LIGHTSEEKER - Prologue

Small warning: General grim setting, language.
Next (Link not functional yet, more for when I do have it out of draft): LIGHTSEEKER - Ch.1 Awakening
On relatively final edit passes unless I do a total rewrite again.

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Elizabeth slowly felt her awareness returning. Her body ached, she felt ill, the back of her head throbbed sharply. She tried to move her arms to feel her head but found her wrists bound behind her.

She stopped moving, struggling to let her body catch up with her mind. She was laying on something hard but warmed up beneath her like she had been there a while. The air was uncomfortably cool and damp. A creaking vent fan echoed faintly over hushed and concerned voices.

Part of her wanted to go back to sleep, escape the discomfort and pain, but her sense of danger told her to get moving.

Finally, Elizabeth opened her eyes and squinted into the dim of the room. The only source of light was mostly blocked by a door in the far wall. She could just make out a dozen or so people bound as she was, lying, sitting, or standing in small clusters around the edges of the room. As far as she could see they all looked normal, unlikely they were there any more willingly than she was, and she certainly wasn't.

Other than the captives the room was an empty, concrete-walled box with a door. It made her wonder if this was a temporary holding cell or if their captors cared that little for where they were kept. Heavy footsteps sounded on the other side of the door, she could see a shadow move across, then the sound faded again.

Elizabeth struggled to sit up, wincing at the pain in her head as she moved. Her mind briefly jumped to the last thing she could remember. A few Council soldiers had ambushed her, she had been fighting back when suddenly... blackness. One must have caught her from behind and knocked her out, that would explain the pain in her head.

A sudden voice near her pulled her attention back to the present, "Was starting to wonder if you would wake up, they gave you quite the goose egg on the back of your head."

Elizabeth looked toward the voice, someone sitting next to her that she hadn't yet noticed. He was facing the wall, though he'd clearly spoken to her, darkness obscuring details much beyond a silhouette.

She shifted to lean her back against the wall, grimacing at her body's complaints, "Yeah, I can feel it. Who are you?"

His voice took on a startlingly grim tone, even for the situation. "Joey, though I have a feeling our names won't matter before long."

Elizabeth glanced toward the door, recalling the Council's reputation. Being captive to them likely meant many unpleasant fates. Things that could make being killed by one of the local supervillains a relative mercy. But really none of those were a pleasant idea to her.

She kept her voice low to avoid alarming others, "I'm Elizabeth. Got any particular reason for that feeling?" part of her hoped Joey didn't have an answer.

He huffed softly, voice flat, "Something in the dark."

Elizabeth's gaze darted across the room, searching for movements that looked out of place. They were surrounded by darkness. "What do you mean something in the dark?"

Joey shrugged, a little too nonchalantly for the situation and subject, "Nictus. Entities of darkness that promise power, at the cost of becoming a puppet host for the creature. Too long without a host and a Nictus will dissipate into nothing."

She shivered at the thought, Elizabeth had heard of the Nictus but never seen one, or met someone who spoke of them so calmly. As though...

As though he knew exactly what was going to happen to him.

Her gaze settled on the door, with her head she was in no shape to try an escape, but it was tempting anyway. She looked back at Joey, "What makes you think Nictus are actually here?"

Elizabeth could hear the shrug in his voice better than she could see it, "They like the darkness, and like I said: There's something in the dark here. Maybe even multiple somethings."

She tensed at his words. Surely there weren't... No. "Please tell me your joking, multiple Nictus?"

Elizabeth could feel the glare Joey gave her as his tone became deathly serious "I could be wrong about the number, but I don't joke about these creatures."

She flinched at his tone, her mentor would respond similarly to her comments of disbelief when she was new to the area.

It occurred to her that no one she knew was in any position to help her, assuming they knew something was wrong in the first place.

Elizabeth leaned back against the wall, careful not to bump the lump on her head, "Well... fuck. There's probably not much we can do but sit and wait either, is there?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Joey shift, for a moment she thought she caught a flicker of something... faintly purple coming from his eyes. When she turned, there was nothing there.

"Nothing except chatting to pass the time, I'd suggest you rest. Head injuries don't help with fighting Nictus."

Elizabeth let out a weak chuckle, "They don't help with fighting anything."

A small measure of amusement started to creep into Joey's tone, "True, I can't think of any time I was in a fight where getting hit in the head helped."

Her gaze drifted toward the door in the far wall as footsteps sounded, crossed, and faded again. "... You sound like you've faced the Nictus before, any tips on fighting their control?"

