.:|Playing With Fire|:.

[Revenance]

- - Revenance & SileceneAlethea
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

.:The Holy Capitol, Espera, circa 734 2E:.


The great marble cathedral had been built in a beautiful baroque fashion. Pillars had been carved with the most intricate designs and prayers. The ceiling was decorated by the renowned painter Merciaggo with thousands of angels protecting the place from the demons of the underworld. But no longer did the mighty Lord look down upon this place, he had forsaken it. Those who preached his ways now decorated the walls with the blood of innocence, serving him in lies alone. The atrocities and horrors that had taken place in the storage bellow the building was enough to make a grown warrior shutter-but so long as the chantry kept their business secret and their claims to worship fresh, the people did not dare to raise their voices in hostility.

The shadowy undercroft was damp and dimly lit, with a stench of rot and repulsion filling the musky air. Candles flickered violently along wooden crates, begging to be spared from their horrendous existence. The Archbishop Tybalt III stood in silence, he was a man who had seen many years and had done a great many things during his time, horrible things, but things nonetheless. He was disliked by even the most corrupt; all of whom feared his power too much to resist him. To his left stood the only other living human in the room, his successor, Gideon. Gideon was a dark haired man who had put up with the great bishops tyranny in order to be made his heir; however, he himself was no faithful man either. The stone floor was chill against their bare feet and pale against the scarlet red blood the embellished runic words and demonic phrases.

“Can’t you taste it Gideon?” Tybalt’s voice was filled with unnerving enthusiasm. He was standing on his designated place as the other man added the finishing touches to the diagrams. “Soon the world will be bowing for me. Not even King Gregor and his arrogance will stop me, not when he’s a corpse at least!”

The other man was listening only half-heartedly as he worked with all his efforts to inscribe the ruins perfectly. One mistake and any chances of success would be completely lost. If things turned out only mildly bad Tybalt would die and Gideon could go on with his life, if things turned out the worst, only the Lord knew what sufferings catastrophes would be unleashed.

“Of course. You will be most magnificent.” He stood up and stepped back, looking with pride upon his creation. “But I pray you don’t forget me when that happens.” Tybalt roared with overexcited laughter, he was becoming elated at the magnitude of power that would soon be in his grasp. His face was merry and red and Gideon could not recall a time when the man seemed happier.

“Hah! I am not that low, not only shall you be remembered but greatly rewarded. I would never have come this far without your cunning!” Tybalt blurted.

Gideon smiled, this was sickening. Too much like those days he would have liked to have forgotten. Withdrawing himself completely from the circumference of the circle he stood just behind his master.

“Are you ready now, My Lord?”

“I have never been more so.”

“You shall have no chance to repent for your actions.”

“How could I care? My ambition is before me.”

“As you wish.” Gideon took two steps forward until he could feel the heat drifting off of the other man. “I should have mentioned, you are only the sacrificial lamb for my ambition.” Cold steel pressed its way through the Archbishops robes and into his flesh, penetrating his lung. With gentle grace the knife was drawn from the wound and Gideon took a step back. Tybalt’s face was now a horrid shade of purple as his eyes begged accusingly.

“I feel no pity for you,” said the living man to his dying comrade. “Nobody does.” The man appeared far older now as he grasped with violent desperation at the air and his reddening chest. He had not feared what judgment might await him when he died a few minutes ago, but now he was utterly terrified. And it showed. Gideon took another step back, no longer interested in the one whose life barely lingered. His eyes focused onto the center of the circle and he began to recite the demonic litany. The mumbling continued for a few minutes and the body eventually grew still.

“I summon thee, Vermina, demon of the Underworld.”

[SileceneAlethea]

“I summon thee, Vermina, demon of the Underworld.”

At those words, the circle that had been so carefully drawn on the floor lit up with it's sinister glow. Blood sliding across the floor on it's own accord as it lined up perfectly with the symbols, soaking into the circle to paint it red. The offering accepted. Any form of light in the room being quickly snuffed out as a violent aura sprung forth, spiraling in the center with all of the intensity and violence of a twister, as in it's center a form began to take shape. At first, it was completely unrecognizable, then bit by bit, it began to to take proper form, cracks riveting across the floor at Gideon's feet at the sheer intensity of the process, the only light in the entire room being provided by the strange glow of the demonic sigil. Before long, however, the summoning was complete, and in the center of the circle, a hunched over figure could be seen. Rasped, labored breathing sounding from it.

How it hurt to be summoned.

