Claw of Entropy - 01

[18:44:54] There was always a weak link for every chain.

In his case, there was two. The two squires had suffered the most. Both of them had been infected, at such a young and tender age. Groaning, the child removed bits and pieces of rubble that had been confining him the ground. When he awoke, his head burned from the pain of a swift and subtle mirgane.

Devour, Ennis.

A voice.

Unlike anything he had ever heard before. Foreign, alien, and most of all, disturbing. He could no longer relish in the solitude of his headspace. It.. it wasn’t safe up there anymore. His attention swiftly shifted to his hand. A black substance stained the skin of his hand and palm, eerily reminiscent of the various markings he had seen his father adjourn in his heightened state of destruction and entropy, and at the end of each finger from the knuckle up, a coating of sturdy claws curved like that of a wolfs.

He had seen what the virus had done to people. It made them into monsters.

"No, no, no.." He said frantically, trying to wipe everything off. Nothing happened. He tried summoning his energy magic to destroy it, and yet again nothing happened. His eyebrows grew tense, his breathing hurried.
(Ennis Kien)

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[09:19:34] Give in, Ennis. Let me take control so you can devour.

The child shook his head, pressed his left hand to his head as he closed his eyes. He wanted to wish the voice away, to make sure it never came back. Gala’s words had spurred its sudden presence. It was insistent on staying, on using the child’s body as some sort of vessel. Ennis looked towards the girl, only to see her face covered by the large hat she often wore. There was a certain level of sadness and reconciliation in the air, in the realization that there probably wasn’t any sort of cure..

The virus had infected hundreds. If there was a cure, surely they would’ve used it by now.

"I d-don’t know if we can get rid of it. My mama would know.. but I think she got hurt and she’s afraid to go to the infirmary in the palace because of th-" For a brief moment, the effects of the virus were as clear as day. It fueled Ennis with aggression, catering to his diluted Ookami blood.

"I’m going to kill him, I’m going to kill him! I’m going to rip his throat out from his ne-" He stopped, upon realizing what he had said. The child’s mouth dropped in awe, his volatile nature had administered a kind of self-loathing he’d never be able to let go. He was slowly becoming his father, something he had spent his whole life trying to avoid.

".. because of the bad man."
(Ennis Kien)

[09:32:22] "…It's okay Ennis."

Reaching out, the girl would grip her friend's hand in her own, giving it a light squeeze as Gala went on to ignore those terrible whispers. They would NOT get to her, she refused. His words did not bother her, nor did they shock her. It was becoming increasingly obvious what it was that this virus wanted, and the little girl would not give in. Just as she would try and help Ennis do the same.

"We can talk to your mama when she feels better, away from the infirmary. I….I have something that might help her, since she can't go there. " It still weighed heavy in her cloak. "We just gotta be real strong, okay? Don't let it make you angry, don't listen to it; ignore it as much as you can. "

Looking down the neckline of her dress, a slight look of fear crossed her eyes. Gala was worse off than him and she knew it. It had gone up her arm and around her torso. It was such a gruesome sight, it was so terribly sad…But, this is what happens when adults don't stop children from doing dangerous things; they get hurt.

The two of them face a different kind of pain though.

"We'll be okay, Ennis."

That's what she told herself..
(Gala)

[09:44:19] He’d never done anything like that before in his life.

Never had he ever before felt a desire, an urge to kill someone. Yet.. he didn’t have a choice. The voices were getting to him, and his mother’s safety was being threatened by a pompous prince who thought he could get away with anything due to his status. He saw Makia try to hurt his mother. His mother.

It was instinctual for him to want to get rid of whatever kept her up at night, to remove the undesirable variable from the equation. He began to question his own morality, wondering if he saw what he had saw while he wasn’t infected, would he think the same thing? Even without the virus, the child wouldn’t stand for anything that jeopardized the safety of his family and friends.

Suddenly, he felt Gala’s hand grip his own. Her presence made him feel comfortable, and almost safe. As she took his hand, he welcomed her with his own little squeeze. It wasn’t okay, none of it was. They’d get through it, together. She was right, they had to be strong.. otherwise the voices would keep coming, and they wouldn’t stop.

"I try, and sometimes it works.. but other times it doesn’t. How do you not listen to another voice in your head? It’s so hard.."

Who was this new person? It seemed like Ennis was a ghost in a shell, a crippled rendition of his former self. Three months ago he would have responded to her words with confidence and enthusiam, with that toothy grin of his. Now, there was an absence of spirit in his voice and it seemed impossible to make him smile.
(Ennis Kien)

[10:06:30] She was trying so hard.

To be enthusiastic, to stay positive and to not let Ennis get himself down. Gala was trying to be her normal self, to force a smile and keep in mind that if she couldn't keep it together, how could Ennis? The anger he felt was not complete forging to her, but Gala had never had a family to protect or love; she had her friends though, and that was close enough.

Right?

"How…?" Pausing, she contemplates his question for a moment before offering the boy a small and somewhat forced smile. "…Well, I guess maybe it's mostly…Spite? I grew up being ordered around, pushed, and told to do things that I didn't want to do. What's so different about these whispers?" They were crippling her mind, she couldn't even think over them. She had to speak aloud to even hear her own thoughts sometimes.

"I guess…It's mostly just me. I want to be me, I want to do what I do, now what someone or something tells me to. I don't have a lot, but I have me freedom, and some stupid virus won't take that from me." A sigh escapes her lips, the girl using her free hand to rub the side of her face.

"I own myself, I own my mind…It's the same for you Ennis. Don't let 'it' own you, or…Well, you might become like the guy who hurt your mama. Whatever this virus is…It wants us to hurt people. I refuse to hurt anyone else…"

Gala was so tired...
(Gala)

[10:28:41] Gala was unfortunate enough to have been involved in such circumstances, but at the same time it gave her strength. She had experience in dealing with such mental manipulation, which explained why she wasn’t succumbing to the strain as much as Ennis was. However, part of it was.. It wasn’t just the virus. Ennis was born with an innate drive to eat; to devour. It was something that he had been pushing away the last few years.

Instead of a voice, he had a feeling. An urge that came out once a month, if he didn’t adhere to his strict diet. But now, he had a voice in his head. A voice and a feeling. Two separate entities shared his body with him, and it felt like there was barely enough room for Ennis. Yet, amidst all the compressed space he was still there. Still present, however minuscule.

"I’m.. I’m sorry to hear that." The child knew that she had a troubled past with the a very malicious individual. He didn’t feel responsible, but he hated that his friend had grown up under the cast-iron grip of an oppressive and demeaning force. And somehow, she still managed be herself.

Ennis furrowed his brows, clenching his fist. He didn’t want to become like Makia, or his father. He wanted just the opposite. Ennis bit his lip in pure frustration. The child wanted to cling to Gala’s words, he wanted to hold onto hope. He had to try. For his own sake, and for the sake of everyone around him.

"I don’t want to hurt anyone either. I want to protect people, that’s all I’ve ever wanted. Y-Yet.." He recalled the night they returned to the main province of Nostvale. Tears began to well up, slowly flowing down his cheeks as his voice shook.

He had already hurt someone. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Gala what he had done, it was far too sinister, far too heinous. It was something he told himself was a fabrication, something he wanted to be a bad dream. But it wasn’t. It was all very, very real.

The taste of blood, the cries of pain.. all of it was him. He had taken a life.
(Ennis Kien)