Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Magical Malady Mess and Chillax Cloak

"Broken," Faerie said, with austere asperity, "you do understand the inherent danger in doing this, right?"

"I know what I'm doing, Faerie," Broken said. "We have to reattach the heads to the torsos. We have to undo what Kapok has done, we have to revert Phoenix, Gaz, and Dino back to normal."

"Broken, you are aware of the danger in such an endeavor, right? The dangers and instability of mixing magicks?" Yunyun said.

"We have to try," Broken insisted.

"As long as you recognized the potential fallout," Faerie said. She gave a heavy sigh, "well then, let's get to work."

***

"Cloak?" GH said, having discovered Cloak's private mediation spot.

Cloak's amber eyes snapped open, appearing to glow in the low light, with an involuntary growl, and GH felt some instinctive trepidation.

"Cloak," GH repeated.

"What do you want, Logan?" Cloak said.

GH's expression soured a bit, but he let it slide. He didn't like using his real name. Whereas Dwellers couldn't pronounce a Realm Walker's true name, as they could not really mimic their language.

"What do you want?" Cloak said, moodily. "I don't have your cigarettes."

"I don't want them," GH said, with dignity . . . before promptly tripping over an exposed root. GH was tempted to accuse Cloak of doing that deliberately, but was smart enough to realize that it would not do him any good. "Cloak, I heard about your actions with that headhunter guy."

"What your point?" Cloak said. GH could easily sense some hostility from the Realm Walker.

"My point was that, from how I have it, you seemed to be a bit unstable during the conflict."

Cloak said nothing.

"Cloak," GH said, "I'm your friend. You can trust me."

"I wish to be alone, GH," Cloak said, wanely. His amber eyes seemed to vanish -- he had shut his eyes.

"Alright, then," GH said, clearly seeing that Cloak was in no mood to talk. He scrambled out of the dark, shadowy grove and left.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHT:
Shifting Sights

Selfalohart had survived the fall, due to his magical nature. He would have been embarrassed, but Kapok firmly placed that the emotion category. He was a bit chagrined, though he would not admit it. He -- Kapok's head, that is to say -- was a very prideful being. His pride was only matched by his malevolence. He stood with his heart emblem pulsing in complaint.

"Silence, Heart." Selfalohart snapped. "I'm in control now. Get used to it."

Selfalohart looked around, to found himself (of him-selves) on the luscious grounds of a "modestly" opulent estate. The vast lawns were a verdant green, which made since as winter ended a while ago. The whole grounds seemed to want to push just how rich the owners were by sheer opulence and unnecessarily lavishness. So much so that it was more gaudy than anything else.

And in the center was a castle. A literal castle. Not a mansion, but an actual multi-levelled castle. The tapestries upon the castle were emerald green with the symbols of the Knights of Humanity symbols in silver. It wasn't inconspicuous in the least. Selfalohart quickly summed up that the fools that stay and manage this castle were not very long on coherent logic or that they had given themselves over to the taint of feelings and emotions.

Either way, he would have to clean this up. Cleanse these poor,.unfortunate souls of that which is muddying up them.

"Stop complaining, Heart," Selfalohart said, aloud, chastising his other self. "You had the chance to clean up this mess, but chose not to. Foolish body and your useless compassion. Honestly, what purpose does it serve, Heart? Feelings are worthless."

He strolled, bold as brass, right up to the door of the castle. He was surprised, as he was expecting a drawbridge and a moat. Selfalohart suspect that they couldn't afford it, or were too cheap. The door was flanked by two guards in full Knight regalia, so that they even looked like ornamental decoration until they moved. They shifted and crossed their halberds to prevent entry.

Selfalohart had to confess himself unimpressed by this. He could have tried to reason to them, to appeal to their higher faculties, but Selfalohart's head knew the pointlessness of such an endeavor. He just chose liberation over anything else, and so he took their heads off.

Then he killed their bodies -- his magical blasts easily penetrating their armor. The heads felt nothing, as they were incapable of feeling emotion anymore and they didn't want to be reunited with their bodies anyway. They were thinking with clarity, free of emotion and morality.

Selfalohart then entered the castle, unimpeded.

[redtailedsaffa]

"Killed their bodies"?

[Cloak]

Their torsos. He decapitated them like Phoenix, Dino, and Gaz. The heads are alive but their torsos (i.e. their hearts, their emotions) are no longer.

