[b]A Request Too Great 6:48 PM[/b] Zi's face twisted with each flap of the giant angel wings that had suddenly sprouted on her back. Which was now itchy and felt slightly wet. She really hoped she hadn't ripped her favourite denim jacket but knew the chances of that to be pretty slim. The motions she had to execute to keep herself in the air were quite tricky at first and you had to calculate wind speed and look out for thermals and... she slipped, her body twisting to the left and threatening to throw her off-balance. She had fallen once, not from very high, luckily, and it wasn't very fun. Reluctant to demonstrate her incompetence when it came to flying, Zi glanced at Sanguine. She was trying to dissect his essence but that proved hard while they flew, so she gave it up for the time being. "So what is this about, are you and Solus Grim like the Justice League or something?" Watching Zi from his periphery, his eyes never actually turning to her, Mairyell watched with amusement as she focused on her flight. It was not something that came naturally. He'd been, in some ways, rather lucky as he'd been born with instincts that made flight considerably easier. By now he was a master in that field and it took no effort at all. When she asked him a question, his eyes turned to her for a moment before his head turned as well and he smirked slightly before snickering and then laughing. [B]"Hahahaha, Justice League. That's rich,"[/B] he wiped his eyes a bit after laughing for a solid moment and then turned to her again, still chuckling. [B]"No, we're not. As you know, I'm a hunter. Also, if you're looking for a name, it's Mairyell. Sanguine is a title of mine, [I]not[/I] my actual name hehe. As to what this is about, well...an ancient force rising from hell to destroy us all,"[/B] there was a smirk on his face, making it difficult to tell whether or not he was serious. The laughing fit definitely surprised her and a shy smile appeared on her lips as she was almost tempted to join in. Then she remembered she had to keep a face and extinguished it. She noted his name and gave hers in turn. As he explained his reasons of coming Zi rolled her eyes with a sigh, not appearing to believe the story. In fact she did. She just wished she didn't have to get involved in it. In her book, she'd done her fair shair of world-saving when she helped invent the masks and made the Nephilim possible. Still, she knew she could trust herself to jump straight in the cross-fire if things really went bad. And that wasn't a reassuring thought, not for a mortal. "Well, next time you can use the phone. I'll give you my number. Mind you, Solus should have it. If he still has the same SIM as 180 years ago, mind you." Mairyell chuckled, [B]"I doubt it survived Hell, let alone the other places he apparently went,"[/B] the vampire replied, taking no mind to her apparent disbelief. She could've turned around right now and departed, but she didn't. So she either believed him and wasn't letting it on, or she figured there was something more important that he wasn't telling her. Regardless he nodded, [B]"Anywho, what's your number?"[/B] he asked, extracting a phone from a pocket and holding it in his hands. He had no worry of dropping it apparently. [I]Hell? He's been to Hell?[/i] she thought, wincing at the memory of that place. Happy about the subject change she quickly gave Mairyell her number and impatiently asking her next question. "And how did you find me then?" Mairyell smirked, [B]"Well, a very small amount of your essence was on Solus, though I'm not sure how it survived all that time. Plus...your essence is similar to someone I met roughly 200 years ago, give or take a year."[/B] He was willing to expand on how that meant he could track her, but wouldn't do so unless tracked. He didn't seem to mind explaining things much, he'd grown used to people not understanding concepts. He had become patient in some ways over his 200 years...he'd had to. "Right. Anything I can do about it? I mean, I'm not awfully keen on having such meetings often. Not that kind." She smiled with a scoff, glancing at the vampire. Mairyell looked thoughtful for a moment then looked at her with an almost sympathetic smile, [B]"Nope. However, I doubt you'll have to worry about others being able to easily find you. My sense of smell is legendary. I can track someone down from a tiny shred of essence even if they're a continent away. Lucky for you, we seem to be on the same side, so no worries."