Shadow Self - Part 1

A week had passed since Ryder decided he was going to work through this tribulation alone and he was doing an excellent job at hiding all the changes his body was going through. The frei kept to himself as often as possible. Sadly, more of his body began to darken and his freckles were almost all brown. His ribbon was also almost fully soot black. Soon enough he would have no choice but to tell his family and friends what was going on, because it was becoming increasingly harder to hide. Luckily for him, however, the past few weeks had been rather busy at the Mystic Herb; thus keeping Reuben distracted. All whilst Evan was working the night shift at the bar and sleeping throughout the day. It was rather easy to avoid each other when needed within the Rothmore household, and Ryder particularly needed that the past few weeks.

However, tonight felt different. The house was quiet, still and dark. Reuben hadn’t come in yet from the shop as he probably had to set up everything for the next day and Evan was already gone to work. Ryder, alone in the house, decided it would be nice to get some fresh air before going to sleep. Tonight, Ryder felt better. He felt much more alive than he had the past few weeks. He felt...good. It had been so long since he felt such a way. He made his way out into the forest and found a quiet spot to sit. A few yards away was a flowing creek, running swiftly as the sounds of rushing water filled the air. Around him flew glowing butterflies that seemed to be magical themselves. He felt the wind blowing softly, the cool mist from the water being swept up in it and brushing against his face. It was perfect and exactly what he needed in this moment.

The frei closed his eyes, feeling the wind upon his cheeks until suddenly he felt nothing, then he heard nothing. When Ryder opened his eyes to figure out what had happened, he saw a pair bright green eyes staring back at him. Upon further inspection, it was himself. Confused, he floated backward a bit. It was as though he was staring into a mirror, albeit in real life.

“Don’t you recognize me, little rainbow?” the doppelganger spoke, stiffening his posture, a cruel grin growing upon his visage.

Erryd.

“What is this?”

“Well, I know I’ve, uh, downgraded a bit with all this color, but it’s the perfect disguise," he said with a chuckle.

It was then that Ryder realized this was just a dream. He wasn’t really near a creek, there were no glowing butterflies, and there was no wind. In fact, he wasn’t anywhere. When he looked around quickly to evaluate his surroundings, he was floating in a void, around him was a fine mist that seemed to sparkle with a rainbow gleam. He tried his best but couldn’t wake himself from this nightmare. It was as though Erryd was keeping him locked up in this dream world and he couldn’t escape.

“What do you wish of me?” The frei asked.

“What do I wish of you? Urgh! Why must you speak like that? You’ve changed, little rainbow...you’ve changed so much. That stupid video game you play all day and night really rots your brain. Now you even speak like those ignorant characters in it.” Erryd groaned, rolling his eyes.

Ryder furrowed his brow, still looking over the colors of Erryd. It was so strange to see him, in what seemed to be the flesh, in such bright colors as he had never witnessed such a sight. It really seemed as though he was looking into a mirror. Though through all the badgering, Ryder kept silent, not allowing Erryd to weasel his way into his psyche.

With a huff, Erryd spoke, “What I want from you is simple. I want you to realize how pathetic you’ve been. We have been blessed with this wondrous magical gift of creating reality and you’re squandering it away. You’ve decided, on your own accord, not to continue to practice our craft, which is such a waste of our potential. I, however, would love to utilize these new abilities to truly show you, and everyone else, what kind of untapped power we really have.”

Ryder’s eyes narrowed. “And how, may I ask, do you plan to complete such a task?”

Erryd cackled. “I've already begun, can’t you see? I am you, Ryder. As colorful and ugly as I feel, I know that this guise is the best way to take over.”

Ryder shook his head, confused. Take over what? The question loomed within his mind, he knew it would be better not to respond, as that is exactly what Erryd would have wanted. Ignoring him was always the best medicine.

Erryd shot a glare towards Ryder. It was obvious that he wasn't going to get a response from the toadstool. No matter, he would say what he needed to say, regardless.

“Now, you must be wondering what I mean by that. You see, the nightmare you’ve been having lately—which has been oh so delightful for me—is not starring you in particular. The true character of that show is actually me, and the dream details that which I truly wish to see happen utilizing these new powers.” Erryd chuckled, folding his hands and placing them delicately under his chin as though he was imagining the nightmare then and there.

“I don’t think you fully understand. Your fears, anxieties and frustration fuel me. Thankfully, because of your waning desire to practice magic, the opportunity for me to slowly take what you have decided to throw away presented itself. As you’ve no doubt noticed, you’re colors have slowly been changing, darkening. In order to keep the balance within us, one has to have the color—or specifically, the magic—and the other has to be the mundane shadow,” he explained, floating back before beginning to float back and forth in front of Ryder. “Oh, Ryder, I’m so happy to be the one to tell you that I am no longer your shadow. I can finally be the star of this show,” Erryd stated earnestly, fingers stippled and excitement quite apparent in his demeanor.

“And what show is that, pray tell?” Ryder questioned, disgust apparent on his face.

“Are you surely that daft? Ugh, I shouldn’t even be surprised. You’ve never been the brightest crayon in the box. I’m speaking about our life, of course,” Erryd started with a chuckle. “I mean, I guess technically it is your life as I have to pretend to be you,” he began, a look of disgust growing on his face, “but I will be able to deal with that as long as I have the ability to create reality,” he concluded, his face lighting up towards the end.

“You believe you have the ability to do such a thing? You must realize that you are but an imagining, nothing more.”

“And that, my dear, dear little rainbow, is where you’re utterly wrong. I am not just an imagination, I am the dark to your light. The Yin to your Yang. Like it or not, I'm an integral part of who you are. Luckily, given the fact that we can now create reality, thanks to the Trader, I can utilize our power—no, no, my power—to fully create myself in reality.”

Erryd paused, taking a deep breath and spreading his arms wide before wrapping them around himself in an embrace. He chuckled evilly before speaking again, “I cannot wait. I have been planning this since the day we created that so-called ‘tree’ in the forest. It was during that first portrayal of this magic that I realized, unbeknownst to you, you daft fool, that we were actually creating reality. I should have known you were idiotic when it took Xiu killing that primal for you to realize what we were doing all this time. I have been storing away all the secrets and all the notes that you’ve been taking.”

The shadow frei floated around Ryder and grabbed his shoulders, encroaching in on his ear only to whisper, “I do have to thank you, little rainbow, for all of your research and studies. They will be invaluable to me throughout this entire process."