[center][h1]A Failed Bluff[/h1][/center]

[hr]

Soaring across the vast sky flying farther and farther south, the little flame of life within the revenant stirred and spoke softly. [color=ed145b][i]“Hmm… I was wondering… how did you receive your name, Zima? Was it gifted to you, or did you choose it? What does it mean? Then I wonder, are you… fond of your name? Zima?”[/i][/color] The faint voice of Fear asked, those words now echoing within the confines of her corrupted body with nowhere else to escape to, repeating endlessly, again and again. Fear’s questions were also accompanied by the sudden manifestation of shifting symbols across her scarred skin, as the possessed champion called upon the power of the Gnosis with an unknown purpose upon awakening. Despite the damage inflicted upon her body, mind, and soul - Fear’s flame flickered and danced with defiance.

“I was wondering when you would awake.” Zima’s voice was like a dagger, cutting at the flame that shielded her bit by bit. “What are you doing, Fear? Don’t try anything or you will die. And I mean that quite literally. I am the only thing keeping you alive. Also," She paused, "You should thank me instead of asking stupid questions.” There was a note of bitterness in her voice before the dagger relented it’s icy touch from her flame.

[color=ed145b][i]“Hmm… you answered the question with a question, hiding away from really answering it… Avoiding it. I’m not afraid of dying anymore, and I’ve already told you now. You can kill me if you wish… Now I wonder why you’d cage yourself inside my broken body if you’re free like those ghosts said? Is this freedom?”[/i][/color] Fear continued to inquire and muse aloud, retaining her impassive tone unchanging even after she was a victim of being verbally lashed with effort. The stigma of sorcery still spread itself across her skin, a myriad of swirling and slithering stains consisting of esoteric shapes and patterns, yet she kept her spell silently still.

"Ah, not afraid of dying anymore are you?" Zima chided, "Is that because you find death easier than having to deal with the reality you have chosen? The one where you betrayed your family to free me, remember?" Her voice grew fiercer, "Please, if you knew what awaited you in the Underworld you would fight for life instead of choosing a coward's way out." Her sorcery began to darken as Zima leached into it.

[color=ed145b][i]“I will… face death at some point… indeed, I betrayed those I loved, to free you. I’m going to atone for my sins someday, but I want to see you safe and sound before I go. I’m not going to leave you alone to suffer. You’re my sister, after all.”[/i][/color] Uttering those soft spoken words, all of the swirling runes and shimmering spirals of the sustained spell receded into Fear’s broken body, delving into the depths where her fire burned brightly and coalescing into a familiar shield of light. Her quiet voice still passed through the protective aura and resonated throughout her being, and she focused what remained of her willpower into preserving the spell.

[color=ed145b][i]“For now, I shall call you Sorrow…”[/i][/color] She murmured, seeking another name for the being that she could not comprehend. If she was Fear, then she would travel with the one known as Sorrow, she mournfully thought. She called upon more of her strength, tapping into her memories of Courage and her resilient audacity - embracing that manner of bravery and foolishness.

"And you shall be Annoyance." Sorrow snapped back. "Let us be very clear about something; I am not your sister. I never was and I never will be. I'm not even human or whatever you are." She huffed, probing at the shield of light. "You seem to be under the impression that you are going to walk away from all this and be able to atone, Annoyance. Shall I let you in on a little secret? I am going to break your shield, pierce your heart and drown your flame until you and I are exactly the same. You removed my gifts and for that I shall give you one you may never relinquish." Sorrow assaulted her shield but it held, for now.

[color=ed145b][i]“Annoyance… that is my name? Thank you! I shall cherish it! I realize I may have made a mistake… if you’re not my sister, then perhaps you’re my brother? Hmm… it was our Father that removed your gifts, you know. And… I’m not going to walk away, or fly away, or just abandon you. We’re walking this path together - you possessing my body, piercing my heart, and drowning my flame… and I, always choosing to remain with you.”[/i][/color] The newly named Annoyance announced with glee while she giggled to herself. Fear was not brave, but perhaps Annoyance could be? Fear would hide and seek shelter in the vain hope that all will be well, but with this change in name, she could be armored against the hurting aches that never ended.

