yoshua171

RPGuild Ranking Headquarters!

Hmm?

Naruto: Continuum

Raikō Engai Perimeter

Noting the presence of their leader, the soldiers intensified their assaults. The airborne individuals began firing down on Shirayuri, who dodged as best she could. Meanwhile the woman was tripped up, the kunai striking her in the shoulder and digging in. She staggered and flashed backwards, electricity trailing through the air where she had retreated. Now standing 4 meters away she was not in the path of her comrades, who promptly sent lightning hurtling towards Mayumi from the woman's left.

Meanwhile the two fliers attacked Shirayuri.

---

Heirana, Shirayuri

---

Having reached the lightning rod, Shirayuri began her work and was nearly finished with it before she detected a familiar presence. When she noted it falling a sigh left her lips and she knelt down, expanding her aura of flames to block assaults from the airborne shinobi. Preforming handseals and pressing her hands to the ground, she closed her eyes and sent chakra streaking through the ground towards Nobushige's likely point of contact to the ground.

Using her earth affinity, she softened the surface, increasing its elasticity. When Nobushige struck the ground it would have plenty of give. He'd not have much more than a bruise, if that. Once he'd made contact safely the earth would fold around him, creating channels of air elsewhere so he'd not suffocate in the pocket. She reinforced it with wind chakra, that'd help dampen any lightning that their quarries used.

Her attention turning away she finished her work on the lightning rod, taking it out of commission. She rose to her feet and split her attention between her comrade and the descending Kanagata. This was getting very messy very quickly.

As if to further accentuate her observation, two shinobi descended upon her, one striking with electricity, the other spinning mid air to attempt a kick to her midsection. Responding immediately Shirayuri rolled towards them and thus under both attacks. As she came up she released a blast of wind and whirled her yari, striking towards one of her assailants.

Yup, things had gotten messy.

---

Kanagata, Kiyome – Pylon

---

Her eyes detecting Nobuhige's two compatriots, the Kanagat smiled even as one of them countered her attempt on her former lover's life. Too bad, she'd pursue him another time. Stopping her descent inches from the ground, Kiyome hovered and crossed her arms, a smirk resting on her lips. Her soldiers were doing well. It pleased her.

"Heh, if they can't handle them, then there's hardly a reason for me to lift a finger," she mused aloud.

Essence of the World: The New Age [CLOSED]

Lol

Essence of the World: The New Age [CLOSED]

Hazumi and the West
(?)Hell - The Western Realm(?)

Collab: @yoshua171 and @Wind Wild

---

As Hazumi walked into the Western realm an eerie silence would fall over her, broken only by her breathing, hearbeat, and the infrequent sound of creatures moving about nearby. This area of the West, while dark like the rest, had a faint red and purple light that seemed to dance in and out of one's vision. There was a forest there, but it was no normal forest, no, in fact every tree was bent at impossible angles and all of them were barren, though they each emitted a slight pulsating glow. The ground at the feet of the trees was all solid rock and gravel. The trees should have been incapable of growing, which might have explained why all of them were barren--as if some force had magically fed the trees to maturity, or had suddenly turned all the soil into stone.

Regardless, the place was bizarre.

However, even more bizarre were what would look like lights far off in the distance in three directions. They were tiny floating clusters of white and yellow light that, every few minutes, would move to new locations, or blink out of existence, then pop up elsewhere, though always the same rough distance from her. All in all it was an odd place, made even more so by the fact that it would be the first time the Essence had seen it.

Hazumi looked around cautiously, taking the forest in before slowly stepping forwards, one foot leading the other. She found it curious that last time she visited nothing could surprise her. She still thought herself invincible at the time, and even though she might still be such, now her steps were a bit more hesitant.

The West had always been a bizarre place in her mind. Not only were Nightwalkers one of few creatures the Fleshshaper had never acquired, but even the pre-existing knowledge of the Gates and Gatekeepers didn't penetrate all the way through the darkness.

Seeing the light flicker at the corner of her vision her head turned and she had to wonder if it was her own mind playing tricks on her by importing images of things that weren't there. She considered for a moment trying to go after them but at the first step she made, the lights flickered and changed its location. Deciding that they would approach her if they want to, she ignored him for the time being and went deeper into the woods.

"Lletari, dear Essence, they are called Lletari," a voice proclaimed from directly behind her.

So she wasn't alone after all. The woman calmly looked over her shoulder and explored the newcomer.

Standing uncomfortably close was a rather disturbing looking fellow. His essence was whirling about frantically, but seemed oddly...lacking. There would be an apparent branching of energy from his body downwards from his feet and into the ground much like roots. If she followed them she'd notice that the entire surrounding area was suffused with the man's essence, something that was not typically possible for any average demon. So clearly this man was not average.

Thus, as he stood not two inches from her person, looking down at her from his 6'5 height, he spoke once more, "Those lights are Lletari. This forest is the Copse of Lit Fears and I am Jayh Durvasarieghe." He smiled at her calmly, seemingly unphased by her nature and by the multitude of...pins protruding from his flesh. "What business is it that you bring to the lord's domain?"

Hazumi's eyes ran up and down the demon and then strayed slightly along the ground to the nearby tree. There were places and creatures in the world that she still hadn't seen, with all the eyes and knowledge she'd received from her countless components. The West was among the few places she knew almost nothing about, the demons there seeming to have eluded the Fleshshaper's greedy claws. It gave her a peculiar feeling, between excitement and anxiety, to explore everything hidden by this darkness.

“Which lord are you referring to?”

The demon turned its head to the side slightly, as if regarding her from another angle. "Come with me," Jayh suddenly said, then turned around and began to walk towards the strange forest.

I hope he realises that whatever the outcome, one of his lords will perish. Hazumi thought and silently followed.

With his back turned, the demon spoke again, a smile carried in his tone, "Of such I am quite aware, Hazumi, though I thank you for such thoughtfulness." He slowed so she could catch up to him somewhat, and hopefully walk alongside him. His smile was a kind one, if she happened to look upon his face. "We are going down below, to the underdark of this forest. I think there is something there that would serve you well in your task."

It seemed he had dropped his earlier pretense of knowing not why she had come.

"You are a wise man." Hazumi almost smiled at his expression. She wasn't sure if he knew what he knew because he had been informed of her coming long ago or because he could guess her intentions. Heck, she didn't even know if her coming here wouldn't flip her plans on their head. However, she did know that for now she should follow the demon, his attitude inspiring trust even despite his peculiar appearance. One came to expect that of Hellions and it had never bothered her. One couldn't recognise the monsters in this world if they were only looking skin-deep.

"What's happening to this realm now that the Lord is absent?" She questioned, referring to Szayeis.

"I am but a humble watcher," Jayh responded, before falling silent once more. He could feel the mechanisms of her being moving, processing, grinding, and debating within her. Some about the current state of affairs, but most moved for other issues, other people. He continued to smile, giving no hint that he could, in fact, read her existence as if it were a book he had long ago committed to memory. "The inhabitants are uneasy and though the Citadel holds Void well, it cannot hold all of it."

Jayh gestured towards the Chaos barrier, the veil that all must pass through to enter the Western Realm, "It is composed of Inaniae's essence, crafted long ago from the ancient founder's aura." He turned his eyes to the Citadel then, "It is composed of his will and his ever altered nature, but in an impure form. The Citadel, one could say, is, or once was, composed of the Void's flesh, if flesh one could call its substance." He shook his head, "It may only contain him so long, and while this realm's inhabitants, 'cept the wardens and myself, are unaware of its nature or perhaps existence, they are uneasy nonetheless." The demon's eyelids lowered slightly as he shook his head, looking solemn.

He suddenly stopped before a tree, one which was taller, but thinner, than all the others. He raised his hands over its faintly glowing bark, not truly touching it, and whispered words that Hazumi, as the Essence, should have understood...but did not. It was a soundless noise, one that she would recognize, though through unfamiliar vessel it had emanated.

