Know Your Limits [Acedia/Closed]

Ecstasy coursed through her form; the fur that was her bulky body shivered from more than being hunched over the way she was but from sheer and utter ecstasy. That was a word, right? The thought flickered through her brain while she relished the screams of the man held captive in the cage of her mouth against the pavement below. That moment when the darkness of despair turned to that of abject horror in the light of what their eyes could finally see. Death. Personified. Their executioner.

Even as his body died and fell to the ground in some spasm of the heart, his soul still stood there screaming up into the gulf that was nothing but a pit of doom. And with the opening of his eyes, all the gates that held shut his senses were ripped away to drown him in her horror. The smell of death, the touch of the grave, the sound of her stomach grumbling, the screams of those trapped within her for eternity, the taste of her corrosion; it all destroyed what sanity was left to the poor wretch.

Others before him had tried to run, even in their incorporeal forms, against the prison bars her fangs created round them. Crashing against that fortress of teeth, trying to tear at the ground beneath them all in some vain hope of escape. They hadn't realized they were already dead and waiting for the destruction of all they had been or ever would be. It was not like that with this guy. He knew stark terror and it was that which made him so desirable to the Hollow.

Acedia knew he was not going to fill her aching hunger, even before he was consumed she knew. That she was stalking around during the day was proof enough of that. The man had no spark or sense about him. Not like her, not like those humans who were alive to the world she embodied, and not those reapers who hunted her kind. The hollow rarely allowed herself to become so ravenous that she had to devour her prey immediately and rush off to kill again and again to sate her need, but she had gone long enough to be unable to pass on this poor feed.

That is what the torment was for, at least he could entertain and sustain her till she found a real meal this day. Her whole being inhaled, savoring his flavor until he was just about to her liking when a woman’s cry came from off in front of her across the park. Acedia’s stone white eyes stared at the figure running toward her, hair streaming in the air, robes fluttering as she bent forward, and sword raised high. Acedia inhaled the soul and swallowed him whole, her hands pressed to the pavement to either side of her toothy fortress barely even twitched. In fact the only sign of motion was the drawing back of lips even further which seemed to push her face back on her head like a slipping cap.

The Hollow knew what this was, though she had never seen one with her own eyes, only in the eyes of her kind as she fed upon their souls. Reapers. The Hunters. More importantly she could smell her life force, her spark, and it was just the sort of meal Acedia required to live.

Suddenly when the reaper was in range, a gaunt and sinewy arm shot out from the furry form causing its pelt to fall away clear to the shoulder and expose its bony whiteness to the light of day. The arm swept the air before her and the collision was radically different than the woman assumed it would be. Decrepit and yet powerful fingers curled around her body tightening with such force she lost complete control of her body immediately. Even as she was hoisted into the air, her sword fell to the ground her chest begging for release until she was slammed face first into the pavement and the full force of that arm and hand shoved her into the ground.

Acedia’s head twitched, her head shaking a bit like a dog coming out of the water, and her fangs pushed back from the pavement so she might rest on her hands and knees. The change of position was visually startling in that what had once been a heaped mound of fur now elongated to stretch across the pavement a good nine feet long. There was no doubt that should she choose to stand she would be over twelve feet tall.

Instead the figure pushed herself back to sit upon her own legs, drew her left hand into her nest of a lap and raised the right into the air before her face. Fur draped back down over the left arm but the right was still fully exposed pale and mottled. Her mind wondered if it was dead even as she brought it to the tendrils of fur hanging down over her face to smell. Such richness of living essence she had never felt before and it was nearly enough to make her drunk. That was a thing, right? No, that wasn’t it. Her lips mouthed the word. "Ecstasy."

Acedia could have buried the woman in her face, burrowing her down beneath the stringy fur, just so she could inhale more of her delectable fragrance. Such treats were few and far between, those few mortals that were alive with something more filling. This woman, however, was rich and ripe and overflowing with so much life! Only it wasn’t enough for the Hollow, not nearly enough.

Shaking the woman, she tried to rouse her. Didn’t matter how good the cut of meat might be, salt was required for true perfection. Soft moans issued from her food and Acedia let her jaw loll open, the barest bit of saliva beginning to pool at the hinge of her mouth when she heard a bit of music from behind. It was like the mass when Father raised the host into the air. Jingles…

Acedia’s whole form sagged as that snippet of imagery entered her mind and was gone before she could even register it had occurred. Had she ever been a swearing woman, person, entity, being, thing..she may have questioned what the ‘F’ that had been. Those exact words didn’t come to mind but the sentiments that had were very much the same. Her hand dropped to fall atop the other in her lap, the woman’s leg shattered a shin bone as she collided and she screamed. What usually was music to her ears she could not register as that one word confused and alarmed the Hollow. ”Father?”, the query came out hoarse and full of spittle that rained down upon the screaming woman in her clasp.