:edit:New chapter.

CHAPTER NINE:
Kingdom Taken

It didn't take very long.

For what? For Kapok Selfalohart to completely dominate and take over the castle. And claim it as his own. He had used his magic to decapitate (he prefer to think of it as liberating their poor minds from the taint of emotion and feelings) each and every Knight present at the castle. Then he dealt with and disposed of the torsos, the bodies, in a crudely crass, horridly harsh, and wholly unsympathetic manner. He was devoid of compassion and love, as they were emotions.

Now he had an edifice in which to launch his crusade.

His crusade to eliminate the taint, now that he had his body back. Now that he was deliberately shackled to it. Now that he dominated his heart, as it should be, in his view.

He didn't see the hypocrisy in his rhetoric. It was because he chose not to. He chose to ignore it, because it was currently inconvenient for him to acknowledge it. If any one would ask (which none of the Knights' literal talking heads would do, as none were all that bright to begin with), he would have said that it was a necessary evil, as he was fundamentally powerless when separated from his body. He required it to set the Cleansing in motion.

The Cleansing -- the eradication of the Great Contamination, paving the the way to the Grand Purification. His inherent malevolence had given way to overtly radical fanaticism. In a way, it was a basic lateral move.

He found himself also disappointed with the Knights. Without their feelings and emotions to fuel their passion, they weren't very interesting to listen to. Even they couldn't find logic in their pseudo-logic to justify their xenophobic hatred. Even then, they weren't terribly smart, though their minds were free of the taint of emotion. Selfalohart would have more scintillating conversations with a tapestry.

He was not happy. Then again, he considered happiness purposeless, as it was nothing more than a feeling, a taint to the pristine mind.  But he would be lying of he said that he was satisfied with this marginal little conquest. He did this with minimal effort, simply because these Knights of Humanity, as they liked to call themselves, never thought that their castle would ever be under siege, let alone from a powerful wizard like himself. Never even entertained the possibility! Of course, Selfalohart spun this as being because of detrimental emotions and useless feelings mucking up everything.

And, yet, Selfalohart felt restless. Was this his Heart somehow rebelling in some unknown way? Was it responsible for this dissatisfaction he felt? Yes. Yes, that must be it. He must not allow it to distract him. He must keep his eyes on the goal, at the tasks at hand. . . .

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TEN:
Dire News

"I've tried every spell -- every charm, jinx, hex, and curse -- that I know of," Broken said, looking rather sweaty and disheveled. "Curaga does nothing. Transfiguration doesn't help -- and transfiguration is difficult enough to start with. Nothing works."

"Faerie magic isn't much better, either," Faerie said. "Nothing I do seems to make it any better. I still don't understand how Phoenix turned blue as a blueberry."

It was temporary, as Phoenix returned to his natural coloration moments later.

"I don't think that a cure is in the cards," Yunyun said, going through her magical deck of cards. It replenishes after each battle, with completely different cards each time. It's the magic of the deck, but she has "decked" herself before. "None of these are particularly helpful. Such a pity that that 'Heart of the Cards' thing isn't a real thing."

"We've exhausted all of our magical know-how," Faerie said, in summation, "so, you two know the implications of this, right?"

No one wanted to say it. The silence stretched as the elephant in the room stayed there, unaddressed.

"Nothing we do helps, nothing we do reverses Kapok's magic. Nothing." Yunyun said, with reluctant finality.

"Do we get a say in the matter?" Dino's head asked, irritated.

They were ignored. They couldn't make this decision in their current dichotomous state, a dangerous duality.

"There is only one way to make this right," Broken said. "And it won't be easy. Not to break the news or to do."

The three looked at each other, with significant looks. They know that they would have to deliver news that no one wanted to hear.

"I think we have a right to have a voice in this matter!" Gaz insisted.

Her protest was ignored. She was only speaking from one half of a whole, and her torso seemed to not be as against this as her head was.

"The person that can undo this," Broken said, at last, though the three knew it, but didn't want to say it. "The only person who can undo this . . . is Kapok himself."

[Cloak]

Might be nineteen chapters long.

New chapter.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Storming the Castle

The RAFians had gotten a report of a nearby Knight HQ had been laid siege to. By one person. A man with a metal collar and magical powers. It wasn't hard to put two and two together.

