[hider=Before the Nightmares]Ihosha had to look up to meet Nera’s gaze, but it did reach up to pull the hood down further. There was a comfort in how the cloth draped around its face, unlike the ache every reminder of its past seemed to cause. Did it not already hate the truth already? As Nera walked away, Ihosha looked down with a small frown. No… that wasn’t entirely true. The past was something it feared more than hated, and Ihosha had run from facing the truth rather than tossing it aside in hate. It had hoped that stepping into this new life would free itself from old shackles, but the Goddess’ words on the matter were rather unwelcome.

As curious as the Goddess’ varied dispositions towards the other souls were, Ihosha stared skywards as the lone light above seemed to pulse. Why did it exist? It seemed like without Nera’s presence, the glow might have swallowed all of them whole, and even with the Goddess around its light was foreboding and almost… hostile? Staring at it revealed no answers though, and eventually Ihosha’s attention turned back to Nera as the Goddess addressed them all again. Noting that things had finally fallen silent for a moment, it was glad that the ranting soul seemed to have gone silent for now. 

Hopefully it lasted.

Ah, patience was awarded Ihosha supposed as it listened to Nera’s explanation and nodded slowly. Pity she couldn’t have kept it simpler because now Ihosha was stuck wondering what other universal laws there were. It was also curious if the Stigma could be overwhelmed, but somehow it suspected gathering that much darkness would be something of an impossible task for them. Perhaps if they pooled all the darkness into one soul? Probably not the best idea to experiment with though…

Cocking its head curiously, Ihosha stared at the white that came into existence in front of it. Rather than any color though, the center was instead devoid of any. Utterly transparent, and it could see the stone floor behind. How odd, and a bit disconcerting as well. What did it mean?

Looking at the others as Nera continued her explanation, Ihosha was admittedly a bit glad it did not have to bear this weight the Goddess spoke of. Did that make it weaker than those that chased and clung to their past? Ihosha wasn’t sure, but the thrum of power that filled its veins made it hard to regret the choice it had made. It was merely a touch, like Nera had said, but Ihosha felt the feeling might grow to become something much more. Yet it wilted and faded easily as the Goddess’ presence withdrew, leaving Ihosha to shudder as the red glow filled its vision. How fragile this sense of liberation was.

Yet that feeling was chased away quickly as well as Nera began to dance. Each swing was something to be admired and Ihosha found relaxation at watching and listening to the Goddess’ swordplay. So much so that Ihosha didn’t even recognize the danger to Aiv, and only became aware of it as a shard threatened to pierce its third eye. “Ouch,” Ihosha hissed as the shard radiated powerful magic that seemed to stab into its head painfully. Closing all eyes, Ihosha rubbed its forehead for a moment before the feeling of weightlessness surprised it.

Stumbling backwards at the sudden sensation, the disorientation wasn’t just physical either. Its mind expanded to an indescribable depth and width, and it felt disconnected from its body. Why shackle itself to something so small and limited when its awareness was so far beyond that.

Gasping as it snapped back to reality, gravity pulled Ihosha’s unsteady body to the ground with a quiet, “Oof!” from it. Reaching back to grab the thing it had fallen on, Ihosha blinked in surprise at the gnarled texture as it placed the staff onto its lap. The weapon had a comforting weight to it, and though it did not look as deadly or dangerous as many others’, the curved head seemed solid enough to hit quite hard. It knew the weapon could be dismissed with but a thought, but for now it planted the butt against the floor and used it to help itself stand.

Or try to at least. Ihosha yelped in panic and hit the floor again as the blade whipped overhead. Not just clumsy, but foolishly clumsy as well Ihosha noted as it re-evaluated Isabella. It wouldn’t have mattered if she cut herself by accident. That would have been [url= http://i.imgur.com/uHSjMjU.jpg]an important lesson[/url] for the girl, which she clearly needed. Lopping the heads off half her comrades was less a lesson and more an abrupt end to the grand journey Nera wished for them to have. 

Glancing at Nera’s unperturbed demeanor despite the near death of her beloved chosen, Ihosha felt a pang of annoyance as it finally managed to stand up and brush a bit of dust from its robes. “Tch.” Clicking its tongue, Ihosha wouldn’t have been terribly disappointed to hear that going down any other way than by the stairs ended horribly. Well, maybe now it would since that would have meant losing a quarter of their group before their journey truly even began. With a sigh, Ihosha rolled its third eye before it peered down at the abyss again. Shivering at the thought of what its third eye might see, Ihosha cocked its head at the strange warning Nera ended with. What was candy?

Watching as another one plunged towards the darkness Ihosha wondered why none of them simply took the staircase down. Was the excitement enough to outweigh the dread of plunging towards a dark abyss? It wasn’t curious enough about that to find out. Bowing deeply again to Nera, Ihosha approached the staircase and cocked its head again. The steps were more like drops to it considering the difference between Nera and it… Grumbling, it dismissed the staff for now and watched as it faded away into silver motes of light. Then came the task of hopping down each step towards the swirling abyss down below. Stopping on the last step before the darkness, Ihosha tugged the hood down over its eyes and took a deep breath before it stretched a foot out and tapped the “surface”.