[/B] He shrugged a bit, which looked odd in flight, but he hardly cared. Zi nodded and smiled. She hoped that remained the case. --- Having flown for a good while, Mairyell and Zi eventually found themselves over the mansion. Mairyell knew how to find it, plus he could just track Solus' essence there. Made it a lot easier to find. Landing, Mairyell glanced at Zi and then motioned for her to follow him. They would have to walk around the house and enter the still broken back door. [B]"Hmm...I think he's in the library by the smell of it,"[/B] the place was the image of abandoned. It was overgrown, dusty, and had it not been for the guard creatures, it would've been overrun with animals. Mairyell began making his way to the library, Zi in tow. In mere moments, they passed through the doorway that lead to the once great library that filled this portion of the building. Old, moldy books littered the bookshelves in the hundreds. Once upon a time they were readable. But now, the words had long faded. The main attraction of the room however, was what appeared to be a large cocoon of black feathers, that was slowly bulging in and out, like it was breathing. It was a sight Mairyell had not expected, at all. In fact, because of it he'd stopped just a step after entering the door, making it slightly more difficult for Zi to enter. She'd have to squeeze past him. He wasn't typically caught off guard, but this he didn't quite understand. This was certainly the elder hunter's essence in that body, but the feathers were unfamiliar. As they were walking Zi's eyes darted about the rooms, still ready for an ambush that she hoped would never happen. Seeing the state of the mansion annoyed her. Solus may indeed be old but that was no excuse. The dust and the mold and the ripped linen... it was a disgrace. He'd probably ask her to be his personal maid. Or to infuse the place with some weird essence so it never aged and he'd never have to clean again. Speaking of which, he [i]had[/i] a girl last time they met. At least she should have kept it in order. Unless she'd long died. Zi's stomach twisted. Sometimes she forgot how much time had passed between her reincarnations. Zi almost bumped into the vampire's back as he stopped and then stood on her toes to see what had startled him. It was a bunch of feathers, unmistakably Solus'. The Ones he'd been missing last time. "Well," she thought, "some people grow beards. Others grow feathers." Mairyell glanced at Zi a moment, noting her lack of surprise, and then turned back, walking fully into the library. [B]"Hey... featherhead. I brought Zi, you know the one you asked me to contact."[/B] There was an odd mixture of annoyance and amusement in his tone. One could say that his feathers had been ruffled...or maybe that was Solus. Mairyell's wings didn't exactly have feathers. Regardless he kind of wanted to leave, despite the apparent importance and urgency behind all this. Perhaps it was the wanderer in him. He tended not to stay in the same place for a very long time. It didn't help that he'd recently found Aeris so he would have rather been spending his time with her, not off retrieving some stranger. Nonetheless, the fate of the world [I]was[/I] kind of his business, so despite himself, he had not left yet, but instead would stay to see why this Zi had been so damned important. Oh, and it might not hurt to ask who that cocky bastard from before had been. As that didn't seem to achieve anything, Zi reached into her pocket and shamelessly threw a cork at the feathered heap. Still, she stood at the door in case it exploded. Suddenly the room exploded in a massive shockwave of air. One that was powerful enough to destroy the rotting bookshelves and obliterate what remained of the windows, smashing the interior of the room to pieces. Instincts shooting into activity, Mairyell's leg moved back, his foot sliding, to brace himself even as he realized that Zi was about to get hit by the same wall of air. [I]Shit[/I] he thought, even as he tried to extend a wing, or tendril of glowing blue blood, to snare her before she was violently flung into a wall. He wasn't sure if he would make it.... Meanwhile, even though she had thought it, Zi hadn't really assumed an actual explosion would happen. Forgetting about her own temporary wings which threatened to turn her Into a human kite, all she could do was squat... And squeal. The two of them were blown away. Zi's wings siphoned the blast of air and pulled her into the wall behind her, slamming her spine into concrete, while Mairyell lost balance and fell backwards, the force of the shockwave sending him sliding back, his body landing between Zi's legs, head resting on her stomach. Once the two finally regained their senses, they would see Solus, shirtless, sitting on his knees, his huge black wings sprouted in their full glory. From the end of one wing to the other, 44 full feet of feathers, flesh and bone. Each wing had 5 joints, which was highly unusual for a pair of Angel wings, as they normally had 3, like everyday birds. Solus' eyes were still closed, as if he was totally unaware of what just happened. "Asshole!!!" Zi's voice brought Solus back to his senses whereas the vampire only gritted his teeth and rose, mildly annoyed. Wincing at her words, Mairyell offered a hand to help her up, [B]"You okay...?"