Cloak was going, but he refused to take anyone else. When pressed, he allowed Underseen and Ash to come with him. He believed their natures as shapeshifters may have provided them some immunity to Selfalohart's decapitation magic. He refused Broken, Yunyun, and Faerie because he didn't need or want any unnecessary casualties.

"Real subtle, this place," Underseen said.

They were standing on the grounds, sticking to the shadows as the sun was slowly setting. It was an auspicious thing, as it allowed them to move with stealth and cunning.

"Well, the Knights aren't really known for their keen and penetrating minds," Cloak said, broadly. "It should be child's play to get inside."

"I can't be that easy," Ash said, skeptically.

"We shall soon see," Cloak said. "Stay inconspicuous. If he sees me, fine. There's not much that he can do to me, if anything. He'd be expecting me to come alone, because his ego is just like that."

"Stereotypical supervillain," Ash noted. "Got it."

"Let's go," Underseen suggested.

With that, they swept into the castle. They weren't impeded at all. There was no resistance. None whatsoever. This did not sit well with any of the trio.

They cross the threshold, expecting a trap. Underseen and Ash had gone from his view, as he had requested. If he couldn't see them, then Selfalohart wouldn't be able to. They were his backup. Just in case something happened to cause this to go south for him, which was always possible.

He passed down a long corridor with torches. Only the fixtures weren't holding torches, but something that was unlit. Unfortunately, Cloak's feline eyes easily penetrated the gloom. He could see the grisly, macabre sight.

Heads were mounted on these fixtures. Not impaled or anything. Nor were they dead. They were the victims of Selfalohart's "purification", but they were not smart enough for scintillating conversation. Selfalohart, or rather his emotionless head, quickly tired of them and the less-than-ideal answers they gave to his constant inquiry barrages. So he condemned them to life here.

It was unnerving. Cloak hoped that Ash and Undersen were keeping pace behind him as he proceeded, sticking to the shadows.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
Throne Room for Un-Improvement

Cloak came upon the threshold to a wide, spacious room. It was supported by a few fat columns that went thematically with the room. There was a red carpet which rolled up to a golden throne encrusted with rubies, sapphires, and garnets and whose seat was a cushy, very comfortable velvet. Cloak could tell that the room was ordinarily empty, but there were headless bodies strewn about, bloodied and lifeless.

Oh, and a treasure chest. It contained rubies, sapphires, garnets, emeralds, yellow diamonds, blue diamonds, pink diamonds, rose quartz gems, pink diamonds, pearls, rainbow quartz gems, sardonyx gems, platinum bars, gold bars, silver bars, amethysts, sugillite gems, opals, alexandrite gems, jasper gems, peridot gems, lapis lazuli, and malachite gems. And this was only what Cloak could see. This was clearly how the Knights funded their activities and could afford this opulent castle and it's attached grounds' landscaping. Whether wealth was legitimate or stolen remained to be seen.

And on the throne, Selfalohart lounged. He looked rather like a disaffected teenager more than an adult when he did that. With all of his grand plans why was he just laying around here, admiss the corpses upon the ground?

Hoping that Underseen and Ash were in place, Cloak stepped into view.

"You were not given permission for an audience," Selfalohart said.

Cloak said nothing, though he did silently note that Selfalohart's head's ego seemed to have grown three sizes too big.

"You are dismissed. Leave now." said the megalomaniacal head of Selfalohart. "I haven't time for your backwards thinking and interference."

Cloak said nothing. He had to admit, he was amused by this bluster.

"Have you gone deaf, monster?" he said. He clearly thought that "monster" was an offensive name to call Cloak. "I said that you are dismissed. I have things to put into motion. More important things to deal with."

"You expect me to believe that?" Cloak said, coolly unimpressed.

"Don't address me without my express permission, monster," Selfalohart snapped.

Cloak wasn't intimidated. Apparently, Selfalohart either had a short memory or his defeat over so many Knights of Humanity had severely bloated his ego and confidence to ridiculous levels. Cloak was hedging on the latter.

"Are you serious?" Cloak said, with icy coolness.

"Don't dare defy me, monster," Selfalohart threatened. "The bodies that litter the floor should be an indicator of how a battle with me will go down."

