Chapter 1:
The Being Locked In the Holy Relic
THE INCIDENT IN QUESTION had taken place the very same night that Marie accepted the Saint’s necklace from Leon. She’d crawled into bed and was fast asleep, her stomach exposed since she’d kicked her blanket aside.
Marie smiled to herself, mumbling in her sleep. “Leon, you dummy… Luxion, you big jerk… Zz…”
While she was oblivious to the outside world, her desk drawer began to rattle. When it finally popped open, black mist spilled forth. It floated through the air, stopping near Marie, where it finally took the distinct shape of a woman. The way her almond eyes narrowed into upside-down crescents suggested that she was grinning maniacally.
“Finally, I’ve found you. I’ll be taking your body.”
The black mist figure stretched her hand toward the sleeping Marie. The moment she touched Marie’s skin, there was a snap of electricity, almost like built-up static.
The mist quickly retracted her hand, eyes widening in shock. “You’re resisting me? Considering how foolish you look, I didn’t anticipate that you’d be so stubborn.”
Marie continued sleeping, blissfully unaware of the danger, although her unconscious mind had somehow rejected the mist’s attempt to possess her.
It was clear now to the mist that taking over Marie’s body would be no simple task. Even so, she had no intention of giving up. “If that’s how you want it, I’ll just have to interfere with your mind.”
Such manipulation typically met with fierce resistance from the host, but the mist was fortunate; Marie was unconscious now, so invading her mind would be much less difficult.
“This would’ve been far easier for both of us if you’d simply let me possess you.” Ignorance was bliss, after all.
The mist delved deep inside Marie’s mind, to the very depths of her soul. “You’re making this a lot more difficult than it needs to be,” she grumbled.
Marie’s mental fortitude was proving an unfortunate obstacle to the mist’s plans, and she was opting for a much more roundabout method of achieving what she wanted. Sadly for the mist, this route was substantially more draining; it was something she would’ve preferred to avoid if given the choice. Still, she wasn’t about to let this long-awaited chance slip through her fingers. She had to get a body no matter the cost, and she was willing to push her limits if that was what it took.
The mist snickered to herself as she finally arrived at the deepest depths of Marie’s mind, where she found a door in front of her. “There you are.” Naturally, the door was locked. “Of course you keep it locked to protect yourself. But however strong your defenses are, they’re pointless against me.”
The mist forced the lock and wrenched the door open. She strode confidently inside, only to be hit with confusion at what lay within.
“What is this?” she blurted. “The inside of your mind doesn’t look like a room from this kingdom.”
This room was supposed to be a manifestation of someone’s heart—the place they felt most comfortable, which was typically their personal quarters. Marie’s room was feminine, to be sure. That part wasn’t odd at all. It was more that the items and decorations in the room were wholly unfamiliar. That could also be said for the furniture itself, of course, and there were many other items the mist couldn’t fathom the purpose of.
“Oh well. It doesn’t matter. The bigger question is where this room’s resident is.”
The mist scanned her surroundings. The chamber wasn’t all that spacious, so it proved easy to locate Marie immediately. She was sprawled on her bed in the center of the room.
Curiously, her body here differed wildly from the one in reality. Someone’s inner self took whatever form they most strongly identified with, and it wasn’t rare for that to differ from their actual physical appearance. In Marie’s case, though, the discrepancy was more pronounced than any the mist had ever encountered. In reality, Marie had blonde hair and blue eyes. Here in this room, her eyes and hair were incredibly dark. On top of that, her figure was more feminine and curvaceous.
“She looks like an entirely different person. Is this how she wishes she looked?” The mist shook her head. “I can’t believe she’s still sound asleep, even with an intruder present.”
As if on cue, the woman meant to represent Marie’s inner self—though she looked nothing like Marie—blinked away her drowsiness and let out a great big yawn. “What is it? You’re disturbing my beauty sleep,” she grumbled, annoyed.
This woman was Marie’s core essence, a completely unfiltered version of her personality. She rubbed her eyes and studied the mist, looking tired. “Who are you?” She still wasn’t fully awake.
Seeing this as an opportunity, the mist jumped on her chance to possess her victim by first starting to introduce herself. “You want to know who I am? My name’s…”
Before the mist even finished her sentence, Marie let out another huge yawn and nodded off again. Her eyes had slid shut; she was clearly headed back to dreamland.
“How dare you fall back asleep after asking me who I am?!” screeched the mist.
Marie flinched, eyes flying wide open. She stared at the mist and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I-I wasn’t asleep. And if I was, well, you managing to put me to sleep is pretty impressive.”
If that was an excuse, it was a poor one, primarily because it made no sense. But maybe that was because Marie still wasn’t fully awake.
Standing in front of Marie’s true form, the mist resisted the urge to sigh. Am I sure that this is who I want to possess…? No one else is available to me. I can’t be too picky.
Taking a deep breath to regain her composure, the mist told Marie, “I have an offer for you. Wouldn’t you like to have my power? I am the force that resides within the Saint’s necklace, you see. If you accept me, I can lend you even greater strength. Don’t you want full access to the Saint’s power?”
Marie hugged her pillow to her chest, not bothering to neaten her hair, which was tousled from sleep. Instead, she just sat there and studied the mist for a moment. Her eyes were intensely skeptical.
“Wh-what? Don’t you want power?” the mist asked again. “I’m talking about enough power to achieve whatever you desire.”
This simple spiel was normally sufficient to entice someone’s inner self. Even if they had the good sense to doubt the authenticity of the mist’s offer, their lust for power would be too great for them to heed their better judgment. A desire for power was universal, after all. This speech had worked perfectly for the mist numerous times.