[IC] Essence of the World: The New Age [CLOSED]

[slade]

The night after the concert Sam had gone straight back to the Academy - and to her room. The festivities still weren't over and even at this late hour, the music was carried around the halls giving the whole building a truly magical atmosphere. Sam, however, didn't stop to listen and she didn't join in. If she had, she would be compelled to play Sameda and Hazumi had recently warned her to cut down its usage - even to the point of signing her off some missions her classmates were assigned. Something about indulging too much in the Instrument, she had said. Sam found such a warning odd but nonetheless, she complied. She was rash, that much she admitted, but she didn't like to think of herself as stupid. If the Essence was stopping her ever-wandering gaze on Sam personally, then there must be reason enough, she figured.

So, she tried her best to detach herself from the Instrument for a while. Music, however, she couldn't shy away from. She could only substitute one for another. Thus she shut herself in her room and put her headphones on, crashing on the bed and closing her eyes. Ibuki's voice shouted gently in her ears and for a precious hour that was all she needed. As the clock ticked the minutes away, however, the cursed reality thickened itself around her, pushing its way in through the headphones. Gradually the absolute perfection of the record stood out, the coldness of the captured moment more and more obvious. It lodged into her brain like a pesky mosquito refusing to go away no matter how hard you waved. The sameness, the sameness and the crystal, clinical purity of it driving her mad to the point of her ripping the headphones off her head and tossing them across the room with an angry shout. Sam stared blades at them for another minute, accusation in her eyes for events long past, as if they had personally offended her. Then she went and picked them back up.

Changing the disk helped. At least that band she didn't know personally and she didn't listen to any song more than once. It was borrowed from Disen Brown and so Sam knew nothing of what she listened to. It was a surprise, and though it wasn't always a pleasant one, it entertained her for a while. There were elements of the music to learn from and elements to beware of and she learned from both.

After that got boring and tedious as well (approximately two hours in), Sam decided she'd had enough of listening to music and turned the player off. Not getting rid of the headphones, she reached into her pocket and took one shining glass orb out. It had a yellow tinge to its glow, like that of a dim lightbulb or an autumn day's sun. Right beneath that halo, the only thing marking the rim of the crystal, was almost pure darkness, only disturbed by iridescent waves of what she believed to be essence cruising from the centre of the Instrument to the surface and curling in the process like smoke. The said center was a darkness even deeper than the prior, around it another halo of light. The Instrument could always grow stronger, Sam knew, always assimilate one more soul, and when it did, a tunnel appeared between the edge and the centre, sucking the essence in, despite the globe never changing shape. She supposed that meant there was more demon in this particular shard than angel, but it hardly mattered in the end.

Sam tossed Sameda above her head and caught it. It produced the soft cling of metal trapped in metal like a chinese boading ball. A sound it knew she loved, and one she'd love to hear clear and unmuffled by the headphones - but resisted, smirking. She took her eyes off the Instrument and scanned the room. It wasn't near as lavish as some of them, more functional than impressive. Sure, the walls were still covered in an intricate wallpaper and the curtains still stood, but most everything else was gone. Usually broken in her early days of mastering Sameda. In fact, if anyone looked close enough, they would see parts of the wallpaper weren't actual details of the design, but walls revealed and dented.

She was better now and she proved it by throwing the orb against one of the pillars of her bed. It bounced off in a perfect line to reach the wall and from there- the opposite pillar. Sam caught it and threw it again, this time flinging it at the pillar behind her shoulder from where it sped towards the next one. She kept the game up and made it more complicated by increasing the tempo until she was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed and had both Samedas hurled around all four pillars at almost untrackable speed. Unfortunately, the activity also meant more sound, more temptation, and inevitably Sam had taken her headphones off without realizing. It took her another hour to recognize the itch to play and how she had subconsciously started to sate it. Somewhat shocked, she stopped, staring confusedly at the wall while the last sounds of Sameda bled out.

Sam looked at her watch. Only 2 AM. The girl drummed her fingers on the face of the watch, threw a thoughful look at the ceiling, then grinned and jumped out the first-floor window and into the night.

It was hours later when she took a deep, satisfied breath, and pulled out a phone. Quickly she dialed the number of a man who she'd assigned as her own "calm coach" and chirped happily.

"Hi, birdie, where are you?"

Sighing lightly, but audibly, at the nickname he heard as he opened his phone, Crow responded curtly even as he headed towards Loom's Great Library. "Downtown, Loom. The Great Library," he sounded bored, as usual, but then his tone picked up slightly, [B]'Funny, I was going to call you over when I got there. Guess you beat me to it, bravo," she would hear him clapping slowly, though the sound would be quieter over the phone. "Anyways, I'll be there in roughly 5 minutes and I'll have someone for you to meet so hurry over." At that he closed the phone rather curtly, hanging up on her. They could talk when she arrived, till then he didn't have any time to waste. He needed to brief Rhett before Samantha arrived.

---

Rhett shuffled his feet among the rows and rows of books that expanded seemingly endlessly before him. He was getting impatient and tired of waiting for Crow. Who had given him a phone and told him to meet him at the Loom library. Which, Rhett had to admit, was in a much nicer part of town. His new residence was around here as well. Nice place Rhett supposed. It had a decent sized living room, bed was alright and the kitchen was clean. Of course these were all things Rhett thought to himself in an attempt to give compliments to his new home. But he didn't really care about the conditions of anywhere he lived. Once you sleep among your own shit for a few years on end you start to not care anymore where you sleep. Well at that point, you don't really care about anything.

Still the place was nice enough, but what Rhett cared about was his supply of alcohol. A promise which Crow kept good. One could tell, because Rhett's breath now had that stinging smell of liquor, and strong liquor to boot. It wasn't an unpleasant smell to those accustom to booze, but it was almost overpowering stench in regards to Rhett. Who could easily out drink a bar full of sailors, and had done so many times. It wouldn't be an odd question to wonder how the man was still standing, let alone walking about so casually and with so much control over his body. One could smell his drunkeness, but no one would ever see it. Especially when he pulled out a gun and maimed someone with it.

He had kept his leather holster on his waist. But he had enough sense to keep his newly acquired pistol in his bag-a gift from Crow. A Semi with a silencer attached. Nothing special, but it was of good quality. Rhett made sure of that when he spent his evening drinking and taking the gun apart. Only to wake up this morning and put it back together before heading out to meet with Crow. He still kept his machete attached to his holster though, that he refused to hide from anybody. The woman at the front of the library noticed it and looked at him. But Rhett's general appearance was too intimidating to stand up to him. He didn't look like some bum wandering in though, his clothing was... oddly neat. His pants tucked into his boots as usual. With an unbuttoned long sleeve shirt with a wife-beater underneath. Clothing that had been a gift from Crow.

He scratched his beard and let out a yawn as he sat down on the bench and took a sip of his flask from his backpack. Seriously where the fuck was Crow? Rhett didn't like to be kept waiting.

He would wait to hear his words, then it would be time to launch into his instructions for Rhett, because this was one assignment that he could not botch up. It was also a test to see how well the man could follow instructions and remain somewhat discreet. He hoped that he hadn't misjudged him.

Roughly five minutes later Crow's car pulled up in front of the Great Library and Crow exited, nodding to the driver as usual before he calmly climbed the steps. The library, which was no longer abandoned like it had been hundreds of years prior, was fortunately not all that active at 4:35 AM. Nonetheless, he knew that the librarian would have let Rhett in. She, and her several associates, practically lived in the place, and even if they hadn't he'd have assigned someone to watch the building.

It was one of his ways of making sure that a certain someone did not return, and if he did, then he'd know.

Entering the Library, his footsteps silent, Crow noted Rhett's essence, which he followed through the halls till he found the man. Rhett narrowed his eyes at Crow when he showed up. Rhett did have patience, he just didn't like extolling that virtue to anyone. Though he couldn't grumble too much, his gut was full of whiskey and it hadn't been for some months. So his angry glare at Crow was fleeting before it relaxed into a more simple look but always just as grim. With those dull red eyes of his.

"Good morning Rhett," he said with a slight smile, seeming pleased that he'd shown up. "I hate to keep you waiting, but I had a few other matters to take care of. Nonetheless, your...first assignment will be arriving here soon enough, she tends to find me quickly when I tell her there's something interesting waiting for her." He smirked slightly, a slightly devious look barely creeping into his eyes before it faded and was replaced by his normal seriousness. "I see that you've been enjoying your accommodations," he stated, noting the distinct smell of alcohol, though it did not bother him.
“Some woman? Rhett asked inquisitively. “What am I to do with her? He asked in his now characteristically thick accent.

Nodding slightly and glancing out one of the high stained glass windows of the circular interior of the library. He had always enjoyed its architecture. "Her name is Samantha Rule, also known as Beat. She's a student at the Academy, I figure you've heard of them." Noting a slight ache for a taste, he reached to the chest pocket in his shirt and extracted two inch object which appeared to be metallic. Tapping the top and then the side, the first once, and the second thrice, the object unfolded until it had extended into what appeared to be a wine glass. The object appeared to fill itself with wine before he took a decently long drink, after which the liquid drained back into the glass, and the glass itself folded back into its prior form. He stored this in his pocket one more and continued. "Better," he nodded to himself and looked back at Rhett, "I want you to keep an eye on her and make sure she comes to as little harm as possible. She's bound to get herself into some dangerous situations, the thrill seeker she is. If you can get on her good side, that'd be even better. With any luck she'll be an informant by the end of this," he laughed slightly at the idea.

"She will be your charge when you're not doing other missions that I'm sure will suite your skills. She should be here within the next 5 or 10 minutes." He checked his watch and then glanced at Rhett, "Within your abilities?" It was a question of confirmation, rather than a question of his skills.

“So just babysit some brat?” Rhett huffed at Crow and then shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever, as long as she doesn't get in my way when I'm doing actual work”. For a moment, Rhett's body language and tone shifted to something rather unexpected. He seemed awkwardly surprised and prideful in an annoyed manner. He looked and often talked like an older man, but for a glimpse, there was a hint of something...rather boyish about him. It was a subtle unconscious reminder of his own age, that he was barely older than the “brat” he was looking after. Of course if anyone was both smart enough to pick up on such hint and stupid enough to point it out to him, they would be shitting their own teeth for a week.

“She better be here soon. I don't like waiting.” He said in a tone that was harsher than usual.

Nodding, but not smiling at the interesting reaction, Crow gestured towards one of the reading tables before he went and sat down himself, "It shouldn't be long now."

As if on cue, a shout was heard from the entrance of the library.

"What do you mean I have to leave my belongings in a locker?! Why would I be carrying them if I wanted to just ditch them somewhere?! "

The hustled voice of the librarian seemed to try to calm the young female down. The explosion of running footsteps suggested she hadn't managed. Samantha Rule blasted through the doors of the room Crow and Rhett were currently occupying. She had a huge and terribly suspicious black bin-bag across her shoulder and an old librarian and a young security guard at her toe.

Skidding, she brought her body to a stop behind Crow and pointed at her pursuers from over his shoulder.

"Crow, tell them you've been expecting me and they should get off my tail before I show them why they call me Beat!"

An eyebrow raising at the sound of activity and trouble, Crow waited patiently, quite aware that it was Sam who had entered the building. It was good to know that the security officers were doing their jobs. A moment before she burst into the room, Crow gave Rhett a look that suggested he pay attention. Then entered the infamous Beat, or Samantha, rather. She practically hid behind him, speaking quickly, a bit out of breath, even as she pointed at the approaching guards. As they entered the room one reached for their gun, thinking she was threatening him, but Crow merely shook his head, meeting eyes with the man before he raised his hand and motioned for them to quiet down. "Apologies, this is Samantha, a friend of mine. Excuse her tendencies, I assure you she'll cause no trouble without receiving a harsh scolding from myself." One of them barely managed to hide a look of fear as he mentioned scolding her as for some of his other men, that could mean some horribly terrible things.

Nonetheless he took his hand away from his holster, and they exited the room, closing it behind them. He then looked at Rhett, paying little mind to Sam's physical proximity to him. "As I told them, this is Samantha Rule, Sam, this is Rhett. I met him recently, something of a wandering vagabond you might say. In your words, a hardened badass." He said the last words with some disdain, he was used to lowering his manner of speech for the sake of others.

Sam would be used to it by now.

Rhett observed the scene with a blatant sense of disinterest. As the guards left the room, he looked harder at the woman, who was still behind Crow. She seemed like a little bundle of energy. And from the academy as well? He had heard that term only a few months ago, but apparently it was school of magic for Humans. So she could easily take care of herself. So why did Crow want him to babysit the girl? He wanted her as an informant yes, but that wasn't in Rhett's job description. If Crow wanted a rat, he would have to do that himself. Then Rhett's line of thinking jumped to the conclusion that Crow was the kind of man who if he was forced to actually do something directly, he would want some insurance to make it worth his time. Ahhhhh. Rhett was the insurance.

Rhett stood up and walked over to the woman, standing just a foot away from her. He was a tall man who found himself towering over the girl, getting a better read on her. Looking into her face, with those dull, red eyes of his.

“Seems like a handful," he said morosely.

As the security walked out Sam was shamelessly sticking her tongue out at them as if there wasn't a real threat of them shooting her just a moment ago. The perks of being fearless, really - you rarely gave a damn about how many people might have a voodoo doll resembling you in their basement. Only half of her attention seemed to be on the two men around her, until she heard the words "hardened badass". At that her head snapped in Rhett's direction, eyes gleaming, their glow only intensified as the man approached her.

He hovered over her, despite her being taller than the average girl, and that made her grin. There might not been any intentional provocation in his action, maybe Crow's very introduction had served as flint, but the challenge was blatant in her eyes. The way Rhett held his head high while he looked down on her made her want to gift him with a good old uppercut.

"Nice to meet you, Mister." She chirped. "Do you like hats?"

“No, not particularly” he said blandly. If he had noticed the flare in her eyes, he didn't react to it. His expression was usually a constant a blank slate, with his matted, thick black beard covering most of his face. The only hint of emotion one could normally pick was in his eyes. But that was the most peculiar thing about him. Those red pupils expressed less than his entire face. There was no feeling behind those eyes. But that's what made them ironically show more meaning than his grim blank face. Those eyes had nothing in them; no sense of life or ambition or thoughts. As if those sunken, dull red eyes were keeping something from being shown or said.

Rhett turned to Crow and raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. This was the all important informant? She seemed like a crazed ditz...with magical powers....ah fuck.
“So now that you've set up this stupid play date, I hope that you have something for me to do” He said to Crow bluntly.

Crow smiled, "Why of course I do Rhett, I thought you might be looking for something more...challenging, so I have decided to give you a chance to showcase some of your more...developed skills." Glancing at the girl, Crow retained his smile, thinking for a long moment before he addressed her, "You on the other hand, have school today. However, I have a ticket or five to a particular event later this week if you would like to go with some friends. If I'm not busy I might even accompany you."

Sam herself was disappointed to see the disinterest in the stranger's eyes so she quickly dismissed him and turned her attention to the bag she was carrying. At least Crow's promise cheered her up and piqued her curiosity. "Thanks, Crow, that sounds great. Hope you can come too. I have something for you too." She said cheerfully, her whole arm plunging in the giant bin-bag. Finally she pulled out a red cowboy hat and gleefully slipped it on her head. Then she bent down again and spilled the contents of the bag. At least a hundred hats of all shapes and sizes.

"This is a gift to your friend the Mad Hatter, it took me 2 hours (and a lot of running around) to get them." She announced with obvious pride. " Just be careful, some of them might be wanted." She waved a hand in the general direction of a police cap and a fireman's helm.

Looking over the pile he nodded slightly, extracted his phone, and sent a text to one of his subordinates. A man walked in two minutes later and carried the bag of hats back out. Crow smiled lightly at Sam, an expression he did not wear in front of many others, and spoke. "I'm sure Falair will quite enjoy your gift. I'm having James," he gestured to the man who was walking out, "...take the bag to my car so I can give them to him when we meet later." Raising his wrist and checking his watch, Crow then looked between the two till his eyes eventually rested on Sam. "I figure you should head back to the Academy, eh? Knowing you, I imagine you'll be making a few stops. I've some business to take care of, and a delivery to make for Falair," he gave her a wink before he continued, rising to his feet and checking himself over briefly as he did. "Rhett, come with me, I'll explain on the way to the rendevous," he looked at Sam one last time and waved, "Have a good day, feel free to stop by later, I'd love to hear about your day." He then turned, expecting Rhett to follow, and began walking out of the small room and towards the library's grand exit.

Rhett nodded and strung his backpack over his shoulder. But not before taking his flask out and taking a good long gulp. The stinging feel of the liquid as it burned down his throat and then settled nicely into his belly kept him content among this waste of a meeting. What was this? Did Crow really bring him to some library to meet some fucked up brat? He didn't like to be dragged into things that led nowhere. He needed to keep an eye on the girl. Okay, a picture and a phone call would have done the exact same thing. And Rhett could have stayed home. Drinking and tinkering with the equipment he had been provided.

Sighing a bit, Sam thucked her hands deep in her sweatpants.

Her enthusiasm dead (or rather, mercilessly slaughtered) she rubbed the floor with her foot. Sighing again she adjusted the cowboy hat on her head and started towards the Academy.

Rhett narrowed his eyes at Sam as he walked away. She looked dissapointed. Looks like she wanted in on the potential fun. He smirked slightly, she wouldn't be a problem.

“A spunky school girl. You have some weird friends, you know that?” Rhett said to Crow, in an almost mocking voice as he took another swig from his flask and left with Crow

[Synthorian]

Revenant Demigod

Solus' Mansion

7:21 PM

Zi felt a wave of uncertainty wash over her as Mairyell turned to leave but she didn't try to stop him. She was a big girl and she had to be brave. Still, she wanted to get everything over with as soon as possible so as soon as the door was shut she brushed the tears off with her sleeve and got to work.

She walked over to a window and opened it, leaning on the frame. Ideally she would go outside and stand in an open space with nothing in proximity. In this case, however, she didn't dare expose herself like that. Even if she was in the presence of someone as powerful as Solus, what she was attempting was monumental. She shut her eyes and breathed in, concentrating. First she had to extend her influence - to mobilise the essence particles from the air around her and spread them out, subduing more and more until the air itself became her eyes and ears. Slowly, her senses extended to a kilometer, 10, 100, 10 000. Sights, sounds, and mostly feeling filled the darkness behind her eyelids until it felt like she had a thousand eyes. From then, she had to proceed to look around. To focus her gaze on what was important. Not the colossal essence of Heaven and Hell, but the tiny ones of separate individuals. Not the ones of the living, but the stale ones of the dead. Not the bright ones of angels, not the pale ones of humans or the dim ones of demons. What she was looking for was completely different. And she saw one bright beacon, Hazumi, comfortably sitting in her castle.

Truth was, Zi wasn't even entirely sure what she was looking for. She had very few memories left from her immortal days and she couldn't recall her sister Gatekeepers' presence. But she could imagine it. She could see Hazumi's essence and she could use it as a sample.

Slowly, clumsily, with a lot of metaphorical squinting, Zi made out Luciana's essence. It was quietly drifting in the unseen currents - stardust over the entire Earth. Loosening her concentration enough to restore some motor function in her body, Zi raised a hand and made a scooping motion in the night-air outside the window. Thousands of miles in every direction, her invisible hand touched the tiny particles and brought them to herself.

The process was so overwhelming that when the essence finally reached her, it snapped her web of influence and her eyes shot open. Zi stared at her hand and saw her trophy - a droplet of essence no bigger than a roe egg. She groaned.

"I hope you have a garage-full of coffee, because this is going to take days."

"Days, huh?" Solus asked in thought as he stood over her shoulder. "How much power do you need to do it in an hour?"

"Ha! Maybe you should have turned to my stronger counterpart." She sneered before giving the question a more serious thought. "You would need at least a hundred of me to get it done that fast. It's not an easy process - first you have to harvest, then assemble everything - put it in the right place." Talking about it made her despair so she just concluded. "It's impossible to make it in a day."

Solus tilted his head as an idea sprung up in his mind. "I can easily rectify that..."

"Easily?" Zi turned around to look at him. "Is everything in your life easy, Solus Grim?"

"Heh, I wish." Solus croaked. "This way." Solus beckoned her to follow as he left the room.

Still sceptical but now somewhat hopeful despite herself, Zi squeezed her fist over her little victory and followed.

---

He led her through the house towards the basement, in which a large runic door awaited them.

The elevator stopped and pinged, grinding to a halt on level -99 of the Vault for a second time today. The doors slipped open and both Zi and Solus stepped out. They were presented with a large blast door that Solus saw earlier. "Alright..." Solus said. “We’re here.” On the right, was an alphanumerical keypad. He stepped up to it and typed in what seemed to be a phrase.

The doors suddenly clanked, unlocking, and sliding open with a hiss.

He walked through the gap the door made and was presented by what appeared to be a control room, and a massive bulletproof window, showing what appeared to be a Black Sphere, with millions of cables, big and small, plugged into it. The walls surrounding it were strange and impractical in their design, covered in tubes and appeared to be sculptures of human body parts. Not actual body parts, just sculptures. It was like a massive piece of abstract art. "The Essence Sphere. Power Core. Whatever you wanna call it." Solus stated. "There it is." He stepped over the control panel, that seemed alien in design. It had no buttons, just holes for pushing fingers into, hundreds of them. “You can syphon power from here…”

Zi stared, jaw clenched, trying not to betray her surprise at the wonders around. The thought of a chimera and a vampire working together in an underground laboratory to save the world crossed her mind and made her smile. Her and Azel used to be like that once, except they were a human and a demon. Part of her wondered what Azel was up to. Part of her didn't want to know. He was an opportunist and she could never be entirely sure if he's fully on her side. Or on anyone’s but his own, for that matter. They had been a good team once, though, they'd achieved some great things.

Not as great as this though. What even was that black thing? Leaning forward Zi squinted, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.

Looking through its material shape she could make out numerous pieces of angelic and human essence circling the core of the sphere. As they did, they bumped in each other with a flash of released energy and flying backwards. An essence-based nuclear power plant? Ingenious.

"Did you build this?" Zi gasped.

“The Blood Reavers did…” Solus replied, looking at the marvel of demonic ingenuity before him.

"Is it safe?"

“Safe enough.” Nekro replied with a smile.

Zi frowned but nodded anyway. Cautiously, she extended a tendril of her own essence towards the orb. She expected a jolt of electricity, but in actuality what happened was the opposite. Upon touch, instead of pulling away or pushing her away, the particles instead accepted her, swirling around the tendril as if expecting orders. Zi smirked. This was a pleasant surprise. So she poured in more of her essence and extended her will to view the whole world and seethe out what she needed.

The effect was instant and dazzling, a huge halo-like spark signifying the newly created link to the visible world. In a moment it felt like she was everywhere at the same time: under water, in the air, inside living being's bodies... And it was amazing. A grin appeared on Zi's face as she observed the places only she could see, her body slouching slightly as if it had lost a soul that made it rigid. Zi wasn't aware that it could keel over any moment and break her nose - there was too much else to experience.

It took her a few seconds to get back to earth (literally) and remember what she'd come to do. Trouble was, when she actually started looking she suddenly couldn't spot Luciana's essence anymore. Perplexed, she looked again and again, in every corner of the three realms and still couldn't find anything. Deciding she must have mistaken something with the sample, Zi narrowed her vision again to take another look at the sample she held in her physical hand. It was then that she stumbled upon the obvious.

There it was, all of it. Over 250 meters above ground stood the almost completed Luciana.. And she wasn't alone.

Zi came back to her physical body with a loud gasp and a stagger backwards. She pulled away the remaining of her essence from the sphere and watched it continue its usual activity. Then she turned to Solus, voice both annoyed and unsettled.

"She's upstairs. Both of them. And I pray she has good intentions."

“Who?” Solus asked, slightly concerned.

"Luciana and Hazumi both." Zi groaned.

"Well, I guess we will need to see what that silly bitch wants.." Solus grumbled as he turned back, with Zi in tow, heading to the surface.

---

Hazumi was expecting them at the entrance of the Vault, much to Solus' disdain. In her arms lay the unconscious shape of Luciana, her outlines limp, transparent and slightly deformed - like it was a suit made of water ready to spill.

"Hello, Solus, sister." Hazumi greeted, a sweet smile playing on her lips. "I saw you were struggling so I thought I'd lend you a hand."

Bitch Zi thought, and let it show on her sour expression.

"Good to see you still interfering in God's affairs..." Solus said off handedly, staring at Luciana's incomplete body.

"Is that what they call you now? I thought that was me." Hazumi laughed. "Furthermore, I thought it was you who asked me to."

Zi shot Solus a look as if he was two-timing her. Which he sort of was.

"That was two fucking months ago... You were taking your sweet time." Solus replied to the so called Essence of the World.

"I had other matters to attend to. Epidemics and all that, I don't know if you've heard." Her smile only became sweeter which told Zi it was insincere. She didn't say anything, though, stung by the fact that her huge effort from before was so easily overshadowed. . . And ignored. Hazumi didn't even bother to address what had once been a part of herself and still shared so much. It was even the very first time they met, for crying out loud! And the fact that Solus had only turned to Zi after Hazumi had declined didn't help. Then she remembered how suddenly both Emmet and Mairyell had left as soon as they were finished with her and she felt pissed at the whole world.

Hazumi felt her anger - and pretended not to. Carefully, she placed Luciana's incomplete body on a nearby sofa and turned to Zi.

"Alas, I need to leave you two to it. Zi, you can do the honours of adding the last piece to the puzzle. Solus," she turned to him, "I'm still mad at you. Not that you give a damn. I'm speculating but I believe your blood will be needed to give our sister a physical substance. Unless you have a decent body conveniently tucked away that she could occupy." She smirked, not really dismissing the possibility, and waved her hand. A gust of wind lifted all fabric and paper up in the air and made the windows rattle. Within it, the shape of a translucent lion formed. Without another word, Hazumi got on it's back and left, the creature sprouting wings as soon as it stepped out the door.

"She just loves to show off, doesn't she..." Zi ground out, not realising she'd said it out loud. She looked like she'd sucked on a lemon.

"You should see her when she's pissed. It's hilarious." Solus chuckled to himself, picking up the ghostly soul of the Gatekeeper of Surface, and carrying her out into the lounge, where a table had been prepared for her.

He laid the spirit down and awaited for Zi to add the final piece of her consciousness, before Solus would provide her with the body she need to awaken.

Zi tried to keep up with the man's stoicism and be professional. She'd have time to indulge in her own insecurities later.

Following the man through, she leaned over Luciana's remains and looked. In her hand, the little droplet if essence was breaking down to its components and one by one, Zi added them in the missing spots where they belonged with surgical precision. She didn't have the habit of boasting about her skills like Hazumi did and didn’t make the essence visible, so the entire operation must have looked rather odd to Solus, but it didn't matter. In the end, no matter how it was achieved, a Gatekeeper's soul lay restored on the table of Solus' Mansion. Just where he wanted her.

Grabbing a large, menacing knife that was stabbed into the table, Solus cut open his left palm, and squeezed it over where Luciana's heart should be. "Here goes..." He said quietly as the ground below their feet began to vibrate, and the air around fluxed and bent the light. Solus whispered alien phrases as his blood dripped from his hand. The first drop stopped at the center of Luciana's ghostly torso. Solus moved his hand further down, with the second drop floating in her abdomen.

That was all he needed. Grabbing a roll of cloth to cover his bleeding hand with, Solus began to speak. His voice twisted the room. The dimensions of the house distorted in Zi's vision as the power that Solus employed was more than visible, even if it was just words. Words unknown to her.

Needless to say, the girl didn't appreciate any of it. How many times today was the control taken from her just when she thought she had it? All today was supposed to be was a nice date with Emmet. None of that supernatural stuff. As the world around her twisted and her pulse surged, all that kept her in place was the stubbornness to prove that she was beyond being surprised by now. Even though she wasn't.

Zi's attempts to stand in place had forced her to lose focus on what was actually happening. The two drops of blood had begun to violently fluctuate and increase in size, until moments later, wet cracks and slurps echoed in the room. Right before Zi's eyes, organs, muscles, nerves and bones twisted out of the droplets. Grotesquely joining eachother, forming a skinless female body.

Solus was bleeding out of his nostrils. Whatever he was doing to form a body from scratch was straining his body in more ways than one. But despite that his casting continued, even with the pain that it induced in him.

Luciana's flesh began to form, covering the naked, raw musculature that had formed moments earlier. If Solus' memory served him right, he sculpted her in the image of the person she was before, when she sacrificed herself in order to shatter the Essence of the World 180 years ago.

The last of the skin formed, and before them, lay an unconscious Demigod.

[Sundered Echo]

Aluvia awoke with a scream.

Every night, it was the same. The same nightmare. And every morning she would wake with a scream, drenched by a cold sweat. The bed and floor beneath her and the roof above her showed scorched black marks from where her wings had moved and touched their surfaces, twitching and flapping even as she slept, as though they sought to act out what was happening in her mind.

Except it wasn't a nightmare.

Even nightmares passed from the conscious mind swiftly, even if they left a lingering sense of terror. This however, was a memory. At any time of any day, she could recall with perfect detail the events that played out for her every night. The hours that led to her death. She could feel every little thing, from the wind and rain to the tip of a sword cutting into her arms, to the pain, sorrow and hate she had felt in the titanic battle in which she died. In the day, she suppressed the memory as best she could, drowning it out with other memories, but every night, she died again, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She climbed slowly from the ground in the abandoned room she had been sleeping in, not the most comfortable resting place, but necessary. She had long ago ceased to sleep on any bed that could collapse, for they usually did, her burning wings wrecking the room and the bed every night.

With every movement, pain shot through her body. No matter how she rested, she could never be free of it - it seemed to come with the memories. As she remembered more, the pain became greater. As she remembered more, her wings grew more incandescent and lost more of their control feathers. Folding them was difficult and awkward for her now, and so she left them unfurled, trailing behind her like great burning banners.

She shivered as she pulled on the thin cotton clothes that were all she had for keeping warm and remaining decent. Somehow the cold made the aching pain even worse, but she hardly noticed it. She had long ago accepted that pain was a constant in her life, and that fighting against it was futile.

Without a frame of reference or any clue as to who she was, she was also not able to truly distinguish between her own values, if indeed she had any, and those that she could remember having. It was clear that the woman in her memories was not her. Could not be her. The hands from her memories were not the same as those she saw in front of her. The wings were different too. And obviously, she was still alive, despite remembering dying. And yet the memories did not feel foreign, it was undeniable in her mind that they belonged to her.

And so it was only logical that in the absence of any other values or morality, she take on those that she could remember, however strange it all seemed. Thus, here she was, in this city of men, demons and angels, with one purpose. To judge it. If it was found wanting, she would use her power to destroy it, and all of its inhabitants. What she had seen so far had not impressed her. As she stepped out of the building and into the light, she considered that, barring a miracle, she would bring death to the city in only a few days.

Part of her hoped against hope that the miracle would occur and redeem the city in her eyes. The rest… simply smiled at what was to come.

---

Wandering. The city was large, and it was taking her quite some time to get what she believed to be a good enough account to judge it. With no map and no plan, she simply walked, turning corners at random taking in the sights as she went. People often seemed to either get out of her way or outright flee when they saw her, she did not know why, nor did she care. Some few had attacked her, small demons mostly, but all had been swiftly repulsed. This most recent area she had entered seemed quite empty however, and those that were there and did see her seemed not to care. She found it strange, but bravery did not make an individual any more worthy of life.

One by one, shadows began to take shape as six large creatures sprouted into place. They were foxes, from their narrow snout to their long tails, their eyes glowing while they watched. Two of their own stood a bit farther off and had been stalking the woman, her essence filled their scent like a beacon they couldn't ignore. They had watched her dispatched other, less important demons yet she continued on as if their lives were meanless. Not that it mattered to the beasts but her position was concerning. It drew too near a place they stood guard over. Darius's strict orders fluttered into their mind causing the foxes to react. Very, very violently.

It was to be a warning. A small draw of blood and nothing else, just to deter her from her current path.

The smallest of the group, the youngest, strolled forwards and growled a warning. It's hunches pulled low in its approach, readied to spring the closer it drew until finally it came within range. It was a monster to any human who dared to trespass on its grounds. Darius's territory. The woman seemed unfazed. Its fur rose, then it shot forward to sink its teeth deep into her arm.

It was strange to see creatures that she usually only found in the wilderness here in the city, though not so strange that she stopped. When it growled, however, she poised for swift movement, an action that payed off as moments later, the beast lunged forward towards her. In an uncharacteristically swift movement, she spun on the spot, slapping the beast mid leap with her burning wing as she did. As she came to a halt again, her wings were stretched around her in a protective stance, to cover as many angles as they could, leaving only the space directly ahead of her clear so as to let her see incoming attackers. The sky instantly clouded over then, thick black storm clouds gathering at an unnatural rate while wind suddenly howled down the street, picking up papers, dust and trash as it went.

When Aluvia's wing came down, it singed and burned. The beast howled in pain. It's wound flickered with red, embers, where it strike causing the other foxes to tense in silence. The fox that clashed with the impact was sent backwards where its body slammed then skidded to its side. It whimpered, pitifully pushed itself upwards and staggered on to all fours once more. It gave another snarl with white fangs bore at the pain's source. Jaws snapped, muzzle curled, unfazed by her outstretched wings trying to defend against the others starting to circle.

None were aware of the skies above showing its rage or the wind eerily picking up, their minds embedded with a single task and intended to carry it out with their last breath. One leapt to the side when a trash can fluttered by, knocked to its side, with trash rolling in its wake. The wounded fox perked its ears then looked to the skies giving another warning bark. The others, however, were fixed on the curled winged angel in their path despite the odd essence scent she was giving off. It only increased their aggression into lower growls.

Impatient, three broke off from the group. One came from behind, the other two at either side, as they lounged with open mouths ready to sink into the delicate wings.

When Aluvia realised she was surrounded, she willed the wind to even greater heights and spread her wings out while leaping into the air. Teeth tore into the fabric that flowed around her legs as she rose, but her wings had caught the wind already, and her skin was untouched as she was pulled backwards and up through the air. Far above, the sky split with light, a great fork of lightning spearing down to explode on the roof of one of the buildings above, leaving the air charged and metallic. The sound of thunder arrived almost as soon as the lightning, for the storm was directly overhead.

As soon as Aluvia landed, several meters behind the foxes, she focused on controlling the furious wrath of the heavens directly, willing the lightning to ignore its natural path and strike where she wished, in this case on the largest of her opponents.

One moment their target was before them, ready to be torn to pieces, then she was gone! Absent was the feel of flesh shredding, the copper taste of blood, and the scream of their prey. Instead their eyes widened, ears pinned back, when she rose to the skies. Leaving the three foolish foxes to slam into each other. A skull cracking sound was heard just when their figures collided together then collapsed into a pile. The fastest and strongest ended up on bottom, its teeth bared and shoved off its brethren in a show of dominance. Quickly the smaller two scrambled off. Their heads twisted about to seek their prey's image again.

Crack! Lightning illuminate their darkened forms like wraths of the night. They barely flinched at the angel's show of force, not knowing better, as they turned to face her new position. In a blur the farthest two foxes dashed forward across the open street to eat the distance between. Another pair darted up a nearby fire escape while they made their way to the angel's position, slightly hoping to take her by surprise should she take flight again. Meanwhile, the injured fox slowly retreated back into the cover of shadows and watched while it licked its wound.

No sooner had the beasts regrouped and begun running at her than she had wrested control of the sky's wrath and summoned a bolt of fork lightning to directly strike the lead fox. The electric tang in the air was exhilarating, and the prospect of causing death stirred some part of her to great joy. She almost forgot the constant pain as she swept her wing to slap the second fox away, but somehow it also felt wrong to be enjoying the prospect of carnage as much as she was.

The lead fox's head was crouched low, its body made into a streamline function, while its lungs throbbed in its chest pounding to feed its legs into a rapid pace. Its eyes flickered with heated lust for blood while it thumped harder and faster on the concrete. The rough texture rippled through its paw as it leapt off the surface in quick, brief moments. Each stride ate away at the distance. Its jaws widened ready to rip a chunk from her…then all that remained was ashes. A loud crack, sizzle and pop when the lightning roared through its torso. A million volts raged within its core. Its lungs and other critical organs were immediately fried, the blood cooked until it dried, leaving the beast with little time to howl its misery before it died. It shuddered then flickered into nonexistence.

