Re: Resetting the Board

[Raijinken]

He was there on all fours breathing heavily, reducing that section of the collapsing building had taken a lot out of him, forcing him to hack up some blood upon landing. It seemed those sisters were safe as the younger one, Natsuki was upon him; saying they should retreat and that he was no help against the phantom claws some OTHER girl who was now there had sprouted. With a smirk he replied. "Yeah...yeah I'd love to help, but my ribs were smashed with an ice hammer and I'm pretty sure my organs are now jelly..."

But now it seemed like someone else was there he heard another voice summon a barrier before a blackened feather landed on the older sister, Moriko's shoulder. He looked above to find an armor clad woman with feathered wings protruding from her back. "It's starting to make sense now..." As his grin widened. "Now the Angel of Death has come...it's the End of Days, THE END OF FUCKING DAYS!" And with that she rained her Seraphic Feathers down upon him and...some other guy that was there who probably arrived during the confusion with the Shadow Warriors and that collapsing building.

The feathers penetrated his skin and sure enough, his pain was taken away. Reinvigorated, he had the strength to stand and looking down, he did NOT find himself hovering over his own corpse laying face down in the street. (The hell?!) Then gave himself a hard pinch, feeling a surge of pain. "I'm...alive?!" ...For how long was the question as the Angel was now pointing her Sapphire-headed lance down at him, saying that he'll die with the rest unless he stands...like a...GOD?! Suddenly everything around him was a blur...such as Rhys sending the girl head-over-ass on the ground; his only response was. "...............................................................................................WHAT?!"

[Kagami]

Void flapped her wings and sped forward this time, dodging past the first three cards only to get caught in the fourth cloud, then stumbled into the fifth.  Still, she was able to dodge the remainder of the cards, while the poison got in her lungs.  "Gah... You really don't like playing fair, do you?" she said, coughing a bit.  She looked down at that moment, and saw the dark angel from before also gasping for breath.  'Well, let's hope this works on both of us...'

Landing down on the cement, Sailor Void lifted her staff up high, giving out one more cough before chanting.  "Dead Moon HALATION!"  With the end of the phrase, silver energies threaded themselves through the air, raining down sparkles of light that could heal injuries and cure disease or poison... Well, she HOPED the latter one anyways...  Especially if what the jester woman was saying about a Valkyrie was right...

******************************************************

He frowned as he looked at Noir's blade, feeling it being recorded in his World while its history was laid out, both verbally by his opponent and mystically through his spell.  A weapon from a semi-divine entity wasn't something to be taken lightly, but then, at least the one holding it wasn't the original wielder.  THAT would have sucked.  As he took up a stance with Gae Dearg, he shored up his reinforcement.  Sure enough, Noir rushed forward at the opening, and Shirou was barely able to get the spear up so that its head met the side of the axe's blade, pushing it aside so that it missed the young magus and allowed him to sidestep out of the way.  A second swing was deflected upwards and away, and Shirou let the crimson spear slice out towards Noir's shoulder.  He had been aiming to stab her solidly, but a return swing caused him to bend back out of the way or lose his head.  Shirou then allowed himself to roll backwards and bring the haft of his weapon up to connect solidly with the haft of the axe, the sharp blade only an inch away from his shoulder.

Hearing Akirin behind him, Shirou grimaced.  "No thanks, I think I've got this.  See what you can do for the others..." he said, twisting his spear to lock the weapons together just under the axe-head, then pulled to try and get Noir off balance and possibly throw her.

[Dark]

'Figures,' Rillesil thought when she caught sight of the Valkyrie going down. 'So much for our hard hitter,' though honestly, the blonde thought that would be Olette. Rillesil turned back to Void, smiling amusedly at the hollow. "I can't say I see the point of playing fair, it means I'd have to put up with the chance of losing." Still, the blonde didn't go after Void, simply watched as the hollow landed on the ground near the fallen angel who writhed in agony just as Olette sent her healing spell as well; the combined spells seemed to have some effect on the angel on the floor, calming his breathing, easing the pain and erasing the poison in his lungs.
 
His eyes snapped open and he sat up, a hand to his chest, unreadable dark grey-blue eyes focusing on Void. He finally snorted and got to his feet; he was hardly fond of thanking anyone, least someone like her but... "Thanks." He said, his gaze now on the fight near the crumbled building. "I...' he struggled with the words but managed to say them. "Owe you one."
He looked up at Rillesil who waved cheerfully with her fingers. "I'll distract her,' he whispered to Void. "While I do, go in and take her out,' his gaze turned down to Void. "I hope you can be ruthless, because that's what this calls for." Riquel flexed his hand, a long black sword appearing in it, his wings spreading behind him as he jumped and they took him afloat, zipping through the sky towards Rillesil.


The blonde laughed in enjoyment, brought a ruby red knife to her hand and blocked the first strike of the blade, while in her other hand appeared several more cards. 

[Dark]

Noir continued to attack, trying to push the boy back, though she grudgingly admitted that he was not as dimwitted as she had thought when it came to wielding the weapon he held. Still, she had no thought to withdrawing from this fight; Noir would bring this boy's corpse back to her Master. Noir continued to attack, bringing the axe forward time and time again, her attention focused on the boy instead of the older one now watching them.
 
The boy finally managed to lock her weapon with his and Noir gripped it tightly, so was surprised when Shirou twisted his own weapon and her body followed, making her loose her balance; she hit the ground, the axe falling to the floor a few feet from her with a clatter. Behind her visor, the shadow woman gritted her teeth and snarled, reaching out to grab her weapon in a quick moment.
 
**************
 
Akirin shrugged at Shirou's response. "If that's your choice,' he turned to look at the fight going on further out; they did seem to be nearly overwhelmed, though the horned girl seemed to be doing at least well enough... 'But this doesn't exactly look as it should.' Far too many were fighting on the wrong side. 
Black wings spread out behind him and he dashed forward, coming to a stop near the screaming boy. "Hey,' Akirin tapped the back of Ryuusei's head. "Not the time to have a meltdown." Something flickered at the corner of his eye and he turned to look.
 
The claws seemed to have gained more mass, were larger now, and they reached out to attack them and anything in their path. Akirin snapped his wings open, grabbed the back of Ryuusei's shirt and pulled him back, barely missing the blade like claws. "We have to separate Olette and that scepter,' he told the boy. "Care to be bait, or go for the weapon?" 

[Dark]

Rhys did not like this; she'd managed to bring down the Valkyrie, temporarily, because of a surprise attack, but doubted it would work again. 'Not to mention Olette,' it would be hard to get the scepter from the Sorceress, but it had to be taken before her attack was fully completed. The white hair girl glanced up at the claws; she could almost see the outline of what might be a bear beginning to form.
                       
'Damn, look like I have to try it!' She braced herself to take off, only to feel a shiver down her back and jump back, just barely missing the sapphire lance that embedded itself into the ground where she had stood. Rhys turned to glare at the Valkyrie. "Watch it!" She snapped, but the girl's eyes simply narrowed and Rhys could tell there was something different about the girl.
 
"A creature such as you shouldn't' exist,' the lance returned to her hand and she pointed it at Rhys. "It is my duty to erase you, just as I will erase your companions."
 
Rhys snorted. "Whatever, you just suck." Damn, the Valkyrie was getting serious. 'This would be a really good time to run away.' She ducked as the Valkyrie attacked her and kept her distance, looking for an opening to, hopefully, punch this one's lights out.

[opheliaswhims]

Moriko barely had time to analyze the scene around her; the girl from earlier showed up, now with horns,and had knocked the newcomer Valkyrie out of the sky. She heard Rhy's command and begrudgingly refrained from attacking Olette, even though it confused her. As her focus was turned toward the fallen staff, it was as quickly taken away by the sound of Hotone screeching in her direction.

The Reaper had managed to stave off the claws, until they grew larger in power. The droves of Noise she summoned would now barely last a touch from the sorceress' magic, and soon Hotone couldn't keep up. A claw tore though a Noise directly in front of her, the sheer force knocking her to the ground. Landing amongst the rubble, she slowly opened her eyes to blurry vision that was quickly filled with light. Before she could react, another force came at her, as if a log pushed her. "What the- ?!?" As she shook her head to clear her head, her eyes focused in on Moriko, kneeling over her, clad in wooden armor.
"Don't mention it," Moriko remarked before standing up. Turning around, she found she was too late - the Valkyrie came to and had summoned her lance back to her, and it looked like Rhys was in a jam, too. She turned back to Hotone. "Are you alright?"
"Well, my brain's right-side up again," the Reaper retorted, a hand to her temple.
"Good, go help my sister and the others." the younger woman didn't wait for a reply, but instead, pulled her two daggers out. Making her way to Rhy's side, she slipped a pin into the hilt of her right dagger. In response to 'poison', the dagger glowed with purple energy. "At your disposal, kid. Do you have a plan?"