"It does serve as an indicator," Cloak said, in a quiet voice that nonetheless carried in the vast room. "It indicates that you have no idea who you're dealing with."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
Stronger Than You

"Why? Because you used a cheap tactic to disguise your weakness? I will liberate that stupid forum of yours." Selfalohart's head spat. "Quit embarrassing yourself! I've seen you for what you really are."

Cloak chuckled and chortled at this, which appeared to annoy Selfalohart. Then he replied, "No, you haven't."

Music started up.

"What this? Where's that music coming from?" Selfalohart said. He almost sounded mad. "This isn't logical!!"

"I'm Cloak, the only RAFian Realm Walker.
And I'm never going down at the hands of the likes of you because I'm so much better.
And every part of me is saying 'Go get him.'
This Realm Walker ain't gonna follow your rules.
Come at me without any of your magic, you tool.
Let's go, just me and you.
This schtick is too much to chew.
Go ahead and try and hit me if you're able.
Can't you see that magic is off the table?
I can see you hate the way emotion and my power intermingle.
But I think you're just mad 'cause you're always single.
And you're not gonna stop what RAF's made together.
The world's is gonna stay like this forever.
If you break it apart, we'll just come back newer.
And we'll always be twice the man that you are.
The forum is made
O-o-o-o-of
Un-i-i-i-ity!
O-o-o-o-of
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!"

They were battling during the song, and not of Selfalohart's magic was helping him in the least.

"Stop it!" he snarled. Again, he almost sounded as if he was . . . mad. "Stop singing! It makes no sense! It makes no sense to sing during a battle!!"

"Pity you've never met GH, then," Cloak said, flippantly.

From there the Battle intensified, proving that Selfalohart was holding back at RAF. He was testing Cloak, the Realm Walker supposed.

"You allow your emotions too much free rein!!" he roared. "You're weak!"

Cloak, in response:

"This is who we RAFians are.
This is who I am.
And if you think you can stop me,
Then you need to think again.
'Cause I have a feeling,
And RAF will never end,
And I won't let you hurt my forum,
And I won't let you hurt my friends.
Go ahead and try and hit me if you're able.
Can't you see that your magic is disabled?
I know you think I'm not something you're afraid of,
'Cause you think that you've seen what I'm made of.
But I am even more than what you think I am.
The Master of the Six Elements is what I am.
I am their fury.
I am their patience.
I have determination.
We have
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!
And it's stronger than you.
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!
And it's stronger than you.
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!
And it's stronger than you.
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!
Un-i-i-i-ity!"

At the last note, Cloak felt the unity of the others with him, feeling the Unity gather at his Mark. And he blasted Selfalohart with a Unity Blast, with two other Blasts lancing out from nowhere. All three hit Selfalohart.


*Song source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_ct0Sq57u4c

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Insistence

Yet, Selfalohart managed to survive that. But it was purely due to his magical nature and the RAFians' intent wasn't to kill him anyway. Just a display of power. The trio of Unity Blasts had burned away his shirt and hat, revealing the neck brace-like choker he wore, the heart emblem mounted to his chest, and metal bracelet things on his wrists.

"You didn't . . . you didn't prove anything," he said, with a harsh, raspy voice.

"So you must be rather pigheaded," Cloak said. He wasn't even out of breath, not really. "That was just a demonstration. My power can far eclipse what was shown you."

This was a little braggy, but Cloak was to the point beyond caring. He couldn't see Underseen or Ash, but he knew they were here. Somewhere. He hoped that they would adhere to the plan.

"Don't try to play me for a sap!" Selfalohart snapped hostilely.

"Dost my ears deceive me?" Cloak said, with deliberate over-the-top acting. "Dost I detect anger in your voice?"

"My mind is perfectly clear!" Selfalohart insisted. It was clear that he wasn't as divorced from his emotions as he thought anymore. He was feeling emotions without even realizing it. Existing as a living bodiless head and a living headless torso was a affront to nature as they knew it. It was an imbalance, and, with the head and body being in such close proximity to each other, it was making the division of the logical-minded, malevolent head and the emotion-driven, benign torso to fracture, although they were not connected physically. They were not fusing, but the stark differences were starting blur. The head was still in control and malevolent, but he was starting to feel emotion. This would not cure them of the magical decapitation, but just blur the lines. "Don't you mock me!!"

Cloak dropped the hammy acting, and returned to his serious disposition. "Your forced dichotomy is falling apart. You are no longer purely brain. You're reacting with anger."

