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Demonic Arts I: Trial of the Left Hand [Solo | Training] Mon Jan 22, 2018 8:08 pm
Laïs Crowly
C-rank
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"Poppa, what's this?"
How old had she been when she discovered the stash with her father's journals? Ten? Twelve? She couldn't say. The first book she had found within that stash was a thick, old book. On its leather covering, a most strange symbol was to be found. A circle, with a bunch of scribbles around it and the oddest of lines and bobs. It made no sense at all. When she had pried loose the pitiful lock that kept the pages together, she had flipped through the pages with interest. Scribbles, more circles with lines and bobs. No distinct pictures. Every few pages held a strange word as a title. Andrealphus, Baal, Dantalian. They sounded like names, and she had assumed the unreadable script below it was some sort of an explanation as what they meant so in childish innocence she had brought the book to her father for an explanation, completely forgetting that she wasn't supposed to be in that stash to begin with. Well. Laïs was anything if not used to go there where she shouldn't be to begin with.
Her father had seemingly paled in the flicker of the candle light, eyes widening in fear for a moment. He probably should have scolded her, but instead he carefully took the book and closed it once he had laid it on the desk on which he was seated. His hand rested on the cover, his thumb stroking it so tenderly she would have sworn it was his lover - if she was only slightly older to be able to perceive such imagery. After a brief silence, he had looked at her and smiled, urging her to sit in front of him. She had done so, kneeling and listening to him, not quite sure what was about to happen.
"That book, dear, holds all the secrets our family has passed on from generation to generation. These secrets were shared by a wandering Yobadashi who held the keys to all the secrets of the world. Dark secrets not meant for everyone to hear, and certainly not the sort everyone can afford. They contain Summoning Seals that invoke certain akuma from Yomi with whom we have dealings ever since."
He had patted the book with a chuckle, stealing a sideways glance at it. He held himself strong, but Laïs could almost smell the taint and hear the screams of fear that lurked in his mind. She pulled her arms around her in an attempt to make herself comfortable, her movement attracting her father's attention away from the leather book.
"I'll have to teach you about them properly some day, as you our only child and the next in line to carry on the Crowly legacy, but before we get to that there will be a few other lessons you'll have to pick up. Lessons that will allow you to grow stronger by yourself and lessons that will make you grow stronger through the use of others. In both cases, if you'll ever want to be able to deal with these demons, you'll have to know both roads. The Left Hand Path and the Right Hand Path, as we call them."
She hadn't understood a word of it back then. Two paths to walk. Laïs had always preferred to walk off roads, in the grass, between the trees, through the mud and water. An asocial brat, always following her instincts and her nose. It had brought more trouble than it had done her any good, earning her countless of scoldings by her father, even a few good beatings, but never anything serious to be fearful. Even back then, with more conscious of mind, she had suffered difficulties keeping a modicum of discipline when dealing with others in the village.
"The Left Hand Path should be your first trial.", he had declared with a grin. "It will teach you about who you truly are, show you your limits and how to surpass them. It is a personal struggle, in where you'll face your inner demon. It's about the path you carve for yourself."
He had nodded sagely at his own explanation, unlocking only a raised eyebrow from his daughter who obviously found it all one dumb nonsense. Eliphas had merely grinned at her reaction. What could a child know about the truth that remained hidden from mere Men? Truths that had been added to and passed on for generations now. She could not grasp its meaning in a single day.
"Don't look at me like that. It sounds dumb now, but one day you'll come to insights. Many shun this path for they are afraid of themselves, but you...", he winked. "You're not afraid of yourself, are you?"
Of course she wasn't, and she revealed that knowledge as she lowered her head, giving him a wicked grin as reply. Some said she was cursed, a monster, but she knew she wasn't. She was simply different from the kids in the village. Her parents had always said so. She was stronger and faster than them. She had proven that more than once, when they pestered her and ended up bleeding at her feet. Laïs had never truly remembered what had transpired between the insufferable taunting and the cries of bleeding kids, but she had snapped out of a strange dance of fire and fury with bleeding knuckles and the taste of blood in her mouth - and it was not just the blood of kids that stuck to her fists. Some had whispered her nails had grown into claws, and at other times small blades had forced their way out of her knuckles, but no matter how many times she had looked about herself, she had never been able to see where the stories came from.
"That is good. Keep it that way, because the more you will discover about yourself, the harder it becomes to defeat yourself and change what you have become. The more one defines existence with what is known, the harder it is to break out of these confines. It's how we ended up with society."
