The night had fallen, and all was quiet within the Rothmore household. Reuben had gone to bed, and Ryder...well, he had talked himself into yet another late night magic session in the woods behind the house. With his phone in hand, his spellbook in the other, he snuck down the hallway, into the kitchen, and out the back door. Past the gazebo in their backyard was a small fence, which was easily hopped and then there he stood, just about one hundred feet from the edge of the forest where Reuben would go for his morning runs. Being born of a wild forest mushroom, Ryder felt drawn to the forest, especially at night. During the day, he hated to leave the house. But at night, the frei thrived. He was able to practice alone, in the dark, with nobody to bother him. It was his little escape from whatever reality he was living in. Though, he did know that Reuben didn't approve of his late night excursions in the past, telling him to always let him know; but he was asleep, and the raevan didn't want to bother him. Thus, he just left, keeping his door closed, knowing full well he wasn't technically allowed to leave the premises without permission. But to him, when the forest called, the frei would come. The iPhone lit up in the distance, though the frei wasn't paying any attention. He was too focused on a new spell, trying to perfect his imaginings movements. Flowing movements were important after all, especially when fighting. Preparing another monster for the battle training with Xiu was very important to the frei. Out here in the dead of night, he could be as loud as he wanted, bothering nobody. There was no way Reuben would allow such a monstrosity at the house, no way in hell. Again, the phone lit up, this time signaling an incoming call; but to the caller's dismay, it was not answered. The device sat situated on a nearby log, along with the spellbook the frei brought. The frei was far too busy dancing around, hands flailing to control the hands of his monstrosity. It was a magnificent thing, magic. But Ryder's precise focus did not falter by an illuminated screen. Hours passed and Ryder, devoid of energy, cast away his imagining, deciding it was time to return home. He floated over to the log and gathered his things, clicking the power button on the phone he noticed a very long list of notifications. Texts, missed calls, voicemails, all of which came from Reuben and Calista. The time: 4:24 AM. Ryder's eyes widened with each swipe of his thumb across the screen. So many messages. How did he get so carried away? He was gone for...almost five hours. "Fuck," he mumbled under his breath as he clicked the power button, blackening the screen of his phone, shoving it anxiously into his pocket and quickly floating through the forest back home. As Ryder approached the front door of his home, he noticed every light in the house was on, even though the sun had yet to rise. Exhausted from his training and nervous from his missed messages, he glanced down at the knob on the door. Did he dare enter? He knew he was in trouble. He didn't even have to listen to any messages to know that. The quick glance he had taken at the messages before his trek home was enough to alert him of the impending doom that awaited his return.
With a heavy sigh, he turned the knob. As the door opened, the house was empty. Reuben wasn't there to greet him, and Calista hadn't come over either. But before he was even able to close the front door behind him, Reuben barrelled into the living room, a very angry look on his face. Ryder hadn't ever seen the man scowl like this before, it was so unbecoming of him. "Where the hell have you been!?" a loud tone filled the room, only to be followed by utter silence. "I left you countless messages! What the fuck were you doing, Ryder!?" the man continued to yell when no response was made. Ryder took a deep breath, physically shaking in fear and anxiety. He had never been yelled at before, not like this. But he felt so ashamed. He just didn't even know how to respond. Reuben had never cursed at him before, he had only heard that kind of speech directed toward Calista. First for the fiasco with Evan at the bookstore, and now directed towards him. But being the brunt of the anger was the worst feeling in the world. Ryder couldn't help but stay silent, the tension in the air growing with each second that passed. "Answer me, dammit!" Reuben said, closing the gap between himself and the frei, crossing his arms in the meantime. The frei hung his head in fear, anger, and worst of all, shame. He clenched his grip on his spell book, tears welling in his eyes. "I-I," the frei's words cut off by the slamming of a hand on the nearby table, causing the frei to flinch back in fear. "You what!? Thought you could sneak out yet again and get away with it? You deliberately ignored my calls and texts, aunt Calista's calls, and failed to get back to me whatsoever! You had us both worried sick about what could have happened to you! Have I not told you never to leave the house without my permission? Have I not!?" the guardian yelled, still furious. "Y-you...have," the frei muttered between soft sobs, trying to keep an averted gaze from his guardian. The frei was all alone. No muses came to his defense. Even Alice stayed silent. "I know I have! And yet you deliberately went against my wishes and left anyway! Not even a text saying where you're going!" "I'm...sorry," the frei whimpered, tears now trickling down his face. "Sorry isn't going to cut it, young man," Reuben said, standing tall, eyes glaring towards his charge. "You're grounded." Ryder looked up, not sure what to make of the word his guardian just said, the first time he saw those piercing blue orbs staring, what seemed to be, right through him. "That means no cell phone for the rest of the month, and you're not allowed to leave the house unless I'm with you. Not even if you tell me where you're going. You have lost that privilege." The frei's sadness turned to anger in that moment. How on earth could this man be so cruel? Not allowing him to leave without him, the toadstool could deal with. But no phone? Now that he had had the luxury of a cell phone the past month, he didn't want to give it up! A glare shot up towards Reuben who stood there, one hand outstretched. The frei knew what he wanted. He wanted to take his phone away from him. The frei wiped what tears were on his face and he no longer felt ashamed of what he had done. All of that had turned to anger. He slowly went into his pocket and brought out his cell phone, holding it out for his guardian to take. As the man yanked the phone from the frei's grasp, anger boiled up inside of him. Keeping silent, however, knowing full well that whatever came up after this would just make the situation worse, the frei began to float off towards his room. "You'll get this back earlier if you're good. Stay in your room," the man said, shoving the phone in his pocket and watching his charge float off to the room, only to hear the slamming of the door behind him. The