Spirits of the Earth

A shadow floated throughout the forest, lacking any form. It came upon a camp.

The meeting place, it thought. Such a wonderful place to find those who think they're safe from any harm. The rules of this place are so easy to breakthrough, especially when you happen to be a Demon. As the shadow was thinking, it leaned up against a tree, just outside of the camp, and there, it took form of a young girl, around twenty years old, with hair as dark as the night. She stretched, and grabbed a twig of the ground. She held it, examining it's length, and wrote her name in the air with fire, just to see if the twig would work for her purposes. 'Wixi' was very clear in the air, so it the twig would work.

Alright, let's see what fun a Demon of Chaos can have tonight.

She imbued the stick with glamour, to cause fear and distrust, and through it between the people sitting around the fire. It landed perfectly in the fire. The twig would be destroyed in under a minute, and when it was, then distrust and fear would infect all of those sitting around the campfire.

I love my powers, Wixi thought.

A young woman sat by the heat of the campfire, half-asleep and making soft conversation with one other traveler who had found their way there. She was unremarkable, really. Just one of the many who surrounded the warmth and felt secure in their safety.

The sound of the fire crackling yanked her from the edge of sleep, nudging her to retreat to her tent. Her new friend had already faded out, it seemed, and the others weren't people she'd concerned herself yet.
As she rose to retreat to her tent, the others around the fire made what seemed to be a transformation. Once friendly faces were menacing, the forest darker behind them.
But no, that couldn't be--only moments before they were all partners in solitude.
Surely it's my mind again. I should sleep--I'll leave early, tomorrow morning. Before the rest of them wake.

Again, she glanced back, her chest tightening as the person she'd been speaking with glared back at her. This was a place of hostility, surely. No place for her among the savages.
Everleigh, uncharacteristically so, staggered just behind her tent. Fear had shaken her want of sleep from her, leaving her nervous and shaky as she stared into the deep forest, tree branches just brushing the tip of her shelter. It seemed more welcoming than the warmth of the fire now, despite her terror at what monsters could lurk in the dark--or at the fire.
But no. Someone from the fire could've done what she had, had escaped, was waiting out there to strike. Surely someone was, at that very moment, just waiting.

Wixi sat down in a branch on a tree near the camp, just far enough so she couldn't be seen easily, but still close enough that she could watch the events unfold.

She saw a figure get up and walk away from the fire, and head behind a tent. Wixi frowned, the person would be just far enough away that the magic could just barley hit the person. It wouldn't be as effective, just enough to put the person on edge, and that was the last thing that she wanted right now.

Wixi jumped from the branch, and landed on the ground, barely making a sound.


She sent her magic into the person's mind, apparently the person was female, and chose a form from the girl's past. She felt herself shift into the form, and instantly knew that she hated it. She hated being men. Even though this was the girls father, and it would confuse her, it would still be annoying for the few seconds that it would take to kill the girl.

She started walking to the tents, laughing as the people around the campfire started throwing fists at each other.

Let's do this, She thought.

Everleigh tipped her head back, eyes closed as she worked to soothe her anxious mind. Stories, meant to scare her child self, drifted through her mind, of ghosts that haunted the forests. Behind her, she heard the menacing firefolk fighting, her breathing hitching at the shouting. This was no good place to be.

Her chin dropped to her chest, eyes peering open at the dark. Her mother once told her if she ever wandered off, the ghost of the person who was most angry with her would find her. Surely it was just a children's tale.

Surely.

Her eyes caught an approaching figure, head lifting as her gaze widened.
"..Hello?"
It was her mind again. Just.. Playing a trick. A cruel trick. It had to be someone from the campfire, some man that just.. looked that way.

As Wixi walked towards the unsettled girl, she felt a thrill of excitement. It had been ages since she had talked to someone, much more be seen by someone. She wondered how the girl would react to seeing this person from her past. His face would surprise her.

She will probably just freak out. Wixi sighed. She hated it when mortals just accepted her mind games. They were just too easy to trick, because they usually only relied on, well, reality.

