[b][center]Collab: Slade, Rtron, Mikael[/center][/b]

Lucien glanced up at Ilana's words, to see what appeared to be a human girl coming down from the sky to land in front of them. Aside from the flying bit, his senses told him that she wasn't human. At least, not fully human. At Ilana's words, he only raised an eyebrow and was about to ask exactly how she was going to sync with his movements when she had never met him, when a very loud boom brought his attention back to the girl in front of him. As the Reclaimer pulled off her middle finger, without flinching, Lucien blinked in surprise and felt a grudging impression. The girl was certainly tough, if nothing else. He hoped she would be useful in the coming battle as everything in the city that could answer the call of the sword descended upon their location. Hope turned into certainty and impression turned into respect as Ilana informed him that the Reclaimer was invading Szayeis's kingdom. 

Rather than stare at his 'protector' Lucien turned to Ilana. "And exactly how is she going to sync with my movements if this is the first time she has ever seen me, let alone actually fought with me. I've met some fast learners in my time, but none quite that fast." He would inquire how she was invading a Demon Lord's land in hell later. Right now, he had more pressing matters.

He felt it a split second before it actually arrived. Malice and hate, and something that felt more human than Angelic or Demonic. And then red smoke was pouring up through the cracks in the ground. Lucien's first reaction when something he wasn't expecting appeared on a battlefield was to get the hell away from it as fast as possible. That was the idea, anyway, as he opened his wings saying, "Time to go!" To Ilana. But the smoke reached them before he could do much more than just begin to flap down, and he was just...slowed. What should have been a simple manevour became a clumsy effort, and he very nearly fell to the ground. 

Ilana looked back up at Lucien's questioning, but it was one that she knew only Ioi could answer satisfactorily; anything less would be woesome ignorance. Glancing between him and the Reclaimer, she shrugged her wings and shoulders, and sighed lightly.

"I really couldn't explain it to you, Lucien," she stated meekly, looking away... but then her gaze came back, eyes wide and her mouth hung ajar at the force of hatred that was coming after them.

The very same fight-or-flight instinct ripped through her as well. "I know!" she cried as he did, both of their wings flapping quickly. Unfortunately, Lucien didn't follow after her, which she instantly noticed with a strong impression from the Reclaimer that observed the spectacle before them. Groaning loudly, Ilana made a half-spin dive and swooped underneath Lucien. Whilst she caught him carefully, she was not used to flying so dynamically and slid back on her heels. They both collapsed in a heap as the red, hateful essence flowed over them, nearly covering their faces. 

[i]'I can't... I can barely move,'[/i] Ilana mentally cried, her plea spreading down the chain connection to her brethren in Iota, including Ioi.

[i]Nobody replied[/i] and it frightened Ilana to her very core.

The Reclaimer moved over them, no longer pinned to the surface of the Red Square's lot. She did not know what this red essence was, even as she sensed the interrelation between it and its victims. It was some sort of mind numbing effect, making people completely docile. She noticed all around her that angels were falling, demons were keeling over. [b]All rendered completely docile.[/b] Ilana, given her former original angel nature, seemed semi-vulnerable to it. The Reclaimer eyed her trying to pull Lucien and crawl away, but her strength was so feeble. She could have escaped, but she had used it up on preventing Lucien from cracking his head on the ground.

As a chainborn, it would seem that she was not affected by this red essence at all. It actually [i]infuriated[/i] her: this was [i]new[/i] and she could not sync with it to make it affect her. As damaging as it would be to her, it was in her nature to unleash the same kind of onslaught back to the perpetrator that unleashed this foul crimson force. Regardless, she had one order to obey from her father: [i]Protect Lucien and the Sword.[/i] So she waited, all of Loom silenced. Nothing stirred and save for the sound of labored breathing across the cityscape, the Reclaimer reached out for additional stimuli that might indicate an enemy's approach.

As the essence continued to infect the city, it made sure to engorge itself around Lucien and llana, bombarding their minds, making them slow and clumsy. It gently brushed against their ears where it whispered its poison.

[b][i]"So smug, so confident, and yet here you are, dirty heathens under my heel. Every single winged rat and disgusting Demon is under my control in this city. And now I have added two more to my collection.”[/b][/i]

Then his attack went full force, their skulls, minds becoming more of a burden with each thought seeming to literally become a heavy weight inside their brain. They could sense the disturbing pleasure he got out of trying to break their minds into pieces.