It was the sound of a gatekeeper's instrument...but not quite. Something was off, something about it was even more enigmatic...and it was free. There was no restraint on it, but alas it only lasted a moment before it was gone once more.

Her mind would attempt to forget it against her will, but would fail...for now.

"Come," he lowered his arm and stepped aside, gesturing towards the tree, "Walk into it, I will follow." The tree's glow had become a fierce glare, and expanded to take up a larger space than the tree itself did. There was an eerie look to the light, but all at once it was welcoming. This copse was a strange one, and its master...even more so, it seemed.

At first Hazumi felt gratitude and the warm sense of appreciation towards the demon. His lack of hostility and willingness to explain were qualities she found invaluable and ones that came as a refreshingly pleasant surprise in Hell. It was true that with her current status there weren't that many willing to question her authority but she knew how inhospitable Hellions could be. His words also made sense, it explained what she'd felt when she first came to this realm, a sense of home and a sense of hostility both. The veil and the Citadel both were pieces of her father and in a way she'd always known that.

She was lost in thought when Jayh started to chant and her mind went blank for a second, her eyes widening in surprise. She knew precisely what she was hearing, the only question was whether he was created first or the Gates. As he beckoned her to step towards the tree she obeyed, her eyes fixed on the demon instead of on the portal in front.

Jayh did not meet her gaze, but rather stared directly through it. He smiled lightly, gently, in a friendly manner, as she passed him and entered the portal. He followed moments after.

---

As she emerged on the other side she would find herself in a cavern, the glow the same as what the trees had emitted up above. They were beneath the forest now, in the underdark of the Unseen, a place few souls had ever been. Only Jayh could grant entrance after all.

"Whheelcome Eessence," a sonorous voice echoed through the cavern. Jayh did not react, 'cept to briefly bow his head, then silently step passed Hazumi to tread further into the cavern, whose ceiling was alight with the roots of the trees from above. One wouldn't think that they were miles underground. As the Watcher strode forth, the far off walls, seeming barely to exist at all, began to glow just barely within perception. Hazumi, if she reached out with her senses, would feel...nothing. It was as if this place had no boundaries at all, despite those clear before her: Ceiling and floor.

"The Fears have waited, one who has been named...Hazumi," the voice boomed once more. Jayh continued forwards, appearing not to mind whether or not she followed, the voice would reach her all the same.

Hazumi's senses explored the space and came up largely empty. The welcoming didn't surprise her, though being unable to tell where or who the voice came from was slightly unsettling after years of knowing pretty much everything.

The second phrase threw her off and made her brows furrow. Being referred to both as “Essence” and “Hazumi” was peculiar in the sense that most creatures viewed her as either-or in any particular situation. After all, the two were distinctly different: one was an object, the other one was an individual. At least that's what she thought most of the time. Sometimes even she wasn't sure if there was a difference, really. Perhaps it was all in her head.

She fell in toe next to Jayh and pushed her musings away in favour of trying to figure out what was going on. “What is this place?”

He did not reply, his pace steady as they walked, side-by-side, his charge just barely flagging behind. After what might have felt like minutes, Jayh's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Instead, the voice spoke once more, and as it did, Jayh's own lips moved, though the voice was certainly not his, nor did it seem to come from him at all. "This is the Underdark of the Unseen," the voice boomed, "...herein lies the Litany of knowledge, a repository of this world's truths, all in one place, untouched by the hands of mortals in their wholeness." The voice rebounded throughout the cavern for several seconds after it had stopped speaking, but Jayh's lips kept moving, his own voice coming out once more, quieter, though it did echo, in the cavern than the unknown entity that had spoken before. "Not any can be ferried into this abyss, only those whose conscience is clear, whose essence is marred, but without flaw, and whose form is immaterial and without any true meaning," Jayh, for the first time since they had entered the cavern, turned to look at her. His calm eyes were glowing faintly, and it seemed that with every step their glow became more fierce, more pronounced. Yet there was something strange about this light, for his eyes were not changing.

It would be as if one could see both illusion and reality in the same frame, but there was not another frame, there was no line between the two. "You are one such being, Hazumi...Essence," a smile touched his lips, small and gentle--calm, but serious all the same.

"This is the Vault, the plane outside," Jayh's lips moved, but the voice boomed outwards, it was the entity's rather than his own. "The Grim Hunter, who you know as Solus now, has never tread these halls. This is a Vault beyond even that which lies hidden beneath his home of two hundred years past. Do you know why you are here?" A subtle resonance began to hum into existence within the cavern, an almost imperceptible drone. No matter how one altered their essence or physiology, it did not change, or become easier to detect. The light had begun to dim, and were her eyes to look ahead, she would notice that it became only darker on the path ahead, though the lights never seemed to truly disappear, despite the lack of illumination.

It was a phenomena that likely made no sense to her mind, nor any other. This was an ancient place, and whatever, wherever, it was it was easily apparent that it was something more ancient than anything else.

It was the Realm of Watchers.

Hazumi's steps didn't slow, an odd sense of calm washing over her the deeper they went into this unknown place. She didn't know what to expect, not even if it was safe to proceed or if she wasn't willingly following a stranger to her death. But it didn't matter. In a life where everything was control, cause and effect, a constant chain of meaningful choices, to be robbed of responsibility and idly drift down the stream of fate was a welcome and liberating feeling. A smile found its way to her face, a deep breath seeming like the first in a long time.

“I know why I came.” She answered, a childish curiosity layered under her words. “But I don't know why you brought me here nor what I'll find. ”

"You seek perception of the Old One, the forsaken child. The Father of Gods. You know him as Inaniae, we as the Primordial," Jayh's lips moved in-sync, though he did not speak. "You have been brought here to understand his essence and the method of both his entrance to this realm, and his fall from grace." There was an imperceptible shift as the two figures, Jayh and Hazumi, took their next step. It was hard to tell when. It might have been when their feet touched ground again, it may have been in the middle of their steps, or the moment just after they raised their foot for the next one.

It was impossible to tell. Time was vague here.

All at once, but nonetheless a smooth transition in its own paradoxical fashion, the lights shifted colors and vanished. Hazumi's common sense would tell her that the room was dark, as if her instincts knew there was no light, better than her senses did. Her eyes on the otherhand would note that the lights had shifted to a white coloration. Should she attempt to gaze directly open any source of illumination it would be merely another black spot in her vision. She could only see the lights in her peripheral vision. Jayh seemed unfazed.

The cavern's walls seemed to become nearer the further forwards they walked, the path expanding. Yet her spatial awareness would tell her differently, it was not that the cavern's form had changed at all. The senses of essence, which she possessed would not confirm either impression. "We near the Articulate's Sigil," Jayh said, his voice returned to him, the cavern held in an eerie silence aside from the muted noise of their footsteps, and of course their breath.

Several moments passed and as they did it would feel as if they had entered another room, despite her senses telling her that was impossible. As her instincts notified her of this shift in scenary, it occurred around her, as if slipping into existence. Before her in the center of the now circular space they stood within, was a 2x2 meter cubical prism that reached almost halfway up the height of the room only to be met in its center by an identical, though inverted, prism of the same height, which extended down from the ceiling. Her essence sight would notify her of the miniscule amount of space held just between the tips of the two elongated prisms, each which, while black, reflected light throughout the room. The ceiling, floor, and walls seemed to absorb this light, and were she to look at them with her peripheral vision she would notice what appeared to be all manner of essences swirling, mixing, and separating beneath the surface of the room's boundaries. Were she to look directly at any of the surfaces in any other way, they would merely be a stark white, no details, no apparent texture, and no sign of aging whatsoever.

The place had an air that was both comfortable and unsettling. It was the calm of the place coupled with its strangeness. "This is the Articulate's Sigil," the Watcher's guardian spoke, his gentle eyes glancing at Hazumi. It was Jayh's voice that came from the body this time.

