05-29-2018, 11:28 PM
Jaixe hummed lightly as he perused the bookcase, mentally tallying the books into three categories of “have read,” “haven’t read,” and a subcategory of the third, “intriguing.” The shapeshifter, standing behind him impatiently, as denoted by his tapping foot and occasional exasperated sigh, carried the increasingly heavy pile of books that Jaixe selected for later perusal.
This serenity in the darkened room of the Innkeeper’s office was rather distinct from the yelling, screaming, crashing, thunderous gun and blaster shots, and the occasional loud boom that shook the entire complex. Jaixe commanded his now four Heartless to hunt and feast, and they were certainly more than eager. He idly noted that that was likely the cause for the young shapeshifter’s impatience.
“My, this particular crime lord was at least well read… Hmm, some old budgeting statistics. Probably a decoy…” Jaixe commented to no one in particular as the door behind him broke open in a shower of splinters and a man fell through onto the ground, wrestling with one of the slender, dagger-armed heartless, using his rifle to leverage the aberration from his face and body.
“G-Get this thing off me!” The man pleaded to Jaixe, as he calmly turned around and watched the intruding scene with a raised eyebrow. He sighed, sent a thought to the Heartless, and watched as it bent in an inhuman way, stretching its arms past the rifle and into the sides of the man, repeatedly.
“I think not.” Jaixe looked up at the bloodied heartless, its black form and soulless eyes offering little in the way of explanation for the intrusion. He nodded to it and it promptly slinked off to find new prey as the body of the man dissipated in a shower of white sparks, and a new shadow coalesced in its place.
“Hmm, another weak hearted fool. A pity.” Jaixe walked over and briefly examined the shadow before continuing on, offering it only a momentary thought to give it purpose. The shapeshifter struggled to follow behind Jaixe, carrying an almost comically large pile of books in its stretched-out arms.
Outside, Jaixe saw an array of Shadows and their slightly larger, more humanoid forms, all standing where they fell, with only their weapons laying on the ground to denote that they were once something else besides wayward shards of darkness.
They all waited for direction, for a purpose to be given to them.
”I will need to modify them later to give them some level of autonomy… Perhaps an overseer of a sort?”
Jaixe looked to the shapeshifter behind him, who protested against his looting of half the personal library in the office.
”But adding intelligence may be dangerous.”
With a wave of his hand and a telepathic thought, he gave the Heartless their singular command, the same as the rest, and watched as they flowed outward, striking into the upper levels of the complex that still offered resistance.
After a mere ten minutes, the Heartless outnumbered the living, and after another ten, and with careful posting of guard Heartless at the exits, all remaining inhabitants, guards, and staff were eliminated, save one.
Jaixe sat in one of the many cramped, decrepit apartments that served as sanctuaries for the former guests. Its stale, repugnant air offended him, but at least here the lights still functioned. He was examining one of the humanoid shadows standing twitchily before him. It had displayed a brief spark of consciousness that intrigued him, though his observance and hypothesizing was interrupted by the yelling and protesting aide from before being dragged into the room by a small parade of Shadows.
“Let me go! L-let! Me! Go!” She kicked and punched with each protest, but was held down and carried by the procession of darkness before being unceremoniously dumped before their master, sitting and watching bemused on a chair.
“Hello again, miss secretary,” Jaixe offered a feigned greeting, “I see you have made yourself well-acquainted with your former friends and my new employees.”
“Y-you monster!” She exclaimed, scrambling to her knees and then her feet, straightening her already somewhat torn dress and disheveled hair, “the Inkeeper will not stand for this!”
“Oh, I think she will. After all, she offered this place up to me to begin with. Though, I do need a messenger to tell her that the deed is done…” Jaixe stood up and bore the snobbish aide down, “And you’re just the one,” he smiled.
The aide shrunk back, “I, you… Get away from me!” She screamed, trying to retreat back but finding herself blocked in by the array of Shadows behind her. She looked back, panic washing away any shred of stoicism she once had.
Delicious.
But sadly, much as Jaixe would have liked nothing more than to revel in her anxiety and despair a moment more, a broken woman made for a poor messenger. And so, he backed off a step, turning again to study the curious shadow from before.
“You will be the only one that lives from this… disaster. You should feel honored. I would send one of my shadows, but I require them for other, more pressing tasks. Go and tell your master that the task is done, and that I will await her judgement.”
Jaixe spoke, and commanded the Heartless to part from the exit, permitting the aide to pass. A moment of silence followed after he spoke before he heard a hurried tapping of heels against tile, fading into the hallway and eventually through one of the side exits.
The Seeker of Darkness sighed as soon as the aide was out of earshot, taking a mental tally of how many Heartless he had managed to cobble together now.
He believed he had enough, a few dozen of differing types, some ready for transformations if need be. It should suffice for his next venture.
