Ordeals In Tartarus -Edited-
The sky was of it's usual blood- red and grey as the wind howled through the cold, dead structures of Tartarus. Many creatures resided within the great city, but very few could be seen. They existed in different spaces of time, in different worlds, yet they were still of the same place. Masses of black and gold energy circulated to form a solid path as a misplaced horse walked, confusion upon his face. He did not know how he found himself in this strange world, it did not remind him of anything he had seen before. A horrible and oppressive feeling began to set in the pit of the creatures stomach as he looked about his surroundings, observing this strange new world.
Things were not as they should be, however. Humanoid spirits walked inverted, their whole bodies turning at random as if the ground they walked was moving of it's own accord. Structures faded in and out of focus, some disappearing all together. The horse had come from a world that was very different to this one, and he wished dearly that he would be able to return to it. It was familiar to him, and much less confronting. The air was thick and cold against his fur as he continued to walk, his eyes shifting about.
A humanoid body with little notable features floated past him, much closer than the rest. The horse took a step back, fear in his eyes. The figure moved slowly through the air, thick light- gold fog billowing behind it as it floated. The horse drew a sharp breath, but this caused the spirit to stop. The horse had caught the spirit's attention, this much was clear. It slowly turned it's head towards the sound. The horse held his breath, daring not to make even the slightest sound. He did not know what the spirit was capable of, but he was terrified nonetheless.
As the head continued to turn, the horse finally saw the face; nothing but a gaping mouth, smiling wickedly. No teeth, just an open mouth, shaped as if the spirit was in mid- laugh. No tangible emotion could be drawn from it, as there were no other facial features to go by other than the smiling mouth, but there was a disturbingly spooky air about it, to the point where it looked both happy and evil. The horse stood frozen in fear, before the spirit slowly began to fade away. The horse exhaled heavily as the spirit lost it's physical structure, pieces of it floating away, the rest fading from sight. The smile, was the last thing to fade from view. Little did the poor creature know, that this face would forever be imprinted into his mind, never to leave him. Happiness, yet emotionless happiness. Nothing but a fake emotion, wearable like a mask.
The horse had never experienced emotions similar to this. Fear was obviously relevant in his previous experiences, but not to such an extent. His heart rate failed to slow itself down as he searched around him, looking for any signs of the spirit he had just seen. The horse could see nothing. He calmed himself down, and considered the best course of action from here. But a sound interrupted him.
"Oh dear..." It was a voice, clear and echoing. The horse wheeled around to see a human, standing before him draped in black robes. "Are you sure you are to be here, creature? You are incredibly out of place." The human stared into the horse's eyes, piercing his soul. The horse did not answer, he merely stared. But the human chuckled at this. "You may speak, creature. I will be able to understand your words." The horse did not expect this, but he obliged.
"I... I want to leave this place." It felt strange to finally talk to a human, as they always seemed to ignore him when he spoke in the world he was once a part of. "I want to go back." The human began to laugh a shrill, maniacal laugh. The horse failed to see the joke as he took a step back, confused.
"Oh no... no." The human regained it's composure. "You will not be leaving this place, sorry to say. You found your way here, but you will never leave."
"I don't know what happened, though." The horse cried out. "I didn't mean to come here. I was just at the farm and I..." The horse thought for a moment, he was at a loss as to how to explain it. The human raised an eyebrow at the word 'farm'. "I could hear a whistling noise, and then..." His voice trailed off.
"You ended up here." The human finished the sentence, but he did not have much emotion in his voice. The horse swallowed and nodded. "I don't know how, but it appears that you came from the mortal over- world of the humans. This should not be so, however. Only the darkest of souls enter this place after the loss of life in the previous world." The human tilted his head to one side, thoughtfully. "You are a special, yet unfortunate case indeed."
The horse was almost at a loss as to what to say. He assumed that this was some form of horrible joke. 'Loss of life'? Was he now dead? But how?
"Who are you?" The horse asked, his voice low. The human attempted a warm smile, understanding that the horse was indeed here due to some kind of accident.
"I am Djorn of the 2nd Dynasty of Tartarus; The House of Vindrackt. I am also, naturally, the brother of the High King." Djorn bowed. "Contrary to your belief i'm sure, I am not human. But you may consider me as such if it serves you well to do so." The horse didn't understand many of the words in the first sentence, but the rest he was able to understand.
"You're royalty?" The horse was interested, as the human may be able to help him.
"Yes, I am indeed. Our Dynasties work strangely, some not even linking to previous families. For instance, the 6th Dynasty consists of horses, not unlike yourself. Families of individuals are chosen at random to be royalty here." The human's eyes darkened. "But, title dictates nothing in Tartarus. Only power does." The horse was about to respond, but something behind the human was appearing. It seemed to be another human, slightly taller. This new human was walking towards the two, his body forming as he walked. Once the body was fully formed, the human stopped.
