Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

Oh, there is a subtle reason for that, I think.

Anyway, sorry about the lack of chapters today. My head is killing me. Damn weather. If I feel up to it I'll post a chapter, but don't count on it tonight.

EDIT:

CHAPTER FIVE:
A New Life

A few years passed in the Nexus, Athena eventually became an exclusive item. Then Cloak proposed in the usual Realm Walker fashion, by presenting a bouquet of his energy -- scarlet flowers in gold wrappings. She accepted, and they were married soon after.

There were instances that reality seemed to vibrate and quake, unnoticed by all except Cloak. So he ignored them, though it was getting harder, but no one drew any attention when he had such episodes.

Roughly six Nexusian months passed, and the Realm Walker couple had produced a single Life-Light Egg. It would eventually hatch -- much like Pokemon "hatch" from eggs in the anime -- and the toddling new Realm Walker's form will be known.

The new parents gathered around their unhatched child, due to hatch any time now, and sang:

"Don't be afraid,
It'll be aright.
You'll just take our hands,
And hold 'em tight.
No matter where we are,
We will be with you.
Just think of us,
Don't you cry.
'Coz you'll be in our heart.
Yes, you'll be in our heart.
Now and forevermore.
You'll be in our heart.
You'll be here in our heart.
You'll be here in our heart.
Always . . ."

Cloak intoned quietly, "Always . . ."

The Life-Light Egg "hatched" with a brilliant gold and white light into a male Walker, with the form of a mischievous little housecat. He had black fur coat with a white underbelly and white hands and feet.

Cloak was happy. He had a family all his own -- some he desired all . . . all his life.

That's when another reality tremor came, but this time the words that usually accompanied such a tremor was perfectly audible -- though Cloak had a hard time discerning to whom the distorted voice belonged.

"It's not real."

[Cloak]

Just one more before work.

CHAPTER SIX:
Cracks in the Facade

The young soon took the name of Mischief, which denoted the boy's mischievousness, but in a benign way.

Cloak proved himself to be a model father -- he kept his temper even, allowed his boy a say in the household goings-on, allowed him to make him his own decisions and allowed him handle his problems on his own and on his own terms. But remained as his father, his advisor. Things that, in another life, his mother deprived him of.

However, the reality tremors persisted still. Only the voice was clearer, though the voice still was distorted enough to stop any identifying factors from getting through. They were becoming so obviously present, that they couldn't be ignored.

But Cloak was inclined to try.

"It's not real," the voice insisted.

That voice isn't real, Cloak told himself, as he tried to shirk it.

"It's a lie," the voice intoned.

My life is not a lie. It is worthwhile, fulfilling . . . Cloak argued.

"What you're seeing," the voice said nonsensically.

That doesn't even make sense.

"It isn't reality," the voice insisted, warbling and oscillating as if going in and out of focus.

What the Veil? Of course this was reality.

From there on, the voice was garbled and Cloak couldn't make sense of it. But the reality quakes seemed to have intensified, but he seemed to be only one to notice.

"Husband, are you alright?" Athena asked, genuinely concerned.

"I'm . . ." Cloak began. He was going to say "fine", but that really wasn't true was it? "I'm gonna make an appointment with a therapist in the morning."

[redtailedsaffa]

Oh my God. This reminds me of the Doctor Who episode Human Nature. And that made me cry... although I'm a masochist for sad stuff. I can't wait to see where this goes.

[Cloak]

Well, it will be a bit of an emotional book at the beginning.

Anyway, I've come up with a new book idea.

• Book CCXVII: "In Essence" -- The RAFians are confronted with a foe that they haven't met yet, fleeing another foe.

Sorry for ther uber-vagueness of that book, but if I was any clearer, I'd have given it away.

Really short chapter. Sorry.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own

Cloak never made it to therapist. The reality quakes had ended quite abruptly, but were replaced with something more disturbing. People were flickering in a strange way.

Some flickered and vanished completely, returning later in a flickering fit and acting as if nothing had happened. Mischief and Athena were like this.

The ones that did not vanish . . . well, it was just as disturbing. If not more so.

His mother went from being selfless, warm, gentle, and motherly to being narcissistic, cold, harsh, and miserly between flickering fits. His father went from being strong, fatherly, and sober to being beaten down, distant, and habitually drunk. His grandfather went from being alive to being dead.

Very disturbing.

But still Cloak refused to believe that what he desired so fervently . . . so arduously . . . so futility . . .

No. It couldn't all be fake! All that he had now! He had . . . had everything he ever wanted. A wife . . . a child . . . a family. Parents who loved him unconditionally. His beloved grandfather was still alive. He was accepted for who and what he was.

No! They all couldn't be cruel, cruel, cruel lies!

The flickering was starting to get maddening. Not to mention disorienting to look at straight on.

"No . . . please . . ." Cloak pleaded. "It has to be real."