As she stepped out towards the girl, she spoke just one sentence, then waited to see how she would react.

"Hello, my daughter."

Everleigh merely stared for a full moment, her lips slightly apart with shock before finally she sputtered to life, hands fisting in the grass. He can't be.

Doubt radiated off her in waves, soaked in terror and confusion. The woman could hardly even process what had been happening in her state of exhaustion. A stranger--no, her father--appearing in the forest was overwhelming, never mind the load already on her shoulders. All she wanted was to return to her tent and rest, not deal with ghosts in the night.

"You're dead."
She was no great wordsmith, that much was true, but her point (and her fear) was conveyed easily enough.

Wixi smiled. This was going to be WAY to easy.

"Yes, my child. But why should that stop me from being here?
In fact, I came to warn you."

Wixi used her powers to make the area around her and the girl, seem darker, more terrifying.

"Beware, for when the thrush knocks upon the door four times, your end shall be near."

Huh? That's odd. I didn't mean to say that.

Wixi startled, forgot to focus on her shapeshifting, and fizzled out of her form, into a girl around 22, with hair as black as the night, and purple/red eyes.

"Crap."

The girl froze, her hands clutched in the hem of her shirt. For a moment, it was all too real, the shadows approaching her. It was terrifying and chilling and all sorts of awful words.

And then it really.. Wasn't.

Seriously? Some.. Witch girl, trying to scare her? This was some cruel prank, surely. A joke! A joke.

Her fear filtered into anger, color rising to her cheeks as shaking hands turned to fists. Ugh. People these days.

"What on--Who do you think you are?!"

Raven almost burst out laughing at the look on the girls face when the demon switched forms in front of her. He had been watching this creature for a while and had decided on one thing. He really wanted its memories. Who wouldn't pay their weight in gold for the memories of a demon? But when the girl stammered out her confused response Raven had to laugh. He was far enough away to not be affected by the demons magic, but he was still within earshot. After his laugh attack passed he realized what had happened. Damn. That was unprofessional. He pressed harder aginst the tree he was hiding behind. Lets see if they heard me, he thought.

Wixi, startled as she was by the random words coming out of her mouth, did in fact notice the laughter coming from her right. A smile grew on her, and she forgot about the weird prophesy. She had finally caught him. She had known, for quite some time now, that something was following her. At first, she had thought that it was some animal, for they usually followed her around for some reason.

Then, when she had felt his presence, she knew that this was no animal.

So, she had decided to play a game. It was probably a bad idea, she knew that, but it was part of her very nature to mess with people. So she couldn't stop herself from seeing how far the man would follow her.

He had been careful. It had been, as much as she hated to admit it, hard to know where this man was. But he had finally slipped, and now the game was in the final stages. Wixi stretched.

Well then, how shall we end this? There's still the girl here, she might prove useful. That's it, I'll lure him in.

Wixi stared at the girl.

"Hello. Sorry to bother you like this, but I really couldn't help myself. Physically impossible for me not to do that. I'll explain at some other point. Now listen, and listen carefully."

Wixi leaned in, and dropped her voice so that the man in the woods couldn't hear. Her voice, barely above a whisper.

"I need your help. There is a man in the forest to my right, and he has been hunting me, no easy task I assure you,for upwards of twelve days now. I don't know who he is, and I don't know what he wants. I can only tell that he wants to hurt me, and as many other people as possible."

"If that isn't enough incentive for you, I'll throw in some gold, and maybe something else, if you manage to drive him off. Deal?"

Oh bloody hell. Well time to negotiate. This better friggin work.

He stepped out from behind the tree wit his hands up.

"Well now. Lets not be hasty." He said in his version of a calming voice. He looked at two girls in front of him. One had long brown hair and copper skin. She was the confused one. And the other one, oh the demon. She was in one of her forms, one she wore a lot, maybe her favorite form?

"I mean no harm. Its all ok." He took a step forward. And another. And another. Until suddenly he lunged at the demon with his ring hand extended, aiming at her forehead.

