Almost effective immediately, Zodiark noticed a shift in the Hume girls’ composure. Before, she was almost to the point of being crushed to bits by the weight of his spell and now she seemed to have more confidence than she did before. It was almost as if she had a stronger resolve. Or maybe Ultima gave her a stern talking to. There really was no telling what exactly became the deciding factor, but suffice to say, Zodiark approved. The fact that she decided to stop kid around and got serious meant that Zodiark could at least give her a chance to test the limits of her power.

And as she sent forth an impressive display of elemental prowess, it was obvious to him that she was aiming to kill. Those waves of various elements all came for Zodiark all at the same time. Each seemed to be the highest form they could possibly be and all with the intent to kill. This was good. He appreciated that she dug deep. 

When the elements were about a foot away from making contact with him, Zodiark brought back his arms and thrust them forward. When he did that, a glyph appeared in front of him. In that same moment, the glyph opened up and revealed something that looked like a black abyss. There was a strong wind current that picked up, originating from that abyss and it sucked up all of the elements from Nadeline’s attack. Though, something that Zodiark wasn’t expecting happened: he underestiamted the strength of Nadeline’s spell as the glyph broke and the elements of drain, sap, water and lightning struck him. The water soaked him and the lightning struck him, getting an enhancement from the water. After that, drain would transfer some of his life force over to Nadeline and the sap, though only lasting a few seconds, seemed to also wipe a moderate portion of his energgy reserves.

Getting struck by Nadeline’s attack was a miscalculation of her power. He staggered back as he simply grinned at the girl. “[color=364f54]And she continues to impress,[/color]” Zodiark said, panting lightly. “But that won’t happen again.”

Thirty more seconds had passed and Zodiark would rid himself of the extra arms, his movement-limiting form, and all but one orb. That last orbs would shape itself by using Zodiark’s putrid mist. It would go from the spherical mass into something nearly as long as his body but hardly as wide. The black mass kept its shade in this transformation but it came out to be a lot more silkier than it was before. When the transformation was complete, it appeared to be a [url=http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/elderscrolls/images/9/92/DaedricSpear.png/revision/latest?cb=20120512225342]spear[/url] of some sort. It was black throughout except for a part of the blade that seemed to pulse with a vile red Mist.

And as he stepped forward, Zodiark’s own form would change in an instant. GRand and Nadeline would recognize the form he took as it was the same form he took before. His entire body became encased in a black [url=http://i.imgur.com/nzd8iT1.jpg]armor[/url] that had a red star emblem on the belt and on each hand. This armor had two horns that were colored a withered brown and a tail just as black as his armor was. He also had two wings made out of black Mist. 

Gripping his spear in his hand, Zodiark’s helmet faded away. He had a more youthful appearance now. His skin was of a more healthy tone and his eyes were piercing red while his hair was as black as the dead of night. “[color=364f54]Very well, now shall we begin?[/color]” Zodiark would take the first lunge. His speed so fast that no one other than an Esper or one who has unlocked their seal would had seen his movements. To the outside eye, it was just a flash of black and red. He rammed Nadeline with the bulk of his arm, forcing her to the trashed building just twenty paces behind her. Then, in another quick movement, he followed her as he appeared above the girl’s form. He turned his form into a shadow and went through her, appearing below her and unleashed a powerful pulse of ancient magicks that sent her flying up.
[hr]
Even though he knew this wasn’t [i]his[/i] Emiri, there was no mistaking that she had the same fire in her belly that his beloved had. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight. It became clear to him as she forced his grip of her to break. Though, based on the expression plastered all over her face, that action of pulling away was not an easy one. He noticed that she winced as she pulled away. That took an inmeasurable fortitude to commit to that.

Jaakuna noticed how her emotion skyrocketed when she mentioned the pain she went through, which could only make him feel sympathy for her. He had been there for a lot of the traumatic experiences in her life - or at least been there for her when she told him about past trauma she went through, but losing her mother and then almost losing her father...she was alone through that. It was that feeling of lonesome that Keiran must’ve fed off of. Because he wasn’t there to help her through it, that abomination was able to warp Emiri into this...thing that he saw in front of him. That was the exact reason why he had to pressure on. In order to get Emiri back to the way she was before, he had to push on with cleansing her of Keiran. Even if it meant that she would experience pain dealt by him, he would have be strong.

But, as seen by her constant refusal to let him do it as he wished, that wasn’t going to be easy. While he still had her close, Emiri would surprise him with a rather old fashioned move in the form of a headbutt. This caused him to stagger back a few steps, to which allowed her to go for an odd attack. She dealt an open-palm slap clear across his face. Though it stung, he didn’t understand why she chose something like that. After a moment passed, he felt something explode on his cheek and he was sent flying to the left about five paces. 

As he tumbled, Jaakuna recovered himself and saw Emiri. Even though he was sure this was another gesture on behalf of Keiran, he couldn’t help but smirk. He held his cheek. It had a fresh burning touch to it. Still tender, he brought his healing fire to it and would stop the bleeding. “[color=ed1c24]Quite the move there.[/color]” 

Jaakuna rose up from the ground and reignited his fists. He knew that he would have to get close to Emiri somehow. Now that she was well aware of his abilities to cleanse her of Keiran’s influence, her guard would be up. Even worse than that, the look in her eyes gave him a clear indication that she wasn’t going to hold back. He knew that she would use her time powers as she saw fit. That was the one thing that was constantly on his mind. If he happened to get close to her, he knew that she would use those powers to do something to get him away or use it to her advantage. In her doing that, she would inch herself closer to nothingness. What he needed to do was stop that from happening altogether.

Jaakuna was going to try something else. It was an alternative tactic of sorts. This was no fantasy. It was reality, but it wasn't going to be final. He was going to make her see that. “[color=ed1c24]Don’t you see that he’s just using you for his own pleasure, Emiri! You have to snap out of it![/color]” Jaakuna yelled, trying to bide himself some time. He knew his purifying fire was still active on her arm, so maybe if he could get her talking and not doing anything else, then maybe he wouldn’t have to hurt her for a bit. “[color=ed1c24]Remember all the times we shared together. Remember when we first met, how I was going to bring you to Grant because Vlyn and Aloa commissioned me, but I didn’t. And do you know why? It’s because I didn’t like being used either.[/color]” As Jaakuna spoke, he would take steps forward to her. They were slow steps. He didn’t want to alert her. “[color=ed1c24]Not I nor you liked to be used by the governments that rule this world. We just wanted to be free. And for a while, we lived in bliss. Just you, me, and the Ifrit. Don’t you want that again?[/color]” By now, Jaakuna had closed three paces between he and Emiri.