Beast Soul

"Ugh…" Noah suddenly grabbed his head, and leaned back on the dragon's back as it flew with incredible speed. The inside of Noah's eyes were now returning to normal, and the iris was slowly forming back once again, with the white colour appearing once again.

"It's time huh…" Noah whispered softly and closed his eyes as he laid down on the dragon's black.

"Noah, I hope that the merge is successful," Noah said to himself in a hushed tone. "For the safety of both of us…"

And as soon as he finished his words, Noah felt as though the world around him began to dissolve into liquid and mix together amongst themselves, as though it were made up of paint. 

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'... paint?' Noah thought to himself. He remembered saying the word 'paint' inside his mind.

But for some reason, it felt…. different. As though it wasn't actually him that said it. 

'Wait…' Noah tried squinting his eyes as he turned his head left and right. 'Why can't I see anything?'

Noah had initially thought that he had his eyes closed, which was the reason why everything was pitch black. But the darkness didn't leave even after he tried opening his eyes, which made him confused and anxious.

'Wh- Where the hell am I?!' Noah, who was now anxious and afraid, couldn't tell where he was staying.

Had someone kidnapped him? Was he currently blindfolded? Or did the kidnapper make his eyes go blind? He didn't know anything.

 In fact, he had no recollection of what he was doing right before either. 

'Was I passed out all this time?' Noah thought. But that didn't make any sense. After all, he didn't remember waking up.

'Wait a minute..' Noah thought. 'I'm not actually talking right now!'

Noah realized to his horror that he couldn't actually speak. His voice wasn't coming out of his mouth. He tried speaking multiple times, but failed every single time.

'Did someone sew my mouth shut?' Noah was horrified at the thought that he had. But sewing your mouth shut doesn't make one completely unable to make any sort of noise. Even after having your mouth sewn together, a person could still make noises using their throat and their tongue, but Noah couldn't even feel his tongue. In fact, he wasn't even sure that he had a mouth right now.

'Why- Why the f*ck can't I feel my hands… and my le- legs?!' Noah was now completely terrified of what was happening to him. He couldn't feel his hands. He couldn't feel his legs. He couldn't feel a single one of his body parts. It was as though he was just…

"air…" All of a sudden, a familiar voice entered his supposedly non-existent ears, which made Noah alert. He wanted to look around to find the source of the voice, but it was simply too dark for anyone to see anything. He had no clue if he was even turning his head.

BAM!

However, it seemed that he didn't need to look for the source after all, because just when Noah was about to give up searching for the source, a bright light shot down from above and in front of him appeared a silhouette.

'AHHHH!' Noah screamed loudly, although since his voice was inside of his mind, no one could hear it but himself.

The figure was so close to Noah, and although he couldn't see himself, he could definitely view the silhouette and the bright light that shone down from above, which assured him that his eyesight was still working, and he let out a sigh of relief (in his head, of course).

"Happy to find out that you're not blind?" The silhouette opened its mouth to speak, which made Noah turn his attention towards it. 

'What the actual f*ck…' Noah's eyes widened as soon as he saw the face of the silhouette. He wanted to scream loudly, but he knew that his voice wouldn't be heard out loud.

"I'm surprised by your reaction," The silhouette said with an amused expression on its face. It seemed like it was intrigued by Noah. "After all, you've seen dragons, monsters and people who have the ability to transform into supernatural beings. I thought you'd be quite used to these situations by now."

'....' Noah couldn't even think straight, and so he had no clue on how to respond to the unknown figure standing in front of him. The only thing he could say in response was, 'No f*cking way…'

"Well, given that I'm standing in front of you, I'd say, 'yes f*cking way'!" The unknown figure replied almost instantly. 

The figure standing in front of Noah looked identical in appearance to him. It was as though someone had cloned him. Of course, there were some slight differences between them. Not in appearance, but in speech, mannerisms, and personality. This version of Noah seemed to be confident and calm, giving the real Noah the impression of a more perfect version of himself.

'Wh- What the hell are you? What did you do to me? And why the f*ck do you look like me?!' Noah wanted to yell out loud, but given that he was unable to even whisper, he could only think about screaming. 

"I am you, Noah.." The doppelganger said with a calm voice, as though he was trying his best not to make Noah angry. "And you are me. We are both a single being. At least, right now."

'What the f*ck does that even mean?' The soothing tone of the doppelganger seemed to have the reverse effect on Noah, as he only became more agitated after hearing the calm voice of his clone. 

"That's strange," The doppelganger was confused, almost as if he did not expect that to happen. "I thought the soothing voice was supposed to calm people down…"

He seemed as though he was genuinely bothered by it. 

"Oh well…" The doppelganger shrugged his shoulders and continued, "What I mean is that ever since you've been infected, I've been growing inside of your mind."

'Wh- What?' Noah looked confused and distraught, unable to comprehend what this doppelganger of his was saying. 

"I'm a part of you, Noah." The doppelganger said. "I've been inside of you, ever since that night you fell into the river. And I've been growing, faster than you can ever imagine."

'Yo- You're inside my head…' Noah tried to grasp what the doppelganger was talking about. He then came to a realization. 'You- You're the one who takes control of me when I black out!'

"Ah, you see, now you're getting it!" The doppelganger waved his finger with a smile, as though he was impressed by Noah's findings. "Yes, that was in fact me. Well, an infant me, but me nevertheless."

'Why- Why the hell are you taking control of me?!' Noah wanted to know. 

"Well, why do you breathe everyday?" The doppelganger replied, as though he was stating the obvious. "I told you. I'm also a part of you. I'm simply controlling myself."

'You're not me!' Noah wanted to scream. He wanted to yell at the doppelganger. He wanted to tell him to stop talking. 'Stop saying that you're me! You're not! I am me!'

"Well, not anymore, I'm afraid.." The doppelganger said while letting out a sigh. "But this is not as horrifying of a situation as what you're imagining, Noah. I assure you."

'F*ck you!' Noah was angry. 'Get me the f*ck out of here!'

"Now, Noah…" The doppelganger's tone turned serious and he waved his finger at him. "I understand that might all be a bit too much to take in for a normal human being, but you have to understand-"

'Take me out!' Noah didn't wait for the doppelganger to finish speaking and instead yelled loudly in his mind, causing the surroundings to get all blurry.

"Noah, please…" The doppelganger's voice also seemed to be affected by the whole situation, as it was also a bit shaky and was filled with vibrations. The doppelganger continued, "You have to understand that if you want to survive, then we're going to have to work together."

'Leave me alone!' Noah didn't seem to be listening to his words. 'Leave me-'

"Alone!" Noah screamed as loudly as he could, but to his surprise, he could finally hear his own voice this time.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Noah heard the sound of footsteps backing away from him, followed by unfamiliar voices.

"Jesus Christ!" 

"What the hell? That scared the sh*t out of me!"

"That almost gave me a heart attack!"

Confused, Noah opened his eyes, only to find four young boys who seemed to be about the same age as him, staring at him with a bit of fear in their eyes. 

"What the hell…" Noah whispered softly and rubbed his eyes, before immediately coming to the realization that he could move his hands.

"I- I'm back!" Noah yelled excitedly, which made the group of boys flinch and move back a few steps, but right then!

GRRRRRAR!

The loud roar interrupted their motion, and Noah saw Wolfe standing right behind the four boys, staring at him with his adorable eyes.

"Wolfe!" He said excitedly as he gave a thumbs up to the dragon. "I'm back!"