The Grove of Fetters

My first mission took me to a forest somewhere in Europe. The moment I stepped foot into it, I felt an intense Fear presence. A presence that seemed to be pulsating with seething anger.

"The Brute," I said.

Yep, the shard said. That's our mission.

"Geez," I said. "I know they want me getting Fear samples for them, but they picked a hell of a lace for me to start."

Well, the Brute seemed easiest to encounter, the shard explained. Most Fears avoid you wherever possible, but not only is the Brute bound in one place, but why would it care about you or any other Devil Killer?

"Fair enough," I said. "But there's still the problem of it driving anything that gets to close to it into a berserk fury causing them to spiral into insanity."

Well, your Devil Killer powers should act as a buffer against that, the shard said. And I'm here, right? If I feel the anger taking over, I'll help shake you out of it.

"Yeah, sure you will," I said. "Well, we'd better get moving if we want results."

We got moving in the direction of the Brute's presence. As we got closer, I felt bitter feeling boiling up inside of me. As I limped through the woods, struggling against my bad leg, I found myself cursing Malkator for the wound he had inflicted.

Memories of my conflicts with Kraken came up. How Dawson had managed to restrict my access to the God's Way. How that Prowler had disrespected my title just to spite me. How this whole forest was their fault in the first place.

But it wasn't just them. The AMU had lost track of their bloody knife, and that person from... what was it? ARC? They had killed the Newborn with it, causing that damn forest to spawn.

I managed to hear the shard's voice through the anger building up in the back of my head.

Het man! Breath!

I did so, and was able to push some of that anger down. None of what I was thinking was fully true, nor did it matter.

"This anger is more personal than I was expecting," I said. "I thought it'd be more of a blind rage."

I know. This isn't normal. The Brute is affecting you differently somehow.

I kept moving. More angry thoughts kept popping up, but I did my best to ignore them. Thoughts of how someone had tattooed those symbols onto Rocky against his will. Thoughts of how the SMSC had threatened my interns. Thoughts of how the AMU had expelled me for awakening my powers.

I pushed each thought to the back of my mind and trudged on. As I got further into the woods, I noticed chains weaving through the trees, coiling around them.

We're getting close, the shard said. I have an idea. Try focusing on a happy memory. It may help.

I tried to think of something. Anything. My friendship with Tony came to mind. I thought back to some of the memories I shared with him. Of us just hanging out, doing stupid shit. I thought of how excited he was to start up his own detective agency. And how proud he was of me getting into the AMU.

He abandoned you in the outskirts of that city! came a voice from the back of my head. After you saved him and the others at the risk of your own life!

Daniel, that isn't true! the shard piped up. He knew Trias was on there way, and that they would help you!

Trias held you captive!

They nursed you back to health!

"Both of you shut the fuck up!" I snapped, rubbing my temples to try and calm myself down. "Okay, different memory. Different memory..."

I remembered Sera. I thought of my time with her. Some of the dates we went on. All those movie nights we'd spent together. The sound of her laugh.

She left you!

"That's not true," I thought out loud. "It was mutual."

Was it? You know she feared you. Your lust for power. Your ambition. Your recklessness. You're dangerous. And she wanted no part of that.

"Shut up!" I snapped.

And you still miss her.

I fell to my knees, trying desperately to ignore the rage welling up inside of me.

And she. doesn't. CARE!!

"SHUT UP!!!" I cried out, feeling tears beginning to form.

Come on, man, you can do this, the shard insisted.  You just need a different memory. One that really makes you happy.

I slammed a fist into the ground.

"No!" I said. "It's pretty fucking clear that happiness isn't enough! I need something different. Something happy... and sad. Something... bittersweet."

I suddenly found myself in a hospital room, standing in a corner, watching a scene unfold. My grandfather, Alexander Ferris, was lying in the hospital bed. Myself, as well as my whole family, My dad, my aunt and uncle, my cousins, my grandmother, and my siblings, were all gathered around him.

This is...

"The night my grandfather died," I muttered.

He left you too! The legendary Devil Killer! Taken from this world, not by the creatures he fought back against, but by-

"Pneumonia," I said, cutting the voice of my own anger off.

The anger wasn't as strong anymore. My sadness was stronger.

I looked on as my sister encouraged me to say something to him, since I might not get another chance. I've never been good with handling grief. It took me a while before I spoke my last words to him. Telling him one last time that I loved him.

