Earle felt the end was upon him. Darkness was all he could see. He could no longer follow his ambitions. No longer could he join the Kingdom's royal army, or the Rebel army, or the Demon King's army. Or even the Void army.
Ooooo~, voidly void hypnooosiiiiis~, void void~!
A mysterious voice penetrated the very depths of Earle's mind, reverberating an infinite number of times with each syllable. It was no more than a whisper, but it seemed so very... profound. Until it spoke again.
Hey, K'Zarin, help me out here! This is my first time doing void hypnosis on someone! What do you mean just do it? His brain is all messed up too... That might be my fault. This is nothing like what they taught us at the academy. Ah, whatever. We'll just try this for now.
Earle felt a little tickle in his brain and was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to consume eggs. Terror consumed him. He was about to lose his main motivation to leave home.
Oops. Void Hypnosis 101 says never to change preferences so blatantly. Gotta change that back.
The urge was gone. Relief washed over him. But he felt another tickle and the voice continued on.
Ok, I think I got it this time. Perfect. We should be able to take full control of his body whenever we speak the phrase. You want to do a full inspection now?
Control of his body? He would never give in to the vile Void beings! Unless they offered him a position in their army. Then he might consider it, so that he may bring honor to his family.
K'Zarin, you're saying the brain damage wasn't my fault? He was just born with it? But there's some really weird stuff in here... It's almost like someone else was messing with his brain before me. Hmm... Maybe I should fix him up a bit while I'm at it. Wouldn't do to have my first possession be a vegetable.
How absurd! Brain damage? Earle was perfectly functional! It felt like his brain was being pounded now. An intangible crack formed somewhere that it probably shouldn't have, sucking in everything it could with a voracious greed.
That should do it. Oooooo~, voidly void hypnosis memory wipe~! Wait, wait, wait, what is this!? It-it's pulling me in! K-K'Zarin, help! Don't walk away! I-if I'm being taken, you're coming with me! Get over here!
Fa'Rinia, you dumb whore! Why would you take me with you!? If you're going to die, die alone! This is why Lorkeen cheated on you! And you know what, I'm the one he cheated on you with!
Something shattered, and Earle's mind faded to darkness.
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"Mayid."
"Yes, Master?"
To Earle's left stood Mayid, and to his right stood a man in a white coat.
"Where is my bed, Mayid?"
There was a smirk stuck to Mayid's face.
"Whatever could you mean, Master? You're laying in your bed."
Earle propped himself up.
"Mayid. I mean my grandfather's bed."
"That bed?"
Mayid turned away, covering her face with both hands, pretending to sob.
"Master, when you fell into a coma, Mayid didn't know what to do... so Mayid gave away your bed in exchange for having the Kingdom's finest doctor treat you..."
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
"M-Mayid? What do you mean, you gave away my bed?"
This couldn't be. He was in shock. Mayid betrayed him.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but as it seems there are no issues with the patient, I will be taking my leave."
Mayid gave him a polite bow.
"No, no, I apologize for taking your time. Thank you for coming."
The man in the white coat opened the door to leave, and something quite strange happened. It was almost like Earle had double vision. The doctor definitely walked out the door, but...
"AAAAAAAAAH! NOOOO! PLEASE! HAVE MERCYYYY!"
There was a second version of the doctor who was pounding at the door, trembling with fear, desperately trying to escape the room. A gaping maw extended from Mayid's shadow to consume him, working it's way up from his feet. Slowly, ever so slowly, it chewed away at him. Bits of flesh and bone were scattered around as he struggled. When it had gotten halfway through, it took a short break, letting him lie on the ground with his intestines pouring out.
"Ah... Uuu..."
He was reduced to merely a torso, letting out unintelligible sounds. Then the shadow moved again, consuming the rest of him with a cute little nom nom. It was even courteous enough to clean up whatever mush it left behind before it retreated to Mayid's shadow. Earle was speechless for a moment.
"WHAT!? WHAT JUST HAPPENED!? DID YOU SEE THAT!?"
"See what, Master?"
Earle was starting to think he might have brain damage from that void spell. Void spell? Void... Something about the word tickled his brain, like he was forgetting something... Void hyp... Void hippies? It didn't matter, there was something more far more urgent!
"There was a, uh, a big THING! That came out of your shadow! And it ate that guy! And now he's dead! But he's also not dead!?"
"Whatever could you be on about now, Master?"
Mayid came closer to Earle and gave him a couple gentle pats on the head. She was entirely unfazed. Did she really, really not see that? It was, like, really loud. And messy. And disgusting. And gruesome. Earle almost forgot to throw up until he thought about it again. Bleeeeegh.
"Master. Could you not have waited until I was further away?"
"Apologies, Mayid. I didn't think it was worth giving such a courtesy to the one who gave away my grandfather's bed."
Surprisingly, Earle wasn't actually thinking about his bed. He just wanted to change the subject, feeling that the nom nom fiasco wouldn't be the best thing to linger on. Mayid was almost definitely lying. That thing did come out of her shadow, after all. If Mayid was really around since his great-grandfather's time, then it wouldn't be too farfetched for her to have some unusual aspects. Even Earle was aware of that much.
K'Zarin, I think we're still alive! But I couldn't really hear you back when we were being pulled in, can you say it again? I feel like it was really important...
Sigh... Don't even worry about it, Fa'Rinia.
"VOID HYPNOSIS!"
"Hm?"
Mayid, who was just about to continue on with her daily duties, gave Earle a concerned look. Almost like she suspected him of having brain damage.
"Master, should we call the doctor back in?"
"I DO NOT HAVE BRAIN DAMAGE!"
And Earle was pretty sure the dead doctor was the real one, so...
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"Master, are you sure you want to try going outside again? You already know what happened last time..."
"Mayid, there's no way that I go outside and there's some intangible void monster that only I can see hiding in my garden, ready to pounce on me."
"Master, I wouldn't say something like that, considering what happened previously..."
But Earle was determined. Today was the day he would go outside. Nothing could stop him now. Not even Mayid, who was now a somewhat really suspicious person to him.
"If that is what you want, then I will follow you, Master. I am contractually obligated to protect your family line, and considering that you are the last known member of your line, I must - unfortunately - go with you."
It kind of stung that she was only going with him because of her contract, even if she was highly suspicious. No matter. Earle once again reached his front door after walking through the halls of his mansion, and stopped to reflect. Today, he would say goodbye to the red carpets, the velvet curtains, the priceless paintings, and welcome a life of action and adventure. Preferably as part of a well established organization. None of that poor peasant adventurer shit. And he opened the door. The coast was clear.
"See, Mayid, what did I tell you?"
Earle walked forward, through his garden, toward the main gate. It would be a long walk. He decided to enjoy the flora as he strolled, letting his hand run through the well-trimmed bushes, playing wizard with some tree branches, bending down to smell some flowers...
Lo and behold! There was an intangible void monster hiding in the rose bush that Earle was just about to partake in sniffing!
"Mayid! Mayid! There's an intangible void monster!"
"Master, are you sure you don't have brain damage?"
An intangible void monster that only he could see! How bizarre! How unfortunate! The void monster pounced at Earle.