Everleigh's first reaction was to nod in begrudging agreement, not letting herself speak for the lingering fear of making things any worse for herself. Despite her anger, she considered herself far from stupid (angering this girl was surely very dumb), and silence was of the essence.

Of course, this was all for naught as soon as (in her opinion) the ridiculous excuse for a man emerged.

"Are you shitting me?"
No, not a brilliant, stunning reaction that would end this hell. Not that it would have mattered. He was already lunging, and.. Huh.

Her hometown suddenly seemed like an excellent place to be.
In fact, anywhere but here was an excellent place to be. Even stuck behind a bar would be better than here. Fighting around the campfire? Better than here. Name a place, and goodness, would she be glad to go.

Her feet, however, remained frozen in place, her expression more infuriated than shocked at this turn of events. She couldn't do anything for the shape-shifting whatever now, if she even had wanted to in the first place.
She didn't.

Wixi smiled. She had got him.

"Check."

Wixi flipped backwards, her heels kicking him in the chin, her feet on the ground.
Because of the way he had lunged, and mostly because of her strength, he got knocked upwards about three feet in the air.

Flipping back on to her feet, she punched him right in the gut on his way down, extending her arm to send him flying backwards.

"Checkmate. Well, It's been fun. Actually, now that I think about it, this is the most fun I've had in a while. For that, I thank you."

As she looked down at the man, he let out a little gasp.

"Wow, you're still alive are you? That's surprising, not many people can take a punch from me."

She turned away from the man for a second.

"Now then miss, I know your tired, but bare with me for a moment. Unfortunately for you, now that you've seen this, I can't let you live. Well, I had no intention of having you live anyways. Now hold still..."

As Wixi reached towards the girl, she didn't notice the fist coming at her head.

All that she noticed as she was falling down into unconsciousness, was that the person that had just hit her, looked like the one sitting next to the first girl at the fire.

*     *     *     *     *

"And stay down. Are you alright Everleigh? I saw you walk away looking half asleep. For some reason, I had a really strong urge to hit you. Lucky that you walked away when you did."

The girl from the fire reached down and brushed aside the shapeshifter's hair.

"Huh, would you look at that. She has purple eyes. Anyways, soon after you walked away, I felt better again. While the others were punching each other, I went to search for you, and you're lucky I did."

She glanced over to the spot where the man lay. Or laid. It seemed like he had run.

She looked at Everleigh.

"So what should we do with this one?"

[OOC: I hope you don't mind if I take over the character from the fire. :D  ]

Everleigh endured the brief fight, more than a little surprised by the interference from the other woman. She hadn't expected anybody to bother investigating the scene.

However, she held no fondness for either of the bastards that had decided to pull their tricks. Her heartstrings weren't exactly pulled by either's lack of conciousness.

"Well, I'm certainly not tired anymore, hmm? The fire certainly was curious. Some game by the purple-eyed--ah, lady, undoubtedly." There were more accurate words, but she was in pleasant company of sorts.

She cast a glance at the man, shrugging.

"As for that sorry soul, I'd say let him lie and explore him a bit when he wakes up. He hasn't actually done anyone any harm, of course!"

She paused for a moment, giving him a grimace. "Just.. Attempted. Nasty thing."

One booted foot gave the each of them a nudge, only checking for general signs of healthy life.
It'd be a real shame if either was actually injured. A hassle to deal with.

And, of course, Wixi's comment on punch-survival lingered in the back of her mind. What a nightmare if someone actually died. She certainly didn't want to deal with it.

Her gaze slid back to the girl.

"And I would think things settled down by the fire? Nobody too badly hurt or anything? You seem just chipper!"

[OOC[It's fine by me!]]

"Well, I'm doing fine. The others though, one of them apparently had brought a knife. Three are dead, and one injured. The last one ran away after he realized what he had done."

She glanced down at the shapeshifter.

"Well, I suggest we tie them up. The man will be easy. Not sure what we should do about the shapeshifter though. She could just shapeshift into an ant and walk away."

She paused, thoughtful.