He had grimaced at that last word. Society. A calcified existence that he aimed to break, yet ironically found himself needing to achieve the means and tools which he would need to break it. It was a strange circle of making and breaking Eliphas disgruntledly could not escape from. Laïs would only understand that later, when she'd be taught his dark teachings, the scriptures and notes on the creation of subtle diseases, pandemic infections and mutations of the mind caused by airborne hallucinogens. Her poppa was a scientist, reverse engineering the healing medicines he had been taught by his parents in an attempt to reproduce the infections they cured. He was a monster of his own ilk, much like she was one. But to them, they were not the monsters. The world simply couldn't understand what it was to be different.
"Eventually, you'll have to face the Right Hand Path as well. That one is easier to understand, since your dad and mom play an important part in that one. The Right Hand Path is not about yourself, but about others.", he revealed with a slow wave of his arm, as if he wanted to show her the world around them despite the four walls preventing them from seeing the immediate vicinity outside. "It's the path of working with other people. We build up the world around us, help them out. Pop heals the wounded and the sick, mom helps the babies get born healthily and safely. No matter who we are or what we are, we all end up needing someone else."
Laïs remembered how she had pulled a face at that thought despite its truth. She needed her parents back then, but the thought of being so weak as to not be able to care for herself repulsed her. Her animalistic instinct considered it weak to need someone. It meant she had to be submissive. Inferior to other beasts. She couldn't have that. She considered herself strong, her body still in need of growth, her mind still in need of understanding, but even then... The Jugo blood flowing through her veins craved the right to claim the blood of others at its whims.
Laïs opened her eyes, shaking off the last strands of the lingering memory. Remorse for her killing frenzy welled up, urging her to grit her teeth and rub away the upcoming traces of tears. Why had she thrown a fit for something so stupid as wanting to go out? She had the age of doing as she pleased. She was a woman by every and all rights the world could give her, and yet her father still tended to treat her like... like a dog in need of a leash. He was a jerk, there was no denying that, but he didn't have to die for it. Rising her hand, Laïs looked at it with a frown. She had always been different than the kids around her, but why had her claws decided to strike her own parents? For 21 years, they had never done so. This was the first time in all these years where she disliked the taste of blood and the folly of the frenzy. The memory invoked by her meditation still fresh in her mind, perhaps she finally understood what her father had meant with people disliking the Left Hand Path. Whether or not she liked it, the Beast within cared little for friends or enemies.
This was who she truly was.
Her father had been right. The Left Hand Path was a dark path, indeed. There was no surprise that many feared the confrontation with their own demons, their primal instinct and carnal desires. It seemed to be completely at odd with the Right Hand Path that reached out towards others, muffled away their own existence for 'the greater good' out there - society, gods, or what have you. Even now, she failed to understand why her parents had desired to mingle in society, curing the sick while working in secrecy on various infections. Laïs felt dumb for not understanding the meaning of the path at an earlier age, or seeing the point of meddling with society, but having lost her parents by her own account drove her to find someone that could fill up that newly created gap and ease the pain. She wanted to hear it wasn't her fault, that she couldn't help it. But the opposite was the undeniable truth.
Resting her head against one of the standing stones, she looked up at the calm sky. At the drifting cloud that slowly passed by. At the clear blue world that held not the slightest ripple or disturbance. A moment of repose as her memories and thoughts drifted away within that eternity. Laïs sighed. There was little she could do against the past. The demons of the passed would catch up to her sooner or later, an undeniable truth she had suffered countless times, and all she could do was prepare herself to face them, outpace them until she figured out the ideal moment to defeat them. She had learned that much from her past. The question to ask herself now was, what sort of demon was she facing? How did one confront the misdeeds of a past that wasn't fuelled by glee but was burdened by regret? Would saying 'sorry' solve anything? Laïs snorted at the thought. It wouldn't. It wouldn't in the slightest even. Such a dumb word was fine to dissuade the flock of humanity from seeking repercussions upon those that had slighted them, but it wouldn't restore the lives of her parents.
While the most favourable explanation she could tell herself was that all of it was orchestrated by the demons to whom her parents had sold their souls to, but it was a poorly fabricated justification. More likely, she would be sought out by demons of Wrath, reapers, executioners, or whatever these forces were called that passed judgement onto murderers like her. These people were like shadows. Fast and strong enough to make the oni and akuma of the Land of Demons tremble in fear. These shadows were generally called upon to deal with the monsters that were beyond mortal prowess. They would come for her in time and she would have to be ready.
Closing her eyes again, Laïs plunged into another meditation. It was time to face her own demon. She needed to know its strength and learn from her own weaknesses. A third person perspective, as it were, created by her own perceptions. Find its flaws, its strengths. Unleash her rage for what it had done to her parents, share her regret. 'Defeat' was a word that held little meaning in such a case, but in a way it was necessary to prevail nonetheless.
