Out of Sight and Out of Control [Whim]

[emeraldknight]

"Urgh!" Taig grunted with the force of Kana striking his left arm. At least he thought it was Kana. It always was. Taig felt more at home dueling with the Blue-Ribboned Basilisks than anywhere else, but having Kaliam there made it all the better. They were the ones he was always up for a bout against. Though he usually managed to keep up a weak barrier around his body to weaken impacts, and thus stop small injuries from occurring, he'd had his arm bruised after a fight a few days ago, and his tough act didn't make it any less sensitive. He gritted his teeth and prepared for what would come next, ready to try out a new technique he'd been practicing, and hoping he'd mastered it well enough to avoid embarrassment.

[Whim]

"Ya know that doesn't compare to where you kicked us last time on accident! Quit crying." Kana grinned as his fist connected with Taig's shoulder. A solid blow! He was in his element. So few of the kids at Wyrdwood liked this sort of duel. Usually it was turning the floor into gelatin, reversing gravity, or conjuring skunks. That all seemed like fun at first, but nothing beat a real spar. Here it was about strength and speed and guts!

Liam just watched with a slight frown, trying to process it all. The bruises, and his arm and leg being borrowed, he was used to. But he wanted the cheers Kana get for being a good fighter; those little friendly barbs his right head and Taig would spit back and forth. It was only here he really felt lonely.

They pranced backward, Kana ready to move in for another attack. The Duhjari boy had-hardened their skin to clay. Was fighting really all that hard? He felt Kana do it hundreds of times. How hard it could it be? Why shouldn't he win one? Kana's muscle was his muscle after all.

And with that Liam made them sprint forward, trying to tackle and pin Taig! "Gotcha- whoa!" Of course he'd never done such a thing before, and it was a clumsy affair.

[emeraldknight]

Taig was taken by surprise at the awkward movement Kaliam made. Normally, Kana had much better coordination. Still, he barely had time to process this shock as he reacted instinctively to the movement of his opponent, jerking himself forward in preparation for the magic-boosted jump he'd been preparing. However, his concentration had been put off by Kaliam's sudden, seemingly random dash, and faltered, before finally activating the burst of wind at his feet just as he was about to hit the ground.

Thud. He didn't even hear Liam's exclamation as he was flung forward into his body at speed, hitting his hard clay skin head-on. "That's going to leave a mark."

"Aagh... Are you alright?" he asked, getting up slowly and shakily. "What was that anyway?"

[Whim]

Kana and Liam gasped in unison as Taig slammed into them. The force of their Taig's magic broke their shield, leaving them in a crumpled heap. With a groan they staggered upright, offering their friend a hand. "I donno what it was! If it was me you would have been smashed to bits charging head long!" Kana gave his friend a playful jab, then turned to Liam. "Yeah, what was that?"

"I don't know. I- I guess I wanted to practice..." Liam's faced turned red. He'd felt his body do this a hundred times, why was it so hard? "I'd like to get good too, you know?

Kana rolled his eyes, glancing to Taig for some kind of support. "Illusions just aren't very good for sparring. And besides, we are a pretty good fighter."

"Glamour is just fine for wizard-dueling! Just not the sort you like. I'd just like to try taking the lead on a spar..." All four sets of eyes fell to the slender Hyoitian.

[emeraldknight]

There was a silence of a few seconds as Taig took a moment to consider what had just been said. Had Liam really just said what Taig thought he said? He chuckled a bit to himself, rubbing his sore head. "I'm sorry, Liam, but did you... You know, say you wanted to-" He interrupted himself with his own laughter, unable to stop it from escaping his mouth. "I just- My head is a bit fuzzy after all that, and, and, well, you said you wanted to s-spar?" He could barely spit out the word before he had to make yet another attempt to hide his laughter.

Taig attempted to heal himself. The flight through the air had not been a pleasant affair, and he felt that the possibility of easing the pain was worth the potential of frustrating himself with failure. He'd never really been good at healing magic. There were days when it clicked, and days when it just didn't, though once he got it going, it was generally quite effective. He hesitated before he attempted the healing spell, remembering the embarrassment of the times he'd had to use it on others in class. Nothing says creepy quite like having to touch an injured classmate to heal them while all the others just stood back and let the magic happen, especially when the magic didn't work, and he just had to sit there awkwardly rubbing over a wound. These kind of incidents made him much prefer dueling-oriented magics; It was all he was good at anyway.

