The Deep but not Profound Legacy of Gryhun

[Azareil]

Gryhun stared at the Scarecrow, and the Scarecrow stared back. At least that's what he had convinced himself of. In the garden between the Rigsby's were three of them. Only this one gave him the chills. It started a few nights ago when he heard the call of nature.

Flash back wiggly lines

Three in the morning and a bladder that's about thirty seconds away from an awkward story for Margaret. Gryhun scrambled outside, nearly tripping over the stairs as he made a mad dash to the garden. 'I don't know if this is what Margaret meant by helping to water the plants.' The voice echoed in his head. He ignored it though, sending a stream to the flax plants making sure to get all of them. That was his logic and sense voice. Everybody has that little voice in their head that talks to them. Gryhun would talk back to his, not in front of others though. Then people would think he's crazy, we don't want that happening now.

"I think she'll appreciate the effort." He muttered. The steady stream turned into a trickle and stopped.
'What are you doing?'
"I can't go..."
'Should we call Margaret? Is that problem back aga-'
"No! I feel like I'm being watched."
'The nervous bladder problem again. For somebody who has no shame in bragging about where their keys are, one is left to wonder why you can't pee in front of others.'
"Shut up. It's a survival technique."
'Look around slowly then. Is somebody there?'

Gryhun's head looked to his left, then right. His keen eyes scanning the darkness. "There's nothing. I can't..." The scarecrow. There was something about it. He could almost feel the aura of a presence.
'You can't honestly believe it's the Scarecrow.' The voice was smart, but his gut told him otherwise. It was unsettling, the presence, he could feel it. Gryhun looked around again. 'Don't do it.' The voice urged. The gut had the power though. Gryhun got up close to the Scarecrow and began to whisper in its ear.

"You think you're so smart hiding in there. What kind of ghost possesses a scarecrow? A weak pussy ghost that's who."
'A ghost? Really?'
"Shut up voice! This ghost has underestimated me and I'm not one to be underestimated."
'He knows your weakness. Watching you while you piss.'
"Shut it!"

He was getting rather loud. That's enough for now. He finished his business on the other side of the house before going back inside. Maybe he voice was right, it could just be his nerves. Tomorrow he'll look again, it'll just be a scarecrow and there'll be nothing to worry about. He hoped.

Return to present wiggly lines

The presence was still there. After telling Margaret about the haunting and her saying that Bernadette was messing with it, it all made sense. She put something there to spy on them, that had to be it. Another tirade was launched with Margaret dragging him away with instructions to stop yelling at inanimate objects, he was done. Until she fell asleep that is.

He crawled out of bed and opened the dresser, taking something out. He slipped it on and went outside with a lantern in hand. The scarecrow stood there, taunting him in its smug hat. He approached it in total darkness. "I know you are watching us, you smug cookie wasting princess. I'm going to prove it, because there's no way you won't mention this." He brought a flame to the lantern.



"Go ahead Bernie." He said in his dress that really brought out his cleavage. "I dare you not to mention this."

[Azareil]

Hey there. It's the voice in Gryhun's head here. I can understand how awkward this might be, listening to the disembodied voice of an individual inside the body of another individual. It's not like I have a choice in the matter either! That's why I'm doing this, to provide you with a bit of clarity in a form of origin story. It's only been for a couple months that I've been around after all.

The reason I exist is because of the actions of two women. Gryhun was given this green mushroom from some woman named Hala. She said it would open his third eye. Pagan mumbo jumbo. It was sitting in his pack for weeks and out of boredom he just ate it in the middle of the craft hall with Vance and others around. All it did was give him hallucinations. Cue the dilating pupils and the awkward looks. Cue the awakening of me. It was akin to being birthed as an adult full of memories but with the same fear and helplessness of an infant. I existed but I couldn't do anything. It was my body I was in, but it was me and not me in control of it.

Life in this perpetual trapped state went on for a couple weeks. It was then that Margaret wanted to test these new confusion grenades she had. Gryhun volunteered to help her. A few different scenarios were tested. Gryhun approaching her aggressively, attacking animals and then just standing there. There was no clear or obvious effect and Margaret called it a failure. For me though, I felt like I could breathe. The chains that were shackling me down were loosened and like a baby taking his first steps I began to test my limits and experience the world.

It was little things at first. Gryhun would be flipping a coin and with great concentration, I'd jerk his hand so it would drop. Over the next few days my strength grew to where I could control parts of his body without him being aware. If I just had some more time, I could take full control. This is where I tell you why he calls me the logic and common sense voice. I had to take a proverbial step backwards as something dawned upon me. Say I do take control, I'd have to wrestle it from another conscious entity who was me yet not me. What are the moral implications of such? What would happen to him if I gained control? Logic would dictate that we switch places and it would only be a matter of time before he learns how to take control. What then? With two individuals in one body vying for control we'd be looked upon as crazy and put down like a mad dog.

I decided then, that I will instead try to compromise. Perhaps together we could figure this out. Imagine yourself in the back seat of a carriage and in front of you is someone else driving the horses. At night in the fields, I did what anybody would do in my position. I spoke to the driver.

"Hello." I said softly when we were alone in the garden.

"Heya," He replied, then shook his head and looked around. "Ugh..." The sigh of a man realizing nobody's there.

It wasn't long before I spoke up again. "Please... Please don't panic." He froze in place. "Something happened to us. I realized I existed after you ate the green mushroom. I am Gryhun, just as you are. Understand that I am as confused as you are on this."

What surprised me is that he laughed and said, "Honestly? I thought something was off. I've felt empty, like something was missing since then. I'm having some trouble though, talking to a voice inside of my head."

Time to exert some effort. I used ventriloquism to bring a voice to the scarecrow in Margaret's garden. "Perhaps this would be a bit easier?"

He laughed harder. "I swear people would think I'm fucking nuts if they saw me talking to my scarecrow. But, yeah, it's a bit easier. What uh... what do you think is going on?"

"It is my belief that the mushroom has caused somewhat of a split in our mind. We are the same being yet different aspects of it." I replied through the scarecrow. "My best guess, in simple terms, is you are the body. Emotions, sensations, instincts while I am the rational, logical and calculating part of your mind."

"Can we fix this?" He asked.

"I don't know." I replied honestly. "Whatever happened, where at one point we both shared equal control, it is now one or the other. We need to work together and look into this."

He began pacing back and forth around the garden. "The Church will give us the old pyre treatment." He waved his hand in the air as if dismissing the very thought. "I don't know what if anything the Consortium would be able to do, I don't even know if I want to know. The Pagans? Maybe, I mean, when they're not trying to kill us they're off humping trees. I don't know anybody other than Virgle and it's nearly impossible to understand him." He wasn't wrong. "What else can we do?"

"Other faiths or customs may hold the answers we seek. We should try to learn what we can on our own first before seeking outside help."

We had come to an agreement. I was thankful that my coming forward didn't send him into an insane frenzy. My concern later arose after he began thinking there was a presence in the scarecrow I spoke out of. Instead of telling him the truth, I decided to humor him. Perhaps it was haunted, perhaps Bernie did put something there. There was a selfish reason for me doing such, I had to see how his sanity would hold up.

He destroyed the scarecrow in front of others. I felt that I would soon have to convince him to give me control until Avi spoke up. "Hm, Gryhun?"

"Yes?" He replied.

Avi continued, "Iz zere any chance, you were not just eating green cap and throw your voice at a scarecrow and zen tohught it talked to oyu?"

He stared at Avi, dumbfounded. Avi was truly a master at solving mysteries without even knowing he was. Case closed, as they say. "... Maybe. Why do you ask?" Gryhun replied. It was enough to calm him down and realize the truth of the matter.

Avi nodded and waved his hand dismissively. "Justa question."

Thus, you know my origin now. What's to come for us on our journey? We'll have to wait and see. Both Gryhun and I hope to find a way to unite once more, perhaps we'll walk beside each other on this path.