895
The biggest question on my mind has been what Grendel’s doing here. Back when I was fighting against his revolution, I never came to this time period. There was never any need to; his activities were focused on other points in time. If he’d been up to something in 1888, one of the Fears would have let me know so I could have stopped him.
Seeing him here, as far as I was concerned, solved the Jack the Ripper case. Sure, it could be some angry Victorian with a grudge against prostitutes. Or it could be Grendel being the psychopathic lunatic he always is. I know what I was going to bet on.
I was a little conflicted about getting involved. After all, thus far I’d let Past Me deal with Grendel, while I handled my own problems. But I was still stuck here while I waited for the orb, and I knew for a fact that Past Me wasn’t going to stop whatever he was up to here.
Followed him for a while, hoping to catch him doing something I could thwart. But he seemed to be on his best behavior. All I ever saw him do was mingle amongst the aristocracy, and act out the role of the wealthy noble with no need for a day job. Sir Dorian Gardner seemed to be becoming quite popular amongst the upper crust of London.
I started to wonder if perhaps his behavior was because he knew I was following him. If I could feel his presence, I have no doubt he could feel mine.
As the date of the Ripper’s next murder drew near, I began to worry that my suspicions might be wrong. I tried to keep an eye out for anything unusual, but when the day came, instead of sulking about the dark corners of the city, Grendel attended a party at a large estate outside the city. Time was running out; I would have to directly confront him, and see what I could find out.
There was a manservant by the estate’s front door who tried telling me something about a servant’s entrance, but I shoved past him. The party was a very classy event. I might have enjoyed the scenery were the situation different. Grendel was at the center of attention, surrounded by laughing party guests who were holding on to his every word. I made a beeline for him, creating some disturbance in my wake as I pushed aside anyone in my way.
As he saw me draw near, Grendel said, “Ah, Elizabeth! Everyone, allow me to introduce my fiancée, Elizabeth Wells.”
Several of the guests did a bad job hiding their surprise. Woman who had an eye patch and who wear men’s suits do not usually become engaged to nobility, it seems. Didn’t know why Grendel was going for subterfuge, but I wasn’t going to have any of it. “The fuck are you doing here, Grendel.”
Grendel’s comment created masked surprise, my language created open reactions of shock. Grendel chuckled, and said to those around him, “You must excuse her. She’s American, you see.” And the way everyone reacted, it seemed as though that one sentence explained away all the oddities of my behavior to them.
I leaned forward and whispered to Grendel, “What would you do if I revealed what you are to everyone here?”
To which he whispered back, “Well, then you would leave me with no choice but to ruthlessly slaughter everyone in attendance.”
…. Hmph. Alright, so I wouldn’t shoot him in the face yet.
“Now, if you would be so kind as to excuse us,” Grendel said to the guests,” I wish to speak with my fiancée.” He offered me his arm. I glared at him until he lowered it, and started walking to the edge of the party, where I followed.
“You still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”
“Can’t I just be sightseeing?”
“No.”
He laughed as if I’d told a joke. “And what about you? You don’t seem to be doing anything other than following me around. What brings you to 1888?”
“You know why I’m here. I’m looking for those orb things.”
Grendel began speaking louder, enough for others to hear. “Ah, you mean the mystical orbs left behind by the Great Old Ones? The orbs which can open gateways to other worlds?”
“Of course I mean those….” It suddenly hit me why he had been talking to loudly, and I groaned at the stupidity. “The letter I was following mentioned a party where the writer had overheard something about magical orbs. This is that party, isn’t it.” He nodded. “That is one of the dumbest time travel things I’ve ever experienced. Alright, so apparently you left this bait to draw me here. Why?”
“Because I’m preparing a present for you.”
Well that instantly made me suspicious. “What kind of present are we talking about?”
“You’ll see. On November 9th.”
That’s the date of the Ripper’s last murder. “So you are connected to the murders.”
“Oh yes. The Ripper and I are quite close. I believe you’ve met it before.”
“It?”
“Surely you remember it. Cheery fellow. Always with a big smile on its face. Took a significant amount of convincing to make it not leave flowers at all the crime scenes.”
Ah shit. The Smiling Man.
Grendel pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time. “It should be finished with one of the women by now. If you hurry, you might catch the second. Elizabeth, I believe her name is. Quite an amusing coincidence. Her death should be starting just… about… now.”
I immediately tried warping to the murder scene, but the Fear’s distortions threw me off, and I landed several blocks away. Started running the remaining distance. Along the rooftops I saw night gaunts, poised like gargoyles watching my progress.
Reached the scene, and kicked down the door. The Smiling Man was standing over a woman with her throat slashed open. It looked as if it was preparing to cut the body even more. Couldn’t have that. I swung my left arm at it, and the shadows writhed and tore apart the sleeve and glove I’d used to hide them. The punch connected, and tore off the Smiling Man’s head. It twitched for a moment, and then disintegrated into flower petals that were blown out the door.
Grendel stepped inside once the petals were gone. “Tut-tut darling.” He said. “Always so quick to anger. You know full well that won’t kill it.”
“No, but it definitely makes me feel better.”
“Of course it did. And now, if you would excuse me, I have a gift to wrap. See you next month.” Then he vanished.
No more waiting around. I’m going straight to November 9th, and finding out what Grendel’s doing here.
I-330
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
September 15, 1888 - London, England
880
The advantage of being from the future is that it lets you cheat on crime investigation. Course, given this is an unsolved case, I can’t just Google the culprit, but at least I know what he’ll do next. The body I saw was Annie Chapman. Which means the next will be Elizabeth Stride and Catherin Eddowes, who both were found on September 30. So it was my goal to see what I could uncover before then.
Did a little groundwork. Went over the murder scene with some modern investigative techniques and tools, but the place had been too contaminated by the era’s clumsy attempts at detective work. Beat up a few of the local thugs to see if they had any info, and then beat up a few others to let out my anger at the lack of any clues the first set provided. Briefly considered just time traveling to the point where the murder happened and catching the killer red handed, but discarded that idea on account of it ruining all the fun of this vacation. Finally just decided to break into Scotland Yard and see if they’d found anything that might be helpful.
With only two murders so far, the case hasn’t reached the massive manhunt which the 21st century knows it for. Still, they’ve got some clues. The 19th century isn’t entirely incompetent, after all. Only mostly incompetent. The current investigator in the case is Edmund Reid, and he was kind enough to leave his notes in an easily accessible locked desk behind a bolted door in a guarded building. Wasn’t much in there that was news to me. I did not with amusement that my presence at the crime scene had been recorded, even if it was an unimportant detail. And then, my eyes fell on a name I hadn’t seen in a long time. “Dorian Gardner.”
Impossible. Dorian Gardner was in America at the time. Or… was he? The Dorian who Lisa had met was from a parallel universe which was destroyed by the Quiet. Perhaps in this one, he came to England?
Had to find out for myself. The name was in reference to a man who had been seen in the area during the estimated time of crime. Shifted my investigations onto him, and eventually tracked him down. Found a carriage which he was supposedly traveling on, and followed it. I could have gone right up to it, or just warped inside, but I wanted to give myself time to think. It was an expensive looking carriage. If this was the same Dorian, he was doing much better in this universe. What should I say to him? Should I try to say anything to him?
The carriage was slowing down. That… that was a very fancy looking building it was stopping in front of. This was a significantly higher class of living than the Dorian I knew. The carriage door opened….
As soon as I felt what was inside that carriage, I knew it wasn’t Dorian. Grendel stepped out, dressed in the era’s highest fashion. When he saw me, he smiled and tipped his hat, then walked inside.
I-330
The advantage of being from the future is that it lets you cheat on crime investigation. Course, given this is an unsolved case, I can’t just Google the culprit, but at least I know what he’ll do next. The body I saw was Annie Chapman. Which means the next will be Elizabeth Stride and Catherin Eddowes, who both were found on September 30. So it was my goal to see what I could uncover before then.
Did a little groundwork. Went over the murder scene with some modern investigative techniques and tools, but the place had been too contaminated by the era’s clumsy attempts at detective work. Beat up a few of the local thugs to see if they had any info, and then beat up a few others to let out my anger at the lack of any clues the first set provided. Briefly considered just time traveling to the point where the murder happened and catching the killer red handed, but discarded that idea on account of it ruining all the fun of this vacation. Finally just decided to break into Scotland Yard and see if they’d found anything that might be helpful.