Thankfully, the healing worked after just a couple tries, and he quickly forgot about all his past healing-related incidents as they evaporated along with his headache. Now, he was back to unsuccessfully trying to stop himself from laughing at poor Liam.

"So- heh- You're serious?"

[Whim]

Liam narrowed his eyes at Taig's laughter, sighing sharply. He should've been expecting this. Taig was a good friend in some ways, he was loyal and fun to be around, but was never really careful about what he said. "Why can't I try for once? I mean I have the muscle for it. How else am I going to learn?" he flexed his arm in demonstration. "Besides! Everyone's always going 'Oh look at Taig he's so dumb and doesn't care about learning magic at all' and you do just fine. Not like Kana."

Taig needed several tries to get the mending spell right, though Liam had him figured for one of the better students in their class minus that he couldn't project his magic. Maybe he wasn't as good as Liam himself (he was the best!), but was still rather clever  Better than pig-nosed Beatrix at least.

"He's just saying its pointless dumb-ass. I mean it's not like I'm going anywhere." Kana grinned and nudged his 'brother', prompting a snort of annoyance.

"I don't care. I want to try for a change. I mean maybe I do have a few tricks planned? How would you even know!"

The Duhjari boy rolled his eyes, and gave Taig a pleading look. For someone so quiet LIam was extraordinarily stubborn. He wasn't going to let up until he got his way.

[emeraldknight]

Though at first Taig was exasperated at Liam's suggestion, there was one part of his response that got him thinking. He'd dueled Kana more times than he could count, and found it extraordinarily fun, and challenging to boot. But what if Liam did have a few tricks planned? It would certainly be much different to fighting Kana. "Maybe experiencing a different kind of combat could be useful?"

His curiosity now aroused, Taig spoke up. "Alright, then, if you're really sure, then let's duel. You ready?" His plan was to go easy on Liam, and if he showed some modicum of strength, then he would actually fight for real. "But what could Liam possibly do in a duel?"

Taig readied his stance. "Hey Kana, give us a countdown!"

[Whim]

"Okay!" Kana flashed a crooked grin, giving Taig a wink. It wasn't really the first time LIam got moody this way, though with all the times he was dragged along on whatever Kana and Taig got up to they owed him a break. "Three!

"Two!

"One-and-a-half...

"One-in-a-quarter...

"One!"

Liam bobbed onto the balls of their feet, fists raised, heart pounding. Gods! How was he even going to fight Taig? He was faster and harder hit hitting for sure! Confuse him? Maybe? Liam uttered a spell and their form blurred. Two illusory copies of Kaliam wavered into existence. It was hard to concentrate on illusions and footwork at the same time and occasionally their feet would clip the mat, or they'd step without a sound. Shit! How did Kana hold their fists again? The boy and illusions paced cautiously forward, either anticipating a charge or too afraid to make the first move.

[emeraldknight]

Taig was taken by surprise at the sudden appearance of two more Kaliams. "I guess he really does have some tricks". He'd always known Liam was good with illusions, but this was really something. Disorientated by the unsynchronized movements of his opponents, Taig had absolutely no idea who was the real Kaliam, and shifted his gaze rapidly between them, looking for any signs. He was sure there was something, but it was hard to tell when he was also busy making sure he wasn't open to an attack.

This was a situation in which being able to cast magic at a range would really help him out. There had to be a way, a loophole at least... Finding the mental clarity to consider his options, he decided to try and position himself a little closer to the three Kaliams. In Taig's closed fist, hidden from view, he conjured a rock, before magically breaking it into small pieces. He then moved to the most important step of his plan, praying that if he focused his magical barrier on just one area of his body and eschewed protection on the rest, it would be strong enough to resist what came next. He felt the invisible protection tighten around his hand. Highly vulnerable to attack now, he had to move quickly. Shoving his hand out in front of him, he let out an explosive force on his palm, sending the many small chunks of rock flying out everywhere away from him at speed. He yelped as his hand stung from the blast. Checking, he was relieved to find that there was no injury. His barrier trick had worked.

"There's no doubt that if faced with an attack from all sides, Liam would protect himself over his clones. I think..." Taig poised himself in anticipation to rush the real Liam, hoping his gambit would pay off.