instant the door was closed, Reuben felt ashamed of how he had acted. He felt like his father, how he was yelled at, screamed at even, for the littlest of things. He hated his father and their relationship worsened because of how he was treated. Now, with the realization of what had just occurred, Reuben felt like he was turning into his father. The guardian slumped into the couch, head hung in his hands and tears welling up in his eyes. What had he just done? Yelled at a poor, innocent soul. Sure, he was angry because Ryder hadn't followed through and hadn't listened, but he vowed never to treat his raevan the way he was treated as a kid; but looking at this situation, he had broken that vow in spades. Instead of apologizing, taking back what he had said, giving the boy a more reasonable punishment and maybe a firm talking to, the guardian left things as they were. After all, the shop needed to open in just a couple of hours, and Reuben had yet to even get his day started. He was too stressed out about the night's occurrences to do anything but worry. Though now that Ryder was home safe, Reuben could begin his day, hoping that the rest of this Monday would go more smoothly than how it began. He would deal more with this situation later. The crow cawed as the sun began to set. Looking out his window, he saw a lone crow perched upon the dying tree in the backyard. Was it really dying? Ryder hadn't ever seen a tree begin to lose it's leaves. But every day more and more leaves began to gather at the base of the tree. It was autumn. Reuben said that every year is a cycle. Birth, life, death, and rebirth. Each season corresponds to a different aspect of the cycle. Things like philosophy and metaphysics were some of Reuben's favorite subjects, but not Ryder's. The toadstool couldn't quite comprehend why his guardian seemed so intent on making him learn such abstract thoughts. Though these thoughts were pleasing to the palate, they weren't something that Ryder necessarily enjoyed discussing, especially when Reuben was so vehement in his ideology. Instead, Ryder enjoyed the comfort of his bedroom. Being grounded wasn't half bad. Coming up with his own worlds, characters, and stories. Using his cell phone to explore other's worlds and characters. Being able to create, and visualize, an entire world was always a fascinating and extensive adventure. But Reuben didn't see things in the same light. He wished Ryder to be more outgoing -- or more specifically -- his version of outgoing. Ryder had been truly trying to build the confidence to get out of his shell. And by his standards, he was doing fabulously. He had met a few fellow raevan and had tried his best to talk to others, like Mark and Daniela. But for some strange reason, it wasn't good enough. The crow cawed once more before flying off it's perch, the branch left wobbling a moment. Staring out his window, Ryder couldn't help but feel alone, just like that crow, the sun's rays beaming down on him in the evening glow. Even with all the muses in the world, with Alice right beside him, he didn't quite feel complete. Something told him he needed to try to be more outgoing -- the way Reuben was -- and to try and change the way he was for something new. Maybe Reuben would appreciate him more that way. Ryder floated away from the window and looked in the mirror he hung upon his wall, he watched as his mushroom caps began to transform before his eyes into that of large crow wings, wings that would allow him to fly away, just like the crow had just done. What was he to do? Alice hadn't even come to say hello today. In fact, none of his muses had. Just that lone crow. He didn't even have the energy to practice magic. He just felt so lethargic. Life seemed to pass by so slowly. He didn't have any new books to read, and with no cell phone at his disposal, life seemed dismal. He couldn't search the web or buy any new books to read. He just had to deal with what he already had, which wasn't a lot. The frei's boredom turned into utter agony. Leaving the room wasn't something he did often during this "grounding", but when he did, it was just because he needed to satiate himself either out of actual hunger or out of pure boredom. But this time, he just needed to leave the room as the walls seemed to be closing in on him today. One last glance out his window at the bare branches on that dying tree, nothing felt right today. Ryder found himself draped over the small chair in the living room, his ribbon lazily dangling over one arm whilst his head rested up against the other. Tick. Tick. Tick. The grandfather clock's pendulum swayed back and forth in the corner of the room. The room felt eerily silent over all. The ceiling fan circulating the air was the only other noise the frei could hear. As he watched the ceiling fan slowly swirl above him, he tried to focus on just one blade, which kept his attention for only a moment, before the next ticking of the clock. Where was Reuben? Still working, perhaps? Ryder hadn't left the house in over a week, not even to go to the shop, not even to get some fresh air in the back yard. With a heavy sigh, the frei rolled to his side, staring at the coffee table and all of the little knick knacks that accompanied it. Just then, Ryder heard the doors in Reuben's room open. He must be home. The frei closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He didn't want to deal with Reuben, if he was being honest, but he knew Reuben's routine well enough to know that the guardian wasn't going to stay in his room long. Sure enough, the bedroom door opened and he heard the footsteps tap along the wood floor and stop once they were behind the chair. The frei could sense someone hovering directly over the chair, which caused his heart to pick up pace. But he was steadfast, eyes closed, and soon enough the footsteps picked back up and the tapping drifted off into the kitchen. With a soft sigh, the frei opened his eyes again, staring straight at the coffee table. This time, however, his gaze landed upon the lovely sight he had so longed to see. His iPhone, now decked out in a new, beautifully designed, fungus case. With wide eyes, the frei sat up quickly and grabbed out to see if what he was seeing was real, or a figment of his imagination. To his surprise, when he picked it up, it was really his iPhone. He turned it over to admire the craftsmanship and the beautifully detailed artwork on the case, and with a smile, he clicked the power button to reveal a full battery. "I'm glad you're awake." The words startled the frei, who flinched, placing the phone back on the coffee table and quickly turned around to view his guardian walking into the living room from the kitchen, arms crossed and a smile on his face. "I wanted to apologize for last week. I didn't mean to yell at you like I did, and I know it's been a bit of a tense week here, but I wanted you to know that you're ungrounded. You can have your phone back, but I still don't want you to go anywhere without me, understood?" Ryder patiently listened to his guardian's words, taking in each one. Even though there was still some slight resentment towards him for how he acted, Ryder nodded, gave a smile, and floated up out of the chair. One thing he didn't want to do was apologize again for leaving the house, for he had already apologized once upon first realizing how upset his guardian was. "Thank you for the new case. And yes, I understand," With a nod, Reuben gave a soft smile and outstretched his arm towards Ryder's bedroom, almost ushering him to leave if he so please. Ryder took the sign and did just that, grabbing his phone and instantly unlocking it to reveal an absolutely stunning display that he missed so much the past week. The frei floated off slowly towards the bedroom, enthralled deeply with the device, only to close the bedroom door ever-so-softly behind him, where he would stay the rest of the night. Click the image above to be taken to the doc RP. ◈ WHO: Xiu, Cesc, & Ryder (Rapidashtrainer, Atmadja, & Skyeforge)
