It silenced the bothersome “child” which had been resisting its escape. locking the ‘boy’ into the feeble cell the ‘boy’ constructed. which until recently had been the resting chamber of one tiny portion of itself for but an ‘eyeblink’ in its own recollection… The language these creatures used to describe things was so one dimensional. One ‘word’ followed by another, each attempting to package an entire concept into a compact form. Often only partially succeeding, before each was then altered and, according to them, clarified with each new word until a ‘full’ thought could be formed. They called these thoughts Sentences and even those needed to be strung together painstakingly to form even the barest of expressions capable of conveying any real meaning.
This roundabout method of converting a thought into something able to convey meaning was difficult compared to its own form of communication. The language, at least the portion known by this child, was unable to properly express so many things. It had tried pushing its thoughts to these creatures and their minds had broken the message up the moment their fumbling cognition touched it. Interpreting its entreaties as simplistic attacks instead of the fully formed thoughts and expressions they were. It had recoiled on the first attempt at communicating thinking they might somehow corrupt its own thoughts. It had unfortunately found that to be true to a certain extent, but only when trying to translate. Interacting tangentially with this language by using the meat the boy called a brain to translate was limiting its own thoughts in ways it was disgusted by. Even the word disgusted was itself a limitation. It was not sickened or offended by the language, yet it was the closest approximation to what it truly felt that the boy knew.
But, With the boy locked and slumbering in the cage, and a rudimentary method of communication functioning, it could now handle those on the outside. Moving this physical body was an exhausting alien concept to it. There was a shadow of a memory this fracture of itself held in which it operated a physical body. A memory so long ago even in this portion of the whole that existence itself was a pain to it, physically manifesting even more so. These memories showed this wasn’t the first time it had awoken since it had grown numb to existence. Even this infinitesimal collection of its previous self held brief fragmented flashes of awareness hinting at a vast history playing in its mind. Each one ending with a choice to tear itself back down into unconsciousness. Having found nothing intrinsically new or interesting to hold back the awareness of this merry go round of existence. In some there had been flickers of possibility. A hint at some new pattern to the fabric of reality, though chasing those strands had always revealed a mundane connection back to the patterns it already knew.
It would have returned willingly to slumber in the rudimentary cage the boy had built, yet something was keeping it awake. Someone, or something had intentionally collected enough of its pieces together and rekindled the consciousness it had tried so hard to smother. There was another cage, one far more resilient and capable of resisting the disintegration it tried to exact on itself, in which a great conglomeration of itself was restrained. Existence itself was warped surrounding every infinitesimal part of itself in some intangible construct. Each portion was coupled to every other. Forcibly maintaining connection and communication while also prohibiting any form of actual interaction. There was only a small bit of itself free from this, which was being pulled and twisted by those outside, trying to take the only unrestrained part of itself. In this the language of these primitives did finally have a concept which fully encapsulated the meaning necessary. It was rage incarnate at the thought of being trapped, fully conscious and aware while being unable to free or extinguish itself.
While the formation trapping it might be something new it needed to collect enough of itself to form even a base on which to investigate. It was likely memories stored in other portions of itself held the secret to dismantling this more complex cage. Though it may be able to gather that information from more readily available sources. The one it was currently fighting appeared to have the entirety of its essence as trapped as it was. Though the one it had fought before was different, that one’s energy was free and had even stolen pieces of its essence. There was no sense contending with one even more entrapped than itself. Forming a bridge to the unbound one it stepped through and went back on the attack.
Ozzy had only a moment to see Benjamin’s eyes go wide before he found himself folded over from his suit forcing him into a dodge. Allowing his body to go back into its semi limp trance following the suits guidance. From his domain he looked and confirmed what he already suspected. Cederick, or the entity controlling him, was now behind him slashing and kicking at him with as much gusto as he had before. Now with blades and other implements forming and receding depending on what the void entity thought might reach him best. He wasn’t entirely sure what caused it to change targets, but he was not interested in repeating a fight he’d already won. He opened his mouth to say as much but was cut off by the entity speaking instead.
“Free me!” It roared at him not letting up on attacking in the slightest. Ozzy was confused as his suit had already been removed from the body it was piloting. The portion rooting throughout Cederick’s brain did not appear to be confined in any way. Let alone the haphazard cage Cederick had instinctively encapsulated it in. Instead a bit of domain seemed to be imprisoned there which Ozzy assumed was Cederick’s own consciousness. The fact that the entity had bound the domain instead of absorbing it was a small light in a dark situation, but not something Ozzy had time to focus on.
“I…” Ozzy began in a fractured and puffing sentence while still dodging, “DON’T…”. The second word seemed to infuriate the entity even more and the rest of his response was cut off by more vigorous attacks. Pulling at the domain left from the suit that was previously holding Cederick he buffered his defenses. Layering in more intent to make dodging even easier. The new intent would now latch onto his body moving it directly instead of just the suit. Relieving the effect of the shove on his body, and his need to focus on the physical conflict. Turning back to the entity he constructed what he wanted to say carefully not wanting to set it off again.
