Solo The Lies of Reincarnation

[Lenz]

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2nd of Summer, 514 AV

It was cold. However, it wasn’t cold in the physical way. The substance of chill had started to leaked further into the porous material of her ripened heart. It was breaking, pulling out the seams that held it flush with the rest of its body.

She was chilled this afternoon, her skin blossoming with bumps, her hairs rising in protest to the shivers that crept across her frigid flesh. Her teeth had started to chattered, threatening to hack away at the enamel that remained. She had clenched her teeth to avoid injury and now she was holding her arms closer to her mid-section, hoping for warmth to prevail and win the battle with the cold.

Her hair was beguiled into attaching itself to the little beads of sweat that had formulated along her hair line. They ran down her neck, staining her skin with their salty composition.

She started to hear music as she walked the endless expanse of pathways, rounding corners that didn’t seem there and dodging past obstacles that posed themselves strewn about the premises she trampled by.

The music was explicit, obscene as it traveled through one ear and dislodged its melancholy tune out the other. It caused her to cry, something she seldom did. Up until now, she had attempted with all the strength available to her to muster to not break the dam that held back the storm raging on inside of her.

Today was different. Today portrayed no delusions, for everything was depicted with logic, yet without. There was no reasonable understanding behind death. The term itself hindered the possible assumptions at attaining the full grasp on the word.

At this particular moment in time, Lenz was caught in a void of despair, contempt, enragement and lust. She craved vengeance; however, she wasn’t seeking it out this very second. She was absorbed in her mind, plastered to the walls by the adhesive of which was her soul. It had been corrupted by the foul presence of hostility and vague dismemberment.

She, herself, felt dismembered, eternally, having been thrown into a crypt and left to die without any last words longing to expel themselves from her chapped and dying lips.

She was fading now, holding onto the last strands of thread that compacted all her sanity within the small fibrous bands of material of which it had been crafted from.

She was losing it, be it hope, faith, love, character, even her soul was being condemned to the affiliations of exploitation. She was drained from her original disposition. That calm, collected, relatively friendly and brave stature she had held her head high at for all this long had vanished. It had been depleted and deprived from by the starving individual of Dira herself.

She was manipulated, held up by strings of the motivation desires of everyone surrounding her. Finally, today she had been cut. She no longer stood by passively and watched her body being tormented by insults and actions that could span her misery for years to come.

She, today, had her mind back. She could do what she pleased and would do what she pleased had she any determination. As of right now, she felt no intention of doing anything besides the act of wandering in an aimless fashion through the streets of the city that had stolen her heart, soul and sanity.

Raising her head so that her eyes scoured the sky for any signs of life, she let out a sigh, a breath that simply screamed in protest for the agony she had been put through. She screamed her anger, the words incomprehensive, yet without leniency to what was being said.

She screamed until her lungs were charred from the voice her vocal chords were bestowing upon them. She ached after this, wallowing in her own vacancy. She felt forever bound by the rusted chains of loss and torment. She would be forever enslaved to these feelings no matter how hard she attempted to break free and run away. These chains would not decay entirely.

She hadn’t slept since the child’s passing. Instead, her grief had displayed alternative ways to cope by leading her throughout the city on a whim of helpfulness. It was of no use, the aid no longer progressing, the result was as futile to achieve as the initial attempt.

[Lenz]

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.She was now traipsing through the slums, her eyes glazed over and oppressive. No longer did a spark of hope linger in her irises. Her pupils had enlarged, creating a void, in turn sucking the colour from the glassy orbs. It was all or nothing now. All or nothing.

She must have turned around somehow, for her direction was inverted, swapped as she followed a latent path through the suburbs, her destination unknown, but still hovering still in the caverns of her mind.

She feared where she was heading. She feared where she was going to end up, but would fear be necessary now that she had witnessed the brutalism of death and the essential hollow feeling one gets from having a part of their heart torn from their chest?

She shook her head, her eyes wandering much like her feet, to unidentifiable things. She couldn’t understand, nor comprehend what she was doing. She couldn’t much less focus her attention on anything for more than a few seconds.

