Shadow

The voices inside Maria's head had gotten stuck inside the chameleonite. Why? Because, when Maria had touched her first magical object, the chameleonite, something rather weird happened. Some sort of latent magic awoke inside Maria and the voices gained life. That awakening, just like Mr. White's (Noah's) vision predicted, was inevitable. It would have happened sooner or later, whether on its own, as Maria's powers bloomed, or with the help of a magical object. And as the chameleonite left Maria, so did the voices, tied to the object that had inadvertently given them sentience. And as they reached their new host, they merged together, forming a new being inside the swirling black of the chameleonite crystal.

-

It was dark and gloomy everywhere she looked. She felt hollow, empty, like something from inside her had broken off and she had lost the piece. She then looked at herself, curious and confused, trying to find what was wrong. She twirled around her inky black hands, touched her velvety black hair and her soft uncovered skin.

She stopped as a sudden twinge of pain struck from her chest, where she had touched the rim of a gaping hole that centered on where her sternum should have been. On where her heart should have been. The pain came with a strange feeling of crushing loneliness.

Hurt and confused, she shouted into the endless, black void, her voice echoing back at her. Was she supposed to feel this lonely? Was she supposed to be alone? She didn't know. She didn't... remember.

The silence was broken by another sound, that wasn't made by her. An answer! Ecstatic, she ran through the dark towards the hushed, erratic sound until she found the source. In front of her, sobbing and hiccuping on the dark void that served as a floor, was a woman.

It was the bartender's wife.

Overjoyed, she extended a blackened hand towards what was unknowingly her first victim. She opened her mouth and said: "Welcome!"

-

The woman looked towards the being. It was almost invisible to the naked eye, save for the bright white row of teeth that were smiling towards her and the completely black hand which stretched ever closer. The woman let out a guttural scream and tried to back away from the black hand that went towards her shoulder. She was too slow. The hand touched her, albeit not in a threatening matter, like she thought it would be. If it could be called a hand. It didn't feel like it was covered in skin. It felt like soft velvet, but somehow fluid-like at the same time. The creature let out a small sigh, but her hand held tight over her shoulder. The woman didn't dare to move. She shivered under the cold grip. What other horrible traps did this being have for her?

A minute passed, before the being opened her eyes (had they been closed before?) and said, using the woman's own voice: "I have just seen your memories and worries. I will help you out, friend."

And with that, she melted into the void, leaving the woman frightened and alone.

-

She went and followed the thread of memories left behind by her new friend. The black nothingness melted behind as she entered dark tunnels, guided by memories of fear and worry and hatred, which shone bright in the darkness.

She reached the woman's body, but overwhelmed by the sudden brightness, she started to sway. A pair of strong arms caught her, worry seeping off the new person. She looked up and smiled. It was her friend's husband! Just the person she was looking for. What came next was instinct. She shook his hand and he was hers. She sensed his fall into the darkness and gently guided him towards his wife. She went back inside her lightless void and soon enough she found her friend, holding tight onto her husband. His eyes were still unfocused and his hands clenched tight around her trembling friend. He was probably still getting used to the darkness.

"What have you done to us?!" Her friend asked. She sounded... angry, but that couldn't be right. She had helped her, after all!

"I have made your worries go away, friend!" Her voice changed as she tried on the suave voice of the bartender. "Now you will never have to worry about your husband ever cheating on you again! You can live your happily ever after here, with me!" She said, switching back to her friend's voice, for a sweeter touch.

She touched her friend's face, wiping away the hot water running down her face. Tears, she mouthed, as the word unearthed itself from her friend's memories. Her mouth was agape as her friend held her husband tight, who had just started to wake up. How wonderful, that her friend was already crying tears of joy!

But she couldn't help but frown at all the other negative emotions that boiled beneath her friend's joyful expression. So she focused on one she could easily fix.

"My friend is worried about her son!"

"No!" Her friend screamed.

She smiled. "And you were afraid to put another burden in my hands so soon. Don't worry, I will help you feel true joy again!" With that, she once again melted in the shadows and looked for a way to make her friend even happier.

---

She was getting smarter at an impossible rate. As she got more and more people under her control and as she amassed more and more memories, her old memories started to unearth as well.

She hadn't been alone at the very start, like she thought she'd been. She had belonged to someone. Her missing part had a name, and that name was Maria White. A new desire was born inside of her that day, besides the one of making her friends happy.

She gingerly touched the large hole that framed her chest. She winced at the touch again, pulling her hand away. She wanted to fill that hole, find her broken piece and put it where it belonged. She needed to find Maria and get her on her side. Maybe then, when she would be whole again, she'd be able to help everyone on this continent.

She giggled at that thought, terrifying her newly arrived friend. She touched her new friend, enjoying the fluttering memories he had offered. And that got her thinking: if she helped her friends, why wouldn't her friends help her? Ecstatic at the realization, she peered through the eyes of the few people she had taken over.

-

With a bit of fidgeting, she found the place Maria was calling home.

She tried opening the door, only to find it locked tight. With the nimble hands of her rogue friend, she opened up the door and, upon entering the familiar house, she found... nothing. No one was home.

She clicked her tongue in disappointment, then she remembered: Maria also lived at the dorms in the Academy campus.

She decided to leave a note to Maria, in the hopes that Maria would leave a response herself. She stuck the rogue’s dagger with the note and smiled. That would for sure catch Maria's attention! Now for a visit at the Academy...

Two steps in the Academy’s grounds with her lovely rogue and 2 guards stopped her in her tracks. Her rogue was taken outside rather roughly and she sighed, disappointed again. One thing she'd learned in this short time was that she could get new friends only if they were alone with her. She put her hand towards her chest and the rogue's hands followed her movement. It was a strange feeling: hollow on her end and rough, course fabric on the other. A sad smile crossed her lips. Guess they had to be as lonely as her to join her, didn't they?

So she bided her time. Took care of some of her friends and made some new ones in the process.

And when the center square emptied out and the clock let out two loud bell chimes, she brought her rogue out in the open again. The guards had changed in this time. One of them looked quite inattentive, the other, rather young, scanned the gate and its surroundings. The guard had just spotted her lovely rogue.

She smiled, then squeezed her black hand tightly. The rogue let out a sharp, pained yell and collapsed to the ground, blood coming out of his mouth. She pursed her lips, feeling a bit of the pain she'd caused. It was a small sacrifice she'd have to live with in order to get to Maria. Just as she'd predicted, only one of the guards headed towards her lovely rogue, the other one carefully looking for accomplices. As soon as he got to the hurt rogue, she took the guard's hand and excitedly shook his hand.

She left the guard's body to help with her rogue and went back inside her void world to welcome her new friend.

Just as expected, she found him alone, dazed and terrified. She smiled. He looked so nice without that armor. He backed a few steps away and asked, still scared:

"Who are you?"

That made her think. She'd never really had a name had she? Could she call herself Maria? No, that didn't describe herself, only her broken part. She looked at her inky black hands and at the world around her. An idea struck her and she smiled as she answered:

"I am Shadow. And you, my dear guard, are my new best friend!"

Edit: Hello, elements! I have been waiting for so long to reveal our main antagonist and here she is in all her terrifying glory! I am really proud of Shadow, I hope she is as awesome to read about as she is to write about. Have a great weekend and see you next week!