[b][i] “How does it feel to realize you are worthless trash? To be suppressed and stripped of your imaginary dignity? Implying you filth can even understand such a concept.”[/b][/i]

The Essence, now shifted its attention on this other one, who seemed to not be affected by it. Not Angel or Demon. It chuckles as it curiously swirls around her. The entire block now swallowed up in the Heretic's dream.

 [b][i]“Now this is interesting. I never expected worthless scum to be able to res- [/b][/i]

It stops speaking as a shrill animal-like yell descends upon them. Deafening to the point of severe pain. It had found something. It had brushed up against Lucien's sword. Suddenly, the weightless red essence became heavy and thick as wrapped itself around Lucien, its voice harsh and unkind.

[b][i] “SO THIS IS YOUR LITTLE SCHEME MELODY! YOU EXPECT THE ANGELS TO SAVE YOUR SKIN! THE HEATHENS CANNOT EVEN SAVE THEMSELVES!”[/b][/i]

Then a small portion of the Essence faces Lucien, touching his nose it became so close. Where it slow morphs into a face... and horrifying smoldering face with glowing red eyes.

[b][i]“And this is because you are of no use. You are imperfect relics before the Gods created Man. And you will not steal our birthright!”[/b][/i] 

This happened nowhere else in the City, just this one block. But the walls began leaking a thick black bile of a fluid. At first glance, it almost looked like a shadow crawling down the sides of the buildings. But upon close inspection, it was something else, something foul and unclean.

And it was hungry.

"You...should....have gone." Lucien managed to get out, with effort. She had come back for him. Come back for him when she should have fled. Something was coming, if it wasn't already there. They had to get up, they had to get moving. Before he could help Ilana, however, he had to help himself. Slowly, agonizingly so, he disentangled himself from the other Angel and got his hands underneath himself. It was a start. The red mist around them was growing thicker by the second, and so was the feeling of hate and malice, unchecked. A voice began to whisper, seeming to come from the mist around them. Apparently, whatever or whoever had sent this mist had a grudge against both Angels and Demons. Ignoring it, and concentrating on moving his limbs, Lucien managed to get on his knees. He was trying to get at least one foot beneath him, using his sword (with the sword Hazumi had become still safely sheathed) as leverage. That is, until the thing started attacking him. His knee came smacking back to the earth with a clang, and the only thing that kept him from falling back to the ground was his sword, his face set in a snarl of pain. How long it lasted, he didn't know, too busy trying to prevent this new enemy from breaking his mind to count the passage of time. 

And then it was done, distracted by the Reclaimer. Lucien took this brief opportunity to get one foot underneath him. He [i]would[/i] be standing before this thing actually made its appearance. He would not just lay down and let it kill him. Sadly, he didn't get any farther as a painful shriek echoed around them, the mist becoming heavier and thicker. Once again, the only thing that kept Lucien from crashing back to the ground was his sword embedded in the ground. He didn't even hear the mist's creator yelling, still deafened and in pain from the shriek. When he next opened his eyes, there was a rather ugly face with glowing red eyes touching his nose.

"T-Th-Then....w-w-why....are....y-you....h-hi-hiding....from....u-us?" Lucien managed to get out, barely. 

Nothing was making sense to her. The Reclaimer could feel Ilana's torment, and yet she did not diffuse upon her brethren as an Iotan should. Even when she was about to put an impression upon her to do so, her father lightly told her no. That especially did not make sense: why would her father let a fellow Iotan suffer so? It was wrong! Yet she obeyed, feeling that Lucien was going through the very same trial. She watched as he struggled to his feet, whilst Ilana laid there comatose underneath him. Turning towards them, the Reclaimer didn't even flinch as the his regular sword impaled the ground; she focused entirely on her fellow Iotan. Torn between sending her home and leaving her there, the Reclaimer let out a subtle, but audible growl as she grew frustrated. [i]'Let him take you,'[/i] Ioi told her daughter.

At the same time, the Empty Lord whispered something else in Ilana's mind. Whatever it was, it seemed to give her a second wind. Ilana immediately drew to her knees and half-crawled over to Lucien, her eyes at that moment seeing the hideous face before them. That stimuli correlated over to the Reclaimer, who immediately turned to it as Ilana struggled to help Lucien to his feet.

"Lucien, we will not win today," she whispered in his ears as tears streamed down her cheeks. 