[/B] He asked, the purple hue of his eyes slightly more red than it had been before. "Yeah." Zi took his hand and rose to her feet, flexing her wings. Just two appendages more to hurt. Mind you, if she was in a human body she might have well bruised or broken something. "Now let's go chop those off." She nodded in Solus' direction. Mairyell smiled slightly before glancing back to Solus, who hardly seemed conscious of his actions at all. "I don't think he knows we're here, and by extension I doubt he did that on purpose." Solus remained unconscious and on his knees. His right hand was closed tightly, as if clutching something. While his left, rested on a knee. His face changed every few seconds into a different human expression, though the most prominent one, was of annoyance. Tilting his head slightly, Mairyell watched the hunter quietly. He would have liked to just kick him in the face to wake him up. That'd have issued an amusing reaction, he figured, but a bit of...delicacy was probably more intelligent considering the sheer amount of damage the man had just caused merely by opening his wings. He wasn't sure that Zi could handle what might happen if he kicked the chimera instead. Perhaps he could flick him though. [B]"Odd, never seen him with wings...or like this. He looks unconscious, smells it too. Not sure what's up with his face though. I mean, it was always rather...[I]bizarre[/I], but the expressions he's cycling through are strange."[/B] Then an idea hit him, [B]"Perhaps he's going through recollections..."[/B] he said it with a thoughtful tone for even though Solus' essence very clearly showed all three racial aspects, he had never asked much about the angelic portion. Exmortis had come up here and there, but even his knowledge of that aspect was small at best. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure what to do, but if he had to wait much longer he was more likely to just walk up to the winged idiot and flick him in one of those flaming eyes of his. Granted he'd probably tell Zi to hide before he did that, he wasn't an idiot, just rather rash sometimes. Two hundred years of nearly uncontested survival did that to a guy. [B]"Any ideas?"[/B] He glanced at Zi. Zi narrowed her eyes at the man looking to confirm or deny that suggestion. She assumed that if it were true and Solus had only recently reattached his wings, then the angelic essence held inside them would slowly seep into his body and alter the existing one. That's probably what Mairyell meant anyway. But looking into Solus' essence didn't support that guess. "Unless he's just reminiscing, I don't think that's whats going on. Beats me what it is, though." [B]"Well in that case, brace yourself,"[/B] the vampire stated as he walked towards Solus. He intended to flick the man in the forehead, nothing more...nothing less. Zi grinned and wrapped her wings around her, stepping back until her back was against the wall. Hearing her movements he smiled slightly, she'd made a good choice. He then took the last few steps to close the distance between Solus and himself, after which he moved to flick the chimera in the forehead. However, as his finger made contact with the hunter's body, something strange happened. He blacked out frozen in place, his consiousness lost, just like Solus'. --- The world around Mairyell turned to darkness, an impenetrable pitch black darkness that was so thick you could cut it with a sword. He felt like he was moving through it, despite not moving his limbs. It was moments later when he felt something touch his feet. Upon looking down, he saw a black stone, rectangular in shape, well chiseled out, like it was made by craftsman, putting pressure on Mairyell's left foot. Or was he standing on it? A second later another similar stone shot out of the darkness and placed itself beneath his right foot, the first and the second stones touched each other, and became seemingly inseparable, like they were glued by concrete. Unsure as to how to react to the strange change in circumstances, Mairyell tried to extricate himself from the stones. His senses reeled somewhat. He had to admit he was getting rather tired of the things that seemed to happen whenever he was involved with Solus. He saw that more stones started to appear around him seemingly out of nowhere. They attached themselves to the first two black stones, and continued to multiply. He realized that they were forming, or building, a floor for Mairyell to stand on. Frowning slightly, the vampire tentatively formed his wings, keeping them close to him, not even halfway extended. He did not trust this, but nonetheless he took light steps out towards the blackness, hoping that his wings could still carry him if he decided to use them in a time of need. He was not at all comfortable with the situation, something that he was beginning to think was normal when around Solus. He