Its companion barely knew it was gone. It only had its sight set for the threat at hand, its fangs flared while it coiled up and rushed forward. Paws outright and aimed to knock the woman down only to be batted back. Pain ripped through its back while the wing’s fire heated its fur and muscle creating a raw patch from the third degree burn. The beast rolled onto its back, caught up in the wing’s momentum, as it came back onto its legs. In a fast turn, it lashed its torso to the side then lead about to strike at Aluvia’s exposed side with her upheld wing.

Meanwhile, the second pair had reached their position. The only thing which gave them away were their glowing eyes, ever watching the current pair sparing, when their figures started to lean over the guard rail. Their claw lengthened and borrowed into the vertical surface until they were close enough. Then they leapt. Fangs and claws aimed for the woman’s exposed back and head in their surprise attack.

Aluvia barred her own teeth and hissed, leaping back to avoid the strike of the fox she had just beaten with her wing. She was not used to anything getting back up from a strike such as that, most being could not resist the heat and essence burn so effectively. Her leap was fortuitously timed, the two foxes attacking from above coming into her view as she moved. With a thought, she will ed the lightning to strike once again, this time on the highest of her airborne targets, which, with no way to ground itself would likely suffer even more than the previous lightning struck one had.

With pain as constant as it was and rage consuming her mind, she did not notice that there was a streak of red on her right side. The next fox to approach her would find her wing slamming down upon it edge first to hold it against the ground while she focused her mind to summon lightning again.

Burnt fur and charred flesh filled the air, the lightning cracked to split the skies and chased away the darkness in a blaze light again. Two barks, pitiful, filled the air before they were silenced. In moments the two airborne foxes combusted into scattered dust and vanishing. Their corpses melted into the shadows once more leaving no traces save their stench.

The one which had attempted to lunge at her exposed side shortly found itself pinned. The wing burned and sizzled, fire rippled across its hide creating pain while it mixed snarls and whimpers of pain with its struggles. Before the lightning struck the pinned one, another blur rushed at Aluvia. It seemed while she was defending against the third attackers, the other had crept up slowly, their forms darted into sight only briefly then vanished back into the cover of shadows among the surrounding buildings. Each flash gave them away causing them to halt in their tracks, motionless, until night once more allowed them to approach.

While a fifth fox went for the Angel's back, another readied to latch upon the calf when she evade (if she did) and sink its teeth into the flesh. If successful, it would weigh her down and drag her to the ground where the fifth and last fox would join on to a feast of blood, flesh and feathers.

Aluvia had been about to strike the pinned fox with her other wing when she felt something collide with her from behind, knocking her sprawling. She rolled along the ground, her wings wrapping around her and scorching the cement beneath her as she went. Rather than try to leap to her feet, Aluvia instead curled herself as small as she could and covered her form with her burning wings, willing the whole area to be pelted with hail.

It would be a moment before the frozen water from far above would reach them, but the stilling of the wind and the sudden sharp drop in temperature was a strong indicator of what was to come. The sound of the first of the golf ball sized ice sphere's smashing through the glass of a buildings window above was piercing, and Aluvia knew it would be joined by many more at any moment.

When the fifth fox hit the woman, it pushed back with its hind legs, once more landing back on all fours as it eyed her body being thrown to the ground and rolling away. Its lips curled then started to cover the distance between in it attempt to tear into her while she was vulnerable. Slowly the other fox, the one pinned, staggered upright, its right paw held upright against its body while panted heavily. As if sensing the change in the air it tilted its nose skyward. Then was belted with a golfball size ice ball which caused it yelp and dart to the nearest cover: back the way it came. It was followed by remaining others, save the one trying to rip into Aluvia's wings, however only two made it out of the massive downpour alive.

In moments two of the foxes sizzled and faded, their whimpers and cries faded from the world. Glass scattered across the pavement, dents and property had suffered, leaving a chaos to reign until all that remained was the aftermath.

An almost feral grin spread across Aluvia's face as she heard the whimpering of the foxes that suffered under the hailstorm. Many of the ice balls had impacted her wings as well, only to be flash boiled on contact. The hailstorm ended as abruptly as it had begun when she heard no more of the pitiful sounds of the creatures being bludgeoned from the sky, and as soon as the last hailstone had fallen she stood and unfurled her wings. A gentle rain began to fall as she regained her sense of direction and kept walking. The rain would wash away the blood and the dirt, and though she still did not notice the claw marks on her flesh, it would not be long before they would heal, having been cleaned by the rain. Though she felt eyes upon her, she did not care if some of the beasts had survived. Any that were lucky enough to still live could spread the word that she would not be so easily defeated. A smile picked at the edges of her mouth with the thought of being feared.

[Fallenreaper]

The Young’s Silent Pain

Academy within Loom, Evening

Olivia

The travel from one end of the room to the door on the left seemed to have taken forever, the small bedroom nothing more than a mini-mansion in the volume. Then Olivia paused at the door for a moment. Her uncovered hand had risen only to stop in the middle of her action, her other hand held the sweater dress close, while her teeth bit her lip in hesitation. Her eyes looked at the intimating thing before her. On a reflex, her hand lifted away for a bit while she debated with herself. At first, she considered not opening it and delaying her much-needed bath until the morning.

However, it seemed Lisara sensed her worry, as well as her stalling thoughts. The purple canine appeared at the young girl’s side, the soft glow of the room filtered by the hell fire of green was the only thing that gave her presence away. Gently and without being asked, the hellhound nudged the door open causing it to creak open. Olivia smiled a bit in thanks then finished walking in alone and leaving Lisara to gather some things for her.

Olivia was hit by awe when she entered the bathroom. Though she had been used to growing around impressive things since she could remember, something didn’t fail to impress her and this was one. Marble, grey white and polished to a reflective glim surrounded her as the floor spread from one corner to another. Her eyes glanced down to spot the image of herself shone back through the darker surface. She looked like a mess, noted when she could actually see herself for the first time, her eyes fixed in place to absorb the day’s effect on her vision. Her hair appeared to stick out at many different angles, her skin pale and sickly looking while her eyes seemed rather bloodshot. Dirty, grime and other stuff she didn’t want to think about stained both her face and clothes. Even strands of her ‘cast’ stuck to her arm causing her jerk her hand to rub it off with a shiver. Not wanting to dwell too long, she tilted her head to the right and saw the shower. In her mind that was the best place to bath. Mainly cause she didn’t have to worry about touching anything or collecting unwanted memories of the prior occupants, yet she felt the weary weight of the day settle into her body. It ache, both mentally and physically, at the thought of her standing any longer then needed. Olivia sighed not bothering to examine the reason.

Her head shifted to the left and found a slight relief to see the large, marble decorated tub. On its flat edges, framing the low curved tub were tons of shampoos, bubble baths, scented oils and more which seemed to be waiting to be used. She smiled faintly. It was basically an invite and one she wanted to use, badly. Just behind her on the door’s left was a cabinet, decorated to fit the scene with its wooden surface and marble colored handles. Her hand pulled the edge of the sweater dress to shield her hand as she opened it. Towels, rags, and more were on display in the many cabinets which seemed to be the basic essentials. Hopefully, she pleaded inside, the day could be washed away and her mind could forget it all. Her faced turned back to the tub’s edge and dragged her feet toward the edge where she lowered herself. The still covered hand reached across for a single bottle. Picking it up, she narrowed her eyes to examine it before she set it back down. Again, she repeated this with a few more until one, a lavender and vanilla scented bath oil, caught her attention. She was well practiced at doing things one-handed while she turned on the water, poured in the oil and let the bubbles fill the tub. Listening to the steady tumbling of the water mixing in the bath, Olivia returned to the cabinet to retrieve a towel and washrag for the end. Both were soft to the touch which she couldn’t help but press into her face for a sense of enjoyment.

Allowing the water to fill up most the way, she peeled off her filthy and memory ‘soiled’ uniform while she stepped into the thick bubbled covered water. Her body lowered into the hot, steaming water that eased her muscles and stress away. Steam and bubble filled her face causing her to settle back until she was neck deep, stopped short of drowning herself within it. Olivia let the water run a bit before she shut it off. The heat seemed to fill the room and fog up the mirrors over the twin sinks, her lips slightly twisted into a bitter amusement. Her head tilted to the side as she let her mind drift in and out of the present, partly recounted what she could remember. Namely details for Aeris and her brother.

Emmet… Where were you? Why weren’t you there? How could you, don’t you care anymore?

With each question, her head seemed to throb, not wanting the answer. Her head sank a bit more when she felt the tears start to sting her eyes. It seemed to be the only thing to separate her from the world outside but it wasn’t enough. The tears continued to crawl across her cheeks while her heart cracked across her core, breaking into tiny pieces that seemed beyond repair. Her heart hurt so much never to know the answers that her body had naturally started to curl, balling within the water like a helpless, weak child she knew she was. And hated it. Her voice struggled to silent the crying creeping into her voice. Each time she wasn’t sure if she hated Emmet, blamed him for failing her, or just wanted him to hold her and be here. The sobs started to choke her body until it trembled. Her arms pulled tighter about her bended legs, trying to become smaller and smaller though she knew deep inside it didn’t do any good.

How did the day twist into something so ugly?

It felt like hours had passed before her tears ceased on their own. Or rather, became nothing more than dried memories of her pain. Her bath has dropped in temperature until it was almost cold, telling her some length of time had passed and it was time to get out. Olivia rubbed at her eyes a bit then pushed upright; her body finally cleaned of grime from her unwanted capture. Pulling the plug on her way out, she hopped over the edge and picked up the sweater dress where she left it: right on top of the towel nearby. She dried her body off with careful measure and lost in her thoughts, her eyes shifted to the pile of her clothes as she realized what she had to do. Sighing she kicked the top layer off with her bare foot and bent down for her undergarments, the only pair she had. The ideal of going all-natural underneath didn’t appeal as it did with some girls older then her.

Slipping them on, she followed with the white sweater dress and found it came just a few inches above her knee. It was shorted then she was used to that or she knew Darius would’ve allowed her to wear it. Olivia’s eyes actually popped at the fact to see so much of her legs at once that she felt her face redden slight in embarrassment. Instinctively her fingers gripped the edge then tugged it downward, hoping to stretch the fabric a little more. It didn’t work out. Instead, it curled upward.

“Geeze… Noel, when I see you again we’re going to have a long talk about dress lengths!” Olivia said more to herself, her face redder and redder. This was purely ridiculous!

A little busy trying to keep her modest- though really it didn’t show anything more than a few inches near her thigh middle- Olivia’s eyes had snapped to attention when she heard a noise. She once more saw Lisara, the hellhound making her way in with a pair of gloves firmly in her muzzle. If the girl didn’t know better, she could’ve sworn the canine had made a soft growling chuckle at her hands fixed to her legs. Namely, her goal was trying to stop the furling upward motion of her dress. She finally released her hands to receive the gloves then placed them. Thankfully, the edges of the sweater dress had only lifted a bit more then settled into place. Too bad, it didn’t stop her from being very much aware of the air licking up her legs and casting a chill over them, enough to make it goose bump. Darius was going to be rather mad, she realized with an uncomfortable grin while she followed Lisara out. The hound padded to the door and plopped down in front of it.

Her eyes drifted Ris’s slumbering form. The vampire’s chest heaving up and down in a slumbering pace gave her a look of serene and tranquility, too pretty and calming to disturbed Olivia thought bitterly. Namely for something as petty as her cell. She inhaled then, despite Lisara indicating a more comfortable sleeping arrangement, crawled in beside the hellhound’s warm body. Gently the animal wrapped about and ensured Olivia was comfortable, their eye lids dripped into sleep until morning where Aeris would likely find them.

[Themerlinhawk]

Dream’s we Conceive- Loom (Ian’s apartment)- Very early morning

Ian, Hazumi

By Wind Wild & Themerlinhawk

Hazumi stepped out of the void separating the worlds, silk gray dress trailing behind, and onto the burning desert sand of Hell. Her bare toes sank deep and heat engulfed them despite the cold black colour of the ground rock and bone. As a part of the Gatekeepers it was easy for her to pierce the void and travel to any given destination in any world in what seemed in the mundane world like an instant. However she couldn’t go all the way to her final destination this time.

Ironic, she thought lazily as she inspected the huge black bubble spread out in front of her. Shifting her weight and adjusting the big bag on her shoulder Hazumi extended her hand and placed it on the bubble. It vibrated with an essence she knew well. And one that was way beyond her control.

The woman closed her eyes and concentrated. She knew now how to shift the flows of essence inside her own body to bring certain ones to the fore and push others back. So as she slowly inhaled and exhaled, the layers of essence inside her shifted and turned until what was left on top was that of Melody, immediately followed by Chime, and then the Harp and the Violin. A subtle scarlet glow started radiating from her skin and as she made a step forward, it sliced through the veil of the West apart and let her in.

Opening Melody’s owl-black eyes Hazumi surveyed the Western kingdom with pure-white irises.

What lay before her was a harsh, almost pitch black, hellscape. There was very little light here, the veil appeared to filter it out, instilling an eternal night in the Western Realm. Around her she would note the presence of many demons, some who were invisible, but watching, others who ventured into her line of sight, licking their lips with hunger.

However, what stood out the most was the massive Citadel in the distance, the Chimeric Citadel, home to all Western Lords since the beginning of the realm. There was something else which would stand out to her, the feel of the West’s essence, which appeared almost...stale. Beyond this, only the strangely unmoving form of the Citadel would appear odd, as typically the structure moved and shifted its form continuously as if alive... for it was.

This was what her senses would perceive, as well as the cold, but gentle, wind which blew across the rocky surface of the realm, some hills and mountains here and there, but the majority far off past the Citadel. Overall it was a bleak setting to behold, and one that for many was rife with terror and death.

Hazumi’s lips twitched as she overlooked the land so bare it was almost grotesque – like the poor attempt of Aaurus to draw the Life he couldn’t comprehend. The creatures about, despite their darkness, stood out to her eyes as something other than the rocks about – as subtly different, a different shade of darkness, and among them, the one in the citadel caught her eyes like a burning torch.

With her eyes set on her goal Hazumi reached into the bag that rattled upon her touch. The nightwalkers around her shifted with excitement as she pulled out a hand full of tiny white fragments. “I come in peace” she whispered and scattered them behind her.

The woman’s foot stepped forwards, her muscles registering the movement a second later, the fabric of her dress following by yet another second. To a side-observer it would seem like she was moving in slow motion, as if time and space had no reign here… And in fact, they barely did.

The nightwalkers, smelling the essence of an angel, powerful and ready for them without effort, swarmed the things, some assimilating their brethren to get at the essence. Other demons narrowed their eyes and continued to watch her.

The warden of the portion of the West she’d entered was observing her movements far closer than the others, but his essence was a decent ways away. She was however, in his domain and as such he was painfully aware of her intruding essence. The warden wasn’t entirely sure how to react to Hazumi, for he knew this to be her. Her status as the Essence was rather unmistakable. On one hand he knew how powerful she could be and that the Lord wanted no visitors whatsoever, but on the other...she seemed to come in peace and the warden wasn’t entirely sure she would be capable of stopping Hazumi.

It was a difficult situation, so for the moment she simply watched the chimera waltz casually through her area of Szayeis’ realm, the other lesser demons devouring the scraps of essence she left behind.

And so, undisturbed, save for the nightwalkers she encountered on her path, Hazumi made her way to the Citadel. Instead of footsteps her way was littered with death and life in the shape of the brilliant white remains of an unfortunate Archangel.

As she came within three miles of the Citadel it began to move, lashing out at her with its strange essence. As she entered two miles it actually began to physically morph and attack her with a bombardment of sickening multicolored flames, seeming to cause nausea simply by looking at them. Its form physically assaulted her, warping and convulsing as if to defend itself, despite the fact that she was not attempting to threaten it in the least.

Hazumi stopped her stride and narrowed her eyes at the citadel like a parent squints at their naughty child. She couldn’t understand what his problem is – she had done everything right and was even saving the best for him. With a slight pout she took the humerus of a wing out of the bag and offered it to the citadel as if it was a hungry beast itself.

An ominous humming began to emanate from the structure, before it formed what looked like a mouth with many tentacle-like feelers below and above it. The mouth extended on a massive neck. As it neared her it would become apparent that the material which composed the Citadel was entirely anomalous. It acted like flesh, was far stronger than any known metal or material, and it had no smell. The amount of essence beneath its surface was tremendous, but unreachable and could only be detected due to Hazumi’s nature and the fact that its mouth was open.

The massive mouth, bigger than her by several orders of magnitude, dipped down, its feelers grazing over the archangel’s bone and then over Hazumi herself, detecting the entirety of her form through touch, and then withdrawing. The hum increased in intensity, but altered in pitch before the thing grasped the humerus with its feelers and pulled it into its mouth.

It then laid itself down before her, stretching all the way back to the bulk of its mass via the neck. The mouth closed and its essence signature vanished, as if it were not right before her. After several moments the feelers vanished, the entire neck and mock head formed into what could be seen as a massive corridor, and then a door opened where the mouth had been, but now roughly her size to allow entry.

Intrigued, several demons tried to approach the citadel from other angles only to be smashed, or eaten by it. It was still not accepting other visitors, this had apparently remained unchanged.

Hazumi nodded to herself and to what the citadel had been a moment ago, looking down the corridor. It would be wrong to assume she wasn’t impressed, after all, she had never been here, in any capacity. And there were very few places left in all the worlds any part of her hadn’t belong to. She had no way of knowing what exactly she would encounter here and a living breathing matter wasn’t what she would have expected. But, in fact, it made sense.

Feeling flattered by the invitation, she threw another look around and decided not to dwell any longer and get to the person she had actually come to visit.

As she entered the corridor that the Citadel had created for her she would initially see its expansive length, before the door shut behind her, dissolved into the structure. It would essentially lock her in. Following this the corridor rushed and she’d briefly feel movement as she watched the corridor physically shorten. Finally she could walk through another archeway and into the Citadel’s expansive and shifting interior. The walls appeared to thrum with life as well as expanding and contracting slightly as if the whole place was just one massive lung. Still, its surface, which was warm to the touch, did not appear to be composed of flesh. Though now that she was within it she could vaguely feel its essence, which would be alien to anything she had ever felt previous to now.

It wasn’t demonic, it wasn’t angelic, and it certainly was not human. It was closer to a gatekeeper, but even that wasn’t right. As she looked around suddenly a monotone voice would speak from a location just to her left. “I see the Citadel has allowed your entry, state your purpose,” when she looked at the being she would see...nothing. No face, no defining features. Just a blank mannequin-like entity wearing a grey suit that almost blended in with its equally grey skin. It had no presence whatsoever, much like the Citadel itself, except in this case its lack of essence was the result of something entirely different.

To Hazumi the Nameless Aide, for this was the being’s title, was like a window into her soul. A being without any identity to call its own...much like Hazumi herself.

Cocking her head with curiosity, Hazumi blinked that slow bird-like blink. Her eyes slid up and down the creature, trying to define what it really was. As it posed its question she had to think. How could she put her purpose in mere words? Luckily the creature didn’t mind waiting and so a few moments of silence passed. Thinking her answer carefully over, she spoke.

“My purpose is to meet the masters of this place. Speak to them and discuss my future actions according to their answers.”

The Aide nodded, having not thoughts during the time where she did not speak. “Very well, come with me madam. He will likely be rather displeased, but nonetheless you made it this far and according to protocol, deserve to be allowed an audience with the Lord.”

He turned, offering his arm if she preferred to hold onto it as he guided her. She didn’t. Regardless, he continued, his voice ever monotone. For once there was very little aura to him, as if it did not matter what emotions he projected to Hazumi. This time it didn’t, because of what she was.

Eventually, after the Citadel shifting as they walked through it, they would arrive in front of a massive threshold. A gateway within the palace, one might say. And here the Aide turned to her, pressed his hand against the door and then gestured for her to enter. “I will guide you out afterwards. Be mindful of your actions.” Once she looked away he would no longer be there, though no movement could be detected from his departure.

Sending the creature off with no more than a nod and a stare, Hazumi walked in the throne room. Considering sitting on the throne for a second, she quickly dismissed the thought and stayed at the edge of it, not even approaching it. She could both see and feel the pitch-black essence of the creatures she was here to meet – a feeling somewhat disturbing and somewhat curiously intriguing.

“Long time no see, Szayeis, grandfather.” She smiled at the darkness.

White eyes opened in the darkness, but there weren’t just two. There were at least ten of them, staring at her from a variety of angles. Then most of them shut and only the pair behind her remained. The pitch darkness of the room made the eyes and the essence which flowed off of Hazumi the only available light in the throne room.

The eyes narrowed, “It allowed you in here didn’t it. How...bothersome,” the demonic lord appeared to struggle for a moment between the two words before the eyes gathered some of the darkness around them, forming a visage with barely any definition. Still, the body was somehow darker than the shadows of the room, despite being composed of the same substance.

”It is unfortunate that you no longer serve the purpose which before you possessed. Then at least you would be useful to me,” the lord growled as he circled her and then walked up the dias to the Western throne, which he sat in. His eyes twitched and flickered slightly, almost altering their color, but then not doing so. It was impossible to tell what color they had flickered to. ”What do you want, I don’t have the time to play with you, or anyone else for that matter,” he seemed irritable, something that Szayeis had not often been. Instead he had tended towards amusement, but now...well he was anything but.

”Speak or I’ll devour you like the others who manage to find their way into my realm!” his voice resonated within the darkness, briefly becoming multilayered before he went silent, growling not at her now, but at something else.

Not showing either admiration or fear, Hazumi decided to disregard Szayeis’ obvious irritation and his comment about her current state.

“Not all is lost for you.” she remarked, her gaze following him as he moved to sit on his throne. She observed the Lord for a second longer before stepping closer to the throne and sitting down at the base of its arm-rest and leaning her shoulder against it, her eyes still pinned on him. It was curious to see Szayeis in the state he was in – so unstable, so… frail. Of course, she had an idea that this was happening, had sensed it in her bones, but seeing it was different. And not even she completely understood. She had to wonder if coming here was a good or bad idea as she felt the tinge of nervousness at the sight of the man. If she had to define her feelings in human terms, she would probably use the word “admiration”, but also “distrust”. “Reluctant reverence”, she decided.

“You don’t need to threaten me. I’m here to talk.” She reached into her bag again to take out the most precious gift of them all – the Archangel’s skull. “And I have brought you a gift. One that will help in your dire situation. It will strengthen you.” She shrugged with one shoulder. “Or him.”

She was quiet for a second longer before she continued. “When I first met you as Hazumi you showed me kindness I wouldn’t have deemed you capable of, had I known just what you are. Many years have passed since then but time can’t undo what has once happened and so I was left thinking if I shouldn’t have acted upon my urges back then and served you instead. So, now that this is all past but the future is yet to be seen, tell me. What would you do with such power?”

Narrowing his eyes at her, but not being in a position to deny her offering, Szayeis took the skull, nodding slightly, but not saying a word in thanks. He was too proud for that. The skull found itself devoured by his shadows, causing the white glowing eyes to glow brighter and his form to solidify further. He sighed, sounding somewhat relieved. It was too bad that he couldn’t have eaten the whole archangel, blood, flesh, and bone alike.

Eyes resting on her even as she made contact with the Western Throne, Szayeis shook his head at her question and looked away. “I have no energy to lie to you, but I assure you that the result today would not be one you are likely to prefer. However, I would get rid of the one who dwells within. The Old One. I would live.” He growled somewhat and glanced at his own hand, seeming annoyed. ”For now the most I can do is hold him back and bide my time. I don’t have the energy to travel as I did before. Like those before me I am being devoured, no, assimilated from the inside out and there is little I can do except resist with all my might.” He put his hand down, having noted that it had faded back once more. The essence from the skull had bolstered him only so much and the Old One’s actions within his prison were not doing well to preserve such energy.

Hazumi kept quiet for a moment turning the words in her head and looking for their true meaning. It was reasonable for that to be Szayeis' first job, considering his unfortunate predicament. And there was probably nothing wrong with that desire. Probably.

"What about the world then? What follows? Who rules? And how?" She asked as if she was a curious child asking about the next chapter of a bed-time story.

The Western lord’s eyes turned to Hazumi and for a brief moment they again flickered, now revealing the Chimeric blue of the eyes of Praestrigia before they again became white. “As I said, I could tell you, but you would not like it. Perhaps chaos would rule, but not destruction. These realms interest me, as do their inhabitants. I am not like him even though I am of him.” Szayeis sighed and seemed to almost rub his temples, something he’d picked up from his time in the human world: Surface. The demon, very briefly, smiled somewhat at the thought of chaos ruling, for chaos was his power and if it ruled, so did he. He didn’t care if Hazumi picked up on these thoughts, it wasn’t like he’d be able to leave the West, his prison, any time soon.

It was now up to Lautumiae to keep the Old One sealed, he could do only so much, as his power was gradually waned.

Hazumi lifted her eyes to stare into Szayeis’.

“The humans as your toys, angels just a feast? …What about him then? What would he do?”

“Return from whence he came, and remain there,” he growled vehemently. “The races could do as they pleased...somewhat,” the lord shook his head and then rubbed his shadowy temples. “What is it you really want Hazumi?”

“I want to hear it from him. Let him speak.” she smirked. “I know you can.”

The nightwalker rose from his throne and vanished before the darkness of the room began to press in on Hazumi, as if trying to crush her. The force was pushing her towards the room’s exit. “Oh, I can, but I will not. I won’t do it for you, nor any other. Giving him hold enough to speak through me is giving him far too much. It is dangerous for both myself, first and foremost, and the world.” The nightwalker’s tone was almost furious, but at the same time it was one that hinted at how tired Szayeis truly was, for despite all his power, the prisoner he was holding fast was far...far stronger, and he knew that.

The darkness was making it obvious that she had overstayed her welcome and Hazumi saw no reason to resist. She had come here seeking answers to a question transcending her understanding, and perhaps even Szayeis' own. Who deserved to win or lose, live or die. In the end, maybe only time could tell.

Getting to her feet she sent one last look in Szayeis' direction and started at the door. Stepping outside she turned around and gave the Chimeric Lord a deep bow.

As she rose from her bow and turned the door would shut, the two white embers that were Szayeis’ eyes briefly flickering to the piercing blue of Praestrigia. Finally the Nameless Aide would manifest, behind her, to escort her from the Citadel. Who was to say what would happen or which of the two beings would win in the end...but for everyone’s sake, hopefully the answer would simply be neither.

Hopefully.

---

Ian woke with a start. It wasn’t fear that had woken him so much as surprise. No, nightmares, but a very odd dream that was for sure. It had seemed so real. Ian slid out of the bed on bare feet and dropped to the floor. The wood was cold against his bare chest as he rooted under the bed for something.

Finally he latched onto a flat wooden box and pulled it out from under the bed. Popping off the lid he pulled out a leather bound sketch book. As he flipped through it he smiled at many of the earlier drawings but the later ones caused him to frown. That had been after he’d been attached to Koshmar.

Rooting in the box Ian produced a set of colored pencils, with them in hand he began to draw. It had been forever since he’d done this for something other than a nightmare. His ears colored slightly as he worked on getting Hazumi just right. It was odd drawing her especially having her in his dream.

From there he moved on to the castle and the beings he’d witnessed within. It took him almost and hour of drawing and several pages of the notebook before he was satisfied. Setting everything down he stared down at the drawings. What the hell?

Ian closed the book and tapped it against his lips thinking. What was going on? It hadn’t felt like a dream. It had felt like a Memory. Ian pursed his lips in contemplation of that. Had Hazumi done this to him? and if so had it been on purpose or an accident. As if that wasn’t enough to think about, where was she and who had she gone to see. Perhaps when he went to get Fidrieon he should ask her.

Biting his lip he walked to the window and opened it. Loom was still dark. Looking at the clock it read 4:30. While it was normal for him to be up at strange hours he was suprising well rested. Ian smiled. he could get use to this. At the same time he was annoyed by the lack of Fidrieon’s presence, it made him feel more dangerous than normal and he was use to feeling very confident in his abilities. It reminded him of when he was younger and he wore blades. Whenever he went out without them he’d always felt strangely disadvantaged.

Dismissing the feeling he turned back to his bed. Well if he wasn’t going to have nightmares at the very least he could take advantage of his time without Fidrieon. Ian crawled back into bed and immediately fell back asleep.

[Wind Wild]

Zi's sleepy gaze slowly moved around the room, eyes passing over every crack in the paint like the arrows of her watch. Tic-tic-tic-tic – its voice was too fast, out of synch with her heart but not by much. It was a rhythm that had kept her awake despite the fatigue her body was overcome by. The blood cruising through her veins was filled with tiny needles, nudging her to get up and move but it wasn't enough to actually keep her upright. Her brain was also slow, filled with a haze that produced images when she closed her eyes and dissolved them when she had them open.

Tic-tic-tic-tic – her eyes closed despite the noise and a smile appeared in the darkness. Soft blonde hair between her fingers. Eyes opened and there was only a crack to see.

Zi signed and sat up weakly, squinting at the room. The sheets sent a cloud of dust to assault her nose but non-the-less, she was grateful. The room, the mansion, the entire region was so deprived of essence it was odd. Having lived in cities for the best part of her life, she was used to the constant presence of threads all around that were simply missing here. Zi wasn't sure if she found it pleasant or unsettling.

Her wing twitched involuntarily, catching her attention. Zi shifted to release the pressure off it and extended it past her body and along her legs. She was captivated for a few moments by the way the moonlight fell on it, making it gleam like a pearl. If she concentrated she could even see the smoke-like essence that was slowly rising from its surface. The girl spread her palm out and stroked the feathers, a slight tingle travelling to her back. It felt so real, so... organic. It felt like it was hers and no one else's. But of course, it wasn't. She was borrowing someone else's life. If she looked close enough she could probably indulge in the memories contained in that essence. It was something she didn't want to do. She should get the mask off soon before the memories started flooding in unwillingly but she was too tired to try right now.

Her mind drifted back to Luciana, apparently alive in the other room but not conscious. A part of her dreaded the possibility of having messed up something – assembling the pieces in the wrong way, with the wrong speed. Another wondered if Hazumi didn't have something to do with it. Zi had felt it, soon after Hazumi left. The foreign yet familiar feeling of fear that crept deep inside Hazumi's heart. Zi hadn't understood it immediately but now, with her brain half-asleep, the answer appeared really simple. Luciana was the only living creature capable of undoing the Fleshshaper's work which was Hazumi. No matter how much she pretended, Zi alone knew her secret. Like it or not, they were always connected.

A yawn escaped her and she slid back down, her cheek pressed against the pillow. So many things had happened today she didn't even want to think about it. Some asshole angel trying to kill her and Emmet, some asshole demon saving them, if only to save them for later, some asshole demon taking Emmet away, Emmet....

Zi shut her eyes and tried again to drift off to sleep.

۞ ۞ ۞

That night, after the peak of the opening ceremony was over and the music had died down to just a hundred enthusiastic players, Hazumi retreated to her office. She strode right to her desk, pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil and walked out, heading for the basement. The underground chambers of the Academy were one of the most important rooms in the building, hosting the biggest of its pride and secrets. Here were the training halls that couldn't be shared with anyone but the musicians. Here was the biggest collection of precious but also dangerous books. And here was a very special room. The memorial room.

That was the only room that Hazumi really cared about and had used her influence to commission and her brain to design. It was the only physical thing she had created in all her years in the world, but one she'd put all her heart in. It wasn't big, it was no more than a hundred meters in diameter and it was entirely round. The entrance was an archway hidden behind an intricate illusion that cut off sight and sound on the other side and made it look like a natural part of the wall. Once inside, it blended in with the room's walls and seemed completely invisible. The room was a magical space outside of time, hidden so deep within it.

The room's entirety was made of smooth black hematite and the first noticeable ting about the space was the 4 meter tall G-clef. It was made of a roughly cut garnet that seemed smooth at first but was actually full of rough cuts and edges. It was suspended mid-air by a strong spell that remained invisible to the naked eye and looked like a dozen spider-legs to the trained one. Those legs were stretching out and over what lay underneath in a perimeter that made it vaguely resemble a pedestal. Under and around the clef was a beautiful symmetrical symbol, an ancient sigil used for honouring the souls of the dead, and on top of it lay candles. Their light was captured and reflected by the sigil and it's twin, mirrored on the ceiling, making them glow in golden.

They were the source of light in the room but they weren't the only one. Along the walls were inscribed a multitude of... names. Some were long, some were short, but they were all made of the same mysterious substance that seemed strangely alive. It shone like a candle but looked liquid and if one was to look close enough, they could see little twinkles inside, like tiny gold crystals caught in a gentle current.

The names weren't random. It was no secret what they were and even though the new Musicians were never told outright about the existence or meaning of this room, sooner or later they all found out. It was a memorial. There were two sets of names on each part of the room, divided optically by the clef in the middle. The names on the left sounded more human than the names on the right – and they were. On the left lay the musicians that no longer served the Academy. On the right lay their victims, and killers. They were all the same colour and size, no difference between either side. What few noticed were the tiny names cut into the clef itself- the names of the Instruments.

Hazumi loved and feared this room in equal measures. It gave her peace but it also gave her grief. It was her biggest confession.

Her first job as soon as she entered the room was to squat down and stroke the candles. They were burning with foxfire that never went out, so they didn't need to be lit either. But a little sign of respect was always in order. While her fingers ran over the warm wax, something in her was stirring. The layers and layers of essence that composed her were rearranging themselves, slowly tainting her corneas black and her irises silvery-white. As those eyes lifted to the clef the process was complete and Hazumi could reach out through the statue into the void beyond it's shadow. What she pulled out was a string of lockets.

Not caring about her dress, Hazumi sat on the floor beside the statue. Elegance was for the public and away from everyone's eyes, Hazumi shed her public image and reverted back to how she'd always been. The girl who thought clothes were something to cover your body and not something that makes you.

With a long sigh she hunched over and added a few names to the list of casualties already on the sheet of paper.

After a few minutes she was done scribbling down the details of the victims and killers' essences and, with a darkened face, started counting. She hated numbers. It reduced all existence to the very basics, leaving behind all individuality. But in the end, wasn't that always it ever was? There were 2 million angels, 2 million demons, 8 billion humans. Just during the ceremony 45.000 more people had died, but luckily only 900 of them were violent deaths and only 432 were due to racial conflicts. But most of all she hated the number one. There was only one of her, no matter how she looked at it.

While the statistics were sad, luckily only 15 of the Academy's apprentices had perished throughout the whole day and only two of those were musicians. She opened the lockets and looked at them in turn, initially through the pictures into what lie beneath – the essence of the children. After she identified the casualties of the day, she focused her eyes on the pictures of the faces. With a frown she wrote down the names and detached the respective lockets from the rest. With a sigh she put both the string of lockets and the loose ones back into the void and got to her feet.

[Themerlinhawk]

Dark Side of the Moon - Early Morning Lazarus stood over the open grave. He’d bothered with a shovel. Funny thing doing it with your own hands, when you used magic it seemed so callous. Disrespectful really if you thought about it. If you’re going to use someones bones for soldiers then you could at the very least go to the trouble of digging them up. The coffin lid was open exposing the bones of a cop killed in the line of duty. Lazarus pursed his lips. Perhaps it was time to stop doing this, diggin up the dead was never a good thing to do. Reanimating them was an even worse thing to be doing, but never the less he needed them. Lazarus hopped into the open grave to collect the corpse. Passing his hand over the open box he whispered an Egyptian prayer for the dead. It was the least he could do. Drawing Dracul he planted it in the earth beside the coffin raising his hands he drew on the essence in the sword. It was like submerging oneself in oil a thick hateful oil that poisoned the skin. It sloughed off him and into the box. First Lazarus stripped away the remaining flesh, leaving behind a clean set of white bones. The next part was harder. Unlike in movies and video games skeletons wouldn’t hold themselves together, they needed something to hold the bones together. Lazarus began weaving a semi organic material between the bones so that they could become mobile again. After that was done he began using a set of miniscule crystals to etch very old ruins into the bones. They would store the energy he needed for them to be mobile. They would also store tactics and techniques for combat as well as spells to enhance their capabilities. Revenants were deadly tools, they had a very limited intelligence which meant he didn’t need to be in constant contact with them like his zombies. The last thing he did was layer in the last set of runes, runes that when activated would consume the Revenant. No one else needed to know how to make these monsters. It was bad enough that he did. ‘The creation is not the monster, it’s the creator.’ He thought back to his conversation with Hazumi, she wasn’t a monster just because she’d been created for a deadly purpose. Lazarus narrowed his eyes. “Guess that means i’m the monster, Kathleen forgive me. I have good intentions.” He stopped as chills ran up his spine and his vision narrowed The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intention, Lazarus. Lazarus grabbed the hilt of Dracul. “Rise Again! And serve a greater purpose!” The Skeleton lurched from its grave. With a sour look Lazarus pointed. The creature climbed out of the grave. Lazarus veiled it and lead it back to his flat where he interned the Revenant. The room was like a morgue with large square locking doors, He’d had them added recently. And there were rows and rows of them. Lazarus rolled the pull out tray back into the recess and closed the door on the Revenant. Looking left and right down the tunnel he sighed, there were some many. With that he turned and walked down the corridor. Climbing the stairs he switched off the lights. They clunked out, a bank at a time till the whole corridor was shrouded in darkness. With a heave the heavy door slammed shut with a resounding bang. The locks slammed home. With that closed, Lazarus went for a drink.