The Reclaimer then noticed the black sludge all around them, oozing closer and closer. Her father's command proved to be bitterly obeyed... but obey she would, in the manner she decided was best. Inspired by Lucien's stance against this force, the Reclaimer maneuvered around behind him and Ilana and seized them by their waists. Her strength and density was so immense, they would not help but feel how great her grasp was on them. Holding them off the ground, almost in an odd group-hug, thousands upon thousands of chains began wrapping around the Reclaimer, Lucien, and Ilana. 

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Ilana squirmed uneasily, grabbing onto Lucien's torso. 

No response came as the Reclaimer continued wrapping them in some sort of protective cocoon made of hundreds of thousands tiny gray metal links. It was not, however, the same as being wrapped in chains made by humans (or angels and demons). In fact, the more chains that wrapped around them, the more comfortable it became; almost as if the links were squishy, instead of cold and hard. Just when their air supply would start to run out, two links went under Lucien and Ilana's noses. Through the horus-shaped hole in those links came actual air from Iota, unshrinking and entering their lungs. All the while, Ilana, somehow through the chains, gently stroked Lucien's cheek in attempt to calm him. It was all unfamiliar to her, even as an Iotan, but her faith kept her grounded.

Lastly, the Reclaimer surface-pinned them all to the ground in case their opposer tried to remove them: Judas would find his prey immobile and heavily armored, but if he wanted that sword, he was going to have to find a way to take it and [i]it alone[/i], because the Reclaimer was not going to suffer another moment of Lucien or Ilana's prolonged turmoil. For the longer she stayed in sync with them in this cocoon, the more and more this crazed foe would lose his mental grip on them. 

"I'm sorry, Lucien," Ilana whispered through the chains, "Seems we will have to live to fight another day..."

Right after llana spoke, another animal-like sound came from outside the cocoon. But this time it was a deep roar of a hungry beast. What felt like a giant club to the three inside smashed against their barrier, only to hear an immediate low snarl of annoyance. Seemed that every attack rebounded against its attacker. The voice, now a low crazed voice seethed and mocked the three inside.

 [b][i]“That's right! Hide like the plague ridden rats you are. How does it feel to live in fear? To live like a slave? Oppressed and stripped of your heritage.”[/b][/i]

The red essence attempted in vain to crawl through the chains, but midway through the barrier the chains tightened and it retreated away, but not before let more of its lingering words reach them and tickle their ears with its viciousness.

[b][i]“That will be your punishment: Your wings shall be torn, your bodies burned, your childrens heads shall be bashed against a tree. Your very existence will be forgotten.”[/b][/i]

The roaring and the snarling subsided and even the gentle rocking of the cocoon by the red essence brushing against it stopped. And all became quiet and still as those last biting words lingered on in the minds of all three, who couldn't see what was happening outside their safe zone.

It started slowly, but the faint sound of footsteps could be heard. But as they came closer, the three began to realize how many footsteps there were: too many to count. No voices were heard, just the sounds the footsteps and the rocking of the cocoon. But then they heard something else; the slow trickle of a fluid coming closer and closer to them. 

A large force smashed into the barrier and a yelp was heard as the barrier counterattacked. But this was the sound of a Demon. Then another attack followed by a scream.... of an Angel. Then magic began hitting it and the intense heat was felt by all three when a giant flame hit the barrier and it rocked violently. A variety of attacks began targeting the cocoon and despite the screams and pained yells. They just kept come back. Attacking mindlessly.

It stops just for a moment, the three thinking that they finally gave up. Until they all attacked at once. All three bounce back as the barrier tries its best to take the majority of the force. But on the outside it was deteriorating quickly. The chains dissolving under the pressure of the combined attacks of an enormous number of Angels and Demons, with the chains turning into harmless wisps and flying into the sky. 

Soon enough, the three could see the forms of their attacks as they clawed closer and closer to them. Before the black bile crawls into the cracks and begins to infiltrate the barrier, that was now too weak and distracted by its other attackers to resist it. And a slow mental bombardment would begin again.

