Celaira

Iquenos: In Nomine Domini

<Snipped quote by Celaira>
How long would “a bit” describe?

@Inkarnate

The shortest time is 5 days. x.x;

Iquenos: In Nomine Domini

I would like to join, but also think it may take me a bit to app a character

Name the place you first began roleplaying.

I've been writing stories for a long time. When I started RP'ing, I was 11, and it was on an anime site where I watched Naruto 'cause I didn't know about subs yet. It was called DubbedAnime, doesn't exist anymore, though. The site had a chatango chat where a lot of people RP'ed. Later on when I made a friend in middle school we started RP'ing in notebooks as if it was a play, and also via phone calls/just talking about what our characters were doing.

⊰Manifest Anima: Planes Divided⊱

ANNOUNCEMENT

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@Fallenreaper @Ganryu @Demonic Angel @Luna @Vinsanity @May
Please vote if you haven't already!

⊰Manifest Anima: Planes Divided⊱

ANNOUNCEMENT

---

@Fallenreaper @Ganryu @Demonic Angel @Luna @Vinsanity @May

New lore has been added! You can find it here.

IC Q&A: Help me write!

So, I guess some questions to get you started:
What is the world he comes from like?
Where did Apoch grow up? A village? A city?
What was his family like? Was he close to his parents? Siblings?
When did he end up on his own? How did it happen?
What does he spend his time doing? Why? Occupation?
Lovers? Notable relationships?
Notable accomplishments? Failures?

⊰Manifest Anima: Planes Divided⊱

Bonds That Heal

♤ Darius M Cain ♤ & Aeris Kasio

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Time

Day 2~ Afternoon

Location

Darius' Manor within Ominar

---

Darius waited until Masha had entered the taxi and then vanished from his driveway before he moved. Casually, the fox retracted back into the house and turned about to shut the door. It made a heavy thump followed by a sharp click as his anxiety drifted away. The weight of everything fell upon his mind and he found himself surprised he could remain upright. The Abyss scene rushed past him like a slide show, each blunder and mistake became a vivid highlight in his attention causing a disappointment to settle in his pride. So much had happened today and it was hard to fully absorb it then story away.

Even more disturbing were the consequences about to unfold from them.

A weakness washed over him, like every bit of his Vis had been drained, leaving him more tired than usual. It was strange since the boost of Vis should’ve eliminate the physical fatigue by now. Darius frowned deeply then concluded, with a hope, it was because too much had happened today. From Logan’s reveal he was beyond human to the conflict with Krysta, there was too much to fully take in now. On top of it, he had dark, nagging feeling something was terribly wrong. Something he couldn’t place his claw, but rose the very fur on his neck upright and rattled his confidence in overcoming it.

Shoving the creeping feeling from his attention, he exhaled then moved from the door. The fox edged through the foyer and into the entertainment room. He came to a halt near the doorway where, on instinct, his eyes shifted to Logan’s prior location. After the event in the tunnels Darius wasn’t surprised to find the being was gone. He sighed, quietly, in relief, as he was grateful for. It had taken every ounce of will to remain calm earlier, but it wouldn’t last indefinitely.

The Abyss event was a complete blunder on his part, on both sides, as he had prided himself on being prepared for nearly anything and keeping his baser instincts at bay. Now that image was damaged. Darius closed his eyes a moment as he moved toward the discarded wine glasses and water bottle, then made his way back through the foyer into the kitchen’s direction. He carefully placed them all into the sink before he twisted and began to head up the manor’s stairs, his feet dragged the whole way.

Upon entering his bedroom, the distinct musk of fresh soil and dampness caught his attention. He could hardly ignore it as it mingled in his cologne and natural musk, causing his nose to wrinkle in disgust. Darius inhaled a moment then lowered his muzzle to his side, namely where Krysta had managed to strike him.

A dark, but hardly notable spot was there through the thick layered clothing. Immediately he knew that was where the rotten smell originated. Carefully his paw like hand reached through the clothing's neckline and came into contact with the location of Afua’s patch. A slimy, spongy texture connected with his coarse pad. A subtle, unnatural squish sound came from the brush causing him to retract immediately. Bring the quickly rotting flesh patch with it. Every fiber within Darius’ form instantly froze in place as he studied in silent, unreadable horror at the pus yellow and sickly green shade of the torn patch. This wasn’t good. Even when he knew it, his mind still screamed it in his head and echoed for a few seconds.

