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A Hero Tale {Complete}

Nexus nodded almost immediately. "Passionate emotions all work the same way, changing how Ki flows, in a variety of ways. The less passionate, the gloomy, the darker feelings that we get, do something else. While it is impossible to reduce the overall might of a soul without access to the void, it can be dampened, disoriented, and shaken by things like sadness, hopelessness, and heartbreak. But, there is a center to it, a point where emotions lose their chaotic effect on our Ki. Peace. It's not a state of mind, it's the lack thereof. Normally, our Ki expands and contracts randomly within our bodies, changing in size and power based on how we think. But with proper training, a person can fix their Ki to their bodies, sealing it in a stasis and perfect balance, where energy can be output indefinitely. In this state of perfect concentration, you acknowledge your soul for what it is." Nexus explained thoroughly. He paused and chuckled. "Unity with Ki, it's almost like a fourth state of energy, outside of reality. Much like Meta energy. It can shape the other energies perfectly, but it is limited, and can only be created by our conscious decision to do so, through meditation, and way of life. The way we speak, the way we act, and the way we live. Peace is an energy we create, and expend, for tranquillity..." Nexus stopped and shook his head. "Jenso couldn't grasp it. He's too reckless, too brash. He holds a different kind of power. I was foolish to think he could harness it. But you seem somewhat different." Nexus pointed towards his hand.

"If you wish to turn yourself away from impulse, then you must tame those feelings. Readily accept them as your own, but rather than letting them use you, or using them, then you must not destroy this wall you've created over the years. You must create a door, and visit the realm within yourself that you've feared so long, regularly enough that the wall no longer serves a purpose." Nexus paused, and then sighed. "I am not a very good teacher, as should be obvious with Jenso's experience. I've always been more of a... Story teller."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Nexus was silent for a moment before he spoke. "The affects that your mind has on your Ki isn't something you can fix. The result, Ki distortion, is also very uncommon. It's not often that individuals with psychological disorders muster a talent or skill for Ki control. I've only had a few occasions to study similar reactions in life, before..." He paused and chuckled, "Before somebody killed my subjects, right under my nose. I reckon she found it... Funny." Nexus scratched the small hole in his mask with one finger and looked back towards Bruce. "If you seek to nurture that psychological stain, you're only looking for trouble, and death. Ki manipulation has always been a practice of emotional control, and that transformation you inhibit follows the same set of laws, if my eyes don't deceive me. The boost in raw power is also, by in large, completely irrelevant, when compared to the nature of the Order." Nexus narrowed his eyes for a moment. "I don't see why you appear so keen on it. You remind me of Prisma, on some level, or another."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"To talk," He said quietly, "I cannot help you directly, but I've spoken with Jenso already. I assured him that we would speak." He nodded to himself. "You've all been trapped in these pocket dimensions, and unfortunately, I cannot help you escape."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Nexus' eyes focused on Bruce and he nodded. In moments, his sage form was forcibly removed, and his Ki was suppressed. "I'm not here to fight you," he insisted, "You should be more worried about that vicious little thing that festers inside of you." He looked down, and then back at Bruce, patting the bench with his hand, loudly enough for it to echo through the room. "I don't really like raising my voice, so..."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"She's gone," A voice called at Bruce from the back row. It echoed loudly. The room's acoustics made sure of it. He sat quietly, waiting for Bruce to notice him, fiddling with the rip in his mask with one hand. "If I had to guess,
she won't be coming back."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

The dirt faded and rotted much like the wood as Shaidra's claws sliced through it, turning it into a thin smoke that moved into the aura surrounding the curious little creature. She paused and jumped backwards, raising her head up high. In a poof of smoke, she was gone, leaving Bruce in the church all by his lonesome.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Shaidra continued forwards, crawling up the bench that Bruce hopped atop, and trying to touch his feet with her claws a she moved, with little caution in her pace.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Shaidra took another step forward. ""It's so very fun to play with a person...Person's...Very fun..." Her eyes flickered, and she tilted her head to one side, lost in thought for a moment.

"It hurts," She whispered, "It hurts... Hurts..." Her breath grew heavy, but her stance did not falter. She took another step forwards. "Just go to sleep. Everything will be fine in the morning." She mimicked Ada's tongue movements, licking the corner of her lip underneath her mask. "It's ok to fall asleep. Just go to sleep." Shaidra rose her arm upwards, and sliced through it with her opposite claw. She was unharmed, of course. But it was a curious movement. "Get that thing away from me ya little freak!" She called out, shifting her body to the right. "I'll take that," She said, swivelling her neck seductively. She paused and crawled forward a little further. "Boy... Dead... Ada... Happy..." She continue forward, until she was mere feet away from Bruce, and showed no sign of stopping, keeping her eyes fixated on his face.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Shaidra glared at him. "They'll cling to those emotions like lost little children until the very end," She barked, becoming more vicious in her speech, "They'll claw and scratch at an inevitable wave of death and turmoil without looking back, just like the rest. They'll beckon for your kindness and understanding, again and again and again. They'll tell you to smile. But you won't, not until you understand why." Her mouth curved upwards, into a subtle smile that was barely visible through her mask. "Until you understand, you will be filled with rage, confusion, hysteria, and turmoil with each happy thought. And you'll lash out at any who guide you towards the despicably poetic. People like those have made an art form of it, they've perfected the practice of ignorance and share it without pause." Shaidra's hands coated themselves in a black mist that took the shape of claws, three-pronged and shimmering, despite their smokey form. "Nhgga... Throats are like little hoses, shrimp... A deathly blow will end it fast..." The darkened woman back to step around the pews, towards Bruce, with her back arched. She fell onto all fours, and crawled around the edge of the bench, digging into the floor with her claws. The wood turned black like soot and rotted away frightfully fast as she crept towards Bruce. Whatever attempts he'd made to get through to her had backfired, and she was on the prowl.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Shaidra eyed the next photo and then looked at Bruce. "There's so very much in this universe we don't understand," she whispered, "Just imagine it all... I wonder what kind of knowledge lies beyond it? I wonder..." She dropped the second photograph, and just as the first, it fluttered towards Bruce. This one was clean. The boy he'd let die, smiling within his sister's loving embrace. Shaidra began to shamble down the line of steps the led up to the podium, from one edge of the church to the other, stopping before she reached the right line of pews. "I've done it. I want it all. You could both be there with me." Her eyes fixed themselves on Bruce. A flicker of light tried to escape the darkness, but then there was nothing, once again.

"Your search for meaning is futile... Just take all that power and do what you want with it... Have a little fun, sweetheart!.. I don't know what you are..." She paused and looked down at her hands. "You are mine, until you are your own. Do not follow those wretched ideas. Stop smiling."