"You should search through some of the bags around the campfire. We might find some magical items. Anything is better than what I have."

Ow. Goddammit. Raven lay stunned on the ground and silently listened to the conversation going on around him with half an ear. Most of his consciousness was busy mentally kicking himself.

STUPID. STUPID. STUPID!! Why had he rushed her at all? He could have talked to her and attack her when her guard was down. And why didn't he rush her with his saber? He's not a barehanded fighter, he's a fencer. And he doubted a chaos demon could be killed by a sword thrust.

His attention suddenly snapped to the present when they started talking about tying him up. HE sat up with a start, winced at the pain in his stomach and his fractured jaw, then said

"Now, now, there's no need for that. I'm on your side." He glanced at the human girl. "And maybe her." he pointed absentmindedly at the demon with one hand while rubbing his jaw with the other.  "I just need her memories." Time for the kicker. He stood up slowly, but drew himself up to his full, considerable height and puffed his chest out before saying with a voice full of booming authority and confidence
"I am Raven Thorne, the Memory Thief." He gave the girl and her companion a wide smile. "You may have heard of me."

"Bags! Yeah, I can do that, if you can tie."

She had managed to take a whole half-step before he rose, startling her yet again. Bastard just didn't stop.


"Raven.. Thorne?" She tilted her head, giving him a dubious look. "No. Never heard a thing. What a silly title, though. 'Memory Thief.'" For all his confidence, which was fairly impressive, he was a bit amusing.

"You do realize, Mister Thorne," she announced, doing her best to seem professional, "last time you meant no harm, you ended up trying to punch someone, yes? Not to mention you have thief in your job title, so I wouldn't really be inclined to give you a moment of trust anyway."

Leigh folded her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow.
"For someone who claims to be heard of, you're a bit ridiculous."

Wixi was drifting. There was a void, but not a black one. No, she was surrounded by nothingness, a white nothingness. She drifted throughout space and time, and throughout all of that, something was repeating. Not one something, multiple somethings. Images, tastes, senses, feelings, and thoughts.

Bitterness of a root.

Gemstones, glowing without any light.

Hate, pure hatred, stronger than any feeling she had ever felt before. It overshadowed everything else.

And the thought that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

This is where I shall die.

Tooth, claw, blood, pain, red, anger, and... hope? Hope that she would make it out alive? No, that wasn't it. Hope for something else, but for what?

And then she woke up.

*     *     *     *     *

"Well, I don't think we should trust him. The look in his eyes, there is something not right there."

Ruby stretched. Alright, lets see about this guy.

"So, what do you think we should do? I think we should tie him up anyways, until we get some information from him. Maybe take some stuff from him. That ring looks nice."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Ruby startled, jumped back a foot from the now screaming shapeshifter.

"Well, crap. Hurry up and find those ropes!"


[OOC: Imma use purple for Wixi, and Red for Ruby now. Btw, interesting fact, Wixi means 'any' in Samoli. Wixi, the shapeshifter.]

Goddammit. Why is my reputation always gone when I need it? Raven thought. Okay time to impress them.

Raven said in a smooth voice

"Ridiculous? Do you not believe me? I should be offended. Here let me show you." Raven leaped forward and pressed his ring into the center of the lady from the fires head.

Aaaand into the mind we go. Raven seemed to land in a library. As usual, no time to steal. He pulled a burlap sack off his shoulder. The bag was simply a mental representation of the link from the woman's mind to his. He walked along the shelf reading the spines, until he came across one that read 'fathers second wedding'. Yes this would do nicely. He took the book and threw it into the sack. Then he walked back to the door but stopped before he walked through. There was a second book in his sack.

It's spine read 'the first time you got caught'. No. Not this again.

Sometimes his ring would shove memories into his sack that it thought were important and relevant to the situation. But Raven had no idea what this had to do with his situation right now. He just shrugged and walked out the door.

When the connection was severed he jerked back and stood with his arms folded.

"So now lady, I have some questions for you."  He stated in a purposefully ominous way.