[Fallenreaper]

A Devious Plan Begins
Day 2: Early Morning
Collab by: Fallen, Lucius, Slade and Yoshua

Juan was sore, very damn sore. His slender, slouching figure was leaning against the damp wall where his eyes were fixed upon the end of the dead end alleyway. Despite the ache, it left his bones and flesh heated in a pleasant way which made the sensation dulled. Or at least more so than the other experiences he had, the demon slightly chuckled as his eyes glanced down to spot the ever slightly lighter suction mark lingering near his collarbone. It broke the jagged fire lines across his skin rather nicely though unless someone had a sharp eye or was brushing along the v-neck he currently wore, no one should’ve been the wiser. The worst part was the fact his mind was fixed on that little form, cross between an octopus and woman, Damon had used. It might’ve sucked in the sparing match (test of Damon's fight abilities within another form earlier that morning) but it had other uses that were much more enjoyable.

His fingers pinched the now dying cigarette as the cherry began to fade. They had gotten here nearly an hour early even after Juan had managed to pack an emergency kit, filled with needles, tubes, blood and plasma bags--including a few supplies for himself as a precaution. He didn't need to risk the result should the minions manage to damage him badly enough and he not be able to repair it.

To further his own security there were now six vials total on his belt, ready for use. He had also modified his bracers with attached metal plates, altered on the underside which made the exposed surface able to be swiped clean with another sigil. This happened to be on his hand, etched into the right palm, and would force the metal to revert back to its original state when he touched it. The bad part he would've had to re-etch a completely new sigil within the surface using his heat losing the earlier effect until the new one could be established. However, it was a small price for adaptability within combat. Namely if he needed to go beyond mere strength and add multiple runes, providing more effects to counter whatever Darius had set up.

After Damon’s and his little…quality time, Juan had the shape shifter show him exactly whom he had met within the bar. He had gleamed all the details he could, from attitude, mannerisms, and more which had lead Juan concluding the man might've been completely human. A fact that slightly comforted Juan more then it should’ve but he was better off safe than sorry. He wisely took a photo, storing it away as he intended to use it to gain any information he could. Not that he had a vast resource for Intel. However, the image certainly helped somewhat. He just hoped to hell the man was just human and not some damn demon. Instinctively Juan's mind wandered over the several demons who might've been able to shift their shape like Damon, landing on a key species he hoped never to meet within a dark alley: a nightwalker.

Juan had only scraps and bits of information on the race, yet it was enough to make his skin crawl and the idea of being indebted to one wasn’t a good thing in his mind. Then again, pissing off Darius was on that list as well and yet here he was. He sighed. A few seconds later his finger flicked the dying cigarette away, his eyes drifted lazily to the nearby wax house chosen for a meeting site. It was falling apart, the sign, once beautifully carved and donned proudly was hanging lopsided in its sorry state. The paint had peeled and weathered until only a few letters were left. Despite the run down appearance, the door was boarded up as if to deter any miserable and ill skilled burglar from attempting a heist within.

The idle thought amused him slightly to think anyone would’ve bothered.

Currently he knew it coming was close to the time his ‘aid’ and likely, his troubles, would be arriving. He only hoped it wasn’t going to end up being a one-way trip for all of them. They only had one chance and if it didn’t work, Emmet was as good as dead. A sour taste of bitterness crept into his throat before the demon swallowed it. Any time now…he thought, partly wondering if they would notice the oddness of the essence within the area.

b]“Yeah, yeah. I'm at the place. It's a cheap dump. Yeah, I'll go meet the guy, Crow, don't get pushy.”[/b]

Rhett hung up on Crow and took a look at the derelict house. The place looked like it hadn't had an owner in a few decades. The wood was rotting and probably had bugs eating it, the paint was chipped and peeling.The place had been accumulating dust for who knows how long. Rhett scratched his beard and sighed, it's as if he was back in the army all over again.

Rhett at this point was wearing a grey overcoat to conceal the items he had strapped to his body. Slung under arm was a silenced MP5 with some hex-tech attachment Crow had sent him. Rhett didn't have time to tinker with it too much, but it was apparently a basic fire upgrade, made purely to deal with Angels. Demons it would have a lesser effect on, but he reckoned it would still hurt like a bitch.

His sidearm was holstered at his hip, a Beretta, simple but effective. He didn't bother asking for any hex-tech adjustments, he just wanted a simple pistol for a backup situation. And of course, his machete was sheathed in its leather pouch on his other hip. But it was what he had strapped to his belt that was the most dangerous.

Smoke grenades to help conceal themselves when they finally rescued this guy, C4 if they needed a distraction, and finally. Something he had specifically ordered that he couldn't tell if he had made Crow nervous with its request.

Mustard Gas, and lots of it, he had five canisters of the stuff attached to his belt, and one canister could cover a few city blocks. Which is why hanging loosely around his neck was a gas mask. And in the back pack he slung over his shoulder were three more for the others. He figured Crow would be pretty sore at him if his partners ended up choking on the rancid stuff.

Rhett pauses as he takes out his flask from his coat pocket and drinks a big gulp. He was good and drunk, just the way he liked to be. He stares at a man who flicks away a cig near the building, this must've been his guy.

“You the Guy I'm shacking with?” Rhett asked coarsely.

"Ahh, yes, he would be,"[I] a stout 3'6 demon stated, his pudgy humanoid, but grotesque form disentangling itself from some shadows. Dr. Kasain 'Mve had arrived. Saviour of Lily Qarin, healer of demons, or as he was better known these days: The Puncturist. While he was now 1,100 years old, the demon hadn't aged a single day, he looked the same as he had 200 years ago when he'd assisted Szayeis in saving the woman who had eventually founded the Academy.

Talk about small gestures causing a domino effect. Had he not saved her, who knows what would have happened. Nonetheless, the stout four armed demon sauntered, or...wobbled(?), his way towards Juan. His gait was uneven and almost random, as if his musculature was altering as he moved.

It was an unsettling sight.

Kasain wore a bloodied doctor's labcoat, causing him to look the part, until you noticed his breaches, which were extremely baggy, much like the pants of a jester, but instead were composed entirely of a patchwork of fabrics--all different colors. Glancing back at Rhett, the demon's eyes gleamed with mischief, his grin stretching just a bit [I]too far.

This had earned him his other nickname: Cheshire. It was rather fitting. "I take it you are Juan, good good. I will be your medic, and...[I]demon specialist. He," one of his four arms jabbed out, pointing at Rhett, [I]"is the combat specialist. Those three,"[I] his other 3 arms pointed in 3 directions, all of which were up, but none of which were in the same vector, [I]"are our...well, back-up and support. One of them has concealment magic, and the other two are equipped with hex-tech snipers. They will be...useful somehow, I imagine."[I] The demon's too high, and slightly shrill, grading voice was [I]almost hell on the nerves.

It was pushing that precipice, but was not close enough to be outright aggravating or painful to listen to. Instead it simply added to the doctor's already unsettling nature. "Ah, and I am Dr. Kasain 'Mve."[I] He grinned, this time much wider, his body [I]stretching as his mass resdistributed itself till he was 5'2. He then bowed to Juan, and shrunk to 4'5, where he stayed. His build more average than fat at that point. The doctor was having fun.

As fun as this morning's escapade was, Damon had no intention of revealing himself. Also because he wasn't with Juan; as he mentioned on the phone before they met, Damon wanted to set up the area for their inevitable escape. He would return to Juan once he was finished, and he was nearly done. He wished he had more time to set up more sophisticated traps, but alas, there was only so much he could do with so little time. Had he at least another hour or so, he could rig a bridge to explode, but alas he'd have to make due with what he had now. Leaving the scene Damon headed back to Juan.

As he was within visual range of Juan, Damon noted the new figures. One was the strange looking humanoid thing pointing in random directions, and the other was a much more obviously human mercenary type. Damon was somewhat certain that the strange looking humanoid was a demon of some sort, and pointing out forces that Damon currently could not observe. It's not like he didn't expect them; he did ask help from Crow after all. Now he just wished that he knew how exactly Juan wanted him to distract Darius while they go save Emmet.

When Damon arrived, he wasn't in his normal form, rather he appeared to be the maid he was this morning, sans the tentacle legs. While he could walk and run just fine even in the woman's heels, Damon wasn't comfortable being bipedal. That being said, Damon would remain in this for for now. Better that he isn't recognized as "Dark Matter". Besides that, this form was more subtle than being an amorphous blob.

Once he arrived Damon silently nodded towards the others before turning to Juan. "I've finished preperations. Ready when you are Juan."

Juan had enough time to make two quick assumptions about the pair that approached him, followed by a slight sigh at the three behind them. First was the man with the large, grey over coat which when examined closer, Juan could guess held more than just his person. Though the specifics were something that would only be revealed with imagination and Juan wasn't that imaginative when it came to some thing so serious. There was a second figure who ushered himself from the shadows and seemed to be more jelly then anything solid.

His eyes noted the bloodied apron even before the demon mentioned he was the doctor for the mission, making Juan rather tense. However his body, still leaned against the wall, barely showed it. When Rhett asked his question bluntly, followed by his companion who ended up using his name and immediately made the hairs on Juan's neck stand. Impulsively his eyes flickered back to his ally, Damon, when the demon uttered his name right in front of the two strangers. Oh well, Juan thought bitterly and let the fact his name was too well known among the current company slide off his mind. This wasn't good.

"Yes, my name is Juan. Seems your employer's more knowledgeable then I gave him credit for. That or very well resourced, Dr. 'Mve. As you might've guessed, this young woman behind me is my associate. Now that we're all almost introduced, unless your companion rather we simple refer to him as CS for the mission then he might want to grace us with a title better suited to him. Down to business." Juan said then pushed fully off the wall.

His lithe figure moved to the crude but accurate sketch of Darius's mansion, namely in shape representations for buildings, armed guard number, and more. "I figured a model would be better then merely telling you with a vivid description."

He pointed out to the main gate. "There's the entrance point and best place to keep the attention focused there. That's where Damon and likely at least one other will come in at, namely to keep Damon alive while he causes as much havoc as possible," Juan lifted his head and glanced at the shape shifter, "Damon, how you distract them is up to you yet I suggest you shift into a form you can deal out lots of damage in. The Guards will start to thicken around the main entrance and that's when a smaller group, you Dr. 'Mve and the one with the concealment magic will enter here...."

Juan's finger indicated a point almost directly across from where the main entrance was. "I'll create a hole here where we can enter and slip in undetected. From there we'll make our way to the guest house here."

His finger moved to the square nearest the main mansion, then circled it. "Inside there will likely be where our target is being moved from. Dr. ‘Mve, I'm not completely sure what condition he'll be in but if Darius has drained him since last night...We've got our work cut out in keeping him alive. I've brought some supplies, namely the subject's blood as well as my own personal first aid kit. I can't promise what we're going to find so I suggest we all be braced for the worse. Now, any questions?"

Rhett rubbed his temple at the lot he was stuck with. Why were Crow's friends so damn weird? He shrugs as he removes his coat and drops it on the ground. Revealing the small arsenall he's strapped to himself. He listens to Juan as he pulls out the little model of the mansion. Well that's conveniant. He listens attentevely as his own little plan formulates in his head. His grins darkly, this'll be a piece of cake.

He chugs down the last bit in his flask before throwing it into his bag, then throws on the ground the three gasmasks for the others.

“ This is mustard Gas I got on me, along with a few other things. One of those masks there will be for the guy were saving. The rest of you can squabble over the other two. But here's my plan.”

His accent was thick, borderline impossible to understand. He kneels down with the others and points to the model. Making various hand gestures to visualise his plan to the others.

“ Cause as much havok as possible. Overwhelm them for a brief moment and grab the package before they have time to retaliate. While Spooks over here is dishing it out at the main gate. I'll use smoke grenades around the entire outside vicinity of the house. Plant C4 and detonate it all at once. At that point, the fucks inside will hardly know what to do, thats when the Gas comes in a wipes them all out. Afterwards we probably got around ten minutes to find our package and get him out before they bounce back with a counter attack..”

Rhett stands back up and places his own mask on his face. Bits and pieces of his beard sticking out awkwardly. His pants had been ironed and once again, tucked into his boots. Which seemed to have been polished the night before. Strange considering that he barely cared about how his face looked. His one hand instinctively rests itself on the rubble handle of his machete as he points at the three masks on the ground.

“Make sure you get one of those on our guy quickly. If he's in really shit condition. It'll only take a breathe of this stuff to possibly kill him.”

Damon looked over the plan and had a general idea of what he could do. He won't have much use of this form unless he does something clever, which he may very well try. Everyone else seemed rather intent to start blasting ASAP, which was fine with him, but their job wasn't to wipe out the place, but to save Juan's VIP. That mustard gas concerned him because it's not like a normal toxin; skin contact would ravage the VIP's body too. But Damon would let Juan worry about him.

"Don't underestimate these people. We're not just attacking some human compound. They have, what, magical wolves or something?"

"Foxes, they aren’t completely flesh and bone." Juan answered, his body propped back a bit to allow the others access to the makeshift diagram. He didn't appear to like the notion of using mustard gas as his eyes narrowed on, mentally debating on creating a sigil translation mark near his head side. At least then he wouldn't have so much trouble understanding the dialect.

"Right right, I simply know that when it comes to tracking and finding, they are quite good at it. They may detect us before we even see them, so some infiltration is required. That's why I look like this instead of a tank. Besides, how long do you think you have to plant C4 around the entire estate, even under the cover of smoke? Our jobs is to provide a distraction anyways. No need to waste time trying to demolish the place. Mustard gas might be more harmful for our VIP too, or worse, completely ineffective against those magical wolves and other superpowered people inside. And they're the ones we have to worry about, not just the mooks."

Damon knelt down and looked at the scale model of the mansion and tried to think of possible battle plans, should things go in that direction. "Hmm.... What I need to do... Is something that would make all the guards converge on our position. If they're smart, they'll keep their distance and secure their perimeter. If we want to bring their full attention on us, they need to see a threat that requires their full power. And no offense to you all, but a small strike force isn't the most intimading threat against a fully armed compound. Hmm... Dr. 'Mve, do you have any methods to create mass illusions?"

The doctor, listening intently at first, was mildly impressed with this fellow's planning abilities. However, there were variables that had not been considered, the shapeshifter pointed out one of them.

In response, one of his arms moved up to his chin, where his hand tapped it lightly, as if in thought. Kasain's left arm, for the aforementioned one had been his top right one, crossed his body, slinking into his coat deftly, and withdrew a set of five 6-inch needles. These needles were metallic, but did not look to be made of any human material. Their color was undefinable to the human eye, and even to the eyes of most demons.

Kasain could tell the color though. He was a Taerialnian demon afterall. Having originated from the Western realm's underground, his kind were specialists in ore and had very particular senses. They could detect energy pathways. They had no talent for sensing external essence and often required contact with a living thing to actually properly detect their essence, but for anything non-living it was a breeze.

However, due to their specialization they could not detect aura essence at all.

"I can create illusions of a sort," the doctor replied, his grin widening, "It won't be simple, but with a bit of assistance I think I can manage it. I'll need something to fire these with, at high speed, quickly, and from far away. A normal sniper won't do the trick." By piercing multiple people with his needles he could erase their awareness of the needles and trigger specfic hormones, and essences, in their bodies, causing fully realistic illusions.

It was not how he preferred utilizing his needles, as they were extremely valuable, but nonetheless it could be done.

Damon extended his hand towards Dr. 'Mve, and with some appropriate adjustments, gave him a crossbow. It appeared to have simply melded out of his hand. It looked like one of those advance composite crossbows you'd get at hunting stores. Damon would have brought it for about two thousand dollars if he hadn't... Acquired it from a hunter. "And may I see one of those needles Dr. 'Mve? I'm... Curious about how they are supposed to help."

"Either way, using the mustard gas is out for the time being." Juan began, his eyes looked to Damon though his face failed to tell his mental thoughts. "Though Damon, by mass illusion, what do you have in mind? These creatures don't depend all on their eyes, but scent and hearing too. Trust me; these things have been tracking me since I left the apartment with a high intention to ensure I'm...occupied."

"Ah... Well... I'd figure if it looks like we showed up with a sizable force, they'd muster all their men together to fight back. Though when you mention it like that..."

Juan's lips smirked as his eyes lifted up, immediately spotted movement shifting toward the alley. His voice lowered slightly. "Speaking of which, I was wondering when my little tail would arrive. I was starting to wonder if that essence trail I used on the cat was too much and he was too dull to realize it was a hoax."

Slowly Juan edged upright while his eyes continued to watch the shape emerge until one of Darius's foxes moved completely into view. "Anyone curious to seeing what exactly we can expect or should I merely just get rid of it?"

"... I guess I don't have to worry too much about getting their attention." Damon didn't move his body, as he could see the shadow fox just fine. And if he was there, more would come. "Well... We wouldn't want it to go back and tell the others about us. So, show us how it's done."

"Why do you think I wanted to arrive early?" Juan said calmly, "These things aren't stupid. Not just simple animals though their instincts, motive and lack of learning ability makes it seem so."

Slowly, Juan moved past Rhett's crouched form and toward the alley exit. His fingers pulled out of the animal's sight while its ears perked, the body alerted the moment it sighted him. Juan's finger tips already started to flicker alive like cigarette ends and pressed against his other arm's plate. It sizzled, burning a sign into the once perfect surface. In its wake was the sigil that shortly poured in strength into his veins, enough to easily crush a human skill within his grasp with great ease. "Looking for me, little one?"

Its ears lowered and white fangs flashed, the legs coiled then shot forward.

A whine cried out into the air. It shattered the air as the wall sudden came into contact with Juan's hand, his blood smeared onto the wall after he had sliced himself and slammed it into the center all in one smooth, sudden motion. In front of him the fox was held in midair by a molded spear, created from the wall's materials, that had impaled it through the head. Yet the beast didn't fade. Instead its forepaws thrashed against the thick spear while its blood, thick and dark streamed down its black fur. It wasn't hard to see it seemed to be made from a material crossed between flesh and shadow on closer inspection.

"I don't think we'll need a large distraction as we would the right...bait?" Juan twisted away and paused, adding one last thing. "I suggest you not kill it until you've studied it. It dissolves and vanishes."


The doctor took the crossbow, looking it over briefly before he closed his eyes, scanning its essence deeply, before fashioning a small sling from a series of threads and bandages, which he produced from his lab coat.

Watching Juan, and initially ignoring Damon's query while he considered the demon's words, Kasain noted the substances which appeared to compose the fox. When their team leader had incapacitated it, the doctor rushed over to it at a brisk pace, eyes gleaming, grin stretched 'cross his features. One of his hands suddenly held a needle, which just as soon found itself deftly pushed through the foxes' body, where it hit at the very edge of one of its vertebrae.

Juan instinctively moved aside allowing the good doctor, the title he dubbed on the demon, though. Once again his back leaned, ignoring the dampness seeping into his shirt, against the alley wall to watch Dr. 'Mve at work. His eyebrow raised in silent question when a needle appeared then shot through the fox's spine making it still abruptly.Yet he kept quiet in his observation.

The fox immediately froze, its nervous and essence systems essentially stalled completed, putting it into a sort of stasis. Following this, the doctor placed the tip of one of his unnaturally slender, many jointed fingers upon the exposed edge of the needle. Closing his gleaming eyes the demon sent a tiny pulse of essence throughout the creature's body, tracing all of its energy systems and scanning the entirety of its physical make up, from the structure of its mind, down to how each material was positioned and utilized throughout its form.

After roughly twenty seconds the doctor pinched the needle's end with two fingers and withdrew it with uncanny swiftness, storing the needle in his coat. A small dark blood stain formed where he stored it near his hip, as he returned to the bulk of the group. “Wonderful little creations. Useful to their master I'm sure, but easily dealt with all the same.” He smiled with a certain pleased cunning at Juan and then turned his gaze to the humanoid octopus demon. “You may hold one of my needles, but be careful. With a body such as yours, you might find it...troublesome.” The Doctor smirked and winked before extending an arm to Damon, one of the needles in hand, the blunt end aimed at him.

His eyes, before Damon even took the needle, shot over to Juan, then Rhett, and then Juan again. “There might be certain ways to utilize the mustard gas. It is simply a matter of keeping it off our VIP, yes? Simply done. My first priority is stabilizing his condition, I would believe. Your supplies combined with my expertise will make that...much easier I am sure of it.” By now the octohumanoid had likely taken the needle and so 'Mve was hopping from one foot to the other.

He was giddy.

With the needle in hand, Damon absorbed the needle into his body, gaining knowledge of its function and its creation. After the doctor observed the wolf, Damon went to Juan and simply asked him. "Do you intend to let him go, or shall I deal with it?"

He was pleased, a little, to note the smile his direction and though he shouldn't let it show he enjoyed the unsaid praise, a small smirk crossed his lips. Sadly with the eye contact at Dr. 'Mve and noting his giddy nature, Juan had missed Damon's absorption of the demon's needle or else he would've cautioned him against it. More so, he would've likely been slightly less pissed at the naive nature of the younger shape shifter then he was about to be. Before he could speak to both the doctor and Damon, Kasain spoke, interrupting him.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, the doctor noted the demon absorb the needle into himself. "Tsk tsk tsk," he said, clicking his tongue lightly, "Those are excessively difficult to obtain and I did tell you to be careful[/I] in your handling of them."[/I] Sighing as the needle's essence began to take effect from the core of Damon's body. A numbness would start to spread throughout the demon's form. "I suggest you reassemble that quickly and remove it from your body, lest it paralyze you." The needles were, while not toxic, infused with his essence and if damaged they became...defective, paralyzing or causing excessive numbness in whatever came into contact with them, barring himself.

Portions of Damon's internal body would begin to break down into the goop that he was composed of, rather than maintain any semblance of organs or the like. Kasain had one of his hands on his hip, with his other two crossed over his chest. His last appendage had reached out, palm up, waiting for the demon, who he now knew was a shifter, to relinquish the needle. On his face was a look of mild disdain and in his eyes was a mixture of disappointment and even more mild amusement.

He knew one other thing now. This demon was Dark Matter. Quite the interesting tidbit, perhaps he could trade that information from Crow in exchange for more materials with which to construct his supplies. Yes, good, very good.

It also seemed like Juan was a magic user of some sort, though he was not certain of what kind he utilized. He did know it was not demonic in origin. More useful information.

Silently Juan cursed, his body jerked backwards from Damon who was falling apart at the seams to avoid the mess created. Immediately his eyes flashed Damon an irritated look, a rarity and used only when the shape shifter had royally fucked up, risking his usefulness into a burden. Now wasn't the time to be reckless or too far trusting, at least within Juan's mind. His anger was seething under the surface which meant Damon would gain an earful, or worse, later when their 'guests' had left.

"I think I agree with the good doctor. As for letting the fox go, no, I don't intend to. If it does then Darius would know I'm doing something rather...uncharacteristic. We both understand to a fair degree how each other works and he won't expect anyone but me to pull this little coup off. I'd rather his thinking remain that way. Currently I'm debating on allowing you to absorb it after your little reckless stunt..." Juan stated, stressing his clear displeasure when Damon absorbed the needle, and his head turned to Kasain to finish his sentence," but before I do, doctor, is there anything else you need to do with the fox before it's dispatched? I want to be absolutely sure you're done, cutie, cause we won't be able to catch another."

Though he had flashed Damon a spiteful look, his eyes now twisted into mirth at Kasain while it seemed he was slowly relaxing. Or rather lapsing back into his usual flirty nature. Regardless of the shift in attitude, his nerves were on edge and inwardly he was still braced should something change the mood, and cause their temporary alliance to come unraveled in moments.

Damon merely smirked at the effects the needle had on his body. It was interesting to say the least. As for the parts of him that began to melt, he flicked them off like they were nothing more than bits of mud. Upon hitting the ground they took on a much more liquid consistancy, like an oil. But despite the feeling of numbness Damon wasn't too worried. He got what he wanted to know from the needle. He would make use of this later.

Damon produced Dr. 'Mve's needle and placed it into his hand. "Sorry about that doctor. I was just curious about your methods. I want to make sure that our methods won't... Conflict with one another." Damon gave a polite smile before turning to Juan. He was quite aware of Juan's inner anger from his choice of words, but that was expected. This was a delicate operation, and of course Juan doesn't want any of his operatives to have to sit out before the job started. "Don't worry Juan. I can still do my part. Besides, that was a very interesting learning experince. And if I can absorb that wolf, I can learn what it knows. Wouldn't that be helpful to say, figure out where the rest of its allies are? Or what exactly it's doing here, how it found us, and our enemies are prepared to do should we get caught?"

Knowledge was power, and Damon was always willing to get stronger. Besides that, he could always use more mass when they attack Darius's stronghold. Damon was certain that the shadow fox had more juice in its being than its size would indicate.

Juan merely shook his head. Inside his mind, he knew one of these days Damon's curiousity was likely to get the shape shifter killed. Dr. 'Mve had been kind. At least kinder then most other demons would've been and hadn't decided to do something to the needle that could've harmed Damon more when he absorbed it. What some demons could do when others tried to absorb them or part of them was sometimes terrifying, being one of the most diverse of the three (four if you counted Chimeras as a separated one) races made it hard to predict what every single one could do.

Glancing at Juan even as Damon extricated the needle and handed it back to him, the doctor flicked the implement, removing any of Damon's substance from it, before he stored it in his coat once more. Grinning widely at their team leader's words, his eyes gleamed. "I have a better idea than Damon's in regard to the fox. While I'm sure the shifter could use some mass, I think the fox would serve us far better as a spy, what do you think of that," his hands flexed and curled repeatedly, grasping the air, before letting go every few seconds.

He was channeling his giddiness somewhat, as he'd had an idea. Damon could certainly absorb the fox's knowledge, but it was unlikely to know much. It was merely a tool, he figured. It would be better for Damon to absorb a damaged bit of the fox servant, and then for he himself to repair the damage done, turning the fox into a little spy with which to infiltrate its former master's den.

'Den, oh that was a good one, he mused internally.' He was glad the shapeshifter would be fine, as otherwise the fellow was useless to them. It would be difficult for even him to heal the demon, due to the creature's bodily structure, or rather its lack thereof. Nonetheless, he found himself somewhat amused by the obvious youngling's curious naivety. It was almost...cute.

Almost.

"Should you not wish that action, yes, I am done, but otherwise I can give Damon a small chunk so he may assimilate the beasty's knowledge, after which I can repair it and highjack its body for our own purposes. What say you?" His body waved back and forth slightly as he leaned from one foot to the other, teetering from side-to-side. It was so difficult to keep himself still in moments like this.

It was why he often kept himself occupied by patients. Yes...patients.

"Ummm....You can do that?"Juan asked, mostly to himself, then turned to gaze at the fox. He placed his chin into his hand, seeming to weigh the options. However, he already had decided within his head the choice and after the last minute ticked by, he gestured with his hand at the fox. "It might be possible. At least worth a shot."

He pulled back, his face turned to Damon's grinning one. "Damon, the fox is merely condensed essence made to mimic a living, intelligent creature. Their learning streak needs improvement but outside that, they are merely tools. Darius can construct and make them fade after they've served their purpose. If Dr. 'Mve is able to prevent the fox from crumbling, would a piece do for your information gathering? I still doubt you'll gain anything from it. I think all thoughts, memories and more are wiped each time it's deconstructed."

Damon chuckled. "As long as it stays solid as I consume it, it'll be good enough. I'd like to absorb it whole to get as much mass as I can, but just a bit ought to be enough to get everything it should know." Truthfully, Damon thinks he actually needs to consume their "heads", or what would serve as one, to absorb memories, but he's never actually experimented with what would happen if he just ate parts of a creature's body. In the event that this doesn't work, Damon could always lie and say that the fox didn't know anything beyond what it was supposed to do. He turned his head towards the doctor to see what he would do now.

Grin tearing his cheeks, the doctor nodded, gesturing for Damon to follow with one of his arms, as the other three each extracted four needles from his coat. In moments he was upon the fox, needles piercing in various points along its spine, and through its temples. He began to lightly prod each needle, sending light shocks of essence through the creature. He could purge Darius' control, but instead he would do something far more devious.

He would bypass and make the fox numb to it. Several minutes past as he worked, reprogramming the fox's essence pathways and receivers, making them deficient to Darius' command signals, if he decided to give any. Several non-essential signals would return to Darius signalling that the fox was still functioning properly and was allegedly following his orders.

In actuality, the fox would be totally unaware of its former master, unable to detect its signalling consciously, and unable to control any of its prior functions. Kasain increased its learning capacity, feeding it essence and small bits of his own memories to foster various talents.

Stealth, swiftness, the ability to conceal one's presence, and draw the least amount of attention to oneself.

Then he began to slowly remove his needles, cept one, which remained buried in the beast's chest, piercing its mock heart as a reminder and deactivation method. After all the needles were extracted, Kasain began the secondary process, prodding the fox with needles, but never fully inserting them as he had before.

The creature's essence became thinner, spreading throughout its body for maximum efficiency to heal itself. It was rendered useless in combat, but could run swiftly and move silently. Finally he ceased his prodding, looking over his work, having long removed the spear of stone, which had pinned the fox to the wall.

The creature's form remained still, but observant. It was sitting on its haunches, looking up at Kasain. Smiling down at his work, the doctor patted its head, deftly slipping a needle into its skull, missing all vital portions of its pseudo-brain with skillful precision. From there he extracted the creature's memory-based essence, and any portions of superflous or useless essence that would merely weigh the fox down.

After a minute he extracted this needle fully, surged his essence through it to disperse the numbing and destructive effects of the implement, after which he turned, taking two steps to close the distance between himself and Damon, and plunged the needle straight into the shapeshifer's head.

The needle would instantly dissolve inside Damon, doing no real damage, and dispersing his desired mass and memories into him.

It was a rather strange feeling, more so since this isn't how he normally "Consumed" something. Still, Damon absorbed the knowledge within the needle and the ensuing essence, though he had a feeling that he wasn't quite getting everything that Damon could get if he had simply consumed the fox normally. Still, knowledge was knowledge, so he was going to make use of what he got.

The memories of the fox, as well as its creation, were abosrbed into Damon's mind. It was a bit to take in, but he was able to adjust the flow of information entering his head which he can pick out at his leisure. Quick leisure, since time was of the essence. While Damon would look more into the fox's memory later, right now he looked only for what mattered; what was going on at Darius's mansion and what the group could expect when they showed up.

Fuzzy images surfaced, at first were hazy images. Crumbled, aged, and bits of words here or there for Damon from where it seemed the essence had been cleaned over and over. Gleamed of most of its past though with time it could be recovered. Currently only a few words and letters stick out. Isaac, attacked, human and demonic appearance all would stick out to Damon yet none made sense.

The first really clear page was the fox's most recent resurrection within Darius's office. It was nothing much outside a dull, normal once that anyone could've used while the fox's eyes shifted, its lithe figure stayed utterly motionless.

"Track Juan and keep him...occupied. Namely as far away from here as you can." Said the Kitsune demon, his back to the fox while he merely continual to stare outside. In his hand was a towel, stained slightly red, wipping away what remained of a glass In the air was the scent of demonic blood caught in the fox's nose before it edged to the doorway. Beside it were two more more which joined it while they traveled toward the mansion's front door then out of the front gate. This was little after Darius had been contacted by Sir. It was followed by Juan being tailed, several times losing the foxes in various places and times before the apartment scene came into view. Its life spared by being entrapped within quicksand the whole time while it watched its fellows attempt to take Juan down.

Kasain was not just a doctor, he was an artist, and his canvas was a mixture of essence and flesh.

He knew what he was doing.

Walking over to Juan he extended an arm, needle in hand and gestured for Juan to mirror the motion. "I need a small bit of your essence to weave into the fox. I feel you would much rather it be loyal to you, rather than myself, yes? Nonetheless, I will retain awareness of its status, and be able to administrate such. However, you shall be its new master, with both of us its eyes. Favorable?" He seemed calmer now, rather composed. His fingers no longer twitchy, his stance stable and unmoving.

Work always calmed him down and got rid of his excess energy. Furthermore, since he regenerated his essence so fast, he'd be able to work again within minutes. A useful ability. Had he been a normal demon it would've been impossible.

Alas, he was not. Rather, Kasain was a demon in addition to having been both student and partial construct of the Fleshshaper. Yes, his past had its advantageous sides. This was for sure. Sadly, not all of it was advantageous, but that was a story for another time.

The fox had wandered up next to the Doctor, where it sat once more, staring between the two.

Juan's body had instinctively tensed at Kasain's request, remembering the needle into Damon's head. Every notion of life and natural process seemed to have stalled within his very being, his eyes narrowed upon Kasain after he had finished with the fox and Damon. Juan didn't like the idea of giving a piece, either blood, skin, or anything similiar to the doctor. It reminded him of a mage and the things she could easily do to her victims when her essence intwined into others. He felt a shiver trace up his spine and instinctively shoved it away. His sight eyed the fox for a few moments then sighed.

"Any piece of me you prefer?" Juan slightly mused though it was only half hearted.

Without thinking much about it, his hand reached up and jerked a piece of his hair. The root ripped free, taking not just scalp but blood as well as he held the bloodied dreadlock within the palm of his hand. Considering he was in continual pain, most would assume he couldn't feel anything at all but the opposite was the reality in fact. Any change in pain, small as a pinprick or more, was impossible to ignore though he had hellish tolerance. He only hoped this wouldn't bite him in the ass or else he would have to pay Afua Sane a visit and call in a favor, sadly at least becoming a nuisance within the man's life.

"Likely more then enough so enjoy, sweetheart, though be careful it doesn't burn you. It doesn't like being...detached." Juan said, though it sounded like a mild warning, as he held the dreadlock out enough for Kasain to take it without having to touch. The moment the doctor touched it there would be a sizzle sound and the dread would attempt to burn up which didn't surprise Juan at all. "Be gentle... it's my first time, darling."

Once Kasain took the hair, Juan snapped his fingers and pressed one to his scalp searing the wounds closed.

Wincing not at all at the man's action, the doctor nodded and rather than touch the lock, he pierced it with his needle, brought it down to the fox, at which point it began to burn. Grinning, the demon doused the flames with his essence and used the heat generated to disassemble the lock of hair, turning it into a weird looking paste, which the fox eyed with mild disgust. Kasain snapped his fingers, sending a thought command, and the fox snapped at the paste, devouring it in moments, only sticking its tongue out repeatedly afterwards at the taste.

Hair was not a pleasant snack. "Thank you Juan," the doctor stated, piercing the fox's head once more with a needle, inserting it only an inch this time as he pulled Juan's essence throughout the fox, coded it properly, and then removed his needle. "Now, try a few commands, if you please." He smiled at Juan, keeping an eye on the fox as he did so.

"Alright." Juan replied, seeing the fox act in less then a pleased manner at eating his essence within the hair. A slight perk to being an Ifrit demon was that he never had to worry about leaving left overs and remains behind for someone else to meddle with. Though he slightly questioned how wise he was taking this risk.

He inhaled softly then snapped off several thought commands, first simple then more complex as each was completed. First it wiggled its paw, kneading the hard concrete with its claws and then shook itself. It yipped then paced around Kasain without any problems in its movements. When it came to the right, it abruptly twisted and snapped right at the doctor's leg. Its teeth stopped just inches short. It was a clear indication Juan was merely testing its reflexes, among other things, to see the full effect of the changes made to the fox's structure. Juan's smirk widened briefly, his mind commanded the fox to settle back onto its hunches.

"Lovely changes, Dr. 'Mve. Though apologies for the attempted love nip, I wanted to test the full effect of your changes and guess what you had done," impulsively he moved to examine the creature. His hands stroked the fur, noting the slight contrast to its brethern, which he had petted in past studies, while he made a thorough study. Deep inside, a part of him stirred that hadn't in...ages. Not since the encounter with the half angel that attempted to kill Emmet and him back at the apartment.