---

Hotone tip-toed through the rubble over to the others, head still throbbing. As she approached, she snatched the potion out of Natsuki's hand and guzzled it.
"H-Hey!! That was for-" Natuski began.
"Yeah, well, didn't look like he was taking it." Hotone snapped. The irritation she felt slowly began to subside...at least, the irritation from the pain. Being with all these rugrats was another monster in itself, but there wasn't time to brood on that. She wiped at her lips with the back on her hand, discarding the potion can amongst the stone. She noticed the black winged angel pull Ryuusei out of the way, and did the same for Nat. Before any argument could bubble from the teen's lips, a set of claws tore at the ground where the four of them had just been standing. Natsuki, after a quick 'thanks', brushed Hotone's hand off her shoulder. "Where's Mori?"
"She's helping the demon child," Hotone gestured toward the standoff with the Valkyrie. "I think your angel friend is right, it'll be in our best interest and your sister's to get that scepter out of the picture." She followed up by summoning her viola once more. One of the strings had broken from earlier's blast. The Reaper gave a sigh. Ah well. "I can provide a temporary shield if someone wants to get up close an personal, but it'll only last one hit from those claws. Any takers?"

[Raijinken]

He stood there, just staring at... hard to tell as everything around him was white. He had no idea that the fights around him were still going on, until something struck the back of his head. He leaned forward from the blow, then back and suddenly things were coming into focus. There was some man now talking to him, and judging from the proximity; seemed he was the one that hit him.

"Get..." This man, Akirin, grabbed one of the few remaining bits of his shirt and yanked him out of one of those giant claws' path. The man was saying something else now, but none of it was registering, instead his response was... "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!!!" As a reflex, his left fist lanced forward as a green blur toward Akirin's gut; unlike when he punched the grill of that truck, the air pressure wasn't concentrated and wouldn't drill through if it impacted. Next he found himself running down the street in full spring, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and that insanity back there and try to process it all....

[Dark]

The brunette stared out at the group with unfeeling eyes, the crystals of her scepter chiming as they glowed, adding power to the Sorceress' phantom claws. Olette could finish them, she knew a few...didn't know the others, thought destroying them wouldn't be right but...at the moment the thought didn't bother her; in fact, Olette found herself raising her scepter just as a voice rang out in her head, a warning from the one she recognized as 'Master'. The Mage of Ages' warning was clear, 'do not destroy them...yet.'
 
The brunette's head tilted forward just the slightest in a nod and she lowered her scepter once more, holding it at her side, letting the spell she held grow slowly in size. Voices took her attention and the sorceress turned hollow violet-blue eyes towards the voices: Hotone and Natsuki. She couldn't quite hear what they said, but it mattered little to Olette and she turned away, focusing on the others.


*******************
 
Yeah, she'd taken the Valkyrie by surprise before, but now that Rhys couldn't, she found herself hard pressed to dodge the girl's attacks, only managing to keep just ahead, trying to find a hole in the Valkyrie's defense, but damn it was hard!
 
Grutning under her breath, Rhys grabbed a hold of the Valkyrie's lance, only to scream in pain when power sliced through her, throwing her back and away  to land on the ground. 'Ouch, ouch, ouch!' The girl thought, shaking out her left hand. 
It was then that Moriko showed up, offering to help. Rhys was not the type to act tough when she was almost overwhelmed so she nodded, getting to her feet. "I'd appreciate the help; I can't touch the damn lance, it must have something to do with my, uh...ancestry,' the white hair girl didn't make it a habit of mentioning she had devil's blood in her. "So I'll distract her,' Rhys whispered to Moriko. "When you see a chance, try to grab it or use your abilities to separate the two. Who knows, maybe you can use it."
 
Rhys waited, watching the valkyrie as she spread her wings, lance rising above her head. "Oh, shiiiii!" The horned girl raced forward, managing to knock herself into the Valkyrie before she could complete her spell.
 
 "Let go!"  Sylphie demanded, only for the horned girl to scoff. "Like hell I will!" She raised a fist, bringing it down, and Sylphie jerked her head to the left, avoiding the punch.

[Dark]

As soon as Akirin's attention focused on the boy, he could tell what this one had decided. Akirin inwardly rolled his eyes, quickly bringing up his blade to block Ryuusei's attack to his middle and moved back, watching as the boy turned tail and ran down the dark street.

He snorted silently, unreadable pale sky blue eyes watching the boy's figure becoming smaller. 'That,' he thought, turning back to the fight. 'Is none of my business.' What that boy needed was a psychiatrist...maybe a cuddle; Akirin was capable of neither, so he dismissed the matter...for a few moments before sighing. 'Damn.'
 
"I'm leaving this to the lot of you, for now,' he called to the others as wings edged in blue spread out behind him. "I'll be back." He did still have business with these people, and the hollow. 

He flew after the boy, keeping some space between them until the sounds of fighting had mostly faded, then landed in front of the boy, blocking his path, Akirin's gaze pitiless. "So you're dealing with the crap in your head and heart; stuff if into a black hole until this is over, or would you rather,' Akirin raised Excalibur, pointing it at Ryuusei's heart. "Fight it out?" The young man suddenly smirked. "Or are you too much of a weakling to manage yourself?"

[Raijinken]

He kept on going as fast as he could, but it didn't appear that he made much ground as that man was now standing before him. "Didn't you hear me?! I said to get the FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" Akirin was remarking about the crap in his head...and that he should just bury it all, like all the crap that keeps piling on was nothing. "Sorry, but I'm NOT turning into some emo punkass," As he starred at the taller man's trench coat and black clothing. "like you! Shit keeps piling on for I don't know HOW long, and now some winged hotty saying I'm a 'God' adds in a while NEW layer of crazy tonight and I'm done with it. so MOVE YOUR ASS!!!"

[Dark]

Akirin raised a mocking eyebrow at the boy. "I happen to like the color black; that has nothing to do with me being...emo,' where the boy had gotten that idea, Akirin would never know, and he didn't think of himself as an emo anything.
 
"So you think running away will make things better?" The pale eyed boy asked, his gaze derisive. "Let's say you run...then what? You kick things, scream at nothing or huddle in some corner rocking back and forth,' his voice was icy, matching his gaze. "That merely makes you a hopeless coward. Or,' he tipped his chin in the direction of the fight. "You can help us wrap this up; that...winged 'hotty' as you term her,' though honestly the word made Akirin wrinkle his nose in dislike. "May have answers you'd want. If we can break whatever spell's on her, she could give you some of the answers you want."

Akirin scoffed, lowering Excalibur back to his side and spread his wings, letting them lift him into the air. He'd talked to this boy far more than he usually talked to most people outside of his family, and he was done. "Do whatever you want, I'm done with you." 

[Elm]

In the alley, in the darkness where two men stood nearly at one another's throat, they were abruptly interrupted. Light cut through the shadows, a stark white light slicing through the air itself. Cutting a doorway until the light spilled out all around and a man stepped through. The moment that his black shoes set upon the ground the light cut out behind him, leaving a faint after-image of light in his wake. Steam rose off of him, steam from his black clothes, from his pale skin. From his dark hair, and from the edge of the silver blades that he held easily in either hand as though they were a part of his body.

Dark blue eyes took in the two men before him. For just a moment he thought that it was Aragos. Yet the curve of jaw was to soft, the body not quite as muscular. He looked like Aragos though. Around the eyes, the set of his lips, his dark hair. The other man however... him Falin definitely recognized. They had only known one another briefly in another world. 

He seemed to have stepped into some manner of dispute, but he did not have time for them to be at war with one another. "You are not foes, and now is not the time to fight among one another. Ryuu..." His eyes slid to the young man who's wings held him aloft. "Where is she? Where is Olette?"

His eyes tightened. "I ask you, set aside these things and help me."

-Elm

[Raijinken]

"Can't say, since there's a roadblock in my way... And I'm guessing there's a toll." In response to Akirin asking whether he'd tear shit up or huddle and cry in a corner somewhere. "So what's it cost, 5 knuckles..." His right fist balled up, knuckles popping, "...or all 10!" followed by his left.

The taller man was now discussing that Valkyrie; he said she was acting under someone's spell? As it was still fresh on his mind, he recalled being brought into that room by those robots and urged y a distorted voice over an intercom, to pick up that sword. Whether he did or not was still his choice, though quite limited as he'd more than likely be dead if he hadn't, but that girl wasn't acting on her own?

