[center][I]Collab:
Mikael and Yoshua171[/I][/center]

[center][B][U]Twists of Fate[/U][/B][/center]

Stopping in his tracks, Mairyell felt some foreign presence, enter his mind and promptly deliver to him a message. It didn't feel personal, in fact, he could tell it was a broadcast of sorts, something that everyone ought to have heard. So as demons and angels raged in mortal combat outside the apartment complex, Mairyell shook off the sensation and trudged into the apartment. As he did however, another individual made their entrance, a certain familiar top hat wearing man.

Poe Medeth Kasteny, the one who had taken Caeldrin. His eyes briefly began shifting to a crimson coloration before he took a deep breath...and it caught in his throat. A woman came into his sight, but not just any woman, one that looked exactly identical to his mother. His [I]dead[/I] mother, or so he had thought.

She walked to him and while there was only gentleness and love in those eyes, he took a step back and blood exuded from his body, attempting to strike at her. It fell short, unable to find its mark, and instead froze and shattered, clattering over the floor before gently flowing back to him where it was absorbed. He couldn't do this.

It was too much. He'd lost too many. He'd seen too much. He'd [I]done[/I] too much.

How could she be...alive. He'd gone to her funeral. He remembered it like it was yesterday, even though he'd been so young. He remembered trying to hold back tears and failing. He remembered the kindness begin to seep from his father's expression as he kissed her head one last time and walked to the car, forgetting his son.

Mairyell had almost had to walk home that night.

He remembered it very clearly.

Yet here she was, standing before him, as beautiful, as loving, and as wonderful as she had always been in his eyes. His eyes that had now turned completely blue, but were glowing different colors, one red, and one purple. He was stunned, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't bring himself to hurt her, even if she only [I]looked[/I] like his mother.

Even after all he'd been through and all the terrible betrayals he and Aeris had gone through he couldn't.

So he just stood there, a mixture of anxiety, fear, and utter shock on his face as he stared at her and tried to speak. 

[B]“Wha-...who are you....”[/B]

Layna lowered her hands as Mairyell broke away from her, clearly scared and confused. She'd been expecting such reactions more or less, but her blue eyes, much like Mairyell's when his vampiric taint didn't shift their colors, narrowed slightly as he was about to assault her with blood somehow. Nevertheless, her face remained loving, her sad smiling lips stretched slightly in understanding. No attempt to evade registered in her nerves--as far as she was concerned, he could hurt her in every way if it made him feel better. And she would still love him forever after.

As he calmed himself, if it could be called that because she could sense his strong emotions rippling under the surface, she took another step forward. Their height difference made it very easy for her to look up into him. Tucking a stray strand of light auburn hair, which nearly matched Aeris's, Layna raised her hands, gesturing for patience on his part.

"Mairyell... I know this is confusing, it [i]must[/i] be," she began, her voice quivering, "but I [i]am[/i] your mother... no, look at me, son."

She moved her head, her gaze trying to stay locked with his. "It's [i]okay[/i] to be confused... even [i]angry[/i]. Wouldn't have stopped you from hitting me..."

Clearing her throat, she looked down. "But I am here now, Mairyell. I won't force you to have anything to do with me... but I would," she paused, looking up, her face fragile as thin ice, "like to be part of [i]your[/i] life."

She searched his eyes, looking at the left one, then right.

His question answered again, Mairyell first felt tears forming, then anger brimming, and then a mixture of the two fighting for control. Even as she locked eyes with him, for indeed he could not look away from her, the emotions raged behind and in his eyes, their color shifting to a purple coloration. He didn't know how to feel about her being alive. He [I]wanted[/I] to feel happy, but things were never that simple, were they?

Opening his mouth as if to speak, she did so first, implying her question and piercing deep to his heart. A heart he had tried and tried to protect from the world. Hardened and buried beneath layers of defense. Defenses that proved insufficient before the caring love of a mother, his mother. [B]"But I...was at your funeral,"[/B] he said, no longer speaking as much on a conscious level, but more on a logical one, letting his rational thought try to disprove her existence, though his heart wanted to simply accept it.

[B]"Was...was that not you in the coffin? Where have you been all this time. Why didn't you find us...and set [I]him[/I] straight,"[/B] Mairyell said, gritting his teeth at even the slight mention of the father who he no longer considered worthy of that title. He could not grasp what was going on and why his mother, if indeed she was her, had anything to do with that madhatter of a businessman.

It just didn't click...he didn't have the proper pieces of the puzzle, but oh did he dearly want them.

---

"May he come out to play?" the former Incarnate added, stroking his beard calmly as a few people ran past him terrified of Szayeis's all consuming nature.

The lord's stolen vessels took note of the human who stood now only a short distance from his flying forms. Their glowing purple eyes, with sclera blackened, cut through the air to their target, a certain malice behind them, infused with their very essence. Angels, once their kin, pecked at the bodies with their blades and their hammers. Many weapons, none true to their mark, were torn to pieces beside the bodies of their wielders. The lord continued to fly for the figure meant little...that was until his voice pierced through all layers of protection and touched the deepest portion of the demon's chimeric mind.

