{"sf1_id":797219,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Monster Within","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":4288,"posted_at":"2014-12-18T16:11:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Transformation","Werewolf","back story"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/797219-the-monster-within","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/797219","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=797219\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#73 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nI didn't bother answering guesses/questions from the last one, because the answers are mostly here.","content":"                Several\nvoices spoke at once. \"Monster?\"\n                Maggie\ntugged on his sleeve. \"What the hell are you talking about?\"\n                 Edward ignored her. \"Yes, monster. What have\nyou to say for yourself?\"\n                The\nmaster dropped back into his chair. \"It was the only way to save you. I hoped\nit wouldn't cause you any trouble.\"\n                \"The\ntrouble has been minimal so far. But the potential for harm is mind boggling.\"\n                Maggie\njumped on his back. \"What the hell are you guys talking about?\"\n                He\ngrabbed her legs as they came forward, putting her in a piggyback position. \"Do\nyou remember that Leo here commented on his having more of that metal?\"\n                \"The\nstuff the rings are made of? Sure.\"\n                \"I'll\njust bet you had some in the form of filings, didn't you?\" he asked the bearded\nold man.\n                The\nmaster nodded. \"Yes. We tried finding other applications for the stuff.\n                Maggie\nsort of shrugged. \"So what?\"\n                Edward\nstill had his attention focused on the old man. \"What did you do with it my\nfriend?\"\n                The\nmaster cleared his throat. \"I sprinkled some of it into your chest wound to\nassist with the healing.\"\n                Maggie\nyelped with delight. \"So that's why the bullet didn't kill you! You already had\nthe metal inside your body!\"\n                Leonardo\nwas not aware of anything that had transpired in Russia. Bullets were somewhat\nnew to him, though he understood the principle. So it took a few minutes to\nexplain modern firearms.\n                There\nwas then the matter of going over that fact that some of the ammunition was\nmade from silver. Those bullets were meant specifically to kill werewolves.\n                \"I see.\nSo you were struck in the brain with a piece of silver. You should be dead you\nknow despite the presence of the powder.\"\n                \"But\nI'm not. So answer me why.\"\n                The\nmaster knit his brows in thought. \"I have much to learn about the human body.\nAll I was able to study in my day were the fundamentals of anatomy. But if I\nwere to guess, I'd say the moonstone powder migrated to the site of the silver\nand encapsulated it. Therefore, you have silver in your body, but it is walled off\nby a layer of protective moonstone.\" \n                Edward\nnodded. \"And you had no idea this might happen?\"\n                \"How\ncould I? No one in my day would ever have wasted silver on such a projectile.\nThere weren't any such devices in common use except maybe in the lands of Persia.\nThe only weapons we had were more straight forward, and required an attacker to\nrisk personal harm to himself to get to a victim. Remember the armor and the\nblades?\"\n                \"I do.\nSo you're saying then that you feel you have no responsibility in my present\nproblem?\"\n                \"I did\nnot say that. All I say is that if I had not done what I did, you would be dead\nright now.\"\n                Edward\nnodded. \"I don't disagree, but maybe I would be better off.\"\n                Maggie\ndug her heals into his ribs. \"What the hell are you saying?\"\n                \"I'm\nsaying that I have become a time bomb. I have looked to the future and I have\nseen many possibilities. They are all murky, for it is hard to hold onto\nvisions that you yourself are part of. But many of them have very bad endings.\"\n                \"Why\ndidn't you mention this before?\"\n                \"I\nalready told you that letting people know my ability would prove dangerous.\"\n                \"But\nyou just told all of us.\"\n                \"Correct.\"\n                \"But I\nstill don't get it. You've told us nothing of consequence.\"\n                 He looked to Leonardo. \"Well, do you know why\nI call myself a monster?\"\n                The man\nlook flummoxed. \"No, I'm afraid that I do not.\"\n                Edward\nsaid nothing, but dropped Maggie to the floor and began undressing. He got his\nshare of odd looks, but no one dared to question his actions. Once naked, he\nbegan to grow, attaining his most splendidly huge form, the one that could rape\na bear with impunity. \n                The\nmaster's jaw dropped. \"Oh my.\"\n                Edward\ngrowled out. \"Running for the door will not save you.