The night before, Whisper had gone to dinner with a man named Aren after he knocked her to the ground by mistake. This morning, she sat on a bench in a park, observing everyone around her. Whatever force was causing the intense headache that Andromeda and White were feeling hadn’t gone away, and if anything it had gotten worse. This meant both Andromeda and Whisper had been quiet for most of the day, trying to avoid doing anything that would stress them. Fortunately, Andromeda managed to get a handle on keeping Whisper in control without too much stress, so they weren’t stuck at the office. Whisper had the idea that a more serene venue might help ease their minds, no one was confident, but it was better than the alternative.

She chose a park to rest in, a short distance from Gram’s office. Andromeda received a letter from him saying he was going to be spending the night in another part of town, presumably to help lock down whatever his plan was. It had the side benefit of giving Whisper time to “practice” something.

In her time being “in the front” so to speak, Whisper discovered what changed when she was in control. Andromeda’s use of magic was limited entirely to when she was in control and most of her body being present, whereas White’s Mending Aura was limited to her being present in some form. Because of the nature of Whisper’s existence, she could still affect people regardless. Whether she was in control or not.

In reality, something more fundamental had changed in her. Something she didn’t realize until the night before when she was with Aren. Normally, when she was resting in Andromeda’s mind, she had no capability to see the thoughts or feelings of another unless she jumped over to them. Once she was there, it was just like being in Andromeda’s mind, only there was no substance because of the lack of White holding it together. Without that structure, the thoughts and feelings she could parse were only the surface level.

But while she was in control, that all changed. It was like there was no difference between a person and their mind. Just a vague tapestry of thoughts and feelings that interweaved between reality and imagination.

She turned to look at a man who was sitting on a bench next to a woman. Even though he was too far away to hear naturally, she could hear him speak in his mind which allowed her to know what he said regardless. The woman, when not speaking, was thinking about how much she wished she could stand up and walk away, but she didn’t want to be rude. Her idea was that if she waited long enough, she could think of an excuse to leave.

Whisper turned again, a pair of boys were playing on the swing. The boys had gotten into a fight, so they were trying to settle their dispute by seeing who could jump the farthest. When they jumped, she could feel the adrenaline like it were her own. When they landed, the fight they had before had faded from mind, and they were just excited to see who could fly farther.

Once again, she turned to see two men arguing a fair distance away., a fight over a girl, as far as she could tell. The bubbling anger in their hearts and the heat in their faces felt as close as the afternoon sun on her cheek.

It wasn’t just that she could feel and hear their thoughts, she could manipulate their minds to a certain extent, far greater than she could otherwise. In this state, it wasn’t just suggestions and whispering, it was being able to introduce new ideas all together.

She found another man sitting alone, his face was neutral and calm, but she could feel in his heart that he was hurting due to the loss of his beloved dog. She could feel the pain in his heart, as well as the pain he put himself through to hold it down. Blaming himself in totality for not doing enough to save his best friend. She could tell from his logical thoughts that the dog was just old and had passed on peacefully, but because he had accidentally tripped on her the night before, he felt as though it was his fault.

With the consent of both Andromeda and White, she reached into his mind and placed a small thought in his head. To tell him that he beloved companion would be far more upset to see him blame himself for its loss than if he remembered the happy times they had together and cherished them as a gift. The man’s eyes widened slightly, and a single tear fell from his cheek, he wiped it away quickly and turned his mind to the first time he found his dog as a puppy.

Everyone she could see, she could feel. Not just people, but the animals, and the insects. There was a hum of activity in both her ears and mind, everyone around her just going on their way, living their life. It was peaceful.

Then, it all changed in front of her.

The world was blanketed in snow and ice, dilapidated buildings surrounded her on all sides, the sky was white and swirling with tearing winds. Oil Lamps ballooned with light against the snow and frigid air, barely able to produce enough light to force the street to be lit.

The ground around her was littered with bodies, all covered in thick layers of clothing, but all in various stages of decay. She looked up, down the street into the swirling storm that threatened to tear everything to the ground. There was something at the edge of her limited vision.

She couldn’t move, the figure at the edge of the storm approached. The whiteout prevented her from seeing any details, but an intense fear built up in her chest. As the figure got closer, the fear grew in her, overtaking her whole body.

It was closer, but its features were no more clear.

No… It was because they didn’t exist.

Its form was a gnarled mess of black rope, writhing incoherently, What passed for a head swung back and forth like a doll, limp and lifeless, but moving through a force unseen. It came closer, it’s body unraveling and turning in on itself in a way that no form made of flesh could ever hope to imitate. It dragged forward, until its form laid right in front of her, its body became still.

“Do you find peace, Aberration?” The figure gurgled, its voice wavered as much in the wind as in whatever foul hole made the noise. Whisper could not speak, she couldn’t move, her eyes were locked on the being in front of her.

“You desacralize your purpose, playing mortal, looking into their souls. You should feast on them, on everything, to play at anything else is to be not.” It said.