[OOC: I hope you guy don't mind if I godmod the npc a little. I won't do it a lot I promise!]

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"GODS, SHUT THIS GIRL UP!"

Ruby kicked the shapeshifter in the chest, causing the shapeshifter to roll side over side, right into a tree. She was still screaming.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"SHUT UP! Geez. Alright then, mister Thorne. Let's see what you did."

[OOC: I don't mind it too much, I don't know about lemon_hop though.]

"Oh my lords-

She tore her attention from Raven's impressively disturbing performance to the screaming girl, who seemed to incapable of not being trouble. The sound was fraying her nerves and giving her a killer headache.

Slipping away from the two others, she surveyed the other set-ups, choosing at random.
Luckily, she found the rope of someone who hadn't bothered to put them away or use them when securing the canvas. They were hers now. Sorry, folks!

And noooow to deal with the woman. She slid to the tree, kneeling down with a grimace at the deafening racket.

"Miss." Her voice was soft, just testing to see if it'd do anything. If kicking and shouting didn't, maybe it was time to be a bit more gentle.

[[OOC: I don't mind a bit!]]

"Yes?! HELLO?! I feel like I know you, do I know you? I have a question. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? No? I have no idea either...

Wixi just could not stop talking. No matter what she did, she wasn't able to stop spewing out random nonsense. This happened sometimes. The chaos inside of her would grow and grow until it exploded, right out of her mouth. She rolled her eyes, sat up and held up a finger. This was going to get worse before it got better.

Especially if the vision she just had was true.

She pointed at her mouth, then using her magic, made a dark sphere in front of her hand. Then she pointed at that, then at her mouth, that was still talking.

"Do you want to hear a riddle? How is a raven like a writing desk? I have no idea, I was hoping you would know, know, known noun no ne NUE NAH NEO!!!!!!"

*     *     *     *     *

Ruby now had a throbbing headache.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP! WHAT ARE YOU POINTING AT! Hey, Raven, whatever. Do you have any idea what to do about this shapeshifter?

Oh my god. The girl that kicked his ass is completely nuts. Well, there goes the rest of my pride. Little enough left as it is, Raven thought. Then he turned to the woman, Ruby, apparently.

"Well Ruby, I have no clue what to do with her, but can you tell me what happened at your dads second wedding?" Raven smiled mischievously.

The smile was to hide him calculating how fast he could steal the demons memories, and how he could get away. But more importantly, what would the momories of a demon do to his mind? He knew more than most how fragile a human mind is. After all he had broken his own on multiple occasions.

Ravens favorite bout of insanity was when he took the memories of a dragon and spent a week running around flapping his arms to try and fly while spitting on people in his approximation of dragonfire.

He got better. Eventually. Sort of.

Everleigh was speechless, not bothering to deal with the questions. Yeah, she'd be the one to chose the crazy girl.
That was fine.
Completely.

"Okay," she breathed, eyebrows raised. "Glowing ball of blackness. Nice."
Gently, she took the other girl's wrists, weaving the rope between them. Better to prevent the other girl from causing any more damage.
Plus it gave her an excuse to stay close, maybe prevent Raven from 'hurting her, and as many other people as possible.'

Whatever that meant.

Her fingers brought the ends together in a knot, only a second away from finishing the first bindings.

Ruby frowned.

"My dad never had a second wedding. What are you trying to pull here 'Memory Thief.' Ha. Memory thief indeed."

*     *     *     *     *

Wixi let the bindings be finished. They were only ropes, after all. She could get out of them at any time.

It was over. Wixi could talk normally again, even if she didn't show it. She kept gibbering on, just so that they wouldn't have any idea she was ok again. She could use this.

She spread her mind into this 'Memory Thief' to try and find out what was going on.

Wow, he really did steal her memories. But what does he want with me?

She searched farther into his mind.

Oh, of course. He wants my memories. Well then, let him try to take them. He'll soon find out what the inside of a Chaos Demon's head is like.

Well at least something went according to plan today. He smiled
"Oh really. Then who is Sasha?"

