In the face of absolute terror, there’s many different ways people can react. They can completely shut down, they could refuse to acknowledge the truth, they could lash out in complete rage or they could simply run like the wind.
Everyone’s different, every handles fear their own, unique way but ultimately boils down to one simple, tired trope.
Fight or Flight.
And fortunately for you Nox, every single one of your victims have been coerced into flight. Your poisonous mist that curls inside their very soul twists and turns them into something almost childlike, every single worry, every naked fear brought to life in a nightmarish fog.
They scream, they cry, they shit their pants in absolute terror and every muscle and fibre in their body locks into place, paralysing them for the inevitable fade to black.
And now Nox, you believe this kid is just another patsy, another experiment to perfect your fear toxin. Another would be hero who will be met with a simple fork in the road and choose flight over fight. After all, every little bit of data you have on me says this the inevitable conclusion.
A naive child who has lost everything he holds dear, who believed in the purity of others only for reality to awaken him into a cold, chilling nightmare of falsehood. Whose failures cling to him like a suit of armor he can never shed.
Problem is Nox, your data on me is old. That all related to the child who once was. The child who would have perished in mere moments from the terror you inflicted upon him. The child who drowned in the abyss of reincarnation.
The man who emerged had shed his doubts, his worries and his fears for absolute, rock solid belief in his convictions and role in this world. The man who is destined to save Arcadia by any means necessary and destroy any evil soul that dare walk onto his path.
You believe so whole heartedly that fear rules the very soul of humanity. Yet I am not your experiment Nox, I am the exception to your rule that will shatter everything you hold dear. I am the air tight container of Courage that your fear can never escape from, I am the endless brick wall of Hope that your doubt will never overcome.
You’ve had your fun Nox, now it’s my turn.
My turn to drag you down into the abyss of revelations, where the darkest truths of reality are only revealed to those who survive the Pool. Truths that mere mortals were never meant to comprehend, truths that will shatter your very mind and allow the demons to collect their pound of flesh.
Because you were right Nox, you and I are not equals. I’m better then you because I fight through my fear for the good of Arcadia.
And you? Just like your victims, all you will do is flee right down to the bottom of the abyss where you fucking belong.