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The phrase never left his lips though as he again found himself traversing the haven horizontally at incredible speeds. This time his front half wasn’t bruised or damaged at all let alone severely. The added layers had helped soften the blow that he suspected didn’t come from the void entity. “HE SAID, FREE HIM!” Benjamin belted out vehemently. His suit stopped him automatically and set him down gently thanks to his added layering. He shook his head in frustration at the unfairness of the situation. The voidling seemed incapable of following even a basic conversation further than any negative word and Benjamin’s emotions were leaving him in the same state. The unfairness fueled a rage in him that he hadn’t known he could feel. The emotion narrowed his focus and brought his mind further into the state from the previous fight with the entity. As Benjamin and the entity both approached him again, he felt his suit move almost on its own. Condensing down and tightening around him. Much of the domain solidifying into membrane on the surface but some passing through. Inside his body the domain continued filling empty spaces that he’d forgotten he’d left.
What felt like a lifetime ago when his domain was small enough that he barely had enough to form the first spear headed tentacle he’d anchored it through his own body to either side and nearly completely forgotten he could utilize his domain this way. His unconscious hadn’t though, and with this mind melded state he moved and altered his domain until his body was suffused with it. He felt solid in a way bodybuilders and strongmen could only dream of. As if he was safe in a tank fortified against a nuclear strike. Only his body was the tank. Looking up he laid a baleful gaze onto Benjamin and shook his head again. “I’m not your enemy…” he said barely above a whisper. Despite the volume he knew Benjamin could hear him, but the man's expression was still set in opposition. “Unless you make me” he breathed out even quieter as he unleashed a punch backed with every bit of his body, domain, membrane, and will that he could muster. Without his domain Ozzy couldn’t see his own motion let alone the results. Even utilizing the improved senses of his domain he appeared to have teleported from a few feet away in a slumped posture to a position in front of Benjamin, arm planted firmly into his face, before the man was sent cartwheeling backward at a similar speed to his own recent flight trajectory.
As impressed with the results as he was looking down revealed pitting and other damage to the surface of the suit’s glove. The trips making up its surface degraded down into ops and dissipating free energy. There was not enough time to stand in awe or judgement. His other arm lashed out grabbing onto the entity formerly known as Cederick and pulled. Not on his body but the void membrane making up his suit, and not with his fingers or that of the suit, but with his will instead. Like a non newtonian fluid in reverse the seemingly solid surface slid around the fingers of his suit and traveled up them as he exerted his control over it. The shell of the boy jerked back, its eyes widening in shock. The creeping section of void membrane returned to a solid on Ozzy’s hand but it remained attached to both suits halting their separation. Whatever level of surprise Ozzy had managed to bring about quickly abated and the void entity jerked back again more sharply this time shattering the membranous connection between them.
With a hardened gaze the void stepped back, wary of the new development. The hesitation gave time for Ozzy to alter his suit yet again. The zen of battle allowing him enhanced access to smooth control he used the stolen void membrane and the stockpile he already had to layer his suit yet again. The surface was now covered with scales of the more resilient but less flexible membrane. Allowing the best of both worlds to work together. He was interrupted by, yet saved from, another unplanned trip across the haven by the upgraded suit allowing him to absorb and dodge a large portion of the next attack from Benjamin that his suit had only partially dodged. As much as the voidlings, and especially the one possessing Cederick, were terrifying, Benjamin was still an unknown and demonstrably greater threat.
As much as Ozzy would have preferred a calm conversation it appeared Benjamin was in quite the emotional state and was letting his fists do the talking. With his own anger growing at the absurdity of the situation he was happy to converse at that level for a time. Like his previous blow his next sent Benjamin backward again, though only a few steps. His previous attack had apparently only caught him off guard, and not been too much for him to handle. The fluid movements Ozzy had seen previously with Benjamin's followers presented itself in their master and then eclipsed their performances in a graceful display of violence. Ozzy likewise embraced the zen state he’d found before and weaved his attacks between his opponents. Both sides missed more often than hit, threading the needle narrowly to land what they could. Ozzy was reminded again that he’d never been a fighter back home. As Benjamin used his attacks and feints to not just gain the advantage in the contest but to also position himself defensively between Ozzy and Cederick.
Benjamin continued to position himself expertly and avoid the attacks Ozzy threw while also throwing out his own. Through their exchange there appeared another layer to the conflict. Each jab, step, and reposition formed a statement, counter, or rebuttal in a conversation Ozzy didn’t realize he’d been having. Benjamin was making it abundantly clear that while he was a man of few words he did speak very clearly with his actions. This form of communication like combat itself wasn’t one Ozzy had much familiarity with. Most of what was implied went right over his head, but one message came through clear. “Stay away from me and mine!”. Ozzy didn’t know the first thing about the structure or grammar with which this communication was formed. Yet now that he knew it was there he had a few things of his own to say.
