He had been maneuring through the forest, his skin a green coloration that made it easier to blend in. The harsh light filtered out by the canopy of trees so that the lighting had been rather dim on the forest floor.

Today he had been returning from the campus where he had cloaked himself in illusion, impersonating another student so he could roam about the campus without drawing undue attention to himself as he shuffled about.

Normally he would just send one of his nodes forth to take care of his leg work for him but he neither had legs nor had he had any nodes left to him.

The bump at the back of his head had given rise to the budding process that had began but it would be sometime before the node itself would reach fruition.

Still he filtered through the minds of a plethora of students as he read there thoughts, and dug a little deeper to see the interests within them. No, no, no ... he had been quite picky in his selection process though he paused at one inparticular.

Mythology, he had thought, running over the word in his mind before coming upon an idea. There had been a place within the forest, some old ruins that he had barely sifted through though that had proved to be an ideal setting. His eyes had studied his victim, head to foot as his gaze fluttered down her body. Yes, indeed she would do.

He had left the campus with the implant of a command into her mind telling Pia to head out to the forest, to look there for some ruins, after all it couldn't hurt any to take a look, and if she came up empty handed after classes had been squared away well she could spend the evening polishing up the last few chapters of that book she currently had her nose in.

Aegir knew that he had a couple hours to spare though he had been quite lethargic. His slow pace as he slithered across the ground had been tedious but it had got him around nonetheless. He found the ruins quite easily as his tentacles wrapped about the bark of a tree. Scaling up it he had perched himself into the branches partially hidden by the leaves there.

It had been brighter hear but he happened to be only part way up the tree to avoid the harsh light of the sun. His eyes had a perfect vantage point of the ruins. Crumbled walls, overgrowth and a few trees within it had told him that the forest had mostly reclaimed the area.

There hadn't been much for him to do now except wait. He did manufacture another illusion, that of a scroll tucked away inside the decorated tube of dolphins braking the waves of the water had been a portion of a document generated by his eidetic memory.

The scroll tube had been discolored as if exposed by the elements. It had been partially hidden from view in the overgrowth of plants as if it had been dropped there many years past, or taken from one of the nearby buildings and dropped only to be forgotten about. The choices had been numerous to choose from.

I really should have gotten out here sooner! Being penned up all day, doing nothing but reading books.. I need some fresh air.

Truth to be told, Pia had spent way too much time with her nose in a book or another these last few days. Parallel to her other studies, her proper studies, she had been engaged in research of her own.
Pia's own project concerned monsters. She fervently believed that somehow, somewhere, there were a clue, a key to understanding the horrors that haunted her, haunted this island. And if she could but find it, she was confident she would learn how to protect herself and the other victims.

Lately, she had been perusing what she was now starting to think was a red herring. She had found an article where the author tried to trace a lost text, supposedly inspired by a lost manuscript from Atlantis, of whom fragments were supposed to have survived and been translated into half a dozen languages. Mainly crackpot theories, but there were parts that had piqued Pia's interest.

The original text were supposedly dictated by a "Monster God of the Sea.." a monster god that had "limbs like the Kraken of the North", and that "spoke not with words, but with dark commands that pierced the mind".

And had not two off her encounters happened in the water? And at least one of them spoke telphatically? And did they not use tentacles?

Pia had spent too many nights trying to piece together this puzzle, until she could stand it no longer. Showing the pile of books on her desk away in disgust, she had decided she needed fresh air and clear thoughts, and she needed it now!
So strong was this feeling, Pia did not realize that she had been influenced by a foreign mind.

This was shy Pia was now making her way through the woods of Shokushu. She was wearing her hiking boots, shorts, a green top and dark tinted glasses. On her head was a pink and purple scarf, to protect her from the sun.
She had no idea were she was going, but let the path find itself. She was gaining height, moving higher up in the terrain. This was quite enjoyable!

Pausing, she stopped, and took a deep drink from the water bottle she had brought. As she enjoyed the refreshment, her eyes caught an outline in the terrain.
What was this? Some sort of ruin?