"Oh, Djorn ya bastard!" The human pouted. "You weren't supposed to see that one." Djorn's eyes widened slightly for a second. He groaned and rolled his eyes as he turned slightly so he could see the second human.
"Are you telling me that you're behind his coming here?" Djorn gestured to the horse. "You have a tendency to be low, but this is enough to make your nose touch the floor!" Djorn was upset, but the other human shrugged it off with a wheezy laugh.
"Get over yourself. I don't subscribe to your morality bullshit. I thought for sure that you had given up on that." He clapped his hands once. "But, I've prepared for a potential preaching session with you about this situation, so please get it over with as quickly as possible so too much of my time isn't wasted." The human stretched his arms and grunted. Djorn was still unimpressed.
"Scorn, I simply want to know what you're doing with him first." Djorn glared. The horse was incredibly confused, but dared not speak. The human named Scorn simply stood there, making a ridiculous face.
"I'm not here to give you an expository lesson on how much I love and respect my play- things." A loud 'tsk' could be heard from Scorn before he continued. "But, if you must know, I plan to send this one to a world of his own kind, but I'm going to twist a few things around. For my enjoyment, of course." Scorn nodded at the last sentence.
"Why does this sound so-" Djorn began, but was cut off.
"My plan, dear brother of mine, is to send this horse to the world where he belongs. He will, however, be going there looking and acting very different to how he is now." Scorn looked at the horse, smiling as he continued. "You, creature, will house my soul. But, it will be a duplicated soul, therefore I will still reside here in Tartarus as you go about your business in your new world. You will still be 100% conscious of your actions, very much so. But you will think, act, and sound identical to myself."
Djorn was utterly speechless, while the horse backed away, shaking.
"Also," Scorn resumed. "I'll be changing your name and your appearance. Your name, creature, will now be known as 'Discord'". Scorn snapped his fingers as he cut his hand diagonally in a downward motion in the air. The horse entered a vegetated state, his mind fading from consciousness.
"My name, is known as 'Discord'." The horse uttered without emotion. Djorn closed his eyes and walked away, fading out of vision as Scorn's fingers extended outward. A small black object shot out of his mouth, excess black fog shooting out behind it.
"Soul of Scorn, enter Discord and seep your way into his very being." Scorn yelled, his smile peaking. The soul punctured the horse's chest and disappeared. Within a few seconds, the horse's eyes bulged, before re- focusing. Discord stood up, abandoning his forelegs as he stood on his hind legs. He towered over Scorn as he cracked his back.
"Bloody hell, you really dug me into the ditch, Scorn." Discord grunted as he completed his stretching. "Now I'm just a tool for your amusement." Scorn laughed his wheezy laugh.
"Excellent. It appears to have worked."
"Yeah yeah, just get me out of here." Discord sniffed the air, and looked around.
"Hold your 'horses'," Scorn burst out laughing at his own joke. Discord snorted, but did so unwillingly. "I have to make you look a little less horse- like first." With that, Scorn snapped his fingers once again and enveloped Discord in a black fog. Scorns arms moved gracefully, until the fog cleared. There, stood possibly one of the strangest things ever to stand in Tartarus. Scorn roared with laughter.
"Just like my old mentor, Mr Draconequus!" Scorn was still laughing. Discord looked down at his body: His hooves were gone, and had been replaced with different animal body parts. His entire body structure had become more snakelike. As Discord noticed this, he also noticed a tail. A long red- scaled dragon tail. Discord attempted to move it, succeeding. He could also feel strange things on his back. A quick inspection found that he now sported wings, but they were both different; one being feathery and bird- like while the other was leathery and bat- like.
"Wow." was all Discord could say.
"Glad you like it, I suppose." Scorn chuckled. "Now get out of here, and prove your name rightfully given." Scorn crouched and pressed a hand against the ground. Thick purple and black tentacle- type appendages rose up from the ground, and twisted themselves together to form one solid circular object. It quickly lit up in black fire, and began to create a circular portal. Scorn pointed to it before saying: "Walk through that, and you'll be taken straight there."
Discord bowed and walked towards the portal, but paused.
"Hold on," Discord turned to look at Scorn. "Exactly why am I the one doing this? It's not like you get to experience anything. Would it not make more sense if you went yourself?" Scorn scratched his chin.
"Fair point, fair point. Well," Scorn leaned forward. "I lose a great deal of my powers once I leave Tartarus, as do you. Now if I were to die... well, that wouldn't be good would it?" Scorn smiled at Discord's dumbfound expression. "Exactly. Now go." Scorn waved a hand of dismissal. Discord turned to the portal. The portal that would change his like forever. He took a deep breath, and walked in.