"I am not!!" Selfalohart said, voice laden with unbridled ire he was unprepared and unaware of. "I am uncontaminated!!"

"Lie to yourself, or don't," Cloak said, "I really don't care."

"I'm not the one doing the lying here!" Selfalohart said, unaware that the barriers between the two were breaking down. "You don't know anything!! ANYTHING. You don't KNOW anything!!"

"That's not pseudo-anger, Kapok," Cloak called him out. "That was real, legitimate anger."

"BE SILENT!!" he roared.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Collar Concern

"'Be silent'?" Cloak repeated, with smirking snort. "Seriously, Kapok. Do you think that would actually work?"

Selfalohart's heart emblem glowed with pulses. His heart was rebelling against his head, but his head remained in stalwart control. But his head wasn't immune to feelings that he thought he was. He felt anger. He was feeling anger. But he refused to admit it, refused to accept it, refused to even acknowledge it.

"SILENCE, MONSTER!!" he roared.

"Immune to emotion are you?" Cloak said.

"I am free of the taint!!" he roared. Cloak was surprised that he wasn't red in the face. "I feel none of those illogical feelings, those useless emotions!!"

"You're angry." Cloak pointed out. "Anger is an emotion."

"I am not!!" he raged. Naturally, he would feel one of the most volatile emotions. "I am perfectly fine! My thoughts are clear as crystal!!"

"Are they?" Cloak asked, simply.

"Don't you speak to me with such temerity!!" Selfalohart's head snarled. "How dare you have the effrontery to claim such a thing?!"

"Are you listening to your own hysterics?" Cloak said, calmly castigating him.

"Shut up!"

"Ah, don't have an argument, now?" Cloak said, eyes were focused on his head, but they kept slipping down to his metal collar. "Don't have some hackneyed rhetoric to justify shoving your forced dichotomy down our collective throats? No comeback? No non sequiturs?"

Cloak kept eyeing the collar, which Selfalohart remained unaware of somehow.

"No straw man arguments? No arguments from your so-called authority? No futile appeals to the majority?" Cloak said. "No foundational bias? No ad hominem arguments? No quote mining?"

Selfalohart, disheveled though he looked, still wore his malevolent arrogance and misappropriated anger on his heavily-line face.

"No red herrings? No arguments from ignorance? No begging the question?" Cloak continued caustically, grilling Selfalohart. "No arguments from personal incredulity? No equivocation? No tautologies?"

Selfalohart placed his hand upon his metal choker, which now that Cloak looked at it, looked more like a shackle. It was almost as if he was unconsciously checking to see if it was still there.

"No more false premise-based arguments, huh? Done with the slippery slope, eh? Not gonna indulge in just plain nonsense anymore?" Cloak said, as Selfalohart's rage grew. "No ad hoc reasoning, then? No more 'correlation implies causation' arguments, hmm? No outright lies?"

Selfalohart took his hand off his collar, almost as if he was afraid of calling attention to it. Afraid. Fear. Another emotion.

Cloak narrowed his eyes. "Nice collar."

[guitarhero01234]

"gh would probably like it, you know. That boy has a weird sense of fashion."

[Cloak]

The collar isn't about fashion, though.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
You Shouldn't Have Said That

"Don't touch it, monster!!" Selphalohart's head said. Clearly, some of the torso's emotions were leaking into his head and, Cloak supposed, some of the head's cold, indifferent logic was leaking into the torso. Yet, the torso still continued to try to rebel against the head, apparently being fundamentally good and benevolent, while the head was fundamentally evil and malevolent. "Don't come anywhere near it!!"

Cloak did not seem to react at this overly hostile reaction. Just took note of it, as he found himself suspecting that Selfalohart's head contained all the darkness of that the wizard had while the torso contained all the light. Those did not seem to be mixing as the emotions and logic were.

"Do not touch it," Selfalohart snarled.

He didn't realize he was calling attention to the precise thing that he didn't want to call attention to.

"Why is it so important, then?" Cloak said, although he thought he already knew why he was so defensive about it.

"It isn't," Selfalohart said quickly. Too quickly.

"It isn't, is it?" Cloak said, smoothly. "Is that metal?"

Cloak already knew that it was metal, albeit a metal alloy that he was unfamiliar with. Enchanted, perhaps.