Her fingers spasmed choking off the Reaper’s voice with a sick gurgling sound as another image of fingers clutching a cross assailed her mind. The vision was repellant and she had no idea where it had come from. Had the mere smell of this Reaper’s essence actually made her drunk?

A sharp blow from behind caused her head and neck to twitch once more and she teetered to the right. One might have thought she was about to fall over but instead, she was just making room to get her leg out from under her so she could pivot round and see what this biting fly might be. Even before she saw the Reaper she could taste his essence every bit as strong as the one still in her grasp. Slow she might be of thought, but even she knew two were better than one.

Her left arm moved, pulling her hand out from underneath the other which clutched her food jealously, and shot out toward the second course of tonight’s feast. Fingers spread wide, she attempted to scoop him up into the air just as she had the Reaper in her right fist. Her fortune was amazing, elation filled her and the groans of her hunger escaped her gaping maw to bathe the area with her fetid breath. The others of her kind had such fear for these reapers. She didn’t understand where the danger lay at all. It was like slaughtering...sheep? No that wasn’t right, something taller…

Her strength was such that when she impacted his barrier shield her hand collided with incredible power. Pain lanced through her metacarpals in equal force causing her to recoil with another back pivot of her other leg so that she now unwittingly faced him square on. Her jaw unhinged further causing the mask of her skull cap to slide back upon her head leaving her eyes perched mere inches from being swept beyond his sight. The gasp she drew in actually caused a bit of current in the air to rush back from him as well, the sound grating and ancient like an echoing pit in hell.

Acedia had never encountered the like before and her ability to reason gave way to frustration with her lack of usual forethought. It was her hunger and olfactory senses that instinctually registered the Reaper seemed even more alive and glowing than ever before. This creature had taken its very essence and somehow used it against her! They were more alike than she had ever imagined and the thought infuriated her further causing her to hurl the woman toward him.

No sooner than she had let go her prize did she see that beam of spirit coming for her, piercing the body of the woman, and burning a hole right through her own hand. Acedia fell face forward onto the ground with an anguished cry releasing all that pent up air from before. The miasma of her fetidness once more bathed the area and the weight of her spiritual pressure began to exude dark waves of gray that reeked of oppressive despair.

In falling prone, the trajectory of the attack singed a swath of hair from her right shoulder and these mangy wisps fell to the ground to curl up into a quivering rat’s nest, seemingly with life of its own. Illusion, no doubt, or a trick of the imagination. No matter; it stopped its quivers soon enough and was dispersed within the churning waves of spiritual energies the two were commanding. All the while her being continued to soak up what sensory flavors it could. She had felt his fear, his horror when he had first laid eyes upon her. It was the usual reaction for sensitive beings, but it was his panic there at the last that gave her a window of exploitation.

Guttural noises began to issue from beneath the ground, her mouth open and pressed into the pavement even as her talons raked across the sidewalk and moved to take up position to either side of her head. The noises became louder and as she pushed with her palms to raise herself slowly to hands and knees, to the horror of all who could hear, the sounds became distinguishable as laughter. Primal and raspy, her voice croaked out the chiding words with great relish and delight. ”You killed her”, her belly rumbled and rolled out her accusation to the Reaper.

This Hunter was not the only one who could harness spirit energy, and later she would ponder the words and find them fitting, for she too could hurl blasts of power through the air. Horizontal as she was, her stone white eyes peered unblinking at the man even as she gathered the energy for a cero attack within her gaping maw.

Intensifying her aura of despair she could feel him panic over the thought the girl was dead. Oh but that was prime sauce to the meat! For once she nearly felt this expenditure of her resources was worth it; nearly.  As she accumulated her energy crafting the Cero, she secured her stance mindful of the hole in her right hand. It would mend, but hungry as she was it would take a while unless she triumphed here today and had a proper feast. Who knew Reapers would be so slippery?

Yellow energy crackled out from the man and for a moment Acedia thought the attack was for her but soon enough she saw its intent as it wrapped about the fallen woman and he dragged her into his arms. She knew hurting the other Reaper would hurt him, had counted on it in fact, but the sight of his actions gave her pause. This emotion was recognizable, she had seen it countless times in the hospice centers where people waited on the sick to die. Worthless, he wasted precious time on this other when he could have attacked and gained the upper hand.

Too late!, she thought while tilting her head back to rest upon her shoulder blades and let fly her own energy assault. The focused ball of energy released, hovering but a fraction of a second before hurling across the distance and expanding into a wide beam of destructive force. Pavement shattered and flew up into the air to either side and the foreground where her prey lay and yet it was blocked from obliterating the pair. Rage filed Acedia over the capabilities of this Hunter, this plague on her existence and she channeled that to fuel her fire. Impotence at best, it was beyond bearing and her last vestige of attack.