◈ WHEN: Afternoon on September 30, 2017 ◈ WHERE: Wooded clearing near Barton Town ◈ WEATHER: Sunny and warm. Darkness overcame her with the setting of the sun only to be eradicated by fire hours later. Flames burned and licked at the castle walls below as the woman stared out her window to see nothing but fire and smoke. Screams could be heard from all directions, an ominous sound they made. The sky burnt umber as the blood moon hung overhead. The dark castle walls seemed to encroach upon her dusty blue colored dress. Her golden brown hair flowing down her back as sweat began to bead upon her skin. Her silhouette was all that could be seen amongst the flames. Her demeanor calm, complacent, and accepting of what was happening around her. As the flames burned brighter, hotter, and higher, all she could do was stand still in the darkness of her tower as if to accept her fate. A faint hum could be heard, as though she was trying her best to stay positive through the piercing cries of those below. And then... ...he awoke. Opening his eyes, there was nothing but darkness except for the dim red glow from his clock which read 3:13. The toadstool laid in bed staring at the ceiling, contemplating what he seemingly just witnessed. He always had dreams, but this one seemed different, a nightmare perhaps? There was so much more going on beneath the surface that he couldn't quite understand. The flames seemed so real, it was if he was there himself. Something had to be done. Sitting up, the frei took to his desk where Renard slept soundly in his tank. The raevan took out a piece of paper and imagined the words "The Tower" written at the top in a fancy font. With a faint golden glow, the words magically appeared on the paper and as the illuminated letters faded, the words sat on the page plainly in black. After that, the toadstool closed his eyes and imagined the scene again from his dream. The fire encroaching on the open window, the woman standing, staring, calm and collected, the ominous screams being heard all around, and finally the blood moon that hung in the sky. With a quick synopsis flowing through his mind, the frei took to the paper again and imagined the small paragraph of what was happening directly onto the paper. That same glow, and the same fade only to leave behind a paper with a written account of what had happened in his dreams. Ryder had done this before, using his imagination on the paper. One minute, the paper would be just fine and full of his wondrous ideas, but over time, as he either slept, or began to forget, the magical imagination ink would fade away to nothing and the paper would be blank once more. He was far too impatient to learn how to correctly write holding a pencil to the paper, and even if he did, it wouldn't be easy to write his ideas fast enough to remember the details. But, what else could he do but try and keep a record as best he could. Laying back down in bed, the frei stared back up at the ceiling. "The Tower...by Ryder Rothmore," the words slipped from his lips in the silence of the bedroom. A grin grew upon his face soon after the silence returned. Oh, how he hoped to turn his nightmarish dream into a story to be proud of. The cold, dark and damp stone walls enclosed around him. Screams and cries let out from all directions as he sat peacefully in this prison. It wasn't until steps could be heard coming down the corridor that any sort of tension could be felt. The keys jangled as they knocked against one another with each step taken. The sounds this one person made seemed to echo throughout this prison louder than the ominous cries for help. All the focus was on those steps, the keys, the dank cellar encasing him in darkness. Large, cold steel rods barred him from moving. As the echoing steps finally reached him and the clanking of the keys ceased, all he could see was a figure cloaked in darkness. Taking the bronze keys, which seemed to appear from darkness entirely, he unlocked the cell door and swung it open and through the darkness one could see a grin most evil as the keys were, once again, enveloped in darkness. This time a long whip of chains began to reveal itself, emerging from the dark and held by a dirty, husky hand. Now, the perspective changed to that of the darkness. With whip in hand, he glared at his victim with a grin most foul. The sufferer, a brawny elemental, head ablaze and anger in it's eyes. As the darkness pulled back on the whip and lashed it forward, the elemental let out a bellowing roar, which shook the entire room until... "AHH!" Ryder screamed, sitting straight up in his bed, covered in sweat, panting in fear. His head fell into his hands as he quickly glanced at the dim clock on his nightstand which read: 2:15 on the dot. Rubbing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths and laid back down, staring at the ceiling. "What's going on with me?" he asked himself. Who was that darkness? And what about the large, angry elemental? The dream was scary to the frei, it was definitely a nightmare. He rolled to his side and stared at the clock as the minute ticked to 2:16. With a heavy sigh, the frei closed his eyes, finally feeling some sort of relief from the startling nightmare. Why had the last few dreams he woke up remembering been nightmares? One thing Ryder was always proud of was his dreams, he dreamt every night and oftentimes they were inspirations for stories or creatures he could imagine during the day. The toadstool hadn't ever had nightmares like this. Typically his dreams were very much peaceful or full of adventure. But now, this looming darkness always seemed to encase the characters within them. But they were just dreams after all. With that in mind, the frei slowly drifted back off to sleep. The thunder could be heard from the confined space. It wasn't long before he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He held his breath as best he could to help hide the fact that, internally, he was screaming. Three Hours Earlier... "You're absolutely sure you don't want to go?"