Sorrow's anger welled like a tidal wave of endless dark, threatening to wash over everything. Then it abruptly halted and simmered out. When Sorrow spoke next there was little emotion in her voice, "Very well." Then her body flew downwards in silence before they landed. Sorrow began to walk.

[color=ed145b][i]“When you have found better company, I’ll lower the shield, and you can rid yourself of me. Or, you can wait, and I will flicker out anyway. I would rather you had someone beside you though. True suffering is being alone, I think.”[/i][/color] Her cheerful voice became tinted with forlorn thoughts and memories, and Annoyance seemed to consider her next words carefully, speaking slowly. Fear was afraid and wanted to lash out, while Annoyance wanted to irritate Sorrow longer with vengeful teasing. 

[color=ed145b][i]“I am glad we’re together. Black and white. Negative and positive. Like night and day, but different… somehow.”[/i][/color] She was fumbling with conveying what she wanted to say, and there was a strange audible noise as her flame bit its own fiery tongue and became silent. Neither Annoyance or Fear were capable of commanding their speech when the other sought to undermine the first.

Suddenly Annoyance found herself looking through an eye. In front of them and the open plain was a strange sort of people gathered around a campfire. With horns on their heads and great steads by their sides. They hadn't noticed them yet, for Sorrow stuck to the shadows at the edge of any mortal vision. She then came to a halt. Her voice sounded inside again, bitter, "How much death will you be able to handle, I wonder?" She asked. "Perhaps they don't have to die, perhaps no one has to die while I occupy you. Just… Give into me. Lower the shield and let us be done with this charade."

Annoyance hummed gently as she answered, knowing that denying Sorrow would bring some pleasure. Fear valiantly attempted and failed to quell this division in her mind between despair and jubilation. [color=ed145b][i]“I understand the meaning of my name now, Brother, oh I understand, hehe. Hmm… I will not surrender to you. I’m sorry. I really am. There’s also no need to harm those people either, unless you’re seeking to satiate some other desire, Sorrow?”[/i][/color]

"You may act as smug and cheerful as you wish, Annoyance. Just know that for every drop of blood that is spilled from here on out- the blame shall be yours alone. You wanted to be brave once, and courageous, yet now when you can fully save the lives of these people, what do you do? Hide away, Annoyance. At least you're honest with what you are." Sorrow's words bit into the shield but were repulsed. She then began to walk forwards into the creeping light.

[color=ed145b][i]“You’re mistaking me for my sisters. I’ve never been able to save anyone aside from myself after all. I can’t even accept the blame for hurting these people I don’t know, because I’ve no hands, no voice, and soon no spirit. Also… those people seem to lack blood, so it will be difficult to spill any, Brother.”[/i][/color] Annoyance muttered with a tired sigh before she fell silent once more, merely observing whatever was about to unfold. Fear struggled against herself, despising the fact that there truly seemed to be nothing she could do. Only the lies she told herself and others remained. 

"You did save someone. Me. But so be it. Blood or not, you shall hear their screams as I use your body to kill them." Sorrow spoke with malice, before her hand of ice manifested a blade of ice. "May your Maker forgive you." The whisper came from every direction and then Annoyance could see Sorrow leap forth with unnatural clamor to pierce one from behind. 

He gave a sucking sound and then fell over dead as the rest exploded with screams and fury. Perhaps if they had tried they'd have been able to understand their language but Sorrow blocked everything out but the pain and fear and drove it into Annoyance's shield as she cut more down. They fought back with sticks and stones and spears but it was pointless. Sorrow, even in her body, was too strong. 

She cut down a fleeing woman and as her body dropped a small child fell as well. She cried with her large eyes, pawing at her mother to wake. Sorrow raised her blade high. [color=ed145b][i]"Don't do this!"[/i][/color] Fear cried out, though she could not shed any tears or tremble with grief. She was trapped and encircled by the insidious and the vicious.

