The voices swelled—slithering, cold, a chorus hissing kill, monster, die—then sharpened into something heavier, cutting through the dark of Raizen's room. "Face me." His head snapped up, eyes wide, breath catching hard—then the floor dropped out, or he did, darkness swallowing him fast, a sick twist in his gut like he'd fallen through ice. He landed—stone under his boots, cold and slick, air thick with rot and ash, pressing in tight. A shape loomed ahead, tall, blurred at first—then sharp, but wrong. No face—just a writhing mass, black fuel dripping slow, coiling like tendrils, red eyes glowing scattered across it, too many, blinking unevenly. It shifted, never still, stinking of oil and burnt meat, alive in a way that made Raizen's skin crawl.
The voice—louder, real—hissed, "Look. At. Me." slithering thick, curling around him like smoke he couldn't shake.
Raizen stood there, frozen—boots planted on the slick stone, chest tight, breath shallow and ragged. His hands hung at his sides, trembling faint, blanket still tangled around his legs back in the room, but here, just him and this thing, rooted in the black. The air buzzed with it—those red eyes glinting, some dim, some bright, watching him from the mass as tendrils writhed slow, dripping black globs that splattered the stone, hissing soft. He didn't move—couldn't—time stretching thin, the stink of rot clogging his throat, making his stomach churn. Seconds bled into minutes, maybe longer—his boots scuffed faint, a small grind against the stone, the only sound cutting through the drip-drip of fuel hitting the ground.
Then, slow, his voice cracked out, rough and small, "Who... who are you?" The mass tilted, tendrils curling tighter, and laughed—low, sharp, a sound that scraped the air, not scared, not even rattled, like Raizen was some kid asking a stupid question.
"Kezess." it said, voice slithering from nowhere and everywhere, those red eyes glinting harder, uneven flickers in the dark. "I'm you."
Raizen's brow furrowed, head jerking back a little, confusion knotting his gut. "What...what do you mean by that?" His voice shook, cracking on the edges, eyes darting around—nothing but black, endless, no walls, no light, just cold stone underfoot and that sour reek pressing in thicker. He stepped back, boots slipping a bit, breath hitching loud in the silence. "Where am I?" he asked, voice rising, rougher now, echoing faint into the void before it died, swallowed by the dark.
The mass shifted—tendrils coiling higher, red eyes blinking slow. "This is your mind," Kezess said, voice low, rough, cutting through the black like a blade dragged on stone. The fuel dripped faster, pooling around where a face should've been, glistening wet in some unseen flicker, stinking worse now, sharp and acrid.
Raizen's hands clenched, nails biting his palms—felt the sting, but it didn't anchor him. "Why are you in my mind?" he snapped, voice breaking, confusion spilling into something jagged. The mass quivered—laughed again, short and bitter, a grunt that echoed off invisible walls. "Your soul's bound to mine," Kezess said, voice thick, old, heavy with something Raizen couldn't place. "Reincarnation—my curse, stuck with you." A tendril lashed out, splattering fuel on the stone near Raizen's boots, hissing loud—then Kezess muttered, "F*ck you! Karagan!" low and mean, like spitting out bad meat.
Raizen blinked hard, head tilting. "W-who?" he stuttered, voice tripping, eyes wide, searching the writhing mass—those red eyes didn't flinch, just stared back, scattered and cold.
"Never mind," Kezess growled, tendrils curling back, fuel dripping in thick strands now, splattering the stone with wet slaps. The mass leaned closer—red eyes glinting uneven, voice dropping low. "Why are you here, huh?No power, no skill, no mother—no nothing.Just a weak little shit, kicked around since you could walk." The eyes narrowed, some dimming, some flaring. "The people who have stepped on you—that maid's sneers,Teriel's fists,all that filth—how do you not hate them? Not one dark thought?It's beyond me."
Raizen's breath hitched, hands shaking harder—he didn't answer, just stared, mind spinning slow. The mass pressed closer, tendrils writhing, that stink of oil and rot so thick he could taste it, sour on his tongue. "I can give you my power," Kezess said, voice slithering again, rough and tempting. "You'd be untouchable—burn them down, make them choke on it. Maybe then you'd change your mind." The tendrils flared, dripping more, black pools spreading on the stone, hissing louder—those red eyes glowed bright, waiting, watching.
Raizen stood still, frozen—eyes dropping to the stone, breath shallow, uneven. His mind flickered—not to Tabitha's sharp laughs or Teriel's bruising grip, but to Ryan's freckled face, small and quiet, asking "Rai?" that day in the mud. To the old cook who'd slipped him a warm roll, hands wrinkled, muttering "eat up." when no one saw. To the stableboy who'd grinned, gap-toothed, over a spilled bucket before the Marquess barked them straight. Those scraps—few, yeah, but solid—glowed faint in the mess of his head, cutting through the black like sparks in a storm.
He looked up slow, eyes meeting those scattered reds—Kezess's mass loomed, waiting, but Raizen's voice came steady, quiet, rough around the edges. "I don't care," he said, words heavy, deliberate, cutting the silence. "Becoming strong—it has no meaning if there aren't any people to share your strength with." His hands unclenched, hanging loose at his sides, still trembling faint—the red eyes flared, some blinking out, some burning brighter, like they'd heard wrong.
Then Kezess laughed—loud, raw, a bark that bounced through the dark, splitting the air like a crack in stone. "No meaning?" he echoed, voice thick with mockery, tendrils thrashing now, fuel splattering wide. "You're a damn fool, your kid." The mass shifted—red eyes glowing hotter, black coils rising higher, dripping thick and stinking—but Raizen didn't flinch, didn't speak, just stood there, boots planted, breath uneven, staring back as the laugh rang on, sharp and mean, cutting through the black.