As if on cue the two prisms began to retract into their respective surfaces, widening the space between their tips, and gradually revealing something as they did. At first it was just a shimmering black dot, but as it grew in size, almost as if stretched by the retreating prisms, it became apparent that it had angular facets, and when it was finally four meters from point to point, it was very clear that it was some kind of crystal, though not like anything the Essence had ever seen. It looked much like obsidian, but its essence was totally alien as far as crystals went. It was both like looking at nothing, at the void, and as if one were gazing upon the very essence of substance itself. It was like looking at an idea given form.

The reason was because that's exactly what it was. "I doubt you have ever heard tell of this place, let alone this object, if you can call it by such a mundane term. This place, wherein we stand, is the only place where the Abstract touches the Primordial. It is their sole place of contact and communication. You could say it was created, but that would not be quite...accurate. It came to be in the same manner as the Primordial and the Abstract, but has been as constant as Time. What matters to you, is here you may come to learn anything you desire." Jayh paused a moment, letting the gravity of that sink in before he glanced to the Articulate's sigil once more, its shimmering black surface remaining complacent, even as it warped the perception of most anyone who looked directly upon it. "You have been granted two tokens. One by the Will of Aaurus, your father, and the other by the grace and kindness of Lucy, who so infrequently visits the domain of her children." Jayh seemed to smile slightly, as if the thought of Lucy's visit was a comforting memory to him.

"These tokens may be spent in two manners. The first will grant you a unique experience during your lifetime, that is sure to occur no matter your own choices. You may choose whether to know what this experience will give you, or you may choose what this experience is." He did not clarify what either meant, "The second possibility of these tokens may grant you any piece of knowledge that the Abstract possesses in as complete a form as your mind can process without overload or cessation of your modus operandi, prime function." He stopped momentarily, watching her reaction, before he spoke again, saying simply, "Choose wisely. I will wait outside." He then began to turn on his heel and tread in the space they had just crossed.

Hazumi's heart sped up, as they progressed into the cave, and it was with both anticipation and worry. There was something bizarrely exciting about the whole experience and even though the place was no wonderland, part of her was tempted to stay and forget about all the obligations and worries.

None of that. She mentally slapped herself as she gave up trying to understand what was going on and simply followed. The sight of the pyramids was interesting, but not as much as the explanation of what they were – creation taken shape. She felt compelled to run a hand along the smooth surface of the thing but knew better than to attempt it. As Jayh instructed her on what her choices were, she listened carefully and nodded stoically and as he moved out, she sat on the ground, staring at the prisms.

It was a tough choice and it would definitely take time to make her mind up. While the first option was playing on her curiosity, it was the second one she was more interested in. Knowledge was more important than anything, even her own life, yet the precise questions she wanted to ask were hard to pin down.

There were many things she wanted to know – would the wars ever end, would Lucien survive the year, was there a way for the musicians to use their instruments safer than they did now, was there a way for her to be truly happy... But she had to concentrate on the important things. First and foremost, it was about the matter at hand – Inaniae. But was the question how to defeat him or how to detect him? Or was it 'Is there a way to erase his identity'?

In the end she settled for 'How can I recognise the fragments of Inaniae?' Hopefully that was the right question, based on the assumption that Szayeis did in fact hold the knowledge of what to do once those were gathered.

And speaking of Szayeis, it was very tempting to use the second token to find out what his end game is. Could he be trusted? Who was he? What would he do after this is all over? Interesting questions but perhaps not as important in the long run.

Hazumi sighed, looking up to the two prisms. 'Is my identity worth more than my powers?' was something she'd always wondered. Was she better off as a person, or as a tool? Then again, would this be the right way of finding that out? And besides, wasn't the answer pretty obvious?

Making up her mind, she got to her feet and tilted her chin up like Lily had taught her. Look proud even if chances are you're about to make a mistake.

“How can I recognize the fragments of Inaniae? and What is my legacy and the most important thing I can do in my life?” She spoke to the object and waited anxiously for the answers.

Immediately her senses would swim, her sense of balance going first, likely causing her to topple to the ground. At first the awareness would be like she had been connected to a vast, no, infinite reservoir of information, before that vanished entirely and was replaced by a single concept. It would feel like water, flowing into her mind, but also like shards of glass, spearing at her thoughts, before it shifted again, parting any stray bits of her psyche and then flooding her with the knowledge.

After several minutes the sensations of pain and discomfort would fade, leaving behind a sense of rightness and of learning. The knowledge of the first question had suffused her, become part of her on a level deeper than she might have liked before it had happened, but now was unavoidable. Much like Szayeis, or any other fragment aware of themselves, Hazumi would not be capable of identifying any number of Inaniae's fragments by merely seeing them. It would be an immediate response, no delay, no doubt, unquestionable and absolute.

After another minute had passed it would be like she could suddenly feel her body again, though she may not have even realized she couldn't feel it, and all her senses would return to her.

Oddly, despite the suddenness of it, it would cause no adverse reactions, no sense of overload.

The room seemed not at all changed. Except for the fact, of course, that she now had sand in her hair.

Hazumi picked herself up and blinked a few times, the lack of leftover pain striking her as odd. It had been a familiar sensation, her body and mind recognising it from the time she'd been the Fleshshaper's plaything, forcefully fed souls that didn't belong. Of course, the millennia that had passed since then had blurred the memory but she was quite certain that the Void, or the Abstract, or Jayh or whoever was giving her this knowledge now, knew a nicer way of doing it. Still, it made her think twice of using the second token. Oh well, too late now anyway. It seemed to be worth it in the end - the fact that she would immediately know a fragment when she sees one was reassuring, even if it didn't provide any information on where to look.

Her second question was an interesting one, as its implications were greater than she realized. It had to do more with an event and how it would influence her future, than it had been a true question. She had unwittingly used her second token for an experience.

So it was that even as she regained her composure, the room began to swim around her, lurring together and becoming like a soupy liquid. Her sense of location would fail, and it would be much like she were floating in a vast ocean, but one composed purely of knowledge and of experience, of causal meaning and immutability. Your legacy will only be known to you in your last moments, for all that you have caused in your wake will be too great for the mind you possess in life to comprehend. The world's Essence will change, you will leave behind many who love you, and perhaps as many that may harbor for you hatred. However, your longevity is a gift as much as a curse, for you will bring about both happiness and discord to this world. As your term ends, with assistance of those who have kept you company, you will have gained what you now so desperately seek. Your legacy will be a great one. It was less as if something spoke to her, and more as if the core meaning of what was needed flooded into her mind.

This time the process was seamless and without pain or any form of suffering. It merely was.

There is no one thing, which you could do that would be more important than the others. Time is not so linear or set in stone. Destiny may be altered with diligence. The importance of your actions is dictated both by how they influence your own being, and how the ripples spread throughout the worlds. The Abstract may not peer into Time's flow just as the Primordial, creation's Grandfather, cannot. Your fate could be as the saviour to this world, a bystander, or you could very well cause its destruction. All that remains once knowledge is gained...is the choices. Will you make them? The flow of information stopped, events slipping into, through, and then out of her mind's eye within timeframes that she would be unable to know. As if they could have lasted seconds...or milennia.

As the room began to gradually solidify around her, she would perhaps, upon looking, notice that it was different. The light of the essence which swirled beneath the surface of the black walls was more apparent now. The Articulate's Sigil in the center of the room seemed as if it were not merely refracting light and essence now, but as if there were many images superimposed over its existence, shifting in and out of her perception. It would last, for her eyes, only a fickle eight seconds, before the impression seemed to fade from existence.

Unknown is the breadth of the world,
Unseen is the linchpin, which holds it fast,
The Essence dwells therein, but who knows its last?
Her form is battered here, seeking to be curled,
She hides away from future, dwelling on the past,

What is her purpose
What is her path
Who is her saviour,
If one she has.

