Inner-Selves No. 9, Part A
A dark shadow slowly made its way closer to the graveyard, its yellow eyes glared around, and taking in every detail of its surroundings. “It’s been so long since I last came here, I can finally claim the other one” it snarled. Fidget ran into the same clearing, thinking of nothing but keeping it away from his family. “Stop right there! You’ll have to kill me first!” he snapped. “I was hoping you’d come, I have something to show you” it grinned, showing its row of sharp teeth. “Fidget don’t do anything reckless!” Kat pleaded as she caught up to him. Kat saw the spirit eater and was horrified, she knew the spirit eater had an immense amount of spirit energy, but what scared her was that she knew about this particular monster. “No, of all the spirit eaters that could’ve shown up, why did it have to be this one?! There’s no way Fidget can win, he’ll be killed!” she panicked in her mind. “Don’t try to stop me Kat, my family’s nearby, I have to protect them!” Fidget said.
The monster grinned from ear to ear, staring down at Fidget. “Believe me, I have no interest in your family today, I’ve come for you, to finish what I started back then” “Huh? I’ve never met this one before, what’s he talking about?” Fidget thought confused. “Allow me to refresh your memory” the monster said. A tendril grew out from its shoulder and stopped in front of Fidget. Fidget readied his rattle for attack. “Really, are you sure you want to do that? If you do, SHE might get hurt” the spirit eater said. From the end of the tendril, Fidget stood in shock as an image of his little sister appeared, an exact replica of how she looked on the day she died. “Big brother, it’s me, how have you been?” the little girl said. Fidget lowered his rattle, and his eyes began to well up with tears. The monster grinned and laughed heartily. “What a cruel thing to do, have you no shame, you monster?!” Kat yelled at the spirit eater. “Kristie, is that really you?” Fidget said, walking towards his sister. “Fidget don’t it’s a trick!” Kat shouted. “Big brother, I’ve missed you so much” Kristie said hugging him. Fidget hugged her tight, tears streaming down his face, and then suddenly the tendril impaled him in the stomach, coming out of his back. Fidget coughed up blood, not understanding what had happened. He looked down and saw that both he and his sister had been stabbed, but only he was hurt. “What the heck?” Fidget said. “Fidget! No!!” Kat cried out in horror. The spirit eater laughed out loud. “Do you get now why I’m called the deceiver little fool? I’ve claimed countless youth sprites in this very manner, none of them could bring themselves to strike down a loved one” it sneered down at him. “It’s true, this spirit eater has defeated every youth sprite that’s ever been sent to destroy him, he’s caused trouble for the Eternity Care Center for more than 50 years” Kat thought to herself. Fidget heard all of it, and started crying, unable to fathom how this monster could create such a convincing replica of his dead sister. “You monster, she’s exactly as I remember her, her kind voice, her smile, everything!” Fidget said as tears streamed down his face.
“Of course it’s just like her, you are what you eat you know” the deceiver laughed. Fidget was shocked, did he hear him right? “No way, my sister was killed by a moving car” Fidget said. “Are you naïve? The police said that because they couldn’t see me, I was the one who killed her, when I devoured her spirit, I obtained every bit of knowledge she had, so when I learned you were her brother, I used that to my advantage just now” it explained. Kat grew angrier at the spirit eater, her suspicions from earlier had not only been confirmed, but his sister had been used to claim Fidget’s life next. “I might’ve let you live since that day boy, but since you’re now a youth sprite, your soul is too delicious to pass up” it grinned. Fidget could feel himself get colder, and his vision was blurry, is this what it felt like to die? Fidget stared at the image of his sister, and he swore he heard her begin to speak. “Big brother, you’re so strong, and I’m happy you tried to protect me, but right now, I want you to protect yourself. We’ll see each other again someday, but for now, I want you to live, so you can get even stronger, will you do that for me?” she said to him. “Yes, I will sis, I’ll live, and I’ll beat this thing, I’ll become stronger” Fidget said still crying, but smiling a little. “Thank you, goodbye now brother, I love you!” she smiled at him. “I love you too, Kristie” Fidget said as he watched her fade away.
Kat and the deceiver stared at Fidget’s seemingly lifeless body, the front of his diaper stained with blood, his rattle loosely clutched in his right hand. All of a sudden, the air around all of them became heavy, there was a sharp increase in spiritual energy, but Kat couldn’t tell where it was coming from. “It’s not mine, and it doesn’t feel like the deceiver’s either, the only other one it could be coming from is…no it’s not possible, he’s dead” Kat thought to herself. Fidget’s left arm raised and he grabbed onto the deceiver’s tendril, gripping it tight. “Grrrgh, what is this?!” the monster snarled. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t afford to die just yet, I made a promise to my baby sister, that I would get stronger, and I’LL START BY KILLING YOU!!!” Fidget yelled as he raised his head. “He’s alive?! Then this spirit energy is his, it keeps increasing, and I don’t think he even knows how he’s doing it” Kat thought. Fidget gripped tighter on the tendril and then tugged with all his might, eventually tearing it off the deceiver. The monster howled in pain as Fidget pulled the end of the tendril out of his own body, his spirit energy increase was keeping the blood flow to a minimum. “Little brat!! I don’t know how you came back from the dead, but I’ll kill you with everything I’ve got!” the monster said as more tendrils grew from its body. Fidget ran around, avoiding the attacks, waiting for a chance to jump and strike his face. The tendrils moved in from all directions, Fidget had nowhere else to run. Kat feared the worst, and Fidget put up his rattle in defense. “I’ve got you now!” the deceiver shouted. The tendrils came in fast, and Fidget clenched his teeth. But when Fidget didn’t feel any pain, he relaxed and looked in front of him, he hadn’t been hit. Kat gasped, and Fidget looked stunned. “You?!...” Fidget said in awe.