Raven felt an intrusion in his mind. The demon? Huh, figures she could read minds. Well, time to stop her before she digs much deeper. There are things there she doesn't need to see.

He dove into his own mind, creating a representation of his inner thoughts around him and the demon. He made his old hideout at the top of a bell tower, full of scattered junk and artifacts. And there was the demon.
"Well, hello there. I'm surprised to see you! But what are you doing? He said in a cheery voice akin to someone seeing an old friend in the market square.

Wixi blinked.

Well well, he can figure out if someone is in his mind.

"Oh, hello!", she said, mimicking his tone. "I was hoping to surprise you, with a nice little gift. You see, I am a Demon of Chaos. Considering you obviously don't know what that means, since you want to try and steal my memories, I want you to go ahead and try. I can't really talk right now, this fit happens sometimes. Anyways, go ahead and try to take my memories."

"First however, I would like to make a deal. You see, being a Demon of Chaos, there's quite a few things I can do. I won't list them all now, that would take far to long. This is the deal, If you manage to make it through my mind, and steal my first memory, I will work with you, and do as you ask. Keep in mind, that even though I may work with you, I will not be your slave. I will not harm you, nor get others to harm you."

She smiled, a cruel, wicked grin.

"However, if you do not manage to make it through my mind, you will not go back to your body."

She walked up to him, in his mind, and stroked his face.

"Think about it. All the power of a Demon of Chaos, at your fingertips. Deal?"

*     *     *     *     *

Ruby was unaware of this instant messaging inside of Raven's head.

As oblivious to it as she was, she still noticed the somewhat vaguer expression on his face.

"Well, Raven, if you're still there, Sasha was a friend of my dads. They liked each other, yes, but they never got married!"

Raven was pretty amused. How stupid does she think he is? Can't go back to his own body?
"While I find your offer tempting, Icannot help but refuse. But as s peace offeringI offer you this memory. He grabbed a book off his desk and held it out for her to read. The spine said 'Raven the actual dragon.'
"And I have also realized that I cannot take your memories and remain sane, so if you mind pleas exit mine and I shall be on my merry way."

Of course he's not gonna actually steal a demons memories. Last time it had almost killed him. So this time he had come prepared. He glanced at the 'Memory trap' he had made last week. In his mind it represented something else, but it was there. He turned back to the demon and made a shooing motion.

Wixi smiled.

"Keep your memory. I still invite you to try, of course, just know that when you do, you wont make it out again. Oh yes, I've seen horrors  like you wouldn't believe. I've seen stars burn, planets crumble, seas dry up, and millions die in less than a second. Oh, I caused some of it. I wasn't always a demon of chaos you know, but Ive told you too much already."

"So keep your puny memory, it could never compare to my own. Goodbye. And good luck. I've the vision I just had was true, you're going to need much more than just luck. "

"You know what, I like what you're doing. You're causing chaos across the lands, the many memories you've taken, leaving holes that can't be filled again. I like it. So, I will leave you with a gift instead."

She created a glowing orb on black and red swirls.

"Here. Don't worry, I give my word as a Demon that it won't harm you in any way. You should know that once a God's or Goddesses, or Demons word is given, they can't ever go back on it."

She took her finger, and cut an x into her shoulder.

"That magic, will help you three times, when you are in dire need. Call out 'Wixi, Demon of Chaos, I need your help.' and My magic will fill you. Three times you may use it. It shall bend to the situation, helping you in whatever situation you find yourself in."

"Good luck out there, Raven. I hope you find out what happened to your wife. Oh wait, that's the future, not the past. I get them confused sometimes."

She turned around and stood on the edge of the tower, looking down. She glanced back over her shoulder.

"Ta Tah."

And she jumped.

[OOC: Is anyone here? HELLLOOOOOO!?]

Excuse me what? Was the first thing to cross Ravens mind after the demon jumped. He leaned over the edge and shouted
"There was a door right behind you!!" It was pointless because she was already out of his head, but he did it anyway. Raven was weird like that. Then he stepped out through the door and left his mind.