With only two murders so far, the case hasn’t reached the massive manhunt which the 21st century knows it for. Still, they’ve got some clues. The 19th century isn’t entirely incompetent, after all. Only mostly incompetent. The current investigator in the case is Edmund Reid, and he was kind enough to leave his notes in an easily accessible locked desk behind a bolted door in a guarded building. Wasn’t much in there that was news to me. I did not with amusement that my presence at the crime scene had been recorded, even if it was an unimportant detail. And then, my eyes fell on a name I hadn’t seen in a long time. “Dorian Gardner.”
Impossible. Dorian Gardner was in America at the time. Or… was he? The Dorian who Lisa had met was from a parallel universe which was destroyed by the Quiet. Perhaps in this one, he came to England?
Had to find out for myself. The name was in reference to a man who had been seen in the area during the estimated time of crime. Shifted my investigations onto him, and eventually tracked him down. Found a carriage which he was supposedly traveling on, and followed it. I could have gone right up to it, or just warped inside, but I wanted to give myself time to think. It was an expensive looking carriage. If this was the same Dorian, he was doing much better in this universe. What should I say to him? Should I try to say anything to him?
The carriage was slowing down. That… that was a very fancy looking building it was stopping in front of. This was a significantly higher class of living than the Dorian I knew. The carriage door opened….
As soon as I felt what was inside that carriage, I knew it wasn’t Dorian. Grendel stepped out, dressed in the era’s highest fashion. When he saw me, he smiled and tipped his hat, then walked inside.
I-330
Friday, December 28, 2012
September 8, 1888 - London, England
873
This has been a weird orb. Still not entirely sure it’s even here.
The only lead I had was a letter from the time period, where the writer said he’d overheard something about a magical orb at a party. Which really isn’t much, but Slender Man had been destroying every other orb I’d investigated before I could reach them, so it was my only option.
When I arrived in London, I could sense the orb… kinda. It wasn’t there at the time, but I could sense that it would be there in the future. Which was odd, because every other orb I’ve found has been hidden somewhere, not moving around. If I could figure out the exact date I’d just skip there, but all I’ve got is a vague feeling of coming potential.
Now if this were a more entertaining timezone, I’d be content with sitting by to wait for it to come. But Victorian London? Ew. Everything is so straight laced and uptight. Even the seedy underbelly I’ve heard about is a letdown, after all the excitement of the 21st century.
I amused myself as best I could. Read the original A Study in Scarlet. Spoiled the endings to all the Sherlock Holmes books that haven’t been released yet. Got a plucky young chimney sweep for a sidekick and prevented a death cult from releasing occult destruction upon the British Empire. Fought crime.
It was while I was doing that last one that things started to get interesting. Noticed a lot more Scotland Yard people in the area than was usual. Decided to investigate.
Popped inside the building they were centered around. Ugly sight in there. A woman’s throat had been slashed twice, and her abdomen cut open. Two investigators were on the scene, looking over the body. They were discussing the crime, but their discussion quickly changed into “Who the hell are you and how did you get in here” once they saw me.
I could have answered them. But that wouldn’t be any fun. “Yup, that definitely looks like a dead body there. Wait, mutilated woman? 1888? Ooh! Is this Jack the Ripper? I always planned to solve Jack the Ripper. That and JFK. I just never seemed to get the time to get around to it. You’d be amazed how many Fears are potentially involved in JFK’s death. The Scoobies have a file a mile long on it. Will have.” Noticed the confused stares I was getting. “I’ll leave you to your forensics. Do you guys even have forensics yet? Not the point, I’ll just be back later.” Quickly stepped outside.
It was only an instant, but when I stepped out the door, in the corner of my eye I saw a night gaunt on the roof. It took off and flew away before I could get a good look at it, but it definitely had been there.
Interesting. Very interesting. I’m still annoyed by these delays, but now I’ve got something to work on while I wait for the delays to be done with. Let’s see where this leads.
I-330
This has been a weird orb. Still not entirely sure it’s even here.
The only lead I had was a letter from the time period, where the writer said he’d overheard something about a magical orb at a party. Which really isn’t much, but Slender Man had been destroying every other orb I’d investigated before I could reach them, so it was my only option.
When I arrived in London, I could sense the orb… kinda. It wasn’t there at the time, but I could sense that it would be there in the future. Which was odd, because every other orb I’ve found has been hidden somewhere, not moving around. If I could figure out the exact date I’d just skip there, but all I’ve got is a vague feeling of coming potential.
Now if this were a more entertaining timezone, I’d be content with sitting by to wait for it to come. But Victorian London? Ew. Everything is so straight laced and uptight. Even the seedy underbelly I’ve heard about is a letdown, after all the excitement of the 21st century.
I amused myself as best I could. Read the original A Study in Scarlet. Spoiled the endings to all the Sherlock Holmes books that haven’t been released yet. Got a plucky young chimney sweep for a sidekick and prevented a death cult from releasing occult destruction upon the British Empire. Fought crime.
It was while I was doing that last one that things started to get interesting. Noticed a lot more Scotland Yard people in the area than was usual. Decided to investigate.
Popped inside the building they were centered around. Ugly sight in there. A woman’s throat had been slashed twice, and her abdomen cut open. Two investigators were on the scene, looking over the body. They were discussing the crime, but their discussion quickly changed into “Who the hell are you and how did you get in here” once they saw me.
I could have answered them. But that wouldn’t be any fun. “Yup, that definitely looks like a dead body there. Wait, mutilated woman? 1888? Ooh! Is this Jack the Ripper? I always planned to solve Jack the Ripper. That and JFK. I just never seemed to get the time to get around to it. You’d be amazed how many Fears are potentially involved in JFK’s death. The Scoobies have a file a mile long on it. Will have.” Noticed the confused stares I was getting. “I’ll leave you to your forensics. Do you guys even have forensics yet? Not the point, I’ll just be back later.” Quickly stepped outside.
It was only an instant, but when I stepped out the door, in the corner of my eye I saw a night gaunt on the roof. It took off and flew away before I could get a good look at it, but it definitely had been there.
Interesting. Very interesting. I’m still annoyed by these delays, but now I’ve got something to work on while I wait for the delays to be done with. Let’s see where this leads.
I-330
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Love lost, fire at will/Dum-Dum bullets and shoot to kill
As I look over your recording of events, I am astounded at how masterfully you have manipulated your image. You use a mask of truth to hide it, in each post going into every secret, explaining every weakness, until you have tricked the audience into thinking that you are being completely honest with them. And yet by displaying such total honesty within the context of the things you do post, you avoid anyone questioning what it is you aren’t posting.
Have you told them about the days you spend hiding under your bedsheets, not even moving to get food? Have they seen you break down into tears at as you consider the impossibility of your goals? Do they know how easily you may be triggered into a state of absolute panic and helplessness?
Of course you haven’t. You only tell them about the stories of I-330 the heroic adventurer. You only tell them the parts which fit the person you wish you were.
But there is one omission you have made that I love above all else. If one were to believe only the information that has been posted, the first thing they would believe you did after I rescued you from the Quiet was travel to Germany and spent several days in Bacchian revelry. Such a wonderful misdirection. “Upon receiving the freedom to travel anywhere and anytime, the life-loving I-330 went out to celebrate as only she can do best.”
But as anyone with a brain knows, when the oppressed are given power, they only have one thing on their mind: Revenge. And you certainly had experienced a significant amount of oppression in your life.
There always has been the mystery of the death of Lisa’s dearest daddy. Burnt alive in his hospital bed, and yet no one was seen enter or leave the room. It’s almost as if someone had teleported inside, covered him in gasoline, and then lit a spark.
If I remember correctly, you even woke him up first, to ensure he was conscious for everything.
And then Lisa’s dearly departed mother, killed in a car accident on the same day as her husband’s death. She was such a good driver, though. I can’t imagine how such a skilled driver would experience such a horrific wreck. Unless, of course, someone had appeared behind her and strangled her to death as she drove. That would explain it.
