Diverse Inverse: Encounter of Inami and Ceal [Inami/Ceal]

Hanging on her words, Ceal found herself holding her breath. The words that came from Inami felt dry, ominous. Ceal could feel that much, a pressure closing in on her chest. The danger that it represented, the fear that came with it, it was all there, but the switch was off. Even as Ceal brought her hand to her chest, balled up in a fist as if it were to aide in her breathing. She had to consciously remind herself to take that breath, to inhale and exhale. Her body so frozen that these bits of memory were lost in that moment. Ceal found it hard to take her eyes from the figure in the hallway, now illuminated with a lazy, dim light from the space around them. As the eyes from Inami bore down on her, she could sense something from her, a malevolence that she didn't quite feel from anyone so far. It perhaps wasn't directed at her, but it was there, and it was both terrifying and compelling at the same time.

She felt smaller than she was, like she was a mere plaything in the house of the Master. Her eyes gave away that much at least. They were separately colored, something Ceal didn't see very often, especially not in the hues they came in. It was a surreal yet beautiful contrast to the aura she gave off. One could look into those eyes and forget that their demise would come soon. A chilling thought.

...You don't seem like yourself either.”

Those words came softly, but the connotation, the meaning of those words held a deep-seated meaning. To Ceal, they formed a bullet it as if to shatter glass with. To force a realization she alone was fretting over, a festering infection of her psyche that only served to grow more belligerent as time passed. The whispers that met her ears from the nape of her neck, the foot steps that always seemed to follow her. That sensation all to cliched, of being watched. Paranoid at the fact there is a being in the shadows ready to devour you.

--Inami knew exactly who it was.--

Her words were subtle, but their meaning provoked the laughter from within. The sensation of another existence, smug yet nefarious in purpose, mischievous to the core. It did not make it self known to Ceal, no. Instead, Ceal could feel the mark of Eris burning, glowing it's familiar lavender-pink, glowing through her dress from where it was imprinted, just above her pelvic area. It's energy filled Ceal briefly, more images, and with it, words. A reply. Something to be seen by Ceal, to make her believe they were her own words. The thoughts in her head urged her to say them, but how could she? The tongue of ancient demonic wasn't something Ceal should know, but they were there, just at the tip of her mouth.

”Far too long it has been, sister,” In ancient demonic language, the words came from Ceal's mouth, oddly detached as the spirit possessed her for that moment, providing Ceal with a delusion within that time, allowing the opportunity to reply in due kind to one of it's own. The spirit of Ruin had spoken it's greeting, and Inami might be all to pleased to hear it, of only for that one remark. During that time, Ceal's normally gem green eyes had filled with red, the glow of the spirits essence taking over, a visual representation that it was indeed a brief possession. Just as quickly as it had come, however, it left, Ceal left in control over her own body, and none the wiser of that brief and dark greeting of two ancient beings of malice.

Just as she came back, a wind seemed to stir up from within, buffeting Ceal as the candles flickered out, leaving her in the darkness. Briefly confused, Ceal wasn't sure what had happened. Initially frantic, she felt as if she'd skipped a beat in time, like she had blacked out and entirely unaware of her loss of consciousness as Ate possessed her. Now it seemed Inami had been exerting her presence, her aura seeping out and permeating the area around them.

Disbelief filled Ceal's head first, the sounds of scratching, of foot steps, knocking. Everything seemed to be coming to life around her, but she was unable to see it. The monsters in the darkness mobilizing to Inami's silent command. Even if Ceal had been ready for this, which she wasn't, she wouldn't have been able to stop the panic from filling her chest. The air around her grew cold as heat seemed to sap away from her like the courage that escaped her psyche. She quivered in that darkness, listening to the eerie sounds as her sense of direction, of where she was left her thoughts. Disoriented from the vibrations, she looked all around her, sounds from all directions as she nervously panned around in a 360 degrees motion.