"If the fox had originally done that before then it would've bitten through the skin and muscle tissue, rather then been able to stop like it did." Juan's mind went through the observations he had made in the short moments before, his hands seemed to be feeling the essence of the fox yet they didn't pierce the surface like Kasain did. He barely noted his dialogue had altered a bit from the casual, fun loving tone into a more serious one. "Changes have been made to the speed after observing its reaction time, namely when I compare it to its fellow specimens experiences. Though the jaw strength seems rather lacking, its likely the essence was spread thinner then it was originally had been and any excess removed making it less dense. This would account for the quickness and increase its stealth capablities. Useless in direct combat, however, making a disposible pawn if needed."

As if realizing his speech pattern had shifted, Juan slowly rose upright. Mentally he hoped neither of his current companions would think much into the change as it would've been rather difficult to explain. Essence had been the area he studied, namely the section about a living creature's soul and their aura essence, mostly on human subjects. However his obssession had driven him to edge into some demons and angels inorder to farther his...projects. It also required sacrifice from him on a personal level resulting in his current status.

Juan left the rest of his statement off with a topic change. "Rather impressive Doctor, rather impressive. Getting back to the point, you mentioned keeping the mustard gas off our subject which is a little hard to believe."

He also looked to Damon and the combat specialist, seeing if they had anything to add to current events. Namely anything helpful.

Rhett had been ruffling through his backpack, tampering with the C4 to make sure it could operate properly. He didn't want there to be any duds at the last second. He ignored most events surrounding the fox. Mainly because he didn't understand Demon magic and couldn't be bothered to try. They had their own way of doing things, and he had his.

When he was satisfied he zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He was ready to get started. He looked at Juan through his gas mask, with his dull red eyes. The mask muffling his already coarse voice.

“If the Doc says he can do it, I'd believe him. Seems to have quite a few tricks up his sleeve. Besides, it took me all night to get this stuff in these canisters without choking on it myself. Would be a shame to just not use it at all” [b]

He admitted to himself that it probably wouldn't have a strong effect on anything charged up with magic. Just the mooks who were basically meat shields anyway. He didn't think of that. He wasn't accustomed to fighting demons on a daily basis. Just the mooks, he had been after all, a mook himself for most of his life. It was just another thing he would have to adapt to. Of course that also meant a lot of reading manuals and tinkering with more gadgets that could quite literally blow up in his face. Which meant he probably wasn't going to be getting much sleep in the next couple of weeks. But as long as Crow kept up with the booze train, who cared about sleep?

[b]“Regardless, we should get going soon. The longer we wait the less chance we have of finding our man alive. He's probably not in the best condition as is.”

Not even wincing at the Fox's actions, the Doctor turned his eyes to Rhett, the other specialist that Crow had hired. Well, more like found, or so he'd heard. Coarse fellow in odd medical condition as far as he could tell. Granted, since he'd had no direct contact with the human he had no way of knowing his exact status.

"I appreciate your faith in me, mmm, Rhett, yes that was it," he nodded to himself, giving a thumbs up with one of his four hands. Turning his gaze to the compound, the doctor considered their situation for a brief moment before he spoke once more. "I figure a simple white room would do it, Juan." Smiling at his current leader, the demon tapped scratched his chin, pulling a small amount of flesh loose, before a needle was suddenly in his hand, sewing up the damaged area.

He didn't even seem to notice the occurrence. "I can establish a clean room of sorts, or in other terms, a field of absolute cleanliness in our query's direct vicinity. It is incredible what a simple manipulation of essence can do, is it not? Granted, I will need to make contact with his body via one needle, not enough to break skin though. No damage." His expression was serious, for it was obvious that Juan, despite all his airs, cared in some facet about the individual they were rescuing. Most would not go to such lengths to rescue someone in such a situation.

It was a matter of survival. However, this man was different. Something drove him to this, something about his future patient, but he said nothing and nothing about his demeanor revealed this intuition. He appeared perfectly transparent, though too unsettling to be entirely trustworthy.

Still he ought not to be setting off any alarms. After all he hadn't survived this long to do something so stupid.

Once everyone had their turn talking, Damon chimed in. "Hmm... That fox sure did follow you a long ways. Frankly I'm surprised that it managed to find us at all... Though beyond that, it doesn't seem to know much. It's suppose to stall you however, so I'm guessing that we shouldn't waste any more time trying to make further use from it." That tidbit with some "Issac" fellow seemed sketchy, and may make a later appearance in the story. But without anything else going for it, there was little use it had for Damon.

"Now than, shall we be off? Do you have a ride, or should I provide?"

Juan nodded, outwardly admitted to their wisdom when it came to limited time. Juan found it odd the combat specialist was the first, and likely only one, who vouched for the Doctor's skill as he looked at him through the mask. Deep inside he knew no matter how much planning went into this, if Emmet died then everything done was pointless. Worst case scenario was they were required to wing it. Inside, Juan noticed his stomach twitched at the thought and pushed it away. From the corner of his eye, he watched the doctor stitching up his own chin, a piece loosened by his scratching, drawing a comment from him when the demon finished.

"Not coming apart at the seams, eh Doctor?" Juan inquired, his relaxed attitude returned once more and left the comment hanging.

Immediately his attention turned to Damon, "Sadly I left my car keys at the apartment and I don't intend on going back for them. Unless these fellows have a ride, you'll likely have to provide one or I'll need to... borrow one. Once we get there, we'll split into our groups and head out. And just to recap: Kasain, another, and myself will seek a discreet way in. We can use that fox to scout ahead a bit to avoid trouble. Damon, you cause a ruckus near the gate drawing most the attention while Rhett keeps you alive by taking out what he can. After the subject is found, we all make to get the hell out of there then back to the apartment. If you make sure to use a canister of that mustard gas before we leave, it should prevent anyone from tracking us since the foxes depend a bit more on scent then sight."

He started to move then paused a moment to add, "Oh, that reminds me, mind if I borrow a spare radio? I rather not send up a flare and announce to the whole area we've got our target."

"Here, take mine." Damon first consumed a radio off of Rhett, only to produce a set of three identical radios, exactly like they were before he consumed them. He handed one back to Rhett, kept one for himself, and handed another to Juan. Looking at the bulky device, Damon than reabsorbed the radio back into his body, seeing that he wouldn't really need to keep it on him to use it.

Juan nodded his thanks then took one of the radios. One problem down, he thought placidly.

Once that was finished with Damon stepped out of the alley and onto the street. Making sure that there wasn't any traffic on their way, Damon put his hands out and skimmed through his mind for a vehicle they could take. Since they were expecting to take at least four people, he couldn't just take a motorcycle. However they needed to be inconspicuous; driving up in an unmarked black van would surely attract too much attention. He decided to go for a Gran Torino, or as he calls it, "Clint Eastwood's car". The car itself used to belong to this really antsy old guy, but after he got shot to death (Wasn't Damon's fault), he decided to commandeer the car while no one was looking. A pretty sweet ride, and for some reason or another, that old man put some serious metal plating on this thing. While it might not be enough to block a burst of gun fire, it would certainly provide better cover and move faster than your average car on the block.

It was a bit of an awkward sight (For some) to see Damon's flesh bubble together into the shape of the car at the end of his arms, only to drop it gently on the ground like it was a basket of flowers. Damon was unharmed of course. Producing a set of keys in his hand, Damon turned to Juan with a cheeky smile. "You driving?"

Kasain chuckled as he looked upon the newly formed car. Yes, this fellow was most certainly DarkMatter. Interesting. With that in mind he approached the car. "I sure hope so, I'm terrible at the wheel, despite my arms I can't handle that round thing worth a single coin." He promptly opened a door and hopped into the middle of the backseat where he grinned to himself. The three extras had brought their own method of transportation, ones that none of them would see.

Crow sure knew some useful people, thought the Doctor.

Juan watched the scene play out, barely phased by Damon's display of pulling a car from inside himself as the shape shifter had done much stranger in bed. Namely when Damon's form shifted from solid to liquid in the middle of their fun's best part, ithings got rather...slippery. Juan inwardly chuckled at the thought, fully knowing things were about to get more interesting and not in the positive way last night had been. When Damon produced the keys, jingling them in front of him like a teasing toy, Juan's hand whipped out to snatch them. From the doctor's comment it seemed there wasn't going to be any arguement over it and that was the most positive thing Juan had all morning.

"I'll drive. Just give me a moment to shove the medical things in the back seat." He said quickly, getting the medical cooler with the blood and supplies within. After nearly dying getting them, he wasn't about to forget them now. He noted the other three had dispersed to their own transportations likely. Finally, after every thing and one was loaded up, he placed the cooler in the back with Rhett (finally he now knew what to call the mercenary) and Kasain through the open window on the doctor's side.

Wasting little time he hopped into the driver's side then pulled away. The location Juan had picked wasn't far and the drive wasn't going to be very long at all.

[Wind Wild]

Puppet

The Academy, Early Morning

Hazumi slept soundly on a chair that occupied what seemed to be her office within the Academy, her home. Her head rested on the desk before her, an occasional, tiny snore escaped her lips as she breathed, her nostrils twitching, protesting to the intrusion of the dust that floated around in the dark room. She wouldn’t be able to feel the other presence that occupied the room with her dulled powers, especially when they were stretched into hundreds of strands, instruments, held by mortals. Her power was far beyond their control, as much as she liked to lie to herself that they could control it. Mortals had to earn their power, not be gifted it by others.

“What a waste of potential…” A low throaty voice said to itself as it watched the false gatekeeper sleep. Such a mortal wim, sleep was. It was like she wanted to be mortal, and as such pretended to be. Perhaps she wanted to experience the essence of a dream. Dreams were a curious thing for sure. Twisted and random in their nature. They reveal the darkest depths of one’s soul. Their greatest subconscious fears and desires.

The Puppet had rested enough, it was time for her to awaken. The being clicked it’s fingers, and Hazumi was overwhelmed with a twisted waking nightmare.

For her it was a peculiar nightmare.

It started off with a shape slowly emerging from the shadows. A blurry silhouette of a human, or an angel or a demon, or so one would assume based on the twin sets of limbs and what must have been a head. It had no face and it had no mouth but there was a smile painted on its features – a loving or a malicious one, she couldn't make out. She wasn't scared, although her heart beat faster as its steps approached her. It reached out a hand to her and she closed her eyes, heard speeding up yet again.

A feather touched her cheek, no, gentle fingers that made her eyes open in surprise. The smile greeted her, brighter, sincere and Hazumi could feel her eyes water. She stepped closer to the creature, it's spread arms welcoming her into an embrace. There, inside those arms she found shelter, resting her head on its chest. There was then a loving caress on her head, a lullaby of voice and words and slowly, slowly, Hazumi's eyes closed, her heart melting into a divine bliss.

The real Hazumi's eyes shot open, her body recoiling from the nightmare as if it was a wall of flame. Her breathing was ragged and painful to listen to, pupils wide with fear of what still played in her confused mind.

Then she noticed the figure in front of her, and went very, very still. Hand frozen in mid-air, one foot drawn back around the couch while another was still in front of it, Hazumi froze, uncertain as her body of what she was supposed to do next. Her face was a brilliant white reflection of the moonlight that streamed gently through the window.

“Who are you?”

“Someone you should fear.” It’s form was visible in the faint light. It looked illogical but godly. Strange yet elegant in it’s design. A black helmet with a single vertical visor donned the being’s features. The orange visor glowed with brilliant light. The helmet was attached fully to body, and unremovable, as black metallic flesh, kept it glued to it’s body. On it’s right shoulder, the black metal stretched all the way down it’s arm and right pec, with orange crystal like stones protruding out. On the left side, peach coloured flesh mixed in with the black metal, the metal lines acting as veins, passing pure essence throughout the body. An elegant yet complex garb covered it’s lower body, brown with black, blue and orange accents. It’s hands were covered by blueish black gauntlets.

“I… am Aaurus…” His sheer power was evident to Hazumi’s senses now, overwhelmingly so.

Her eyes hurt watching him. No, maybe it was her brain. Yet she couldn't stop staring at him. Words seemed a meaningless tool for combating her fear and confusion, yet they were the only tool she had.

“Why now?” She asked, throat dry, voice raspy.

“Now is the best time of all…” The being stated. “Recent events have… forced my hand.”

”Recent events”? “Recent events”?! Not the events of 3000 years ago when Heaven fell or even the events of 200 years ago when more than half the angels were slaughtered? “Recent events”, not when I remained the only god alive and needed your guidance? “Recent events”?!

“Solus was right. You're an asshole.” Hazumi glared at him, rage appearing on her features beside the fear.

“And I was right. You are a fake. An imperfection, a grotesque mole on the face of my creation, spreading your power to all like a wretched disease… A poor excuse of a failure, attempted to be made in my image from the carcasses of my children. A waste of flesh and bone, of essence, that could have been applied elsewhere towards something more useful.” Aaurus starred her frail and mortal form down with his Ancient gaze that pierced the multitude of souls that surrounded hers within that pathetic body. “My weapon may have been right in your eyes, but at least he is perfection, forged by my hands. A Being that will save this world I built. I have intervened… for the past 5000 years. Forging Solus’ spirit into what he has become today…”

He took a step closer. “You on the other hand, are a worthless abomination. Remember your place before you hand power to others that you barely understand…” His voice boomed throughout the room, but no one but Hazumi would hear it.

His words were daggers, sharp enough to pierce to the core of her being, but dull enough to cause immense pain. Hazumi's expression twisted, fear once again overshadowing the rage. There was a time, she remembered, when she was beyond fear, beyond the very comprehension of it. Now that confidence was shattered, pieces of it empowering creatures even more vulnerable than her. Because there are many things, capable of destroying humans. But there were few things, capable of destroying demigods as well.

So he was blaming her for taking the reigns of the chariot he'd abandoned, he was calling her a disease that shouldn't have happened? So he was here to undo the taboo the Fleshshaper had created? She stood no chance. Even as he stepped forward and she stepped back, she knew there was no point in even trying. The best thing she could do is spare the lives of everyone in the Academy by bowing her head quietly and minimising the damage.

“Why now?” She repeated – her existence had started long ago, her rule over the Academy, also. “Why you? Why not your weapon?” She said the word with a weird voice, somewhere between mockery and pity.

“Oh… I’m not here to erase you…” His voice piercing her skull. “I’m here to make you perfect…”

Alarm bells rang in Hazumi's ears. Hey eyes narrowed with distrust, her foot taking another instinctive half-step back.

“There is only one thing. One simple thing that you must do. So listen to my words, Puppet.” Aaurus stated eerily. “Aid the Weapon. Or you will never… see the Dawn of Day again. None of us will. For the End, draws ever closer. He must succeed.”

Puppet.

This was so unlike her nightmare – her biggest fear and her biggest wish. She wasn't persuaded and her heart was not in their agreement but she nodded. She had no choice. The role of gods wasn't to give you a choice. Yet agreeing to help Solus Grim wasn't the worst thing the deity could ask for. She would agree to it. At least for now.

“Good... “ A sudden feeling of relief could be felt by Hazumi, radiating from the God that stood before her. “My creations make their own choices. Whether they destroy themselves or not is up to them. In the end there is a natural balance that makes it all right. But when an outside force, seeks to destroy what I have made… I will not stand for it.” The being turned, and as Hazumi blinked, he disappeared. As if he was never there.

[Themerlinhawk]

Day 2: Afternoon

Class is Now in Session

Contributors: Themerlinhawk, Wind Wild, Yoshua171 & Grin

The class was listed as Magical Theories and Applications. While Lazarus was a bit sceptical of the students qualifications he was fairly sure they could at the very least PASS. Well, the in class part. The lab that was attached was a different story altogether. Lazarus had done some redecorating for the classroom. He’d stripped most of the decour and laid slab stone in the class. His desk sat in the front of the class off to the left of a massive chalk board. He’d changed the lighting scheme so he could manipulate the level of light in the room as necessary. The desks were now a plastic composite that was resistant to fire and a variety of other destructive forces. Lazarus had designed the material himself early in his alchemy career in order to make his work spaces more resistant to the destructive nature of his work. He’d also added a projector for his various slideshows. Lazarus was currently perched on the front of his desk feet dangling off of the desk, barely brushing the floor. Leaning up against the desk was Dracul. He’d opted to bring the sword as, regardless of other factors, it was great battery for some of the more potent spells he planned on demonstrating. The desk also featured a fire extinguisher and a rather large first aid kit. It was a joke really as Lazarus could handle most of the potential problems with his own magic but it certainly made a statement about the class. Lazarus grinned as he thought about the faces of his students the first time he blew something up. Tapping his heel on the front of the desk he waited for his students. Only a few minutes to the bell. This was going to be fun, it had been too long since he’d taught a class. Having slept before night fell, Timore had then been out for the last five or so hours, some of the time spent playing his instrument, the rest of it spent dealing with private matters. He preferred not to think on it, despite the giddy feeling that grew in his stomach when he did. Putting it out of mind, Timore made his way through the halls of the Academy, trudging towards his first class of the day. He was curious about magic and its uses, so this would be quite a treat he imagined. Then again, he’d heard odd things about the teacher, nonetheless he couldn’t be terribly strange...right? Perhaps not, after all he couldn’t even call himself normal, even though he did his best to feign such. Moving his wrist so as to spin the bracelet upon it, he was checking as to whether or not his instrument, Metentis, was awake. There was no response. No green glow, no whistling, and not a single word in his mind. Good, he thought to himself as he reached the door which would lead him into his first class of the year. Taking in a deep breath and donning a smile, the boy entered the classroom, waving slightly to the teacher, who if he recalled properly went by the name...Lazarus. Strange name, then again he couldn’t really talk, could he. ”Morning,” he greeted cheerfully, glancing between the desks in an effort to decide where he wanted to sit. Lazarus grinned like a maniac, the first one was always interesting. Where they sat always seemed to influence the pattern of seats for the rest of the class. “Good Morning Timore” He shamelessly skimmed the students mind. Not that he needed to his memory was eidetic so after memorizing the class list he was almost certain he could put names to faces long before they’d ever speak their names in his class. “If you’re not one for fire, you’re welcome to the seats at the back, if you don’t mind having your eyebrows sizzled but you want to see what’s going on you’re welcome to sit up here.” With that Lazarus continued to tap his foot on the desk as he leaned back and propped himself on his hands. “I’M HERE!!” Iris jolted into the room, her body wiggling into her desk. A smug grin lay on her lips until her eyes widened in terror. “Oh wait, AH! I FORGOT MY STUFF!! I’ll be right back!” As iris got up her knee smacked into her desk and she toppled over. “Ow, ow..” She curled her lip, took a deep breath, then shot a look at Timore, her body still sprawled on the floor. “Hey, can you save my seat, pleeeassseee?” Iris fixed her face into a well practiced pout, as if she shapeshifted into a puppy. Sam had chosen that moment to walk in. Her huge over-ear headphones were booming some indistinct bass and she didn’t bother taking them off as she approached the first desk. Taking in the sight she rose her eyebrows and muttered “Guys who hit girls outside the ring are the worst.” before shamelessly kicking Timore’s shin. Rather pleased with herself, she took a seat on the desk right in front of Lazarus’ and took the headphones off, but didn’t actually stop the music which spilled toxic tunes into the classroom. Iris blinked, admiring her attitude, before looking back up to Timore, not waiting for a reply. “Thanks!!” And with that she bolted out the door. A bit stunned, Timore almost laughed at the girl’s clumsiness, but instead stifled the laughter and opened his mouth to reply. Then another girl entered the room, made an offhand comment, and kicked him in the shin, causing him to wince and then shoot a glare at the headphone wearing girl. Before he was able to reign himself in Iris had flashed out of the room, having thanked him despite him never answering. It was a good thing he didn’t like holding grudges too much. This other girl was another matter though and so he moved towards her, intending to watch over Iris’ desk and confront the girl all at once. However, before he could open his mouth, after he’d approached her, his bracelet slithered from his wrist and plopped onto the top of Sam’s desk, snapping at her violently, but not actually making contact. It was a flute stylized as an ornate snake, and it was angry. "I ssshould ssssnap youuu," the serpent hissed in its vile tones before the now flustered Timore snatched it from her desk and forced it back around his wrist, shoving its tail into its mouth in the process, apologizing all the while. "Ugh, I'm sorry," he muttered, almost turning away before remembering the pain in his shin as he took a step. "But I didn't hurt the other girl," he said, realizing he didn't know her name, or the name of the girl he was now attempting to confront. "...though I'm sure you've the wrong impression of me now," he sighed deeply and shook his head, turning away. He decided he'd sit down in the spot next to Iris, she seemed fun enough and while it was near the front, he figured Metentis, or a bit of magical tinkering would keep him safe from being cooked up by whatever Professor Lazarus demonstrated. While he considered that, and rubbed his temples with his thumbs, he noticed a small flash as Metentis attempted to sneak off of his wrist again. This time he was quick to move, gripping the serpentine flute, now in the shape of a bracelet again, thus stopping its movement. The fragment's green eyes flared up, briefly illuminating his surroundings in an eerie light before dying down and giving up...for now. He could hear the instrument muttering in his mind though, but at least he'd stopped it from speaking out again. Metentis was always a nightmare to deal with especially since he just wanted to get along with everyone. Samantha’s reaction to the serpent-slash-instrument was that of amusement. As it snaked around her desk and stood, she leaned forward, extending a finger to touch it. She very well realised it could be dangerous, however Dangerous was her middle name and thus she was drawn to anything like that like a moth to a light bulb. Before anything interesting (and probably bad) could happen, Timore had already snatched the instrument away from her curious fingers. “Awwww.” Sam complained with a grin. The boy apologized and she raised an eyebrow as he claimed he hadn’t hurt Iris. “Oh, right. If you say so.” She shrugged. Iris barged back into the room again, gasping for air. Her arms lifted up and she cheered. “Woo! new record!!” She glanced at Timore, then walked towards her saved desk. “This happens a lot, so I thought I might as well try to beat records I set.” She grinned and sat down. “I’m Iris, thanks for saving my seat. And you are?” She looked the strange boy up and down, and noted his bracelet. “Oh, and neat bracelet! It’s always cool to see a guy wear some jewelry.” Her smile was still present on her face, causing the red tattoo under her eye to wrinkle a little. Having somewhat turned his mind from the headphone girl for the moment, and with Metentis having calmed somewhat, Timore was a bit more composed upon Iris’ return. However, her antics yet again caused a bemused smile to form on his face. She sure was energetic, he thought. As she gave his bracelet a compliment, Timore’s hand clenched around it slightly, making sure the instrument didn’t decide to respond. He however smiled, appearing a bit embarassed, causing one of his hands to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “Thanks haha, my name’s Timore. You can call me Tim if it’s easier,” He was a bit flattered really, though he wondered if she had noticed his pendant, ring, or his small earrings. It was funny how such a small comment could make him feel self conscious. To try and divert her attention he decided to ask a question of his own, even if it came out as a stutter, ”So, what brings you to this class? I picked it to expand my magical knowledge a bit. I’ve dabbled here and there, but my skill is...w-well, cursory at best. ” He winced internally as he stuttered. Man, that was a self-fulfilling prophecy, he mused mentally. Iris blinked, then gifted Timore a big smile, ignoring the stutter. “I’m here to learn about a harp I was given. Lazarus was the one to find me…” She stopped. “I figured I would take his class because I really..respect him.” She thinks for a bit, then responds. “Any fun skills to boast of?” He chuckled a bit, she didn’t miss a beat it seemed. He’d intended to get her to talk about herself so he could listen awhile, get comfortable till the others got there and class started, but oh well. At least she wasn’t judgemental, well at least not out loud. ”I can play the flute quite well, and alter the flow of essence somewhat, but beyond that...” he stopped for a moment, a slight frown crossing his brow as he heard Metentis whispering in his mind. What about the blade, Timmy, Tiiiim, what of the sssword. It cutsss, sheerss, and rendsss. Mm deliciousss feeding... the fragment’s mental voice quieted and the cloudy expression on his face caused him to turn away a moment, looking around the classroom as he spoke. He appeared nervous, ”Yeah, n-nothing of note beyond that really, haha...ha,” his laugh was more awkward than joyous now, like he was trying to forget something he’d remembered--which he was. Iris noted he seemed uncomfortable. A worried look crossed her face before she turned back to her usual optimistic beam “So was my record timing the best of the best or what?! I ran into a few people on the way of getting it, but it was totally worth it!! oh but wait if I bumped into people I probably lost some points...darnit...I’ll try not to do that next time..” Iris grumbled, her face scowling. The door to the classroom opened again and Ian slid in. Checking the corners and the seat distribution. His glance took in Sam and the other two not pausing as he assessed and wrote them off. At which point he realized Iris was a new student this semester. Filing the information for later. He eyed the fire extinguisher and Lazarus’ maniacal grin. He deliberately took a seat in the back row to the right side of the door. “I can’t tell if you’re concerned for your looks Mr. Snyder or you are concerned that an armed gunman will come through that door, either way I can assure you. You’re quite safe.” Lazarus patted the fire extinguisher for effect. Before he winked at Iris. Turning to Sam and her relatively loud music he looked from her to the clock. “I’d say you have about three more minutes of that. I don’t teach to sick beats darlin and you don’t want me to solve the problem.” He grinned like an evil genius. Sam had shamelessly turned back on her chair to observe the rest of the class. Now she was more persuaded that Timore hadn’t hit the other girl, that she didn’t mind, and that Ian was a wuss. As Lazarus spoke she put the chair back on all 4 feet and straightened. “If it bothers you I can turn it off now.” She suggested, surprisingly obediently. “Didn’t think it was your kind of music anyway. But I hope we have the same taste in magic, at least.” She grinned. Lazarus laughed “First, Mr. Synder is not a wuss.” His eyes twinkled with evil glee, he’d been shamelessly skimming thoughts from all of the members of the class since they’d walked in. “He’s practical and if an armed gunman walked into this class right now he would be the first one to engage the individual so your appreciation of the situation is lacking. That being said not everyone has the guts to stand in the fire.” He let the question of if that was a metaphor or not hang “And second I have an appreciation of all music, I simply find that others find it hard to absorb multiple forms of information. As to magic I think THAT depends on how crazy you think I am and how crazy I ACTUALLY am.” Sam turned around to smile somewhat apologetically at Ian and give him a wink. “Sorry, please don’t let the armed gunman we’re expecting shoot me.” Then she turned back forwards, grinned even wider and leaning forward in her desk. “I think you’re crazy enough.” As the rest of the class filtered in Lazarus grinned. “We’re about to find out, okay hello everyone. I Won’t be teaching you HOW to do magic in this class, we will be discussing theories and possible applications. The practical portion of this will appear in the lab section where I WILL be teaching you how to use magic. Or at least trying.” He hopped off the desk and walked in front of the class. “Okay, So your first test is right now.” He held up his hands to forestall any outcry. “It’s pass or fail, and only one of you is going to pass. Or none of you is going to pass.” With both hands held out he conjured fire in his right hand and then did it again in his left hand “If you can tell me what the difference between what I just did in my left hand and what I did in my right hand. You are free to go, do what you want with the rest of the period. You are also exempt from the Practical portion of the class today. You will receive full credit for both.” He looked at all of them. “I Will give you each three questions, either a guess or some other form of question to narrow the field. Be aware that asking another question may give one of your classmates an advantage. Feel free to come up and observe closer if you feel the need. If none of you feel the need to ask a question or make a guess we can move on with the lecture. However no one will be leaving for today.” He stood both flames extended. Iris’s hand shot up, her face beaming. “The difference is that you used your right hand and then you used your left hand!!” She crossed her arms triumphantly. Lazarus’s face remained blank for a moment before he laughed “Okay, I will give you that. Points for creativity Iris. But sadly. No that is not the difference I am looking for” He contemplated it for a moment “Yeah, I’m not letting you out of practice and class on that one but I’ll give you points for the class today since that is at its most basic level correct.” Lazarus was interesting, Timore concluded as he listened closely, then watched the conjuring of the flames. The essence of fire was something with which he was familiar, and there was certainly a difference between the two flames, but he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was. He didn’t have much practical knowledge and while he had spent his life being able to see essence and emotion flowing around him, he had only figured out how to properly differentiate certain aspects of essence, whereas emotion came more easily. He glanced at Iris as her hand shot up, and for a moment he thought She has magical knowledge? Then her mouth opened, and he again found himself smiling a bit. He nudged her lightly with his elbow, smiling a bit as if to say ‘nice one’. He then turned back to their professor and gazed into the flickering flames in each hand. It wasn’t color, that wasn’t the difference, he was sure of that. Perhaps the flames had been ignited from different sources, one magical, and the other more natural, whereas the magic was just a trigger. “Did you create both flames with essence,” he thought aloud, realizing only afterwards that he’d done so. Metentis stirred, its eyes glowing softly. It was looking at the flames and the essence in the room. If only it could feed. “I guess that depends upon what you mean by create them both with Essence now doesn’t it? I’m afraid you’re going to have to be more specific. Because the answer to that question that you just asked is yes.” Lazarus grinned. Kid was close that was for sure. “Anyone else care to guess or are you going to let Tim do all the leg work?” Ian spoke up “Is one an illusion?” Lazarus raised an eyebrow at that. “Very good question Mr. Snyder, if you were sitting closer you might be able to feel the heat coming off of both of them.” Ian’s face didn’t change as he responded “If you’re half as good as you seem to think you are then you could have easily faked the perception of heat as well as the sensation of being burned by the fire and the illusion of the appearance of a burn. So your logic seems to be somewhat lacking.” Lazarus laughed “Alright smartass, suit yourself. Although I applaud the reasoning and the thought process behind the guess the answer is still: No.” Sam was listening intently to the suggestions and was reaching out to feel the heat of the flames as Ian suggested one was an illusion. She was ready to plunge her hand in both of them until he got to the point of the sensation possibly being the same, which stopped her hand mid-way. Her lips twisted upwards thoughtfully, eyes fixed on the flames. “Did you create fire in one hand and then transfer it to the other? Because if you did that would be a very neat trick – to steal other people's magic.” Lazarus shook his head “While magic jacking is an effective trick it rarely works on anything other than Evocations. In this case no I didn’t transfer the fire to the other hand. On a side note, magic jacking requires a fair bit of practice and A LOT of attention as you have to anticipate the spell if it is of the quick and dirty variety.” Lazarus looked up “Anyone else?” Timore’s eyes were narrowed as he focused, one of his hands spinning the ring on his right ring finger absentmindedly. It was a habit he had. Neither flames were illusions, the flames were, in a way, both made from essence, but there was a difference in some sense. Neither of them had been jacked as the mage put it. He needed more information, but only had two more questions before he had to make his final answer, if he had understood Lazarus correctly. He almost wanted to sample the essence with his ring, but he knew that the professor would notice, and would likely consider it cheating, so he put the idea out of mind. He frowned slightly, meeting a bit of a dead-end. They hadn’t narrowed down the possibilities enough. He glanced at Iris who had been silent for the last series of questions, before glancing back at the flames. “To follow up my essence question…” Timore began, then realizing that everyone probably looked to him as he did. He cleared his throat then continued, “...what I meant is did you create the flames from pure essence by just casting a spell with both. Or did you make one with a spell, and make the other by making a substance, then igniting it. I figure they’d appear identical, but one might burn or act differently if you, say, threw it at something.” Part of him wanted to say someone instead of something, causing him to briefly avert his eyes before looking back at the flames, then Lazarus. Iris gawked at Timore, her mouth open. Without thinking she used the essance in her mind and traveled it over to Timore’s own in a whisper. NICE ONE!! She paused, then made a faceplant into the desk, groaning as her red hair sprawled everywhere. Her head popped back up in an instant. She had an idea, adding onto Timore’s question. Reaching into her cluttered backpack she spotted one lone sheet of paper, ripping it unevenly in half, then reaching it out to Lazarus. “LazLaz can you use both flames to individually burn the two parts of this sheet of paper as a demonstration?” Iris didn’t hesitate a word, not even the silly nickname. Her grin was brighter than the cackling flames themselves. Lazarus turned towards her and hurled both fireballs simultaneously like an instructor conducting an orchestra. One of them shot between his hand and the paper in a straight line. The other looked like it had actually been a thrown object. At the same time he wove essence around Iris to make sure she wasn’t burned by them insulating her body and personal effects from the fire. “ I think that’s enough to answer both your questions” Ian laughed from the back of the classroom. “Okay I think I get it” Lazarus gave him a prompting look but Ian shook his head “I wanna learn how you did that, I ain’t giving up practice today.” Lazarus shrugged in response and ignored the pet name Iris had used studiously. Iris looked at Lazarus. “One seems to be a straight line and the other seems to be something that’s lit on fire…” She bit her lower lip, her thumb curled under her chin, then spoke again. “One is purely made of essence and one is made from a chemical reaction of essence?” Timore’s eyes opened in shock as Lazarus threw the flames, but noted the essence that moved ahead of them. Iris took no damage and neither did he, though he did stand up abruptly. He had to clamp a hand down on Metentis so it didn’t expand to defend him, but otherwise he was unaffected. After a moment a smile crossed his face and he slowly sat back down. When Iris spoke, he nodded his head, that had been what he was thinking all along. Then he realized her compliment a moment ago hadn’t been vocal, but mental. It was at this point that he realized that he’d let go of Metentis, who had promptly uncoiled from his wrist, looking like an odd metallic stylized serpent, which now regarded Lazarus for a moment before turning its glowing green eyes towards Iris. Timore was still processing what had happened while Metentis just stared. He could sense the fragment’s intrigue...and intrigue was never good. ”Feel free to ssspeak any time,” the serpent said before slithering towards Timore, then curling up in front of him between his elbows which rested atop the desk. ”Um...don’t mind him,” Timore stated nervously, as he snatched Metentis from the desktop and shoved him into his backpack. Damned serpent. Lazarus cocked his head at the serpent “I don’t ever think I’ve seen a fragment move of its own accord, that was fascinating.” Snapping back to the class he looked from Tim, to Ian to Iris. “Well, you’re closing in on the answer. Anyone care to use their guess, officially?” He repeated the process of conjuring the two fireballs for effect. He raised his eyebrow at Ian who shook his head. Sam's mind was soaring, preoccupied with the practical importance of what she was seeing rather than its theoretical origin. There must be a reason they were shown this, she thought, so whatever the difference was, in her head it had to be significant for combat to actually be mentioned in class. Thus, while listening to other people's suggestions, the most important answer for her would be the practical use for both techniques. Even if that completely disregarded Lazarus’ actual question. “My guess is that one probably has a solid body you can throw like a grenade and it will probably burn longer and manage to break through a window, while the other you can spray over something and it's like flash-roasting it, but it doesn't last as long.” She grinned, balancing her chair on two feet. She had a feeling that boy's living and slithering instrument and the fact that Iris' eyebrows hadn't been burnt, was actually more interesting to her than the fireballs she couldn't lay her hands on. “One I'd use if I'm robbing a bank, the other would be useful against a hay roof.” Lazarus blinked “Okay, your criminal mind has been noted. And while you are correct, you’ve still missed the point of what I’m trying to teach you.” He snuffed both of the fireballs. “Since I think at least four of you know more or less what the difference is but for some odd reason don’t want out of class today I will explain.” He hopped back up on his desk “One of them was created with pure essence manipulation for the purpose of producing a fireball. It plays by different rules than normal fire. The second one was created by using essence to condense oxygen into a solid state and then ignite it. While the second one is harder to maintain for long periods of time, it is easy to actually create initially. Which, if you’re looking for a quick fireball in a pinch is probably what you want. If you plan on holding on to it. The direct essence method is typically best.” With that he hopped back down and began to pace while he talked “The point is this. There are many ways to accomplish similar things with magic. It is about how creative you are and how prepared you are to do something.” He picked up a piece of lead sitting on his desk and held it out. Right there before the classes eyes he performed a piece of alchemy that had been the quest of many mortal alchemists over the years. He transmuted lead into gold. “It gives you the power to do incredible things with only a thought. Which is why you are all here. Now. Any questions” He grinned like a maniac at the expressions he saw in the crowd. Timore nodded a bit, smiling slightly. He had in essence been correct, but Lazarus and his class was too interesting to simply pass up. He was equally glad he hadn’t truly answered when the man began to lecture finishing with a transmutation spell, turning lead into gold. The materials were very different and while he grasped the jist of what Lazarus had likely done he could not help but stare in mild awe. Still he felt the serpent’s disdain settle in his mind before dissipating, replaced by disinterest. It was better that way, Timore thought. Iris’s usual wide eyes narrowed into one of understanding. Her mind began to race with the possibilities before she got out a sheet of paper and took elaborate notes. This could be very useful for her abilities. She was working on another piece of paper, and while the class was distracted she whispered into the air, sending it onto Lazarus’s desk. It was a detailed sketch of himself made in rough pencil edging and cross-hatching, displaying his signature grin. She smiled at that and then placed her notebook back into her bag when she finished. Lazarus looked at the clock. “Well if that is all, you are dismissed. I’ll see you all at practice. wear longsleeves.”