The rest of Lisa’s family soon followed. Her parents had tortured you, and the rest had abandoned you. An equal crime in your eyes. One by one, killed by “Accidents” until none were left.
I-330’s entrance into the world was not marked by celebrations and alcohol. It was marked by blood. A much more fitting introduction, I feel.
Sincerely,
Grendel
Have you told them about the days you spend hiding under your bedsheets, not even moving to get food? Have they seen you break down into tears at as you consider the impossibility of your goals? Do they know how easily you may be triggered into a state of absolute panic and helplessness?
Of course you haven’t. You only tell them about the stories of I-330 the heroic adventurer. You only tell them the parts which fit the person you wish you were.
But there is one omission you have made that I love above all else. If one were to believe only the information that has been posted, the first thing they would believe you did after I rescued you from the Quiet was travel to Germany and spent several days in Bacchian revelry. Such a wonderful misdirection. “Upon receiving the freedom to travel anywhere and anytime, the life-loving I-330 went out to celebrate as only she can do best.”
But as anyone with a brain knows, when the oppressed are given power, they only have one thing on their mind: Revenge. And you certainly had experienced a significant amount of oppression in your life.
There always has been the mystery of the death of Lisa’s dearest daddy. Burnt alive in his hospital bed, and yet no one was seen enter or leave the room. It’s almost as if someone had teleported inside, covered him in gasoline, and then lit a spark.
If I remember correctly, you even woke him up first, to ensure he was conscious for everything.
And then Lisa’s dearly departed mother, killed in a car accident on the same day as her husband’s death. She was such a good driver, though. I can’t imagine how such a skilled driver would experience such a horrific wreck. Unless, of course, someone had appeared behind her and strangled her to death as she drove. That would explain it.
The rest of Lisa’s family soon followed. Her parents had tortured you, and the rest had abandoned you. An equal crime in your eyes. One by one, killed by “Accidents” until none were left.
I-330’s entrance into the world was not marked by celebrations and alcohol. It was marked by blood. A much more fitting introduction, I feel.
Sincerely,
Grendel
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
453
Got contacted by EAT recently. Still no news on Grendel, but it seems that some of the Fears might be willing to be more cooperative, if it means saving their asses. The Unnamed Child, the Blind Man, the Nightlanders, and the Dying Man seem the most cooperative. Doesn’t mean they’re going to actively be trying to assist us. But we may finally be seeing some of that self-preservation instinct kick in.
But for now it seems as though we’re playing the waiting game. I’ve been running around the Dreamlands with Virginia, looking for any closing any gates to the real world. In the meantime, I keep waiting for either EAT or some other Fear to give me a heads up about what Grendel’s doing.
I-330
Got contacted by EAT recently. Still no news on Grendel, but it seems that some of the Fears might be willing to be more cooperative, if it means saving their asses. The Unnamed Child, the Blind Man, the Nightlanders, and the Dying Man seem the most cooperative. Doesn’t mean they’re going to actively be trying to assist us. But we may finally be seeing some of that self-preservation instinct kick in.
But for now it seems as though we’re playing the waiting game. I’ve been running around the Dreamlands with Virginia, looking for any closing any gates to the real world. In the meantime, I keep waiting for either EAT or some other Fear to give me a heads up about what Grendel’s doing.
I-330
Sunday, December 23, 2012
May 12, 482 BC - Crete
862
Collecting these orbs just got a lot harder.
For the past several…fuck, I have no idea what measurement to use. Weeks? Months? Whatever. Point is, an annoying trend has appeared. After extensive research, I would discover a potential location for an orb. And as I approached its position in spacetime, I would sense its presence. And then, without any warning, it would disappear. And when I’d arrive, all I would find would be an empty patch of land.
This happened time after time, without any reason I could see. Frustration doesn’t come close to describing how I felt. I maybe might have destroyed several priceless historical artifacts during some of my more unpleasant moments.
After so many failures, I finally reached an orb before it vanished. It was inside an underground mausoleum. Cheery place. Lots of skulls. Not many of them human.
The orb was placed on a pedestal in the lower sections of the mausoleum. Felt so much relief when I saw that it was still there. Reached over to grab the orb-
Every timeline in the area straightened into rigid lines. It was the same feeling as back in Egypt, during the destruction of the pyramid. Flight response instantly kicked in, and I tried making a run for the exit, ignoring the orb. Didn’t make it very far. Black tree branches tore through the walls and wrapped around my arms and legs, trapping me. And then the Slender Man stepped out of the blackness.
I thought it had come to kill me, but it ignored me. Walked right past me, to the pedestal. It lifted up the orb, and seemed to examine it for a moment. And without any ceremony, it crushed the orb in its grip, letting the broken shards fall to the ground as the light vanished from them.
It only glanced at me once before disappearing. The branches still held me tight, no matter how hard I struggled. I had to get out of here, away from this place where time felt so wrong, but was powerless.
The mausoleum began to violently shake. Gears and wires ripped apart the roof, and I could see that same immense tower as I’d seen in Egypt, disassembling the mausoleum. The machinery was working its way downward, tearing apart everything it came across and incorporating the material into the construction of the tower. Those wires were moving towards me very quickly. I really had to get out of that place….
That whisper I’d been hearing in my head since I started collecting these orbs was growing louder each passing moment. Just as the wires were about to reach me, the whisper became a roar, and it felt like a dam burst in my brain. Massive amounts of knowledge flowed into my head, more than I could understand at once. And as that knowledge rushed into me, my body started to act on its own. The shadows of my left arm tore apart my sleeve, losing any resemblance to an arm and changing into a mass of black tentacles that easily ripped apart the branches holding them. I tore off the branches holding my other arm and my legs, then grabbed onto the straight timelines. As soon as I touched them, they lost their gridlike order, and began twisting into their normal chaotic form. That was the sort of time I could use. Jumped down it, escaping just as the mausoleum was destroyed.
Once I got someplace safe, I began fighting back against the waves of knowledge. Tried blocking them, mentally pushing them back behind a wall. Somehow managed to get it under control, and regain control over my body. There’s still so much information I now have because of it, but I don’t have any context for any of it. When I look up at the night sky now, I can name every star I see, and the planets which orbit all of them. I know how to chant the ancient rites to please Mother Hydra and Father Dagon. I know the beast which the Egyptians based the statue of the Sphinx off, and where it sleeps, waiting for the day when the seals will be lifted and it may again walk the deserts. But I don’t know why I suddenly know this, or how any of its supposed to help me at all.
Of more direct importance are the shadows on my left arm. They’re arm shaped again, at least. But… when I first got them, they started just below the elbow, where I’d lost my real arm. When I looked at my arm again after this incident, they’d spread, and now covered my elbow as well. This… does not seem like a good thing. Especially when I think of my I-330, and how the shadows covered her entire left arm, and part of her chest.
So now it seems like I’ve got another obstacle trying to stop me from saving Lisa. Slender Man and the Manufactured Newborn. Looks like they’ve got a little grudge against ancient relics. Guess I need to start getting these orbs before they can destroy them.
And the race is on.
I-330
Collecting these orbs just got a lot harder.
For the past several…fuck, I have no idea what measurement to use. Weeks? Months? Whatever. Point is, an annoying trend has appeared. After extensive research, I would discover a potential location for an orb. And as I approached its position in spacetime, I would sense its presence. And then, without any warning, it would disappear. And when I’d arrive, all I would find would be an empty patch of land.
This happened time after time, without any reason I could see. Frustration doesn’t come close to describing how I felt. I maybe might have destroyed several priceless historical artifacts during some of my more unpleasant moments.
After so many failures, I finally reached an orb before it vanished. It was inside an underground mausoleum. Cheery place. Lots of skulls. Not many of them human.
The orb was placed on a pedestal in the lower sections of the mausoleum. Felt so much relief when I saw that it was still there. Reached over to grab the orb-
Every timeline in the area straightened into rigid lines. It was the same feeling as back in Egypt, during the destruction of the pyramid. Flight response instantly kicked in, and I tried making a run for the exit, ignoring the orb. Didn’t make it very far. Black tree branches tore through the walls and wrapped around my arms and legs, trapping me. And then the Slender Man stepped out of the blackness.