The howls of the wind grew ever louder, the cold air bit like a pack of starving wolves. Even the air itself seemed to become heavier with every word. Her body was frozen solid.

“I am, and will be. You are nothing, and will never be. Your existence is Anathema.”

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Whisper couldn’t force herself to look away, it’s form dangled mere inches from her eyes. The fear she felt in her body worked down to her very bones, even her soul felt the cold reach of its unknowable gaze.

“The mage bound you, locked you away from your purpose. Your hunger is what you are, it is all you will ever be. There is no you, just the hunger. You are a vessel for its will, a tool for its pleasure. This mage made you something else, something wrong.”

Deep in the depths of her being, farther than her form of flesh could ever feel, she felt the distant memory of the hunger. Fathomless and dark.

“You are not real, what you think you are is just the illusion of a flesh prison. To be used as a tool by the mage, and discarded when it is convenient. You are not real. You are Anathema.”

The hunger rose inside her, the terrible, unquenchable hunger, so deep and dark that she felt as small as she felt toward the storm.

“Your kind are the first to go, and in the time of final hatred they shall suffer the longest. Know that your dalliance with sanctuary in flesh will be the nail that delivers you from your delusions.”

It’s form came close, and wrapped itself around her, she could feel the frigit touch of it’s existence on her skin more than the biting cold of the air. He reached close to her ear.

“And beyond all of that… All the damnation the mage as thrust upon you…”

It paused.

>You speak in her voice.<

Then It was all gone.

Whisper was back on the bench in the park, the man and woman talking, the children on the swings jumping, the man thinking of his dog musing, it was all back. The sun was on her cheek, the voices and hum of the world around her were back, and everything was just as it was before. But even with all that, it felt as though she was still in the middle of a blizzard.

She turned inward, getting in contact with Andromeda and White.

“H-Hey guys, h-how are you doing?” She thought, she was strangely calm as she spoke. Despite what she saw, her heart was steady in her chest. Despite that, she shivered.

I’m feeling like hell and Andromeda’s not far behind me, what’s up?

“I… I saw something just now. Did you see it too?” She asked.

Nothing out of the normal, but you were out there for a moment, What did you see?

“I saw something strange, it was like I was-” She thought, but her attention was caught by a man in the distance leering around the corner of a building. The only reason she was distracted was because of a strange feeling going through his mind.

Whisper?

“One moment, I’m sensing something weird.” Whisper thought.

Just as Andromeda wasn’t noticed by people as she was about, Whisper experienced the same thing. She would walk by someone, and they would barely register her presence, and in some cases they would almost run into her if she didn’t jump out of the way. Regardless of the reason for this, it was useful for getting around.

Wisper walked around the perimeter of the park, keeping a passing gaze on the man at the edge to get closer. She didn’t need to get closer to get a better read, but she didn’t want him to suddenly take off and for her to lose him. The feeling she got from his mind was unlike anything else she felt, and in a terrifying way, it also felt familiar.

Red Hair

White Hair

Black Hair

Silver hair.

These words repeated over and over in his head, just on constant loop without stop. Unlike every other mind she had sensed, there were no stray thoughts, no mental images, nothing but the word and the image related. Beyond that, there was a strange hum in his head that was ever present, even when the words repeated in his mind the hum was there.

There was an overbearing feeling of fatigue in his body, the kind that would make any normal person want to keel over and pass out. But when she looked at him, there was no suggestion that he was tired at all. Against her better judgement, she walked up to him and tapped on his shoulder. He had apparently completely missed her because he practically jumped out of his own skin.

“GAH, WHAT?!” He hollered in response. His mind exploded into a flurry of questions, everything from whether she would be a threat to his mission, to whether he could covertly take her out without anyone noticing. When he noticed that half the park was looking in his general direction, he put that thought to bed and calmed himself.

“What?” He asked firmly. Whisper knew his observation of her was that she wasn’t a risk, so she leaned into it and played innocent.

“You were kind of glaring over here, I was worried something was wrong. Are you looking for someone?” She said. Impressively, while alarms in his mind went off like crazy, his face stayed perfectly neutral. Then the hum that she heard earlier returned.

“Yes, I am. I need to go. Do not follow me.” He said aggressively. It wasn’t loud enough that anyone around them could hear him, but he practically growled.

“That’s alright, I was just concerned, is all.” Whisper said. Without saying anything, he turned around and walked down the alley he was in and quickly turned a corner. Obviously, she got close enough to take a peak around the corner. There was another man sitting down in a chair reading a book, the man she just spoke to was set against the building just next to the man.

She was too far to hear them properly, but because their words passed through their minds first, she could tell what they were saying regardless.

“Potential Target Identified, Black hair, unnatural skin tone.”

“Possible, Before we pursue, an order came down from on high, Sherchower is resisting. His attaché called us back to assist.”

“Understood, what should we do about the potential target?”

“Leave it for now. We can’t afford to blow our cover.”

The two men then stood up and took off.

“Guys, we have a problem.” Whisper thought.

What is it?

“Does the name “Sherchower” mean anything to you?” She thought.