Legacies are built, but they can be broken,
Without choice, one leaves behind....
Unknown words, unspoken.

Is her free will mute?
Is she Hazumi, or the Essence,
Or perhaps is there no truth to either,
Their forms as changeable as water on silt,

Unknown and enigmatic is the answer,
Unless its simplicity is hidden, buried in past guilt.

What is her purpose
What is her path
Who is her saviour,
Is it another, or the self, she thinks the Tool of Essence has killed?

The room was silent and it was not that the words had spilled into her consciousness, it was more like...they had always been there, and she had merely not noticed. When she left this place, she would be unable to understand when she had learned it, but it would nonetheless be there.

Jayh waited outside.

Hazumi found with some surprise that she was able to walk without wobbling. Her head was swimming still, however everything was crisp and clear, no fatigue or dizziness remaining from the weird experience. It felt like her body had been disintegrated and put together again, and at the same time it felt like nothing much had happened at all, like she'd just remembered a long-forgotten fact.

The words, however, remained and they were floating around her consciousness like snowflakes coming in and out of focus. It would take a long time for them to settle, and yet it was made clear that she never would find out until it's too late. Choices... In the end it all boiled down to that, and part of her was relieved at that knowledge more than any other. Knowing that she would make an impact, that her existence would matter. That it wasn't wrong that she wanted to make it count.

Stepping out of the room, she willed her eyes to turn to Jayh, a sudden cotton-soft weariness seeping in her bones. “Thank you, Jayh. You have given me enormous help and I will be forever grateful. Is there any way I can repay you?”

The demon shook his head, his eyes glowing fiercely. As she looked at him his essence would seem less normal than it had before, like her perception had been expanded slightly. "No need, it is my pleasure. Come, I know you have much to do, no use staying here any longer." He began walking back along the path, towards the exit, which was not yet visible in the distance.

Essence of the World: The New Age [CLOSED]

So Synthorian, Fallen, and I have been discussing a revamp/reboot of Essence.

Basically pause the current season, take stock of the lore we have, and separate the pieces. Look at what we want to keep/what should be kept, and what should be altered/fixed/clarified, and then DO SO.

Get everything written and agreed upon, finalized, and in a centralized place so anyone can access it fairly easily.

Thoughts? You may present them either here, or in a the skype chat, or via PM.

Essence of the World: The New Age [CLOSED]

We may move to the next day IC.

Essence of the World: The New Age [CLOSED]

The Unexpected Meeting
Mt. Jigger - Solus' Mansion
Night

Collab: @yoshua171 and @Synthorian

---

His legs were shaking and unstable, he wasn't used to feeling virtually nothing down there. Then again, he never had his limbs blown off and shot in the head 4 times for good measure. It was a miracle he was alive right now. His new, self-proclaimed personal surgeon, Kain, said that Solus was the first living subject that he ever manipulated essence within in such a way. That thought alone made Solus hazily wonder what kind of fucked up experiments that machine man was doing before he got his rubber gloved hands on Solus. "God damn..." He grunted as his knees almost buckled under his weight. He grabbed a tree just in time, only for his arm to effortlessly rip a chunk out of it, making him to fall to his knees anyway. "Gonna get used to these my ass..." He mumbled, mocking Kain's earlier comment. He slowly got back up again, yet still uneasy on his feet.

As he walked the old forest of Mt. Jigger that he remembered well, both his natural senses, and his HUD, picked up a powerful presence in the forest. His own, biological senses, reminded him of someone he knew. And his presence here made Solus uneasy, especially when he was this weak. "Szayeis..." He mumbled under his breath.

"Solus," the nightwalker replied, his form bleeding upwards from the shadow of a tree only meters from the hunter, where it took to a position, with its back leaned against the tree. His features solidified into his human guise, eyes cast sideways to gaze upon Solus. "You're looking rather grey, you bite off more than you could chew," there was a certain smugness in his tone. As if he somehow already knew exactly what had happened.

"Well... Good to see you are up and about. At least now I know we have some extra time to save the world, and your sorry translucent ass. Couldn't say the same for myself though..." He replied as he stretched his cyberlimbs and back.

Szayeis chuckled, "You really do look pitiful you know. Was it that chimera that took you down a notch? I felt someone notable a few hours ago, thought maybe it was you. Guess not," he smirked and looked away, glancing up at the moon. "Nonetheless, weakened state or not, we have work to do. Things to discuss, so why don't we call it a truce for now and I'll help you back to your...house, if you can call it that. The place looks terrible you know."

"Bah, I plan to demolish it anyway... Way beyond repair. Might as well start fresh..." He continued to walk, a little better on his feet now that relief of Szayeis not being dead, ironic and strange as that was, washed over him. "So... I'm surprised Inaniae hasn't consumed you, I'm guessing you found a way to keep him at bay..." He said casually, seemingly unaffected by Szayeis' presence.

"Mmm, if I felt like it I could snatch a nightwalker and force it to rebuild the whole thing using its own body as material. Then I'd kill the nightwalker when it was finished of course. Still, I'm hardly that nice," his expression was dry, as if he had rather quickly gotten bored with the idea. "As to Inaniae...heh, yes you could say that. A certain someone was nice enough to distract him just long enough for me to redistribute my focus. It was all I needed," the grin on his face showed just how pleased he was with the result. "Still, I don't know how long it will last exactly, so we're not even remotely in the clear."

He continued to lead Solus, having draped one of the hunter's arms over his shoulder for support. While the closeness was slightly annoying, it'd be more troublesome to wait for the hunter to get to the delapidated mansion.

"As long as he's still alive, we will never be." He agreed. He didn't really bother to thank him for helping him walk the rest of the way, there was no point. "So what brings you to this small piece of hell, hmm? Knowing you, you didn't just come here for a chat about our good friend, the Void."

"Oh no, I came to check on your wellbeing. Unfortunately the fate of the three realms, and thus my life, hinges on the success of yourself and several others. I'm sure you understand that it would be foolish of me to trust only you with the fate of the world." He led Solus to a couch inside the building and let him fall into it, walking several feet away before twirling his hand in the air,shadows swirling from their surroundings till they formed a chair, which he then turned and sat in so he faced the hunter. "In all seriousness, I am here to check on your progress. I also figured it would be prudent of me to make sure you had survived that nasty encounter you had later," the lord stated simply, shrugging.

"Hah..." Solus smirked as he sunk into the two century old couch. "I didn't know you cared. But whoever that bloke was, he was damn good."

"Yes, and I hope your failure to defeat that damn good bastard isn't going to impede what matters," Szayeis retorted, his tone shifting to a more serious cadence.

"The world ending. I know." Solus replied. "So, you wanted to discuss things..."

"Yes, exactly what steps have you taken in averting this crisis?" The lord folded his hands before him, his elbows pressed against the arms of the chair, his white irised eyes gazing through the hunter.

"Well, I got Luciana back in action. Her powers should come in handy... once she gets them back, that is. I have also cooked a small plan to build some masks, not something you will care about, but specific masks will give anyone we bring along a huge advantage. And a bunch of other plans I have yet to get around to. Luciana getting her abilities back takes priority."

Nodding slowly, Szayeis acknowledged the man's actions. It was a start, "I have called in a few...favors, from some rivals and old acquaintances, Hazumi among them. I intend to meet with Lily tomorrow when she's more...available." He closed his eyes, thinking.

"The Musicians won't cut it, you know that. Kids trying to contain a Primordial... Inaniae would be in hysterics." Solus countered.

Szayeis' lips curled into a grin and his eyes opened, a look of dangerous amusement in them, "You're funny Solus, I thought you were smarter than that. The Peacekeepers are an International Organization concerned with keeping the peace, and maintaining Order across Surface. The Academy is merely one branch, even if it is where it all began. I've done my research. I won't be asking Lily to send the children, I'll be asking her to contact the true leaders, the ones who could potentially summon an army of what amount to manipulaters of the psyche. If the children are also brought, I'll get to laugh as they're culled. It's a win-win situation really," his grin remained, eyes ever calculating.