I thought it had come to kill me, but it ignored me. Walked right past me, to the pedestal. It lifted up the orb, and seemed to examine it for a moment. And without any ceremony, it crushed the orb in its grip, letting the broken shards fall to the ground as the light vanished from them.
It only glanced at me once before disappearing. The branches still held me tight, no matter how hard I struggled. I had to get out of here, away from this place where time felt so wrong, but was powerless.
The mausoleum began to violently shake. Gears and wires ripped apart the roof, and I could see that same immense tower as I’d seen in Egypt, disassembling the mausoleum. The machinery was working its way downward, tearing apart everything it came across and incorporating the material into the construction of the tower. Those wires were moving towards me very quickly. I really had to get out of that place….
That whisper I’d been hearing in my head since I started collecting these orbs was growing louder each passing moment. Just as the wires were about to reach me, the whisper became a roar, and it felt like a dam burst in my brain. Massive amounts of knowledge flowed into my head, more than I could understand at once. And as that knowledge rushed into me, my body started to act on its own. The shadows of my left arm tore apart my sleeve, losing any resemblance to an arm and changing into a mass of black tentacles that easily ripped apart the branches holding them. I tore off the branches holding my other arm and my legs, then grabbed onto the straight timelines. As soon as I touched them, they lost their gridlike order, and began twisting into their normal chaotic form. That was the sort of time I could use. Jumped down it, escaping just as the mausoleum was destroyed.
Once I got someplace safe, I began fighting back against the waves of knowledge. Tried blocking them, mentally pushing them back behind a wall. Somehow managed to get it under control, and regain control over my body. There’s still so much information I now have because of it, but I don’t have any context for any of it. When I look up at the night sky now, I can name every star I see, and the planets which orbit all of them. I know how to chant the ancient rites to please Mother Hydra and Father Dagon. I know the beast which the Egyptians based the statue of the Sphinx off, and where it sleeps, waiting for the day when the seals will be lifted and it may again walk the deserts. But I don’t know why I suddenly know this, or how any of its supposed to help me at all.
Of more direct importance are the shadows on my left arm. They’re arm shaped again, at least. But… when I first got them, they started just below the elbow, where I’d lost my real arm. When I looked at my arm again after this incident, they’d spread, and now covered my elbow as well. This… does not seem like a good thing. Especially when I think of my I-330, and how the shadows covered her entire left arm, and part of her chest.
So now it seems like I’ve got another obstacle trying to stop me from saving Lisa. Slender Man and the Manufactured Newborn. Looks like they’ve got a little grudge against ancient relics. Guess I need to start getting these orbs before they can destroy them.
And the race is on.
I-330
Saturday, December 22, 2012
We got the empire, now as then/We don't doubt, we don't take direction
“There are two forces in the world, entropy and energy. One tends toward blissful peace, to happy equilibrium, and the other toward destruction of equilibrium, toward tortuously constant movement.”
Come now, darling. You should know all of this already. You’ve read Zamyatin’s works. Did you not once stop to consider the meaning behind the name which you were given? The meaning behind the name of this blog?
We are the Mephi. We are Mephistopheles, come to grant the unbelievable, at the cost of the world’s soul. We are energy, we are chaos, we are change, we are destruction. Our existence is one of constant movement, destroying and creating on whims, just as our forefathers did.
And the Fears? They are entropy. The status quo is their one law. They will preserve the world, defend it from the fires of chaos, keep it perfectly safe, clean, and unchanging, forever. The multiverse is their toy ship in a bottle, carefully constructed and protected from all outside forces.
They imagined that their revolution was the final one. That once they had defeated energy, and created a multiverse ruled by their entropy, that no more revolutions would be possible. But there isn’t a final revolution. “Revolutions are infinite. Final things are for children because infinity scares children, and it is important that children sleep peacefully at night.”
They may squash my rebellion. The forces of entropy may triumph again, and all my works be crushed under their jackboots. But it will only be a setback. For our revolution is the eternal struggle of energy against entropy. If they crush my revolution, then another one will take its place. And if that revolution succeeds, then one day it will become stagnant, turning into entropy, and another revolution will overthrow it. And again and again this will happen, the dance between entropy and energy, eternally. Revolution without end.
Sincerely,
Grendel
Come now, darling. You should know all of this already. You’ve read Zamyatin’s works. Did you not once stop to consider the meaning behind the name which you were given? The meaning behind the name of this blog?
We are the Mephi. We are Mephistopheles, come to grant the unbelievable, at the cost of the world’s soul. We are energy, we are chaos, we are change, we are destruction. Our existence is one of constant movement, destroying and creating on whims, just as our forefathers did.
And the Fears? They are entropy. The status quo is their one law. They will preserve the world, defend it from the fires of chaos, keep it perfectly safe, clean, and unchanging, forever. The multiverse is their toy ship in a bottle, carefully constructed and protected from all outside forces.
They imagined that their revolution was the final one. That once they had defeated energy, and created a multiverse ruled by their entropy, that no more revolutions would be possible. But there isn’t a final revolution. “Revolutions are infinite. Final things are for children because infinity scares children, and it is important that children sleep peacefully at night.”
They may squash my rebellion. The forces of entropy may triumph again, and all my works be crushed under their jackboots. But it will only be a setback. For our revolution is the eternal struggle of energy against entropy. If they crush my revolution, then another one will take its place. And if that revolution succeeds, then one day it will become stagnant, turning into entropy, and another revolution will overthrow it. And again and again this will happen, the dance between entropy and energy, eternally. Revolution without end.
Sincerely,
Grendel
Thursday, December 20, 2012
December 19. 2012 - The Dreamlands
432
I’m sure I could list various good qualities about Virginia, but my current favorite has to be a near complete lack of hesitation when it comes to answering the call for adventure. Stopped by her family’s home at night, and tossed pebbles at her window until she opened it and stuck her head out.
“You know, I have a cell phone. You could have just called me.”
“I… well… shut up I need to get into the Dreamlands.”
Explained everything as quickly as I could. When I reached the part about EAT and the Archangel… her expression got pretty stormy.
“You’re working with the Fears.”
“Well, yes, but only because they also want to save the world….”
“Only so they can keep tormenting people.”
“Hey, EAT hasn’t been unreasonable-”
“Stop. No. Those bodies it used to communicate with you? Those used to be people! Regular people, living regular lives, until EAT came and gutted everything meaningful out of them because it felt like having a new pair of arms!”
The strength of her anger took me aback. I’d honestly never given much thought to how EAT got the bodies it used.
Virginia’s dad called up from the floor below. “Everything all right up there, honey?”
“Yes dad!” She shouted back. Then she quickly pushed me into a closet and jumped back in bed, just as her dad cracked open the door.
“I heard you shouting. Are you sure everything’s all right?”
“Yes dad, I was just on the phone with one of my friends.” Was this the same Virginia I had been talking to? Her voiced sounded so much more… chipper. She sounded… well, she sounded like someone pretending to be a young girl.
“Well all right. Don’t stay up too late, you still have school tomorrow. The break hasn’t started yet.”
“I know dad, I know.”
Once he left the room, she relaxed, and her voice returned to normal. “I’ll help. Because it would really suck if the world was destroyed. Just so long as we’re not teaming up with any Fears while I’m around, I’m in.”
That, I could agree to. Virginia went to sleep, and I followed the path she created into the Dreamlands.
This time, we appeared on a ledge jutting from a mountain. That surprised me. “Isn’t the entrance in the Enchanted Woods?” I said.
“Technically, yeah.” Virginia said. “But this was where I was exploring before you woke me up.” She waved to indicate the steel grey mountains around us.
“Why were you exploring a place like this?”
“Why not? Not all of us are always rushing around to save the world. Some of us prefer a more relaxing pace for our death defying adventures. Besides, it’s one of my goals to climb up all of these.”
All of them? That’s a lot of mountains. “How long have you been doing this?”
“Dream time or earth time?”
“Dream time.”
“About 15 years, on and off.” She grabbed an outcrop above us, and started to climb. “Come on, let’s get moving.”
“Wait, you want me to climb this?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard there’s a gate to the real world in this area. So we’d best get exploring.”