didn't like the association, but it was being made anyways. Hopefully there was some purpose to this, one that he could figure out quickly so that he could be done with whatever [I]this[/I] was. As he walked, walls made of a black concrete formed around him, building themselves slab by slab. Columns smashed their way up through the floor, and at their peak, an ornate, masterfully crafted ceiling began to form. Archways erected themselves above his head. Stone pews fell from above and landed on either side of him. Some of the stones of the walls, floor, and even a few pews, remained floating in the air, seemingly unable to adjust themselves properly, and were now stuck, eternally floating for all of time. The darkness finally began to subside in this strange building as torches lit themselves, illuminating his path forward. The path ahead seemed infinite, with black arches, columns, pews and walls endlessly going forwards. Unnerved by the silent and sudden movements of what he was beginning to see as a building, slamming into place around him, Mairyell continued forwards. He was suspicious, and off-put, but nonetheless he trudged forth. It didn't seem like any of the structures would form in such a way as to harm him, but it was still...bizarre to witness. It was like he was dreaming. [I]Dreaming.[/I] Mairyell's eyes narrowed slightly, but at the same time his shoulders relaxed and his claws retracted, claws he hadn't even noticed had formed. If this were a dream, and it almost certainly was, then he had little to fear of his surroundings. So he continued forwards, less worried, his movements carrying purpose. If this was a dream, and it had been triggered by Solus somehow, then the Chimera ought to be in here somewhere. He just had to find him. Still, it was strange. It didn't seem like all his senses worked as they should have here. The physics seemed off too. Only the rush of air could be heard when things moved into place. Never the crash of their formation. Perhaps...perhaps the whole building was already [I]there[/I] and he only [I]thought[/I] it was being built as he explored it. A representation of his perceived surrounds, in a more...literal sense. If this were the case, it confused him, for it meant that this might not be a dream. [B]"No..."[/B] his eye twitched slightly at the way the sound echoed in the space. It was eerie. This whole place was eerie. His senses were on edge, but why. He was confused...again. Sighing, the vampire kept walking, having stopped for a moment to think. [I]I'll find Solus first, then think about what is going on.[/I] It was several more minutes of walking before he finally reached a titanic arch, leading into a room that was even bigger. This room, was just like the enormous corridor that Mairyell had traveled through for the past ten minutes. Columns, arches and pews littered the place in a strange, yet perfect mess. It was almost mythical, outworldly... In the room stood two silhouettes, talking to each other. One of the voices was filled with anger and frustration, while the other was calm, with an essence of sheer, immortal power. Godly in nature. The angered voice echoed into Mairyell's ears. "The fuck do you mean she's an [i]unnecessary, mortal distraction[/i]?" It was obvious to Mairyell that it was Solus. The dull green glow that burned out of his face identified him as such. As Mairyell finally entered auditory range and heard Solus, he stopped in his tracks. He was angry. Angry, something he had never once seen Solus, not on any of the jobs he'd done with him. However, what bothered him was the other presence. The second silhouette. He started moving again, slower now, almost as if awed. It was the second time today that he'd felt like there was little to nothing to do to change the situation he was in. He didn't like it. "[i]She is slowing you down. We cannot afford to lose any more time...[/i]" The creature's voice boomed throughout the Grand Hall. "You know who's really slowing me down, asshole? Slyre." Solus shouted back. [I]Slyre?[/I] Mairyell thought as he quietly approached. He had an odd urge to sit down, but wasn't really certain as to why. There was a very bizarre sensation in the room. He didn't like being powerless, but as he got closer to the two, it seemed to bother him less and less. He wasn't really sure what to do. So he found his way to the very end of the pews, and stopped. Peering at the two with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. What the hell was this? "[i]Then I suggest you deal with the Terminus promptly, before I lose my patience...[/i]" The being was now starting to sound impatient, merely of Solus' presence. "You have waited for 3200 years! I'm damn sure you can wait a while longer." Solus' irritation was escalating. "[i]I cannot.