Before he could comment, something else was happening... white light was emitted from somewhere and took on the form of a door. A man emerged from the door, like Akirin he also wore black clothing and carried a pair of silver blades. The man approached them; saying they weren't enemies, and called him...'Ryuu'... "...What..."  The word flatly escaped the teen's lips, a green eye was now trained on the man; maybe it was from the rain or it could be something else, but the eye appeared to be glowing and rather menacingly too...

He backed away from Akirin and turned to face the man, Falin. "...What did you just..." He hadn't introduced himself to anyone there; those girls, that Winged Hotty or either of the men before him... That left him with one conclusion... "You, it was YOU wasn't it?!" His right fist tightened so much that veins were exposed; it looked like his knuckles were about to erupt blood. And then it started to glow golden... "YOU'RE WHY I'M HERE AND ALL THIS SHIT'S HAPPENING!" His glowing fist was now cocked back and silver winds were swirling around it instead of the usual green. "THIS IS YOUR GRAVE, MOTHERFUCKER!!!" And sent his fist flying for Falin's face; upon launch, the attack briefly emitted a bright golden flash. Once it impacted something, whatever it was, would be met with an explosion of holy power and force.

[Dark]

The surge of power had Akirin tilting his head, as if listening, then his gaze traveled to where a a cut appeared in space, a man stepping through. His light gaze showed no surprise as the man studied him, Akirin very well who he resembled...obviously. Neither was he surprised about whom the man asked about. 
"Finding her isn't hard, but if you're looking for her heart,' Akirin gave a light shrug. "From her actions and the look in her eyes...I don't think you'll find it in her." And he meant that in the most literal of sense. 

The dark haired young man turned back to Ryuusei, watching as the boy started to freak out, obviously deciding that Falin was a good target for his angry break down. Akirin smirked, dark- blue wings flapping to pull him further back; he could intervene with what the boy was revving up to do but...why bother. Between himself and Falin...well, Akirin would admit, if only silently to himself, he was not the better swordsman despite his years of training. "He's all yours,' an eyebrow rose as he glanced at Falin. The man may not know him personally, but Akirin had heard enough about the man. "Unless you need my help." Just as Akirin finished speaking, the boy attacked Falin.

[Elm]

Perhaps, considering their previous relationship, it should not have surprised him that his presence caused Ryuu's reaction. The other man stared at him as though he had grown a second head rather than simply called him by name, but it was not wholly surprising. For a moment Akirin's words caught his attention. Certainly it seemed that he knew who Falin was talking about, and Olette was foremost on his mind, but when Ryuu started yelling... 

It was easy to see where that anger would lead. 

Ryuu's body tensed, leaning back as energy swirled around it, golden and warm. Falin did not hesitate in the slightest, bending his own body and easily dodging the straight-forward attack. The other man's attack carried him past Falin, and Falin's movement allowed him to step around Ryuu. 

Akirin was not wrong. In the art of swordplay and combat, there were very few who could match him, and such an obvious tactic was not going to come anywhere close to hitting Falin. It did however hit the building behind him. In that moment Falin could have attacked. Could have, but Ryuu was not his enemy any more than Akirin was. "No, I am more than capable of handling myself with a foe blinded so blinded by anger that he can not see his own allies."

Dark blue eyes flickered to Akirin, only for a moment before a flick of his wrist sheathed his left-handed blade and he grabbed Ryuu by the back of his collar. "Listen well boy." His tone was calm and he meant no insult by his words. The building had suffered for the other man's anger, which made it all the more obvious that Falin had not been even grazed by the attack. "You can continue to attack me if you like, but I am only here for Olette. I have only just arrived here and certainly as you saw I brought no one with me. I would be rather be your ally, but if you strike at me again... I do not have the patience to deal with you kindly. I will strike you down to get to her if I must."

He would have thrust his sword into Ryuu's chest and killed the man if it meant that he could reach Olette. There was no question in his heart of that.

[Raijinken]

"Bullshit!" He jerked his arm away from Falin, and avoided the raining dust that a large section of that building, was reduced to when his punch wound up connecting with a wall instead of Falin's face...

"Your robitches ambushed me in that field! I thought I was dead, but I woke up in that lab; having all sorts of crap jabbed into me. ...The last thing I remember, was being herded into a room at gun point to grab this!" Drawing the decorated longsword; the demonic bood that had once covered the blade, had been completely washed awy from the sword laying in a large puddle and the heavy rain. However there was still a faint trace of demonic energy present...

******

Some time had passed since the enlarged rat left where it first drank the contaminated water. With it's container in tow, the rodent reached a large chamber that was quickly illuminated by hundreds of pairs of eyes and echoed with countless squeaks. The giant rat placed the crimson liquid on the ground before him, and instead of a squeak; the new third began to glow. (Drink! Drink, my brothers and sisters! Drink and be reborn as I have!) What appeared to be the walls of the chamber moved and shrank as the rats poured towards the bowl... (Soon! Very soon, the Surface World will be ours!)

[opheliaswhims]

Natsuke and Hotone found themselves left to Olette as Ryuusei ran off, the taller stranger following closely behind. 
"Thanks for volunteering," Hotone quipped sarcastically, setting herself between Natsuki and Olette. "Think you can muster up something big with a lot of accuracy? We've only got one shot before we piss her off," the Reaper warned as she tuned her viola.
Natsuki looked up to the phantom claws. They had gained so much power, and glowed so bright you would almost forget it was night. That gave her an idea... "Yeah, I think I can muster something up. Let's do this!" She reassured herself. She pulled out the pin with a stylized sun on it. Hotone formed a shield, but it was slightly weakened and small, only expanding inches beyond the two girls. They inched cautiously toward the powerful sorceress. When Nat was as close as she needed to be, she let Hotone stop. Casting her eyes upward toward the phantom claws and extending out her hand, the pin harnessed the light emanating from the claws at Natsuki's command. The light was concentrated into one solid beam aimed toward Olette.
---
Moriko was occupied with the Valkyrie, as she dove to kick the woman in her right side while her head had turned left to avoid Rhys' kick. As her foot connected with the Valkyrie's armor, she reached for the lance with her outstretched hand. As soon as she grasped hold, a surge of power drove up her arm. At first it felt like electricity and for a split second she thought it would overcome her. Just as quickly, the surge died down into a solid warmth. The lance felt more like a part of her arm. She wondered if this is what the Valkyrie felt when she wielded it. Thinking of the Valkyrie, a blurred vision of brief seconds passed through her head. The most she could make out was the Valkyrie herself, a pained expression on her face, fists pressed to her temples. A man with glasses stood behind her.
Moriko couldn't recall any men from this crazy night with glasses. Was this from the past, or a warning from the lance of something to come? She wasn't sure.
Her vision focused again on the present situation in front of her. She had kicked a Valkyrie, someone who was myth until minutes ago. She was holding a weapon like something she'd seen in a movie. Phantom claws were poised to bear down on the three of them.

Right. That.

Moriko set herself between the other two women and the claws. She grasped the lance with both hands, and held it before herself like a sword. She willed the lance to do something, ANYTHING, to fight the claws. Nothing happened. 'Sure, that would've been too easy.' She thought sadly.
Instead, the claws and the lance could not touch. The claws continued to bear down in their direction, but there seemed to be some level of restraint. Out of pure thankfulness, Moriko didn't attempt to analyze it for once as the claws scratched away at the invisible barrier. Once she felt safe, she turned her head toward Rhys. "Ok, got the lance...now what?!?"

[Dark]

Arms crossed over his chest, Akirin watched as Falin easily moved out of Ryuusei's path of attack and tried to talk some sense into the boy...Akirin could have told him it wouldn't work, but he didn't have too, Ryuusei made it known with his angry shouts at Falin.
 
The dark hair young man inwardly sighted, his gaze settling on the sword Ryuusei was screaming about. Pale blue eyes flashed, darkening for a moment. "Moron,' he growled softly at the boy. "One: You don't know how to use that sword and two,' he pointed at the blade the boy held. "In the very near future, your ignorance is going to be a problem for us, so stop acting like a panicked child after a nightmare and think." Akirin hardly had time or inclination to deal with this. He recalled Excalibur to his hand, the blade flashing dangerously. "You may not have,' his gaze flickered to Falin for a second before it refocused on Ryuusei. "But I have no problem with it." He moved so quickly it was as if he simply disappeared, but Ryuusei would find Akirin in front of him, the blade aiming to slice deep into his skin.
 
