It was all overwhelming from the start. Immediately out of the pod Cecil hardly had a moment to breathe and catch his bearings before he was directed toward what had been deemed as the cove. As far as he could tell it was just a cave with a set of stairs that led down down down deep into nothingness. The darkness hardly bothered him but what was concerning was the small spaces that could potentially lay in wait at the bottom. He had just escaped a small space and wasn't sure if he was ready to face another.

He stared down into the darkness with hesitation unsure of his fate, but as he was on the verge of turning back and asking if this was really part of his initiation he heard something. It was so faint but it tickled across his senses and ran a shiver down his spine. A whisper, that is what it had sounded like. So far off and muffled but Cecil knew what it wanted though he couldn't explain how. All he knew was that it was calling to him and he allowed that small whisper to quiet the last of his doubts as he took his first step downward.

The stairs remained spacious to his relief but the whispers grew louder in volume, more persistent until the noise was so overwhelming he could hardly think. Most of the words were hard to make out especially as they began to overlap one another. It was all to beckon him closer, calling for freedom, for vengeance, an escape. The words crowded his head until the moment his foot left the last step and he was standing in a small room only lit with a sparse number of torches. The voices had suddenly stopped all together leaving nothing behind but an eerie silence.

"Hello?" Cecil stepped further into the room but there was no one here.

"You seem nervous for someone so large." The voice came to him so sultry and smooth and he expected to turn and find someone there but he was alone as he had been from the start.

"Okay, this is no time to lose it." He was just a little off kilter from exiting the pod. At least that's what he was going to tell himself but what was he expected to do down here?

"You are here to make a choice. One that will change what meaningless existence you have had up until now."

Cecil wasn't sure how to respond. Now he was certain he had heard a voice but where was it coming from? Was this some sort of prank? Was this some sort of strange college frat initiation.

"You seem to be confused. I am uncertain what this frat is but I can tell you this is nothing of the sort."

"Uh.." It was a highly intellectual response but Cecil was quickly digesting one little thing that was off about this conversation. He hadn't said a word, this voice, whoever they were was responding to his thoughts.

"I am." The voice agreed, sweet and silky. "Your thoughts are an open book but only because I have chosen you. Together you and I will form a pact, a bond, and work together as one. Come closer, free me, and we will be together you and I."

Cecil was really starting to wish he had been given a little more detail before stepping into the cove but did as the voice said. He was still expecting a college prank of some kind but in this tiny room made of stone with very little to aid in hiding that was becoming a very unlikely option. "Okay....what now?"

"Pick me up."

"P-pick you up? But there is no one here?" Cecil looked around again to be sure but the small room was empty save for the few torches and the odd little tablets set into the walls.

"I am here I assure you." The voice had a hint of impatience to it. "My previous body is long gone but I remain here as something else. Reach out your hands I will show you."

Turning back to the wall Cecil saw one of the tablets light up with a rune. It gleamed brightly in the dimly lit room and he reached for the piece of stone to pull it free from the wall. The glow intensified until the tablet crumbled away, shifting in form until Cecil was left with a metal band around his wrist.

"Ah, that's much better." The voice almost sounded like the person was stretching getting a feel for the change.

"I...I don't know that I understand what happened." He was beyond the point of being shocked and instead was searching for answers.

"Our bond has been made. We are now inseperable. My name is Malice, call me forth and I will show you my new form."

There was a brief moment of hesitation. "Alice?"

The moment he had said the name he knew he had gotten it wrong. The voice had been very feminine so he was certain he had heard wrong and that the name was meant to be Alice but now he could feel the anger rolling over his mind in waves.

"My name is Malice." The voice hissed sharply. "Do not mistake it!"

"Alright, alright." Cecil held up his hands defensively, smiling despite himself. "My apologies. Malice."

There was a small sigh but the bracelet around his wrist glowed and fell apart, shifting forms once again until he was left holding a shotgun. He was beyond confused at this point but decided to roll with it looking the weapon over in awe. This would have been useful against the undying.

"This is my new form to help you in the battles to come. I do hope there are many. I have waited so long to hear the screams of war. The fighting, the bloodshed."

Cecil's smile was still in place though his expression was nervous as the shotgun shifted back to a bracelet around his wrist. He was starting to understand, though slowly. This was his weapon and it was far from a normal one. He didn't understand the how or why behind the voice it had or how deep their bond truly was but he knew this was going to be a bumpy ride. Especially if the personality the weapon had was any indication. "I'm Cecil. It's...nice to meet you."

"Cecil..." The voice hummed in amusement. "Don't disappoint me."

Cecil couldn't help the small fit of nervous laughter. Bumpy ride indeed.