On his wound, the blood once more began to seep and followed with a stronger decaying scent. Enough that the putrid smell overwhelm the light cologne scent on his person and made him feel like a walking corpse. Within his grip, the usually tough skin became stringy and began to fall apart in his grip. He let it fall from his grasp onto the carpet where it continued to take its accelerated but natural course in decaying.

~Later that Hour~

Aeris shifted about in the bedroom that belonged to her within Darius’ mansion. She had been waiting for him to return home for hours. In that time, she had taken to busying herself by creating Brisn crystals. In front of where she sat on the floor there was a rather sizeable amount of crystals. They were placed in delicate rows, seemingly ordered by their size.

The brightly glowing energy radiated from her hands that she held together in the shape of an upside down pyramid. In the space between her palms the energy collided, and sparks flew, but dissipated before they ever touched anything else in the room. She stared down at the energy, her eyes completely overtaken by it. While they were usually blue, and glowing, in this moment the difference between iris and cornea was indistinguishable. It was as though her eyes were made of Brisn.

In her hands, the energy continued to collide, a sound, only comparable to a welding torch coming from the reaction. Eventually, the sound changed. This change indicated the beginning of the crystallization. At this point, Aeris took a deep breath and then exhaled. Brisn flowed from her mouth toward her hands where this tertiary source of energy pooled into the newly forming crystal, creating not only a hollow area within the crystal itself, but at the same time filling that area and reinforcing the outer crystal.

Once the crystal itself was completely formed, but still pliable, the energy in the hollow section changed. It turned from a glowing center point to a mist, actively swirling inside the crystal. What was left of the glowing energy inside the crystal moved toward the outside, pouring out of the crystal as though it was condensation. As the remaining energy exited the crystal it began to converge on the two midpoints of the outer layer, where it formed a symbol. A rune. Then, the energy dissipated, leaving behind an etching of the rune within either side of the crystal.
Aeris smiled, and put the newly completed crystal in its place among the others. As she did so, the glowing of her eyes receded, returning them to normal. When this change occurred, the vampire’s senses returned to the world around her, and Darius’ scent filled her nostrils. Something about him, however, smelled wrong, inciting her to rise from her position on the floor and walk out of her room. "Darius? Are you here?" The vampire called out to the fox, in part already knowing the answer.

As she waited for a response, she walked toward his room, her body mostly moving without her instruction. As she walked, she wondered just what had happened to the fox. Had Szayeis done something to him? Did someone else?

Darius had crumpled in a corner of his room. His eyes had started to blur and take on a milky white hue, but his ears were still untouched by the decay that ran through his body. Upon hearing hearing Aeris, his figure stirred in the darkness causing him to reach out a hand and grasp the end of the dresser. With very little strength in his limbs, he pulled himself upright to lean heavily on it.

“Aeris?” Darius’ voice sounded raspy and pitiful to his own ears. He could only imagine what it might’ve sounded to Aeris as he shuffled his way to the bedroom door.

At the sound of Darius’ voice through his bedroom door, Aeris’ brow creased in worry. He sounded weak, broken somehow. She tested the doorknob and found that the room itself was unlocked. Good, she didn’t have to break down the door. She inhaled as she pulled the door open, slowly, revealing the fox’s weakened state.

The sight of him caused her to gasp slightly, in turn making her inhale the scent of rotting flesh. She almost gagged on the smell, but was able to hold it back as she moved toward him. He didn’t appear as though he would be able to walk, and making him wait while she went and got her crystals likely wouldn’t have been a good idea. Thus, when she was close enough, she gingerly picked him up, her arms at the middle of his back and under his knees, respectively.

Carefully, she made her way back to her room and laid him on the bed, trying her hardest not to jostle him. Once she had his head propped up on pillows, she moved to grab several large crystals from the selection on the floor. As quickly, but carefully as she could, she set the crystals around his body until they formed an oval that encompassed his entire form.

Throughout the placement and ritual set up, Darius seemed calm and unaffected. His breath was labored and shallower than usual, each inhale a struggle to create while he fought the impulse to shapeshift and heal the growing damage. He had started to realize something: the more Vis that poured through his Ostium, the worse his condition became.

