Lantern
"No...N-no! Don't come closer! Don't hurt m-me..." He screams, looking at a red doe, who is staring straight back at him. He whimpers, tries to get away, but his legs are nothing but pond water. The fawn beside him nuzzles him, urging him forward. He can't, can't move, won't move...until he looks at the fawn. Ruby red flowers, so beautiful. He follows the fawn forward, but cannot. He cannot shake this paranoia. He wants to go forward, see that doe. Yet, he cannot. Lantern stares.
I wasn't always like this.
Yeah, ya were. Ya won't ever win respect this way.
Lantern shakes it away, ridding himself of the clinging voice...for the moment. He flees, ignoring any look, any bellow. He runs for his life, away, back to one of the few places he feels comfortable: his grave.
He sits there, staring at the inscription, doing nothing, saying nothing, not even blinking. The mist from his own body swirls about him, hiding him, covering him from anything. Then he moves.
Follow my lead.
He does. He is lead to a group, sitting in a circle. He stares hard at the doe, then watches as she turns around.
Her.
Her. Do'ya know why you're so frightened of her?
He never gets to answer as the doe comes bounding towards him. He flees, pursued by her. He stops, turns around, not of his own will. She stops...bounds forward...and nuzzles him. He backs away; her touch burns like fire against the cold mist that surrounds him. She comes forward again and nuzzles the cowering fawn, legs turned to stumps of wood. He can only back away, try to escape. She comes forward, forward, torturing him. Finally, he runs, darts away into the darkness of the rain swept landscape. He heads back to comfort, and she leaves him be.
Coward.
The word burns through his brain like liquid ice and liquid fire at the same time. It cuts through his thoughts, scouring them clean.
Go back.
He painfully rises from where he had sunk only moments before, limping towards the group again. He edges closer and closer, urged on by the faint but scorching pain. He gets so close before she notices them.
Revenge. You really don't know them...
No...
Well kid...meet your murderers.
No!
Cold as ice this time, frosted with something fully inhuman was the voice in his head. Lantern's eyes widen in shock, but he continues forward until they both rise, staring. The doe skips to him, trying to nuzzle him again. The stag skulks around in the background...waiting.
"No!" He yelps, darting backwards, trying to ward her off. Suddenly, his senses dull and he has to fight away a wave of black to run.
Idiot...
It hisses. He is forced to turn and face her advance, coming again forward. She circles him, watching his moves, waiting to move in. Love, hatred, he sees it all in her eyes, burning out at him like the fire he so constantly feels. He looks down, closing his eyes. He waits.
She stops.
He darts.
She blocks his escape. He whirls around, facing her, as she circles again.
Do you remember?
Memories come rushing back, memories of fading warmth, memories of cooling red, memories of scorching pain. The rush is too much and he cries out, looking manically at the sky.
"And no one saw? They let me die! All of them...idiots! And you-" He growls at the doe circling him. "You watched...You waited...You wanted. Is this what you meant to happen? Ugh-"
I'll take it from here...
Lantern drifts away. Something else takes over. He watches dimly as his body batters at the doe, not caring. He is free, drifting...And then he is back. He runs for his life, reliving the night of the attack.
Maybe hours, maybe minutes pass. He fazes away time, staring at the stone.
They're gone.
He gets up to wander. He feels cold, so cold. Can ghosts get cold? He seeks warmth, finding it in a stag. He cuddles up to him, warm...The voice retreats for the moment, leaving him to bask in the glorious warmth.
Hoofsteps. He looks back around. A dark stag with beautiful green feathers and strange, long green fur that hangs from his head is glaring at him. Lantern stands, confused, and backs away, rapidly succumbing to fear.
"Wh-what'd I do?!" He manages to gasp out, before the stag's head rams into his side, nearly sending him sprawling. He backs away, but the stag keeps coming until he has been chased away from the other. He stands there for a moment.
They don't want you. They all leave you alone.
The stag falls asleep.
Your chance. Will you take it?
Lantern rushes forward, pummeling the sleeping body, anger released in a long pent up storm.
"Why...do...you...all...want to...kill me!" He screams, but stops and stares at the body beneath him.
Something sharp laughs in his mind.
My little protege.
Never...
He flees. He can't stand looking at it anymore, not at what he'd just let himself do. Suddenly, he whirls around. Something...right there. He looks for the source.
Go to him. You don't need ta be scared o' him.
Lantern spies the deer, belching terrible black smoke, head covered by a skull. He is in a daze, urged on by that voice.
Go on...
He is afraid, so afraid. He can't move forward.
Coward. I'll do this.
The fawn's body rams the other, rearing, battling, not holding back. Lantern watches.
Your turn.
He comes to in his own body, inhales deeply. Wisps of black flow into his nose, his mouth. He gasps, looking around. Everything has disappeared.
Coward.
Weak.
Just wait, I'll find you.
Memento mori...
Die!
Today you will die. Follow me.
My little protege...
"Steele will kill you again and again! I-...I won't let you hurt me..."
A heavy sensation. He's being pushed down.
"You-"
Kill her or die yourself.
No!
Searing, burning pain that rips through his body like that candles that now drip their wax. Hot, hot, hot. Rending him apart, sundering his mind. He can't think, can't act, caught in the nothingness. The demon stands above him, wolfish teeth hidden beneath a skull of pure white. He's anticipating, feeling the fear of his enemy.
Lantern closes his eyes. No blow comes, but he is left to die. They leave him, bouncing in ecstasy over their victory. They've won.
Blood coats the fallen trees beneath him, marking in an x, hundreds of feet from the ruins. Moonlight, coming from nowhere and everywhere, coats them too.
Not again..
Soft humming, so sweet, reaches his ears. He looks up, sees her.
"And death will give us back to God, just like the setting sun.."
Aegle...he whispers. Mommy.
You-
There is a flash and everything goes blank.
Aegle. I remember...And I need you, mommy.

((Mentioned: Steele, Tally, Envy, Silvamord [sleeping], Nightmare, Ibie, a very sweet fawn with red flowers who seems very familiar, Aegle)).