"Nonetheless, I suggest that you take my choices a bit more seriously, Solus. You may have killed Mephisto, but I assure you I am beyond him in ways you could hardly understand. If you take it for granted that I've been alive for over 5200 years, with constant opposition from him in addition to the constant nagging influence of Inaniae, you will regret it. Presuming you survive this that is." As he finished his eyes closed again and he returned to his thoughts.

"Like I give a flying fuck how old you are..." He retorted tiredly, and completely unimpressed. "Those instruments are far slower than a bullet to the head, or even a sword swing, but then again, Alerium bullets don't exist yet... and we will sure as hell need those if Aaurus' powers are anything to go by."

Szayeis merely shook his head, eyes remaining closed. The man was too stubborn for his own good. Oh well, he'd let the man learn the hard way, or die. Either suited his ends really. "The instruments can do what no bullet can. Namely, they can wrestle with Inaniae's psyche. If I can do it, then a fragment of the Essence can do it, particularly if a great many do so. However, you're right on one point," his eyes opened, his gaze measured. "Alerium bullets would do more physical damage to him, than the musicians would. Nonetheless, I find both resources necessary for any measure of success. With one or the other, in addition to assuming your full combat abilities and my own, the chances of success are roughly 33.5 percent. Not terribly high. We'd more likely die, and leave the world with two less beings who could contest with the bastard, than make an headway."

He made a mental note on another matter as he continued, "With Luciana's added assistance, assuming her abilities remain intact, would give us an additional 8%, putting us at 41.5% at best. Even then most of those who participate are likely to die even if we succeed. A minor sacrifice, but one I'd hope to circumvent." He glanced at Solus a moment, before closing his eyes again. He was doing it for a reason, it wasn't just for the sake of mental focus, it was because it was night time, and this was the period wherein he could see, or be, wherever he wanted. It merely required focus to maintain.

"What I mean to say is..." Solus began to explain. "They'll die before they can even use them. If I can kill one with my hands behind my back, Inaniae can kill a whole group with the snap of his fingers." He adjusted himself on the couch as he thought about another one of his plans for a moment. "Attempting to kill Inaniae, if he even can be killed, is a last resort. He'll just go back to the void and remember everything anyway, as Aaurus told me. The only real option, I feel, is to imprison him again. With a different method."

"You imprison him again and he'll find another way to escape," he did not open his eyes as he continued, "He survived a false evolution ritual shattering his soul into fragments, and that particular tidbit, from what I could glean from the bastard's psyche, was Aaurus' doing. If your god knew how to imprison Inaniae, he would have done it already." A small smile formed on his lips. It was amusing to think that either Aaurus was not giving his emissary all the information, or the supposedly divine being was unaware of a great many facts about the being that Inaniae was.

"Let me tell you something about Inaniae," Szayeis said, meeting Solus' eyes, he had found what he wanted. "Each of his fragments has been partially immortal, but primarily mortal in nature. The fragment only constitutes for a part of the soul, not all of it. Inaniae, each time he has overtaken one of his fragments, has absorbed this mortality. It is perhaps his only weakness. I have been capitalizing on it for a very...very long time. His body, despite its state of near perfection, cannot properly assimilate mortal essence unless it naturally dies, and I can inform you that none of his fragments died naturally by the standards of the Abstract. If we can manipulate that mortal essence inside him to weaken his hold on this plane, make him temporarily a full blown mortal. We can kill him. He will not be able to return. He has been patient because he knows that had my predecessors discovered his influence on them, they would have done as I have."

He paused a moment, as if collecting his thoughts. He knew he had to tell Solus these things, even if they might put him at a slight disadvantage. It was however, better to win the war, than the battle. "Should we merely imprison him, he will escape once more, as I said. Each time he escapes he will be stronger, and angrier. However...should we kill him, he will cease to care. Have you not realized that once something dies it loses itself? That is why angels come back without the personality of their former lives. They can't. It is why they struggle to remember, and it may drive them mad. It is not natural. Inaniae only possesses feelings of anger and betrayel, and a will to destroy this world, because he is incarnated in a partially mortal vessel. Only mortals truly have emotions. I know this for one reason. I felt a similar fear in Inaniae that I, while I hate to admit it, possess myself. Fear of cessation. Not death, but the fear that all that I am will cease to be. My identity. It possesses the same fear. I imagine I got it from him to begin with. Without personality, he will hold no reason to destroy this world, despite possessing the power to do so."

Szayeis fell silent, watching Solus, listening for his response. If the hunter was so foolish to ignore this than perhaps his assistance was not nearly as valuable as he'd initially presumed.

Perhaps he would kill him here were that the case.

After all, Szayeis hated wasting his time.

"Alright... if that's what you propose." Nekro paused, wondering if the other threat below this very house would be an even greater threat than Inaniae right now. Hell, even the Vault failing and letting all of the boogiemen out would be just as bad as Inaniae. "Hazumi, Aaurus, and his opposite, the Terminus, are the only ones who could manipulate Inaniae's essence in said way. Hazumi has a strange... fetish... for the Gods and the Primordial. She would be easy to manipulate if Inaniae got his hands on her. Aaurus... an angry tantruming child, he would destroy the Three Worlds and have it all over with in no time, which means if he got involved, his anger alone would be our downfall. The Terminus. A clown in wolf's clothing who seemingly forgets everything and has to use paper notes just to remember what the fuck he's even talking about. I only met him once. He does have an interesting collection of Lieutenants though. However, Slyre, his former right hand Reaper, will be a massive problem for both of us... he was kicked out of Brom's little circle on quite a bad note." Solus presented the options available to them. A wacky collection of circus freaks.

The demon did not respond for a long while, leaving the room in silence. "Hazumi seems the best option. Some of her nature is still that of a tool, I think we can use that," not to mention the fact that he knew she had recently made contact with Jayh--something that would not have happened unless he had told her what he had. His eyes opened and he gazed at Solus, "I presume you care about as much what methods I use, as you care about my age, yes?" He smiled slightly, amused by the comparison.

"Methods and age, are completely different things." Solus replied, mentally, quite concerned.

Szayeis' smile did not disappear, "You understand that the well being of any single person pales in comparison to the survival of this world, yes? If so, I believe you will find that my methods are far more pleasant then existence's cessation. You may not fear death, or ceasing to exist, and you may not really care that the world is ending, but I do not think you are so foolish as to not try to stop it through any means available. Or did I peg you wrong, Grim?"

Solus outstretched his arms with a flaming, almost maddening grin. "I'm just here for the ride. Trying to save the world before I die? It's part of the fun."

"Good," Szayeis rose to his feet, the chair fading into shadows, which returned, seeming somehow thinner, to the places the nightwalker had drawn them from. "Is there anything else we should discuss? Will you attempt to contact the Terminus, or perhaps Slyre?" He figured that despite Slyre being on bad terms with the man, that if he could find him, he could find a way to work with him. Until then, he'd just have to have Hazumi locate the other fragments while he went and visited a friend...one he'd seen this morning.

Perhaps he'd have to lose that friend for his ends, but it hardly mattered.

His survival was more important than the Doctor's.

"Slyre wants us both dead. He's not worth talking to. The Terminus on the other had, he will be willing to listen." Nekro replied, the word Slyre dripping from his jagged lips with venom.

Deciding not to query till a more relevant time, Szayeis nodded, "I see. How would we go about contacting a being such as he?"

"The Terminus seeks to kill Slyre with my help. Once I get the word that he's ready, I'll mention our more pressing issue after the deed is done." Solus explained. "If Slyre isn't out of the picture, he will be just as bad as Inaniae..."