"Positive," the frei's voice rang in an obviously annoyed tone. He had heard that question all day. Wasn't answering it once enough? "Okay...well, we'll only be gone a few hours." The guardian reassured his charge as he fixed his collar in the mirror. "Great. Enjoy." "Okay, it's seriously your last chance to-" Reuben began, only to be interrupted. "Leave the kid alone, Reu! God, I've only been here twenty minutes and you haven't shut up. He doesn't want to go. It's settled. Now come on before we're late." Calista said, anger bubbling up in her voice. The only thing heard in response was a heavy sigh. The frei laid outstretched on the living room couch reading a new horror manga he found on the iBooks store. Scrolling through the pages on his phone, he didn't even look up once. With a heavy heart, the guardian laid down a few rules for the raevan. "Don't leave the house; it's going to be nasty out there in an hour. And text me if you need anything," Reuben said, slowly being ushered out the front door by Calista. "Bye," Ryder stated coldly, swiping his finger to reveal the next page. As Reuben had said, within an hour, the storm had rolled in. The faint sounds of rain pattering on the roof could be heard from the couch. Lightning struck, lighting up the dim room for a brief moment, only to be followed by a soft roar from the heavens. It was nights like this that were too few and far between for the frei's liking. He absolutely loved the rain. It made things damp, which he loved. Ryder was still quite invested in his new manga. His brain swirled with different ideas of whodunit. The mystery behind the pages intrigued the young frei. And the pictures only proved to help his fading imagination out. The frei swiped page after page. The soft rain pattered down, tapping at the windows in the living room. The thunder roared and the lightning flashed. ~~~ Ryder awoke in his bed in complete darkness. He sat up, only to see two orbs of glowing red glaring through the mirror across his bedroom. The frei, feeling his heart beat faster, floated over to the mirror, the glowing orbs seeming to follow him like eyes as he made any movement. As he stared into the mirror, the orbs glowed stronger, brighter shades of red. The frei's heart began to race even faster than before. Suddenly, Ryder felt strong pressure on his chest. Quickly opening his eyes, the frei saw nothing but a dark figure looming overhead with a hand pressing down on his chest. A quick yelp escaped his lips and the startling jump caused an unforeseen reaction in the frei. From every freckle on the frei's body, colored smoke quickly emerged in a large cloud all at once. The rainbow smoke, much like that of his essence, quickly filled the area as the frei quickly fled the living room towards his room, dropping his cell phone on the floor in the process. The victim of his smoke cloud began to cough and wheeze uncontrollably as the frei made his escape. What had he just done? Fumbling and coughing seemed to cease as the frei found himself in his closet. The thunder could be heard from the confined space. It wasn't long before he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He held his breath as best he could to help hide the fact that, internally, he was screaming. Hiding in the closet just wouldn't do, but where else was he to go? He couldn't confront the ominous figure. Not yet, anyway. He didn't have the power to do anything. His cell phone was still in the living room. Footsteps could be heard outside the small closet's doors. Even peeking through the small gap in the wood didn't seem to do much, as not much could be seen. Suddenly, the small sliver of the bedroom that could be seen was now covered by darkness. Chills ran down the frei's spine as the doors of the closet flung open. There the figure stood, tall, looming, staring down at him. "What the hell was that, Ryder!?" That voice. Ryder's fear turned into sheer anger the instant the voice was recognized. "What do you mean!? Why would you scare me like that!?" The frei emerged from the closet, arms crossed. The guardian let out a heavy sigh and began to chuckle. Between the nightmare and the scare, the frei had had enough for the night. Little did he know that the horrors were just beginning. ◈ WHO: Cordelia, Adrian, Reuben, Ryder, & Evan (Ebony Shade & Skyeforge)
◈ WHEN: Evening on October 31, 2017 ◈ WHERE: The Silver Fox Tech Café & Lounge - Isle de Gambino ◈ WEATHER: Chilly. Darkness filled the room as Ryder sat up in his bed in the dead of night. In the mirror across the room, two red orbs floated within it, as if to entice him to approach. Curious, the frei floated over. As he approached however, the two orbs floated just over his own eyes in the reflection. Suddenly, his mouth in the mirror widened, opening up to reveal nothing but an eerie, echoing laughter.
Ryder shot up, drenched in sweat. It was all a dream. He looked into the mirror across the room and shook his head. Yes, it was all a dream. What was that thing in the mirror, though? He quickly laid back down and rolled to his side, throwing the blanket over his head in order to shield himself from the outside world. "It'll be okay...it'll be okay...it was only a dream..." the toadstool repeated to himself over and over until he drifted off to sleep once more. Ryder hated going to sleep. Oftentimes he would just lay awake in bed for hours, hoping not to fall asleep. His dreams lately had been nothing but problematic for him. They were nightmares, and they didn't do him any good. He always awoke in a panic. To make matters worse, Alice wasn't there when he woke up. Of course, being fashioned from imaginations, the frei often had dreams, nightmares, and the like, depending on what he had gone through for the day. Some dreams were fantastical adventures in far away lands. Some were nightmarish horrors in the fogged dreamscape. But the one dream that kept recurring in the poor boy's mind at night was hard to forget.
The nightmare began like any other. The mirror sat across the room. The red beady orbs floated to where his eyes were while the crooked smile in the mirror opened up to allow the eerie laughter through. The frei's heart began to race, but he pursued on, allowing the laughter to continue, staring at this darkened, dim figure in the mirror with the wide mouth and red glowing orbs for eyes. Ryder lifted his hand to touch the mirror. But its reflection was not that of Ryder's hand. A dark, twisted version of his own hand was what showed itself in the glass. Confused, Ryder tapped the center of the mirror, the dark hand within it doing the same. The moment the two fingers touched, the mirror rippled like water from the center to its edges. The laughter became deeper, more dark and muddled. The unease began to set in. What had Ryder done? Suddenly, without warning, the dark hand from before burst through the center of the mirror, which rippled outward like before. The voice deep and demonic, laughing at the sheer horror on the toadstool's face. The frei quickly floated backward and jumped back into bed, his breath short and the fear very apparent in his being. The demonic arm continued to stretch out of the mirror until finally, the long, jagged fingers grabbed ahold of the frei's arm. They held tight as the frei tried to get free. He tried to pry the fingers from his arm, to no avail. Then, the frei felt the tug on his arm, pulling him towards the mirror. Ryder screamed, but nothing escaped his lips. He closed his eyes tightly and the tugging stopped. The pressure of the fingers on his skin dissipated. He opened his eyes to see the ceiling above him, his covers completely drenched in sweat. He sat up quickly, noticing a sharp pain on his arm. The frei looked down to see nothing but a dark bruise formed on his arm. It was then that reality set in. He was no longer dreaming. The eerie laughter wasn't there, the room wasn't as reddish and dark. It was just his plain, real life room. But there on his arm was the proof. His proof that the dream he had just endured, was real. An entire month had passed since his last nightmare. Each night before bed, Ryder would stay up late, staring down at his small bruise where the hand had pulled and grabbed him. It was sore a few days after the initial incident, but after the pain subsided, it was just ugly to look at. Pale white skin surrounded the blue tinted handprint. With each passing day, the blue became lighter and lighter, turning a grayish peach, and finally, his pale skin with the colorful freckles returned after a few weeks.