"But it isn't," came the voice again. But, in the state that he was in, Cloak did not recognize the familar voice. At all. He did not realize who it was . . .

Cloak unwilling to believe it, shouted, "No! Lies! Lies! This is real! I'm free of . . . of . . ."

He ran. He ran and ran and ran . . . but try as much as he cannot run from the truth, he cannot hide from it.

[Cloak]

Last chapter before bed.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
All I Ever Wanted

As Cloak ran, he sang in voice-over.

Gleaming in the landscape light,
Cool and clean, and all I've ever known.
All I ever wanted . . .

Cloak could smell the divine scents of home. See the homestead in the distance.

Sweet perfumes of incense.
Graceful rooms of Nexus stone.
All I ever wanted . . .

Cloak came to the homestead he had with Athena and Mischief. He felt safe here.

This is my home.
Without a family torn asunder,
Oh, so noble, so strong!

Cloak entered the empty house. It was rather ominous. His voice-over tone turned somber.

Now I am home.
Here amongst my trappings and belongings,
I belong.

Then his voice-over tone turned challenging.

And if anyone doubts it,
They couldn't be more wrong!
I'm a sovereign Master of the Six Elements,
A son of the proud history shown
Etched on ev'ry wall!

Then his voice-over turned pensive and unsure.

Surely, this is all I ever wanted.
All I ever wanted . . .
All I ever . . . wanted . . .

A beat after the song ended, the illusion failed, with the sound of shattering crystal.

[redtailedsaffa]

Oh no...

[Shenmue654]

*Hugs Cloak tightly*

This seems a powerfully emotional set of chapters. And that makes them inherently interesting. Hope the past doesn't come back to bite you too often. :}

[Cloak]

Well, I'm still feeling rather emotional (see Totally Random Thoughts), so here's another chapter.

Might be a bit short.

CHAPTER NINE:
Reality Bites

Cloak looked at his surroundings, his environment, in dismay. Everything looked darker, more muted, and grittier. It felt harsher, more unforgiving. Is this what people felt when prolonged exposure to Psychopteran's power ends abruptly?

The pains of a non-idyllic world, a less-than-ideal universe were strenuous to readapt to. Cloak remembered now. He was the son of a monster and battered man. He himself used to be a battered man. Such painful memories . . . such a painful childhood . . . it was almost if the pain was fresh and new. Cloak did not know if he could stand it.

Then Cloak thought of what he had, what he had lost. He had no children. He had no wife.

He lamented this. He should have known that it was too good to be true.

He heard it before he saw it. Writhing of something upon dry leaves. He looked and he saw with disgust an eyeless, octopus-like plant thing with ink-like tendrils and a hard, black shell on its back like a soccer ball that had been cut along its equator.

"A fabled Erised orb," Cloak said, vouce hoarse. "Half-germinated into a Black Mercy parasite plant."

Cloak stood and blasted the thing into oblivion. He felt a rage well up inside him. They may be inventions of his heart and the Black Mercy sapling, but they were real to him.

Suddenly, there was an explosion and a plume of sand to his right. Cloak glared hard. Malice appeared from it, looking distracted and alone. She also apeared to be running.

Cloak's face contorted into fury. She was behind this, he knew. He unconsciously decided to forgo using the elements.

He charged toward her, allowing a roar to leave his lips within mere seconds of impact. He seized her by her neck.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Cloak snarled, tiger growls and snarls intermingling with his words. "What you've cost me?!"

Malice laughed. Cloak was surprised and livid at her gall. "I gave you what you most desired. Freeing yourself must have been like tearing off your own arm."

She gave another wheezy laugh. Cloak's fury had not abated.

"'Tearing off your arm'," he echoed, uncharacteristicall y bloodthirsty and vicious. "What a marvelous suggestion!"

[redtailedsaffa]

*catches breath*

[Cloak]

Sorry about not posting another chapter yesterday. I was more tired than I thought.

Anyway, beware the beginning of this chapter is gonna get dark . . .

CHAPTER TEN:
An Unanticipated Surprise

"That's a little dark for you," Malice said cheekily, clearly not believing Cloak would follow through with it.

Then Cloak seized her wrist with his free hand. His face was lined and contorted with rage. He had lost control of himself, but somehow managed to keep the elements in check.

"Y-you wouldn't dare!" Malice claimed, somewhat hysterically.

Cloak spoke in a soft, hateful voice, "Oh, wouldn't I?"

He applied pressure to the arm by pulling slowly. She's caused him so much pain . . . so much pain . . .

Deep down, he knew what he was doing was not justified, but just a rationalization. However, he was possessed by his own rage, his own pain. He . . . he just couldn't stop himself.

"You're supposed to be a good guy!" Malice blubbered.

Cloak said nothing, but increased the strength of the pulling ever so slightly.

Then the unexpected happened.

"No!"

A smaller hand laid itself upon his arm. It cause a surge like electricity flow through him.

"No," said the hand's owner. "This isn't you."