[Whim]

The trio of Kaliams advanced on Taig, the boy tightening his fists and turning them to stone. As they neared Taig a blast of force sent them reeling. Liam was able to shield himself, but the pair of illusions flickered. Gone. Shit shit shit!

Raising his guard Liam darted back from Taig, mind-racing as to what to do. There was no way any spell he knew might break a barrier Taig might form. And whatever magic Taig might expel could likely overcome his frail illusions...

It took all of Kana's willpower not to seize control of their body. It was weird. There was never a time where he didn't do what he felt like. This whole thing was just horribly annoying. They were stuck together and just better as one. "Got to follow through on your-"

"Quiet!" Liam hushed him, face flushing. He did not want Kana's help in this! He was going to do this his way with his magic. If only he could make his illusions REAL there'd be contest. There was a way, of course, but far beyond what a second-year student ought to know. But he was by far the best in his class. So why shouldn't he? The boy began to focus. A cold mist began to fill the courtyard, accompanied by the otherworldly melody of a thousand flutes: harmonic and discordant at the same time... the mist swirled and swirled as Liam took up a defensive position, a tall figure taking shape in the midst of it all.

[emeraldknight]

"Yes!", exclaimed Taig as the illusions vanished from sight. He had him now. Liam was in his sights, and he was ready to pounce. As he was about to advance upon his opponent, however, he noticed a peculiar chill in the air. A mist began to form around Kaliam, almost obscuring them from sight, and an incomprehensible noise began to resonate around the area. Taig, now unsure of what he should do, raised his guard. Would Liam jump out from the fog? Or perhaps he was laying a trap of some sort. The courage that had exuded from Taig just seconds ago vanished along with the last remaining heat in the area.

Thinking hard about what to do, Taig was risen from his thoughts by the appearance of a shadowy figure ahead of him. It was tall, and quite unnerving as a silhouette against the thick white mist. Shivering just a little, Taig adjusted his stance, not wanting to move toward the beast, but not wanting to move backwards either, for fear of looking cowardly.

"What kind of trick is this, Liam?" He called. "Another stupid illusion? That won't get to me, I know what's going on!" He spoke with a brave tone to mask the uncertainty he felt about the situation. This felt a little different to the other illusions, and he had no idea what Liam's strategy was, either. He just had to see what happened next.

[Whim]

Liam grinned ear-to-ear as his creation took shape. He did not usually smile. The whole thing was meant to be a sort of illsuionary demon as strong as scary as you believed it to be. "Pretty neat, huh? Its an Eidolon! We can use any spell, right?"

"You said you wanted to fight" Kana groaned, knocking his head against Liam's, their limbs twitched as it took all his efforts not to intervene and make it a real fist fight.

The figure stepped from the Mists. Liam meant for it to advance on Taig, but it did not. It had the body of a man, well-muscled and at physical peak, but therein the similarities ended. In place of a head and neck there was a thick cord of nerves which twisted into a three, enormous, unblinking eyes. A pair pair of golden, feathery wings stretched from his back.

A chorus of voices, male and female, echoed through the courtyard. "Rigid. Cold. Hard and still. What is this place? It does not flow!

"And you! What are these trapped minds? This place is not what you want. Why is it here?" The trio of eyes fixed on Kana, Liam, and Taig all at once.

[emeraldknight]

Taig's breathing became rapid as the creature emerged from the obscuring mist. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen, some twisted form of man, eyes pointing everywhere. The duel had suddenly become much more serious. He would have called out to Liam, asked him just what was going on, but he didn't dare talk. He only stood, petrified.

Its voice rang through the courtyard, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. Taig knew the words it spoke, but their meaning escaped him. He trembled, the tension in the air thicker than the fog that still coated it. He felt he had to do something to break the silence. Timidly, he opened his mouth to speak, watching as one of the gigantic eyes focused its gaze on him. He attempted to look past it, at Liam. "W-What is this?", he spoke quietly. The piercing glare of the eye seemed inescapable.

[Whim]

"I don't know! I opened a way to the Dreamscape! I- I wanted a real illusion. I don't know what-"

They were cut off. The figure reached toward Kanaliam, his arm extending across the room to grotesque length and with rapid speed. It lifted by the collar, swinging them about and setting the pair down beside Taig. "All together now. I wish to see you all and from all angles."

