The Many Shades of Terror that Paint the Faces of the Dying

[Shade]

The coolness of the water is so refreshing, I’m really glad I caught the Fountain of Infinity in between Primes. I thought as I dropped my robe, standing at the edge of the fountain and peering into my reflection in the water. It really is a great place to come when you want to relax, and reflect on the world around you.There’s just something about it that makes you feel so… connected to this world and the next. Maybe it really is the portal through which Primes enter this world. I wouldn't really know though, being a Secondary myself.

I stepped into the water, letting the water that held my reflection encapsulate my feet. The water was as refreshing as I had hoped, and it calmed me to the touch, like a warm embrace given by a loved one to make you feel safe. This feeling was exactly what i wanted… needed, to allow me to open my mind without worry. In such a world as this, one of danger and uncertainty due to the entitled and undying Primes, it was a rare occurrence to feel this way. I welcomed it, the warmth of the fountain, and i let it fill my body and mind.

I continued closer to the center spire, the water rising around me as i stepped deeper into it. The water caressed my body as I did so, inviting me to lose myself as it enveloped my body. Moving past my knees, up to my waist, then further encompassing my stomach and chest, i moved into the water until it reached my neck, covering my pale nude body from the eyes of those who might wish to conquer it.

I let my mind go blank and unfocused, allowing it to direct itself, rather than I turn it to solved a task. this was the best way to let the universe enter your mind, and hopefully impart something otherworldly upon you.

Laying my head back into the water, I allowed my mind’s eye to open and take in the things in this world that one could not see. Those that filled the Light.

[float=right]And those that spread the Dark.[/float]



Something felt… unsettling…, wrong even. A cloud in my mind’s eye cast a shadow of some sort across my mind.

I opened my eyes and returned my focus to the actions of the world that I could be seen, noticing an odd tinge of color in the water that once embraced my body with it’s warmth. The color of the water darkened, no longer clear as glass, but instead growing gray in color. The warmth that permeated the fountain had vanished as well, replaced with a cold chill, similar to that of a pitch black midnight.

Fear spun itself a web within my chest, screaming at my extremities to move. Move. Quickly. NOW I moved quickly towards the edge of the fountain where I had entered, feverishly trying to exit the water and rid myself of the now murky waters that surrounded my body.

As quick as I moved my body through the water, so did the color change, from the light gray that it began with, to a murky, dark gray, and then further to the pitch black soup that dripped from my waist as it left the water. Fear became terror inside me as I tried to run, for along with the sight of this darkness that poured from the Fountain, I could feel the danger that the water held. It was not the fear of what lay beneath the water that weaved a web of hollow terror inside me, but the darkness that emanated from the water itself.

I needed to leave. I needed to leave now.

I began to lift my foot from the pitch black water again, only feet from the edge of the Fountain, but it would not move and inch. Try as I might, with all the power that the adrenaline in my veins could give me, I was stuck in place, only a foot of water left tying my feet to it.

Terror had left me, hollow and black inside. The void that now dwelled within the walls of my chest was far beyond purely terror. Dread had replaced it. I knew that I would not make it to the edge of the Fountain.



The darkness that dwelled within the pitch black water swelled at my feet, receding from the edges of the Fountain to turn at my feet like a whirlpool ending the life of a seaman entrapped in its grasp.

The darkness, as it swirl in the water, swirled in unison up my legs to my waist. It did not feel like the watery embrace of the Fountain i had felt moments ago. Instead it was an embrace of searing pain and agony. My mind raced to the image of someone being skinned alive with a red hot blade. While not something I’d ever witnessed, the image was fitting for the pain I felt.

It continued up my body, covering my flesh in pitch blackness, and filling my nerves with terrifying agony. My insides… all I could feel within my body was that dark unending void of dread.

I was dead. I was worse than dead. I could feel it. My body… it was being taken from me… And the process was so agonizingly unbearable that I would not survive it.

Could anything?

I would never find out.

The pain and blackness traveled the rest of the way up my body, completely encompassing what use to be my flesh and bone, and I lost vision of the world around me. My sight faded to black despite my eyes still remaining open. There was nothing left of my existence except pain, and even that was fading.

I was fading.

There were no screams, no whimpers, nothing at all to signify my death, here in this place of birth and rebirth. No one would witness my end. I could barely make any sound as the light faded from my eyes. I could only squeak out my last, meaningless words, in a voice so raspy and quiet that not a soul would ever hear them.