"Well, then you best take care of that then," Szayeis responded, walking to the door. He suddenly smirked and spoke as he exited the room, "Get well soon Solus," his laugh could be heard as he departed, walking through a shadow just outside the door.

---

An Unsavory Distraction
Loom's Outskirts
Midnight

Collab: @Synthorian and @yoshua171.

---

Returning from his brief visit to the hunter, Szayeis emerged from a shadow in a street at the edge of Loom's downtown area. Briefly casting his eyes about he began walking towards the outskirts where the last traces of the Doctor's essence could be found. The man must have hidden himself in some form of essence deadzone, or he'd easily be able to locate him. His form the same humanoid guise as usual, Szayeis walked lazily through the streets, his demeanor relaxed. He did enjoy the night. It was when he was strongest.

But something lurked in the darkness, something strangely equal and sinister. Szayeis would feel that same essence signature that he felt half a day ago, silently lurking behind him. "Going for a midnight stroll? No surprise. Less people, and the night makes you stronger. All the better, really. Makes it more challenging, and interesting..." Said a voice from behind him.

Szayeis didn't turn around, he just kept walking, almost as if he had not heard the man. He knew that essence signature, it was the same one that Solus had smelled of. He'd also felt it approach. After all, as the man said, he was stronger at night, not to mention the fact that Szayeis' grasp of shadow manipulation was so great that during the night he was omnipresent. The Nightwalker began humming quietly, it was something of a haunting tune, but also slightly jovial, like something one might've heard at halloween.

Suddenly, a humanoid silhouette appeared before him, standing a good ten feet away, appearing virtually out of nowhere. "You know, Szayeis... Ignoring your company is a very... very... bad idea..." The creature spoke again, waiting for a response from the Lord.

He didn't smile, "I hardly think you could be called company and even if you were, not only would you be uninvited, you'd be unwelcome." The nightwalker had stopped walking, his white eyes almost looking through the chimera. "So, do you intend to offer your name? I see you already know mine, so I won't bother. If you're here for the same reason you visited Solus, I will inform you, that your essence, and whatever firepower you possess, is insufficient to kill or incapacitate me."

"You won't remember my name if you're dead..." The Chimera replied.

"I won't need to. If you attack me. I will devour you, and you will know that death is a blessing."

"Cocky..." Said the Chimera as a hand raised towards Szayeis, his palm facing the Demon, as if he was about to cast a spell. "Looks like I'll need to show you your place..." Just as he finished speaking a blast of energy escaped a Sigil on the palm of his hand, blasting towards Szayeis' ethereal body with a dispell.

Szayeis chuckled, throwing up a solidifed wall of shadow, then disconnecting it from his essence. The attack struck, then passed through the Logan's own shadow, attempting to strike him instead. "You're hilarious. You must be young. I've been alive for quite awhile, chimera. Your abilities are inferior to mine. Did you really think I'd easily let you hit me with that? Did you think greater beings hadn't tried?" As he spoke his presence began manifesting in other places within the area. His body, in the same moments, becoming ethereal, releasing wispy tendrils of darkness. This would be amusing, he hadn't been truly challenged in quite awhile. It would be fun to actually use the power he so infrequently could.

The Chimera was already behind him, instantly reappearing with another spell discharge towards Szayeis' ethereal back. This creature was surely fast as the tendrils swiped nothing but air, the Chimera vanishing with each attack, seemingly stepping through Szayeis' own darkness.

The body dissolved into darkness, it was no longer the main one. "Predictable," Szayeis' voice stated, resounding from all directions. Within the space of 12 blocks, screams began to sound, as people were devoured by his shadows. He only kept his presence in any given shadow for not even a second at a time.

He was gathering essence.

The Chimera stood in the darkness, casually pulling out a bottle out of some substance that looked like liquid Mercury. Gulping the substance down, the Chimera groaned as his insides twisted and turned, trying to reject whatever he had just swallowed. However the pain quickly subsided. Cracking his neck, he closed his eyes and scanned the essence around him, waiting for Szayeis to return to a nearby shadow. Soon enough, the moment he needed had arrived. His arm shot out towards Szayeis' nearby essence, as a beam of blue light snaked towards the Demon Lord, grasping his essence and pulling on it, preventing him from moving to another shadow. Szayeis may not have a physical body, but his essence has some solid form.

"Oh, that's cute," he said, another wall of shadow blocking the strike and disconnecting as before. Szayeis' essence grabbed onto the chimera's as well and as it did, it emitted its own dispell, striking point blank. He then attempted to pierce Logan with several hundred materialized tendrils of shadow. Both actions almost happening in the same moment. But the dispell did nothing, and as the tendrils struck, it was as if they smashed against steel. Under the Chimera's skin, crawled millions of nanomachines, dispelling, hardening his flesh, healing, doing everything simultaneously, making him practically immune. However, such power would only last a short time. The Chimera knew he had to make his move.

"Hmm, odd." Szayeis disconnected the essence that the Chimera had grabbed and appeared elsewhere. As he appeared again his form had shifted, but he immediately noticed it was not as complete as he would have liked. While the shadow was there, the horns seemed damaged and various portions of his body were improperly formed. It had become his shattered path. He sighed slightly, materializing the massive shadow that was cast over the surface of the ground below him. It began to feed on the building he was standing on, devouring it at a rather terrifying speed. "I'll have you know, that you're not all that impressive," Szayeis said, sounding less amused, and more bored now.

"Just what Solus said, too." His right hand entered his trench coat pocket, and slowly pulled out a handheld device. "Ciao." He pulled a trigger on it and Szayeis suddenly felt an emptiness, not only below his feet, but gripping around his very soul too. A bright orange explosion was consuming... no... vaporizing the building right below his feet, and the orange flames were coming for him, fast.

As they came, he felt shadows be obliterated. His own cut off and he reversed its flow, curling it into a sphere around himself. The flames washed over the sphere, and oddly they never entered it. They should have torn it apart, due to the properties they held. Furthermore, the bombs within the parts of the building he'd already consumed did not respond to the detonation whatsoever. Instead his essence had already dissolved them, translated them into ultra pure essence, and assimilated them. He felt a rush of power flow through him. His voice emanated outwards, "Yes, but I am far more powerful than Solus is, and also more experienced than the both of you combined." At his own comment he smiled slightly, despite his enemy's inability to see it.

He'd just noticed some other intriguing things about this individual.

If it were not for the nightwalker essence, the man would've felt remarkably like Solus.

Then it hit him, a nagging pain. He noted as it broke down essence. Smiling he slowed the process and isolated it within his vastness, watching what it did. He made no comment and gave no indication that the alerium worked on him.

"Now you can feel it..." The Chimera replied. "Why don't you just fight me, instead of prancing around like a little Nightwalker Princess."

"Meh," he said, appearing behind him and slamming his fist towards the man. If it missed or the Chimera attempted to appear anywhere nearby him, he'd be buffered by a powerful shockwave of vibrations, which would likely upset the nanomachines as a nice side effect of the ability. Szayeis indeed missed, but the Chimera reappeared at a decent range, immediately drawing his weapon, a large handgun, and pulling the trigger. A bolt of molten plasma. If it hit, it would melt the armor right off Szayeis' hide.

His hand swipped to the side and as it did a wave of force struck the bolt, hitting it aside. Szayeis turned and began walking towards the chimera. "I'm wondering why you even bother," the demon stated, almost as if asking a question. He was curious as to why the man was attacking him to begin with. Sure, he had plenty of enemies, thousands probably, and was surely wanted dead by anyone who knew he was alive, but what drove this man? "I thought you were going to make sure I died." He smiled slightly. The Chimera simply smiled in response, no point in answering a deadman's questions. Instead he continued to annoy Szayeis with pointless attacks, that was the plan after all. He wanted to see the Demon in full swing. His defence, and attacks, were child's play to him.