Kana shot Taig a fearful look, peddling backwards. The boy had it in his head they might both get the same idea and do some wondrous feat of battle-magic in perfect synchrony and escape! Nothing came to him and he only met another pair of very scared eyes.

This was his mess to clean. He'd never leave it down if he didn't. But how? "Who-who are you? What do you want?" he spoke up in a meek voice.

"Fear is not what you feel right now. I do not mean you harm." Its irises widened, seeming to take them in, probing superficial emotions and the flicker of sound and image through their phonological loops and minds' eyes. "I am me and you are you. Do you wish to reduce the girth and breadth of us to simple noises? So be it. As you are Kana and Liam and Taig. The sound K'iri'iri'iri'thr'schyl'yl is pleasing to me. That is what I will be."

"I do not want anything. But that is the problem, is it not? I am from the twin of this world. A formless, limitless place where desire is manifest. There is nothing to want. This place has form and substance. It is limited but also limitless. You dream and want and strive. This is beautiful to me. To make it so would be..." a thousand voices sighed in longing. Its trio of eye-stalks them centered on Taig, taking in the depths of the Hyiotian mutt's soul.

[emeraldknight]

"What... The fuck?" It was at this point that Taig officially had no idea what was going on. The monster was unlike anything that the boy had ever seen, much less that he could comprehend. It was fearsome, yet it spoke in a strangely passive manner, contradicting every feeling it instilled in Taig's mind. He wanted nothing more than to run away, and nothing less than to try. All that he really understood was that he was well out of his depth. "And something about dreams and striving?"

The courtyard fell eerily silent as the impossible creature bore down on Taig with its grotesque eye. His mind saw him look away, felt his head turning from the beast's glare, but his body refused to comply. It was like he had no choice but to stare it down. "I dream and want to strive?" He supposed that was true of anyone. Who didn't have a dream? A goal to strive for? Taig thought for a moment, knowing full well that perhaps now was not the time to do so.

"The greatest fighter the world has ever seen." He mumbled under his breath as he imagined. "No, the greatest mage. No, a renowned warrior-mage, a hero of my time..." Taig hadn't thought about his dreams in a while. But when he'd first come to Wyrdwood, his goal was all that drove him, all-consuming. It was to earn the respect of his peers. To prove he wasn't worthless. He just wanted people to not look down on him.

Blinking as he became aware of the world once more, he felt less ensnared by the eye's gaze. Worriedly, he shot a glance at Liam, mouthing a question: "What now?"

[Whim]

Liam and Kana both stared back at the enormous eyes, jaws slack and stupid as K'iri's gaze bored into their thoughts. Plucking through their innermost desires and flighting fancies the creature found what it needed, reciting choice words in a singsong voice.

"...The greatest mage. No, a renowned warrior-mage, a hero of my time...

"...Just a chance to prove to them I can be fun, have adventures...

"...Wish he'd just be normal for once rather than being all smart and smug with his magic tricks..."

K'iri raised his arms threatrically and very foundations of Wyrdwood shook, the cold fog growing thicker until it blotted out the sun in entirety. "These things I can do for you, children. Enjoy the splendor I have brought, and the world you have wrought!" He flapped his golden wings, rising into the air. "One mind, one wish, one desire met. It is your paradise and mine as well. To see you want and strive pleases me." And he sped off, toward the foggy silhouettes of Wyrdwoods many towers.

"What?! Wait! Stop!" Liam called out. He was expecting Kana to launch himself after the being, but felt no such sensation. And Kana was trying! He could feel every sensation in their body. Everything below his neck simply chose not to respond!

"Ngh! Gah! I can't move!" the Duhjari boy rolled his head around in circles bumping Liam, prompting a yelp of pain.

"Ow! Stop! I can move us. We've got to get moving though and banish him- " Liam winced, eyes flickering to Taig. The surly boy had not yet said a word. "Taig? Are you okay?"

The impact of Liam's wish was rather clear already. But whatever Taig hoped for or desired from the astral being... nothing of him had changed.

[emeraldknight]

As the hideous creature left, the eerily still air began to move once more, a light breeze reawakening the feeling in Taig's body as he calmed his breath. He looked over at his two friends, a wary expression on his face. "Hold on. You can't move?" He nodded to Kana. "Crap. Right, what is this? Liam, what did you do? What was that thing, what happened to you guys, and why does it feel like that monster just went into my mind?" He knew he was panicking, but couldn't help it. The entire experience was just too surreal.

