Guardian from another world

Pet Name: Azaveus
Owner: Amnesia
Theme / Type: Phantom Ahbruis
Born: October 14, 2013
Gender: Male

MisticPal Name: Poet's Spell
MisticPal Age: 3894 Days

Battle Portal Stats

Level: 2
Hit Points: 15 / 10
Strength: 19
Defense: 2
Speed: 15
Intellect: 168
Misticpower: 4

Books Read

Books Read: 156/373 [ View Books ]

Exotic Foods Eaten

Foods Eaten: 65/1254 [ View Foods ]

A Monster and its Guardian Spirit

My name is Azaveus and I am a Guardian Spirit. The realm of spirits is a mysterious and dangerous place, I am here to help and guide those seeking to understand it. My purpose and duty is to protect the balance between the realm of the spirits and any realm seeking contact with it. Sadly there are many fools who think they can deal with the dangers of the spirit realm without the guidance of another spirit. You do not want to be among these fools. If you wish my guidance you may either call me, or come visit me in the mortal world. I currently reside with my friends in a castle deep within the Prussian woods. The lord of the castle may not seem like the friendliest fellow, but it is rather nice, for a Monster.

(Warning for some blood and violence. Nothing too drastic though.)

Chapter 1 - Binding Blood

The sound of creaking echoed loudly through the abandoned temple as its doors were pushed open, an unexpected visitor all but falling into the building. It didn't bother closing the doors, too wounded and its pursuers too far behind for it to care as it stumbled down the shallow steps towards the center of the room, eventually falling to its knees and crawling forward until it collapsed. Gasping for air due to pain and fatigue, bits of blood trickling from its mouth and nose. It laid there for a bit, until it gathered enough strength to reach behind its back and forcefully yank out the two arrows lodged into its flesh. A scream followed the pain, but the sound turned into a snarl as anger boiled through its veins. Then the snarl gave way to coughing, expecting blood, yet as the substance that rose from its throat finally hit the floor it was a thick black mass that the creature knew all too well. Soon it fell back to the floor, curling up and watching the black liquid slowly evaporate as sleep took it.

Whether it has been hours or minutes since the creature passed out, it could not tell, only that it was still night. It moved to finally close the doors, relieved that no-one had followed it. Then it finally took the time to take a look at its surroundings. It couldn't tell what exactly this temple was used for, only that it had to do with strong magic, especially the kind related to death. Which was the reason why it felt drawn to come here in the first place. It moved back to the shrine it had tried to reach before passing out.
A table carved out of the stone, covered with various fabrics, papers, trinkets, books, candles and whatever other tools were needed for the rituals that were once preformed here. Not to mention the thick layer of dust and cobwebs left from years of abandonment. In the middle of it all lay an open book, yet whatever writing was once in it seemed to have faded with age. There was another curiosity, a doll, an effigy of a wolf. The item had been propped against the wall, surrounded by strange symbols and writings in a language unknown to the creature. There was another thing, pins and needles were stuck inside the doll, one nearly the size of a knitting needle stuck directly where the heart should be. For an unknown reason the creature felt bad for the inanimate object, eventually beginning to remove the needles from it.
Yet as it removed the final needle, the big one stuck in the doll's heart, the effigy had begun to bleed. With the blood, black mist and streams of violet light escaped the doll, the symbols around it coming to life with the same eerie light. The creature tried to get away, yet it found itself unable to move. Its hand, which had been carelessly placed on one of the open pages of the book, remained frozen in place, as if it had been glued to the spot. The blood of the doll seeped into the pages, and the ancient writing suddenly restored itself, now also shining in that mysterious light. The creature felt a sudden burn in its hand and let out a yelp as it once more tried to yank it away, finally coming free from the vile object. Jumping back it sneered at the growing light, preparing to fight off whatever vicious magic had been released. Eventually the light faded and in its place was not what the creature expected. A wolf, white as snow, with a thick silver mane and eyes the color of moonlight stood there, unmoving like a statue. Slowly the animal was released from its frozen state, looking around disoriented as if it had awoken from a long slumber and found itself in unknown territory. Then its eyes locked with that of the creature, one moment it opened its mouth as if to speak, then the other it collapsed.

Chapter 2 - A Spell Broken

It wasn't until hours later that the wolf began to wake. Up until then the creature had been exploring the temple, it would have left, but something kept it there, a feeling which would continuously draw it back to the sleeping wolf. Once again their eyes met, confusion still present on both sides. The wolf was first to break the silence.

"You, you broke the spell?"

The creature nodded in response. The wolf sounded tired, and had yet to try moving, but that didn't stop the creature from being cautious. The wolf then tried to stand, but he was struggling, as if he couldn't hold his own weight. It took a few minutes for him to get up on shaking paws, seemingly lost in deep thought.