[/i]" "Why?" Solus interrogated as he violently threw his arms outwards. The being remained silent, observing the mortal's actions, his essence. "Oh for fuck's sake, Aaurus! Why won't you answer a single question?" Mairyell, too curious and fed up with being dragged into difficult situations by Solus, spoke up. [B]"I don't think he's the only one who should be answering questions at this point,"[/B] the look on his face was very clearly annoyed. However, his eyes betrayed him as every few moments he would glance at the one that Solus had just referred to as Aaurus. [I]Aaurus[/I], the god. The shock didn't hit, and neither did the awe. Perhaps it would come later. His voice fell on deaf ears, as neither Solus nor the so called Aaurus acknowledged Mairyell's presence. It was like he wasn't there at all. Just a ghostly presence that haunted this Ancient Cathedral and bore witness to an argument between a god and his sword. "[i]You will find all the answers soon enough...[/i]" It answered Solus. "Oh, like I haven't heard that one from you before." Solus' sillouette shook its head. "Why do I even bother..." "[i]You bother, because I command you... You know the consequences of your failure...[/i] Its head turned to Mairyell this time, its single eye, staring straight through Mairyell's chimeric soul. "[i]Your long awaited guest has arrived... Make the most of the time you have... Or it will be the end of us all...[/i]" --- Suddenly, the strange dark world was gone, and Mairyell's eyes snapped open. He was back in the House of Grim. Solus' frustrated tone jolting him back to reality. "Damn it!" Jolted back into his body, or at least that's what it felt like, Mairyell took several steps back and then sat down. The shock of whatever had just happened hit him. The hunter's voice reached him, but he did not react except to quietly speak to no one. [B]"What the hell."[/B] His voice was easily audible to anyone paying even the smallest fraction of attention. Put simply, Mairyell was rather dumbfounded. Next to them, Zi stood by silently staring at them from the floor where she had sat down with her legs crossed. It was obvious that something was going on and it must be shocking if they were both so out of it. Despite her curiosity she didn't speak up and just gave them time to come back to their senses, absent-mindedly playing with her feathers. She had spent the past half hour doing that while she was waiting for leads on what she should do next, if anything. Solus, still on his knees, was staring at the ground in anger. "Damn him to the depths of The Beyond!" After several seconds he sighed. He didn't even notice Mairyell speak. The fabric of the Void was still slowly receding from his mind, leaving vivid afterimages behind. It was then when his senses returned fully, and he noticed the Vampire, and a human presence inside of the library. He looked up at Mairyell with slight confusion, and then looked around the ruined Library. "What the hell happened here?" "You happened." Zi spoke up, slightly more grumpy than she actually felt. "Your wings, to be precise. They're formidable but really inconvenient, I see why you got rid of them." She smiled, attempting to brighten up the situation slightly. Mairyell was rubbing his temples for he felt a headache coming on. His senses had fully come back to him, though his [I]sense[/I] of balance had not. [B]"The hell was that Solus,"[/B] he said, somewhat breathless as he half glared half stared at Solus in wonder, or shock. He did not like the impression he was giving Zi either, but this was ridiculous. This was almost worse than the Beyond had been. He felt a bit nauseous, disoriented, and dizzy. His body felt achy, but the aching was--at the same time--not physical in nature. Solus' puzzled expression remained as he looked at the two guests. Mairyell drew his attention with his question. "Wait... What are you...?" His face twisted into realization as his left hand palm opened to reveal a black sphere in his hand as he glanced at it. His eyes slowly rose towards Mairyell. "You touched me, didn't you?" He only nodded, still trying to regain his composure so he could stand up and punch Solus in the jaw, but only after he'd gotten a solid explanation. The hunter'd earned it. Not entirely content to be ignored any more, Zi stood and walked over to Solus, throwing Mairyeil a long glance to confirm if he's ok. As she came to stand at Solus' side she leaned down, staring at the black orb he was holding with childlIke curiosity. That hadn't been there before. Was it some sort of demon or essence or something completely different? Staring at it didn't provide any answers but she knew it wasnt a part of either of the two men. The hunters had their ways, she knew, and even when they first met, Solus had proven his competence... but something seemed off this time. Both behaved like something had happened that they didn't have complete control over. She couldn't blame them, it wasn't often that you saw someone lose consciousness and -not- fall to the ground. "So what is this all about?" She asked, raising her gaze at Solus. Before Solus could explain anything, Zi of course cut him off with questions of her own. He stood up off the ground and looked at her, scanning her face to see who she was. His memories of Zi flicked by like flipping pages of a book. Finding his memories of her and matching them to her face. Now convicted that the woman before him was Zi, he began to speak. "I'll keep this short. The world ends in 2 years. And I need you to help me resurrect a dead gatekeeper to help me stop it." "Ha!" The girl sneered. "That's a bit too short, dont you think?" "I did say I was gonna keep it short." He turned to Mairyell. "And what [i]you[/i] saw was Aaurus himself..." Mairyell had barely managed to get himself back on his feet. The Chimera's words did not help him at all and as such Solus only received a glare. Mairyell rubbed his temples and finally felt himself stabilize enough. As his composure was regained, his emotions stopped running quite as wild and he rethought punching Solus. Things were serious, and that had been jarring, but it had also been his own fault for interrupting the man. [B]"Ugh,"[/B] he rubbed his head and looked to Zi, [B]"You ever heard of the Chimeric Lord?"[/B] Zi, whose jaw had fallen open at the mention of Aaurus hurried to snap It shut and stared at the vampire. Despite the name sounding vaguely familiar, she shook her head. It was far easier than explaining that you remembered some things of a few lives and they weren't all yours. Mairyell nodded gruffly, unable to hold back a slight smile. She was really in for a surprise, especially if she thought Aaurus was a jaw dropper.... "And if you thought that was a surprise... Here's the real deal..." Solus said. --- "...and currently, he is the Chimeric Lord, or inhabits his body anyway..." Solus, done with his explanation, shrugged. "That's the gist of it all, anyway." Mairyell, throughout had watched the woman with a certain vigilance. It had taken Solus and him awhile to properly explain the details and while Solus had done most of the work, Mairyell found himself somewhat...daunted by the reality of things. Hearing it again did not help. Nonetheless, he'd survived plenty already, so there was no reason why he couldn't survive this. Perhaps he could even gain from it. He wondered about Zi though...and any others who might happen upon this information. For the state of things was indeed grave. Zi's naturally tanned skin seemed to have blanched out to a colour much more similar to her alabaster hair. At one point she was actually hyperventilating and had to sit down as her knees gave way. She had a brush with this creature. It was ages ago but the memory of it was still fresh, the wound opened every time the night kissed the day farewell. She knew one day they'd meet again. And what the guys said didn't make the situation any less difficult. In fact, it made it worse. She felt like she was between a rock and a hard place. And, in actuality, she was. "And you want me to help you resurrect a Gatekeeper and get all sorts of unwanted attention, without any promises for success and with only you two as my potential protection? Is it that important, really? One Gatekeeper more or less?" She asked, trying to quell her fear. "It's not going to undo anything, not unless you destroy Hazumi as well and restore both gates and all three Gatekeepers. Perhaps not even then!" She was rambling, panic speeding her speech and shredding it, but she couldn't stop herself. Images of her life flashed in front of her eyes as if she was on death row: Emmet, Olivia, Azel, her job, everything she couldn't give up on. "What's to tell you that we can win this, those creatures are way out of our league! We're just flies under their boot, the worst we can do is give them a shout and tell them exactly where to step! Maybe if - if we stay put and wait for all this to be over, maybe we can survive, somehow! Maybe they'll be too busy with each other and won't even care about us!" A sympathetic expression crossed the vampire's features as he listened to, and sensed, the intense fear and panic that Zi was displaying. He could not blame her. He was just glad he'd been somewhat prepared for what Solus had told him when he'd heard it, otherwise he'd likely be just as much a mess as her...or he'd have just detached himself from the situation and gone on living. Still, with his hands having relaxed, as well as the rest of him, Mairyell looked at her with eyes that understood how helpless and terrified she probably felt. He waited for her to finish her rant, the emotion in her words making it impossible for him to find himself annoyed with her panic and irrational behavior. What could you expect? People simply were not made to deal with the forces that they had just informed her were mounting against them and every living, or