He passed on not long after that.

Did he even hear you?

I ignored the thought. Even if he was unable to hear what I had said, I know he knew how I felt.

The scene skipped ahead. I was at my desk at the AMU, too absorbed in my sadness to get any work done. Tony and Sera both came to visit me. We talked for a while, exchanged barbs, and I began feeling a little bit better.

They both hurt you!

After a bit of time passed, Tony presented some files to me. I was already aware of the rumors painting my grandfather as some kind of hero who protected innocent people for eldritch beings. And Tony had gotten me proof. Without me even knowing, he had gotten interviews with a number of runners, young and old, who had had personal encounters with him. Even had some pictures.

I looked over the notes Tony had given me. The proof was there. My grandfather was the last of the Devil Killers. A power my father and I had failed to inherit. I turned my attention to the blueprints on my desk, that Elie had asked me to review for him.

His Extractor.

The gears began turning in my head. It would take some time, but it was entirely possible to build such a thing on a human sized scale. I felt a sudden purpose. As much as I missed my grandfather, he had left me with something to aim for. And if I could become half of what he was... if I could be a thorn in their side the way he was...

My mind was racing. I had a new meaning. I had something to strive for.

I got back up and continued my walk through the grove. The inner voice of anger within me kept shouting at me. Even resorting to completely irrational things to be angry about, like Paris knocking over a broom one time, or Justin being late returning some money I lent him, and even Kallaway spraying a bit of soda on me the first time we met and he used a spiked sode to throw those Timberwolves off.

I kept moving, unfazed by any of it.

I had something stronger than Anger.

Pain.

And the will to live through it.

I'm Daniel Ferris.

And I'm a stubborn fucking bastard.

I came to the Brute. A savage, bound monstrosity, writhing in a constant state of uncontrollable rage. It seemed especially mad that it couldn't make me mad. As for it's appearance, it's hard to describe. It was like a patchwork mix of different creatures, that was constantly shifting between multiple grotesque forms. But no matter what it turned into, the chains still bound it to one spot. As I stepped closer to it, it seemed to settle on something more consistent. A large, mostly dragon-like creature towered above me. While it still had patchwork elements, that continued shifting a bit, the dragon qualities remained dominant over every thing else.

It roared at me, gnashing its teeth, but the chains kept it just far enough away that it couldn't chomp down on me. It saddened me to look at such a creature. Bound not only in chains, but in its own emotions.

"You poor thing," I muttered somberly, before drawing my sword cane and slashing off one of its scales.

I caught the scale as it fluttered down, and as I did, the beast reeled back, before shooting a stream of fire and smoke out of its mouth. I teleported away just in time, but it did singe one of my sleeve and caused some second degree burns to my arm. I'm gonna give that some time to heal before I go deal with the SMSC again.

One more thing I wanna add before closing out this post. It's this dream I have. Not sure why I wanna talk about it, but when the Compulsion hits, you kinda just have to roll with it. Maybe there's something significant about this dream.

I was slumped in the corner of a dingy laundry room in an old apartment. All the machines looked out of order, but the lights were still on, so the place probably wasn't completely abandoned, just poorly maintained.

I was in a lot of pain, especially in one of my legs. Which is kind of normal for me...

A young girl was there, smiling broadly as she colored a picture.

"I mean it," I told her. "You shouldn't be here."

"I don't like being around daddy when he drinks his soda," the girl said.

"Right," I said. "You know that's not actually soda he's drinking, don't you?"

The girl shrugged.

"Whatever it is, it makes him tired," she said. "Can I just play here until he fall asleep?"

"I don't care what you do," I said.

The girl finished her drawing of what I can only assume was a dinosaur.

"I made this for you," she said.

"It looks like shit," I replied.

The girl seemed offended by this.

"Mommy says those words are bad!" she said.

"Your mum sounds like a bitch," I replied.

"That's not very nice!" the girl said, crossing her arms.

"Of course I'm not nice," I said. "Like I said; I'm a monster."

"But you don't look like a monster," the girl pointed out.

I felt like I was being challenged all of a sudden.

"Alright," I said. "So what do think a monster looks like?"

And then I woke up. I dunno. Maybe there's something to look into there... But for now, more worried about my burn wounds.