"Why do I feel so heavy?" He lifted one paw to his face, examining it closely as if it were an unknown object. "No." Barely a whisper as a look of shock and horror came to his face, only to moments later turn into anger. "These fools! What have they done!" He snarled before he took note of the creature again, the way its pose tensed and eyes focused on him, like a wild animal ready to pounce.

The wolf was smart enough to realize the creature saw him as a threat, he would have to calm both of them down if he wanted to avoid combat. He took a steadying breath before speaking up again.

"My name is Azaveus, and I am a Guardian Spirit. No matter which form I might currently be bound to..."

The creature tilted its head a bit, narrowing its eyes at the wolf before a strange grunting hiss escaped its mouth. It cut the sound short, inhaling deeply and remaining still, as if it was trying to calm down. Azaveus soon realized the creature was trying to speak, yet its voice was raspy as if it was not used to speaking.

"You smell of death, but you are mortal. Of flesh and blood, not ethereal fog. I know of no such spirits." It hissed out, straining to speak.

Azaveus took a moment to think before he responded.
"I used to be the guide of this temple, but some of my apprentices became greedy, they wished contact with powers which were far beyond their abilities. I refused to let them call the ancient spirits, so they cast a spell to lock me away. I don't know what happened after that, but it cannot have been good. Some spirits will aid you, others will harm you, the ancients are entirely unpredictable to be safe for anyone but their own kind. And judging by the poor state of this temple my apprentices managed to summon the ancients..."

The creature said nothing, contemplating whether to trust the wolf's words or not. Yet the pain of the other was too strong to be a lie. Then Azaveus spoke again.

"Well, I introduced myself, but who are you?"

That question was like a slap in the face for the creature, it snarled and promptly turned for the door. Azaveus barely had time to call for it to wait, yet that didn't do anything as the creature stormed out of the building.

It didn't stop running until it deemed it was far enough from the temple. How could it be so dumb? There was a reason why it didn't have a home, why it was always on the move. Yet speaking to someone again after such a long time made it momentarily forget its predicament. It could not stay, it couldn't be near anyone. So it moved on, whatever little rest it gained in the temple would have to suffice for now. Soon enough though another issue came up, hunger was something the creature could ignore for days, yet it could not be ignored forever.

The forests were full of game, and the creature an experienced hunter. It didn't take long to find, stalk, and slay the deer. Luck was not on its side though and it snarled in frustration as the human child appeared. A hunter in training, yet the youth could not even hold the bow steady at the frightening sight of the creature. It knew it should just give up the prey, but right now it was sick of running. One roar, one terrifying screech, and the child would run, that was for sure. Yet the sound was momentarily drowned out by anther before being entirely cut off by the pain which suddenly erupted in the creature's shoulder. It reached for its shoulder only for there to be another loud noise and more pain coming from its side. It remembered the hunters from earlier, those had bows, but the ones now had guns. There was no time to lose, it ran, followed by more gunshots and repeated shouts of that one word that had branded it forever.

"Get the monster! We can't let it escape!"

Mentally cursing itself and all of humanity it kept running through the woods, yet with the fresh wounds slowing it down it was not able to shake the hunters. A few minutes later it decided to change tactics and hide in one of the trees. That plan seemed to work at first, but it forgot about the blood. It waited for the hunters to get close and in the right moment it jumped down, tackling one of the hunters to the ground and moving away just in time to avoid another bullet. This would have bought it time, this would have been a chance to escape. If it weren't for the bullet that just lodged itself in its back.

"Disgusting creature, you won't be causing any more harm here."

The creature snarled at the hunter, daring him to pull the trigger. It tensed, preparing to leap at the hunter, if it died today it might just as well take its killer along. And then the shot was fired.

"You idiot! Can't you aim?!"

The hunter was lying on the ground, clutching his wounded leg. His partner stood behind him, his face expressionless as he looked at the man he just shot. Then his gaze shifted to the creature, and that's when it saw the white glow in his eyes. The man said only one word. "Run."

Without thinking, the creature did just that.

Chapter 3 - The Monster

It wasn't until days after the incident with the hunters that the creature saw Azaveus again. The wolf spirit simply appeared at the creature's current hideout.

"How?" It asked.

Azaveus sighed and showed a book to the creature, it was the same one from the temple.

"When you freed me you also, involuntarily by my guess, preformed the binding spell." The wolf flipped to the once blank page which still held the creature's bloody handprint. "This spell is used to bind a spirit to a living medium, a pact of sorts. I was able to find you because by the rules of this spell I am now your guardian spirit."