“I… don’t… want… to…”

[Shade]

The last words of the girl that had once held this body left my lips, not in her voice anymore, but in mine. The last of the light the made up her soul was being expelled from this body, replaced with my all-consuming darkness.

The shades of pain and terror that held firm upon her dying face left, replaced with my own smile. It was one of unsettling joy. I had stamped out the life within this host of flesh and bone, and now had free reign over it. It was mine to do with as I see fit...

Looking down at my new body, I ran me newly stolen hands along it, feeling and inspecting the flesh form that I now wore. Across my face and lips, up my forehead and down blonde head of hair this form's previous owner loved so much. I ran my hand through what was now my hair, studying it's length and texture. Sleek and smooth and it ran through my fingers, I took the tail end that hung at my bare ass and ran my hands through it again and again.

Well, the girl who loved this blonde hair is dead, so no need for her aesthetic. I ran my hands from my scalp to the ends of my hair, turning it pitch black, as black as the water that had consumed the girl, as my hands moved through it. That's much better. I thoughts, running my fingers through the last of it.

I moved on to the rest of my body, moving my hands down my neck and chest, studying my new home and all it's... perks. Quite the tits on this one. A smiled played across my lips as I ran my hands across my C cups. Not the biggest tits I've had, but better than nothing. I was never very fond of the male body.

Moving further down my body, I ran my hands down a small stomach and towards wider hips and... some more sensitive bits. Ah, my favorite part. Another smile ran across my lips. I was quite...

Pleased.

Down thins legs and soft feet, I continued to run my hands across my body, finishing my account of it's landscape. It was quite a pleasing form to say the least.

Turning my eyes from my body to the edge of the fountain, I moved towards where the girl who died enter this fountain. Moving quickly through the warm, crystal clear water, I stepped over the edge and onto the pristine white floor of the Nexus.

While I had little knowledge of the world around me, as I looked with blank, pupil-less eyes, all the information I needed came to mind when I called for it. Looking to each door in the distance, I knew what it was called and where it lead. A little parting gift from the dead girl.

The dead were always so helpful.

Placing a knee on the ground, I grabbed up the robe that the dead girl had wore. The robe was mostly blue in color, and dotted with stars and pentacles made of golden silk, along with trim of the same material. I was sure it had looked great on this pale body and it's previous inhabitant, but I had no need for it now.

It still did have some value though.

Standing up again, with robe still in my left hand, I held out my right, palm down and summoned a creature from the shadows, bringing it from within me through the void that the shadows in this world provided. A large circle of darkness sprung from my own shadow, still connected by a thin tendril, and out of it rose a large and intimidating beast... a Shadow Mastiff.

The beast formed from shadowy tendrils that rose from the darkness on the ground, twisting and weaving into the form a vicious looking canine. With Red eyes, a mouth full of sharp, gnarly teeth, and a body of pitch black, covered in a fur-like layer of spikes, there was no doubt that this creature was anything but terrifying.

It stood in front of me, red eyes staring into mine, and its maw of sharp teeth gaping open.

Reaching out with my right hand, I rubbed its pointed head.

It gave a bark and began to wag its barbed covered tail. Of course you're happy to see me, pet.

I held out the dead girl's robe, allowing the Shadow Mastiff to smell the fabric. There was no doubt that it would know where she had come from, my Shadow Mastiffs can detect more than a human's foul odor, but also where their shadows had lingered.

The shadows in this world, even that of a living being, left a void in the world, one that was easily exploitable by those made of shadows.

As it inhaled the aroma that this body had once produced, the Shadow Mastiff began to pinpoint the direction she traveled from, and further more, the gate that she had entered through.

It knew where to go.

Tossing the behind me, I jumped upon the back of the canine and headed in the direction of one of the Gates the encircled the Nexus. There was no need to direct the Shadow Mastiff, it knew what I wanted from it even without a word from my mouth.

We dashed towards a Gate of pearly white stone in the distance, following the scent and shadow of the dead girl I had extinguished. In a vast world like this, one with powerful individuals like the one that once lived in this flesh, there were bound to be more I could take power from.

More eyes that could become ours.

More eyes that could become mine.



As I dashed towards the Gate, riding upon the back of this beast, the last traces of the girl that once wore my body faded. The blue robe sank to the bottom of the clear and blue fountain.

Fading.

More more peacefully than she had.