Given no response, Szayeis sighed, "How smug of you." The man was playing him for a fool, and clearly knew better than to think he was one in truth. "I'm not going to go out of my way to amuse you, nor to take you seriously. I have far more important things to do than play with a child," each word was said with a certain amount of disdain. Meanwhile, Szayeis' influence continued to spread, the shadows being eclipsed by his power. A shell of pure darkness began to gather, the very air seeming to coagulate with a thick mire of essence. Szayeis' aura began to expand into the field.

He did not expect to terrify the man, the figure was far too aloof and had faced down Solus, so that possibility was exceptionally unlikely. However, his essence had other ramifications aside from fear.

One of them was chaos. Those who remained alive within the area were devoured by the terror as it swept over them, losing their minds, their forms twisting. Tonight there would be an epidemic of a sort. One that resulted in the creation of many sires of shadow.

The Chimera chuckled. "Nice trick. You want a name to remember me by? Well, here's one for you. Sundowner..." Suddenly he vanished again, only to reappear instantly right infront of Szayeis, a fist coming straight at him.

The fist connected with a surface, but it was merely a shell of darkness. Szayeis' form, moving just as fast as the Chimera had, and having started his motion at the same time as the punch--though non physically--grabbed his arm and sent vibrations throughout his body, not letting go. The material which made him up making it impossible for this Sundowner to teleport away without dragging Szayeis with him, which he couldn't do. The Chimera whispered something familiar into Szayeis' ears, and just as he did so, Szayeis' hand was blasted off of him. Sundowner quickly drew his gun again, and fired, but not directly at Szayeis, just missing his head. Surprisingly the projectile exploded right behind it, threatening to cover Szayeis' skull in molten plasma.

The shadow snapped upwards in the air and struck the bolt aside, sending it hurtling towards a building. "You're still playing. If you continue, I'm going to leave you to someone who has time for petty games," he stated as his form re-materialized a few meters away, arms crossed.

"Yeah..." The Chimera said as a hand casually opened beside his hip. It was clearly time to cast the oldest trick in the book. Szayeis had become careless and bored, which was perfect for what he had in mind. The fool didn't even witness his essence fully, seemingly unware of the Miracle essence lingering within. "I'm done testing you..." A bright light began eminating from his hand, the buildings and the ground below their feet began to glow in a blinding white light, eliminating the shadows all around them in an area of 4 blocks, all but the sphere of darkness dissipated before the onslaught of light. With no shadow in sight, Logan pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, and put them on, giving him the much needed reprieve from the blinding light. The surrounding and engulfing brightness would force Szayeis into a solid state, while it limited his powers, as the Chimera's own abilities were also limited. Steam floated upwards from the Chimera's body, as his bodily fluids condensated from the sudden 130 degree fahrenheit heat.

The nightwalker growled from the searing heat for a moment as the light burned at the sphere of darkness around him. He condensed it inwards over his flesh, making it conform to his body and as he did so he found himself smiling once more. "Amusing, so you have miracle essence as well as the others. A gross oversight, but one mistake I'll not be making again," he began walking towards Logan, his pace measured. "Shall we dance?"

Sundowner spread out his arms in delight, "Lets." He began to walk towards the Demonic Lord at a brisk pace, which quickly turned into a sprint that lead him directly to Szayeis in moments. As he was about to be right on top of him, his right shoulder leaned over for his arm to grab the handle of a sword. He quickly pulled on it and revealed a blade of seemingly pure light, Szayeis would be able to feel the air literally being cut by its sharpness right as Sundowner swung his sword from unsheathing into an attacking slash in one fluid motion.

The Nightwalker's smile broadened, showing wicked, but orderly, teeth as he, at the same pace, began raising his arm. As the blade approached the dark mire that coated his flesh expanded slightly. The blade touched the arm that impeded it and began cutting the darkness, then slipped into it, coming out as the strike finished, its momentum considerably lessened. Szayeis however, had not stopped moving and opened his mouth even as his fist moved to collide with the center of Logan's chest, moving at blinding speeds. The sound that emanated from his form was deafening. It shook the surrounding buildings, and the ground, sending clutter flying away, causing the air to ripple, glass to shatter, and anyone within eight blocks to suddenly collapse in pain as their eardrums ruptured.

Furthermore, and likely more immediately worrisome to his opponent, the very essence of miracle light shuddered and simultaneously a shock wave erupted from Szayeis' fist even before it collided. It appeared that while the removal of darkness certainly nullified some of his more basic abilities, it did nothing to lessen the sheer amount of destruction he could wrought. All it changed was the scope of such.

Of course, to Sundowner that did not truly matter. His artificial ears immediately shut off, leaving him deaf, unbeknowst to Szayeis. However, the attacking fist connected with the Chimera's chest, with the shockwave passing straight through his body in such a way that the back of his trench coat bloated and fluttered behind him. A powerful blow, against a powerful opponent. Sundowner wasn't all flesh, below the skin the nanomachines within him continued to do their work, as his carbon-nanotube ribs absorbed the blow. The cerebral chip in his head, getting a much needed dose of Adrenaline to charge its abilities. Pain fueled his technological capabilities. And this was all he needed.

With a sudden burst of speed and near immediate recovery from the blow, his own fist charged towards Szayeis' face-plate, and if he attempted to counter it, the limb would simply change direction, maintaining it's momentum and stopping power.

Suddenly, due to Logan's poor decision to not dodge, the vibrations that had been emitting from Szayeis' mouth and all sound within the radius he'd been emitting the vibration ceased. There was a sound like a thunderclap as all of the vibrations snapped into the nightwalker's body and conducted right into Logan's. The nanomachines may have healed Logan, but if they were disabled, then he could hardly heal him again. As such, the nightwalker took the blow to his face plate, augmenting it by redistributing a portion of his mass. Furthermore, as Logan made contact with his body his fist only partially punctured the shadow that coated the lord's form. The force behind his blow was lessened by over half and the nightwalker's smile grew as he continued with the momentum from Logan's strike to make distance.

As he slid back the nightwalker spoke, "You're going to have to pull all the stops, Sundowner if you want to kill me, because what you're doing now isn't even close to enough." The nightwalker slammed his foot against the ground, sending essence into it.

Nothing happened. Szayeis rushed forwards again, moving to close the distance between them, any damage he'd taken, already healed. While the lord could tell that the chimera and him had the same amount of raw essence, whether the fool could kill him or not was not a matter of power, it was a matter of skill...and it was far from likely that the man had as much as Szayeis.

After all, he'd been amassing his for over 5200 years, it was hard to top that.

Auto-Repair Nanites disabled was the message that flashed across Sundowner's artificial eyes as the thundering sound wave shattered the nano sized machines to pieces. No matter, they were about to shutdown anyway. Now that Szayeis' form was solid, Sundowner's weapon would now be deadly.

He quickly reached over his back to grab his 40mm Railgun, and all he had to do was nail the bastard with a Uranium Rod. His aim was instant, the holographic dot resting right over Szayeis' rushing body as he pulled the trigger. The magnetic coils surged in power as the 4cm thick rod was mass accelerated out of the weapon, leaving the barrel at a speed of Mach 10.

It was too bad Szayeis was no longer there. The poor little chimera had forgotten some details, which was funny because his prime consciousness derived from one of the lord's kin. Granted, most of his kind never used this tactic. Too bad, as it was terribly simple.

Remerging directly behind the chimera, Szayeis' claws raked upwards at his spine whilst his shadow expanded outwards to engulf the man. He wouldn't kill Logan, and he decided he wouldn't devour him either. No, he decided he'd teach him a lesson instead. It was rude to assault your betters, and it seemed this Sundowner had never been taught proper etiquette. His mouth was slightly ajar.

The Chimera was already reloading his weapon as he felt Szayeis' essence 'fade' behind him despite the abundance of light. An interesting trick, but the self-proclamed Sundowner had his own. As the shadows surrounded him, he suddenly 'fell' through the asphalt road below his feet, as if the very earth swallowed him. Szayeis would notice a peculiar blue aura that vanished as quickly as it came right where Sundowner once stood. And almost immediately, the felt the cold steel of his Railgun, and the click of the trigger being pulled.