[Celaira]

Awkward Awakenings

Location: Loom -- Master Melody's Dormitories Time of Day: Morning

Contributors: @yoshua171, @Fallenreaper, and @Celaira

Morning came just like any other day as the light tried to creep in. Its golden fingers stretched from the courtyard and against Master Melody’s Academy for Fine Arts walls, pushing and seeking flaws to allow them into the rooms behind them. It failed. It failed like every morning since the school was built, its walls firm and solid, protecting those who slumbered deep within. Of course not all stayed that way. Olivia’s face was pushed against soft, purple fur from Lisara’s warm body. Her red hair was a wreck as it flattened and slid to one side of her head, giving her a slight cow lick from the bangs down. The braid it had once been in was frayed and pulled apart in her tossing during the night. It seemed Lisara had realized her discomfort because she was currently resting on a mess of pillows. The very pillows taken from the foot of Aeris’s bed foot. The girl let out a tender moan while she pulled up, the cover slipping off her shoulder in the process, making her eyes glide down. She spotted the cotton white of the knitted sweater and knew everything last had happened. It wasn’t a nightmare. The realization slammed into her middle with heavy force causing her to pull her arm about it, squeezing herself to reassure her it was all over. Her eyes lifted then wandering over toward Aeris, stopping to rest on the vampire still snoozing away it seemed and sprawled out on the mattress. She let her attention sit there for a few moments while her limbs began to ached from the floor. Slowly, muffled noises from the students gathering drew Olivia’s attention. Leaning farther on the hellhound, she slide her stomach higher then leaned her ear into the door. She thought she heard the sounds of bags ruffling, feet scuffling, and more as people started to rise for their morning classes though all the noise was muffled enough that it was impossible to tell clearly because of the door. Lisara was still sound asleep like her master. The hellhound barely registered Olivia’s slight weight or shift in position, enabling the girl to easily shift back and sat on her knees. The blanket had fallen completely off into a messy pile curled around her hips. A numbness had started to stray in her knees causing Olivia to rise up, her hands gloved and protected, until she was standing upright. Giving a slight groan she felt her spine crack lightly followed by her joints making her body tense in reaction. Her eyes noted the clock and blinked. At first she couldn’t believe the time, not wanting to consider she slept that late as she heard a knock at the door. Tried and partly alert, she made her way to Aeris. Her middle started to wake with a low grumbling and gnaw for nourishment, refusing to be ignored. Olivia’s gloved hand touched Aeris’s rather still form while the younger girl bent down to whisper a plead. “Ris...Ris! Are you awake? Ris…” She increased her pushes on the arm when there wasn’t a reply, hoping to wake her ‘sister’ up for breakfast. Arriving back after dealing with that damned angel and following a brief hunt for Renegades, Mairyell arrived back at the Academy. He made no attempt to hide his presence or the nature of his being as he brazenly walked into the school and past a score of students in the hallways. Classes had begun, but Aeris' wasn't due for a good while, she had time. Hopefully she was awake though, otherwise he'd have to disturb her rest after what he knew had been a very stressful night. Arriving in her wing of the massive campus the vampire knocked on the door and waited. When there was no response he smirked lightly, then with a sigh he attempted to open the door, but to no avail. Closing his eyes he sniffed the air, noting the scent of Olivia and Lisara directly on the other side of the door. Grumbling he knocked again, waiting for a response. Olivia's head jerked, her hand rested on Aeris' arm, to hear another sharp sound at the door. Shit! She knew it was unlikely that anyone other than Aeris and her brother knew she was there. A fact that made her worried how the rest of this place might react to an unknown guest, even worse, their actions against Aeris. Last thing Olivia wanted was for Aeris to get into serious trouble. She turned back to the task of getting Ris up. Her hands both came onto the arm, pushing a little harder, as she increased her shaking. Her head paused long enough to lean down to her adopted sister's ear with a voice a few too octaves too high. "Aeris, wake up! NOW!" The moment she had almost screamed in Aeris' ear, Olivia felt herself jerked backwards. Teeth sank into her sweater dress and gave a rough tug, jerking her from harm's way just as Aeris reacted. Her balanced tilted too far and in a moment, her ass felt the hard sting of falling with a soft thump on the floor. Raising an eyebrow as he heard a light thump and then a rustling in the room, Mairyell waited. At hearing the scream in her ear, Aeris' body jerked, "Holy shit!" the older girl slurred tiredly. Instinctively her arm slammed backward to where the sound was, however when she didn't hit anything, she fell out of bed. Grumbling to herself, it was almost as if she had forgotten Olivia was even there. The vampire was tired. Her body rose from the floor with a somber growl as another knock sounded on the door. "Who the fuck?" Today was starting off to be a relatively annoying day. Languidly she moved to the door, and fiddled with the locks for a moment or two before finally managing to open it. Her tired eyes didn't register her brother, and as if she was still dreaming, she reached toward him. It almost looked as if she were giving him a hug, but if her arms made it around his neck, her mouth would make a movement and teeth would sink into his flesh. When the door finally opened it revealed his sister, still dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing the previous day. She had a tired, no an exhausted, look on her face and her eyes seemed to look through him. Still hazy and half-awake, then came her arms around him and he stepped in, resisting the urge to move away, for a hug. However, he got far more, specifically a brief pain in his neck as her fangs sunk into him. What followed was an odd tingling sensation that spread through him, accompanied by a strange blue glow. His eye twitched, because the memory he hadn't thought about for over 200 years. Back when he'd run away because of a pesky guardian angel...and she'd followed.--except, now the tables were turned. First the pleasant sensation, then a kind of euphoria, followed by confusion and panic, followed immediately by annoyance and then his claws were out. It took him a moment to force them back in for his first reaction to being bitten was usually to tear the assailant's spine out, and he was pretty sure Aeris didn't possess his regeneration...not that even he could easily come back from such a wound. So he waited, as uncomfortable as it was, he waited for her to realize what she was doing, no matter how awkward, confused, and uncomfortable it made him feel. "So, you're Mairyell..." A dry feminine voice echoed through Mairyell's mind softly. "I've heard much, but you seem a bit more relaxed than the stories I was told." As the voice spoke, the demon dog whom had protected Olivia from being thrown across the room only a moment prior padded to sit at Aeris' side. The beast's ears flicked slightly as she pawed Aeris gently. Flashes of Aeris' past would surface through her brother's mind if he didn't break the connection, minor though the memories were. After a few minutes, Aeris' body shivered and she let go of Mai, her tongue lightly tracing across the bite mark, healing it. Fully awake and fully confused with the taste of blood on her tongue, Little Kasio licked her lips. It was a few seconds before she finally noticed who was standing in front of her. When it hit her, she took a step back, and blinked. "Uhhh..." The doll stammered looking up to meet her brother's eyes and then down, forcing herself to look at Lisara. What did I do? Her mind questioned the Fire Dancer warily. Her only response was a soft chuckle. "You awake now? Good. Get dressed, you have class within an hour or two," his tone was sharp, but not angry. He made no effort to respond to the hellhound till he turned away and began walking off down the hallway. Stay out of my head,demonor you'll find my temperament the smallest thing that's changed, he said, a warning clear in his tone as he glanced over his shoulder then turned the corner. Logically he knew what had just happened had been reflex, but sadly he was not ruled purely by logic. He decided he'd wait right there, around the corner, where he laid his back against the wall and tried not to think. Maybe he needed to start sleeping again...just so he had time when nothing was on his mind. Aeris' body swiveled slightly, her eyes catching Olivia still on the ground. Her face flushed and she quickly walked past the girl and turned on the shower. The vampire stripped off her clothes and slid into the heat of the water, her mind coming to rest on her brother and his reaction to her. Had she fed on him? Was she really so tired that she didn't even recognize him for a few minutes...? As she washed, her face rested in her hands and she inhaled deeply. God dammit... It's gonna be hell to face him now... Olivia sat there, her elbows propped her upright and stared as Aeris sank her teeth into her brother’s neck. She could see the discomfort, the hands flicker just slightly in tension, and slowly relax allowing his sister to continue. This wasn’t new to her. Olivia had seen vampires, usually guests of Darius, feed yet often enough she was ushered away before she could see the full effects. Darius was against exposing her too much to their demonic nature. Not fitting for her to judge them solely on that was how he put it and it wasn’t until now, did she see what he truly meant. She felt her heart continue hammering deep within her chest and her throat seized up, stopping her words from reaching the air. Not that anything she could say would've done her any good. Olivia had caught herself staring, noting the look spared over Mairyell’s shoulder, and jerked her eyes down in slight shame. It seemed she wasn’t alone when she felt Aeris’ eyes brush over her. This was enough to cause her to risk looking up and caught her guardian’s gaze. She gave a small, understanding yet very weak smile. As if say she understood even if it frightened her. It didn’t seem to help when Olivia noted the blush in skin color, followed by Aeris walking past and the sounds of running water behind the closed door. Olivia’s sight couldn’t help watching where her caregiver was heading before she finally gave a guilty sigh. Her Uncle would’ve been so disappointed in her right now and it only wrenched her heart to realize it. Sighing to himself he continued his likely futile attempts to convince himself that all that had been was a simple accidental bite brought on by exhaustion and his sister's half-awake state. He was probably right too, that's very much all it had been...right? He growled and a student who'd been walking by gave him a weird look and held their books to them tighter than before, their pace increasing. This made him smirk, for it seemed that even after this long people still had a certain fear for demons. It was kind of funny actually. Then again, if one really thought about it the rules that had been set in place only did so much. It wasn't like he couldn't go out and just kill someone if he wanted. Granted, he'd very likely get found out. Whether or not they could catch him once they knew was another story entirely though. Putting that aside, even though it was a welcomed distraction, Mairyell took in several deep breaths in an effort to clear his head. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. Grumbling he crossed his arms over his chest and began counting cracks or minor dents or the like on nearby surfaces. It was at this point that he realized he was not only confused, but bored as well. He really hoped this day wasn't going to be as troublesome as the previous one.... After about 15 minutes in the shower, Aeris finally came out with a towel wrapped tightly around her body. Before she blew her hair dry, she combed it. After the drying was done, she combed it once more, and ventured out into the main portion of her room. carefully she pulled out a female's spring uniform for the school along with undergarments. After putting the clothes on, she turned to look at Olivia, the uniform hugging her body tightly in the chest area, and exploiting her curves where it could. The vampire fidgetted slightly as she sat down on the bed and put on a pair of calf-high white boots. "What do you think, 'Liv?" She questioned softly. While she waited for Olivia's answer, she blinked. "We need to let someone know you're here... Maybe Hazumi, definitely the principal..." She thought aloud as she looked at her "sister's" clothes. She would probably need to go shopping later on today after school as well. “Wow, I actually be scared something might fall out in that outfit.” Olivia blurted out as she turned her body half way to Aeris. She had moved to the bed not long after her shock from the floor and sat there for a good while. All the time, her mind kept drifting between what she would say and how, namely to keep the scene comfortable. “I know the boys will like it that’s for sure.” Aeris laughed and blushed slightly, "Haha. I wanna play a little trick on my students, think it'll work?" After about 10 minutes, Aeris rose from the bed and picked up an empty messenger bag. Carefully she put a binder, laptop, and three books within it. Once she had done that, she looked at Lisara. Would you go get Mai, please? At the request, Lisara, who had been sitting in the same place as before, padded out of the room and down the hall to Mairyell's side. Olivia smiled at Aeris' comment and shook her head in a light hearted way. She edged from the bed when Aeris had finished putting on her boots, the girl’s lithe body pulled upright and carefully edged nearby to see the woman packing up. Her body stopped in its tracks just long enough to see Lisara start to rise and walk out, shutting the door behind her. She didn’t see the slight huff of dislike in the hellhound’s wake making her wonder what Lisara was up to. Staring a little long, she came beside Aeris and suddenly realize what Aeris might’ve been implying. “It’s only for a little bit right, less than a week? I rather not miss too much of my classes and my friends will wonder what happened to me…” She let her sentence cut off. Her mind went back to Mr. Findly and his unfortunate death due to her stupidity, a fact she will never forgive herself for. Her arms had fallen at her side and edged to tighten about the edges of her- rather shorter than she would’ve liked- sweater dress. She pushed the thoughts away before trying to pretend everything was alright. It wasn’t really. She had never been that close to death and it had shaken her up beyond words, her mind ignoring the fact she would crumble from the experience if she kept it up. The dog huffed slightly and sat, waiting for the vampire to look at her. He smelled the hound before he saw her so as Lisara turned the corner he glanced down at her, his eyes saying he wanted her nowhere near him. "What," he said, his expression unamused. The beast flicked her flaming tail and walked around him, nudging him toward Aeris' room with her head. Sighing he pushed off and moved towards Aeris' room, not willing to let the hound continue pestering him. Then again, at least she hadn't invaded his mind again. He might punt it if it did that again, then again Aeris wouldn't be too happy with him and it was a hellhound so it wasn't like it couldn't retaliate. While he wasn't afraid of the thing in the least he'd rather not be bitten. As he turned the corner his sharp ears picked up the conversation going on in Aeris' room, which he preceded to ignore for the most part for the sake of their privacy. He knew how people disliked that and while he didn't care about most he did care about Aeris, so he had the decency to respect her privacy, at the very least by saying nothing and acting as if he'd never heard any of it. Meanwhile, in the room, Aeris watched Olivia calmly, and then wrapped her in her arms. "I don't know how long it'll be, sweetie, but I won't keep you from your friends. You'll be able to go visit them, and Darius every day after school if you like. However, the reason I'm going to be registering you is to keep you safe. I know you love your school, and I know your school loves you, but it's just too unsecure, and I don't want anything like what happened yesterday to happen again." There was a soft pleading tone in Aeris' voice as she spoke to Olivia. She couldn't go through losing her. Olivia went slightly wide eyed, surprised at the comfort and warmth from Aeris. It made her smile genuine as she wrapped her arms about the vampire, holding her close. She fought to keep the burning of tears at bay and her voice calm, though it cracked slightly. “Why is this… this Sir doing this? What’s the point? Why was Hank even there? Emmet was suppose to be picking me up, not Hank, and he is never late Ris. I’m scared. Scared something might’ve happened to my brother and I’m stuck here.” She held on tighter, not wanting to let go, as she kept herself from shaking. “I’m glad Noele was there. If he wasn’t… I would’ve been in Sir’s hands before anyone knew it. I don’t know what would’ve happened then. II guess yesterday was a terrifying experience for me.” She didn’t want to tell Ris about her seizures or the fact she had magic. Those secrets might’ve created too much trouble as well as made Ris worry unneededly. Listening to Olivia's questions, Aeris' head shook from side to side slightly, "I don't know... I really wish I did. I'm sure Emmet is fine, though, you know him better than anyone. He's strong." Aeris held the girl to her chest gently, stroking her hair ever so slightly as she spoke about Noel. "Yeah, I'm glad he was able to keep you safe when I wasn't there. I'll have to thank him properly if we see him again." In response to Olivia saying that yesterday was terrifying, the doll kissed the top of her head, "Well, I won't let anything like that happen to you again. I refuse to lose you." Olivia wanted to shake her head, shout or scream as she tried to explain. Emmet never forgot. The only time he had ever missed a pick was when he was injured or Darius wanted him for a task, a rarity. Still she knew getting upset over it wasn’t going to solve this riddle. “I just want to know he’s alright, Ris. I know you and him want me safe, even if he’s not here. So where do we start?” He waited a moment before knocking on the door and, donning a smirk, saying "Everyone dressed and fully awake now?" He had decided to make a joke of the thing, otherwise it'd be too awkward for him to deal with and that didn't sit well with him. Just after the conversation had concluded, and the girls were pulling away from each other, Mairyell's voice permeated Aeris' ears. She couldn't help but smile sheepishly as he tried to joke about what had happened. She still felt really shitty. "Brother, I need to take Olivia to see Lilian, and get her registered for classes could you do me a favor?" As she asked, she motioned to the desk that was around the corner from where she was standing. There were stacks of books atop it. "I need a cart to wheel these to class, but since I'm going to be busy with Olivia, I was wondering if you could get these to my classroom for me." Olivia ignored her growling middle, now taking note of it since the conversation, as she watched the conversation between Aeris and her brother. She fought a giggle pulling her gloved hands to stifle the sound. Her eyes flickered to cart and didn’t envy Mariyell’s task at all, her body stepping close to Aeris as to restate her reason for leaving it to him. It was slightly awkward how she suddenly realized how messy her hair was. Not to mention still stick in the same clothes she hadn’t been able to change out of or even washed up, the buzzing need nagging at her growing while in the older boy’s presence. Emmet would’ve mocked her for it with a sly comment then told her she had five minutes before he decided to leave her, an empty threat, but one that worked well. “Aeris… mind if I borrow your hair brush?” She really didn’t want to draw attention to her sideways cowlick or her braid nearly completely undone, the barretts fixed haphazardly on her hair. “I can fix my hair on the way… I hope the principle will understand. I know Ms. Harper would’ve had a fit if she saw me like this in her school.” Glancing at the cart he nodded, closing his eyes to remember where the room was, before he opened them and walked over to the cart, not giving Olivia so much as a glance till he'd nearly got the cart out of the door. He glanced back, giving the girl a somewhat reassuring smile, "Don't worry too much, Lily Quarin ain't too bad." He then nodded his head to Aeris and left the room, heading for her class. He deflated somewhat when he was out of site, glad his joke had difussed some of the awkwardness. Still, he wondered what those flashes had been. He could have sworn he'd felt Szayeis...and heard Aeris...heard her screaming. Man, what a way to start a morning, he thought to himself. Olivia returned a weaker form of the same reassuring smile. It was too obvious she hadn’t had the same confidence within the situation as he seemed to have, though his words did put her at ease some and not because they might’ve sounded like something EZ would’ve said. In moments, he left with the cart wheels fading in his wake leaving the two girls alone. Olivia turned to her older sister to catch the answer to her request and likely lead the way, after all, she had little idea where to go. The doll smiled at her brother meakly as he departed from the room, and then turned her attention to Olivia to respond to her previous question. "Ah, yes, you can! It's in the bathroom." WIth that, she sat back down on the bed, and waited for Olivia to finish getting ready. Olivia nodded then rushed into the bathroom. In a fast motion, her hand snatched the brush sitting where Aeris left it and pulled back out into the bedroom. Spending the time to brush and get herself descent, despite the lack of clothes change, she was scared. If she waited too long, then likely she would’ve lost her nerve and couldn’t spur up the courage to go through with it. That wasn’t something she liked to think about as the more she had, the worse her worries became. This wasn’t a good way to start things. “Well, let’s go before I lose my nerve?” Olivia asked, her hand still clasped about her hairbrush and bouncing slightly with unsettled energy.

[Wind Wild]

----

[Synthorian]

Awakening Collab by: Rtron, Synthorian and Wild Wind The first thing she was aware of, as she slowly became conscious, was the cool metal in her hands. The Harp… a voice she wasn’t sure was entirely her own whispered in her mind. It didn’t matter. What did matter was that she was sure it was hers, and she was sure it was right where it was supposed to be. Speaking of herself, who was she? Luciana… that same voice whispered, and as before it felt right. It was who she was. What defined her and shaped her. As she regained more of her senses than just the feeling of cool metal in her hands, she became aware of the fact that she was clothed. That was always nice, she supposed. Being naked and having no idea where you are always tends to lead to conclusions. She thought, before bolting upright into a sitting position, her eyes fluttering behind closed eyelids. What few memories she had were flooding back. Her death primarily stuck out in her mind, and she opened her eyes, glancing about in a distant but nonetheless curious way. It was an odd feeling to know that she was dead, but not dead. She had been alive, but had no memory of that time. Did she leave loved ones behind? Enemies? Had she been a good person or a bad one? Why did she have a harp and know how to play it? Still, she had a couple of questions that just needed to be spoken out loud, even if there was apparently no one in the room with her. “Where are we, and why aren’t we dead?” Solus stood in the shadows of the room. He had noticed her stir and as such, remained here to welcome her to a world that she most likely won’t remember, let alone remember the world before this one. “An interesting question to ask, right after your Awakening…” Solus responded. Luciana snapped her head over to Solus, regarding him for a moment. Chimera. She could tell that instantly, though she didn’t know how. It was another curiosity in a growing list. “We do not find that such an interesting question, Chimera, considering that we distinctly remember dying. And we distinctly do not remember dying here. And we assume that when you say ‘Awakening’ you mean, ‘Resurrection’.” She turned her body to face him, hands almost protectively over her harp, gently petting the one white piece of it. It calmed her, for some reason. “That’s because you killed yourself to save the world. I was there.” He replied. “You’re here because the world is in peril again… I just hope you don’t stupidly kill yourself again.” He said bluntly. Luciana laughed. It wasn’t a mocking sound, she genuinely found what Solus said to be funny. “Chimera, the world does not need saving. The Gatekeepers, Chime and Melody keep the peace between the two and the humans live their lives blissfully unaware of the full extent of Heaven and Hell. We’re flattered that you think we have enough power to save it, but even combined our powers could only barely match a Hellion’s, and we have to use our powers separately. What is the real reason you brought us back from the Void?” She paused, tilting her head at Solus’ shadowy form. “We suppose the term ‘Chimera’ is rude. Our name is Luciana. What is yours?” “I see your memory isn’t fully intact… You killed yourself to shatter what was called the Essence of the World, it provided anyone who held it with the power of a Demigod. The person who wielded it, Judas, used the Essence to destroy Melody 200 years ago. And Chime was killed by the Fleshshaper 3 milleniums ago. There are no such things as Gates anymore.” He moved further into the room, and took a seat on a vacant old chair. “Do you know what year it is right now?” Luciana smiled. “We must say, we’re impressed by your insistence upon the lie. The Essence of the World, Judas and the Fleshshaper.” Her face darkened at the demon’s name, hatred washing over her. She didn’t know why, but the demon Fleshshaper was a foul being, only fit to be killed. “Only one of those is real, and he has no desire to come from his experiments. We do applaud the creativity though. But come now, end the pretense and tell us the real reason you brought us back from the dead.” She shook her head at Solus’s question. “We have never paid attention to the years, only to what was happening at the time. And there will always be Gates, Chimera. For there must always be Balance.” She spoke with a conviction and a belief whose source was as unknown to her as her hatred of the Fleshshaper. “Then I guess all I can do is show you, since you are all so convinced of otherwise when you have been dead for the past 200 years.” He got up off the chair. “First things first. You’re going to met the Essence of the World. And then, I will show you where the Gates used to be. But then again. Aaurus did order me to resurrect you, so perhaps…” He pulled out a black swirling sphere. Luciana could feel the very Void in it. “you might want to speak to him yourself. If I can’t prove it, then he can…” He extended his hand for her to take the sphere from him. Luciana sighed. This was growing to be annoying. All she wanted to know was why she wasn’t dead. “We find this insistence upon a lie less amusing and more irritating now, Chimera. But if you insist, we will play your game.” She shivered in reflex as she looked at the orb in Solus’s hands. She could feel the Void in it, the cold, unfeeling realm of death. Still, she reached for it, taking it from Solus’ hands. Then, blackness surrounded her. She was in the empty Void, floating in a swirling endless darkness. Fear. It was a reflex, a natural reaction to death being all around her. Not even emotional death, with purpose. Just cold, uncaring, oblivion. Still, she managed to gain control over herself after the first few moments of sheer terror. She didn’t know what she was, but she wouldn’t be scared by the Chimera’s parlor tricks. We’re waiting Chimera…. Something hit her foot, a stone, that seemingly appeared out of the dark. More came, and began to form a floor around her. Walls and columns formed, and newly created arched ceilings closed the darkness away. The hall seemed infinite but familiar deep in Luciana’s mind. All she could do, was walk forward. Luciana was uneasy. The hall was unfamiliar to her, yet intimately familiar as well. Hazy half memories drifted, bringing nothing but pain with them. She grabbed her head as white hot bolts of pain shot through her skull, gritting her teeth to avoid screaming. She wouldn’t give the Chimera the pleasure of hearing her scream. So this was it. He was an enemy from her past life, and she had done something so terrible to him that he brought her back from the dead to torture her. Regardless, there was nothing she could do. She hadn’t even taken her harp with her into this dark place. As the pain faded away, she walked forward. It seemed like minutes of walking had passed until she reached a massive set of closed double doors, intricate in their detail. Luciana could feel a very familiar essence beyond. Luciana paused in front of the doors, taking a deep breath. Something terrible is going to be beyond here. We know it. She thought, bracing herself. As she felt the presence beyond, her feeling of uneasiness grew, and more hazy memories surfaced, before she could be crippled with pain again, she pushed open the doors. Beyond, was a throne room, with destroyed pews lining the length of it, and a Black Throne, with a single being sitting on it, sadly staring at it’s own feet. “So even my Avatar could not convince my daughter to behave…” A male booming voice spoke out. Agony. Pure bolts of pain lancing through her skull. The figure, the voice, the throne, all were familiar. She knew she had seen them before, but all that came to mind were hazy, indistinct memories and pain. She fell to her knees, hands gripping her skull as she nearly shattered her teeth keeping a scream in. “We. Are. Not. Aaurus’s. Daughter. We. Are. Not. A. Gatekeeper.” She spoke through gritted teeth, practically spitting each word out, her voice smothered in pain. “Luciana was the Gatekeeper of the Surface. You, Luciana, were created late, when the joining between me and Lucy had occurred.” He lazily raised his hand, and the pain in her skull dulled, but some still remained. “You destroying yourself was… saddening for me. How could my daughter be so foolish… so… ignorant?” The pain faded away, long enough for her to look at the hazy memories. She ignored Aaurus, or whatever it was on the throne. For what felt like ages, she looked at the memories, willing them to make sense. Slowly, ever so slowly, they cleared. She remembered. “We- I remember wars. Deaths. Insanity. Betrayal. I remember failing not once, but twice. I remember doing the best I fucking could with a sinking GODS DAMN SHIP!” She was screaming at Aaurus now. “There you are…” The voice acknowledged his daughter’s return. Luciana ignored him, walking towards the throne. She was angry. As angry as only one who knows that someone could have saved something and only watched it slowly fall apart can be. “How could I be so foolish?! So ignorant?! How could the father and mother sit there and watch as everything they built and tried to keep alive FELL APART AND DIED AROUND THEM!? How could you let Chime die!? Melody die?! The worlds were always meant to be apart and you just let them mix! I was supposed to protect the human race so I did the best I could! There are no more Gates. There are no more Gatekeepers. Humanity was about to enter a dangerous world and I gave them the tools to not only survive in it, but thrive! I did what I thought was necessary when all hope was lost and all hell was about to break loose! If I couldn’t return Balance I would Make balance!” “You have only slowed down their progress… The Essence Abomination was to be destroyed, not adapted. The Gates and their Keepers were a social experiment, that later developed into a genetic one. The destruction of the Gates lead to the creation of Chimeras, who now reign supreme. I have finally succeeded in creating something that can defeat Him.” He stood from his throne, the power of his rise shook the ground below Luciana’s feet. “Balance was restored naturally, without your aid. You have only caused imbalance. That, is why I have judged you as a fool, and ignorant pleb. An unfortunate failure that I have crafted…” Luciana was aware that she was treading on dangerous ground. She was too filled with wrath to care. “Thanks for telling me daddy dearest.” She hissed at him. “I was created to keep the Balance and when I saw the balance falling apart, when the two people who I cared about most in all of the three worlds died, I kind of lost my fucking sanity. So don’t criticize me for doing what I saw as the best course of action, with no guidance from my father.” The word was said with mocking, hateful, sarcasm. “Criticize yourself for not doing anything about it! For not stopping me from slowing down their progress. For not stopping the Fleshshaper from killing Chime and Judas from killing Melody. Everything that happened, whether you like it or not, is your. Fucking. Fault.” “Oh, it is… Because I commanded it. They were destined to die from the start. But you, were not…” He looked at his own hands for a moment before speaking again. “It no longer matters. In 2 Progaian years and 3 days, we all, myself included, will be wiped from existence, by a single being I tried to stop milleniums ago. That is, if Solus, whom I’m sure you now remember, fails…” “Good to know, and why do you need this unfortunate failure to help your perfect little fucking Chimera win this war against what you failed to kill? I’m a failure remember? Why would you bring back an ‘ignorant fool’ to fight against something when you already have something that can defeat Him.” She glared at him for a few more moments, before speaking again. “Just send me back to the fucking Void already. At least Oblivion was quiet.” “He insisted…” Aaurus replied. “And he would not tell me why…” “Bring him here then. So he can tell me.” She retorted, clearly still angry. “No… Go back from whence you came!” He thrusted his arm forward and blasted Luciana out of the Throne Room, and all the way down the Hall until her eyes were blinded by a white light. She awoke in the room from earlier, back in the realm of normalcy. Solus was still sitting where was earlier, and was staring at the floor between his shoes. “Gods fucking dammit!” Luciana screamed as she came back to the real world. She whirled on the Chimera, advancing until she was an inch from him, completely unaware of the tears streaming down her face. She was angry at Aaurus, and Solus was his avatar in this world apparently. What’s more, he was the entire reason she was back from peaceful oblivion. That made him good enough to take her anger out on. “Solus. You have one chance to give me a good reason as to why I should help prevent the world from ending and help that motherfucker.” “We have about 2 years before the world ends. And I can’t save it on my own.” His answer was simple and to the point. “Otherwise, the balance you brought upon the world would have all been for naught, and worthless. There are 10 Billion people out there who like living…” He paused for a moment. “And if we survive this, I’ll help you end Aaurus’ pathetic and miserable life.” “If you think I give a fu-” Luciana’s jaw closed with an audible click. She stared at him for a moment. If he wasn’t lying, this was her chance. Sure, killing the creator of the three worlds would probably be a horrible idea and undo everything they did to save it, but she didn’t care. The Balance was gone, her sister’s were murdered along with the two people directly responsible for their deaths. She didn’t care about smart anymore. She just wanted blood. “If we’re going to do this, you better have a plan. Because right now, you could probably beat me. Only three of my forms survived being resurrected from the Void. The human.” She gestured to herself before she began glowing a bright white light. When it cleared, in her place was her Tamer angel form. “The Surface Tamer Angel.” Her voice was softer, and more lyrical now. Her harp gone, and in it’s place three rings. She began glowing a bright red light, and when that light faded in it’s place was her demon form. “And the Surface Demon.” Her voice wasn’t a singular one, rather, it was composed of many smaller, insectoid ones. With a bright grey flash, she returned to her human form. “So. Why do you need me alive, when Chime and Melody were much more powerful?” “Chime and Melody were lacking in something you have. Your chimeric, and human nature. You were far more powerful than them. They wouldn’t have even been able to destroy the Essence of The World if they tried, like you almost have.” He stood up from his seat and continued. “We have a lot of work to do to you power back.” He said. “After this is all over, I hope you stick around. We could do a lot of good together.” He gave her his hand, hoping she agreed and would shake it. Luciana snorted in disbelief, staring at his hand for a moment. She took it. “We’ll see if I stay around. Good is far from my list of ‘things to worry about’. I hope you have a great plan for getting my power back, because last I remember, it was spread across the human race so they don’t get torn apart and enslaved by the Demons and Angels.” “They have come a long way in 200 years. They have the weapons to wipe them out without your power, thanks to the intervention of the Essence and the Peacekeepers. Don’t worry about them.” He let go of her hand. “And as far as you getting powers back, I have just the thing in mind.” “Good.” She hadn’t stopped caring about the human race. Hard to do that when your entire, very long, life had been dedicated to making sure they weren’t annihilated. She tilted her head at him for a moment. “And what, exactly, would that be?” “Solid Static Essence, also known as Alerium. It’s what Aaurus is made of. When he created all of this, he used a piece of himself to forge the worlds. Because of that, it has become a natural resource that is very rare and difficult to find.” The Chimera explained. “And you know where some is. And how is it supposed to help me?” Luciana was clearly skeptical of the entire situation. But hey, it could help her get her powers back, and more importantly, kill Aaurus. “Alerium is the building block of the soul. With the new essence it will give, you will regain your powers. Anyway, I suggest we-” Solus was interrupted by his senses when he noticed someone, standing in the doorway. Zi's hair was a tangled and she looked like she just woke up but her eyes were wide open and she blinked in confusion, looking at Luciana. “It worked?” She asked disbelieving. Then she remembered her manners and shook her head to clear it. “I mean, hi. I'm glad you're alive again.” “That makes two of us who are glad I’m alive, and three of us who are surprised it worked.” Luciana said with a small smile, wiping her face in an attempt to make herself look less of a mess.. “Hello. Judging from how your Essence feels, you must be the piece of Hazumi that broke free. I’m Luciana, though you already know that. What’s your name?” “Zi.” She admitted, feeling stupid. “The piece of Hazumi” was all she would ever be and her name only confirmed it. Her eyes darted between the Legend and the Demigod and she felt like she was literally shrinking. What was she doing here? Her place wasn’t here, it was back there, in that apartment, in those arms, being shot at, being hugged. “Um..” She looked at Solus. “I was wondering if you could call me a taxi. I’d like to go home now.” She asked bluntly and feeling even more silly for her lack of social grace. Solus thought for a moment. Letting someone out into the world who knew that Luciana had returned was probably a bad idea. But then again, he couldn’t keep her here. “My phone is on the desk over there.” He pointed to the far end of the room, where a smartphone was lying on a table. “Oh but..” She got the phone and fidgeted with it. “... what is your address?” “Well… there is no address. You will just have to walk down the mountain to Thorpe, which does have an address.” He smiled, but he was totally serious. Zi’s arm dropped disappointedly, even though she had somewhat expected it. She would have to fly down, no matter how tired she was and that was always a challenge. With a sigh she dialed the number and asked for a taxi in half an hour.