I followed her as she ascended the mountain, but, well, let’s just say that one of us has 15 years of climbing experience and the other doesn’t. After some distance had grown between us, Virginia shouted down to me, “You okay down there?”
“You’re absolutely sure the opening’s on this mountain?” I shouted back, after pausing for breath.
“Nope! Just that it’s somewhere in this region. We keep exploring until we find it!”
“That is… one of the worst plans I have ever heard!”
“Oh, you’re no fun.” She seemed to think for a moment, and then tapped the mountain. The rock beneath me changed shape, until it resembled a ladder built into the mountain side.
That helped considerably. As I caught up to Virginia, I said, “Why don’t you do this for yourself?”
“Duh. Because that would defeat the whole point of climbing these in the first place.”
Even with the ladder, climbing was hard work. After a while, Virginia created a ledge and we stopped to rest.
“Having fun yet?” She said.
“Maybe.” After my earlier complaining, I wasn’t about to go and say something positive.
“At least the view’s nice?”
Okay. I had to admit, it was a nice view. I don’t think I’d be able to find a mountain range that could match it in the real world. They were like knives cutting the sky, with peaks that looked so sharp you had to wonder if erosion had ever touched them. There wasn’t a single speck of snow on them; nothing but the cold stone, creating an odd wasteland beauty. In some places that beauty was marred by black tears across the ground, through which you could see glimpses of the Grotesque’s circus, but I tried to ignore those parts.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s pretty. I could do without the cold weather, though.”
“Cold? It’s not supposed to be cold here….” Virginia’s eyes widened in fear.
Took me a few moments before my brain clicked. “Wait… do you mean….”
I was cut off by the Wooden Girl’s voice echoing through my head. “Oh Time Girl! We know you’re heeeeeere! Little Blue can feel you! He can feel the coldness inside your heart!”
The wind began to roar around us, filled with snow and hail. Looked over the ledge, and saw turbulent white clouds below, rising toward us.
“Fuck. Now what?” I said.
“Climb!”
“How is that going to help us at all?”
“It’s better than being caught in that!” She pointed at the clouds. Had to agree with her there. The two of us started climbing as fast as we could. Virginia didn’t bother with any more self imposed challenges: as we climbed up, she was changing the path into an easier route. It helped, but we couldn’t stay ahead of the cloud forever.
We lucked out when we reached a cave hidden in the side of the mountain. Jumped inside, and then Virginia sealed the entrance. It was pitch black inside, but an improvement over being caught in the blizzard. The two of us breathed a sigh of relief together.
That relief turned out to be premature. Perhaps we should have looked inside that convenient cave before jumping in, but we were kinda panicked at the time. Bright red torches flared to life, illuminating the interior. With that, we could see it wasn’t a natural cave, but part of a constructed building. There wasn’t much left of the building, apart from the torches and a few collapsed pillars. Opposite the entrance was a gateway made out of black stone. And through that gateway, you could see an open field. Not all that exciting in itself, apart from the incongruity between a mountain cave and a field, but the way time moved around that gate was odd. It was as if there was a barrier, preventing any time from the Dreamlands to pass through.
“I think we might have found that portal to the real world.” I said, and Virginia nodded.
But then, there was another voice. “Oh wow.” It said. “When Grendel stuck me on guard duty, I never thought I’d actually have anyone come here.”
Blood flowed from every crack and corner of the cave, coalescing together into the shape of a human. The Red Cap shifted between forms, first female, then male, and finally settling on something androgynous.
“You came all the way here just to visit me, I-330? I’m so flattered.” It said.
Virginia glanced at me. “You’ve got a plan for this, right?”
“Virginia, the most important thing you need to learn if you’re going to keep adventuring with me… I never have a plan.”
Time to make stuff up. Ran for the gate, hoping I could get past the Red Cap. No such luck; tendrils of blood rose from the ground and wrapped around my feet, holding me in place. Virginia created a club out of the rock wall, and swung it at the Red Cap. Smashed through its head, splattering blood everywhere. But that blood quickly moved back into the Red Cap’s body, making it whole again. Before Virginia could attack again, the Red Cap grabbed her by the arms. It changed into the form of a beautiful man, and Virginia hesitated. Hesitated long enough for the Red Cap to flow through her lips, into her body.
Virginia screamed in pain as her body twisted and contorted. I tried to get to her, but the blood kept me trapped where I was. Virginia fell onto the floor, and screamed one final shout of agony that gradually changed into a moan. She pulled herself off the floor, and looked longingly at me with red eyes.
“You like this body better, don’t you?” The Red Cap’s voice was coming out of Virginia’s mouth. “I know how you look at it. And considering how young she is in the real world… my, what a scandal.” It stepped forward and put its arms around me. “But scandal only makes it more fun….”
It moved its face closer to mine, and I tried to turn my head away. But I couldn’t resist that alluring look in its eyes…. Tried to say, “Virginia, stop,” but was silenced by its kiss before I could get to the third syllable. Warm blood flowed from Virginia’s lips into my mouth, and I felt my world spinning around me, and… where did my trench coat go okay no Virginia stop trying to take off my suit stop okay fine take of the suit is it getting hot in here I think I should take off this tie yeah it’s definitely getting hot in here Virginia would probably appreciate it if I helped her take off that warm looking shirt for her….
In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t even realized how much of the Red Cap’s blood I’d been swallowing until it suddenly thickened inside my throat. Blocked off my air flow insantly; it wasn’t trying to control me, this time, it was trying to choke me to death.
“Sorry love.” The Red Cap said, holding me as I gasped for air. “Boss’s orders. No one gets near the gate.”
Just then, the rock wall Virginia had made blocking the cave entrance was torn to pieces. Strings came through the entrance, and slashed open Virginia’s and my throats. More strings went into the wounds, pulling out and tossing aside clots of blood, before stitching the cuts back together.
The Wooden Girls’ voice seethed with rage as it went through our heads. “Keep. Your. Hands. Off. My. Toys.”
The Wooden Girl strode into the cave, pure anger painted onto its face. Just behind it was the Cold Boy, still with its small smile.
The blood that had been torn from our throats formed back into the Red Cap, this time taking the shape of a teen girl in a red dress, who looked remarkably like how the Wooden Girl would have looked as a human. “Your toys?” It said. It wrapped its arms around me from behind, pressing as tightly as it could against me. “If they’re your toys, why am I the one who always gets to play with them?”
“Little Blue, kill her.” The Cold Boy waved a hand, and I barely broke away from the Red Cap just before it was hit by a wave of cold. Ice completely covered its body, freezing it in place.
Now the painted face of the Wooden Girl changed into a smile. “Wonderful! Now that we’ve finally got that hussy out of the way, how about you and I do some catching up, Time Girl? And look, you even brought a friend along so Little Blue has someone to play with as well! You’re so considerate.”
Glanced at Virginia, and she… didn’t look good. Still on the ground, awake but unable to stand up. Guess being taken over by a Fear has its drawbacks. Still, had to think of a way to grab her and get out of here….
Steam began to rise from the frozen Red Cap. The ice that had covered it melted away, into a red puddle at its feet. The Red Cap stretched, and said, “Why so cold, Boy? If you want, I’m sure I could warm you up….”
The Wooden Girl’s strings lashed at the Red Cap, wrapping around its body. But the Red Cap melted into blood, and flowed along the strings until it reformed on top of the Wooden Girl. And… well, I’m not sure if it’s even possible to molest a puppet, but the Red Cap sure gave it its best shot.
That got the Fears distracted. Ran to Virginia, who seemed at least capable of sitting by then. She looked at me with an unfocused gaze, before saying, “Did… we just make out?”
“Yes. We did.”
“And then did I….”
“Yes.”
“And then you….”
“Yes.”
“And then….”
“YES, now hurry up, we have to get out of here!” Pulled her up, and then looked toward the exit. Not a very good option; we’d have to make it past the Fears to get through there. Only one other choice, then. Put Virginia’s arm over my shoulder, and then ran through the gate back into the real world.
It was…one of the weirdest experiences in my life. Felt like waking up from already being awake, if that makes sense. We appeared in the field that I’d seen through the gate. Still night time in the real world. Behind us was a circle of stones, through which you could see the Dreamlands cave that we’d come from. Used to be able to see; first thing I did was knock those stones down, causing the gate to disappear. Mission accomplished.