\"\n                \"Who\nsay's I was planning on making a run for it?\"\n                \"Nor\nwill trying to talk your way out of it.\"\n                Leo\nstopped. \"Are you saying that you can accurately see into the future?\"\n                \"As\naccurately as the constant flux of happenings allow. You should know that there\nare too many variables to predict precisely what will happen in most events.\"\n                Alexei\nspoke up, in his native Russian. \"Excuse me, but I'm not following any of\nthis.\"\n                Edward\nturned to him. \"Here, have my ring back. I think you need to be in on this as\nwell.\" The shiny metal ring arced through the air.\n                \"So\nLeo, what do you think has happened to me?\"\n                The man\ngulped. \"You have become the zenith, the peak of the Kind. But this is\nimpossible. I have been studying as much lore as I can find, and there is no\nway you can have both of the characteristics.\"\n                Maggie\nchange slightly and growled. \"What the hell does that mean?\"\n                Edward\nanswered for the master. \"It means that there are two penultimate forms. One is\nthe beast, or as they referred to my ancestor, The Beast. It is big, strong,\npowerful, and nearly immune to harm, and close to being mindless. Then there is\nother type, such as Leonardo here, who have very cunning minds, but their\nalternate form is maybe not so impressive. There are lesser forms; there are\nones like you Mags, who have intuition and the ability to see future needs and\ncan still change into the feral forms. I am both now, and so much more. I could\nleave this chamber and never be found again. I can see any way I need to of\nescaping, for I can plan my movements based on what others are going to do to\nfind me. I can assume this form, or smaller ones, even to the point of being\nnothing more than a regular wolf. This you know. Think what the combination\ncould be used for.\"\n                \"But\nyou wouldn't use it for harm...would you?\"\n                \"That\nis the very question that needs to be answered. For I might go out and try to do\ngood, but from whose perspective would those actions be viewed as good? Do I\nkill terrorists? But who has declared them to be terrorists? Might not those people be the actual cause of a\ndispute? The road to heaven is paved with good intentions, they say. I look to\nmy future and I see a lot of strife. I want to be rid of this curse.\"\n                Maggie\nlooked between the two men. \"Leonardo, did you put some of the powdered metal\ninto your own body?\"\n                The\nmaster patted her on the head. \"You are a bright child, aren't you? Yes, as a\nmatter of fact I did.\" He looked up to Edward. \"I only did what I did to save your\nlife. I understand why you might be upset, but you will have to live with this\nnow, unless you can get a physician to remove the bullet and its coating. I\ndon't pretend to know a lot about your time yet, but that does seem to be a feasible\noption with your technology.\"\n                \"I\nwould have no way of explaining to them what it was or how it got there.  I would have thought that you would have\nfigured that much out. But I think I know what will help. I have looked at the\npossible permutations of it, and it has some semblance of success.\"\n                Everyone\nwaited for him to tell them his idea. He let the seconds tick by until Leo\nfinally cracked. \"What is it?\"\n                \"I want\nthe location of the remainder of the original moonstone.\"\n                \"WHAT!\nNo! If you had that, you would become everything you say you fear.\"\n                \"Then\nyou did lie, didn't you, about more rings making no difference to a person.\"\n                \"Yes.\nGreed and power consumes all men. It's why the rings were spread out to\ndifferent families. They all had greed and would have craved more power. By\nsplitting them up, I evened the playing field, as you people like to say. It\nmade it nearly impossible to acquire them by force, when your opponent was as\npowerful as yourself. So there ended up a bit of peace among the royal\nfamilies. Besides, you have no idea what being near that rock did to me.\"\n                \"It\ndrove you out of your mind, didn't it? You had to have others, normal people,\ndoing most of the work. You brought in fellow craftsmen to assist you.\"\n                \"Yes.\nWe were told it couldn't be done, but we did it. And the rest of it is buried,\nhidden away safely. I will not tell you where it is however, so don't ask.\" His\nlip quivered in his defiance.\n                \"It\nhardly matters. I know where Schloss Hartheim is. I can see now why the Nazi's\nwere drawn to it for their deviltry.\"\n                Leo was\nnot yet acquainted with the world wars, but Alexei and Maria were.\n                \"Hartheim?\nIn Austria? That place has a very bad reputation. I remember hearing about it\nafter the second war. Hitler had his minions performing terrible atrocities\nthere.\"\n                But\nMaggie had a different question. \"Are you suggesting that Adolph Hitler was a\nwerewolf too? God, now I feel dirty.