That was simple enough to stop but it didn’t mend the poison’s gradual progression or recover the damage already done. The only show of his discomfort was his fingers tightening into the palm at intervenes the pain was the worst.

Aeris took a calming breath before focusing herself in much the same way she would have if she were creating a crystal. This was just a bit different, however. Slowly, she lifted her right hand, palm up toward the crystal just above his head. Her eyes began to brighten from the center of the pupil, outward, until the entirety of her eyes were once again cast in Brisn.

Without a word, a single continuous beam of Brisn shot out of the center of her hand, and made contact with the crystal above Darius’ head. The crystal began to glow and the energy from her palm split in two directions, hitting the crystals on either side of the first. It continued like this until every crystal around his body was connected by the beam.

Once all the crystals were connected, the energy shot into the center of the oval, coating the fox’s body. At this point, Aeris took a deep breath, and exhaled, once again sending Brisn from her mouth to converge on the center point of the colliding energy as she had done with her crystals earlier.

"Darius, I need you to inhale as deeply as you can. Brisn is going to fill your entire body when you do, though, and it may hurt, but I’ll do my best to help you." Right now she was using pure Brisn, which would cause a great deal of pain to a Licenti, but she had a plan. She just needed him to have faith in her.

Darius’ ear flicked to indicated he heard, however he hadn’t inhaled yet. Several moments passed as his figure laid completely still. Some part of him, chaotic and vicious, resisted causing his muscles to tense before gradually they relaxed. Along with the action, his nostrils inhaled deeply as they could.

As the fox inhaled, pure Brisn would begin to fill his lungs and body. It would likely cause a severe amount of pain considering his Licenti blood, Aeris knew that, but it was the only way this was going to work.

She watched him for a moment as he inhaled, and then she did the same. A shadow rose up from behind her, and wove its way around her right arm until it was just around her wrist. The shadow seemed to sharpen to a point and then slit open her palm where the Brisn beam was coming from, causing her blood to mix with the energy and dying it a scarlet color.

Just as the color changed, the shadow shot itself into the beam, causing yet another change from red to purple. Once the purple beam made contact with the crystals, their colors changed as well, from a sapphire coloration, to amethyst. Then, where his body had been coated in pure Brisn, was now coated in what Aeris had termed “Tained Brisn.”

Using this type of Brisn was the only way she’d figured out how to heal Licentia, since normal Brisn on this magnitude could potentially kill them. She’d never tried it in this ritual before, however, so all she could do was pray.

The rotting stench was the first thing to vanish, fading as the tissue began to heal and revive itself back to its original state. Something dark and discolored poured from the wound in his upper chest, where the arrow had penetrated, then oozed into the makeshift bandage wrapped over it. It stained it completely black. Darius’ vitals began to recover as his expression went from being twisted as if he was inhaling tiny bits of glass to now normal air. Darius’ eyes fluttered open, closed to hide the pain, then shifted his head toward Aeris.

“You know, it’s suppose to be me that should be healing you,” His voice still held the weakness, but a calm had washed over his tone. It appeared the ritual had worked.

The worry on the vampire’s face relaxed a bit as the tension in Darius’ body seemed to drain. However, it was several minutes before she stopped feeding energy into the crystals, and, even then, the Tainted Brisn coating his body would not subside until he was completely healed.

When he spoke, Aeris cracked a smile, a small laugh falling from her lips. "Well, sometimes we have to change roles, Darius." She responded to him, the laugh still in her voice. After a moment, she cleared her throat to speak again, "You’ll be coated in Brisn until you’re completely healed, but if you feel up to it, you could probably get up and walk around, it’s not going to mess anything up." As she explained how the remaining energy would work, she lowered her arm, and dropped to the floor, her left hand resting on her temple.

The ritual took a lot more energy than she had realized. She was likely going to sleep for the next day and a half.

Upon seeing Aeris’ form drop, Darius sat up and shifted to lean down at her. His eyes filled with worry over her abrupt collapse, trying to understand and solve the issue in his mind, while ensuring she hadn’t hurt herself. It was a habit he never bothered to break the moment he realized what Szayeis had done to her. Even when it was a weakness the Nightwalker seemed to take deep satisfaction in exploiting whenever fitting.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Darius lightly chided her, comforted by the fact she didn’t seem only exhausted, “I could’ve called M’ve instead of you exhausting yourself.”