A panicked yelp reached up to the others before being abruptly cut off.[/hider]

[hider=Staring is Impolite]Ihosha scrunched its eyes shut as it fell through the darkness, dragged down by some unknown force or being. Curling up into a small ball, the realm felt even more hostile than the red sun’s glow. Somehow, Ihosha felt the numerous gazes that watched it. The anticipation of the beings that lurked this realm was almost palpable and Ihosha felt they would have relished the chance to dig their claws into it. Yet through all of that, there was a soft laughter that somehow managed to make itself heard. Alarming. It seemed almost amused at Ihosha’s caution and fear, and it whispered things that just escaped Ihosha’s ears. Where the others were content to simply watch Nera’s chosen fall through their realm, this one seemed to understand Ihosha’s capacity to truly see.

Perhaps it was inevitable given the way Ihosha’s ability had manifested. An eye that could grant it insight to the world around it? Its descent seemed to slow as its hands loosened their grip on the hood, allowing it to drift up before Ihosha’s third eye slowly cracked open.
[hr]Immediately, there was the sight of something truly horrifying. 

Another eye had been gazing at her, this one bulbous and ancient. Rings of shimmering violet indicated a wicked power. It was a part of massive creature that writhed in the ever-nothing, though gratefully, the rest of the horrendous form was hidden further away in the black sea. It seemed drawn to her, pulled through the distant void towards her. Though more so to her third eye, staring unblinking into it, almost as though the entity understood what it was. 

No matter how hard she tried, she would be unable to look away now. She was trapped. The sheer helplessness was violent enough, but there was another force behind the eyes that froze every drop of blood within her. A shuddering feeling bore into her, though in no way to harm her, as it was unable. Doing so would ire the thing it most feared. Her mind would be squeezed in a throbbing ache that truly felt unbearable, making her feel like she would die. But she would not. It continued to grind ruthlessly, feeling like it was digging through her skin into her very concious. Eventually, just before she would finally break, the feeling washed away. When Ihosha would open her eyes to look again, the creature was no more and she was alone. As if it had never been there in the first place. Deep inside, despite this, she would know that it was no trick. 

It left something...

She could feel a strange presence dwelling inside herself, swimming through her vessel and connecting with her magical eye. Her third eye then convulsed, as though to answer her doubts, trickling a tiny stream of blood down her nose and face. It wasn't painful, but the unsettling feeling of something sharing her body was not of any more comfort.  
[hr] It was almost a relief to feel the multitude of stares return in force shortly afterwards. They made its skin crawl, but couldn't compare to how invasive that being's attention was, and Ihosha began to shudder as something wormed through its... soul? It was more than just the physical sensation, and a sharp gasp escaped as its third eye moved frantically. The warmth of blood as it flowed down and dripped from its chin was only a footnote compared to the sense of satisfaction that was not its own filling its head.

It could only guess at that being's intention, but its fear towards Nera had been clear through their brief interaction. Was this a way to get back at the Goddess, or did it simply want to spread beyond its realm? Admittedly, there was a part of Ihosha that was curious as to what happened now. Would Nera sense the presence that clung to it? It seemed safe to assume that as it absorbed darkness and grew, so too would the parasite. What would be the end result then? Given how invasive the implantation had been, Ihosha was dubious it would be without consequence. [/hider]

Its descent finally stopped as it landed on something solid, albeit slightly disgusting. Something began to soak through its robes and it felt some sort of sludge as it reached out and dragged a finger across the surface. Still… Ihosha didn’t dare look up even as its third eye swiveled and moved around, apparently curious to look at its new surroundings. It was a pretty big mistake to live with so quickly after leaving the Goddess’ protection, but Ihosha tried to focus on the budding curiosity and excitement it felt instead. Push past the disgust at being forced to take on a portion of that eldritch being and the bubbling fear of what might happen from now own. 

If it wanted to give even a fraction of its power, then Ihosha would find a way to make that its own. Or wind up mutated and twisted, controlled, dead, or any number of other possibilities it supposed. Maybe Nera would even kill one of her beloved for bringing a fraction of a nightmare into her realm? Giggling softly as its thoughts ran wild for a moment, Ihosha finally slowly looked up and noted that it saw remarkably clear for how dimly lit the area should be. The fading lights might as well have been bright sunlight for all they mattered to it. The pair of red glows looked around in sync while the purple above flicked about on its own accord, making for a rather strange sight.

If there was another good point about its little look into the Nightmare Realm, it'd be that the sense of terror was that much harder to feel now. It might have felt a bit uneasy looking around at this dilapidated ruin before, but now it was just dreary instead. Ihosha stood slowly, leaning on the staff called to its hands, before it looked down at its robes and sighed. Stained by the general waste and refuse that littered the place, and they hadn't even begun to explore! Well, hopefully the others were quick to arrive.