He began pacing back and forth, kicking up dirt and setting it alight as he went. It was a nervous habit. This was not the duel he had imagined. Suddenly, he stopped. "Did it do anything to me?" It certainly didn't feel like it. Other than the general sense of danger, which he suspected was the natural reaction to being confronted with a horrible eye-monster, Taig just felt like himself. He could certainly still move. So maybe Liam was the only one affected? Somehow, he doubted it.

[Whim]

"Gah! Stuck! But I can still feel!" Kana spun his head in circles, bumping Liam's forehead with a yelp.

"Stop moving!" Liam snapped, rubbing his head. For the first time the boy was able to move his right hand again. He splayed his fingers, flexed it, just like before coming to Wyrdwood. He could not help but smile, though his cheeks flushed having his inner-most desired just spilled out. "Well I wanted, um, a chance to try fighting and dueling without Kana here doing it for me. I guess he granted my wish.

"Oh. You mean that thing?" his face fell in a panic, glancing about at the now foggy castle. The sky and mountains in the distance were gone. Off in the distance they could hear the crackle and grinding of stone as the castle rearranged itself. "Well I tried to open a gate to the dreamways. Its where, um, illusions come from. The sort that are real if you believe them hard enough. It was just the best spell I know. Or thought I knew. I don't know what that is."

"Well come on! Fix it! I don't want to be just a head!" Kana pleaded. And with that his other head began uttering just about every counterspell he could think of. The boy waved his hands, drew chalk circles, recited faerie poems, and nothing. Not even a spark of magic rose from him. "Come on Liam! You've done this stuff hundreds of times!" Kana pleaded.

Taig's better trained eye could tell Liam's work was sloppy. Way sloppier than usual. But most of it should have made some magic. It was like he was entirely ordinary. "H-how about you? Did he make you some warrior-mage-hero?" Liam stammed.

[emeraldknight]

Taig stopped to turn and look at Liam, shaking his head. "I feel the same as I did before, I think." He stepped back and turned away once again. "Let me just try something here..." With no small amount of hope, he attempted to throw a fireball from his hands. He felt the magic flowing through him, spreading up his arms and finally out through his fingers. "This is it! I'm actually casting magic properly!" Flames burst from his hands, gushing outwards...

And then stopping just a mere inch from his hand, dispersing into the air as quickly as they had appeared. He attempted yet another fireball, then a host of other spells, each one ore desperate than the last. Finally, Taig hung his head, silently berating himself for even thinking his wish would be fulfilled. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Letting his anger get the better of him, the young mage stomped the ground in the courtyard, sending a piece of it flying into the air. He then launched high-pressure air out of his hand as he delivered a palm thrust and smashed it into a nearby wall.

Taig sighed in defeat. As he did, he noticed that a sheet of paper had been knocked off of the wall, and was currently blowing towards him in the light breeze of the day. He bent down to pick it up, curious as to its nature, and froze. "Uh, hey guys? I think that dream thing might have done something after all."

He held up the poster for the two boys to see. On it was none other than Taig himself, depicted in a dashing pose beneath his name in large, bold font. On the bottom were the words "Guardian of Le'raana, Pride of Wyrdwood."

[Whim]

Liam bit his lip to hide a smile at the dashing Taig. It looked like something out of a kid's storybook. "Maybe it made everyone else less magic so you'd be the best?" It was a pretty good explanation.

"But then why am I as good as ever?" The boy screwed up his face, humming, and a nimbus of rock and grit swirled around them in a protective barrier. "Sure am! I think you just wished to be worse at magic." He flashed a grin, his distress seeming to melt away.

"I don't think its just us who got affected" Liam gestured to the misty sky, now streaked with a strange aurora. "We ought to find that thing before it does more damage. But I don't know how to even stop it..."

"Well, Taig is a professional hero and stuff. Just look at the picture! Maybe the wish will just make you win at everything? Bet he could fight the monster! Or-" A sudden realization dawned on him. "We should try and spar again! Maybe it made me all magic, but Liam can fight I bet."

"We should probably see what's going on, really..." The trio could see several confused-looking students, first-years by the look of them, peering out into the corridor.