Chapter 4_Eldritch

I wake up!

Sweat coated I try to clear my blurry vision and lift myself to a sitting position.

My head is buzzing and I have trouble focusing.

I open my eyes after some adjustive blinking...

and look at a planetary necklace.

"Are you kidding me?!" (I)

* Kidding

Huh?

Who said that?

I look around, but cannot make anything out.

All I disturbingly can recognize are the sidelines of the eel-lake.

Yet without eels.

All that remains is an abundance of bones that apparently accumulated on its grounds.

It seems this dream isn't through with me yet.

I have a weird taste in my mouth that simply isn't recognizable, but certainly not pleasant.

While I feel totally creeped out, I start to remember my last moments.

Promptly, I begin to check my body for any eels.

What the fuck is this!?

My hands are blackened claws!

Creepy, dangerous, yet slender-looking, elongated claws in pitch black.

And they feel normal.

Like my hands.

There is no discomfort or a foreign sensation.

Which is unsettling in itself as the number of joints is one too many for each finger.

For some reason, I still have my nightclothes on, which look like new.

Taking my hands into account something obviously happened, yet my clothes conflict that idea.

In the end, I best put this all on dream logic.

It might be better to get this all out of your head, Iori.

Just think straight!

* Straight

Again!?

And again I find no one around.

While trying to stand up I discover that my body feels weirdly light and all my exhaustion is gone.

I feel good!

Really good!

* Good

This is getting annoying.

Also, despite feeling well, as soon I try to support my weight I lose my balance and topple down.

The reason becomes quickly apparent.

My feet!!

My feet turned into some bizarre kind of beast paws.

I cannot really discern the animal.

Cat or dog maybe.

But elongated.

Like in some of those werewolf films.

And black as well.

So maybe a panther's?

The problem with my balance is that I anatomically can now just use my toes to stand, which greatly differs from before.

Also, I start to notice some kind of itch beneath my pants.

The disturbing reason for that is that I apparently grew a black pelt on my legs.

At least it's silky.

Really, like a cat's.

As changes keep piling up I grow more and more distressed.

Iori, calm down!

It's just a dream!

It's supposed to be weird!

Only a dream!

* Dream

Once again this echo.

Here isn't even anything that could produce it.

Trying again to stand up, setting my uncommon abundance of energy against distressing body changes I manage to rise.

The paws I stand on are strong enough to maintain a stable posture.

It's certainly wobbly, but I can make steps.

Slow and carefully, to make sure that I won't topple down, but steady.

I again head in the direction of the touching point between the planets and walk forward.

This plane has really nothing going for it.

No redeemable points.

No change of this purple color.

Nothing!

* Nothing

That's extremely bothersome.

But I don't grow exhausted and can walk steady, as these weird lycanthrope paws aren't deterred by the ground.

Even the sharp stones aren't hurting like before.

"Gruuuhhh!"

Wh-what?

Not again!

I look to the source and find again a maw-monster.

Panicking I lose my already bad balance and fall on my knees.

The thing draws close and frantic I try to get again on my feet.

Or whatever it is.

"N-no! Let off! Go away! I don't want this! Leave!" (I)

Like on command the monster jumps at me.

My panic grows uncontrollably.

"Ieeekh!" (I)

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Suddenly billions of strands or tendrils are erupting out of me.

From my arms, my torso, my legs, and even my hair it rushes out, shaping itself into the strangest forms of dark lines while crossing the distance to this monster.

My body shifts on its whole front and opens up in an endless accumulation of unspeakable terror.

"Aahhgckh!" (I)

The sight alone is enough for me to have a complete mental breakdown, and I choke on my own scream.

Unable to say a word I lose control over my body, yet whatever grew there already spread so far that the remaining rest of mine is easily supported in the air.

Effortlessly it catches the maw-monster.

It gets pierced, wriggled around, and like a fish caught by countless hooks pulled in my direction.

Now it tries panicked to get away but is held tight.

While the considerable distance between us gradually decreases, I again find enough thought for undertaking my own actions.

I try to rip those strands away, which pull the monster closer.

But they are incredibly durable.

While I manage to separate some, there are countless more which pull and new joints form with every passing second.

Soon it reaches the hole of terror my whole front turned into and all the tendrils pull it inside.

I don't want to see this, close my eyes and cover them with my clawlike hands.

However, I feel what happens.

As soon as the monster passes the borders tentacles grow over it, closing my chest and stomach again.

After this, there is just nothing.

Well, I feel an absolutely frightening crawling everywhere on my body, but the movement of this monster ceases rapidly until it completely dies out.

A short time, later the crawling settles down.

I feel how the tendrils pull themselves back inside me and my torso closes.

The tendrils weave into each other in increasingly fine patterns, forming a smooth surface, which feels like my skin.

After a while, I manage to open my eyes again.

Nothing!

* Nothing

I just sit there, but nothing is around me.

My clothes are also like before.

They should be torn after what just happened.

Not looking normal.

They cannot!

