What Happened ?

Three days later. Three days of agonizing pain, of blurry memories, of a strange, insistent pull that tugged at his very core. Dyre woke with a gasp, his body screaming in protest. He was in a room he didn't recognize, the walls adorned with strange, swirling symbols. Panic clawed at his throat. "Where... where am I?" he whispered, his voice hoarse. His head swam, a dizzying kaleidoscope of fragmented memories. He remembered the stone constructs, the door, The Gourd... and then nothing. He looked around, his eyes landing on a figure slumped in a chair in the corner of the room. Licht. He was asleep, his face calm, his chest rising and falling with each shallow breath. "Hey, Licht," Dyre croaked, his voice barely a whisper. But Licht remained unresponsive, his slumber deep and undisturbed. Dyre's gaze drifted across the room, settling on a familiar object resting on a table across from him. The Black Gourd. It hummed with a faint, pulsing energy, beckoning him, but not in the same way as before. This time, it wasn't a call to mindless destruction, but a gentle, almost seductive invitation. He felt a strange pull towards it, a connection that resonated with the very essence of his being. As he took a tentative step towards the Gourd, a surge of energy pulsed through him, a wave of pure arcane power that washed over him, leaving him breathless. It felt like a homecoming, a recognition of something long lost and finally found. He felt mesmerized, his senses heightened, his mind flooded with a euphoric sensation that he couldn't quite grasp. "Oh, I see you're up," Licht's voice startled him, breaking the spell. He whirled around, his heart pounding in his chest. "Yo, bro, you can't be doing that!" Dyre exclaimed, his voice laced with both relief and annoyance. "You scared the fuck out of me!". Licht replies "Says the nigga that almost killed me," Licht replied, his voice laced with a hint of amusement. Dyre's concern spiked. "Almost killed you? What do you mean? Are you straight?" He frowned, his confusion growing. "Bro, I'm good, trust me," Licht reassured him, his tone light. "But there's something strange about that chain you have on." Dyre looked down at his neck, his hand instinctively reaching for the silver link chain that he hadn't noticed before. It was thin, almost delicate, yet it felt strangely heavy. "Lowkey you right," Dyre muttered, a slight frown creasing his brow. "This shit is tiny though, so I'm taking it off." He tugged at the chain, but it wouldn't budge. It felt like it was welded to his skin, immovable. "Uh... you good ?" Licht's voice held a note of concern. "Maybe it's... attached to you?". Dyre tugged harder, his face contorting in frustration. "Damn it, this thing is stuck!". "Maybe it's not just a chain," Licht said, his voice low. "Maybe it's... something more". "What you mean something more?" Dyre asked, his voice thick with confusion. "Think about it," Licht started, his voice low and thoughtful. "Maybe it's...". "Ah, ah, ah, ah, let me stop you right there," Dyre interrupted, his voice suddenly sharp. "I don't remember anything that happened after I put on that chain." His eyes widened, a flicker of realization crossing his face. "It's like... a blank spot in my memory". "Mhmm. Exactly," Licht said, nodding slowly. "As soon as you broke down that door and saw that skeleton, it was like a switch flipped in your head.". "A switch?" Dyre echoed, his brow furrowing. He started to feel a chill run down his spine. "And that's not even the crazy part, Dyre," Licht continued, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "While you were being controlled, you—or whatever was in your body—said that it was Duke Bijou." Dyre's eyes widened in disbelief. "Alright, see now I KNOW you're trolling" he stammered, his voice boomed across the room. "You're telling me... Duke himself, the warlord that killed hundreds of thousands in his lifetime?". Licht nodded in agreement. "I had the exact same reaction. Do you see that gourd over there?" He gestured towards the small, intricately carved gourd resting on the table. Dyre squinted at it, wondering what correlation it had to this bizarre conversation. "Yeah...?". "You used it," Licht said, his voice once again dropping to a low, serious tone. "And not only did you use it, you used it on me". Dyre sank down onto a nearby seat, anxiety clawing its way up his throat. "You can't be lying," he mumbled, his voice tight with disbelief. "Because back when I was with my family, I remember them telling me about Duke and a gourd filled with sand or whatever that he would use. And the way they described it matches up with the way this gourd looks," Dyre said, his voice laced with growing conviction. "I thought it was all a myth or a legend, but I guess it wasn't". He looked at Licht, his eyes wide with a mix of fear and fascination. "But why would he inhabit my body out of all the people in this world?". Licht shook his head. "That is a question I don't have an answer to. All I know is you used two different weapons made from that gourd". Dyre, laced with wonder, asked, "Weapons made with sand?". "Yeah, and they weren't even weak like how you'd expect weapons made from would be," Licht said, a hint of awe in his voice. "You made a shield and tackled me with it like you were a rhino or some shit. It felt like I caught a boulder to the chest". Dyre fought back a laugh, muttering, "Nah, a boulder not crazy?". Licht saw the amusement bubbling up in Dyre's eyes and quickly cut him off. "This isn't a game, I almost died". "You right, you right," Dyre said, finally giving in to a burst of laughter. "But it's kind of my get back from you literally trying to kill me. And look, it wasn't even my fault, I was being controlled!". "Smh, it doesn't even matter anymore. Get up," Licht said, clearly tired of this conversation. "Where are we going?" Dyre asked. "Since you're awake, alive and well, I wanna see what that thing can do," Licht replied. Dyre's eyes burned with the excitement of battle. "Oh YES, that's what I like to hear," he said. "But wait, I don't even know how to use this." "Figure something out then because this time I'm not holding back," Licht said, his voice fading as he walked out of the rundown home. Dyre then gets up, grabs the gourd, and follows Licht to the battle area.