Ceal was already uneasy on her feet before the vertigo had set in, and spinning as she did only caused her to fumble on her feet falling backwards onto her rear as she quivered even more violently. She was still shocked in disbelief as to what surreal emotions were coming over here, but somehow, she couldn't help but believe them. It was not a kind of power she could resist, even though she knew it's origin. She struggled to see through the darkness, her eyes not focused on any one thing, for she was effectively blinded.

”...What is it you seek little lamb?”

She shadows spoke to her, the icy whisper coming from just behind her, the breath sending chills down the panicked girl's shivering shoulders. The malevolent voice demanded an answer, lest Ceal be devoured by it's darkness, doomed to obscurity.

”I-I... I d-don't know,” With her mind in dissaray, the best answer she could give was one of complete uncertainty. Even in a level mindset, Ceal had trouble justifying why she made the decisions she did. Why the ultimate curiosity brought her to Mana, to Shadow Fall. Clearly[/b] it wasn't the place for her. A tender human in the ranks of boogie monsters, demons and hollows. Even with all that, she was unsure so it only made sense now that her mind was being broken down, temporarily stripped of her own sanity, of her own comprehensive thoughts, that she was unable to answer that question.

Are you seeking truth?

Could that be what she was after? Years ago, she should have died. Her actions and carelessness caused the death of everyone she held dear. Her life had been shattered right before her, the mirror of her entire being broken, never to be the same again. How does one continue when everything that ever mattered to you turns to dust? How [i]can one go one?

Through the darkness, Ceal could make out images.. places that were impossible given their location. Though Ceal looked on, her brow furrowing in bewliderment and disbelief as she could only deduce these were places Inami was showing her through demonic magic. They were not unlike the images that flooded her head on a regular, daily basis. They showed gore and death, ruined cities destroyed by the seeking of power. Ceal quickly shifted herself to sit on her knees as opposed to the crumpled state she had been after she tripped. She was still too frozen, too dizzy to try and stand again, the vertigo making her feel as if she were drunk as the images Inami had been showing her swam around the air.

Whether it was a defensive mechanism, or Ceal's panic running rampant, her power seemed to seep from her. It crackled and arced from her, the normally blue type of plasma from her bolts stained in black. She didn't intend for it to happen, but she had a long standing problem with controlling her ability. The innate chaotic nature of her power made it act on it's own sometimes, especially in times when Ceal might be mentally or emotionally weak or unstable. She was a walking tesla coil, and dangerous because of it.

As she shivered, the bolts occasionally arced out, 'deleting' small bits of matter where they made contact, small voids in the structure of about a quarter in size. Inami would no doubt take notice of this as she would continue to pester Ceal with terrible images, darkness energy, and depraved thoughts.

”.... I... I t-think that..I might be. I just..” She said, trying to find the words to continue her statement but they fell flat as her integrity bottomed out, choking on herself and unable to find anything more to say. Fortunately, she didn't really have to say more, for Inami had made herself visible again. This time she seemed to lay in mid air, an only indication she was laying down was the seemingly solid darkness she had formed to lay on.

”Are you seeking Reality?

Seeking Reality? What could that possibly mean? Is that another facet of Ceal's search for the truth? Of finding a reason to exist, of a purpose? In Reality what is she, really? She is but a small speck in a universe of meaningless lies. Her live was done, locked in a broken still frame of years past, left to rot away in the only person who could immortalize it. For so long it felt like a clock had stopped for her. The passage of time leaving her behind, left in the darkness of a reality so cruel.

Yet despite this, and despite it all. She wanted to retain onto hope. Hope, that fleeing concept that had time and time again become nothing but the ruined ideology of the dreamers of the world.

What was this hand that extended to Ceal mean? Was it to be a purpose, a reason to exist in this world that had left her? Was it a hand of love, or something twisted altogether? More importantly, why did that hand seem so tempting, like it meant something to Ceal to take it, as if her heart would start to beat again by touching it.

Hesitantly, Ceal reached out her quivering hand.