otherwise, being in all three realms. This was dire, he could feel it in the air. It was thick with the feeling of tension, everywhere he went. It didn't matter, you couldn't escape it. Not in heaven, hell, or on Surface. Letting a moment or two of silence go by, Mairyell finally sighed and moved over towards her, eventually sitting down. Before he'd done so he had given Solus a look, a look filled with what the man would know was a message. It told him to wait and to be understanding. He knew that sometimes Solus just had no capacity to really understand how [I]normal people[/I] functioned. Mairyell was only somewhat better because he had been around them for his entire life. He had not been absent for the last 200 years...unlike Solus who had been gone for the majority of such. Putting a hand on Zi's shoulder to draw her attention and focus, to ground her, Mairyell attempted to lock eyes before he spoke. [B]"Zi, you've seen him before...haven't you?"[/B] His tone was grave and serious, but held a tone of empathy as well. It was calm, but there was a pain in his eyes, an old pain. [B]"You're not the only one. He plagued me and my sister, Aeris, for the majority of our lives. You're right, we might not have a chance, but I'll say this. If we stand idle, we forsake any chance we might've had to begin with. There is always the possibility that we could succeed...even if our enemy is something beyond our comprehension."[/B] Closing his eyes for a moment, his brow screwed up a bit, a sad look on his face, the vampire eventually opened his eyes again. Now they shone with a bright blue glow and the chimera's essence shifted slightly in the direction of a more human feeling. His predatory aura was gone, before her sat what she might recognize as a very resolute and determined human. His shoulders were squared, but comfortable, his back was straight, and his eyes were strong, unyielding. [B]"I know we can win, the possibility is there. I don't care how slim it is. I've seen miracles happen. This demon, no this man,"[/B] he had to take a breath to make the distinction. It was hard to recognize that the Lord of Chaos was a person too, rather than an embodiment of evil. He exhaled slowly, evenly, before continuing, [B]"...he does not want [I]it[/I] to win, for it winning means that he is also destroyed, and that everything he has done over his...considerable lifetime, was for nothing. So really, it is just a matter of deciding between two things."[/B] His face hardened, becoming gravely serious once more, [B]"Will you act, or will you let yourself and everyone you love, all the innocents of the three worlds be swept away and destroyed, their lives rendered null."[/B] It was plainly a question, but he said it with such conviction and seriousness that it was obvious what the answer should be. He would give her a moment to reply before he gently squeezed her shoulder, a comforting gesture, after which he would rise to his feet and give her some space, his eyes drifting briefly to Solus. He knew things were bad, but over the last 200 years he had learned to recognize that there [I]was[/i] hope in the world. It didn't matter how bad shit got, there was always a chance for something better. Always. Despite the initial flinch that Mairyell's touch had caused Zi couldn't find the strength to resist his comforting words. Her cynical nature was struggling to unite with the panic, feed it into a monster that would forsake the whole world, along with anyone in it. But it was an inner battle, one only obvious in her quivering eyes and once Mairyell locked his with hers, he held and calmed them. He was overcoming all her defences with words that gave her not only compassion but hope as well. Maybe if it wasn't Mairyell it wouldn't work. Maybe if she didn't see the same fear buried in his own, now human eyes, she wouldn't let him calm her down. Defeated, with tears streaming down her face that had started unbeknownst to her, she nodded, biting her lips hard. She thought she was done with this. Done with saving the world, fighting the odds, feeling so, [I]so[/I] very mortal. [I]Like a firefly, once you burn bright, then you've burnt yourself out.[/I] Zi gulped and steadied herself with another nod. She had to try, it was never an option not to. No matter how hard she wished it was. "Ok then..." Solus nodded. "Mairyell. You're free to go. I'm sure you have other business to attend to..." Mairyell nodded in reply and glanced at Solus and then Zi, "See ya 'round..." he then walked towards the library's exit before turning, "...oh yeah...good luck." He smiled slightly before his eyes met with Solus' flaming orbs, his expression becoming serious. They needed to talk later, but there were other things to take care of. Departing the dilapidated mansion, Mairyell took off and headed for Loom, tracking his sister's scent. Seemed like she was near the Academy. How interesting.