“The sky is no longer awake,” she mused to herself as her head lolled to the side. “The sky is in deep slumber.”

She kicked a pebble with the toe of her shoe.

“Why am I awake?”

There came no answer. She was utterly alone, no sentiment behind any longing that she had subjected herself to. She was becoming of change. Her mentality was transforming, mutating itself into morbidity and gruesome thoughts. She wasn’t herself, and she would never be again.

Finally she was able to grasp that strand of reality; she had managed to grip the rope of which held even the slightest amount of sanity. It was a sliver, barely visible, yet entirely there as it always had been. But for how long would it remain?

She sighed and continued to walk, her line of sight drifting towards the sky once more. She could see nothing. There was nothing in the sky, not glowing orbs of light or wispy clouds in the shape of various objects.

She was blinded for a moment. She could see anything, not herself, not her intentions, not the tree in front of her. Her mind had ceased working, all metaphorical ailments construed into a retarded fashion. She began to panic. She couldn’t think!

Suddenly the level in her brain switched into the proper position. It was here where she managed to scour her surroundings for any clue as to where she was. There were no clues, but a hint indeed presenting itself rather boldly.

There was a mound of dirt, obviously recently dug up given its unearthed appearance. Lenz peered over her shoulder at it and shrieked. She scrambled to stand on it and stomped her foot on the surface. She made sure to pat down the dirt, keep it from being discovered. She had only done a job of amateur skill level in digging and filling.

“I know who you are,” she whispered to herself. “Who am I?”

She was losing it, without voluntary obligations either. She couldn’t seem to recall the last thing she said, let alone the last thing she ate. Had she eaten? Hadn’t it been days since she let her lips caress a single morsel? What was she doing to herself?

“Slowly dying,” she murmured under her foul breath. It was a pungent odour, distasteful to say the least. “Or is it the stench of death deceiving me?”

She knelt down, buckling her knees under her fragile weight. She brushed her scarlet curls behind one ears, smothering her bangs over the top of her head with her palm. She smirked subconsciously as she laid her eyes upon the grave of her beloved child.

[Lenz]

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.She wasn’t hers, and she never had been, but the woman liked to think of her as her own. Ipisol was brave, and Lenz cherished that trait. It was shameful to have let her die in such treachery. She was frightened because of that beast, that monster of a human being. She died in her arms, or so Lenz liked to think she did.

Although now the images were blurring together rather quickly. She couldn’t see anything past the part of the pool of blood. This was something she could envision fairly well. She watched as the event unfolded before her. Crimson drops of internal fluid spilling out from a massive crater in the child’s skull. It drained out in a pool of red, a puddle of human life.

She quenched on it, drinking it in, all the facts, all the truths, always in denial, neglecting to accept what actually happened. She had closed her emotional senses off. She refrained from speaking, from seeing, from thinking anything.

She wasn’t there right now, in the film that was reeling. She wasn’t there witnessing the gory murder of the last one she loved. It was all untrue. Yet, here she was, kneeling beside the girl’s grave, letting tears flow from her eyes without cowardice.

She shook her head, leaning back and craning her head towards the night time sky. She closed her eyes, breathed and smiled wickedly.

“Hello Ipisol,” she muttered, words secreting out between her chapped lips. “I have something for you.”

She released her pain in the form of playfulness. To some it might seem immature or even a little mad, but to her, she was out of her mind completely, without a clue to whatever it was she was trying to do.

“I have something for you,” she announced, snatching a relatively short twig from behind her. “It is a poem I assumed you would love.”

She titled her head and leaned forward, bringing the twig to the dirt beneath her. She held it firmly between her index finger and thumb as she brushed away detritus and other debris such as leaves and rocks, trying to find decent ground of which she would write her poem on.

She brought the stick to the ground and began to move her arm up and down, creating strokes as words started to accumulate in the crumbling earth. She wrote down her feelings, but appreciated the simplicity and happiness she added to it as well.

