[IC] Protectors.

[Skinner35]

As he enters the Vendors shop, he immediately sees the Vendor. "I have questions." Athe says to the Vendor, who just looks up from his register and replies, "Ask away, what do you need?" Athe then spends the next couple of hours asking this Vendor questions, which he gets few actual answers for. A few Humans entered the store, as normal. But to the Humans, it sounded like they were talking about some weird Anime or Sci-fi movie. One piece of information that he did get was that many of the Protectors disappeared at the same time. What could that mean? How did they disappear? Where did they go?

[Shadow Dragon]

He hears a thud and turns, raising his scythe.....nothing. What's going on? He walks down the park walkway, and sees a glimpse of reflected light. He walks towards it, his battleaxe ready. It bursts into flame, and he walks around the glimmer. What is that? It has an unearthly polish to it, glimmering and sparkling even in pitch black. That thing is dangerous. He carefully walks towards it, and pokes it with the handle of his axe. It rolls over, and revels itself to be....a helmet. A Protectors helmet. He picks it up, and looks around. What happened here?

[Skinner35]

As he was getting the inconclusive answers, he became more confused, which began to irritate him. When he gets angry, it never ends well. He knew this. 'This is going nowhere...' He thought to himself. He needed to find Xerc again, and at least try to come to an agreement on something. Maybe he found something that Athe didn't? Maybe he knows something that Athe doesn't?

[Shadow Dragon]

He stands up, and walks down the street, helmet in one hand, battleaxe in the other. He keeps trying to remember who's helmet he has, but to no avail. He lets out a roar of frustration, which echos throughout the park he's in, and turns, walking in the general direction of that vendor he was at earlier. Maybe he would find Athe there. He turns at the sound of a riiip. and sees....another portal. But it doesn't appear to go to heaven or hell. It's just....there. A hole in the world. He immediately closes it, and begins teleporting to the nearest vendor, jumping from shadow to shadow.

[Skinner35]

As he heard a mysterious roar, both he and the Vendor look towards the park. He then quickly grabs his sword and rushes towards the door, until he slams into someone who is coming in the store at the same time as he was attempting to leave.

[Shadow Dragon]

He steps fully out of the shadow, and growls, his eyes flaring. "You again?" Then he sighs, and says "We have a problem, Athe. Look what I found when I was tearing my way through that nearby park." He holds out the Protectors helmet. "Do you recognize this?" He puts the helmet on the counter, and looks around.

[Skinner35]

He looks at the helmet after entering the store again. "Vaguely. I've seen it before, yet I don't remember who's head it belongs to... Where did you find it? He says, then locks the doors and puts up the CLOSED sign. No Humans needed to be involved in this. Whatever is going on, it's starting to ramp up...

[Shadow Dragon]

"I found it just inside a Rift in that nearby park." He examines the helmet, and looks back at Athe. "Why would a Protector go into a rift?" He looks almost scared. "Athe, the portal I found it in led to...Limbo."

[Skinner35]

"Nothing makes sense. Damn it!" He says as he goes back to the counter and puts his sword on it. "Limbo... Is a place that shouldn't exist. The Catholics call it Purgatory. We never, ever, go there. Nothing that you can say will make me go there. Off limits." He explains as he tries to calm down.

[Shadow Dragon]

"What if that's where all the other Protectors are? Trapped, stuck in Limbo? We know at least one of them is, and that's the only clue I've had in years."

[Skinner35]

"If that's the case... Then we are out of luck. There is no coming back from that wretched place." He says as he leans against the counter. "No one comes out of Purgatory. The only way to do it is to become a Monster in either Heaven or Hells army."

[Shadow Dragon]

He stares at the ground. "That's not....entirely true." He glances at Athe. "Athe.....that's my homeland."

[Skinner35]

"Yea... That may very well be true." He says, trying to come up with a plan. "If that is true, then you should be able to travel through that plane. But I am not. If I go there, I don't come back."

[Shadow Dragon]

He reaches out, and tears open a shadow, making a pitch black hole in the world. "If you went with me, I could keep you save from the things that exist there. I wouldn't say live there, because they aren't exactly alive anymore." He laughs softly. "I'm not exactly a Protector. Not in the way you'd think. I'm more of....an emotion, given form."

[Skinner35]

"Then you can travel unscathed. I, on the other hand, will not leave this plane. I am a Protector. I have a duty to uphold here. Since no other Protectors are present, the threat is high." He says, looking at the hole. This "Protector" continues to amaze Athe. Something new happens every time they speak. "While I refuse to enter Purgatory... I may be able to... Provide assistance to you while you're there."

[Shadow Dragon]

He nods. "Thank you. Now lets go see what happened to your friends." He steps through the portal, and his disguise vanishes immediately. The flames that make up his body glow at the same brightness and color of the fires surrounding him. He turns back, his eyes glowing orbs of his flaming power. "Until we meet again, Athe."

[Skinner35]

"Yea yea. Don't get too hurt. I will still need help when you get back." He says as the portal closes.

Now... The adventure begins... What now?

[Shadow Dragon]

He walks through the silent Underworld, unnerved by the lack of monsters. What happened? He travels throughout the whole of Limbo, searching for any sign of them, but only finding darkness. He searches for months, and finally finds a stained weapon. Well, this can't be good. He opens the portal again, and pops out in front of Athe, barely a split second from when he left. "I only found a few weapons. Whatever is taking them, I'd think it would have to be.....The Creator, or The Destroyer. Or some Arch Angel/Demon on the level that we've never seen."

[Skinner35]

"Back so soon?" He says as he turns around, as if nothing happened. "So it's not just Earth... Oh boy." He says as he thinks. "Normally the powers never touch Limbo... We have some work to do."

[Shadow Dragon]

"Oh no. I've been gone for almost five years. Time doesn't work the same in Limbo as it does here. It is much slower there." His ax glows in flickering bursts. "I need to rest." He collapses to the ground.