It felt as if every fiber in her body has been set aflame and forced through her own veins several times over. Taking several gasps of air as she took a moment to let such a feeling subside. Who dared...? It had been well over a thousand years since a mortal had been foolish enough to call upon her. To call her name. A small smirk tugged at the edge of dark painted lips, and slowly, she pushed off of the floor, rising to her feet. Long, raven black hair cascading well past her waist, and her form completely nude. She was slender, bearing high cheek bones and fully shaped lips, not a single flaw visible upon her pale flesh. Standing tall and straight as strange violet hued eyes opened, emitting a glow similar to the one that had lit up the circle.

"Humans never cease to entertain me..." She mused quietly, those eyes flickering over the now dead man who had obviously been stabbed.

"You, who called my name...."

She didn't need to ask it as a question, turning that chilling gaze upon Gideon. That smirk never quite leaving her face as she began to move towards him, "Like a little boy playing with things he has no true knowledge of." She hissed suddenly, stepping outside the circle, and as she did so, a wall of flames rippled to life around the human, trapping him in. Her smirk widening into a almost savage smile, "Oh, but I must at least thank you for bringing me back into this realm." She laughed, sneering towards him as she came face to face with him, a set of large black bat-like wings abruptly ripping free of her flesh with a spray of blood, coming to wrap around him to draw him in even closer, her face literally mere inches from his as her sweet breath danced across his cheek, "No many of you swine are daring enough to call upon me... or should I say idiotic enough? Entertain a old demon a bit further and tell me exactly what you plan to do with me?"

Was this human truly arrogant enough to think that he could ever command a demon of her power? A man, nonetheless.

Vermina almost couldn't contain her laughter at such a thought, and she stood, waiting for him to answer her or act. Her ill intentions almost seeming to choke the air around her and only a fool would miss the fact that his life was in danger.

"Answer wisely."

[Revenance]

The mood of the room slowly began to shift, slowly at first and then much more quickly. The runic writing and circles began to glow. In the flick of a second all the candles were doused by an invisible hand. The sacrifice was emptied of his blood leaving behind a hollow husk. And then gradually a shape began to form. Gideon could only assume that the woman standing before him was the demon Vermina, lest he had blundered greatly. She was beautiful and physically without flaw, as much a beauty as the legends described. She stood, with pale glowing, looking at him. And then she spoke, quietly at first and then louder. But even so her words did not seem directed to the man and so he did not answer.

"Like a little boy playing with things he has no true knowledge of."

Her words were like that of a serpent, vicious and poisonous. Regardless, he did not flinch. No one is capable of successfully summoning such a creature without being prepared for almost anything. Whatever approach she made he would be prepared. She stepped forward, leaving the summoning circle and as she did so a great wall of fire circled around them. Menacing but it was far from being good enough. If she wanted to see him flinch, she would have to try much harder than that.

"Oh, but I must at least thank you for bringing me back into this realm."

Another jibe. This time as she spoke wings tore from her back, a mess of blood arriving with them. She stood very close now, merely a couple inches away. There was a pleasant fragrance about her, something the man had not expected from such a creature. But still he did not move from his spot his only movement being a blink of his eyes. The woman began to speak again, asking him to entertain her and inquiring as to what he would have her do. She finished with two words.

"Answer wisely."

And that was his cue. Still unmoving despite the discomfort of the closeness he began to speak.

“I’m Gideon Ekelius, successor to the title of Archbishop. And you shall not belittle my abilities or intelligence. I know very well what I am doing; otherwise you would not be here.” Years of immortalities had dulled his emotions and plenty of practice had made him capable of reciting the line with little hesitation or discomfort.

“I have summoned you so that I might claim this world as my own.”

[SileceneAlethea]

"Ah. A man of ambition." She purred as he finished speaking, those wings retracting from around him, fanning at the air slightly as she stepped back to give him a bit of space. Pleased with his answer, "Perhaps I won't kill you after all... You and I have similar interests, it seems." Snapping her fingers, the wall of flames that had encircled him dispersed, the light of the candles that been previously lit returning, though, never once did her gaze stray from him.

Had she underestimated him? The mere fact that he showed no fear towards her intrigued her.

Many men and women alike asked for selfish, childish things. For money. For revenge. For power... even for things as laughable as love... but this man... His desire was familiar to her own.

"I'll play along with this game, so long as you play it with care." Those wings folded down against her back, as up from around her feet a black mist rose, encircling her naked body and solidifying into clothing, a simple but elegent black dress forming from seemingly nothing as those wings too sunk once more into the flesh that they had sprung from. A trick of her demon magic, "Nothing, however... is for free. You, however, should know this. What have you to offer me in return, Gideon Ekelius?" She started pacing, circling around him, "Easily I could make you a king. Strike your enemies down and make them suffer the most painful of deaths. Slaughter their wives and children without a second thought. I could even burn this entire city to the ground. To me, it's mere child play."