There was a short pause before he responded, "If you've ever fought a psychic, use whatever you learned from that. Not sure I can put anything else to words well enough to explain if you're unfamiliar with mental conflict."

Elizabeth sighed, closing her eyes, "With all the psychics running around, you'd think I would have some experience there."

"If you can figure out how to block Its efforts, or just will it out, do so. Otherwise, good luck."

She nodded slightly, "Noted, for all the good I can make of that."

Something in the air shifted in a way that set Elizabeth's nerves on edge, the background muttering of the other prisoners raised slightly with alarm in the same moment. When she opened her eyes again she found her gaze locked to a shadowy shape squeezing past the top of the door. Some of the other prisoners were already starting to put more distance between them and It.

A mass of dark tendrils emerged from a single obscured point, reaching into the air and nearby surfaces. The thing moved up closer to the ceiling, just far enough she didn't think the tendrils of darkness were touching anything solid. It floated closer to the center of the room before dropping down.

The others' efforts to get away from it picked up in desperation. Though Elizabeth could only find it in herself to stare at the creature. She barely registered Joey's voice uttering a single word:

"Nictus."

Soft voices whispered playfully at the edges of her mind. They were just quiet and discordant enough she couldn't make out what they were saying, but they were not the other prisoners' voices. After a few moments, the whispering became a single clear voice that kept a playful, friendly tone, if she hadn't caught the hint of malice within it.

-You're all cute~ I am not here to harm any of you. Just having a look around~-

As Elizabeth watched the creature she could see faint tinges of colors, deep blues and purples, shifting throughout the shadowy silhouette of Its form. She was afraid to look away, in case she missed something. It was entrancing and terrifying all at the same time, in the same way as watching a wild predator was.

Elizabeth recalled what Joey had said about Nictus: promises of power, only to be turned into the creature's puppet for Its own ends. Still... it made her wonder more about them.

The being started to carefully circle the room, most captives doing what they could to press against the wall trying to get away. Though a few were frozen in place staring just as Elizabeth was. It appeared to pause or draw closer to these few for a moment, though ultimately it moved on from them as well.

As it got closer to the back of the room, she could feel the unnatural energy emanating from the shadowy entity. It felt wrong, but the instinct to flee just wasn't there for her.

Elizabeth watched as it drew closer to Joey. He shivered in response to it nearing, a strange wisp of something dark around his eyes. Even the creature paused and at least appeared to focus intently on him. The shadowy tendrils of the creature rippled for a moment before a few reached out and into Joey with alarming speed. Joey tensed and sharply drew a breath at the touch if that's what it was with such a strange entity.

Once again Elizabeth could make out faint whispering at the edges of her mind. Though instead of playful, they were filled with recognition and hate that wasn't directed to her. The voice never quite became fully coherent, but she still managed to make out some fragmented statements:

-YOU! ... will no... agai... is time... aim... mine!-

Though the feeling and thoughts weren't directed to her, Elizabeth still couldn't resist the urge to get away from it. In her frightened struggle, she bumped her head on the wall, gasping as pain threatened to steal her consciousness away. She shut her eyes, for all the good they currently did, and grit her teeth to hold back a cry of pain and frustration.

When the pain began to subside she opened her eyes again, only to find the Nictus almost touching her. Tendrils of darkness reaching out around her like a small cage, others nearly brushing against her. She couldn't make out anything beyond it.

Again, the faint whispers at the edges of her consciousness came, the soft voice came clear faster than before. A surprising amount of concern over the now barely-suppressed hate that lingered.

-Hold still, dear, you're injured. I can help with that.-

Elizabeth closed her eyes and held as still as possible, tense with fear and mentally reeling at what this thing could be planning.

A moment later she could feel the energy that surrounded it flowing into her. She gasped and squirmed in place at how wrong it felt to everything she knew. The whispers closed around her mind, still just quiet and discordant enough she couldn't make anything coherent of them. When she tried to focus on one, it made her dizzy.

The voice that was not hers came clear of the whispering -So curious about us~ Er. Not that I intended to pry. Not this time, just a habit I can't help~-

Elizabeth felt another presence she hadn't noticed move away from her, the whispers fading somewhat. Though both still lingered, it seemed the creature was no longer focused on her thoughts. The next moment the pain in her head began to fade, and at the same time, she could feel something tugging at her energy.

Again, it spoke to her, though the emotion was difficult to place -Count yourself lucky today. I'm making a unique exception. I don't heal others.-

A mix of feelings flashed from the depths of the whispering at the edges of Elizabeth's mind before they vanished completely. Even the energy of the creature faded from her body as she opened her eyes to watch it move away.