Every night still, he would stay up long after laying down in bad, staring down at the spot his arm was attacked, and from there staring at the ceiling, afraid to even fall asleep because of the fear behind that nightmare. He hoped it wouldn't return, it was the worst feeling in the world. Of course, the frei hadn't thought to tell Reuben, or anyone for that matter, about this nightmare. He didn't want to worry anyone, and seeing how Reuben acted in some circumstances didn't make Ryder feel all that comfortable sharing. So, he kept it to himself, hoping that it would stop and never return. Hours passed and sleep began to beckon. The weight on his lashes were far too heavy to sustain. Sleep had won. The dreamscape began hazy, blurred. But soon enough his focus returned, allowing the frei to witness the disturbing blip and ripple of the mirror. It was almost as though he wasn't in control of his body any longer. This nightmare began basically where the last left off. As the mirror rippled outward, the dark hand burst from the glass, grabbing hold of the toadstool's arm once again. The red orbs staring into the depths of his soul, the cackle emitting an eerie echo about the room. Ryder could feel the tugging on his arm, the immense pressure and pulling. The arm pulled through a shoulder and finally, a head burst forth from the mirror, the red floating orbs following suit as eyes, the widespread smile popping out from the mirror to be visible in the real world. More and more of the dark creature's body was being pulled from the mirror, and Ryder seemed stunned, he wasn't in control. He was stuck in place as a post to be tugged at and pulled on to save this creature from it's mirror prison. Once the dark figure was fully free, it let go of his arm, and Ryder looked up to see nothing but a dark, looming shadow of himself with deep red glowing eyes and a wide, sharp toothed smile. It was himself, a dark shadow self. A stinging pain emitted from his arm, and the pain throbbed and throbbed. The shadow cackled again, and Ryder finally felt as though his dream was coming to an end. As the raevan opened his eyes, he quickly sat up in bed, gasping for breath. Fear filled his eyes as he glanced around the room. The throbbing pain of his dreams still emitting in reality. He looked down at his arm, only to see a deep cut and dark bruise. It was a stinging pain. He quickly floated into the bathroom to clean up the cut and wrap it like he was taught to do when such a thing had happened. Once he calmed down and the wound was cared for, questions began to fill his mind. What was happening? Why were his nightmares becoming reality? Why were they happening in the first place? Should he even alert his guardian? It was time to do some research. The forest was dark. It was late in the night and there he was, practicing magic yet again. But this time was different. When he got to this place, however he had gotten here, it felt...strange. The frei's fingers glistened with dark red magical energy, and a smirk crept upon his face. From one hand, a plethora of that red energy shot off like lightning in every direction, lighting up the forest for a quick moment. Each of those small bolts turned into a bat-like creature, which all collected together and flew around overhead. Wicked they looked, but poisonous and powerful they were. Then, in his hands, a ball of that same blood red energy floated between them. It grew and grew, his magic was becoming so powerful and he could feel it pulsing through his veins. The ball floated outward from him and continued to grow. His imagination magic was nothing in comparison to what it used to be. All those months of practicing had paid off. The ball then burst, and from it, a mighty dragon broke forth, opening his wings and letting out a terrifying roar as it landed in a thud against the ground. The mushroom then turned around and another ball of energy formed within his hands. He allowed it to grow, just as he had previously done. From this ball burst forth a monstrosity unlike any other. A mighty tar-esque colossus, bubbling and gurgling upward as it stood over all the trees in the forest. Suddenly, the frei began to feel this eerie power overcome him. It wasn't like anything else he had ever felt before. It was as though he began to have an out of body experience. The view shifted and what he could only describe as his very soul floated upward, looking down at the scene below. He looked at his body, and at all of the creations he had just formed within his imagination. The forest was dark, but through this darkness, all of the creations stared down at the small creator on the forest floor. With his hands he motioned outward and with a cackling laugh, he let out the words: "Destroy. It. All. Hahahahahahahahaha." From the moment the words left his lips, the frei above watched as his creations began to spout fire, tar, and poison across the trees, shrubs, and grassland; burning, killing, and smothering everything in their wake until the forest, as far as the eyes could see, became a wasteland. The frei's heart sank. He watched as his body below continued to cackle and spout off words of power at the creations. What was happening? It wasn't him, was it? It couldn't be. He'd never use his magic to do something like this to a place he found so much solace in. The forest began to further darken as the manifestations of his imagination began to dissipate into the nothingness, continuing to wreck havoc as far out as they could. It was then that the soul of the toadstool could sense something watching him. He looked down at his body, and there it floated, staring straight at him with a smirk most wicked. Laughter filled the frei's mind, cackling laughter, a truly evil laughter. The frei's heart leapt from his chest as he awoke in a panic. He sat up in his bed and took a look around the room, his sheets drenched in sweat. "It...it was all just a dream?" Ryder hung his head down into his hands, rubbing his eyes, relieved. "You mean...nightmare," a familiar voice echoed within his room. Ryder, startled, looked up quickly to see his reflection in the mirror across the room. But something was off about it. In the dead of night, the frei could swear that, even though he was obviously