If the attack found its mark, the sword would plunge deep into Ryuusei's stomach, though the boy wouldn't feel pain, instead he would feel a blinding warmth spreading through his body as it burned away the panic and confusion Ryuusei was under; then the blade was gone from Ryuusei's flesh, Akirin several feet away from him, sword held ready. "Still want a fight?"

[Dark]

She felt the energy being drained away from the claws above her; cold violet-blue eyes searched out the source of the drainage on her attack and focused on Natsuki. "Enough." The claws shifted direction, aimed to attack the two girls, but the claws weren't as quick and the sorceress didn't move; the beam hit her head on, throwing the sorceress's body into the air, her hand losing its grip on the scepter that toppled to the floor several feet from her, and what light was to be found in the young woman's eyes suddenly extinguished, her body hitting the ground with a thud and stayed unmoving, much like a doll someone had thrown down.
 
Moriko would find the lance in her hand glinting brightly, the sapphire tip flashing upward in a blast that shattered the claws into a rain of light that faded as they fell, and the lance in Moriko's hands suddenly dimmed down, as if the light in it had turned off, but not before another image flashed through her mind; the man with glasses, this time patting her gently on the head, a comforting smile on his lips, then it shifted to cold, merciless and there was a glass wall between them. The image faded, the sapphire tip of the lance now dark. 

...........

Rhys missed what happened, busy with keeping the Valkyrie she'd been fighting with pinned down, but as soon as the lance darkened, the Valkyrie stopped moving, much like Olette had. "I didn't do it!" Rhys jerked away, rubbing her hands against the sudden cold that had permeated the Valkyrie's body.

Suddenly the night seemed almost too quiet, the two fights still going on some ways from them, seeming much further.
 
Rhys glanced at Moriko then turned back to the Valkyrie. "Guess...I'll check her pulse." It her a moment to step closer, another to kneel down and search for a pulse...and search, then quickly get up and move away once more. "I can't find a pulse,' she said. "And she's really cold, like colder than a stone statue." And there was no way in heck Rhys had caused that, she hadn't even used any powerful attack. "Just saying this, but no way is this my fault."

[Elm]

The other man jerked away from him, it wasn't surprising really. His tone alone told Falin that they were only moments away from a fight. Those words... Internally he shuddered. The swordsman had his own memories. Memories of men who thought that his body was a thing to study rather than the vessel for his soul. That his soul had been something to break or remove entirely so that they might have access to his power. Firmly he kept those memories where they belonged. Every one of them carefully locked away, his face showing nothing of what that brief lapse had cost his heart.

He did not have time to feel pain from something so long past. He could feel it later, when Olette was safe.

"I would never do to another what was done to myself." The swordsman's voice was almost cold.

There remained little doubt to him that this would end in combat, but he did not expect it from the man who reminded him so much of Aragos. The man moved forward, his blade flashing and Falin moved aside quickly. Regardless of if the weapon landed or not he knew how the unstable boy with his dark blade would react.

In a flash Falin moved forward, attacking not Ryuu, but the man who had attacked that tormented boy. Anyone who had fought Falin before would realize quickly that the attack was... to predictable. His strikes were direct, and easy to pick off, but heavy. Meant to move Akirin further and further from Ryuu. He knew unequivocally that the blade had been meant to heal. The lack of blood reminded him of his own magic which would heal rather than harm. "Why would you attack him?"

The question was half for Ryuu's sake. For Akirin the question was far more... why would you use magic of this sort against a man this unstable? Against someone who would only see enemies such an action could so easily be seen as a failed attack. Even if Akirin had successfully healed something in Ryuu... the action itself could have done just as much damage as the healing.

[Raijinken]

He stood there, holding once blood-covered sword; he hadn't gone after Falin with it. And even if he tried, he wouldn't have gotten far as his counselor was now upon him with one of his own blades drawn. Akirin was spouting something about 'the near future'? "Ugh! Is EVERYONE here fucking crazy?!" Seemed he wasn't far off as Falin, seemed to be defending him now... "I mean, what the hell's going here?!"

[Dark]

Akirin let himself be moved back by Falin's attacks, his own only strong enough to block until he came to a stop and gave a shrug at the question Falin directed at him. "I don't have time to baby him." Akirin vanished, reappearing several feet behind Ryuujin. "If answers are what you want, you're not going to find them in this alleyway,' the dark haired young man jerked his head in the direction they had come from. 

"But they might be back there,' he gave the boy a smirk. "Unless you actually prefer not knowing, in which case I can't help you." Actually, now that he thought on it, for someone who said he wanted to know what was going on...the boy sure did run fast the other way. 

Dark wings edged in blue sprouted behind Akirin's back, lifting him into the air while his pale gaze settled on Falin. "I'll the boy to you, Falin." He had a bad feeling about the feel of the sword the boy had...Akirin felt as if he might have to help clean up the kid's mess. He winged away, flying back to the sight only to see the valkyrie and sorceress collapsed on the ground, the four young women who had been fighting them standing, while the two other battles continued on a little further away. 

He glanced in Shirou's direction, then over to where the fallen angel, Riquel, and Void had taken on the blonde female. 'Looks like I might have to step in...' but for the moment, he turned back to the girls. "What happened?" He asked, walking towards the sorceress's scepter.

[Elm]

Akirin seemed to understand entirely. Easily blocking his blades and allowing himself to be moved backwards by Falin's attacks. If nothing else, it seemed for the moment to keep Ryuu from attacking the man. Quickly Akirin withdrew, stating that he was going to leave Ryuu to Falin, and then leaving entirely. Falin wanted to trail him with his eyes, find out where Akirin was going, but he couldn't risk it with Ryuu standing so close. This was... not what Falin wanted to be dealing with right now.

Falin's dark eyes met Ryuu's and carefully he sheathed his blades one over either hip. He disliked being unarmed before an armed opponent, which he was uncertain at the moment if Ryuu was or not. "I can not say that I know what is going on here. What drew me to this place was Olette. I am searching for her. These things about yourself..." He motioned slightly toward the demonic blade that Ryuu held. He could feel the energy that pulsed within it like a distant dark heartbeat. His magic recognized it in a way.

"Are we all mad? Perhaps. But is it mad to want to protect the ones we love? Or the world that we find ourselves in? You question the knowledge of if you are a god or not but let me ask you... In this moment does it matter? Does it matter if you have that power or does it matter more what you choose to do with what you have in your hands?"

Falin offered a small smile. "You are not the first to be told that you have power, or responsibility, but it is now your turn to decide what you will do with it. If you want to fight me, I will fight you. If you want to run away from it, I will not chase you. If you want to come, to fight and protect something, then I will welcome you at my side in combat. But now... now you must choose."

At some point... did not they all?

[opheliaswhims]

While Moriko had focused on simply defending, the lance had other plans, firing at the claws and disintegrating them. There was a moment of awe from her as shards of light fell around them, a comfort contrary to their previous form. The moment was shattered by a vision of a seemingly normal looking man in abnormal circumstances. She shivered at his touch. It felt strangely real...but it was only a vision. Through the shimmering light, her eyes found her younger sister, who was victory-hugging a rather irritated looking Hotone. Just inches from them was Olette's scepter. Her attention was drawn back to Rhys, who was panicking over the Valkyrie's lifeless body. After taking a second to focus, she kneeled down to join Rhys. She, too, tried to find a pulse to no avail. She felt along the length of the woman's forearm.
"Something's not right...I don't think she's dead. More like...artificial? I don't understand." She was in a healthcare mode, almost as close to normality as she's been all night, mythical creature aside. "It's hard to say, seeing as she's inhuman."

Across the clearing, Natsuki released her grip on Hotone. "ALRIGHT!! That was so awesome!" she squealed. Her excitement dimmed a little as she saw the fallen Olette. "Oh, I hope she's okay...I didn't mean to kill her." Her eyes widened at the thought. Taking someone's life was not a goal of hers. A clap on the back from Hotone shook her out of her worried daze toward Olette. "Relax, she's not dead." Hotone snapped. As a Reaper, she was able to witness death in a way some cannot. "Actually...it's sort of weird...I can't see any soul."
"Maybe she's just unconscious?" Natsuki suggested.
"That's...not how that works." frustration crossed the older woman's face. Something was off. Natsuki began to shrug off her worries as she picked up Olette's scepter. She expected it to freak out and reject her or something, but nothing happened. In all honesty, it almost felt like the power flowing through it mere minutes ago no longer existed, as if there were an off switch. It felt like a useless toy. Both girls looked up as the angel who ran off after Ryuusei earlier approached them.
"Uhhh...I guess we won?" Natsuki replied bashfully to his inquiry. "Really though, I just fought back, we were ready to pick a fight, ("No, we weren't!" Hotone interjected,) and just one hit and she was out. She hasn't budged an inch since."

