Vicioso the Goblin King, The Merciful Mercenary Eridani, Smithy the Smuggler: To an outsider, these were unrelated hooligans, but for me, there was one clear similarity: pity. Every one of them snuffed out my light like a mere candle and gave me a look of utter pity. By all accounts, if my family ever found out, I knew that I would be the biggest of disgrace, and yet, I feel more confused than anything else. Because for every bitter defeat I suffered, there was only care in place of hate from, individuals far purer than I had ever been. All my life, I thought that this war would be another footnote in a grand symphony, but now I wonder if those notes were sour all along. And if they were, I have to ask how much of my life was indeed a lie?

It is too bad, however, that I was too busy to deal with this inner conflict. After our sorry excuse for a fight with Smithy, we talked to the authorities about what happened, with a couple of the pirates in tow. The effort was in vain, though, as no one matching Smithy's description wasn't anywhere near there nor the venomous crystalia. With that, we decided to lay low further west as we neared the edge of the Darkness province while westward still laid the Light province. But even with all of that, the small town of Kurriz (ridge in Albanian) still proved to be our lucky break. The town was almost the opposite of Beterano, in which instead of vast devastation happening in repeated attacks, that same devastation was happening in much smaller occurrences every hour on the hour.

In a mere five days, both our funds and morale had gone up destroying appliances, furniture, and cleaning up bones from what the residents call violent spirits. Along the way, we even had our theories on the whole event, which in many ways, went into discussions of religion and folklore. When it comes to the subject of the supernatural in Terra, the divide was more divided than you think. Hundreds of years ago, the Mystic province had to fight tooth and nail to bring a claim to the province that was made now as their, and from it, they lived feared its origin. And there are even some rumors that even from the other side can communicate with the living. But I guess that all depends on belief as well, which I had always been interested in. With the help of Luma, I learned that they were many religions 4 of them stood out.

Terranity believes that Terra was originally a god who died to create this world, PolyElementa says that our universe was made by the elements personified in flesh and blood with Terra being their magnum opus in which they watch over every day. From the mystic province

Liberteas( freedom in Latin), a philosophy that tells one to live life how you want it and finally Purism: my home province's religion, where we all strive to uphold the legacy of the greatest element. I try repeating that mantra over and over, but every time it seemed to leave me even more confused. But once again it seems that I couldn't find the answer. Our latest stakeout had brought us to one of the oldest hotels in town, but after a 3-hour stakeout, we were beginning to think that our client was just superstitious.

"Okay, guys, I've searched every inch of this place and but my senses have just been falling and rising. I think this place is just creepy instead of creepy," Lunaire said as we sat in the old furniture at the front desk while Aphele and Brandon continued in their pushup contest.

"I don't know about that, maybe touch it up a little, add some decor this would be a pretty place."

"Mai, I think I speak for everyone when I say that no amount of decor will ever fix this place," I say, reminiscing about my own home.

Aphele then dropped on the floor in exhaustion as he said, "Sorry, Brandon, but I just can't keep up."

"It's okay Aphele, not many can but thanks to you I can finally indulge in a candy break," he says as he walks to the counter.

As his footsteps clacked against the ground, the old floor started to break under soon enough. We all had a closer relationship with the basement. The fall didn't hurt, but it didn't help my already fractured head as a feeling of nausea washed over me. After we investigated the basement, we realized that the only strange occurrence was how a 100-year-old boiler wasn't found out and sooner. After we reported it to the authorities, we piled into our hotel. I gave a less dramatic goodbye as waves of fatigue hit me like a battered shore.

I soon headed straight to bed, letting sleep be the only mercy from my identity crisis and my spreading waves of confusion. My slumber continued deeper and deeper until, in a single instant, I'm jolted awake, yet my surroundings were completely unknown yet also incredibly familiar. Essentially I was standing amid a black void, but as I peered into the darkness, more apparent surroundings started to appear. My sight went out until I started to see a grand city bathed in light. From its massive billboards, I saw glimpses of things only I should ever know, my secret heart condition, the little moments I spent with my twin Luma and even all the times where my trainers would console me when the stress got too much. I tried to journey around, but my feet wouldn't respond. I looked down to my feet and saw that they and the surrounding ground was covered in shadow. The shadow started to grow out in veins as a voice started to appear.

"I almost forgot the feeling, to breathe without feeling in pain. I think I almost took it for granted."

I managed to turn my head to the right to see a purple wisp. The wisp soon turned his white core to me as he started to regain a human composure.

"Oh, I almost forgot you were here, but don't worry about what I'm about to do is going to be far more merciful than what I experienced. So please don't resist," he said in a business-like matter.

He soon walked straight to me, only feeling glimpses of violence and chilling bloodlust as he made his way towards me.

"Get away from me cretin, I don't know what you're trying to do, but I will fight back!"

"And, trust me, it won't matter."

He then started to raise his hand to my chest. From that spot, the black veins started to spread as pieces of my memories, my techniques, even my hobbies got read like a brutally unlocked diary. I didn't know how much time past, but once he was done, I fell to the ground chilled to the bone as I saw that the landscape once again changed. Some of the billboards of the city started to go black, replaced with the static of unfamiliar images, the black veins around my surroundings, and my person started to grow even more to my ankles, and my captor had materialized a more humanoid appearance. And in one terrifying realization, I noticed what had happened. I don't know how or why it happened, but I knew this, my mind now has an invader, unlike any other, and he was about to make my entire body his slave.

"So you're from the light province, how ironic. That heart of yours will be a problem, but with our powers combined, I don't think that it will be an issue. You definitely could be useful, but I'll explore that facet when the girl is dead."