"It's not important," he said, almost hysterically repressive.

"Oh, really?" Cloak said, coolly calm, with heavy-lidded eyes. "Then why continually call attention to it?"

"I'm not," he argued, despite the clear contradictory evidence. "I'm not!"

"What would happen if it were . . . removed?" Cloak said, not losing his cool.

"You can't remove it!!" he declared shrilly.

"Is that a challenge?"

The heart emblem on his chest flashed with alarming frequency. Selfalohart's heart was eager for liberation from his evil, malevolent head.

"You can't!!"

"Try me."

"I won't let you get close enough to do anything," he said, eyes bulging in his madness. "Besides you don't have the key."

"Do you know what elements constitute the Six Elements?" Cloak said, rather placidly.

"What?" Selfalohart's head snapped. He wasn't prepared for this sudden segway.

"The Six Elements are constituted from the elements of fire, air, water, wood, earth, and . . . metal." Cloak said. "And I am the Master of these elements."

Selfalohart's head and Selfalohart's heart both got the point. While Selfalohart's heart rejoiced at the thought, while his head dreaded it. He had the power now. He had his power. He would not lose it. He would not lose it!!

"Let's end this," Cloak said.

"NOOO!!" Selfalohart's head screamed, firing a concussive blast of magical energy at Cloak.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
POP!! Goes the Collar

It was like trying to use a Kamehameha against Superman. Cloak was unaffected by the blast due to its magical nature. He was pushed back a bit, simply due to the inertial impact of the blast. But Cloak walked through it, without concern.

"You can't do this!!" he yelled, still desperately putting all of his power into the blast. But it was magical in nature, and Realm Walkers are magic Teflon. "You can't!!"

"Watch me," Cloak said, stopping five feet from him. Cloak raised his hand.

"No!! Stop!! You don't know what you're doing!! You . . . you . . . CLOD!!" he shouted.

"Oh, nice tactic," Cloak said, acerbically. "Trying to insult me to get me to comply with you. I think Bern Bridges might steal it from you."

Cloak snapped his fingers. There was small pop that was heard, and the collar slithered down to the ground, landing with a small, almost inaudible CLUNK. But Selfalohart's hands had secured his head to his body.

"I will not lose my power!"

"You sound like an establishment politician," Cloak said.

"Hilarious," Selfalohart said, scornfully. He continued to have his hands firmly gripped upon his head. "I will not relinquish what is rightfully mine!! I will simply put the collar back on!!"

"About that," Cloak said. He snapped his fingers again. The collar fractured in a grid-like pattern. "It's broken."

"No!!" Selfalohart's head roared. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"An idea, yeah," Cloak said, a bit flippant.

"I can't do this forever!!" he raged.

"Exactly," Cloak said, folding his arms, expectant. He had considered using bloodbending to force him to lower his arms, but he quickly banished the thought. He would just have to wait for his arms to tire. It shouldn't take too long.

"Underseen, Ash," Cloak announced, "I think we're done here."

The two RAFians appeared by his side in their base forms.

"No wonder you beat me!! You had help!!" he said. He took on hand off his head to point an accusatory finger.

"Actually --" Ash began.

But Cloak interrupted her, "Let him think whatever he wants. It won't change anything to correct him. People -- Walkers and Dwellers -- can be remarkably stubborn when they deeply believe something to be true. Despite facts present to them that directly contradicts and counters said belief."

"You don't know me!!" Selfalohart roared. He had removed both hands from his head.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Liberation Day

"You don't know . . . know . . . me . . ." Selfalohart's head said, feeling a sudden absence of feelings, of emotions. He would describe it clarity instead of absence of emotion. It was a sensation he welcomed.

He only realized that he was separated from his torso when he tumbled to the ground, as his torso fell to his knees as if he saw the face of some obscure or personal deity. As if he had had some sort of miracle worked for him.

Selfalohart's head was thrilled -- or as thrilled as one could be whilst devoid of emotion -- that he no longer felt the taint of those problematic feelings anymore. His mind was, in his view, no longer contaminated. But, as a counterpoint, he was now powerless. All his magic was locked up in his torso, in his heart. All his magic was locked up and selfishly hogged by his light side.

