Diakonos awoke gagged and chained to a chair. He was in a classroom of crumbling stone, ancient desks, and rusty well-worn implements that were obviously designed to extract screams out of sentient beings. As his vision cleared he noticed a sickly white figure standing near a cracked chalkboard, its eyes and mouth horribly mutilated. The apparition grinned at Diakonos, unexpectedly jovial albeit in a way that set his hair on end. It held an ancient pointing stick that slowly bled, staining its hands and splattering flecks of blood on the walls, floor, and chalkboard everytime the figure gestured at something. Drawn on the chalkboard was the simple figure of a man in front of a triangle with circles at the points. Inside the circles were strange symbols that seemed almost recognizable.
"Greetings Diakonos, it's time for your lesson," said a disembodied voice that seemed to wander around Dia's head. "Today we'll discuss the composition of a human being." The figure struck the board, splatting a few drops of blood onto the drawing. "Observe that each human consists of three parts: body *splat*, mind *splat*, and soul *splat*. The body is the physical presence of the human, a vehicle for interaction in the material realm. The mind handles the thoughts, cognitive functions, and the like. The soul is the eternal life force; it is the heart and will. All non-cognitive feelings such as instinct and love originate in the soul. All motivations beyond reason, all miraculous energies that push a human beyond its limits... all these things originate in the soul. Do you understand?" Diakonos, not able to do anything else and not even sure what that could be, dumbly nodded.
"Now then, humans have developed technology that manipulates all facets of life. Insurance terminals for example can rebuild a person exactly as he or she was at their time of death, body and mind, and somehow direct the soul to enter the new body. That person, although a new creation is wholly the same as the original." The voice paused for a moment before speaking again, this time sickeningly close to Dia's right ear; a phantom tongue occasionally flicking greasily against his lobe and a phantom breath that brushed like dirty spider hairs. "The soul is vulnerable for a moment. It does not pass into an afterlife, it lingers in the void until the body and mind are reconstructed and it is able to armor itself once more in a persona...."
The figure licked scarred and stitched lips. "I hunger Diakonos. I wish to feast upon the souls of humans, that inexplicable energy they take for granted. On Old Earth there was a legend about a man who had a thousand demons possesing him, calling themselves Legion. They were driven from him into a herd of pigs... the entire herd of pigs could not contain the number of demons that were but a moment ago inside of one man... their wills shattered and they flung themselves off of a cliff to die. I need that terribly and I want you to bring it to me. I will give you anything in return; wealth, women, or power -- name it and it is yours. I can make you great if you can bring me souls...." The voice faded. "I will see you again my friend." The voice was gone.
Diakonos awoke in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. He massaged his wrists and his mouth and it seemed the faint smell of decay was still in his nostrils. He pushed the covers off of his futon and checked his wall clock. Another half hour before he had to get ready for work. Breathing deeply, he relaxed into a practiced sitting position and began to meditate, bringing his scattered thoughts to a determined order.
OOC:
I'm not sure how this will translate into an org I hoped to form called Lunatic Fringe. As I develop this story, perhaps it will turn into something more useful for a group situation. Anyway, for those who have read my other thread and expressed interest in this, this is the start of one of the ideas I've been throwing around.
. I apologize if this is so, but I'm enjoying myself so :P .