[Raijinken]

As much as he hated to admit it...but that dick weed was right... If he was going to get any sort of answer, they were back the other way... By that point it sounded like things had quieted down, so maybe the lunacy was finally over.

As for Falin; the teen had to commend the guy for aknowledging that they might be insane, which might actually be proof that they aren't... And then the man mentioned the teen 'protecting something', which caused him to sigh heavily. "Oh yeah I HAD something... These two bungholes who hung around with me. I kicked the crap out of lots of people for'em, and how do they repay me? They pin some shit they did on me, for a little cash!" ...Which was how his troubles started; he'd already earned a sizable price on his head for fighting with the Authorities, tossing on a murder wrap would raise it substantially! He had no choice but to haul ass out of town before every other City guard came after him, along with the duo he TRIED to turn his friends over to.

"I'm not gonna be 'by your side', I like girls. Once I learn what I want to know, we're done!" And ran back in the direction of the battle. (Wha-what the hell?) Things were over alright; the two enemies were on the ground. The other four women were still there, with Rhys and Moriko were examining the Valkyrie's seemingly lifeless body. "NO!"  Dashing over to her. "NO! NO! NO! NO!" The one person here he could get any concrete answers from, she just HAD to be alive! "Come on!" He placed his hands on her chest. "WAKE UP! DAMMIT!" And focused his energy; he was planning to infuse her body with electricity to hopefully restart her heart... but instead of electricity surging down his arms, it was that same warm, golden light that appeared when he tried to attack Falin.

[Dark]

Rhys drew back a little more when Moriko walked over, checking the Valkyrie for a pulse. Rhys could have told her she wouldn't find one, and now that she thought about it...she didn't think the girl had had one at all; her hearing usually picked up on that stuff.

"So...she's like what? A vampire of some sort?" Rhys shivered at the thought. "The only vampires I've come across were just gross." And what else type of vampire was there? The Valkyrie hadn't felt like one. The girl's eye twitched. 'This is just too weird.' She turned, running over to Olette, kneeling down and setting a hand to the girl's throat. "If she's not dead...why isn't she breathing?" Definitely weird. 

She glanced around at the girls, noticing Natsuki pick up Olette's scepter. Rhys stepped away from Olette, half hoping it would trigger some movement in the young woman, but nothing occurred. "No soul, huh..." she muttered glancing over at Hotone. "So wouldn't that make her a vampire then?"
 
The darkly dressed angel decided to make an appearance then, asking what was going on and Rhys let Natsuki answer while she stepped a little further away. "I think they ran on batteries,' she said half jokingly. "And those batteries ran out."
 
Akirin silently observed the girls, his light blue eyes looking them over before he gave a nod. "Close as you can get to an explanation." He muttered, looking over at the two still girls. He knelt next to the fallen Olette, setting a hand to hover over her body; a light glimmered from his hands, lighting up the young woman, making her seem somewhat transparent, but where her heart should have been, only a dark mass appeared. "Her heart had been taken,' he said. "So she has no choice but to obey whoever has it, but they took it a step further,' the light from his hand expanded, showing darkness throughout Olette's body. "They took her soul too." He stood, letting the light from his hand fade. "They would have killed all of you,' he walked towards the Valkyrie, clapping Natsuki gently on the shoulder as he passed. "You did well disabling them."
 
He hadn't reached the Valkyrie when a shout caught his attention and his gaze shifted to follow Ryuusei as he returned screaming and made a beeline for the Valkyrie, setting his hands over her chest as if to administer cpr. Akirin watched him with an unreadable gaze. He could warn the boy...but Akirin thought Ryuusei wouldn't pay much attention to him, so he watched as energy passed from the boy to the Valkyrie. 

After a moment her eyes snapped open and in a burst of light she disappeared, reappearing closer to Moriko and extending her arm, palm open. The lance in Moriko's hands vanished in a flash, reappearing in the Valkyrie's hand; in one quick movement, she shifted the lance, pointing it at Ryuusei. "Know better than to summon a Valkyrie controlled by another,' she chided him. "I have minute to speak freely; ask your question."

[Elm]

Falin did not bother to correct Ryuu. No matter what he said or did, the other man always seemed to misunderstand him. It was enough for the moment that Ryuu was not attacking anyone. Perhaps Akirin's efforts had not been in vain. Falin followed in the other man's wake smoothly wondering a touch who it was that had been fighting over here while he had been dealing with Ryuu. When the other man's steps picked up his own did not. 

Not until he saw Olette.

The swordsman paused, his heart stopping in his chest as surely as if he had died. She lay on the ground motionless as Akirin showed only emptiness where her heart, her soul should be. His feet moved him forward, but he himself was far away. Remembering the first time he had ever seen her. She had been only a child then, but every bit as beautiful to him as she was to this day; her spirit shining fiercely through her eyes. Believing that a weapon could be her friend, a monster soothed by love.

Who had done this to her?

He knelt at her side, fingers touching her cheek gently. She was a powerful sorceress in her own right, and more than that she had a warriors heart. Now... she was empty. No more than a puppet for whoever was using her this way. 

"Olette." It was only a whisper, all he had the strength for. He had come to this place in search of her, he had never expected to find her like this. Never expected to find that she was the one these people were fighting.

Beside him the Valkyrie rose to her feet, taking her weapon back and using it to hold them at bay. Falin looked up, fingers entwining in Olette's hair. If the Valkyrie's soul could find it's way back to her body, if she could find freedom for even a moment. Then there was hope for Olette. Hope that he could bring her back.

Nothing of the swordsman's pain was allowed to show on his features. He looked at the Valkyrie firmly. "Where is Olette? Who is keeping her? Tell me, and if I can I will free you both."

[Raijinken]

His treatment appeared to work as the girl's eyes snapped open. "You're wel..." And then she vanished! Quickly reappearing near Moriko to reclaim the lance. Once the sapphire weapon was back in hand, she pointed it at him; claiming to be a Valkyrie and that he summoned her?! How, with electricity? All he was trying to do was restart her heart using a bit of field medicine, (Not call down a...) While starring at her now up close, (Heavenly...Bo...dy...) and pointing his own spear!

Because everything so far had kept him on edge, he had enough sense to pay attention to what else the Valkyrie was saying. She was being controlled by someone else, which confirmed what Akirin had said earlier. And that she only had a 'minute', so ask A question. He actually had several questions on his mind which now included 'Wht's your sign?' and 'Can we go to our OWN personal Heaven?'.

However, he got a hold of himself and stuck with he was originally planning to ask, as it might help him piece together what EXACTLY is going on here. "I take it you were being serious about calling me a 'God' earlier. So is it true? ...Because I sure as hell never felt Omnipotent when I didn't have food or a place to sleep. And the closest thing to a miracle, is NOT dying from having the shit kicked out of me as a kid, by groups of assholes."

[Dark]

The Valkyrie kept her silence for a few seconds; she had said 'a' question, but more than one had been given to her. "That is Olette,' she answered the man who had posed his question first. "But she won't be staying for long. The one keeping her is known as The Mage of Ages and he is to be found somewhere in this world. Where, I cannot say." She turned to the boy. 

"My sympathies for your troubles, but even a God can be brought to his knees; you are not a part of the pantheon I belong too, neither any I have ever heard off. Your origins, you will have to find on your own." 

"And that boys and girls,' Rillesil landed in the middle of the group, having decided that, as much fun as she was having fighting the Hollow and fallen angel, it was time to fulfill her duty. "Is all the time we have to answer questions." She snapped her fingers and the Valkyrie jumped back, landing besides the blonde hair woman who turned to Falin. "I hate to do this to you but,' another snap of her fingers and the body Falin had been holding appeared in Rillesil's arms. "Can you hear that?" She smiled grimly. "We were just the opening act; here comes the main act." Darkness spilled out around the trio like a geyser, obscuring them from sight. 

Rhys thought for a split second before she moved, trying to break through the darkness. "Hold on!" She called out. "At least leave Olette here!" The young sorceress had really helped Rhys out, heck, without her, Rhys might have even been captured by those psychos following her grandmother. "Come on!" She suddenly pushed through, only to stumble and fall to the pavement where the group had once been. The white hair girl sighted, scratching her head. "Well...I tried,' Rhys stood stretching. "Oh well, there's bound to be another time to try. So, who votes on going home and getting something to eat?" She asked.

