The spirits in her skin whispered awful things in her ears, weaving tales of rape, murder, theft, betrayal, and anything that went against basic human decency. Some of the things they said to her made her stomach do back flips, but she did her best not to acknowledge their words, their apparent excitement in her presence aside, she felt that with their burden also came power. While she walked on, she discovered that she could make them move around on her skin, and eventually, that she could even make them protrude in all kinds of shapes.
After an hour of walking, following the tracks they had so kindly left for her, she found where they were holed up, an abandoned keep that had very much seen better days. As she pushed aside any thought that would suggest she turn back, as well as the voices that would make light of her situation, two bandits had snuck up on her and were now converging on her from either side.
"Now, what's a fine little thing like you doing in a place like this?" inquired the one to her right, his voice sounded slimier than a slug in the rain, and almost made her want to vomit at the words he spoke.
"And at a time like this, too. Didn't your mommy teach you to stay indoors during the late hours?" asked the second one, as he brought himself uncomfortably close to her, while his voice was definitely smoother, he did not make her feel any less sick.
The first of the two reached out to touch her hair, and in a reflexive motion that felt as natural to her as breathing she moved out of the way, and slipped behind him, placing a hand to the side of his neck. After a moment of shock at what had just happened, she realized the advantage of her position, and pulled a spirit to the point where her flesh met his, and willed it to jut out like a knife. In an instant, there was blood everywhere, and the man had fallen to the ground, groping at the point she had punctured his skin as his life quickly drained away.
The other one stood there, confused and shocked as to what had happened to his companion, so Neicia deemed it only right to show him a bit more, and enlighten him on the situation. Moving all of the spirits to the same point, she created a sort of lasso, that wrapped around him, only to sharpen, and cut him in two... Well, four, if one were to count his severed arms. In that moment, she paused, as the spirits pulled themselves back to her skin. She had just taken two lives without a second thought, even if she did not think of them as people, they were still alive.
She fell to the ground, which was not stained with blood, and some other fluids, as she tried to process what had just happened. The way she had moved... Where did that come from? The answer came from somewhere she was not quite ready for.
*Ussssssss. We did that...* the spirits whispered in her ear, and it sent a shiver down her spine.
"W-why...?" she asked, almost scared of what reason they could possibly have,
*Becausssssse... We have tooooo...* they responded, and added before she could ask, *We do not know whyyyyy... It jussssst isssss.*
Neicia frowned at the answer to her unasked question, though it actually made her feel a bit better about the whole thing for some unknown reason. Taking in a deep breath, and focusing her resolve, as she decided it was too late to turn back, she continued her trek, encountering no other resistance on her way to the keep. Upon arrival, however, she received immediate retaliation.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" demanded a man who had just come around on the roof, presumably missing her earlier encounter due to rounds.
"Why don't you come down here and find out?" she suggested, steadying herself as the confidence in her words betrayed how she felt.
"Nah, I don't think so, Missy." he replied, before aiming a crossbow at her. "I suggest you surrender instead."
Tilting her head a little bit, making out as if she were unimpressed by his threat. "You know, I would, but my cowardice is on holiday, can I get back to you on that?" she asked, before slipping under an overhang before he could shoot at her, which prompted him to do just that. The bolt hit the ground, with a 'thock' sound, and she felt her heart racing in her chest. She was scared beyond belief, but she did her best to remain as calm as possible.
After another deep breath, she took a quick look around, and noticed a hole in the structure that was big enough to allow her entry, though she doubted it was unbarricaded. She made a mad dash for it, and discovered that it was exactly as she had expected, though not as well as she guessed. She made quick work of the shoddy attempt to cover up the hole, and found the area she entered to be vacant, probably not for long, but she figured she would have time to... To what?
*Hiiiiiiide* suggested the spirits, though she still questioned why they were helping her, she went with it. She noted more decay in the structure that would be great place for her to lay in wait, as normally it would be out of reach for her. A corner had fallen away, leaving a cozy little alcove in which she could easily stow herself away in. Using the spirits, she lifted herself up, and squeezed herself as far back as she could, so that the shadows hid her well.
