《The Dark Star Emperors》Chapter 113: Art of Souls
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As soon as Jack entered the last room where Annie was held, a barrage of metal tendrils covered her.
The next thing she knew she was awake in some kind of pool of black, viscous water. There were three moons in the sky. And a corridor in front of her.
A giant creature emerged from the water. It reached to the the three moons and shattered them. It's eyes shut with strings. It was humanoid with a lizard's beak. Metal tendrils writhed on it's back like wings. It was completely covered in a black goo. It's forehead was pinned with large needles attached to a chain stuck to the water.
It cried tearing apart the skies and water underneath Jack. The ripples formed into waves, yet Jack couldn't move. Her entire body was frozen. Hands reached up from under the water dragging her down. The rotting corpses clawed at her tearing away her red armor. They dragged her down into an ocean of black. And then, she recognized the piles of corpses pulling her. Each one was a Light Guardian. They wore their guardian outfits. They cried for mercy as their bodies began to get chopped up by Jack. Her machete tore them apart, but they still dragged downwards. When she tried to stop, her arm moved by itself. A large shadow covered her arm and moved it for her. And that shadow continued to grow all around Jack. She felt nothing but guilt and fear.
There was nothing that she could do. Everything began to fade away. Bits and pieces of her were being torn apart by shadows and corpses of her victims until there was only an eye left. And when the last hand went for the eye, a tendril pushed it away.
Her body was coming back together like a puzzle. Jack was in her school clothes. Her red armor and mask nowhere to be seen. Her black eyes gone.
And when she looked straight at where the tendrils were coming from, it wasn't from that lizard. It was a girl. A small girl. And Jack recognized it.
Jack muttered, "Tasha?"
But it didn't respond. It drained away all the black waters and left Jack to stand up on a puddle. The giant humanoid lizard stood tall behind Jack. It cried out with it's tentacles coming towards Jack, "Tendra!"
But then, the little girl, Tasha created it's own tentacles. It clashed with Tendra's. The girl pointed to a dark corridor for Jack to see.
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"Go, Jack," Tasha said, "You will be able to leave from there at the other side."
Jack gulped as she began to see glowing eyes within. She tried to transform into her guardian form, but to no use.
Jack asked, "Will there be any trouble there?"
"There is nothing there except what you bring. Now, hurry."
Jack ran towards the corridor as she left the small girl fought against the towering monster. But Jack knew that it wasn't just any small girl. Although, she wasn't sure where she was. She was sure that she would be able to handle herself.
Then, Jack entered and small light fixtures flickered above barely lighting the way forward. She walked forward, but the corridor got tighter and tighter. She squeezed through, and suddenly a hand from behind grabbed her arm. She jumped up in fear and saw that the arm came from the walls. There was a face of a Light Guardian. But Jack recognized it. She was the first Light Guardian that she killed. It was so long ago, but she remembered her first. The walls began to squirm around as arms grew from the sides. She breathed heavily as more faces popped up. She could assume they were the same guardians who she killed before. But she didn't recognize them. She didn't remember any of them. Even in her memories, they were a blur, but now as she saw them, they were as clear as day. Then, the corridor began to glow red. Everything started to burn. And to her surprise, she was able to feel it. The bodies in the wall lit up in flames. Each one cried as their skin peeled off. They smelled like barbecue.
Then, the corridor widened around her. It twisted and turned as she stood still. Her eyes was met with a giant, red-armored demon. It was chewing on the face of a Light Guardian. And then, it looked straight at Jack. She froze as it towered above her. It roared as fire began to seep through it's cracks. Faces and skulls were stuck onto it's chest. There were so many of them. Too many to count.
It muttered with it's stomach growling, "Light Guardian..."
Jack shook as the creature stomped forward. She took steps back, but cowered in fear. She couldn't fight that monster without her powers. She was helpless. Then, she saw a Light Guardian in the corner. Her face was covered in a shroud.
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Jack screamed, "Help! Help me!"
But the guardian ignored her and burned brightly in a red flame. Her body melted away into flesh and bones.
Jack then saw a machete lying on the ground next to her. She grabbed it and stood her ground in fear as the monster came towards her. She's never felt this powerless before. She's never felt weak when she was in her guardian form, but now she was shaking as she faced a monster with untapped hunger and rage.
It roared shaking the entire room.
Then, Jack yelled striking the creature. She repeatedly hit the monster, but it did nothing. The monster struck her once and she flew away to one of the walls.
The wall began to drag her in along with the rest of them, but Jack cut herself free.
The monster moved slowly. It looked at Jack like food. It took all the time it wanted. Lava drooled out of it's mouth in anticipation.
Then, it muttered, "Jack. Jack. Jack. Let yourself be eaten. We will both enjoy it. You won't need to think. You won't need to worry. I will continue to consume and destroy your enemies. Let me eat you. Continue to feed."
"No!" Jack yelled scared, "Get away from me!"
"Why are you so afraid?" the monster asked standing only feet away from Jack, "You've allowed me to eat, before. So much so. Are you afraid because of my appearance? I can't help it. This is just how you made me."
Then, in a flash, Jack saw her reflection in the monster's face. It's head began to morph into the shape of a hockey mask hiding it's hideous face.
"Is this better?" the monster asked.
Then, Jack knew what it was. She remembered Tasha's words. This world was what Jack carried inside of her. This creature was her. But she couldn't believe it. She believed herself to not be some kind of monster.
She yelled as she began to strike at the monster again, but as she did so, the beast only grew in size. Then, with another swing, the creature grabbed the machete and shattered it.
"More. More," it muttered, "More anger. More hate. More food."
Then, Jack was pushed away and she landed near another machete. She grabbed it and stood her ground again. The monster moved forward slowly.
She didn't know how long she has been fighting this monster. It felt like hours, days. Maybe, a month. Time moved very differently there.
Jack realized that the creature was getting bigger and bigger ever so slightly with each swing of her blade. She couldn't deny what it was. No matter what she believed, that monster wasn't just within her. It was her. All the rage and anger that was brought out when she transformed was the monster she faced in front of her. It was uncontrollable - constantly wanting to hunt.
Then, when Jack laid down her machete, the monster froze in place.
"What are you doing?" it asked, "Feed me."
"No. You are a part of me. But I won't attack you, but I won't give you what you want," Jack replied.
This monster was what so many Light Guardians saw before they died, she thought. This was the monster that took over her body, mind, and soul whenever she transformed. Yet, she never resisted it. It just felt natural. At first, she thought her own reflection was ugly, but after seeing this, she knew that this was what she was seeing. Nothing but a violent and angry beast.
The creature roared, "Feed me!"
The monster opened it's gaping mouth and as Jack stood still with her eyes wide open no longer fearing herself, the monsters turned into smoke right before it could chomp down on her.
The walls remained with the faces of all those Light Guardians she killed. And the monster reappeared in a corner huddling by itself. It looked at Jack, and Jack back at it. As long as Jack lived, the creature would live right alongside all of these bodies plastered to the walls. It would never go away. It will be a scar on her even after death.
Then, Jack thought about Yune. One of those faces belonged to the girl that Yune was talking about. But, she didn't know which one. There were just too many.
A dark door opened in front of Jack. She went through it leaving the room, but knowing that the room would always be there.
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