The old one stirred and Szayeis shut the eyes of his stolen bodies, utilizing what little remained of their essence to quell the dark being and shut it off from his essence. The angels landed before Aulder and as they lit upon the earth once more, they began to slowly dissolve, unable to withhold the sheer dark magnificence of the lord's powerful essence. "Aeriq? Hahaha, you're an amusing one, old man." Dark tinged smoke seemed to whirl gently from the angels' mouths as they approached to a distance of three meters between they and the one who was called Aulder.

The bodies deteriorated, flesh turned to shadow, muscles melted away into a dark muck, and bones withered and were crushed into dust as the Western lord's essence coalesced into what looked a singularity before writhing out and trailing through the air vertically to gradually manifest once more the body of the Chimeric Lord of Chaos. Glancing into the eyes of the small man, the humanoid shadow donned a small toothy smirk and opened his eyes, revealing the infamous eyes of Praestrigia. Those unnaturally blue eyes stared into and through Aulder, seeming to pay him heed as they analyzed him. Then, however, they shut and the lord's form shifted and solidified back into its Original guise.

Eyeless face, horned visage, and dark armor. The ground was covered in the lord's shadow and all that came within its bounds lost themselves to its pull. [B]"I could give him to you and your kind, [I]Aulder[/I],"[/B] Szayeis said with a slight smile on his features as his shadow's diameter lessened so as not to devour the Iotan, [B]"...but I think he would be lost to you and I have no intention of allowing that, [I]human.[/I]"[/B] The lord's feet continued to cross the ground, walking around the old man and heading to the square where the lord could [I]feel[/I] that his salvation waited. [B]"Bother me no more, being of strange essence, for you are plainly more than you appear to stand before one such as I. Not that you will not be attended to, mortal."[/B]

The eyes saw through all perception, for their ability to pierce illusion and surface appearance was indeed great. Nothing could trick them. So, Szayeis waved his hand and a door of shadow materialized from his own darkness, writhing into being from the ground and promptly spitting out a rather confused demon.

"Arshae, deal with this [I]pest[/I]," the lord's smile was malicious as he continued walking, no longer feeling pressed for time. Something was changing even as he moved, and whomever it was he sensed near the object of his fascination was unlikely to impede him for long. Be it due to his own efforts, or those of some other force.

Meanwhile, the old one writhed subtly in the prison that Szayeis's chimeric mind had become. Still, the ancient hardly stirred, waiting patiently and watching through the darkness, never unaware of all that went on in the world.

Szayeis could not lock him from that.

Nor could any other.

Solid as a stone foundation, Aulder remained unfazed by the Chimeric Lord of Chaos's descent before him. Not that he wasn't scared--[i]he was[/i]. The Iotan link to his brethren and Ioi, however, dissoluted that fear among themselves until its effect became absolutely nil. His heavy brow fell, squinting as he did whilst hearing the deep, grating voice grace his ears. And those eyes... extremely powerful, useful. Even in the brief moment when Szayeis locked eyes with him, every Iotan, including Ioi, stared back. There was no illusion or deception to be seen in Aulder, or his brethren--only the truth, from the very bottom of creation.

The old human smirked lightly as Szayeis prompted a demon of some kind to 'attend' to him. At that moment, Aulder felt an invigorating pressure on his link to the Empty Lord--despite the brief amount of time he'd gotten to know her, he knew it was the Reclaimer letting him know that she was 'there.' Which he appreciated, but he knew her role in this 'conflict' and that was not to subdue anyone. 

Not yet anyway.

Glancing up at the sky, cludded with red and black energy and the sun effectively dimmed, Aulder then trained his steely gaze on Arshae, then Szayeis. The 4' 8" man then unceremonly let his head roll around, his neck cracking. He groaned lightly.

"I see. Well, [i]great lord[/i], it doesn't take a genius to figure out your path in this story," Aulder stated cryptically, "And now that I've gotten what I've been asked to obtain from you, some exercise will do me good."

A wild zephyr blew down on him, ruffling his beard and robe, the lapels of which he grabbed before flinging it off. He also [i]stood up[/i], gaining a complete 3' gain in height. His heavily muscular barrel chest and chisled arms glistened with sweat even in the dim light. A bull's snort flared his nostrils, the hot frosted air rising, as his visage dramatically shifted from a nice kindly old man to a determined herculean hulk. 

He cracked his fingers, glancing over his right shoulder up at the Reclaimer high in the sky behind him and Szayeis. "I am ready," he whispered, nothing from her signalling that she'd understood him.

Turning back, his right hand's pointer and middle fingers came to his forehead together as his left hand held up his empty cup at his side. "Word, Shadow, Chaos," Aulder mumbled, sparks of purple electricity licking between his finger tips and forehead.