[Lenz]

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.Her fingers twitched as she scrawled more letters in her messy handwriting. Normally her penmanship was rather elegant with curls on her g’s and curves to her s’s. Her j’s were sloping and elaborate and her sentences looked like the gods had crafted them. This was not to say that she was a decent author, just that she had been taught a proper way of how to write.

As she braced her hand with her other arm, she let the twig write out a few more sentences, phrases of which held mood and emotion. She snaked the letter ‘a’ around so that it connected with the next letter in the word before moving onto the next phrase.

She slowly drew to an end, adding a flourish of the ending dot, a period to suggest a full stop. However, she knew that there would never be a full stop for as long as she continued to live, or allowed herself to continue to exist and thrive in such a temperamental and eidolic world.

Perhaps her next life time would be better, more serene and tranquil, but for now she was trapped inside the dome of unhappiness and degradation, corruption at its highest potential.

She spat in the sand as she finished, reveling at the thought of having to spend another second on this planet of terror. She hoped she wouldn’t have to shed another tear in the name of adjectives of the like.

Her mood shifted dramatically as she glanced at the child’s grave. “Would you like for me to read it to you?”

When there was no response, she carried on as if she hadn’t been ignored purposefully. She began with a voice so soft and seductive it reminded her of a slow rain. She tossed in a more soothing tone, changing her words so that they reminded her honey instead. Honey was better than a slow rainfall in her opinion and she was sure Ipisol agreed.

She spoke, “The night is arid like smoke, yet quenched with fog
The sky is blanketed in darkness, yet twisted by one’s inspiration.
The heart of child, it be you my dear,
It be strong as a windowless year.” She paused and waited, feeling the power to speak clearly mustering up in large amounts within her. Her patience was hung out in thick strings, like clouds on a stormy morning.

She started again, her head plummeting slightly into the basis of her stomach.

“This windowless is in means of without restraint
Much better than that of sardonic saint
Creativity, imagination ignite a fire
The flames lick the sky, going higher and higher
You’re alive, you’re free and subtly you’ll be
The rose to my heart, the smoke to the night, the fog to my sky, the blanket of my darkness, the twist of my inspiration and my child.”

She left it hanging on a high note; the last words muffled by the choking sound that leapt from her throat. She strained to swallow, a lump crawling down her trachea. She struggled for air before it welcomed her in large gasps.

“Did you like it?” she managed to ask, letting a few salty tears drain from her arid eyes.

She wished she could reach in and rip the orbs from their sockets, burn them on a stake and chant evil incantations for their returning of which would cease to happen. However, she calmed herself, rolling her eyes into the back of her head. She dug around in her subconscious, pulling and snipping off things that seemed important for emotional exploitation.

She seemed to cut off the right one, tapering the end so that it wasn’t frayed to intense severity. Lenz bowed her head and threw it back, relieving her blinded vision of the curls that marred its clarity.

[Lenz]

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."I have a story for you,” she announced, her voice muffled as she drew her hand up to wipe her mouth of saliva.

“It might not be of relative decency, but I assure you I plan on delivering it in a robust and inventive way. I am a desirous individual when I am amidst your presence, but I will mention that I shall never return to you again. It has been my duty to serve you, to help you and to protect you with as much knowledge as I was able to muster in doing so. I have failed you, but I will not depart from your side without a farewell. I promise you this much.”

She cleared her throat, too a glance at her surroundings and proposed an idea for a story. She hadn’t written or spoken a tale in what felt like decades, yet she still had ideas and inspiration lingering in her mind like a dog that simply will not leave after one has given it a meal.

She cleared her mind, inhaling deeply and exhaling in a slow manner. She scrounged around in her mind, picking out useful and potential words and letters before mashing them together in order to form sentences. She clarified a few unknown definitions before adding her signature, a flourish crafted by her own serene design.

She sat back on her knees, readjusting herself so that she was in a more comfortable position. She planned to be here a while. It was the last time she would return to the child’s grave, and this was a promise, a vow she had made to herself not that long ago.

She couldn’t break her vows, for that would be futile and damaging to her conscience. It would destroy her like it had when the girl passed on into the afterlife. She couldn’t put herself in another betraying state of mind.