“Yes, I am quite curious regarding those rumors…” Jaixe looked past the neo-shadow standing before him to the shapeshifter that was busying himself with stacking books into boxes for easier carrying, “Monsters in the lower tiers. Sounds fascinating.”
This serenity in the darkened room of the Innkeeper’s office was rather distinct from the yelling, screaming, crashing, thunderous gun and blaster shots, and the occasional loud boom that shook the entire complex. Jaixe commanded his now four Heartless to hunt and feast, and they were certainly more than eager. He idly noted that that was likely the cause for the young shapeshifter’s impatience.
“My, this particular crime lord was at least well read… Hmm, some old budgeting statistics. Probably a decoy…” Jaixe commented to no one in particular as the door behind him broke open in a shower of splinters and a man fell through onto the ground, wrestling with one of the slender, dagger-armed heartless, using his rifle to leverage the aberration from his face and body.
“G-Get this thing off me!” The man pleaded to Jaixe, as he calmly turned around and watched the intruding scene with a raised eyebrow. He sighed, sent a thought to the Heartless, and watched as it bent in an inhuman way, stretching its arms past the rifle and into the sides of the man, repeatedly.
“I think not.” Jaixe looked up at the bloodied heartless, its black form and soulless eyes offering little in the way of explanation for the intrusion. He nodded to it and it promptly slinked off to find new prey as the body of the man dissipated in a shower of white sparks, and a new shadow coalesced in its place.
“Hmm, another weak hearted fool. A pity.” Jaixe walked over and briefly examined the shadow before continuing on, offering it only a momentary thought to give it purpose. The shapeshifter struggled to follow behind Jaixe, carrying an almost comically large pile of books in its stretched-out arms.
Outside, Jaixe saw an array of Shadows and their slightly larger, more humanoid forms, all standing where they fell, with only their weapons laying on the ground to denote that they were once something else besides wayward shards of darkness.
They all waited for direction, for a purpose to be given to them.
”I will need to modify them later to give them some level of autonomy… Perhaps an overseer of a sort?”
Jaixe looked to the shapeshifter behind him, who protested against his looting of half the personal library in the office.
”But adding intelligence may be dangerous.”
With a wave of his hand and a telepathic thought, he gave the Heartless their singular command, the same as the rest, and watched as they flowed outward, striking into the upper levels of the complex that still offered resistance.
After a mere ten minutes, the Heartless outnumbered the living, and after another ten, and with careful posting of guard Heartless at the exits, all remaining inhabitants, guards, and staff were eliminated, save one.
Jaixe sat in one of the many cramped, decrepit apartments that served as sanctuaries for the former guests. Its stale, repugnant air offended him, but at least here the lights still functioned. He was examining one of the humanoid shadows standing twitchily before him. It had displayed a brief spark of consciousness that intrigued him, though his observance and hypothesizing was interrupted by the yelling and protesting aide from before being dragged into the room by a small parade of Shadows.
“Let me go! L-let! Me! Go!” She kicked and punched with each protest, but was held down and carried by the procession of darkness before being unceremoniously dumped before their master, sitting and watching bemused on a chair.
“Hello again, miss secretary,” Jaixe offered a feigned greeting, “I see you have made yourself well-acquainted with your former friends and my new employees.”
“Y-you monster!” She exclaimed, scrambling to her knees and then her feet, straightening her already somewhat torn dress and disheveled hair, “the Inkeeper will not stand for this!”
“Oh, I think she will. After all, she offered this place up to me to begin with. Though, I do need a messenger to tell her that the deed is done…” Jaixe stood up and bore the snobbish aide down, “And you’re just the one,” he smiled.
The aide shrunk back, “I, you… Get away from me!” She screamed, trying to retreat back but finding herself blocked in by the array of Shadows behind her. She looked back, panic washing away any shred of stoicism she once had.
Delicious.
But sadly, much as Jaixe would have liked nothing more than to revel in her anxiety and despair a moment more, a broken woman made for a poor messenger. And so, he backed off a step, turning again to study the curious shadow from before.
“You will be the only one that lives from this… disaster. You should feel honored. I would send one of my shadows, but I require them for other, more pressing tasks. Go and tell your master that the task is done, and that I will await her judgement.”
Jaixe spoke, and commanded the Heartless to part from the exit, permitting the aide to pass. A moment of silence followed after he spoke before he heard a hurried tapping of heels against tile, fading into the hallway and eventually through one of the side exits.
The Seeker of Darkness sighed as soon as the aide was out of earshot, taking a mental tally of how many Heartless he had managed to cobble together now.
He believed he had enough, a few dozen of differing types, some ready for transformations if need be. It should suffice for his next venture.
“Yes, I am quite curious regarding those rumors…” Jaixe looked past the neo-shadow standing before him to the shapeshifter that was busying himself with stacking books into boxes for easier carrying, “Monsters in the lower tiers. Sounds fascinating.”