Kylar sat alone in a dark room, his eyes darting across the shadows, a lone black cat seeming to appear in each on as he glanced between them. The cat was odd, silently watching him, but giving off no sense of life. Whatever it was there was no soul within it and it always remained within view. The first time he saw it appear out of the shadows he panicked, assuming Ree had found him before he had regained his power. It was little more than something that followed him though, a silent black cat that observed his actions.
The black cat that seemed to be made out of pure shadows and had glowing blue eyes, watched from a distance. It could easily have been mistaken for Ree's eyes, but the lack of soul gave away it wasn't the same.
Ashral's voice rose up in his mind every now and again. Soft, somber, sometimes desperate, other times, scared. "What did you do with Ree... Where is he?" she asked, demanding an answer but it was weak.
Kylar frowned as the voice spoke, this wasn't the first time he had heard a voice that he wasn't supposed to, but it was the first time the voice wasn't one of his own.
He shook his head and spoke aloud, "Shut up, you're supposed to be dead." It was true, she was supposed to be dead, but wasn't she already dead when she became a malice? Perhaps a malice never dies, it just moves from host to host. He hadn't given much thought to the side effects of absorbing Ashrals soul, until now.
"You shutup! I'm not dead.." her voice raised in anger but immediately died down again. "Where is Ree?....what did you do to him..." she asked again, less demanding this time and more like pleading.
"He's dead." He lied thinking if she had no-one to hold onto perhaps he could silence her as he had come to do with Kage. His eyes continued to dart across the room while watching the cat.
The was a long pause. "No.. y-you're lying! He would have fought back against you...." she spoke back, doubt in her voice as she fell silent for a bit longer.
Kylar chuckled, there was doubt there. All he needed was a little truth and it was likely he could subdue her consciousness. He took his eyes off of the cat and looked down at the ground before speaking. "He did fight, he fought to protect you. He nearly killed me, but protecting you made him vulnerable. The tranquilizer took effect and he fell from the building."
There was a longer silence... "...no..." her voice soft, an obvious denial but a small bit of acceptance. "....what...did you do to me..." she then asked softly, only feeling darkness and couldn't remember anything past trying to protect Ree from the tranquilizers. But it seems she had.. failed him. She felt responsible for his death.
"What I did to you?" He thought for a moment before answering. "I sealed your soul inside of myself. You won't be able to harm anyone else that way or be used by SIU." He grinned before adding, "I took SIUs secret weapon from them, won't they be surprised when I use you against them?"
"Harm anyone... I don't want to-.." she hesitated, hearing the rest of his words. "Used?... They never-... I joined them myself..." she muttered with a somber tone to her voice. "Against them?! I don't want to hurt anyone!!" she exclaimed in panic and desperation.
Her reaction surprised him. A malice that didn't want to harm anyone? Perhaps this was what they do to gain the hosts, pretend to be innocent and trustworthy until it's to late. That must have been it. He spoke up, "Regardless of what you want, you'll do it. You're nothing more than a weapon allowing yourself to be used. The only difference is now you have a new wielder, so why don't you be a good girl and crawl inside of the sword instead of my head?"
"And what if I don't want to..." she spoke with worry, trying to sound strong, unmoving. "...weapon..." she repeated with sadness. "...I didn't want to be a weapon anymore....I was-...I was getting better..."
"It doesn't matter what you want. Once I'm strong enough, you won't have a choice anymore. This is my body and unlike Hexxis, you can't use me however you want. I know what you are and I will control you eventually." He responded before laughing.
The cat hissed from its position, narrowed eyes on Kylar but made no move to pursue or attack.
Ashral was starting to panic more. "N-no, i...won't listen to you! I'll find a way out...you can't keep me here forever.." His laughter only filled her with dread, trying to keep composure but was failing.
Kylars eyes moved to the cat as it made a sound, that was a first. Normally it quietly watched him, but now it seemed upset. Was this soulless cat somehow tied to Ashral? His attention returned to Ashral, with eyes still on the cat.
He responded to her words, antagonizing her. "Unlikely, I didn't join our souls, I devoured yours. When I figure out the secret behind how Ree increased his power beyond what it was without injuring himself, you will be forced to obey. Until then however I'll have to make due with this." The word that followed dripped with power as he spoke to himself, "Sleep!" Kylar went limp, the power taking effect as he lost consciousness. He didn't require sleep anymore, but it didn't make it impossible.
"I'll make sure you never find out..." she declared quietly.
"W-ai-.....si-..len-.." her voice stopped, falling silent with the command.
The cat continued to glare but closed its eyes and got up as if to walk off and merely faded from view with a sigh.