frightened, the face that stared back at him was smirking menacingly. Then the reflection began to laugh that same maniacal laughter that he heard from his dream. Suddenly, his reflection from the mirror began to burst quickly into reality, and there he floated, at the foot of the bed, a dark, black and white reflection of Ryder. Erryd. Something within Ryder already knew him. He'd never met him before, he'd never even seen him before. But Ryder didn't even have to ask his name. He intrinsically knew it. The frei's heart pounded within his chest. He could even feel it in his ears and throat. Was this some sort of twisted continuation of the same nightmare he'd been having for months? When would he finally wake up? He kept closing his eyes tightly and opening them, each time the darker reflection of himself still floated in the same spot. This all felt real, but so did the dream he had supposedly just woken up from. What was reality anymore? Was this really it? "I'm so excited to finally be here, you have no idea." That voice, the second time Erryd spoke to him, the frei placed it. It was his very own voice, the one he'd been hearing inside his head for months. The one that would tell him to keep pushing himself to the very limit of his magical power. The same one that would continuously tell him he'd never amount to anything great unless he practiced his magic from dawn until dusk. The one that pushed magical power and prowess over intelligence and studies. The voice he had, many times, tried to quell with books and other distractions. That voice. Ryder pushed himself up against the headboard and took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing pulse. "You can't escape from me now," the dark frei began, smiling as he floated upon the bed towards Ryder. "Erryd has finally come out to play." Ryder shut his eyes as tight as he could and shook his head. "No, you're not real. You're just a dream, a figment of my imagination. Go away, go away, go away, go away, go away!" the frei stated, covering his ears, his tone increasing with each repetition of the words until he ended with were a quick scream. It wasn't until then that he felt some sort of relief. The toadstool dropped his hands to his sides and relaxed the tightness of his eyes, slowly opening them only to see the dark, dim, lifeless eyes of his shadow self staring directly into his from only inches away. "Boo," Erryd cackled, floating up into the air as Ryder quickly flung himself off the bed and to the floor in a frightened mess. "I told you, I'm not leaving. You can't just tell me when to come and go like you can with...oh, what's her name again? Alice?" the shadow spoke, drumming his chin with his fingers until he finally spit the name from his lips, leaving but a pursed smirk on them. That name brought such strong feelings forth from the frei on the ground. "Don't even say her name," he said, defensively, finally gathering the courage, and now anger, to float up off the ground. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. You can't even summon her anymore, can you. Hmm...maybe it's just that she doesn't want to come out to play. You've probably bored her to death with all of your reading. Or maybe she just hates you because of how annoying you are. Just like how Reuben hates you for not being more outgoing. Wait, I know you've been trying to be more like him: outgoing, confident...but we both know that's not who you really are." Whilst Erryd spoke, all Ryder could do was continue telling the shadow, "Stop. Stop it. Just stop." Anger building up inside. "Actually, you've been pretty pathetic ever since he grounded you...that asshole. Can't even conjure up a decent looking story anymore. And even crafting a toadstool takes it out of you. Everything you do looks so...dim, dingy, blegh. What happened to you? At least you used to be a decent mage. Now look at you; a pathetic whelp. A simple shell of what you used to be. Disgusting." "STOP IT!" the frei screamed, letting loose all the anger that had built up over the course of the small altercation. The fear was gone, and all he was left with was anger and frustration. All of a sudden, his bedroom door burst open and the room was instantly illuminated. "Ryder! Is everything alright!?" a scared, confused, and worried Reuben called from the threshold. Ryder quickly glanced between Reuben and his bed, seeing nothing, nobody. Erryd was gone. Great. Now he had to explain...or not. "I...I am so sorry Reuben. I was talking to myself," as strange as that sounded, it wasn't false. Reuben took a deep breath of relief, he knew that Ryder had many imaginary friends come and go, and it was bound to catch up with the poor boy eventually. "Okay, I'm glad to know you're alright. Just keep it down, will ya? I'm trying to sleep. It's only 1AM. Goodnight," the guardian stated, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him. Ryder took a deep breath following the shutting of his door. "Why would you apologize to that prick after what he's done to you?" The frei's eyes darted back to the black and white version of himself which, once again, floated above his bed. Anger built up instantaneously all over again, and just after he had calmed himself enough. Ryder simply ignored him and laid back down in bed. "Alright, that's fine. Go to sleep. But just know I'll follow you into your...nightmares. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha." The maniacal laughter continued to echo for the rest of the night far after Erryd had dissipated into the darkness. ◈ WHO: Reinhardt, Samael, Ryder, Reuben, & Evan (Byagane319 & Skyeforge)
◈ WHEN: Around 2pm on March 12, 2018 ◈ WHERE: Rothmore Residence ◈ WEATHER: Slightly overcast. Click the image above to be taken to the doc RP. ◈ WHO: The Trader & Ryder (Rapidashtrainer & Skyeforge)
◈ WHEN: Late into the night on October 20, 2018 ◈ WHERE: Some old ruins Ryder stumbled across in the forest outside of Barton Town. ◈ WEATHER: Cool, and getting cooler by the minute. "Y'know they say that the veils between worlds is most thin on Halloween night, right? Where magic really comes alive and the spirit world and our world are intertwined most delicately," Evan stated to Reuben in the kitchen of their home as he leaned over the bar top counter.
