Chapter 262: Perception and Perspective [#1]
Perspective...
What is Perspective?
Perspective is what links the image of an object to the object itself, and so by touching what one sees, one can touch the object itself - thus, it is possible to hold a distant mountain in the palm of one's hand. Perspective allows a single drop of rain to fill an entire ocean, or an entire ocean to be held in a cup. Through perspective, ten thousand things can become one, intent can become action, and something unseen can cease to exist entirely. With a subtle shift of perspective, it is possible to crack the earth with a single finger, or to pluck the glowing disc that is the sun from the sky.
Now, take that concept and put it in someone- A small boy, whose imagination is limited only by his fear and who knows what else? But oh, his fears dominated such a young mind, changing it in the worst ways. The poor boy thought, imagine and perceived within his mind as his mother, in the distance, looked so small and that his hands could almost pick her up! And he did, so when he saw his mother, small like an ant, on his hand, he ran to his father to ask for his help but ended up closing his hand and crushed his mother's body, killing her instantly. When the boy approached his father, his weak control over his own ability slipped and the broken and bloodied body of his mother dropped before his father and him just as he opened his hand.
The father screamed- Of course he would, seeing as his beloved wife appeared before him covered in blood, broken and dead! So, the boy seeing as his mother was dead, perceived it to be his fault- And his perception of reality changed it, making so his father also believed he was at fault, blaming him, cursing him, threatening him... Then the police arrived, because that's what the boy thought to happen, what he perceived as reality! Person dead? Boom, cops show up! They arrested his father, because he was the adult there and the poor boy was crying like his mother just died.
Oh wait.
She did.
So, years passed, with no relatives to take him in, he was sent to Foster Homes across the U.S! In each and every one of them, he ended up changing things about others or himself, and over time, learned what his abilities were capable of after a lot of misunderstandings. One of the Foster Mothers, religious as she was, called him the Devil, which he didn't know what it was until he heard a older kid explain that a devil is a big muscular guy with red skin, horns, and a tail! He breathes fire, or does he have wings? Now as he's older, looking at the mirror before his hand, he is sure that the Devil also has a black beard too because he does.
It happened back when he was 9 years old, his powers back then were not controlled like his are now... Kinda, they, Russians as they were, limited his perception by taking away his free will after a few nasty torture sessions with drugs to keep him barely conscious enough to use his powers.
His power was to affect reality based on his perception of it.
Perception is what can consider the result of the combined experience of all of one's senses - the means by which someone is aware of the world around them. Manipulating perception is more than simply creating illusions. Rather, it is the act of directly changing an individual's ability to experience the world. From the basic senses such as sight and hearing, to those lesser known, such as proprioception or nociception, to the rare abilities to sense auras or magic - all of these senses together make up an individual's perception of the world, and manipulating it entails nothing less than restructuring the world as they are able to sense it. Talking about magic, apparently that shit's real? Well, the Russians bound his mind with it too, and a few brainwashing bullshit sessions locked his true person within his mind, but even inside it he could use his powers to affect himself-
Or his Perception of Self.
He changed his body to be the body of a devil- Strong, really strong and muscular, red skin, large horns and a pointy tail at the end, his eyes were deep green and his pupil was black as darkness. That was his perception of what a devil looked like, of course he grew up on this body! He remembers how he was later seen and soon captured, his existence hidden by the goverment as they worked him up to be one of their little soldiers... He hated them. Governments, that is, but he perceived them as necessary even against his own will- Because what would he do without a government and laws? Chaos was all he could think of! Nowadays, after having spent so many years within his mind, he came to control his ability better and stopped it from being used even though the changes he did couldn't be undone easily- They tried to make him erase USA existence, but it didn't work because he stopped it, thankfully!
What he did do, however, was give himself and others powers. A team of super humans for the Russian government is a fucking bullshit! But thankfully he got to apply the same to himself, withour them knowing! His shackles were slowly coming off as he was aware of what was happening outside- And before you ask 'Why won't he just perceive the shackles into non-existence?' Well, he tried! The results? Pain. Somehow, the magic bound to his mind stopped him from even thinking about it, and the only way he slowly got rid of it was by slowly chipping away the chains, making them frail.
But ten whole years under Russian goverment, 5 of them spent unaware of his surroundings, is not easy on the mind.