\"\n                Edward\ntousled her hair. \"Never feel bad for what other people do. Just make sure you\nnever do the things that make you abhor them. That's my present dilemma.\"\n                The\nmaster sputtered out his own few words. \"How did you know about the castle? No\none knew!\"\n                Edward\nturned back to him. \"I told you I have it bad Leo. I don't know everything I\nneed to know, but I know how to find it out the information I seek. That chunk\nof stone gave you a lot of trouble, didn't it?\"\n                He\nnodded, looking very pensive to broach a subject he found disquieting. \"Yes,\nright from the start. We tried to melt the whole thing down, but we were unable\nto do so even after a week of applied fire. Smashing bits off at a time worked\nbetter, and these we managed to melt.\"\n                \"But...\"\n                \"Every\npiece we broke off tried to reapply itself to the whole.\"\n                Maggie\nraised here eyebrows. \"Like a magnet?\"\n                \"Yes\ndear, like a magnet, only no other metal was attracted to it. And it adhered to\nno other object but itself.\"\n                \"But\nthe rings don't stick to one another.\"\n                \"Yes, I\nknow, and if you ask me why, I can tell you nothing. They would stick to the\noriginal stone, but not to themselves. It was most perplexing.\" \n                Edward\nnodded. \"Perplexing indeed. Did it not strike you as odd that you were able to\nperform mental feats well beyond those of your contemporaries?\"\n                \"Well,\nto be honest, I didn't dwell too much on that.\"\n                \"You\nbuilt a cryo-chamber, a device we still don't have.\"\n                \"Yes,\nbut as you can see it only worked for me.\"\n                Maggie's\neyes got huge. \"You tested it out on other people?\"\n                \"Yes\nlittle one, I did. Don't think of me as a cruel man. The king gave several\ncriminals a choice in their execution. They could volunteer for testing my\nmachine, and if they survived, they could go free. If they did not, their death\nwould prove to be more pleasant than that befitting their crimes.\"\n                She\nshuddered a little. \"I don't think I like that. I assume that no one survived?\"\n                \"One\ndid. After that, I felt that the machine was as good as it was going to get. I\nallowed no more to enter my laboratory after that. It would either work for me,\nor it would not.\"\n                \"And\nthe machine has some of this weird metal in it too, I suppose.\"\n                \"Yes,\nand I managed to devise a method whereas it could only be opened with rings. I\ndidn't want just anyone opening it up. But I think it only would ever work on\nthe Kind, and then only with the presence of the metal on or in their bodies.\nAs you can see, it helped to heal your father quite well.\"\n                Edward\nheld up his hand. \"I am not judging you. But mind you, I am not happy. I never\nasked for all of this.\"\n                Leonardo\nran his fingers through his hair. \"There are two kinds of men in this world\nsir; those who crave power and those who despise it. The first kind rule it,\nthe second kind nurture it. You are of the second kind. In despising power, you\nwould make for a great leader.\"\n                Edward's\ngnarly fist slammed down on the ancient desk, severing the corner into\nmatchstick fragments. \"I. DO. NOT. WANT. THIS.\"\n                His\neyes were glowing from within. Maggie could smell the ire rising off of him.\nShe put her hand on his hairy arm and said calmly, \"But you do love me, don't\nyou?\"\n                She\ncould feel him relax immediately. \"Yes Mags, I love you very much. I just don't\nwant the responsibility of having this kind of moral dilemma. I want to settle\ndown and live for a while.\"\n                She\ncouldn't help but laugh. \"Live? What the hell have we been doing for the past\nfew months? Living! How the hell can a person know what livings is all about\nunless they come close to dying first? We have both been there, and I'd like to\nthink we're stronger for it! We can take on anything life throws at us. If you're\nso intent on losing your abilities, then just ignore them. Hide them. People\nhide their talents all the time. Suppress it. I'd like to think you have the\nstrength to do that. And who knows? Some day you may wish you had the ability\nto look into the future, and you'll not have it. Wouldn't you rather have\nsomething you don't use, rather than wishing for something you didn't have that\nyou needed?\"\n                His\nform shifted and shrunk. He returned to being Edward, the human. He dressed in\nsilence and then picked up his girl and hugged her close. \"You know, I think I\nhave my moral compass right here.\"\n                He then\nturned back to Leonardo. \"I'm still not happy. Have you any idea how strong the\nurge is to go out and try to change the world?