Somehow the creature looked more... vibrant, though she was tired, probably imagining things at this point.

Part of her wanted to try sorting out what she felt from it, but whatever it did had drained her too much. Perhaps under other circumstances, she might've fought the feeling of unconsciousness creeping into her senses. But after recent events, it was an idea that brought more comfort than the terror and uncertainty awareness brought. The last of her energy was spent silently praying to whatever deities were watching that she wouldn't find herself in another nightmare.

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Elizabeth awakened from her dreaming with a gasp. Taking a few moments to process her surroundings properly and remember where she was. Joey knelt beside her, looking like he'd been the one to nudge her awake. Her body's complaints had intensified in her, at best, restless sleep. At least the damn Nictus was gone.

Joey finally broke the relative silence between them, concern clear in his tone, "You were muttering in your sleep, and quite frankly earlier I thought that thing was killing you for a moment."

Elizabeth blinked a few times, still fighting her body to wake up completely as she looked at Joey for a moment. She realized he wasn't facing the wall anymore, the dim light finally able to reveal a few more details about him. Scars crossed his face, his expression matching his tone, though there was an odd glint in his eyes. At this point, she couldn't go with the 'that's just a trick of the light' answer for it, something was off with him.

It took a few more moments to respond to what he'd said. "Ugh... honestly? I thought the same. And I think having it in my head right before passing out gave me weird dreams."

Joey's concern didn't fade any, "You said Its name a few times."

Elizabeth let her gaze wander to the floor for a moment, looking back at Joey as she recalled her dreams and the burst of feeling she'd gotten before the Nictus withdrew. "Dark Horizon... You've met it before, haven't you? Your eyes..."

Joey grimaced and looked away for a moment before turning partially back toward her, "... We have crossed paths before. They put a fragment of it in me trying to aid in its possession efforts or something along those lines. I escaped."

Elizabeth bit her tongue for a moment in hesitation, "Oh, shit... That's... Yikes."

He looked back at her again, "You've never encountered Nictus before."

She shook her head slightly, "Not before today, only heard bits and pieces about them. Could never get a clear idea of what they were from it."

Joey's gaze shifted and settled on the door. "Most of them are evil creatures, though those of the Warshades seek to change their ways, try to redeem themselves for their past wrongs. Or so I hear, I've little experience with them to tell how honest they are. The majority, however, aim to manipulate people into letting them in with the promises of power only to turn them into a puppet. Though some are strong enough to force their way in. The lifespans of Nictus, and their cousins the Kheldians, are far shorter than ours. But with endless hosts, they can live forever from the stories I've heard."

Elizabeth shivered as she remembered the feeling from Dark Horizon's touch, "Is that what it was doing, possessing me?"

Joey's concern for her returned, "I can't say without having been in your head, but at least in part it must have to keep you from struggling further. You went from squirming to going limp rather suddenly."

She could barely keep her voice hushed with the alarm that filled her, "I did what?! How did I not notice?"

Joey's gaze suddenly drifted back to the door, there was that flicker of dark tendrils from his eyes again, "You were probably lost in the feeling of its mind, and we're out of time. They're here."

Elizabeth's gaze darted to the door, just in time for a soundless shadow to slip across the light. The faintest whispers tickled her mind but nothing came to clarity.

Multiple pairs of heavy footsteps echoed on the other side shortly after. Actual voices on the other side muffled by the wall and overpowered by the increasingly alarmed murmurs of the other prisoners. The sound of the door's lock echoed through the small chamber, followed by the creak of its opening. For a moment light flooded into the room, promptly being blocked by Dark Horizon's form. The Nictus was flanked by two council soldiers entering close behind it, and there were a few more outside.

The soft whispers had a threatening edge to them this time, even the voice that came clear had lost all semblance of its previous playfulness. -That one, on the right.-

One of the soldiers that had come in stepped and pulled someone away from the wall. Though the Nictus blocked most of Elizabeth's view on exactly what happened, she could hear another woman's voice and unsuccessful struggling fading as she was dragged away.

Another was called out, and when the soldier tried to pull them away someone near them tried to fight back. Elizabeth heard the heavy thunk of someone being struck with the soldier's rifle more than she saw it, their body crumpling limply.

Dark Horizon floated a bit closer to the newly unconscious prisoner. The soldier working to drag the second prisoner it had called out visibly shivered at the proximity to it.