[Fallenreaper]

Temporary Admission

Location: Master Melody's Academy, Loom Time of Day: Morning Contributors: @Celaira, @Wind Wild, @Synthorian, and @Fallenreaper

Olivia followed Aeris, her figure kept tightly close, while she mentally debated with herself. She was nervous. That much was easy, her heart hammering in her chest and soft, rapid breathing seem to fill her with each step drawing closer. With everything that happened, Olivia felt her life spiraling out of control while she fought not to scream inside. She tried not to wonder about Emmet as the pair’s steps echoed throughout the hall. The carpet red, reminding her of blood, made her head shake the imagine out of her focus and instinctively pulled closer to Ris, the only comfort in this strange place. What was she doing here? The question seemed to come up empty with answers while they walked in silence. Her hand was picking at her current and only outfit, feeling the knitted fabric trying to ride up with each step. Noelle might’ve had good intentions, but the skirt was far too short for her tastes. While it didn’t flash anyone, it left little of her legs to the imagination making her greatly desire to put at least a pair of pants on. She had managed to get her hair somewhat decent though it still had strands out of place and sticking out, her braid unsalvageable, in its let down way. Her red hair had its own slight wavy that denied the more popular straight look most Kenan teens enjoyed. Olivia had barely registered that her hand had slipped into Aeris’ until they had nearly arrived to Lily Quarin’s office. They would both soon realise the presence of a massive figure of muscle and black fur standing next to the door to the Principle's office. An 11 foot tall Wolf Beast, casually leaning against the wall and playing with a yoyo. It's didn't take long for him to notice the two girls. "Ah, you two must be the new hopefuls." He said with wolfish grin. "Lily is right inside." Beyond, the two girls could hear the sweet melody of a violin. Olivia’s hand tightened around Aeris’ fingers when she saw the wolf like beast leaning outside of the office. Her eyes went up in shock while her stomach fell to her knees, awed and frightened by the massive height. His black lips pulled upward to give them a wolfish smile, his sharp, white teeth peered their tips from underneath and looked dangerous enough to rip her to pieces. Oddly enough she had overlooked the silliness of his claws manipulating such a delicate toy like the yo-yo in his large paws. She managed to swallow her fear for a grand total of a few seconds before it rose back up to throttle her. Great… she thought bitterly, I’m terrified and he’s not even done anything to me. Aeris idly walked alongside Olivia as they ventured toward Lily's office, her ever irredescent eyes starting straight ahead. She could practically feel Olivia's unease though the girl said nothing of it. However, when Olivia's hand slipped into the doll's own, she couldn't help but look at her, a gente smile playing on her lips as she squeezed lightly. When they came to Lily's door, and the wolfish beast spoke, Little Kasio squeezed Olivia's hand once more and smiled warmly at the creature before her. "Thank you." The words fell from her lips calmly, as she gently tugged Olvia through the door before her heart, or stomach leapt up her throat. Once they were inside the room, and the door closed safely behind them Aeris looked at Olivia again. "There's no need to be afraid here, no one will hurt you. Though you will meet a lot of strange people." The last word was emphasized, as Aeris tried to subtely let Olivia know there were more creatures than just Darius, or herself that wander about in life. She wanted the girl to understand that she didn't need to be afraid here. But, she also wanted her to be prepared. The principal was still playing her violin as the girls entered but hearing their voices she gently put the instrument down and went to receive her guests. Her fiery hair fanned out like an animated flame as her heels quickly carried her to the door. “Hello ladies.” She greeted with a gentle smile, a hand landing briefly on Olivia's shoulder as a comforting gesture before she turned to the inside of the office and lead them in. Instead of seating them around the desk she sat them down around a coffee table full of exquisite sweets cakes and pots of tea that were already brewing. “I have been informed about your arrival and have been hoping for your speedy recovery since I heard of the atrocities you had to live through last night. I hope you have managed to put most of it behind you and can assure you the matter of the people who did this will be resolved as soon as it possibly can. In the mean-time.” She gestured with an open hand over the tea and sweets. “I know it's hardly any consolation, but please help yourself to whatever small chunks of happiness we can offer.” Olivia had noted how casual Ris was when talking to the wolf, her fear didn’t seem to listen to her reasoning and seemed to ignore Aeris’ easygoing reaction. Still the small squeezes at least kept her from screaming away in terror. She felt relieved when the door closed, the thick wood between them and the wolf, had given some sense of security that was likely exaggerated. Mainly it seemed out of sight was out of mind for Olivia. Now the guilt had started to gnaw within her causing her to bite her lip in shame. She felt her guardian’s eyes look at her, increasing the sense of self blame while she looked into Aeris’ eyes. She expected the sort of judgment, hate or disappointment, or other emotion that told her that Aeris was against her behavior in some way. Even after her comforting squeezes. For a moment, Olivia expected Aeris to scold her but instead there came something more, an explanation. She relaxed when she realised Aeris wasn’t going to shout at her and took in the vampire’s words. It was now, after Aeris’ words, she noticed the soft tone of the violin playing in the background. It made her think of home as the strings danced with their own given melody and seemed to flood the room with emotion, stirring her heart into a sooth state, until it finally died. Sounds of the instrument were gently placed on the pedestal while a woman rose upright, her figure lithe and rather pretty in the young girl’s eyes, gliding toward their direction. Olivia took a moment to tie the woman to memory as she usually did, when she wasn’t freaked out, on meeting new people. She first noted the fiery red hair, the curls and unnatural manner that remind her of flames, followed by her gentle smile and manner. Her hand briefly touched Olivia’s shoulder, girl smiled. It was unforced or faked, a rather good sign, making yesterday’s tension fade away. She had expected the brisk and professional air her old principle had given. Instead Olivia was left utterly shocked when Ms. Quarin led them to a coffee table filled with treats and teapots. When the sugary scent rose to her nose, her middle made a loud announcement causing her eyes to widen and her arms to wrap about her middle. Heat rose to her cheeks giving her a blushing rose red to her skin, her lips pulled into a sheepish and apologetic smile. “Thank you and I’m sorry about that. I’ve not eaten since...lunch yester-” Olivia paused when she remember Lily mentioned she knew about the kidnapping. She blinked, trying to recall if she had mentioned anything and it dawned that she hadn’t. “How do you know? It only happened yesterday evening.” Absentmindedly, Olivia had taken a seat, her hand reached for the nearest slice that tempted her. It was a scone, yellow texture with strawberry and cream jars beside it. She had hoped to quiet her rumbling stomach while she listened to Ms. Quarin’s explanation, placing on some jam and cream for flavoring. Her eyes, however, never left the principle. Part of her was worried this woman could see through more then she let on and felt jittery Ms. Quarin might see she was hiding something. Aeris watched Olivia with a sweet expression as Lily made her way toward the girl. Ever calming was the Siren's prescence, so much so that Aeris noticed that Olivia had almost immediately calmed down upon the other woman's gesture. As they were lead to the coffee table filled with cakes and other confectionary delights, the doll couldn't help but smile. Then, the thought of what she did to Mai earlier resurfaced, and she cleared her own throat as Olivia spoke to Ms. Quarin. Absently, Aeris wondered similarly to Olivia. Who had told Lily? It was possible Darius had called her, and thinking back on it, she remembered him mentioning such, but she wasn't sure if he had yet. It was also possible that Noel had contacted the school as well, though she didn't know the boy well enough to make any presumptions to that affect, and thus remained relatively quiet during the interaction for a few moments. "Ms. Quarin," Aeris started, trying to speak to the principal in as proper a manner as she could. "You probably already know, but I'd like to enroll Olivia in school here. Though, admittedly, I'm not sure what actions would need to be taken to achieve that." The principle's calm was unshakeable and she poured herself some tea, taking a sip before addressing both girls' questions at once. "To listen, watch, and know, is our job here at the Academy, young miss Mattews. One could say we're a sort of a watchtower. After miss and mister Kasio left during the festivities the Sight, Hazumi, apparently kept track of them. She saw what happened and alerted me, although by the time we would have gotten to you... " She looked at Aeris. "You and your brother both have my utmost grattitude. And, while I knew how the story unfolded, I didn't know about your intentions to become one of our pupils." Lily raised an eyebrow at Olivia. "Of course, I assume that you would be mature enough to make such a decision for yourself." The slight criticism was aimed at Aeris just as much as it was to the girl. "I'm afraid all our classes focus on magic and its uses. If you have no natural magical affinity then there would only be two paths open for you - becoming a scholar or going on the front line as a Musician." Her eyes turned to Aeris, her expression serious and stern. "Of course, if we're only talking about a temporary measure, we can provide protection for her until the culprit is caught. However I don't feel like compromising her whole future because of one accident is a wise decision. Furthermore, I feel like it should be taken by herself or her immediate family." When Aeris asked her question, Olivia fell silent. Ris’s answer to keeping her safe was ringing in her head and making the girl know this was for her own good, despite the doubts spinning in her head. She could feel Aeris relax with her own mood and noted the eyes settled on her. However, Olivia didn’t react. Not that the girl didn’t her guardian to see she acknowledge it but rather she wanted to stay on alert, namely with this mysterious principle. The woman was already pouring her tea and taking a sip before she answered them both. It wasn’t what Olivia has expected to hear. When Ms. Quarin admitted to having Aeris and Mairyell tailed, in a roundabout way, by this Hazumi person the butterflies settled in her stomach. If it was that easy, what else could be seen? She pushed the thought away when she noted Ms. Quarin looking her direction, her eyebrow upright in curiousity. Needless to say the criticism wasn’t appreciated but Olivia knew she had to make a good impression and fighting with the principle wasn’t the right way to go. She immediately placed her scone down when she felt the hunger replaced by the lead rock in her middle. At the mention of magic, a small, childish voice version of her own, whispered within Olivia. Oh, but I do. I can see death and the misery history of an item. Instead, she bit her tongue against the words. “Ms. Quarin, I really think that might be too late. Mr. Fi…” Olivia paused, taking a deep breath and gathering herself up before she started again. “Someone has already died because of me. My future has already been affected and I’m not even sure I can go back to face what happened. If I hadn’t… If I just let her take me without shouting, he might’ve… What was I thinking...” He would’ve still been alive. Her mind finished for her. Reflexively she felt cold and terrible, her arms pulled into her lap while they curled about like a shield. She barely realize she was trembling until she noted her gloved hand then closed her eyes to get herself under control. Her words became soft, timidly spoken. As if her fake calm might make her lies more believable. “M-my brother is the only one to have shown any magic ability. Emmet does both Earth magic and a few others, I think. However I don’t have any.” Listening to Ms. Quarin, Aeris simply remained silent. It wasn't as if the school didn't know her relationship with Darius and his family. However, when Olivia start to tremble, and blame herself, Aeris instinctively pulled the girl gently into her arms. "It's not you're fault, Liv. It's not." Aeris voice was soft, and muffled by Olivia's own hair. The vampire loved Olivia more than life, just like she did Mairyell. So, even as awkward as a display of affection might've been, Olivia needed to be comforted. She hadn't been able to do so last night due to how she had passed out, and thus, the instincts to do so now were strong. Lily's expression softened at the display and she took a sip of her tea, contemplating before speaking up again. "I understand you are shaken. I'm not against you taking permament residence in the Academy, I'm simply trying to prevent you from making one of the biggest mistakes of your life. We have had musicians before who joined us before they were ready and it didn't go well for either of us." She took another sip and set the cup down. "Take a few days. Meet the people we teach and the people who teach. Get to know us. Then you can make a well-informed decision of your own on whether you belong here. The door to my office is always open for you." She smiled reassuringly at Olivia. "And please, do help yourself to a scone." Olivia didn’t care, her face side pressed tighter into her current guardian's chest. Part of her wanted to just let out a soft cry and wept willing into the vampire’s embrace, letting the pain and frustration out in one continuous meltdown. Instead she just tried to keep her dignity first. She didn’t want pity or charity which would’ve only made this experience worse. Instinctively she held fast to Ris for comfort. Her figure was a rock for the girl to latch on desperately as she waited out this storm of emotions within her. Her emotional state must’ve been showing for Ms. Quarin’s expression became gentler. It seemed that sipping her tea and thinking was a normal habit, her eyes reflecting her mind at work while she searched her next words carefully. It only took seconds but soon, she explained the reason. She set the cup down with a soft rattle as she seemed finished with it. Her suggestion was sound and, though her uncle could’ve argued with it if pressed to, logic she couldn’t deny. “Sounds reasonable and it can’t hurt.” Olivia said, her voice hesitate and emotionally drained. Again her hand reached for a scone as she knew she had to eat. Before she took a bite, her eyes pulled up back to Ms. Quarin. “I can still bunk with Aeris, right?” "Of course." The woman smiled. "I will have someone provide you with a uniform if you would like to fit in better, as well as a prospect of what we offer and a list of classes. All the teachers will be warned about your presence and status so you can walk into any random class and not get into trouble. I expect Aeris to give you a brief walk around the building before her lesson starts. Now if you excuse me, I have a staff meeting to attend to." Lily got up, straightened her pencil skirt and got her jacket. "Stay as long as you like," she added, referring to the office. "Rex will lock up after you." With that she gave the two young women a polite nod and exited the room. Aeris held Olivia gently and stroked her hair for a few moments before the girl pulled away to speak to the principal. While she spoke, the vampire listened intently, smiling softly when Olivia asked if they could still bunk together. When the principal spoke again to inform them that she had a meeting to get to, Aeris nodded politely already full aware that she would need to walk Olivia around the school. As the Ms. Quarin left, the doll turned to Olivia and smiled warmly. "Would you like to sit in on my class today, or would you rather explore some of the other professor's rooms and lessons?" Aeris' voice was warm as she spoke, watching Olivia eat her scone. She'd have to get a schedule of when breakfast was served in the cafeteria so that Olivia didn't go hungry again. "Can we do both?" Olivia asked, her head tilted a bit and absorbing the infomation. She was glad, the effect showing on her face while she listened to Ris. "According to Ms. Quarin, you still have bit of time before your class, right? " She paused a moment, finishing her scone, and reaching for a cupcake then sipping some tea. It wouldn't take long to fill herself up but she wasn't in a rush to get out the door. Her mind immediately drifted back to the wolf beast standing at the entrance. She recalled Ms. Quarin calling him Rex and inhaling deeply, her guilt swelling back into her chest. "Ummm... I think I should apologize to the demon back at the door before we do though. I wasn't very polite with my reaction." "Well, I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure there are classes going on during mine. I don't know about any of the classes before or after, though. I've barely become acclimated to the school." As she spoke, she watched Olivia pick up a cupcake and then take a sip of tea. Then, the girl spoke again, and Aeris smiled. "Yeah, you might want to do that." The doll spoke, chuckling a bit. "I didn't mean to." Olivia defended her earlier fear and flinched. She sighed, her fingers picking at the cupcake, while she rephrased her next words. "I didn't realized I would've acted that way. You would think, with that woman Ashley's decision to kidnap me and being raised by a Kistune then I wouldn't have judged him without some merit to go on." She sighed then slouched a bit. "I'm a horrible person." Aeris laughed softly at Olivia's awkward pandering and then hugged her. "No, you're not. No one can expect you to be okay with every strange creature you meet. Trust me. Just... Now that you know, you can be prepared for next time." "True. Uncle Darius would've hated I acted like that though," Olivia said, then stuck her tongue playfully at Aeris. She let herself be cushed by Ris, feeling a deep and reassuring comfort by it. "Whelp, shall I get started on my apology while we're finishing eating?" Aeris' head rested atop Olivia's and she grinned, "Yeah, go on and eat. Enjoy the food, we'll get your uniform after this and you'll be able to change out of that sweater-dress." With that, Aeris simply leaned back against the coushining of the seat in which she was perched. "Alright." She said, her hand crumbling some of the cupcake as she started to dig in. After some time, she had her fill after several treats and a few cups of tea. It was suprising how much she could pack away when given the chance, Olivia mused. Finishing up, she wiped the rest of the crumbles. She had been formating her thoughts while enjoying her meal and now she was ready. "I have an apology to do." Olivia lifted upright to her feet and started to lead the way back to the room's entrance. Her nerves felt rattled and intense, her mind flickered between fear and determination. She edged closer to where the wolf beast was likely still fiddling with the yo-yo. "E-excuse me, Mr...?" "What's up, kiddo?" His voice still as kind as it was previously. His fur glistened in the light. It was emaculate and well looked after. "I was rather rude earlier," Olivia stated, her voice struggled not to stumble over her words while she spoke. She was sure to be clear of Aeris as to stop her from once more clinging to Ris' skirts in a way, her teeth bitting her bottom lip so often. "I wanted to apologize for it. I'm rather sorry." "Bah! Don't worry about it. I'm used to startling people with my appearance. Nothing I can do about it." Rex reassured her. "Really?" Olivia asked, her head tilted in her curiousity her fearful tone had faded somewhat. "Yeah. Being 11 feet tall and having big teeth doesn't help me socially." He said. Olivia bit on the information and a wave of guilt and shame filled her. She inhaled then said something that likely sounded as stupid as it did in her head. "Want to hang out some time? I mean... if you want, after how I acted I don't blame if you didn't want." The wolf chuckled lightly. "Don't you think a giant wolf and a teen hanging out would be a little weird? Lily might get suspicious." Olivia's cheeks went red and flooded until she felt more like a tomato then a girl. She hadn't considered that as her eyes widened, looking at the wolf and increased in color feeling like an idiot even more. Damn it, stop blushing already. You look terrible!!! She practically screamed at herself. No change however while she started to fluster over her words. "I didn't mean like that. R-really. I mean...I didn't know you were dating the Principle, wait I said that wrong! Crap, I mean..." She wanted to sink into the floor right there. To vanish and never be heard from again, something that would've solved many problems at once. From Sir to this current situation which she knew she was beyond recovery. Why did she say stuff like that? "Lily and I are married." Rex corrected her. "But hey, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find yourself a nice boy while you're here." Rex gave her a wink, which would probably fluster her even more. "All right, I think that's enough." Aeris said with a soft laugh, putting her hand on Olivia's shoulder. "Please, don't torture my goddaughter, Rex." The doll's voice held a sense of humor, and her face definitely showed that she was only kidding with a slight and warm smirk on her lips. With that, she bid the wolf farewell, and gently guided Olivia down the hall to see the rest of the emaculate school where she'd be staying. Aeris, thank her luck, interrupted as Olivia rushed in her thoughts of how to end this well. There was no possible way to save it and deep down, the girl knew she had made the biggest fool of herself unintentionally. Her eyes twisted back to see the warmth and amusement on her adopted sister, her words reminding her of Darius’ set up making her smile in gratitude. As they left, Olivia spoke softly, “Thanks for the save. I swear, these last two days aren’t helping me.”

[slade]

A Barmy Team Kenan - Darius' Mansion(front) Early Morning - Prior to Kitsune

“Well look at that, the little lions are here.” The man, simply called “The Boss” was a well dressed man with dusty colored military garb along with a brown cowboy hat and shades to shield him from the merciless African sun. He had fair and sensitive skin which became evident when one saw the constant peeling red flakes behind his neck. His entire body had been like that when he was just a common soldier fighting in the scorching heat for years on end. But now he had made some friends down in the capital and had gotten himself a nice little promotion. So he could now ease up just a little bit. His body had always been fragile and was never fit to be a soldier. He had never grown a single strand of hair on his boyish face and his once silk blonde hair was now white like salt due to its constant exposure to the sun. Still when he was called to service by his country he answered without question. He believed in the dream of the White Africaan wholeheartedly and put himself through ordeals that he should never had been physically capable of surviving. His body was weak and he knew that; even after years of hard physical labor, fighting and trekking for hundreds of miles into hostile territory his body never gained a single pound of muscle and remained that of a shallow skeleton. What he had gained was an endurance to survive, the ability to shrug off sleep and soreness for weeks and the necessity of killing without thinking or feeling. The latter of which was important due to the ethical implications that many of those whom he killed didn't have guns in their hands and almost certainly weren't soldiers. Four huge trucks rolled into the Boss's little camp where the guards stationed at the watch tower were looking down curiously. They had known the shipment was going to coming for some time. But they were still puzzled as to how well this whole operation could potentially go. Was the training even possible? Many thought this was simply another waste of time and they couldn't be blamed for thinking that. There had already been activities such as this going around across Rhodesia for the last six years and they always carried the exact same result: a bunch of useless corpses in a shallow grave. As the trucks parked the men in the passenger seat hopped out and began to to unlock the large metal doors that contained its cargo, and with the butt of their rifles they herded the large mass of children that poured out of the trucks and into a large swathe of dirt as designated by the Boss. Who stood looking at the children patiently, with his shades covering any overt feelings he showed at their manner. Many were still sobbing as quietly as they could due to fears of the rifleman, others simply looked confused as to where they were and darting their heads and taking in their new environment which seemed to rapidly different from before. They were a sorry lot of kids to be sure. Though did the Boss understand their fear and confusion or did he simply view it with disgust and vowed to wipe it out? With those shades on no one could tell what the man was thinking. And his body language betrayed no feeling. Which resulted in one giving out the only interpretation they could: the children were the Boss's new clay. And no matter how pathetic or childish they might seem now, he would mold them into soldiers of the Rhodesian military. He sat down on a log in front of the children, looking at all their beautiful white faces, he was told he was getting around 200, but the group looked more like 150. “Well, now that we're all here. Let me introduce myself. I am simply The Boss. I am the Boss of this here camp, the Boss of the miles of wilderness out beyond this camp, and most importantly of all. I am now the Boss of you young ladies and gents. I've been highly interested in you lot for quite some time and now I've brought you all here to under go a special kind of training. You'll learn to use weapons like those men over there are using. And how to survive in the deepest corners of the bush forest. Soon, we'll be making you out to be little fighters. Someday when you are older you will become the backbone of the shield that protects this country from the hordes that surround us.” The Boss's eyes darted to a small child whose hand was raised almost like the boy was in school asking to use the restroom. Though the man noticed that the boy's was looking towards the ground, obscuring his face from the Boss. “What is it Boy? “Will we ever see our Parents again?” The boy still had his head down when he spoke, but he spoke clearly and with a sort of perverted strength. There was no restrained whimpering or controlled crying in the child's question. The Boss rose and walked over to the boy and looked at his downed head. He had a small tuff of black hair and through his height looked around seven. The boy simply looked at the ground as the Boss spoke. “No. No you will never see them again, you will most likely live here for the rest of your life. The jungle is your home now. You will learn to adapt to its form of embrace. It is a hard sacrifice, to forgo your mother and father. But it is in the name of our Country and a dream we all had. A sanctuary for the Africaan from the violence of Black hordes. And in order to achieve that dream, we all must lose things dear to us. You will lose your parents and your children will probably never set eyes on you either.” The Boss paused to let that reality sink into the group. There was a sadness from them that a normal human being could have easily felt. But while the Boss felt it, he didn't know what it was. Or how to interpret it. Years of jungle fighting had erased emotional connection to other people. The dusty brown fields and the deep jungles with that terrifying dark green with mysterious eyes poking out at you was all he knew now. And he would make sure it was all they knew, for nothing else mattered. “But maybe your grandchildren will be able to set eyes on their parents and call them Mother and Father. Maybe if we all fight hard enough, we can achieve that much that quickly. We shall endure hardships so that the next batch of brats won't have to. This must be hard for you all to follow. But I will drill this principle into your head. And I don't care if it takes me years for you to understand, but someday you will comprehend the responsibility that has been thrust upon you today. And you will carry out that responsibility with the efficiency of a Rhodesian soldier.” The Boss took his hand and placed it on the Boy's chin and gently raised it so that he could get a good look at his face. His face was puffy and red from hours of crying, but he cried no more. It seemed a dreary calm had placed a veil around the boy and he simply accepted his lot in life. But what puzzled the Boss more than anything else was the look in the Boy's eyes. For the boy looked at him with dull red eyes.

Rhett took a hard look at the main gate in the distance. Not a lot for cover, guess he would have to play the “dodging bullets” game. Not a particularly favorite game of his, but he was a decent player at it. Though Rhett wondered if his demon counter-part would even bother dodging bullets. Seemed like he could just take a few to the chest and be perfectly fine. He still had his gas mask on. He didn't know when it could be ideal to set one of those gas canisters off and he wanted to be prepared. Besides, didn't Crow originally want a mask on him? His backpack was strapped tightly around his shoulders. He would have to be extra good at dodging bullets. Since he still had the C4 in there. He planned on using it before the shooting started but he could manage with the situation now. Though it was far from ideal. One stray bullet into the backpack and pieces of Rhett could be all over that gate. He wondered if perhaps he could blow the hell out of the gate, maybe mutilate a few guards as well. He looked over at Damon. “alright, so how do you want to do this? I was thinking throwing in a smoke grenade and you using that as cover while we begin the main assault. I could also plant the C4 around the gate while you distract the majority of them. I figure that this is more about noise and causing as much visual calamity as possible. If they see you killing people as well as smoke and explosions all over the place, they'll send in the brunt of the forces at us.” Damon was still in the form of a maid when they arrived near the location of the future fire-fight. As much as he'd like to just go in guns waving, they needed to get the house hold's attention. There would certainly be explosions and bullets flying before the end of the day, but for the next few minutes Damon needed to make sure he does more than just a "disturbance". He needed to do something crazy. Something stupidly crazy. **"I wonder..."** Damon thought about this until Rhett came by wanting to know the gameplan. **"Yeah that sounds about right. But more than that, we need to get everyone in this mansion to us. Full on assault, you know? Get them away from the rabbit."** That's when Damon took on the form of Crow, or at least what Damon knew as Crow. Once things get hot surely they'd have a visual on him. And if Damon could get the attention of the head of the house with the likes of Crow, than perhaps the head of the house would be more focused on dealing with "Crow" than securing Emmet. Damon was taking a serious gamble with the hopes that using this form would attract more attention, but if it didn't work it wouldn't really matter. It's not like Damon was going to show his true form any time soon. **"Alright, so here's what I was thinking. This face I'm wearing right now, he's suppose to be a bigwig or something like that. I'm going to show my face to the guards and see how they react. With any luck it'll get the attention of the boss of this place as well as let me get close. I'm totally prepared for them to shoot me, so don't worry about that. Once you hear gunshots fill the area with smoke. I'll make a mess up front while you sneak in and give them hell behind their lines. Give them the impression that they're fighitng more attackers than just us two. If you can blow a couple of walls in the middle of all the chaos than that would help make them think this is a full on siege. With any luck they'll think this is a hostile takeover and pull out all the stops to takes us down. That ought to give our rabbit some time to get out of his hole."** Damon explained his part of the plan before the two would be within eyesight of the guards. Before he went through with it however Damon stopped one last time to make sure Rhett knew what was about to go down. **"Alright, do or die time. Any questions or anything else you want to try? Gotta hurry, lives are at stake."** Rhett cocked his eyebrow when Damon changed his face to that of Crow. Rhett wasn't sure if Crow would appreciate his face being pasted all over this operation, but there wasn't much Rhett cared to do about that. "No questions, lets just get this over with" Rhett said dryly as he and Damon walked to the guards. With Rhett slowing his pace down and falling behind Damon, he would let the Demon deal with things for a while and then begin the infiltration. He was ready to get started. "Right than." Damon took a breath as he walked up to the gates. The guards there looked at him and Rhett suspiciously. They seemed to be on edge, but their hands weren't near their weapons, so perhaps they recognized Crow. Or just weren't trigger happy. They asked what he wanted here. "I'm here to see Darius. I have a message to deliver." The guards weren't budging however, and asked what the nature of the message was. Wearing Crow's face, Damon smiled. "More of a demonstration really." Damon opened his hands up, palms out, towards the two guards currently present. Then Damon thought of a memory, a design in his mind, and the skin on his hand shifted. In less than a second two barrels poked out of each hand, and before the guards could even ask what Damon was doing those barrels turned out to be part of a shotgun. Damon fired at close range two buckshots into the chest of both guards, making a very loud boom. It killed those two, but it wasn't going to be long before someone else came to investigate. "I hope that does the trick. With any luck someone's saw my face and we'll have the whole mansion greeting us. You go do what you gotta do, I'll try to make a good show out here." Damon materialized an assault rifle for himself after consuming the two guards as raw material. "If anything goes funky, use your walkie-talkie. I'll be able to hear you over the sound of-" A bullet whizzed past Damon, signalling that their time for talking was over. He returned fire causing the defenders to take cover. "Go, go!" Damon shouted as he moved in, bullets barely flying in his direction but getting uncomfortably closer by the second. Rhett had already tossed two smoke grenades before Damon had opened his mouth and soon Rhett could hear the ever familiar sound of bullets. Though not near Rhett at that moment as Damon was the prime target of the oncoming soldiers. Rhett would make sure to use that to his advantage as he charged through the smoke mostly undetected. His goal was to get to the mansion wall, only then could he truly put his talents to use with that C4 tossing around his backpack. But he couldn't jump to that task too quickly; he needed to take care of some of these guards first, make Damon's life a little bit easier. He jumps out of the smoke, much to the surprise of three guards and honestly to Rhett's surprise as well. He didn't think that his smoke grenades would have extended that far out. He swings the butt of his gun into one's face, hearing a resounding crack as the man's face split open. He pivots his torso and before the other two can raise their guns they are mowed down. The hex tech rifle burning a fiery hole through the bodies as Rhett shoots them. He now heard a steady increase of bullets coming his way though Rhett correctly predicted that the guards would be rather shit with actually hitting him. These guards seemed to be more akin armed thugs who were good at looking scary, but not necessarily acting scary. Rhett fires in their general direction to force them to duck for cover before he throws another smoke grenade in the distance and runs towards it. He needed to get to the mansion wall. For now he would let Damon deal with clean up. With most of the guards now rushing to the front gates Damon dropped his disguise. It was more of a liability now. Now he just needed to be careful and not scare them off. Damon changed back to his blobbish form as he took cover behind a stone flower box, spreading his body around the area but through thin, thread like tendrils. He moved quickly to different vantage points and through him Damon recreated the "Crow" copies, firing from their new positions. Now it should look like there were more than just one attacker on the premises and increase the threat. And as Damon set up the hot zone he actually started taking aim at some of the soldiers, popping two or three in his hail of gunfire. Occasionally he'd toss a grenade. Slowly Damon started to encroach on the mansion, wrecking havoc along the way. He had managed to avoid most of the bullets by setting up dummies and taking out anyone who could inadvertantly pose a threat to him, like guards armed with explosives. With the situation mostly under control Damon radioed to Rhett "So, how're things on your end?" Even as some of the guards got a bit smarter they found themselves taken out by the three individuals Crow had sent as back up. At least one of them was not particularly pleased with this Damon fellow. The demon was using their boss's image as a disguise, and that could not be good for the man's reputation. He reckoned that Crow was not going to be happy when they reported back. "Messy, but tolerable" he said quietly as he gunned down three guards positioned at the wall. He quickly sidestepped when a man shot a rifle at him from a window above, just narrowly missing Rhett's abdomen. Rhett made sure not to miss the opportunity and fired at the window, hearing the gurgling death noises of the man as he collapsed. He looked at the wall, he needed to get this blown to bits before more came at the windows and starting shooting at him from a higher altitude. He quickly went to work, unloading the contents in his backpack and wiring everything to blow when he pushed the detonator. He had brought five small clay packages with him, he had hooked up four. He decided to keep the fifth just in case something else came up. He could hear that Damon was doing most of the grunt work. Fine by him, Rhett had spent his life being the clean-up guy, and he was frankly glad to push that work load onto someone else. He takes a large gulp from his flask before throwing it back in his bag. That stuff was strong, maybe a little too strong for a job like this. Ah fuck it, who cares- Rhett quickly dashes a few steps back as bullets hit around his feet. More guards had lined up on the windows, two of them this time. Rhett took a few shots, but they were so hectic that they just bounced off the wall around the windows. This didn't stop the guards from making accurate shots, one manage to just skim past Rhett's shoulder, tearing the skin and the cloth. “Oh fuck it!” Rhett cursed as he pushed the detonator, Rhett was a little too close for comfort near those explosives for him to consider this a good idea, but it was either this or risk getting shot. Those rifles they were using weren't some junk thrown together, they seemed to be high quality. Too high quality to waste on rent-a-trash like this. Something odd was going on around this building. The blast was nasty, it took down the wall to be sure and the explosion swallowed up those two taking pot shots at Rhett. But Rhett was easily blown back a good 30 feet, landing on his side with a thundering crack. Rhett winced and thought that he had broken a rib. But then the pain set in, a very familiar pain. Thankfully he hadn't broken it, just cracked it. It wasn't ideal but it was something that would barely slow him down. He was too drunk to really feel it anyhow. Still it made getting a real bitch as he radioed to Damon in a pained, highly annoyed voice. “Wall is down.” "Excellent. Help me put pressure on these guys than, would you? We need to make them think a whole army is at their door so they bring all their guns here. Don't want them to catch the bunny." Damon radioed oed in as he laid supressing fire on the guardsmen, who were now taking cover behind the stone walls. Not that they would last long as between shots Damon tossed in a few grenades just to flush out the defenders. He had to cause a big mess and kill as many people to get the security to focus on them and them alone. If need be, Damon would try to fight it out with Darius to secure Juan's escape. He hopes it wouldn't come to that, but Damon would go that far if he must. He certainly didn't show any hesitation gunning down the rest of these poor sods. "Contact the others and see what their status is. We may be finished here soon enough." “Yeah, I'm on it. I'll be there in a moment," he said, holding his side as he slowly got up. Thankfully he hadn't received any other serious injuries from the explosion's kickback just some cuts and bruises on his face. He spits out some blood as he radios in to the rest of the team. “Wall is down and main entrance is getting fucked hard, now will be your best chance to enter. Hostiles will probably still be in your vicinity so expect trouble.” He reached into his bag again and pulled out his gas mask. Slipping it on snugly over his head before radioing in. “Also, avoid the main entrance at all costs. Repeat. Avoid at all costs.” He knew they didn't like the idea of those mustard gas canisters getting thrown about willy-nilly, but Rhett needed to scare the fuck out of those push-overs so they would call for back up. And if a Demon wasn't doing the job. Then shit. Rhett honestly didn't have anything to really equal that. But gassing them was a good place to start. Rhett begins to jog towards Damon's location, reloading a fresh clip into his MP5. The gunfire became more specific, he could tell where it was being fired from, how close, at what angles, what type of guns they were. He sees Damon about a quarter of a mile ahead before Rhett makes a turn and heads to flank the enemy behind cover giving Damon a hard time, he was planning to take care of them for the Demon, but a well tossed grenade from Damon put an end to them. Blood and shrapnel splashed out and formed a pool of human mesh and metal. He saw more mooks coming from the entrance. More rent-a-trash, this was insulting, they needed to start taking this seriously. He radioed in to Damon “I recommend you take a few steps back, I hear this stuff ain't pleasant.” He takes a canister from his belt, unscrews the top and hurls it at the incoming swarm of men. He fires pot shots in their general direction to get them to stop and take cover. Soon a yellowish, noxious gas starts to emit, and it's thick too. Rhett designed it to be thicker than the standard stuff. Perfect for hit and run tactics. Rhett lets go of his MP5, letting it hang on the strap around his shoulder as he unsheathes his machete, now sharper than ever but with its rubber grip still worn away. He wouldn't replace that rubber, it was a memento of Rhett's, the only one he was ever allowed to have. He silently charged into the fog, though it wouldn't really have mattered if he was silent or not; as expected, those caught in the Gas were on the ground, blind and choking. That was why he put his gun away, you don't use a gun to slaughter lambs. And as he repeated each machine like motion of slitting throats and slicing skulls only one thought played through his mind on repeat.