Now for the harder part. When we’d come through the gate, Virginia had changed back into her younger, real world self. Which meant I was lost in some random field that could be anywhere in the world, accompanied by a preteen child dressed in her pajamas, and the sinking realization that I had to somehow get her back home before morning came and her dad woke up.
Barely managed that, through heavy abuse of time travel. Do you know how long it takes to get a private jet to fly you from Illinois to Massachusetts? More time than we had. Luckily I could go back and make those arrangements in advance, as well as the arrangements for transportation from the airport to Virginia’s house. She seemed to be enjoying the race home, but that’s probably because she wasn’t the one freaking out trying to get everything to happen on time. And also because she mercilessly teased me for how I’d acted when the Red Cap took over her body the entire plane flight, while I futilely tried hiding my blushing behind a book. At least after dropping Virginia off she gave me her email in case I need her for an adventure like this again. Not… an adventure exactly like this, I mean. One with much less Red Cap in it. Or Wooden Girl. Or Cold Boy.
Fuck it, can’t I just have an adventure that doesn’t involve any of the Fears?
I-330
I’m sure I could list various good qualities about Virginia, but my current favorite has to be a near complete lack of hesitation when it comes to answering the call for adventure. Stopped by her family’s home at night, and tossed pebbles at her window until she opened it and stuck her head out.
“You know, I have a cell phone. You could have just called me.”
“I… well… shut up I need to get into the Dreamlands.”
Explained everything as quickly as I could. When I reached the part about EAT and the Archangel… her expression got pretty stormy.
“You’re working with the Fears.”
“Well, yes, but only because they also want to save the world….”
“Only so they can keep tormenting people.”
“Hey, EAT hasn’t been unreasonable-”
“Stop. No. Those bodies it used to communicate with you? Those used to be people! Regular people, living regular lives, until EAT came and gutted everything meaningful out of them because it felt like having a new pair of arms!”
The strength of her anger took me aback. I’d honestly never given much thought to how EAT got the bodies it used.
Virginia’s dad called up from the floor below. “Everything all right up there, honey?”
“Yes dad!” She shouted back. Then she quickly pushed me into a closet and jumped back in bed, just as her dad cracked open the door.
“I heard you shouting. Are you sure everything’s all right?”
“Yes dad, I was just on the phone with one of my friends.” Was this the same Virginia I had been talking to? Her voiced sounded so much more… chipper. She sounded… well, she sounded like someone pretending to be a young girl.
“Well all right. Don’t stay up too late, you still have school tomorrow. The break hasn’t started yet.”
“I know dad, I know.”
Once he left the room, she relaxed, and her voice returned to normal. “I’ll help. Because it would really suck if the world was destroyed. Just so long as we’re not teaming up with any Fears while I’m around, I’m in.”
That, I could agree to. Virginia went to sleep, and I followed the path she created into the Dreamlands.
This time, we appeared on a ledge jutting from a mountain. That surprised me. “Isn’t the entrance in the Enchanted Woods?” I said.
“Technically, yeah.” Virginia said. “But this was where I was exploring before you woke me up.” She waved to indicate the steel grey mountains around us.
“Why were you exploring a place like this?”
“Why not? Not all of us are always rushing around to save the world. Some of us prefer a more relaxing pace for our death defying adventures. Besides, it’s one of my goals to climb up all of these.”
All of them? That’s a lot of mountains. “How long have you been doing this?”
“Dream time or earth time?”
“Dream time.”
“About 15 years, on and off.” She grabbed an outcrop above us, and started to climb. “Come on, let’s get moving.”
“Wait, you want me to climb this?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard there’s a gate to the real world in this area. So we’d best get exploring.”
I followed her as she ascended the mountain, but, well, let’s just say that one of us has 15 years of climbing experience and the other doesn’t. After some distance had grown between us, Virginia shouted down to me, “You okay down there?”
“You’re absolutely sure the opening’s on this mountain?” I shouted back, after pausing for breath.
“Nope! Just that it’s somewhere in this region. We keep exploring until we find it!”
“That is… one of the worst plans I have ever heard!”
“Oh, you’re no fun.” She seemed to think for a moment, and then tapped the mountain. The rock beneath me changed shape, until it resembled a ladder built into the mountain side.
That helped considerably. As I caught up to Virginia, I said, “Why don’t you do this for yourself?”
“Duh. Because that would defeat the whole point of climbing these in the first place.”
Even with the ladder, climbing was hard work. After a while, Virginia created a ledge and we stopped to rest.
“Having fun yet?” She said.
“Maybe.” After my earlier complaining, I wasn’t about to go and say something positive.
“At least the view’s nice?”
Okay. I had to admit, it was a nice view. I don’t think I’d be able to find a mountain range that could match it in the real world. They were like knives cutting the sky, with peaks that looked so sharp you had to wonder if erosion had ever touched them. There wasn’t a single speck of snow on them; nothing but the cold stone, creating an odd wasteland beauty. In some places that beauty was marred by black tears across the ground, through which you could see glimpses of the Grotesque’s circus, but I tried to ignore those parts.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s pretty. I could do without the cold weather, though.”
“Cold? It’s not supposed to be cold here….” Virginia’s eyes widened in fear.
Took me a few moments before my brain clicked. “Wait… do you mean….”
I was cut off by the Wooden Girl’s voice echoing through my head. “Oh Time Girl! We know you’re heeeeeere! Little Blue can feel you! He can feel the coldness inside your heart!”
The wind began to roar around us, filled with snow and hail. Looked over the ledge, and saw turbulent white clouds below, rising toward us.
“Fuck. Now what?” I said.
“Climb!”
“How is that going to help us at all?”
“It’s better than being caught in that!” She pointed at the clouds. Had to agree with her there. The two of us started climbing as fast as we could. Virginia didn’t bother with any more self imposed challenges: as we climbed up, she was changing the path into an easier route. It helped, but we couldn’t stay ahead of the cloud forever.
We lucked out when we reached a cave hidden in the side of the mountain. Jumped inside, and then Virginia sealed the entrance. It was pitch black inside, but an improvement over being caught in the blizzard. The two of us breathed a sigh of relief together.
That relief turned out to be premature. Perhaps we should have looked inside that convenient cave before jumping in, but we were kinda panicked at the time. Bright red torches flared to life, illuminating the interior. With that, we could see it wasn’t a natural cave, but part of a constructed building. There wasn’t much left of the building, apart from the torches and a few collapsed pillars. Opposite the entrance was a gateway made out of black stone. And through that gateway, you could see an open field. Not all that exciting in itself, apart from the incongruity between a mountain cave and a field, but the way time moved around that gate was odd. It was as if there was a barrier, preventing any time from the Dreamlands to pass through.
“I think we might have found that portal to the real world.” I said, and Virginia nodded.
But then, there was another voice. “Oh wow.” It said. “When Grendel stuck me on guard duty, I never thought I’d actually have anyone come here.”
Blood flowed from every crack and corner of the cave, coalescing together into the shape of a human. The Red Cap shifted between forms, first female, then male, and finally settling on something androgynous.
“You came all the way here just to visit me, I-330? I’m so flattered.” It said.
Virginia glanced at me. “You’ve got a plan for this, right?”
“Virginia, the most important thing you need to learn if you’re going to keep adventuring with me… I never have a plan.”
Time to make stuff up. Ran for the gate, hoping I could get past the Red Cap. No such luck; tendrils of blood rose from the ground and wrapped around my feet, holding me in place. Virginia created a club out of the rock wall, and swung it at the Red Cap. Smashed through its head, splattering blood everywhere. But that blood quickly moved back into the Red Cap’s body, making it whole again. Before Virginia could attack again, the Red Cap grabbed her by the arms. It changed into the form of a beautiful man, and Virginia hesitated. Hesitated long enough for the Red Cap to flow through her lips, into her body.
Virginia screamed in pain as her body twisted and contorted. I tried to get to her, but the blood kept me trapped where I was. Virginia fell onto the floor, and screamed one final shout of agony that gradually changed into a moan. She pulled herself off the floor, and looked longingly at me with red eyes.