Small comfort, the shattering of his protective wall. It would take too long to power up another Cero even if she had been able to muster a second volley so soon. Futility filled her, not a hard thing to do given her general outlook on existence, but immediacy also. Death might one day be her saving grace, an odd concept to be pondered later, but she had not the energy to take that final journey; not today. Self-preservation and caution kicked in despite the denial of her quality feed. Too costly. Acedia didn’t want to stick around and see what else it had up its sleeve, nor the woman either. Not dead?, she thought in disgust and defeat.

She slid her hands back and made the agonizing lurch to her full height of her twelve foot monstrosity. They were too strong. Those others of her kind had been right to fear. One might have been possible; she had nearly won out over the woman, but two together? That was truth. She needed a pack too. Plunging her hands into the crumbled up pavement, she raked the rubble toward them with both hands flinging heaps of stone, and turned to lurch away.

The scent of blood filled the air and her whole body quivered. Her hunger had not been sated, quite the opposite. She was hungrier than before because she had exerted herself so much. Hesitantly, and against her better judgement, she paused to look back at the hateful beings. Something glowed on the ground over the body of the woman, which barely registered on her brain as it was the man who took the bulk of her focus. He had to be joking, but this time she did not let loose with mirth as before.

Glowering at the Reaper, she saw a listless arm at his side and knew the blood was his. Little Miss Not Dead certainly hadn’t put up that energy field either and looked to be unable to do much of anything. Maybe she could eat sumptuously after all? Her mind was filled with the desire to overwhelm and obliterate the pair, to have a wealth of minions to swarm them with biting death and erase every speck from existence.

The thought made her stand especially erect, though even this straightening didn’t cause a neck to appear beneath that massive mound of a head. Odd lumps began to bulge across her surface, causing the fur to shift as they rose into being. Some held in place only to sink back down again while others of the lumps actually seemed to move beneath her skin. Her hair shivered in the wake of these motions before she began to walk forward toward the Reaper. Then whatever internal rumblings had caused the odd sight quelled showing no signs of having been at all.

Her lengthy strides took her swiftly, in great contrast to her lumbering gait, to within striking distance of the man. No horde suddenly appeared, nor did she expect such succor to magically appear. She knew about lamentation and was mistress to the futility of exceeding her limits. Acedia also knew that in order to feast on such a prize it would take more than just herself. At least she could exploit his emotions and use the girl against him while she tried to make her escape. Her strikes came with both hands as the bare and gangly limbs shot forth, attempting to slam him in the chest and hurl him back onto the glowing energy that was protecting the woman.

Her first strike was knocked off course by his little stick, though she was wincing a bit from the thwack it dealt. Even so she had scored his flesh releasing that heady smell that was his blood force. Her mouth gaped open a bit inhaling the fragrance causing her to salivate in anticipation. Her second blow caught him dead on and sent the hateful thing sailing. Much more satisfying. There was the feel of his body giving way, cracking beneath her powerful hand. He didn’t break the barrier over the girl but he had left her a small token of the meal to come.

Blood soaked talons corrected their course, and as she stepped forward her fingers raked the ground scooping up the bit of flesh and popping it into her mouth without even breaking stride. His cries of agony hinted at all the joy she would have making him sing out until his voice would break. Watching him make his feeble attempt to reach her actually caused Acedia’s stomach to rumble. The fool didn’t know when he was beaten and that was going to be so much fun to exploit. He was a complete mess but oh how much more she would take from him before at last she consumed his life.

Balling her fist up, she raised her hand seeking to pummel him into the ground when he spoke those odd sounding words. And then he was gone! No one was that fast, but she looked to the left and to the right anyway. He couldn’t have gotten to his feet anyway let alone run off. Her mouth dropped open even wider, perhaps in her astonishment, but assuredly to taste the air for a trace of her supper. She couldn’t sense him anywhere and it was a bit hard for her to understand. Before she was certain she had felt his protectiveness. Disappointed in her intuition, she assumed his own life meant more.

Let him run, use his spirit energy to disappear; there was still the girl. Altering her course she was at her side in but one stride, her fist coming down to slam into the barrier counting on it shattering as had the one from before. Half a feast was still a good meal. She could hardly wait to taste this woman with the glowing spirit.

Too quickly the tables turned. What was going to be an enjoyable meal turned into her complete and utter capture. She was certain that her death had come and she wailed her despair for all the world to hear. Pressed as she was into the ground she could barely make out the hateful creature gathering up the fallen woman and disappearing once more in a haze of red.

How long she bemoaned existence she could not tell. It was a wonder that some fell creature did not come to put an end to her wailing, but death did not come. Rather, the power that held her captive dissipated as well leaving her free to move. Listlessly she dragged herself up from the ground and shuddered. Turning for her lair, she lumbered across the ground unaware of the bulging lump of fur that was left in her wake. It appeared to be inert, perhaps some part of her being that had been severed by the chains of his prison spell, but then it too shuddered before rolling across the ground and with a bounce rejoined her form without even the slightest bit of notice from the pathetic behemoth.

//Exit