[Elm]

It was Olette, but it wasn't the whole of her. So really it was at best half an answer. Save that now he knew. He knew exactly who it was who had Olette. Who had dared to do these things to her. Mage of Ages. 

In an instant Olette was gone from his grasp, only one hair left twined around his fingers. Purposefully pulled. He didn't try to chase after them. It would do him little good after all. He knew of only one being that had been able to find that man where ever he went. But that did not mean that Falin could not find Lerant. 

When he did... He would make that mage pay once and for all for what he had done. 

For what he had done to Olette and so many others. It seemed like nothing was enough. Even after assisting him in regaining his sister... was this how they were repaid? Falin soothed the edge of his quiet anger by reminding himself that perhaps... just perhaps this Lerant was not the same as the one he knew; but in the end it didn't matter. 

"Tell the mage that the darkness comes for him. Our oath still binds him, and there is no place where it will not find him." Falin rose to his feet and the women were gone but that too did not matter. The hungry dark would find Lerant wherever he was. It would hunt him. Already Falin could feel the darkness tugging on the edges of his being. 

Dark blue eyes fell upon Rys for a moment, but it was to Akirin that he looked. "You hold Excalibur. The sword of the King. Will you ride with me to hunt the Oathbreaker?"

There would be no rest for him. He had no home. No home save that at Olette's side. He could not rest, for he was a part of that dark and it would take him to hunt for it.

[Dark]

A chill skittered down her spine for a moment and Rhys turned, her gaze finally landing on the new guy just as he turned to Akirin. Trying to act nonchalant, Rhys slowly edged away from him; she didn't know what the guy was, but someone else could deal with it. The white hair girl was just about to take another step when the fallen angel settled there, folding black wings behind his back. "Are we done?" He half snapped. "In which case I'm leaving." He had done more than enough with this group, and there were far too many...humans and...others that he disliked being in the company off. 
****************

There was no change in Akirin's expression as Falin turned to him, asking to help him find the Mage of Age, and he was silent so long, that it seemed as if he wouldn't answer, but finally he did. "That Mage has more hooks into this world than you know...careful which ones you pull loose,' it looked like his return home would have to wait; he gave a light shrug, sheathing his sword and turning to face Falin, arms crossed over his chest. "I'll follow you, but I can't say I know how to find the Mage."

[Elm]

Each passing moment seemed to be stripping something away from Falin. Perhaps his humanity. The darkness of the night gathered around him like a living thing, a warm darkness, and those closest to him would be able to feel it like a physical presence. As if the night itself was becoming alive. Sentient. Curling around the swordsman. It grew darker and darker with each passing heartbeat. A heartbeat that one could almost feel pulsing around Falin.

"Draw your weapon Swordbearer. This is the Hunt." His voice echoed oddly, and he had now both of his own gleaming swords in hand. The darkness spread, embracing Akrin as well and spreading out further. Anyone nearby could feel it. Not only the warmth of the darkness but a lure. A drive to go with the shadows. To Hunt. To give into the Hunt. 

Somewhere the sound of dogs bayed and Falin turned eyes that glittered like fallen stars toward the sound. When he moved the darkness everywhere moved with him. The whole of the night around responding to the sound.

"You will not find the mage. We will ride the night itself to where he is." Things were forming in the night. Dogs, horses. Shadow-figures from tales long past. Once long ago in another time Falin had made the mage swear an oath unto the Hungry Night, and the Night had not forgotten. 

Falin moved into the darkness.

[Raijinken]

Despite Falin's interference, the Valkyrie answered him... "Well, that explains a lot... heh...hehehehehe...heh..." Not dying from starvation or the cold, enduring all of those beatings ...And especially the ambush by those mechanical monsters; no normal human could survive being blasted by THAT much firepower.

...And a realization hit. "They knew, they must have!" Why else would someone attack him like that? ...Granted he lived in Darilshade and that town was in NO short supply of crazy, but even the most dangerous criminals there didn't have access to stuff like that otherwise they would've used it against him LONG ago.

And this 'Mage of Ages', the rest of this circus they seemed to be fighting off all night... was it him? But if so, why wasn't he an emotionless windup doll like the Valkyrie and the Sorceress; she said they 'weren't of the same Pantheon' and his origins were unknown to her so perhaps not?

"Fuuuuuck!" While he did get an answer...it opened up even more questions. Hell, he STILL didn't know how or why he was here...whe(n)rever that was.

Then suddenly the lights went out, "The hell?" And when they came back on; the 2 girls were gone. The circus metaphor was apt as one of their enemies was talking about the 'main act'...wonderful! There was already a Valkyrie so what was next? A massive tentacle-faced beastie from the deep and his legion of demons?!...Whatever it was going to be, it didn't look like Falin gave a shit and instead was going to follow his steel hard-on like a compass needle! ...Not like he had room to comment as he ran out on the fight earlier. "Oh yeah...right..."

He turned face Rhys, Moriko, Natsuki and Hotone. He took a deep breath before. before, "I'm sorry for bailing on you guys earlier. This was more crap than I'm used to and it overwhelmed me. I know that's just an excuse, but I mean it when I say it'll never happen again." Now addressing Rhys specifically. "If that offer still stands, I'd appreciate something to eat; I think we'd all need it for whatever the 'Main Act' is."

******

He watched as many of his kin had already increased in size, while others were currently undergoing their Rebirth. Suddenly his tail snapped like a whip, the tip impacted the ground, leaving a small yet deep hole in the concrete.  (Atten...TION!) Those who had already completed their transformations began to line up. (My Brothers and Sisters! Now we shall march on the surface and claim that world as our own! Come, follow me!)

(SIR! YES SIR!)

And they began to march in single file, walking on their hind legs. The were led to a wall on the other side was the basement of an office building. Their leader thrust a hand forward while ordering those in front to (Open it!)

And with that those in front got on all fours and proceeded to chew through the foundation...

[Dark]

Akirin gave another shrug and unsheathed his sword before turning to the rest of the group. "I'll try to come and help for whatever the 'main act' is as soon as I can, until then, I'm sure all of you can hold up." He followed after Falin into the darkness. 
*********

'Sheesh luis, what the heck are they all!?' Rhys felt very small compared to the rest of the group...and that was how it was going to stay if she had anything to say about it, but instead of dwelling on that, the white hair girl turned to Ryuusei as he apologized. "Hey, don't worry about it kid,' she clapped him on the shoulder. "You just did what I was thinking of doing several times through this whole thing. No biggie." Offer...well, Rhys hadn't meant it quite like that, but what the heck, it might not be so bad to have some company now and then. "Sure, why not." She turned to the other three girls. "You wanna come along? I've got pizza, pizza....and some other stuff to eat at home." There was more than one reason that restaurant had kicked her out, having somehow had the delivery man be late with her pizzas for the third time in three days (oddly) was a part of it. Sometimes, her 'evil' powers did come in handy. 

She glanced over at the boy who had been fighting Noir and the hollow. "You guys wanna come or are you heading out?"

[opheliaswhims]

Soon others joined in around the lifeless bodies. Natsuki exchanged a glance with Moriko from across the area - it seemed many here had personal ties to the powerful women. Ryuusei had darted toward the Valkyrie, reviving her for a moment. In her brief consciousness, she claimed her lance back from Moriko. The human felt both relief and remorse as the weapon dissolved out of her hands and back into the grip of its owner's. Questions were shot at the Valkyrie that were, well, sort of answered, in Moriko's opinion, before a stranger appeared, claiming Olette and the Valkyrie before disappearing the an overwhelming darkness. In the clamor of resolutions and stupor, Nat made her way over to her sister, relaying Akirin's findings with Olette. "No heart or soul? Sheesh, this is quickly getting beyond my schooling..." Mori noted, head in her hand. What a long night.
Hotone joined them as Ryuusei approached with his apology. "Hey, no worries!" Natsuki added cheerfully after Rhys. "We all had a long night...you with the truck and all, and us with Hotone..."
"Hey, what does that mean?" the Reaper snapped. It felt weird to just stand and talk to the two girls instead of always challenging them like she did in the Underground, but she found herself adjusting, realizing this world was "home" before she died. It was like waking from a dream, in a weird sort of way.
"I just meant you're-"
"Anyway, we will definitely take you up on that pizza," Moriko interjected, "maybe a drink or two as well." she added with a deadpan voice.
"Hey, while we're doing that, we should probably get a good look at that scepter." Hotone gestured to the weapon still in Natsuki's hand. "It seems to be out of juice, but maybe dark and broody there can get a better look like he did with the sorceress when they come back from playing cops and robbers." she ended with a nod toward the exiting Akirin.