“You like this body better, don’t you?” The Red Cap’s voice was coming out of Virginia’s mouth. “I know how you look at it. And considering how young she is in the real world… my, what a scandal.” It stepped forward and put its arms around me. “But scandal only makes it more fun….”
It moved its face closer to mine, and I tried to turn my head away. But I couldn’t resist that alluring look in its eyes…. Tried to say, “Virginia, stop,” but was silenced by its kiss before I could get to the third syllable. Warm blood flowed from Virginia’s lips into my mouth, and I felt my world spinning around me, and… where did my trench coat go okay no Virginia stop trying to take off my suit stop okay fine take of the suit is it getting hot in here I think I should take off this tie yeah it’s definitely getting hot in here Virginia would probably appreciate it if I helped her take off that warm looking shirt for her….
In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t even realized how much of the Red Cap’s blood I’d been swallowing until it suddenly thickened inside my throat. Blocked off my air flow insantly; it wasn’t trying to control me, this time, it was trying to choke me to death.
“Sorry love.” The Red Cap said, holding me as I gasped for air. “Boss’s orders. No one gets near the gate.”
Just then, the rock wall Virginia had made blocking the cave entrance was torn to pieces. Strings came through the entrance, and slashed open Virginia’s and my throats. More strings went into the wounds, pulling out and tossing aside clots of blood, before stitching the cuts back together.
The Wooden Girls’ voice seethed with rage as it went through our heads. “Keep. Your. Hands. Off. My. Toys.”
The Wooden Girl strode into the cave, pure anger painted onto its face. Just behind it was the Cold Boy, still with its small smile.
The blood that had been torn from our throats formed back into the Red Cap, this time taking the shape of a teen girl in a red dress, who looked remarkably like how the Wooden Girl would have looked as a human. “Your toys?” It said. It wrapped its arms around me from behind, pressing as tightly as it could against me. “If they’re your toys, why am I the one who always gets to play with them?”
“Little Blue, kill her.” The Cold Boy waved a hand, and I barely broke away from the Red Cap just before it was hit by a wave of cold. Ice completely covered its body, freezing it in place.
Now the painted face of the Wooden Girl changed into a smile. “Wonderful! Now that we’ve finally got that hussy out of the way, how about you and I do some catching up, Time Girl? And look, you even brought a friend along so Little Blue has someone to play with as well! You’re so considerate.”
Glanced at Virginia, and she… didn’t look good. Still on the ground, awake but unable to stand up. Guess being taken over by a Fear has its drawbacks. Still, had to think of a way to grab her and get out of here….
Steam began to rise from the frozen Red Cap. The ice that had covered it melted away, into a red puddle at its feet. The Red Cap stretched, and said, “Why so cold, Boy? If you want, I’m sure I could warm you up….”
The Wooden Girl’s strings lashed at the Red Cap, wrapping around its body. But the Red Cap melted into blood, and flowed along the strings until it reformed on top of the Wooden Girl. And… well, I’m not sure if it’s even possible to molest a puppet, but the Red Cap sure gave it its best shot.
That got the Fears distracted. Ran to Virginia, who seemed at least capable of sitting by then. She looked at me with an unfocused gaze, before saying, “Did… we just make out?”
“Yes. We did.”
“And then did I….”
“Yes.”
“And then you….”
“Yes.”
“And then….”
“YES, now hurry up, we have to get out of here!” Pulled her up, and then looked toward the exit. Not a very good option; we’d have to make it past the Fears to get through there. Only one other choice, then. Put Virginia’s arm over my shoulder, and then ran through the gate back into the real world.
It was…one of the weirdest experiences in my life. Felt like waking up from already being awake, if that makes sense. We appeared in the field that I’d seen through the gate. Still night time in the real world. Behind us was a circle of stones, through which you could see the Dreamlands cave that we’d come from. Used to be able to see; first thing I did was knock those stones down, causing the gate to disappear. Mission accomplished.
Now for the harder part. When we’d come through the gate, Virginia had changed back into her younger, real world self. Which meant I was lost in some random field that could be anywhere in the world, accompanied by a preteen child dressed in her pajamas, and the sinking realization that I had to somehow get her back home before morning came and her dad woke up.
Barely managed that, through heavy abuse of time travel. Do you know how long it takes to get a private jet to fly you from Illinois to Massachusetts? More time than we had. Luckily I could go back and make those arrangements in advance, as well as the arrangements for transportation from the airport to Virginia’s house. She seemed to be enjoying the race home, but that’s probably because she wasn’t the one freaking out trying to get everything to happen on time. And also because she mercilessly teased me for how I’d acted when the Red Cap took over her body the entire plane flight, while I futilely tried hiding my blushing behind a book. At least after dropping Virginia off she gave me her email in case I need her for an adventure like this again. Not… an adventure exactly like this, I mean. One with much less Red Cap in it. Or Wooden Girl. Or Cold Boy.
Fuck it, can’t I just have an adventure that doesn’t involve any of the Fears?
I-330
Thursday, December 13, 2012
December 13, 2012 - Boston, Massachusetts
394
Spent too damn long in that Canadian hospital. But that’s to be expected after taking all those injuries in Warsaw. Acquired plenty of new scars. The one along my cheek’s exactly like the one I remember my I-330 having. Guess I’m one step closer to being like her, huh.
Soon as I got out, I went looking for EAT. Had a few choice words I wanted to say to it. Most of them being four letters long.
Found a body possessed by it inside a library. It looked like a regular teenage boy that you could have picked out of any mall, although the massive stack of books it was speeding through looked a little out of place. Slammed the book it was reading shut and shouted, “Did you fucking know that Grendel was going eat the Mother of Snakes?”
A few people glared at me for shouting in the library, but I didn’t care. EAT stared at me for a moment, and then neutrally responded, “Yes.”
“Well why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
“Would having that knowledge have enabled you to run fast enough to stop him?”
“Well… no, but still!”
“Then that information was irrelevant to your mission.” It reopened its book and resumed reading.
I snarled at the book. “So what? The whole thing was a waste?”
“Not entirely. Or original vision of events did not foresee the Eye and the Black Dog working alongside us. Our goal was not achieved, but it proved the validity of using you to alter the course of events, even if only on a minor scale.”
That placated me. A little. “What do we do next? Any other plans we need to foil?”
“For the time, continue to act on your own initiative. Perhaps investigate the Dreamlands; there are still openings between it and the real world which Grendel could exploit. I am working on convincing more of the Fears to, at the very least, become more proactive in their self preservation. I will contact you when we have more to report.”
Do my own thing, huh? That doesn’t sound too bad. Just need to figure out where I can do the most damage. Maybe I will take up EAT’s advice on the Dreamlands. Haven’t been there in a while.
I-330
Spent too damn long in that Canadian hospital. But that’s to be expected after taking all those injuries in Warsaw. Acquired plenty of new scars. The one along my cheek’s exactly like the one I remember my I-330 having. Guess I’m one step closer to being like her, huh.
Soon as I got out, I went looking for EAT. Had a few choice words I wanted to say to it. Most of them being four letters long.
Found a body possessed by it inside a library. It looked like a regular teenage boy that you could have picked out of any mall, although the massive stack of books it was speeding through looked a little out of place. Slammed the book it was reading shut and shouted, “Did you fucking know that Grendel was going eat the Mother of Snakes?”
A few people glared at me for shouting in the library, but I didn’t care. EAT stared at me for a moment, and then neutrally responded, “Yes.”
“Well why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
“Would having that knowledge have enabled you to run fast enough to stop him?”
“Well… no, but still!”
“Then that information was irrelevant to your mission.” It reopened its book and resumed reading.
I snarled at the book. “So what? The whole thing was a waste?”
“Not entirely. Or original vision of events did not foresee the Eye and the Black Dog working alongside us. Our goal was not achieved, but it proved the validity of using you to alter the course of events, even if only on a minor scale.”
That placated me. A little. “What do we do next? Any other plans we need to foil?”
“For the time, continue to act on your own initiative. Perhaps investigate the Dreamlands; there are still openings between it and the real world which Grendel could exploit. I am working on convincing more of the Fears to, at the very least, become more proactive in their self preservation. I will contact you when we have more to report.”
