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You’re here again.
This wartorn battlefield, decorated by purple flames, corpses, and damaged weapons, with the grim scent of death floating in the air.
You don't know how you keep returning here, to this grim, horrid place, but you do.
Your feet drag along the ground, as you look around the field of death for something- anything alive, anything that stands out in the darkness only lit by purple flickers of light that damage all they dare touch.
So you walk, vertigo building up in your head as you keep looking for things that cannot exist here. The longer you go, the longer you wander aimlessly, the more a pain forms in your chest, each step igniting it more and more until you can’t even stand up straight. Your head pounds as you resist the urge to collapse and fade away into the darkness, as your eyes keep flicking about the battlefield.
And soon, you see something standing, turned away from you and staring off into the sunset-dyed sky in the distance.
You’re not sure what it is, but you can somehow tell it is living, its body covered in thick armor, the color of it hidden by both the purple flames that dance around it, and the darkness of the world around it. It’s quite large, about 8 feet, and you can just barely make out the shape of 5 horns in a crest on its head.
And… it seems to call out to you. Beckoning you towards it without even a single sound minus the crackling of fire.
So, despite the fact that you can barely even stand up, you walk to it, not even making a sound as you move towards the unknown horror turned away from you.
You reach out your hand…
And it turns around to look at you.
Your entire body freezes up, unable to move as you look at it. It’s magenta eyes are small pinpricks of light in its skulllike face, digging into your very soul as it stares at you, its gaze telling you a thousand things despite it not opening its fanged mouth.
You want to do something, anything, but… you can’t. You can’t move one inch as you look at it.
But, suddenly, movement returns to your frozen body, as chains break out of the bloodsoaked earth beneath you, wrapping around your form. They grip you, their freezing grip burning like the flames around you despite the chills they give you. Your limbs are bound, your body wrapped in them as if you are a fish in a net.
The battlefield melts around you, the sunset sky melting into endless green, decorated with large, metal fragments, floating in the sky and twisting, writhing tendrils, blowing in the nonexistent wind.
The ground melts beneath you, leaving you floating, still bound in tight chains, as you slowly drift lower and lower in this alien world you are trapped in, sinking more and more into the darkness with each second, as the giant, armored figure approaches you, still obscured by the shadows, their eyes still staring into your very soul.
Before you can slip into the consuming void, they grab your head with one of their clawed hands, the metal oddly hot as they stare at you in silence.
They open their mouth…
~~~
…And you shoot awake.
That dream again.
You’ve been having it for weeks now. Sometimes, things in it are different. Sometimes you’re in what looks like an underground cult lair, sometimes you’re in an oddly large sewer, sometimes you’re by a giant statue that cries out a green liquid, and sometimes you’re in Sengoku era Japan, but it always ends the same.
That figure looks at you, and you’re suddenly wrapped in chains and transported into a strange, green dimension, with shards of metal and weird tendrils everywhere. The figure grabs you by the head, and before it can even talk to you… you wake up.
Well… you’re awake now. Might as well get out of bed.
You slide out of your covers, gripping your head and trying to resist the waves of nausea that sweep over you. You feel like shit, to put it lightly, and you’ve felt like shit for weeks.
Ever since you got… that…
You turn to your dresser, using it to help haul yourself up, as you open it and pull out a small container you’ve got a few days ago.
It’s a simple little thing, designed like an ornate jewelry box, a dark, moderate violet in color, decorated in shining, silver patterns, all of them angular and sharp. There’s also a gem on top, which is a magenta in color, and almost seems to glow.
It could be labeled as a normal thing you just so happen to own…
…If, ever since you’ve got it, you haven't had nightmares and horrible fatigue and weakness.
You found it when at a curio shop, for weirdly cheap. The owner of said shop was very encouraging of you buying it, which, combined with the price and the lock it had on, should’ve been enough of a warning for you to not buy this dreaded thing.