But there was nothing the anxious champion could do as a sealed away spectator, aside from desperately calling outwards and praying she was heard while great despair continually gnawed upon her fracturing mind, akin to a nightmarish beast that howled and clawed its way through shattered glass. Fear had endured terrible pain and torture before, but the sight of such wretched carnage again awoke the lurching ache in her small spirit once more. It seemed as though she would be struck against the crucible of cruelty until she was completely broken.

Now she was confronted with so many conflicting paths; she wished to help others, and yet those she saved birthed more suffering. She sought to become strong and stand up for herself like a beacon of light in the darkness, and yet she repeatedly wished her sisters were here to protect her from the frightening shadows she saw all around. She was told by the one who created her that she would teach humanity, her beloved kin, to be afraid of evil by becoming their fear, and yet she fought to be a hero, to be an inspiration. These internal contradictions and many more within Fear created a chaos that was overwhelming what little willpower she possessed, and Annoyance allowed herself to laugh bitterly at her other self who struggled to speak through her own muted weeping and lamentations.

[color=ed145b][i]"Please stop."[/i][/color] Fear sobbed, hopelessly pleading with the one that imprisoned her.

"Ahhh, so you do care." The mocking whisper came as carnage lay about. Those who were left alive fled that camp with their lives, those dead did not move. There was no blood but it was still a sickly sight. Both eyes stared at the small child before them, still crying over her mother as Sorrow held her blade high, poised to let it fall at any moment. "Tell me Fear, for I know it's you, what is the value of a life? Is this child's soul lesser than your own? Would you condemn her to die, she who has yet to live, to save yourself? I can stop of course, she can live but, what are you willing to give me if not what I already want?"

Fear barely answered, her voice repeatedly assailed by the cacophony of combative thoughts and feelings seeking to twist and warp her words. [color=ed145b][i]“I would… give you love. I’d protect you. Please, you can save all of us.”[/i][/color]

Without a moment of hesitation, the blade fell and the child grew silent. Sorrow then dropped the blade to the ground, where it turned to water. “Look what you made us do.” She whispered to Fear. All around them the wind blew and Fear bore witness to the carnage one last time, before Sorrow retook her given eye. 

“Let this be a reminder; I am in control. Further defy me and we shall bring more pain and suffering to any we come across. Your love is meaningless. Your protection is meaningless. You’ve already fallen Fear. how long will it take you to realize that?” Zima’s emotionless voice echoed all around her and before long they were moving again.

[color=ed145b][i]“I refuse to fall. When will you realize that?”[/i][/color] Fear faintly replied while what remained of her spirit swam through light and shadows within her possessed body. She could hear Annoyance muttering to herself, “Idiotic… such foolishness…” and she attempted to suppress the sound, but there was no success, and she suffered both the slow sundering of her mind, and the torture of her revenant jailor.

Zima gave a hollow laugh and to the sky they took off into the unknown.

[hider=Summary]-While Zima is flying, Fear awakens and begins speaking, but she is mentally fraying and acting strange.

-Fear casts a spell that protects her inner flame from contamination, allowing her to preserve herself for a little while, much to Zima’s annoyance.

-Zima is given an additional name: Sorrow. Fear is given an additional name: Annoyance. The two converse until they come upon a small settlement of Eidolons. Zima asks Fear to relinquish her inner flame completely, or the Eidolons will die but she refuses and as Annoyance, doesn’t seem to care about Zima’s threats.

-Zima begins to slaughter the people in retaliation, while Fear mourns and weeps for the fallen, having failed in her bluffing. Zima offers one more chance and will spare a child if Fear succumbs and does what she wants.

-Fear fails to negotiate with Zima, and the child is slain. Afterwards, the two continue their flight south. [/hider]

[hider=Spirit] Fear gains 4 Spirit. (+1 minimum, +1 medium, +1 main character, +1 collab)

Fear spends 15 Spirit to consecrate a section within her body where her inner fire burns, creating a shield of light that protects it from spiritual harm.

Zima;

Started with 9

+3

=12

[/hider]