So, let's say, he acquired a few skills- Assassination and Espionage for one, and Russian and Torture Techniques for two. Yes... Quite crude if you ask me! 'Damn, i hate taking a bath like this...' He was aware of himself, has been for five years now, and the way it worked was like watching something through a screen- Only see, no interaction. He would hear his voice answer questions, see his body moving without him meaning to, he would feel the touch of things, feel the taste of food and the feeling of water, cold or boiling, and he would feel the pain. Thankfully, he was used to it by now. 'Just a little bit more...' He needed more time to get rid of these damn chains, and then? He's giving himself magic Immunity! If only he knew it to be real when he was younger... Maybe he could transfer his mind to his young body? Hm...
nope.
He remembers vividly the experiments, how they would have him use his power the way they wanted him to- But since his mind wasn't fully there, the results weren't always... Intact.
They asked him to send a man to space? The guy's body was flung beyond Earth's moon, he was never found again.
They asked to set something on fire? He himself would burn, thankfully he was fire proof (Which is something Devils are, right? Since, you know, they are from hell.) and he would burn, burn like the surface of the sun sometimes, this killed quite a lot of people actually.
They would make him do these things, change things, and sometimes some things would happen and sometimes not- That was when he did something, he made them not understand fully his powers, which limited their choice of action, he made them mske him their soldier, which ensure he wouldn't die so soon, but then, one year ago, they brought him. The young guy was probably his age, between 20 or 18, blond, had his muscles and a stupid mustache- His blond curls were shaved off and he received a tattoo on his left arm thay read: [009-RUS]. He received the same tattoo when he was in that laboratory in the US government and when he was captured and brought here too.
His tattoos were [002] and [001-RUS], so his nickname was 3RUS, or Three-Rus.
Even after such a long year, where they trained and tortured him, he didn't break- No, he did break, some cogs were loose on his mind he was pretty sure of it, but the same fire burned in his eyes. They met only once, but that was enough for the Devil to know! He gave himself and other soldiers three main abilities, because those three were the only ones he could safely give away without setting someone on fire or destroying half of the base- Telekinesis, Telepathy, and Ability Detection. Inside his own trapped mind he created a lot of shields and was slowly clearing his own brainwashing, but they would get suspicious if he cleared it off instantly so he was taking his time.
With his Ability Detection, he knew the young blond guy had some power- It altered his body and mind, making him something really dangerous, but it also made him unstable as well. But he seemed to have a grasp on it, controlling himself, not willing to give up or break... That light, that same light gave him hope. So he worked harder to break away his magical shackles that limited his mind thus limiting his ability, but to really get rid of it, he had to remove something from within himself- On his own mind, a 3D diagram of his own body floated before him, changing and rotating until four red dots blinked- It was the magically enchanted shackles, or rather, four chainless shackles on his feet and wrists! They were magically enchanted but he chipped away at them with his power, it almost broke them, but he needs to physically do it to be free since if he doesn't get rid of the shackles touching him, he wouldn't be able to use his abilities to the maximum of his capabilities.
Sure he can change the shackles from iron to, i don't know, mud? He'd have to change his perception over it, which is casting an illusion on himself, and he hates doing that.
So...?
Well, he decided.
Why not save someone for the sake of saving himself withour going through the long process of saving himself and killing time he hated spending inside his own mind without the control over his body? Sure sounds fun! 'Hm... It could work, no, i cam work and it will.' Limitations to his power were... Interesting. Perception is something that can be easily changed, that's how they could brainwash him so easily- They used his abilities against himself, making him perceive that he was part of them, and it succeeded to some extent- His mind created an alternate consciousness, which is controlling his body right now, while he watches from afar. This alter had control over his power to some extent, but he took that control to himself back again and refused to give it to the alter, making it forget he existed by erasing the memories it had- Which is weird, because that is him but also not him...
Like an evil version of himself.
But look, he's the devil! I mean, his name was Lucifer for a reason.
-Author's Note-
How his powers work:
Perception/Perspective = Reality.
So, if he thinks and perceives it to be, it can become real. Think about this-
You believe that the sky is blue because you see it is blue. A blind person wouldn't know the sky's blue unless you tell them, but you could also tell them the sky is red and they'd believe it if they trusted you enough, because they lack the sight to check for themselves.
Now think of this: Lucifer believes the sky is blye and sees it is, so it continues to be blue. But if he wishes, he could make himself see the sky as red, and if he activated his powers, it would become red for everyone.
The shackles and brainwashing remove one factor of this power- He can't imagine himself free or away from the Russians, which is due to the fact that a part of himself sees himself as a Russian, the other part is magically limited, his intent is suppressed by the magic, making it hard to use his powers. Because his powers need three things- Imagination, Intent, and Willpower to use. Without one of them, he can't use it or control it well, like when he was a kid and used it accidentally and killed his mother.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone