Born a Monster

It is written that insanity is attempting the same thing repeatedly, yet expecting different results.

“Xinyi Shi has arrived!” he shouted, sporting a jewel-encrusted eye patch of steel and gold.

[Magical item: I See Your Doom. I See Your Doom has abilities that block your current appraisal methods. Upgrade System or abilities to gather more information.]

But then he was upon us, and I didn’t have time to pull my Reticule off it.

[You have been struck for 24 points of piercing damage; after armor 14 points have been taken. 28/80 Health remain.]

The flashing point of his spear struck my shield like a gong, shot off to my left, and crossed to cut my forehead above my left eye, scraped along my scalp, and exited the back about halfway between center and my right eye.

The scraping of metal against bone was audible.

Even as he dodged, we got first blood on him. Captain Feng was right where he dodged from Kang Shi’s axe. His curved blade came up almost directly in line with Xinyi Shi’s armpit.

.....

I truly wish I could describe what happened, but the truth is I was screaming because hot blood had sprayed into my eye. I wasn’t [Stunned] or [Staggered], but I was temporarily blind on that side.

Xinyi Shi was screaming also. “Flash... Flash..” he huffed.

“Ah-hah. I see my claiming of your eye has left you weak! Flee like the dishonorable coward you are!” Gods, why would any warrior WANT that ability? Why had I purchased it, knowing what it did?

My shield was there, my shield was strong, my shield was made of firm steel, and held.

[Dawn’s Protector now has 216/240 condition remaining.]

I went flying backward, as though rammed by a boar. A LARGE boar.

[You have received a RED critical (x8)...]

[Catfoot ability has activated.]

[You have received an ORANGE critical (x4 damage) from a base of four points of Concussive damage, for sixteen total points; after abilities, you have taken 13 points of damage. 15/80 health points remain.]

With a bestial roar, he advanced toward me, kicking aside the oiled firewood.

The firewood that hid a bear trap, which his foot struck.

Xiong Su looked even more surprised than Xinyi Shi when his spear hit the back of the suddenly halted warrior. The impact halted Su’s advance entirely, and the hero’s instinctive counterblow knocked Su back into another bear trap, where he remained screaming until Hyu Song freed him, and carried his semi-conscious body downstairs to Sister Yoshi.

To this day, I believe that Xinyi Shi could have broken out of that trap with ease. “YOU claimed my eye?”

“I am a Truthspeaker, and cannot lie to you. The arrow that claimed your eye was enchanted by me. You will bear that wound the rest of your living days, and I claim...”

He threw his spear at me. My shield was there, but it deflected the blow from my heart into my chin.

[You have suffered an ORANGE ...]

I had hoped the metal shield might have survived, or at least given a larger bonus, but was disappointed on both counts.

[You have suffered a YELLOW critical (x2) for 48 piercing damage; after armor, you have taken 38 points of damage. -13/80 points remain.]

[You have suffered severe head trauma and might not survive. You will experience a prolonged period of unconsciousness.]

[Lucid Dreaming activated.]

“Kid!” Manajuwejet tried to sound like he was rebuking me. He tried. “Kid, that was just... You understand you’re supposed to walk away AFTER claiming vengeance?”

“Claiming vengeance? I didn’t do a single health point of damage to him.”

I looked down; there was a plethora of Island spirits watching. It is said that no true hero ever dies alone. It was surreal, watching spirits literally nudging into overlapping places just to watch Xinyi Shi’s final breaths.

But as the human forms below swarmed him underfoot, wildly swinging or thrusting weapons, it was a small woman who pushed her way through us, glaring with enough force to knock spirits sprawling.

A crab made mostly of shadows with red stars for eyes fled before her, still slobbering with anticipation of Shi’s death. Manajuwejet got a laugh out of that; I gathered they were not friends.

Xinyi Shi died with a spiritual roar, like the birth of a lion or perhaps a Fenris. His spirit was smaller than his physical body, about the stature of a normal man. But there was no mistaking the COLOR in his body, no part of it transparent like a mere ghost.

Without a spark of life in him, Xinyi Shi still radiated vitality.

His eyes fell upon me, and a spear fashioned from his will appeared in his hand.

“Very well.” He said, “Let us finish this.”

The woman cleared her throat, looking his way with a slight smile.

He took a quick glance, turned back to me, brandished the spear threateningly in my direction, and then back to her.

“Mother? Am I... dead?”

“Oh my son, you are not among the living.” Slowly, yet deliberately, she reached out with one hand to cup the side of his face. There was a soft yet penetrating light, and she seemed, for that instant, to share the REALITY of Xinyi Shi.

It burned the back of my spiritual eyes. “Bya,” I said, throwing up and arm for protection, “What IS that?”

“Shush.” Said a rabbit near my right ankle. “You only see this every century or so. SHUT UP.”

“It’s true familial love, kid.” Manajuwejet whispered. “And yeah, shut up.”

“Father? My brothers and sisters?”

She gripped his upper arm with both her hands. “Waiting for you. If you still remember how to use the fishing spear, there are a great number of fish just waiting to be caught and cooked.”

“What? But ... with no bodies, why do we need to eat?” he asked.

“There is much to be explained, my son. But come, walk with me. It happens to be a long walk to the heavenly realms.”

“No. How do I know you aren’t some other spirit just pretending to by my mother?”

She cocked her head and smiled slightly. “Who else would love you after what you did to that ugly orange rug your uncle made for me?”

All trace of hostility, of aggression, just melted out of him.

He took a deep refreshing breath of the not-air, and took his mother’s hand. “This way? Toward the gateway star?”

“Clever boy. You almost think I didn’t have to come all this way.”

“I... I have done rude things to others. Are you certain I don’t belong in one of the hells?”

“Oh, let’s decide that as we walk. I brought your soul into this world, I suppose I can chuck you into some hell or other if they truly deserve you.”

“Your humor, mother. It has been a lifetime, and still I don’t get it.”

“Ay-ya. Well, I blame your father for that.”

We were watching her go when her head spun full around to face me. “And YOU. So sorry, but do be careful not to die where any of the Celestial Bureaucracy can claim your soul. A special and private hell waits for you, slayer of the last of my bloodline.”

“Mother, stop being overly dramatic. Two daughters of mine yet live that I know about.”

“Eh?” She punched him in the ribs. “Man slut! You’re supposed to TELL your ANCESTORS about things like this.” And then, in a kinder tone, “So you absolutely MUST tell me about my grand-daughters.”

So far as I know, the soul of Xinyi Shi still lives on the borderlands of the Celestial Heavens, fishing with his family, and woe to any demon who comes upon that shore expecting an easy meal.

“Well,” I said, “That was...”

“Yeah, sometimes the simple afterlives are the best.”

He looked down at the other broken body. “Speaking of which, you should probably get back in there, unless you have delusions that a heaven is waiting for you.”

I sighed. “Mighty is Sobek, lord of the Holy River, but merciful he is not.”

It was an easy thing to rejoin with my leaky body, less easy to ignore the shadow crab as it returned.

“You look broken there, mortal.” It said to me. “Have you considered using that spill over there to heal yourself?”

“Spill?” I asked, looking in the direction of fallen Xinyi Shi. Sure enough, there were little pieces of what Xinyi Shi had been in life. Wrath mixed like a liquid with fear, with pride, with the pain of his death, and the joys of his life. Thoughts tried to swim themselves into completion, to become spirits in their own right.

And then one of them was swiped by a tentacle of blackness. Not caught; the darkness swung through the space, and nothing real survived.

“Taint.” I said. “The Taint of Madness.”

“Your gift to him, toward the end. Why shouldn’t you claim that? It’s YOURS; and the POWER of it. Look how the other spirits stay away from it. But LOOK AT WHAT’S STILL LEFT; all of that can be yours. Just internalize and subdue that Taint, and all of that – all of it – can be yours.”

“Help yourself.” I said.

“Me?” he asked. “No, I’m just a Makura’s nightmare. THAT is way too much for little me. But the scraps after someone like you takes what you want?” It made a slurping noise.

“Hey!” Manajuwejet said. “Spirit guide RIGHT. HERE. Go get your own shaman. Islands are full of ’em.”

The Makura spirit slid off and into the shadows. No, dream transfer, literally INTO the shadows.

“Kid, just ignore what he said. You don’t need the development points that bad. Taint looks bad on you.”

“Wait, those are development points?”

“Kid, I could go into a long talk about that. Some from column yes, some from column no. What you’re looking at is the reason why people try to sacrifice other people. There’s – power – left behind.”

“As you can see, it’s not much. This is what a freaking genuine hero leaves behind. You can see it, trying to become sentient even as the Taint devours and corrupts it.”

“It’s changing the Taint as well.” I said.

.....

“Yeah, this batch of stuff just might become a Horror.”

“Spiritual Cleansing.” the voice of Sister Yoshi called. It wasn’t loud, but it penetrated deep into the rock, into all the spirits that remained. A wave of pure white light encompassed us all, knocking aside suddenly blissful spirits, illuminating Manajuwejet in hues of red, purple, and blue.

“Ah, ooohhhh.” he said. “THAT has been too long. Shower for the spirit.” He shook himself, the way newborn scorpions sometimes do to fling off clinging patches of egg yolk.

And the entire Spill got swept off the Rice Gate, to descend downward toward the unsuspecting enemies swarming below.

Someone jabbed fingers into my throat. “He’s alive.”

“Get him below.” the captain said.

“Don’t look at ME that way.” Kang Shi said. “I told him what happened to people who taunted that bastard.”

If it matters, his spirit was born with both eyes. I’m not sure what the rules are about what heals and what doesn’t upon death if you transition aware into the afterlife.