[Raijinken]

He breathed a sign of relief when the girls accepted his apology, because he really DIDN'T intend to run from that fight. What was even better, Rhys was offering PIZZA!. "Wow, first a lovely Valkyrie enters my life and now pizza...maybe this night doesn't suck the root after all!"

It seemed Olette's scepter was left behind, interesting since the Valkyrie made sure to reclaim her lance as he had the business end of it pointed at him while asking his question. The girls were talking about examining it and maybe Akirin could recharge it? When him and Falin returned. "...That's assuming he doesn't drown in the sap the other guy's spewing. but maybe I can do something with it? Since I brought that Valkyrie back (for a MINUTE!)." Just then his stomach growled loudly. "But that'll have to wait, PIZZA CALLS!"

[Dark]

'Hmm,' now that Rhys took a look at them, it seemed as if those three had some history together, and not all of it as good friends. Not that it was her business, she had her own to worry about. What did catch her attention was the scepter left behind...from what Rhys remembered, the Sorceress had always carried that item with her; she couldn't help but wonder if it was a good or bad thing that it had been left behind. 


Ryuusei's shout of pizza pulled at her attention and Rhys decided they were right; the scepter could wait. "Sure, let's get going. I'm starving." She glanced around for the others, but it seemed that they had dispersed, including the fallen angel that had been darkly muttering. 'Whatever, not my problem.'
 
"Come on,' Rhys started walking, picking up her pace when she noticed the rain had once again began to fall harder. She led them to a four story building, to the last floor and a corner door which she opened with a key. "Come on in,' Rhys stepped into what was essentially a long room; on the left was the living room, while the other side was separated by a counter mostly surrounding the small kitchen, while a hallway ran past it into the rest of the apartment. Rhys went to the oven, opened it up and with a grin took out five large boxes of pizzas. She'd quickly learned that pizza went cold in the fridge, and it sucked, but it she kept it in the oven, it made it out better. Especially if she used a tiny spell on it. 
 
"There's several types, so feel free to choose,' she pointed to the fridge. "There's also drinks in there,' at some point, Rhys had gone to the store and just bought a bunch of brands. "Feel free to choose." She grabbed some paper plates and set them on the counter before turning her attention to one of the pizza boxes. 

[Dark]

*****The Mage's Mansion****


It seemed as if the rain pelted down harder in this part of town; it was also far quieter, the large street which held the dark mansion stood silent; its gates locked against intruders, it's stone guardians looking down ominously at any passerby's, and leaning against the gate was the young woman with the blonde curls that almost hid the horns on her head. She smiled, waving her fingers cheerfully as they arrived.
 
"He said you would come, in which case I have a message,' golden eyes turned to Falin. "He has not, in any way, touched the Sorceress soul. The Sorceress tried to stop this,' the blonde pulled out a card, throwing it out into the air; Akirin stiffened, sword ready, but all that happened was that they were shown the image of a pale young woman with hair so blonde it almost seemed white, and icy blue eyes.
 
"Young woman from making a planet her new playground,' the blonde shrugged. "The Ice Queen was not amused, and she used a nifty little trick she'd learned on the Sorceress...ripping both the heart and soul from the Sorceress." Which sounded rather painful in Rillesil's opinion...not something she wanted to go through. "So,' she straightened, several cards appearing in her hand. "We would very much appreciate you vacating the premises, I really don't feel like fighting in the rain,' Rillesil tipped her head, her golden curls dripping water and she gave a dry chuckle. "It really doesn't agree with my hair. Can you tell?"
 
Akirin said nothing, sword in hand, he glanced at Falin, highly doubting the man would acquiesce to the woman's request.

[Elm]

The darkness deepened, until no light remained at all. Yet there was a sense of moving forward. Not by the power of one's own feet but rather like they were riding the darkness. Moving forward by its power. Then the darkness cleared, revealing a large mansion and a woman standing before it. Falin felt a mild tinge of surprise that was largely suppressed. The shadows of the night ebbed and flowed around him and the half-angel at his side. 

She spoke and Falin smiled a small smile. The mage had known that he was coming. Even if her words were some manner of truth, he did not believe for a moment that it was the entire truth. Somehow the mage was controlling Olette, and that meant touching her soul. Even if it was through magic, even if it was through an intermediary... The mage was the one responsible. The mage was the one that had her.

"Ice Queen?" His voice echoed oddly, powerfully in the darkness. He wondered if she meant that woman Salina who he knew had a lot of experience with manipulating souls. Or if there was yet another power in play here that he did not know. "I have no intention of leaving so easily." 

His dark blue eyes slid over the woman. He recognized her of course. Another familiar face... "I will speak to the mage." He had no doubt about that. The shadows had never ceased moving, never ceased their call. The call to join them. To hunt endlessly. To become a part of it.

[Dark]

Rillesil gave a light shrug. "Ice Queen, Eira, whatever she calls herself since she lost her heart,' at least that's what Rillesil had been told. She sighted at Falin's answer. "Really,' she took a step forward. "You're going to make me do this,' several more cards appeared in her hand. "In the rain,' she gave a sight and shot them a wry smile. "Okay then, let's do this." The curly hair blonde pulled her hand back, ready to hurl the cards when a voice stopped her. 

"Enough Rillesil,' the mage seemed to step into existance, turning to the blonde first, running his fingers through her wet hair, drying it instantly. "I would care little for your getting hurt,' his voice seemed to hold a thread of warmth in it and Rillesil nodded, returning the smile. 

"Alright, go on ahead." She took a step back while Lerant turned to Falin, giving Akirin a glance before focusing on the older man, crossing his arms over his chest. "I gave my sister too much freedom, and unfortunately the two met each other. In that, I will take fault, but I have not touched either her heart or soul."

[Elm]

He was silent as the mage came forth. Not even a flicker of surprise showing on his face. Of course the mage was here. The darkness would not have brought him if the mage was elsewhere. It would have taken him to that place instead. Rillesil's threats had of course had no affect on him, but the information... that was interesting. Interesting enough to keep him in place while the mage spoke.

"To much freedom mage?" Falin's voice echoed. He remembered the mage's attempts to free his sister. To find her and what it had done to their group. "Your flesh and blood, your magic has done this to her. You can not claim innocence Lerant."

The darkness around him writhed. It was wrong to assume that the night was an extension of his will. Yet perhaps the man would assume that. He would not be the first to do so. "Tell me where Olette is Lerant. Give her back to me and do not try to tell me that you do not know where she is."

[Dark]

"Perhaps,' Lerant replied mildly. "But it is preferred to the alternative." The mage waved his hand and a tank of glowing crystal appeared, the brunette floating inside the liquid sleeping soundly. "A warning Falin; what madee Olette a vampire that takes life, has shifted, it is now a virus that is slowly consuming her. Take her out of this tank, give her back her heart and soul, and the virus will speed up and shorten her life immensely, it is the same virus my sister has and she,' Lerant tipped his head towards Rillesil. "Had, and even I am having trouble completing the antidote." The mage glanced at Rillesil who nodded and pulled out a card.
 
"Catch Falin,' Rillesil threw a card that flew straight towards him; the image edged into it was that of a ghostly form of Olette, her heart shimmering in her chest.

"I believe that is all you came here for, Falin,' Lerant watched Falin with narrowed eyes. "Take her or leave her."

[Raijinken]

He followed along after the dragoness and the other girls. As they walked along the rain seemed to worsen, but of all the things which happened that night it didn't bother him one bit. In fact, the cold, hard rain was quite calming. It allowed him to keep his focus, as he followed along his bright green eyes moved from one side of the street to the other; taking in the buildings that were both similar to what he was used to, but also different... And that WASN'T counting the cars as he already had a run-in with that contraption. 

They arrived at a four-story apartment building, and after entering they followed Rhys to the top floor. "Nice place you got." At least from his perspective anyway. It wasn't in shambles and about half-flooded from the seemingly endless rain water. Hell the NICEST places he'd seen were only...mildly damp.

He was in awe as Rhys entered the kitchen and pulled out 5 pizza boxes...oh not because he saw the oven; besides it being a bit more high-tech, it wasn't anything new. Instead... "So...much...pizza..." ...And her apartment might be flooded yet! (If ONLY I were this lucky...) He quickly snapped himself back to get a piece of the pie before it was all gone, or WORSE,, cold!

He went over, opened one of the boxes to find a whole pepperoni pizza. "DIBS!" And IMMEDIATELY tore into it!