"M’ve would’ve taken too long to get here, and you’d be dead." Aeris’ exhaustion permeated her voice, as her eyes rose up to look at Darius’ face. Her vision was blurring the slightest bit. She’d pass out soon. "Could you call Mai when you get the chance? I haven’t seen him since last night, he’s probably worried." As she spoke, her body teetered forward a bit, making her catch herself with her other hand.

Darius nodded, though he clearly didn’t enjoy the idea, his arms wrapped around her to take the weight she couldn’t and glide her into the bed. His free hand flipped open the sheets so she could lay upon the mattress itself and helped her to climb in until she was comfortable. Once situated, he flipped the blankets back over her weakened form, “I still hate seeing you like this. Besides, at worst I would’ve likely went back into the shard and waited until Szayeis awoke me. I merely underestimated my last encounter and it will not happen again.”

As he wrapped up tucking Aeris in, he then paused to ask another question, “Besides sleep and the Sanguine, is there anything else you need?”

Aeris looked up at Darius from her pillow, half her face sunken into the surface of it. In answer to his question, she simply shook her head. She didn’t feel hungry, though if she did end up needing food, she’d ask when she woke up.

“Very well, I’m not far away. Sleep well and we’ll talk in the morning. I need to tell you something, if you’ve encountered a visit, and I’m sure you’ll want answers over things yourself,” Darius spoke then briefly touched his forehead to hers in a gesture she found familiar, “Thank you, Aeris.”

His figure lifted up then casually left the room, closing the door behind him.

⊰Manifest Anima: Planes Divided⊱

Szayeis Pet - Part Two

Day 1 | Late Night | Ominar - The Abyss
Collab between @yoshua171 and @Celaira

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Two dark silhouettes on the skyline, Szayeis and his pet flew, the vampire following him closely despite her want to strike him down. Amused, both by the proceedings of the ongoing Resistance meeting and on what he had to show her as well. Knowing her compassionate nature, she was almost sure to balk at what he was doing. Though that, of course, would only be after they were well away from the little gathering, as it were.

So it was that their flight led them to some of Ominar's outskirts where the nightwalker landed, knowing she would follow. He began walking down the road they had landed upon, its streets eerily empty, a swagger in his step. He had always loved the night. After all, it was when he was strongest.

Aeris' eyes were dark as she dropped to the ground a few feet from Szayeis' form. He began to walk, and she reluctantly followed. Words bubbled up, and then proceeded to get caught in her throat. Slurs, screams, curses, venomous phrases filled her head. How she wanted so badly to say them, to let all of her rage out in one, insidious burst.

She wanted to drown him in the sea that was her rage. More than that, however, she wanted him to feel how she had in her time with him. She wanted him to have the rug he treaded upon ripped from beneath him, allowing her to watch him tumble from his egregious pedestal.

The girl's silence was almost calming, even though he knew that she must be bubbling with frustration and anger beneath the surface. It made him smile to think about. The anger she harbored. It was delicious. He fed on it just like he sometimes fed on her despair. His thoughts drifting to their...time together in the past, Szayeis almost missed the turn, but caught himself in time and took a left and headed down another street before heading down...down down into an abandoned subway tunnel. He continued walking, avoiding the third rail even though it was probably powered down.

After about ten minutes he stopped, turned towards a wall and then casually walked through it. He waited, no longer visible to Aeris, on the other side, grinning to himself as he waited to see what she'd do. Would she follow, or would she think he'd led her on a wild goose chase just to irritate and distract her.

He'd done it before, though he hadn't done so terribly often.

Aeris followed the Nightwalker, trying to quell the rage rolling off her body. As they entered the subway, she tensed. Though it wasn't a super small space, it was closed, and being in a confined space with Szayeis made her extremely uncomfortable. Even still, the Vampire followed him until he reached the wall and went through it, her eyes narrowing.

It wasn't as if she couldn't go through it as well, she just wasn't sure she wanted to.

After a few moments she let out a sigh, before making her way up to, and through the wall, staring expectantly at her "Master."

"Well?"