She needed to control something and control it she would, no matter how possessive something else would become, tempting to obliterate her promise. She would resist the temptation and carry on with her life the way normal people did whether the statement proved ease or not.

“Alright, you will listen attentively as I speak to you my fable,” she demanded with humour tainting the edges of her words.

She relaxed her tensed muscles and pulled her knees to her chest, petting the ground before tossing the soil she sat on around in the clumps she unearthed. She threw some over her shoulder and in front of her before refocusing herself.

“There once was a man,” she said sternly, absorbing the mood like a sponge did water. “He was a ruthless individual with eyes that shot sparks and words that cut through human tissue. He was uncaring and savage, his body sending out octaves of uneven dispute. He was tortuous and formidable when it came to combatant activities and what he lacked in strength, he made up for in the immense power he held. He ruled a village of poor souls, using the incredibly tall walls that surrounded the city to his advantage. He held no respect for his people, often using them as slaves to do his bidding.”

“However, one day a man unworthy to meet the savage man confronted him with a question. This brave individual went by the name of Laserdus. Laserdus inquired the respects of the ones the ruler saw with contempt. This enraged the man, sending him into a spectacle of threats of which in turn shifted into actual physical torment sent upon Laserdus. In the end Laserdus suffered from a mild concussion along with long and deep lacerations of which could be found littering his entire body. He was banished by the ruler and sentenced to an eternity out in the wilderness of the unknown. The brave individual vowed to return one day with many of whom had survived from under the wrath of monsters such as the ruler. He left without anything but the dignity he still held to him with much strength.”

“Laserdus spent days out in the world of the unidentified. He scrounged for food and fought for his life against the unruly attacks of vicious untamed animals. He built himself fires each and every day and hunted for his food every waking morning and every slumbering night. He searched for places to sleep all the while seeking for a clue as to what he could do about the man whom betrayed him and sent him away as a form of banishment for his act of speaking up.”

“’I was only doing what needed to be done,’ he said aloud one night, watching the stars as they glittered amidst the darkening sky of clouds and mystery. ‘He was doing what was wrong, and I merely did what was necessary.’ Suddenly and unexpectedly, a voice returned his latent cry for help. It was a god who manifested through the light that barely peered through the clouds from the moon above him. This god went by no name, for he was not worshiped by anyone at the time, yet he provided the brave man with words of guidance and sincerity.”

Lenz paused, trying to find more words from the depths of the caverns in her head. She plucked through various letters, scanning her surroundings for clues.

She was almost tempted to pray to a god she did not believe in for strength in finding more story to share.

[Lenz]

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.She ended up not needing any support as more inspiration came to her in the blink of an eye. She smiled, impressed with herself before she shifted positions and began again.

“’Who are you?’ was the initial question that Laserdus asked. He was bewildered and frankly, startled by this sudden god’s appearance. However, the god remained unphased, clearly finding this current reaction as what was to be expected.

‘I am someone of much virtue. I am filled with hope. I am crafted by the hands of wisdom itself, yet I hand it away to those in need of said values,’ the god responded.

‘I don’t think I understand,’ Laserdus said, his voice no longer filled with fear and surprise.

‘Of course you do, my boy. I am the very essence of your soul. I am bravery. I am the true nature of what good is. I battle against the evil in the world by providing those worthy of holding the great in their hands. Often do I prevail, but in order to do so, I must give my power to those such as yourself.’

The god then touched the man on the shoulder. Instantly Laserdus felt an extreme pain singe his skin. He cried out in pain as he grasped for his new wound, only when he gazed at the injury, there was nothing to be seen worthy of a gory note. Instead of morbid mutations, there lay a sigil glowing on his flesh.

‘What is this?’ he asked, looking up in terms of searching the god’s eyes for more secrets. Instead of locking onto orbs of insight, he was met with nothing but the trees of the forest and the grass of the wilderness. A cold breeze ruffled his hair and flew passed his newly fulfilled soul.”