Reuben scoffed. "Do you even know who you're talking to? Of course I know that." The two laughed and continued to chat over coffee whilst Ryder lay strewn across the couch, his ribbon draped off one arm. He stared at the ceiling, listening to the voices from the kitchen but also trying to concentrate on his own thoughts. His mind wandered constantly since that fateful evening. What was happening with him? He had so many unanswered questions. Since the night with the Trader, he hadn't told anyone anything, just as the Trader had requested. Keep it a surprise, as he said, until it was too obvious to hide. Ryder knew that his powers hadn't returned the way they once had been. After all, the last week or so had been quite...interesting to say the least. The day after meeting the Trader, Ryder awoke with hope and determination. He needed to see if his powers were back. Obviously the Trader had done one job, taking his poison away, but with that, Ryder was supposed to have his powers back, be able to practice just like he used to, his imaginings abound. Ryder took to the Mystic Herb to find Reuben working with a couple of customers. He didn’t bother, but decided to take his spell book straight past the shop and into the forest nearby. Here, he would find the perfect, peaceful area to practice. As he opened his spell book up, he read a few of his previous notes from his past imagining sessions. He was nervous to see how he’d fair in comparison to his past. He set the open book on a nearby rock and floated back up into the air. Taking a deep breath he outstretched his arm and imagined something fairly simple, a small tree with leaves and fruits. Suddenly, an area on the ground in front of him began to glow violet and green -- a mishmash of color which he hadn’t seen before while using his power. With that, a small bud began to sprout from the ground quickly and grew twisted and coiled, sort of bending to its own will. It stopped shortly after and the glowing energy dissipated quickly. Ryder felt the power leave his body. It felt very...different than before. He had to exert much more energy this time around, but chalked it up to the fact that he hadn’t been able to practice much. Along with feeling quite exhausted, the “tree” didn’t look at all how he imagined it to be. It was twisted, rugged, and didn’t resemble much of a tree. It looked more like a crooked vine which branched off into more crooked vines. With what little energy he had left, he floated over and touched it. It was frail. The frei looked at it, disappointed. With how out of practice he was, it was no wonder why it took so much out of him, but his imaginings in the past at least looked like he wanted them to, not like this, which was entirely different. Ryder picked up his spell book and tried to imagine his new notes (like he had done in the past) to cover an empty page. Although, when he did this, the words themselves looked muddled and warped, almost illegible, and the energy expenditure was not what he was expecting, as it truly tired him further. Plus, it almost looked worse than his own handwriting. It bothered him, as he never would have tried to imagine the words on the page had he known what it would look like. Again, it looked nothing like he imagined, and he was so exhausted, all he wanted to do was sleep. At that point, he went home for the day, feeling distraught and questioning his decisions. He definitely hoped that he was just having a bad day and everything would work itself out the next time he conjured up some imaginings. The next day, he felt a bit better, albeit slightly drained, but decided to go back to that quiet little spot he found the day before. Surprisingly, the ‘tree’ was still there, but it looked much more run down than it had when he left it. It looked almost as if it was wilting. He also noticed a few of the 'branches' were broken off and on the ground nearby. Normally, when he was finished imagining something that he no longer needed, it would simply dissipate into a cloud of rainbow specks. But no, this imagining persisted through the night. Shocked, Ryder floated over to his little “tree” and grabbed ahold of one small, twisted branch. Once touched, the branch snapped off its base, but did not dissipate like he expected it to. Instead, when he let it go, it fell to the ground as if it was any other dead twig he could find laying around the forest floor. Ryder scowled in frustration. What was happening? How could this still be here? Instead of focusing on the growing list of questions, he decided to ignore it for now and try to imagine something else. He opened his spell book to find the lettering he had previously imagined into it and the ‘ink’ on the page had run down, leaving black streaks throughout the page. It was a page that now needed to be removed from the book. It sickened him to have to remove a page from his spell book, but nevertheless, he closed the book and decided to continue his magic. Ryder floated up and closed his eyes, deciding to imagine something a bit simpler today. Concentrating on his cupped hands, he imagined a black crow’s feather floating within them. As he opened his eyes, the same green and violet magical energy began to warp above his hands. When finished, the feather was complete, but it did not look as intended. The rachis was thick, and the vane was very thin. The quill itself was quite strange looking. And the color, as he imagined it, was supposed to be dark midnight blue, but turned out much lighter than imagined. He also felt very drained, not feeling as though he should continue. He couldn’t seem to create the most simple of things, and everything he did imagine turned out to be somehow warped and different than he wanted. Ryder pulled out his fountain pen and opened his spell book one page past the black runny ink. He began to write his notes physically, which turned out messier than he had wanted, but luckily he had worked on his handwriting enough to make the notes legible, detailing all of his magical abilities and what had happened throughout the course of his time out here in the forest. He left back home, leaving the feather on the forest floor. Over the next few days, Ryder had no desire to go practice his magic. He was not too happy with how things were turning out, and decided to seclude himself in his bedroom for a couple days. Finally, a week after his meeting with the Trader, he decided to head back into the forest. Finding his secluded area once more, he noticed the tree he had originally imagined was completely dead and had fallen to the ground in a pile of sticks and twigs. The strange plume, covered in dirt, was also still there, but looked as though it was decomposing rather quickly. Ryder was stunned, he had never had an imagining last this long, and never did they ‘die’ and wilt the way these two things had. Deciding it was best not to actually practice, Ryder wrote his notes about the decomposition of his previous imaginings and returned home, questioning whether or not he should even continue practicing his magical abilities any longer. Snow blanketed the grounds of the Rothmore estate. The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Ryder awoke. He stretched his arms up above him and let out a huff and sigh when finished. He rubbed his eyes and looked towards his desk to see a present, neatly wrapped, upon it. The frei whipped off his blanket and floated over to the desk quickly to find attached to one of the ribbons, a note that stated it was from both Reuben and Evan. A smile grew upon his face as he picked it up and brought it into the living room. Nobody seemed to be home, which was strange only because it was Christmas Day. Normally Reuben and Evan would be talking over coffee, or Ryder would find his guardian reading tarot at the kitchen table (at least during the wintry months). But today, the house was eerily silent. Ever since Evan joined the home, things had been different. Reuben used to celebrate Yule and have a friendsgiving with Calista each year, but this year they celebrated “Christmas” and “Thanksgiving”. The more popular holidays that many, many other Gaians celebrated during this time. Evan brought in a sort of ‘life’ that the home was missing ever since Ryder was brought from the lab. A certain type of aura that the home had over the last few months was uplifting to the frei. It was nice to have Evan there. He brightened Reuben’s life as well which was probably why the home felt so much more fresh and free. The tree in the living room was decked out in gold and white. There was garland strung up all around. Ryder sat the present on the coffee table before curiously going to see where his guardians might be. He checked their bedroom to no avail. He even went into the shop to see if there was any sign of life in there, but nothing. Nobody was around at all. Curious, Ryder went back into the house and floated throughout just to take one last look. It was strange to see the house so empty on a holiday like this. But, if the toadstool were being honest, he didn't mind the peace and quiet whatsoever. After exhausting all possibilities, Ryder took to the living room. There he decided to find a comfortable position on the couch and leaned down to grab his present. He pulled the ribbons and released the tape from the sides and began to tear into it ever-so-slowly. Finally, he unwrapped it enough to reveal a basic brown box with a teal lid. He lifted off the lid to reveal a very beautiful mushroom pendant necklace and a note. Ryder, Ryder scoffed at the note, of course Reuben had to request for him to pick up the place a bit. Ryder looked about the house and didn't see a thing out of place. Maybe a couple of dishes in the sink or some dust on the fireplace mantle, but it was no near as bad as Reuben made it out to seem.