The whispers of the Nictus held a mocking and amused tone, -How cute the way you still struggle is. None of you are escaping this.-

A new voice drew Elizabeth's attention to the door, "Don't discourage them too much, DH."

The new voice belonged to a man standing near the door. From what she could see of him, he was in a completely different uniform than the soldiers she was used to. Dark tendrils appeared to emerge from his eyes.

Whoever that was, he ducked out of the way of the door as one of the soldiers moved past.

Dark Horizon's whispering voice had an alarming focus on her all of a sudden, -The girl in the back next.-

Her blood turned to ice.

She barely heard Joey mutter beside her, "Save your strength, don't fight them yet."

Elizabeth managed to shakily stand in time for one of the soldiers pulling people out to grab her. Her instincts yelled at her to fight or run, anything other than let herself be dragged out, but Joey was right. She needed her strength to face the Nictus.

She kept her gaze on the floor, shivering as she was taken past Dark Horizon. She was just about to take a breath in an attempt to calm herself when she was tossed to the floor outside the room with a yelp.

The annoyed voice of a soldier came from over her, "Get up."

Elizabeth scrambled to get upright, a tight grip on her arm pulling her the rest of the way to her feet. Her eyes barely getting a chance to adjust further to the better-lit hallway as she was forced along. Then again, she was eager to get away from the Nictus.

What of the hall she was being taken down was short, quickly opening into a larger room it connected near the corner of. There were no side passages, and it was narrow enough anyone else moving past would have some trouble.

Though the closer they got the more Elizabeth was getting a worse feeling from the room ahead than she had from Dark Horizon's initial appearance. There was a divider that lined up a smaller section of the room with the hall, though she could still tell there was much more beyond it. It was empty except for the other prisoners taken out ahead of her and some guards.

She was weakly shoved forward into the room, the other soldiers standing guard looking entirely too jumpy as she approached and knelt near the other two prisoners. Something wasn't right.

"Oh good, a smart one. You better not cause any trouble."

Elizabeth couldn't tell which guard exactly that came from but she huffed, "I just know how this all works. Been on the other end a few times."

She could barely make out one of the other guards' muttering: "I think I'd take a non-com prisoner over one that knows her shit..."

She couldn't quite keep a smirk off her face on hearing that, careful to turn so the guards wouldn't see it and smack her. It did make her feel good that at least one of the guards was worried about her capability, even if she knew it wasn't all that impressive.

A glimpse of shadowy movement toward the hallway drew her attention back to it. In time to see Joey get dragged out and tossed aside by the one soldier, or whatever he was, with the shadowy eye thing.

Elizabeth grimaced as Joey was pinned to the wall. She could just make out what they were saying to each other, starting with the as of yet unknown named guy, "Lucky day, catching you again. DH will have fun ripping that fragment out of you."

Joey growled, "I'm sure they will, but I knew this was coming since my escape, had more than enough time to accept my fate. How will you face your death when it comes, Eclipse? That final dissipation into nothin-"

Eclipse cut him off by tossing him to the ground again, "That won't be for a long time yet."

Elizabeth frowned at the exchange, shrinking a little when she felt Eclipse's gaze fall on her for a moment. Three more prisoners were led into the room. Dark Horizon following behind the soldiers as they emerged.

Eclipse gestured the other Nictus closer, and it eagerly darted over to Joey. Tendrils lancing into him suddenly, causing him to tense and grimace, visibly fighting the urge to cry out in pain.

Elizabeth started to stand, wanting to help. Her attention was quickly stolen by a rifle's barrel being shoved in her face, one of the soldiers standing at the other end. She settled back down and turned her gaze to the floor.

An echoing voice rang in her head, -Interesting bunch you picked out. Dark Horizon.-

Elizabeth quickly looked around, searching for the source of the new voice until she found it hovering among the support beams over her. Another shapeless ball of black tendrils, faint hints of blue and purple surfacing on occasion.

That made two free-floating Nictus present.

Dark Horizon's whispers floated across her mind, her gaze darted to where it floated over Joey's motionless body, -They seemed like the best of the lot for what you need here~ Speaking of... Eclipse?-

Eclipse gave an affirmative nod, gaze settled on the gathering of prisoners as he watched from where he'd been standing before. Elizabeth tried to watch Dark Horizon's movement as it bolted away to the larger half of the room, but it was too fast for her to easily focus on.

She heard chatter and could feel faint whispers at the edge of her mind, but couldn't make the details of it out.