Lenz stopped, cutting off her words with the flick of her tongue. She curled it into her mouth and shut her lips. They were dry, so she hastily licked them with her wet taste buds.

“How are you enjoying this story thus far, huh?” she asked inquisitively, patiently waiting for a honest and whole hearted answer in response.

“Marvelous,” she shouted, throwing her hands into the air as no response came in return.

She continued on, not easily swayed by the loneliness that sheathed her heart like a bloody and broken sword.

“He was not given any advice, but he was allowed motivation as this new tattoo of sorts lead him throughout the night. He was no longer fearful of his surroundings, often gaining respect from those animals and cave men that had stalked him and his whereabouts. Before long, he had been granted many followers, all with the same views as he did. He could understand what the animals thought and he could comprehend the language of the men who had lived in the wilderness their entire lives. He was overjoyed with his new mentality. He had a new sense of direction as his feet lead him through the thickness of the shrubs and into the city of which had turned its back on him the day he was banished.”

“Agility quickly came to his aid as he dodged the first two guards that greeted him in rather hostile ways. The more predatory of the animals that followed him like disciples helped him escape from their persecution. He managed to trek up the many stairs until he reached the throne of the ruler he was attempting to overthrow.”

“But was he going to overthrow this man? Or was he simply going to prove to him what he was doing was indeed as wrong as he assumed? The world will never truly know as the answer is hidden in the depths of the shadows.”

Lenz cocked her head to the side, obviously listening to someone whom wasn’t really there. She nodded her head vehemently before shaking it violently from side to side.

“I shouldn’t tell you,” she said.

And then there was a response directed entirely in her direction. She nearly jumped out of her skin as the voice came into one ear and exited out the other. It spoke with a dark tone, the words flaunted with malice and impenetrable malevolence.

Do go on. I command of you to tell me the rest of the fable.

She quickly regained her composure, repositioning her seated posture. She straightened her back and played along with this scenario, this façade that was corrupting her sense of sanity.

“I will not be commanded by anyone to continue on with this story. I am sharing this willingly and not by force,” she persistently mentioned, narrowing her eyes at the first thing that came across her field of vision.

The tree looked weak and frail, obviously a late bloomer or an undernourished early riser. Its buds were just beginning to blossom and the bark was peeling off to reveal a fresh coat.

Go on, the voice insisted. Lenz could feel its eyes boring holes in the back of her skull, tenderizing her brains like meat from an animal. She rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers, mumbling something inaudible to herself.

“Alright,” she muttered under her breath. “I will resume you foul beast.”

[Lenz]

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.To any clearly sane person, hearing a voice inside your head would send them into a state of utter terror, shock absorbing their body and resisting to spew it out or give it up. However, to Lenz, it was just someone to talk to and that was something she would never hand away.

“Where was I exactly?” she questioned out loud, more to herself than anyone else. But the voice helped her by mentioning the exact words she had left off with.

He managed to trek up the many stairs until he reached the throne of the ruler he was attempting to overthrow, it stated flatly.

“Right,” she sneered before beginning again. “The man managed to reach the top, his breathing continuous and without strain. His followers were behind him every step of the way until he came to an immediate halt directly in front of the ruthless ruler’s feet.

‘Why have you returned so ungracefully, boy?’ the savage questioned, his voice low and dark.

‘I have returned to put you in your rightful place my lord,’ the man retorted without a falter in his expression nor a stutter in his speech.

The ruler lifted an eyebrow, his eyes widening at the mention of action the man was about to take. However, his dignity was far too broad. Instead of accepting the allegations that were handed to him on a silver platter, he refused, suggesting a wager to be made.

‘If it is who will prevail, I will have you executed as a reward,’ he said before the man quickly said, ‘and if I prevail, you will step down and leave this village without ever turning to come back,’ as his reward. The two shook hands and prepared for battle. It was custom in this small city to dress in formal military gear, the colours of the sash that wrapped itself around their waist a label as to what their rank was. Laserdus’s sash was black, a sign of treason, treachery and disobedience, something he was given the day he was forced to depart from the city. The ruler’s on the other hand was white, apparently meaning to display the purity of his soul and the wisdom he held in ruling over many persons.”