Do my own thing, huh? That doesn’t sound too bad. Just need to figure out where I can do the most damage. Maybe I will take up EAT’s advice on the Dreamlands. Haven’t been there in a while.
I-330
Monday, December 10, 2012
20,000,000 BC - No fucking clue where I was
848
There’s something strange about these orbs. Apart from the obvious, “They’re magical glowing rocks that can tear apart spacetime.” Ever since I started collecting them, I’ve been hearing whispers. Not from the orbs, but from inside myself, as though the orbs have been drawing them out. It was barely noticeable with the first orb, but getting the second has made them clearer.
They’ve been directing me to a certain place. At first, I resisted the compulsion, wanting to focus on finding more orbs. But they were so incessant, that eventually I just gave in. Which is how I ended up in the prehistoric past.
It would be useless to give a geographical location. Any modern locations are meaningless that far back. There were a lot of weird looking plants around the place. And weirder looking insects. Didn’t see any dinosaurs, unfortunately. Were dinosaurs around in 20,000,000 BC? Can’t remember. Not important. I might have been able to give a better explanation, had I not been paying almost exclusive attention to the enormous black pyramid that dominated the landscape.
Thing was huge. Mountain-huge. Thing looked a helluva lot like a gigantic version of the tomb I’d seen in Egypt. As with that tomb, two immense doors barred the entrance. As I approached, they noiselessly opened.
The inside resembled a temple. The evil sort of temple you’d expect out of Indiana Jones rip-offs. A dull green light illuminated the place, and an altar the size of a cruise ship was at the far end. Madly drawn murals covered the walls, depicting monsters and gods. Those murals seemed to draw me to them. Underneath each figure were strange symbols, and even though they weren’t in any human language, I could perfectly read each one. They were labels, naming the being depicted on the walls. Some of the creatures, I recognized from my previous fights. Read their names as I looked over the images.
There was Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat of the Wood with a Thousand Young, a mass of tentacles, slime, gnashing mouths and goat legs. Then there was Yog-Sothoth, The Lurker at the Threshold, The Key and the Gate, The Beyond One, Opener of the Way, The All-in-One and the One-in-All; he knows the gate, he is the gate, he is the key and guardian of the gate, all of time is within Yog-Sothoth.…
Continued on past the murals. So many other names and beings. Ghatanotha, Thoth, Tsathoggua, Yig, Hastur… as I read more, I felt the throbbing pain in my head, growing by the moment. In a prominent position over the altar was a mural that looked as if it had been painted out of pure madness. It was impossible to discern any meaningful detail from the beast it depicted; looked almost as if someone had tried drawing a 12 dimensional being on a 2D surface using only primitive paints. Its name was Azathoth, the Daemon Satan, the Nuclear Chaos, the Blind Idiot God beyond angled space who dreamed the universe into existence…. He rests on his throne at the center of Chaos, where the whistles of his pipes echo throughout his black halls, and when he wakes his dream shall end and all our worlds will come crashing down.
But there was one other mural, directly beneath Azathoth. Unlike the others, it wasn’t perfectly preserved. Looked like something had deliberately tried to destroy any trace of its existence, tearing into the black stone wall and leaving deep gashes where its image had been. Its name had been struck out, leaving only a few symbols. “Nyar-” was all I could read; the rest was gone.
My headache spiked, and I almost collapsed under the pain. Something was screaming inside me, screaming to be let out, and… and….
I wasn’t alone in the temple. Looked back, and saw these… things… approaching me. They were formless, black and green gelatinous beasts, slithering across the floor toward me, acidic smile dripping off their sides. The pain in my head was growing worse by the moment, until-
“Kneel.” The word came out of my mouth, but it wasn’t my voice that said it. The beasts hesitated, and then slouched into the best bow jello monsters can do. The stone floor beneath me rose, and shaped itself into a throne. I sat down in the throne, and opened my mouth to speak again….
The headache was gone. The moment it left, the throne crumbled from underneath me, back into rocks. The beasts seemed to hesitate, then started charging again. Tried shooting them, but they absorbed the bullets without harm. Warped out of their path, and threw a grenade. The explosion caused them to splatter all over the floors and walls, but they reformed in seconds. Time to flee.
Ran for the door, and warped back to more present times. That was really, really weird. And not entirely all that productive. But the whispers, at least, are quieter now.
I-330
There’s something strange about these orbs. Apart from the obvious, “They’re magical glowing rocks that can tear apart spacetime.” Ever since I started collecting them, I’ve been hearing whispers. Not from the orbs, but from inside myself, as though the orbs have been drawing them out. It was barely noticeable with the first orb, but getting the second has made them clearer.
They’ve been directing me to a certain place. At first, I resisted the compulsion, wanting to focus on finding more orbs. But they were so incessant, that eventually I just gave in. Which is how I ended up in the prehistoric past.
It would be useless to give a geographical location. Any modern locations are meaningless that far back. There were a lot of weird looking plants around the place. And weirder looking insects. Didn’t see any dinosaurs, unfortunately. Were dinosaurs around in 20,000,000 BC? Can’t remember. Not important. I might have been able to give a better explanation, had I not been paying almost exclusive attention to the enormous black pyramid that dominated the landscape.
Thing was huge. Mountain-huge. Thing looked a helluva lot like a gigantic version of the tomb I’d seen in Egypt. As with that tomb, two immense doors barred the entrance. As I approached, they noiselessly opened.
The inside resembled a temple. The evil sort of temple you’d expect out of Indiana Jones rip-offs. A dull green light illuminated the place, and an altar the size of a cruise ship was at the far end. Madly drawn murals covered the walls, depicting monsters and gods. Those murals seemed to draw me to them. Underneath each figure were strange symbols, and even though they weren’t in any human language, I could perfectly read each one. They were labels, naming the being depicted on the walls. Some of the creatures, I recognized from my previous fights. Read their names as I looked over the images.
There was Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat of the Wood with a Thousand Young, a mass of tentacles, slime, gnashing mouths and goat legs. Then there was Yog-Sothoth, The Lurker at the Threshold, The Key and the Gate, The Beyond One, Opener of the Way, The All-in-One and the One-in-All; he knows the gate, he is the gate, he is the key and guardian of the gate, all of time is within Yog-Sothoth.…
Continued on past the murals. So many other names and beings. Ghatanotha, Thoth, Tsathoggua, Yig, Hastur… as I read more, I felt the throbbing pain in my head, growing by the moment. In a prominent position over the altar was a mural that looked as if it had been painted out of pure madness. It was impossible to discern any meaningful detail from the beast it depicted; looked almost as if someone had tried drawing a 12 dimensional being on a 2D surface using only primitive paints. Its name was Azathoth, the Daemon Satan, the Nuclear Chaos, the Blind Idiot God beyond angled space who dreamed the universe into existence…. He rests on his throne at the center of Chaos, where the whistles of his pipes echo throughout his black halls, and when he wakes his dream shall end and all our worlds will come crashing down.
But there was one other mural, directly beneath Azathoth. Unlike the others, it wasn’t perfectly preserved. Looked like something had deliberately tried to destroy any trace of its existence, tearing into the black stone wall and leaving deep gashes where its image had been. Its name had been struck out, leaving only a few symbols. “Nyar-” was all I could read; the rest was gone.
My headache spiked, and I almost collapsed under the pain. Something was screaming inside me, screaming to be let out, and… and….
I wasn’t alone in the temple. Looked back, and saw these… things… approaching me. They were formless, black and green gelatinous beasts, slithering across the floor toward me, acidic smile dripping off their sides. The pain in my head was growing worse by the moment, until-
“Kneel.” The word came out of my mouth, but it wasn’t my voice that said it. The beasts hesitated, and then slouched into the best bow jello monsters can do. The stone floor beneath me rose, and shaped itself into a throne. I sat down in the throne, and opened my mouth to speak again….
The headache was gone. The moment it left, the throne crumbled from underneath me, back into rocks. The beasts seemed to hesitate, then started charging again. Tried shooting them, but they absorbed the bullets without harm. Warped out of their path, and threw a grenade. The explosion caused them to splatter all over the floors and walls, but they reformed in seconds. Time to flee.
Ran for the door, and warped back to more present times. That was really, really weird. And not entirely all that productive. But the whispers, at least, are quieter now.
I-330
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