She could see her inner reflection. A perfect copy of herself right in front of her, with more ferocity. Its malevolence bled out into its aura, its killing intent palpable. Slits for eyes, sharp fangs revealed in a bloodlusty grin and claws ready to rake its target. Part for part, the reflection's whole body was covered by shadows. Laïs wondered if she truly looked like this when she lost all self-control of herself. Was this the Jugo blood in its prime? Her reflection didn't bother replying, instead screaming loudly with pure rage before it gleefully licked its lips at the thought of tasting Laïs' blood. The blood of her host, of the mortal coil that tried to cage her and keep her away from causing a total holocaust.
Not wishing to be halted much longer, the Beast dashed towards Laïs, claws ready. The strike was blocked, so instead it swept her other arm. Laïs dodged as she swung her leg high to kick her reflection's face, but it back-flipped away before jumping hopping in spiralling through the air with an attempt to land a shattering kick. Laïs narrowly dodged, the destructive power crashing into the ground instead and sending ripples through the floor. As she frowned, the Beast merely roared happily at the display of its own power. It was somewhat strange to see the manifestation of her Jugo blood act like this, but Laïs licked the sharp of her canine with a wry smile. Yes, even if she could remember anything during he frenzies it looked like something she would be doing. If only she could get herself to keep an ounce of intelligence at that point, it would be even better.
Finishing its primal laughter, the Beast went at it again. Back-flipping before it aimed to land a blow, but much like the Beast knew all of Laïs' moves, so too did Laïs' knew of all the Beast's moves. She stepped away, swinging her leg once more at its head the moment it landed. It fell on the floor, jumped back up and retaliated. On her turn, Laïs slided under the demon on her sides, jumping up and kicking the Beast into the air with all her might. As it was lifted, she jumped in pursuit, twisting her body with the agility of a cat and slamming her feet into the back of the Beast. It crashed into the ground, and much to her shock stood back up dusting off its figure with a low growl.
She had noticed by now that the Beast was slightly slower than herself. It gave the impression of being slightly slower in reaction and having it a tad difficult with keeping up, but where she certainly would have suffered from the last combo, it merely fuelled the Beast's anger. Was its resilience superior? She couldn't tell right away, but it looked much like it. It cracked its neck, grinned, unlocking a helpless shake of Laïs' head. She liked this. An equal fight, yet with differences. Once again the two went at each other, limbs swinging but not hitting. If there had been music, it would have been a perfect choreography of capoeira, a show to enjoy for the masses. Laïs could eventually land in a hit, but the Beast ignored the impact, giving not the slightest care in the world.
After what he felt like a thousand years of battle, a certain fatigue seeped in. It couldn't be physical fatigue, as the whole combat occurred within her meditating mind, but a strain affected the two of them nonetheless. Yet as she decided to put an end to her meditation, the Beast roared in concentration, suddenly sharpening and lengthening its claws, growing spikes on its back, and growing a bulkier mass as its skin seemed to thicken into stone. Laïs frowned, shocked at the sudden change. A change she had never seen before, and certainly not one that she remembered herself being capable off. With renewed strength and vigour, the Beast leered, and Laïs smiled wryly. Even if a voice in the back of her mind told her that she had to drop her meditation, she was intrigued by the idea of fighting this evolved version of her own Berserk. She raised her hand, gesturing it was more than welcome to come get her.
Another round of combat occurred. The Beast had slightly changed its tactics, dropping part of the capoeira's dance in favour of a direct approach with tooth and claw. It had finished playing games, opting to truly destroy the vessel that sealed it from the world. It was relentless, swinging its clawed hands time and time again. Even if it was slower than her by so little, its flurry was overwhelming enough to get in a few scratches, and though she could counter easily, the newfound transformation was to durable for her to get through. Worse was that it used its claws and spikes on the back as a shield against her basic attacks, granting itself a crude form of 360° degree protection. Laïs swore. This made the game definitely much harder to play. She'd have to find a means to surpass the Beast's transformation. Or rather, make it her own considering this was nothing more but a reflection of her own Berserk form, but she'd have to do so while defending herself against the Beast's onslaught who, as time passed, only seemed to lose more of itself in the battle. It grew fiercer by the moment, and eventually succeeded at getting Laïs in a combo of its own. She landed hard on the floor and, dazed by the hit, couldn't dodge the axe kick that landed hard on her stomach. She gasped for air, hearing its triumphant laughter on the background.
Thrown out of her meditation, Laïs could still feel her body tremble by the intense meditation. Her muscles felt cramped as the aftermath of her spiritual journey. She frowned, as the impact of her mental combat had never been this strong, but all together she could only wonder what it meant. While the win rate had been fairly equal, the Beast within had never undergone mutations before. The mutations didn't make it stronger but rather offered solutions to problems it could otherwise not deal with. Her speed was superior and so she had often been able to position herself in more advantageous place when she struck, but this time the mutations had limited the places where she could strike. Had it grown more intelligent? No, that wasn't possible. But what was the reason then exactly?
3322
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