He then thrusted his fingers into his cup, a loud hissing steam rising out into the air. As he pulled his fingers out, it was revealed that 'liquid' appeared inside, its swirling colors represented the elements of Szayeis's powers. Drinking the contents in one go, Aulder then bent forward and spat out the liquid, except what came out was no delicious tea. A huge volume of liquid 'fire' spilled on the ground, almost alive and both moving like water, but seeking to consume like fire. Some of it also moved toward Aulder's legs as his mouth remained wide open, letting out copious amounts of the strange hybrid element. Then with an upward thrust of his hand, the volume of liquid fire lifted him up into the air in front of Szayeis, effectively blocking his aerial path. It was like a thin tornado was wrapped around the aged Iotan's feet, its base much larger than its top where he remained. And with this liquid fire, the dimmed settings accentuated Aulder's presence, as though he was a bright light in the weeping darkness.

"Send your minion away, [i]Szayeis[/i]," Aulder shouted, his voice echoing like thunder, "Your fight is with [i]me[/i] for the time being, and my ally will simply rip them from your grasp."

In the distance, the Reclaimer's gray composition temporarily flickered golden with strong photonic rays before turning dull again. Down below, however, the liquid fire continued spreading, and yet burned nothing. Heat did not come off of it, for its chosen fuel was not yet in reach. But it would be soon: burning shadows that bring proportionately increasing pain and torment unto its wielder. Aulder glowered, his left hand holding out his white cup, its mouth pointing skyward. A shock wave blew his hair and trousers wildly as a giant jet-stream of the very same liquid fire, somehow retaining a wavy blade-like shape, erupted out of the cup, reaching a towering length of 10 yards.

The Iotan brandished it before Szayeis, the movement of the air hissing and cracking. "As you [i]speak[/i], so shall your senses [i]dull[/i] to your surroundings. As your shadows [i]consume[/i], so [i]gorged[/i] shall become my flames that eat them. As chaos [i]spreads[/i] in Loom, your willpower will [i]drain[/i] until even spineless cowards tower over you," he pronounced solemnly.

"That is your curse for today, hellscum," he added with a growl, "and it shall end with your absolute retreat. Today [i]death[/i] will ignore you, for my lord Ioi [i]expects[/i] your growth in the seasons to come."

And Aulder said no more, whilst the Reclaimer in the distance continued waiting to see what the Lord of Chaos would do with his minions.

His initial disinterest in the human made clear, the lord did in fact take note as the essence's body changed and the fire began to emit from the old human's mouth. He took no mind to it.

It was only when the wall of fire rose before him and Aulder's challenge materialized that Szayeis took action.

The first thing to go was his avatar, who promptly found himself devoured by the lord's shadow. [B]"Useless,"[/B] he said, sighing, [B]"Expendable...replaceable tool."[/B] He had not made them arbitrarily, in fact it had been a preparation for counters such as this. Sighing the lord let his head fall as he continued to take deep breaths so as not to lose his focus or his cool. As his breathing continued, its sound intensified, beginning to reverberate harshly through the atmosphere as it became more and more expansive.

The air seemed to become drier, though moisture remained. The light dulled, though its intensity never waned. Even the burning luminescence of the fire continued to dim and brighten as it was drained and replenish. It would gradually become harder and harder to breath and then, as things reached a point of great tension Szayeis raised his hand and retracted the chaos that had been gathering within Loom's bounds. More would reform the chaos field regardless, so why not draw from it now.

As he did so, the lord took in one more breath and his form shifted down two whole feet as its appearance became human once more and the lord smiled up at the tea maker. [B]“You know, for a moment there I considered using Shattered path. Didn't think it'd be a good idea tho-...”[/B] [I][U]”You are wasting my time.”[/U][/I] Their surroundings seemed to shudder in response to the airy, ethereal tones of the old one's voice.

The maddening eyes were wide with terror as the voice that was not his spilled from Szayeis' mouth. Overtaken by shock, the lord was unable to stop the being from uttering a few more cursed phrases.

[U][I]“Unbidden, you dare stand before even a [/I]vessel[I] of my essence in your blasphemous, boring visage. Move aside, lest I violate your mind, nay, your soul, and rip it from that which revolves.”[/I][/U] As Aulder's empowered voice would touch all levels, the old one's mere utterance pierced and violated all that it contacted, making even the earth seem to writhe in primal agony.

Szayeis' eyes then focused and narrowed, becoming slits for a brief moment as nearly all the lord's concentration forced the old one back down through the many layers that it had gently pried open and infiltrated, allowing itself to emerge as it just had. Still, the lord did not suppress it fully and so, while the lord focused, his body moved not of his volition and aimed a single finger upwards directly at the human's very core.

The unutterable words emanated and the old one's mind briefly touched Aulder's, unreadable despite its direct contact with the Iotan's essence and thus the essence of his master and all of their connected might. Then, without warning, his being was rejected by the essence and it removed itself from contact.

Szayeis dropped to his knees in agony as the vibration increased and changed pitch, tearing into the very shadows that surrounded and making them manifest to physicality. Intentionally they made contact with the flaming wall and as they did, the flames themselves began to be eaten from within.

Something older was at work.

Something that predated them both.