But, you did. And now, you can only assume you’ve been cursed.
And, to top it all off, it didn’t even come with a key.
You sigh, putting the container back down as you turn to the bathroom, digging around for a small hairpin, which you then grab and use to pick the lock. This- shockingly enough- works out in your favor, and the lock clicks open. You slide it off, and rest your hands on the sides of the box.
You just… let them linger there, for a moment, as you stare into the shimmering gem on the top of it. Your face is refracted on the facets of the jewel, countless reflections of yourself staring back up at you. You could almost swear you saw something gray in there with you… but you’re probably just hallucinating. Would make sense, as you feel terrible.
You slowly dig your fingers under the lid of the box, the velvety coating of the interior digging into your fingertips, a faux comfort in these strange times. You breathe in and out, trying to tell yourself that this is just a simple jewelry box, with nothing odd about it whatsoever, and to just get over yourself
You close your eyes, taking in one last deep breath…
… and you fling open the box.
Instantly, plumes of shadowy dark purple mist emerge from the box, like smoke billowing out from a flame. In mere seconds, your vision is flooded by the mist, your senses drowned out in the endless clouds somehow emerging from that small box. Replacing your vision is flashes of violence and bloodshed, imagery of war and destruction that drown out your mind.
But… you don’t feel any worse.
Somehow… the smoke is destroying your strange sickness and weakness.
Somehow, you feel better.
So much better.
Your fingernails fall off, as metal spikes begin to poke out from your fingertips, your fingertips growing out and pointing, turning silver in color as your fingers extend. As the discoloration spreads downward, you can feel your flesh harden, skin and muscle fusing in a strange harmony.
The first joints on your fingers grow longer, your bones poking out of your skin as they turn the same silver, merging with your metal and sharpening to a point, turning from simple digits into powerful, sharp blades. Your other joints remain the same as they always were as they transform, simply growing thinner and bonier in shape as your palms smooth out, skin turning into hard metal.
As your arms change, the silver spreading up your body, you can feel your skin expand, the metal shifting and growing, almost as if you were simply gaining more muscle on your body. Your elbows, just like your finger joints beforehand, grow out and break through your skin, merging with the metal coating your lower arms.
The clicking and clanking of metal resounds in your mind as you’re dragged away from the visions of warfare and power, dragged back into reality as indents form in your altered arms, sharp lines pointing towards the blade on your shoulders, new joints forming on your body, seemingly useless, but brimming with potential.
You stare forward, dumbfounded by the haze and the sensation of power in your veins. Power you never even knew could exist. Your mind is racing, not even knowing where to start with its thoughts.
But, before you can think, you hear something.
A strange, disembodied voice.
“Don’t you love the sensation of that power flowing through your veins?” It asks. It’s masculine, deep, yet oddly soft and hushed in tone. “Don’t you want it back?”
Yes. Yes is the answer to both of those questions.
You don’t even need to speak or move to reply, as the voice seems to read your thoughts.
“I can return it to you, and give you more. So much more.” It says. You can almost feel it touching you, comforting you as it gives you this irresistible deal. “All you have to do is trust me.”
You trust it, with every last cell in your body.
You look into the half-open box, your hands grazing the edges of it as you crack it open fully, the top of the box flinging back on its hinges, revealing the contents of the box that has haunted you for weeks:
A simple, pointed silver shard.
It’s so simple, but… so mesmerizing. You can’t take your glowing magenta eyes off it. It’s a part of you, and you need it back.
You reach out to grab it…
And you instantly take notice of your altered hands
Your eyes flicker from magenta back to their normal color as you jump back, looking at your metal-coated hands in shock.
What the hell. What the actual hell?
This… has to be a dream. This is just another surreal dream.
And you need to wake up from it.
You rush to the bathroom, turning the tap on and splashing cold water onto your face, clenching your eyes shut as you feel the sensation of the water on your face.
You slowly look up into the mirror before you…
And you see it.