He just grinned and then continued down the corridor that revealed itself once she had passed through the illusory wall. After about two minutes it opened up into a large artificial cavern, all 90 degree angles and smooth surfaces. He smirked at it, pleased with himself. Further in there were a set of shacks, a few proper buildings, and a multitude of tents.

"Welcome to the headquarters of the second rebellion," he said, sweeping an arm out before him before letting it slip back to his side.

Here and there, she would see people milling about, many of them human and licentia, and many of them clearly rather poor. "They like to call it...Refuge, of course. They like it here. Nice and safe. Of course, most of them are angry enough that they see it as a staging ground."

His cane appeared and he lightly tapped it against the cold stone floor, though no vis spread out or formulated itself as he did so. He just liked how the action felt. He liked how insulting it must have been for Aeris that he would use the object which held her soul core merely to prop himself up. Of course, it surely bothered her that he used it at all.

"Of course, it's not a refuge and a rebellion is a terrible outlet for their anger." He said it rather flippantly, dispelling the cane as he raised a hand and brushed some dust from the arm of his other sleeve. He was clearly looking down on the people before him...and man was there evidence of a lot of people.

At least a couple hundred or so. Far more than the more focused and newer Resistance had gathered. The question was, why was he showing this to her?

As they entered the cavern, Aeris stopped just short of Szayeis' side, her eyes widening at the sight before her. "The... Second Rebellion...?" Her head turned slowly to look at the Nightwalker, eyes still wide.

As Szayeis continued to talk, Aeris' eyes went from wide, to narrow. Something was clearly off.

When he summoned her soul core in his stupid, gaudy cane, she visibly grimaced.

"What are you planning, Szayeis?" Her voice held an accusatory tone, her arms folded.

"Now dear, I'm an honest licenti. I only thought it would be charitable to house my kind, and well, with the sort of power my cane affords me I ended up making too many houses. So I thought to myself, 'Why not allow humans to come as well'. Of course, having loved ones disappear, being evicted, and disallowed a proper life in the city proper people were angry. So I thought perhaps they could use an outlet for all of that pent up rage. I'm sure you understand." He glanced back at her and smiled knowingly, but there was a twinkle in his eye and she'd known him long enough that it would be clear that at least some of what he was saying was a bald faced lie.

However, he clearly intended to force her to pry it out of him. It was more fun that way. She'd suffer more...and he did so enjoy watching her struggle.

Bullshit fell from the Licentia's mouth as per the usual, causing Aeris to roll her eyes. When he had finished speaking, she moved to stand mere inches from him, a look of disgust in her eyes as she glared up at him. "I'm going to ask you again, and this time cut the bullshit." Her voice was cold, stern. She wasn't playing this game tonight.

"What. Are. You. Planning."

In response he bent down, his face mere centimeters from touching hers, his smile as self satisfied as ever. "Or you'll do what exactly?"

"Several things come to mind, Master." She practically spat the title. "The first of which being to find the nearest Prae and tell them your exact location." After a moment of thought, she closed the distance, so their bodies were pretty much touching. "Regardless of what you, or they decided to do to me. Because, guess what? You've done worse than anything they can do, and I'm far from afraid of you."

His smile fell away, but he quickly betrayed just how empty he felt her threat was, by, with the flatest tone possible, saying one word.

"Cute."

He didn't back up either, essentially staring her down. He didn't care if she was in contact with him, it would only make her uncomfortable. He didn't care in the least.

When he spoke again, a wicked smile cast across her face, "Mm. Alright, then." With that, she turned and began walking back toward the surface, memorizing every aspect of their location in both physical senses and vis, so even if he decided to move it, she'd be able to pick it up again.

She didn't get more than ten feet before, without a sound, a pressure, like gravity, pushed her forwards and then down. Szayeis remained where he had been, casting his unamused gaze in her direction, not even the slightest hint of worry showing itself--and she had seen it before. She'd know how to spot it, even with his impeccable acting. "If you truly do not value your freedom and the freedom of your brother, then I will releas eyou and you can report this. You can even report my location. However, I've been double crossed before, and I should inform you that it was by people with far more skill and expertise than yourself, yet here I stand."

"Besides, it is the nature of the master to play with their pet," he finished, speaking frankly. "Of course, if you had properly learned to play the game from our extended time in Torqueo, and you had learned to control your emotions, then perhaps you would have found me far more willing to tell you what you wanted to know. Of course, clearly you are still ruled by your emotions like the rest of your pathetic race."