\"\n                The\nmaster smiled from behind his beard. \"Yes son, I do. Sometimes there is only so\nmuch you can do. I see your dilemma. The world has gotten a lot more\ncomplicated and connected since my time. Your weapons are more destructive, and\nthe number of persons who have them are much greater than in my day. I'm sure\nyou only want to do well by the world, but by placing yourself in the middle,\nyou expose to it who and what you are. Never let that happen, for they will use\nthose closest to you to try to control you.\"\n                \"Hence\nthe reason you never took a partner?\"\n                \"Only\none of them. I was on no one's side but my own. Even in my day, there were\nsimply too many factions vying for control.\"\n                Alexei\nspoke up, having figured out the earlier conversation from that he had just\nbeen picking up after donning the ring. \"So this gentleman has the ability to\nrule the world?\"\n                Edward\nstiffened. Leonardo nodded. \"Yes, he could, in a better fashion I think than\nanyone else alive. But it is only in his distaste for the position that he\nwould be suitable for it, and in his distaste, he denounces any claim to it. If\nonly all such men who had aspirations to places of authority had such\nintegrity.\"\n                The son\nof the tsar stuck out his hand. \"Father said that ruling was not as glorified\nas many people thought it was. I don't think that ever stopped him from abusing\nhis power though; else he might have met his death in bed, rather than at the\npoint of a gun.\"\n                Edward\ngrasped it. \"I have no desire to ever rule anyone but myself. I understand the\nnecessity of the job, but it is not one for me. I have already looked into that\npotentiality, and it did not bode well for me. I will be just as happy living\nmy life in obscurity.\"\n                Maria\nlaughed. \"There is nothing wrong with obscurity. I have lived in the\nwilderness, for if anyone found out who I was, I would have been hunted down\nand killed a long time ago.\"\n                \"And\nI,\" said Alexei, \"I too would have been hunted down. Once enough years had\npassed though, no one would ever have taken me for the son of the tsar. I have\npower my friends, and yet, I also have no notoriety. One can be powerful, and\nstill unknown. Let your conscience be your guide.\"\n                Maggie\nwas pulling on his arm. \"Yeah! Use your power just for us! No one else needs to\nknow about it. If, that is, you can restrain yourself from taking it too far.\"\n                \"Too\nfar? What is too far?\" He asked rather sourly.\n                \"Too\nfar would be taking all the danger out of life. I don't want to know what\nhappens next, I want to find out. Why take the mystery out of life? Life will\ngo on without your interference. Chances are where you fix one thing, something\nelse will develop to take its place. Nature is chaos. You simply can't contain\nit. Let it go. Dwell on those things you can affect. Like me.\"\n                \"And\nwhat of all the others I have already had an impact on? Hmmmm? What of them?\"\n                She was\nstumped for a moment. \"I say allow things to work themselves out as they will.\"\n                \"And if\nthey don't?\"\n                \"Oh\nthey will, even if it's not to your personal satisfaction. Things always work\nout.\"\n                He\nsmiled. \"I don't think it's as easy as that, but your intent is sound. I have\nlooked to many different futures, so I'm afraid I have already tainted my\nfuture actions to some extent. This is no bad thing. I have avoided looking too\nhard into broader events to keep myself separated from them. \"\n                Maggie\npulled on his arm. \"Then why did you make such a fuss?\"\n                \"Because\nI saw it as the only way of getting to some truths.\"\n                Leonardo's\njaw dropped. \"You have been manipulating us?\"\n                Edward\nshrugged. \"I saw it as the only way of getting a few facts out into the open.  Seeing the future, as I have remarked before,\nonly shows you possibilities. These can change as the events leading up to them\nare altered. Facts are unwavering. I now know for certain that the stone was\nburied at Hertheim.\"\n                \"So you\nintend to retrieve it?\" the master asked with a pained expression.\n                \"Yes,\nbut not right now. And so you know, it's no longer there.\"\n                The\nmaster sat bolt upright. \"What?\"\n                \"I\nthought you should know in case you tried to retrieve it and hide it somewhere\nelse. The Nazis removed it in 1941.\"\n                \"Where\nis it then?\"\n                \"I have\nno idea. But that won't keep me from looking for it.\"\n                Maggie\ntugged on his arm yet again. \"But I thought you wanted to live a simple life.\nLooking for something like that might take us anywhere in Europe.\"\n                \"Or\nanywhere else in the world.\"\n                \"Really?\"\nHer eyes were wide.\n                \"Maybe.\nTime will tell. For now, I think that we had better allow your aunt and uncle\nsome time to talk with Leonardo. I think I'd like to take a tour of the\nVatican. I haven't seen near as much as it has to offer. Tomorrow we'll be back\nto see the pope, and then after that I think we'll try to be on our way back\nhome.