As she had guessed, the man with the crossbow turned up not too long after, and he had brought friends. Clenching her jaw, and holding her breathe, she waited for one of them to get in range for a quick kill. Two of them carried swords, while the man from the roof still brandished his crossbow. fortunately for her, her friend from the roof was the one to wander to close, as he tried to inspect her hiding spot. She lunged from her hiding spot, spirits wrapped around her hand forming a conical sort of blade. He only had enough time to let out a surprised yelp before it pierced through his head. The other bands were clearly taken aback, but composed themselves quickly, as they knew they would be fighting for their lives.
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Raising their weapons, and making no time for small talk, the lunged at her, aiming for her vitals, and with the spirits' guidance, Neicia dodged easily enough. Using the momentum from the twisting motion with which she used to avoid their attacks, she buried the spirit-blade into one of the bandits' guts, causing him to stumble backwards, gripping the wound as blood, and some less savoury substances came out of his body. At this point, the remaining bandit was quivering, she could have probably brought him to an end by grabbing his own blade and slitting his throat with it, but instead she simply stuck her own through his heart as she walk by him.
She was feeling less, and less with every one of these mongrels that she killed, and she was unsure if that was a good thing. Sure, they were scum, but did that really warrant a lack of respect for the fact that they had life? While she did find her diminishing emotions a bit freeing, it was also kind of scary. She shook her head a bit, as this was not the time to think about what was happening, something like that was liable to get her killed, so onward she went.
She encountered several other patrols, and few bandits whom were enjoying some time off or something, making quick work with each, and every one of them, her movements becoming more fluid, and feeling more natural after every kill. For every bandit she dispatched, she also felt as though the souls she carried with her grew in number, but it may very well have been her imagination. The spirits provided her with no answer to this curiosity, leaving her to wonder.
Eventually she found herself treading over the same bodies on the first level of the keep, satisfied that no one else was about, she ascended, only to be greeted by a group of men holding spears towards the top of the staircase. She could not help but raise an eyebrow to this effort, creating what could only be described as a whip blade, she severed the headss off of the spears, stepped forward, and did the same to the hands that held the spears. Cries of agony and shock filled her ears, as they all panicked, a couple of them were even frozen in disbelief. After a short snicker, she finished them off by beheading them all. Twirling the instrument of their demise at her side, she pressed on, ready to finish her pest control on the keep.
There were few men left beyond those she had killed at the stairwell, and on his knees before he was their leader, begging for his life, pleading with her to take his riches, and go. She snorted at him. "Do you think riches will bring back the sentiment that you, and your men burned down yesterday? Do you think riches will make the scars you put on my family disappear? You're pathetic. No wonder you rely on such cowardly tactics to get what you want." she said in response to his groveling, before splitting him in two, straight down the middle. He was dead long before he even had a chance to register her movement.
In that instant, the searing pain returned, much stronger than before, and her entire body gave up on her, causing her to collapse like fallen fabric. In that moment, she felt like prisoner in her own body, as the pain grew hotter than anything she had ever experience, she could not even try to comfort herself, and she felt tears fall uncontrollably from her eyes. It felt like she was on that stone floor for an eternity, staring at the corpse she had just created, in that moment she regretted ever leaving the tavern, as the weight of what she had done that night hit her like a mountain collapsing on top of her.
She had take so many tives without a second thought, and now she also knew that their souls were indeed added to the ones she had already possessed. Their voices were with her now, though it seemed they did not know it was her whom had killed them, as the majority of them went on about their worldly, material desires, others saught revenge, and some reverence. By the time everything was back to normal, she could control her own body again, and the pain was gone, she felt thoroughly broken. She scrambled into a corner, and what seemed like millions of voices chattered in her ears.
She had branded them as monsters when this whole fiasco began, but now it was she whom had become the monster. She was mortified by herself, as she sat, curled up in that corner, sobbing quietly.
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