"Oh, you mean... Nightwalkers? Or Licentia? Because, you can't mean Human, since I am, by your hand, no longer a part of that race."

"So you're presumptious too. Amusing," He walked towards her till he stood beside her, at which point he glanced down at her, with no sympathy in his eyes. It was like she barely mattered at all. Like she was a small thing he could crush with a whim.

As he glanced down at her, he would clearly see the smile she still wore on her face. Not fear. Not anger. Triumph. She hadn't spoken out in such a way in quite a long time. It meant something. She was freeing herself.

Slowly, but surely. One day she would rip out every soul core in his body and, one by one, squeeze them in her grasp until he was on his knees.

He smiled slightly at her defiance, "So young," he said, shaking his head before he turned around, looking once more upon the settlement. "If you were truly a nightwalker, or a licenti--with few exceptions--tearing your core from your body as I have would have caused your body to shift into vis, condense into your core and stay that way until I decided otherwise. However, you are not, you're a hybrid, and for that you must also be human. This gives you a small advantage, but it comes with many...disadvantages as well. For example, you were born human, and so you will forever be troubled by things such as your morality. If the last couple hundred years are any indication you will also be ruled by your emotions, just as you are now."

He shook his head, honestly disappointed.

"I would rather be ruled by my emotions than to be an unfeeling cock-sucker. Let's be honest, what has you ignoring those things inside your head done for you aside from make you sound like a condescending cunt?" She spoke, still smiling. "Are you, perchance, hiding from something? Because, I could understand that. After all, I dealt with your torture for hundreds of years, I was in control of my emotions for a long time. It was a way of coping with what you were doing to me. I shut it out. Tried to ignore it. I didn't face it until Mai helped me to. I'm stronger because I feel, not because I don't."

"Yes, stronger. That's why you're the subservient one. That's why not once in those hundreds of years could you break out and stay out. That's why you're attempting to belittle me to make yourself feel better. Stronger."

"Mm? Have I struck a cord, then? Because, last I checked, asking a question wasn't belittling." The vampire laughed, mirth filling the melody that was her voice. Even in her position, she was still standing against him. She didn't care for his approval. She had resigned herself to the fact, long ago, that she was much weaker than him back then, there was no escape until he grew bored of her. Or, whatever it was that had possessed him to let her out.

"You and I both know I wouldn't have been able to fight you, even if I had wanted to. What made me even weaker then was not listening to my emotions. It was hiding from them."

A small smile formed, but there was no arrogance to it. He knew something she didn't. "Ah, but had you not, it would have destroyed you," he said, "Of course it hardly matters. All you're interested in is my downfall. My death. You want me to pay for what I've done to you...to your brother. To your mother."

"You're damn right, I do. You deserve more than that for what you did to us, what you've done to others. But I'm sure you've justified it in your head somehow."

There was a moment of silence, a long moment, almost as if he was conceding the point, and then he laughed. It was a quiet sound, subdued. It wasn't like the laughter she had been hearing from him. It wasn't a sound begotten from a sadistic enjoyment. It wasn't the sound of victory. It was more like, rather than striking a nerve, she had unknowingly touched something honest in him, something that illicited an earnest reaction.

He chuckled lightly for a moment, his smile soft, eyes gazing forwards, looking at nothing. "I have done terrible things," he said flatly, "...but you are wrong."

"I don't justify them. Not really. I consider them...necessary, sometimes, but that does not mean I always enjoy the terrible things I do. Like you, like everyone, I am flawed, and as much as you would convince yourself that I am the edifice of evil, as many others have before you and many will after, you are wrong."

He turned and glanced at her, "I wish I was," he said, and for once the walls were down, and there was no second guessing if he was lying or not. He wasn't. "I am flawed and I am not good, but I am also not what you think of me. I am the result of a cruel series of events that were outside of my control. Of course, I chose this path because you see, I would prefer to dedicate my life to making the world just a little bit better even if I do not live to see it, even if making that difference means making the world my enemy."

There was a somber air about him as he fell silent...his eyes trained on her, wondering how she would process what he'd told her.