A portal started to open, and from it, I saw a first-person from my eyes as "I" started to put on my clothes and walk over into the room of my teammates. And all I could do was retch as the invaders forced me to raise my left arm and have it glow with pulsing electricity over the body of sleeping Lunaire, the only one. All I could feel was an ounce of terrifying intensity from the invader, but before I could strike her down, she wakes up for an instant as I'm forced to backflip out of the window to the ground below before I was skewered by a shadow! Once I touch down, my body started to feel very different, it was far lighter, and the veins started to dig deeper into my skin with my mana leaking out and merging with his. I swear I could feel my vocal

chords strain as the figure started to take more control.

Luanire soon touched down in pajamas; licking darkness abound as she greeted my new body.

"I hate always being right. Those souls from earlier could possess objects, even parts of dead bodies. I guess it's only natural that they could possess people. "

"Now, now Lunaire, I know someone as smart as you should know better than to look into the light," "I," said as, in an instant, a large ball of light completely envelops the street!

In sickening motion, I raised my freehand with a blast of light, but before I could fire, a pincer of darkness erupted from the ground! For once, I and my parasite were in synched shock as I soon find a Lunaire rocketing straight towards to give me darkness enhanced punch! But in that split second, the virus already had another plan in motion even when Lunaire used a bunch of strong tentacles that embedded me to the ground.

Lunarie walked over, removing her shadow tinted glasses.

"Your right, I do know better, and you should know better than the real Deon would never have let me that close."

The figure then gave an almost nostalgic satisfaction as he said with a coy smile.

"Good to know."

And with that quote, Lunaire suddenly got hit with electricity and convulsed to the ground, ceasing the tentacles grasp. Once again, my heart started to fall into a pit as the figure forced me to see my body tries to kill one of the dearest women I had ever known. And the parasite wanted to savor every second.

"Your mana senses are even more impressive than what Deon thought, but it seems even you cannot feel the aggression of an invisible decoy. But don't be scared, there are much worse than death," he says as he charges another powerful blast.

In haste, I scream out every plea I could imagine, but that barely shook his resolves. The blackness soon spread to the rest of my mind. But the process wasn't complete as a voice cut through my desperation.

"Stand down!"

In slight excitement, the figure turned to see Aphele in his pajamas with his entire hand burning more intensely than ever before. The figure stopped for a second to think of a cover, and using my expert bluffing; he came up with something.

"Took you long enough, I was almost about to hog all the spotlight again. Lunaire went crazy again, something about what that Smithy fellow had said. You think-."

"You can drop the act, Lunaire gave us a message before she left, so I repeat it stand down before I make you stay that way."

The possessor started to ponder more but soon gave up as he fired the beam right at Aphele! Instinctively

Aphle turned his raging offensive into a lively defense pushing through the beam with great strain. I was about to follow up on the attack, but I soon sensed Brandon rocketing it in at freighting speed! Once again, he couldn't keep up as in a moment; he unleashed his move.

"Wildstyle: Twin Constrictor scissor hold!"

With his legs to my neck, he turned his momentum into a dizzying speed that sends me flying through the street! With creeping nausea ¨I" was still able to keep my focus as from my peripheral vision, I saw Mai in a back alley preparing an attack that would have me hosed. But in a move even I would never do, I summoned a series of shields and rebound off of them to the point that I stood far above my opponents reach!

̈Iḿ impressed, Guru Drippy taught you well, but you need to work on your pressure. Eridani and Basa never went for the kill. I don't have such a feature."

"If you think that is going to intimidate us, then you can forget it! I'm not letting him take him!"

Aphele said, defanitely.

Aphele in anger has his flames grow even hotter as he used his legs to propel himself up in the air and break through the barrier.

Aphele and I engaged in an intense midair struggle, but my new body somehow equaled him in strength but surpassed him in the overall experience! This proved it's worth as I managed to throw him into a parked speeder! He barely was able to land feet first and avoided a powerful joy buzzer as he backed away. Trying to keep up the close combat, I advanced with a powerful joy buzzer, but Lunaire used her element to trip me up! I back myself in a seeming retreat, only to have the full force of all my friends try to blitz me! But all the figure did was smile in glee as he called down a technique that I thought I never had the strength to use.

"Heaven's Wrath!"

From the sky above, I commanded a violent thunderbolt right on my person! But using my earlier joy buzzer, the beam split on contact to hit all 4 of my friends at once in blinding fury! In powerless, I saw the sight of all of my comrades convulsing on the floor. The black tendrils dug into my veins all the more. But before the figure could even think of what to do next, the police were already starting to approach. Combine that with my wasted mana, and he decided to vanish into the venomous night. And all I could do was watch in horror at this poetically cruel joke. A man who wanted to shine above all, overshadowed by the burdens of past goals and failures, who in search of a purpose outside of it all, ended up being a slave to a force that grows stronger by the second. A lucky man who gained friends only to lose them all in a single instant. A man who aimed every last vestige of his broken pride into one last tirade.

"You talk about mercy, and yet you let me bare witness to all of this?! You even lied in wait for months amongst your brethren to get to me! So tell me parasite, why did you claim out of any soul in Terra!?"

I expected to see another cold baseline reaction, only to see a wisp start to have the upper body of a man who couldn't even muster a hint of sympathy. Like he had lost the emotion long ago. Instead, he gave a haunting pledge as the shadows that invaded my grand city started to take form.

"Because Deon, I know the answer to your question is for you to know mine. Let me show you how even your greatest symbols, have created a hell beyond imagining," he says as I travel even further into the realm of our own making.