The Hardest Battles aren't Fought With a Sword [OPEN]

[hardestbattle]

WHO: Senua (hardestbattle) & YOU
WHAT: Hunting a twisted figure, attempting to survive a phobia
WHERE: THE MALL
WHEN: August Event
WARNINGS: nyctophobia, language, violence, potential self-harm and graphic imagery, depression, horror, spoilers


I – Sins of The Father (Spoilers)

[Senua’s fears, her anxieties. Her anger.

It was there. It was all there in front of her. In the shape of that hooded figure of a man. It isn’t a man, not really. Not in her eyes, and it showed. It showed with the way he moved. How mishappen his body appeared underneath the cloak. Or, rather, the near lack of form. He seemed more wraith-like. More like a ghost wrapped in a black burial shroud. Tendrils of black surrounded him like smoke.

Flies seemed to buzz about him. This is less man, more monster.

His shape seemed to shift, always distorted, but always recognizable. And Senua hated it, she knew who he is. She was afraid, she was trembling, she was angry.]

"Run"
"Hide"
"He's here!"
"It's him, why is he here?"
"How?"
"The Darkness! The Light! Get into the Light!"
"Senua!"
"Don't look!"
"Don't!"

[The voices all chimed in at once. Each one a chorus in it’s own right. Each one bubbling forth, vomiting out whatever words it wanted to frantically. Senua knew the cause for their distress, knew it was that thing in front of her. The Darkness. The one she’d fought against, denied, had let go of. But he was here.]

Look at you... Running forward but moving backwards to wallow in your miserable past.

[The thing spoke. It’s voice echoed all around. Through. Slithering into her ears. Slithering into the ears of those that could see it, hear it. Poisonous words meant for the Pict, but also seemed to be directed at others. At you. Mocking, painful. Itching and picking at past wounds and scars and fears. Past failures and horrors.

The figure is far away, yet that horrific, pale, twisted mouth seemed to project itself. The image of the hooded face, close, next Senua, next to those close to her. It floated and hovered. It was there, but not there. Like a hologram. Like an illusion. But it was real. It felt real. The breath is real. That stench is real.

This is a regular person, however. Distorted and twisted by how Senua had come to view him. But still a person. Despite the way their form seemed distorted. Despite how much of a corpse they seemed.]

You… YOU! Get back here!

You betrayed your own father, you betrayed the gods… Don’t let your darkness hurt anyone else. Just like your mother.

Fuck you! Fuck the gods! You don’t speak for the gods! And it wasn’t the gods who killed her! It was you! Get! Back! Here!

[Senua’s voice called out after him as the figure retreated into the darkness. Prompting her to step into its direction. Illusion or not. Trap or not, she couldn’t let him go. She had to… she had too…!

Senua follows further into the dark. Blinded by her anger. Deaf to all as the voices continued to follow her. She’s going to need help.]

II – Escape the Mall!

[Senua did not like the dark, never did. It was worse now as she was older and could place all of her demons and fears into it. The lack of light was suffocating to her. The coldness, the inability to see clearly. The way it all closed in around her, crushing her. Senua did not like it. It left her feeling frantic and desperate as she moved around the mall.

She had gotten better at it, she told herself. Better at navigating in the dark, banishing those fears.

But what was there to banish when the walls themselves closed in all around her? When an open space feels like an abyss? Senua breathed slowly, in and out, in and out. She did her best, she really did. But her heart pounded in her ears. The whispers around her, the Furies, they begged her. They implored her, to stay in the light. To stay where the danger could not reach her.

To stay out of that pit. Out of that room.

She did her best to press on. She really did. And yet-

She was now huddled against a wall. Her face buried in her knees. Unresponsive. Breathing heavily. Breathing deeply.]

[WILDCARD]

[ooc; don’t see anything you like? Wanna plot something specific? No worries! Feel free to contact me via pm, discord, or at mr_cynicalperson. Or just drop me something random and I’ll follow along!]