Elizabeth squinted at the floor in thought. What was Dark Horizon talking about, the best for what they needed? Couldn't the Nictus just... try to possess people themselves to find the best host? Or was it so taxing for them if they failed that they needed a scout?

Or was there something else entirely that they were planning?

The sound of something rolling on small wheels came from the other half of the room, moving closer. Elizabeth turned and looked up, spotting a couple of scientists moving a wheeled cart. The bottom half had doors on one side she could see but what was contained within remained hidden. The top, however, was glass-walled. Floating low within was a pint-sized ball of tendrils. An ever-shifting mix of black, blue, and purple, contrasted by pale blue and purple tendrils.

It looked... wrong if it was a Nictus. They were creatures of darkness, not light. Kheldians were the light ones, weren't they?

Dark Horizon's whisper-voices were concerned, -Smaller than yesterday... I worry you waited too long for this one Eclipse.-

Eclipse frowned, watching the strange caged creature for a moment, "Then let it be kept from merging with a host no longer."

With those words, one of the scientists managing the cage pulled one of the glass panels to the side. The dual-shaded creature seemed to flash brighter for a moment. Darting forward before fleeing back to be next to the cart's lower half. It looked fearful, hesitating before rushing toward and disappearing into the prisoner kneeling beside Elizabeth. He'd been the closest to Its cage.

Joey's voice came weakly from where he'd been left, "That's no nictus, what on earth have you created this time?"

The prisoner gritted his teeth, expression strained for a few moments before the creature 'popped' back into view. It floated unsteadily, low to the ground, though it managed to drift toward Elizabeth. Against her better judgment, she inched toward it.

It floated up and... in a dizzying instant surged into her.

Their thoughts mirrored each other, terror and confusion as neither could quite tell which thought was who's until '02' managed to pull Its conscience separate from Elizabeth's. Its thoughts seemed to be two unified voices when it spoke more clearly in her mind: -Sorry?! Sorry! I have no idea what I'm doing!! I just- I don't want to die! Please at least... listen.-

Elizabeth paused, hesitating. She could see something alarmingly familiar in 02's thoughts. The fear and confusion, both at what they were currently doing and the possibility of dying. 02 could sense her hesitation and took it as a sign to keep talking.

-I'm something newer, an experiment. Nictus and Kheldian energies in a single entity it's... not a stable mix. Nictus have several years they can last without a host but I... I don't even have a month without something to feed off of. And I- I also don't think I have the strength to possess someone like the others can...-

A pang of envy surged among 02's thoughts that was brushed away as it continued, -So... I offer a merger, like the Warshades and Peacebringers. They become someone new, a mix of both halves personalities with all of their memories - not that I have many - and powers. Which... in theory, I should have the capabilities of both?-

Finally, 02 paused, realizing it may have dumped too much at once. Elizabeth could feel how weak 02's energy was, as it clung to some core point in her body. She considered what it had shared.

If 02 was being truthful, on one hand working for the Council was not an ideal thing. But nor was being possessed by a full, experienced Nictus or used in one of their other experiments.

On the other... very likely gaining powers was a tempting possibility, even if not quite being herself anymore wasn't as appealing.

-We won't have to work for them forever! Probably only long enough to get an idea of what we're doing. Dunno how hard it'd be to leave though... Can't be that bad, right?-

It was an optimistic little creature when given an opening for hope, at least.

Elizabeth hesitated a moment longer, before settling on accepting the merge.

-Great! I- uh... This is going to feel weird for us both and I still have no idea what I'm doing but here goes... everything?-

Elizabeth could feel 02's energy spread through her, sending a shiver down her spine. The divide between their minds faded a little too rapidly for either one's liking, but it was too late now.

For the first time, it felt with a physical body, and she saw the world through the senses of something intangible. Able to feel the life forces of those around them, even the Nictus with their distinct presences. As well as being acutely aware of the neglect her body had suffered, and its own energy hunger.

It was dizzying, far too much too quickly. The two halves' weakened states didn't help the transition.

She managed a quiet whimper before collapsing. Unconsciousness quickly taking over before anything else could be done.

.......

.....

...

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Characters: Elizabeth, Joey, Dark Horizon, Eclipse, Nictus #3 (who has a proper name I promise), and NKP-02
Author comment: Now I can say I've finished a chapter? Mostly? Other than edits and possibly adding a dream squence for the one bit.
Next Chapter: Merger's name, Nictus #3's name, Nictus #4 (Yes there's a FOURTH one), Joey's fate, and power learning shenanigans! (Probably, maybe, and in no particular order because IDK what I'm going to write quite yet!)