Of course this was not the case.

Lenz stopped and glared inwardly. “Isn’t that remarkably obvious cretin?” Although, there was no response made afterwards. The voice had silenced itself, urging the woman to continue with her tale.

“Anyway,” she continued, shaking her head in disbelief and mild disappointment. “Laserdus readied himself by meditation, calling to the god he had recently met for any kind of guidance. Whispers infiltrated his ears, scarring his heart with a gentle kiss before depleting entirely, leaving his body in a wave of unconsciousness. He need not more than this before he was awaiting the battle prominently. For the ruler, however, this was not the case. He was busy making amends and conjuring up twisted plots of ways to cheat. He was thinking about what he was do as ways of punishment for when he won the battle. In laymen’s terms, he was full of himself, assuming he would win before he even attempted to thrust his sword at his opponent.”

“Finally the gong rang throughout the crowd that had gathered around. Both warriors emerged from their sides before stepping onto the ring in the middle of the mob of people. They both raised their swords, bracing for the impact of the words to begin of which would pierce their ears and kick start their tampering heart. Laserdus was displaying mercy inwardly, assimilating kind actions he would give to the ruler if he won, whereas the savage of a man was whispering dark and morbid things to himself, all of which were meant to be directed towards his assailant.”

“Abruptly were the starting words announced, sending the two men into a frenzy, a battle of strength and a battle of wits. The ruler was not very intelligent, therefore he did not have much knowledge in defensive strategy. He relied on his sheer force and power to take out Laserdus. Although, Laserdus was not easily beaten. His mind was reeling as thoughts manifested inside his mind, blossoming like the petals on a cherry tree. He dodged the first attack, waiting for an open spot on his attacker. When he found one that had been fortunately left unguarded, he went in with his sword, slashing open the man’s flesh only to reveal crimson blood in the form of drops snake down his arm and onto the ground beneath him.”

Lenz proceeded to show his action in the form of a reenactment. She stood up and placed her left leg forward, making sure to bend her knee slightly. She placed her right leg back and straightened it before centering her level of balance so that either side held an even amount of weight.

She put her left hand on her waist line and thrust it forward before pivoting on her heel to turn and throw another punch. She dodged an invisible attack, using her hips to sway out of the line of fire. She bent her front knee and leapt forward, sticking out her hand as if she held an imaginary sword in it.

With her curled fist, she lodged it in the figure in front of her, grunting in the process. She was decent in unarmed combat when it came to fighting fictionalized people, but her form was excellent either way, opponent or not.

She took her seat on the damp ground once again, tucking her scarlet locks behind her ears before clearing her throat and continuing with the fable. She hoped to finish it soon, for she didn’t have much time before the sun rose.

[Lenz]

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.“Laserdus did not finish off the man at this point much like any other villager would have. He waited for his opponent to regain his ground and once he had, he backed up and restarted his form. He did this for many chimes, the war going on for several bells before the ruler finally gave in, falling to the ground, losing consciousness from the loss of blood. Laserdus had won!”

You seem very over joyous given this is all falsified. The snarky remark went unnoticed as Lenz pumped her fists into the air in triumph. She was very involved in the story, hearing imaginary cheers and shouts of praise.

“Once the ruler had gained consciousness again, Laserdus offered a hand in terms of helping him stand. The savage declined, helping himself to his own feet before throwing his sword to the ground and turning on his heel. He left without saying a word. His mouth was sealed as if by a sewing needle and a spool of thread. Laserdus was left to rule the village on his own terms and he did so fairly and justly as what any brave and noble ruler would have. He never saw the ruthless man again, although he gave him plenty of chances. Some people are just born with malice and nothing can unfreeze those frigid hearts.”

She sighed before breathing the words, “The end.”

Congratulations. You have succeeded in completing a fictional tale using your own two lips.

She scowled, narrowing her eyes once more only to have nothing to stare at with her sinister ways. She felt the beams of light radiating out of her orbs, but nothing was the subject of torment. The rays receded, residing in the base of her mind for future use.