Selfalohart's head found that he no longer cared. He saw and remembered how these ingrates -- bitterness wasn't an emotion -- didn't care for nor appreciated his grand gift. He was giving them the gift of clarity, whilst giving himself the gift of power. He did not believe that his endeavors or he himself was selfish. No, in his mind, that was an impossibility. He instead believed himself to be fairly generous, even if these mindless plebeians did not see his true generosity, his noble sacrifice of having to suffering the taint of emotions to liberate others from theirs.

Since no one appreciated his endeavors, was there any logical reason in pursuing? Was there any real credible reason to proceed, to continue? No. No, there was not. He was even losing his powerlust. If the magic wanted to stay with his useless body, fine. So be it. Let it waste and misuse it. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted to be left alone. He never wanted to see his body again.

He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts. He just wanted to be alone. Until the day he died. He didn't even mind that he was sent rolling across the floor with an absentminded and accidental kick from Underseen. He came to rest with his head in a dirty corner of the corner of the shadow, thoroughly ensconced in shadow. He found it not too bad a place.

Although his nose was now itchy . . .

***

In his gratitude, Selfalohart's body was more than willing to help revert Phoenix, Gaz, and Dink back to normal. He felt that he needed to make up for the actions he was forced to commit under his evil head's control. He claimed things were logical when they really weren't.

What he forced his heart to do, it wasn't logical. It was masochism in a way, as it pained his heart to commit all of those heinous acts. He may not have any control over his actions, thus no technical accountability or responsibility for them, but that did not change the fact that it happened. With his hands. The blood of all of those Knights were on his hands, as the head had no hands to get bloodied.

He would do what he could to undo and mitigate all the evil his malignant tumor of a head brought into the world. He would mitigate the darkness, and put even more light into the world. This would he his endeavor, his mission, his goal. His retribution. He would have to, as he would never be forgiven for his actions while under the thrall of his sinister head. Others might have forgiven these actions, but he would never forgive himself for them.

He easily undid what his head did to the three RAFians, and begged silently (as he hadn't a mouth) for their forgiveness, feeling very aggrieved.  The three RAFians were slow to forgive, but they eventually did. But Cloak could see that Selfalohart's heart, while accepting their forgiveness, did not forgive himself. Cloak could recognize it, because he could recognize it in himself.

Selfalohart's heart would have a long journey ahead of him, to rectify the sins and atrocities of his evil head. . . .

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
I Need to Know

In a darkened room, a cool blue light follows an anthropomorphic tiger cub of a indeterminate, but young, age. He wore a black cloak with the hood down. Looked severely stricken with a sense of melancholy. He sang, sadly:

"Will someone tell me where I belong?
Where I should go?
Can someone tell me where I'm going wrong?
I need to know.
Why does she think I would hurt the ones I love?
Why would hurt them?
If I can't be what she wants of me . . .
What am I to do?
When will I be me?
The son that she won't see?
There must be someone who understands out there. . . .
Somewhere.
When will I find a home?
A place where I belong. . . .
Surely there must be more like me . . .
Out there . . . somewhere. . . .
There must be somebody,
Just like me. . . .
Out there . . ."

"Aniyu, ENOUGH!!" Cloak said. He didn't hide his tears. He almost wished that he was fighting that Polar Manzardrill DNAlien with Horse. His voice cracked as he said, softly, "Please, Aniyu. Enough."

It was bad enough living through it once. The deep sadness, the all-encompassing depression, the icy feeling of loneliness. The cold certainty that someone that you know is supposed to love you unconditionally, to care for your well-being, to have your best interests at heart . . . doesn't.

Granted, it wasn't nearly so evident and obvious when he was a child, when he was very naive. He never realized how little his mother cared for him as a person until he was significantly older. She only saw him as an extension of herself. An appendage whose compliance was not only expected but demanded.

Cloak had spent ten years, Realm Walker time, roughly, wishing for death to release him from his imprisonment. He felt as if he had nothing. It was just the mere idea of even hurting Shadow, and even Faith, that prevented him from taking his own life. He had been deeply mired in a depressive sadness. And every day, it sucked him down more and more. Only Shadow's presence had liberated him from it.

"Cloak," Aniyu said. "You cannot allow the sadness of the past to mire you into depression."

Cloak said nothing. He was leaned over, braced against a wall. Tears were still streaming down his face.

"Cloak, you must face this." Aniyu said, gentle but firm.


Song source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QuYXcNjqB6c