Aeris' eyes moved over Szayeis' face for a long time, her head tilted. Her smile still ever present. "Really? So... you're telling me, you see yourself as some sort of anti-villain? Interesting insight." She responded, genuinely surprised.

He chuckled, "As I said before. So young. If you think that people fit into neat little categories like that, then you are more foolish and naive than I thought. Needless to say, we've gotten quite off topic. Rise. I'll tell you why I've been so generous to these people on our way back up, unless...you'd like to meet some of them." The question was implied, the pressure on her lessening and then vanishing entirely.

"Not today." She spoke in response to his statement about meeting them as she stood, brushing the dust and dirt from her stockings.

"A pity," he said, and then turned, walking back the way they came. He was silent, letting her wonder awhile, until they were halfway back through the subway tunnel at which point he finally broke the silence. "They are a tool," he began, his tone matter of fact, "...that I plan to use to incriminate the prae government and draw more internation attention to their take over of this city."

Aeris balked at his statements. "How exactly are you planning on doing that?" She questioned him, but part of her likely already knew the answer.

"Do you want to sleep tonight?" He said, his expression unreadable.

She chuckled, "That assumes I usually do."

"Heh, fair enough." He paused a moment, only their breath and footsteps breaking the silence for a brief time.

"The prae are going to slaughter them."

Aeris blinked, not entirely surprised by his answer, but still somewhat... confused. "... How? Why?"

"Because as much as you think me a monster, their society has done worse."

"...That only answers one of my questions, Szayeis." She responded, not surpsied by that answer either. The Prae were assholes, she was sure they'd probably done much worse than just subjugating an entire population in one city.

"Because the rebels, as I told you, are angry, and anger loves violence," he glanced at her and smiled faintly. He seemed oddly subdued. Perhaps it was that his attention was divided, or maybe he had something on his mind. Of course, she'd probably take it as one of her silly little victories. It really wasn't.

"They, of their own volition, are going to lead a series of violent raids in the city proper. The prae are going to respond, and a mixture of overzealousness by the prae, and the beauty of crowd mentality will do the rest," he lied, though every word sounded genuine.

The Vampire gave him a sidelong glance, clearly not buying into what he was spinning. She knew him better than that. She couldn't trust him as far as she could throw him.

He met her gaze a moment before looking away. As they approached the stairs that would get them out of the subway, in the moment that he blinked, he decided on his next two destinations for the night. Without asking, entirely to unsettling her, she would find his hand on her shoulder, and then the two of them were gone, briefly engulfed by roiling darkness. Tendrils of wispy shadow that licked at the edges of their vision and against their skin, in her clothes, everywhere, and then there was light and they'd arrived in what appeared to be a mansion.

The nightwalker's hand was no longer touching Aeris. He glanced at her, uncaring of her reaction, "Darius will be by soon. He's going to need a hand."

Aeris' eyes widened at his assertion, ignoring the reaction her body was having to both him, and his disgusting shadows touching her. "Okay." The response was simple, eerily calm.

"Mmm. Good. I'll...see you around," he said, his characteristic smirk forming a moment, before he turned and, in a second, melted into the shadows and was gone. It appeared that his son would be needing a visit.

How can we help improve RPGuild? Community suggestions and discussion.

<Snipped quote by Celaira>

Not a solution for me personally. I don't know how to code. And the fact that the github isn't somewhere readily available also shows to me that this isn't even really the preferred method of improving the site (for Mahz).

@Buddha

It's how he changes the site, so I'd hope it was. The link is also at the bottom of every page, as well, I just thought it'd be nice to have it in the thread too. ^^

The biggest issue I see with this, however, is we don't have access to stuff like the MYSQL database (unless I missed the database code in the github, in which case, oops), or anything particularly serverside. Now, don't get me wrong I definitely understand why that is, but a lot of the issues with the site (according to Mahz) have been related to that, and I do think having--at the very least--a second pair of eyes to look at that would be a tremendous help to him.

EDIT: SQL is a visible folder in the github!

How can we help improve RPGuild? Community suggestions and discussion.

Welp. I guess I should take learning Javascript more seriously now. Rip. For those that don't know, if you want to read the guild's source code, it is on github. Here you go. Not sure if this will be super helpful because Mahz has to approve pulls, but yeah. I plan on going back through and rereading this while I practice code.