“You will treat me with respect if you ensure your staying,” she ordered with a severe tongue.

I make no interchangeable promises, it responded nonchalantly.

The woman ignored the comment, returning her attention back to the current task at hand. She knelt closer to the surface of the earth so that her cheek was hovering over the dirt of the grave before it was flush with the detritus of the ground.

“I miss you,” she whispered, a whimper escaping from in between her front teeth. She held back a cry before standing up.

“But I made a promise to never return. I shall not break this promise.”

Her stomach growled loudly suddenly. She hadn’t eaten in days, due to the feeling of loss that took priority before the mention of hunger. She was slightly dizzy, but made no attempt at stopping as she started to walk and continued to walk away from the memories of her child friend.

“I will not forget you,” she sobbed quietly to herself.

I deem that irresponsibly untrue, for the fact is you will forget her. Your mind will go blank. It will be washed by a wave of stark blackness shifting like the clouds in the sky. Your memories will start to fade until they will have dwindled to nothing and soon you will forget her face just like you have of your mother’s.

“Stop!” she shouted before starting to run. She fled the scene, hoping to leave behind the voice in the process.

Her feet hit the ground beneath her as she sprinted through the forest, hoping the leave behind some particles of the past. Her left foot flew another few feet before her until her right leg caught up. She ran as fast she was allowed before needing to stop to catch her breath.

I’m still here my dear.

It was uncanny and rather spooky the way the voice seemed to haunt her, but her mood changed dramatically, something that has been happening relatively often the past few days. Trauma did terrible things to an individual.

“Fine,” she said, accepting defeat but not lightly. “However, I require rules to prevent any conflict between us in the near future.”

I already have predictions of you to describing this as such.

“Then I shall continue,” she said, raising her index finger as she counted to one. “The first rule describes you to dignify yourself in an apprentice like manner. You will not command me to do things I wish not to do. Is this agreed upon?”

It seems of reason.

The reply wasn’t of over achievement, but it was what Lenz was willing to accept. She continued, raising her middle finger in terms of counting to the number two.

She felt numb, her fingers having gone frigid as she said, “Number two is to not cause much attention to yourself.”

It is only you who bear the gift of hearing my words, the voice corrected shrewdly.

“And what part of your intelligence has neglected to assume anything but I who have issues with your insensitive and incessant voice? I was not meaning others, I am not a dunce to understand that it is I who can only listen to you speak. I was implying that you should not distract me from reality.”

What makes you so certain you are still within the real world?

The inquired made Lenz stop dead in her tracks; her pulse stuttered before stopping for a few seconds. Finally, she was able to breath, inhaling the stagnant air, taking in the smell of pungent wilderness. She wobbled on her feet, losing her balance as she fell to the ground.

“I am still here,” she said to herself.

That is your opinion, the voice hissed before growing silent. She heard no more whispered words enter her mind and exit through her ears. She was left at peace for once since the death of the child she loved.

She was left to battle the demons inside of her, but she was all alone. She whimpered before sobbing, draining herself of salty liquid. At last, she managed to fall asleep, the trees shrouding her from the blank darkness of the midnight sky.

[Caela Dorin]

Grade Awarded Lenz Experience Skill XP Earned Acting 1 Composition 1 Observation 3 Philosophy 1 Rhetoric 1 Running 1 Storytelling 5 Unarmed Combat 1 Writing 1 Lores • Lore Earned • Stage of Grief: Denial • Composition: Ipisol's poem • Story: The Promise of Laserdus • Storytelling: Acting out a scene from your story • Saying farewell to Ipisol • Promises: I will not break them • Philosophy: Using reason to prove your own existence • Voices in the head: A cure for loneliness Additional Comments Yet another thread that shows Lenz's state of mind. It portrays the feelings of grief and loss very well, I must say but with that little Lenz twist to it. An enjoyable read! Keep them coming! Please edit or delete your grade request and PM me if you have any questions or problems concerning your grade. x