Real past of Ryu. Hope notifactions are appearing in the dream like state though.
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"Hey sweetie, I know the costume I made for you isn't the best, but please try to have some fun tonight, alright?" my sweet mother said as she looked me up and down like some sorta of failed experiment.
We are in California right now about to go out trick or treating, this stuff is bizarre to me, never did anything like this back home. I'm dressed like some sort of devil type thing that my mother tried to replicate with far too much fabric, tape, and much love. We are holed up in a fairly nice hotel room that was paid for by my father.
I don't know my father well, for some reason he always seems so busy, I mean sure I saw him a few times, but he always.. looked at me strange and never made any effort to even say a simple "Hi." Nope, nada. Any interaction with him was when my mother was with me and strung me along to go with him.
Something always felt odd about him. I knew it in my 8 year old heart already. He hated me. I don't know why or how, but I could tell from the ever so slight snicker of a look on his face when he looked at me.
-10 Hope, total is now 41%. Notifications enabled again.
"What was that blue light mommy? I think it's in english?"
"What, honey? Are you okay? The only thing blue are some tiles in the bathroom silly!" She spoke jokingly but held her hand over my head inspecting me. It was warm.. so warm. Mom.. I miss you.
-15 Hope, total is now 26.
Why would I be missing her? She's right here! I grabbed my mom as tight as I could and clung to her leg. I'm not a baby! but.. for some reason.. water just flew down my face like a broken facuet.
"Aww sweetie.. Don't tell me my design skills are that bad now!" She looked around sheepishly and landed her hand on some tissues that laid out for my makeup, wiping my face with it she spoke.
"Devils are supposed to be scary, and Angels strong and loving! Also, don't you dare ruin my art!" She said teasingly.
"I'm sorry Ryu, I thought it would be a neat idea to have a half-devil half-angel costume, you can take it off if you want." a sad poof of air came out my mom's mouth.
"NUuuuu! Lets go mom!" I loved it if it was from her, I grabbed her hand and rushed towards the door.
We rushed out the hotel and saw the night filled with orange glows and faces of every monster imaginable walking through the busy streets, bags full of candy.
I wasn't used to America or Halloween, but hot damn did I love free candy. We spent all night getting candy knocking on people's homes like little solicitors begging for candy.
To my surprise though, most people didn't mind, and happily gave some out, even a few homes had giant candy bars, to me they where the angels as opposed to my right side. Throughout the night I was complimented a lot actually which felt weird to me.
"So cool!" Other little kids near me spoke.
"Whoaa! Look at his devil side, his eyes are black even! Contacts?" An older trick or treater croaked to others
"I don't know if I should be scared of you, or in love with those cute angelic eyes!" A granny said as she tossed some skittles in my bag.
A sense of pride filled me towards my mother from all the compliments. She just let me have them too, never butted in or claimed her handiwork, just stood there was a wide smile.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
+ 5 Hope, total is 31
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End of the true past for Ryu
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Dark clouds swirled in the air, feelings of hiding crept through my spine like a lone spider of the night on a hunt. Amidst the opening of hell itself in the air burst glowing red hot coals of lava being flung onto the street like giant chunks of hail in a blizzard.
Car alarms went off, children screamed, parent ran to pick them up, and doors slammed closed. I was looking for my mother after being lost in the transonic state of the sky.
Right in front of me lay her burnt face staring into my soul as an arm was crept towards me. There was no light in her eyes. There was no body left below her waist, only a giant black sphere with lava cracks around it lay on her back where the rest of her body should be.
+ 635 Hope, exceeded capacity, total is 100%
I felt no remorse, no tears crept down my eyes, only one emotion swirled through me. Hatred.
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POV change, female trick or treater, age 12. Mixed with some narrative view. It's hard for me to tell a story in the eyes and vocabulary of a 12 year old.
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In the sky, black clouds were moving like in stormy coloring books. I liked to draw swirls to make em look real. It was so pretty! Something I never drew before happened though, orange cracks of almost lightning shot out.
Big circles of black and orange fell to the streets, it was raining em. Right before my eyes my father was shattered by it.
I didn't have time to react, or know what to do, why did this happen? People were dying left and right. I just.. buckled my knees and started crying.
What looked like a thin tall devil ran by me and swept me from my feet, holding me slouched in one arm. I was screaming, kicking with all my might.
"LET ME GO!".
The devil looked at me, blackness in his eyes. This was no costume. I could see his breath shoot small mists of lava out as he ran. I started punching and grabbing into his eyes to let me go. It didn't effect him at all.
"Bleu Tiz eh Noa Zall"
His slender fingers slowly moved over my face to my lip, I could feel his long black nail scrape into my skin leaving a trail of blood across my cheek. His eyes looked like a galaxy of orange stars floating in blackness. Slowly his hand encased my head. Slowly the world faded. Slowly I spoke. "Daddy.."
I closed my eyes, I tried my best to struggle free, but this monster was too strong. I heard loud sounds of splattering, my heart stopped thinking it was from me. Slowly one of my eyes opened. A small kid, half the size of me, was holding the devil's hand, but. It wasn't attached to the devil anymore. I fell down onto the street as the devil's grip was released with his pain.
Looking at the kid in shock, he started beating the devil with it's own hand, blood squirting all over parts of the white costume. Bones were cracking under his strength, blood was oozing from nail induced wounds. A loud screeching sound in a language no one knew was echoed in the chaotic streets. The devil croaked over in death.
The boy looked at me, his eyes even scarier than the demon. One black like the night, but didn't hold orange galaxies in it, no.. It held hatred. The other was white like an angel though, feelings of safety swept over me from it. I was confused.
"Than-"
He was gone.
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POV Change, Ryu
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Gasping for air as I shot into a sitting position from the forest ground. I was now sitting near a campfire I don't remember making, thinking over what just happened. Before I could even start to think, I felt cold blood on my arm, looking down I could see the flimsy arm of a goblin clasped in mine. It's knuckles broken. Inspecting the camp further I could see at least 10 more goblins that were beyond repair. Arms missing, legs, their fucking head. Blood filled the forest ground like a pool with the capacity of an Abyss. My hair stood straight up, my arms glowing red, my vision tinted ever so slightly the same fucking color.
Level up!
You are now a level 6 Crimson Paladin. This level unlocks a passive to spec into, choose wisely!
Hopeless Fool: You can never die by normal means, only through Lost Hope, but, you feel 10 times the normal amount of pain compared to before. Depending on the sitaution, even the strongest willed people will lose Hope under extreme pain.
Protective Fool: You lose all feelings of pain, but Hope can only reach 20% max at any time. This does affect you mentally, Paladin.
Simple Fool: You choose no passive, not willing to commit to either drastic choice.