\"\n                Maggie\nwalked out of the chamber and up the stairs, holding his hand and her own\ntongue. She hadn't realized that his present enhancement was being viewed as\ncurse by him. She liked having her abilities, but she was beginning to see\nwhere having a slight advantage was different than being able to see so much\nmore. He could see when people might die, or when crimes were going to happen,\nor... \n He was right; it was too much. Being endowed\nwith so much power was beyond the mental capabilities of most people. All a\nperson had to consider was the total number of people in the world, multiply\nthat by the number of potential problems and suddenly anyone capable of seeing\nthe problems before they could occur would immediately be overwhelmed by the\nlargeness of it all.\nMost people worried about their own\nlives, and even then they often had little control over them. He could see into\nthe murkiness that was the future. He could pick apart future events until he\ncould see cause and effect. He could prevent an airplane crash simply by buying\na mechanic a cup of coffee. It wasn't just a matter of jumping out to save a\nchild from an out-of-control car; it was simple things just like that.  What did people call it? \nOh, yeah, the Butterfly Effect.\n                She\nnever believed in things happening like that until now. If could see what your\nactions would do, then you could direct the world from the sidelines and no one\nwould ever know. It was a frighteningly real aspect of his power. \n                  \"Father?\"\n                \"Yes\nMags.\"\n                \"I'm\nsorry.\"\n                \"It's\nnot something that's your fault, or anybody's I guess. Shit happens.\"\n                \"If\nyou're so unhappy with it, why do you want to add to it?\"\n                \"Add?\"\n                She\nshrugged. \"I assumed you want the whole stone, or what's left of it, to\nincrease your power even more.\"\n                \"Why do\nyou think that? Especially after what I just got done saying?\"\n                \"I\ndon't know. Why else would you want it?\"\n                \"Because\nit's the only way I'll ever get this chunk of metal out of my head and survive\nthe process.\"\n                She\npondered that for a moment. \"I see. You think that the big stone will somehow\npull out its bits and pieces from your head?\"\n                \"That's\nthe idea.\"\n                \"What\nif they don't take the silver with it? Then you'll die.\"\n                \"I\nknow.\"\n                \"And\nyou're alright with that?\"\n                \"Sort\nof, yes. I have a lot to live for, and a lot to lose if I stay this way. Don't ask\nme to explain it Mags. Trust me; I've worked it out until my head is spinning.\nI had hoped that maybe Leo might have an answer for me, but he didn't. I guess\nI should say that he didn't have one that I could really use.\"\n                \"Are\nyou saying a neurosurgeon couldn't remove it?\"\n                \"Like I\nsaid before, there would be a lot of explaining to try and do. And honestly, I\ndon't think any would ever want to try.\"\n                \"Why?\"\n                \"Because\nit has melded itself into my tissues. The metal is directly enhancing my brain\nby stimulating it right where it counts.\"\n                \"I see.\nBut wouldn't you heal up afterwards because of what you are?\"\n                \"I\nthought at first that it would be that easy too. Permutations of the future\nsight showed me dead every time.\"\n                \"You're\njoking.\" She didn't sound amused.\n                \"I wish\nI was. So you see where I'm trapped? It's like it's an all or nothing scenario.\nA Catch 22 if you will.\"\n                \"Then keep\nit. I'll stop you from ever trying to get it out of your head if it means that\nI lose you in the process.\"\n                He\nsmiled. \"I already factored you in. I therefore already know what I'm going to\ndo right now.\"\n                \"I\nsuppose we're not going to go home yet. Planning another trip?\"\n                \"No,\nhome is where I'm headed. Besides, the stone isn't likely to be going anywhere.\nI think there are a few things we need to get settled before we head off\nanywhere for such a long time again.\"\n                She\nnodded. \"Like Verona?\"\n                \"She's\none. I think she understands the situation, but I have no right to leave her\nhanging in the balance. She needs stability in her life, and so does the child.\nI must meet that obligation before I can go on.\"\n                She\nlooked up at him. \"You've already sorted this out, haven't you?\"\n                He didn't\nbother looking down. \"I have a good possibility, but nothing is concrete until\nit happens. Let's just say that I have a solution that may work. Only time will\ntell, and I thankfully have no control over that.\"\n                She\nshuddered. Affecting time too? That would be frightful beyond comprehension!"}