He he dropped Malice (who did not waste any time in hastely Walking away), having completely forgotten about her and the false reality concocted by the obliterated Black Mercy sapling.

He gaped at the owner of that hand, realizing that the voice attempting to jar him from that false reality was not that of his grandfather, as it would have been normally. But the figure standing before him.

Cloak was in shock. He daren't believe. He was so such that she was turned against him, that she had hated him for crimes that he did not commit as claimed by a control freak.

And here she stood. Right before him, without any hatred or anger. But looking as she always had, only stronger.

"Sh-shadow?"

"Yes, Uncle."

[redtailedsaffa]

*squeaky noises*

OH!

[Cloak]

Right. I was gonna post another chapter, but my energy just left me . . . but I'll give it a shot.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
The Spread

"Yes, Uncle," Shadow said, wry smile playing around her face. "'S me. But enough about that now, I left behind some mechanical dog thing and some mishmashed, misshapen Frankenstein thing --"

"Ravager and Maul," Cloak said, at once, in an abrupt return to his normal, seemingly emotionless and detached demeanor. "Malice has probably already collected them, and went off somewhere to scheme."

"Ah, so you've met them before," Shadow said. "And their Malice's new minions? What happened to Abomination?"

"I'll tell you later." Cloak said. Then he looked at the spot where he had obliterated the Black Mercy. He had a strange notion.

"I take it Maul was that weird mishmashed thing?" Shadow said. "When I fought hom he called himself Mega-Maul."

That pulled Cloak from his thoughts momentarily, thinking Shadow had said "mega mall" for an instant. "So, clearly, Malice had altered him. Hos capabilities most certainly will have changed, then."

After a moment's hesitation, Shadow asked. "What was that thing attached to you, Uncle?"

"An Erised orb," Cloak said. "Seeds of a Black Mercy."

"What's a Black Mercy?"

"An ancient peril," Cloak explained. "A plant who produces parasitic seeds that, when attached to a host, form an augmented reality -- an illusion so complete, so real, that all memories of the true reality begin to fade. The seeds use this to germinate, feeding on the feelings of elation, hope. It can cause the host to waste away."

"That's awful," Shadow said, as the two walked towatd RAF.

"Yes," Cloak said. "In those most ancient times, when our kind was on the cusp of sentience -- that is to say, capable of complex thought -- they preyed upon us. Long before the realms, long before first Element Master could master a single element, they were wiped out. Much like the Galvins and their predators, the Omnivoracious."

"But Malice found one seed," Shadow added. "The one attached to you."

Cloak shook his head, as they crossed the threshold into the sheltered area of RAF, "There never was just one Orb. Perhaps it was the only one viable."

Then they saw the scene. There was at least eleven RAFians sporting Black Mercy saplings on their chests.

"Alas, no such luck." Cloak replied gravely.

[redtailedsaffa]

Well, I know where the Erised reference comes from. And I know what I would see if I looked in that mirror...

[Cloak]

Yes, and well, you have an Erised orb on you as well.

Might be a bit short.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Tied Hands

"What about the others?" Shadow asked as the two Realm Walkers dashed into RAF. There was just the eleven, strewn about.

"Not here," Cloak said, as he examined Saffa, Underseen, and Abby (who ironically was not supposed to be here because of some school event or whatever). "It was fortunate Malice chose her strike when she did. Most of the other RAFians are on missions, and the rest are on holiday."

"Missions?"

"Yeah, RAF has become the facility that regulates alien tourism as well as alien and supernatural crimes -- anything the ordinary law enforcement cannot easily cope with." Cloak said, looking over Aquilai, Goom, Yarin, and Gaz. "These Black Mercy saplings have already taken hold."

"Same over here," Shadow replied, examining Shenmue, Ash, Richard, and Noelle. "What do we do?"

Cloak sighed, "The Black Mercy saplings have taken hold, so we can't remove them."

"I know that," Shadow said, thoughtfully, "I tried to remove it from you physically."

Well, that explained the reality quakes.

"Could we destroy them?" Shadow said, with an air of trying to solve a conundrum. "Would that free them?"

Cloak shook his head. "No. That would be unwise with the saplings so intertwined with them. To destroy them --"

Lemme guess, to destroy the saplings would be to kill the RAFians?" Shadow said, heavily.

"I'm afraid so," Cloak said, looking at his friends with a forlorn look. "I don't know what we could do. They'll just have to snap themselves out of it."

"Is that possible?"Shadow said.

"'Possible' does not mean 'likely'." Cloak said, with a heavy sigh. "The augmented reality is so . . . so desireable that convincing yourself that it is not real, or not what you truly want . . . not easy. Especially if you really want to believe it is real."

"So that's it? We do nothing?"

"It's all we can do," Cloak said, "at least . . . for now."

[Underseen]

Well, I know where the Erised reference comes from. And I know what I would see if I looked in that mirror...

It feels like ages since I read that book. I should reread the series.