[b][i]“Welcome to your Apocalypse.” [/b][/i] 

"I-I...noticed." Lucien grated out in response to Ilana, smirking, before his eyes widened in surprise as the Reclaimer grabbed him around the waist from behind, and chains began to surround them. He couldn't do much more than wait as the mental assault was still going and it required all of his energy to not be driven insane by this hate filled creature. The more chains that wrapped around him, the more control he found that he had. And the more concerned he grew with what exactly the Reclaimer was doing, aside from immobilizing them. The only thing that prevented him from lashing out was the fact that Ilana wasn't panicking. Quite the contrary, in fact. She was actually stroking his cheek. Turning as best he could towards her in the rapidly thickening chains, he chuckled softly, despite the situation they found themselves in. Here he was, mighty warrior, getting ready to panic when an ally seemed to be helping them, and she was as calm as can be. It was amusing, if slightly dampened by the chance of horrific death outside and the promise of it from the mist creator.

At her final words, he laughed outright. "Sorry? Dying tends to be a rather final solution. I'd much rather have lived and ran than fought and died for nothing." And then there wasn't any time for words as their shelter was assaulted by one creature...and then many creatures. He couldn't tell what the first thing was, but those that came after he identified quite easily. Their shelter was slowly being torn down. For a moment, he could see the shapes and forms and faces of the mob outside trying to break through. And on the inside...Ilana was far closer than he had originally anticipated, and was still stroking his cheek. Even as the strange black liquid began to break through, he smiled. And then it turned into a grimace of pain as the red mist began to renew its mental assault. The cocoon of chains continued to be broken down, and Lucien found he could move his arms. Slowly, he began to reach for the sword Hazumi had become. Inch by embattled inch, he reached for it. And just as he touched it...the black liquid wrapped around his wrist and broke it as easily as he would a human child's. And then, while his hand was incapacitated, it took the sword.

Ilana smiled as he laughed. It was true, and there was no need for her to be sorry. She kept her mind solely on Lucien, letting the Reclaimer handle Judas and his black ilk and mobs. The temptation to cry was great, but she was finally diffusing her fear and emotions through to her brethren. Feeling his squirming towards her, the originally angelic Iotan's eyes lit up as Lucien's face appeared so close. Her caress formed into cupping his cheek, her eyes searching his eyes and seeing the witness he was bearing: what it meant to be Iotan...

[i]Calm in the face of threats,
Silence at the shouts of adversaries,
Love in the fire of hatred,
Life as death whispered fates.[/i]

Ignoring the chaos outside, she memorized his smile to memory, knowing her time to leave was nigh...

Outside the cocoon, the Reclaimer fought back waves upon waves of angels and demons. Dozens of them were knocked back with a single chain that came lashing out of the cocoon whenever one of them touched it. The black sludge continued pounding on her, the damage shifting into her and leaving red chains prepared to rebound the damage. Several times the black sludge was knocked back by its own power, but it still kept coming. It was as relentless as she was, and she had a strange admiration for such a foe. If it wasn't for her orders and Lucien and Ilana being in her defensive cocoon, Judas would feel the full wrath of her assault. But it would seem that would have to wait for another time, another day...

She then felt Lucien's actions, moving with purpose and determination: her body links synced with his, she did not resist him as he moved, reaching for the Sword. As he reached, several chains knocked away demons and angels trying to rip his arms. But then, right before Judas's blackness broke the original angel's wrist, it attacked the chains protecting Lucien's arms. It absorbed the damage, as was routine, but just as it was about to rebound on the attacking sludge, another one of her chains came forward to attack it. It resulted in the Reclaimer assaulting herself, metaphorically knocking the wind right out of her. And the sword was stolen. 

[i]'Let him have it...'[/i] Ioi guided his daughter, her desire to reclaim it stronger than ever. [i]'No... it is not ours to reclaim; his lodestar will come in time.'[/i]

Obeying the Empty Lord, the Reclaimer suddenly shifted strategies: she would protect Lucien and Ilana by [i]retreating[/i]. The Sword was in Judas's hands now and it was clear to the Reclaimer that her father was not disturbed by that fact. She unleashed the surface-pinion that kept her anchored, and the mobs would find the formerly rocking half-cocoon falling onto some of them. None of them were crushed, but the Reclaimer had other plans. Several black chains wrapped around many, many angels and demons, shrinking them down into world of Iota, the film between matter and abstracts. A moment after that, in a brilliant flash of bluish light and semi-transparent, dividing cubes, she did the same for herself, Lucien, and Ilana--some of the black sludge was taken along as well... much to the Empty Lord's anticipation.

Judas had certainly won the battle, but only time would tell if he would be the victor in the Great War that was to come.