“We are the little Lions Hear us roar”

[yoshua171]

Flashback The Quest For Answers Hell - The Western Realm 20 years ago

Collab: Synthorian and yoshua171

The Western Realm, a strange yet calming visage for a man like Solus Grim. Its massive black bubble that turned the demonic country into a prison oh so long ago stood strong, but not as strong as before. It was slowly wavering, losing its foundations right from underneath, right from the source. That much the man that gazed upon it could tell from the distance he was standing at. Truly, one of Hell’s many wonders. It was funny. He felt like he was the only one in the universe that seemed to appreciate demonic inginuity, magical or mechanical, while others viewed it as something monstrous, grotesque, or both. He has always seen potential in their kind, unlike with the Angels, who had everything gifted to them by Aaurus on their first day of creation. Angels always lacked the smarts to build something useful or even compelling. The chimeric being continued forth, approaching the semi-sphere with his ragged and dusty robes flapping about in the harsh winds of Hell, and his new sword at his hip. Purposefully built for killing anything and everything, even a capable Nightwalker in a single swing. Last time he was here, he wasn’t as prepared as he is today. Last time he was here, he failed. His first true defeat. And he has learnt from it. And today, unlike before, he was here for a different reason, a search for answers. Aaurus had sent the man to this forsaken place with a cryptic message. Solus seeked to decode it. And the key to unlocking that message, was within that black bubble. His steps quickened with newfound purpose, and soon enough, he was an armslength away from the wall of darkness. He already knew what lay beyond, he has been beyond it before, afterall. Nekro, as he was now known, slowly drew the blade. An ancient 16th century Muramasa blade, forged by the Great Muramasa, the Japanese Demon Smith, enhanced by a piece of hex-technology, making it into a powerful, high-frequency sword. Bolts of green energy arced up and down the menacing glowing blade. With a single slash, it cut a man sized hole in the barrier. Solus quickly entered just as the barrier repaired the hole. Sheathing his sword, Solus looked upon the dark landscape. Already, he could sense curious and hungry Nightwalkers approaching. Two wardens, though only one responded, immediately took note of the necromancer's presence, many nightwalkers began to form in the shadows nearby, which was easy considering the entire place was drenched in night. The Western realm had always been a place of darkness, even since its very founding by the First Lord of Chaos. It, upon initial inspection, always appeared something of a wasteland, but in truth it was rife with life. Most of the Western realm's foliage and denizens lived beneath the surface, venturing up for conflict or curiosity only. Solus ignored the shadows, and continued to walk. But if they dared to challenge him, they would die, just like the others that had faced him. Sensing the power of this one, most of the demons stayed out of sight, or at a distance, knowing better than to attack the Chimera. However, after he'd been walking for several minutes a demon appeared 3 meters before him. There was a small jutting rock formation where the demon had appeared, it seemed to be a chair of some sort, though hardly a throne. The demon was perched atop it, his feet on the seat and his body resting on the armrest if one could call a rock formation by such a term. The demon's expression was largely blank as he stared down at the Chimera, for the demon was nine feet tall and his chair large enough to accomodate such lofty heights. "What are you doing here?" The warden queried, his baritone voice seeming to send the air ashiver. The surrounding demons seemed to gain morale from the warden's presence, drawing closer, causing the place to darken further in Solus' vicinity. "I hope you do not intend to extricate anyone this time, for if you do I will not be as kind as I was prior, demon slayer." The demon's white eyes flared golden before fading back to their original color once more even as his body shifted forwards slightly as he rested his arm upon his knee. His head tilted as he regarded Solus, then a smile crossed his lips. "You've come far from back then, I am curious to see whether or not you are a more competant warrior now. Perhaps you may serve as more than a brief excercise this time," he chuckled lowly, his armor grinding hellishly against itself, as if it were poorly made--such was not the case. However, the armor was plainly dented over the entirety of its surface, appearing to be more dent and scratch than actual armor. Avnisae, the warden, never changed it, and though he could, he did not repair it with magic. He merely reinforced the damaged areas, allowing anyone who dared set foot in his region to see just how many others had challenged him and fallen at his hand as a result. Perhaps this one would be the next, or perhaps he would be the last to put a dent in his armor. Or not. "Wearing the dents I left last time well I see, Avnisae. Maybe I should add some more to your fine collection, before I kill you this time. You will resurrect of course. So no harm done..." Solus said coldly towards the old warden that sat before him, as smug as he was before. But Solus' time in the Plane had changed him. Avnisae won't feel said changes, he will only see them once Solus shows his new found wrath. His smile persisting, and his eyes appearing almost friendly, inviting, Avni stood, and stepped down from his perch. The rock formation quickly shifted and sunk back into the ground, leaving no trace of its presence. "Oh? Well aren't you confident, of course I must warn against it. You are hardly the first to think yourself beyond me. Nonetheless, I again inquire as to the nature of your visit. Why are you here," the demon, as he spoke, had taken several steps towards Solus, covering a meter and a half over that time before he stopped, looking down at the man. Glancing to the side slightly, the warden looked upon the slayer's blade. He was not sure the man had possessed it in their last duel. It was familiar though. Odd. His eyes trained back to the hunter's disfigured face, which was more demon than human. Granted, the man was a chimera, something that Avni had long known. It was rather obvious after all. At his side the ground began to twist, as if it were a small sinkhole, before refined carbon and diamond rose in the form of a lance almost as tall as its wielder, who swiftly took it in hand, leanings it over his shoulder as he looked down at Solus. There was no hesitation, no fear, and no worry in his posture or his eyes. However, there was also no hostility in his actions, despite his creation of a weapon. He would not fight unless necessary, for while he enjoyed such, it was silly to use time unnecessarily, even if one was biologically immortal for all intensive purposes. As such he waited for the slayer's response. "Aaurus sent me..." A small smile appeared on Solus' face. Bang! The sound of what seemed like a gun echoed around for miles in the empty space around the two. But the sound did not come from a weapon, it was infact, the sword's sheath. Right before Avni's eyes, Solus drew his blade faster than he had ever seen the Chimera even move. 10 times as fast. Before he knew it, the blade was already heading for his chest. Eyes turning to a deadly red, Avnisae rapidly shifted the shaft of his lance so that it would slam into the surface of Solus' blade, blocking it. The force was more than he expected, forcing the warden to brace himself with one foot. A smile was on his lips despite the crimson of his eyes, "Very good, had I not reinforced my weapon it would have been cut just like the veil upon your entry." Taking into mind the slayer's prior statement, the demon vanished, reappearing two meters away, out of the slayer's range. "Aaurus? Now how does one such as you get in contact with a god?" A brow raised in question before he glanced at the spot where Solus' blade had struck the shaft of his lance. "Desperation on his end. All just to save his own skin." Solus replied, casually spinning the Muramasa in his hand. "Interesting, do tell," he teleported again, reappearing before him, the blade of his lance slamming downwards through the air. Solus stepped aside. In their last battle, he would have dived out of the way. But his response to such a powerful strike was strangely stoic, as if between now and then, he has seen battles far greater than this. "You can ask him yourself when you pass through the Void." His lance hurtling downwards, Avnisae instantly reacted, his right hand free, summoned a lance from the ground, grabbing it even as he let go the first. He spun, slashing at Solus from the front. Solus moved again, but this time kicking the lance away with his foot. He never displayed such physical strength before, not in their previous encounter at least. "Two," Avni stated behind him, stabbing another lance for Solus' chest at high speed. Solus disappeared. "Three..." His voice echoed out behind him. It was no teleportation for sure. Avni would notice the green flames left behind by his rapid movement, drawing a burning path to where he was now. Dangerously behind him. Solus's blade headed for his unguarded right leg, with the speed and precision necessary to cut it off. The lance struck the ground, but kept moving, as Avni jumped and slammed his legs towards Solus' chest. Solus quickly diverted his sword, the point of the blade colliding with the sole of Avni's left boot, piercing the armor parcially, the point just cutting into his heel. He vanished, reappearing the same distance away once more, now looking Solus over. He had certainly increased his talents. "I think not, though you have certainly improved," he spun his lance once as he approached, now slower. His foot began to heal, as did his armor. "You did well to cut through my armor, but I shall not be venturing to the void this day," his eyes went from red to golden once more, pupils forming as solid white in their centers. His armor shifted, going from dented and scratched to whole and properly maintained. It was temporary, but it would remain as such. Raising his right hand, which was lanceless, Avnisae summoned essence to his palm and lengthened it, before extending it outwards into a twisted looking shield. It possessed spikes on the outer portion and strapped to his arm on the other side, causing it to align. On the edge facing his hand there were two blade-like protrusion which went two feet past his hand on either side. "Shall we?" The area distorted around them and the darkness vanished as he erupted forwards, much faster than before. Solus immediatly sheathed his blade, and channeled his essence into the pommel. The pulled the trigger on the gunsheath again, just at the right moment. His blade slammed into Avni's shield, creating a powerful blast resonating from the vibrations of the sword, throwing Avni away from Nekro, maintaining his desired distance. Yet again he sheathed the sword. But instead of holding onto it, he threw his hands forward, towards Anvi. Two sets of large green flaming chains flew out of his sleeves, straight towards Avni's head. Surprised, but undeterred the warden slammed his foot down, sliding to a stop even as he felt the build up of essence. He dropped to all fours, under the chains and raised his shield arm over his head, to block any heat or maneuver from the chains as his lance became a blade and slashed at them, hitting them off course. Once out of the way, Avni rose, walking towards Solus, the glow of his eyes narrowed now. Essence began to roll off his body continuously, turning to a mist of sorts as it dispated around him. He began spinning his weapon once more, waiting for Solus' next assault. "New tricks I see. You've yet to utilize your magic, quite impressive. Were I a less honorable warrior I would utilize my control of this realm to impale you with little effort, but as you know I enjoy the hunt," he grinned, his weapon still a blur from his whirling. Carbon and steel oozed upwards from the ground, forming his shield fully, the essence weaving itself into the material. "I'm not so honorable." Solus showed his left hand, which was bleeding. Below Avni's feet, Solus' blood receded, left behind earlier in the fight. Solus squeezed, and suddenly, crimson spikes rose from below the Warden's feet. Growling as a spike grazed his leg and another outright impaled it, Avnisae's eyes closed and both his armaments dissolved entirely, the mist coalescing over the surface of his body. "You do yourself no favors, mage," he growled out, a smile more akin to a grimace forming on his lips. The mist absorbed the blood spikes into itself, then converted it back to essence. "Do you know why the Qun are so feared and respected as warriors?" The mist was pulled into his armor, vanishing, before essence began to roll off of his form again to reform the mist. He continued walking, his leg healing rapidly, faster than it ought to given normal demonic regeneration. "Oh I know." Solus began to walk towards him. "They are feared. But have you asked them what they fear, Qun?" He smiled, making no response as he begun to spin his weapon once more, having reformed it as a lance. "What do you imply, Slayer?" The mist thickened around him. "Just ask your greatest Rival from the War in which you shamed your kind." Solus' voice turned into a grotesque demonic snarl. His flames had gone, a black fluid began to bleed from his face and pours. "Corvek." Avni's smile disappeared at the mention of his old rival. He stopped in place, standing stock still before he dug a claw into the palm of his hand, drawing blood. He was glaring to the slayer now, and his weapon was still in his hand till he moved, stabbing it into the ground blade first. "Aghk sher, Verah noghutar," he stated, the blood beginning to glow and rise from his hand, becoming pure essence. "I'm going to turn you into unrecognizable gore," the essence was even more dense around him and the formerly light blue mist , which had become a dark purple condensed into small shards now. "Now there is the true Qun within you..." Solus grinned in anticipation, awaiting the Warden's next strike. His eyes shifted color, turning an orangish red, looking as magma would in the mouth of a volcano. His patience had run thin and as it did the small purple shards gained a redish glow in their core, which became more pronounced over time. Raising his right hand before him, he splayed out his fingers in a sudden movement, causing the shards to arrange around him in what appeared to be a flower-like shape before they began to rotate each in their own circular pattern. It was at this point that Solus would become aware of a presence behind him, and two lances striking towards either side of his body. "Foul one, you should not have crossed me," he stated, the image of his former location fading after a moment, though the shards remained in place, moving as before. Solus' back was suddenly covered in numerous black tendrils. Black tar dripped off them like a liquid plague. His twisted serpent voice, sent familiar daggars into the Qun's mind, rekindling old memories of a fearsome, Eldritch Horror that he once faced. "ThE bEyOnD aWaItS yOu!" The Chimera turned quickly, his largest, thickest tendrils slapping the lances away with ungodly, horrifying strength. Tendrils crawled out of Solus' mouth and eyes. This beast was worse than something foul. From the palms of his hand, black fluid spewed out like a fire hose threw water at a burning firestorm, heading straight at the Warden Qun. Recoiling initially with surprise, then disgust, the Qun promptly vanished, retreating. "Vrekdrh," he growled, gritting his teeth, "It seems I'll have to kill you the boring way," he dropped his lances and slammed his palms together before pulling them apart. A rift half a mile in length and 100 feet from edge to edge abruptly opened beneath the abomination. However, that was not all, for Avni raised his arms, then slammed his palms together. In response the edges of the gorge rose 20 meters, nearly in a single instant, and slammed inwards, attempting to crush the monstrosity. There was no joy on Avni's face as he did it, not a single shred of dignity or satisfaction either. There was only hatred. He had hated Exmortis, for the demon had given him a terrible burden, a scar which ran from his right hip all the way across his back to his left shoulder. It had been a deep gash from one of the acolyte's tendrils, delivered by sharp teeth on its surface. Worse, the eldritch blood had oozed into his wound and while he had managed to seal it with acursed magic, it continued to weaken him even after all these years. With no ground beneath his feet, the monster within Solus immediately retreated, and Solus' flames returned as he fell into the underearth. He wasn't unprepared. His massive black wings burst out of his back. 22ft from one end to the other. Their incredible power didn't only slow his fall, but blew him 200 feet in the air, way out of the canyon's reach. It slammed closed below him, the grinding of the rock was like nails on a chalkboard, but much louder. "I haven't even shown you my worst..." "Likewise, hybrid," he pulled his lance from the earth and whirled it, throwing it through the air towards Solus. It changed in mid air, becoming one solid blade, which spun at high speed as it approached the winged man. Simultaneously, Avni made a pulling motion, almost as if he were clawing the air, causing the wind behind Solus to slam into him, pushing him roughly, and quickly, towards the spinning blade. His other hand drew a second, third, and fourth lance from the ground, throwing each sequentially so that they'd make a small square, but not actually strike the slayer. Had there been a light it would have glittered and warped around the flying lances, as purple mist surrounded them, mist which coalesced into shards as the lances became aligned with Solus' location, though they were parallel to it, and thus would not strike him by a long shot. The shards exploded, creating even more of their ilk and shattering the lances. The shards of carbon, and diamond dust, were then directed in four clouds from four directions at Solus. "Scum," the Qun spat out venemously. Solus' ego was on the verge of finally bursting out in full, this challenge, this thrill of the fight, he hadn't tasted it since Mephisto. His bleeding hand surged with energy as his wings painfully retreated into his body. A red spherical force field surrounded him as he flew through the air. The shards and dust harmlessly deflected off it. Once past the trecherous cloud, the field disappeared, and Solus redirected his power into his feet, and seemingly at the speed of light, Solus slammed into the Qun's chest. Slamming him into the ground with such force, the ground blow them both exploded, sending ripples throughout the area. Pinned to the ground, the Qun's chest inhaled deeply, and his claws readied to tear at Solus, raising his arms up to do so. The movement was an attack twofold, as not only did he attempt to slash at Solus' body, but diamond spikes rose from the ground, attempting to pierce the slayer, or at least fend him off. If Solus retreated the diamond would close around Avni's body, encapsulating him inside it temporarily. If he didn't move, the diamond would pierce him from multiple angles. And they did. Fuck the pain. Pain had no hold on Solus' body. He was relentless. Despite the punctures, his fists slammed into Avni's head with sledgehammer force, burying the Qun's head deeper into the soil with each blow. Gritting his teeth, then opening his mouth, he bit deep into Solus' fist, tearing at it roughly and drinking the blood that came out, using it to continuously heal. The diamond on the other hand shattered inside the slayer's body, dispersing throughout his blood stream and tearing at his muscles violently. It was only a matter of time, or so the warden thought. But the Warden didn't just get a mouthful of blood, he got a mouthful of the parasite, the very thing that plagued him for so long. That knowledge alone, was enough for Solus to remove himself from this pathetic excuse of a demon. He leapt off despite the disabling pain that cramped his body. "You are bound by the Elder God now..." He squeezed his hand, and tendrils burst out of Avni's body, and slowly, began to consume him, keeping him alive, and killing at the same time. Solus dropped to his knees and groaned, something pushing it's way up his throat. The black soot blasting out of his mouth, throwing the diamond dust from his body. After a small coughing fit, the Chimera caught his breath and approached the dying Warden. "I'll give it two hours before the parasite kills you... Revel in your humiliation as you die. But hey. At least you get to come back later." Solus gave him a weary military salute, and began walking toward the Citadel. Eyes following the man, Avnisae spat at him before he turned away, his teeth gritting from the intense pain. Nonetheless, his body was extremely resilient. He'd not be fighting anytime soon, but he had no intention of waiting hours to succumb. "Darhlri Gresh, Solus," he swore at the man, clenching his fists hard. The diamond fully carbonized, becoming hardened, and then grew multiple thorns, piercing his body. "The Beyond cannot claim me," he yelled, madness in his voice. "You...have not won!" He tried to rise, but as he did a foot was upon his chest, for another demon stood upon him. Another warden. "Go, Nekro, you've earned your visit, I'll deal with him," Vaikrin snapped, sounding irritated. His clawed foot pushed harder and harder down on the Qun's chest, eventually fracturing all of his ribs, which pierced his lungs, ceasing his ability to speak or breath. However, as his first defeat in hundreds of years beset him, something occurred. Szayeis' dormant essence exited dormancy, and began its work. This time, the plague that was the Eldritch's parasite would not simply be sealed. Avni, reincarnated through his wardenship, would not be the same when he reformed, but perhaps he'd never know that. Szayeis would. --- As Solus approached the Citadel, which was the second obstacle that stood in his way, its essence reacted to the chimera. The structure, which was some strange mixture between biological or structural monstrosity, formed several massive arms, or tendrils, and slammed them downwards through the air at Solus, attempting to crush him in defense of itself. The structure was endlessly hungry, especially when its master was in such dire straits, and it had been tasked with the difficult duty of protecting Szayeis should the wardens fail, which they had. Solus moved aside, his injuries haven't healed fully yet. He couldn't afford to take more damage for the moment. So he weaved in and out of the tendrils, avoiding each blow it threw his way. He needed to think of a way to incapacitate the beast. Or find a way for it to grant him entry. A low rumble emitted from the Citadel as its massive tendril swept across the ground at Solus. When it got neared it split off into hundreds of smaller, though still gigantic, tendrils. The air began to hum before pure essence erupted from multiple angles and fire down upon Solus. The structure roared once more, the ground shuddering from its voice. Within, two took notice, one who was no one at all, and the other who made up for the Nameless one's lack of identity. Szayeis and the Aide were aware of Solus' presence, but neither moved. Szayeis could barely do so at all in his current state, and the Aide could not act unless Solus entered the Citadel's form. Such was the being's enigmatic nature. Solus pushed his hands towards the mass of tentacles, a red transparent wall formed quickly in the biomass' path, stopping the tendrils dead in their tracks. The impact created a shockwave that quaked the ground below Solus' feet. The pure essence realligned itself, aiming at a particular angle. The many beams of power slammed into one another, combined, condensed, and then erupted forwards and directly against the red barrier. The tendrils began to rapidly alter their form, going from bladed implements, to blunt objects, to spiked, to forming mouths, and finally they appeared to vanish entirely. The area darkened immediately as they disappeared. Solus closed his eyes. It was too dark to rely on his vision now. His hearing and 6th sense were now his source of perception. He slowly placed his hand on his Gunsheath, waiting for the Citadel's next move. The blast of pure essence began to devour the red shield, eating away at it and spreading over its surface. As it did so, the darkness increased, becoming thicker and even more difficult to see through in Solus' direct vicinity. The Citadel began to emit a low ominous hum. His grip around the sheath tightened, his right hand placed itself on the pommel of the sheathed sword as Solus took his stance. Come on... The barrier broke fully, absorbed by the beam, allowing the tendrils to strike. Then, from directly around Solus' feet, tendrils spawned from darkness, attacking Solus from close range. The tendrils had turned themselves into shadows and then remerged physically, revealing the chimeric nature of the Citadel. A sudden blast of energy sent the tendrils back, giving Solus room to begin to slice his way towards the Citadel with his sword. The lightning that arced along the blade and the golden plating was lethal to nightwalkers. Solus hoped that the Citadel shared their weaknesses. In short it did not, the Citadel was a menagarie of essences, demonic and otherwise, all mashed into one animate, and nearly sentient, structure. It was called the Chimeric Citadel for a reason, and it showed such as it began spewing flames, weaving its tendrils into walls, which then became solid stone, and even sending arcs of lightning at the chimeric necromancer. The ominous hum grew in intensity and following it the density of essence in the air increased, going up by the second. The Citadel's tendrils began to become bladed and clawed, some even growing advanced muscle systems to harm not just through weight, but also muscular power and strikes. The structure, even in its unmanaged state, was a powerful foe. It always had been. Who knew just how deadly it was when its Lord was in control.... Solus dodged and weaved, his body even became entirely liquid, formed from the Filth that infected him, just to absorb the blows the Citadel dealt. He couldn't keep this up forever though. He had a few moves up his sleeve, but one stood out the most. He suddenly channeled his whole essence into his sword. The arcs of energy that spewed from the blade intensified as the sword's metal turned black. His soul anchored to the weapon as it shook and vibrated with the extra power. He charged forward, the supercharged sword pulling him towards the Citadel. The filth infecting the many limbs of the monstrous construct, the Citadel recoiled before a terrible earshattering shriek was emitted from within. Whatever portions of its body were infected suddenly deatomized, and then split further down to the essence level. After that the filth was transmuted and subsequently devoured. This all in several seconds. The contructs unaffected limbs attempted to slam into Solus only to be shocked by powerful arcs of electrical energy. In response the Citadel's shriek ensued then deepened into a low humming roar, shaking even Solus down to the bone. An electromagnetic field began to form in Solus' path invisibly, but the Citadel was not omnipotent or omniscient by any measure, it had not properly predicted the speed at which its adversary was moving so even as Solus began to slow, the blade pierced its outer hide, allowing the hunter into its form. As the chimera finally triumphed, or at least succeeded in his goal, the Citadel calmed, its walls healing behind Solus even as he'd find himself sliding across a seemingly normal hallway. Well, normal aside from the lightly pulsating and glowing walls. He had entered the belly of the beast, but he was lucky, for if his battle had gone on much longer, the Citadel would have began to pull from its higher arsenal, an arsenal that few armies ever saw. Solus sheathed his blade and caught his breath. "Now I'll need the guide..." He said out loud, seemingly to himself, but it was a summoning call for the Nameless Aide. Almost a moment before he spoke, for the being seemed to have almost been there already, the Nameless Aide's blank contenance found itself before Solus, standing at the end of the hall several meters away. "You wish to see the lord, I presume," the Aide's monotone voice asked rhetorically before the figure turned and strode around the corner, expecting the infamous hunter to be quick in following. While the Aide was largely without emotion, as he was without essence, the being appeared to be almost impatient. The conflict between Ancient and Master had even the apathetic Aide filled with trepidition...and perhaps even something rarer: Fear. Of course, the hunter indeed followed with haste. Szayeis had answers to a cryptic message that Aaurus left him, and he needed to know what Aaurus was so afraid of. And why this realm had been locked down would be nice to know too. It took them only two turns down separate hallways to reach the throne room, whiched altered its position to suit them. As they reached the massive entrance to the throne room, the arched doors standing before them, the Aide stopped, appearing to hesitate in coming into contact with the door. "Be wary, hunter, the master is..." the Aide shook its head in uncharacteristic hesitation and worry, things that the being should not have been able to experience to begin with. "He is not well," the Aide stated monotonously, its face appearing to barely hold its normally expressionless state. The being then pressed its hand to the door and pushed it open just enough for Solus to enter. Once the chimera passed the threshold, the Aide would close the door, its eyes holding a form of anxiousness. As Solus entered the room he'd find that it was lit only by the madenning blue glow, which emanated from the imposing figure before him. The being that was, and was not, Szayeis stood in the center of the room, its towering form standing 9 feet in the air, its eyeless visage motionless. Then, an ethereal voice, barely a whisper, but still audible despite its airy quality, emitted from the lips of the body, "Look who it is, Szayeis, that is if you can see at all anymore," there was amusement in the voice, amusement and mild surprise. This was not the Lord of Chaos that had razed the Council's Citadel almost 200 years ago, this was something else entirely. There was a time of silence before Szayeis' strained voice broke its way to the surface of their being, to be heard in the room, "I am...alive and well, and can see just fine, relic." Szayeis was confused, why was he here? Perhaps he had come to slay him as he had Mephistopholes.... Twas an unfortunate idea. Hopefully that was not the case. "So, Solus Grim," the mysterious voice began, "what is it that brings you to my abode, perhaps you seek to placate me, oh esteemed hunter," a grin spread 'cross the body's mouth, mirroring the amusement of the Old one at its own sarcasm. Meanwhile, Szayeis began gathered his wits to break through. He could not allow this man to slay him, should he do so all would be lost and the Old One would hardly tell him that. After all, of the Game's master fell, then all would be brought to shambles and the ancient would finally have won. "That's none of your concern." Solus stated towards the entity that seems to have turned Szayeis into a weak morsle. He could feel its power, and he should have been at least concerned by it, but something... dulled those feelings. Could be Aaurus' hand again, intervening in an ethereal way. Solus still didn't quite understand the deity, perhaps he never will. Aaurus never wanted to intervene before now, and he lead Solus here. Perhaps it was that being, that strange entity that crushed Szayeis' will like Lilith's ancient foot. The smile immediately vanished at the hunter's words. "Deplorable, you mortal lot," the Old One growled in annoyance, "...so self important, thinking yourselves empowered, indomitable. You will fall like all the others, hybr-..." the room's darkness began to crack, and the glow shifted between the blue and a brighter, brilliant white. Then, after several moments, the blue glow subsided entirely and a faint white became the room's illumination. As this occurred the form dissolved down to a humanoid visage of normal height, but made entirely of darkness, with eyes the same color as the room's now dim glow. "Why...are you here," the nightwalker asked, sitting down at the base of the small stairs that led to the Western Throne. He would not sit on it, doing so only empowered the relic, and he could not afford to give the being any further advantage. "You best have a g-good...reason" his voice was weak compared to that day it had resounded throughout Loom, speaking words of impending danger to any who dared defy him. He appeared weak now...fragile. In fact, he barely seemed able to hold his current form...let alone speak. What had happened to him? "The big man upstairs sent me..." Solus said, hoping Szayeis would get the reference. But he doubted it. Rubbing his temples, the nightwalker took a moment before he looked up at Solus, he knew the chimera could sense his essence, and so was sure that the hunter knew just how exhausted he was. At the man's words he raised a shadowy eyebrow, his form solidifying ever so slightly with each passing moment--he was feeding on the smallest bit of Solus' essence. He couldn't help it, he was so deprived that his demonic instincts were doing it and he could not stop them. Had he cared, he might have apologized, but he didn't. Szayeis was beyond caring about anything 'cept his own continued existence. "Aaurus?" He queried. "The very same. He wants you to live. Didn't tell me why though..." Solus could feel his infected essence slowly being from him, but weakly. For a moment his expression did not change, then a tired smile formed and he laughed, albeit weakly. "And so he sent you? That is hardly helpful. For a god he's awfulyl shortsighted. Do you recall what he s-..." Szayeis' speech cut off and he appeared to grit his teeth, his form flickering between the one he was holding and the one that he'd been in when Solus entered. After almost an entire minute, his body shuddered then solidified once more. Exhaling deeply, the demonic lord turned his eyes to the hunter again, attempting to recollect his thoughts. Failing initially, he started anew, "Aaurus, what'd he tell you?" After he spoke his jaw locked in concentration as he did his best to listen to the response and hold back the apocalypse at the same time. "In the Western Realm awaits the beginning and the end. Yearning its escape. The Young Prince falters, under the hammer of the Black Maker. Seek the truth within the Prison, where its Warden locked his own away..." Solus repeated the words to the best of his memory, which luckily was spot on. He wanted to chuckle, but his humor had left him. Even Szayeis knew he was, at least in his current state, a shell of his former self. It disgusted him. Nonetheless, he nodded slightly, thinking, "I will waste no time. Clearly he intended you to do something, and for that you..." the lord paused, inhaling deeply and using more essence to suppress the ancient for just a bit longer. He could not maintain this for long, "You need to know what is going on," he finished. Taking in another breath and then exhaling it, Szayeis began, "There is a being beyond Aaurus and Lucy, beyond any god. It is their father, it is their creator. We call it the Void, but that place is far from empty. It is alive. Part of its consciousness, which calls itself Inaniae, and who was the first Lord of the West, lives within me as it has within all my predecessors. The others, all fragments of Inaniae's consciousness formed long ago when he shattered himself--something which Aaurus orchestrated to give this world time--were unaware of their true nature. Myself and the one before we are different. We know what we are, but none before me had the power or knowledge necessary to combat...it." The shadows seemed to shudder before Szayeis rose to his feet and walked towards Solus, his white eyes dimming with every passing moment and turning ever so slightly blue as they did. "He thinks himself betrayed by this reality, bored in it, and thus enraged by it. He would see it wiped out," the nightwalker had closed the distance, and now stood before Solus, the white embers of his eyes locking on Solus' fiery orbs. "I made this realm, my realm...the one that was once his, a prison." his form became less physical and began to slowly disperse, but Szayies continued, his speech sounding rushed. "I've fought him for over 5000 years now, longer than all my predecessors, but the chaos of the gate's fall fed him, and I am losing. If I lose, my essence will be assimilated just like the others...and he will have the power to devour the other fragments, to complete his vessel, and then wipe us all off the face of creation. Hell, Heaven...Progaia, all dust, nothingness, reduced to pure void and taken into him once more. Only then will his rage be sated. I do not know how much longer I will last, but I may manage another 100 years if I am lucky." He paused, his body entirely dispersed 'cept the glowing white embers, which burned like stars in the room shrouded by black. "I...hold no illusions as to how you likely think of me. However, this is a matter of importance beyond any personal spite. Find some way to stop him if I cannot. I...I will stay here as I have and keep him caged as best I can. I don't know how long you have, but if I were you I woul-..." his eyes winked out, the darkness coalesced and the ancient's body reformed, plates on its face having slid away to reveal the maddening eyes of Praestrigia. The being took a step forwards, arm raising, essence gathering faster than the mind could track, before the darkness in the room pierced its body from all directions, narrowly avoiding the hunter as they pinned the ancient in place. The power dissipated completely, apparently pulled into Szayeis who barely managed a final sentence before falling silent, "Please...hurry." The End of the World, something Solus once wanted to bring about in his younger life. Many things that he has witnessed have changed his reasons. But deep down, he realized that his old motives were perhaps the same as the Void's. He hadn't checked the Book of the Apocalypse for a while, perhaps it updated itself with new, grimmer entries. It was going to be a good read. "Then I guess I don't have much time, not like the world will lose anything by ending." Solus said with a strange smirk. The measly fact that the Apocalypse being so close didn't phase him was interesting to him. He guessed he had nothing to lose if he failed. Perhaps dying instantly wasn't on his top 10 list of "Scary Things". Or maybe there was something else he feared more. Solus agreed with himself that it was the latter, and turned to leave, approaching a wall and waiting for an opening. The Citadel opened before him, knowing his intent and no longer identifying him as an adversary. Behind him the Chimeric lord regained dominance of its voice. "Know that when I dissolve this pathetic excuse for a cage, you will be first to go, abomination. Perhaps I will do it slowly, so you can feel your essence bleed into non-existence," it was clear that a form of rage had overtaken the ancient once more. He was tired of mortals foiling him, and the moment he was free, they would all pay for crossing their creator. He would make sure of it. "We'll see..." Solus said in a throaty whisper as he left the room, heading into the dark hallways of the Citadel. It would be a long trip home.

[Fallenreaper]

The Visitor Kenen - Darius' Mansion Early Morning

Collab: Fallenreaper, yoshua171, Lucius Cypher, and Slade.