I thought this island was supposed to never have been inhabited before?
Slowly, Pia took a few steps closer, eyes wide as she took in her surroundings.

Aegir had found himself perched up in a tree so that he could get a better vantage of the area, his gaze setting off through the horizon though the trees had blocked his vision a great deal. A part of him had wished for winter when the leaves of the trees would have been barren. The temperature would have been lower than it was now and he probably wouldn't be up in this damn tree but his vision would have been less hindered as only branches would mare his site.

While there aloft in the tree his compound mind had turned over earlier thoughts that he had pilfered from Pia's brain. At first he had given considerable thought to this telepathic sea creature that she had encountered as it could be one of them ... naw, a little probing over the memory had answered that question for him as events had flittered into his mind.

As he dwelled upon that encounter and what she knew about monster's of this island that he had been yet to meet for himself one could say that Aegir was keeping notes of his own on his competition. He may not have any ideas about publishing a novel or whispering dark secrets into the ear of another though he did find himself curious governing his competition here on the island. Powers. How they behaved. Where they had been encountered. Forewarned had been the best option anyway and while he had elected to give most a wide berth one never could be to careful in there dealings.

But he had note gone far in his thoughts before he spotted her, nay, rather sensed her mind as she neared the ruins. From his understanding the ruins had been an ancient settlement, a failed one if what he heard was true that had consisted of an alien civilization that had been the predecessor to Shokushu. The aims had been similar but things had gotten entirely out of hand. Of course that information had been gleaned from the mind of one of the scientists here meaning that he been in error with his own thoughts or he had been correct in what he had believed.

Whatever the case the ruins had been present. They could have been the home of one of the islands inhabitants for all he cared, They had served his purpose in the here and now, had been vacant and isolated enough from the school so that an occasional scream for assistance wouldn't carry on the wind.

But he gave matters additional thought as he planned matters out in his mind like an expert chess player thinking several moves ahead.

He had thought he had glimpsed something green outside of the leaves that obscured his vision, cloth, the fabric of a shirt had dangled before his eyes, Pia had arrived though for now he had remained aloft in his tree as he used the vantage of it's perch to get a good look of the girl as she had approached.

In her surprise at the discovery, Pia had spilled some of her water down her chin and on her chest. Absentmindedly she wiped it off, leaving a couple of tiny, sparkling drops near her cleavage.
She must have been walking a lot faster than she was aware she had. She found she was quite warm, and her chest was heaving just a little. Pia corked the bottle, and took of her glasses to wipe sweat of her brow.
She adjusted her top a little. It was rather tight, and short enough to expose a bit of her belly.

Pia knew she should probably not go exploring ruins alone, that she should give them a wide berth, or at least go with someone. But she felt she had to take a quick look, at the very least.

They are partially covered by vegetation, but that does not necessarily tell much about their age. In this climate, plants can grow fast, if they just have enough water..Hmm.. I better take a look.

Carefully, Pia made her way to the nearest stones, brushing away some vegetation and bending down to inspect it closer, her shorts tightening around her buttocks as she did so.

And he saw it all through his lofty vantage point as she neared. His keen eyes taking in the young nubile and unsuspecting form below even as he had calculated his next move. Let her find the scroll, have some time to study it ...

It had been a long while since he had shared his secrets with anyone after all, even a portion of his knowledge. A part of him had found that he had been thrilled to do so again. But with knowledge came a price, and what a price it was.

Eyes took in her bent over frame, a slow caress to his eyes as she had bent over displaying her wares. A part of him had already released a musky scent from his pheremones, pheremones that wouldn't effect humans any way.

But as least he had some distance and height as he had released that scent hoping that it would mask his presence but not really sure if the aroma would drift down to Pia's nose.

As he took in the crisp air he had detected this scent upon his own nostrils, altering his plans in his head though eyes had remained locked on Pia. He had begun thinking of all the things he would do to her but stopped not wishing to count his chickens before he had snatched them up in his squirming tentacles.