None said any more at first, then a strained sound came from the creature. At first it sounded like wheezing, but soon in morphed into a raspy laughter.

"That's just too precious, and there I was already wondering in what other way life was going to torment me." The creature seemed to have an easier time speaking now, but its laughter was bitter.

Azaveus waited for the sound to die out before he spoke again. "Well, this is simply our predicament now. Wherever you might go, I shall follow."

The creature's expression turned into a scowl as it heard those words. "Run along little pup, I'm bad company. Even if you are a spirit, you do not want to go where I need to be."

Something about Azaveus' expression was odd, looking almost sad. The creature could feel the bad news coming. "Thing is... I cannot leave you. In order to break the pact I would need to return to the Spirit Realm. But... I can't. Not now that I am locked in this body. At the moment I'm more like a mortal with a spirit's powers than anything else. I barely even managed to possess that hunter back then.... I am sorry for the inconvenience, but until I find a way to return to my true form we will have to stick together."

There was pain in the wolf's voice, true anguish, it was well hidden, but the creature was too perceptive when it came to such things. The creature also knew for a fact that life hated it, there was no other way something like this would have happened otherwise. It wasn't until several minutes of silent thinking that it spoke again.

"I'll help you find a way to become a spirit again, I don't care what you do in the meantime as long as you don't get in my way. And there will be times when I will seek solitude for a while, do not under any circumstances follow me then. Understood?" The creature hissed that last part. Azaveus simply bowed.

"I understand, master."

For a second the creature's threatening demeanor morphed into one of equal displeasure, horror, and discomfort. A visible chill running through its body.
"Do not call me that! I am no one's master." It hissed in anger, startling the wolf for a moment.

Azaveus was curious about the creature's outburst, but held it for wise to not question it.

"My apologies." The wolf bowed lightly, then he remembered something else. "What should I call you then?"

The creature seemed taken aback, then its expression turned grim, its thoughts wandering off into a different place. A few moments later it smiled, it was an odd mixture, full of bitter humor, sadness, and oddly enough a calm acceptance.

"Why don't you just call me what everyone else does?"

Azaveus looked at it confused, feeling as if he was missing some kind of joke.

But the creature only chuckled and spoke again. "I am the Monster."

And this is how everything began. A mysterious creature of unknown origins, and a spirit trapped in mortal flesh. The unlikely pair traveled for a long time, seeking for a way to free Azaveus, and the elusive place the Monster was so determined to find. They were walking a dark path, and the Monster's instinct seemed to lead them to ever darker ones. Almost a year later their journey took them to a small village. There they overheard rumors about the abandoned structure hidden deep in the dark woods nearby. A haunted place filled with death and terror. Without hesitation the Monster led them through the woods, feeling the presence calling out to it.

"This is it." The Monster said in a hushed tone as they neared the castle.

"This? You mean, as in the place you have been seeking?"

"Don't you feel it? Can't you recognize the aura of this place for what it is?" The Monster continues to speak in an almost whisper, as if being careful not to awaken something.

Azaveus knew what the Monster was talking about, over the past months he learned what kind of places his companion felt drawn to. This castle, it was full of fear, pain, and death. It was a place which the mortals would forever remember as a horrible nightmare. But Azaveus knew that for the two of them it would be something entirely different, a sanctuary, a home.
And this is how they finally found themselves in the dark Prussian woods, at the gates of the infamous castle Brennenburg.

-End of Introduction-

Chapter 4 - Box of Pandora

It was on a late October day that Azaveus' studies were interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Come in." The wolf called out, pausing in his writing.

Entering the room was no other but the current 'lord' of the castle. The Monster smiled at his old friend as it walked over to the wolf's desk and placed on it an object wrapped in cloth.

"What did you bring me there?"

"... How long have we known each other?" The Monster asked.

Azaveus took a bit to think. "We traveled together for about a year before we found this castle, and we've been living here for two years. So that marks three years for us."

The Monster gave a slight nod in agreement and walked to the window, looking at the dark forest outside before it spoke again. "It's a gift for you, you may open it now."

Azaveus chuckled, knowing what the Monster meant he started unwrapping the mysterious object. Yet as his hand passed over the smooth surface he froze. He felt a familiar energy pass through him, the energy of the spirit realm. He could not believe his eyes as all the cloth was removed, revealing the jewelry box like object within. He carefully stroke the top of the box, feeling its energy humming through him.

"I cannot believe it, you found one. You found one of the secret boxes, Pandoria's treasures! I.. I can become a spirit again!"

Never before had the Monster heard such joy and gratitude coming from his companion. It was happy that Azaveus would finally return to his true self.

"I thank you, my good friend. You can't imagine how much this means t-" Suddenly he cut himself off as realization dawned on him.

