MORE ADVENTURES OF LI'L M'CU'TIO.
I had the dubious honor once of seeing him in his true form. Thomas never did, of course -- it would have shattered his sanity entirely. Fortunately, I, being rather more than human myself, could stand the sight (though I will not pretend that the memory does not disturb my sleep on occasion). I shall endeavor to describe it here, if only to give myself some peace of mind. Ha! As if I could transfer the sight from my mind to paper, and thus be rid of it so easily!
It was great, and terrible. No human words exist to convey the repulsion and horror I felt as I gazed on the hulking mass of slime and tendrils, black as the space between stars. My terrified gaze caught sight of feelers the size of a boulevard, lined with suction cups that could easily hold a room inside them. I cannot properly call the limbs that sported these feelers "arms," for arms they were not, but there were four, in addition to the struts that supported its weight and allowed it to stand upright. Six appendages it possessed, four tipped with tentacles, two broad and flat to balance its bulk. It was akin to watching a cliff face pick itself up and turn to look at you. And look it did; though there were no discernible eyes, one was left with the keen sense of being observed. It fully sunk in at that moment that this was the creature responsible for the extinction of the giant reptiles that once walked the earth.
(He'd done it, he told me once, because the behemoths had disturbed his slumber. Eons were a mere catnap to him, and an unfortunate herd had stumbled upon his resting place. I suppose even Great Old Ones sometimes feel irritable in the mornings.)
It seemed to warp space around it, drawing the eye in all directions at once, distorting the landscape and even itself, constantly shifting, twisting, pulsing with an energy that was not of this world. At any moment, I felt, it could have vanished into shadow, and then I should never know whence it would reappear. Perhaps it would have become all the darkness in the world, wrapping the planet in its vile embrace, the father of shadows. An inky black mist rolled off it, obscuring the air and choking me with its foul tang. Coughing, I begged him to change back. I could stand no more of this distortion, this abomination, this simian squid of colossal proportions that made the world spin around my head. It should not be possible for such a thing to exist, I recall thinking vainly. I have dearly paid for my curiosity, and am only grateful that such a creature has sympathy for us. Woe betide us should the bonds of kin ever prove the stronger of his ties!
But quiet, I hear the children playing outside. I must not forget that it is through his actions that they inhabit a peaceful world to live in, that they play under a yellow sun and not a red one, that they remain peacefully unaware of the nightmares that lurk below the surface, a shadow's breadth away. Their laughter is like music, like drops of rain falling on my parched ears. They must never know. That laughter must never turn to shrieks of fear, or of pain under the lashes of the Great Old Ones. To that end, I will do whatever is required of me, even if I must do it alone. The god and the witch lie waiting in sleep, and the extraordinary man who brought us together is dead, his remains buried with the god forevermore. It is up to me to remain vigilant, to wake them should the need arise. Whether it proves to be a matter of years, of decades, of millennia is irrelevant. I shall be here, waiting...forever.
--
More Jonathan rambling melodramatically on eldritchhorror!Tio. WHY AM I PLOTBUNNIED FOR THE ONE AU WHERE EVERYTHING GOES TO HELL. And why is it so fucking fun to write shamelessly purple prose?
So here's what I think should happen in this AU. Tio has a habit of cutting deals with shady people for the sake of the greater good, but it always looks like he's a traitor. Think eternal Megara syndrome, from Hercules.
WELL. There's a version of him based on Facilier from Princess and the Frog, and that version of him is EXACTLY the sort of person canon!Tio would cut a deal with. So obviously, canon!Tio should cut a deal with Tiocilier, who does his best to screw canon!Tio over out of sheer butthurt. But then eldritchhorror!M'cu'tio saves the day by straight-up eating Tiocilier. He then pats canon!Tio on the head and tells him to enjoy his life. Then M'cu'tio washes Tiocilier down with Starscream for extra traitor flavor.
THAT'S MY STORY BRO
It was great, and terrible. No human words exist to convey the repulsion and horror I felt as I gazed on the hulking mass of slime and tendrils, black as the space between stars. My terrified gaze caught sight of feelers the size of a boulevard, lined with suction cups that could easily hold a room inside them. I cannot properly call the limbs that sported these feelers "arms," for arms they were not, but there were four, in addition to the struts that supported its weight and allowed it to stand upright. Six appendages it possessed, four tipped with tentacles, two broad and flat to balance its bulk. It was akin to watching a cliff face pick itself up and turn to look at you. And look it did; though there were no discernible eyes, one was left with the keen sense of being observed. It fully sunk in at that moment that this was the creature responsible for the extinction of the giant reptiles that once walked the earth.
(He'd done it, he told me once, because the behemoths had disturbed his slumber. Eons were a mere catnap to him, and an unfortunate herd had stumbled upon his resting place. I suppose even Great Old Ones sometimes feel irritable in the mornings.)
It seemed to warp space around it, drawing the eye in all directions at once, distorting the landscape and even itself, constantly shifting, twisting, pulsing with an energy that was not of this world. At any moment, I felt, it could have vanished into shadow, and then I should never know whence it would reappear. Perhaps it would have become all the darkness in the world, wrapping the planet in its vile embrace, the father of shadows. An inky black mist rolled off it, obscuring the air and choking me with its foul tang. Coughing, I begged him to change back. I could stand no more of this distortion, this abomination, this simian squid of colossal proportions that made the world spin around my head. It should not be possible for such a thing to exist, I recall thinking vainly. I have dearly paid for my curiosity, and am only grateful that such a creature has sympathy for us. Woe betide us should the bonds of kin ever prove the stronger of his ties!
But quiet, I hear the children playing outside. I must not forget that it is through his actions that they inhabit a peaceful world to live in, that they play under a yellow sun and not a red one, that they remain peacefully unaware of the nightmares that lurk below the surface, a shadow's breadth away. Their laughter is like music, like drops of rain falling on my parched ears. They must never know. That laughter must never turn to shrieks of fear, or of pain under the lashes of the Great Old Ones. To that end, I will do whatever is required of me, even if I must do it alone. The god and the witch lie waiting in sleep, and the extraordinary man who brought us together is dead, his remains buried with the god forevermore. It is up to me to remain vigilant, to wake them should the need arise. Whether it proves to be a matter of years, of decades, of millennia is irrelevant. I shall be here, waiting...forever.
--
More Jonathan rambling melodramatically on eldritchhorror!Tio. WHY AM I PLOTBUNNIED FOR THE ONE AU WHERE EVERYTHING GOES TO HELL. And why is it so fucking fun to write shamelessly purple prose?
So here's what I think should happen in this AU. Tio has a habit of cutting deals with shady people for the sake of the greater good, but it always looks like he's a traitor. Think eternal Megara syndrome, from Hercules.
WELL. There's a version of him based on Facilier from Princess and the Frog, and that version of him is EXACTLY the sort of person canon!Tio would cut a deal with. So obviously, canon!Tio should cut a deal with Tiocilier, who does his best to screw canon!Tio over out of sheer butthurt. But then eldritchhorror!M'cu'tio saves the day by straight-up eating Tiocilier. He then pats canon!Tio on the head and tells him to enjoy his life. Then M'cu'tio washes Tiocilier down with Starscream for extra traitor flavor.
THAT'S MY STORY BRO