That had lacked focus on his part even if her breasts begged to be squeezed and tugged by his tentacles, the few drops of water on her cleavage had glistened as the sun light touched upon that moisture, longing him to take those orbs into his mouth if only to taste them.

Mouth tentacles writhered as if in anticipation, a plan and a back up plan already forming within his mind. He had always been one for back ups, just incase. He had always proved to be a cautious one in that regard flowing as easily as water if something went wrong.

"Well, these ruins are certainly older than they should be.", Pia said to no one in particular.
She let her hands run across the old withered stones. Rough hewn and worn down with time.
Pia strolled a bit along what seemed to be the remains of a surrounding wall. Occationally, she would pause to look at one detail. Was that the outline of a symbol? Maybe. Hard to tell.

Pia drew in her breath. What was that smell? Something..
"Oh, what have we here?"
On one wall was a distinctive pattern. A fish, dolphin or something like it. Curved lines suggested waves. Eagerly, Pia walked on. More dolphins appeared.

White eyes had followed her progress throughout the ruins as she inspected this and that, His mouth tendrils held in place by sheer will so that he would not give away his location in the trees. Although they had wished to writhe about in what had passed as his species form of a grin as she moved within 30' of the scroll that he had generated.

He had sensed that he had been discovered or rather his own musky aroma had carried down to Pia's nose as she had gone about the ruins. He had allowed her some freedom to move about as his boneless body oozed out of the tree that he had been in as he plopped to the ground unafraid of the fall as hi body impacted against the hard ground that may have been unyielding if his body hadn't been so maleable.

His plan that had formed in his mind had been a simple one considering that he had been incapable of hiding his scent from her.

His form altered through his illusions as he took on the appearance of a student, disheaveled by the looks of it. Leaves had been entwined in her long brunette hair, her blouse torn open and shredded in places, her bright blue eyes full of tears as dirt streamed over her pale features. He prepared to act as he cloaked himself in an illlusion.

Pia failed to notice her watcher's drop to the ground. This was because she had discovered that the wall seemed to have some holes in them. Compartments. And some of them seemed to have objects in them. Pia was looking into one.
Is that a container of some sort?
Unable to resist her curiosity, Pia put her hand inside, trying to get a grip on whatever was there.
There! Her fingers fastened around something. A cylindrical object of sorts.

Pia withdrew the artifact. It looked like a container, and was obviously made out of metal.
Hmmm.. I guess the relatively high altitude and distance from the salt sea must have halted the corrosion..

She was just pondering if she should open it as she became aware that someone was approaching. Quickly she turned to see who was coming.

"Oh my! What happened to you!", she said.

He was going to grant her time in looking at the scroll though he took full advantage of her distracted state. His mind entering her own as he made it appear that he had been moving quicker than he was to mask his normally slow speed.

He had jumped as her head whirled back in his direction, leaping part way back to simulate fear. Eyes had been wide as if it had taken her a moment in truly seeing Pia before her, her head glancing over her shoulder as if looking back at something in the distance though that musky scent still waifed off of his chosen form though he sought to explain that without really addressing the issue as he had allowed her to fill in the blanks for herself given his illusion a bit of realism by letting her come to her own conclusions.

Most of the time he had sought to calm his victims through his illusions though not this time thinking that Pia had been wise enough in seeing through his conjurations. She had been no naive student who had been knew to the island. Nay she had some experience and he had thought that a bit of alarm would cause her to overlook any mistakes that he may make.


A hand went to her blouse as if to keep it closed, the curves of her breasts had been visible. Her eyes gazed back then fell upon Pia.

"We've got to get out of here." The girl stammered out, tears glistening in her eyes as she spoke aloud as if something had distressed her.

Pia reacted instinctively, not considering that the woman could be pat of a trap. She stuck the cylinder in the side pocket of her shorts. She was dying to open it, but first things first!