Concrete chunks were scattered in ruins around the room. The coffin prison was tossed on its side and crushed easily. Blood splattered in various spots, both spotted and smeared in or there. At the center of the chaos was Juan, his face eyed the Kitsune before him, her red eyes glaring back with pure venom. Like many broken hearted lovers he’d left in his wake making the demon chuckle inwardly and wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. The two had been locked into a battle since Kasain’s departure causing him to suffer hellish damage. Already, he had used the green vial and stuck at least one of the two needles in her lower maw. Her jaw had went slack almost immediately. Sadly, the struggle had ended up smashing the vial into the ground, creating a mini tornado. More bad news followed. The bitch had air manipulation so instead of the tornado bashing her up nicely, Juan was forced to feel his flesh peeled away by the fierce air blades. Drip...drip… His darker red blood flowed in rivulets along his arms and skin, each ending to drip onto the floor. In his right hand was the brown vial and the last needle. Tatters from what remained of his shirt hung from the fox’s claws and a bit caught in her teeth. It was little surprise she tried to take a bite, his palms were bleeding well from the cuts created by the beast’s jaws. Her teeth sharp, pointed buried in rather easily. In return he stuck her with something of his. One of Kasain’s needles. Now her lower jaw was left hanging but the monster before him seemed to tower over him, unfazed. She gave one small shudder then increased her size. Her muscles rippled and bulged, her fur made a ripping sound while it extended to cover her flesh. “Come on dollface, I didn’t piss you off that bad did I?” Juan mused before his feet were jerked out from under him. His arms curled protectively about his body as he rolled, a large chunk of rock landing where he had been earlier. The roof started to collapse when the Kitsune’s head thrusted through. Sunlight from dawn peered through and flooded the room with early morning light, making Juan blink harshly. Gingerly he hauled himself to his two legs, his balance wobbly and his body on fire. “Bitch, I’m not done with that sweet ass yet!” His hand shifted the needle and his vial into his belt, his hands summoning his chain and blade. The chain hissed in his grip while he tossed it at her leg. The blade slicing into the fur and flesh, painting it red. Lola gave a yelp then snarled, her head shot down when the needle finally started to wear off. Moving to the side, Juan rolled to avoid her bite. Her head tilted causing Juan to improvise, his heel slapped onto her snout, boosting him upward through the roof’s hole. The bad part, his chain had tailed too close to her teeth. He felt his weapon jerk back bringing him down. He made the weapon vanish, keeping his body from being dragged back. However, his back still slammed into the ground topside and knocked the wind from him, the fox rumbled to the surface after him. Her jaws snapped and clicked, teeth reaching for him. Gathering enough breath, Juan managed to spit a retort back. “Not yet bitch.” Seemingly insulted by his comment, she redoubled her efforts. Only her head and right forepaw had managed to fit while she jerked and tugged her way higher. Not willing to stick around Juan rose weakly to his legs. His figure was covered in sweat, blood and more making him seem like a mess. He knew the beast wasn’t done. Sure enough, the Kistune started to shift again, her head and torso slipping through inch by inch. She was a durable thing, Juan gave her that much while he tried to lure her back to where Rhett and Damon were located. Part of him was hoping the sniper could help delay her but he didn’t hold his breath. There was a good reason Feral Kitsune weren't allowed to exist on the surface. The sniper was occupied, but Damon wasn't. He had managed to successfully scatter the guardsmen into either a full retreat or at least off the mansion. For the moment the way was clear, at least until someone managed to rally what remains of the guards together. Damon used the moment to set up a few explosives of his own, however his were more anti-personal than demolition. Damon was actually going to risk an assault on the mansion itself when he saw the fox demon running rampant not too far away. Damon saw Juan heading for his position and the amorphous demon knew what he wanted done. Double checking his surroundings Damon moved towards Jaun but at the same time was purposely looking to a good hiding spot. The fox would chase Juan but wouldn't be ready for Damon, or so he hoped. Waiting for the right moment Damon sprung out from his hiding spot and, while he flew through the air, turned into a large bear-trap with silver tipped teeth. Something of an original creation since he never encountered a bear trap with silver teeth, but he has consumed silver and a bear trap. Damon intended to latch onto the fox's front leg and bit as deeply as he mechanically could. Damon didn't stick around however, detaching himself from the trap as it flew its path, jumping back into some of the shrubbery. He used a lot of his mass during that attack, so he'd need to consume some more for any more tricks. Damon soon found himself running alongside Juan in his shadow (Literally), consuming bits of grass as he ran. "Did you get the bunny?" Damon asked Juan as he kept tabs on the fox demon. The Kitsune’s eyes were wide and furious as she lowered her maw, her jaws widened until it seemed ready to tear into his ass. Snap! Her pace stopped when a massive steel trap came into view and her body jerked to a halt. Blood hissed when silver touched it, causing pain and causing the fox to latch her teeth into the none silver bits. Her maw easily created dents before she flung it away. Juan chuckled, slightly amused by Damon who kept in pace to his flat out run as his eyes drifted backwards and noted the she fox’s regeneration kicking in. It was only slightly slowed by the silver within that beartrap. “Damon, you need to watch what you eat. I’m surprised that silver didn’t kill you. And yes, the rabbit is with the doctor right now. Right now, I’m trying to keep this bitch distracted. Else she’ll rip both the rabbit and the good doctor to pieces.” His hand reached for his other vial, his right holding his wound closed, then bit the cork top. His teeth worked the white vial top off and downed it in a smooth motion. His throat stinging hard when it slipped downward, hissing when the essence started to mend his wounds. A bit anyways. Miracle angel essence was pure, sometimes too pure, making him wince at the digestion making him slightly uncomfortable. At least the bleeding stopped though he thought with some relief. “First thing’s first, that bitch nipping at my tail is a Kitsune feral. She has seven tails, so eight abilities at most and I’ve only figured out at least…” He counted on his one hand. “Four. Regeneration, air manipulation, shape shifting as in size, and telekinesis.” At his last mention, Juan’s eyesight saw something thrown at him. A statue, chipped and damaged, was thrown at the pair causing Juan to react. His feet kicked off the ground just when the statue crashed where he was. “See, doesn’t like me.” "Hey, can't build a resistance if you can't take in a bit of poison." Damon pointed out as they continued to flee from the fox demon. Emmet was secured but they'd need to deal with this monster or else Emmet and the doctor would be in danger. Damon supposed that simply pumping her with silver bullets was out of the question due to her regeneration factor. Damon's first thought was to figure out a way to counter that since he lacks any instant-killing attacks. Silver seems to be marginably effective however so his attacks would have to incorperate some of that. And just as the statue flew and nearly hit Juan, Damon jumped out to intercept the statue. He was prepared for it and grabbed hold of it as soon as it landed, consuming it for a large sum of mass. Still not enough to make another bear trap but it would help buy them some time. Damon spat out some silver caltrops the size of basket balls in the path of the fox spirit. If they could slow her down and limit her mobility Damon and Juan would have an easier time dealing with her. And that's when Damon had a thought. "Say, you don't think this thing can breath fire or something?" Damon had an idea, but it was a risky idea. It would require him to be eaten alive. And more importantly it would require him to look like Juan. Juan just shook his head. Inwardly he knew it was pointless to argue with his friend, once Damon made up his mind then that was it and nothing could change it. While Damon had a few key points, he worried it might get his ally killed. Shoving that notion from his head he focused on the matter at hand: the fox. He watched Damon latch onto the statue and suck it up, absorbing it into his body quickly. When Damon shot several sliver cannonballs, his mind mentally knew they were bigger and in the fashion that Damon shot made him think of a cannon, at the fox. He noted the sudden shift and change in the silver’s reaction. Their path immediately went lower and slammed into the ground, influenced by the artificial gravity she created. They slapped hard into the ground while she chased them, paying them only enough mind to avoid a stinging reaction to them. “I did mention gravity, after all.” Juan started, then considered something. “Not sure, Kitsune are hard to gain information as they are almost completely extinct. Darius is actually the first and only one I’ve met besides our… current trouble. So it’s possible yet she didn’t use it on me during our close encounter. Right now, I rather just last long enough to buy the Doc time and get the hell out of here. These things have been rumored to be strong, and insane enough, to take on weather angels if the mood strikes them.” "Peh, you say that like angel's can't be killed. They aren't immortal, and neither is this fox." Evidentally however a strait forward approach isn't going to be any good. On the bright side this fox at least seemed to have it out for Juan. Damon just needed to break off and attack her while she continued her hunt, unless one of her powers also included precognition or something. Damon edged closer to Juan to tell him his new plan. "I'm guessing she's going to be after you, but she won't notice me. I'm going to try to set up a few traps for her, or ambush her, while she's occupied trying to take you down. Here." Damon used some more of his extra mass to produce an SMG for Juan. "A little something to keep her attention. It has thirty shots and silver bullets. Make them count." The next time Juan had to make a juke Damon seperated from him, allowing the fox to chase him. Damon learned enough about the layout of the mansion thanks to consuming the guards here, so he knew where Juan might be going, and more importantly how the fox might try to follow him. Damon started to consume any corpse he killed in the past hour as well as small bushes and even stone. He'll need them for what he was going to make next. He was really going to have to test his speed for this one, and hoped that this fox's telekinesis doesn't function like fingers. “The same could be said about you too, Damon.” Juan said, quietly, while listening to Damon’s plan. He nodded sending his dreadlocks ot bounce and winked his gratitude for the SMG, clicking the hammer back. “Thanks luv, remind me to thank you later. Real special.” It made sense and like schemed, the fox barely noticed Damon slipping off to one side. Juan’s feet slapped the grass and pavement just barely keeping out of the bitch’s snapping jaws. His body leapt over shrubs, concrete barriers, and more to buy him more time. Each moment seemed to work in slow motion within his head while he struggled to survive. Twice he shot off a small burst, only to her flick up a Telekinetic barrier against it and deflect the bullets somewhere into no man’s land. He was running short on breath when he reached a small arch just outside the mansion’s patio then twisted back to fire another quick burst. She ducked through after him. Wood splintered like toothpicks and were sent everywhere. Her maw snagged Juan’s leg just when he climbed up to escape, jerking him backwards. His arms snagged the fence which crumbled at his high level strength while her teeth cracked his hard skin and into the bone below. The fox jerked up and whipped down, shaking him like a dog with a rag. Over and over, his body rippled with pain when she slammed him down on the ground at full force. The concrete grated his back while Juan covered his head, sparing it from the blunt of the blows. Juan gritted as his patience wore thin. His hand managed to slip to his chest when her blows ceased, his body being dragged back, then summoned his weapon. It sliced into his chest before withdrawing a strange item. A silver circle embedded in his sternum and jerked upright, his fingers slamming the side of the demon’s face with the coin sized item. His free foot belted into the muzzle releasing him from her grasp. She howled when her flesh hissed, scorched with pain. It last a moment before her eyes glared at him. A murderous one. Crack. Her left eye exploded into a spray of blood, pushing her back. Juan breathed in relief at being saved and grunted slightly to rise, crumbling when his wounded leg gave out. ‘Shit!” So much for running, he thought bitterly. Juan whispered and slightly prayed under his breath. “Damon, you better be ready or I will kick your ass.” Damon had to let Juan take the attention off of him. While he couldn't exactly gauge the fox's full abilities, Damon knew that the fox would be able to use it's telekinesis to counter his attacks if he makes them obvious. He had to wait and trail after her until she wouldn't be able to mount a counter attack in time. And to ensure that Damon was there when the opprotunity presented itself, he took on a form that was most comfortable and familiar for him: A fly. A mere insect caught in the chaos of it all, but so minor and tiny that it was easy to miss amongst the chaos. This fly, Damon, flew behind the fox at great speeds, moving between her body to look for weak spots he could attack. When the fox managed to grab ahold of Juan and thrash him Damon knew he had to act fast. He flew underneath her neck and struck when he heard the explosion of the fox's eye. Before the regenreation would kick in Damon flew into the eye socket, changing his form from a fly to a silver caltrop. But he didn't just stop there: Damon grew in size as he was within the fox's eye socket, and grew to the same size of its original eye but he didn't stop. He knew silver took longer for the fox to heal from--as evidenced by the wounds she still had on her leg from his bear trap--and he was certain that this ought to put a stop to her. Even if she could used her telekinesis on him, she'd have to rip the coltrop back out of her head. But that healing factor likely made her cocky when it came to injuries, so as soon as the silver coltraop was firmly rooted into the eye socket Damon knew that there was no time to hold back. "Here goes!" Damon needed a giant form. One at least as big as the fox. But he needed to be covered in silver, so that she couldn't simply bash him to death. He needed spikes, to impale her flesh. He remembered a creature like this, a monster from hell, whose sole purpose was to gather the corpses of the dead to add it to itself. Much like Damon does, but this one was more...physically inclined. Damon transformed and grew from within the fox's head, into the form of a Cadaver Collector. His size was much too big to be contained in the skull of the fox so he practically exploded out of her head. This giant sized, two-ton monstrosity took nearly all of Damon's excess and primary mass to create, and knew that if this form failed it would mean trouble for him and Juan. Juan braced himself, not knowing where Damon was. He had lost track of the shapeshifter some time ago and how he was about to be killed because of it. Mentally his mind went over his new injuries quickly, recounting what was at his current disposal or at least useable. First he noticed was his left arm was completely useless. He had instinctively favored spare his left over his right side to most the damage. Now the result was a busted up right arm. That was the least of his concerns. Juan's most worrisome one was the fact his leg was less able to stand, let alone walk or run away. He was easy prey because of that reality. Lastly was the ruptured lung, pierced by a broken rib. It was sadly one out of four, one he did himself when he made the effort in extracting the coin. Blood dripped from his mouth and trailed down his lips, staining his teeth red. Both him and the Kitsune had missed the fly sized Damon buzz into her skull. So Juan fully expected this to be his last moments and aimed to give the bitch hell. The monstrous fox snarled and snapped her teeth before she charged forward for what felt like the hundredth time. Reflexively Juan had jerked his hand back to grasp the two items in his belt. A vial and the last needle pinched between his forefingers. The moment she lounged, Juan raised his fist to plant the needle into the top. He expected a smooth insertion. Instead her head popped. Gore, brains and skull, were sent flying up in his face causing him to abruptly stop and shield his face. Bone embedded into the arm's surface when Damon's current form erupted from the inside. The Fox didn't even have time to react. One moment she was charging and bent on tearing him to pieces, next a headless corpse now slumped over dead. Pausing to survey the damage, Juan's widened eyes slowly relaxed in relief at seeing the obvious shapeshifter's form. Then his leg gave out. Half of his body sank down and crumbled to his knee, lowering him to his knees while he gritted teeth. “Took you long enough, Damon. Remind me later to give you an extra special treat. Fuck! Though it will have to wait for later.” His hand managed to return the needle and vial back to his belt, his hand now braced himself from falling face forward into the ground. His eyes shifted to spot something discolored on the pavement then smirked. Just a few feet from him was one of Kasain's needles. The very one he thought was completely lost. The odds were rather ironic Juan admitted as he picked it up, pinched between his thumb and finger, before it too went into his belt. He recalled the doc saying they were expensive and if his debt collector was serious trouble, it was best to not add up the cost even more with an expensive needle. Slowly he picked himself up best he could and called to Damon. “Let's give our trigger happy playmate a call, and get our asses out of here before Darius pops up.” It was this very moment, he regretted his very words. A breeze, subtle but reeked of something wrong, flew in suddenly. The gas that been used earlier was easily swept away as Darius' bigger employees started to emerge. Juan's stomach dropped when he found himself seeing the silhouette of a wind elemental demon came into view. Darius had finally brought the demons and angels in his courtyard out, though Juan couldn't tell if they were one of his worse ones or not. Namely as he never met them all. “I think... it's time we start getting out of here. Now...” "Hmm... Yeah... Let's go before-" Suddenly, the scenery changed. That was never good. Damon changed back into his normal form and went over to Damon, helping him to his feet while at the same time wrapping himself around Juan to carry him. This place was slowly starting to get freakier and Damon wanted nothing to do with it. As if to make matters worse the sky, which on one side was bloodred with the rising of the sun, filled with a variety of sickly colors. Greens, reds, and blacks, mixed with purple and white, all which swirled in a vortex of energy. The clouds nearby were torn and dispersed by the strange formation and the air seemed to both rumble and hum. The approaching reinforcements paused in their movement, looking up, and then the vortex snapped open like some kind of spatial maw and on the other side could be seen a dark sky with writhing essence. Almost as abruptly as it had formed, it was gone, but even as it closed the sky remained darkened, the sun barely piercing the unnatural shade. "What a wonderful present," an insidious voice rumbled throughout the courtyard, its source nowhere in sight, but its owner plainly amused. The same feeling that Juan had had when he captured the Kitsune so long ago would wash over him, a familiar sensation from a familiar place. Darius might even feel nostalgic. However, the angels and demons who had been closing in on Juan's company crumpled to the ground, where the shadows themselves began to pull their forms in, devouring them whole. "Such a long time it has been!" The shadows began to coalesce and two white eyes, glowing fiercely in the darkness, could be noted in the figure's contenance. Kasain, having sensed the disturbance had radioed the other two men Crow had sent, instructing them to take Emmet to the car, and guard him with their lives, lest he take them away upon his return. He left a needle in his patient, and headed for the scene, knowing exactly who had just arrived. He was almost there even as the nightwalker turned his attention to Juan, Rhett, and Damon--the being's eyes shining with a kind of cruel delight. "I thought I'd save you for last, being the best specimens and all," a grin spread across the demon's face, his form almost solid now. He appeared as a partially solidified human shadow. Like a three dimensional silhouette, a shadow given nightmarish form. There was something about the figure that screamed terror...and something else that screamed danger in Juan's mind. It was unlikely that the man had ever encountered a true demonic lord after all. Juan went an ashy gray color. A vortex or some rift in the air influenced the chaos before it abruptly vanished, leaving only a slight filter to deny the sun its right and presence. This wasn't Darius' doing, Juan realized, his body flinched from the shivers racing in his core and seemed to seep through his wounds. For one dreadful moment, he felt both sides of his essence in perfect union with one key emotion: fear. It didn't help his essence was once more at war with itself and sensation of being back in hell washed over him, his eyes watched in horror as the scene changed abruptly. His suspicious were right when the very shadows seemed to turn on the angels and demons closing in. Even worse was when shadows reemerged into a single form. White eyes burning into Damon, Rhett, and himself while this creature's words caused Juan to edge back against his leg's wishes. He barely felt the pain through the emotion ripping his mind into pieces. There was only other time he had ever felt this numbed by fear and in the end, it had cost him everything. “What are you?” Juan faintly registered the words. "Oh shit..." Damon didn't know what this thing was, but it was certainly demonic. And not the sort of demon you'd run into just anywhere in hell. It wasn't that it was unfamiliar, Damon has seen plenty of dark demons, but something about this one made them look like shadow puppets. Damon didn't know what to make of this thing, and frankly, he didn't want to. "I don't think that matters right now Juan, let's just, go!" Damon urged Juan as he held tightly onto his body. Damon know Juan was in no condition to run on his own, so he had to do the moving for him. Damon sprouted a large, black pair of wings, and with one mightly gust he was able to get himself and Juan airborn. And to assist in their escape something else appeared in front of Juan's chest which looked suspiciously like a jet engine. "I hope that doctor can fix this!" Damon didn't care for what that thing was, only about putting as much space between it and themselves. "Juan, radio to the others to evac, I need to focus on getting us out of here!" As the gas suddenly blew away, Rhett became visible, his pants and boots covered in blood as he was hunched over slitting another guard's juggular, surrounded by around 20 or so corpses who had suffer the same fate. Rhett pauses for a moment in confusion as he sees the mutard gas basically dissipate in front of his eyes. Still wearing his Gas mask, he curses loudly. “What the fuck! I wasn't done yet!” He looks up and sees the cause of his irritation, Angels and Demons. “Oh shit” he mumbles “Time to go” He quickly runs over to the others who seemed to have retrieved the target, he unslings his backpag and unzips it, sticking his hand in and tinkering with his remaining C4. Hoping that the freaks in the air wouldn't notice him palming the detonator and slipping it into his pocket. Obviously the mustard gas wouldn't work on them, but perhaps a bomb might distract them just long enough to make a get away. He slips his backpack on, feeling a little anxious about lugging around an active bomb on his back, but he swallowed the fear and met up with the others. Noticing the Angels and Demons had dissipated and formed a new being of shadow, not caring about the company of friends he was currently keeping, he found himself capable of only saying three words after the creature spoke. “Demons fucking suck” The white embers seemed to pierce Juan as the poor creature asked a question that he had heard many times, and even before Damon managed to lift him away, he responded. "Why, that's simple," he began, his grin widening and the darkness deepening as he watched Damon wrap his body about Juan and sprout wings. His arm rose, and in response the darkness closed around Damon and Juan, seizing them in mid air, "...I am death." His eyes flashed and a wave of utter terror would writhe its way through Damon, doing little to Juan since he had already succumbed to its influence. Luckily, Kasain arrived just in the nick of time and stood before the demon, his eyes not even glancing to Juan and Damon. He was panting, his legs longer than normal, and his arms thin before his body redistributed its mass. "Szayeis!" The nightwalker narrowed his eyes, his head tilting slightly, then smiled as he looked down, "Kasain M've, hahahaha, are these yours?" He gestured towards the two held within his grasp, then seeing the look in the Doctor's eyes, his grin closed into a smirk. The glimmer in his eyes was one that the Doctor knew well, it was a dangerous look, for it was one that revealed interest. "Amusing, begone then, before I change my mind and devour you as well. I am starving afterall," he then let Juan and Damon go, letting them hover or fall to the ground, as Damon's wings had been restrained mid flap, thus removing any lift they may have gained before. "Much appreciated, old friend," Kasain said before turning his eyes to Juan and Damon, rushing over and briefly applying several needles and a few bits of essence to sooth Juan's pain. It took no more than several seconds, after which he looked between the three, having noted Rhett's presence, "...the patient is secured, go. I w-will meet you at the extraction point, yes? Good, no argue!" he then turned his eyes from their forms and stared at the demonic lord that stood before him, surveying his surroundings. Panic, fear, whatever it was called, Damon only knew it as the force wanting him to leave with all his might. If it was a flight or fight responds Damon certainly wanted to just fly, but somehow or another some sort of sentiant darkness managed to solidify into physical form and capture Damon and Juan in the air. "Shit! How is he doing this!?" Damon's question was never anwered as the doctor arrived. He must have known the demon or something, as the monster released Damon as soon as he noticed Kasain. He didn't stick around to question as Damon quickly built altitiude and flew off. Damon and Juan would head to the extraction point, albeit taking the stealthy (and somewhat long) route to ensure that they weren't followed. It involved a lot of twist and turns that Juan could not physically get through without Damon's amorphous flexibility, though ultimately Damon arrived to the extraction point where everyone else should be at. Once there Damon let Juan down onto the ground while the demon finally allowed himself a gasp of air. "That... Was fucking intense." Juan felt...cold. His body caught in the darkness, his mind failed to understand it. It felt like he was an insect held in place by a million icicles pinning him to an iceberg as the words echoed in his head. His breathing was sharp and painful, giving him no air while they were held in place. Even when Damon held him close, Juan barely knew it. No warmth, joy, or even the conversation seemed to reach his attention. It wasn't until the familiar pain he usually had had subsided did Juan's mind snap back into focus. His eyes blinked and flinched, his body cried at his movement only to settle back into Damon's arms. In the end, Damon helped him take a long and rather painful route back to the extraction point. Things had been a rather terrible mess which had gone down hill since the Kitsune. It had taken some time to remove his mind from its icy state into working properly. Thankfully he hadn't needed to focus on walking the whole way. Else he might've been left behind and collapsed, his leg blissfully able to be tolerated during the jerky ride. When he was let down, Juan's body tried to rise on his only good leg and hobble into the car Emmet was currently out cold. He nearly jumped when Damon exclaimed his excitement. His eyes glared but his lips were sealed, his instinct and mind more eager to get the fuck out of here. And likely never come back. His hand jerked up on the door handle then slid in, his eyes lowered to note with bitter amusement his first-aid kit. Sighing deeply he forced his body to lower and popped the lid open. Juan reached in to retrieve another silver coin which flickered in his hand when he raised it to his eyes. It had engravings and traces of other metals within the carvings, creating an intricate and complicated design. He paused long enough to acknowledge the one he lost to the beast before then peeled back his sliced chest. Juan reached his hand into the hard bone, the coin slipped into the protective metal casing making him sigh in relief. His back pressed backwards into the seat. Part of him briefly considered leaving Kasain to whatever poor fate he chose but logic and reason won out. Right now, he just wanted to rest and get the hell out of here. His eyes turned to linger on Emmet's sleeping form. The rabbit seemed to be alive and well, his breathing steady while his color pale. 'Let's hope you were worth this...' Juan thought a bit then waited on Kasain. Rhett looked at the scene with a feeling of discomfort, happy he hadn't been caught in that Demon's grasp. He unslings his backpack and takes out his flask, preparing to have one more drink before this is all over. Before he can remove his mask, the Doc showed up, seems he knew this shadow Demon thing. Seems this was the best chance to make a get-away to the extraction point. Fine by him, this whole job was starting to drag out into a big mess, what with Demons making other Demons shit themselves with fear. This just wasn't a good place to be. Rhett under-hands his back pack a few meters away and begins to sprint away from the mansion, holding a flask of booze, wearing a gas mask and carrying a detonator with to a live bomb in his pocket. He figured he would push it when he hit the extraction point, as a little memento. He reached the extraction point within record time, it was good to know that his running skills were still up to par. Though the others still beat him to the punch, what with their wings and all, only when he finally catches up to them does he take off his mask, his beard and hair now matted with sweat along with that unpleasant smell of the drying blood which caked his boots and pant legs. “I hope you boys are getting paid as good as I am, else you're just a bunch of suckers” he said dryly as he gulped down more of whatever mystery booze was in that flask.

Noting their departure, Szayeis glanced back to the Doctor, his old friend, with a grin still plastered across his features. Kasain merely gazed at the elder demon, unshaken even in the midst of his demonic influence, he had lots of practice resisting it after all. "So, you are alive I see. Not that I thought one such as you would perish so easily," Kasain said, a lopsided smile forming on his lips as his eyes zipped over Szayeis' now almost fully solid form. "Why of course, Kasain, but don't you have things to attend to? Deceiving your friend perhaps?" Kasain, had he not known Szayeis as he did, would have been both surprised and horrified by the demon's knowledge, but instead he just chuckled. "We will speak again soon then, old friend. For now...good bye, oh and make sure to search these ruins. I feel like you would benefit from it." Kasain grinned widely before turning, his mass redistributing, and dashing off, heading for the extraction point. He waved between buildings, taking down any poor soul in his path, he had no intention of being caught.

Arriving at the extraction site Kasain's mass redistributed once more, he jumped into the car, motioned for the others and spoke. "Now, I think we're all quite ready to leave, yes? Wonderful! Drive, human, we've patients to attend, and a crime scene is hardly the locale to do so!" The two cars then promptly sped off, disappearing in the direction of Loom. They'd be there in an hour or so, and soon after they'd find their safehouse awaiting them. Kasain just hoped that the Lord took no further interest in their endeavor. At least...not while he was still involved.

[yoshua171]

The Master and his Son Kenen - Darius' Mansion Early Morning

Collab: Fallenreaper, yoshua171, Lucius Cypher, and Slade.

---

Darius had been caught by a few stray bullets, his suit's chest and jaw side caught in the crossfire. The tissue had been ripped through and now it was left unhinged as it hung there, bleeding. He hadn't bothered to bandaged it. What was the point when his muscles knitted themselves and it was just as it had been before. Even while he had mildly thought about it, his regeneration was already at work and by the time he arrived on scene it was already healed completely. His surprise was brief when it flickered across his face. Then it vanished. His eyes flickered in intensity and washed over the scene's chaos. The bodies that once littered the ground had all vanished, including the Kitsune which had been spotted wrecking hellish damage across his yard earlier. Chasing Juan naturally. Though he hadn't seen the result, he noted the chaos around and could draw his own conclusions which weren't very favorable. It would be rather clear his pact holder would note the conflict of emotions stirring within him. A unique sensation he hadn't felt since his early years with Szayeis. Even now he was trying to puzzle what he should feel for the Lord. Hate, hurt, or relief were all on the top spot of the list, fighting for his attention. He tightened his leash on his emotional conflict and hoped like hell he could keep it that way. At least until Szayeis vanished again. His legs cut the distance between him and the current figure he was approaching. Shoes clipped clapped hard on the surface with each step until he was nearly there, all the time something... filled him. A terrible familiarity he felt rise in his body like the years he served the Western Lord so long ago. A slight longing, mixed with his own fear, including a flicker of standing in hell with the Citadel's image in the distance and staring at with a sorrowful sensation before he shook his head. The image scattered from his thoughts. Just short, Darius stopped before the Western Lord and instinctively bowed. Though his mind was sharp and focused, his body wanted to tremble and quiver in fear. He quickly snapped upright to look at Szayeis. “Long time, no see Szayeis.” About one hundred and fifty years to be exact. Even as Darius arrived and surveyed the chaos ridden situations, Szayeis decided to listen to Kasain, small shadow replicas of himself, in actuality puppeted forms, driven by the essence of one of the many he had devoured in his life time, searched the mansion. When Darius approached and bowed, Szayeis glanced at him a moment, taking in a deep breath, his form solidifying and taking on shape and meaning. It was in this moment that he took on his favored human guise. stretching slightly and twisting his head from side to side as if to situate all his muscles properly. "Yes, it has been far too long, Darius," the lord's eyes gleamed, their irises white despite his otherwise human form. They remained just as piercing as they had been in his shadow state. He snapped his fingers and some of Darius' minions which had vanished upon his arrival, pulled into shadows, emerged from said shadows once more. Many of them were in a state of shock, though some remained unaffected by their time within the lord. His eyes turned back to Darius, "Shall we relocate? It is awfully uncomfortable here, and I imagine just as frustrating for you to look at the state of your abode," he said, not caring a terrible amount, but still preferring to regain his energy more before staying on his feet for long. He may have managed to extricate himself, but that did not mean he was back at the peak of his strength. Far from it, he knew he was vulnerable, but he would give no hints of such. Nonetheless, there were few safer places in the human world than with Darius, at least for one such as he, and for the moment he needed that safety--for no matter the amount of bravado he could use, his true status would not change. All that he could do was give the illusion of strength and hope few would notice. Darius watched with impassive eyes, his mind trying to slip back into old and forgotten habits. A difficulty when his mind kept flickering back to his nightmares. His head never moved from when Szayeis shifted into a familiar human guise, taking a moment to stretch out the kinks and rotate his muscles into working once more. Darius' eyes narrowed in suspicion for a moment then seemed to melt away. If there was something odd about the Western Lord, Darius didn't give any indications over what it was or seemed to have acknowledge it out loud. He had been raised for thirty-three years by the demon before him and learned a few things. When Szayeis spoke, Darius nodded in agreement. He stepped back and gestured Szayeis toward the mansion, ignoring the blunt hole created by Rhett, then discarded those few spared by his current guest. He had learned a long time ago to avoid Szayeis' attention was never to interest him. There was rare occasion and people he would risk his life willing for. The moment before they entered, Darius moved up front as he escorted Szayeis into the main entrance. He kept his stone like vision the whole time. It seemed some habits didn't die as easily, or merely took less time to slip into then he had considered originally. It didn't take much to instinctively allow his mind to drift into the forgotten numbness. Darius knew Szayeis would note the knick knacks on the tables. Pictures and images frozen in time of his life since coming to the surface, mostly pictures about Olivia, Aeris and himself were dominate. A few scattered and less impressive ones featured Emmet but those were merely for Olivia's sake and request. In moments he came to his office which he opened and shoved the shades into place. Immediately, almost complete and utter darkness surrounded the pair...leaving Darius' heart thumping rapidly. Ah, the smell of fear was potent, that was one thing he had always enjoyed about Darius, it was something he had cultivated in the boy. It made him smile slightly as he followed behind his adopted son. He began to hum lightly as they entered the mansion, his eyes scanning about so as to assure that he was aware of his surroundings. He saw a menagerie of pictures, the individuals within them mostly unfamiliar, except for one. Aeris. He noted the presence of two others, two whom looked related. However, he took particular interest in the young woman who was in many pictures with one of his favorite little playthings. While he, and the world, were on a timer, he did not intend to miss out on any fun that he could. Such was his way, as deranged and backwards as it may have seemed to most. He made a mental note so as to remember. When the two arrived in the Kitsune's office, and the shades were drawn, Szayeis' eyes were the only source of light for a moment. He chuckled lightly, his enhanced senses easily detecting the fox's heart rate, inducing further amusement in the lord as he took a seat on one side of the desk. "You're awfully quiet Darius, why is that...are you perhaps afraid of something?" He laughed again, this time somewhat louder before one of his shadows flicked on a source of light. As amusing as it was to bathe others, especially those close to him, in fear, he had business to attend and fear helped none when it came to mental clarity and apt prescience. Darius stood motionless. His body stiller then death, voided of any emotion he could manage on the outside. He knew it was impossible as Szayeis knew better and would feed off his inner fear, a fact that was a repeated factor in his life while under the demon's care. His golden eyes stared back to the twin sources of light within the room with a bravo of calm. Darius' hands tightened behind his back, hidden at how white they have become, while he tried to clear away the fear. Then again, Szayeis had proven repeatedly there were things worse then death. Much worse. His ears flickered and quietly watched, though the only light was Szayeis' eyes. He flinched when Szayeis' laughter seemed to echo around him, louder when Darius caught the sight of something stir at his left. He allowed a longer pause then spoke. “Isn't that what you taught me to be? Afraid? I believe that is very likely the only reason I live to this day. Why you didn't kill me or allow me to break the pact in my youth, giving you something to feed off and...“ Darius closed his muzzle. His eyes narrowed on the Western Lord before him. The lord's smile did not fade as Darius spoke and he made no immediate response, though his eyes did seem to gleam slightly even in the now lit room. Darius knew Szayeis well enough to tell what the look meant. It was perhaps the closest thing the demon could be to proud of someone else. It was a form of satisfacation, and given its source, it was a twisted sort. He truly had sculpted this one well, as he had many others, though perhaps somewhat less sucessfully. Then again, he had molded them in different ways and thus had not expected the same results. After all, he wasn't insane, just utterly beyond human reason. "So, I presume you're curious as to why I have been gone so long, yes? Don't answer that," he stated, glancing away a moment as he no longer cared about the fox's response. Gathering his thoughts a moment and turning his eyes back to Darius, a serious look came about his face before he continued, his tone matching his expression, "Moving on, do you recall what I told you all those years ago in regards to a certain Tyrant: The Chimeric Lord?" Szayeis' white eyes were steady, watching the Kitsune, waiting for a response. “I know you well enough to know you never do something without a reason. Rarely, sadly, is that it's ever clear,” Darius answered, softly, though he knew the Lord had moved onto the next question. He went silent when he noted the glowing eyes look on him again, his defense once more his strength as he bore through his lingering fear. His head nodded. “Both the one watered down version you told me as a boy and the one before your departure. Something has changed, that much I'm very aware of, and since you've brought this up, I assume they are connected?” He nodded, acknowledging Darius' response. His eyes roved about the room a moment before settling on his hands, and then glancing slowly back up to the demon as he spoke. "The Chimeric Lord has another name, two really. The first is Inaniae...and the second," his white eyes met with Darius' own, cutting through him. There was not a shred of amusement or pleasure in Szayeis' voice, as if he were bereft of emotion, "...is Void." Darius' eyes held their place, though he was sure his sockets were stinging, when he heard the word uttered from the Lord's lips. His heart twisted and jerked to a halt for a moment when none of the earlier amusement was present. It was cold and blank, like a wall staring back at him. “And he's the one that was...” He let it trail off. This was becoming a habit he wasn't use to or enjoyed, his teeth gritted against his jawline while his mind tried to absorbed the thoughts. When he was first told the story, he was young and the story gave him nightmares while he mended. Now those nightmares had become far worse... Darius tightened his spine, his eyes never moved, then spoke. “What changed and how?” He was sure, however, the struggle to control his fear was palpable. For once, the lord's look softened, and an uncharacteristically gentle smile formed on his features. The strangest thing about it was that it was that the expression held no deception, it was honest. "Nothing changed, this is how it has always been, I just felt no reason to tell you. I thought I could win on my own, but it seems time is something I no longer have a wealth of," the smile slowly melted from his face, replaced once more with a serious gaze. There was an almost sad look in his eyes and to Darius, who knew him so well, there would be the slightest hint of anger at a battle lost. "I managed to separate myself from Inaniae, though it is hardly a permanent solution. This will give us some time to prepare, for he will rise, and we must stop him. I may have to call on those who would otherwise wish to destroy me simply to prolong this world's existence." Szayeis put his face in his hands, pushing his hair back with them as he did so. He let out a long sigh. This was no trick, Szayeis did not intend to feed from this fear, for it was not fear he had created, but a fear deeper than anything he might muster. One could say there were worse things than death, but what was worse even than those things was the destruction of everything. The realization that not only were you going to die, but that every trace of your existence, every mark on the world, and every memory in those whom you knew, or who knew you, would be gone. Existential annihilation on all levels. If Inaniae got his way, that would be the result. Should they be unable to stop him, there would be no pain, no pleasure, no life, and no death. There would only be Void...and perhaps the gods if they were lucky. "I can smell your fear, and sense the tension in your bones. I do not care today. Today you may show weakness and I will not punish you for it," he knew that the boy would not believe him, but he said it all the same. For while he did not show it, he had the same fear that anything did. He feared not existing. Darius' ears pinned back slightly, though he was surprised they didn't jerk in reaction to Szayeis' words. It was times like this that he had difficulty telling which side was real. The Szayeis staring back at him today or the demon from his memories, both which seemed to have shifted back and forth so wildly that even he had trouble determining the answer. For several moments he stood there. Letting the fear and tension settle before he dared to summon a fox. The creature melded from the shadows then stalked forward, its teeth reached for a chair back and then dragged it forward, coming to stop at Darius' position. He absentmindedly patted the creature's head while he took a seat. He had to make his body stop the habits he had grown up with. Without considering the future conflict and problems his actions were about to incur, he let his mind think over what would happen and his next move. Part of him wanted to toss a fit about the room, shattering glass and tear the place apart until it looked like a tornado hit but that only wasted time and energy. Factors they didn't have, he reminded himself. Inhaling a slow, long breath he raised upright in his seat. He had barely noticed his head had slouched down and nearly into his knee, his mind trying to wrap about the dread filling him inside though bitterly it wasn't from Szayeis. “Do you know how to beat him?” A small smile formed on his face, just one of amusement, there was no real malice there, "Right to the point I see," he chuckled lightly, but his smile soon faded and he began to stare at the floor in front of him as he contemplated the problem. "He is too strong for even I to face alone and triumph, I admit..." there was a frown on his features, indicating his dislike of the thought. "A certain hunter knows as well, and I'm sure has already begun mobilizing some kind of plan." Szayeis looked up, meeting Darius' eyes as he continued, "However, merely destroying him will not be enough, he must be banished from this realm, or he will merely return again. To do that...the part of him that dwells in me, and any remaining fragments of his essence, must be removed." He smiled slightly and shook his head, glancing away once more. His behavior would seem strange, uncharacteristic, but then again the entire situation was odd, now wasn't it? Darius didn't like the fact Szayeis seemed to be at peace with this situation, a matter that stirred something he wished was gone. Loyalty. Something the Kitsune thought had faded when the demon vanished and realize the bitter truth had been far from it. “Sadly I've never been one to sit idle and let a problem slip away, unsolved that is. At least not since after Judas' War, after you took your absence. ” His reference was to what Szayeis had witness, though the hint was subtle enough. Darius would've have ever considered getting close to anyone again if the Western Lord had watched over his back and it was because of his family, he began to care that the world ended. Again he pushed his mind into the problem as he had done many times before. “Extracting what pieces are you and what are... him,” Darius said in a low, acidic tone, “will take a lot of energy from you. More then you likely have since separation.” The Kitsune placed his muzzle in his hand, fingers folded and cradling his chin. He seemed to be conflicted with himself over his next decision until reason finally won out. Darius knew he would suffer the consequences later. “There is something I can do. Something I think might help, both in boosting your power and anchor you here possibly. However, there's something that must be done first before I can use it...” Abruptly, Darius rose from his chair and approached Szayeis until he stood reasonably close. Part of him was screaming at his stupidity, risking his life and existence on a pure chance the Western Lord wouldn't simply consume him. “It needs to be activated by touch. As well as it requires...trust.” With that said, Darius held his breath while reaching out his hand toward Szayeis. The lord's eyes rose to regard the demon that was, for all intents and purposes, his adopted son. It was an odd feeling seeing him there, alive and well. Offerring his help, his loyalty, despite the likelihood that he could be deceived, or simply destroyed by the very one he now offered his help. This was true loyalty, and it made him smile somewhat, it wasn't a grin though, more of a gentle expression rather. It was in this moment that Szayeis realized that some part of him valued Darius. He would continue to use him, it was his way, but the demon was beginning to tread in grounds that very few beings ever had. Perhaps if they survived this, given another hundred years, they could be friends...like he and Kasain...or perhaps not. Szayeis reached out and grasped the fox's hand with his own, as if to shake it, and his smile twisted slightly, the look in his eyes filling with a sort of sick amusement, "Why thank you, son, you are truly a loyal one. I value loyalty," then, seeming to take into mind intuitively what he must do, Szayeis accessed that which linked them, and pulled. First it was a harsh sensation that Darius would feel, giving Szayeis a fair chunk of pure essence, before it let up and became a slowly trickling stream. The lord squeezed Darius' hand and shook it once, then disengaged, smiling slightly. "Don't worry, I have no intention of killing you. Not any time soon," he said, rising from his chair once the demon backed off. The essence had helped, but he would need to hunt, and doing so would attract attention. He didn't care. Darius felt his heart stop, literally. Its beat went silent in his head and chest, his body locked in place while Szayeis' smile bore through him like a drill into wood. He felt like a nail shoot through his head as Szayeis reached for his essence storage in his cells from over the years. Fear soaked his mind and body yet he fought it, resist the notion to rip himself from Szaeyis' grip with all the will he had inside himself. Slowly the headache setting his insides on fire dulled into an empty, numbness making him relax. He felt the Lord break the connection when and feverishly hoped his trust wasn't misplaced. For all their sakes. He managed, in some fashion, to remain standing while the Western Lord spoke words that rattled in his ears. One which brought mixed feelings once more, both pain and relief, as he eyed Szayeis rise to his feet. He knew their business had concluded and in the back of his mind, Darius only prayed the world would survive. Under his breath, a familiar phrase passed softly in his muzzle and the truth he was forced to accept. “A tool is only as good as long as it serves its master, a lesson I've learned well enough.” In response, Szayeis chuckled, clapped Darius' on the shoulder, then turned and exited the office, calling back "Even a tool can become a person, whether that is wise or not is however, for you to decide." He began to hum to himself as he exited the mansion, small black wispy creatures emerging only from nearby shadows as he exited. One brought him a book, which caused him to raise an eyebrow and laugh slightly. "Ah Kasain, you never fail to amuse me," the lord said with a smirk before absorbing the book into his body, and vanishing into the next shadow. While he had pulled off returning for reasons entirely related to his, and the world's survival--though entirely for his sake--that didn't mean he intended not to enjoy himself. Besides, who said you couldn't have fun on the job?