A towering figure in purple and gray armor, with five sharp horns on their head and a skulllike face, with small, pinprick magenta pupils in its eye sockets, standing right behind you.
The same being that haunts you in your dreams.
Your body freezes up as you stare into the mirror, unblinking as you stare at the being in the glass besides you, trapped as a reflection.
“Why do you retreat?” It asks, mouth unmoving but its voice echoing in your head. “I thought you desired this, so why flee from your destiny?”
You pause, looking at the mirror and thinking.
…It’s right. Why are you running away from this? You need this. You need the power it’s giving you to feel alive. Before you opened that box… you were weak. You were pathetic, drowning in weakness and fear.
But now, you feel stronger than ever before. You feel like you could take on anything.
And all you need to do is trust that figure in the mirror.
Your eyes flash magenta again, as you turn back to start heading back to your bedroom, the sensation of your arms bulking up returning to you as your upper arms begin to turn purple, skin and muscle hardening and merging together into otherworldly metal. Your veins bulge, tunneling through the metal as they turn magenta in color, filled not with blood, but something else.
Something that burns through your body, keeping you alive.
A sharp sensation forms in your shoulders, causing you to double over for a moment as your eyes flash back to their normal color, just for a second. Blood emerges from them, as large sheets of gray metal shoot out of your shoulders and tear your shirt, forming into pauldrons that wrap around the base of your now beefy arms, pointing at the tips.
Your eyes turn magenta once more, as you stand back up, the pain of your pauldrons growing in a fading memory as you stand strong, heading back to your bedroom and your shard. You grab it, holding it in your metal hands as you stare at it. It seems polished, the surface shining despite the age of it, and you can see a few small dents in it.
You can also see that figure behind you, just watching in pure silence, as always.
Who even is it? Are they something or someone that even existed at one point? Are they just some product of your sickened min-
A sharp pain forms in your chest as you snap out of your thoughts and trance, gripping your heart with a clawed hand, feeling pulsing, burning pain across your veins. Under your grip and shirt, your skin hardens, a purple hue spreading across it as your chest expands outwards, your pectoral region flattening over as your nipples sink into your skin.
You can feel your chest jut out and your shirt rip open, your ribs and spine cracking under your skin as you grit your teeth, trying not to scream in agony. Indents form along your torso as the purple discoloration slithers down to it, flattening it out and thinning it down. The indents also form along your chest, lining out your altered pectorals in a pattern that seems to suggest muscle that you don’t think you have anymore.
God… what’s happening to you? Why did you even buy that damn box? Why are you trusting the familiar-sounding voice of a living suit of armor, who seems to only want the best for you? Why is this so… agonizing, all of a sudden?
“It’s not painful, you won’t even feel a thing.” The voice says, barely answering your questions, but… despite everything, you can still trust it. It’s a part of you now, and you need it to guide you to invincibility. “Just sit back and take it all in, you’ll feel better when it’s all done.”
“Yes…” You say in response, almost automatically.
You don’t even question why your voice now sounds just like theirs as your eyes turn magenta again.
Your privates seal up and fade away as you hear the clinking of metal around your waist. Looking down, you can see a set of gray faulds form on your waist, covering your hardening upper thighs and your flattening rear, with another piece of them covering your flat, featureless groin.
The purple discoloration slithers down your legs, wrapping around them like a snake around its prey, claiming your limbs as your skin hardens, merging with the muscle beneath and changing into metal. As the discoloration reaches your knees, they pop out of their sockets, turning gray and sharpening out as they harden into metal. They grow in size, pointing out at all angles as they reform into diamond shape kneeguards.
You can feel blood trickle down your legs, but it doesn’t hurt.
Your lower legs then begin to turn a similar silver in color, splitting apart at certain sections to form joints, which seem useless at the moment, as you can’t even move your leg in any new fashion using them. But, they remain regardless, as you feel your skin and muscle fuse and harden into metal. Perfect, otherworldly metal.