Azaveus looked again at the box, inspecting it thoroughly while making sure not to open it. His expression turned grim and his voice was filled with accusation and anger when he spoke again. "Where did you get it?"

The Monster shrugged and simply replied. "Found some contacts, don't worry about it."

Azaveus was not satisfied with that answer and asked again, putting emphasis on every word. Those boxes don't just fall from the sky, each one is extremely hard to find, and usually specific ones can only be found in places with their affinity. And it's not hard to guess in which place one may find a Box of Phantoms.

"I made a deal with an Ancient." It's tone was apologetic and for a while the Monster wouldn't look at him.

Azaveus sunk back into his seat, face covered by his palms as he slowly shook his head. He had feared something like this would happen, but he hoped the Monster wouldn't be so reckless.

"Why did you do this?" He burst out.

"Because it was the only way. We spent three years looking for a way to turn you back, all tracks turning out to be dead ends. I got the opportunity and used it."

"You are a fool. You are a bloody fool and I trusted you. How could you do this to me? After all I told you? After what happened in the temple? You could have been gone now!" Azaveus was angry, but the anger only stemmed from the knowledge that he could have lost his friend.

"I am not an idiot, Azaveus. Do you really think I called an Ancient without any preparations? I do listen to the things you say."

"But it was still too dangerous to do it on your own, without a spirit to protect you."

"And who says that it was alone during the task?" An ethereal voice cut through the conversation.

There seemed to be no source of the voice, it bounced off the walls, echoing throughout the room. But Azaveus knew well enough what it was.

"Hour, you should have known better too. Why didn't you stop it?"

"It seemed like a decent plan to me, perhaps you should have a bit more faith in your friends." The voice echoed on, the hound unable to manifest itself outside its time.

"This isn't about faith. You know damn well the Ancients are dangerous!" He growled.

"My dear Azaveus, you seem to forget that I am the ruler of a realm. I am not as low on the food chain as you like to believe." Hour chuckled.

Azaveus sighed, he still couldn't believe what his friends had done. This whole thing could have gone so wrong.

"Who was it, who did you call?" He eventually asked.

"Orroboros." The Monster spoke calmly, not knowing how Azaveus would react.

The wolf groaned again and for the second time that day his face was buried in his palms. Eventually he looked up again and sighed.

"Alright, not worst case scenario but far from being the best. Orroboros is one of the most unpredictable ones due to his impulsiveness and mood swings. ...How did you manage to arrange a deal with him?" Azaveus was truly curious about that.

"I just offered something he deemed worthwhile." The Monster shrugged, trying to make it seem like it was nothing important.

"What could possibly be valuable enough for an Ancient to trade a Phantom Box for it?"

The Monster remained silent, and so did Hour. Azaveus took this as a sign not to ask further. What is done is done.

"Promise me to never do something like this again."

"I promise."

At that Azaveus smiled, finally able to relax and slip back into the joy of soon being his true self again. "We better get the preparations started then."

They waited until the night of Hallows' Eve, the night the connections to the Spirit Realm was the strongest. The ritual would be preformed outside the castle, it worked best when aided by the moonlight. Azaveus sat within the circle, careful not to disturb the runes all around. In the meantime the Monster was busy lighting the candles.

"Are you ready?" It asked once the last candle was lit.
"As ready as I'll ever be."

The Monster nodded and sat at its designated place.

"I'll see you soon." With those last words he smiled and opened the box.

The box gave a low hiss as the lid was removed, instantly fog spilled from within the box and covered the ground. The fog began to thicken around Azaveus until he himself seemed to be made out of it, which in fact he now was. Once the wolf became one with the fog, it started retreating back into the box, taking Azaveus along. The lid snapped shut and for a few minutes everything was quiet, then the box cracked, fell into pieces, became dust, and eventually faded out of existence. Now the Monster had to wait, it was one hour before midnight, the summoning would be preformed just before the clock hits twelve.

And so it was, minutes before midnight the ritual was started. The Monster, chanted, prayed and called for its friend. Soon the area became foggy again and the Monster knew a gate was opening. The fog became thicker, making it hardly possible to see anything besides the light of the candles. And then there were the eyes. Mesmerizing ruby eyes shone from behind the white curtain, stopping the Monster's chanting. The fog cleared and yet again the Monster found itself faced by a wolf. Fur white as moonlight, an ethereal mane made of pale lavender shades, and those stunning red eyes.

"Hello again, dear friend." The wolf grinned.

There was an undeniably ethereal sound to the wolf's voice, but there was no mistaking it, this was Azaveus.

The Monster grinned, full of joy for his friend. "Hello, my Guardian Spirit."