Pia rushed over to the girl.
"What happened to you?", Pia said. "Did.. are you.. what happened?"

"I ... it's horrible ..." she pointed off in a random direction back the way she had apparently came. "Back there ... oh god what if it's coming, what if ..."

The girl hadn't seemed to make much sense as she blabbered out this and that, her head looking back over her shoulders as if checking to ensure that they were still alone though tears now freely ran down her cheeks as she looked back.

Aegir had noted the bulge in her pocket, the illusionary scroll. So she had found it. He had supposed that he had the time to watch her from afar after all had it not been for the musky aroma that had emitted from his body, his own form belying his presence as the mere thought of having her sprang into mind triggering his lusts and desires.

"The monster ... it might ... we have to get out of here!"

Again the frantic look over her shoulder as if expecting to see something loming on the horizon.

"Monster? OK.. let us get out of here!", Pia said. She had herself had a few too many experiences to not believe her.
Did it.. had she been raped?

Pia was not sure. Nonetheless, she thought it better to get away before the monster could finish the job, possibly with a side dish of blonde.
Pia noticed that the woman pointed in the rough direction of the path down to campus.
She desperately tried to think of another escape route.
Pia grabbed the brunette's hand.
"Let us go! If we can cut through the ruins here, maybe we can circle back and avoid the monster altogether!"

Pia started to led the woman towards the old stone walls. She just hoped she was not leading them both into more trouble.

Blessed heat had wrapped about his hand causing him to smile at Pia briefly before dropping the masquerade that had surrounded him. His form melting away as his natural state had been revealed. He had initially planned on crawling into her mind, masking his slow movements to appear that he had been moving faster than he was but at this closeness Aegir simply found himself reacting.

He had not been that fast, slower than the typical human. Thus he had relied primarily on ambushing his prey, drawing them in close than striking. Distance of course, had been his bane.

The scroll stored away in her pocket melted away into nothingness as he had ceased to concentrate on it. Her hand in fact had held onto his mauve hand, a hhand whose fingers tightened around hers as his true form had been revealed.

He had been the source off the musky odor that had reached her nose earlier. Tentacles existed where there ought to have been legs lazily fanning about the ground though one did streak at one of her legs, hopefully to take advantage of her surprise.

Even the flick of that tentacle had been slow though of course that had been a relevant term as Aegir had used every portion of speed that he could muster. His mouth tendrils, four in all, danced about excitedly as his white eyes focused upon his prey.

"Come on, if we hurry, we might.. oh.. my..".
Pia's face paled as she realized that she had walked right into the monster's trap. Her blue eyes were wide open, her mouth agape, pinkish lips parting to form an oval opening, but no sound escaped.

Pia's brain struggled to keep up with what her senses were telling it. The dishelved girl before her gave way to a creature that looked like an invertbrae, but still had an upright, almost human composture.

And this was all Pia managed to observe, before her legs were swept from under her. With a grunt, she hit the ground.
Only then came the scream. A pure tone of panic.
"HEEEELP! Someone help meeeeee, please!"

No one can heaar you. I pick up no other minds around save for yours and perhaps a monster or two in the near distance, no doubt scouring the land. But please, if you wish to draw them in so that they may have seconds and thirds, then be my guest.

His intent made clear as he loomed over her prone form, speaking into her mind as he did so through the use of his telepathic abilities. He had quickly put to use her prone state as he engulfed her with a steam of tentacles as they stretched out towards her to coil about the limbs of her body grabbing at wrists and ankles as his gaze filtered down her as if appraising his catch.

Mouth tendrils dance about as he slide closer to her, slithering against the rocky grass as he did so. He had looked into her mind, paused then responded in a cool confident tone within her mind.

A book! I could tell you all you want to know, it has been sometime since I have relayed my story to anyone .... though of course you won't like the price.

A single tentacle reached up to her face, sweeping the suction cupped tentacle down her cheek as those mouth tentacles still danced and twitched as he regarded her.