The jolt back into the real world was shocking as always but once everything came back into focus he found himself staring a Ruby. He took a second to recount their conversation and just decided 'screw it.' He jumped into her head and put her memory back.
"There you go." He turned and walked over to the demon while absentmindedly saying "enjoy."
Once he reached the demon he pulled out a plain stone vial. His memory trap. He leaned over the demon and said
"Well, Wixi." Pointedly using her name. She was arrogant, and snagging her name had been all to easy. Even though that small thing had given his left eye a slight twitch. "I think I shall save this." He waved the bottle in front of her nose. "Instead I will use one of my three wishes to ask you, what did you mean by my wife?" He leans forward slowly as he was saying this until he could feel her breath on his face.

[OOC: sorry! Been busy. I'll be faster this week I promise!]

Wixi smiled and stood up. She grew herself slightly, so she stood three inches over him.

"You misunderstood. I did not give you wishes, I gave you help. When you are in dire need of it, then it will help you."

"As for that stone vile, I hope you know I've been around long enough to know people like you. Yes, you're not the first to try and steal my memories. One even tried it with a, oh what was it called again..., oh yes. A memory trap."

She said those last two words out loud, and from her mind, blasting it through the few layers of protection in his mind, and causing it to give him some pain, akin to a migraine, for a split second.

*     *     *     *     *

Ruby was hopelessly confused.

First, she learns that her dad DID marry again, and with Sasha, (She was going to kill him when she saw him again) and now this shapeshifter had given this memory thief wishes.

She didn't hear them talking, really, but did hear the thought blast that came from the shapeshifter.

"Ow..." She winced. "That really hurt...."

Oh so its gonna be like that. Thought Raven as the she-demon towered over him, but the part that annoyed him the most was that she threatened him. Him. Raven Thorne, the goddamn memory thief!

Raven barely felt the migraine, he had too much control over his mind.
"Listen lady, you still don't get it. I don't have anything against you, so stop the intimidating height thing, and thanks for the wishes." He used the word wishes to see of she was the type to bristle at petty insults, but then he continued. "And if you know what a memory trap does then you understand how easy it would be to use on you right now, and so you believe that I wont. And you understand how much of a simple process it would be for me to take your memories and break the vial, destroying them." Raven grinned wolfishly. Here's the kicker, he thought."I therefore propose that you give me something inconsequential, like the memory of some guy you killed, and I take it sell it to some nobleman who goes bonkers once he gets the memory. And then you reclaim your memory while I rob him blind. Simple, eh?" Of course there would be complications, but she can figure those on her own.

Wixi smiled. How stupid does he think he is. She was going to enjoy this, especially now that he called her help, wishes again.

"While I can see how that would be useful to you, I don't see how it would be useful to me. Even if you did intend on letting me take my memory back, which I completely doubt, there would be no reason for me to help you other than this memory trap. By the way, when you got that, what was the one thing they told you it couldn't be used against?"

She covered the entire area in darkness, and morphed into the inky blackness.

"You still don't know who you're dealing with, do you boy?" She said the word 'boy' with scorn.

"It would be so easy to kill you, and the others right now. However, I think I'll have a little fun first. Oh, you think you are the mightiest creature there is, don't ya?"

"Let's test that. Tell me, memory thief. What are you afraid of? What keeps you up at night, causes those nightmares that have plagued you for a life time?"

She smiled when she saw it. His deepest, darkest fear.

"Got it."

And she plunged him down into his own mind, and released his own demons.

What? Oh goddammit! How did he not remember that?

Raven remembered his old mentor telling him 'Remember Raven, a memory trap cannot be used in higher beings, for their minds are usually too strong and their memories are always too unfamiliar for them to be of use.' Hell.

Then she slammed into his mind like a tidal wave. All of his carefully prepared defenses and mental discipline was swept aside like a leaves in a tornado, and all that was left was them.

They shambled out of the dark corner of his mind where the forgotten go to die, and trampled over everything in their wake. They were sightless, their maws gaping. They were the husks of the people who once had memories.