* Cannot

"Uuuh, shut up!!!" (I)

Despite having lost it by now, I kind of mechanically strobe my body.

Nothing.

Oh, good.

No echo!

There is really nothing out of the ordinary with my body.

Promptly something shifts at my shoulder.

I directly pull the shirt away.

First, it does just prickle, then something forms on the surface.

The next moment I see some kind of face with an extremely elongated mouth.

It looks and feels like it screams, but no sound escapes.

Just silence.

Then for a moment, the face distorts in an even more unsettling grimace.

And disperses away.

Completely vanishing.

Was that this monster?

Did it just... die?

In me?

I... I feel...

"Bluuurgh!" (I)

I cannot stand this anymore and feeling this sick and disgusted I start to vomit.

I sense this strange unpleasant taste again.

It all flushes out of my mouth.

Sludge.

This is all that comes to my mind at this distressing sight.

Under me forms a whole puddle and despite being fluid this stuff is of such a dirty pitch black that it only reminds me of certain horror movies.

And this all is horror!

After another gallon, which makes it too much to have been easily contained inside me, I fall down.

Directly on this puddle.

Grossed out I try to stand up.

But then I lose hold.

Even more, I lose my grounding and fall through the surface the puddle made up.

In a blink, I am drowning in a completely black sea.

Thinking for a moment that it doesn't seem like I might make my journey to this border point between the planets, suddenly there is a drain.

Seconds later, I get flushed with incredible force.

I feel how I get expelled out of this fluid, finding myself again on this weird planet.

Yet when I look up I find that I am much closer to the point where the planets meet.

I notice under me another small black puddle and scurry fast away, reminiscing what this stuff can do.

Looking at the planets, I can see some kind of tower that links them in the middle.

This makes a fine destination and so I again stand up, pushing all the recent happenings away in the furthest corner of my mind.

"Gruuuuhh!"

No!

"No! Not again! Leave me be! I don't want! AWAY!!!" (I)

I scream at this monster and like on order the strands are rushing out again.

Again tying themselves around this thing.

Again pulling it to me.

Again my body terrifyingly opens up and sucks it in.

And again it leaves no trace that anything happened at all.

I just kneel there.

Devastated!

This all is far too much for me.

Ince more I feel a shift inside me that tries to get to the borders.

Yet different to the face, this one doesn't even make it to my outer layer but gets mercilessly snuffed out inside.

Too much!

This dream is too much!

Whatever happens, I don't want to remember anything about it!

I think I'm losing my mind!

"Wheeeh!"

Another scream from the distance, drawing closer.

"No! No, no, no! Please, not! Please, stop it!" (I)

My eyes get teary, but as soon I take my hand from them I see black fluid.

Again black sludge, only this time from my eyes.

What is even going on here?

Having lost my control, despite being creeped out I keep on crying.

Soon I can see this new monster.

It's some kind of hound, more a hell-hound completely covered in reddish-black scales.

It takes a moment in my sorry quivering state to realize that my eyes are closed due to crying and it is behind me.

And another moment to realize why I can still see it.

The back of my head!

I did grow an eye there with which I watch this thing right now.

This isn't even helping in the slightest with my condition and unresponsive I disconnect myself from anything.

"WHEEEEHHHHHH!!" (hellhound)

It lets out an ear-piercing howling sound that makes my blood freeze and runs at me.

Like this, it happens automated.

Mostly my hair this time, which visibly elongates, gains in volume, spreads out, and as a huge mass catches this thing.

Then it pulls its prey back to me, it gets entangled until it's no more to be seen, loses form, and ultimately dissipates like all the others.

I don't want to think about it but stay unmoving.

Yet this cruel dream world isn't done with me.

Even if all that I am capable to do at this point is whimpering on the ground.

I start to see in different directions at the same time when to my dismay all around me eyes open up on my free body parts.

But even more terrible is what they spot.

After that loud howl, multiple other of these creatures advance from all directions to my position.

As ravenous as they are they lose no time to rush at me.

I don't want this!!!

They soon come in reach and promptly a good part of them gets caught by the strands summoned from my hair and some tendrils extending out from my back.

But it doesn't end with just this.

I cried so much that again a puddle formed below me.

Abruptly this one extends and like a growing shadow of absolute darkness starts to cover the whole ground.

Some of these monsters turned already away to flee but the shadow is faster.

The creatures sink in like in tar and so their movements are restricted.

Next, several more black strands are extending out of this substance and pull them below.

A moment later the sludge drains back to me and pulls all the creatures with it.

My body opens up in all directions so that just my shoulders and head remain.

I can't even cover my head like this and cry on and on.

Many got already lost, drowning in this black fluid.

But others get sucked inside this living nightmare my own body became now.

They soon are all pulled in by the tendrils.

While there are many dozens, it doesn't take long.

Also, the sludge somehow gets absorbed at contact with my body.

Like this, all these existences end.

Well, not like this.

In a last grand finale, all the entities move from inside me out to my borders.

And one after the other they expire on their way.

And this is it.

Chapter 4

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