh air, she would talk to her friend come morning. For now she herself needed a pick me up. She left her dorm and began walking towards the academy's exit. Lydia admittedly wasn't the only one with bad habits, but Audrey believed she was handling her's better. She exited the Academy and began walking towards the small town most of the students and teachers hailed from, it was a bit of a trek but Audrey didn't really mind. The sunset was always beautiful and the smells of the grass, gravel and trees never ceased to please her nose. By the time she arrived at the town the sunset was almost done, the dark of the night creeping in. The lanterns of the town being lit one by one to create what could either be an appealing or a haunting aesthetic. Depends on the perspective she always believed.

She approached the same pub she frequented for the last few months, she knew the risks of not being in your right mind, especially this late at night. But she came prepared, she carried a special potion for such occasions. She was getting better at making them. This potion was designed to induce terror on anyone it was spritzed on, reducing them to little more than whimpering slabs of meat on the ground. It was cruel, but those who'd take advantage of those of a lower situation deserved no pity in her eyes.

She walked into the pub and sat down at the bar, Dave was there. Technically she wasn't old enough to drink, being only 15. But Dave never really minded, he believed she was mature enough to handle herself and make the right decisions. Plus he'd always look out for her on the off chance she made the wrong choice. He also made sure to keep any creeps away, though this wasn't just for her. He did that for everyone. Often letting some too drunk to go home crash in the attic. She had never done that, and she had enough sense to not let it get to that point.

"Hey Audrey, rough day?" He greeted, smile as prominent as ever. His tone carried a rough joy with every word she had ever heard him say.

"Yeah. But I don't wanna talk about it." She more exhaled than said. Dave nodded in response and slid over her usual order. A bottle of cheep booze. Audrey moved to give him some money when he motioned for her to stop.

"Consider this a freebie. We're overstocked and you're more responsible than most of the other drunkards in friends with. Plus you really look like you need it." Audrey blushed in mild embarrassment and gave him a quick "thank you" before starting to drink.

Some time passed, Audrey wasn't sure how much but she was starting to feel the buzz start to set in. So she decided to call it a night. "Cya later Dave!" She called out as she rose from her stool and headed for the door, Dave gave a polite wave as she walked. As Audrey approached the door however she noticed a strange set of smells emanating from outside. She could easily make out the smell of smoke, it was faint but strong. But something else made her halt her exit. "Hey Dave?"

"Wassup?"

"Can you smell that?" Her tone seemed... off. Dave noticed.

"smells like..." Dave took a long deep sniff of the air. "Moss, smoke and... blood?" By now both of them could see an orange hue beyond the door. And the smells grew stronger. Strong enough that even the buzzed out drunks that populated the bar took notice. That's when everything went wrong...

something slammed into the door, splintering it and sending Audrey across the room and behind the bar, knocking into Dave on the way. They both fell to the floor and were dazed. Audrey recovered first, she was used to heavy hits and Dave had broken her fall. She peeked around the corner of the bar to find an overly large beast in the doorway, blocking the way out. It was man shaped, muscular and its face seemed contorted in a permanent sneer. Its skin was like rock, its hair and beard seemingly composed of moss. It wore the bare minimum for armour, which made sense seeing as it looked like an already heavily armoured tank. It had bronze coloured shoulder pads, wrist gauntlets, armour plating on the side of its thighs, wrapped around its pants. Its boots were metal too, showing signs of wear and tear. By its feet were much less intimidating creatures. They were short, green, with pointed features and red eyes. Yellow where a human would have white. Audrey recognised them as goblins, which means the stone beast must be a troll. She'd always pitied the goblins, creatures enslaved after the trolls had raided their defenceless village. Now reduced to servants and labourers.

The troll gave an order and the goblins moved in with rope, each of them with terrified expressions, sweat dripping down their skin and getting soaked up by the rags they wore. Their bodies looked so frail as they began to herd the drunks into one corner and tying them up. Audrey and Dave remained hidden, Dave reaching for a rag and a bottle from under the counter. Audrey was wary for any sound made. Now terrified not just for her life, but for everyone's. Dave slipped the rag into the bottle and pulled out a lighter, she knew what he was doing. A Molotov cocktail, she had no idea if it would work but it was their only shot at escaping with their souls.

Dave flicked the lighter on and the room went silent. She could hear the troll begin to clamber towards the light from the small flame. Dave set the rag ablaze, launched to his feet and the pub was filled with a bright light, a strong heat and the deafening sounds of an inhuman scream...