Szayeis sensed the vibrations around him, the essence, and the darkness inside and upon all things. It was thus amusing as the railgun pressed against his flesh. The projectile fired, but it never hit, instead the shadow ate it, then spat it out the other side of Szayeis' body even as he thrust his foot backwards and likely into his opponent's rib-cage. His mouth remained open.

The kick connected, but not to the intended target. Szayeis felt a sticky substance against the sole of his foot, and then a sudden detonation of an explosive, electrical charge.

There was a prickling sensation, it flooded through him, dispersing outwards along his flesh. Rather than move his body to regain his stance, his foot suddenly was just in place again. There had been no movement, not even a flicker. Had he eyes and assorted facial features, the nightwalker would have raised an eyebrow at the action. "You're an idiot," he stated bluntly. His mouth didn't entirely close after he'd spoken.

The nightwalker stood there, amidst the miracle essence...and sighed. The blinding essence began to gradually dim. Szayeis sighed once more, "You're beginning to bore me again."

He suddenly felt a palm slap against his lips as a glass capsule entered his mouth and broke, releasing some truely foul tasting fluid that, against his will, 'crawled' down his throat. Sundowner walked around into Szayeis' view, simply stating. "Should have kept your mouth closed."

The lord briefly choked on the substance, then his body noted what it was and immediately he opened his mouth wider, the amorphous shadow being devoured by his body. He shuddered, "Disgusting," then he felt his shard react. It did so just as the miracle essence was fully pulled into the ground. If his body had been larger the sensation of two infinitely immense forces wrestling each other might not have been as sickening, but that was not the case.

The face plate shifted away from his visage, lengthening the horns and revealing his eyes which burned a furious white. "I am...going to make you suffer for that," something more pure and untainted than darkness, then substance itself, began to billow and flow from his form. The shadow he devoured had taken to his shard and the shard had done something that terrified him. It had caused the connection to Inaniae back in the Citadel to open. Purity beyond the concept of pureness flooded the shadow, within him, intercepted the taint that was trying to use his essence to spread. Split it apart, isolated it, and then he threw the shadow up.

He couldn't get all of it, but most of it was out. He clenched his teeth and then his form began flickering, from its grey, black, and tan colors, to pure white. The shadow released the taint, but not back into reality...somewhere else. Szayeis hadn't even known it could do that, but it nonetheless did. The shadow was pure again and it slammed into him, infusing into his physical form, but as it did so he shifted colors again...flickering between what seemed his Origin State and...something else. He glanced upwards, though there was no movement for him to do so as he had no pupils and hardly needed to move his neck.

His body straightened. "It won't be today. Or tomorrow, or even within the month," the demonic lord growled, his form shifting more frantically, settling on the white darkness more often than it did his alleged Origin State, "But I will take you, and your entire organization apart. I'll let them know I'm doing it, I'll let them feel the disappointment as everything falls through their hands like sand. I'll make sure they know they're powerless first, then I'll slaughter them." His form made the final shift, becoming a pure white silhouette, the material billowing upwards from his form as if it were burning.

It was.

He walked towards Sundowner, the moon shining overhead...but seeming to dim as time passed.

"My objective has been completed... Kind regards from the One, the Elder of Deceit. You have just joined a War that has been long in the making... and your Master Inaniae, won't save you forever..." His words echoed in Szayeis' mind. An Elder, an abomination that Inaniae's first son created with his own hands, was here, on the surface, living among the people. Plotting, watching, waiting... for Illmasi's return. That prospect alone, is something you don't just worry about, it's something you immediately begin preparing for. With the darkness restored, Sundowner attempted his retreat into the shadow, yet, it failed. Impressive. was his thought, as he just discovered a new evolution that stood before him.

One moment Szayeis was far away, the next he wasn't. He stood, unmoving, before Logan, then he smiled. The same speed the same instantaneous action and the chimera would feel about as sick as Szayeis had. A small amount of the taint dripping to the ground from the man's lips...even as smoke billowed from the same place. "He is not my master, filth. now begone, before I decide you deserve more."

The taint, and the tiniest sliver of void had been implanted into Logan's body. They would feed off his essence, growing, and unlike what coursed through Szayeis, the bit of void had no intention of helping its host.

Nothing would get rid of them and nothing would tame them either.

Szayeis was done, and he vanished. The moon flickered, becoming invisible for the briefest of milliseconds. Its light taken so completely that the eye didn't see it, before it returned again.

Sundowner felt it deep within, the rise in an essence far beyond his own. "You have no idea what you have just brought about..." He mumbled as he slowly began to walk. Curiously, he never casually walked, but the sudden overwhelming feeling of divinity made him do so.... The pain that he should have felt was numbed by the shock and the awe of the visions that coursed through his brain, he would feel it later... But no matter... HE was coming....

Naruto: Continuum

Kanagata, Kiyome – Pylon

Raikō Engai Interior

An eyebrow raising as she suddenly noted a good number of biosignatures being extinguished, their electrical energies disipating into her expanded field, Kiyome smirked. Then she noted another note. Immediately a field of magnetic energy sprung up in front of the clone's form and he was propelled away in the same moment the explosion erupted from its form.

Her smile returning and a chuckling laugh following soon after, Kiyome turned to survey the damage. Minimal, but that was without keeping in mind the members of her staff the man had killed.

"You never fail to surprise me," she said to thin air, tracking the small amounts of magnetically charged chakra that were returning to Nobushige to deliver the information from the clone. Grinning, she willed all doors and obstacles in her path to reach him to shift out of the way, then she levitated into the air and shot forwards, nothing impeding her path.

---

Raikō Engai Perimeter

Caught off guard by her opponent's sudden change in size, Mayumi's strike nearly struck the woman, before her body suddenly shot upwards in a magnetically caused flip ending with the woman standing behind Mayumi and whirling, her weapon ready to strike with its spiked side. Lightning had nearly overtaken the object by then.

Meanwhile her two comrades were 6 meters away, keeping in line with Mayumi's position. Electrical energy was sparking about their forms. Then, earth spiked upwards, creating clouds of dirt and debris as the flames from Mayumi's earlier attack, revealed only 10 desiccated corpses—8 had survived and it appeared they were now assisting their comrades.

While all this occurred the four shinobi split into two groups, two of their ilk rapidly flying through the air towards Shirayuri while she approached one of the lightning rods. The other two had already gathered more oscillating lightning chakra and had begun releasing small orbs of it into the air around them each which floated away from them slowly.

Who knew what they were planning.

The Prophecy

Sorry for the short post, but I didn't have too much there. Not really anyone else's fault or anything, just I'on is tired and has no real knowledge of the demonspawn. Although, it does remind him/me of all those refugees....

The Prophecy

I'onriyi Stonehand

---

A brow raising slightly at the explanation provided by the deo'iel, I'on found himself intrigued. He almost found it unfortunate that he had not encountered such a being, though he knew that if he had he would not be thinking such a thing. As they said, its ability truly was unique. He'd never heard of such a thing, but sadly he had nothing to contribute to the conversation.

Glancing down to a pouch at his side, the penin turned away from the two slightly, more to notify them that he had nothing to say, than to disrespect or ignore. Reaching into the pouch he extracted several rodlin and glanced at the Ixion and then the innkeeper. He raised his hand, the necessary rodlin in his palm. All the while he kept an eye on the hunched demonspawn, and an ear to the conversation mostly to sate his curiosity more than anything else.

If the innkeeper took the coin, I'on would turn back to the two deo'iel a moment, before glancing at their other companion. The man seemed off somehow, but he still couldn't pin down why or how exactly—it was frustrating. He hoped the fellow had nothing to do with this demonspawn business, that'd be just his luck though wouldn't it?