[opheliaswhims]

Hotone, Moriko and Natsuki brought up the rear of the small group headed to Rhy's apartment. Nothing was really exchanged between the three, besides Mori asking Nat if she had any injuries four separate times, each worded different. She felt regret for splitting them up, and even moreso weary of the object in her younger sister's hand. Did it send power through Nat the same way the Valkryie's lance did to herself earlier? The short blond seemed normal, but the magical properties of the staff would not let Mori form any conclusions.

Inside, they found the apartment cozy, a nice shelter from the rain and hectic nature of the evening. Hotone settled herself into a chair, and Natsuki was barely a step behind Ryuusei's attack on pizza after leaning the staff against another chair. When the dust cleared and the pizza count was down one whole pizza and two slices, Moriko grabbed a slice of supreme and fished out a can of hard cider from the fridge. Reveling in the normal-ness, Mori leaned against the wall across the room from the not-so-normal staff.

"Ok," she began between bites of pizza, "while it's still fresh in our, we need to collect everything we know about that." She gestured to the staff with her can. "It's quite obviously not of this world and beyond my science education."

"Does it look familiar to either of you?" Natsuki directed toward Rhys and Ryuusei. "And what about that guy that freaked out over the sorceress?"

"We can worry about tall and broody later," Hotone interjected, "first, I wanna know if that lance is safe in here, and why it didn't leave with the puppet's body."

[Raijinken]

He sat with the box on his lap and held a slice in each hand. "I've only ever," Taking a bite from the right slice. "seen a pipe," Now he bit into the left. "used by a Caster. Nothing as elaborate as that." Looking at Olette's staff through the corner of his eye, while keeping the majority of his attention on the pizza. "How'd she use it?" He took another bite from the right slice. "Did she guard? "Then another from the left. "Strike?" And took his final bite out of the right, finishing off that slice of pizza. "Channel?"

As he finished off the left slice, Tall and Broody had been brought up. "He showed up out of nowhere." While reaching into the box for the last piece. "Came through a door in space." He started into the piece. "And right away spouted crap," He took another bite. "from the kind of book," And another bite. "I dug out of the dumpster," One more. "and tore out pages," This last one finished the slice, "to use as toilet paper!" and the whole pizza!

"Oh man that was GOOD!"

[Dark]

'Hmm...totally gonna need to order more pizza,' Rhys thought, grabbing several slices herself and a soda from the fridge before settling on a stool near the pizzas; for a while she concentrated on eating, it was only when Moriko spoke that Rhys turned her body around on the stool, looking from the other girl to the staff then shrugging her shoulders when Natsuki asked about it being familiar to her. She let Ryuusei speak while she continued to take bites of her pizza, then grabbed another when she was done. 

"Don't know tall and broody,' she chuckled at Ryuusei's description of the guy. "Tell you what, I can say he's bad news if you end up crossing him. I've come across,' she paused to take a swig of soda before continuing. "Some beings that are serious trouble, and he could give them a run for their money." She shuddered. "So...I think we should be nice...or at least not curse him,' she glanced pointedly at Ryuusei. "Out loud, if we come across him again." 

Her head tipped towards the scepter. "As for that...well, I met the Sorceress before, spent a couple days with her when she wasn't under someone else's control. She was really nice and always had that scepter with her. Couldn't seem to use her magic without having it around, at least that's the conclusion I came too." She shrugged. "that's all I got."

[opheliaswhims]

Mori settled herself to the floor as the conversation continued. "So you're saying she wasn't really herself tonight?"
"Well, duh, I could've told you that. No one could be themselves if they don't have their own soul." Hotone chimed in.
"Sooo, maybe that's why the scepter didn't leave with her? Because Olette wasn't...Olette?" Natsuki added thoughtfully. "It would probably listen to whoever has her soul all locked up."
"Hey Nat, did anything...happen when you held her scepter?" Mori asked, remembering the strange vision she had when holding the Valkyrie's lance.
"Hmmm...no? By the time I got to it, any power it had was gone. That's why I think it's tied to her soul. Why do you ask?"
Moriko hesitated for a moment. "When I held the lance, I saw a man. He looked normal, for the most part...he even had a pair of glasses. He had a nice smile at first, but all of a sudden there was a glass wall between us and he had this cold, evil expression. I felt like a scrutinized experiment."
"Maybe he's the guy pulling the strings? That 'Mage of Ages' they kept trying to advertise?" Hotone offered, finally giving into the wonderful smell and grabbing a slice of pizza herself.

[Raijinken]

He listened to the discussion of Olette not being Olette; that her soul had been 'removed' and Rhys' idea of the scepter being aware of her soul being absent and thus did not return along with her body. "That's...REALLY fucked up! I'm sorry, I wish there was more I could say about it, but it's a level of weirdness I'm not used to. But if you're right about the staff, then we should probably hide it somewhere. ...Unless you want those Shadow Freaks kicking in your door and tearing the pizza to shreds, looking for it."

Rhys laughed at his description of 'tall and brody' and then made her own comments about him being some unbeatable badass. He was about to respond when Moriko described a vision she had while holding the Valkyrie's lance. That she saw a man wearing glasses, whose features grew increasingly colder and that suddenly there was a wall of glass between them. She said it felt like being in an experiment, and hearing that caused him to cringe. "I know the feeling..." His tone was completely devoid of any humor.

[Dark]

Rhys continued to listen to the others speak, busy mostly with stuffing her face with pizza, but from what she could discern...her gaze flickered to the scepter, that thing was tied to Olette's soul. Moriko had seen who, maybe, was their enemy when she touched the Valkyrie's lance, and Ryuusei had some experience with...being an experiment? Rhys shuddered and finished her slice before speaking. "Alright so...' Gah! She really didn't like having to come up with ideas...or stuff. "Umm...so, I guess since you're the one with the scepter, Natsuki, you can decide what to do with it. I mean, we can't exactly throw it out the window and hope no one picks it up and doesn't get in trouble for it.  And I guess,' she scratched her cheek as she thought. "Maybe our next move should be to go after this 'Mage of Ages'?" Though why did that not sound like the best idea?
 
"But I couldn't tell you where we should start looking,' she glanced out the window, noting that finally the rain had died down. It was going to be cold, but at least they wouldn't get wet. "Hmm...but now that I think about it,' she frowned, going over what she'd heard. "Didn't some of them mention something about them being a 'distraction' or something to that effect?" A sigh escaped her lips. "And does that mean we're going to have to deal with something else besides them?"

[Dark]

The Mage's glasses glinted in the darkness when he thought he saw hesitation in Falin's gaze. He snapped his fingers and the card Rillesil had thrown at Falin dissappeared, floating withing a sphere of energy at his side. "Or perhaps you would prefer my dealing with this?" He asked in a mild tone. 

Rillesil suddenly moved into action, throwing several cards when the young man standing silently near Falin went into motion; his glowing blade blocked the cards, but the last was deflected, its path shifting to slam against the tank Olette slept within. The tank shattered, water pouring out as the Sorceress's figure dropped, floating at the last moment; energy roiled around her as her eyes slowly opened, showing brightly glowing green orbs surrounded by black where white should have been. 

Akirin hesitated, glancing at Falin then turned to Olette, tipping his head in his companion's direction. "He's here for you." The young sorceress's gaze didn't stray, instead she shifted to look at Lerant, going down on one knee before him. "Your orders, Master?" 

Akirin tisked, gripping his blade at the ready. "If you're going to do something Falin, perhaps now is the best time to do so. Before she's ordered to kill us." He disliked the idea of fighting this young woman...or the other, but when not given a choice...he would do so. 

"See our uninvited guests out,' his hand elegantly pointed out the dark hair males. "Then search for the whereabouts of the...vermin, they are taking far too long in making their move." Olette gave a nod and stood, tilting to look at the two with glowing eyes that showed no recognition. "Vacate the premises,' her words were cold, unemotional as her right hand slowly rose. "Now." 

*****************

The fallen angel once more roamed the dark, cold streets of Tokyo, unwillingly getting used to the rancid air, at least to him, of Earth. He would have no choice, not until he could find a way to redeem himself and be let back into the Heavens. He sighted, dropping his body into a bench and looking up at the dark, cloudy sky above him. 'Really, I would much rather had been sent to Hel than Earth,' Riquel sneered silently. 'Then again, maybe that's why I was cast down here.' To suffer what he considered to be insufferable: living among humans. 

As far as Riquel was concerned, this fetid atmosphere to be found on Earth was why it attracted so much evil and darkness; darkness called to like, and simply because he'd erased those foul souls, he had been cast down. He gritted his teeth, running his fingers through dark, wet hair. 'How in hel am I supposed to go home when I will never change my way of thinking?'

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