His arrival on the shores wasn’t missed, it was hardly even stealthy. Flying in on a ship like that was to warrant attention from the living, the dead or the immaterial. Beings of inescapable power that would touch the minds of many without second thought. It wasn’t something that he had become used to in his time in the rune knights; but it was something that he was aware of. His feeble attempts at warding off the mental strikes he was suddenly under brought him to his knees. One arm coming down while the other clutched his spear in one hand.

He huffed a bit as he could feel it like blades trying to prune an apple; they were trying to get rid of something in there and he wasn’t exactly going to let them. Pushing back against the varied attacks in one way or another; clumsily at first… But as time went on his distractions were minimalized. There was a rhythm to their ‘blows’ and a sequence that he was slowly able to start following. He felt things crumble away only to be able to push back and replace them. They were looking to cut away who he was.

He could feel them trying to pluck the memories he had out of his head; he could feel them trying to twist the emotions that he felt into what they wanted him to. It was a long and strenuous process that yielded very little to them. For a being so young there wasn’t much that they could actually impact. The first meetings of many of his friends were so ironclad that it was scraping off of them without much change.

There was something else in there too; a deep pit of some kind that they tried to delve into. Tried to see what sort of being he was. They were pulled in and the scraping against the rest of his mind seemed to dwindle. It was a strange sensation that he wasn’t sure how to really explain it…

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It drew even him in, it made him distinctly aware of the darkness that lay within him. The blades of the enemy seemed to try to turn back only to be pulled in further. They had lost their control to something that saturn wasn’t even aware of. Something that he hadn’t the faintest idea that lay within. He’d ponder as he was slowly dragged in too; but compared to the vast amount of enemies around him the touch was gentle. He could see the beings properly but couldn’t describe them as they fell in deeper and deeper.

Some scraped against the walls; some tore themselves into pieces in an effort to escape. None did though, he was on the precipice of something he couldn’t entirely fathom either. A deep well of power that seemed to stem from his being and the being that came from before. This wasn’t something that just built up on its own. It was something that he had been feeding all this time; possibly without knowing it. He felt the tug on his ‘limbs’ and simply coasted along, however and whenever they wanted while also feeling the pressure from the outsiders waning a bit.

It was helping him and in exchange he would listen to it. It spoke to him on how to defend himself, how to put up a better fight. How to even throw things out of his being that didn’t belong. It was his friend and ally without question and would never betray him. Only giving him what he needed and what he wanted. The voice was his own but a twisted garbled mess; his brows furrowed and for the first time since being pulled in he’d hold up a hand. The pressure pulling him down stopped and he watched as the other beings fell inward towards… something.

”Then where are you taking me?”

...Somewhere safe.

Saturn shook his head, he felt the grip on him loosen a bit and there was a distinct sadness. It only wanted to protect himself but there was a sensation that it knew forcing this issue wouldn’t get either of them anywhere. Eventually he felt the pressure abate and he slowly started to flow up back to the surface. The scraping of the blades against his mind had lessened so much that when he ‘arrived’ back at where the attacks first were landing there were only a few weaker ones being made.

Easily dispatched or pushed back out of his mind he couldn’t help but turn his attention back into the pit that they had fallen into that had helped him so. He could feel the touch of the being still on his mind. It was him but different. Hard to really align himself with the being at the moment either but he knew that sooner rather than later he may not have a choice.

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With each attack being dealt with the next was easier and easier, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint where they were coming from and with a simple intent he was able to send them packing. Never to see them come again; with their numbers thinning they grew more desperate. Made more attempts to pierce into his mind only to find the pit again and again. Only to be able to escape by the barest of margins since they hadn’t gone too deep. Saturns attention wasn’t hard to get as they lessened. It was in fact easier done than said; it was like a twitch that you were able to stop. A finger trying to pry a blade from your hand.

They were growing desperate and it showed, one last hurrah was likely what came next. The intensity of which made saturn a little surprised. It was like the very first attack but only one single instance rather than what felt like an uncountable amount. He could let it pierce through his defenses and fall into the pit or he could simply stop them here with a focused effort.

Bringing his willpower to the surface guided by the being deep within wasn’t exactly easy as it wasn’t something he was practiced with. It was a barrier yes but there was cracks and small gaps here or there that fluctuated with every passing instant. When it slammed against the barrier he felt the scratching against his mind again in full force. But the barrier started to form more solidly, the cracks dissipated and the holes were patched. Rather than be idle like before there was something helping him again. Something deep down that made him shudder at the sensation it provided him.

It reminded him of somewhere and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Something seemed off about it, a sort of light and darkness that he wasn’t able to explain helping him every step of the way. His eyes slowly opened and he could ‘see’ what was attacking him wasn’t some unfathomable thing. It was a person that he could finally see the shape of and send them away. Snorting to himself as he watched them practically get blasted away from his mind and their connection crumbled.

Saturn found himself on the beach again and slowly stood back up. Blinking away his misgivings about that entire situation. He found that he was sore, all over. Like the attack had also physically affected him somehow. Snorting to himself the demon slowly rose back to his feet and dusted himself off. Sand got everywhere…

Time was wasting and he wasn’t about to let it waste further.

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