Your big toe merges with the toe right next to it, bones cracking as your toenails fall off, as your bones begin to emerge from beneath your skin, tearing through it as if it was mere paper, the hardening, graying skin merging with them as they change in shape, sharpening at the points and reshaping into talons.
Your heel extends outwards as bone also emerges from it, sharpening out and adding an additional joint to your foot, to make up for the toe you lost.
“Now, you are ready.” The voice tells you, feeling ever closer to you now, its warm touch feeling so, so tantalizingly real. “Close your eyes, and embrace this. Delve into the sweet grasp of the Twilight Realm, child.”
The Twilight Realm… yes, you know it. That twisting, distorted green realm you found yourself in time and time again in your slumbers. The place that mocked you every night, trapping you inside of it, draining away your strength.
But you have wielded it. You have embraced it, and now, you command it. It bows to its new master, and grants you untold power.
You close your eyes, holding the gray shard in your hands as you bring it to the top of your forehead. A burning sensation erupts across your body, as you can feel the shard stick itself onto your head, attaching to your currently imperfect body.
Four more burning sensations form on your skull, as you feel new horns, all the same color as your center one, emerge from your head as your hair- a useless thing- falls off your head. Two are at both sides of your center horn and point towards it, forming a three-pointed crest that covers your forehead, and touches the outer edges of your eye sockets. The other two point straight up, and grow out of your ears, overtaking and destroying them, but preserving your hearing.
You can feel the skin and muscle on your face bubble and melt, falling away as your eyes dribble down your face, replaced with empty sockets. Your exposed skull turns a lighter gray than your horns as it hardens, turning into metal as your nasal bones reshape, splitting apart and turning into two thin horizontal holes, each near the bottom left corner of an eye socket.
Your eye sockets then reshape, thinning down and compressing vertically, turning almost angry looking in shape. You then feel your canine teeth extend, sharpening and growing into powerful fangs, as your front teeth crack and merge together, until there are only two front teeth on each half of your jaw. Your altered teeth turn gray, as you feel your unchanged teeth fall out of your mouth, as your gums sink into your skull, now useless.
But you feel no pain. This is bliss. You are so close to earning your freedom.
Your neck expands, turning purple as the skin covering it hardens, and you feel the bones along it snap and pop out of your shifting skin, only to collapse and wrap around the back of your lengthening neck, turning gray as it flattens out, a bit of it covering the back of your head, clicking into place at the base of your horns. The metal that was once the bones of your neck then splits into three horizontal segments, each one equal in size.
A pair of ribbons emerge from where your shoulderblades would be, both of them a dark magentaish-red in color, and ending off in a point.
You’re almost whole again.
Just one more thing to do.
Your eye sockets flicker to life, magenta balls of light forming in them, as the sensation of ethereal, otherworldly flames burn inside of you, destroying the disgusting, useless viscera and bone that had built up inside of you as you took over this pathetic human, as the drying, crusty blood built up around your joints flakes away into nothingness.
Your body grows back to full height, a proud, powerful 12 feet, as the rags covering your form tear themselves apart trying to remain on your perfect form, only to fall apart and collapse onto the bloodied ground beneath you, as you stand up strong, finally revived.
The consciousness of the fool you used as a vessel breaks away, not even aware of their fate as you take full control of your body, finally reborn.
You thought yourself destroyed at the hand of the Hamato Clan- at the hands of your foolish daughter and her kin- but you stood strong, even when a single shard of yourself remained. Even when you struggled to keep a grip on yourself in the land of dreams, calling out for others to open the Pandora’s Box you were contained inside, to delve into it and sacrifice themselves for a willing cause.
Not like they would be remembered, anyway.
You rise to your full height, breaking out of the wall keeping you inside this bedroom, as you dash into the night.
Now you can claim your well-deserved invincibility…
And your revenge.