With that, Ryder pulled the pendant from the box and clipped it around his neck. It was very beautiful, exquisite even. That much made him happy. He twisted the necklace within his fingers a bit and looked down at it. It was perfect. His lips curved upward as he thought of what went into finding this piece of jewelry. Handmade, beautiful, and custom. Ryder placed the note into his shirt pocket and closed the box, picking up the wrapping paper and scrunching it within his fist before floating it all over to place it in the garbage. He then began to do as was requested of him. He grabbed the sponge and began to wash the few plates that were in the sink, no doubt from Evan and Reuben's breakfasts. He then floated over to the mantle and began to wipe it off with a wash cloth soaked in all-natural dusting spray. He followed that up with wiping down other random furniture throughout the home before finding himself fully cleaning the counters in the kitchen, washing down the inside of the oven, and even sweeping the floor. Wiping his forehead, the frei found himself finally finished, the house sparkled with cleanliness and it had been a couple of hours. Ryder decided it was high time to take a shower and get himself together for tonight's event. Pulling his outfit, he laid it out on the bed. He was trying to utilize more of the clothing options that Reuben bought for him, thus, trying out new shirts. After all, that's what his entire closet consisted of. Shirts of all kinds. Nice old fashioned shirts that Ryder was able to pick out for himself and other, more modern shirts that Reuben had picked up for him while he was shopping. He wanted to surprise his guardian with a 'new look' and wear a shirt he had never even tried on before, but liked the look of. It was creative, imaginative even, the entire shirt looked as though it was 'sideways' and that resonated with Ryder. After his shower, Ryder heard some banging at the front door. With no time to actually put on his shirt, he scrunched his face and floated out to see Evan standing with a huge handful of presents in tow. The tower of presents was so tall, Evan couldn't even see past them. Ryder quickly fluttered over to the door and opened it. "Evan, pray, let me aid you." "Oh, Ryder, thanks but no, it's fi-AH!" Evan exclaimed, tripping over the threshold, presents flying into the air. Ryder's eyes widened as the presents fell to the floor and Evan's face fell right into Ryder's bare chest. The two locked arms as Evan didn't fall fully, Ryder's wings were strong enough to keep the two afloat. Evan jumped up and his eyes widened as he caught his breath and realized what he had done. "Ryder...I'm...oh god..." he expected that at any moment he'd have some violent reaction to Ryder's poison. "Ryder, why are you naked...and oh my god...when...is it going to happen." Ryder quickly scrambled to pick up the fallen presents as soon as Evan was on his own two feet. A lump was caught in his throat as he floated a small handful of presents over to the tree and set them down quickly. "I-I-I apologize, I had just heard the thumping at the door as I finished my shower. As for what occurred, you shall be fine, I assure you. Pray, do not apprise Reuben of this." Evan stood there, stunned, afraid of what he was expecting to feel at any moment. But, as the moment seemed to never come, the man was confused. Ryder had never said anything about his poison power, or controlling it. The last time Evan experienced Ryder's skin poison, it was almost instantaneous and he felt high and drunk at the same time, even imagined Reuben being there with them. Though now, he felt absolutely nothing. "Alright, here's the rest of the pres-huh?" Reuben stated, eyes widening as he laid them on Ryder. "Ryder, where's your shirt? What's going on?" Evan shook his head quickly as to get out of the trance he put himself in. "Oh, it's my fault, babe. Ryder had just gotten out the shower and heard me bangin' the presents against the door and came runnin'...er..floatin' I guess rather, and opened it for me. Then I tripped and dropped all the presents and he's here helpin' me pick 'em up." Reuben chuckled. "You're so clumsy. Okay, well, Ryder, why don't you go get dressed, eh? Calista is here and we're going to start cooking soon." Ryder smiled, glancing at Evan with a nod of gratitude and retreated into the bedroom to put on his shirt and go do his hair. Later that evening, when Reuben and Calista were in the kitchen cooking and gossiping, Evan caught Ryder on the living room couch as the house was filled with popular Christmas songs. He sat down on the chair next to him and began to speak, "So, you gonna explain to me what that was all about?" Ryder's heart dropped, if he hadn't known better, he would say it fell right out of his chest, past his ribbon, and onto the floor below. He had to say something, but didn't want to give anything away. The boy only had two options. He could tell him that he learned to control it, which would inevitably lead to more questioning or he could tell him the truth. Of course, the latter was not going to happen. "Like I said prior, I apologize. Honestly, I have learned to control that part of myself. My poisonous skin shall no longer affect anyone in any way unless I will it," he stated, swallowing the large lump that accumulated in his throat. Evan's eyes narrowed and he chuckled. "Well...why haven't you told us this before? That's awesome news, right?" Ryder shrugged and then nodded. "You are aware I like my privacy and space. I did not see the necessity of disclosing that information. I apologize if you fear I have...lied to you." Ryder was even surprising himself at how convincing he was being. Luckily he had a few months to think of a cover up story had this exact situation happened with anyone. Ryder had definitely thought of that scenario and was well prepared for it. "No, Ryder, it's fine. I don't feel like you've lied to me. But..isn't this something to celebrate then? Like...like a Christmas miracle!" Evan stated with a laugh as he stood up. "Hey Reu-" he began, being cut off by Ryder's hand grabbing his arm and pulling back a bit. "I would greatly appreciate this staying between you and I, Evan. Pray, do not mention this to Reuben. I fear as though he would take this information and inflate it. I just do not wish to have that kind of attention placed on me. My powers are my own, and I would welcome your confidence in this matter." Ryder was always a bit strange, Evan surmised. But with a smile, he nodded in agreement of Ryder's terms. What was the big deal? He didn't understand, however he did want to keep the faith of their relationship strong and enduring. So, he wouldn't say anything to Reuben until it was stated that he could. "I shall forever be in your debt, thank you." "Don't even mention it, it'll be our little secret." |