And they were fueled by revenge.

Wixi, inside his mind, sprouted a tower from the 'ground'. She laughed, and leaned over the edge, to watch what shall happen.

The shadows were taking form now. All that he feared, was starting to become real. Well, real for him. They couldn't harm her.

"Oh dear, what have we here? A little memory thief, running from his fears?"

"Oh dear little memory thief, run all you want. Run and run, and I shall continue this taunt."

"Run from the monsters inside of your head, and pray they don't come out from under your bed."

She fancied herself a poet.

"Actually, little bird, I have a better idea. Oh don't be shy, come here, come here!"

She teleported him up to her tower.

"Instead of your all your fears, I'll only make you face one. Here it comes, all wrapped up in red. Oh, it's a person? Someone whose dead. Look at that, little birdy? Who is that you see? I think that... oh my... This is going to be tough for you. I can't believe you have to fight your father! Hah!"

Oh. So she doesn't know everything.

Ravens father was a noble from Connlaoth who was the perfect father. Nice, but stern. Generous, but firm. The only time he had been less than that was when Raven had refused to kill a criminal with his own two hands. His father had said 'You are not a man until you understand both life and death, Raven".

But,

The stories of his father from when he marched out to quell rebels in another part of the barony the soldiers told were very ghastly indeed. Raven once overheard a corporal telling his lieutenant ' dont forget to polish your boots to mirror shine or the lord will make you walk barefoot in the ice-water lake.'

But,

those stories cant be true, right?

Raven turned to his father, took in the tall, broad shoulders,and the silken, bloodied robes

And the spotless boots.

His mouth split into a sneer while he said "Is that mud on your boots soldier?"

Raven was almost frozen with fear. His father? That was, worse than anything. His father made him a murderer. Raven glanced at his boots and saw the mud caking them. He felt another spike of fear through his body. His mind raced, what could he do? He couldn't kill his father, not even in his own head.

So he ran.

He ran to the edge of the tower and jumped. Once he landed unharmed amidst a desert of black sand he turned and saw his father falling towards him. He could not kill his own father. If he was anyone else he would have no problem putting a sword in that tyrants mouth, but- wait, anyone but him? There was a perfectly good person just sitting outside his head! Raven stopped dead in his tracks and put all of his concentration into breaking through the demons power.

Raven only managed to get a tiny bit of consciousness through, but it was enough to leap forward and pull Everleigh through his ring into his mind.

Once they were back in the black desert he turned to her, handed her his saber and said
"Stab that man!" And pointed at his father.

Everleigh had watched in silent shock, spending the long time that was used between the man and the demon to... Well, to do what, she couldn't say.

She could say, however, that she was absolutely ready to ditch this hellhole and head straight back to Serendipity. She had no desire to be caught up in this madness, this tidal wave of insanity and prophecies and all sorts of dreadful things she could not stand--

..For.

Dear god.

For a soft, silent moment, she stood with the weapon (sword, she supposed) clutched in two white-knuckled hands, her cheeks growing an aggressive shade of red as she stared dumbly at the man.

"Par-Pardon? I will do no such thing," she practically hissed, "until I've got half a valid reason to do so and an explanation to go with!" She jabbed at Raven's chest, giving a sharp glare to the other one--her would-be victim.
This was ridiculous.

Oh come on! There's no time to explain! He's coming right word us and when he gets here... Ravens thoughts stuttered for a moment. When he gets here something bad will happen. Raven wasn't sure what, but it will be bad.

"Listen here lady! That man" Raven pointed at his father, who was advancing at a brisk pace with a cocky and arrogant stride. "Once made an entire regiment of soldiers get frostbite on their feet from standing in a frozen lake for no reason other than he was having a bad day!" Raven left off the part where most of that day was spent forcing his son to execute prisoners in his dungeon. Raven wanted nothing more than to forget that day, for it shaped his life to strongly and in too many ways.

"Trust me, he deserves to die."

I am his son after all. I should know. Raven thought.